A Dinner Story

Here at Peas of Mind, keeping kids healthy and happy is what we do best. We like to think that we celebrate kids every day by feeding them their favorite foods while stealthily filling them up with their daily dose of veggies, but we think the time has come to celebrate the grown-ups! 

We know that at the end of the day, it's the hard working parents that (no matter how chaotic and crazy their schedule) bring the food to the table.  So we're going to celebrate you and share your story with Peas-Perspective's, A Dinner Story staring...YOU of course.  Every other week we will chose one inspirational parent to feature on our blog; you'll fill out our Actor's Studio inspired questionnaire and then receive some free (not to mention delicious and nutritious) Peas of Mind product.

So with out further adieu, we'd like to present to you (drum role please):

Staring Suzanne & Lauren

Where do you live?  

"San Francisco, CA."

What are your kid's names and ages? 

"Lauren, she'll be 8 next month."

What meal do you make that you know, no matter what, your family will devour? 

"We have a Friday night tradition of homemade pizza.  Lauren is nuts about pesto sauce, so she mans the food processor and we make up a batch to use instead of marinara; topped with nice fresh mozzarella or burrata. It's her go to now."

What's your favorite Saturday morning breakfast to enjoy as a family? 

"Our weekend ritual is "Pancake Sunday", which then morphed into Ebelskiver Sunday, and then Crepe Sunday (my sister likes to buy me kitchen gadgets for Christmas.) The all time favorite for Lauren has become crepes with Nutella, peanut butter and banana, topped with a GIANT helping of whipped cream.  She starts running around the house like a mad woman when she hears the hand mixer start up to make the whipped cream.  Sundays always start off well in our house."

What's your favorite Peas of Mind Product?  

"No surprise that the Peas of Pie is a huge hit in our house (not just with Lauren, I love them too!) We also LOVE the new Garden Grown Nuggets, Lauren thought they were chicken and had no idea she was eating a whole serving of veggies."

Lauren enjoying our Garden Grown Nuggets

How many times per week do you cook from scratch? 

"Average would be around 5 nights a week,  It coincides with school nights.  I let loose a bit on the weekends."

What's your go to "I'm feeling unhealthy and need a nutrient-power punch" meal? 

"Seafood has become a bigger part of our diet the last few years.  Lauren LOVES halibut.  A nice pan seared halibut with steamed broccoli is always a healthy winner in our house."

What kitchen tool could you never live without? 

"My steaming basket!  Lauren's favorite veggies are broccoli and artichokes.  I use that thing every time I cook dinner!"

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

"There's so much good food out there, I don't know if I could pick just one thing!  If it were up to Lauren, we'd probably go with gnocchi, in a pink sauce, with fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano.  In which case, we'd most likely need to relocate to Italy...which wouldn't be too bad."

Cook like a Queen

We’ve heard through the pea-vine that Kate Middle is taking royal cooking classes in preparation for her role as new mum.   We just can’t help but imagine what it would be like to slice, dice and sauté alongside the Duchess of Cambridge in the Buckingham Palace.  But stepping back into reality, it’s obvious that Kate is onto something.  Preparing home-cooked meals automatically makes you and your family healthier; people consume 50% more calories, fat and sodium when they eat out than when they cook at home.   So whether you never cook, rarely cook, or sometimes cook, we want to inspire you to step into the kitchen even more.  By following these simple steps, you will begin to enjoy preparing meals for your family just as you would if you were cooking with her highness.

• Plan accordingly.  Make your dinner goals and write down a plan of attack.  Would you like to make three home cooked meals this week?  Your first step is to figure out what you’re going to make and remember to start with a simple recipe that you know your family will like then build from there. 
• Create a detailed list. Grocery shop for all your weekly meals at once, which means before you go the grocery store make a detailed list of every ingredient you will need.  Also, find out what produce is currently in season in your area and add that to your list.   This will save you money as seasonal produce costs much less due to its availability.
• Make sure your pantry is well stocked. Check out our Peas-Perspective about our favorite kitchen staples and use it to help you stock up.
• Get comfortable with your knife.  In order to get the most out of your home cooked meals you’re going to want to load those plates with vegetables so it’s important that you feel confident while slicing zucchini’s, chopping tomatoes and dicing onions. You’ll also find that when you know how to use your knife you’ll save loads of time on prep.  We found this youtube knife skills video very helpful and we think you will too.
• Set the mood.  Do what you need to do to make cooking feel like a joy, rather then a task.  Light some candles, fill your favorite vase with flowers and set it in a place you can see it, put on your favorite album, sing along and remind yourself that Kate is doing the same thing.
• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Burn the rice, over salt your marinade, drop some lemon seeds into the dressing…it’s all-good.  As you get more comfortable with your favorite recipes this will happen less and less, your meals will get tastier and you will speed up the whole meal making process. But until then, just relish in the learning experience.   Just remember to have a few Peas of Mind products on hand so that when this does happen, you can toss a pizza in the oven with some veggie fries and know that your family is getting a health meal and that it will be better next time.