My amazing friend, Kris was the queen of fun with food with her awesome boys, Max and Ben. Every holiday Kris had some cute theme meal or snack for the boys. St. Patrick's Day was one of her favorites and Kris would whip up green eggs and ham and green milk for the boys. She would even make leprechaun tracks on the counters with sugar. Every special occasion was an opportunity to create some special fun for Max and Ben. Even when the girls were only one, Kris would call me and say, "what did you do that was fun in the kitchen for Sophia and Stella?" She had so many ideas for me and was constantly encouraging me to do creative things with the girls. 

Our awesome former nanny, Bridget Roden was also incredible with food with the girls. Bridget would make with the girls scarecrow pancakes, rainbow fruit plates, ants on a log, and so many other fun snacks and meals. Bridget would text me pictures and it was clear Sophia and Stella were having a ball. Bridget often did fun activities in the kitchen with the girls. I believe Sophia and Stella love baking and helping making meals because Bridget had them in the kitchen early on. Bridget is amazing! 

I wish I could say that I was as clever as Kris and Bridget but sadly I am not. Thus, I'm always on the lookout for cookbooks that can help me! Sarah Michelle Gellar tweeted about her new cookbook with Gia Russo, "Stirring Up Fun with Food: Over 115 Simple, Delicious Ways to Be Creative in the Kitchen" and I knew I needed to check it out. After a few clicks on Amazon my new cookbook arrived two days later. I love it!

Big cheers to Sarah and Gia! You gals created a clever, easy to read, and highly usable healthy cookbook for the entire family! I can't wait to try out so many of the recipes and food crafting with Sophia and Stella and my fellow Messy Mommies and their kids! Here are five things I love about Stirring Up Fun with Food!

1. Ideas by the month! As I shared, I need help with my inspiration and ofter turn to Pinterest. Now I'll be flipping through this cookbook! The Stirring Up Fun with Food cookbook is organized by Month and contains ideas for holidays, celebrations, and seasonal gatherings. On the contents pages you can quickly scan the months and events for inspiration. Easy organization is key for me. You can also pull ideas from other months. We'll be trying out the 4th of July Corn Dog Cupcakes over Memorial Day weekend! 

2. Stella, Sophia, and I could really make this! I love cookbooks but sometimes I have found that the recipes are a little to complex for my skill level, may have intimidating ingredients, or I just really can't pull it off like the recipe. So instead, the cookbooks end up as decorations on my kitchen counter. Not this one! Sophia, Stella and I could really make many of the recipes in this cookbook! Yahoo! We've already tried the Edamame Hummus and Shamrock Pita and it was delicious. We made flower pita chips instead of shamrocks. So cute and easy!  

3. Take it up a notch (or Holly Murer envy)! So, my fellow Messy Mommy blogger Holly Murer is amazing with entertaining, food crafting, and making food fun! From her daughter Eleanora's circus themed birthday party to summer cookouts at Holly and Matt's house, Holly always has delicious food and amazing presentations. Holly is clever and fun and I'm always envious in a good way. She inspires me to do more. This cookbook is going to help me take my game up a notch! Thank goodness! One of the things I love about this cookbook is that Sarah and Gia use things we already have in our kitchens to make food more fun. Break out the cookie cutters, juice glasses, muffin tins and mason jars. (I clearly need to get more mason jars. Michael's here I come!) Sophia and Stella would get a kick out of the Fun-Shaped Egg-in-a-Hole breakfast. Who wouldn't love Truffle Mac 'n' Cheese Cupcakes? Father's Day is right away the corner and you'll want to make the Grilled Cheese Silk Ties - so cute!

​4. Help with being Healthy!
While waiting to pickup Sophia and Stella at preschool today I was chatting with Moira, Maeve's mom. We were talking about how our kids are really picky eaters right now and that we are trying all kids of things to get them to eat healthy. I shared with Moira that Sophia would eat carbs all day every day if we let her. We chatted about "tricks" we've heard about and laughed that some surely must not have been kid tested. I have very good intentions on creating healthy meals and snacks for our family but I must confess I fall really short. We are pretty good with fruits and a few veggies. But I am not very creative and need some inspiration! Fun with Food is giving me some healthy new recipes and food crafting to try out with the girls. I know Sophia and Stella will love making the Grilled Veggie Rainbows on a Stick. Stella loves rainbows and Sophia likes to put anything on a stick! I never would have thought to put salad on a stick. With the Salad Kebabs I may even be able to persuade my husband, Tony to eat more salads. Sophia and Stella are doing an awesome job with learning their letters in preschool and we are practicing short words at home. We definitely need to make the Vegetable Scrabble and play with our food!

5. Be who you want to be. I've shared before that motherhood provides an opportunity to build a life around your family with different career paths that work for that moment in time. I think it is awesome that the highly talented Emmy Award-winning actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is passionate about food and family. It is very cool that she decided to become an author and write a cookbook with her friend and business partner Gia Russo. I learned from the cookbook that Gia created original content for Martha Stewart Living, Williams-Sonoma, and Pepperidge Farm and has bestselling cookbooks. These talented gals, along with their talented friend Galit Laibow started a business called Foodstirs to create organic mixes and DIY kits. These spot on moms recognized that society was "more digitally connected while at the same time becoming more and more domestically disconnected." I totally agree with the concept and am often thinking about how we can digitally disconnect more in our home and be more actively together. It is very cool that these moms wanted to create products that could bring the family together in the kitchen and would be Pinterest worthy inspired. They are committed to providing access to premium-quality, affordable ingredients so that scratch baking becomes a daily joy. Their concept fills me with joy. I checked out the cheery website and the Foodstirs baking kits look fabulous. I love that Sarah, Gia, and Galit are creating the life they want with their families and careers.

So, I highly recommend Stirring Up Fun with Food! Go to Amazon today and order! With your Amazon Prime membership you could have this awesome cookbook in time for the Memorial Holiday Weekend. You could put down the devices, head into the kitchen with your family for some fun, and create some special memories. I know we will!

Happy cooking and Happy Memorial Day!

​Meg 

Stella is obsessed with soccer and I'm learning! I'm in awe of her passion and obsession with the sport at 5 years old! Thanks to our St. Thecla friend, Mikey we did winter indoor soccer together in Niles and Stella fell in love with the sport. She would carefully place her soccer jersey on the chair next to her bed so she could look at it while she fell asleep. She had to have cleats even though they wore regular gym shoes for indoor soccer. We had to get a special water bottle so she could look like the bigger kids. And, we had to practice all the time. It was so sweet. I quickly realized I was clueless about soccer and could offer little knowledge on the sport.

Luckily, Coach Dan was awesome and taught the young players some solid, basic skills. Stella was so excited when her cousin Eleanora, Uncle Matt and Aunt Holly came to watch her last game of the winter season. We were all chatting as Stella went to pick up her post-game snack. We were surprised when she came running back with a huge trophy! It was awesome and Stella was over the moon! She was hooked and could not wait for the Spring outdoor season to begin.