Hello parents of the world!

 

I am Kalli, born in Athens, Greece, civil engineer and mommy of two very active kids, who wonderfully drag my energy every day!

 

Before having my kids, creating a recipe site for children had never crossed my mind. Yes, I always loved to cook. Combining flavors, mixing plants with herbs and meat. My kitchen full of smells and my friends gathered around the dinner table, tasting,  talking, laughing, enjoying. Cooking for me was always my hobby. Mind-relaxing and very creative! Now that I’m a mother cooking is also a necessity. Whenever i am in the kitchen, i have the feeling that i am preparing a gift of LOVE for my kids.

 

Have you thought what is there to do as mothers for our kids concerning their physical health? To fortify their immune system? To provide daily the energy they need to “jump up and down”? To help them form healthy eating habits so that they can avoid problems such as obesity, diabetes B etc.?

 

I say to weave cooking into the rhythmus of our weekday lives. Not to constantly outsource the job of feeding our family to strangers. It's the only way to control what our children eat.  

 

It is not easy, I know. And yes, there will be times that buying donuts or ready-made pizzas is inevitable, but let’s not make a habit out of it. Here is what I do when I don’t have the time or the mood or the ingredients to prepare something more complex: I boil some salted water and make spaghetti with grated cheese. It takes only 10 minutes and is far healthier than a home-delivery burger.

 

The food industry spends millions of dollars every year to undermine cooking as a daily practice. “Cooking is hard, cooking is time consuming, cooking is really a mess; let us do the cooking for you”. 

 

Well, this is one of the reasons I created ‘The Juicy Tomatoes’. To show you how easy cooking can be. To give you the recipes I prepare for My Kids. Tested recipes, easy and quick. Mediterranean recipes transformed in a way that they become friendly for children (and believe me it is not easy to find many of them especially when your kids are picky eaters as mine). Recipes created to get your kids eat vegetables, fish, poultry, legumes, nuts, whole grains, etc. Meals prepared with olive oil, yogurt, and herbs.

 

My will is to help you introduce your kids the MEDITERRANEAN food regime, the most popular, researched and most balanced diet, the diet that is proven to contribute to their cognitive and physical development. 

 

Being born and raised in Greece, a country with a strong food culture, I come from a family with a cooking tradition that has come down from my grandmother, to my mother and now to me.  Living abroad, I always tried to preserve this tradition. At first I thought it wouldn’t be easy, but now I am convinced that no matter where you are, you can find all you need to cook Mediterranean. The simplicity of the Mediterranean food regime guarantees that.

 

Hope you’ll stick around.

 

And remember:

Food is not only our fuel. It is also a way of communicating, it is a way of celebrating together and showing that we care for one another.

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