Q: “Mom, what’s for dinner?” A: “Pancakes.” “What else?” “A side of pancakes. Oh, and we’re starting with pancakes. Did I mention there will be pancakes for dessert?” Every so often, we have a meal of pancakes. With pancakes as the side. And pancakes for dessert. It may sound like this is a “compromise meal” […]
Make a Silly Meal: Pancakes, Pancakes, and More Pancakes Read More »
This recipe combines the best of all strategies to help kids eat healthy foods – even straws! You can make the soup with truly any green veggie and watch them devour it, but only if you follow the parent rules about not only what to put in the recipe, but HOW to serve it. This
It’s heartbreaking when our family has stomach pains after eating or other nasty symptoms. If the typical BRATY diet doesn’t work for your family’s health, these are some real food alternatives for the BRATY diet with foods to bind diarrhea and other digestive upsets. My 4-year-old daughter throws up like a champ. Ever since she
My post on packing healthy school lunches has always had quite an incredible response. This tells me moms are hungry for more than just good food: they want information about how to take care of their kids’ health. It’s written into our genes when the Creator makes us “Mommy”, I think, to be wildly passionate
10 Tips to Pack Brilliant Eco-Friendly School Lunches (& Avoid Wasting Food) Read More »
“I don’t even want to go to a barbecue at my boss’s house this summer, because it might not be any fun with all our food restrictions,” my husband admitted to me last week. “What if they offer the kids a juice pouch, or the dreaded freezer pops with artificial colors? And then there’s the
Does Being Too Strict on Food Take the Joy out of Family Life? Read More »
“Looks like food coloring isn’t the cause of the fits,” I told Jen of The Unprocessed Kitchen just a few days into our experiment to cut food dyes out of our kids’ diets. “She’s just a 3-year-old girl…I had hoped we’d find a magic solution, but oh, well.” I learned a lot reading Jen’s wonderful
Part of weaning ourselves down on sugar and training our sweet tooth to expect (and enjoy!) less sweetness includes appreciating the natural sweetness of things like fruit. Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to serve a dessert without a sweetener this week. So offer a bowl of sliced pineapple as a dessert, or
How often do we hear that kids don’t eat their vegetables? It’s been a classic American icon since the advent of television, I’m guessing: the child sitting at the table, staring down the pile of spinach mush or Brussels sprouts on their plate, refusing to eat their vegetables and yet not allowed to leave the
Food coloring is a fun way to color homemade frosting on cakes and decorate cookies, but it’s not healthy. That doesn’t mean your food can’t be fun! I’ve got some simple ways to create natural food coloring. Let’s Talk About Food Coloring Artificial colors are one topic I have just never gotten into deeply, although
Juice is fruit, so it’s healthy, right? Not really. First, let me make clear that I’m talking about the juice you find in bottles or juice boxes in the beverages aisle at a grocery store, not the stuff people make at home with a juicer or the purchased equivalents that have to be kept cold.
Juice makes you pee your pants (and other reasons not to drink it) Read More »
There’s not a speck of sarcasm there. I am very grateful for my current living situation. Pulling back the curtain of one’s life to millions of Internet users (or thousands of blog readers) certainly opens a person up to different kinds of feedback than life in a normal neighborhood. Since we moved in with my
I’ve covered plant based lunch ideas, but maybe you need ideas for gluten free lunches? Here’s a huge list, plus some considerations for classmates with peanut allergies. It doesn’t take extra time or energy. Just a few simple swaps and some creativity! It takes me half an hour to pack food any time we have
Back to School on a Gluten Free Diet: How to Pack Gluten Free Lunches Read More »
This is a guest post by Erin Odom of The Humbled Homemaker. In November 2000, then 3-year-old Brianna Maya nearly died after her parents gave her children’s Motrin. Her parents thought they were doing everything right, recounts an ABC news report. They followed their doctor’s suggestions to alternate doses of Motrin and Tylenol to help
What’s Really in Children’s Medications? {GUEST POST} Read More »
“How many hours were you in labor?” I still can’t figure out what my answer is going to be. A week? A day? 2 hours? For my first two, labor was much more defined: 13 hours, 5 hours. Much like with number two, however, my body was preparing for this number three for many days
Let’s talk about natural alternatives to all the chemicals we parents are made to believe are necessary from insect repellent to sunscreen. Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to pick a category and find a natural product or homemade remedy to use instead of the conventional and potentially harmful version. Upgrade one product
Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to do something special with your family this week. Special family time doesn’t have to be anything special, just being together and getting silly suffices! What a way to get moving with the kids! After a couple of heavy research and controversy posts last week, a (negative)
27 kids. 12 adults. Jello, flour, chocolate syrup, and lots of cream – both whipped and shaving. The goal? To make a mess. The end result? More fun than we even expected. Many of you appreciated the servitude my son showed with his 5th birthday party, and rightfully so. If you’ve got a wild side,
WFMW: How to Throw a Messy Party (The Best Summer Kids’ Gathering You’ll Ever See!) Read More »
Parenting a five year old has it’s joys and challenges. We’ve explored what a 5 year old can help with in the kitchen. Today, we’ll cover how a 5 year old can learn to give back. What five-year-old doesn’t love toys? My son is no exception, but he made us burst with pride when he
Why My Five-Year-Old Had No Toys at His Birthday Party Read More »
Nothing says summer to me like grilled hamburgers and homemade potato salad. It remains one of my favorite dishes that I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yes, I actually ate it for breakfast and a snack today. There are a million different ways to make potato salad, and it’s one of those things
