Family meals: the start of a series?

One thing I've been really happy to have more time for since quitting my full-time teaching job is making dinners for our family. While working, I still enjoyed cooking and meal planning, but most nights were stressful because I had to rush home from work, feed Charlotte, and immediately begin the whole dinner process. Everything felt rushed and it was hard to enjoy the preparation and the meal time itself.

Now I often get dinner started (or at least do some of the vegetable chopping!) while Charlotte takes her afternoon nap. Once Joel gets home, he usually plays with Charlotte so I can get dinner finished, set the table, etc. It's a really good system and I'm finding a lot of joy in planning and preparing our dinners. I got re-inspired by the book "French Kids Eat Everything" which talked about slow, leisurely meals where conversation and connection go hand in hand with good food. Since we have a baby, our meals aren't always leisurely, but they are pretty pleasant and I'm very grateful. (Also- I highly recommend the book. Lots of wise words!) 

Despite loving to cook and meal plan, sometimes I get into a rut. I need inspiration and I need recipes and meal ideas that fit our family's time frame and lifestyle. I'm interested in starting a family meals series on the blog, inspired by this one: http://mycakies.com/2015/01/family-meals-week-95/ 

Here are my thoughts: for a couple of weeks, once a week, I'll share what our family had for dinner the previous week. Whenever possible, I will link to the actual recipes we use. Most of the things I try are from Pinterest, or have been found on blogs I read. 

After a few weeks, I would love to have some "guest bloggers" who will share a week of recipes that their family tried. My goal is to get a few different friends who will provide a well-rounded, interesting perspective on the joys and challenges of family meals. 

If you would like to be a guest blogger and share your meal ideas, recipes, etc. PLEASE let me know. In addition to hearing from others in similar situations who can relate to me, I'm curious to hear from some folks who eat a specific type of diet (such as gluten-free, vegetarian, paleo, etc.) as well as people whose life circumstances are different from mine (maybe you work until 6 pm and use a crock pot for most of your meals or maybe you don't eat dinner as a family but you eat a big breakfast together every morning; things like that). 

I would ask you to give a short introduction to yourself and your family, then share what you made the previous week with my readers. Even if you don't volunteer, I might ask you anyway. So maybe you better just volunteer. ;)