Every evening, my kids favorite question is, "What's for dinner?" and considering that they only eat about 5 things each, I usually cook them dinner and then cook a separate dinner for my husband and myself.  Clearly, this is a huge time suck, which contradicts everything I do during the day with a goal of saving time.  Whether you're a cook or not, coming up with 7 different meals each week is a huge challenge.  Trying to be creative and trying to make all the kids AND all the adults happy with the perfect dinners can be exhausting and overwhelming at the end of the day.  Read some tips below and see how you can submit your own.

This week, I was asked by Hellmann's Mayonnaise to take part in an event to launch their partnership with gourmet chef Bobby Flay and the "Real Holiday Helpings" program (that's me with him in the picture above). This program was designed to show real people how to easily prepare "real food" that not only tastes great but is made with super simple ingredients. The goal of "real food" is for parents to cook one meal that the whole family can enjoy - including the kids.  As I watched the demonstration and later visited their website, I saw that they have some great and fun recipes that I'm pretty confident my kids would eat.  I promised myself that in the coming weeks, I would try to cook one meal for all of us, even if we wind up eating at separate times.  To learn more about Hellmann's Real Holiday Helpings program and about the fantastic afternoon with Bobby Flay, click on over to our blog >>>

Speaking of our blog, have you checked it out? It's called Read Our LIPS and we've already started posting some great information - articles, news, product reviews, discount codes and giveaways.  Check it out, subscribe to our RSS feed and leave some comments - we want to hear what you have to say!  Right now on our blog, you can find a review of and discount code for tickets to the Big Apple Circus, tips from local parents about what/how their families eat, information about starting a book club and more.  If you're interested in writing for us, e-mail us at info@liparentsource.com and let us know! Click on over and let us know what you think!

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Get dressed in your best jewels and your best jeans for the Blue Jean Ball Texas Style! presented this Saturday night by the Mill Neck Family of Organizations.  Enjoy delicious Tex-Mex cuisine, a Texas Hold'Em Poker Tournament, exciting western-themed activities, casino-style games, live music, cocktails, a 50/50 drawing and chances to win fabulous prizes.There will also be a Texas Hold-"Em Poker Tournament. Players will receive $1,000 of casino play money and $2,500 tournament chip play and the tournament winner will receive a high roller grand prize. Even attendees who don't opt to play in the tournament will receive $1,000 worth of play money for use in other casino-style games such as black jack, craps and roulette. Guests are encouraged to wear their best jeans and jewels for a chance to win the sought-after "Best Dressed Cowboy Couple" award.The casual event will benefit the Mill Neck Manor Early Childhood Center, Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf and Mill Neck Services for Deaf Adults. 

Click here to purchase your tickets for this great event!

More Help Can Be Found At Dine Without Whine

It seems like a never-ending battle with the kids. Although you and I know veggies are delicious and they're also good for you, they act like vegetables are a plague they want to avoid at all costs.  Plus, if your kids are anything like mine and only eat hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza and macaroni and cheese, there's not too much room to slip in vegetables.

If you need creative ways to get your kids to eat more vegetables, here are 9 ideas to incorporate into your daily meals right away:

1. Make healthy choices readily available and put the sugary and greasy snacks away. This doesn't mean totally deprive yourselves of these delightful treats, but making healthy eating a normal part of your day goes a long way to helping kids develop better eating habits.
2. Add veggies like carrots or even asparagus to smoothies. Kids love fruit smoothies and they'll never know you put in a little of those dreaded vegetables in.
3. Sneak vegetables into other foods. For example: Add grated carrots into spaghetti sauce or make a zucchini chocolate cake.
4. Try dip. You know kids love to dip everything. Just make sure they know they have to eat the dip stick and not just lick it!
5. Take your kids shopping with you. Let your child pick out a new vegetable in the grocery store that they've never tried. Then prepare the vegetable together.
6. Be patient and consistent. Avoid having a tantrum yourself when your child has a tantrum about vegetables on their plate. Sometimes it will take several times of serving the same food before your child is even willing to try it.
7. Make it artistic and fun. Place veggies into a smiley face on your child's plate or decorate a pizza with them.
8. Let them choose: raw or cooked. Some children may have a definite preference as to whether their veggies are cooked or raw.
9. Plan your meals. Sometimes it's easy to forget the veggies when you don't have a plan...allowing your kids to get into the habit of veggie-free meals. Plan your meals and grocery lists in advance, so you won't come up short on the greenery.

To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for your 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. They put together your weekly dinner plan and even make a quick and easy printable grocery list for you. Click here to get started.