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.