I’m a big fan of the “Family Table” and no matter how crazy our lives are we do sit down for one meal a day. Mariela is required to do 15 minutes of chores daily before dinner and helping cool is one thing she rarely argues against. A triple bonus is she can read now and is totally into trying to figure out recipes for herself. Last night we pretty much winged it with ingredients on hand and made some adjustments to a few recipes- most of the back of the boxes of the ingredients and “voila” there it was…”The Best Dinner Ever.”

Sausage and Lentil Winter Stew
Easy Cornbread (from back of a Quaker cornmeal box)
Mariela’s Chocolate-Coconut Bars