MONDAY: Fruits and Vegetables

Today’s idea was inspired by my friend, Eliece.  To ensure her kids are getting their 5 Fruits and Vegetables a day, she portions it out in the morning.  During meals and snack time, they take out one of their portioned fruits and veggies to eat. By the end of the day, all snack bags/ or containers should be gone.  Her kids like the independence of choosing which portion to eat and when, and she likes knowing they are getting some good nutrients.  What I like about it is the variety.  My kids can get 5 a day, but some days its entirely in apples.  They need the diversity of the rainbow here.

My favorite nutrition campaign of all time is the 5 a day campaign.  That has actually been replaced with Fruits and Veggies More Matters campaign.  According to MyPyramid.gov, kids ages 2-8 should be getting 2-3 cups of fruits and vegetables per day.  Splitting this into 1/2 cup servings is a good gauge for little ones.  The following equals 1/2 cup servings, so choose at least 5 for today:

1. 1/2 apple or 1/2 cup applesauce
2. 16 grapes.
3. 1/2 cup mixed or canned fruit.
4. 1/2 peach.
5. 1/2 cup pineapple chunks.
6. 4 large strawberries.
7. 1/4 cup dried fruit like raisins or apricots.
8. 1/2 cup juice.
9. 1/2 cup chopped broccoli.
10. 1 cup raw greens.
11. 1/2 cup baby carrots.
12. 1/2 cup mashed pumpkin/ potatoes
13. 1/2 cup green peas.
14. 1/2 cup corn.

Is it less food than you thought it would be?  Sometimes I think, “Forget the kids, I’m doing this for myself!”  For mom and dad; 4-5 cups a day is your goal.

Related Posts:

Eat the Rainbow

Feel free to share any ideas with me that are working in your family to eat healthier, and I will share them with the readers.  Email them to me at amy@superhealthykids.com

FRIDAY: Exercise and Activity

It is shocking how few moments you need to spend with your children in physical activity to have an impact.  My daughter will ask us to go on a roller blade ride every night.  Although I have a million other things I’d rather do than roller blade when its 45 degrees and windy, it usually only takes us about 15 minutes or less to go around the neighborhood.  This is NO BIG DEAL.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper M.D. says, “

The Most serious threat to physical activity begins as early as age nine.  Many children feel that they’re not good enough to play sports or they don’t react well to competition.  As a result, they drop out of organized sports programs and sometimes are turned off to any type of physical activity.”

Here’s any even faster activity that literally took 10 minutes out of my day, but my kids had a blast!  This is my first blog video! And its only 30 seconds, I think you have time.

THURSDAY: Health Issues and Ideas

Menu planning can be one of those tasks we know we need to do, but never have time to do it.   If planning a weeks worth of meals took you less than a minute, would you reconsider?   This is how we do it SUPER FAST!!

My sister actually came up with the solution.  She has created an online menu planner.  All you do is enter one time all the meals your family eats.  This can be continually added to of course.  Make this list with your family so you are planning meals they will eat.  Then you simply drag and drop the meals to calendar every time you sit down to plan your meals.  If you’ve also entered the ingredients when you make your list, it will generate your shopping list! Very Cool! Very Easy!

Daily Home Planner (the program my sister created) is also a family calendar.  My husband has been waiting for this online release so he can sign up for shifts at work and check our online calendar to see if I’ve already scheduled something.  Genius!

Daily Home planner is also a budget tracker.  This is the way we’ve been budgeting for years.  Its like the envelope system, only digital.  LOVE IT MORE!

The best part : Try it free!  Sign up for a subscription (which is only $5.00 per month).  It’s free the first two weeks, and you can cancel anytime and not be charged.

WEDNESDAY: Proteins

Why do your kids need protein?

1. Builds and repairs tissue.
2. Fights infections through antibody formation.
3. supplies energy.
4. Forms enzymes and hormones.

What is a good source of protein?  SESAME SEEDS!!  1/4 cup has 6.5 grams of protein.  That’s a great source.  Plus it is high in fiber and other essential nutrients.  So, what do you do with Sesame seeds besides make a bird house?

• We usually add them to granola bars!
• Add them to Breads or muffins
• Sprinkle on salads
• Puree for adding flavor
• Add to stir-fry veggies
• Blend with light mayonnaise for a sandwhich spread
• Add to cookie doughs
• Sprinkle over steamed broccoli

Can’t find them in the store?  They are with the spices.

TUESDAYS: Whole Grains

Reader Question from Heidi:

So I have done a little researching online and the articles I have found say that “White whole grain” bread is just as nutritious as the dark whole grain bread. One article said that it’s white just because it’s the albino white wheat that they use, but when I buy it, there is definitely a texture, weight, and taste difference. I just don’t believe it’s just as healthy. Do you have any insight or more knowledge about this subject?

Great Question Heidi!  Food manufacturers have been known to make false claims until they are sued or are forced to stop.  So this can be confusing to the consumers.  ”The Whole Wheat White Bread”  folks have some truth and some fiction.  The truth is, white wheat is being used more and more in our grains because of its finer and lighter texture. It IS still as nutritions as red wheat.  HOWEVER, the deception comes into play because the bread is not comprised entirely of whole white wheat.  They have as little as 30% white wheat, and the rest is enriched white flour. 

How can you not get tricked?  Here is how to be educated in the bread aisle!

• The Whole Grains Council has given a “quick reference” stamp for companies who choose to use it.  A “Good Source” of Whole grains will have 8 grams whole grains per serving.  An “Excellent Source” will have 16 grams of whole grains per serving.  And “100% Whole Grain/ Excellent Source” has 16 grams and NO refined flours.
• Second method is to read the ingredient list.  If the first ingredient (or one of the first is Whole grain, Whole Wheat, Whole (other grain) or Stone ground whole grain…It has the ENTIRE GRAIN (meaning the germ, endosperm, and germ.   If it says wheat flour, it may or may not be the whole grain. If it says enriched flour, it most definitely is NOT whole wheat.
• What position does the whole wheat fit in the list of ingredients.  If its first, there is more whole wheat flour than white flour, if its 7th (which it is in the wheat hamburger buns I’m looking at), than it has a small percentage of whole wheat flour.

So Heidi, bottom line is: White Wheat is as nutritionally excellent as Red Wheat, but be cautious that food companies will just sneak a little bit in there and lead you to beleive the whole product is 100% whole wheat.

 I actually made my own Whole Wheat White rolls for dinner last night.  I used Hard White Wheat and ground it up. And I used 50% enriched flour and 50% white wheat.   There was no ingredient in these rolls I couldn’t pronounce, nor was there any High Fructose Corn Syrup, present in so many commercial breads these days.

MONDAY: Fruits and Vegetables

What happens when you take 6 ingredients your kids absolutely love, but then combine them altogether?  Sheer distress.  Actually, it was more than distress. It was weeping, wailing, pouting, crying… basically it may as well have been chopped liver.

Mandarin Chicken Salad

In my defense, my husband, my ten year old, and I, all thought it was great.  The other two kids don’t count because they had such a fit by the time the finally tried it they couldn’t possibly admit to liking it or their fit would have been in vain.

I made Mandarin Chicken Salad.   With tropical fruits, nuts, and chicken, it was delicious.  I was able to mix it up in the morning before church, so by the time we got home it had been chilling in the fridge. 
You can scoop this salad onto a roll, a bed of lettuce, or just eat it plain.  Try it!  Click here for the recipe.

Congratulations to Emily C, Courtney H, Whitney, and Jackie.  Reply to the email I’ve sent you and I will send you your coupons.

Thanks everyone!!

THURSDAY: Health Issues and Ideas

I’ve always been a skeptic to research suggesting chocolate will improve your health.  I don’t care much for it, and have assumed most people will use the information as an excuse to cut back on veggies and add more chocolate!  HOWEVER…. I may be changing my tune:

My father-in-law has Macular Degeneration.  He is about 99.5% blind, and has been for more than 30 years.  Recently during a doctor’s visit he asked for advice for keeping his memory.  His doctor suggested some patients were trying dark chocolate.  So for two weeks he ate dark chocolate every day. At this point he told us for the first time in over 30 years the spot in front of his eyes preventing him from seeing anything was starting to shrink!  I will definitely keep you updated if anything comes from this, but it was enough to make me look into it a lit further.

According to David Grotto’s new book 101 Foods that Can Save Your Life, Chocolate can:

• Give you healthier skin (increased hydration and decreased roughness and scaling)..this dispels a common myth.
• Flavonoids in cocoa beans can combat diarrhea (who wants kids with diarrhea?)
• Improves heart health by reducing LDL and lowering blood pressure.
• Improved insulun sensitivity (vital for diabetics)
• Theobromine (found in chocolate) was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs compared to codeine!!!
• One antioxidant found in cocoa may be effective in supressing genes that trigger colon cancer cell growth.
• Verbal and visual memory were significantly higher in subjects who consumed milk chocolate!

Are you as surprised as I am?  Clearly the antioxidants in cocoa are responsible for the benefits.  With most of the chocolate we eat, there is a small amount of cocoa, and a large amount of milk, sugars, and fats.   The so-called dark choclate bars that claim 70% cocoa are expensive too. 

Solution:  How many of you have a tub of baking cocoa in your cupboards?  Mine is 100% cocoa!  Use that in your next recipe or smoothie.

For Recipe ideas using 100% baking cocoa, go here. 

 Last day to enter to win some free Peanut Butter Coupons.

WEDNESDAY: Legumes, nuts, and other Proteins

One of the main reasons I want a High powered blender, like a Vita-mix or Blendtec
(I’ll take either at this point, I just want one) is to blend my own nut butters.  My kids love nuts, so its not a matter of getting some healthy fats and protein into them, but it does offer variety to our diet.

Nuts are a great source of protein! They are even catagorized in the meat section of the food guide pyramid.  Nuts have the protein yet none of the cholesterol and saturated fat.   And Peanut butter can be a great source of nuts, until they start adding things like hydrogenated fats and sugar, such as what happens in your typical peanut butters.

Here, in order, is the way we like peanut butter (or other nut butters)

1. Peanut Butter Sandwiches  (We use whole wheat bread, All-Fruit Jams, and no sugar added nut butters)
2. Dipping apples or pretzels
3. Dip for celery
4. Peanut butter balls
5. Peanut Butter cookies
6. Straight off the spoon
7. Added to a smoothie

I know what you are saying, “But AMY!! I want to get some nut butters, but I don’t have a high powered blender, and in the store, I just don’t know what to buy! Plus they are ALL so expensive.”

OK, as far as price goes, of course its expensive.  If you bought your own nuts and ground it up, its still going to cost you a pretty penny, and the natural peanut butters are the same.  But lets look at the facts here: Do you shutter to fork out 4.99 per lb for cheese, or 2.99 per lb for chicken?  How many of you do that every shopping trip?  My best price for peanuts is 1.50 per lb, and Almonds 3.49 per lb.  Protein sources can eat up a lot of your food budget, but Nuts are a healthier source, and cheaper source of protein.

But what brand has all natural ingrediets?  Like you made it at home in your Vita-Mix?  MaraNatha nut butters is one!  They have organic, non-organic, salted, no-salt, stir, no-stir, creamy, crunchy, Almond, Peanut, and Cashew butters!   I purchased their Almond butter and it is purely delicious. Nothing artificial about it, just pure ground up, organic Almonds.   The great people at Maranatha Foods  have given me 4 coupons for 4 free jars and I want four of you to win one today.  Enter a comment for your chance to try (only Wed. and Thurs)

Side news for Super Healthy Kids readers:  #1 Natalie is having a FLAX giveaway… Hurry and enter. We love Flax!

Also, I must apologize for the runaway All-Bran ad if it got in your way.  At first I blamed the ad itself and I asked it to be taken down, but now I’m thinking it was my fault for coding it in the wrong place.  So don’t fear, and return to my site please!!

TUESDAY: Whole Grains

Who needs fatty old cupcakes, when you can have delicious, light, whole wheat-carrot muffins!  I love these muffins because it both incorporates whole grains AND vegetables!  The pureed carrots in this muffin gives it the perfect flavor.  Here is proof healthy food can be as much fun as a regular old cupcake!

Gourmet Mom linked to these adorable leprechans you can print.  It looks like these little leprechans are digging for GOLD!!
 

Be careful with the little guys, but my kids know there could be money or gold anywhere or in anything on St. Patricks day. Especially if there is evidence of leprechan feet, close by.
Have fun today.