It is no secret my crew and I love Asian inspired meals. I seriously watch Mark Weins of Migrationology every single day.  He is this amazing blogger and food traveler that I am subscribed to and dude makes me so hungry with every single video. He does primarily focus on Asian countries but he has been featuring videos of his trip to Mexico and that is another place that has some serious amazing good food.



Anywoo, I am now contributing as recipe developer for Town and Gown magazine here in my town. When the editor said healthy and good, I knew I wanted to do Asian inspired. The use of fresh greens, herbs and veggies is so inspiring and so healthy. Pair it with a little flair with the sauces and oh muh gawd, yes.

My children loved each one of these recipes but they took most to the spring/summer rolls so much that I had to make them everyday for that entire week. I didn't complain though, heck, they were eating clean, right.



Check out these recipes coming to the Town and Gown website soon, but for now, if you are local to Starkville, Mississippi or the surrounding areas, you can pick up the magazine locally and try these out!

It is no secret that my kids are not picky eaters. They have a tendency to love trying new foods, vegetables, different types of fruits. This means, to me as the mama, I have raised some kids who love to eat healthy. Instead of cereal in the morning, they would rather have oatmeal or grits with fresh fruit.  Instead of bags of potato chips, they love snacking on popcorn, oranges and of course granola.

With four kids, a bag of granola does not last long at our house. Once it is opened, it is all over with. And I don't mind. So imagine when this bag of Viki's Granola came in. They were dying to tear right into it so after school, I made them a simple snack of honey greek yogurt with fresh mango, dried cranberries and some of Viki's Granola.  (Did I mention, they have a ton of varieties and one comes with dried cranberries already! Win!)




A simple, easy and tasty snack perfect for them and certainly perfect for after school and to hold them over while this mama finishes up dinner.



I can say this, they loved the yogurt snack with the granola topping, but once they finished, the boys somehow snuck the rest of the bag into their room. But hey, it's healthy and so much better than a candy bar. All natural ingredients, also gluten free for those with Celiac, I think I will give my boys  a pass.




To find out where you can buy this granola, (which comes in the cutest snack sized bags too!), click here.

I love making lunches for my kids to take to school.

Being able to make them healthy and tasty makes me feel good as a mama.

Here in the South, we have a large number of people who do not eat healthy. Many blame it on the poverty level, and to an extent that is true. While it is better to eat healthy, it can be expensive for families to do so. That is why when I received the book Green Is Good by Elizabeth Gorcey, I was immediately impressed.

It came with a packet of seeds.



While so many families struggle to be able to afford healthy foods, this book immediately encourages healthy eating by way of growing some of your own foods. Yes, organic can be expensive, but there are ways to cut the cost and grow things on your own. Even space is not an issue when you take in account that there are many things that can be grown indoors and even outdoors in small places. Large cities have even started encouraging neighborhood gardens, where people can come together to grow fruits and vegetables.



Eating organic and 'green' can seem challenging, for us adults....but this book is perfect for introducing the concept and the healthy habit to young children....after all, we are a product of what we are exposed to as children...it either influences us positively or negatively, but either way, what we experience as kids shapes us as grownups.

This book is full of delightful illustrations. They draw us in to the fun and whimsy side of peeking into the life of Elizabeth's daughter, Liv and her dog, Bowie. What our kids get is the ability to relate to a character that is their age, with a pet who discovers the joy of going green. It helps that her cute boxer, Bowie is right there to tag along.



What I enjoy most about this book is the ability for us as parents to be able to open dialog with our children after reading it. Visit a market, the produce section of a grocery store and go over the differences you find there. Show your children the importance of avoiding unhealthy foods but show them also, that there are lots of fabulous treats found in nature.



I remember growing up eating sugar cane. Oh my. I have been on a mission to find it so that my kids could experience the sweet that was had before bubblegum and all the cookies and candies. Sugar Cane, grown in nature and a natural sweetness that is often unappreciated in our world of processed goodies.



After reading this book, my kids and I talked about eating healthy and we have grown our own herbs and small veggies. They have experienced things that allow them to appreciate food and nature. It is important to teach our children that life with food can not only be enjoyable, it can help them maintain a healthy lifestyle.

This amazing and easy to read book is available September 20th, 2015. This would be such an amazing gift for a budding young horticulturalist ...can you just imagine a cute basket in pink and green full of supplies and seeds to help get them started? I can!

Summer is in full swing and that means travel for most families. Some are skipping on the planes and opting for road travel instead. With kids on the road, and a schedule to keep, taking snacks on the road with you is essential.



I love this idea of a snack case. I found this child size case in the hardware section of Wal Mart. You should be able to find some similar in most stores. They are used to house nails, fishing gear and pieces but are perfect for snacks!



You can even personalize the front using colorful or metallic sharpies with your child's name or a cute design.



I love it because you can place in it enough snacks for the duration of the drive. So it limits the time you need to stop and shop for food or snacks.



My kids loved this and it was just an easy way to show my kids they are worth the extra effort of debagging these badboys.