Rachael Ray

My daughter is 10 years old and attends public school.  She is in fifth grade and the other day she came home with a note saying the school was going to talk to the class about “hygiene”.  At first I worried they would cover topics I wasn’t ready to discuss with my 10 year old, but I called the teacher and she assured me they were first, separating the boys and girls, and second, only talking about things related to puberty.  Still, some of these topics are sensitive so I wanted to make sure she was getting the right message and from the right person. I have spoken to my daughter about the things that were to be covered, so there [...]...

To answer my own question, I definitely think the term “bullying” is thrown around indiscriminately these days. Examples? A child crying bully when their 4th grade classmate decides to not be their friend anymore. Bullying? I think typical behavior for ten year olds. I tell my kids if someone doesn’t want to be their friend, it’s the other kid’s loss - find someone nice to hang out with. Bullying is so overused as a term that when I reprimanded my daughter the other day, she accused me of “bullying” her. The term has become a catchall for any unwelcome behavior or conflict. By no means am I downplaying the existence of bullying - it has been happening for years, but didn’t have a [...]...

As if lunch duty isn’t hard enough… Parents also have to master the art of the after school snack. And as most of us will attest, it’s harder than it sounds. Snacks have to be fast and easy because the clock is ticking. Homework, chores, sports and other activities are all demanding attention from your child (and probably you). They have to be nutritious because… Well, they just do. And they have to strike the right balance of fueling your kids through the rest of the afternoon without leaving them too full for dinner. For all those reasons, my No. 1 go-to after school snack for my son is yogurt. It’s healthy, filling (but not too filling), fast and easy (he can [...]...

My daughter turned 13 earlier this month and when a friend said to me “how is that possible that you have a teenager?” I looked in the mirror and was not at all surprised. I am so pleased by the person she is becoming - lovely, sensitive, funny, generous, kind. All of the work that my husband and I put in early on seems to paying off - with all three of our children. They are (usually!) fun to be around, pleasant company - I think at its simplest, that’s really the gist of parenting - raising kids who are good people. My newly teenaged daughter loves chocolate, but she also loves my lemon squares, and I don’t make them very [...]...

I love Spring and our kiddies love it even more then we since they can frolic to the heart’s content in the great outdoors.  So whether your child’s favorite activity is riding their bike, rolling in the grass, playing in the mud or enjoying a chocolate ice cream cone, when they come home smiling they also come home dirty from head to toe. Baths await, laundry looms and some tough stains remain. Here are simple ways to pre-treat some of spring’s most common stains that unite we moms coast to coast and child to child that will help save their clothes and our manicure. Firsts a few stain removal tips: o Treat ASAP o Never rub, blot unless otherwise noted o Test hidden area [...]...

Lunch duty is a trial-and-error (and trial by fire) sort of thing. Sometimes you just need to try things and hope you learn something along the way. So in that spirit, here are seven highs (and lows) I learned last week over at LunchBoxBlues.com. Purchased crepes only sound like a good thing. You know the ones I’m talking about. The grocers sell packages of them in the produce section. Got me thinking how creative and delicious it would be to wrap a few of those around some fruit and pop them in a lunch container. Except they act like sponges when wrapped around anything moist. Which means you end up with a big pile of mess by lunch. If you want [...]...

My children attend public school in New York state, not too far from New York City, so it shouldn’t surprise me that we have a diverse student body.  But when we sent out a survey asking where the parents of the students were born, we heard of 35 different countries!  We sent the survey as part of something we call International Day-every other year we dedicate a whole Saturday to celebrating foods and cultures from around the globe. We wanted to make sure as many countries as possible were represented, so we sent out the survey and then of course asked the parents to volunteer on International Day to cook and serve foods from their native lands or ancestry. The [...]...

Last weekend, we hosted a sleep-over. All I could hear was giggling, little feet tip-toeing when they should have been tucked in a blanket, and lots of giggling. It was late, but why would I challenge their pixie moment? In keeping with their spirit, I decided to make a fun little breakfast for them. Cookie-Crusted French Toast. Since I also had a moral obligation to their mothers for being somewhat nutritious, I felt this was a good middle ground. This dish works with any cookies you have at home. All you needs is a few crushed cookies, bread, butter, milk, eggs and vanilla essence. Whilst the cookies add a playful edge, not to mention texture, there is another ingredient that takes [...]...

With the help of nothing more than a large whole-wheat tortilla, I can turn just about anything into lunch box-friendly sushi. Well, perhaps “sushi” overstates it a bit. But I can create sushi-like bites that are easy to pack, fun and nutritious. And so can you. And the best part — no raw seafood needed. The first time I tried this was with a banana. I’d planned to make my son a peanut butter and banana wrap for lunch. So I smeared peanut butter over one side of a tortilla, popped a banana onto it and rolled it up. Trouble was, it didn’t fit in the containers I usually pack his lunch in. So I cut it in half. When I looked at [...]...