There was an article in the Huffington Post recently about a mother who put her 7 year old on a diet, and has now written a book about it.  Three questions arose in me when I read this. Firstly – what was the child eating that she became overweight in the first place? Secondly, what were the activity levels of the child?  Why she couldn’t run off any excess weight? And thirdly, what were the stress levels in the family that …

Ever since reading Simplicity Parenting I have wanted to put together a meal plan. But I also kept putting off creating it until I had more time to think about meals and the flow of our week and eating healthy and all the other things that go into a well thought out meal plan.
Then one day I just got fed up waiting for the right time to come, and put one together on the fly in about five minutes.  It …

It started as an all-out attack on the family grocery budget. My love for feeding my family “real” foods with simple ingredients I recognize was deeply rooted, and, I think, an integral part of our simplicity journey…but it was decidedly not compatible with my grocery budget.  What was I to do?  After several months of flagrant overspending, it became clear that Food and Finances needed to sit down and have a little meeting of the minds.

I discovered a fantastic …

As long as I can remember, having people over for dinner always meant trying new recipes, or at least making something complicated that I already knew how to make.  I’m not sure why that is the case.  Even something “easy” like quiche, I would make it more complicated by putting in ingredients like sliced potatoes and asparagus that had to be cooked and sliced and diced before going into the quiche.  And as far as the new recipes were concerned, …

Six weeks ago I set out to make a meal rhythm for our family. I was looking to make a little headway against “ick I don’t like that” which had recently made it’s way into our house. I sat down and looked at the kinds of meals we eat regularly, this is easy for me, I’m a food blogger. I looked at what kind of meals I feel best about serving my family. And which ones made my family happiest. …

“Eat food, Not a lot, Mostly plants ” ~ Michael Pollan
Green vegetables are the foods most missing in modern diets. Learning to cook and eat greens is essential to creating health. Greens strengthen the blood and respiratory system. Green is associated with Spring, the time of renewal, refreshment and vital energy. In Asian medicine, green is related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity.
Nutritionally, greens are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc and vitamins A, C, E …

What a wonderful resource The Parenting Passageway brought to our attention today!
Visit Carrie’s post about this free e-book that many parents will want to download.
Happy Tuesday Simplifying Families!

Earth day is this Friday, April 22, 2011. Wondering what you can do to motivate yourself to think GREEN?  There’s an organization that many of you may already be familiar, but for those of you in areas of the country where you feel unsupported as a simple, natural family this may be a way for you to get connected and find your tribe!
If you don’t have a Holistic Moms chapter within shouting distance, why not think about starting your own?
The  …

For many of you spring break has come and gone, and for others it is next week, April 18-22. Perhaps you have made plans for a trip or you have family coming to stay.
If the week is looming before you without plans I encourage you to reflect on making it a family renewal week!
Part of renewal could be turning off all electronics for the week and creating a simple daily rhythm that holds you, nourishes all of you, and slows …

Have you heard about the free “Feed. Play. Love. Parenting with Purpose” Telesummit?
You can register for free and gain access to the telesummit including the following on the program’s agenda:
 

Week 1- Feed: get your nourishment!

Week 2- Play: receive playful ideas & inspirations

Week 3- Love: ways to love your child and yourself

The website states they’ll teach you to feed your child’s body, mind and spirit…

Give ways to allow them space to play and foster their own ingenuity and creativity…

Inspire ways to …