It’ll be August tomorrow. We all knew it would arrive eventually, and for some of us it’s too soon (us=Alex and Soph). For others, though, it’s the beginning of the time when the garden starts sharing, and that’s a good thing.

I’ve never really had a super green thumb, more of a light green if anything, but I grew up with home grown food, so I do my best to try with what I have. Our patio herb garden and tomato plant are minuscule compared to the huge, backyard-filling garden my Dad tended every summer. As a kid, veggies from the grocery store where pretty much unknown. Veggies at our house came one of three ways: Fresh from the garden; From the freezer; or From the jars in the basement. I have hours of footage stored in my head of things like pea shelling contests between my siblings, the kids my mom babysat and me; I can still feel the pricks from the raspberry bushes when we’d have to go in ‘deep’ to get the berries; And, we can’t forget the rotten tomato throwing fights we’d have in the fall after the freeze destroyed the remaining tomatoes on the plants. For us, food wasn’t just something you bought, it was something you were a part of making happen.

Every gardener knows it’s not just about tossing seeds in dirt. Gardens require maintenance and care to ensure a good crop. Pulling weeds, watering, fertilizing, watching for plant problems…it’s like having another kid. I’ll have to say though, that, despite the differences my ex-husband I have, I am happy that he has a real garden for them so they experience more than just my apartment patio herbs. This week, he even sent a bag of cucumbers with the kids for us–Soph and I have been eating ‘em up. He also included some green beans, which were very delicious. Although I enjoy the fresh food, it’s actually less about that for me, I can get fresh produce at the farmers market. It’s about the kids getting the chance to plant and harvest their own food. It’s about Alex and Soph helping their dad build a scarecrow to keep intruders out of the corn. It’s about my little mini’s getting excited to see the first red tomato of the season.

Plus, when they grow it, they’re more likely to eat it. You see, they aren’t real lovers of green beans, but if the green beans are from their garden, they eat ‘em right up. And, if they ask, ‘what’s the green stuff on this?’ and I reply, ‘it’s the herbs from OUR herb garden’…’all I hear in response is, ‘oh, they’re good, mom.’ And I respond, ‘I know, I know… ‘

Happy Gardening Everyone,

Alex, Soph & Mom

P.S. That picture up there, that’s our first tomato of the season

I love living in Minnesota. I can’t imagine having a year without continuous change every few months. Each season influences the food we crave. I will say my favorite season is fall; from the super tasty harvest, to the trees dressing up in my favorite colors. But, for us, the food of summer is always something we look forward to–the freshness and simplicity–makes me drool a little just thinking about it.

I also love summer because it introduces a level of variety to family cooking. If someone in the group has a green thumb, they can lead the family in planting a garden which will later lead to ultra-fresh, family-cooked meals. Or, if your brood is better suited for shopping than gardening, farmer’s markets and produce stands offer the opportunity for everyone to get in on the action by picking out their favorite, just-picked fruits and veggies for consumption that day.

As for the Two Kids Family and our summer food adventures, Alex, Soph and I live in an apartment, so our gardening is restricted to our patio herb garden. We had fun and spent some quality family time together planting it, plus, we’ve been using our herbs in various recipes and are anxiously awaiting the ripening of our tomatoes. We’re also enjoying berry season–strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are everywhere and we’ve been using them in recipes (as you’ll see in our upcoming ‘bake-off’ episode of Two Kids Cooking TV) or just eating them fresh. Oh yeah, and grilling…there is nothing like the smell of meat cooking on an open fire. I realize you can grill in the winter, even in the great arctic Minnesota, but, when the temps below freezing, you’re really not outside smelling the deliciousness. And again, it’s fun to do the grilling thing with the whole family, burgers, brats, hot dogs, veggies–the whole works.

If you need some ideas for food and family fun, here are a few things you might find the Two Kids entourage partaking in:

• Berry Picking – When we were on our road-trip out to Appleton, MN to visit, we did some berry picking in Grandma and Wayne’s raspberry patch, but there are lots of pick-your-own places all over. After an afternoon of picking, a berry pie for dessert in the evening hits the spot.
• Family BBQ – The quintessential cooking method of the summer is grilling. For us, the grills are down at the pool in our apartment complex, so we work together to plan out what we’ll eat, prepare it for the trip down to the pool and then I cook while the kids swim. When it’s all done, we enjoy a leisurely, poolside, family meal.
• Celebrate a Vegetable – it is the time of year when lots of fruits and veggies are coming into season. Why not pick one or two and plan a whole meal around that in-season treat?
• Have a Picnic – We LOVE picnics. We don’t do anything super fancy, just whip together our favorite sandwiches, cut up some fruit and veggies, toss in a bag of chips and some beverages and we’re all set. Oh yes, and don’t forget our Hannah Montana picnic blanket ;D
• Ice Cream Party – Any sort of frozen treats work, but ice cream is traditional. When it’s hot we like to have our sundaes and eat them too. Occasionally we get creative with Popsicles or other icy treats, but like I said, Ice Cream is our favorite.

All seasons bring with them opportunities to spend time with the family, cooking and eating. And, each season provides a uniqueness to the food it offers. For us, summer food is all about freshness and simplicity, along with outdoor eating and adventure. Alex, Sophia and I hope your family gets out there and enjoys the summer food in your area together.

Happy Family Cooking!

Alex, Sophia and Mom (Kelly)

P.S. To get the whole family involved in your summer cooking, check out our Curious Chef 8 Pc Fruit & Vegetable Set, perfect for little hand helping with veggie prep. Or, if desert is more your style, why not have an Ice Cream Sundae party with the Curious Chef 22 Pc Sundae Sleepover Kit!

I know the last few weeks we’ve been really quiet and all you’ve seen from us is reruns, BUT, we’ve actually been pretty busy planning and taping new shows AND thinking up new stuff to help spread our enthusiasm for getting kids in the kitchen.

Now, we have also been spending some time relaxing at the pool and enjoying our summer vacation. Oh, and don’t forget Alex’s baseball practices and games. But, we want you to know that, even with the weeks off we’ve had, we’re still working hard at work producing new episodes and we’re going to be heading out later this week for our ‘Feasting Across Minnesota’ road trip episodes!

Here’s some of the stuff we’re working on for our next ’season’:

• Our ‘What is?’ series, featuring basic cooking methods like baking, grilling, frying…sharing definitions, and cooking examples to show kids and their families just what they can do together in the kitchen.
• Our ‘Two Kids Reviews’ series, will continue from last year, but we’re hoping to add a bit more detail and fun to each review show.
• A ‘Family Cooking Across the Web’ series will feature interviews with some of this mom’s favorite kid-friendly food bloggers and others.
• And, our real-life cooking adventures inspired by Alex and Soph…like the ‘Fairy Berry Bake-off’ we’re going to be having next week

We’re really excited so we hope you can stick with us for a few more weeks of reruns. In the meantime, I, the mom, will be do my best to share our Two Kids ideas for making cooking with kids fun and easy.We hope you all are having a great summer!

Oh yes-Happy 4th of July!!!! (<—that’s the mom’s favorite holiday )

Now go, cook something together!

Alex, Sophia and Mom

On June 9th, Alex and Sophia will be officially out of school for the summer. With the arrival of summer vacation, we are going to taking a short vacation from the the show as well–Don’t worry, we’ll be back on July 3. While we’re off we’ll still be working hard in the kitchen (and other locations ) preparing for a bunch of new shows.

In the meantime, I will try to keep things lively by sharing some summer vacation boredom busting food activities and whatever else that strikes my fancy

We’ll miss you during our little hiatus, but remember if you just can’t be without us, we’ve got lots and lots of past episodes of Two Kids Cooking TV to keep you busy

Have a great summer vacation!

We’re off to the pool…

Alex, Soph and Mom B)

We’ve been a bit quiet for the last couple of weeks, but we have a good reason—we’ve been putting final touches on our new online Shop! We’re still adding stuff as we test it out, but we couldn’t hold back sharing it any longer. Soooo, you can check out all of our Alex and Sophia approved products that support every kid’s inner-chef right here!

PLUS, if you sign-up for the mailing list, we’ll send you a discount code for 15% off on all orders from now until June 31, 2010!

Once you sign-up you’ll be one of the first to hear about:

• New Product Notifications
• Alex & Soph’s Product Reviews
• Discounts & Specials

Now go, check out the Shop!

Thanks again and Happy Cooking,

Alex, Sophia and Mom

P.S. We’ll be adding new products soon, and we’ll let you know when we do!

Cooking is:

The preparation of food. The process or activity of preparing food for eating.*”

That’s a pretty simple definition, right?  There’s nothing in there about complicated techniques or exotic ingredients. Just plain and simple, ‘preparation of food.’ That means, cooking  can be as basic as washing and drying vegetables, or arranging pre-cut cheeses and meats on a platter, or sprinkling seasoning over chicken. All these things are cooking; And, kids could do any of them…even kids as young as 3.

Getting kids in the kitchen doing easy tasks starts them on an interactive journey with the food they eat. It provides them knowledge and some control over an essential part of their lives. Plus, when you focus on simple recipes that you can make together as a family, cooking can be lots of fun.

Cooking in general, doesn’t have to be super fancy and complicated. Although there are times when it is, when you bring the kids into the kitchen, the most basic recipes are fine–and they still count as cooking!

There are three tips that can help un-complicate the cooking process when working with kids:
- Use simple recipes or break more complex recipes into basic steps
- Assign or encourage age appropriate tasks for each child
- Review the process with all participants to make sure everyone knows the plan

Cooking is about getting food ready to eat–that’s it. It’s an activity that can easily be done as a family. And, with a little planning, delicious ingredients and a simple recipe, time spent with the kids in ‘the process or activity of preparing food for eating,’ will not only be easy, it will also always be remembered with fondness.

Now go, pick out a recipe, grab the kids, and cook something!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. For even more tips on cooking with kids, sign-up for our mailing list (to the right)…you’ll get our free report, “Secrets to Making Cooking with Kids Stress-Free.”

*According to Encarta® World English Dictionary[North American Edition].

This coming Saturday, May 15, my baby girl will be turning 7. I don’t get to be with her because she is with her dad this week, but we’ll be partying it up in June at her Hannah Montana Pool Birthday Party. And, I think on Sunday, when she comes home, we’ll be whipping up a special birthday dessert

I am blessed to have such an awesome daughter. She is full of energy and sparkle. She is funny and smart. We all have the best times together–spa nights, cooking up special meals or just snuggling on the couch. Just being with her makes me happy. I am the luckiest mom in the world.

Happy Birthday Sophia!

We love you!

Mom and Alex

It’s true, this weekend is Mother’s day, BUT, it’s also Stamp Out Hunger weekend. And, as a mother, the thought of any child (or adult for that matter) going without enough to eat, is just not good. Plus, it isn’t hard to help support local food shelves. Most grocery stores have drop boxes to leave food for donation right after you purchase it, and some even pre-package food donation bags at various price points–just pick-up, purchase and drop it off, super simple.

This weekend, it’ll be even simpler–you won’t even have to leave the house. Just place non-perishable food products in a bag and leave them at your mailbox on Saturday, May 8th. Your letter carrier will pick up your donation and deliver it to your local food bank.

You can get more information at the Stamp Out Hunger website. While your there, become a Facebook fan of Stamp Out Hunger and Campbell’s will donate 1 can of soup to Feeding America.

For this Mother’s Day weekend I’m planning on starting the celebration a little early by spending some time with my kids, packaging up some food to leave at our mailbox. Teaching my kids to cook and spending time in the kitchen with them is fun–they learn about nutrition and gain a life long skill. But, teaching them the importance of giving back is just as essential.

Have a great Mother’s Day Weekend and don’t forget to gather the kiddies together and do some Stamping Out of Hunger!

Alex, Soph and Mom

On Saturday, April 24, Alex, Soph and I attended our very first small business/craft show in Forest Lake, MN. In addition to sharing our thoughts about our favorite Kids Cooking tools from Curious Chef, we also spread the word about our cooking parties and classes. Although the Hockey Arena where the show was held was a bit on the chilly side, we had lots of fun showing off our stuff with our cooking demonstrations. We also enjoyed meeting people and getting them signed up to for our give away–we had a drawing for the Curious Chef 15 Piece Pizza Party Kit.

The drawing was won by Lily of Forest Lake. She was one of our kid visitors who was really excited about having a chance to win, so we’re glad she did!

We’ll keep you updated on when and where we’ll be for our next show, so if you live in Minnesota, you can stop by and say hi!  We’ll also let you know as soon as our new Online store, Two Kids Cooking SHOP is up (should be within the week), and when we have the details about our kids cooking parties and classes online. In the meantime, make sure you sign up for our email list…everyone who’s on it will be the first to know when our SHOP is up AND there just might be a special discount available to everyone on the list ;D

Thanks to all who stopped by and to our new visitors who we met at the show!

Now go, get in the kitchen and cook something together,

Alex, Sophia and Mom

P.S. We’ll be back on schedule with our ‘Alien Treats’ episode this Saturday, so make sure to stop back then!

Last week was super busy for the two kids family. Between work, baseball practices, getting ready for our booth at the Forest Lake Craft show and just keeping this blog up, I felt like a chicken with my head cut-off. I was in a constant state of trying to get from one place to the next while getting stuff done in between. I was left feeling very disheveled. One of the consequences of disheveled mom syndrome is a not so stellar dinner menu.

My kids go to school in a town 20 minutes from the town where I live (the district where their Dad lives). Because of this, during baseball season we don’t have time to run home after school, eat and get to practice on-time, so I usually try to pack a healthy picnic supper for us all to eat in the hour before practice begins. Occasionally I’ll break down and we’ll eat fast food, but I try to avoid it. Last week I was not so successful with my fast food avoidance. After an evening of DQ and then another of McDonalds, my only attempt at ‘health’ food was insisting on Subway for our third outing–at least you can get decent sandwiches there. On each of these fast food consuming days I had grand intentions of packing up a picnic for us, but I managed to unprioritize meal making without hesitation. I was just too tired.

Although I was (and am) disappointed in the diet I provided for my kids last week I did come to the realization that next time a busy week is coming up, I need to plan on eating out so the food that’s eaten isn’t last minute fast food crap. And, despite my disappointment, the kids enjoyed every bite of their, fat-filled, nutrition-free meals that week.

I’m gonna go eat some vegetables now,

Kelly