By Hoag Levins & Adam Polaski ... | ...Jan. 00, 2011

PHILADELPHIA (Generocity.org) -- "A problem with many of the moms who come to my presentations is that they're very busy and 'busy' has

Photo: Aram Hekinian

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Health coach Jennifer Fugo showed Main Line Mothers & More members how to cook quick, highly-nutritional meals. Click photos for larger image.

turned into a habit of eating frozen dinners and quick food they make for their kids," said Jennifer Fugo. "They're consuming all this leftover kiddie junk food and wondering why they don't feel as good as they think they should."

Leftovers
"I show them how to make healthy, nutritious meals quickly -- and meals large enough to provide healthy leftovers they can feed themselves the next day," explained the host of a January "healthy treats" cooking demonstration at the Main Line Mothers & More group.

Her appearance was the latest in a continuing string of educational and inspirational Mothers & More events aimed at helping Main Line mothers refocus on their personal needs and wellbeing.

Rice-based breakfast
Working from scratch in less than 45 minutes, Fugo whipped up a mouth watering herb-roasted chicken and carrots dish accompanied by carrot-sweet potato soup and a side of red chard with garlic. She also demonstrated how to make a rice porridge laced with apples, cinnamon and raisins known as "congee" in Asia, where it is a common breakfast food.

"It only takes five minutes of preparation," she said. "You put it in a slow cooker

Photo: Stephanie Gunderson

Sampling 'Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl' soup are (left to right) Jennifer Price Greenfield, Maria Buhl, Martha Bullen, a guest, Darla DeMorrow and Suzanne Clancy. In doorway: Stephanie Gunderson.

the night before and in the morning you have enough for a hearty breakfast every day of the next week."

The Montgomery County-based Fugo is a certified health coach and yoga teacher who runs the EvolvingWell.com website. Hailed by Philadelphia Magazine as one of the region's "gluten-free gurus," she helps harried woman reorder their lives around calming exercise and healthy, nonallergenic eating practices.

Personal development
The twenty-year-old nonprofit Mothers & More has more than a hundred chapters across the country working to empower their members with the skills and insights needed to balance running a household, carting the kids to school each day and feeding a family while also making time to develop their personal lives.

Tracy Grigoriades, a spokesperson for the Main Line Mothers & More, said, "Our philosophy is that we're for the woman behind the mom."

Each month, the organization hosts a personally enriching event -- a roundtable discussion, guest speaker, fitness series, or cooking demonstration like Fugo's.

Another recent session featured local psychologist Dr. Jeff Bernstein,

Author and TV celebrity Dr. Jeff Bernstein was a recent guest speaker at Mainline Mothers & More.

author of books including "Ten Days to a Less Defiant Child" and "Liking the Child You Love."

Speakers like Bernstein, Grigoriades said, have given her access to a wealth of information on parenting and communication that otherwise would have been hard to come by.

"He took us through his book and gave us good tips on how to apply what we're learning at home," she said. "He's been on national TV shows, and here he is willing to come in and speak with this group for free and give us one-on-one attention. The opportunity to ask questions of a parenting expert is really rare."

Unplugging the family
Other guests have included a children's librarian who gave tips on helping the family unplug and start reading again. Upcoming programs include an entrepreneurship professor with a lesson on how moms can start their own business and a night of "stress relief through laughter."

The workshops are all intended to further the overall mission of the organization, which Grigoriades summed up as demonstrating that "all the work mothers do, paid or unpaid, has social or economic value. We want to champion the value and necessity of women in society."

The members of the Main Line chapter of Mothers & More also host smaller, less directly-educational gatherings -- things like a night out at the theatre, community service with their kids and husbands, or even just going for a walk and sitting down for coffee afterward.

Intelligent discussions
Grigoriades said the membership of the chapter has slightly declined since the economy took a downturn, but for the more than 50 members who are still involved, their diverse backgrounds and life stages keep discussions intelligent and maintain the dynamic nature of the group.

"All 'mom's groups' are different," she said. "Some are really just geared toward people with kids who are infants through three years old. There are groups that are just geared toward parents with teenagers who need to bounce ideas off each other. The cool thing about this group is that it's parents with kids from infant ages through college-aged kids, and beyond. There are stay-at-home parents, part-time working parents, full-time working parents. There's always something to learn."

Interested women can attend up to two of the group's events before becoming an official member by paying an annual membership fee.