10 breakfast ideas that take 10 minutes or less to prepare.

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10 breakfast ideas that take 10 minutes or less to prepare.

Many people skip breakfast because they’re short on time or don’t know what to eat. But breakfast will keep you and your kids going throughout the day, so do yourselves a favor and make it a priority! Breakfast literally means to break the fast. Food is fuel for your body. The more you focus you give it, the better you’ll feel. We’re sharing 10 breakfast ideas for you and your kids that take 10 minutes or less to prepare.

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It's a great time to plan for your garden!

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It's a great time to plan for your garden!

Real life offers all sorts of teachable moments, no classroom required! As little bits of greenery started to peek through the brown Iowa landscape, one of my kids asked if it was time to plan for our vegetable garden. It was a a great suggestion and offers the opportunity for some creative learning too!

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Make something green! Try our kid-approved smoothie recipe!

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Make something green! Try our kid-approved smoothie recipe!

As we draw nearer to St. Patrick’s Day, I challenge you to make something green to eat or drink, without reaching for the food coloring!

The only green foods that I can think of are plant based, so consider the upside; whatever you make green will be better for you! Give our smoothie a try; Annie just made a double-batch and it’s nearly gone.

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If at first you don't succeed try, try again!

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If at first you don't succeed try, try again!

There's no better time of year to try, so I've included a list of my favorite spots to get the freshest possible produce into your child's hands!

Who hasn't heard the words try, try again?  I think they aptly apply to getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables!  Studies show that it can take as many as 10-15 tries before a child starts to like a particular fruit or vegetable.  

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What are 6 parts of the plant that we eat? Stems? Flowers? What else?

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What are 6 parts of the plant that we eat? Stems? Flowers? What else?

I had a great time in several classrooms this week, talking about the different parts of the plant that we eat.  Flowers? yes. Stems? yes. Seeds? yes. And the leaves, roots, and fruit too! Here's a quick overview in case you want to quiz the kids:

Learn how we explored roots, stems, leaves, seed, flowers and fruit!

 

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    4 for 4 with Cauliflower!

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    Yes, it's true, ALL of the kids at yesterday's cooking class liked (or LOVED) the cauliflower!  Four kids ate TWO heads of cauliflower.  And this was after they made their own peanut butter for the dark chocolate peanut butter bites.  And after they made some yummy mac-n-cheese.  Read on for some highlights from yesterday's Mac-n-Cheese Please class...

    • We started off by making peanut butter from.....peanuts! That's it! And it was so good, we had to make a second batch so that everyone could take some home to share. I asked if it was good, or if they thought we needed to add sugar (like most peanut butter's at the grocery store) and the answer was NO! The kids made the peanut butter themselves, using a Vitamix (safely).

    • We used our peanut butter to make dark chocolate peanut butter bites. We used unsweetened chocolate. Everyone already knew that chocolate comes from a bean! Three kids gave it a taste and it did not taste good - in fact it tasted awful. But, the dark chocolate peanut butter bites were delicious!

    • Next, they chopped up TWO heads of cauliflower. The kids tried out both real and plastic knives to core and then chop the cauliflower. They mixed it with some oil, salt and pepper and roasted it in the oven. We put some cheese on top for the last few minutes. Did I already say that they LIKED it!

    • Finally we got to the mac-n-cheese. They sampled the three different cheeses, and got their approval on all. The cheeses were selected because they melt easily. They learned how to use a food processor (again, safely) with a shredding blade, and shredded a pound of cheeses. Next they cooked a pound of pasta and drained it, doing all of the work themselves. Then we made a roux, learned how to incorporate an egg without scrambling it, and patiently whisked until it thickened. They mixed it all tougher, and voila! Everyone had different spice preferences, so they mixed in their own when eating. Paprika was the favorite, with cayenne pepper coming in second.

    • I was impressed with a great group of young cooks! I'm looking forward to teaching this class again!

     

    That's all that's left from 2 heads of cauliflower!

    That's all that's left from 2 heads of cauliflower!