I’ve always been a fan of getting my kiddos in the kitchen, especially since a majority of my time is spent there. I want to make sure they are kitchen proficient & can make themselves a meal – without opening a box & pouring it into a bowl, which doesn’t count. I want to make sure they have learned appropriate knife skills & I feel like teaching them how to shop, prepare & cook their food gives them a leg up not only in life skills but also recognizing a relation in the way the eat & how they feel.
Our daughter has really been struggling lately with some on going stomach issues which seemed to peak her interest in the kitchen. She kept telling me – I just want to make a cake! I hear ya, girl.
Because of her sudden enthusiasm, we would find her up early in the mornings, half the spice cabinet dumped into a cup of almond milk – yikes. Most of her creations were completely inedible… & getting expensive. I realized I had to seize an opportunity here so I put a call to action on Instagram – tell me your favorite gluten/dairy free cookbooks. Stacy from Paleo Parents was so sweet to tell me she knew Mimi would love both Eat Like a Dinosaur & Real Life Paleo so she sent a copy of each for us to review.
How to win the heart of a 7 year old kitchen enthusiast? Send her cookbooks. I mean, really.
Mimi loved Eat Like a Dinosaur. I love the story in the front of the book that tells why their family decided to reclaim their health & become Paleo, how that brought questions, concerns & lots of different feelings from the kids. I especially liked when their son, Cole, talked about how he eats differently than many of the kids at his school but how his family is so much happier, healthier & active now.
The beauty of the real food movement is that while now, some children (like ours) may in fact be eating differently than their peers, my hope is that the future eaters & cookers we are raising now will be able to bridge the gap & one day be the majority instead of the minority.
The recipe Mimi chose to make from ELaD was Spaghetti Squash with Meat & Offal Sauce – yes, she unknowingly choose to make a liver dish. Because, admittedly we are not big organ meat eaters, when her brother told her exactly what liver was the kids started to get squeamish & wanted to change their minds. It gave me an opportunity to talk about nose to tail eating – how this meat was no different than ground meat or steak they are used to & that it was a great recipe to try! And guess what – everyone loved it!
As for Real Life Paleo, I have to admit, I took a bit more time with that book than the kids did. Of course, they loved looking at the beautiful pictures of food – who doesn’t! But really, it was Matt & Stacy’s common sense approach to changing your diet & lifestyle that I enjoyed the most. Probably the most common question I get asked about how our family eats is – How did you get started? How can we make the transition to eating healthier? How long did it take? How did the kids handle it?
I love that Matt & Stacy take the time to tell you that it could take months or years. Every family is different & what works for one might not work for another but using their Swap, Remove, Heal system is simple brilliance. Not just that – it’s common sense effective. They provide food swap suggestions, popular grocery store guides, how to stock your pantry & even a family fun guide for finding activities that an active, engaged family will enjoy. They also have holiday & special occasion menu suggestions. This is probably the most family friendly, all inclusive, one stop shop book on overhauling your family’s health with 175 different recipes for literally any occasion you can think of.
Real Life Paleo by the Paleo Parents Book Review
The kids & I cooked like, a bajillion recipes from this book. Ok, so maybe like 5 but that’s a lot when you’re working with tiny, less dextrous fingers!
We made the Rocky Road Blondies (you can make them from the recipe here!!), Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings with Carolina Style Sauce & the Crab Balls with Tartar Sauce (because my kids are crazy about anything made with fish). And then I made the whole Chinese Take Out Menu when we had family in town which featured the Mongolian Beef (show stopper, folks) & the Kung Pao Chicken (awesome wrapped in lettuce cups).
The kids especially loved working on making the Crab Balls because Oliver got to mash everything with his hands.
Mimi was less enthusiastic about using her hands.
After we cooked, the kids helped me set up & shoot. I love that the recipes look exactly like they do in the book! Take note food bloggers, there’s nothing worse than making something that looks nothing like the picture.
Rocky Road Blondies (recipe)
Oven Baked Chicken Wings
Crab Balls
Of course, we loved everything & the kids had a great time! This book is definitely a must have for any real food family or a family who wants to gain better health & wellness. Don’t forget to put Real Life Paleo on your Christmas list!