Lessons!

I was having a conversation the other day with the mother of one of my daughter Lillian’s classmates about math and working at home to improve comprehension. I walked away thinking to myself that I don’t really love math and I don’t even care much for trying to explain first grade math.

I consider myself lucky in the fact that Lillian has a good head on her shoulders and can figure out a lot for herself, despite my floundering explanations. In thinking of the lack of enthusiasm I have for working on sums with Lillian, I started thinking about how I encourage her math skills in other aspects of her life.

As a Genesis Transformation Coach, Personal Trainer and someone who has always been conscious of diet, I am pretty meticulous with what I feed myself and my family. The nature of our diet puts me in the kitchen for a fair amount of time. I have few complaints, I love to cook! The enjoyment I get in the kitchen seems to be transferring over to my girls; Lillian and I have been cooking together for years and now Sage is following right behind.

The lessons my girls are learning from our kitchen are valuable! When I follow recipes, I tend to alter them. As Lillian and I cook together and change the ingredient amounts, I encourage Lil to figure out how to increase some ingredients or decrease others. As we are cooking, we are developing her math skills. Math may not be my strong suit but I am a great cook and I am able to help my daughter develop her math brain in the time that we cook together; we also have a lovely time side by side at the counter.

My two year old, Sage, also loves to stand at the counter and ‘help’. The lessons we are sharing with her are not yet mathematical, but she always wants to participate and the enthusiasm she has for her creations is addicting. When Sage asks for juice, she wants to make it; she wants to put carrots and beets, peppers and apples, fresh ginger and mint, celery and spinach into the juicer. She loves the color, loves the pulp and loves the results. For breakfast, she often wants pancakes and that means that she will be making them. We add pumpkin and applesauce, fresh local eggs and honey. She doesn’t use syrup and eats stacks. At dinner she will eat a rainbow of veggies double dipping, at least, in hummus.

We are not perfect. Both my girls love sweets and pizza, french fries and tacos made with frozen fish sticks are favorites. But all in all my girls eat a well rounded diet and the lessons they are learning out of our kitchen will stay with them throughout their lives. They are both strong, healthy and enthusiastically use their well fueled brains. I get to enjoy time in my kitchen with my girls and share my love of good food with them as well as reap the rewards of children who usually eat what is in front of them, even if things are hidden and disguised occasionally.

Spring Break!

This week my girls are out of school so in observance, I am taking a break from the exercises.

Instead, as things come up that are enjoyable for my girls and I, I will share those experiences/experiments instead.

Recently Lillian (7) and I were working on a few gift ideas for Sage (2).

We decided upon multi-colored, heart shaped crayons. We found a mini-heart shaped muffin tray at a craft store. We peeled the papers off crayons and broke them into small pieces. We put the crayon bits into the muffin molds and melted them all together at the lowest bake temperature in our oven.

They ended up with a clear layer on the top which probably could have been avoided if we had stirred them a bit but this falls into the experiment category. They are a great size for chubby little hands to hold on to and Lil and I had fun putting them together!

Happy Spring!

My Kids Will Always Eat A...

Dutch Baby.
I have altered, surprise, the yummy, baked pancake that my mom used to make for my brother and I. This is a delicious, protein packed breakfast and can easily be made savory for dinner.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Heat a medium skillet, cast iron preferably, while the oven is warming up
Melt a bit of butter in the bottom of the skillet as it warms.
Slice an apple and place the slices around the skillet.

In a blender...
add 4 eggs, blend for the count of 30,
add 1/2 cup milk, I use rice, blend again
add 1/2 cup flour, I have been using a mix of coconut, rice, spelt, etc. and blend once again
I also add in ground flax meal, a bit of honey, vanilla, cinnamon and whatever else strikes my fancy;
grated coconut, fresh ginger, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds/almonds/walnuts...
Pour mixture, it will be like a smooth pancake batter, into heated pan, over the apples, and bake until it is golden brown and puffy.

The apple on the bottom is not necessary and sliced peaches, nectarines or berries sprinkled on top once the batter is in the pan is also great. My girls like this with yogurt, I used to like it with fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. Whatever your fancy, it is quick and simple and usually a breakfast hit.