Episode 61: Memorable Family Mealtimes with Brianne DeRosa — Recipes & Tips

Today’s episode focuses on the benefits and practical tips for creating memorable family mealtimes. Sharing meals strengthens both body and spirit, but gathering around the table consistently can be difficult. To help make family dinners a regular part of life, I spoke with Brianne DeRosa from The Family Dinner Project.

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Brianne DeRosa is the Content Manager at The Family Dinner Project and co-author of the new cookbook Eat, Laugh, Talk! The Family Dinner Playbook. The book offers 52 weeks of approachable recipes, hundreds of conversation starters, and playful games designed for the family table. In this episode we trade stories about family dinners from our childhoods and current lives, share practical strategies for making family meals happen despite picky eaters and busy schedules, and highlight simple, delicious recipes like Skillet Chicken with Goat Cheese Sauce. We also discuss The Family Dinner Project, a nonprofit started in 2010 that promotes family dinner as a chance to connect through food, fun, and conversation. Tune in for ideas that make dinner easier and more meaningful.

“Three to five nights per week is ideal for family dinners, but if you can only do one, then make it a great one.”

– Brianne DeRosa

Tweet: “Listen to this week’s Liz’s Healthy Table podcast on Tips for Making Family Mealtimes Memorable with The Family Dinner Project, Brianne DeRosa + enter for a chance to win the new cookbook, Eat, Laugh, Talk! + get a dinner recipe for Chicken Skillet w/ Goat Cheese Sauce”

Cookbook Giveaway: We’re giving away one copy of Eat, Laugh, Talk! The Family Dinner Playbook (52 Weeks of Easy Recipes, Engaging Conversation, and Hilarious Games) to a U.S. winner. Share a fond mealtime memory from your childhood or your favorite thing about family mealtime today. One U.S. winner will be chosen at random on October 16th.

Show Highlights:

• How The Family Dinner Project has grown into a movement that encourages food, fun, and conversation at the family table.
• Brianne’s role at The Family Dinner Project, where she manages web and social content while parenting two sons.
• Personal reflections on family dinner from both hosts—then and now.
• Strategies for managing technology during meals and ways to use devices to enhance connection.
• The new book’s structure: 52 weeks of recipes, conversation prompts, tips, and games collected from real families.
• Weekly strategies for overcoming common obstacles to family dinner.
• Three major challenges parents face and practical solutions:
  • Lack of time: try meal planning, stock “fallback” meals, experiment with split-shift dinners, or make time for shared breakfast, lunch, or snacks.
  • Picky eaters and special diets: offer build-your-own meals like taco bars, salad bars, or pasta stations so everyone customizes their plate.
  • Strengthening connection: plan intentional conversation starters and use prompts to guide meaningful discussion.
• How to create “fallback” meals using pantry staples and a simple ingredient list.
• The idea of leaning on a dinner village—sharing meal prep with friends, family, or neighbors to lighten the load.
• Brianne’s Skillet Chicken with Goat Cheese Sauce recipe, featuring boneless skinless chicken, garlic, crushed tomatoes, goat cheese, basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
• Research-backed benefits of regular family meals for both children and parents.
• A lighthearted question from the Mason jar segment about the one pantry item Brianne can’t live without.

Contact:

Email: [email protected]

• Parents On Demand Network
• Super Healthy Kids

Find The Family Dinner Project at their website and social channels: Facebook @thefamilydinnerproject, Twitter @FDP_Tweets, Instagram @thefamilydinnerproject, Pinterest @famdinnerproj

Eat, Laugh, Talk! The Family Dinner Playbook by The Family Dinner Project, Lynn Barendson, Brianne DeRosa, Anne Fishel, and Shelly London