Real Savvy Moms had a webcast earlier this week entitled Serving Up Good Nutrition for Kids. In the webcast Pediatric Gastroentologist Dr. Yinka Davies answered questions about feeding kids healthy foods. The webcast was geared towards parents of younger kids, but there was a lot of good information that applies to kids of all ages (including adults).
First Dr. Davies stated the problem she sees most often in her practice is constipation. Kids get constipated because they don’t get enough fiber in their diets, aren’t drinking enough water and they are more sedentary. As parents we need to get our kids …read more

What goes best with a hot day at the beach? Something fun and fruity, of course! Fruit smoothies are a very refreshing way to get a bit more vitamin C into the kids’ diets.
Our favorite fruit smoothie recipe is so easy the kids can make it themselves! Simply put a cup of orange juice, a small bag of frozen strawberries and two bananas into the blender and blend until smooth. Serve in a fun cup and add a paper umbrella for decoration.
Other yummy smoothie recipes:

10 delicious smoothie recipes from StartCooking.com
Blimey Limey smoothie (just like Tropical Smoothie’s and my favorite flavor …read more

It’s Nature week at Camp Weary Parent and while yesterday’s activity was all about making your own worm farm, today we are going to eat some – edible ones in edible dirt.
There are plenty of variations on this recipe so feel free to add your touch of creativity! This recipe is pretty simple and does not require cooking so I was very comfortable letting my 9 year old take the lead on the recipe and the girls were able to do the whole thing on their own.

What you need:

Chocolate jello pudding mix
Milk
Chocolate wafer cookies (Oreo, graham crackers, or similar work …read more

It’s summer. Do you know what your kids are eating?
Now that it’s summer many teens are on their own during the day. And they are making their own meal decisions. They can no longer rely on the school cafeteria to provide them with food from the major food groups. On their own, many teens turn to a new set of food groups; soda, sugar, salt and grease. You will often find teens sitting in front the television with a bag of chips or walking to the pool with candy in their mouths. Lunch consists of double cheeseburgers and french fries …read more

A couple days ago I was making lunch for the kids. I was throwing some fishsticks in to the oven when my eight-year-old daughter said, “I don’t want fishsticks. That’s fish. I’ll eat chicken, but not fish. Fish are pretty.”
Right then she reminded me of my childhood self. When I was a little girl I wanted to be a veterinarian and I went through a phase where I wanted to be a vegetarian. I figured a vet couldn’t eat animals. Surely it goes against some vet law or something. But it didn’t last long. I just couldn’t give up my …read more

Most every kid I know spent much of their toddler years snacking on Cheerios – after all, they were easy to pick up, almost impossible to choke on, and they were not very messy (and easy to sweep up). General Mills wants to keep our kids snacking on their famous Os by putting them into a new snack mix with familiar friends Wheat Chex, Corn Chex, triangular Cheese Crackers, “Bread Twists”, and Twist Pretzels.
We tried the Cheddar Cheese flavor first and it was okay, but no one asked for seconds. They did however, ask if I would buy the …read more

I am so excited because next quarter my son will be taking Home Ec in middle school. Hopefully he will learn some kitchen basics, because he avoids it like the plague at home. My daughter, on the other hand, is obsessed with cooking – reads cook books during breakfast, Tivo’s half the Food Network shows each week, and is regularly found watching cooking videos on her favorite sites online.
Here are some of her favorites:
Spatulatta.com – this cooking site is for kids and by kids! The sister team of Isabella and Olivia Gerasole have done an amazing job of putting together …read more

While I was waiting in the dentist office a few weeks ago I was thumbing through Parents magazine and found a recipe I knew my kids would want to try – Apple Pockets.
Yesterday my 9 year old made these completely on her own to take to her Grandparents house for their anniversary. Needless to say, they were a hit. The recipe makes 8-10 mini pies depending on the number of refrigerator biscuits in the package.

Ingredients

2 Golden Delicious apples
2 Tbs. …read more

I was given the opportunity to try out the new Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch energy bars and I now have a new favorite snack!
Nature Valley has given busy families another healthy, easy to grab and go, delicious snack. The Roasted Nut Crunch bars come in Peanut Crunch and Almond Crunch.
The Peanut Crunch bars are basically peanuts and sunflower seeds held together by a light sugar syrup. They aren’t sticky, and they are packed with protein. The basics: 190 calories, 12 g of good fat, 14g of good carbs, and 7 g of protein. The balance of the protein and …read more

We had a family birthday party today and I had offered to make an ice cream cake. When I started looking at recipes and seeing what was involved, I realized I didn’t have enough time – I had to come up with Plan B. Then it hit me!

I took a cookie sheet and covered it with aluminum foil. Then I placed 9 Klondike ice cream squares on the tray in three rows of three. I wrote Happy Birthday and finished the empty squares with Xs and Os for my tic tac toe board. I filled in the grid with …read more