By Katie Workman of Cookstr.com

Sometimes we all fall into the trap of making assumptions about what our kids will and won’t eat, and we avoid something new because we anticipate that it won’t be met with open arms.  Beans often fall into this category.  And I will say for the record that my oldest (age 9) is only slightly amenable to beans in certain soups and dishes, but my younger one (age 6) will eat half a can of garbanzos in a sitting.  He really adores bean soups and bean stews, which makes it very easy get some good protein and fiber into him without making meat the centerpiece of every dinner.  This lentil soup met with a big thumbs up from him.  Sometimes if I’m offering up a new thing in my house, I’ll put a few tablespoons in a small ramekin and give it to my kids to taste - much less overwhelming to them than being presented with a full bowl of something they’re feeling skeptical about.

Just to confirm: the alcohol in the red wine cooks off completely, and all that’s left is a nice flavor boost.  You don’t have to get the Le Puy lentils or the arborio rice, but those ingredients do take the soup to a different level.

Ingredients

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By Angella from Committed: The Ties That Bond and Dutch Blitz

I should start this off by saying that I am in no way at all an expert on fitness. I am just a woman who has managed to, for the most part, fit exercise into her life for the past nine years.

My first true stint at exercising was when I was a newlywed living in Vancouver. There was a gym next to my office and I would attend exercise classes either before work or during my lunch hour. My firm promoted fitness and allowed me a longer lunch in order to go to class.

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Image from Real Simple

We have a few vegetarian friends and I always feel like I am serving them a collection of side dishes when they come over for dinner. So for our next dinner party I went searching for some vegetarian main course recipes and came up with a few that I’d like to try:

Real Simple: Swiss chard with chickpeas and couscous

Well: Risotto with beet greens and roasted beets

Martha Stewart: Lighter eggplant Parmesan

By Leah from Working on Motherhood and A Girl and A Boy

Now that I have almost an entire year of parenting under my belt, I finally feel like I’ve earned the right to throw out advice to anyone, at any time, and at 90 mph, like an automatic ball-pitcher gone haywire. Heads up! I’m coming straight at you! After all, what better way to make mom friends than to tell them exactly how to parent, right?

Okay, obviously unsolicited advice is not what moms want to hear, and least of all when they’re new moms trying to navigate the perilous landscape of parenthood on top of being sleep-deprived, strapped onto the roof of the Hormone Express, and worried that their insides and outsides have been rearranged beyond repair. What new moms don’t need is someone telling them what to do or, worse, someone telling them that they’re doing it all wrong. What you need is love, support, encouragement, respect, validation, and, okay, maybe a few gentle nudges from someone who’s been there. (That’s me!) Oh, and you probably also need a shower.

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My mom is a great, intuitive cook. So I know it pains her a little bit to have to call me for this recipe, which is barely even a recipe. But call she does, whenever she plans to make these. And every time I go over this with her on the phone she says, “Right, right, of course,” and then doesn’t bother to write it down because it’s so ridiculously simple.

The secrets: not too much, not too little oil; high heat; nice amount of salt; non-stick cooking spray (you’ll only forget this once to learn that lesson. Maybe twice.)

My kids call them square french fries. You will serve these with anything, and if you put them out to nibble on with drinks before dinner, they will be gone in a flash.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Yukon Gold or other waxy potatoes, peeled or washed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 – 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450° F.

Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with nonstick cooking spray. Cut the potatoes into 1 or 1 ½ inch chunks (bigger chunks=more creamy insides). Spread them out on the baking sheet drizzle the olive oil over, sprinkle the salt over, and toss with your hands to combine.

Make sure they are in a single layer and roast for 40-50 minutes or so, tossing them once midway through the cooking, and spreading them out again.

By Nadine from Martinis for Milk

“Play Batman with me Mommy,” my almost-five-year-old son,Nate , calls to me as I’m caught checking my Blackberry again. I look up at him, wanting to make him happy, but completely clueless. “OK, but you’ll have to tell me HOW we play Batman.”

I have a dirty secret. I don’t know how to play with my kids.

While my husband creates intricate games and stories in moments, I seem to be missing that gene. But he often works nights, leaving me home alone with two kids under five. Here’s how I get creative with quality time.

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I love one-dish meals. Love them, love them. Less mess, less process, and if you have a good recipe, the result is tasty. Here are a few casserole recipes I’m planning to try in the next few weeks:

Real Simple: Baked shells and broccoli

Simply Recipes: Zucchini breakfast casserole

Rachel Ray: Retro-metro fancy tuna casserole

By Sherry of Chaos Theory

There are always rough transitional moments when the school year starts back up; getting up early and rushing everyone out the door, getting back to the grind of homework, and regular bedtimes to name a few.  However, one thing that always seems to strike fear into parents is the thought of having to pack a school lunch.  Many schools offer up hot lunches, but they’re not always appealing and the truth is they cost a lot more than a lunch you prepare and send yourself.

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The phrase 30-minutes or less has been stealing a lot of thunder in the cooking world over the past few years.  And for obvious reasons: the idea of getting a meal on the table in half an hour is completely appealing.  But sometimes those 30-minute recipes require you to move around at high speed the entire time, chopping, sauteing, sprinkling, stirring, and while you might get it all done in 30 minutes, you might also be exhausted at the end.  And your kitchen might look like a war zone, requiring more than 30 minutes of clean up.

This is why it’s also good to include roasts and braises in your weekly list of dinners.  They will almost always take longer than half an hour, but almost all of the needed time is hands-off cooking time, leaving you free to make other dishes, help with homework, get to that mountain of bills…or just watch a rerun of “Friends”.  I know which I’d pick.
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By Samantha from Back To Me

When we got pregnant I had a few fears about our impending bundle: the wee one would be colicky (check!), would rage against the car (dodged that bullet), and would be a bedtime h8r.  In fact, the sleep issue was the one I was most concerned about so I made sure to read up on ALL the sleep solution books I could get my water retaining hands on.  The main theme?  GET THEE TO A ROUTINE AND QUICK, WOMAN.  This was a no-brainer for me as it made complete and total sense.  Routines help kids feel secure, know what’s coming next and not throw them into a rabid frenzy with each bed time transition.  So that is what we did.

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