Milk to Order on Mother's Day

As usual, we are celebrating Mother's Day with my mom, my sister and our families. As we all gathered in the kitchen this morning for the usual coffee and breakfast mayhem that happens when 10 people are in one house, it occurred to me that we've been requesting milk for a "LaLa Breakfast​box" of sorts for years. Look at this: ​

Holy cow (no pun intended) – everyone has a preference. My mom has always respected and encouraged it.  Like everything else in our lives, thankfully she's there for us. There for the lactose intolerant. There for the coconut enthusiast. There for the skim-or-I'm-gonna-pout little one. And there for all of the preferences in between. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. We appreciate all you do for us!

Thanks, Apple!

We are absolutely over the moon to have been selected by Apple as a 'New and Noteworthy' app on the App Store. Thank you, thank you! 

Banana Muffins... If Only There Were Bananas!

I go through phases with bananas.  Sometimes they are the world's perfect food and I eat one every day. Other times I go for weeks without one. My family loves bananas. Right now we're consuming bananas like we're a family of wild monkeys. Bananas are perfect for traveling. You can throw one in a bag, travel for hours and the bananas is as delicious as ever. They are an ideal toddler food and great for a school kid's lunchbox too. They work well as a standalone masterpiece or as a sidekick to things like sandwiches and yogurts. 

Unfortunately, when we're consuming bananas at this rate, they don't stick around in the fruit bowl long enough to make banana muffins - a wonderful snack beloved by my kids (and their friends!)

Banana Muffins

• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TB sugar
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large very ripe bananas (*very* ripe) 
• 1/2 cup plain kefir 
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with liners. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set it aside. Mix the sugar and vegetable oil together (with a spoon or electric mixer). Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mash the bananas completely and then add them, mixing until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture, stirring only enough to moisten the dry ingredients and blend them in. Next, add in the kefir and vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the muffin tins and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester or knife inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Cool for about 15 minutes. Makes 12-14 muffins. ​

Eating the French Way?

Courtesy of French Kids Eat Everything, by Karen LeBillon

Here's a polarizing issue for you... will your picky eaters be "cured" if they eat The French Way? ​Karen LeBillon's book ​​French Kids Eat Everything offers an interesting perspective on an age old question: how do I get my kids to stop being picky eaters? 

I have met families where one child eats everything and anything and the other child eats only one color of food - beige. This must be frustrating. But I don't believe there is one approach to solve issues like these.

There are aspects of LeBillon's philosophy that I completely agree with: parents are in charge of food education, slow food is happy food and eat mostly real food. While I agree with many of her other points, I don't find them as universal. I would love to eat family meals together but with small children and working parents that is not always possible. In my house, the rule is to try a bite of everything on your plate. My kids don't have to like it and they definitely don't have to finish everything on their plate but to me as a parent it's important that they explore tastes beyond their comfort zone. My daughter tried sea urchin last night for the first time while we were out to dinner. Turns out she didn't like it but we were thrilled that she gave it a go. ​

I definitely disagree with the thought that parents should schedule meals and menus without kids. I love that my kids have opinions about what they do and don't like. I have found that involvement in cooking and menu planning has made my kids more enthusiastic about their meals. I believe that because we've set reasonable guidelines, they know they can't have cake for dinner or the same lunch every day. 

What's your take on Eating the French Way? ​

Lunch Packing Made Easy

Using a new app is usually lots of fun but is sometimes peppered with (potentially frustrating) unknowns. In an effort to make packing lunch for your kid(s) as easy as planning lunch - I wanted to call attention to the button circled here in orange. Click this button to go back and forth between lunchbox view and list view: 

List View

List View Button

You can swipe through each day of the week to clearly see what should be packed on which day. Unfortunately, the app can't pack the lunches for you, but every bit of help in the school lunch department goes a long way.