Green Child Magazine Holiday 2012 | Page 64

In Anni’s Conscious Kitchen with Conscious Family Living Lifestyle Expert, Anni Daulter Welcome to Winter, where the trees are bare, fires warm the home and the cupboards are full of fall bounty. This is the time when families come together for shared meals and celebrations and when grandmothers pass down cooking traditions long held sacred in the family. What is amazing about having your own children is that you can start new traditions based on your own food philosophy and pass these down as your children grow through the years. Sharing food and friendship is what this time of year is all about. Fostering an environment of cozy dinner parties with family and friends sets up an environment of sharing and community for your family, that translates into a 64 happy home and healthy lifestyle. These early memories of having others over to share in meal times, has a lasting impression on children, and inherently teaches them the value of food traditions and what it truly means to break bread together. My husband and I like our children to bake breads and muffins and make comforting soups to share with those in need during the holiday season. Our kids take time and care in wrapping holiday breads and labeling huge mason jars filled with soup to give to our local homeless shelter. This act of giving teaches our children a sense of gratitude for what they have and a generosity of spirit that can only be fostered with actions and commitment to the greater good. Photography by Elena Rego Anni is a C onscious Fam ily Living lifestyle expert, professional c ook, advocate of sustainable li ving and auth or of 6 books an d the new on line community, S acred Pregnan cy.