A Morning Adventure in Brooklyn

I don’t mind the sponsored ads at all! They still feel like content that I want to look at- plus the boys are just so cute I can’t resist the posts!

Is it just me, or has the frequency of sponsored posts increased on Cup of Jo? I remember it being once every week or two, but recently it’s been twice a week! For me it’s too much, shifts the focus a bit too far toward consumerism, and makes the reviews start to seem less real. I love Cup of Jo, and of course want it to succeed! I would personally rather have the opportunity to donate, or see a few more ads on the sidebar than have so many front-and-center ads (even with Joanna’s lovely tone). Thanks!

Anton is one of the cutest humans EVER. And his outfit is everything here.
ps. this is my fave yogurt! worth the 1.29/piece at tj’s :)

I wish I could get my 9 year old daughter to eat those FAGE yogurts but my husband and I are the only ones…until my 1 year old discovered them. Just this morning he was screeching and pointing at Daddy’s FAGE so he could have some. He even had his spoon ready for more. We literally cannot eat one in front of him without sharing some now. He would probably eat 7 per day too if he could! Also, that playground is so old school and perfect for letting kids use their imaginations.

I love this! So cute! And what a great picture of you and Anton on the slide structure, the kind of daily family photo I love to frame.
Non-critical question that may sound critical in writing: How do you talk to the boys about branded posts like this? I see a lot of people on blogs and Instagram do content like this with their kids, which I think is totally fine and great. I just wonder if you talk to them about owning a business or advertising and what they think of/say about that?
Hope you have a great weekend! xoxo

We are yogurt-agnostic since we are often at the mercy of our little bodega’s selection but I do prefer full fat yogurt. We love the Siggi’s yogurt tubes, which I keep frozen. Before we leave the apartment I stick one in a bag and by the time my kiddo wants a snack it has thawed and is still cold! They only come in nonfat though, so I am looking into reuseable silicone tubes to put our preferred yogurts in.

We are in Sunset Park and our weekend routines have included story time at our local library, a trip to Michael’s where we look at all the art and craft supplies, a trip to one of our 4 (!) nearby playgrounds, and maybe Industry City for Rock n Roll Playhouse, the Brooklyn Flea (only in the winter), pizza, mini golf, or more shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond or World Market. I often have to drag him away from the stores because he wants to look at every single thing.

Hello! My husband and I used to live at 63 Bergen, just down the street from A Cup of Jo’s office! I’d occasionally see you around and be star struck. ;) We found out we were expecting and moved back to our hometown to be closer to our families in early 2016. My husband and I will be back in our old hood in April (sans kid!) and so much has changed since we left (a Claire V. store! Warby Parker!, Books are Magic, etc.). Do you have any recommendations for musts – eats, shops, coffee, etc? Thank you!

FAGE if you’re listening, please start making the yogurt cups with fruit in a full fat option. I much prefer it to the low fat (higher sugar) option. Thank you!

Cow milk is for calves, not people. Question convention and challenge yourself to make ethical choices with every meal. What the Health on Netflix is an easy resource to learn more.

Just here to say I love you and your little family.

I hope you intend to frame that pic of Anton and you, cuddling up at the bookstore – it is one of the loveliest pics of the two of you, that I have seen on this blog. :) (Stop killing us with your cuteness and all the things you say, Antoni <3)

I am living vicariously through this post. I gave up a majority of dairy years ago primarily because my hormonal acne basically disappeared. However I still do cheese here and there but no more chocolate milk, ice cream, or yogurt (sadness). From time to time I find awesome replacements like kite hill, silk, nadamoo. But oh I miss yogurt and smoothies!

Off-topic, I know, but I am cry-laughing at the book titles photo-bombing the last picture! “What Are We Doing Here?!!?” “ONLY KILLERS AND THIEVES.”

I grew up on custard-style yoplait–pretty sure the amount of sugar in those is like more than a candy bar. If anyone’s looking for a really great full fat, low sugar yogurt, highly highly recommend Kalona Supernatural 5% plain yogurt. It has a cream top that you stir in. This stuff is divine. So good you don’t even need to add anything to it. And the milk comes from chemical-free Amish farms in the Midwest. http://www.kalonasupernatural.com/our-products/yogurt/organic-5percent-plain-yogurt/

I adore this blog and Fage yoghurt is delicious! I tried it for the first time many years ago while visiting New York and thought it was SUCH a treat!

And this sentence from the post stood out to me “Sugar can make the boys nutty, so I’m always peeking at nutrition labels “…and I have been thinking about it all day. I wholeheartedly prefer full fat Fage to other yoghurts as well but as a parent of young children, I have heard so many other parents state that sugar causes their children to behave poorly and I take issue with that. I think its really important to examine this belief and I encourage us all to stop thinking about food in this way, in what might be called diet culture/fat talk. Here’s my case for it:

Study after study find that intuitive eating is the most health promoting way to eat (even if you are in a larger body! ) and that eating the widest variety of foods is the most health promoting way to eat (simplified version: eat for satisfaction. Period.) (See Linda Bacon, Isabel Foxen Duke and Brooklyn native and podcaster-extraordinaire Christy Harrison’s work for deeper explanations and scientific studies)

Can we look at sugar within a larger context? A bag of m&m’s on an empty stomach would leave me grumpy, unsatisfied and nutty! Also, a handful of roasted Brussels sprouts on an empty stomach would leave me grumpy, unsatisfied and nutty! So often when we say that sugar makes our kids behave poorly, its because sugar has been consumed without proper time taken to enjoy it within the context of a nourishing meal/a truly satisfying snack. For example, m&ms with peanut butter toast, a glass of milk and some apple slices can be extremely satisfying and add pleasure to the meal or snack which is an important aspect of satiation.

When we label certain foods “good” and others “bad”, we may inadvertently cause binge because fear of losing “forbidden” foods at some future date cause “last supper eating”. The Ellyn Satter Institute has done incredible research on how to teach children to be competent, polite and joyful eaters and I highly recommend their work https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/

I have admired how this blog began featuring fashion in a broader range of sizes and features women with diverse sizes and backgrounds as well as featuring recipes that include all foods (even sweet treats:) Thank you for all you do to nurture a positive relationship with our bodies, joyful movement and joyful eating and for providing an open space to discuss the challenging issues that modern people face.

I love that a sponsored post on yogurt just made me smile. I’m Greek-American and grew up eating homemade Greek yogurt (this was before it was trendy). My Papou would make his own and bring over a large container for my mom and I.

In fact, my cousin’s husband (who was her high school sweetheart) says one of his first memories of my family is coming over to my grandparent’s house and being baffled by a giant sack of yogurt draining over a bucket in the kitchen. Needless to say he thought we were a bit odd at first.

Everyone knows that Chobani is where it’s at! Fage schmage!!!

Truly the only place I’d read a post about yogurt and then all the comments about the post about yogurt.

Where did you find those pants for Toby? My son is seven and is now so tall and thin and I can’t find pants that fit that are also long enough. These look perfect!

One thing I struggled with while living in the States (I’m Aussie) is all the low-fat and no fat dairy! Why bother eating dairy that’s bland, thin and sugary?! (they often add sugar to boost the flavour in place of fat). Fat is not the enemy! And it keeps you fuller for longer. Keen to hear thoughts on this!

Oh my gosh, Anton has just suddenly morphed into looking like such a little PERSON if that makes any sense – he doesn’t look like a baby anymore!

Any kid who plays aerobics instructor is #1 in my book!!!

Never tried FAGE yogurt before! Going to look for it next time I grocery shop!

I tried fage once and loved it but when I realized it wasn’t non-gmo I
decided to stick with Strauss organic. I too am bothered by
the fact that they don’t mention how the cows are treated or if they
are pasture fed.

Your boys make me want to go home, grab my husband and say LET’S DO A BABY RIGHT NOW.

So much waste in the yogurt packaging. Buy the big tub (and then reuse or recycle it) , add a dollop of jam (and then reuse or recycle it). Carry along and serve in a reusable jar or container, please…

This one didn’t quite hit the mark, but the effort to make sponsored posts both more obvious and more natural is appreciated.

Long time reader here, infrequent commenter. Obviously, one needs sponsored posts to exist as a full time blogger, and I think most of the time yours are about products that are at least sort of neutral, if not positive for the world in some way, but this post bothers me a lot. On the FAGE website, they talk about recycling, taking care of their customers, and not using artificial additives or too much sugar, but they say NOTHING about animal welfare or whether the cows they are using have access to pasture, which in my experience means that they don’t. I would love to see CupofJo support more ethical/humane dairy producers rather than FAGE.

We also eat Fage yogurt almost every day for breakfast or snack time (my husband is Greek and really can’t understand why anyone would eat the runny, non-strained kind of yogurt I grew up eating, haha). Also, I like putting frozen raspberries on the bottom of a small jar and top it up with yogurt, my two-year loves to take this to nursery and it also keeps the yogurt cool while you’re out. If you want to indulge yourself, sprinkle with cocoa nibs and add maple syrup (tastes like dessert for breakfast).
Love your blog and while I usually steer away from sponsored content, you always manage to add personal touch and keep it relatable. Also, Anton’s comments are the best!

I can’t believe how old they look, and how stylish! Anton’s comment about needing an adult to open the yogurt, but him mixing himself made me smile. I work at a museum and last summer while teaching, I had so many 6-8 year old students who’d need my help opening their lunches, but were very independent otherwise! Such a sweet vestige of early childhood even while they mature.

I love reading quotes from the boys – keep ’em coming! My 9 month old LOVES fage greek yogurt. She makes a funny “this is awfully sour” face each time, but then always signs for “more” :)

My 4-year-old loves Fage. We buy the big containers of Fage Total. His specific instructions (which he repeats, as if I won’t remember): put in honey, MIXED IN (can’t be on top), with granola (and sometimes mini chocolate chips). Now I’m trying to get the one-year-old on board…he’d rather play with it though…

We’re not in Brooklyn, but one of our favorite neighborhood spots where we live is “train park” (it has an actual name, but I have no idea what it is), which is right beside a freight line and close to a train yard, which means when we go there to play we usually see at least 2 trains go by! Pair that with being on a flight path; between the trains and airplanes, it’s always a huge hit with the under 3 crowd!
Our ‘hood also has a house that’s been transformed into a kids books only library/ reading space complete with cozy nooks!

This was my childhood introduction to Greek yogurt- in Greece! They had the little split cups with honey that you could add yourself and this was my favorite breakfast or snack when I was nine and traveling abroad with my mother. I always asked for it when we came back to the states. I might just have to get some for nostalgia’s sake.

You’re right about the protein and sugar in Fage! It’s much lower sugar than most other yogurts and packs 18-20 grams of protein into one serving. Some yogurts have about the same nutrition as ice cream, but that’s not the case with Fage. I’m vegetarian and eat Fage every single morning. I love knowing I’m starting my day with 20 grams of protein and it makes me feel less stressed about getting enough each day.

This could not be sweeter!

OMG Anton is SO BIG!