Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food

Fun and healthy, March 20, 2010

By 

Cathe Fein Olson “Avid reader and writer” (curled up with a book) –

  

Bean Appétit is packed with creative ways to make healthy foods not only delicious but fun. The dishes are so bright, colorful, and creative, they’re more like art than meals. Like the “High Note Nibbles” sandwiches, for example, that look like a piano keyboard. Or the “Bug Bites”–dragonfly-shaped pitas sandwiches made with fruit, turkey, and a pickle. The almost florescent-purple “Starry Night Bites” are made from berries and sticky rice and adorned with cheese stars. But my favorite was “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” which looks like the character from the book by Eric Carle. Chicken-and-vegetable-stuffed spring rolls form the body with a big tomato as a head and pretzel sticks as legs. It’s so cute and sounds really tasty. There are many more fun creations for parents and children to make together–with lots that don’t even require any cooking.

The recipes and language in Bean Appétit are appropriate for the preschool crowd. Directions to “Shake your hips and get ready to mix:” or “Roll around on the floor while chanting `Go bananas’ will be fun for young children, but may turn off older kids. Interspersed between the recipes are silly conversation starters, such as “Who do you know has the silliest singing voice?” or “Would you rather share your sleeping bag with a bat or a bear?” There are games like “Flash Dance” (a flashlight dancing game) and food related trivia like “Table Manners from Other Countries.” The book is bright and appealing with whimsical illustrations and colorful photographs. This would be great for parents of preschoolers and preschool or kindergarten teachers.

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FUN AND HAPPY EATING FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY, March 4, 2010

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) –

  

  

  

  

Basing their collection on favorites from Bean Sprouts, the acclaimed café and cooking school for kids, these authors have filled 192 pages with irresistible, healthy yet fun recipes plus food-themed games, crafts, and activities. So, Moms and Dads invite the small ones into the kitchen and have a ball!

Breakfast time is more than special with Stick Stacks – mini pancakes, strawberries, kiwis, and blueberries on a skewer then dipped in maple syrup. Along with this yummy way to start the day comes a suggestion to begin each morning by saying something positive to your family, such as “Today is going to be the best day ever!” And there’s a “Pea Brain” hint: how do you tell a hard-boiled egg from a raw egg without cracking them open? “Just spin them. The one that spins longer is hard-boiled!”

That’s just a sample of what’s in store for your young ones in this inventive, merry encouragement to eat healthy and bring the family together to make mealtimes fun.

In addition, there’s a different challenge in every chapter of BEAN APPETIT. For every challenge completed a youngster cuts out the square provided on page 193 and attaches it to his/her diploma. The diploma can be downloaded at http://www.beansproutscafe.com. ;

This is one cookbook that won’t just sit on a shelf but be enjoyed over and over again by all. (A favorite of ours is Mama Mato with spaghetti hair!)

- Gail Cooke

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