The prayer you say over your food can be completely different from one person to the next; asking if there’s a correct way to say it is kinda like asking if there’s a correct way to pray.
When Jesus’ disciples asked Him that question, He handed them the Lord’s Prayer, which isn’t rules but more like…guidelines.
Anyway, “Grace” over food can range from the Thanksgiving table patriarch’s seemingly endless list of things to thank God for this year, while stomachs furtively rumble, to variations on the rote version that you learned, to the small child’s simple “Thank you god for this food amen”, which is what I taught my kids.
Johnny Appleseed is positively pious compared to some versions we sang at Girl Scout Camp. I’ve sung grace to the tune of the Flintstones theme song and the Addams Family theme song to name two popular tunes.
That said, although Duck Duck Goose is correct, there may be a standard form which was said in the C of E Schools Lobsang went to, and if that has been tweaked, I can sympathize with feelings of startlement.
Thank the lord who made us able to enjoy what’s on the table.
If there’s more still in the pot, bring it on while it’s hot.
but really…
My family’s grace is always improvised “We’re grateful for the good food we’re about to enjoy, and that Sally and Tim made it to town before the snow closed the airport. Before we eat let’s remember absent friends.” Never the same from meal to meal, and typically only said aloud at big family meals. Several of us who are religious (about 50% of my family) pause briefly before each meal, but it’s private.
the shorter answer would be, No, there is no one “correct” way to say grace.
If you modify your first example slightly, it can work even for non-believers. “For what we are about to receive, may we be truly grateful [or thankful].”
I’ve never heard this anywhere else, but it’s what we said when I was young:
“Our hands we fold, our heads we bow
For food and drink we thank thee now. Amen”
My standard grace isn’t any set prayer. I try to start by thanking God for the blessings of the day, particularly the food I’m about to eat. I ask God to bless the food so that it may nourish me to do God’s will. Then I finish off with a “I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.” If something special is happening, I’ll throw that in too. On occasion during a silent grace, I start with actual words in my mind and drift off into just sitting with the Lord, feeling thankful. I figure that God knows what I mean.
People have set phrases they say when they say grace before a meal?
My family and friends have always just prayed. We just pray whatever we are thinking or feeling is relevant, usually including thankfulness and so forth.