Rima and Claudia are two moms on a mission to get you cooking with your kids!

This week, we took a poll to see how many of you ate dinner together as a family. While we only received 13 votes, the results were interesting. When asked how many times a week you eat together as a family at home:

38% - more than 5 times a week
23% - 4 to 5 times a week
15% - sometimes together but at a restaurant
7% - always together but at a restaurant
7% - 2-3 times a week
7% - Never. We are always on the go and everyone eats on their own time.

I'd say 38% of you are downright amazing (or lying - one or the other)! Truth is in the past 20 years family dinners have declined 33 percent and family vacations have decreased 28 percent. With parents working longer hours and kids' schedules being jam packed, there is a steady decline in overall family time together.

If you are like me, your schedule is crazy and you hardly have time for your kids, much less to cook! But that's where we are wrong says moms Rima Barkett and Claudia Pruett, authors of the new cookbook "Cooking Dinner". Rima grew up in Tuscany and she says, "In Italy where I'm from, dinner time is family time - no excuses. Nothing is more important. One person does the salad. One person puts on the pasta, Its time to be together." These two moms say even the busiest families can learn how to cook and enjoy a great meal together. (And did you know that when kids cook meals they are more likely to eat them?)

Rima and Claudia are busy working moms who love to cook. Both were introduced to the love of cooking and entertaining by their mothers and grandmothers and because of their experiences as instructors, chefs and restaurateurs, they decided to create a cookbook to help families learn to cook simple, delicious and healthy meals. Rima and Claudia also started a non-profit organization called the A Tavola Together Foundation that promotes healthy eating for school age children. They have taught students to cook in classrooms and community youth associations, and taught them both life skills and basic cooking techniques.

Their goal is to get families to eat together. Claudia stresses, "We have active kids, busy lifestyles, there is never enough time to get everything done. But, we undervalue ourselves as parents when we believe the time they spend with the coach is more important than the time they spend with us." This is right in tune with what the Mommy and Me Days project is all about - spending time together as a family!

I encourage you to plan to cook a meal this weekend as a family and eat together at your dinner table with no distractions, just FTT as we call it in our family, "Family Talkin' Time!"

Check out their new cookbook "Cooking Dinner" at: http://www.atavolatogether.com/