Re: non-animated family movies (SO GRATEFUL for this list! I am ALWAYS looking for movie night options!) I recently watched Short Circuit with my kids. As with all my childhood movies, I was prepared for it to be super sexist and racist; it surprised me by being less sexist than I expected, but somehow EVEN MORE racist than I expected. WTF, 80s?
Watching my problematic childhood favorites is always such a real illustration of the power of the old, "I don't get it - can you explain the joke to me?" response to offensive "jokes." Because my kids of course literally do not get it, just like they do not get a lot of things about this era ("why can't he just look it up online?"), and so I get to actually explain, "People thought this would be a funny joke. But the goal was to make fun of a person, so it isn't as harmless as a joke that didn't work out to be funny - it's mean. We don't pretend jokes like that are funny anymore."
Like, I guess it's cool to have these conversations with my kids. It's better than NOT having them. But damn! Sometimes it feels like even "movie night" can get so exhausting, as a parent.
(I also totally traumatized my kids by watching Willow with them. I haven't braved Labyrinth, my most-watched movie from age 6 on, with them yet. It turns out all my childhood "family friendly" movies are terrifying!)
So much WTF in the 80s. We watched Goonies with the kids and it's still fun, but oof -- all kinds of racist. Also, Julian loves all the Indiana Jones movies, which are racist and sexist, and that's before the violence and the Nazis. But agree, lots of good convos, and I feel like some nights they watch Moana for the 17th time and other nights we engage in the more exhausting, but also usually more interesting, movies.
This roasted shrimp, orzo, and dill salad is one of my favorites! It's great for a summer potluck, or anytime. But it makes a ridiculous amount so I would cut it in half unless you are feeding a crowd.
Went to a friends house and she served a watermelon cucumber feta mint salad and also had plain watermelon for the kids which felt simple and inspired.
the world’s laziest summer salad - spinach, chopped up firm tofu, kewpie sesame dressing, furikake.
Things my kids will eat: cashew flour waffles as bfast for dinner. egg in a hole. Chicken soup with homemade pesto stirred in. piles of Costco frozen dumplings. Salmon baked low and slow. Almond flour quesadillas - are you as obsessed with the siete ones as I am? Urvashi pitre’s instant pot butter chicken. My instant pot quickie chicken biryani. Protein-packed Smoothies (banana/pb/cocoa/almond milk, mango/almond butter/cardamom/coconut milk etc)
I've gotten enormous mileage out of Caro Chambers' "basically a salad" pasta - my kids are still small and while I'm not a huge fan of tricking them into eating vegetables, I'm also not NOT a fan? They clamor for "green noodles," and I eat mine with chickpeas and arugula and maybe some ricotta and chili flakes, and no one yells at each other, and everyone wins. https://www.carolinechambers.com/recipes/pasta/basically-a-salad-pasta
Re: non-animated family movies (SO GRATEFUL for this list! I am ALWAYS looking for movie night options!) I recently watched Short Circuit with my kids. As with all my childhood movies, I was prepared for it to be super sexist and racist; it surprised me by being less sexist than I expected, but somehow EVEN MORE racist than I expected. WTF, 80s?
Watching my problematic childhood favorites is always such a real illustration of the power of the old, "I don't get it - can you explain the joke to me?" response to offensive "jokes." Because my kids of course literally do not get it, just like they do not get a lot of things about this era ("why can't he just look it up online?"), and so I get to actually explain, "People thought this would be a funny joke. But the goal was to make fun of a person, so it isn't as harmless as a joke that didn't work out to be funny - it's mean. We don't pretend jokes like that are funny anymore."
Like, I guess it's cool to have these conversations with my kids. It's better than NOT having them. But damn! Sometimes it feels like even "movie night" can get so exhausting, as a parent.
(I also totally traumatized my kids by watching Willow with them. I haven't braved Labyrinth, my most-watched movie from age 6 on, with them yet. It turns out all my childhood "family friendly" movies are terrifying!)
Good intel! We watched “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” w my 7 and 9 year old recently and it was shockingly pretty fine and very fun!
So much WTF in the 80s. We watched Goonies with the kids and it's still fun, but oof -- all kinds of racist. Also, Julian loves all the Indiana Jones movies, which are racist and sexist, and that's before the violence and the Nazis. But agree, lots of good convos, and I feel like some nights they watch Moana for the 17th time and other nights we engage in the more exhausting, but also usually more interesting, movies.
This salad from Smitten Kitchen is always a hit, tastes great a room temp, and is very adaptable to whatever veg you have. https://smittenkitchen.com/2012/10/butternut-squash-salad-with-farro-and-pepitas/
Flatmates is a great show! I always like your recs, so you might like mine :)
This roasted shrimp, orzo, and dill salad is one of my favorites! It's great for a summer potluck, or anytime. But it makes a ridiculous amount so I would cut it in half unless you are feeding a crowd.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-shrimp-and-orzo-recipe-1947099
Went to a friends house and she served a watermelon cucumber feta mint salad and also had plain watermelon for the kids which felt simple and inspired.
the world’s laziest summer salad - spinach, chopped up firm tofu, kewpie sesame dressing, furikake.
Things my kids will eat: cashew flour waffles as bfast for dinner. egg in a hole. Chicken soup with homemade pesto stirred in. piles of Costco frozen dumplings. Salmon baked low and slow. Almond flour quesadillas - are you as obsessed with the siete ones as I am? Urvashi pitre’s instant pot butter chicken. My instant pot quickie chicken biryani. Protein-packed Smoothies (banana/pb/cocoa/almond milk, mango/almond butter/cardamom/coconut milk etc)
Omg we eat so many Costco frozen dumplings.
So good! Also the Costco organic chicken sausage and those egg bites save me most mornings. I am so not ready for summer food volume.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeee
I've gotten enormous mileage out of Caro Chambers' "basically a salad" pasta - my kids are still small and while I'm not a huge fan of tricking them into eating vegetables, I'm also not NOT a fan? They clamor for "green noodles," and I eat mine with chickpeas and arugula and maybe some ricotta and chili flakes, and no one yells at each other, and everyone wins. https://www.carolinechambers.com/recipes/pasta/basically-a-salad-pasta
Have you read Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman? I loved that book. I’m reading We All Want Impossible Things, per your rec last week. Thanks!
I also found the recipe for Sicilian Lemon Polenta Pound Cake and was going to try: https://www.penguin.com.au/recipes/3592-sicilian-lemon-polenta-pound-cake
I haven't yet -- but I want to! Adding to my library queue.