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How Soleil does food & holidays
Soleil Moon Frye, known to many for her role on Punky Brewster, loves cooking with her two daughters, Poet and Jagger, and spending quality time with her family. We talked to the mom who's able to juggle it all and found out her juicy secrets.
Soleil's a fabulous mom, wife, author, entrepreneur and so much more! She's currently launching Fleischmann's Simply Homemade No Knead Bread and has a new how-to book about party planning coming out next fall.
SheKnows: You're helping to launch Fleischmann's new Simply Homemade No Knead Bread. What inspired you to want to launch this specific product?
Soleil: My kids and I love to cook and bake and most importantly, make it fun! This bread can be made in less than an hour and has so many different mixes to choose from. It's something the whole family can do together. My girls love getting messy in the kitchen and helping me out. Fleischmann's is dedicated to try and help end hunger, with $250,000 in proceeds going to the No Kid Hungry campaign.
SheKnows: As a busy mom, what are your tricks to helping simplify homemade meals?
Soleil: Making it fun for the family is most important. We like to do mystery taste tests, where we blindfold the kids and have them guess what food it is. Also, it's important to put the foods on their level, as opposed to high counters, so they can be more involved. My girls love making salads and helping prep the meals. We go to the farmers market and pick things out together. Engaging them educationally is important as well, so we teach them about measuring cups, tablespoons, teaspoons and more, all while having a good time.
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Check out this seasonal steamed pumpkin bread >>
SheKnows: What's your favorite dinner to cook?
Soleil: My mom was an Italian chef, so we love making specialty pastas and pizzas! We also love Greek, Japanese and Indian food. It's fun to mix it up.
SheKnows: Are your daughters picky eaters?
Soleil: I never pushed anything on them, and I think that's made them more adventurous with food since they're never forced to try anything. They eat pretty healthy overall, and I think it's important to lead by example. My youngest daughter, Jagger, has a huge sweet tooth, but even with that she still chooses to eat healthy most of the time. They're very adventurous now and have even tried shishito peppers!
SheKnows: The holidays are coming up! What tradition are you looking forward to the most?
Soleil: We love Christmas Eve! We go all out — Santa, presents, decorations, twinkling lights, food, the works. It's a big celebration with our entire family and is so much fun.
SheKnows: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
Soleil: I'm famous for my mashed potatoes! I also make a mean sausage-mushroom dish that's my personal favorite.
Try these gourmet mashed potatoes this Thanksgiving >>
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SheKnows: Other than bread, what are your favorite treats to bake?
Soleil: My daughters and I love to bake together. Our favorite baked goods to make are molasses cookies, chocolate chip cookies, banana pudding and blueberry pie.
SheKnows: You have a how-to party guide coming out in the fall. We're guessing you like to entertain and host parties?
Soleil: One of my favorite things to do is plan, put together and host parties! My book features fun, affordable ways to throw all different types of parties. The kids were involved and are also featured in the book. It really is a great way to get everyone together and involved in the party-planning process.
SheKnows: With so many projects on your plate, what's your secret to managing it all?
Soleil: I'm a juggler. I love being involved in all sorts of different things and tackling different projects. My secret is just doing the best that I can each and every day. Also, when I'm with my family I make sure that our time together is quality time.
SheKnows: And finally, what is your favorite thing about being a mom to Poet and Jagger?
Soleil: I love when they give me hugs and are kind to each other and those around them. It makes me feel like I'm doing a good job as a parent. My most favorite thing is when they tell me they love me out of the blue. Awww!
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