Manic Mondays

All in all, today was a good Monday. It was hectic, as usual, but I expect that my life will be that way until my children are grown and out of the house and I have stopped breeding. There were no horrible incidents today involving poop or vomiting dogs and the baby's reflux is SO much better thanks to a drug called Zantac. With all my free time I have actually been able to do some research about my kiddies and one of my favorite things of all time-FOOD.

I am very lucky in that my toddler's favorite foods are fruits and veggies of all kinds, but my sister and many other friends of mine fight a daily battle when trying to get their children to deviate from the four foods groups of toddlers-pretzels, McDonald's Chicken nuggets, buttered noodles, and fruit snacks. Another complaint I hear from moms with multiple children is that they make a different dinner each night for each kid and then a completely different one for the adults. I am not in this situation-and vow to never get there, but I realize that is easier said than done- yet since my daughter is still just breast feeding, but I can only imagine how much this SUCKS. In my house, the toddler gets his meal and the dog gets the leftovers and the adults get an adult meal. PERIOD-end of story. I love to cook, but at the end of the day I only have so much left in me and being a short order cook is not on my list of capabilities.

Whether your food crisis is caused by a picky eater or having too many different eaters to feed, I have just the solution for you. Check out Chef Lisa Barnes' website www.petitappetit.com. She also has a cookbook that goes by the same name.

This mother and Chef has created recipes that are kid tested (meaning, kids will actually eat these items), healthy, and organic. Plus, her recipes are SUPER EASY (easy enough for your 6+ years old to help you make the food items-like the homemade granola bars) and most recipes don't require a lot of ingredients. Her recipes also include informative information about the nutritional value of her dishes as well as helpful hints for shopping, picking produce and assuring that your child is eating the proper foods and amounts for his age.

Her tricks for incorporating protein into many of her recipes-like yogurt in pancakes- or sneaking veggies into cream cheese-will win over even the toughest of toddlers. Lastly, many of her dishes can be made and served to the whole family (Greek frittata or fish tacos) so you will save time and your mind (less stress for mommies at the end of the day is always ideal) at dinnertime since you won't be forced to make 5 different dinners for 5 different people.

Take the stress out of the end of your day by draining a glass of wine while surfing her website for some recipe ideas. You will be pleasantly surprised how great her recipes are and how many of them you can make with the food you already have in your pantry, thus saving you a trip to the grocery store.