Tuesday Tip: Taming the "witching hour" (a.k.a Surviving Dinnertime with tots)

According to Wikipedia, the witching hour is "the time of day when supernatural creatures such as witches, demons, and ghosts are thought to appear and to be at their most powerful."  If you ask me,  it's the window between 5:30 and 6:30pm when our darling children turn into whining witches and demanding demons -- just as any power I have left is officially waning.  And, if you ask them, the kids will probably tell you that when I get home from work, I can be the biggest, baddest witch of all.

It happens to all of us (or so I'd like to think, if only to make myself feel better!)... that time when late afternoon slips into early evening and the pressure mounts to slip something delicious and nutritious onto the table before the wee ones slip off to sleep.  It's a recipe for disaster -- and a really tough time to follow any recipe!  So, how do we handle it here in the Lyons Den?  Some days, better than others.  But on the good days, there are some common themes:

• Feed the hungry beast. Or, in my case, beasts.  Today, after I changed out of my work clothes and into my comfy clothes, I discovered a few grabbing goblins sneakily snarfing fruit snacks.  This is a major no-no.  I started to shout.  "No! NO fruit snacks before dinner!"  And then I thought of the cute little pack of sweet peppers I'd picked up at Trader Joe's this weekend; faster than Glenda the Good Witch, I snatched the fruit snacks, chopped the peppers, and served them up with a smile.  The moral of the story: offer up a healthy snack to keep your hungry clan occupied while you whip up dinner.
•  Keep it simple.  I like to cook (which is not to say I am a good cook!) but, weeknight dinners are no time for experimentation.  Stick to the basics and keep the fancy stuff for weekends.  Tonight's dinner plan?  Hot dogs, turkey burgers, corn on the cob and homemade cole slaw, followed by donut peaches for dessert.  Simple, summery and quick. Bye bye goblins and ghouls; hello happy campers! 
• TV is your friend.  Well, more accurately put, the TV is the kids' friend and your sanity saver when used judiciously!  Take today, for example.  It was 93 degrees and humid when I got home from work.  A game of wiffle ball in the backyard was taking a turn for the worse as the plastic bat was thrown across the yard and our trio of three-year olds started swinging aluminum.  Talk about a recipe for disaster!  Once again, I started to yell, and then I remembered the magic box inside the house -- the one that enchants and yes, one might even say bewitches our brood, bringing quiet and calm to our otherwise raucous and rowdy bunch.  After a half hour of The Smurfs, calm was restored, dinner was ready and the witching hour was over... until a new day begins, a day I hope to keep my patience, tame my inner witch and if all else fails, turn to Papa Smurf to be my savior once again!

Tuesday Tip: Meet the Food Yenta

The Food Yenta's new tote bag is awesome - just like her.

I mentioned earlier in the year that I might be doing less blogging in an effort to be spending more time with my family.  If you noticed I've been MIA the past few weeks, that's probably why -- although, it's also been a busy few weeks at work and I recently had the privilege of writing for the Huffington Post so, needless to say, there hasn't been a lot of spare time!  

In the midst of it all the working, writing and wrangling of wily children, I had the good fortune to enjoy a fun night out with some local bloggers and, as always, I was so impressed and flattered to be in their company.  I'm going to start routinely sharing some of these gal pals with you because, frankly, if you don't know them, you should.  The first is The Food Yenta. She is funny, she is awesome and she is just like you and me -- well, depending on your cooking skills, she may be more like you!  In any case, she is incredible and she shares tasty, quick, easy, family-friendly recipes on her site several days a week.  If I wanted to keep this Tuesday's Tip really short and sweet, I'd simply say "Follow The Food Yenta!" But, since she has some great parenting tips of her own, I thought I'd share them with you here... 

1. Have patience. When it comes to food or just playing games, we all lose it sometimes and kids really know how to push all of our buttons. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I try to remember that that my kids are newbies at life and everything comes in time.
2. My mother-in-law gave me very good advice when I was pregnant with my son and freaked out about being a “mom”. Firm, fair and consistent. It’s a rule I live by and gets us through hard times.
3. Let your kids get dirty. Whether it be a mud puddle or flour, it’s fun. After all, that’s why we have washing machines.
4. Enjoy your kids, even during the worst of times because they grow up quick. It feels like yesterday my son was born and I was holding him in the hospital. Now…now, he’s graduating kindergarten and entering first grade!
5. Coconut oil is great for cooking but it is also great for dry skin and eczema.

For more about The Food Yenta, check out her full interview at Mommy Page.  As for me, I aspire to be a better cook... and a better mom... one day at a time.  If I'm here less often, that will be why and, you can always visit me over at Facebook if you want a quick peek at the latest from the Lyons Den!

Tuesday Tip: Be a Little Sneaky (Sneaky Chef!)

I have a kid who tends to be a little sneaky.  He often has something he's hiding behind his back and has been been known to act a bit like "Swiper" (that sly fox we've come to know through Dora the Explorer) as he swipes toys from siblings and scurries away with them.

As a mom, I don't like sneaky behavior.  Not one little bit.  But, I have to admit to being a bit sneaky myself at times -- like after dark, when the preschool drawings make their way to the trash bin! Awful, I know... you've never done that, right?

Well, I know one Mom who has sassed up sneaky into nutritious and delicious recipes that even Swiper would enjoy.  Meet the Sneaky Chef.

Missy Chase Lapine has a new cookbook that celebrates sneaky as veggies, fruits and power foods (hello flaxseed!) make their way into muffins, macaroni and even meatballs! Do you have a picky eater?  Do your mealtime mantras include exasperated exclamations like "but you have to eat your vegetables!" or "Just try it!"  If so, this is a book full of solutions for you.

Our kids are pretty good about eating fruits and veggies (most of them, anyway!) but even so, I'm all for getting in more of the good stuff when I can and I've been inspired by Missy's nutritional advice and time-saving, kid-tested recipes.  Perhaps best of all, the book includes many great tips for getting food on the table fast-- from suggestions for pantry stocking to a go-to list for grocery shopping, there are practical tips for alleviating the daily stress associated answering that omnipresent question "Hey Ma, what's for dinner?!"  Or breakfast... or lunch... or a snack!  

I think perhaps Missy put it best when she mused "It's not just about saving time. It's also about making the moments your family sits around the table more meaningful."  Amen to that!  

To try a few Missy's recipes for yourself, check out  The Sneaky Chef... and tell her that Swiper sent you. ;)

Parents Need to Eat Too

Parents need to eat too.  This may sound obvious but, it is a simple little fact that is often forgotten in the blur of baby days and toddler tantrums.  My husband is actually great at remembering this little tidbit and frequently recalls the airline advice that urges adults to put on their oxygen masks before tending to the children around them.  He thinks of food (three full square meals a day) like that oxygen... it is absolutely essential and copious amounts are required for his base level of functioning.

The same can not be said of me.  Don't get me wrong.  I love to eat.  Really.  I love love love food.  But, the notion of putting together a plate for myself while a little one is howling never even occurred to me. I just assumed that in the natural order of all things food-related, the kids come first.  Well, guess what?  I was wrong. And, in a moment more rare than a solar eclipse, I'm going to admit something else -- my husband was right!

And, he's not alone.  Debbie Koenig, who you may know from the blog Words to Eat By has a fab new book that will help parents everywhere master the struggle of the juggle -- in particular, the juggle of a jiggly newborn or tuggy toddler and the dinnertime dilemma.

In Parents Need to Eat Too, Debbie shares tips and recipes that will speak to busy moms of tiny tots, myself included!  Although my kids no longer require swaying and shushing and being strapped to me in a sling, those days are not so far behind and I sure would have appreciated this book then.  It contains tasty, simple recipes that be made during nap-time, like Zucchini and Spinach Risotto  or Roasted Vegetable Lasagna.  It also includes what I think is a stroke of pure genius -- an entire chapter of meals that can be eaten with one hand!  Only a mom (and especially a new mom!) can truly appreciate what it's like to have to eat meal after meal with only one hand free because the other one is building up a huge bicep while supporting the head of your precious offspring.  I kind of remember feeling like this in those days...

It's true.  I can vividly recall being so hungry and so helpless that I literally wanted to put my face in my plate just like "mommy's little piggy."  Thanks to Debbie's chapter of One Handed Meals, other moms need not face the same humiliating fate!  Her Broccoli and Cheddar Pinwheels will please kids and parents alike and the same can be said of her Chicken (Pot) Handpies.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of her book and look forward to trying out more recipes in the weeks to come... especially since she also devotes a chapter to "Mom's New Friend: The Slow Cooker".  I got a slow cooker for Christmas and was convinced it would help solve my dinnertime woes... it hasn't yet but, with Debbie's easy recipes in hand, it just might!  

To get your own copy, visit Amazon or Barnes & Noble