Sociale Gourmet & the Importance of Family Mealtime

By Guest Blogger Rachel H

I mentioned in my Smarty Mom profile that I feel family dinner time is very important. My family tries to sit down for dinner together as much as possible. If that means eating very early, or rather late, it is worth it because we get to be together without any distractions. We can focus on each other and actually have discussions about our day!

Donna Harris, is the owner of Sociale Gourmet® in Winston-Salem. She was kind enough to share some facts about family mealtime with us. Stores like Social Gourmet can help you achieve the goal of a relaxing family dinnertime without the stress. We hope the information below will be beneficial to you and your family.

And at the end of this blog, share your thoughts about family mealtimes, and how you’re able to get everyone around the table.

Facts about Mealtime
Experts say that taking time to enjoy meals together helps families reconnect. Sociale Gourmet® exists to make it easier for families to sit down at the table together for dinner. Several national surveys have concluded that the daily ritual of dining together as a family is the most important way to strengthen family ties.

Benefits of Family Dinner Time
- A survey of National Merit Scholars from the past 20 years, discovered that one thing nearly all of these students had in common was that they ate a meal together with their family at least three times a week.
- Children who sit down to meals with their family seven or more times a week tend to have higher grade point averages and were generally more well-adjusted. These children are also less likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana or use alcohol.
- Children whose families usually sit down to a home-cooked meal at the table are less likely to be overweight than those who eat out or bring food in.
More meal time at home is the single strongest predictor of better achievement scores and fewer behavioral problems. Meal time is far more powerful than time spent in school, studying, church, playing sports, and art activities.

Stress Associated With Traditional Dinner Preparation
- More than 70% of parents experience some sort of stress associated with dinnertime.
- Nearly eight out of 10 parents claim their dinnertime stress comes from the actual meal itself. Parents cite key challenges:
- Deciding what to make (47 percent)
- Preparing and cooking the meal (23 percent)
- Worrying about having the right ingredients (8 percent)

With that said, how can you get the benefits of Mealtime with the family without adding additional stress to your life?

Sociale Gourmet® can help. It's a Meal Assembly store. This means they can do all the shopping, chopping, mixing and prepping. All you do is cook it and enjoy your time with the family.

Sound expensive? Not compared to eating out or your grocery bill. It is hard to imagine that having restaurant quality meals in your freezer can cost 35% less than you would spend at the grocery store to buy the ingredients.

You can visit us Sociale Gourmet® at 380 Knollwood St, in Winston-Salem, or go online, or call them at 336-837-0661.

Posted by Triad Smarty Pants at 5:00 AM