Purposeful family living - with a French twist

Bonjour! I'm Michele Cherie: francophile, teacher, writer, runner, wife, and mama to five children. I'm a non-native French speaker from the West Coast, USA. My husband and I recently relocated our family to Alsace, France. IntentionalMama shares our bilingual journey and resources for a culturally-rich family life.

Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping in Lyon & Paris, France

September 09, 2015 by Michele Cherie in Cultural Reflections, Travel, Home Management, French Culture

Bonjour again from Lyon! This is my family's first extended stay in France, so it's also the first time I've had the role of preparing meals for my children here. Living here has improved my meal planning skills and expanded our palates, I'm glad to say! I've consistently tried to plan French meals so my children can enjoy one of the best aspects of living in France--the food and the culture surrounding it. Here's what I'm doing differently here:

Hug A Farmer, Share Their Bounty: Join a CSA This Year

January 22, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Reflections on Parenting, Home Management

Whether you'd like to be a more frugal foodie or if you'd simply prefer fewer trips to the grocery store, there's a solution that you'll love: find a local farm to support, and in return you can take home a weekly share of the harvest. My family joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program four years ago, and now we associate summer with delightful weekly visits to our farm. (It feels a bit like having a zoo membership, due to the animals we get to observe and feed!)

I'm so grateful that my children will grow up with memories of a family farm and an awareness of where their vegetables are grown (besides those from our small backyard garden). And how long would it have taken otherwise for my four-year old daughter to have discovered that she loves artichokes?