Easy Peasy

/
Easy Peasy

If you have a young child, I'm willing to bet you have a bag of peas in your freezer right now. It seems that the pea is the most well loved childhood vegetable.  Little known fact:most kids like to eat them still frozen, which is why today's recipe is in fact a cold soup. You may wonder if your kids (or you) would want to eat a cold green soup.  It's actually quite delicious.  Made with veggie stock and a little olive oil, it's not super hearty like split pea, but on a hot day it's refreshing, filling,and flavorful. Now that it's springtime, you can also make this soup using fresh peas. Simply blanch for 5 minutes, then chill in fridge for half an hour. Now onto the recipe:

Read More

Cool For All

/
Cool For All

I have a confession to make. I kind of like the housewares and styling at The Land Of Nod more than I like what they have to offer at their grown-up store Crate and Barrel, or even their hipster brand CB2.  Something about having kids has given me this new perspective on design.  Scattered through out my own home you'll find little plastic figurines, tiny versions of big people furniture, happy- graphic textiles and colorful print art.  Part of being a young family means that toys might be found in the pantry, books will be strewn about the floor for belly reading, and precious pieces of construction paper art may be taped to the wall willy-nilly. I like to live this way. So when the Land of Nod catalog arrives, I give it as much attention as I might a new issue of Dwell, or a design book. Right now I'm quite enjoying their new partnership with regional artists, especially because one of them lives right here in my small town of Petaluma.

Read More

Playing It Forward

/
Playing It Forward

Wow. This was a crazy week for me. I had 2 tests, a paper due and a ton of homework, plus a bunch of paperwork to deal with, and you know, some posts to get out, and some kids with stomachaches. I thought maybe I'd cheat a little and share my DIY for Playful Learning. It's a simple project that you can do with your kids, using my old stand by, a rice paper lantern, and a paper grocery bag.  Check out the full tutorial on their site. Have you ever visited Playful Learning?  In addition to arts+crafts, they have inspiring educational content, e-courses, and an e-book. I'm really quite proud that I get to be a contributor for them... 

Read More

Small Plate

/
Small Plate

I think a lot of parents worry about the eating habits of their children.  It's one of the things in a long list of things we worry about. I recently attended a presentation about nutrition for school aged children.  The Registered Dietitian offered strategies to build healthy eating habits, and she also told us something that kind of blew my mind: They don't have to eat everything on their plate.  In fact they don't have to try everything on their plate. I'm an "eat your dinner" kind of lady, and I've been known to insist on finishing certain vegetables- who doesn't love roasted Brussels sprouts? The theory is that you put one "favorite" food on their plate (for Wylie this is pasta), one lean protein, and two small vegetable options. You say what's on their plate, they say what they'll eat.  This is giving up a lot of power right?  It helps them develop healthy attitudes towards eating, and keeps your relationship with them and food non-adversarial. Sounds good.

Read More