Are your kids picky eaters? Do you try to hide vegetables in their food just to get your kids to eat them? My daughter has always been a big fruit monster. She’ll eat almost any fruit. She will eat vegetables but not was willingly. She has some weird combos that she likes like green beans and ketchup. I know ketchup and green beans-blah! I say fine because at least she’s eating it.

We try to eat a meal together everyday and eat healthy majority of the time with the occasional treat rather than the other way around.  I try and make it fun and use dips, if necessary, to help her eat more veggies. Sometimes I use cookie cutters on sandwiches or make faces on the plate out of veggies and the rest of her meal. She loves it and usually gobbles it up. You know what- there’s always bribery too.  What parent hasn’t said,  “okay eat 2 more bites and then you can have…(blank)”.  Haaha. It’s a battle but it’s worth it. It’s hard sometimes because if you’re like me you crave comfort food in the winter and although comfort food is comforting it is usually not super healthy. Here’s a recipe that will keep you warm and will curb your comfort food craving. Yum!

Chicken-and-White-Bean Stew with Spinach and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
•    8 Roma tomatoes, halved, seeds and inner flesh removed
•    Olive- or vegetable-oil cooking spray
•    2 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
•    2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
•    3/4 tsp salt
•    1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
•    4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
•    1 cup chopped onion
•    8 cloves garlic, minced
•    3/4 cup chopped carrots
•    3/4 cup chopped celery
•    3 cans (15.5 oz each) great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
•    6 cups lower-sodium fat-free chicken broth, preferably organic
•    2 whole cooked chicken breasts (from 2 rotisserie chickens, preferably organic), boned, skin removed, cut into 1 1/2-inch-by-1/4-inch pieces
•    1/4 cup chopped shallots
•    1 3/4 lb baby spinach

Preparation
Heat oven to 350°. In a bowl, toss tomatoes with 1 tbsp oil, thyme, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, then arrange tomatoes cut side down. Bake until soft and skins shrivel, about 30 minutes. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in onion and half the minced garlic. Add carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften and begin to color, 7 to 8 minutes. Add beans; cook 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Stir in broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes. Add chicken, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook until hot, 2 to 3 minutes. (The stew can be made ahead to this point and kept refrigerated overnight.) Heat 1 1/2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook shallots, stirring often, until they begin to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rest of the garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until lightly browned; transfer mixture to a bowl. Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach in handfuls, turning with tongs to cook evenly. Cook until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and remove from heat. Divide stew (reheated if made ahead), then spinach, among 8 shallow bowls. Lean 2 tomato halves against spinach and spoon some shallot mixture on top. Serve immediately.
Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Organic-Chicken-and-White-Bean-Stew-with-Spinach-and-Slow-Roasted-Tomatoes-232346#ixzz1DanXiHJW

I don’t know about you but it’s been a really cold, busy winter and I’m about ready for some hot weather. I know many of you are probably knee deep in snow and I probably sound like a whiner but I could sure use some hot weather and sun. I think Manfred’s travels are making me a little jealous! Maybe he’ll take me along on his next adventure. We’d be quite a sight to see -him in his lederhosen and me in my cute dirndl.

Hopefully I’ll have a travel adventure to share with you soon too. In the meantime I’m staying cozy inside, snuggled in a blanket, playing bingo and chatting with all my fave bingo buddies.

Until next time….

Ava