Real Food for Real Moms

If you are like me, and located on the East Coast, you probably woke up to something you thought you never wanted to see again - SNOW!
Haven't we had enough???

I spent this lazy morning in my pjs doing some food research and looking for something healthy to make. I love baking on mornings like this.

I decided to try a recipe I had posted on my bulletin board for healthy chocolate chip cookies! (Yes, there is such a thing!)
The recipe was courtesy of realfoodmoms (found in Parenting Mag) - so as the cookies were baking, I ran and checked out the site and their blog and was pleasantly surprised.

Real food moms also have a cookbook out and recipes on their blog - for those who need ideas for TONIGHT.
I am loving their use of beans.

Here's the blog for reading on this snowy President's Day.

And the recipe, if you are still in your pjs looking for a fun mom/kid activity is as follows:

2 cup of whole wheat flower
1 tsp of baking soda
1/4 cup of rolled oats
pinch of salt

- Blend above together
- For extra health-appeal, add some ground flax seed! A new staple in our house!

In a separate bowl, mix a stick of butter until creamy.
Add two eggs, one at a time
Add a tsp of vanilla
Add 1 1/2 cup of brown sugar.

Slowly fold the dry ingredients into the wet and then mix together. When blended, throw in semi-sweet chocolate chips OR some dark chocolate chunks.

Spoon out on non greased cookie sheet not too much and bake for 10-12 minutes.
I made two sheets but do not make the lumps too large - that was my first mistake!

Enjoy your day off, and your cookies, and find something healthy to make for dinner tonight.
I am off to see the Justin Bieber movie with two seven year old girls.
Help!

For the Mamas (& kids by default) : Great Book Reviews

Taking a break today from the healthy eating and habits topic to discuss emotional well-being. We have kids, we yell. We have friends, we get upset. We have sisters/brothers/inlaws that all irk us from time to time....so whether or not you have children THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.

It's definitely a hard concept to grasp and the book is a bit repetitive - but the theory is this:

If you let your kids know that you understand how they feel, if you give them a chance to express those feelings of frustration, anger and other raw emotions - and you reflect that back to them, they will diffuse much quicker and there will be no need for screaming. (You can also try this with your mother in law- it works!)

What are these magic books?

My favorite is How to Talk so Your Kids Will Listen & Listen So Your Kids Will Talk

Best price I found online is at amazon.com.

This is sold at all major book stores if you are the brick and mortar type.

A great runner up and the original work the above book is based on is: Between Parent and Child.

To be green - I borrowed and read both of these from my local library but I think it might be wise to own one so that you can refer back to it.

Nothing will change over night but these are good skill sets to learn.

Happy reading!