Win a Copy of the Bean Appetit Cookbook and Play With Your Food!

Do you have a picky eater in your house?  Yeah, I thought you did.  If you are getting a little desperate for ways to introduce healthy foods to your kids, then I recommend taking a look at Bean Appetit.  Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food is a new cookbook for kids (and their helpful parents!) that encourages youngsters to explore new foods and flavors by creating playful food sculptures and play food-themed games. What better way to get kids excited about healthy eating than to let them play with their food? 

The recipe ideas in the book are incredibly creative and it helps that the photography is fab too.  Take the Campfire Crunch - who wouldn't want that for an afternoon snack?

 

And wouldn't it be fun to serve Mama Mato to a bunch of friends on a playdate?

 
Kids will also love the fun food activities and challenges like playing carrot stick Jenga, learning how to crack an egg without getting shell in the bowl and brushing up on table manners from other countries (you can slurp your noodles as loud as you want in Japan!)

Liam and I had a go at one of the recipes the other day.  We made Bug Bites....otherwise known as the dragonfly sandwich.  What do you think?

The authors of Bean Appetit, Shannon Payette Seip and Kelly Parthen, own an adorable kids cafe in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, called Bean Sprouts. I took my boys there and they ate snail sandwiches with grape kabobs and edamame.  Oh, and the lollipop cakes for dessert were a huge hit!  If all goes well, more locations will be sprouting up around the country soon...hopefully in a city near you!
 
Want to win a copy of the most fun kids cookbook EVER?  Leave a comment on this post telling me what you do to get your kids to eat healthy food and why you'd like to win this book!  I'll keep the giveaway open through midnight, Central time on Monday, May 3rd. For additional entries, you can follow me on my Mindful Momma Facebook page, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my blog via RSS or email.  (Note: you must have US shipping address to win.) 

{Full Disclosure:  Bean Appetit is on my Amazon Affiliate list.  If you buy the book through the link on my blog I will get a teeny, weeny bit of money.  Also, I received a review copy of Bean Appetit from the publisher at no charge and the publisher is giving away a free copy to one Mindful Momma reader.}

The winner is commenter #17 - Jen who said her 2 year old daughter already loves to help her cook in the kitchen!! 

Comments

[Catherine McMullen]

My son will only eat tomatoes if we grow them ourselves. Each spring we grow a little cherry tomato plant and when they get ripe he picks and eats them up, straight off the vine and warm from the sun. He wouldn't have it any other way.

[Julie]

What a great book. My 4 year old won't eat food that is mixed or touching something else. This looks like a great way to get her to be OK with food mixing.

[Lydie]

What a great giveaway! My daughter will pretty much eat anything a long as she is involed with the preparation! She loves to make pizzas with lots of veggies, and smoothies in the blender.
-Lydie

[Sarah Radcliffe]

My daughter likes healthy fruits and whole grains, but I'd like to see her eat more vegetables! I think she would enjoy playing with her food first! Thanks for the giveaway!

[Alison M.]

My son LOVES grains, but getting him to eat fruits and vegetables seemed like such an impossible feat until I started blending them into smoothies. So every afternoon he gets a smoothie treat of fresh fruits and veggies. I'll throw in some flax seed and wheat germ for a nutritional boost too. Thanks for the giveaway.

[Robbie @ Going Green Mama]

What a fun sounding book. My 4 yo thinks tomatoes make her "sad." My 2yo won't touch half the produce out there. I'd love to give this book a try!

[Emma]

One of my little tricks for getting my kids to eat fruit and vegetables is to casually leave a bowl of cut up stuff lying out in easy reach. For some reason, a carrot stick presented as 'here's your snack!' has no appeal. A bowl of carrots left on the coffee table with no comment? Will disappear.

I would love to win this book because I always need new ideas for feeding my kids!

[Jennifer]

My husband and I tell our 3 year old that eating veggies will put hair on his chest and he will get big muscles like daddy.:)

I need this book because lately he hasn't been buying anything we try to get him to eat veggies. I think he would like this approach and be more interested in trying things he won't normally eat.

[Stephanie Nelson]

Well sometimes we have to mix in the vegetables with the pasta so he is eating it before he knows it! Not a great way to do it so I am looking for other ideas.

[Brend DeGross]

What a fun idea for a book. Both my boys love to cook (ages 8 and 10). This book would help make it extra fun!

[Vanessa]

My kids love veggies (most of the time.) But there are a few the won't eat, like lettuce, tomatoes, etc. I would love some new ideas on ways to make these foods fun for them to eat.

[Vanessa]

I subscribe via email.

[Vanessa]

I am a Facebook fan.

[Lisa]

I have always consistently offered healthy foods (I'm convinced that avoiding sugar when he was younger helped his taste buds appreciate other flavors), but I try and introduce whimsy for even more pleasure!

[Lisa]

I subscribe!

[Naomi Hoffer]

We've done some 'playing with our food' with our picky 6 yr old. When it's time for steamed brocolli we pretend that there are sneaky creatures hiding in the forest trying NOT to get eaten by the giant monster (my son). A bit of fun reverse psychology! Of course, the sneaky creature keeps hiding in different brocolli places (library, school, hospital, grandparent's house, etc.) until finally it gets eaten on the very last piece (funny how that works!).

I'd love to learn new fun ways to encourage healthy eating for my son and younger daughter (who could play with their food together while my husband and I enjoy adult conversation). Thanks!
Naomi

[Jen]

My 2 year old daughter already loves to help me cook in the kitchen. We buy organic produce, shop at our farmers market and make healthy versions of yummy food: pancakes made with sweet potato, banana bran "cupcakes," freezing plain yogurt pureed with fruit for a frozen treat...The biggest thing I do is just offer fresh fruit and veggies and whole grains at each meal and skip the processed, sugary, refined foods altogether. Must be doing something right - she eats peas like candy!

[Ecover Blog]

I just love this book! The "mom"-amato is almost too cute to eat! Thanks for your great blog. We've added you to Ecover's blogroll! Keep up the excellent work!
-Deb for Ecover

[Lynette]

Love it!!! I would love to win this has my daughter has been begging me for a cookbook!!! We would have so much fun with this!!!

[Bonnie]

What a great book! I always struggle with getting my kids to eat healthy. We've had good luck with my 6yo son, he loves salad and fruit. And he's great with trying new things. But my 3yo little girl only wants bread and crackers! We just keep offering the healthy stuff and hope that it will stick.

[DramaMama]

We don't live that far from Madison! We are adding that to our list =) We frequently go to the Farmer's Market...can't wait for it to open this year! Thanks for the book idea too!

[jtschulte@gmail.com]

I have three kids - all which have their own opinion on what tastes good! This book looks like lots of fun!

[Haruko]

What a neat sounding book. My kids have a day they pick what they want for supper. They are very enthusiastic about it. They also help with the shopping when we go to the Farmer's Market so they get more enthused about eating what they helped purchase...

[Desiree]

This sounds so fun! I have to say I am lucky to have a good eater, who at 19 months would always choose the fruit over the cookie!

[Desiree]

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