Guest Blogger
Lisa Holcomb
Lisa is co-founder of Build A Menu, an online menu planning website that helps families get their grocery bill under control and helps them to bring “dinner back to the table”. She is known as the "Queen of Meal Time Makeovers". She is an advocate for family nutrition, savvy grocery shopping and family dinners.
Lisa is a published writer and speaker and has a bachelor of science in Child and Family Development. She is a strong advocate for family meal time, having spent many hours researching the positive effects and benefits of families that eat meals together as well as the negative effects not eating together as a family can have on children and teens.
She and her husband Will, have six children (her oldest two children are married and have babies of their own) and live near Austin, Texas with their four boys ages 9-19. She and Will adopted their youngest two boys through the Texas foster care system. Because adoption is so important to them, Build A Menu gives a portion of all its proceeds to adoption care ministries from around the world.
Lisa often finds that living in a house full of boys means she’d better be ahead of the game when it comes to planning dinner since they’re almost always hungry! They are quite happy to be one of Build A Menu’s test kitchens.
For more from Lisa Holcomb:
Facebook: BuildAMenu
Twitter: @buildamenu
Transracial Adoptions: Blending the Family Color
What is transracial or transcultural adoption? In a nutshell, it’s the placement of a child from one culture or ethnic group with adoptive parents of a differing culture or ethnic group. My family and I know first-hand what this experience is like. For us, it’s a wonderful and enriching experience. Of our six children, our [...]
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Older Children Adoptions
Have you heard the saying “parenting isn’t for wimps?” Well, that’s especially true for parenting a child that you’ve adopted as an older child. Older child adoption brings on a whole set of challenges that infant adoption doesn’t. Older children come with a history, personalities, anger and hurt over what has happened to them and [...]
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Adopting from Foster Care
Parents who want to adopt have to make choices. Infant or older child, domestic or international, private or foster care are among many decisions they have to make and each is a very personal decision. My husband and I decided to adopt domestically through the foster care system. Since then, I’ve heard lots of reasons [...]
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Adoption: When the Honeymoon Period is Over
Have you heard of the “honeymoon period” that often comes along with adopting an older child? It’s the time when the child is first placed in the new home and things can seem “good” and peaceful. For each family, the honeymoon period is different and can last for different lengths of time. For my family, [...]
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So You’re Thinking About Adopting?
You’re thinking about adopting but not sure if you are really ready. First, I’d advise you to ask yourself why you want to adopt. There are many different reasons that parents decide they want to adopt and couples looking at adopting need to really take a good look at why THEY want to adopt. As [...]
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The Sneaky Smoothie
Do you need to find a way to get your kids to “eat” their vegetables? Maybe when you serve your child spinach he or she looks up at you with adorning eyes and says, “Oh thank you Mom. May I have seconds?” Not your kid? Not mine either. So, I’d like to introduce you to [...]
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5 Reasons for Menu Planning
Do you feel like you spend a “fortune” on groceries and yet you never have anything at home to fix for dinner? With a little planning you can know ahead of time what your family will be having each night for dinner that week. You’ll also find yourself spending less money on groceries each week. [...]
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10 Tips to Help with Picky Eaters
Got picky kids when it comes to food, at least nutritious food? Do your kids try to crawl under the table when they see broccoli on the table? Do they try to slip the dog their squash only to find the dog won’t eat it either? You’re not alone. It seems to be a fairly common phenomenon among [...]
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Table Talk: 5 Conversation Starters for Dinner Time
When you think of happy families sitting around the table eating dinner do you conjure up thoughts of “Leave it to Beaver” or some other old sitcom? The mother walking around in her apron, high heels and pearls with a perfectly set table, perfect dinner and perfect family all sitting at the table. Well, let’s [...]
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Kids in the Kitchen – Joy or Disaster?
Ok, I will admit that cooking with my kids can be a lot harder at times (most of the time) than cooking by myself. I like to cook. I find cooking therapeutic. Cooking with kids is not always therapeutic. Really! Sometimes the thought of managing my kids and their inevitable mess is almost enough for [...]
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