What's Cookin' Today Hour ONE:
Angie Harmon Says "Eat Your Veggies!"
Motion picture and television actress and fashion model Angie Harmon~who currently stars as Detective Jane Rizzoli on the hit show "Rizzoli & Isles” and who became a household name for her roles on such popular show "Law & Order”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, and “Baywatch!” Angie also knows first-hand that it can be a dinnertime struggle to convince picky eaters to touch the vegetables on their plates. And Angie is not alone. Updated nutrition guidelines, jointly announced by the United States’ Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services and the introduction of public and private programs such as the Hunger-Free Kids Act, are keeping the issue top of mind for mothers throughout the nation. Hot on the heels of these announcements, Angie wants to instill important lessons about good nutrition, foster an appreciation for vegetables, and help children develop a life-long love of veggies through the Love Your Veggies campaign which will send schools and families on a Great Veggie Adventure in search of a new vegetable that will inspire excitement in healthy eating. Angie kicked off the campaign by joining elementary school children and their mothers at an afternoon event where they made a unusual vegetables that are now part of the Great Veggie Adventure. And Angie will not only tell us about about these new veggies, but also share recipes, unique tips, activity suggestions, and tools designed to make learning to love vegetables an exciting everyday escapade.
2010 Huggable Hero, 11-Year-Old, Ashlee Smith, Founder of Ashlee’s Toy Closet, Dedicated to Helping Children After Disasters
Ashlee’s Story: When a house fire ravaged her family's home at age six, Ashlee Smith lost everything. Two years later, as her firefighter dad battled a major blaze, Ashlee thought of the children. "I want to help kids," she told her mom, "and the most important thing to kids is their toys." Since then, Ashlee has started her own non-profit organization called, “Ashlee’s Toy Closet,” created a website (www.ashleestoycloset.org) and collected and handed out 165,000 toys and books to youngsters whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by fires, floods and other natural or man-made disasters in the U.S. and around the world. She works tirelessly conducting toy drives, recruiting volunteers, soliciting donations, promoting her efforts and coming up with new ways to help put smiles on kid’s faces after disaster strikes. “The more children help, the better the world will be. Every person can make a difference.” Ashlee is a 2010 Huggable Hero. The eighth annual search for Huggable Heroes (young people, ages 8-18 who are making a difference in their communities and around the world) is on! Anyone -- parents, teachers, friends, kids themselves -- can nominate a candidate now through Feb. 28. Ten winners will receive $10,000 ($7,500 educational scholarship and $2,500 charity donation), plus a trip to St. Louis to be recognized. They also will be featured in the Build-A-Bear Workshop 2012 Huggable Heroes calendar. Nomination forms are available at your local Build-A-Bear Workshop store or online at http://www.lovehugssmiles.com/HuggableHeroes.aspx.
What's Cookin' Today Hour TWO:
Professional Athlete, “Dancing With The Stars” Alum And Expecting Mom Laila Ali Helps Parents Keep Up With Their Little Speedsters!
Between the sleepless nights, spit-up and countless diaper changes, new parents quickly realize that chasing after their little speedsters is no easy feat! Professional athlete and star of ABC’s hit show, Dancing with the Stars, Laila Ali is helping moms everywhere keep up, stride for stride, with their Little Mover. Laila is offering exclusive tips – from squeezing in daily fitness routines to finding little ways to reward yourself regularly – to help parents enjoy the unpredictable, but amazing ride called “parenthood.” Some of the tips Laila can discuss include:Keep Moving! Don’t have time for the gym? Don’t worry about it! Whether it means walking to the nearest grocer or parking in the rear of the parking lot, Laila will help mothers find ways to incorporate aerobic activity into the everyday routine.
Your Perfect Fitness Partner? Can’t find a partner to take a walk around the block? Sometimes your little buddy is also the perfect workout buddy. Whether you’re strolling to the park or around the neighborhood, Laila will explain how putting away the stroller can be your best work out yet.
UnHappy Meals: Are constantly moving kids keeping you away from the kitchen and stuck in the drive through? Laila will share tips with new mothers on how to spend time with little ones and still find time to prepare healthy meals.
Surround Yourself with Support: Feeling disconnected? From sharing parenting advice to all those special “firsts” in your baby’s life, Laila explains the importance of connecting with other parents and surrounding yourself with needed support.
Reward Yourself: Think parents only deserve rewards on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day? Think again. Laila will explain to listeners how they could have a chance to win great prizes such as Starbucks gift cards, iPods and more. Laila Ali is the founder of her own company and an athlete and champion of health and fitness. The youngest daughter of Veronica Porsche Anderson, and of the legendary Muhammad Ali, she is a strong, intelligent, woman, daughter, and wife. Laila is currently the President of the Women’s Sports Foundation, an organization founded to promote sports, health and education among girls and women. Laila also authored a motivational book titled Reach! And she recently launched her consumer products brand with her own line of beauty and personal care products, “Laila by Laila Ali”. Laila currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, former NFL star, Curtis Conway, and their son, Curtis Jr. They are expecting their second child, a daughter to be named Sydney, in April 2011.
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto Talk About NBC's Upcoming "Riverdance on Ice!"
Of all the performances to emerge from Ireland in the past decade including music, theatre and film, nothing has carried the energy, the sensuality and the spectacle that is Riverdance. Weaving Celtic mythology and Irish history through the beauty of traditional step-dancing and coupled with the power and presence of arena-rock, the original international phenomenon Riverdance debuted in February, 1995 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The production quickly took the world by storm selling-out five consecutive weeks in Dublin, becoming a hit in the U.S. with its first performance at the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York and selling over 2.5 million copies of their Grammy Award-winning CD (certified Platinum in the U.S.) In 2000 the show additionally began performing on Broadway and to date has traveled over 500,000 miles. Riverdance has been seen live by over nineteen-million people throughout thirty-two countries and across four continents and has played to a world-wide television audience of over 1.75 billion. Prepare to be swept away by the sights and sounds of Riverdance as never before: on the ice and supported by a cast of Olympic, World and National champion figure skaters including Joannie Rochette, Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto and Michael Weiss.WHEN: Saturday, February 19, 2011
TIME: 4 to 6pm EST, 7 to 9pm PST WHERE: NBC CAST: 2010 Olympic Bronze Medalist and 2009 World Silver Medalist Joannie Rochette, 2008 World Champion and 2006 Olympic Bronze Medalist Jeffrey Buttle, 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist and two-time World Silver Medalist Sasha Cohen, 2006 Olympic Silver Medalists and five-time U.S. Champions Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto, 1996 World Champion and six-time U.S. National Champion Todd Eldredge, three-time U.S. Champion and two-time World Bronze Medalist Michael Weiss, eight-time National Champion (GBR) and three-time Winter Olympian Steven Cousins, ten-time Canadian Ice Dancing Champion Shae-Lynn Bourne, two-time U.S. Medalist Emily Hughes, 2010 U.S. Champions Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett, seven-time National Champions (GBR) Sinead & John Kerr.