Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in vancouver, CN

Dinner Table Destinations: Making Your Own Maki and Rolls

August 03, 2009

While sushi is really cheap and good in Vancouver it might be fun to actually make your own sushi with your kids. The ingredients are simple and colourful and may be a neat way to make yur child eat more veggies than they might normally.

Ingredients and tools:

• Nori (the seaweed wrappers) can be purchased at the grocery store.

• Japanese Rice

• Rice Wine

• Sugar

• Wasabi

• vegetables (cucumber, avacado, carrots, lettuce, green onion etc.)

• salmon skin, or cooked salmon

• bamboo rolling mat (I use a $.79 place mat from Ikea.)

Cook the Japanese rice to these directions. I have used jasmine rice and also gotten good results from this recipe. The rice is sticky and handles well.

Kappa Maki:

Place a half sheet of nori on the bamboo mat. Press sushi rice evenly on the nori and then lay julienned cucumber and use the bamboo mat to roll together. Don't worry if it doesn't look quite right. You will get better with proportions as you go along.

Variations: add other vegetables like avocado and sprouts or julienned carrots.

If you want to try to make BC rolls there is a good recipe here from Tojos. I think I will attempt this for dinner one day this week so that I can practise for our trip back east. It is certainly easier to make sushi in NS than pay through the roof for it.

Favourite Lists

June 16, 2009

I have written for Being Savvy Vancouver for over a year now and I have loved finding new places to explore in the lower mainland. In looking over my tuesday list over the last year or so, there are a few that I think are especially relevant to the summer weather we have been having. So I have decided to do a best of list of my Tuesday lists.

The best and all encompassing list is my "99 Things to Do in Vancouver." This list has links to all kinds of activities you can do with your child in the lower mainland and a little bit beyond.

Another great list is "Kid and Parent Dates" where there is a list of some great restaurants to have a kid friendly meal with your child.

Looking for a place to have a playdate with another parent and your kids? "Playdate Anyone" is the list for you.

If you check out these lists you should have plenty of things to do over the summer. Have fun and play safe.

Picky Eaters Anonymous

April 27, 2009

I am always amazed at what my son will and will not eat. Some days it is anyone's guess as to whether something will get a try, a pass, a fail, a chew it up and spit it out, or a hum and dance. If he loves something he hums and does a little table dance. If he doesn't he will make sure that we know it. If he is in a good mood we can bribe him with bread to finish a few bites of meat, or he might even eat it with no prompting from us. So how do we figure out what to make him for dinner?

I have stopped making separate meals for my son unless he is eating at a different time than my husband and I. This means that he at least needs to try a food and saves me from going crazy trying to guess what kind of food he will eat. Even if he doesn't eat whatever food he has decided he doesn't like at that moment I make sure to introduce the food again.

We always have at least one thing on his plate, or nearby that we know he will always eat. This is usually baby corn and cucumber. This way he always has at least one ting he will eat and we don't feel guilty or that he may be going hungry. If all else fails we get him to use chopsticks. A little distraction and the fact that my son loves both Japanese and Chinese food helps a lot. It amazes me that my boy loves sushi and always asks for gyoza and BC rolls.

We like to try something new every once in a while. If our son see us trying new things (maybe) he will be more willing to try new things himself. How does your child eat? Do you need to bribe him/her to get a balanced meal into them?

Kid and Parent Dates: Where to Get a Quiet Bite

February 24, 2009

My son and I like to have some quiet lunches together. While it is a little more difficult now with a newborn in the house I am planning a couple of Mommy and son dates in the near future. There are a few places where we like to go and have some good food and great talks.

The Secret Garden Tea Company in Kerrisdale on West Blvd is one of our favourite places to go. It has wonderful high teas as well as a mini high tea with all the miniature sandwiches and deserts. On weekends and around holidays it is better to make a reservation.

We also go for tea and a sandwich at Steeps at Broadway and Laurel. They have a nice atmosphere and it is friendly to all people. With tables and comfy chairs it is a great place for a cheap and easy tea party.

Minato Sushi is crowded and loud but it makes the best sushi around in my humble opinion. So several times a month we order some sushi and take it away. Most of the time we come home and eat at the table, but when it is warmer we often go to the beach or down by the seawall.

Granville Island Public market is another place we often frequent. Terra Breads makes fantastic foccacia and on a sunny day it is a treat to be outside in the courtyard eating and taking in the entertainment.

Where do you like to go for a date with your child?

Tea Party Anyone?

by Gwendolyn Floyd

October 09, 2008

When your child has a tea party or plays with a pretend kitchen they are working out all kinds of social situations. Some of these situations they see modelled at the dinner table or at the snack table at preschool, and some they work out for themselves. Whether they have pretend tea or real tea and cookies they are using their imaginations and practising social skills like table manners,  Read more...

Gelato is a Great Treat!

by Gwendolyn Floyd

July 25, 2008

We are an ice cream loving family. In fact since I am pregnant in the summer, ice cream is what makes it bearable. One of our favourite ice cream places sells gelato. While gelato is technically an ice cream, the Italians make it a little differently by not freezing it as deeply and using less  Read more...

Travelling Around the World Without Leaving the City

by Gwendolyn Floyd

July 22, 2008

In Vancouver it is very easy to take the time to introduce your child to many different cultures. With so many different ethnicities in this city you can try food from all over the globe, many within a few feet of of each other. In this edition I will take you to China, Japan, India, Korea and the Middle East. Photo by: Gwen Floyd China is a huge country with many  Read more...

Picnic Fun

by Gwendolyn Floyd

June 26, 2008

I don't know about everyone else, but food always tastes better outside to me. That is a big part of the reason I love picnics. During the summer I try to have at least one picnic a week. This usually entails the boy and I picking up his father at work and heading to the beach or the park. We usually head for somewhere for the boy to run or with a playground nearby. For this reason there  Read more...