Family mealtime is something I hold sacred in our home. Of all of the words of wisdom I have been given over the years I would say that carving out time to sit and connect around the dinner table is at the top of the list of most suggested. Did you know that according to The Family Dinner Project, family dinners are proven to: “better academic performance, higher self-esteem, [encourage] a greater sense of resilience, lower the risk of substance abuse, lower risk of teen pregnancy, lower risks of depression, lower likelihood of developing eating disorders, and lower rates of obesity!”
Personally, I have an idealized picture in my head of what our family dinners will look like; my mind paints us all happily sitting around smiling and laughing, or even intellectually discussing a topic over a shared meal that everyone is enjoying. In reality, I have one child on my lap, while the other is whining about needing more to drink, and my husband and I are lucky to string together a full story by the end of the meal. Don’t get me wrong this is not every night, but with a 3 year-old and a 5 year-old some form of chaos exists most nights, however, it is my hope that together, my husband and I, are laying the groundwork and the habit for the future. And while a sense of togetherness is my number one priority, it is also very important to me that my kids are introduced to a variety of nutrients because the more I study the more I realize just how much our guts are connected to our brains and I want the food they eat to allow their body, and brain, to be healthy and happy!
If you are like me, one of your biggest obstacles to family meals is what to make, so I am going to start sharing some of my favorite go to recipes that we love in our home. The recipes I share will be a combination of meals I’ve created and recipes I have found from others. Today we are going to start with a family favorite that provides the added bonus of packing in a ton of veggies. Both of my boys love this recipe, and it is an easy one to double batch and freeze or use the left overs for lunch the following day! So here we go….I hope you enjoy!
Curry
Please note, when it is a recipe I have created I am not great with providing exact measurements.
Ingredients:
- 4-5 chicken thighs or 1 lb ground turkey (I prefer ground turkey)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2-3 cups bone broth (you can use chicken broth but I like the gut healing attributes of bone broth and add it to every recipe I can)
- purple onion
- Your families fav vegetables favorite combinations include: carrots, frozen peas, broccoli and red pepper, yellow pepper, broccoli or brussel sprouts, carrots, and frozen peas
- curry powder (I prefer Kroger brand because it is not too spicy for kiddos) ( I also buy a small packet of Whole Foods curry, which has a kick to it and add a sprinkle of that to mine and my husbands because we like the spice)
- salt
- rice
Directions:
In a rice cooker or pan make rice according to instructions, I like white rice in a rice cooker.
In a large pan cook diced chicken thighs, or saute ground turkey sprinkled with a couple pinches of salt and curry powder. Once fully cooked set aside on a plate
In the same pan saute diced onions and cut vegetables, if you are using peas DO NOT add these until the very end or they will get mushy
Once veggies are almost fully softened add one can coconut milk, 2 cups bone broth, and curry powder and salt to taste (for reference I add roughly 2 tbls curry powder and 2 tsps salt and once it is mixed in I taste and add more if needed).
Add frozen peas and cooked meat and let all ingredients simmer on low for about 3-5 min
serve of rice and enjoy!
~ Ash
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