Hot off the griddle!
I just nabbed a copy of Bean Appétit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food, and can’t wait to put it to work in the kitchen with my kiddos.
Dynamic duo Shannon Payette Seip and Kelly Parthen—co-owners of Bean Sprouts Cafe and Cooking School, a kid friendly restaurant serving healthy fare to Madison-area families—have filled their book with fun, fun, fun. What grown-up cookbook has instructions that tell you to spin in a circle three times before beginning or to waddle like a penguin around the table or shake your hips while the blender’s a whirling?
The book’s design is bright and colorful, filled with a mix of illustration and engaging “food as art” photography kids will love perusing. The recipe instructions are easy for families to follow together, and feature ingredients lists that are reasonable in length and with easily attainable items. Though they run the gamut from breakfast to snacks to outdoor eats and sweet bites, recipes are organized in clever new ways—food fun for a wintry day, book-themed eats, making music and munchies.
The book’s overriding philosophy: Encourage kids to “play” with their food, and you’ll instill a lifelong interest in preparing delicious healthy foods. It’s good for kid giggles, and frustrated parents. Because they’re engaged in the process and having so much fun prepping food in the kitchen, that should translate to fun at the table for mom and dad, as the kids gobble up the new yummy recipes they’ve helped make—perhaps out of foods their tastebuds had previously rejected. Amen to that.
I also dig the cookbook’s fun extras: questions to inspire table talk, games, crafts, and factoids, like favorite pizza toppings, birthday treats, and table manners from around the world. It’s also got handy conversion charts and tips, on top of its just plain good ideas.
So, get cookin’ with your kids. Pick up your copy at a bookstore near you, or order online. Or, better yet, stop into Bean Sprouts Cafe in Middleton and get an autographed copy.
Our Mom Appeal kudos go out to these two busy and creative mompreneurs, who have got the mojo thing going on! Successful cafe and cooking classes, now the fab cookbook, and also a cooking show that’s in the works! Whew! I don’t know how they do it!
—Mama Kate
March 3rd, 2010
How have I lived in Wisconsin, nearly all my life, and never known about this deliciousness?
Snow ice cream. It’s simple. No fancy machines or gadgets necessary: Snow, milk, sugar…and whatever else, like chocolate sauce, or sprinkles, or fruit, or brown sugar and cinnamon and nuts, or ???
Here’s what we did. Fill a cereal bowl with about a cup of clean snow, pack it down well (the Madison, WI, snow is perfect right now) and add more if there’s room in the bowl. Add sugar (1TB), unsweetened cocoa powder (1/2 TB), and heavy cream (about 1/4 c to 1/2 c … wait, guess that would be 1/3 c). Stir it up. Eat. Repeat.
My kids told me I should go out and get my own bowl, and stop tasting theirs. So I did. I mixed mine instead with chocolate soy milk. It was fab, and the calorie count’s a little sweeter on the waistline (heavy cream is, gulp, 50 cals per TB with 3.5g sat fat, 20mg protein, 0 sugar and protein):
1 cup snow
1/2c chocolate soymilk
90 cals
1.75g fat
.5g sat fat
7g sugar
4g protein
0 cholesterol
Thank you Mama Theresa for cluing me in (my kids bless you for it, my waistline may curse you if the snow keeps accumulating!).
It’s a new reason not to shovel. Enjoy!
—Mama Kate
February 22nd, 2010
Just a reminder not to miss our Coffee Talk this Tuesday with nutritionist Tracie Hittman of It’s Your Plate. We’ll learn how to really read nutrition labels. Come for some healthy talk, ask some questions, and enjoy a free cuppa coffee.
Date: Tuesday, February 23
Time: 10-11am
Place: Bean Sprouts Cafe, Middleton
Kids: Welcome!
See you there!
February 20th, 2010
Need one?
All I can say is head over to La Brioche Bakery and cafe on University Ave. Nope, not for their cookies—which I think are the best in the city. Try one of these three divine permutations on sourdough: cherry chocolate (ooey gooey), straight up chocolate (chips in the bread), and orange rosemary (fresh, moist chunks of each). The bread is just how it should be: crusty on the outside, tender on the inside. Delish. Might as well pick up a morning bun for breakfast tomorrow while you’re there …
Yeah. I’m hungry right now.
—Mama Kate 
February 19th, 2010
Mamas—
We just got word of a course you may find of interest—especially if you’re thinking of returning to work, or are rethinking your career. Read on—here’s the description as it was provided to us:
Career Re-invention for Moms
Do you dream of starting a new career, working from home, launching your own business or going back to school to train in a new field? Does taking a leap of faith and going after it seem too scary? If so, this class is for you. We will focus on taking small, manageable steps to build a bridge toward your dream. Topics include bringing your new career into focus, gathering support, and developing practical, effective strategies to move forward.
Location: Waunakee Village Center, 333 S. Madison St.
Dates: Tuesdays, April 20-May 25
Childcare is available.
Time: 10 a.m.-11 a.m.
Room: B
Cost: $57.50 (Waunakee Resident)
$67.50 (Non-resident)
REGISTER ONLINE: You’ll receive immediate confirmation via e-mail. The service is made possible through registration services from Active.com, a web registration company for sports and recreation. There is a non-refundable processing fee which covers Active.com’s processing costs. This is the only fee associated with the service.
By Telephone: Call 850-5992.
By Fax: 850-5994 – Credit card payment information must accompany fax registration or it will not be processed.
In Person: At the Village Center, 333 S. Madison Street, Monday – Friday, 5:30am– 9pm, Saturday 7am - 5pm or Sunday 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Instructor’s Bio:
Laura Lane is a freelance writer, who covers parenting and psychology topics. She has a special interest in career development for moms and enjoys writing profiles of successful entrepreneurs. Her two children keep her on her toes and provide plenty of real life experiences for her writing and teaching.
February 17th, 2010
Some busy days it’s all I can do to eat something green and leafy, or remember to grab fruit on the way out the door so I don’t hoard the Bunny Crackers I packed for the kids. On tired days, I fall back on chocolate and caffeine, with maybe some raisins for fiber. And, usually, I just end up feeling more tired … and wanting more sugary stuff … and totally cranky by day’s end. I need a new plan.
You are what you eat—right? Maybe, like me, you’d like to rethink things—and think a bit more about yourself when you hit the grocery aisles—and know more about what and how you should eat. What’s more important—overall calories, saturated fat calories, protein, fiber, the ingredients? How do you figure it all out?
Find out at our Tuesday, February 23, 10-11 am Coffee Talk, at Bean Sprouts Cafe in Middleton.
Our expert guest is nutrition consultant Tracie Hittman, owner of It’s Your Plate. Tracie’s primary philosophy is easy to remember and embrace (perfect for us busy mamas): “Eat Real Food.” She is known around Madison for her great and insightful events—from healthy grocery store tours to a slew of educational classes, including her upcoming Balance Your Blood Suagar, Nutrition 101, and Endless Energy.
She’ll focus on nutrition for moms, and fill us in on how to balance food choices to create health—whether it’s about just eating more healthfully, eating smarter, eating to fuel and active lifestyle, or eating to be slimmer.Her great tips and advice will include: How to read nutrition labels to find the right choices for best health, including the importance of how choices—especially poor ones—can affect blood sugar, hormones, behavior/how your feel, weight, etc. We’ll start with an interactive “Know Your Ingredients” quiz, and also share shopping lists, snack choices to keep you in balance, and resources for best foods.
An added morsel: All Coffee Talk attendees can enjoy a free 20-minute session with Tracie, by appointment!!!
See you at Bean Sprouts. Bring your nutrition and food questions for Tracie Hittman. Enjoy a gratis cuppa joe. Stay for some great (and healthy) eats! Kids are welcome!
—Mama Kate
veggie photos by Kate Bast
February 12th, 2010
Families!
Get your taste buds out and get ready for some good eats—and play a little game in the process. Bean Sprouts Cafe is looking for VIPea Taste Testers to test out the online recipes that with the cafe’s Bean-GO game!
This healthy twist on Bingo is a great way to get kids to try to new taste (read: fruits and veggies). To play, get out your Bean-go card and let the kids pick a food to try. Together with your kids, follow the provided recipe to make the delicious eats. Cross off each new food after your kids try it, until they get five in a row. Or, play “blackout,” in which each square must get crossed off. Winner gets a reward! (Perfect reward: Make an entire meal or snack of their favorite tastes or recipes! I think my kids will get an extra few Ring-a-Bing-Bing Cherry and Chocolate Chip Cookies washed down with a double-sized Super Star Fruit Smoothie!)
A Bean-go card activated with a recipe for each taste is available on the Bean Sprouts web site. Be sure to rate the recipes—you and your bitty bakers can pass along your expert taste bud and prep chef advice for Bean Sprouts’ new book “Bean Appetit: Hip & Healthy Ways to Have Fun With Food.”
Food IS fun!
—Mama Kate
February 10th, 2010
I have been hearing about Wildtree for a while now, but, until recently, I haven’t given it a try. Mo Tiedeman, a wonderful MomAppeal reader helped me to learn more about it and try some of the amazing food options they have. Wildtree offers healthy meals for families and has offerings that allow for allergies to be considered. This was exciting for Mama Kate and I for personal reasons. My father has Celiac disease and Mama Kate’s son has a severe nut allergy—quick and easy food that is healthy(no hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup, no preservatives, no additives…) and comes with options that are available to her son and my father? Fantastic!!!
In fact—all of the products are peanut free. Last year, Wildtree decided to go tree nut free as well. Peanut allergies are a very serious thing to those dealing with them, and being a pantry line that is peanut free AND preservative free is the cornerstone of how Wildtree was built. Wildtree oversees the entire production of everything in the line. The idea for a pantry line that was additive free and peanut free was due to necessity.
Company founder, Leslie Montie, had a child with a severe allergy to peanuts, along with other severe food allergies. She also had a daughter with with diabetes, as well as some other afflictions in her family that caused her to really struggle to find easily prepared meals at dinner time. In addition to raising a family, she had the added stress of food allergies that would literally be deathly to her children. So, she did what she had to. She created her own line of pantry staples based on the type of food her kids wanted to be eating but could not. Word about her preservative free line spread through friends and neighbors, and before she knew it, she was selling her blends at local craft fairs until recently, when there was such a demand for these products that the idea of going nationwide through direct sales was born.
And that’s where Wildtree is now. After trying a number of their items…the Wheat Flax Beer Bread and Butter Flavored Grape-seed oil being favorites, I am a fan. Homemade bread with dinner in about 25 minutes…all of which was in the oven–insane?? My family was amazed!! I adore the fact that this line is nut free and does have some gluten free options!
Mamas who are fighting the nut and gluten beasts in their households just got a leg up!
One way for you to try the Wildtree items is by attending Mo’s ” Wildtree Martini’s and Manicures” (MARTINIS!!!!), February 5, from 5-8 at the Horizon Apartment Clubhouse, 360 Prairie Way Boulevard, Verona. Those that mention they saw this post on MadisonMomAppeal will receive the following promotion—make any bundle purchase and you will receive the following 3 full sized bonus items:
Wildtree Whole Wheat Flax Seed Beer Bread—my FAVE
Wildtree Garlic and Herb BlendWildtree
Just Like Mom’s Meatloaf
If you are interested in more information or want to order online –which you can do if parties aren’t your bag! Mo’s contact information and website is below!
608-577-8714
MoT.mywildtree@gmail.com
www.MoT.mywildtree.com
Mama Jen
January 29th, 2010
LOVE THIS BUMPER MAGNET!
It’s produced by The Save the Ta-tas Foundation, a private not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the advancement of breast cancer awareness, education, prevention, and research—and laughter as good medicine.
You can, in fact, clad your entire family in shirts and accessories to proclaim support. Don’t miss the all-natural Boob Loob, to help make breast self-exams easier. With each purchase, 5% of the price is donated to the foundation, to fund its efforts. You also can make a tax-deductible contribution via the foundation’s website. Be sure to check out the “Show Us Yours” link.
For those of you brave enough to permanently affix something to your bumper, the foundation also makes stickers you can attached to your rockin’ kid-hauler.
Heck, “the girls” proceed us all anyway, so why not?
— Mama Kate
January 25th, 2010
My favorite music venue in town, High Noon Saloon , is having it’s 5th Annual kid’s day this Saturday, January 23rd. David Landau will be performing and that is more than exciting for us!
David Landau, who once was a first grade teacher in Verona, has such a way with the kids. He is uber-silly and involves the kids in the songs whenever he can. My daughter acts similarly to how the girls screamed for the Beatles in the 60s. She just loves him! She wants his signature, wants pictures with him, wants to sing with him…he is that magical! His lyrics are infectious too… trust me, Old Ford Truck and Icky Sticky Bubble Gum will be welcome little additions to the songs that get stuck in your head…
If you are looking for some escape from the winter blahs with your family tomorrow, you can rock out at either the noon show or 2:00 show at one of Madison’s most amazing music venues with one of it’s most amazing children’s entertainer!
Mama Jen
January 22nd, 2010
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