This simple dinner menu accompanies the children’s book A Shelter in Our Car for this month’s Family Dinner Book Club.
This month’s Family Dinner Book Club is about homelessness, and how we can nurture understanding and compassion in our lives and those of our children. Our lead book is A Shelter in Our Car by Monica Gunning. Go check out Growing Book by Book for a full reading list, conversation starters, and family service project ideas. Then head over to Sunny Day Family for a fun craft to create with your kids.
A Shelter in Our Car follows the story of Zettie and her mother who are homeless while the mother is looking for steady work and income.
Our family dinner menu this month is a simple and inexpensive meal. Zettie and her mother dine at a cafeteria for a celebration dinner and they have spaghetti, with ice cream for dessert.
This spaghetti dinner is pulled directly from the pages of the book, and it is also pulled from the pages of my life. I grew up in a home with a bunch of kids and not a bunch of money. Our family dinners were meals that could be purchased inexpensively, cooked quickly, and feed many. They are still to this day my favorite meals to cook and eat.
I was well known in my family for requesting spaghetti nightly. Even now at 35 years old, with my own family to feed, when my mom and I get together to plan a big family meal I still request spaghetti! Can’t beat a comforting classic.
You can usually find most of these ingredients in a local food pantry, or for a few dollars at the grocery store. If you’re celebrating, definitely splurge on the ice cream for dessert!
A Shelter in Our Car
Family Dinner Book Club
Menu
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Canned Green Beans
French Bread
Water
Ice Cream