If you're like me and can't beat the chill you get inside on a cold, damp day like today - then give this super easy carrot soup a try. It'll warm you up and fill you up - plus the kids will love it...what's not to like about a recipe like that?  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 medium onion, sliced

1 small clove of garlic, minced

5 cups water

2 1/2 cups sliced carrots

1/4 cup long grain rice

2 tbsp chicken bouillon

1/2 tsp curry powder

salt and chopped parsley

To Prepare:

Melt butter in large saucepan. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Add water, carrots, rice, bouillon and curry. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20-25 mins. Spoon into blender and blend until smooth. Add salt and parsley to taste.  Serves 4.

You may have gathered from my blogs that in the winter, we eat an awful lot of soup, because it’s comforting, quick, and an easy way to get a ton of veggies into our family’s diet.  But by right around now, our soup love is seriously waning, which is why I’m always so happy to see a wider variety of greens in my farm box and to start celebrating the salad season.

Aiming to eat a salad every day is one of the simplest & healthiest habits you can adopt as a family for a whole bunch of reasons:

• Obviously, it’s an easy way to include 2-3 servings of nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich veggies and fruit in your day.

• It’s easy.  If you have a salad dressing in the fridge (I’ve included one yummy recipe at the end), or oil and vinegar in the pantry, all you need is a bag of greens, a knife, and whatever’s in your crisper.  You can also always find a salad if you’re on the road at any restaurant or deli, so it’s an easy habit to keep no matter what.

• It’s a great way to give your kids choice & control within healthy boundaries. Put a little “salad bar” together on the counter, and let them choose their own greens, veggies and fruits, nuts or seeds, and a healthy dressing.  When you give them a little say, it’s amazing what they’ll eat!

• It gives everyone a daily fibre boost. More fibre not only helps with digestive regularity, it helps keep cholesterol levels healthy.

• Diets high in fruits and veggies are linked with a lower risk of many cancers. If you are worried about cancer, this is an easy way to be pro-active.

• Salads are the perfect place to practice combining good carbs with protein and little healthy fat, something I work on with all my clients, young and old.  A base of veggies and fruit for carbs, lean meat or beans for protein, a few nuts, seeds or avocado & a healthy dressing for a dose of good fat makes a perfectly balanced meal or snack.

There are no rules with salads, but I would suggest you try to include some darker greens, as these generally are more nutrient-dense, and work on including a rainbow of colour with your veggie & fruit toppings. Beware the salad dressing, this can be your downfall in an otherwise super-healthy meal. Check out the label on your family’s favourite dressing -- does it include a mammoth list of ingredients, most of which you can’t pronounce?  Many commercial dressings are laden with artificial colours & flavours, sodium and unhealthy fats.  If you have a mason jar and a blender you can whip up a quick dressing in less than five minutes and feel great about topping your family’s salads with it.

Here’s our current fave, perfect for a spring salad - Berry Balsamic.  We love it on an arugula and spinach base with sunflower seeds, pecans, baby tomatoes and goat cheese.  

Ingredients:
1 c. strawberries (frozen and defrosted or fresh are both fine)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup (or 2 pitted medjool dates, chopped)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

To prepare:
In a food processor or high-powered blender, puree the berries, balsamic, maple syrup (or dates), salt and pepper.  Slowly add the olive oil while blending to combine until a creamy dressing forms.  Store in an airtight jar in the fridge. 

Wendy McCallum, LLB, RHN, is passionate about providing busy parents with the tools & support they need to feed their families wholesome food, so everyone can play, learn, and feel better!  She is a mother of two terrific HRM kids, aged 8 & 9. For information and recipe ideas, visit her website.

We're so excited to welcome you to the first edition of our newest monthly blog - A Dad's Life.  It's written by dads, for dads and will cover everything from diaper changes to sports and technology. Thanks to our newest guest blogger and local dad, Michael Cusden for kicking it off with his dad worries.

Are you a parent who worries? Does the cannon go boom every day at noon?

Yes, of course you worry if you are a parent. Let's stop with the silly questions.

I want to share with you what worries me as a dad. Don't worry, no tales of an empty beer fridge or a stinky diaper. Just honest worries that run through my mind.

From talking to other parents, there seem to be anywhere from 0-678 things that worry us every day. We all want to raise our kids to be good people and that is stressful and hard to manage. But to be honest, those worries are part of what I signed up for. My parents worried about raising me and now the torch has been passed on.

So, what truly worries me as a dad?

Instead of listing all 678 items, I will just touch on a few that most likely have crossed your mind while you lay awake at night listening to your white noise machine (snoring spouse).
 

Like father like kid
Does your kid say "well I saw dad do it?"

Yep, busted. I worry that my actions or lack there of, will influence and steer my boys into thinking the way dad does something is the right way to do it. Kids are pretty impressionable and if they see it coming from the people they trust most, of course they are going to mimic it. For example, in our house, sometimes we yell at the cat or dog for doing something wrong. No big deal right? Then a week later, you hear your 3-year old yelling at the pets in the same way even if they did not do anything wrong. Not good.

I worry that my lack of eating certain foods will influence our kids into not liking those same foods. I worry that my laid back approach in social settings will hinder our boys from being social. Hell, I already worry that my shortcomings in math and science will limit what our boys are good at in school. They can always blog right?

Money, money, money
Shocking I know. I worry about money. In these tough economic times, I worry about how we are going to be able to provide our kids with everything they need. My wife and I bring home above average wages, but it seems we are always being stretched thin. How did my parents do it? Will we be able to let our kids experience everything they want to in life or will we have to say no because of our bank accounts? I used to worry about money for myself and my wife, now it is mostly about the kids and their future.

What I can't worry about
I try my best to not worry about the little things you can't control. I can't worry about whether our son eats his vegetable at school. He will one day. I can't worry about if our 3-year old son is showing enough interest in sports. It will happen. I can't worry about what could or could not happen one day because there is so much that needs attention now.

I grew up with a Mum who worried 24 hours a day and I always wondered how she stayed sane. Now that I am a parent, I get it. But at the end of the day, you can only control so much, which makes it important to remember to enjoy being a parent. I think Bobby McFerrin said it best right? "Don't worry, be happy".
 

Michael is a marketing manager by day, who has been at the blogging thing for almost a decade. Father of two, husband to one and griller to the Gods. Read more about his parental adventures, including his current stint on parental leave on his blog, Like A Dad.

1. It's Bluenose weekend in town! If your kids aren't running in the Doctors NS run on Saturday morning then get out and cheer, it's an amazing sight to see over 4000 kids running through downtown with their little blue noses! 2. If you would rather skip the chaos and head out of town then the sheep at Ross Farm Museum have had their lambs and are ready for their annual shearing at Wooly Weekend! There will be demonstrations in sheep shearing, washing & spinning wool. Learn about the importance of sheep to early settlers and about the work involved to produce yarn and how woolen yarn was used to make material for the clothing necessary for the cold winter days. 3. On Saturday, the Discovery Shop will host a Q-Ball Maze day that involves maze challenges and prizes! Come by and have some fun creating different mazes and test your skills. There will be prizes for tallest working maze and speed challenges — as well as draws and giveaways throughout the day! 4. Halifax's fine feathered friend Merlin will be celebrating his birthday in style on Saturday and you're invited. Head to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for crafts, activities and cake to celebrate the big day. Throughout the day, you can try their Seek-a-Macaw scavenger hunt with a draw for a prize pack. At 1:00, they'll be offering a variety of fun crafts and at 2:00, they'll have cake and juice in the foyer before everyone sings Happy Birthday to Merlin and he gets his presents. 5. Maritime Midways returns for its first time since last years Fall Fair to Exhibition Park in Goodwood! They will have all your favourite rides and games as well as plenty of food and refreshments available and be operating from 3pm on Friday and closing on Monday at 10pm, Rain or Shine!