Category Archives: Family Mealtime

Jan 7Student Perspective - Reasons to Avoid Drinking ...

Student Perspective – Reasons to Avoid Drinking Soda

I recently set up a Facebook page for my high school biology students. I was having trouble getting them to visit our class website, so I figured I'd might as well meet them where they are already spending a lot of their time. In an effort to engage them, I decided that I'd post some super interesting (and gross) science-related news stories and offer them a little credit for giving their thoughts. The first news story that I posted was about a legal case in which a man sued Pepsi because...

Jul 18Summer Travel – Making Healthier Food Choices

Many of us are on the road this summer, heading to hiking trails, taking road trips with our families, or driving our kids to sleep away camp. It can be tempting to stop in for fast food when hunger strikes, but how can you select menu items that are good for you and your family? We all stop at side-of-the-road restaurants every now and then. But instead of beating ourselves up about being perfect when we feed our families, let's simply aim for progress. Making Better Fast Food Choices There...

Jul 8Family Food Challenge – Aiming for Progress

Progress, not perfection. It's what we should strive for - and it will save us a headache in the meantime. The What's Cooking with Kids Facebook community and I have been doing a Family Food Challenge for the past few weeks in an effort to improve our eating habits, one little assignment at a time. So far, the challenges have included: Trying a new grain – I used millet in this muffin recipe Planting something edible – our garden is a work in progress, but it looks like our beans...

May 30Does Your Child Need a Feeding Therapist (Part 2...

I asked our awesome What's Cooking Facebook community if anyone had questions for my friend Dawn, a feeding therapist. Of course, many of us struggle with family mealtimes, and we got some excellent questions. Let's get to it... Is it detrimental to a child's eating health/habits to "force" new foods on them? This is an area that is so dear to my heart. I see way too many families force-feeding their children. Unfortunately, a lot of therapists teach parents to force-feed, trick them by...

May 18Does Your Child Need a Feeding Therapist? (Part ...

Does Your Child Need a Feeding Therapist? (Part 1)

Whenever I do speaking engagements about family meals or cooking with kids to groups of parents, someone inevitibly shares a story about their challenges in getting their kids to eat. I mean REAL challenges. Like their child only eats 5 different foods. Ever. It got me thinking...there must be LOTS of families in this same situation. I talked with my friend Dawn, feeding therapists and she agreed to answer some questions. Hopefully they can offer some support if you are experiencing...

May 16Is There Spinach In Your Brownies?

There are two sides to every story, especially when parenting strategies enter the picture. And most of the time, each side is fueled by passion and the sense that they are right. And the other is wrong. Several years ago, there was a huge buzz about two books that were published almost simultaneously: Deceptively Delicious and The Sneaky Chef. Both talked about how parents can amplify the nutrition in the foods they feed to their children by including purees of veggies or beans. Let's...

May 9How Food Cravings Might Be Harming Your Child's ...

How Food Cravings Might Be Harming Your Child’s Health

My son recently left our neighborhood public school for a special school for children with learning disabilities. In the few short months that we have been there, I have noticed some quirky eating habits of the students. Many families don't realize that the diet that our children consumes can be connected to their learning challenges and their behavior. It got me thinking about food allergies and how difficult it can be for families to notice that certain foods aren't good for our children. Why...

Apr 11Why I Tasted Beef For The First Time in 25 Years...

When I was a child, I went to the summer camp offered by our local animal shelter. I loved it. Most of it, anyway. We got to play with kittens, romp with puppies, and be taken for walks by the over-eager shelter dogs. But the teaching styles were a bit unconventional, back then. The education director thought she could teach us to be kind to animals by scaring the wits out of us. We were shown videos of laboratory testing on animals and milk-fed calves confined to cages so small they...

Apr 4Mealtime Challenges with Kids: Get Permission

Sometimes, I am overwhelmed with mommy guilt. Does that ever happen to you? I try not to spend too much time dwelling on the things that I have done in the past - things that I can not change. I much prefer to focus on what I can do better in the future. Despite my preference for learning and improving, sometimes I am forced to remember the olden days. Last summer, while on vacation, I had an argument words with my mother-in-law. I was frustrated by the way that she was treating...

Mar 2Dinner Success - Everyone Ate it: Sweet Potato B...

Dinner Success – Everyone Ate it: Sweet Potato Bean Wellington

When I was menu planning last weekend, our daughter asked me if I would make Treasure Triangles (an old favorite from my friend Jen's book, The Toddler Cafe.) I told her that I'd make something similar, but that I wanted to use some of the ingredients that we had on hand. (Out with the old before in with the new...it is time to clean the cabinets!) Anyway, here is what I created - and I was thrilled that everyone at the dinner table gobbled them up! Do you measure dinner...