Don't forget the popcorn!

This mom likes to take time to relax and play with the kids while camping. With 3 meals a day and snacks, mom could spend all her time cooking and serving others but, that’s not my idea of fun. So, what’s a mom to do?

Ok, I’m going to share my secret. Are you ready? Do as much as you can ahead of time. A few days before going camping, I’ll throw some items in the crock pot and get them prepped for the trip. Then, I’ll store them in Ziplock bags and toss them in the cooler for the camping trip. At meal time, all I have to do is pour it in a pan and warm it up. That way, I feel good about serving the family a healthy meal and I get plenty of time to relax. Chicken Tortilla Soup, Chili and Creamed Chicken are this mom’s favorites.

Snacks: The best snacks to keep the kids running all day and make it easy for mom is fruit. Apples, tangerines and pears don’t require space in the cooler and are delicious and ready to serve. Pre-wash and pack them and you’re good to go.

Simple recipes on the fly: Fruit salad, salsa, guacamole, carrot and celery sticks with ranch dip. All you need is a cutting board, knife and a bowl and you can chop as you go. Even better, make these healthy snacks ahead of time.

A few lunch ideas that are quick and easy are sandwiches. The types are unlimited. Do your kids like PB&J, ham and cheese, turkey and avocado, cream cheese or hummus? You can pack these with some fruit for a lunch on the go. Take it with you for a picnic, on a hike or at the beach.

The best way to make sure you get a rest and have time for fun while camping is to plan the menu ahead of time. Do as much as you can ahead of time and don’t hesitate to get the kids involved with the cooking, while camping or before.

Enjoy the great outdoors and have a terrific time with your family.

Gardening with your kids gives you the perfect opportunity to teach your kids about natural resources like water. Creating a Water Wise garden not only will save you money but will help the planet.

1. Minimize areas of grass. Grass requires lots of water to maintain. Keeping the grass cut and primped also takes a lot of time and energy. Take it easy on the grass.

2. Choose native plants. These plants would grow wild, so except right after planting, they should thrive without additional water.

3. Cluster plants that need extra water together and use a drip irrigation system to minimize water use.

4. Rocks and stones add a lot of great texture and contrast to your garden design and do not use any water.

5. Add a thick layer of mulch to all your plantings. This will create a moisture rich layer that prevents evaporation, keeps the ground cooler and prevents run-off.

If you teach your kids about saving water, they will help you minimize water use in the home as well as the garden. You can almost expect them to become the water police and cut your usage both inside and outside the home. Kids love the outdoors and gardening with kids is a true joy.

Today’s camping recipes are desserts since sweets are always my kids’ favorites. They also are captivated by fire, so today’s recipes stem from the fire pit. Even toddlers can roast marshmallows with a little help from mom and dad.

Roasting Marshmallows: Most kids, even if they don’t like to eat marshmallows, love roasting them. We’ve found that our kids like it so much that we don’t need to roast any for ourselves because the kids will keep us supplied. Most sporting goods stores will have the extension forks that make it safer and easier for kids roast marshmallows.

S’mores: Building on the marshmallow roasting is making s’mores. Why are they called s’mores? Because everyone wants some more! All you need is a box of graham crackers, some chocolate bar squares and your roasted marshmallows. Make a s’more sandwich my layering graham cracker, chocolate square and roasted marshmallow. Top with another graham cracker, squish and serve!

Hot Banana: Take a banana and open one side of the peel. Inside the peel, put a little peanut butter on one side of the banana and put chocolate chips or broken up chocolate squares on the other side. Close it back up and wrap in foil. Place the foil wrapped bananas on the hot coals in the fire for about 5 minutes. Take them out and let them cool for a while. When you open them up, you will have an absolutely divine dessert. You can use a spoon and eat it right out of the peel.

Oatmeal Pies: Bring your favorite oatmeal cookies from home. Roast a marshmallow and place it between the two cookies for a delicious oatmeal pie dessert.

Enjoy the sweet life camping with your kids!

If you haven’t read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, where have you been? This classic book has been a hit with kids for decades now and is still a favorite for kids.

Kids not only love reading Green Eggs and Ham. They love cooking green eggs and ham. There are many ways of doing this. The easiest and most reliable method is to add a little green food coloring to scrambled eggs. The kids enjoy whisking the eggs and adding the green color. And, as you know, when they help make it, they usually eat it better too. Even when it’s green!

Another way to do it is to use some spinach or parsley and puree it. Mix the puree in with the scrambled eggs. This will definitely make it green, but it will also alter the taste.

For the ham, we tend to like the standard pink ham, but some people like to make the ham green too. This part the kids can definitely help with. Use a clean paint brush and brush a slightly watered down food coloring onto the ham. Voila! Green ham.

Make Dr. Seuss it a Party!

How about some Green Eggs and Ham
for dinner tonight? I couldn’t resist making a rhyme. It’s just the kid in me! Here goes:

I like green eggs and ham. I like it for breakfast, I like it for lunch. You’ll like it too, it’s just a hunch! Fun you will have, just like I did, if you make time to enjoy cooking with your kids!

As the weather warms and the school year is wrapping up, our summer plans are taking shape. Due to the overall economy and our personal economy, we are staying close to home this year. Our main vacation adventures will be camping.

Each summer we have shared the great outdoors camping with our kids. If you haven’t tried it before, it’s really much easier than you think. Try car camping first. With car camping you get to bring most of the comforts of home with you and yet you enjoy “getting away from it all”. All you really need is a tent, blankets or sleeping bags, a camp stove, some food and sunscreen. The first-timers, many of these items can be rented at a local sporting goods store.

Leaving behind the TV and computers is as good for the grown ups as it is for the kids. It’s great to get a mental break and just enjoy nature and time together without all the distractions of daily life. Wandering in the woods, going for a swim, taking an afternoon nap or making mud pies are good for the soul.

Speaking of mud pies, my little chefs have a blast playing in the dirt. They collect up rocks and leaves and dirt and water and mix up some interesting “chocolate” dishes. Bring a set of old plastic cups, bowls and cooking tools and watch your kids use their imagination to create fun. At the beach, the kids often collect seaweed and make their own version of sushi.

My daughter will sing songs about her little dishes. My son enjoys staging cooking show demonstrations. When we camp with friends who also have kids, the fun just expands. Their kids add their own imaginations to the mix.

If you haven’t booked your campsites yet, it’s time to plan some creative summer fun for the whole family.

Just like you like to have your own tools to work with, it’s great to give your kids their own set of cooking tools.  The following items are essential and if they have their own, you won’t have to wonder where yours tools are when you need them.  Many of these items can be picked up at the local discount store.  Sometimes, you can find a kit containing most of them.

An ideal cooking kit would contain the following items:

10.  Measuring Spoons

9. Measuring Cups

8. A Plastic Liquid Measuring Cup

7. Potholders or Oven Mitts – best if they are kids sized

6. Wooden Spoon

5. Rubber Spatula

4. Small Cutting Board

3. Safety Scissors

2. Vegetable Peeler

1. An Apron – preferable customized with their name.  (A chef’s hat is nice, too)

My kids keep their kit in an oversized plastic box in the playroom so they are easy to get to for pretend play or helping in the kitchen.  Enjoy cooking with your kids in the kitchen!

C is for Cooking: Recipes from the Streetis a terrific cook book for the youngest chefs in training. Starring Elmo, Cookie Monster, Zoe and more friends from Sesame Street, this book is fun both for reading and as a cooking guide.

This book has the important things I look for in cook books: great photos, easy instructions and readily available ingredients.  The photos of healthy foods and kids’ favorite Sesame Street friends are super, especially for our pre-reading kids.

Each recipe has step-by-step instructions and highlights where young kids can help the most.  One example is when making ABC Chicken Noodle Soup, young kids can add the Alphabet Pasta.  The book offers tips and recipes for making some of kids’ favorite dishes like spaghetti pie, rainbow fruit kabobs, quesadilla and lemonade.

I liked the healthy recipes and fun format.  I gave it to my kids (ages 4 and 7) to review.  They each gave it 2 thumbs up and began asking when we could make many of the recipes.  Sounds like a winner to me!  You can click on the photo above to get your very own copy!

Our recipe for creating an enjoyable time together cooking has just a few important ingredients. Setting appropriate expectations for the experience is really key.

1. Plan ahead: Have the necessary ingredients on hand. You may want to do some prep steps ahead of time.

2. Expect spills and messes: Have your towels and paper towels ready and keep having fun.

3. Set aside a special time to cook together: The experience will be much more pleasurable for you and your child when you are not rushed and are well rested. It will take longer when your child helps. Build it into the schedule.

4. Remember that kids have a short attention span: They will probably lose interest before the project is complete, so plan on finishing alone. They will usually help with the eating part!

5. Try, try again: Learning to cook can take a while. There are many things to learn and a great deal of patience is needed. If it doesn’t turn out great one time, don’t be afraid to give it another try. For you and your child, a do over can be a real learning opportunity.

With these secrets and you can’t miss. Marvel in the wonder of your kids discovering new adventures and relish the joy of cooking with your kids.

My kids love to help in the kitchen. It usually takes a bit longer than making things on my own, but knowing how much they love it and how proud they are when they can contribute to a family meal, I’m always considering what jobs the kids can do in the kitchen.

My friend, Barbara, invited the family over for dinner. While the kids were chasing each other around the garden, we enjoyed visiting in the kitchen. She had just gotten this terrific microplane grater/zester and selected a super recipe to try out on us. It featured zest of lime as an accent flavor for the rice and it was so refreshing.

Foods to Zest or Grate!

• Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Grapefruit and Tangerines
• Nutmeg, Cinnamon Sticks
• Hard cheeses like Parmesan

Where to Add Some Zest!

• Lemonade, Smoothies or any Iced Drinks
• Hot Chocolate
• Cookies – all the best sugar cookie recipes suggest lemon zest
• Marinades
• Rice, couscous, risotto
• Garlic and lemon are fantastic on most green vegetables like chard, spinach or broccoli
• Sprinkle a little grated cheese on just about anything from potatoes to pizza

Help your kids create a zest for cooking and share in some delicious meals together!  Share your favorite zest ideas!

In our modern society, it’s easy to forget where our food comes from. Everything is available all year round in the grocery store, though usually in one variety. A trip to the local farmer’s market can be an eye-opening experience for you and your kids and get you one step closer to the source of your foods.

One of my favorite things about the farmer’s market, aside from all the wonderful farmers, is the wide variety of organically-grown fruits and vegetables you will find. Heirloom tomatoes, unusual squash, purple potatoes and many more are picked fresh, at the height of the season bringing the best flavor and nutrition to your table.

Many of the local farmer’s have samples. If you’re uncertain, you can give it a try. This time of year, the locally grown strawberries are unbelievably good. Fresh carrots are crisp and sweet. Chard abounds in its many colors.

When the kids help to pick the vegetables, they are much more likely to eat it. Last night we had a steamed stir-fry of green chard and carrots with light Asian seasoning. Though they’ll never admit it, I know they liked it. Let the kids come up with combinations of their own.

Take the kids on a fieldtrip to the local farmer’s market in your area. It will be a fun and, dare I say, educational outing for you and the kids. Then, when you get home, get the kids cooking!

By the way, this is the steamer that I use almost every day to cook up my delicious farm fresh vegetables. It’s easy to use and quick to clean. If you’re looking for a great steamer, give this one a try.