Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in albuquerque, NM

5 Places To Get A Cold Treat

by Alison

July 14, 2009

With temperatures creeping towards 100 degrees, a cold treat is a must! Here are five local places that serve up frozen treats perfect for a hot summer day.

1. I Scream Ice Cream - Albuquerque's funnest ice cream shop by far. Not only can your kids enjoy an ice cream cone, but there is also a fun selection of toys to play with! Be sure to stop by the bathrooms, they are pretty cool too. I Scream is located near Carlisle and Indian School NE

2. Paleteria - Located mainly on the west side (such as Paleteria El Tropico), these shops serve mainly fresh fruit popsicles. So, not only will you get a nice cool treat, but it's healthy as well! Be aware that Spanish tends to be the language of choice at these shops so you may find yourself facing a menu in Spanish. Don't worry too much though because you can always just point to what you want!

3. Sonic - I put Sonic on this list because, well, I love it! Your kids can choose a soft serve cone or jr. candy sundae for only $1 and you can choose from a variety of ice cream drinks and fun fountain drinks like cherry limeade. There are many locations all around town. Go here to get a coupon for a 99 cent Sonic Chiller.

4. Berry Ocean - This shop, located near Montgomery and Wyoming NE, serves up soft frozen fruit yogurt and gelato.

5. Your Freezer - Make your own popsicles or ice cream and teach your child about the concept of freezing in the process! Try this recipe for ice cream in a ziploc bag or here is a whole list of frozen treats you can make courtesy of Family Fun Magazine.

Five Local Farmer's Markets and Five Ways to Involve Your Kids When You Go

by Alison

June 02, 2009

This week's list is a two-fer! Five farmer's markets for you to check out and five ways to make your visits lots of fun for your kids.

1. Corrales Growers' Market - Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings (Wednesday markets start in July) at the Recreation Center in Corrales.
2. Albuquerque Downtown Market - Saturday mornings at Robinson Park
3. Nob Hill Growers' Market - Thursday afternoon at Morningside Park
4. Los Ranchos Growers' Market - Saturday mornings at City Hall in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque
5. South Valley Growers' Market - Saturday mornings at Cristo de Valle Presbyterian Church

1. Create a bingo game board using various foods that may be found at a farmers' market (visit this harvest calendar for a list of what is in season and when so you have a better idea of what to expect). As you find each fruit or veggie, let your child mark it off on the game board.

2. Tell your child he can choose any fruit or veggie he'd like and you'll take it home and cook it. Challenge her to find something she's never seen before - and maybe even something that you havve never tasted before!

3. Practice counting. How many different types of produce are at each stand? How many tomatoes are in each container? How many strawberries will you buy?

4. Go on a color hunt. Choose a color and see how many fruits and vegetables you can find that are that color.

5. Practice ABC's. As you tell your child what each different fruit or vegetable, emphasize each initial letter sound.

What other farmer's markets do you love? How do you ensure your kids love going as much as you do?
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5 New Mexico Foods to Cook with Your Kids

by Alison

April 21, 2009

Have fun in the kitchen with your kids and enjoy (and perhaps discover for the first time) some traditional New Mexicand foods. Here are some  recipes your kids can help with.

Sopaipillas: According to Epicurious.com, sopaipillas are thought to have originated here in Albuquerque. One of my favorite part about eating at New Mexican restaurants is the sopaipillas that follow the meal! Bring the taste to your own kitchen and let your kids help out. You can purchase mixes at the grocery store or make them from scratch (google sopaipillas to find a recipe). Your preschooler can mix the ingredients and then top them with powdered sugar and/or honey when you're finished frying them.

Tostadas: Lay out a bunch of ingredients (beans, meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) and your child can build his own tostada and put just what he wants on it. You can do the same things with tacos or burritos, but the fact that tostada shells are flat make it easier for the kids to top them.

Tamales: Tamales are especially popular here around Christmastime, as you surely know. Our family has started a tradition of making tamales each Christmas. Our four-year-old helps spread the masa and put in the fillings. For more information on how our family does tamales, check out this post.

Enchiladas: Cheese enchiladas are a favorite meal for both my four-year-old and one-year-old. I add in a can of plain tomato sauce along with the enchilada sauce so they aren't too spicy for my boys (and they don't end up too bland for the adults). My older son is usually my "cheese man" and he'll sprinkle the shredded cheese into the tortillas before I roll them up.

Biscochitos: These are another popular Christmas treat. Cookies always provide lots of opportunity for kids to help out, from putting iningredients, to mixing, to putting the dough on the cookie sheets.
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Nutrition Workarounds: If He Won't Eat Anything Green or Orange, Try These Tricks

by Alison

April 20, 2009

It seems like my four-year-old woke up one morning and decided that he suddenly didn't like vegetables. He had always been such a great eater, so what to do now?

The first thing I tried was a guessing game of sorts. He closed his eyes and I gave him a bite of food and he had to guess what he was eating. It made me laugh because though he insisted he didn't like any vegetables, he couldn't always distinguish them from the other things on his plate, and he definitely couldn't tell a carrot from a pea. After a few rounds of the guessing game, he'd gladly finish the food on his plate, and for a few days after that, I could usually convince him that he really did like veggies!
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Kids Will Eat (or At Least Try) What They Grow

by Alison

March 16, 2009

My four year old loves eggplant.  Yeah, you read that right.  And I don't have to hide it between layers of sauce and cheese in eggplant parmesan.  He eats it just lightly breaded and baked in the oven.

This love came about last summer when we planted some eggplant in our garden.  For some reason he took a liking to this plant in particular, especially once the purple fruit was visible.  So, needless to say, he was excited to try the eggplant after we harvested it. He's the same way with the peas in our garden, those are easy for him to pick and he likes to just eat some right away as a snack. We aren't always this lucky when it comes to him eating the produce from our garden, though if he's taken some responsibility when it comes to planting and watering, we don't usually have a problem getting him to at least try it. 

If you don't have any room for a garden, that doesn't mean you can't grow some food of your own.  Many vegetables can be grown in small containers that you can place on your front or back porch.  We've had success growing tomatoes in containers and currently we're trying lettuce and spinach (because they don't grow well in our backyard!).  For more on container gardening, check out this link.

Watching a vegetable go from seed (or small plant) to your dinner table is a fascinating process, especially for a preschooler. To fully involve your child in your gardening experience, let her choose a vegetable to grow.  Be sure to do your research first and make sure it will grow well where you are.  The Albuquerque Master Gardeners website is a good resource, as is your local nursery.  Now, let your child get messy and plant the seeds.  Put him on water duty and maybe even purchase a small watering can that would be easy for him to carry. Take pictures every now and then, so when it does grow into a mature plant, you can look back on all the stages it has gone through. And don't forget to get your child excited about eating what she's growing!
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Guest Post: 5 Basic Boosts for Busy Parents

by Alison

March 02, 2009

As a parent, there's so much to focus on when it comes to your kids, that remembering to take care of yourself isn't always easy! Today's guest post by Bonnie Johnson, MS, RD and Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD, LDN (on behalf of trim®) gives five ways you can stay on track nutrition-wise while you keep track of the little ones! I especially like the first two, as they can definitely be applied to your children as well!

(Don't miss the giveaway information posted at the end!)
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5 Basic Boosts for Busy Parents

1) Kick Up Your Heels - Don't make exercise a daunting chore. Have a 20-minute dance party with the kids. Everyone gets to pick one song. Try out different rhythms or steps like hula, cha-cha, the twist or the oldie-but-goodie chicken dance.

2) Faster Fruits- Often, we are so focused on getting our children to eat healthy, we forget about ourselves (sound familiar?) And most of us need to at least double our daily dose of fruit. So, instead of trying to count that strawberry cheesecake as a serving, try:

1/2 cup applesauce - Add a dash of cinnamon and/or nutmeg

1 can of trim® Juice drink - New from Tree Top, one can counts as a 1/2 cup of fruit serving and comes in yum flavors like Mango Peach and Strawberry Kiwi)

1/4 cup dried fruit - Try tossed into cereal, over a salad or eaten on the go

3) Satiety is the new buzzword in healthy eating-it's that feeling of satisfaction after a meal or snack. It makes sense - if you are satisfied longer, you won't scarf down those extra calories you really don't need (like the remnants of junior's PB&J.) Fiber has great satiating power. Shoot for getting more fiber by choosing cereals with five grams or more fiber per serving, tossing a can of beans into a pasta dish, having a small bowl of popcorn or enjoying a single serve can of trim® which has three grams of fiber per serving.

4) Get Some Extra Zs - That's sounds dreamy but how do you get your head on the pillow when you are multitasking long after the kids are
in bed? Research shows that a good night sleep can reduce stress, improve your memory and even increase your success at weight loss. While experts recommend at least 8 hours a night, start by going to bed just 15 minutes early. Do that every night for a month - and see how you feel (and if you can up it another 15 minutes.) And yes, this is one of Deanna's New Year's resolutions.

5) Cover Your Bases - As dietitians, we recommend getting your vitamins and minerals from food first. But as moms, we know you can't have it all. Add a basic multivitamin to your morning routine just to be sure. But remember, it's called a supplement because it SUPPLEMENTS your diet (rather than replaces food) - and really, we're all about keeping as much tasty and healthy food in your diet as possible!)

Learn more about the trim Juice drink mentioned by visiting its facebook page. Want a chance to win some? I have the opportunity to give away five Trim Juice Drink gift boxes. That's right, there will be five winners! For your chance to win, head over to Trim's facebook page leave a comment on the wall or ask a question on the discussion board. Then, come back here and leave a comment on this post.

The first five people to leave a comment will win a gift pack.   If you've been hesitant to leave a comment before because of the registration requirement, keep in mind that now all you have to do is leave your name and the comment.  Be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win.

Our Christmas Tradition - Tamales

by Alison

December 22, 2008

This month, the national Being Savvy blog is talking a lot about traditions . One of our family Christmas traditions is making tamales. Our four year old loves helping mix up the masa and actually make the tamales. The ones he makes certainly aren't perfect, but this is his third year as our helper and he's definitely getting better. It's certainly not an original New Mexico tradition, but  Read more...

Local Books for Little Ones: Carlos and the Squash Plant

by Alison

November 10, 2008

This month the national Being Savvy blog is focused on books and reading . To tie into that, and also bring in some local flair, I'd like to highlight some children's books that are written by New Mexicans and/or take place in New Mexico. Today's book is Carlos and the Squash Plant/Carlos y la Planta de Calabaza by Jan Romero Stevens . The Author was born in Las Vegas, New  Read more...