To take advantage of this deal use this link and code HA299.

Also, the fall sale and holiday markdowns (already?) are going on now as well. In addition to all of that the ongoing offer of $5 standard shipping on all orders is still in effect. Shopping for the holidays seems like a good idea right now!

Several years ago, I made a failed attempt to feed my children veggie burgers before they set out to trick or treat. After all, they were going to get pretty sugared up by the time the evening was over – so why precede the event with healthy meals?

Big Mistake.

The kids complained – I told them to just finish up. The following October 31, the kids took a walk down memory lane saying “Remember when Mom made us eat veggie burgers – we threw them out when she wasn’t looking!”

So I have since replaced the nutritious route with an easier one – pizza.

But this year, I have summoned up the courage to try something new. Fright night is on a weekend so I have a little more time for meal preparation – time to get creative.

My plan is to keep things simple. If I get too fancy, nobody will eat what I make – again. Here is what I have put together:

• Apple cider – plain. Would love to spice it up, but won’t have any takers.
• Blood and guts pasta with eyeballs – basically spinach pasta, sauce, and stuffed olives (this one is from Clarissa who has a whole list of ghoulish pumpkin recipes and other October themed meals to try out)
• Tombstone cupcakes – my favorite – which I have made for years – make regular cupcakes, frost them, dip them in Oreo cookie crumbs, take a Pepperidge Farm Milano cookie broken in half, stick it in the cupcake like a tombstone, and write RIP or something spooky on it with frosting.

Easy. Fast. A holiday meal kids love!

Because I found so many great options in my search for kids Halloween recipes – and I cannot possibly make them all – I will share one other favorite here:

• RecipeGirl.com has an awesome Trick or Eat post – I especially like the Chocolate Dipped Worm pretzels. The witches fingers are quite realistic as well  but given my cooking skills, I am not sure that they would turn out quite as well!

So, when I recently received a copy of Robot Zot to review – I was quite excited. This book is actually written by Jon Scieszka (another prominent children’s author ) and illustrated by Shannon.

Robot Zot is the main character in this book. He is a confident, indestructible, and energetic toy. (Sound like any three year old little boys that you know?) In fact, his battle cry is:

Robot Zot – never fall.
Robot Zot – conquer all!

And with this trailblazing attitude he forges his victorious attacks on all kitchen appliances – and the TV. He even rescues a damsel bot in distress and and narrowly escapes an encounter with the family dog. Finally, when his work is done – he heads out into the world in search of new challenges, leaving his mess behind.

This one of David Shannon books will make parenting tough because it is sure to get the kids riled up. But boys everywhere will love the action packed fun housed on these pages. They will catch a glimpse of themselves in Robot Zot and be able to relate to him easily. Parents, also, will not miss the similarities between Zot and their own children.

This book has definite family favorite potential!

So – today I want to let you know that I have a page where I will now exclusively post promotional offers and coupons for the Children’s Place Store. Now through the end of October there are 2 coupons that are sure to save you money. Also the fall sale is in full swing and costumes for Halloween are also being offered at a discount.

Just a little FYI.

Packing Healthy Lunches for Back to School

It is almost that time again – when the days become quiet but the mornings turn into a whirlwind. That’s right – back to school.

As a mom, one of the hardest parts of the daily grind is packing a healthy lunch that the kids will love.

I now have it down to somewhat of a science, if you will. My mornings have become much easier and my kids are eating more nutritious meals. This is what works for me.

Every Sunday, I make a healthy meal plan for the week. I figure out what days that the kids will be buying lunch in the school cafeteria and which days they will bring a “brown bag” lunch from home. One of the easiest things to forget is my own schedule. I try to make sure that I will have time the night before to help the kids bring it all together.

Our school offers several different choices including healthy lunch options. I know that left alone, my kids would eat chicken nuggets every day. But I try to steer them towards making a smarter selection at least once a week.

On the days that they pack their meal, the KEY is putting it together the evening before. No matter how tired I am, I remind myself that healthy lunches are not made the morning of. Washing fruits and chopping vegetables takes time, something that is in short supply in the am. If we wait until dawn, we end up tossing pre-packaged, and unhealthy grab-and-go foods into the lunch box or to forego the process altogether and buy something at school.

Two things that I cannot live without when it comes to healthy school lunches is a wide mouthed insulated container and a beverage container. Not only is this better for the environment but it also encourages better nutrition. I use the wide container for soups and for packing leftovers. The beverage container is perfect for water and juices.

Getting the kids involved also helps a lot! It certainly cuts down on the complaints about not liking their food. Usually I try to snag them for a few moments every evening to get things in order for the next day. But if the evenings are too busy, we will sometimes do the bulk of the work on a Sunday. I have found that sandwiches – minus the fixings – freeze well. We also manage to package up single serving side dishes on the weekends as well.

As far as treats go – I try to skip them. My motive is two fold. If the kids are eating nutritious meals at school, then when they arrive home, I get to be the “good guy” and allow them something sweet.

In theory it sounds rather easy, but sometimes figuring out what to put in healthy lunches is half the battle. Here are a few ideas for healthy school lunches.

The Main Event

• Leftovers from yesterday’s dinner
• Lunchmeat sandwiches
• Tuna salad
• Hard boiled eggs
• Soybean butter or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• Mini bagels and cream cheese
• Cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches
• Yogurt
• Pasta and sauce
• Pasta salad
• Cold tacos (my kids love these – I pack the meat, cheese and shells separately and they assemble at school)
• Lean Pockets, heated and cooled the night before
• Cold pizza
• Pierogies in the wide mouth container
• Sliced chicken or turkey sausage

The Sides

• Salad
• Carrots and celery sticks (or any vegetable) and dip,
• Fresh fruit (apples, peeled and sectioned oranges, pears, plums, peaches, nectarines, mixed berries – to name a few)
• Unsweetened applesauce
• Raisins
• Cheese sticks or cheese cubes
• Yogurt tubes
• Popcorn
• Pretzels
• Granola bars
• Homemade cereal mix
• Baked chips
• Homemade muffins (made with a little extra bran and no saturated fats
• Goldfish or cheese crackers
• Whole grain crackers and cheese slices
• Baked tortilla chips and salsa
• Dried fruits
• Dried fruit bars

Beverages

• Water
• Milk
• Soymilk
• Orange juice
• Other fruit juices with or without added water
• Can of seltzer

Now, I know that kids are picky eaters (mine are no exception) – but I constantly encourage them to try new things. My best strategy is to pack something that I know they will eat alongside something not so familiar.

The road to healthy lunches is time consuming but well worth the effort!

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Picture credits:

• strawberries
• farmers market
• tomatoes

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– expires September 7, 2009

Well I just came across an article at Erin’s Coupon Cravings blog via twitter – that let’s us know that right now a subscription to Real Simple can be had for only $5 for a full year!!!!!

There must be a catch, of course. But no – just order through the following link at Amazon.com: Real Simple (1-year). I did.

Apparently, other magazines are on deep discount as well. A summer clearance perhaps?

It seems that in our house, we are always running in 20 different directions. Now that spring is here, my kids activities have taken on a life of their own and dinners have definitely suffered. I have mentioned before that if I don’t have dinner ready by the time the kids get home from school, then we might as well forget it. I am not magic (a direct quote from a friend), I can’t make dinner make dinner magically appear on the table while I am out taxiing the kids around town. At least not without the help of a telephone and a pizza delivery person.

Well, last night I had a quick meal success that I thought I should share. We had a particulary tight timeframe and I happened to be a bit more organized than usual – meaning that I actually had a plan.

My kids love tacos – but in our house tacos are not a simple affair. My husband and I like lots of fixin’s while some of the kids like them simple, and a few others are in between. By the time I chop everything up – lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, etc. – well it takes a long time. And the individual serving dishes for each topping creates a ton of work when it comes to clearing the table and washing. Certainly not as simple as I would like.

So, yesterday – I knew that we would have to run out the door right after dinner. No time for clean up. Now I know that you maybe thinking – “duh!” but this was a new revelation for me. Instead of putting the taco stuff in serving bowls – I used plastic storage containers with lids for each item. When dinner was over, I snapped the lids on the leftovers and stuck them in the fridge. Obviously, there was very little clean up required.

So I guess the bottom line is that one of my new favorite parenting tips for easy mealtimes is to serve dinner in same containers that you plan to use for storing leftovers.

I have also had dinnertime success by using my trusty crock pot for making vegetarian slow cooker recipes.

What works for your busy family when dinner time rolls around?

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Remember – shopping with our daughters can be a fun parent / child activity! Just keep repeating – shopping is fun, shopping is fun …..

If you are a busy parent then you know what I am talking about!

You see soup is a pretty versatile dish. If you are well organized – then you can throw all of the ingredients into a crockpot or slow cooker in the morning and magically, dinner will be ready at the witching hour.

But if you miss that morning window of opportunity – then you can make the soup on the stovetop in the late afternoon and still have a meal on the table.

However, let’s just say that your days are like mine and it’s already evening and the kitchen  is still cold – then you can throw all of the soup ingredients into a pressure cooker for a meal that can be made quickly.

This is one of my own easy soup recipes. It’s something that I threw together – and everything in it can be changed and adjusted. Really it is not much of a recipe at all but rather a “throw everything in a pot and cook” kind of thing.

Easy Vegetable Soup
8 cups water or broth
1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 onion, minced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried italian seasoning
1 tablespoon margarine or olive oil
1/4 cup uncooked small pasta, or pearl barley
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
any other vegetable you want to add
salt and pepper to taste

Put all of the ingredients into a pot and cook for about an hour or so on the stovetop. Adjust times for slowcooker or pressure cooker. Soup is done when pasta and vegetables are cooked through.

Everything is a matter of taste – and I am not much of a cabbage fan – but I have found that the addition of a small amount of cabbage makes the soup taste much better than when I omit it. Just my preference – judge for yourself.

Speaking of cabbage – all cabbage soup recipes are not created equal. However, I did find a promising one and other easy cooking recipes at this site by Ella. I will have to give it a try sometime soon.

Meal planning and food preparation is a big part of parenting. Anything to make this part of the job easier is welcome.

Bon Appetit!