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

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!

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

Herb Roasted Green Beans –
As I mentioned during carrot week, I got the idea for this recipe from Phnewfula over at Turtle Pie’s Drool Session. It’s a bunch of green beans (and carrots this time around) placed in an aluminum foil pouch with some olive oil and herbs, then placed in the oven to roast.

Our Thoughts:
Mom – I thought they were good, especially with the carrots. A few fingerling or baby red potatoes would’ve been a nice addition too…but we all know I like my veggies…

Alex – Wasn’t enthusiastic about the green bean portion of this blend. He did eat them, but said he preferred the carrot.

Soph – She preferred the beans in this dish to the carrots, which is unusual for her. She only ate a few though.

Sauteed Green Beans with Garlic –
This is another of my own inventions. I basically steam the green beans in a saute pan, then pour off the water, add olive oil, garlic and a bit of salt and let them lightly brown.

Our Thoughts:
Mom – Hey, I made them, so you know I like ‘em

Alex – Said they were ‘medium’. Medium in Alex language means he will eat them…so that works for me.

Soph – This is where Soph surprised me. She ate them. She ate all of them and then….OMG…she asked for more. I was in shock. Yes, the Mom will be making this recipe again.

Green Bean, Walnut and Feta Salad -
I found this recipe on FoodNetwork.com. Honestly, it was less of a ‘finding’ and more of a ‘looking for.’ I love green bean salads and thought it would be a good recipe for us to try. I will say that when shopping, I forgot the red onion, so I made it with a white onion, adding a bit more harshness in the onion dept. BUT, my kids don’t eat raw onions and I really didn’t have high hopes for them liking this recipe at all, so I made it knowing I’d be eating most, if not all of it. I suppose I should’ve made something I was more hopeful about; but kids, well they are not predictable.

Our Thoughts:
Mom – I hated it…Just kidding I liked it. I had made it earlier with red onions and prefer them in the recipe to the white, but it was ok with white too.

Alex – On this one, I got a medium to high…oh yeah! I don’t know if I believe him though, he only ate one bite. I’m gonna make it again with red onions and we’ll see what he says then.

Soph – Well, I bribed her into taking a bite of just the beans. Then she went to the sink and spit it out. Personally I think she just didn’t give it a chance, but I don’t think she’ll be asking me to make it again any time soon.

So there you have it, the end of our veggie testing month. I’ll have to say it was fun, at least for me. I actually think we might keep these taste-testing experiments up. There are lots more vegetables out there, just waiting to be tasted–I know Alex and Soph can’t wait for brussel sprout week! ;D