I saw a funny meme online the other day. I don’t remember the exact details but it was something like this:

Budget for this month:

• Gas             – $5
• Eating out – $0
• Movies      – $0
• Groceries  – $2,750

What makes something like that funny is how close to the day-to-day truth it really is.

It turns out that food is an important part of “sheltering in place.” Food is comforting, if it’s done right it is nourishing, and it can help to bring us together in whatever space we occupy.

Restoring The Dinner Hour:

I have heard encouraging stories about families restoring the traditional “Dinner Hour.” People are turning off the electronics and devoting themselves to good conversation, listening to one another, and taking the time to include daily devotions.

“We don’t want to go back to the old way of doing things,” they say. And my response is always, “Why should you!”

Good food can be a welcome distraction, which brings up the importance of balanced eating, smart choices, and  regular exercise. For me – someone who enjoys cooking, loves to eat, and thinks that great conversation over a good meal is the next best thing to Heaven – it would be very easy to establish some unhealthy habits; and so I am carefully watching portion size, going easy on the bread, and religiously keeping up my daily step count.

One place I didn’t go easy, however, was last week’s “Beach and Golf” trip. It helped that we logged close to 20,000 steps per day, but I have to admit we all ate more than 20,000 steps worth of chicken lasagna and homemade bread Monday evening!

Tuesday I asked the guys what they wanted and they said, “fresh seafood.” So I went to an Atlantic Beach “local catch” store and grabbed what looked best.

So I seared a dozen giant sea scallops and pan-fried some wonderfully fresh flounder, serving it with fluffy baked potatoes and a plate full of roasted vegetables (asparagus, carrots, and brussels-sprouts).

Today’s photographs feature some of the great food from the past week.

Enjoy the yummy images, but at the same time do some serious thinking about restructuring your meal protocols to exclude electronics, ramp up deep conversation, and debut a new commitment to devotions together as a family.

Bon appetite! – DEREK 

chicken lasagna (Deidra Mayo)

scallops, flounder etc.

breakfast cereal and coffee (location, location, location)

mushroom/Swiss cheese burger

filet mignon

grilled shrimp salad

love my kitchen