Time to dust off dining room table

Cancel those appointments, ditch the gym, let the kids’ skip soccer and ballet practice, tell the boss you’re leaving on time and turn off the TV and cell phones. You’re being encouraged to do something on Monday that once was a no-brainer:

Sit down as a family and have dinner.

Monday is national Family Day, created in 2001 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, as a way to promote family dinners, which research shows is an effective tool in fighting substance abuse among children and teens. Dinners together also can lead to better grades in school.

In fact, research is showing all kinds of benefits of eating together as a family. Registered dietitian Elaine Reid of Spokane said that nutrition experts now know “that eating meals as a family improves the food habits of children.” Kids eat more fruits, veggies and dairy products when they are sharing meals with their parents and siblings, she said.

“The big challenge is getting everyone sitting down together,” Reid said, adding that in the two decades she’s been a dietitian, “It seems to have gotten worse.”

So on Monday, Family Day advocates want families to take steps to reverse that trend and make meal time a priority.

But that doesn’t mean you have to slave over the stove to prepare a four-course meal.

Matthew Young, executive chef at the Davenport Hotel, didn’t hesitate with his answer when asked for a simple, yet memorable family meal: Roast chicken.

That’s what his family enjoys most Sundays, the day he and his wife have agreed to keep open for nothing but quality family time with their two children, ages 7 and 1.

He says roast chicken is simple to prepare – the oven does most of the work – and can be paired with fresh vegetables from a farmer’s market. In fact, his family likes to go to a small market open on Sundays to pick out produce for the meal, which helps make the meal special.

Reid said involving kids in the shopping and preparing of the meal is a great way to emphasize the importance of family meals. “In our house, we always had the table set every night. That way everyone’s not grabbing and taking a plate here and there.”

Personal chef Karla Anderson said her son, now grown, used to love a bowl of homemade clam chowder, which became a family favorite. And rough days were soothed with a batch of chocolate pudding, a recipe from Anderson’s mother.

“We’d eat it warm right out of the pan,” said Anderson, who owns Karla’s Kitchen Capers.

Reid said each family needs to find its own favorites to make meal time special. “It gets down to the comfort food level,” she said.

A big fan of The Food Network, Reid suggested families look through the recipes – whether they need quick and easy or more involved recipes – on the cable TV show’s Web site to find one that sounds good to them.

Family Day organizers have partnered with Betty Crocker to promote family meals. Several ideas can be found at www.bettycrocker.com, including special recipes that kids can prepare, featuring just four ingredients, all whipped up in the microwave.

And even if you can’t seem to make time for dinner at home, Reid has another suggestion. Instead of zipping through the drive-thru on your way to various activities, go inside the restaurant to eat. At least that way you’re still sharing those precious minutes together as a family instead of just gobbling down burgers in the car.

Roast Chicken

From Chef Matthew Young, The Davenport Hotel

2 to 3 pound whole chicken

1 onion, quartered

2 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 bunch fresh thyme

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

Rinse inside of chicken, then salt and pepper the cavity.

Salt and pepper the outside of the bird and stuff it with the onions, carrots and thyme. Place in an oven-safe roasting bag, close the bag as tightly as possible. Place in a roasting pan.

Put the chicken in a 350-degree oven and cook until internal temperature reaches 167-degrees, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Note from the chef: “I like to serve this with roasted baby potatoes and fresh vegetables from a farmers’ market.”

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving (based on 6): Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.

Ruby’s Boston Clam Chowder

From Chef Karla Anderson, Karla’s Kitchen Capers

½ pound bacon, diced

1 small onion, diced

½ cup diced celery

½ cup diced bell pepper

4 cups peeled and diced potatoes

2 (8-ounce) cans whole baby clams

Milk

Salt and pepper

Fry bacon in a large soup pot until crisp. Drain fat and add onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook until just tender.

Add diced potatoes and just enough water to cover. Drain the clam juice into the pot. Simmer until the potatoes are just tender. When potatoes are done, add clams and enough milk to cover ingredients. Simmer to almost boiling point, but do not boil. Serve immediately with a green salad and fresh homemade bread.

Yield: 4 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 476 calories, 28 grams fat (10 grams saturated, 53 percent fat calories), 21 grams protein, 35 grams carbohydrate, 50 milligrams cholesterol, 3.5 grams dietary fiber, 1,076 milligrams sodium.

Grandma’s Homemade Chocolate Pudding

From Chef Karla Anderson

½ cup sugar

¼ cup cocoa

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups milk

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch salt

Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and milk in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Add butter, vanilla and salt. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, cream or milk.

Chef’s note: “We like it so much that we like to eat it right out of the pan with either whipped cream or ice cream. When Eric was in third grade, he wrote an essay on “What my home means to me.” He talked about the pudding in his essay and won first place in the state.

Yield: About 4 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving (using 2 percent milk): 310 calories, 6.3 grams fat (3.9 grams saturated, 18 percent fat calories), 7 grams protein, 59 grams carbohydrate, 18 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 270 milligrams sodium.

Microwave Ravioli Casserole

From Betty Crocker Online

This 4-ingredient Italian main dish goes together in under 20 minutes. Add some steamed broccoli and a loaf of garlic bread and dinner is on the table in no time.

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 (15-ounce) cans beef ravioli

1 cup shredded mozzarella or Cheddar cheese

Crumble beef into a 2-quart microwavable casserole. Add onion. Cover loosely and microwave on High, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes, until beef is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in ravioli. Cover tightly and microwave 5 to 7 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes, until hot. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and let stand until cheese is melted.

Yield: 6 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.