Mommy Goes Green

I don’t know about you but sometimes getting dinner on the table every night is the most stressful part of my day.  It’s not the 2 kids, the messy house or the lengthy ‘to do’ list, it’s trying to put together a healthy, quick meal – at the last minute.  I don’t spend enough time planning for our family meals so we usually end up eating late because I spend too much time combing cookbooks looking for something compatible with what’s in the fridge and pantry.

I’m exactly the kind of mom that The Six O’Clock Scramble was created for.  It’s an online menu planner helping you to create a weekly dinner plan.   Once you choose the recipes you want to prepare, a grocery list is generated and you can shop once for all the ingredients you’ll need for the week.  This helps to eliminate multiple trips to the grocery store, pizza deliveries, and trips to the nearest fast food joint.

The creator of The Six O’Clock Scramble, Aviva Goldfarb, has taken meal planning one step further by creating SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue: Earth-Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Dinners for Busy Families, a cookbook with over 300 recipes that take 30 minutes or less to prepare, with less than 10 ingredients per recipe.  One of my favorite parts of the cookbook is that its organized by season, I was first introduced to this concept when I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  At it’s simplest form, you cook with ingredients that are currently in season meaning they are fresh and less expensive.  It encourages you to eat local as you can find in-season ingredients at your local farmer’s market, co-op grocery store or farmstand. 

Each season begins with a 5 week menu and a glossary of recipes with the amount of time it takes to prep and cook the meal.   Individual recipes include nutritional information, flavor boosters (additional spices to add), and side dish suggestions.  There are great tips throughout the cookbook including:

• how to let your kids get their hands dirty in the kitchen
• 20 creative ideas for school lunches
• healthier Halloween snacks
• tips for freezing meals
• 10 best dishes for potlucks
• safest seafood for kids

For simple suggestions to be more eco-friendly in the kitchen, pick up a copy of SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue!

WIN IT!

We are giving 1 reader the new cookbook by Aviva Goldfarb,  SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue: Earth-Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Dinners for Busy Families !  You can enter to win in any of the following ways:

• Leave a comment asking the author, Aviva Goldfarb, a question.  Suggestions include: kids in the kitchen, recipes, eating seasonally and locally, planning meals or eating organically.  We’ll compile the questions and she’ll be responding to them in a future post.
• Follow us on twitter @mommygoesgreen.
• Retweet this contest.
• Become a Facebook fan.
• Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link.
• Follow Aviva Goldfarb on twitter.

Leave your comment by Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Contest open to all U.S. residents, ages 18+. We will choose 1 winner, at random, and notify them by email. Privacy Policy.