I have always had a slight heart attack when my kids got anywhere close to the kitchen while I was cooking.  I was so worried that they would get cut, burnt, or flattened by pots and pans.  As my oldest starts to get more curious, I see my kitchen as less of a danger zone.
 
He just turned 3 a few months ago and is a picky eater.  He would eat peanut butter and jelly for every meal if I let him.  Unfortunately for him, I'm the type of mom that cooks one meal and if you don't eat it, then you don't eat at all.  I recently noticed that he gets excited to eat whatever I'm cooking as long as he's had a hand in making it.
 
I still make sure to keep him away from the stove, but he helps me get the ingredients ready.  No matter what I'm making, I can find some way for him to get excited about helping.  Usually it is simple things like stirring or pouring ingredients into bowls from the measuring cups, but he can't wait to tell everyone we know that he helped make the meal.
 
He never used to eat chicken and dumplings, but last week I had him help me roll the dough in flour and he thought that was the best job ever.  He even had to call my mom to tell her that he was helping.  I was more than excited when he ate every bite on his plate that night.
 
It might be more time consuming and messy, but having my "little helper" in the kitchen is worth it.  We're having fun bonding time and he's finally eating more than PB&J.  Seeing him beam with pride makes me want to bake all day.

By Guest Blogger Dee from Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

By Heather from Rookie Moms

I have many fond memories of eating fast food growing up. I remember those salty fries, the cheap toys, and begging for it all the time. The best thing about road-tripping was that my mom would stop putting up a fight.

Now that I’m a parent of a three year-old and a five-year old, with Alice Waters-influenced eating standards, I’ve made eating on the road tougher for myself. It’s harder to turn up my nose at fast food when there are two whining monkeys in my backseat, yet I am stubborn that way.

For healthier meals on the road, I encourage you to do three things:

1.    Pack and hoard. Bring along some nuts and a small cooler of chillable healthy food: baby carrots, snap peas, hummus, {link} hard-boiled eggs, cheese sticks. As tempting as it is to pack snack bars and other foods that come in their own cartoon character-adorned containers, make sure you’re bringing protein and grains that will keep everyone’s energy level on even keel. Anywhere you stop, you’ll have a healthy picnic ready to go.

2.    Preview your route. Can you find a few healthy chain restaurants along your way? We often use Yelp on our phones to search for “fresh-mex restaurants”. A black bean and cheese burrito will fuel every family member for the next hundred miles or so. The website companion for Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide scores various fast food restaurants and shares tips to avoid extra salt, calories, and bad stuff.

3.    Be realistic. If a constant stream of treats is what keeps the monkeys quiet (and in turn the driver’s blood pressure in check), you can always resume  eating well when you get home. And your monkeys will have their own fond memories of road-tripping as the only time you ever gave in to their demands for junk food.

To be a savvy parent, sometimes you must plan ahead and sometimes you must chill. Going on vacation should be relaxing for you too. Vegetable consumption may suffer.

Guest bloggers Heather Flett and Whitney Moss are authors of The Rookie Mom’s Handbook: 250 Activities to do With (and Without!) Your Baby. They also share crazy fun activities at Rookie Moms and 510Families.com. They each have two children and live in Berkeley, CA.