(See Announcing the June Cookbook Giveaway: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and the ABCs of Fruits and Vegetables for a chance to win this book.)

The ABCs of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond

I really enjoy this book. It is broken into “the ABC’s” and “beyond”, with each section having a two page spread dedicated to each letter. It is marked at 4-12 (and beyond), but at 1, Samantha loved having the “ABC’s” read to her.

In the “ABC’s” section, the first page has the letter and a picture of the fruit/vegetable/related item (like organic). Some, but not all, include additional fruits and vegetables along the edge.

The second page includes a catchy little rhyme and a picture to go with it.

As I said, Samantha loves having this section read to her.
 
The beyond section is a bit more busy, and better suited of the claimed 4+ age range. It includes fun facts, jokes, further reading, and 1 to 2 recipes. X is the wild fruit Xemenia, and does not include a recipe since you cannot get it in the states.

I found the simplest recipe in the book to make with Samantha, Banana Soft Serve

We followed the instructions exactly. I found that I had to let the bananas defrost some to break them into chunks. I think I will do this before freezing next time.

Samantha enjoyed pushing the button on the food processor, and holding the bowl while it was going (I had no idea it needed to be held). She enjoyed the soft serve even more. I found it creamy, like ice cream, with a strong banana flavor to it.

The banana first turns into little pearls before becoming a smooth ice cream like texture. I want to try mixing other flavors in with it to see how that works.

Recipe
Note: All other recipes call for more than just a banana and have an ingredient section.

Banana Soft Serve

A cool treat!

1. Peel as many bananas as you need, so each person has one banana.
2. Put Bananas in a plastic freezer bag. Squeeze out all the air and seal the bag tightly. Place it in the freezer. (I will break the bananas up at this point in the future.)
3. Just before serving, remove the bananas from the freezer and break them into chunks. Put them in the work bowl of a food processor. Turn the machine on and let it run until the bananas break up. Continue until the mashed banana becomes creamy, light in color, and whipped with air.
4. Spoon the whipped banana into bowls, paper cups, or cones, and eat it right away.

I remember a French friend of mine posting of Facebook about the food in French schools to American schools (she had recently moved back home from the States). Her children had said “there is no comparison” when asked about the differences in school lunches.

You will not find me talking too often about school lunches (unless it is about box lunches I make). The reason for this is twofold. First, I choose a daycare for Samantha where I provide the meals, so I am exposed to school lunches a bit less at the moment. Second, I feel that the number of resources working to change the school lunches outnumber the number of resources working to change the food culture at home.

That said, the school lunch system in the United States sucks. Much of the “food” served there I would not even consider food. As such, I fully support the efforts to change what our children are feed in school, here and around the world.

So when one of my challenge takers, Jen from Seattle, sent me a link about the food in France’s schools, I was intrigued. When I got done watching it, I was downright jealous. France’s three year olds get a five course meal with a different cheese each day? Samantha would love that, and I wouldn’t have to pack her food! I would love to eat that as well!

For inspiration of what our school lunches should look like, check out the video below:

School lunches being prepared and served in France.

When I post product reviews on this site, you will see that I often point to Amazon. I do this because Amazon is who I use and who I love to use. I wanted to let you know why I love Amazon.

Before Samantha, I would use Amazon every now and then, but was not a loyal Amazon customer. I also often went to Target, Fred Myer’s, Home Depot, Sears, Costco, and Barnes & Nobles. I would hunt for the best deal around, driving from one store to another store.

When I became pregnant with Samantha, I had all this new stuff to shop for, without the energy to go from store to store. At about this time, I learned about Amazon Mom – a free program which, among other things, included a year of Amazon Prime free two day shipping at the time (It now includes 3 months).

It turned out that I love Amazon Prime two day shipping. After the second hand crib did not work out in the last week of my pregnancy, I simply jumped onto Amazon, and had the crib delivered two days later. The crib arrived while I was in labor, and was set up before Samantha's first night home.

I was worried we were spending more than if I looked locally, but realized that most items were either the same price or cheaper on Amazon. This was before you take into consideration the cost of gas to drive to the store. The items that were not cheaper seemed to be highlighted as such in the comments, and I have bought a few items from different sources (all online) based on Amazon comments.

Add to this that I am extremely picky about what I buy. Both my husband and I have a habit of researching and choosing just what we want. The problem with this is that it is often very hard to find what we want locally without a special order (and sometimes with one). Amazon takes care of this problem.

Outside of Costco and the grocery store, I rarely buy from any large store except Amazon these days. So when I am linking to a product at Amazon, I do that because I buy from Amazon. It is important to me that I give you my honest view of any product I review, so I started with the place I do most of my shopping.

I had no problem buying the Amazon Prime Membership when the Amazon Mom promo time ended, it is well worth the money to me.

I’ve written about the kitchen heart several times. In fact, the Your Child’s Food 1 Year challenge is geared at revitalizing the kitchen heart. But where has the heart gone, if it is not in the kitchen anymore?

For many, the kitchen heart has been replaced by mechanical television heart. It is a poor substitution.  Its soul is defined by others, often advertisers more instead in their bottom line than your child’s health or happiness. But you can return the kitchen heart without banishing your television from your house.

The secret is to be deliberate about your television usage. Limit it, and choose not only when you are watching, but when you are watching. This may be hard for you if your family often watches dinner in front of the television. But putting the television back in its proper place will free both your time and money to put towards a better cause – the family meal.

The first step I took was to get rid of the cable. All those channels with nothing to watch seemed like a waste to me. So we got rid of our cable. The television has stayed of for over a month at a time in this household. But we can’t keep our children in a vacuum, so I get my television from other sources, and I choose a few times a month to watch it – after dinner or before breakfast every now and then.

There are three good sources for getting videos – Netflix (both by mail and on demand), Amazon On Demand, and Hulu. With Hulu, you do have some commercials, but you can get many of the new shows as soon as they come out.

The best thing about all these solutions is that you can use them on your terms. You pick the shows, and you pick the times. You don’t just come home and flip on the television to see what is on. You will find this give you family time back, time to talk with your family.

Have you tamed your television? How have you done it?

For those of you who visited Samantha's First Birthday Party Image Guide, you will have seen the “muddled water” I served. For those who have not, here is what it looked like:

This is not your typical birthday drink, no matter the age. But, maybe it should be.

The Benefits of Water

I have long been advised by my doctor to avoid juice, soda, sugar free soda, and just about any other drink due to the effects they have on blood sugar. While I can have the occasional smoothie with the fruit fibers blended in, I am to stay away from almost all juice.

It was recommended by Samantha’s doctor to hold off on any drink outside of water and milk until Samantha is at least 1 year old, preferably older. This had nothing to do with family history, but was because children can substitute juice for more nutrients rich foods (such as the fruits the juice is made of). Juice is high in sugar without the benefit of fiber to slow digestion.

Because of these considerations, I am holding off introducing most drink options to Samantha. But plain water does not seem very festive, now does it?

Onward to Muddled Water

For Samantha’s party, I wanted to do a “flavored water” option or two. But to do this right, you need to let the flavors sit for 6 hours or so before serving. I wanted something easy at the park, and that was not easy.

Then I remembered a virgin mojito recommended for morning sickness. It used muddled mint, lemon, and ginger. This got me thinking, what could you muddle, and would it give you tasty flavored water without the wait? Best yet – people could customize their drinks!

All I had to do was provide some options, and let people muddle their drinks with some spoons, and I would have a festive drink for all!

I choose to use orange, lemon, ginger, mint, cilantro, and cucumber, but just about any fruit, herb, of veggie could be muddled. Some edible flowers could be a big hit with kids as well.

Next time you are in the mood for a special drink, try some muddled water!

Recipe

Ingredients

• Water
• Fruit such as citrus (sliced) and berries or veggies such as cucumber (sliced)
• Herbs such as mint leafs and basil leafs or edible flowers such as rose pedals

Instructions

1. In a cup strong enough to be pushed against with a spoon, place your muddle options of choice.
2. With a Spoon, press against them to release some of the natural juices within them.
3. Add water, let stand for a few seconds, and enjoy.

How easy is that?

Now it is your turn. What would you use for your muddled water?

A few weeks ago, the Power of Moms sent me a link to their essay "9 Tips for Dinner Conversations". It is packed full of useful tips (go give it a read to add variety into your dinner conversations). But there seems to be something missing in it.

Where is the talk about the food? It may sound simple, but have you ever really talked about your food at dinner time. With this in mind, here is my list of 9 Tips for Food Related Dinner Conversations:

1. My favorite way to eat [blank] is: Pick a food you are eating, such as peas. Talk about the different ways you can prepare them, and which way is each person’s favorite.
2. The history of food: Where were potatoes first grown? How did they become popular in modern culture? Are they still found in the wild, or are they predominantly farmed now?
3. Family Recipes Handed Down:  What is the history of your recipes? Was this dish handed down from your great grandma who made it during the Depression? 
4. Food’s role in religion/spirituality: Food plays a central role in many religions. How does it affect your religion and how does it affect other’s religions?
5. How was dinner made: Talk about how you made your dinner. If your child helped, tell him what a good job he did. Ask what he is most proud of.
6. Story about this food: Pick a food you are eating, and have everyone at the table come up with a story about that food. Make sure it is a group project, and that no one person make most of the story up.
7. Where did this come from: Talk about how the food was grown or raised, what it was before it became your dinner, and how far it had to travel.
8. Food around the world: What kinds of food to people around the world eat? How do they differ from what you are eating? How are they the same?
9. Dinner planning: What do you want to have for dinner next week? Is it well-balanced? Is it in budget?

To borrow from the Power of Moms, would you rather talk about your food or historical events during dinner?

Welcome to the first ever Cookbook Giveaway. One lucky Challenge Taker and one lucky visitor will win a cookbook. The winners will be announced July 1st. For full details, visit Win a Cookbook.

The two books I am giving away this month are:

Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals

The ABCs of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond

Spreading the word give you bonus points. Just comment below to let me know about it. Good luck.

We wanted to keep the work down for Samantha's first birthday, so we held her party at a park.

Samantha loves this park.

For food, we kept it simple and wholesome - Sandwiches, two types of veggie salad, veggies, fruit, potato salad (made by Samantha's Aunt), and picked beets and carrots. Nice and easy, but real food.

Drinks were what I called "Muddled Water".

Guests got to choose what to muddle in their water.

The main activity was making homemade ice creeam.

Samantha is ready to help.

Samantha breaks up ice while I add salt, and Aunt Katie turns the ice cream. (Everyone took turns with the jobs.)

My big cheat - a Costco cake.

Samantha is not sure of the cake and ice cream at first.

It turns out she likes it (shocker...), and wants to share it with me.

After presents, Samantha gives everyone a show on her new blow horn.

All in all, a good party.

You may remember Robin Williams in the early 90s file Mrs. Doubtfire. While there are many messages in the film, food lessons may not be the first that come to your mind. But if you pay attention, you can get some valuable lessons on how to make a dinner special, or not.

There are two scenes in the movie in particular that really show how food presentation can make a difference. Both revolve around food ordered in.

In the first scene, you see Robin Williams as Daniel Hillard, eating takeout with his three children. Take a look for yourself:

In the second scene, Daniel is disguised as Mrs. Doubtfire, and failed to make a dinner for Miranda and the children. Out of desperation, he orders food from a high end dinner delivery place, and presents it as food he cooked. The two pictures show the transformation on the food:

What, you are saying, one is Chinese and the other is a high end food delivery place. But just think about it for a moment. If the Chinese food had been given the same treatment as the food in the second scene, plated with no signs of the delivery boxes, how that effects your enjoyment of the food?

And if you took away the nice table setting for the high end food, and placed the boxes of food in the middle of the table, to be self-served, would you feel quite as impressed with the food?

A simple way to make a dinner feel special is simply to treat the dinner as if it was special. Dress up the table, and make your family feel like they are important. Even if you bring in take out, it will make the food feel that much nicer.

Thank you,
Claire

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