GAP FAMILY BLOG

I remember on the weekends, Mom would always make us something special like French Toast. However, our French Toast wasn't as heart-healthy and calorie-friendly as these from Wellspring Camps. It just goes to show, fun food doesn't have to be fattening. Check them out!


Ingredients:

Looking for a healthy meal that your kids will actually eat? Check out Wellsprings Camp, chicken nugget recipe. Try em tonight :)

Ingredients:

12 ounces Chicken Breast, Boneless, Skinless
1 cup Cornflakes
1 tsp Paprika
½ tsp Italian herb seasoning
¼ tsp Garlic powder
¼ tsp Onion powder
½ tsp Salt

Method:

1. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces
2. Place cornflakes in plastic bag and crush by using a rolling pin
3. Add remaining ingredients to crushed cornflakes. Close bag and shake until blended
4. Add a few chicken pieces at a time to crumb mixture. Shake to coat evenly
5. Lightly spray a cooking sheet
6. Heat oven to 400 degrees
7. Place chicken pieces on cooking sheet so they are not touching
8. Bake until golden brown, about 12-14 minutes

Yield: 4 servings (3.25 ounces)

Nutritional Information:
168 Kcalories
27 grams Protein
3.13 grams Fat

Worried Your Kids are going to be Inactive over Break?

Wellspring Camps, the leading weight loss organization for young adults and families across the U.S., knows how common it is for kids to run back to their televisions and junk food during their spring and summer vacation time from school. But these unhealthy and inactive habits can cause health problems among kids, so how can you help prevent them from becoming couch potatoes during their breaks?

Wellspring has developed some helpful, fun tips to help keep your kids staying active, and eating right while they are home for break!

Plan a fun activity: With the beautiful warm weather, the spring and summer seasons are the perfect time to engage in outdoor activities. Whether it’s participating in a game of soccer, or going for an exciting hike in your local park, these activities will keep your kids from lounging around the house.

Keep junk food out of the house: It is always important to limit your children’s junk food intake, but while they are home from school, their access to it becomes greater. Try to resist purchasing any unhealthy snacks that may sit in your cabinets during their time off. By not purchasing these items, your kids will have limited access to junk food!

Prepare a healthy snack or meal: Everyone knows it’s hard to feed children a healthy meal they will actually enjoy, but Wellspring has developed a plethora of delicious, healthy meals that every kid will enjoy! Teriyaki chicken kabobs, chicken nuggets, and even French toast, can all be enjoyed with their improved recipes! Visit http://www.wellspringcamps.com/delicious-lowfat-recipes.html for more recipes!

A healthy kid is a happy kid, and by following these simple tips, you can help keep your kids active and healthy during their spring and summer breaks! For more information on staying healthy, or on Wellspring Camps, please visit http://www.wellspringcamps.com/.

Check out A Talent For Quiet - it won both New Covey awards!

Children's Book Examiner
by reviewer Lori Calabrese gave Rainbow Nights a wonderful review

Children's Books Examiner rates:


Cover of Rainbow Nights by Sally M. Harris Illustrations by Kit Grady
March is Small Press Month, so throughout the month, I'll be highlighting books from small presses.

In Rainbow Nights, a little girl ends her day and lays her head to rest. But Dreamland awaits and "Dreamland's like a vacation. Every night's a celebration."

The little girl finds there are so many things to do in dreamland-- you can use your imagination to raise honey bees, plant a patch of perfect peas, ride a rocket ship, or fly to the nearest star. She finds Dreamland's busy with swirling colors and flashing lights, tuba music and rainbow nights.

So she closes her eyes and dreams pleasant dreams because soon she'll wake to greet the sun.

The rhyming text makes this a beautiful read-aloud for bed. Children will be excited to drift off into their own dreamland as they experience the vivid colors and wild imagination of Rainbow Nights.

Additional Information:
Author: Sally M. Harris
Illustrator: Kit Grady
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 20 pages
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc (October 31, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616330023
ISBN-13: 978-1616330026

Help me welcome Nancy Lepri, author of Tiny Angel. Check out our interview below :)

Tell us about your book
"Tiny Angel" is a book for tweens and deals mainly with the issue of bullying. When my main character, Macy Carver, moves to a new town, she gets tormented by the class bully, Kenny Thompson, because she's is overweight, wears glasses and is smart. Her guardian angel, Jody, comes to her rescue and shows her how to make friends and be a friend.

Where did the idea for Tiny Angel come from?

Basically from some of my own childhood experiences. I was never a new kid in school, but I wore glasses and was smart and was constantly bullied by a two different boys in my class.

You do both writing and illustrating, which do you like better?

Hard to say... It depends on my muse at the time. I guess I can say it's easier writing because if I don't like what I've written, it's easy to erase and rewrite, but with illustrations, which I do by hand, if I don't like them, I have to start from scratch, so it can be frustrating as well as time consuming. And, I have to add, I'm my own worst critic with both my writing and my illustrations.

Is there an advantage to being able to do both?

I would say the advantage is that I can "see" in my mind what I want to portray with my own illustrations, but it would also be nice to get a different and fresh viewpoint from another artist.

How long did it take from idea to finished product?

Ohmigoodness, I started writing "Tiny Angel" about fifteen years ago, and it went through rewrites and edits a million times. I also put it aside for many years while busy writing for magazines, when I had tons of editing jobs and when I was teaching writing and drawing classes. This was all in addition to other things going on in my life...such as my family, moving, etc.

Any plans for future books?

I've started a sequel to "Tiny Angel" which I've tentatively titled "Tommy's Angel". I've also started, but not completed four mainstream novels and have a completed children's picture book, which I have yet to submit.

Any advice you can give struggling artists or writers?

Never give up! Even when you get rejection after rejection, keep at it. Every NO, is bound to get you closer to a YES.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I'd like to add that if one is in this (writing and/or illustrating) to make a fortune, you need to rethink your priorities. I don't know of many who have become totally successful where they can earn a good living from writing. First and foremost, you have to love what you do and do it without thoughts of dollar signs, and secondly you have to have a story that others are going to want to read.

Check out Nancy's web sites at; http://nancycl.webs.com,

http://nancycl.livejournal.com and http://nancycl.blogspot.com

Guardian Angel Publishing has many talented writers, so let’s take some time to find out all about the, person behind the talent.

Tell us about your book.
The Peril of the Sinister Scientist is about Joshua, who thought he was cloned from the blood on the Shroud of Turin because a scientist who had worked on that experiment twelve years ago is stalking him. Problems with friends and enemies at school and his active imagination get him into all sorts of trouble as he tries to figure out who he really is.

Did you always want to be a writer?
When I was a toddler my parents told me I should become a song writer because I was always making up rhymes but I didn’t consider becoming a writer until I was old enough to read. I’ve been a book-a-holic ever since and write partly to give back some of the things I’ve gotten from books.

Where do you get your ideas?
I have no idea! Ideas are everywhere and not having any is the only thing I can’t imagine. My mother used to tell me I had too much imagination but I don’t think there’s such a thing.

I read that you had a conversation with Koko...tell us about that.
My husband was a Sign Language interpreter, and worked at the California School for the Deaf, and we had a deaf dog who had learned to understand about 350 signs. A linguistics professor friend told us about a woman he knew who was teaching ASL (American Sign Language) to a gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo and arranged for us to meet her.

I was hoping our dog could meet the gorilla but her trainer, “Penny” Patterson, said gorillas are terrified of dogs because they are prey animals and likely to be eaten by canines in the wild.

Miss Patterson did meet with us and left us in front of Koko’s cage. A man was in the cage with Koko and she didn’t want him to leave so she slammed the door shut and climbed up on top of his head so he couldn’t scold her. I asked if he wanted me to get someone to let him out and he said someone would be there soon, but that it was hurting his neck to have Koko on top of his head. She was only about a year old, but weighed quite a lot. I told her in ASL to get down, but she refused by turned her head away. When she looked back at me I asked her politely to give the man a hug, so she climbed down and did so and he was able to hold her.

That wasn’t much of a conversation, but it was one I’ll never forget.

About a year later after Koko was no longer there we happened to go back to the zoo and all the gorillas were signing to the people watching them, “Want food.” Apparently so many people who knew ASL had visited Koko and signed to the other gorillas that they had learned those signs.

Mending a Gutenburg Bible? How did that come about?
I was working part-time in a library and one of my tasks was mending books. I got to be so good at it that the head librarian asked me to mend the Gutenberg Bible. I used Elmer’s Glue and mended it like any other book, but it was a thrill to touch something so precious.

Once at a book fair a dealer in antique books asked to touch my hand since I’d touched the book Gutenberg himself had handled. And now my book, The Peril of the Sinister Scientist, is available on Kindle. I wonder what Gutenberg would think of that. He’d probably love the idea.

Any advice for struggling authors?
Rejections prove you’re really an author, so don’t let them discourage you. But don’t expect getting published to be easy, either. Writing is a profession and, like any other profession, requires a lot of training. Read books, attend conferences, join a critique group, and keep trying.

Any thing else you'd like to add?
Thank you very much for interviewing me.

The times are changing. Between video games, movies and the internet it’s no wonder our kids are reluctant to read – why should they when fast-paced entertainment is so close at hand? It’s not like when we were young. I remember when the “Atari” system was the newest, hottest thing to hit our televisions.

The competition is tough and a lot of kids view books as “school work.” So what’s a parent to do? Here are few tips that may help you get their noses back into a book;

1) Visit your local library and visit often.
· Once here encourage your children to get his/her own library card.
· Most libraries have programs, like family book clubs, or clubs specifically designed for kids, take advantage of these.
· Be a part of your child’s search and discovery and help them choose appropriate books in the genres they like best.

2) Read out loud with your kids everyday:
· Experts recommend 30 minutes of reading each day. This could be done at night before bed with a book that is too long or at a higher reading level.
· Choose a genre that your children enjoy or want to explore more in depth.

3) Be a role model:
· Show your children that you too want to read more…and do it!
· Make a family-friendly place in your home with no outside distractions (ie television, computer) and use it for reading.

4) Make it fun;
· Books don’t have to be a bore. Make a family game or challenge from reading.
· Dedicate one night or dinner-time talk to what your family is currently reading.
· Encourage your kids to explore new subjects and talk about what they’ve discovered.

These are just a few of the many things you can do to encourage a love of books in your family. Does your family already love to read? Let me know your tips and I’ll post them up.

According to National Statistics (http://www.readfaster.com/education_stats.asp)

• The average student learns about 3,000 words per year in the early school years (8 words per day).
• Five to six year olds have a vocabulary of 2,500 - 5,000 words.
• More than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level - far below the level needed to earn a living wage.
• Approximately 50 percent of the nation's unemployed youth age 16-21 are functional illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs.
• 44 million adults in the U.S. can't read well enough to read a simple story to a child.

It’s sad to think in this day and age that some people can’t read and that some of our children may be slipping through school without obtaining basic reading skills.

So what can we do?

• Start your kids young. Babies love to be read to so get a book and have some fun - Sing, laugh, make silly voices all this will start baby on the path to reading. It’s never to early to start
• Board books/bath books are simple ways to teach your little reader how to hold a book, turn the pages and get a feel for being a reader.
• Encourage your toddler to point out objects, repeat words and talk about the story
• Talk about the book with your young reader. Ask them questions about what was read or what they think is going to happen next.
• Tell stories of your family heritage or even vacations you once took.

Help guide your little ones into the world of literacy and imagination. And remember…reading isn’t only fundamental, it’s fun!