healthy snack recipes | VIVIAN KIRKFIELD

Super Bowl Sunday is three days away. What does Super Bowl Sunday mean to you? Are you having a Super Bowl Sunday party at your home? Does your family cluster around the TV, watching all of the action?

If you have young children, you can include them in the festivities. Read this wonderful picture book. Invite them into the kitchen to help prepare some yummy and healthful Super Bowl Sunday snacks.

Dino-Football

Written by Lisa Wheeler

Illustrated by Barry Gott

Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (August 2012)

Ages: 3 and up

Themes:

Football, good sportsmanship

Synopsis:

From School Library Journal: “It’s Mega Bowl Sunday in the Lava Dome, and a crowd of excited dinosaurs are watching the Greenblade Snackers play against the Redscales. The rhyming running commentary contains the terminology and all the play-by-play excitement of a televised game. “Kentro gets the takeaway!/This Snacker rookie saved the day.” After the “Dino Halftime Show,” the score is close, but the last play allows small, young Mussaurus to score the winning touchdown. Gott’s illustrations of the tackles are more humorous than brutal, and he draws examples of good sportsmanship on and off the field. A detailed scoreboard and color-coded naming system in the text (the dinos’ names are in green or red depending on their team) make this game easy to follow”

Why do I like this book:

It’s important for parents to share their passions with their children. If you love football, invite your children to watch for awhile. But please don’t expect them to be able to sit through the entire game. Watching Super Bowl Sunday on TV might make more sense to a kid if he or she had heard this story. The book highlights good sportsmanship…a crucial life skill that extends to every area of our lives. Reading this story might also serve as a launching pad for outdoor family activity. Grab that pigskin and head outside with your kids for a football toss.

There are several other Super Bowl Sunday-related picture books out there:

From England, where football is soccer: http://www.ivillage.co.uk/top-10-football-books-kids/81455

http://www.squidoo.com/picture-books-about-football

Related Activities:

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SNACKS

Why not serve an assortment of fresh veggies with a homemade dip or hummus?

Fresh-cut fruits are sweet and nutritious!

A selection of flat breads or crackers teamed up with chunks of cheese make tasty and healthful munchies.

Each of these takes only minutes to prepare…and are so easy, even a child can do it…inviting a child to help in the kitchen is important:

Builds self-confidence and self-worth…helps a child feel useful
Develops an understanding of good nutrition…start when they are young
Encourages ‘picky’ eaters to try new things…kids will often eat what they have helped prepare

Here are a couple of links to posts I’ve done that have perfect foods for Super Bowl Sunday:

Yummy Vegetarian Chili: https://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/new-years-resolution-1-face-your-fears/

Delicious Cock-a-Leekie Soup: https://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/sunday-post-recipe-for-self-esteem/

Some lovely healthful Super Bowl snacks here: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20338949,00.html

On the other side of the world, the conference directors for the 2013 Asian Festival of Children’s Content are putting the finishing touches to their website: http://afcc.com.sg/

Stop by and find out how their National Book Council is working to increase international awareness of quality Asian Content for children around the world and has partnered this year with the National Library Board of Singapore. The event will include authors, illustrators, educators, publishers, literary agents, producers, parents, librarians and anyone who cares about content for kids.

For great content for kids that will give you 100’s of picture book summaries, easy matching crafts and healthful child-friendly cooking activities, purchase a copy on Amazon (or my website) of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking. A PERFECT gift for any parent or teacher of children ages 2-8…as well as for daycare providers and grandparents. No batteries required…powered by a child’s imagination! Buy your copy today!

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday reviews…come and join Susanna Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of picture book writers, illustrators, librarians and others.

Brett Favre to join NFL Network for Super Bowl (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)
A Side By Side Comparison Of Your Super Bowl And Puppy Bowl Starting Lineups (fastcocreate.com)
5 Top Trends for 2013 Super Bowl Commercials (business.time.com)
Super Bowl Sunday! (nfl.com)

Mommy, can I help in the kitchen?

Jake at Time after Time has a Sunday Post Challenge and every week he provides a theme…this week’s theme is DELICIOUS.

Fresh fruits and crisp veggies make some of the best snacks your child can eat. It’s important to make every meal as nutritious as possible and snacks are a great way for kids to get important vitamins, minerals and fiber into their diet.

When my children were young, one of their favorite places to be was in the kitchen, helping me prepare meals and snacks. Even though there might have been some additional cleanup…it was definitely worth it…for me and for them.

Here are two simple healthy snack recipes from Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking.

Overnight Cookies (Gluten-Free)

You will need: 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup ground almonds, 1 cup raisins, 1 large bowl, 1 mixer and 1 greased cookie sheet.

1. Beat egg whites in bowl till stiff peaks form. Your little ones will LOVE watching how the runny egg whites turn to mountains of cream.

2. Add 1/4 sugar and fold in gently.

3. Add ground almonds and raisins and fold in gently.

4. Drop by tablespoonful onto the greased cookie sheet…I use a canola oil spray. If you want a smaller cookie, use a teaspoon.

5. Place the cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven and bake for 5 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cookies in at least 15 minutes…or overnight if you wish. If you have a hot oven, you might want to check the cooling cookies at 15 minutes and remove them then…otherwise the raisins will taste burned.

6. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen, more or less, depending on the size cookie you make.

Traveling Trail Mix (Nut-Free)

You will need: 2 cups Corn Chex, 2 cups Wheat Chex, 2 cups Rice Chex, 2 cups mini-pretzels, 1 cup raisins, 2 tsp Braggs Aminos or low-sodium soy sauce and a 13x9x2 inch microwave-safe baking dish.

1. Melt margarine, mix with Braggs Aminos or soy sauce and pour into baking dish.

2. Add the cereals and pretzels and mix thoroughly to coat.

3. Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

4. Stir and continue to heat in microwave, one minute at a time, until evenly toasted.

5. Add raisins and mix.

6. Store in an airtight container.

You are invited to a Google+ Hangout! This coming week you can check out ‘the parents that make Halloween happen’ on Google+ Hangouts. On Thursday, October 11 at 2:30pm Mountain Time, I will be joining long-time educator and blogger, Susan Case, author of The Happy Mommy Handbook. Susan is going to be reading a special Halloween story and I will be doing a simple craft. We’ll chat about children and picture books and why reading with kids is just about the most important thing you can do with them. I’ll post a link here and on my FB page as soon as I get one.

PARENTS MAKE HALLOWEEN HAPPEN ON GOOGLE HANGOUTS

This week celebrates “the parents that make Halloween happen”
A full line up of HOAs celebrating
#parenting , #kids , and all things #Halloween

Monday
+ Join +Angelique Felix at 2:15 PM CST for a Witches story and cupcakes

Tuesday
+ Join +Angelique Felix at 2:15 PM CST for a Monster song and craft
+ Join +Susan Case and guest +Rachelle Doorley at 5:30 PM CST for Spooky Simple Science Recipes

Wednesday
+ Join +Holly Homer at 9:30 AM CST and guests as they discusses Candy Control
+ Join Kimberley Blaine and guests at 1:00 PM CST as they discuss children’s age differences and participation in Halloween
+ Join +Green Kid Crafts at 2:00 PM CST for Greening Your Halloween
+ Join +Angelique Felix at 2:15 PM CST for a Ghosts! story, song, and craft

Thursday
+ Join +Angelique Felix at 2:15 PM CST for a Black Cat! story and song
+ Join +Holly Homer at 9:00 PM CST for a discussion on Homemade Costumes
+ Join +Susan Case and +Vivian Kirkfield at 3:30 CST for Halloween book reading, craft and discussion on how picture books help children deal with their problems

Friday
+ Join +Angelique Felix at 2:15 PM CST for a Pumpkins! rhyme and song

Want more information about Jake’s Sunday Post?