POPULARITY
You can listen wherever you get your podcasts or check out the fully edited transcript of our interview at the bottom of this post.In this episode of The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, I speak with Katie Kimball of Raising Healthy Families. We discussed getting kids in the kitchen and getting them to love cooking, raising teenagers and why they are wonderful, managing screens at different ages, and what kind of skills kids need to become independent, well-rounded and self-sufficient once they leave our homes.Make sure to check out Katie's course Teens Cook Real Food! **If you'd like an ad-free version of the podcast, consider becoming a supporter on Substack! > > If you already ARE a supporter, the ad-free version is waiting for you in the Substack app or you can enter the private feed URL in the podcast player of your choice.Know someone who might appreciate this episode? Share it with them!We talk about:* [00:00] Introduction to the episode and guest Katie Kimball; overview of topics (cooking, teens, life skills, screens)* [00:01] Katie's background: former teacher, mom of four, and how her work evolved into teaching kids and teens to cook* [00:04] Why the teen years are actually great; what teens need developmentally (agency and autonomy)* [00:08] Beneficial risk and safe failure; how building competence early reduces anxiety later* [00:10] Getting kids into cooking: start small, build confidence, and let them cook food they enjoy* [00:16] Cooking as a life skill: budgeting, independence, and preparing for adulthood* [00:21] Screen time: focusing on quality (consumptive vs. creative vs. social) instead of just limits* [00:25] Practical screen strategies used in Katie's family* [00:28] Motivating teens to cook: future-casting and real-life relevance (first apartment, food costs)* [00:33] Teens Cook Real Food course: what it teaches and why Katie created it* [00:37] Fun foods teens love making (pizza, tacos)* [00:39] Where to find Katie and closing reflectionsResources mentioned in this episode:* Teens Cook Real Food Course https://raisinghealthyfamilies.com/PeacefulParenting* Evelyn & Bobbie bras: https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/bra* Yoto Screen Free Audio Book Player https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/yoto* The Peaceful Parenting Membership https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/membership* How to Stop Fighting About Video Games with Scott Novis: Episode 201 https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/how-to-stop-fighting-about-video-games-with-scott-novis-episode-201/Connect with Sarah Rosensweet:* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahrosensweet/* Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/peacefulparentingfreegroup* YouTube: Peaceful Parenting with Sarah Rosensweet @peacefulparentingwithsarah4194* Website: https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com* Join us on Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahrosensweet* Newsletter: https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/newsletter* Book a short consult or coaching session call: https://book-with-sarah-rosensweet.as.me/schedule.phpxx Sarah and CoreyYour peaceful parenting team-click here for a free short consult or a coaching sessionVisit our website for free resources, podcast, coaching, membership and more!>> Please support us!!! Please consider becoming a supporter to help support our free content, including The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, our free parenting support Facebook group, and our weekly parenting emails, “Weekend Reflections” and “Weekend Support” - plus our Flourish With Your Complex Child Summit (coming back in the summer for the 3rd year!) All of this free support for you takes a lot of time and energy from me and my team. If it has been helpful or meaningful for you, your support would help us to continue to provide support for free, for you and for others.In addition to knowing you are supporting our mission to support parents and children, you get the podcast ad free and access to a monthly ‘ask me anything' session.Our sponsors:YOTO: YOTO is a screen free audio book player that lets your kids listen to audiobooks, music, podcasts and more without screens, and without being connected to the internet. No one listening or watching and they can't go where you don't want them to go and they aren't watching screens. BUT they are being entertained or kept company with audio that you can buy from YOTO or create yourself on one of their blank cards. Check them out HEREEvelyn & Bobbie bras: If underwires make you want to rip your bra off by noon, Evelyn & Bobbie is for you. These bras are wire-free, ultra-soft, and seriously supportive—designed to hold you comfortably all day without pinching, poking, or constant adjusting. Check them out HEREPodcast Transcript:Sarah: Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Peaceful Parenting Podcast. Today's guest is Katie Kimball of Raising Healthy Families. She has been helping parents feed their kids and, more recently—in the past few years—teach their kids to cook. We had a great conversation about getting kids in the kitchen and getting them to love cooking, and also about raising teenagers and what kind of skills kids need to become independent. We also talked about screens, because any parent of a teenager who also supports other parents—I want to hear about what they do with getting kids to be less screen-focused and screen-dependent.Katie had some great tips in all of these areas, including cooking, feeding our families, and screens. In some ways, we're just talking about how do we raise kids who are independent, well-rounded, and have the skills they need to live independently—and those things all come into play.I hope that you really enjoy this conversation with Katie as much as I did. Let's meet Katie.Hi, Katie. Welcome to the podcast.Katie: Thank you so much, Sarah. I'm honored to talk to your audience.Sarah: I'm so excited to talk to you about teenagers, raising teenagers, life skills, screens—there are so many things to dive into. You seem like a very multifaceted person with all these different interests. Tell us about who you are and what you do.Katie: I do have a little bit of a squirrel brain, so I'm constantly doing something new in business. That means I can talk about a lot of things. I've been at the parenting game for 20 years and in the online business world for 17. I'm a teacher by trade and a teacher by heart, but I only taught in the classroom for about two years before I had my kids. I thought, “I can't do both really, really well,” so I chose the family, left the classroom, and came home.But my brain was always in teacher mode. As I was navigating the path and the journey of, “How do I feed these tiny humans?”—where every bite counts so much—I was really walking that real-food journey and spending a lot of time at the cutting board. My brain was always going, “How can I help other moms make this path easier?” I made so many mistakes. I burned so much food. There's so much tension around how you balance your budget with your time, with the nutrition, and with all the conflicting information that's flying at us.So I felt like I wanted to stand in the middle of that chaos and tell moms, “Listen, there's some stuff you can do that does it all—things that are healthy, save time, and save money.” That's kind of where I started teaching online.Then I shifted to kids' cooking. For the last 10 years, I've been sort of the kids' cooking cheerleader of the world, trying to get all kids in the kitchen and building confidence. It's really been a journey since then. My kids currently are 20, 17, 14, and 11, so I'm in the thick of it.Sarah: We have a very similar origin story: former teacher, then mom, and a brain that doesn't want to stop working. I went with parent coaching, and you went with helping parents with food and cooking, so that's exciting.I can tell from what I've learned about you offline that you love teenagers—and I love teenagers too. We have people in the audience who have teenagers and also people who have littler kids. I think the people with littler kids are like, “I don't want my kids to grow up. I've heard such bad things about teenagers.” What do you want people to know about teenagers? What are some things that you've learned as the mom of younger kids and then teens?Katie: It's such a devastating myth, Sarah, that teens are going to be the awful part of your parenting career—the time you're not supposed to look forward to, the time you have to slog through, and it's going to be so difficult.It's all difficult, right? Don't let anyone tell you parenting's easy—they're lying. But it's so worth it, and it's so great. I love parenting teens. I love conversing with them at such a much higher level than talking to my 11-year-old, and I love watching what they can do. You see those glimpses of what they'll be like when they're a dad, or when they're running around an office, or managing people. It's incredible to be so close. It's like the graduation of parenting. It's exciting.That's what I would want to tell parents of kids younger than teens: look forward to it.I do think there are some things you can do to prepare for adolescence and to make it smoother for everyone. I like to talk about what teens need. We want to parent from a place of what teens developmentally need, and they really need agency and autonomy at that stage. They're developmentally wired to be pushing away—to be starting to make the break with their adults, with that generation that we are in. Sometimes that's really painful as the grown-up. It almost feels like they're trying to hurt us, but what they're really doing is trying to push us away so it doesn't hurt them so badly when they know they need to leave.As parents, it helps to sit with the knowledge that this is not personal. They do not hate me. They're attempting to figure out how to sever this relationship. So what can we do to allow them to do that so they don't have to use a knife? If we can allow them to walk far enough away from us and still be a safe haven they can come home to, the relationship doesn't have to be severed. It just gets more distant and longer apart.When they want independence and autonomy, we need to make sure we give it to them. My tip for parents of younger kids is that, especially around ages 8, 10, 11—depending on maturity level—where can we start providing some agency? My team will say, “Katie, don't say agency. It sounds like you're talking about the FBI or some government letters.” But it's the best word, because agency isn't just choices—it's choices plus control, plus competence to be able to make change in your own life, in your own environment.We can't have agency unless we give our kids skills to actually be able to do something. The choice between “Do you want the red cup or the blue cup?” is for toddlers. That's not going to be enough once they're in the stage where their mind is growing and they can critically think. We want to give our kids skills, responsibilities, choices, and some ownership over their lives. That starts in upper elementary school, and it gets bigger and bigger.Sarah: I would argue it starts even earlier. Toddlers can make the red cup or blue cup choice, and as they keep going, you can give them more and more agency.One of my favorite parenting people, Alfie Kohn, says that kids should have the power to make decisions that make us gulp a little bit.Katie: Oh, I love that.Sarah: I think that's true. We come up against our own anxiety too: What if they make the wrong decision? But it's incremental, so the decisions become bigger and bigger as they get older. That's how they practice being able to make good decisions—through experience.Katie: We know statistically that anxiety right now is spiking massively that first year out of high school—where young adults are heading into the world, either to university or for a first job. One theory—one I would get behind—is that everything of adulthood, all the responsibilities, are crashing on their shoulders at once, and they haven't experienced that level of responsibility. Sometimes they haven't had opportunities to fail safely, and they don't know what to do.Sometimes we think we're pushing problems out of their way and that it's helpful, but we're really creating bigger problems down the road. So with that long-term perspective, I love that “gulp.” We've got to let them try and fail and hold back.Sarah: Do you know Lenore Skenazy, who started the Free Range Kids movement? She has a TED Talk that came out recently where she talks about how she attributes the rise in anxiety to the fact that kids never have any unwatched time by adults. They never have room and space to figure out their own way to make things work. Of course, I don't think anyone's saying we should inappropriately not supervise our kids, but they need more freedom. If they don't have freedom to figure things out on their own, that's where the anxiety comes in.Katie: For sure. When Lenore and I have interacted, she likes to call it “beneficial risk.” Climbing the tree is the classic example, but because I love to get kids and teens in the kitchen, we got to talk about the beneficial risk of using sharp knives and playing with fire—literally returning to our ancestral roots.The way I see it, and the way I've seen it played out in my own home: I taught my now 20-year-old to use a chef's knife at age 10. He built competency. He took risks. He discovered how he wanted to navigate in the kitchen. So when he was 15 and getting his driver's permit, I felt pretty peaceful. I thought, “He's so mature. I've seen him make good decisions. He's practiced taking beneficial risks.”I felt confident handing him the driver's license. When it came time for him to get a cell phone—first a kid-safe phone and then a fully unlocked smartphone—I felt like we had been building up to it because of our work in the kitchen. I think he did better than his peers with taking appropriate risks driving a car and having a smartphone in his pocket, because he'd had practice.Sarah: And that was in the kitchen for your family.Katie: Yes.Sarah: Cooking is one of my special interests. I love to cook. My kids love baking. They were never that interested in cooking, although they all can cook and they do cook for themselves. My 21-year-old who has his own apartment has started sending me pictures of the food that he makes. He made some baked chicken thighs with mushrooms the other day, and a green salad. He sent me a picture and I said to my daughter, “Do you want to see a picture of Asa's chicken?” And she said, “Asa got a chicken?” She was picturing it running around. We all laughed so hard because I wouldn't put it past him, honestly.When my kids were younger, they weren't that interested. Maybe I could have gotten them more interested in the cooking part, but I always felt like that was my thing. What tips do you have—for any ages—about how to get kids interested and involved? You said your son was using a chef's knife at age 10. What are some ways to involve kids and get them interested in that skill?Katie: Knives are a great start because they're scary and they're fun—especially for guys. You get to use something dangerous. My second son, John, asked to learn to use a chef's knife, so he learned to use a sharp paring knife at age four and asked to level up to a chef's knife at age seven.For parents of kids who are still in that intrinsic motivation phase—“I want to help”—the good news is you don't have to try. You just have to say yes. You just have to figure out what can my brain handle letting this little person do in the kitchen. If it's “I'm going to teach them to measure a teaspoon of salt,” then do it. Don't let cooking feel like this big to-do list item. It's just one teaspoon of salt.Can I teach them to crack an egg? Can I teach them to flip a pancake? Think of it as one little skill at a time. That's what cooking is: building blocks. If it's something like measuring, you don't have to have them in your elbow room. You can send them to the table; they can have a little spill bowl. Then you can build their motivation by complimenting the meal: “This meal tastes perfect. I think it's the oregano—who measured the oregano?” That's how we treat little ones.The medium-sized ones are a little tougher, and teens are tougher yet. For the medium-sized ones, the best way to get them involved is to create a chance for authentic praise that comes from outside the family—meaning it's not you or your co-parent; it's some other adult. If you're going to a party or a potluck, or you're having people over, figure out how to get that kid involved in one recipe. Then you say to the other adults, “Guess who made the guacamole?” That was our thing—our kids always made the guac when they were little. And other adults say, “What? Paul made the guacamole? That's amazing. This is awesome.” The 10-year-old sees that and blooms with pride. It makes them more excited to come back in the kitchen, feel more of that, and build more competency.Sarah: I love that. That's an invitation, and then it makes them want to do more because it feels good. We talk about that in peaceful parenting too: a nice invitation and then it becomes a prosocial behavior you want to do more of.I started cooking because I wanted to make food that I liked. I'm old enough that I took Home Ec in middle school, and it was my favorite class. I think about my Home Ec teacher, Mrs. Flanagan, my whole adult life because I learned more from her that I still use than from any other teacher. I remember figuring out how to make deep-fried egg rolls in grade seven because I loved egg rolls. You couldn't just buy frozen egg rolls then. So I think food that kids like can be a good way in. Is that something you find too?Katie: One hundred percent. If you're cooking things they don't like, you get the pushback: “Mom, I don't like…” So it's like, “Okay, I would love to eat your meal. What do you want to eat?” And it's not, “Tell me what you want and I'll cook it.” If you meal plan, you get to make all the choices.My kids have been interviewed, and people often ask, “What's your favorite thing about knowing how to cook?” My kids have gotten pretty good at saying, “We get to cook what we like.” It's super motivating.Sarah: When I was growing up, my sister and I each had to make dinner one night a week starting when I was in grade five and she was in grade three. We could make anything we wanted, including boxed Kraft Dinner. I can't remember what else we made at that young age, but it was definitely, “You are cooking dinner, and you get to make whatever you want.”Katie: Why didn't you do that with your own kids, out of curiosity?Sarah: It just seemed like it would take too much organization. I think we tried it a couple times. Organization is not my strong suit. Often dinner at our house—there were lots of nights where people had cereal or eggs or different things for dinner. I love to cook, but I like to cook when the urge hits me and I have a recipe I want to try. I'm not seven nights a week making a lovely dinner.Also, dinner was often quite late at my house because things always take longer than I think. I'd start at six, thinking it would take an hour, and it would be 8:30 by the time dinner was ready. I remember one night my middle son was pouring himself cereal at 6:30. I said, “Why are you having cereal? Dinner's almost ready.” He said, “Mom, it's only 6:30.” He expected it later—that's the time normal people eat dinner.My kids have a lot of freedom, but nobody was particularly interested in cooking. And, to be honest, it felt a bit too early as a responsibility when my sister and I had to do it. Even though I'm glad now that I had those early experiences, it was wanting to make egg rolls that made me into a cook more than being assigned dinner in grade five.Katie: That push and pull of how we were parented and how we apply it now is so hard.Sarah: Yes.Katie: I'm thinking of an encouraging story from one of the families who's done our brand-new Teens Cook Real Food. The mom said it was kind of wild: here they were cooking all this real food and it felt intensive. Over the years she'd slid more into buying processed foods, and through the class, watching her teens go through it, she realized, “Oh my gosh, it's actually not as hard as I remember. I have to coach myself.” They shifted into cooking with more real ingredients, and it wasn't that hard—especially doing it together.Sarah: It's not that hard. And you hear in the news that people are eating a lot of fast food and processed food. I'm not anti-fast food or processed food, but you don't want that to be the only thing you're eating. It's actually really easy to cook some chicken and rice and broccoli, but you have to know how. That's why it's so sad Home Ec has gone by the wayside. And honestly, a whole chicken, some rice, and broccoli is going to be way cheaper than McDonald's for a family of four. Cooking like that is cheaper, not very hard, and healthier than eating a lot of fast food or processed food.Katie: Conversations in the kitchen and learning to cook—it's kind of the gateway life skill, because you end up with conversations about finances and budgeting and communication and thinking of others. So many life skills open up because you're cooking.You just brought up food budget—that could be a great half-hour conversation with a 16- or 17-year-old: “You won't have infinite money in a couple years when you move out. You'll have to think about where you spend that money.” It's powerful for kids to start thinking about what it will be like in their first apartment and how they'll spend their time and money.Sarah: My oldest son is a musician, and he's really rubbing his pennies together. He told me he makes a lot of soups and stews. He'll make one and live off it for a couple days. He doesn't follow a recipe—he makes it up. That's great, because you can have a pretty budget-friendly grocery shop.I also don't want to diss anyone who's trying to keep it all together and, for them, stopping by McDonald's is the only viable option at this moment. No judgment if you're listening and can't imagine having the capacity to cook chicken and rice and broccoli. Maybe someday, or maybe one day a week on the weekend, if you have more time and energy.Katie: The way I explain it to teens is that learning to cook and having the skills gives you freedom and choices. If you don't have the skills at all, you're shackled by convenience foods or fast food or DoorDash. But if you at least have the skills, you have many more choices. Teens want agency, autonomy, and freedom, so I speak that into their lives. Ideally, the younger you build the skills, the more time you have to practice, gain experience, and get better.There's no way your older son could have been making up soups out of his head the first month he ever touched chicken—maybe he's a musician, so maybe he could apply the blues scale to cooking quickly—but most people can't.Sarah: As we're speaking, I'm reflecting that my kids probably did get a lot of cooking instruction because we were together all the time. They would watch me and they'd do the standing on a chair and cutting things and stirring things. It just wasn't super organized.That's why I'm so glad you have courses that can help people learn how to teach their children or have their kids learn on their own.I promised we would talk about screens. I'm really curious. It sounds like your kids have a lot of life skills and pretty full lives. Something I get asked all the time is: with teens and screens, how do you avoid “my kid is on their phone or video games for six or seven hours a day”? What did you do in your family, and what thoughts might help other people?Katie: Absolutely. Parenting is always hard. It's an ongoing battle. I think I'm staying on the right side of the numbers, if there are numbers. I feel like I'm launching kids into the world who aren't addicted to their phones. That's a score, and it's tough because I work on screens. I'm telling parents, “Buy products to put your kids on screen,” so it's like, “Wait.”I don't look at screens as a dichotomy of good or bad, but as: how do we talk to our kids about the quality of their time on screens?Back in 2020, when the world shut down, my oldest, Paul, was a freshman. His freshman year got cut short. He went weeks with zero contact with friends, and he fell into a ton of YouTube time and some video games. We thought, “This is an unprecedented time, but we can't let bad habits completely take over.”We sat down with him and said, “Listen, there are different kinds of screen time.” We qualified them as consumptive—everything is coming out of the screen at you—creative—you're making something—and communicative—you're socializing with other people.We asked him what ways he uses screens. We made a chart on a piece of paper and had him categorize his screen time. Then we asked what he thought he wanted his percentage of screen time to be in those areas—without evaluating his actual time yet. He assigned those times, and then we had him pay attention to what reality was. Reality was 90 to 95% consumptive. It was an amazing lightbulb moment. He realized that to be an agent of his own screen time, he had to make intentional choices.He started playing video games with a buddy through the headphones. That change completely changed his demeanor. That was a tough time.So that's the basis of our conversation: what kind of screen time are you having?For my 11-year-old, he still has minute limits: he sets a timer and stops himself. But if he's playing a game with someone, he gets double the time. That's a quantitative way to show him it's more valuable to be with someone than by yourself on a screen. A pretty simple rule.We'll also say things like, “People over screens.” If a buddy comes over and you're playing a video game, your friend is at the door.That's also what I talk to parents about with our classes: this isn't fully consumptive screen time. We highly edit things. We try to keep it engaging and fun so they're on for a set number of minutes and then off, getting their fingers dirty and getting into the real world. We keep their brains and hands engaged beyond the screen. The only way I can get a chef into your home is through the screen—or you pay a thousand dollars.We can see our screen time as really high quality if we make the right choices. It's got to be roundabout 10, 11, 12: pulling kids into the conversation about how we think about this time.Sarah: I love that. It sounds like you were giving your kids tools to look at their own screen time and how they felt about it, rather than you coming from on high and saying, “That's enough. Get off.”Katie: Trying.Sarah: I approach it similarly, though not as organized. I did have limits for my daughter. My sons were older when screens became ubiquitous. For my daughter, we had a two-hour limit on her phone that didn't include texting or anything social—just Instagram, YouTube, that kind of stuff. I think she appreciated it because she recognized it's hard to turn it off.We would also talk about, “What else are you doing today?” Have you gone outside? Have you moved your body? Have you done any reading? All the other things. And how much screen time do you think is reasonable? Variety is a favorite word around here.Katie: Yes. So much so my 11-year-old will come to me and say, “I've played outside, I've read a book, my homework is done. Can I have some screen time?” He already knows what I'm going to ask. “Yes, Mom, I've had variety.” Then: “Okay, set a timer for 30 minutes.”I have a 14-year-old freshman right now. He does not own a phone.Sarah: Oh, wow. I love that.Katie: In modern America, he knows the pathway to get a phone—and he doesn't want one.Sarah: That's great. I hope we see that more and more. I worry about how much kids are on screens and how much less they're talking to each other and doing things.I had a guest on my podcast who's a retired video game developer. His thing is how to not fight with your kid about video games. One thing he recommends is—even more than playing online with someone else—get them in the same room together. Then they can play more. He has different time rules if you're playing in person with kids in your living room than if you're playing alone or playing online with someone else.Katie: Nice. Totally. My story was from COVID times.Sarah: Yes, that wasn't an option then. Someone I heard say the other day: “Can we just live in some unprecedented times, please?”Katie: Yes, please.Sarah: You mentioned the intrinsic motivation of somebody admiring their guacamole. What are your tips for kids—especially teens—who think they're too busy or just super uninterested in cooking?Katie: Teens are a tough species. Motivation is a dance. I really encourage parents to participate in future casting. Once they're about 15, they're old enough. Academically, they're being future-casted all the time: “What are you going to be when you grow up?” They're choosing courses based on university paths. But we need to future-cast about real life too.Ask your 15-year-old: “Have you ever thought about what it'll be like to be in your first apartment?” Maybe they haven't. That helps reduce that first-year-out-of-home anxiety—to have imagined it. Then they might realize they have gaps. “Would you be interested in making sure you can cook some basic stuff for those first years? When you're cooking at home, it's my money you waste if you screw up.” That can be motivating. “I'm here to help.”Sometimes it comes down to a dictate from above, which is not my favorite. Your sister and you were asked to cook at third and fifth grade. I agree that might be a little young for being assigned a full meal. We start around 12 in our house. But by high school, there's really no reason—other than busy schedules. If they're in a sport or extracurricular daily, that can be rough. So what could they do? Could they make a Sunday brunch? We come home from church every Sunday and my daughter—she's 17, grade 12—she's faster than I am now. She'll have the eggs and sausage pretty much done. I'm like, “I'm going to go change out of my church clothes. Thanks.”If we're creative, there's always some time and space. We have to eat three times a day. Sometimes it might be: “You're old enough. It's important as a member of this household to contribute. I'm willing to work with you on really busy weeks, but from now on, you need to cook on Saturday nights.” I don't think that has to be a massive power struggle—especially with the future casting conversation. If you can get them to have a tiny bit of motivation—tiny bit of thinking of, “Why do I need this?”—and the idea of “If I cook, I get to make what I want,” and the budget.Sarah: The budget too: if you're living in your own apartment, how much do you think rent is? How much do you think you can eat for? It's way more expensive to order out or get fast food than to cook your own food.Katie: I feel so proud as a fellow mom of your son, Asa, for making soups and stuff. In Teens Cook Real Food, we teach how to make homemade bone broth by taking the carcass of a chicken. It's a very traditional skill. On camera, I asked the girls who did it with me to help me figure out what their dollar-per-hour pay rate was for making that, compared to an equal quality you buy in the store. Bone broth at the quality we can make is very expensive—like $5 a cup.They did the math and their hourly pay was over $70 an hour to make that bone broth. Then they have gallons of bone broth, and I call it the snowball effect: you have all this broth and you're like, “I guess I'll make soup.” Soup tends to be huge batches, you can freeze it, and it snowballs into many homemade, inexpensive, nourishing meals.Sarah: I love that. You've mentioned your course a couple times—Teens Cook Real Food. I'm picturing that as your kids grew up, your teaching audience grew up too. Were there other reasons you wanted to teach teens how to cook?Katie: Yes. We've had our kids' cooking class for 10 years now. It just had its 10th birthday. The most often requested topic that's not included in the kids' class is meal planning and grocery shopping. It wasn't something I felt like an eight-year-old needed.For 10 years I had that seed of, “How can I incorporate those important skills of meal planning and grocery shopping?” Then my teens got older, and I thought, “I've told parents of teens that our kids' cooking class will work for them, but it's not enough. It wasn't sufficient.”It was so exciting to put this course together. Even just the thinking—the number of index cards I had on the floor with topics trying to figure out what a young adult needs in their first apartment, how to connect the skills, and how to make it engaging.We ended up with eight teens I hired from my local community—some with cooking experience, some with literally none. We had on-camera accidents and everything. But they learned to cook in my kitchen, and it's all recorded for your teens to learn from.Sarah: I love that. What are some of the recipes that you teach in the course?Katie: We have over 35. We spent a whole day with a chef. He started talking about flavor and how seasonings work, and he taught us the mother sauces—like a basic white sauce, both gluten-free and dairy-free, a couple ways to do that, and a basic red sauce, and a couple ways to do that.My favorite cheeky segment title is “How to Boil Water.” We have a bunch of videos on how to boil water—meaning you can make pasta, rice, oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes. There's a lot of stuff that goes in water.Then we built on that with “How to Eat Your Vegetables.” We teach sautéing, steaming, and roasting. The first big recipe they learn is a basic sheet pan dinner. We use pre-cooked sausage and vegetables of your choice, seasonings of your choice. It's one of those meals where you're like, “I don't need a recipe. I can just make this up and put it in the oven.”Then, to go with pasta and red sauce, we teach homemade meatballs. We get them at the grill for steak and chicken and burgers. Of course we do French fries in a couple different ways.Choice is a huge element of this course. If we teach something, we probably teach it in two or three or four different ways, so teens can adapt to preferences, food sensitivities, and anything like that.We use the Instant Pot a lot in our “How to Eat Your Protein” segment. We do a pork roast and a beef roast and a whole chicken, and that broth I talked about, and we make a couple different soups with that.Sarah: You almost make me feel like I haven't had lunch yet.Katie: I'm starving, actually.Sarah: I'm quite an adventurous eater and cook, but I'm going to ask you about my two favorite foods—because they're like a child's favorite foods, but my favorite foods are pizza and tacos. Do you do anything with pizza and tacos in your course?Katie: We do both pizza and tacos.Sarah: Good!Katie: Our chef taught us, with that homemade red sauce, to make homemade dough. He said, “I think we should teach them how to make a homemade brick oven and throw the pizzas into the oven.” Throwing means sliding the pizza off a pizza peel onto bricks in your oven. I was like, “We're going to make such a mess,” but they did it. It's awesome.Then we tested it at home: can you just make this in a normal pizza pan? Yes, you can—don't worry. You don't have to buy bricks, but you can. Again, there are different ways.Sarah: I think teenagers would love making pizza on bricks in the oven. For us we're like, “That seems like so much work.” But teenagers are enthusiastic and creative and they have so much energy. They're wonderful human beings. I can see how the brick oven pizza would be a great challenge for them.Katie: It's so fun. My kids, Paul and John—20 and 14—they've both done it at home. As adults we're like, “It's such a mess,” but we're boring people. Teenagers are not boring. So yes—definitely pizza.Sarah: That's awesome. We'll link to your course in the show notes. Before we let you go, where's the best place for people to go and find out more about you and what you do?Katie: Definitely: raisinghealthyfamilies.com/peacefulparenting. We're going to make sure there's always something about teens at that link—whether it's a free preview of the course or a parenting workshop from me. There will always be something exciting for parents there.Sarah: Amazing. It's been such a pleasure. I thought maybe I didn't do all this stuff, but considering how both of my sons who are independent cook for themselves all the time, I think I must have done okay—even if it was just by osmosis.Katie: That's the great thing about keeping your kids near you. That was your peaceful parenting: they were in the kitchen and they were there, as opposed to you booting them out of the kitchen. There are lots of ways.Sarah: My daughter is an incredible baker. She makes the best chocolate chip cookies. I have this recipe for muffin-tin donuts that are amazing, and she's a really great baker. She can find her way around a quesadilla, eggs, and ramen for herself. I think once she moves out, if she doesn't have mom's cooking anymore, she'll probably also be able to cook.Katie: Yes. And so many parents need that bridge. They're like, “My kids love to make cookies. They bake, but they won't shift to cooking.” I would hope that future-casting conversation could be a good bridge.Sarah: Yeah. You can't live on cookies—or you might think you can for a little while, but then you'd start to feel gross.Katie: Exactly.Sarah: Thanks a lot, Katie.Katie: Thank you so much, Sarah. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sarahrosensweet.substack.com/subscribe
In the last episode, we made it through step 3 of the 5 steps to meal planning on a budget! Now let's dive into steps 4-5. I am collaborating with two of my most frugal friends who are GREAT cooks to compile 5 steps to meal planning on a budget, merging both requests of our families of teens.May I introduce you to Tiffany of Don't Waste the Crumbs and Steph of Cheapskate Cook, who never cease to amaze me with their ability to save money while also generously hosting friends and sharing their knowledge with others online?You'll get to hear from them both in this episode. Resources We Mention for Meal Planning on a BudgetSome tips to stretch your meat and save moneyMore tips for reducing food wasteMy full interview with StephMy full interview with TiffanyMeal planning is the key to healthy eatingRoutines to make healthy meal planning doable3 Habits to help your grocery budget with high inflationMore tips and recipes to save you moneyVisit raisinghealthyfamilies.com/teens to get on the waitlist for Teens Cook Real Food! Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
We just celebrated 10 years of teaching kids to cook online, which honestly feels surreal. It still feels like yesterday that we were filming the very first lessons, crossing our fingers, and wondering if anyone would even want this.Fast forward a decade and nearly 20,000 families served, and the answer is clear. This work matters. It is changing kitchens, confidence levels, and family dynamics in real ways.Over the years, parents have consistently asked me about two skills that go beyond what we teach inside Kids Cook Real Food:How to help kids meal planHow to help kids grocery shopThese are higher level executive functioning skills. They build on cooking, but they are a step further. They require decision making, budgeting, and thinking ahead. That is why they were never part of the original Kids Cook Real Food course.For a long time, I knew these skills belonged in a future, more advanced program for teens and young adults. And now, that next step is almost here!! They are a big part of Teens Cook Real Food, which releases to the public on January 26, 2006!! (But only for a week right now, so put it on your calendar.)Today we'll hit on steps 1-3 of meal planning on a budget!Resources We Mention for Meal Planning on a BudgetSome tips to stretch your meat and save moneyMore tips for reducing food wasteMeal planning is the key to healthy eatingRoutines to make healthy meal planning doable3 Habits to help your grocery budget with high inflationMore tips and recipes to save you moneVisit raisinghealthyfamilies.com/teens to get on the waitlist for Teens Cook Real Food! Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Send us a textThis episode is part of Holiday Voices—a special Real Happy Mom podcast series filled with quick holiday tips, uplifting stories, and real-life traditions from moms who get it.Whether you're a working mom trying to simplify the season, or just looking for ways to reduce holiday stress and be more present, these short episodes are packed with encouragement and ideas you can actually use.Find all the episodes, links to guest freebies, and more at realhappymom.com/voicesSupport the show
Are you ready to transform your children from helpless dependents into confident, capable individuals? What if teaching life skills could actually reduce your daily parenting stress whilst building your child's self-esteem? How can simple household tasks become powerful tools for developing resilience and independence in your kids?
In this episode, Evan H. Hirsch, MD, speaks with Katie Kimball, CSME, to explore how exhausted parents can reclaim energy and stability at home by building a true "family team." Together, they unpack how life skills, chores, and food prep can become empowering tools, especially for families navigating chronic fatigue or long COVID. Katie Kimball helps change kids' relationship to food, both through work in the kitchen and helping parents of picky eaters. She's a former teacher, two-time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4 kids. She created the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, which was recommended by The Wall Street Journal as the best online cooking class for kids. Her blog Kitchen Stewardship helps families stay healthy without going crazy, and she's on a mission to connect families around healthy food, teach every child to cook, and instill those all-important life skills with her LifeSkillsNow summer camps! Today, Katie shares simple but powerful strategies for involving kids in cooking and household responsibilities in a way that builds confidence, strengthens family bonds, and takes pressure off parents who are stretched thin. In this episode, you'll learn: What a "family support team" looks like and how to create one Why life skills build confidence, resilience, and future independence How to coach rather than criticize when teaching kids The importance of clear boundaries and gradual responsibility Why apologizing is a powerful parenting tool How to shift parenting style as your kids become teens Creative ways to teach responsibility through allowance systems Katie's Freebie: Knife Skills Video for Kids: https://kidscookrealfood.com/energymdpodcast Holiday Skills Bundle from LifeSkillsNow: https://sl290.isrefer.com/go/holiday-skills/ehirsch/ . We help you resolve your Long Covid and Chronic Fatigue (ME/CFS) by finding and fixing the REAL root causes that 95% of providers miss. Learn about these causes and how we help people like you, Click Here. Do you have fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, muscle pain, or other strange symptoms? You might have Long Covid. Take our free quiz to find out if Long Covid is behind the mystery symptoms you're experiencing, Click Here. For more information about Evan and his program, Click Here. Prefer to watch on Youtube? Click Here. Please note that any information in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
When your podcast guest says, “Our goal as parents is to raise up these self-sufficient, independent people someday,” you know she's in the right place!Diane Boden and I talk all about her journey to minimalism and the intentional mindset she's fostered over the last 14 years.It's not just about the “stuff” but about experiences, relationships, schedules, and even goals.We dig into all that and more in this encouraging interview!Resources We Mention for Living with IntentionDiane's book, Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity, is available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or wherever you find your books. The Bullet Journal SystemMy stewardship philosophy Building mom friendships and overcoming isolation with Heather MacFadyenVisit Diane at her website Minimalist Moms Podcast or on social media: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, XShop Wholestix and eat your organ meats here! Get your free life skills workshops now! Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
We're lonely!It's hurting us!And we're not very good at connecting with other humans.Heather MacFadyen is here to help. Author and podcaster of Don't Mom Alone, she's all about building connection to help moms do their jobs better.“Loneliness can be when you're with others but not feeling truly known,” she said in this encouraging interview. We talk about the 3 kinds of relationships moms need to nurture, how to shed the unattainable standards society is trying to place on us, and how to antidote loneliness in the most practical of ways.We hit on anger, lies and truths, podcast clubs and more.If you've ever felt the vulnerability of making a new friend or wish you were brave enough to take the risk and make a coffee date or go for a walk with a new friend…you need this interview.Grab Heather's book at your local library or bookshop and be sure to subscribe to the Don't Mom Alone podcast (along with of course The Healthy Parenting Handbook)!Resources We Mention for Building Mom FriendshipsHeather's books: Don't Mom Alone (Amazon/Bookshop.org) and Right Where You Belong (Amazon/Bookshop.org)Subscribe to Heather's podcast, Don't Mom AloneMel Robbins podcast episode: Why Making Friends as an Adult Feels ImpossibleThe Science of Friendship with Dr. Marisa G. FrancoPeople Fuel by John TownsendGood and Angry by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller Emotional Regulation for Moms with Emily HamblinVisit Heather on her website HeatherMacFadyen.com or on social media: Instagram, FacebookShop Wholestix and eat your organ meats here! Get 4 #LifeSkillsNow videos at kidscookrealfood.com/skills Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
The very morning I did this interview, my husband was complaining about how badly he felt because of a certain number...and when I heard Heidi's final "practical" challenge to parents, I knew we had to do it. This interview was a HUGE paradigm shift for me, and you will alternately want to turn it off as it gets challenging and find yourself cheering out loud!Heidi Schauster, MS, RDN, CEDRD-S is an expert on eating disorders and talks with me today about how we as parents can foster a healthy relationship with food for our kids. We cover risk factors for eating disorders, mindful eating, how to handle treats at school and elsewhere, what "rules" parents should (and should not!) have for food in the home, the quickest way to make your child into a binge eater, how we should talk about weight and body image with our kids, and so much more.This is a MUST WATCH interview because our entire culture is disordered in how to think and talk about body image, so we have a LOT of work to do to make positive change! Heidi and I continued to talk after I ended the recording and I kept catching myself using the wrong language about food. She said, "This is great - you're creating new neural pathways right in front of my eyes!" Resources We Mentioned for Healthy Relationships with Food:Heidi's books: Nourish: How to Heal Your Relationship with Food, Body, and Self (Amazon/Bookshop.org) and Nurture: How to Raise Kids Who Love Food, Their Bodies, and Themselves (Amazon/Bookshop.org)More on Ellyn Satter's division of responsibility in feedingHealth at Every SizeThe No More Picky Eating ChallengeWhat happened when the 8-year-old sneaked Halloween candy?Visit Heidi's website here or follow her on the socials: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, FacebookGet the one-page summaries of each podcast at www.kidscookrealfood.com/Handbook! Take control of your stress with the Stress Mastery Challenge today! Get four free workshops now at https://kidscookrealfood.com/skills Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
In today's episode, ScreenStrong Ambassador Liaison and host Mandee Hamann welcomes Katie Kimball, founder of Kids Cook Real Food and two-time TEDx speaker, for an inspiring conversation about helping kids build real life skills in a world obsessed with screens.As a mom of four, teacher, and creator of the #LifeSkillsNow summer camps, Katie has helped thousands of families empower their kids to cook, clean, and take responsibility for their daily lives—all while bringing families closer together around healthy food and meaningful work.Mandee and Katie dive into:Why life skills are essential for kids' confidence and independenceHow screens are replacing valuable opportunities for hands-on learningWhy risk-taking (yes, even with sharp knives and climbing trees!) is necessary for growthHow busy families can find time to teach practical skills in everyday momentsWays to foster critical thinking and problem-solving—even before the “age of logic”Whether you're navigating the ScreenStrong 30-Day Detox or simply looking for ways to replace screen time with real-life learning, this episode will encourage and equip you to raise capable, confident kids who know how to thrive—no device required.
The holidays can be the most wonderful time of the year ... or the most overwhelming. Between the excitement, the sugar, the schedule changes, and the constant stimulation, even the calmest kids can start to unravel. And let's be honest, parents can too!In this episode, I sat down with JoAnn Crohn, a former school teacher who's now on a mission to help overwhelmed moms rediscover joy and raise healthier, happier families. She has a gentle, realistic way of helping moms shift from chaos to calm, especially during high-stress seasons like the holidays. You might recognize JoAnn, as she's been a camp leader in all four seasons of #LifeSkillsNow!Here's what you'll learn:How JoAnn helps overwhelmed moms find joy and balance againWhy self-care isn't selfish, it's essential to being an effective parentWhat holiday overstimulation does to kids (and how to help them recover)Simple ways to validate your child's emotions without giving in to every whimHow to prepare kids for the changes and disappointments that come with the holidaysWhy calm-down strategies work best when practiced before the meltdownsThe easiest ways to bring your kids into holiday traditions so everyone feels connectedYou'll walk away with practical tools and a fresh mindset to make this holiday season feel more joyful and a lot less stressful.Resources We Mention for Helping Kids Manage Holiday EmotionsRegister for the Happy Holidays, Happier Kids Challenge that starts November 9!My interview with Tina Payne Bryson, and her book The Whole-Brain Child (Amazon/Bookshop.org)My Reasons I Think the Grinch Was a Highly Sensitive PersonMy favorite Christmas cookie ever: KifliVisit JoAnn Crohn on her website No Guilt Mom, or follow her on social media: Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, FacebookGet the one-page summaries of each podcast at www.kidscookrealfood.com/Handbook! Take control of your stress with the Stress Mastery Challenge today! Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Our digestion happens every day and REALLY can impact how we feel, think, and treat others!So let's talk all about poop. :)My guest today is brimming over with practical tips about assessing your digestive output (aka poo) and solving issues in gut health based on what you see.Genevieve is a wealth of knowledge on gut health and poop and so generous with her time and practical tips. If you're a fan of healthy living without being too complicated or spending too much money, this is the interview for you!Resources We Mention for Gut Health for FamiliesPurchase The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth (Amazon/Bookshop.org)If you're expecting, check out the Mama Natural Birth CourseChickpea Pizza Crust that is a favorite in our house.Morning sunlight for busy momsQuick Change Tastebuds, Gut Health, and Picky Eating with Elissa ArnheimProducts Genevieve Recommends: Mama Natural probiotics, Northwest Wild Foods berry powders, Garden of Life Turmeric gummies, Eden foods canned beans, Psyllium husk powder, Standard Process Betafood, Betaine HCl tablets, Digestive bitters, Mother Earth Minerals magnesiumVisit Genevieve on her website MamaNatural.com, or on social media: Instagram, YouTube, FacebookGet the one-page summaries of each podcast at www.kidscookrealfood.com/Handbook! Try out the #LifeSkillsNow workshops at kidscookrealfood.com/skills! Shop Truly Free household cleaners and more at https://kidscookrealfood.com/trulyfree! Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Did you know we've lost 80% of the nutrients in vegetables in the last 100 years?As farming has become big agriculture focused on scale, transportation, and profit, human health has suffered along with soil health.Farmer Lee Jones has become one of regenerative farming's most enthusiastic promoters, and to hear him wax poetic about butternut squash and the way Brussels sprouts grow is like a sports announcer commentating on the game-winning score!In this highly entertaining episode (I can see why Rachael Ray offered him a show through her production company!), you'll get to hear about:the unique microclimate along Lake Eriethe changes in farming and grocery stores in the last 75 yearshow the Jones family has turned many failures into better health for all of us at the Chef's Gardenwhat regenerative farming is, and how even small home gardeners can tap into this traditional, lost wisdom!why so many farmers are trapped and hurting the soilhow the whole mess got started (and who's behind it)how to harness the energy from the sun to create nutrient-rich soil, and how the Chef's Garden research facility makes old-fashioned farming high tech (without losing the good parts)what's ice spinach???how the on-farm chef has figured out the art of using all the parts of the plant, the vegetable version of “nose to tail” cookingIt's rare to have so much fun on an interview AND learn so much. Farmer Lee Jones does not disappoint!Resources We Mention for Regenerative Farming MethodsPurchase The Chef's Garden: A Modern Guide to Common and Unusual Vegetables–with Recipes on Amazon or Bookshop.orgWatch The Chef's Garden on Amazon or on A&E!A Beginner's Guide to Regenerative AgricultureGrowing Food in Containers Using PermacultureVisit Farmer Lee on his website or on social media: Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTokCheck out the cookbook FOR kids, BY kids at kidscookrealfood.com/chefjr. Get the one-page summaries of each podcast at www.kidscookrealfood.com/Handbook! Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Send us a textDo you ever feel like all your tween or teen eats is buttered noodles or ramen?
Do you know any mom who ISN'T feeling a little overwhelmed by all the tasks she's juggling, who's NEVER thought, “My house isn't clean/organized/gorgeous enough,” or who doesn't think she has a lot of improvement to make on homemaking?I thought so.My guest today, Mystie Winckler, speaks to moms who are overwhelmed or paralyzed by perfectionism, who know their lives will never look like their favorite Instagram influencers, and who are tempted to just give up at home.(Me! Raises hand…)In case you're looking for just the perfect system that will help you out of that, or if you're hoping Mystie has a cleaning checklist you can try – because surely the next one you try will work even though others haven't – you'll be sorely disappointed.Mystie starts somewhere else, and I believe her method is easier and more difficult at the same time.For a positive conversation and a lot of encouragement for your home, tune in to this week's episode!!Resources We Mention for Beating Perfectionism in HomemakingCheck out Mystie's books: Simplified Organization, The Convivial Homeschool, How to Use a Planner without Wasting Time, and Rejoicing in Repetition3 Reasons Giving Kids Responsibility is a GiftTeaching Your Kids Chores and Life Skills Is NOT Taking Advantage of Them5 Tips for Teaching Kids to CookMacro vs. Micro-Organizing: What's the Difference? Try the Bust Out of Burnout Bingo Challenge (with prizes!)Visit Mystie's website Simply Convivial Get my favorite organic clothes and home goods at Pact here! Get 15% off your first order with code KITCHENSTEWARDSHIP15. Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Alzheimer's and dementia are some of the scariest realities for adults to consider. No one wants to feel like they're going to lose their mind!But in this day and age, it feels like cognitive decline is inevitable for many of us, “just a normal part of aging.”Similarly, our culture has come to accept that many kids are neurodivergent, that their brains are wired differently. We diagnose it as ADHD or ASD, or we see that 1/3 of our teens have clinical anxiety and we think, “It's just the way the world is. We'll help them navigate.”My guest today, Dr. Kristine Bosnar, wants us all to push back against acceptance. In fact, she says that the neuro-inflammation at the root of Alzheimer's and dementia is the SAME as what we see in kids with ADHD and other mental health struggles! Their brains are on fire.Buckle up and get ready to learn:why brain health is in a steep decline the last 20-30 yearshow it's affecting kids and the projected statisticsalarming correlations between the symptoms of Alzheimer's and ADHD, autism, anxietyclear red flags of brain inflammation that we mustn't ignore in our kidswhat to DO to help kids thrive and reduce neuro-inflammationhow the 3 S's - sugar, sedentary lifestyle, and sleep - are pivotal players in the inflammation gamesimple tips for how to start the day right for brain healththe epidemic of loneliness that we must stop NOW for our kids' generationwhy cooking together with your kids is a powerful (and efficient) step toward brain health for the whole familyResources We Mention for Brain Inflammation in KidsGet Dr. Kristina's Brain Boosting Foods for Kids resource3 Ways Parents Can Help Prevent Depression in Their KidsHear more on ADHD from Mike McLeod and Dana KaySubscribe to the Monday Missions for quick tips to more natural living! And start with safe sunscreens and green cleaners for your home. Make-ahead egg cups have a ton of protein for breakfast!The Science of Friendship (and Why That Matters to Our Health) with Psychologist Dr. Marisa G. FrancoVisit Dr. Bosnar's website or find her on Instagram @drkristinabosnarShop Perfect Supplements at https://kidscookrealfood.com/perfect! Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Do you eat organic food?If you do - even a handful of fruits and vegetables - you might be in for a rude surprise when you listen to this interview.Max Goldberg is the founder of Organic Insider and one of the nation's leading organic food experts. He sees significant room for improvement, really a NEED for improvement, when it comes to the USDA Certified Organic label.Max and I dove into policy, reality, and labeling in the organic industry, and I for one learned a LOT.You can learn too:the biggest misconception about organic foodsa major issue in organics that has the potential to limit our choices at the grocery store and even disintegrate the entire industryhow we as consumers can avoid this issue at the grocery storethe best way to find “real” organic food, and why it's actually better for your familywhat shocking toxin is getting into organic foods (and how to avoid it)the first step families can take if you're not eating organic food already (and a really budget-friendly tip)the next step families should take if you're already making some organic food choicesResources Mentioned for Problems with OrganicsCornucopia's organic score cardsHealthy, whole grain soaked pancakes (and more breakfast ideas here)Memorize the Dirty Dozen produce list & how to clean produceIs organic food really better?Max has a free newsletter with policy-focused updates called Organic Insider, or find out more on his website Living MaxwellFind Max on Instagram @organic_insiderThanks to today's sponsor, JustThrive! Use code Katie15 for 15% off at https://kidscookrealfood.com/justthrive. Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
You've heard the figure that most MDs get less than 10-20 hours of nutrition and food training in medical school, and Dr. Katja Rowell (MD!) thinks this is a tragedy.There are some tough moments to hear in this interview, but important ones as we work to raise healthy, independent kids into adulthood.We talked about:What "extreme" picky eating is How bad therapy can hurt a child's relationship with food and family to his/her great detriment, and how you can identify it.Why responsive feeding is different, respectful to the child, and ultimately worlds more effective.Some of the good doctor's regrets about her early years in practice The perils of diet culture for all ages and how we can begin to protect our youth through using the right language and expectationsHow we need to work with extreme and mild picky eaters differently (Spoiler: we don't!)The 5 foundations a good responsive feeding approach boils down to, and how so many families see success Dr. Rowell also said that sugar isn't addictive and doesn't need to be villainized as unhealthy...and with the knowledge and experience I have at this very moment in time, I disagree.But I think it's wonderful that we can learn so much from experts yet also learn to filter everything through our own intellect. I'm totally open to change on this issue, but I also believe it's ok to disagree.Resources We Mention for Extreme Picky EatingDr. Rowell's books: Helping Your Child With Extremely Picky Eating, Conquer Picky Eating for Teens and AdultsTake the free No More Picky Eating Challenge now!Ellyn Satter's Division of ResponsibilitiesMore on feeding a child with sensory processing difficulties, highly sensitive children, and autism from a functional medicine perspectiveYou can connect with Dr. Rowell online at The Feeding Doctor or Extreme Picky EatingFollow her on YouTubeMore resources Dr. Rowell sent me after our interview:Dieticians 4 TeachersThe Feeding Humans PodcastThe Comfort Food Podcast episode on sugarThank you to today's sponsor, Happsy! Shop at kidscookrealfood.com/Happsy for an earth-friendly, affordable mattress today. Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
If having a strong family and raising kids who know how to serve others is important - or necessary - to you, my guest today will inspire, encourage, and challenge you to reach those goals!He prefers the word "invite" over "challenge," so I'm curious to hear what you think! :)I was beyond honored to sit down with Fr. Leo Patalinghug, "the cooking priest," to talk about family dinners, sharing responsibilities in the home, building memories around food, and how he's serving many communities at once with his new food truck project.You'll hear:Why being a priest and a chef are basically the same callingFr. Leo's strong thoughts about family dinners and a strict boundary he encourages parents to set about dinner conversationThe science behind the necessity of gathering together around foodWhat Fr. Leo says to adults who don't know how to cook and the impersonal tragedy of processed/delivered foodA priest's prescription for date nights to keep the marriage strong (and be a good example for the children)The Plating Grace and Grub food truck and how many communities and needs it serves (plus, YUM, I'm drooling over the menu!)Some pointed words about media consumption, how we digest the words we're told, and what we really need a revival of in AmericaFr. Leo's family experience with food saving relationshipsThere's a reason Fr. Leo is an internationally renowned speaker and a TV host—he's so great to listen to and has a LOT to say. Take notes!I'm also so jazzed that he is quoted in my upcoming book on picky eating, coming in fall 2026!Resources We Mention for Building Strong FamiliesFather Leo's book Saving the FamilyFamily dinner rituals to promote mental and physical healthThe importance of family dinners10 ways to make veggies more appealing to kidsMore about connected parenting with Jennifer KolariTo support Father Leo's food truck ministry, head over hereCheck out his podcast and booksFollow Father Leo on Instagram and FacebookThank you to today's sponsor, Happsy! Shop at kidscookrealfood.com/Happsy for an earth-friendly, affordable mattress today. Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
My youngest got his first concussion at age 3.After this interview, I'm wondering if another child of mine has some post-concussion symptoms that we never realized had to do with a knock on the head!This interview is for parents of contact sport athletes FOR SURE but also anyone who wants to strengthen their family's brain health.What's brain health? It's the development of your kids' brains, the avoidance of cognitive decline as we age (yes please!), and everyone's mental health.Here's a little peek at what you'll learn:Why a brain after a concussion is a bit like a sprained ankleHow many patients are surprised that their daily symptoms end up being connected to an unresolved concussion in their past!What modern conventional medicine gets wrong about concussions (spoiler: not much right at all!)The worst possible thing to do (and the second worst) for concussion recoveryA shocking fact about the CT scan you'll get in the ER after a concussionConnections from brain health to mental healthA GOLDEN 30-second process you need to put your kids through at the beginning of every contact sport season (I'm going to start telling everyone this!)How to make any exercise (and even cooking with kids!) into a brain exerciseYour science geek brain and your practical brain will be so happy to learn all this information! With kids, it feels like it's not a matter of IF your family will experience a concussion, but WHEN. Be ready with knowledge, and start to build your family's brain health NOW, because like Dr. Zimmerman says: “The stronger you go into something, the better you'll be coming out of it.”Resources We Mention for Building Strong, Healthy BrainsGet Dr. Spencer's book Brain Reset at Amazon or Bookshop.orgVisit his website hereConcussions are on the rise, but it's not why you thinkThe Best Way to Heal from a Concussion: How to Start Recovery Immediately After a Bump on the Head!One great supplement for brain health is Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil. Brain science can make you a better parent!Find Dr. Spencer online: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTubeGet my favorite organic clothes and home goods at Pact here! Get 15% off your first order with code KITCHENSTEWARDSHIP15. Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
I'll be honest: I've never had a consistent bedtime routine.I teach kids to cook real food, I help families get healthier... and yet when it comes to sleep? Total kryptonite. That's why I knew I needed to bring in a real expert—someone who doesn't just say, “You should get more sleep,” but actually shows us how.Dr. Whitney Roban is a clinical psychologist turned sleep consultant who works with families, schools, and even corporations to teach the why and the how of better sleep. And friends, her tips are not only practical but wildly doable, even if your current sleep situation feels like a disaster.She breaks down:how to figure out your (and your child's) ideal amount of sleepthe real reason your teen can't fall asleep before 11 p.m.what you should (and shouldn't) do right before bedthe surprisingly simple “test” to know how sleep deprived you arehow to rewire your habits without overhauling your entire lifewhat's sabotaging your melatonin (hint: it's probably in your hand right now)how sleep deprivation hurts more than just your moodand why it's never too late to start respecting sleep in your householdThis conversation was such a conviction for me and maybe it will be for you, too.You'll hear me admit my own struggles with sleep, the late-night screen time I know I shouldn't do, and the tiny changes I'm working on. (I even share a little “mom guilt” about bedtime routines and my husband... can you relate?)So if you've been meaning to “get better sleep” but have no idea where to start - or you're just tired of being tired - this episode is your permission slip to pause and reset.Let's solve our sleep one baby step at a time!Resources We Mentioned for Healthy SleepDr. Whitney's websiteDr. Whitey's books that teach kids the importance of sleepInterview with Christine Hansen about sleep for parentsThe secret to healing sleep5 weird tools to improve your sleep8 strategies to improve sleep qualityBlue light glasses I loveFinding a non-toxic mattressFollow Dr. Roban on X, Facebook, Instagram Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Send us a textWhat age were you when you learned how to cook for yourself, organize your home, fix household objects or manage your time? Some of us didn't learn these things from our parents or families, we had to teach them to ourselves as adults! And so what happens now, when we have kids, and we have to teach everyday things we weren't taught as kids? Risa Williams talks to Life Skills expert and Ted Talk Speaker, Katie Kimball, about learning and teaching life skills needed for thriving in everyday life.They discuss:-How to approach teaching life skills with curiosity and encourage collaboration from our kids -How to avoid teaching life skills in chaos and crisis mode-How learning life skills increases resiliency and confidence -How to delegate tasks when you're at your stress capacity -How everyone these days can benefit from life-long learning of everyday skills**For Motivation Mindset listeners, check out Katie's Life Skills Summer Camp for kids at: kidscookrealfood.com/motivationmindset***Host: Risa Williams, risawilliams.com, @risawilliamstherapyGuest: Katie Kimball, kidscookrealfood.com/motivationmindset, @katiekimballkidscookSupport the showFor info on books, workshops, guests, and future episodes, please visit: risawilliams.com.*All tools discussed on the show are meant for educational purposes only and not as a replacement for therapy or medical advice.
In this episode, I talk with Katie Kimball about teaching kids kitchen skills that save both time and money. Katie shares practical advice for parents looking to build cooking independence in children while keeping grocery budgets in check.In this episode you will learn:How to teach age-appropriate kitchen skills to kids 10+ (like knife skills and stovetop cooking) that build independence while saving you timePractical strategies for managing summer snacking that won't break your budgetHow to implement a family cooking rotation where each child takes responsibility for an entire mealThis episode is for you if you're tired of doing everything in the kitchen yourself and want to teach your kids valuable skills that will save you time and money while preparing them for adulthood.Go to kidscookrealfood.com/inspiredskills to access free life skills training videos and learn about her virtual Life Skills Summer Camp featuring 100 different skills taught by experts.You Might Like: Get the FREE Goodbye Debt Tracker! Grab my FREE Budgeting Cheat Sheet. Get the Budget My Paycheck Spreadsheet. Follow Allison on Instagram! @inspiredbudget Check out Inspired Budget's blog. Take my FREE class on How to Budget to Build Wealth!
“Why is my daughter starving an hour after practice?”“How do I teach her to cook when we're always rushing to games?”“What should she actually be eating to perform her best?”If these questions sound familiar, you're in the right place. This episode is your game plan for turning food from an afterthought into your athlete's secret weapon, while teaching her life skills that go way beyond the kitchen.What You'll Learn:
Check out Katie Kimball's Life Skills Workshop for Kids (ages 5–18) — and parents too! Join now at https://sl290.isrefer.com/go/LSN4/HolisticKids Episode Timestamps [00:00] - Intro [01:52] - From Mom to Mission: How It All Started [04:30] - What Are Life Skills (and Why Do They Matter)? [09:00] - What to Expect From Kids of Different Ages [16:37] - Building Confidence Through Life Skills [18:26] - Why Starting Young is Important [23:35] - About LifeSkillsNow Camp! [25:39] - Episode Recap [27:16] - Outro Ready to build real-world confidence? While kids today spend hours in a virtual world, they're often missing out on the simple, essential life skills they need in the real one. From managing time and problem solving to cooking and doing laundry, learning these skills early can ease overwhelm and help kids feel more confident as they grow. In this episode, The Holistic Kids and Katie Kimball explore what life skills are—and how learning them early helps kids become independent, responsible, and ready for life's challenges. Katie Kimball is a former teacher, certified stress mastery educator, author, CEO of Kitchen Stewardship, and the founder of Kids Cook Real Food and LifeSkillsNow Summer Camp. What started as a passion for feeding her own family real, nourishing food quickly grew into a movement to empower kids everywhere. She believes life skills go far beyond chores—they're tools for building confidence, responsibility, and independence. Learn more about Katie Kimball at https://www.kitchenstewardship.com/ and https://kidscookrealfood.com/, or follow her on social media @katiekimballkidscook — Learn more about Dr. Madiha Saeed at https://holisticmommd.com, or follow her on social media @HolisticMomMD
Today Katie Kimball is here to show us how to help our kids gain life skills that last and contribute to the family. Katie founded a program called Life Skills Now which covers topics from oil changes, to cooking, to entrepreneurship. She shares that competence equals confidence and with the rise of anxiety and depression, we want to give our kids all of the confidence and skills to succeed in this world. Summer is a perfect time to begin! Here are some topics we cover: Why parenting can't be put on autopilot- we need to shift and change constantly A list of 100 practical, emotional, and intellectual skills your kids can learn Breaking chores into doable chunks instead of “just go clean the bathroom” How to create a "Summer Skills List" with your kids that fosters ownership and choice How to teach them skills that are hands-on, minds-on, hearts-on How critical thinking and open-ended questions shape kids' future decision-making Connect with Katie Kimball: Website: kidscookrealfood.com/dontmomalone Facebook: Kids Cook Real Food Instagram: Katie Kimball | TEDx speaker (@katiekimballkidscook) Links Mentioned: Sign up for the #LifeSkillsNow Camp! (FREE for the week of June 9th to 13th). Online Cooking Class for Kids - Kids Cook Real Food Stress Mastery Challenge for Busy Moms Kid-Friendly Kitchen Tools and Knives - Kids Cook Real Food Related Episodes: Raising Critical Thinkers :: Julie Bogart [Ep 474] The Lazy Genius Kitchen :: Kendra Adachi [Ep 365] Raising Kids Who Can Stand Alone :: Cynthia Yanof – Summer of Mentorship – Wk 2 [Ep 415] Featured Sponsors: HIYA health: We've worked out a special deal with Hiya for their best selling children's vitamin. Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal you must go to hiyahealth.com/DMA. This deal is not available on their regular website. Get your kids the full-body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults Thrive Causemetics: Try your new trusty favorites with an exclusive set for our listeners. New customers can get the Liquid Lash extensions mascara and a mini-sized Brilliant Eye Brightener at a special set price with free shipping at thrivecausemetics.com/DMA. Outschool: Get $30 off your families first month of Outschool when you use our link: https://outschool.com/DMA and use code DMA at checkout. Find links to this week's sponsors and unique promo codes at dontmomalone.com/sponsors.
Ever wonder if what your child eats could actually make emotional regulation easier — or harder?In this episode, Emily Hamblin — neurodivergent mom of four and parent coach for neurodivergent families — welcomes Katie Kimball, two-time TEDx speaker and expert in kids' life skills and real food, to talk about a piece of the emotional health puzzle that's often missed.You'll learn simple, realistic strategies to strengthen your child's emotional resilience through small shifts in food, life skills, and critical thinking — all without guilt, shame, or complicated rules.Get ready for empowering ideas you can actually use — no perfectionism required.
Today we're talking about something that can be an unexpected complication in blended family life - and that's mealtime. Getting kids to eat nutrient-packed food is hard enough, but add in a two-house dynamic where kids may have different rules and expectations around what they eat and it can get downright thorny. That's where Katie Kimball comes in. Mom of four and founder of Kitchen Stewardship, Katie and I talk about how to navigate picky eaters and encourage good habits, even when the other house has different rules. And she tells us about her FREE Life Skills Camp coming up this summer, where CEOs, chefs, tv hosts, and others will teach your kids and teens all kinds of useful skills that they'll use in everyday life. It's a phenomenal resource to help kids feel (and become) more self-sufficient. About Katie: Katie Kimball helps change kids' relationship to food, both through work in the kitchen and helping parents of picky eaters. She's a former teacher, two-time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4 kids. She created the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, which was recommended by The Wall Street Journal as the best online cooking class for kids. Her blog Kitchen Stewardship helps families stay healthy without going crazy, and she's on a mission to connect families around healthy food, teach every child to cook, and instill those all-important life skills! Links Mentioned In This Episode: Life Skills Camp Kids Cook Real Food, which the Wall Street Journal praised as the top online cooking course for kids Free Knife Skills Class Are you enjoying The Stepmom Diaries? If so, please consider rating and reviewing the show. It will help me reach more stepmoms just like you so they can get MORE out of stepmom life! It's super easy – all you have to do is click HERE and scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “write a review.” Then just let me know what you like best! And the best part about leaving a review? If you send me a screenshot of your review, I'll send YOU my 20-minute Stepmom Self-Care Blueprint. For FREE. It's normally $49 and it's a great tool to quickly set up a self-care plan you'll actually use. Just head HERE to send me your screenshot and grab your blueprint!
Are you ready to build your child's confidence, independence, and essential real-world skills — this summer?Today on the podcast, I'm joined by the amazing Katie Kimball, creator of the Life Skills Now Summer Camp, a one-of-a-kind virtual summer experience that helps kids ages 5–18 master important life skills — and gives parents a much-needed hand in raising responsible, capable kids.We dive deep into why teaching kids life skills is more important than ever, how it builds resilience and reduces anxiety, and how small steps at home can lead to huge transformations for our children's futures.If you're a busy parent wondering where to start with life skills for kids, you want your kids to help more around the house and feel good about it, or you simply want a positive way to use screens this summer, you are going to love this episode!For the show notes and all the links mentioned in today's episode, head to secretsofsupermom.com/234.Text us your feedback or questions!Stay connected! Join us in The Supermom Society! Get all the details at thesupermomsociety.com! Get all our show notes, buy the book Secrets of Supermom, and more at our website: www.secretsofsupermom.com Secrets of Supermom on Facebook Secrets of Supermom on Instagram
Teaching kids to cook and help around the house isn't just about making meals or doing chores—it's about building independence, confidence, and essential life skills that will serve them well into adulthood. In homeschooling, we have a unique opportunity to incorporate life skills into our children's education, blending practical skills with subjects like math, science, and history. In this episode of "Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology," I spoke with Katie Kimball, founder of Kids Cook Real Food, about why cooking is a must-have skill for kids, how to introduce it at any age, and how her FREE #LifeSkillsNow virtual summer camp is helping families equip their children with real-world knowledge.Find show notes and full transcript here: https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/teaching-life-skills/Kids Cook Real FoodKitchen StewardshipFREE Life Skills Now Summer Camp: https://sl290.isrefer.com/go/humility-LSNpreview/arsloan/FREE Knife Skills Class for Kids https://sl290.isrefer.com/go/freeknife/arsloan/FREE Snacks Kids Can Make Themselves https://sl290.isrefer.com/go/freesnacks/arsloan/While you're here, would you take a minute to leave a rating and review in your podcast app? Send me a screenshot of your review and I'll send you my Abolition of Man webinar for FREE! Just email me your review screenshot at Amy@HumilityandDoxology.comJoin Made2Homeschool for exclusive content and community: HumilityandDoxology.com/M2H https://www.made2homeschool.com/a/2147529243/KNcPGL3tFREE Homeschool Planner Calendar: https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/free-homeschool-planner-calendar/Year of Memory Work: https://humilityanddoxology.com/year-of-memory-workFollow Humility and Doxology Online:Blog https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HumilityAndDoxologyInstagram http://instagram.com/humilityanddoxologyYouTube: YouTube.com/humilityanddoxologyAmy's Favorites: https://humilityanddoxology.com/favoritesThis podcast and description contains affiliate links.
Raising 'whole' children isn't actually about raising children at all…it's about raising adults! Our job as parents is to teach our children how to hone life skills (from everyday living basics to critical thinking) AND to instill and grow holy characteristics in their little hearts....And our guest today has taken the idea of teaching life skills to kids to a whole new level…For years, she's been helping to change kids' relationships to food through her work in the kitchen and her support of parents of picky eaters.She's a former teacher, two-time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4. She created the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, which The Wall Street Journal recommended as the best online cooking class for kids. And, if that wasn't enough, her blog, Kitchen Stewardship, helps families stay healthy without going crazy. She's on a mission to connect families around healthy food, teach every child to cook, and instill those all-important life skills!Katie Kimball (01:30)Asking Difficult Questions (07:00)Prepare for Anything (12:00)The Result of Adaptability (17:10)The Fruits of Critical Thinking (23:15)Life Skills (27:00)A's to Our Q's (39:00)Learn about Katie's FREE Life Skills Now Summer CampFind the complete podcast notes on our website.To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.Looking for items shared in our podcasts?! Learn More About Life Skills Now Season 4 You need the 4 Steps to Mastery, get it here! Get the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template here! Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide! For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!) Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here. For the Favorites List, go here.
In today's Healthy Parenting Handbook episode, I'm going to take 5 different arguments against kids doing chores and learning life skills and counter them with facts, stories, research, and a big ol' dose of common sense.These are real arguments I hear from both well-meaning parents AND keyboard warriors on social media, plus one from a well-established expert I heard on a podcast that I simply do not agree with!If you've ever had to listen to someone say it's cruelty to make your kids clean a bathroom or have felt yourself that maybe kids are busy enough - maybe life skills aren't important to learn now - this one's for you.Resources I Mention for Chores and Life SkillsReserve your spot in our 2025 Life Skills Now Summer CampPurchase access to Life Skills Now Season One from 2022, Season Two from 2023, or Season 3 from 20243 Reasons Giving Kids Responsibility is a GiftJoin us for free #LifeSkillsNow camp this summer! Register at https://www.kidscookrealfood.com/lifeskills4! Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
As parents, we spend so much time making sure our kids succeed in school, sports, and activities—but are we teaching them the life skills they'll need to thrive in the real world? From cooking and problem-solving to resilience and independence, these skills are just as important as academics (if not more!).In this episode of The Modern Mommy Doc Podcast, I sit down with Katie Kimball, a former teacher, mom of four, and the founder of Kids Cook Real Food, to talk about why life skills matter and how parents can start teaching them at any age. We dive into the research on kids' independence, the long-term benefits of hands-on learning, and practical ways to help kids build confidence and responsibility—without overwhelm.
In this episode of the Daily Wellness Podcast, we dive deep into the challenges of achieving work-life balance as a mom. Join us as we chat with Christi, a mental health therapist turned coach, who shares her personal journey of navigating motherhood while pursuing a fulfilling career. Discover practical strategies for managing stress, setting boundaries, and embracing the unique challenges that come with being a working mom. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the demands of parenting and work, this episode is for you!Main Points:Christi's transition from community mental health therapy to private practice and coaching.The emotional challenges of returning to work after maternity leave.The impact of societal expectations on working moms and the mental load they carry.Strategies for setting boundaries between work and home life.The importance of saying "no" to prioritize what truly matters.The role of daycare in Christi's journey and how it contributed to her family's well-being.Stress management techniques, including self-care and mindset shifts.The significance of flexibility in adapting to changing life circumstances.Connect with Christi: Website: https://christigmyrcoaching.com/homeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/career_driven_momsThrive as a Career Driven Mom Program: https://christigmyrcoaching.com/programFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/careerdrivenmomsThanks for leaving a rating and following the show on Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/melisha-meredith(Click on the three dots to rate.)Thanks for leaving a rating/review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-wellness-podcast/id1651051841(You'll have to be signed in and scroll to the bottom.)Connect with Melisha and the Daily Wellness CommunityOn InstagramOn FacebookWebsiteEmail us at: info@dailywellnesscommunity.comSome products I mention may be affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of my links. Our family greatly appreciates your support, it helps us keep creating the free resources we make for you all!DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my websiteIntro Involving your whole family in learning about health, healthy cooking and healthy living is one of our greatest privileges. It's our opportunity to make sure the next generation knows how to navigate a world with so much going against their health. We have the chance to leave a legacy of health for our kids. Part of that legacy is making sure our teens have an adequate skill set that they can take with them into adulthood. My guest today, Katie Kimball, has been focused on teaching families and kids cooking skills and healthy habits for many years - and I'm excited that she's now here joining me on the show to share her tips! You'll gain helpful strategies to get your teens more involved in the kitchen, strategies to deal with picky eaters and strategies to foster health-confidence in your family. Katie is also offering you a generous free gift, which you can find in the show notes after you listen!
In this milestone episode, Roni and Riley revisit some of the show's most memorable and impactful conversations and give a preview of what's to come. Thank you for listening to the show and supporting us for 100 episodes!#17: Interview with Katie Kimball on Picky Eaters and Getting Your Kids in the Kitchen#39: Interview with Linda Feller, of Sip + Sanity, on Party Planning#66: Gain Baking Confidence with Self-Taught Pastry Chef, Matt Adlard#31: Plan to Eat Customer Meal Planning Tips - Part 1#32: Plan to Eat Customer Meal Planning Tips - Part 2#60: A Surprising Twist on Summer Food#26: Anchoring Your Meal Plan with Amylee Udell of The Productive Mama#93: Cook at Home to Save Your Finances with Julien and Kiersten of Rich and RegularSign up for a free trial + get 20% off your first annual subscription: plantoeat.com/PTEPODContact us: podcast@plantoeat.comConnect with Plan to Eat online:InstagramFacebookPinterest
In this episode, we sit down with Katie Kimball, a passionate advocate for whole family health and the founder of Kitchen Stewardship. Katie shares her journey from a busy mom to a health mentor, emphasizing the importance of teaching our children healthy habits and cooking skills. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the idea of healthy eating for your family, this episode is packed with practical tips and inspiration to help you integrate wellness into your family life seamlessly.Main Points: Katie's background as an educator shapes her approach to family health and cooking. The importance of involving the whole family in healthy eating and cooking. Strategies for teaching kids essential cooking skills and healthy habits. The impact of small changes, like switching from margarine to butter, on overall health. How to create a balanced approach to nutrition without sacrificing time or budget. Tips for making healthy meals convenient and budget-friendly. The significance of listening to our bodies and understanding how food affects our well-being. The role of stewardship in health, time, and budget management. Encouragement for parents of picky eaters to persist in exposing their children to a variety of foods. The importance of fostering confidence and self-sufficiency in children regarding food choices.FREEBIE: 3 Ways to Build Brain Resilience in the Kitchen!Connect with Katie: Kids Cook Real Food - website, blog and course info Kitchen Stewardship Website Chef Junior Book Instagram FacebookThanks for leaving a rating and following the show on Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/melisha-meredith(Click on the three dots to rate.)Thanks for leaving a rating/review on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-wellness-podcast/id1651051841(You'll have to be signed in and scroll to the bottom.)Connect with Melisha and the Daily Wellness Community On Instagram On Facebook Website Email us at: info@dailywellnesscommunity.comSome products I mention may be affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of my links. Our family greatly appreciates your support, it helps us keep creating the free resources we make for you all!DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website
Imagine with me…your kids can take over a whole dinner meal and cook it themselves while you get something else done!It's a dream that has become reality times three for me here at the Kids Cook Real Food™ household.I realized I've shared the process we used to gradually release cooking responsibility and teach our kids to cook a whole dinner by themselves many times on other podcasts when I'm the guest. It's about time I share it with you as well!It's a multi-step process:Let the kids watch you make a recipe.Watch them make the recipe while you're there with reminders.Let them make the same recipe while you're available in the house for questions.Then they can make that recipe with zero help from you.For 3-9 months, the kids should make the same recipe weekly to learn it to a mastery level.Then in the second year of kid's cooking night (or second phase), you can let them make their old favorite every other week. In the interim weeks, they need to try other recipes.This allows them to take on the physical labor of cooking first, then gradually ease into the mental load portion as you help them meal plan side-by-side.We've used this process with three kids so far, and the fourth won't be far behind!You can watch Paul and Leah's “old favorite recipe” for pizza right here. This is a great one to watch with your kids as it has Paul's early teenage creativity stamped all over it.Resources We Mention for Kids Cooking DinnerGet started teaching your kids to cookSome of Paul's favorite recipes to make: cheeseburger soup or pinto galloYou can see Paul and Leah's pizza recipe here along with their entire process. (They filmed and edited the entire video themselves!)Teach kids skills in the kitchen instead of just teaching recipes Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Did you know the pre-frontal cortex where executive functioning lives doesn't fully develop until our early 30s???I still struggle with some executive functioning skills like time management and following a plan, but if I learned anything from this interview, it's that we ALL can continue to grow, change, and improve. You are not married to your weaknesses!If we can help our kids BEST develop their executive function, they will be more independent, better at their jobs, find deeper relationships, and be better parents themselves. It's THAT important!My guest today, Noel Foy, helps us understand what executive functioning is, how it develops over time, and some really practical ways to build it best in our kids.Her question, “What is your plan for that?” is pure gold, and I know you'll love all the little strategies she shares to reduce anxiety in our kids while improving their executive function. As we teach life skills and independence, we are also teaching executive functioning skills! Score!
How about some stats to make you sad? Kids are on screens an average of 7 hours a day…and we spend 85% of our parenting energy on what our kids are doing wrong.Aw, man!It stinks to start with the negative.In fact, that will train our brains to see more negative things, which is why I did it.Do you feel more down after reading that? More worried? More hopeless about our kids' generation?The GOOD news is that there's another way.I'm beyond honored to host Ralphie Jacobs of Simply on Purpose today to remind us that not only CAN we look for the positive, but we must - because it works, and it's actually easier than yelling angrily at our kids!You'll come away from this interview feeling so encouraged and ready to parent differently, with 85% of your energy (or more!) focused on the positive!Get ready to learn:how to create positive momentum in your child's daywhy asking a kid or teen, “Why did you do that?” becomes a parenting trap (that you DON'T want to fall into!)what comes first in parenting - the words or the feelingsa much better way to say, “If you don't clean your room, you don't get to come to the movie,” that's actually EASIER to enforce!why fear-based behavior is bad for everyone in the long runan incredibly powerful way to guard your connection with your child - and raise kids who, like Ralphie's, want to call home and come home to be with parents
Want to hear from a naturopath from down under?Jess Donovan, with her lovely Aussie accent, shares all sorts of goodness with us today on the Healthy Parenting Handbook, like:favorite immunity-boosting foods to recommend to busy familiesthe best way to get probiotics integrated into your familycommon nutrient deficiencies in kids (and what you can do to seek the best balance)food allergy management, whether the allergy is IN your family or just around youhow mom's health may be related to her kids'And so much more!Jess hosts an online masterclass where you'll discover 3 PROVEN ways to TRANSFORM your Kids GUT HEALTH to improve their behavior, fussy eating, immunity, and allergies. Grab your FREE spot here!Thanks to today's sponsor, Chef Junior, the only real food cookbook written by kids, for kids! Find it at kidscookrealfood.com/chefjr.Resources We Mention for Balancing NutritionFind Jess Donovan online hereJess's free book on gut healthSauerkraut recipeFermentation ebookKimchi recipeWater Kefir recipeProbiotics for kids: MaryRuth's liquid probiotic, JustThriveGuide to finding a fish oil supplementEinkorn pastaUS Wellness MeatsChia pudding for omega 3sGluten and Dairy-Free Guide for RookiesMy interview about epigenetics The Jamie Oliver video we talked about Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Ever been asked a question in person, and you replay the conversation over and over, a dozen times, rephrasing your answer?I did that recently, not just rephrasing but adding and rethinking and adding some more.The question was, “How do you raise such nice boys??”I decided it would make a pretty decent podcast episode, exploring my meanderings through intentional parenting and how we've built a family culture.Does this advice (If you can call it that) apply to girls too? You betcha. In fact, it's pretty universal.I look forward to hearing what you think about:the way we chose to parent our newborns and toddlerswhat I think about my husbandwhether boys can be gentlethe impact of mirror neurons on our kids' brainsthe effect healthy food may or may not have on “nice boys”our “people over screens” rules and how we've pulled back and released technology over the yearschoice within boundaries, and agency while working as a team on high expectationsand maybe most importantly - is it ever too late?This episode is sponsored by Chef Junior, the cookbook for kids by kids - including my oldest son! Find out more at kidscookrealfood.com/chefjr.Resources We Mention for Raising Nice BoysAvoiding "hangry" meltdownsHow we are managing our screensSome benefits of family dinnersThe book I mentioned: Hold On to Your Kids Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Katie Kimball joins the show today to share her journey about teaching kids to cook and the importance of real food. Katie discusses the challenges of introducing kids to cooking, especially amidst a culture of processed foods, and provides practical tips for getting started with your own children. Whether it's simple tasks for toddlers or knife skills for older kids, Katie emphasizes the lasting benefits of involving children in meal preparation. This episode also dives into how changing dietary habits positively impacts kids' health and overall well-being.Episode Chapters |00:00 | The Importance of Teaching Kids to Cook02:56 | A Journey Towards Healthy Eating06:03 | Understanding Food and Its Impact on Health08:59 | Building a Relationship with Food12:06 | Navigating Food Choices and Family Dynamics18:57 | Navigating Children's Food Preferences20:11 | Advocating for Healthy Choices22:38 | Building a Positive Relationship with Food24:36 | Involving Kids in the Kitchen26:12 | Understanding Picky Eating28:01 | Teaching Kitchen SkillsAbout Katie |Katie Kimball is known as the national voice of healthy kids cooking. She's a former teacher, two-time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4 kids. She created the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, which was recommended by The Wall Street Journal as the best online cooking class for kids. Her blog Kitchen Stewardship helps families stay healthy without going crazy, and she's on a mission to connect families around healthy food, teach every child to cook, and help families instill those all-important life skills!Links Discussed in This Episode |Order a Copy of Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with SimplicityDiane's Resource: Restoration Home Podcast - A Minimalist Christmas with Diane BodenPrevious Episode: Rest, Simplicity, & Soup: Nourishing Your Family with Ease & Intention | Kathi Lipp (EP358)Katie's Resource: Confident Knife SkillsConnect with Katie:https://kidscookrealfood.comhttps://kitchenstewardship.comhttps://www.instagram.com/katiekimballkidscookhttp://facebook.com/kidscookrealfood/http://facebook.com/kitchenstewardshiphttps://youtube.com/kitchenstewhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-kimball/https://kidscookrealfood.com/mediaEpisode Sponsors |The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal!Enjoy the Podcast?Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less. Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity.Questions |You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook.Checkout the Minimalist Moms Podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane.Need help decluttering? I'm here to help! If you've been struggling with motivation to declutter, I'd love to help you achieve your goals in your home. We'll work together (locally or virtually) to discover what areas in your home are high priority to get you feeling less overwhelmed right away. For more info on my processes, fees, and availability please contact!Our Sponsors:* Check out Gobble: https://gobble.com/MINIMALIST* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: happymammoth.com* Check out Life 360 and use my code MIN for a great deal: www.life360.com* Check out Ritual : https://ritual.com/MINSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/minimalist-moms-podcast2093/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
The world keeps getting more and more fast-paced, and our brains and bodies aren't really keeping up.As moms, can we possibly create a home that is a peaceful space, a safe place from which our kids can explore?My guest today is Jennifer Pepito, author of Habits for a Sacred Home, and we talk about just that, including:Why moms are naturally fearful (and what we can do about it)What exactly IS a “sacred home” and how do we begin creating oneCreating order in chaotic times through basic rules of lifeThe joy and benefit of passing on life skills to our kids (and some practical tips to make it happen)The role of cooking in developing a community of shared values within (and without) the homeThe key to better outcomes and more responsible childrenWhy rules don't work when done incorrectlyThe first step to creating a sacred home is so simple, it takes only about 10 seconds per day, per childJennifer is so grounded and yet practical, balanced in her approach and yet challenging.Resources We Mention for Creating a Peaceful HomeJennifer's books: Habits for a Sacred Home (Amazon, Bookshop), Mothering by the Book (Amazon, Bookshop)There are many benefits to gathering together around the dinner tableRestoration at Home CommunityFind Jennifer onlineFollow her on social media: Instagram, FacebookJennifer's podcast: Restoration Home Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
Way back when my husband and I were new-ish parents, he read a headline that talked about parents being “bone tired” at the end of the day.For years, we referred to that phrase: “We're BONE TIRED. Parents are all BONE TIRED.” (Put a little lilt and emphasis on “bone” and you can hear us in your head now.)As it turns out, Dr. Evan Hirsch would recommend that we stop with those negative thoughts, because they're not going to take us anywhere good. He's an international expert on chronic fatigue (and now long haulers), and this was an interview I was HIGHLY looking forward to. I was right!Prepare to be fascinated by Dr. Hirsch's wisdom on:The 33 causes of fatigueHow you KNOW you have chronic fatigue (and aren't just bone tired like every other parent out there – and it's way easier than I expected to figure it out!)Why solving your chronic fatigue may also make you live longerWhy some people become long haulers and others don't (this has fascinated me for a while and I couldn't wait to discuss it!)Dr. Hirsch's process for helping people reverse chronic fatigue (that more or less translates to long haul)How you know if 5 jumping jacks is pushing your body too muchA simple “recipe” to raise healthy kids (i.e. what an integrative MD would tell you to do to prevent your kids from getting chronic illnesses and BOOST their real energy — not the sugar-laden kind — to help them live happier lives now)THE most important technique he recommends to everyone, preventative and restorative (and there are only 4 steps to it and zero cost!!!)I'm going to be thinking about this interview for a long time … can't wait to hear what you think about it.This episode is sponsored by Chef Junior, the cookbook BY kids FOR kids! Check it out here: kidscookrealfood.com/chefjrResources We Mention for Chronic FatigueDr. Hirsch would like to give you a FREE PDF download of his book Tired of Being Tired that has helped thousands of exhausted humans resolve their fatigue and achieve more in their livesHere is Dr. Hirsch's book Fight the FatigueHere's an interview about one of those infections, Lyme diseaseHere's the Jack Canfield book The Success Principles we talked aboutFollow Dr. Hirsch on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Youtube Kitchen Stewardship Kids Cook Real Food follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!
In episode 606, Megan chats to Kris and Katie Kimball about their journey with The Blog Fixer, a service that helps WordPress bloggers automate technical tasks. Kris Kimball is a software developer who left the corporate world of banking in 2015 to start the Blog Fixer. His company helps thousands of WordPress bloggers like his wife Katie automate the boring technical stuff so they can focus on what they love. Kris and Katie are full-time online entrepreneurs raising 4 kids, and they love hiking in the mountains and hate home improvement projects. In this episode, you'll learn about the common fixes for bloggers' sites and how Kris and Katie stay on top of relevant information to serve food bloggers' businesses. Key points discussed: - Automate tedious technical tasks: Chris Kimball developed The Blog Fixer plugin to help his wife Katie automate the process of adding no-follow attributes to hundreds of links on her blog, Kitchen Stewardship. - The plugin makes permanent changes to blog content: Unlike other plugins that only make changes on load, The Blog Fixer makes permanent changes to the blog's content, ensuring the fixes remain even if the plugin is deactivated. - Stay up-to-date with SEO changes: The Blog Fixer team continuously monitors SEO best practices and updates their fixes to ensure your blog remains compliant with the latest recommendations. - A wide range of fixes: In addition to the no-follow link fix, the blog fixer provides solutions for internal redirects, link targeting, and other common technical issues faced by bloggers. - Primarily suitable for experienced food bloggers: The Blog Fixer's services are particularly valuable for food bloggers with extensive content archives, as it can efficiently address technical problems across a large number of posts. - The Blog Fixer offers a white-glove service: The blog fixer team handles all the installation, configuration, and optimization of their plugin, so you don't have to worry about the technical details. - Connected to the blogging community: The team actively listens to their clients' needs and develops new fixes to address the evolving challenges faced by food bloggers. - Deals with custom fixes: In addition to their standard fixes, The Blog Fixer is also capable of providing custom solutions to address unique technical problems on your blog. Connect with Kris and Katie Kimball Website
There's no point in avoiding it: kids' meals these days are not healthy! They're full of ultra-processed ingredients that are not nutritionally balanced to give our kids what they need to grow healthy and strong. Katie Kimball joins me to talk about how to get your kids to eat healthier, even when they're picky, and the importance of getting them into the kitchen to start cooking for themselves. Get Kids in the Kitchen by Developing skills over recipes Not bringing them in to help right before mealtime until they have the skills Encouraging their contribution to the meal About Katie Kimball Katie Kimball is the national voice of healthy kids cooking. She is a blogger, TEDx speaker, former teacher, and mom of 4 kids who founded the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, recommended by The Wall Street Journal in 2020 as the best online cooking class for kids. Her blog, Kitchen Stewardship, helps families stay healthy without going crazy, and she's on a mission to connect families around healthy food, raise critical thinking skills using the lab of curiosity that is the kitchen, and grow the Kids' Meal Revolution where every child learns to cook. In This Episode The problem with kid's meals today [5:15] What we need to do to improve kid's meals [7:30] How to prevent your kids from becoming picky eaters [12:15] The problem with baby-led weaning [20:00] Why introducing a variety of foods is so important [28:00] The benefits of teaching your kids in the kitchen [36:00] When to start including your kids in the kitchen [38:15] Why it's so important to learn together in the kitchen if you, as a parent, don't know how to cook [21:45] How to encourage older kids to take ownership of their health and nutrition [42:30] Links & Resources Use Code CALM for 10% Off Adrenal Calm Use code Immune Support to get 10% off Immune Support Use Code OMEGATHREES for 10% Off Omega 3 FREE Knife Skills and Safety Technique Class FREE Instant Pot and Slow Cooker Meals Find Katie Kimball Online Find Kitchen Stewardship Online & Facebook Follow Katie Kimball on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest Find Your Longevity Blueprint Online Follow Your Longevity Blueprint on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn Get your copy of the Your Longevity Blueprint book and claim your bonuses here Find Dr. Stephanie Gray and Your Longevity Blueprint online Follow Dr. Stephanie Gray on Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Twitter | LinkedIn Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic Podcast Production by the team at Counterweight Creative Related Episodes Episode 62: Trailblazing Children's Mental Health With Dr. Roseann Capanna Hodge Episode 76: How To Create Immune Resilience In Your Kids With Dr. Elisa Song Episode 63: Childhood Trauma Healing With Dr. Aimie Apigian
We've got a super special guest on the show today – Dr. Joel, an amazing integrative pediatrician I met through Katie Kimball's Life Skills Summit. He's here to shake up the way we think about kids' health! Dr. Joel's journey is fascinating. After going through the usual pediatric training, he realized the system's focus on quick visits and medication wasn't cutting it. So, he dived into integrative and natural medicine, combining the best of both worlds to truly help kids thrive. And trust me, this is not the "woo-woo" stuff you might be thinking about. We dive into some really eye-opening topics: Dr. Joel's journey to integrative pediatrics Why combining Western medicine with holistic practices works Creating emotionally nurturing spaces for our kids The "Dr. Gator Smoothie" – no, it's not a real smoothie, but a recipe for balanced, healthy living! Fun and practical ways to keep our kids active and healthy Tackling screen time and building stress resilience We also chat about his new book, "Parenting at Your Child's Pace," which is packed with insights for navigating the first three years of your child's life. It's like having a friendly guide by your side, helping you make informed choices without all the stress. Tune in and get ready to rethink how you approach your family's health. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or just curious about holistic health, there's something in this episode for you. Links Mentioned: Katie Kimball's Life Skills Summit: Grab your free ticket! AirDoctor Air Purifier: Use promo code MAX for up to $300 off and a free 3-year warranty! Dr. Joel's Book: "Parenting at Your Child's Pace" – Get it here
Welcome to the Homeschool Better Together Podcast, where we explore building a joyful homeschool experience for your family. Are you looking to equip your kids with valuable life skills and build confidence in the kitchen? Then you won't want to miss Episode 2. In this episode, the host, Pam Barnhill, is joined by Katie Kimball, the national voice of Healthy Kids Cooking, two time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4 kids who founded the Kids Cook Real Food ecourse, which was recommended by The Wall Street Journal as the best online cooking class for kids.Together, they explore the world of teaching kids important life skills and the impact of the digital age on parenting.Katie shares her journey from being an elementary teacher to a successful entrepreneur and mom of four kids, discussing the challenges of parenting in the digital age and the necessity of teaching kids face-to-face communication, understanding the value of money, and stress management in this tech-heavy and busy world.The episode is packed with insights and practical tips from experts on developing these vital life skills in kids and teens, making it an invaluable resource for today's homeschooling parents.Key Takeaways:Discover the value of teaching life skills beyond academics to help children thrive in the digital age and beyond, including communication, financial literacy, and stress management.Understand the importance of face-to-face communication skills and how to teach children polite communication, eye contact, and how to start conversations.Explore the concept of financial literacy for children, including understanding the value of physical money, opening a checking account, and the basics of banking and compound interest.Learn the practical skills of self-regulation, including tools for calming, morning routines, and mastering resilience to help kids cope with stress and anxiety in today's tech-heavy world.Gain insights into how the workshops offered in the Life Skills Now summer camp provide practical, hands-on learning experiences for children to develop essential life skills.Discover the benefits of the Life Skills Now summer camp, which includes an extensive selection of workshops, prizes to motivate participation, and the opportunity for kids to apply what they've learned.
Episode Highlights With Katie KimballWhy life skills are still important (and maybe more so) in today's world How life skills foster confidence and relate to mental healthThe reason for the rise in anxiety and depression in kidsChore wars and balancing responsibility and life skills with kids doing too much workRequire the work, not the resultsThe downside of being overprotective and giving kids the idea that they need someone else to keep them safe How the correct level or risk for kids is a way to build resilience against fearNavigating the progression of toddlers to teens and handing off responsibility Ways to encourage critical thinking with kidsWhy young kids are wired for critical thinking and how to nurture itResources We MentionLife Skills Now - summer campKids Cook Real Food course
Episode Highlights With KatieWhy picky eating is on the rise societallyKids are feeling extra stress today, and that can contribute to picky eatingEating uses all of our senses at once, so if any are overwhelmed for our kids, that can lead to eating issuesThe importance of reducing stress at the tableGratitude or prayer can actually help us get into parasympathetic mode before eatingThe three Ls: laugh, learn, loveA benefit of using family-style serving and letting kids plate their own foodA phrase to implement: “You don't have to eat that”Another phrase: "Learning to eat"The importance of respecting and nurturing kids' agency in eating and food choicesHer picky eating challenge, where 85% of parents feel less stress in the kitchen after this short challengeResources We MentionKids Cook Real FoodPicky Eating ChallengePicky Eating Isn't About the Food - Katie Kimball Tedx Talk