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[Food Series] Fresh Shrimp Spring Rolls

Posted on July 11, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

I’ve been itching to try my hand at Shrimp Spring Rolls for months now and I finally motivated myself to do it! Why did I wait so long?? It’s the perfect delicious and nutritious summer finger food and SO fast and easy to prepare! I can tell you it has already become a new family favorite!

Fresh Shrimp Spring Roll

Ingredients

1 package of Rice Paper Wrappers

1 cucumber

1 carrot

1 bunch of Radish

1 bunch of cilantro

1 bunch of thai basil

1/2 pound of cooked Shrimp

1 tablespoon freshly-grated Ginger

1 teaspoon of Sesame Oil

1 teaspoon of Rice Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Julienne all of the veggies, thinly slice the radish and cut your shrimp in half length-wise, then toss everything in the rice vinegar, freshly-grated ginger, salt and pepper. To prepare the Rice Paper Wrappers simply soak them in water for about a minute until they become pliable. Place a small handful of the mixture in the center of the rice paper (I double up the rice paper per roll so they are a bit more sturdy in the hand), fold in the two sides at the ends, then roll up and devour! SO easy, SO yummy, SO healthy! Enjoy!

Side Note: The great thing about Spring Rolls is that the rice paper wrapper can be a conduit for anything you want to stuff it with, so feel free to get creative! Experiment with different herbs, veggies and proteins and I can’t wait to hear how yours turn out!

And One Little Reminder: We will be on vacation next week, totally unplugged, camping and hiking, exploring and discovering in Sequoia National Park, but we’ll be back Monday, July 22nd excited to tell you all about our trip!!

5 Family Friendly Southern California Outings to Explore & Rejuvenate!

Posted on July 8, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

Here in Southern California, we are quite lucky that there is never a shortage of things to do with the family! Getting the kids out of the house and into discovery mode is as easy as a trip to the beach tide pools or one of our numerous kid friendly museums.

This past Fourth of July weekend, we took full advantage of our geographical location by visiting a few of our favorite family spots and discovering a new family fav! I also included two great summer festivals we enjoyed this year that will definitely be on our list for years to come!

Hollywood Beach, Channel Islands Harbor

4th of July Gram Snuggles!

We discovered Hollywood Beach by The Channel Islands Harbor just a few months ago and although it’s a 45 minute drive, it offers silky smooth white sand, zero crowds, calm surf and is loaded with sand crabs for the kids to discover! It’s located just blocks away from the Channel Islands Harbor which has it’s own share of fun activities including a farmer’s market, yummy fresh seafood markets and an outdoor Concert By the Sea series!

Chillin’ with Baba!

Gull Wings Children’s Museum

The Gull Wings Children’s Museum is a new discovery for us! At first glance, I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth the admission, but we decided to meander through and we were pleasantly surprised by its interactive exhibits designed to challenge and encourage a kid’s imagination!

5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … Blast Off!

We spent hours there exploring rocks and minerals in their “underground caves”, pretending to be a paleontologist in the Fossil Quest and an astronaut in their 5 chamber rocket ship! We’ll be back for sure!

Underwood Family Farms

Farm Fam!

Underwood Family Farms is in constant rotation on our activity schedule. Not only does the baby love it, but it’s seriously one of my favorite places too! We can spend hours strolling through its fields, picnicking under its majestic eucalyptus trees and eating the fruits of our picking labors. Over the Fourth of July weekend three generations of Fontaine females went and we picked our weight in sweet, delicious strawberries!

The California Strawberry Festival

The California Strawberry Festival has been around for almost 30 years and offers a massive kids area that includes, crafts, jumpers and a carousel.

Strawberry Monster!

Foodies can enjoy everything from Strawberry Beer to Strawberry Pizza, but our favorite was simply the Dark Chocolate-Covered Strawberries! Sooooooo yummy!!

The Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival

Ok, granted I’m from New Orleans so I will go anywhere and try anything that even remotely purports itself to be “Cajun” or “Blues” just to feel a sense of home and most of the time it falls miserably short, but not this one! Last year, I took the baby to The Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival on a whim and we had such a great time that the whole family went back this year! And yes, it is now My Mom Approved!

Dancin’ Queen!

The festival grounds are on lush, open, soft grasslands, the live Cajun, Zydeco and Blues music is to DIE for, the food is AUTHENTIC (somewhat) and there is a great kid’s area! This is a must and we will be back next year!

This Sunday the family will be off to the woods!! We’ll be in Sequoia National Park decompressing and discovering all of the beauty Mother Nature has to offer! I can’t wait to share it with you when we return!

[Guest Blogger Series] Raising An Environmentally Aware Child By Tina Hamilton

Posted on July 1, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

It’s that time again! This month our Guest Blogger is Tina Hamilton, who embodies all of the qualities and traits that we are working diligently to instill our daughter. With thoughtful discovery and careful exploration, her father and a special circle of other childhood mentors gave her a foundation of love, respect and honor for all of the beauty Mother Nature has to offer. Enjoy!

I have been hiking my entire life. Before I came along, my dad was a lifelong Boy Scout who spent more time outdoors than in. I started hiking with him before I could walk – we have family pictures of him carrying me on his back in an external-frame baby carrier from Patagonia.

Old School Daddy Hiker!

As soon as I was old enough, I signed up with the Girl Scouts as a Brownie. With adventures planned by my scout troop and the (much wilder) adventures planned by my dad, I spent entire summers as a child hiking and camping in the woods, and spent the winters with my feet firmly attached to cross-country skis.

Between my dad, the Girl Scouts, and simply being a product of the 1980’s, I became a stalwart young environmentalist. I followed to the letter every instruction found in “50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth,” I had comic books about pollution in the Amazon rainforest, I read every book by Jean Craighead George I could get my hands on, and I spent long hours debating with my dad whether it was more environmentally sound to use paper plates or to waste water on doing the dishes (I argued that the water could be cleaned while landfills remained forever; Dad argued it was late and “Get Smart” was about to come on).

My experiences in the great outdoors and my involvement in the green movement (before it was known by that name) shaped my life in considerable ways. It gave my dad and I common ground on which to come together during my difficult teen years and my travel abroad for college. It also gave me, I think, an inner core of strength on which I could rely in hard times. “I want to come home,” I would cry to Dad in a trans-Atlantic phone call. “Go for a walk in the woods,” he would say. “You’re always at home in the woods.”

Discovering the beauty of Mother Nature

The benefits of spending time outside can’t be under-emphasized – exercise, family bonding, exploration of nature, and learning responsibility and self-reliance. Going hiking or camping can even make your brain function better, according to neuroscience research reported in Backpacker Magazine.

So what can you do to get your own kids to fall in love with nature? Take some hints from my dad:

Start them early. There are a lot of child-carriers that are far more comfortable for parent and baby than the blue monstrosity still hanging on a hook in my dad’s basement.
Go at their pace. Start with places close to home – a city park can be just as fascinating as a mountainside to a small child. If you’ve got a yearning for a longer hike, leave the kids at home.
See it from their point of view. I still remember the day my dad and I counted 87 extremely tiny frogs that were congregating on the hiking trail. I don’t know where we were or if we ever made it to our destination. But I clearly remember my dad’s excitement matching my own as we kept count.
Bring a friend. For a kid, sharing an outdoor experience with a friend is much different than sharing it with an adult. Plus, kids can keep each other far more entertained than adults can – just ask my dad about the gigglefests my cousin Becky and I used to have.

Climbing Ruins

My final advice? Make it meaningful. Both my dad and the Girl Scouts spent a lot of time emphasizing the “Leave no trace” philosophy. “Take only pictures, leave only footprints,” my Scout leader would say. “Leave it be so you can come back and enjoy it again next time,” Dad would say. Knowing that taking care of the earth was my job gave me a sense of responsibility that has definitely grown over time – and it all started when I was a toddler adventuring through the woods on my dad’s back.

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About the Author

Tina Hamilton is a writer, blogger, and social media enthusiast from Southern California. You can follow her on Google+ and Twitter.