The Balanced Kitchen

Time for food. Time for Life.

  • Home
  • Services
    • Family Programs
    • Individual Programs
    • Wrap-Around Coaching
    • Meal Preparation, with a twist
    • Workshops
    • What is Health Coaching?
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • About
    • Policies
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Cooking Resources
  • Events
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

4 Cooking Projects to Do with Your Kids, Plus Watermelon Water

June 4, 2015 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

4 Cooking Projects to Do with Your Kids, Plus Watermelon Water

I am in the midst of three (3!) weeks with the kids home without summer camp, which means that I am doing that juggling act many of us experience at some point during the summer when we are trying to get work done and also provide fun and engaging activities for our kids (although I am definitely also a believer in free time when kids entertain themselves and even get bored!). Our plans for these weeks include some house projects (cleaning and reorganizing the playroom!), some fun out-of-the-house activities, and cooking projects to stock of the freezer for camp lunches.

As I have written about before, cooking with kids is great for many reasons including decreasing picky eating, introducing new foods, helping them to understand where their food comes from, giving them confidence, and introducing them to math concepts, but it is also a lot of fun, especially when they can get their hands dirty!

If cooking with your kids is a daunting thought, try one of these recipes to get you started. They are favorites in our house!…

Read More »

Filed Under: Cooking with Kids, Feeding Kids, Snacks Tagged With: Easy, family, fun, granola bars, healthy, pizza, scones, watermelon

Healthy Summertime Snacks

May 28, 2015 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Healthy Summertime Snacks

I don’t know about in your house, but in my house summer is also a time of voracious eating! The kids are so active whether at home or at camp that they get really hungry. Really hungry. With that kind of clamoring for snacks, it can be tempting to just fall back on the pre-packaged snack foods that are so convenient.

In trying to figure all of this out for my family, I have decided that it is important to try to maintain the snack and mealtime structure we have during the school year.  I try to stick to our snack routine to make sure that the mealtimes are still the main focus. For us that means a small mid-afternoon snack (now that my kids are older the mid-morning snack has disappeared– at least on most days), which always includes either a fruit or a vegetable, or both. Recently, that hasn’t been cutting it for my 9-year-old in the late afternoons, so I have told him that he can eat as many fruits and vegetables as he wants between afternoon snack and dinner. That way, he can munch away and I don’t need to worry about empty calories. Win-win! That being said, however, I do think it is important not to get so bogged down in the rules that we forget to have fun and relax. Afterall, we want our kids to have a healthy and happy relationship with food, rather than a rigid one, so there is definitely a time and place for flexibility and ice cream! 

Here are some of our fun, favorite, simple snacks that help us make it through the summertime snack attacks:…

Read More »

Filed Under: Feeding Kids, Snacks, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: Easy, fruit, fun, granola bars, healthy, juice and fruit popsicles, kale chips, popcorn, skewers, smoothies, watermelon, watermelon water

Jessica Braider

Hi! I'm Jessica. I love delicious food that is simple and easy. As a busy mom, I am always on the lookout for ways to make life easier and tastier! Read More…

logo
Food Advertising by
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
logo
Food Advertising by

Blog

  • BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!
  • Zucchini & Eggplant Pie
  • Lessons Learned from Hospital Food
  • Vanilla Mini-Cupcakes with Tangy Chocolate Glaze
  • Grilled Fennel and Red Onion Salad
logo
Food Advertising by

Subscribe

Get my posts delivered directly to your inbox!

logo
Food Advertising by
my healthy aperture gallery
recipe redux

Tags

Beans black beans broccoli carrot cheese chicken cooking corn dessert dried cranberries Easy eggplant eggs family feta food waste fruit greens healthy healthy eating holiday holidays kale kids leftovers mexican oats onion parenting parmesan pizza quick self care snacks soup Spinach stress sweet potato time management tomato Vegetables vegetarian walnuts yogurt zucchini

Copyright © 2022 The Balanced Kitchen · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in