This post appears in the Face Time in the Kitchen challenge.

I was recently contacted about Bon Appetit's new online series called Out of the Kitchen, which showcases how face-to-face interactions are vital to the success of notable chefs, restaurateurs and food influencers in the culinary world. I was challenged to think about the importance of face-to-face communication in the home kitchen environment, and gladly took on that challenge. My girls have been cooking with me since they were teeny tiny. At first it was just mixing ingredients in bowls and lining muffin tins with liners. I've always known that cooking with kids was good for them, but over the past few weeks I really have been noticing just how good it is for our relationships. I've been bothered lately by how drawn to screens we are - one wants to watch rainbow loom videos on an iPad while the other wants my phone to do a "puzzle" app and I'm on the computer getting a few minutes of work done. No one is talking to each other - it's like we are zombies staring at these rectangular devices. So I've made a point of doing real puzzles on the floor, building with blocks, or cooking together when we have free time.

Lately when we cook together the girls work together surprisingly well. Quite a change from the toddler screaming of the recent past. They're taking turns and sharing. My oldest is helping her little sister. We are working together and talking about what we are making, but also about other important things that are going on in our lives. And laughing hysterically together when mom accidentally gets sprayed with blood orange juice.

It took four years, but our lemon tree is finally producing lemons. The girls have been asking to pick them and make lemonade ever since the first one turned yellow. So this afternoon we made lemonade, but I wasn't willing to add the usual two cups of refined sugar. I've been adding a squeeze of lemon and a drop of stevia to my water for ages - it makes it taste delicious and lemon has vitamin C and detoxifying properties. Today I used that same method for our lemonade. The girls had no idea this lemonade was sugar free.

After our lemonade, we juiced some blood oranges. Why not? A little orange in lemonade is fabulous and takes away and stevia taste if that bothers you.

I hope you'll make this yummy lemonade with someone you love - whether it's your kids or a friend.

Sugar Free Lemonade Recipe
Yield: 6 cups
Ingredients:

• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 5 cups water (I prefer sparkling water!)
• about 4 droppers full of liquid stevia
• a few fresh mint sprigs

Instructions:

1. Pour lemon juice into a pitcher. Add the water and stevia and stir to combine. Stir in mint and muddle with a wooden spoon if you would like it to taste mildly minty. Serve over ice.

Want to know how to build a successful restaurant? Check out BonAppetit.com's “Out of the Kitchen”, a glimpse into the inner workings of two successful restaurants. Meet the back of the house inner circle and see how face-to-face relationships keep customers coming back for more.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bon Appetit. The opinions and text are all mine.

Read the original on: Yummy Mummy Kitchen