Last year, my New Year’s resolution was to try a new recipe every week. And I actually did it! Well, up until March or so (at some point, tuna sandwiches for dinner started looking like a gourmet meal!).

But since I at least had some success with it, I decided to resolve the same thing again this year. I’m a big fan of easy recipes, because even though I know spending 2 hours making a wonderful meal is worth it in the end, anything over 45 minutes is usually too big of a commitment for me. Fortunately, I work at a magazine that has some great, healthy recipes that are made especially so kids can help their parents cook!

Right now, I’m working my way through Marygrace Taylor’s fantastic meal ideas in The Great Pantry Challenge. And one of my hands-down, all-time favorite KIWI recipes is our budget-friendly Chicken Picatta with Spinach Mashed Potatoes dish. It’s such an easy recipe that’s more delicious than you’d think by looking at the simple ingredient list. The best part? It averages out to about $3.69 a serving. That’s money well spent!

Do you cook with your kids? Or–even better–do your kids sometimes cook the whole meal themselves? Check out our Next Great Young Chef contest. We’re looking for kids who like to get creative in the kitchen. Just enter your kid’s recipe along with a video of her whipping it up, and she could win thousands of dollars in prizes plus a feature in KIWI!

-Michelle Carlton, KIWI editor

We’ve teamed up with our friends at Hain Celestial to bring an assortment of kid-friendly books to two lucky winners! Titles include:

• Is My Dog a Wolf?
• The Spa Princess Cookbook
• On a Road to Africa
• The Master Detective Handbook

To enter, click here. Hurry, contest ends October 31st!

Here at KIWI, moms are very important to us and to the future of our green babies.  Give your mom an easy, inexpensive Mother’s Day gift by nominating her for our Moms of the Revolution contest. Share her story on how she is revolutionizing the way kids in your community eat. Revolution Foods and KIWI have teamed up for this wonderful, inspiring contest and it does not come as a surprise that others are appreciating how important this contest is. TreeHugger, a well known website focusing on going green, has just mentioned our MOTR contest and we could not be more thrilled! Thanks for your support TreeHugger!  Check it out.

– Brittany, KIWI staff and wishing all moms a happy mother’s day

Well, we want to know how! Simply enter our contest and  you could be the next Mom of the Revolution. 5 Moms will be selected to be featured in KIWI Magazine, receive a free KIWI subscription, and a one year supply of healthy lunchbox snacks for their family. One of the 5 Moms will win the GRAND PRIZE OF $3,000 in cash to help fund their own healthy School Lunch Revolution.

Hurry, contest ends May 30th, 2009.

Share your story today.

– Stephanie, KIWI staff

In celebration of Earth Day, we have a special contest running on our bookworms section. Enter to win either From BBC Video comes Planet Earth – The Complete Series (DVD) or Planet Earth DVD Game. All you have to do is go to our bookworms section and add a comment telling us the one change you are making to help the earth this year. Enter no later than May 10th. Click this link to get started. 

We want to honor the hometown activist in all of our communities – the Moms of the Revolution. Tell us how you (or a mom you know) are revolutionizing the way kids in your community eat.

5 Moms will be selected to be featured in KIWI Magazine, receive a free KIWI subscription, and a one year supply of healthy lunchbox snacks from Revolution Foods for their family. One of the 5 Moms will win the GRAND PRIZE of $3,000 in cash to help fund their own healthy School Lunch Revolution.

Share your story.

– Stephanie, KIWI staff and seeker of the Moms of the Revolution 

How is your child your hero? Here’s how to tell them and the rest of the world. Nominate them for some of the good things they do…even little things like making their bed or taking out the trash or helping their brother or sister.

Win great prizes too…education savings bonds up to $500, subscriptions to KIWI magazine and lots of Yummi Bears!

Hurry, contest ends December 31, 2008. See our Official Rules for details.

–Stephanie, KIWI staff and lover of families

Last weekend I went to the DC Green Festival, a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America. Hundreds of speakers and exhibitors convened at the DC Convention Center to educate thousands of people on the latest trends in the green movement. Attendees who stopped by our KIWI booth walked away with a KIWI Magazine amongst other goodies PLUS had a chance to sign up for our contests. Don’t worry. In case you missed this event, you can still participate.

Here’s the deal:

KiwiCrusaders: KIWI acknowledges excellence in school meals. Enter to win a prize of $3,500 for your school. http://www.kiwimagonline.com/kiwicrusaders/index.php

Next Great Young Chef Contest: Kids ages 4-17 are invited to create a recipe with our secret ingredient – Florida Crystals Organic and Natural Sugars. Parents, please upload a video of the chef in progress. http://www.kiwimagonline.com/contests/NextGreatYoungChef/

Great School Beaches Getaway: Teachers who sign up to receive enews on our new website, MyHealthySchool.com, will be entered to win a vacation package to a Beaches Resort location in Turks & Caicos or Jamaica. http://www.myhealthyschool.com/contests/Beaches/

Next stop on my Green Festival tour is San Francisco this Friday November 15th – Sunday November 17th. Please make sure to stop and say hello and tell your friends…

Stephanie Singer

Time for a little update from me to you.

We always have so much fun stuff going on at KIWI, it’s good to give you all the “low down.”

We have updated our contests– you could win a 5-day/4-night trip for a family of four to the Bahamas! (Where do I sign up?!) Just head on over to enter.

Also, we have so many downloadable freebies, just for visiting our site. We have KIWI’s Top 25 Holiday Toys of 2007 (a little late, but always good for birthday gift ideas) and a free activity page and holiday entertaining tips from KIWI, Whole Foods Market and Healthy Child Healthy World. We also have the KIWI Special Report: What Moms Want– The Definitive Me-Time Study; KIWI Green College Report and our ever expanding KiwiKids Activities.

We update our Featured Articles and Recipes regularly. Right now we have two winter themed articles, Baby It’s Cold Outside and Keeping a Lid on Heating Bills. Our featured recipes are Quinoa Chopped Salad and Tofu and Cheese Quesadillas by Chef George Kyrtatas. These won’t be featured for long! We are updating the site soon, so more articles and recipes are coming.

Also, Happy New Year!