Grace’s Kitchen

Making Lunch Special

Last Thursday, I promised you a tutorial for making your own rainbow chart. Not happening this week. My crafty assistant has said No colors every time I broach the subject. It will have to wait, or I will have to do it all by myself. We, however, are packing lunches whether we have a rainbow [...]

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Eat The Rainbow

Remember that candy ad that told you to Taste the Rainbow? It wasn’t far off. While eating a rainbow of candy isn’t all that healthy, eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables is just what you need to do in your quest to have a healthy, balanced diet. I’ve mentioned before that I met Connie [...]

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Black Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

We eat a lot of soup. Soup is easy to prepare, and it can usually cook all day in the Crock Pot. Plus, it’s usually healthy and can include lots of great, fresh, whole foods. Or, if you’re so inclined, you can use soup to hide a lot of great, fresh whole foods from picky [...]

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French Toast Sticks with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

Kids love junk food. Doesn’t everybody? I think part of the allure of junk food is that we aren’t supposed to eat it. We want what we shouldn’t have. When I was at the Sara Lee Back to School Nutrition Summit in July, Chef Jill Houck talked to us about making healthy, nutritious foods look [...]

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What Are Whole Grains?

Last Wednesday and Thursday, I attended the Sara Lee Back to School Nutrition Summit at the Kitchens of Sara Lee. The event was superlative, and it will seriously take me the next month or two to share it all with you. I learned so much good information about food and nutrition from professionals with expertise [...]

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Chicken Salad

I’ve mentioned allowing children to help in the kitchen before, and I want you to know that I practice what I preach. Earlier this week, Grace and I made chicken salad for lunch. Chicken salad is the perfect meal for her to help with. There are no sharp tools. The measurements are totally unimportant. You [...]

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Growing Vegetables

I grew up in the boonies rural Pennsylvania. My grandparents tended a 3-acre garden, and my parents tended one nearly that big. We grew our vegetables, picked our fruits locally, and my mom and Grandma canned it all so that we could eat during the winter. It’s just how things were for my family. These [...]

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Let Them Experiment

Last week, Joe, Gracie, my mom, my sister, and I ate dinner in a fancy restaurant called Zia’s at the Red Door. We wouldn’t normally go out for fancy dinners just because, and especially not when our primary wage earner is off work for an extended period of time. My sister’s favorite radio station has [...]

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Goodies Are a Sometimes Food

Grace loves goodies. What child doesn’t? She has been eating goodies for more than a year, thanks in part to well-meaning relatives who have offered her M&Ms or Pepsi. Halloween stash. Christmas stocking. Easter basket. There are a lot of occasions on which we give and receive treats. We all have a choice when it [...]

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Grace Ate…

The last couple of weeks, I have lamented about how little Grace has been eating. In the comments, many of you complained about the same thing. We all know about the toddler appetite thing, and it makes good sense. Toddlers’ growth slows down significantly, so their caloric and nutritional needs slow down, too. On the [...]