by on December 19, 2011   •   3 Comments Kids in the Kitchen

How to Survive Grocery Shopping with Your Toddler

Today I’m excited to be guest posting for my friend Annie and her popular blog PhD in Parenting. She’s created a Carnival of Toddlers and is addressing issues had on that we all face as parents of toddlers. Discipline, food, fun and survival are just a few of the topics that Annie and a line-up of guest writers are covering.

I’m keeping it real in today’s post on How to Survive and Thrive While Grocery Shopping with Your Toddler. I give my best tips for making the best possible grocery shopping experience with your toddler and offer suggestions for making the outing a learning experience.

From the post:

We must have looked a sight, my three-year-old, Mateo and I. It was my last minute attempt to hit up a grocery store before beginning my serious holiday cooking and baking blitz. My shopping list was lengthy and detailed, my time limited, and my energy flagging even before I unbuckled my son and stepped toward my local IGA.

I shivered in the December winds, my winter coat not giving much protection to my 6-month pregnant shape, and inwardly cursed myself for –yet again- forgetting to bring a couple of reusable shopping bags.

Once inside, Mateo shrieked and his little snowsuit-clad form staggered across the wet floors and lurched into a massive red plastic fire truck shopping cart. As I tossed my purse into the top of it, my iPhone dinged to let me know that my email was piling up as I ran errands.

Continue reading How to Survive and Thrive While Grocery Shopping with Your Toddler on PhD in Parenting.

I’ll see you in the comments section over on Annie’s blog!

play food
by on September 7, 2011   •   30 Comments Kids in the Kitchen

Grocery Shopping With Kids

Written by Megan of Stetted.

For families with kids, doing the weekly shopping is something that often strikes dread into the heart of every parent. From crying and begging to full-on, lay-on-the-ground-and-kick tantrums that seem to occur at a pin drop, shopping can be exhausting. But taking the opportunity to teach your kids about what they eat and where it comes from can transform the experience from terror to – dare I say it? – fun.

Here’s how you do it. [Read more…]

by on April 18, 2011   •   75 Comments Menu Planning & Batch Cooking

Eat Well, Spend Less: Simple Bites Goes Shopping

Marché is French for ‘market’, and one of the early words my three-year-old picked up, even though we’re an English speaking household. The open markets in and around Montreal are a pretty big part of our food shopping routine, hence Mateo’s early handle of the French word.

Shopping – conscientious, intentional shopping – is an integral part of eating well while managing to spend less.

Today, in our final post of the Eat Well, Spend Less series, I want to talk about how I stock my kitchen from bottom to top. I’ve already covered homemade pantry staples and frugal dinners in this series, but the ingredients for all that cooking and baking don’t just materialize on their own.

Food shopping is as particular and unique to each home as is their cooking style, taste preferences and health goals. My particular approach may not work for you, but I am confident I can offer a few nuggets of wisdom to help you get the most bang for your buck.

[Read more…]