I’m posting another Recipe Roundup for the FoodieView blog. (Click here to see my Swiss Family Recipes and Cinco de Mayo healthy recipe roundups.)

My assignment from my FoodieView Blog editor is fun breakfast ideas with kids. I have a few dishes in mind, but would also love to get some recipes and pictures from my fellow food and parent bloggers.

If you have a post you’d like me to consider, email me at readablefeast at gmail dot com or leave a comment below with your name, email, your blog’s name URL, and the URL of the post.

Remember, the recipe should either be kid friendly (i.e., something that they could make with a little supervision) or a special breakfast treat that would appeal to kids. It doesn’t need to be healthy (though that’s a plus) just lots of fun!

Of course, I will link back to your blog and give you full credit for the recipe and/or picture.

It’s Memorial Day weekend and that means camping for our family. It’s one of the few times I spend time outdoors. While I used to love playing outside as a child, I don’t as an adult.

If you need a little inspiration to get outside and play, check out Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.

I reviewed the previous version of Last Child in the Woods in June 2006. The new, expanded 2008 edition contains a “Field Guide” with 100 Actions that families and communities can take, along with discussion questions, a report on the movement, and other resources for parents, educators, conservationists, business people and community leaders.

Richard Louv was interviewed in the San Diego Union-Tribune on April 20, 2008. They also ran: For the children, Excerpts from Richard Louv’s ‘Last Child in the Woods’ make a case for increased urban access to nature. You can learn more about the book at www.lastchildinthewoods.com, go to Richard Louv’s website, or read the following excerpt from the book.

BEYOND NATURE-DEFICIT DISORDER
It’s Time to Turn Consciousness into Action

By Richard Louv

Got dirt? “In South Carolina, a truckload of dirt is the same price as a video game!” reports Norman McGee, a father in that state who bought a small pickup-load of dirt for his daughter and friends.

McGee is turning consciousness into action. So is Liz Baird, who keeps a “wonder bowl” available for her children.

When Baird was a little girl she would fill her pockets with natural wonders—acorns, rocks, mushrooms. “My Mom got tired of washing clothes and finding these treasures in the bottom of the washer or disintegrated through the dryer,” Liz recalls. “So she came up with ‘Liz’s Wonder Bowl,’ and the idea was that I could empty my pockets into the bowl. I could still enjoy my treasures, and try to find out what things were, and not cause trouble with the laundry.”

McGee and Baird are among the thousands of parents who have joined – and are leading – an international children and nature movement. Sometimes known as Leave No Child Inside, the effort is bringing together people from all walks of life, who are creating grassroots regional campaigns, state and national legislation, and changes in their own families to help children become happier, healthier and smarter.

An emerging body of scientific knowledge links nature time to longer attention spans, better cognitive functioning, reduction of stress, and strengthened family bonds. What better way to enhance parent-child attachment than to walk in the woods together, disengaging from distracting electronics, advertising, and peer pressure?

Howard Frumkin, director of the National Center for Environmental Health at Centers for Disease Control, recently describes the clear benefits of nature experiences to healthy child development, and to adult well-being.

“In the same way that protecting water and protecting air are strategies for promoting public health, protecting natural landscapes can be seen as a powerful form of preventive medicine,” he says. He believes that future research about the positive health effects of nature should be conducted in collaboration with architects, urban planners, park designers, and landscape architects. “Of course, there is still much we need to learn, such as what kinds of nature contact are most beneficial to health, how much contact is needed and how to measure that, and what groups of people benefit most. But we know enough to act.”

If you’re a parent who missed out on nature as a child, now’s your chance. Indeed, all the gifts of nature that come to children also come to the good adult who introduces a child to nature.

Young people are acting, too, by becoming natural leaders in the movement. For example, a seven-year-old girl in Virginia rounded up her friends and enrolled them in her own Girls Gone Wild in Nature Club. Together they organize backyard campouts and bug hunts.

In Mississippi, teenager Josh Morrison founded Geeks in the Woods (www.geeksinthewoods.org) for his friends and fellow geeks everywhere. He defines “geek” as a “gaming environmentally educated kid,” and says he and his friends — “tired of being labeled” tech addicts — can have their PlayStations and their outdoor time too: “We could be the generation that makes a U-turn back to . . . a balance between virtual reality and what sustains all life . . . nature.”

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One of the first books that I came across when starting this blog was Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi and Ron Barrett. The book and its sequel, Pickles To Pittsburgh, seemed perfect for this blog – food and a slightly ridiculous story that would appeal to kids eight to 12.

My eight-year-old son Nathan picked the book up at the school library last month. I was thrilled – finally he’s reading something that isn’t about sports, wacky facts, or bodily functions! It must have been the illustrations and the story:

The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers.

Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. The town was a mess and the people feared for their lives. Something had to be done, and in a hurry.

I don’t know about you, but a story like this makes me hungry for spaghetti covered in tomato sauce, one of Nathan’s favorite meals.

My son, the “pastaterian”

Nathan became a “pastaterian” (someone who only eats pasta – or would if his parents let him) a couple of years ago. Needless to say, I make a lot of pasta and spaghetti sauce. I usually make sauce from “scratch” using the ever present supply of Italian venison sausage in our freezer and tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in cans. (Unless it’s the end of summer and we have fresh tomatoes.)

My recipe for homemade sauce is easy. I brown the sausage (you could use ground turkey or beef – just add more seasonings later) along with two to three large minced cloves of garlic. Then I add several cans of tomato sauce/diced tomatoes/pureed tomatoes, and season with basil, oregano, and maybe some red wine to taste. Then I bring it to a boil and simmer the sauce for a little bit…or until the hungry masses descend.

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My article, Remote Control: It’s O.K., Mom Said We Can Watch TV, is now up on Smart News, the enewsletter and blog for the Smart Television Alliance, a wonderful site for parents wanting to explore smart and safe television programming for their family.

Here’s an excerpt:

Some experts say that television controls children’s behavior. As the parent, you can take control of the remote and use television as a positive influence on your family. For example, we use television to inspire our children’s potential career choices. As a regular viewer of MythBusters , Nathan has decided he wants to be a stunt man when he grows up. Unfortunately, Paul had to break the news to our son that very few people make careers out of blowing stuff up – even on TV.

Enjoy!

With our economic incentive checks on the way, it’s appropriate time to talk with your kids about money especially since many kids don’t have a clue. Either they think that ATMs are “magic money machines.” (I wish.) Or they think you have no money because you keep saying, “I don’t have the money for that!” when you don’t want to buy something they want.

I recently came across this attitude myself when Lucie said, “Mom, the next time you have some money, can you buy me fruit cups?” I told her, I always have money for healthy snacks.

Here are some book recommendations to get a dialog started about money, spending and saving:

• Bunny Money  by Rosemary Wells for ages four to six. Max and Ruby spend so much on emergencies while shopping for Grandma’s birthday presents, that they just barely have enough money left for gifts. Your child can help count along by keeping track of Ruby’s money. Wells puts an illustration of Ruby’s and its dwindling contents at the bottom of each page where a transaction occurs. Also, parents can photocopy and cut out the “bunny money” on the endpapers. This way children can count out each purchase. I love that you get a great Rosemary Wells story, get to hang out with Max and Ruby, and get to count and play shopping with them. 
• The New Totally Awesome Money Book for Kids, Revised and Updated Edition for ages 9 to 12 was originally written by 11-year-old Arthur Bochner and his mom, financial planner Adriane G. Berg. It has been praised as a terrific introduction to money for kids. Arthur is now 24 and has teamed up with his sister, Rose, to update this guide to the basics of saving, investing, working, and taxes. Topics covered include budgets, investing, credit cards, using the Internet, and paying for college.

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