What’s the first thing you do when embarking on a new project?  Buy books of course!  I’m possibly slightly addicted to The Book People who are very naughty and keep sending me little mini-catalogues through the post and tempting me with Very Necessary titles.  Hmmm.  In any case, this is what I purchased;

Smart Food for Smart Kids by Patrick Holford. I like him, he’s the one all about Optimum Nutrition etc and this book promises to improve your child’s moods, sleep patters, general wellbeing, sugar cravings etc.  The recipes look great although I’m not sure I can get my children to actually eat any of them. It also contains a rather brilliant meal plan but I’m daunted by the amount of cooking involved.  I also feel like I should follow the plan to the letter and then make notes about any changes I see my children, as the book suggests. But then that’s also rather daunting. Hmm.

How to Unplug Your Child Absolutely necessary in our house, already an addicts den of screen time, or ‘watching’ as we refer to it. The more I tighten the rules around watching the more time we spend talking about it.  A source of constant conflict, I understand it’s practically the only topic of conversation between parents and teenagers too.  We’ve started early then.  At first glance the book seems all about alternative activities, which is not what we really need, as I’m perfectly capable of thinking of those myself.  But I’d better read it before I give a full review.

I Quit Sugar: Simplicious I’m sort of fascinated by Sarah Wilson. I got her first book too. My main impression is that you can use dates instead of sugar in most things, but they have to be medjool dates. Anything that mentions chia seeds makes me reach for the wine but I aspire to making some of the dishes in this book.  One day.

What Every Parent Needs to Know Actually this is a winner; it’s about the National Curriculum and how you can support your child with their learning, by telling you what they are learning in school. When you’ve got a school like our where communication is pretty non existent, this feels very comforting.  Also I got my friend L to look over it, and she’s a primary school teacher. She gave it the thumbs up.

The Gut Makeover Diet This is the book I threw in the basket last minute so I could qualify for a free delivery. It’s only a fiver and generally I hate anything with ‘diet’ in the title, but…  I had a quick browse and I like what it says already.  It’s making the connection between digestion and mood and, despite a rather harsh 4-week detox-type diet, leads you towards a more mediterranean way of eating for life.  Having suffered both depression and IBS I believe that our physical wellbeing has a profound effect on our mental health and our relationship with food is vital.  Prozac sorted me out in the end, in one fell swoop as it were, but it would take me years to learn how to look after myself with healthy eating habits.

Weekly Planner Pad  Obviously I spend January scouring the shelves for the perfect calendar or planner for the family.  As a lifelong admin I know that keeping information in more than one place, such as in my diary, on my phone, on the wall calendar, is WRONG.  But I’ve yet to come across a system that works for everyone.  This planning pad promised to solve all those problems and even help me with the dreaded Meal Planning!  I’ve yet to use it though…

That Dale Pinnock looks nice doesn’t he? That’s a book recommended to me by my friend S and fits with my interest in food as medicine.  More on this another time.