Strike While the Kid is Hungry...

(not to be interpreted as beating your child into eating vegetables)

I just mean that the dreadful hour before dinner time is the perfect opportunity to lure your kids into the raw veggie world. If they're starving out of their minds while you stir the sauce, you won't feel bad if there's a plate of baby carrots on the counter.

What is your world like when you're home alone with the kids, trying to prepare a healthy meal? Are you cooking with one hand and one leg? Are you sauteing the noodles and boiling the onions because you can't concentrate with all the screaming kids? If you're like me, you question which is more important... a healthy meal for the kids, or your own sanity.

When the kids are this rowdy due to exhaustion and hunger, give them healthy food to nibble on to carry them over. What a great problem solver! Try these snack ideas for that witching hour before dinner:

- baby carrots or sliced peppers (ranch dip if necessary)
- whole grain crackers (not whole grain goldfish), and look for the lowest amount of sugar
- edamame (slightly salted or a squeeze of lemon)
- milk
- boiled egg (keep a stash in the refrigerator, boiled eggs keep for 4-5 days)

If you are struggling to get your little ones to try healthy food, this is what I call striking while they're hungry. Just remember to not back down when they scream for a gogurt (do they still make those things?). If they truly are hungry, kids will eat the carrots. L

She's a little busy...

Have you seen Victoria's site lately? My business partner, Victoria, is a fabulous graphic designer, in case you didn't know, and her business is booming. Check out her beautiful work at http://www.victoriapzurcher.com/.

I'm proud to say we started this little journey together, but I'm even more proud to call her my friend. She's my confidante, my griping buddy, and the person I can call when I'm close to her neighborhood, have to pee, and would rather not use a public restroom :)

Even the most fabulous of business women/moms can't squeeze more than 24 hours out of a day, so Victoria has decided to leave the SuperNoots stuff to me. I'm officially taking full ownership of SuperNoots, and even though it's a little bittersweet, I know it will be an exciting adventure.

SO, please visit her website and wish her well. As for me and Victoria, you'll see us hashing out the Greek food at our local church festival and dragging our kiddies to all the corny kid functions around town.

An amazing lady named Lisa Cohen has recently given a huge lift to SuperNoots. She's a master blogger who loves life and all the fine details that make it beautiful.

I am extremely honored to be featured on her site. She's blogged about SuperNoots twice now, and thanks to amazing traffic, I have been super busy.

Turns out Lisa's also quite the fan of Coldplay, my favorite group. Coldplay is also one of the two musical selections my husband and I both love (Alison Krauss is the other... odd combination, I know). She's attending a concert next month, so she promises to keep us updated.

Please check out her blog at http://www.lisacohen.typepad.com/ and see for yourself how charming she is. She also teaches classes at http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/.

I'll post later about an amazing adventure I recently had in Las Vegas. My fabulous sister-in-law, Frankie, took me and a friend to the Country Music Awards. It was so much fun. I'll post pictures, too. -Lori

So your kid does not like all things bread...

I personally can't imagine it, but according to one of our blog readers, it's true. If your little one turns up her nose at sandwiches, noodles, rice... well, I must say I feel for you, because I don't know what I would do!

First of all, you might mention this to your pediatrician on your next visit. I've always believed kids are great at listening to their bodies, and maybe her body is telling her not to eat it. It may be, though, that she doesn't like the texture or taste for that matter, so after you've ruled out all things medical, then here's my advice...

Since whole grains are essential, I mean really essential, to our growth and development, then I would work hard at finding ways to fit them into her diet. Read one of my favorite articles on whole grains to see all the medical details (http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-whole-truth-about-whole-grains). All these reasons will make sense to you, but to your kid, decreasing her risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer may not be that motivating. That's why my MOM ADVICE is to make it all about the poop.

What? Did she really just say that?

Yes, I did! It's all about the poop!

Biscuit will not appreciate me saying this, but he is obsessed with his poop (I hear Oprah is obsessed, too). Biscuit and Oprah know what healthy poop looks like, and they also know that eating whole grains is the way to keep poop looking healthy. When Biscuit's poop is a c-shaped solid brown poop, then we have a little celebration. I tell him he must have eaten his whole grains, because his body is happy and telling him about it. (It is NOT a mom lie to tell your kids their bodies talk to them via their poop).

SO, analyzing her poop may not be the most ladylike thing she'll ever do in her life, but it will be one of the most beneficial. If her poop is less than healthy-looking, encourage her to eat more whole grains. If she follows through and has poop that would make Oprah jealous, then offer her a reward of her favorite activity or have a new toy stashed away for the occasion.

Of course, the down side of talking so much about poop is the 'preschool effect.' Go ahead and clear a space on your counter for the note from her teacher. She'll without a doubt feel the need to educate her friends on good-looking poop, and might even want to give her friends a free poop analysis. SO, you might want to work in a little discussion about poop-talk etiquette.

OK, BLOG READERS!!! Let's help this mom out by giving her some ideas for how to make whole grains more appealing... that is, if you can stomach talking about food right now :) Lori