7 Tips to Getting Your (Little) Kids to Try New Foods!

If dinner time is drama time at your house, you’re not alone.

All parents of young children can tell stories about the tears, the NOs!, the picked over plates, the refusals to sit down, the dropped food and turned over bowls … the list of potential eating problems in little ones goes on and on. And unfortunately, sometimes the best advice you will get is just “wait it out” – they are children, after all!

But it’s not just a matter of waiting until they’re teens and hoping they’ll outgrow it. Here are some concrete steps that you can take now, while your kids are in the early eating years, that will set them on the right path for healthy eating for years to come.

Posted September 14, 2011 by Kimberly in Children, Non-Fiction / 0 Comments

Thriller Thursday: No Rest For The Dead, Edited by Andrew and Lamia Gulli

It’s time for another installment of Thriller Thursday!

This one was really exciting for me – No Rest For The Dead was written by twenty-six amazing mystery and thriller authors including Sandra Brown, RL Stine, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Palmer, Kathy Reichs and more. Twenty-Six! As excited as I was for what promised to be a great mystery, I was even more excited to see how all these author’s writing styles would blend together into one cohesive story. Would it be seamless or would it be disjointed? The only way to find out was to dive right in.

Who are your favorite mystery writers?

Posted September 8, 2011 by Kimberly in Book Reviews, Suspense, Thriller Thursday, Thrillers / 0 Comments

Book Review: Where You Left Me by Jennifer Gardner Trulson

Over the next few weeks, there will be much written about the 10th Anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. And those stories will affect all of us in different ways.

But for thousands of families, the hurt and the pain will be more deeply felt than anything we can imagine. Because someone they loved was killed in New York, Pennsylvania or Washington, D.C. For these families, it’s not the hurt of a nation pulled together by shared tragedy, it is much more personal.

Posted September 2, 2011 by Kimberly in Book Reviews, Non-Fiction / 0 Comments

New Release Tuesday: August 30

The end of the Summer is a busy time of year, taking last minute vacations and getting ready for back to school. But it’s also a great time to enjoy a new book! It’s New Release Tuesday, my favorite day of the week, and we’ve got some great new books to highlight for you this week. As always, you can check out the full list of new releases at Lazy Day Books. Here we go!

Which new book are you most looking forward to this week?

Posted August 30, 2011 by Kimberly in New Releases / 1 Comment

Cookbook Review: Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

I’m excited to introduce our guest host today, Betsy Ramirez, M.Ed., R.D., from Supermarket Nutrition 411. Betsy is a registered dietitian and my go-to expert for healthy food choices. Today she’s testing a pizza recipe from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.

Deceptively Delicious Pizza:
I love cookbooks! In fact, you might say I have a cookbook problem. My shelves are overflowing, so I am so grateful to have Lazy Day Books to keep me organized with their enormous selection of e-cookbooks. What fuels my cookbook hoarding? I am a registered dietitian, so I always look for recipes that focus on wholesome, nutritious food. I am also a mom of 2 preschoolers, one of which is a picky eater. While his palate is expanding, he usually doesn’t get enough veggies in his day. This is why I gravitated toward Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.

I chose to make her Pita Pizzas (with spinach puree). Why did I choose this recipe? My family loves pizza, and my picky eating son is hard to trick. I also think this is an easy, go to recipe anyone can do and feel good about giving their kids some extra nutrition.

Click the blog title to see how this deceptive pizzea turned out!

Posted August 15, 2011 by Kimberly in Book Reviews, Cookbooks / 5 Comments

Are You Emotionally Connected When You Read?

A few months ago, New York Times best selling author Susan Mallery asked her followers on Twitter to name the last book they read that made them cry. Thinking about my answer to that question, I was a little surprised to realize it has been nearly seven years since I cried over a book.

So that got me wondering, why do you choose to read certain books? What motivates you to pick up one book over another? And do you feel an emotional response is critical for you to consider a book to be great?

Click here to see the last book I read that made me cry…

Posted August 12, 2011 by Kimberly in Reading, Uncategorized / 20 Comments

Lazy Day E-Scape: The Bride Wore Scarlet by Liz Carlyle

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend!

It was rainy in Chicago on Sunday, which was the only excuse I needed to curl up on the couch and spend the afternoon lost in a book. I had trouble finding the right one for my mood, but finally settled on The Bride Wore Scarlet by Liz Carlyle.

From the back of the book:
Passion and secrets simmer behind the elegant façade of Victorian London in another deliciously intriguing novel featuring the mysterious men of the St. James Society…

Click the blog title to read the full review…

Posted August 8, 2011 by Kimberly in Book Reviews, Lazy Day E-Scapes, Romance / 0 Comments

New Release Tuesday: August 2

It’s New Release Tuesday, August 2, my favorite day of the week! As usual, there are too many great new releases to list them all, but here is a small sampling for you. You can see all of this week’s new releases at Lazy Day Books. Click the book titles to see more information about a particular book. Ready? Here we go!

Which new book are you most looking forward to this week? Share with us in the comments!

Happy Reading!

Posted August 2, 2011 by Kimberly in New Releases / 1 Comment