I love the days when my husband makes dinner.  He has been getting really creative lately.  His meals are always super fast, because he doesn’t think about dinner till 5:00pm.  His meals are always with ingredients we have (no last minute grocery store trips).  They are always inexpensive  And usually they include tomatoes and beans.

Here was the most recent meal he’s made for us:

• Tomatoes
• peppers
• can of black beans
• frozen corn

He grilled a tortilla, cheese, and the veggie mixture and called it taco pizza.

The kids liked it, I loved it. But I already made something called Taco pizza a few months ago. His was faster though.  Mine included making whole wheat pizza dough, etc.

My husband wanted me to let my blog  readers know, he’s there for you!  When I am too busy studying chemistry to take pictures of meals.. when I’m preoccuppied with the PTA that I’m not thinking  of ideas to help y’all get more fruits and veggies into your kids,  he’ll step up and do it for me!  He really is great!

I love new beginnings.  I often get teased for my constant resolve to “turn over a new leaf” as I like to call it.  I love to set goals. I love to do new things. I love the hope, the excitement, and the visions of grandeur it fosters in my little head. 

This week is the perfect opportunity for exactly that!  I have a few health goals I want to incorporate to make this school year the best ever.   I want to keep my kids at their optimum learning capacity.  To avoid mid-winter illnesses.  And to promote excellent behavior in the classroom.

So, here we go!  Let the goals begin!  Our first goal (and one I highly encourage all to take part in) is to:

EAT A SMART BREAKFAST

We do not have trouble with EATING breakfast.  But we can eat a SMARTER breakfst for sure!  Here are the rules:

1. Never Skip breakfast!  Studies show breakfast eaters perform better at school, have less weight problems, and eat healthier food overall.
2. Replace refined grains with whole grains!  This is a must in order for kids to have the energy necessary to make it to lunch.  Our kids go from 7:30 am till 12:00 without eating, and they can not suffer a crash because of refined, sugary foods.
3. Include some low-fat protein (nuts, legumes, eggs, or dairy).  This helps give the carbs some staying power and feeds the brain.
4. Include FRUITS OR VEGGIES (For all the essential vitamins and minerals they provide)

 Here are some breakfasts that would work well, and include all my requirements:  (plus some random breakfast pictures to inspire me).

• Oatmeal with milk and fruit (fresh or dried)
• Whole grain toast with nut butter spread and sliced apples.
• Almond Crusted French Toast  (with a side of berries or on top)
• Walnut and Banana pancakes (this recipe from our Tropicana weekend that I haven’t posted yet)
• Cheerios with fruit and yogurt on top.
• Eggs and potatoes (we would have to include veggies in the mix, or a side of fruit)
• Orange Yogurt parfait (also from Tropicana weekend)

Getting our kids to eat enough calories during the day, certainly takes a front seat to getting them to eat a variety of different foods.   But variety can be fun for kids!  Colorful fruits and veggies are meant to look appealing to humans and animals. 

Have you heard of EATING THE RAINBOW? Get kids involved by letting them color a rainbow (link to a printable rainbow page).  Then fill in all the foods they can think of that are in each color group.  Each day this week we’ll eat a different color.

TODAY, let’s start with RED:  Strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes, pink grapefruit, guava, raspberries, red apples, red grapes, cherries. Red foods are high in the powerful anti-oxidant, lycopene.  Studies have shown, men with higher levels of lycopene in their fatty tissue, were less likely to have heart disease than men with low levels of lycopene.

Although my kids will eat an entire pint of strawberries without any coercing, apparently they think I like to make their life more complicated than that.  I am ALWAYS in the mood for oatmeal.  So in an effort to have a “strawberries and cream” taste:

• I blended in the blender 6 strawberries and 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp of sugar.
• I used the milk/ strawberry liquid to cook 1 cup of dry instant oatmeal on the stove.
• I added a few slices of strawberries for garnish.

The beauty of this dish wasn’t enough to entice my kids to try it, until I took out a baby spoon left at our house over the weekend.  I called it the “tasting spoon”.  Then I had some eager testers.  They liked it. I LOVED it.  Then they ate cereal.  whatever.

Here are some ideas for different red foods.

• Watermelon slushy
• Strawberry fruit kabob
• Cher-Apple Smoothie
• Making your own Tomato sauce
• Tomato idea: Our favorite Chip dip

What will you give your kids today that is red?  Jolly Ranchers don’t count!

JUICE WEEK!

This idea came from the June issue of Women’s day, but we changed it to be made with juice, and my kids LOVED IT!! 

We made Jello Jigglers per the box instructions.  Basically:

• 2 1/2 cups juice (we used a strawberry/ banana juice / veggie blended) heated to boiling.
• 2 Large packets of Jello

Then cut a melon in half, scooped the seeds, and filled the center with Jello and chilled.

I bet your kids will like it too!

Thanks to everyone for entering the Tropicana contest. I was able to pick 4 winners, and random.org chose winners:

Susan K, Eliece, Sara K, and Erica R.  I’ve already emailed you!

Check back all weekend. I’ll be writing several posts from Chicago!!

As you know, my blender has been literally MELTING!  A few days ago, drinking a delicious smoothie, I felt a hard piece of PLASTIC in my mouth. It had melted off the blender and mixed its way into my smoothie! That was the last smoothie I made on that blender.  So while the fight is still going with my husband about me buying a Blendtec, and I couldn’t use my blender, I bought a $50 Oster blender from Costco… and I LOVE IT.  And my husband LOVES that I love it.  I learned from that, start high of something you want, and he’ll be ecstatic when you make a purchase for less.   Next I’ll try some $400 shoes and maybe he’ll be glad when I end up with $50 shoes!!

Now that my kids are drinking more smoothie’s, I had been contemplating stepping it up a notch and adding some Super Food mix-ins.  Like wheat grass and powdered vegetables.  I was hesitant though, because it isn’t cheap, and I didn’t want them to pour it down the drain. 

Then I found Amazing Grass who had a Kidz line.  They agreed to let my kids try some of their products, and I couldn’t be happier!  We’ve tried their chocolate powder and their berry powder.  It has

• greens like Kale, peas, wheat grass, barley grass, asparagus, alfalfa, broccoli, sprouts, lima beans, green peas, kiwi, spinach, brussel sprouts, and zucchini.
• Oranges like apricots, carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, pineapple, tangerines, yellow squash.
• Reds like pomegranates, Raspberries, guavas, cranberries, red cabbage, cherries, and tomatoes.
• And Blues/ purples like beets, plums, grapes, and more!!

GYMNASTICS ENERGY

The berry powders I’ve added straight to the smoothie, and the chocolate powder I added to some warm milk.  My kids drank it as fast as they did drinks without add-ins.  AND ASKED FOR MORE!!  Flip-flopper has been asking for a smoothie every morning since I’ve been adding the powder. 

WANT TO TRY IT TO??  Two ways! FIRST, YOU CAN WIN a Kidz SuperFood Combo which is two, 200g bottles, and 1 box of packets by leaving a comment.  OR use the online promo code ‘healthykids’  and save 15% off your order. 

I’ll take comments until Friday!!  THANK YOU AMAZING GRASS.

Thursday: Health Issues and Ideas

First thing in the morning I see Cereal boy grabbing a granola bar.  Before lunch, he gets another.  Mid-afternoon, another!  As soon as I calculated the damage, I had to put a stop to it.  At my threshold of 0.20 per snack, times three kids, three times a day, we are spending $54 a month on snacks! You  know what I could do with $54!  

Our solution is portion controlled snacking via a snack box.

First we have the unlimited snacks.  I seldom regulate carrots and pretzels (and sometimes popcorn).  Other veggies and fruit depending on the season and price.  Sometimes apples can be .050 per apple, thus they are restricted to the snack box. 

Then we have limited snacks.  Those $0.20 per serving, store bought snacks.  These include granola bars (or homemade), portion measured goldfish, string cheese, dried fruit, nuts, etc.  

I divide the snacks into a shoebox for each child.  I measure or weigh certain things like goldfish, nuts, bagels, canned fruit, etc.  These are their snacks for the entire week!  If they want their granola bar at 6am on Monday morning, they can, but then there won’t be one for the rest of the week.  They can self regulate and be more independent.  This way our snacks last longer, and its easier on my budget.  You can also ensure your kids are getting a variety of snacks.  One day they might have a hard boiled egg, the next day an apple, etc. You can make their box of snacks varied and nutritious.  You can have a box for the fridge, and one for the pantry. 

I’ve typed up a list of snack ideas for each box. Tape the list straight onto the lid of the box and fill it once a week.

I read this idea first on Everyday Food Storage where a family did this with sack lunch items that they sorted into individual bins for each child.  Read it here.

TUESDAY: Whole Grains

This is one of those meals you do not need to plan ahead for, as evidenced by my current lazy spring, lack of planning, enjoying life mentality.  At 5pm, when the kids started wandering in asking what was for dinner, I was completely caught off guard. I didn’t realize it was so late.  In my defense however, I was working on getting some extra Vitamin D.   So I needed a fast, easy, yet healthy dinner idea.

We pulled out some:

• Whole wheat tortilla’s
• A can of pinto beans (that I pureed)
• Some finely shredded cheese
• And some random vegetables from my vegetable drawer

Wade called it, Mexican Pizza’s.  First I rinsed the beans and pureed them until smooth and spreadable (by adding a little water). I will never buy refried beans again… with all the lard and salt, its not worth it. Plus doing blending up my own beans I can control the consistency. I love the taste of the spread it makes. I spread it on a bagel once and just ate it. DELICIOUS.

Then we placed a tortilla on a griddle, spread with pinto bean spread, and sprinkled a very tiny bit of cheese! After crispy when the cheese was melted,  I sliced it up in triangles like they were pizza’s.  Not only did the kids love it, so did flip floppers friend, who officially declared me the “best dinner maker ever!”

The photo is of the one I made for myself and Wade. The kids didn’t want veggies on theirs, but they did get some whole grains, and some beans on theirs.  In time though, I’m big on the power of example.

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.

As those who know us know, we hardly ever eat out.  Birthday’s, anniversary’s, or on the road is pretty much the extent of it.  But this weekend I ate out 3 times!! 

Saturday a friend invited me and a few others to the Olive Garden.  Yum, Yum!  Before going, I decided to check Olive Garden’s online menu and nutrition information so I could make an informed decision.  The soup/ salad/ breadsticks sounded good. The soup of choice..chicken gnocchi.  Online I found out the calories in one serving of all three was 700 calories and 37 grams of fat!! I wish I could say I had one serving of all three.  I had two bowls of soup, two servings of salad and two breadsticks (maybe three but who’s counting). 1500 calories for lunch and 80 grams of fat! Then we had dessert (another 890 calories and 62 grams of fat)!  Holy cow, no wonder a gained a few pounds this weekend.  And that meal to the un-informed seemed healthy! It did to me.  It just goes to show you, it is really hard to eat out often and still be healthy. 

Then we took the kids up to Salt Lake to stay at the Marriot courtesy of Wade’s sister who had an extra night she wasn’t using.  The next morning there was no “continental breakfast”.  So I ran to the pancake house across the street.  I ordered 8 plain pancakes and a bowl of fruit.  It fed all five of us for $14.00.  And much healthier than an egg/ bacon/ muffin combination.  That meal I felt good about.

If the restaurant you go to doesn’t have their nutrition facts listed on their website, try this one for a list of restaurants. Or this one.

Running behind on posting my meal plan. Check back later for this.

Baby, it’s COLD outside!   Although my kids love playing outside, we need indoor activities as well.  Presenting; The 2009 Winter Games:

Using painters tape or masking tape, we created somewhat of an indoor playground.  This is set up in our family room, so I purposely put it under our area rug, so that I can cover it up when they aren’t playing on it. 

If you are a mom like me, you can just let your kids go crazy and compete amongst themselves.  If you’re an awesome mom, you could have events, judging, and an awards ceremony with homemade medals using this template. 

THANK YOU for your overwhelming response to my plate sale!   Today is the last day you can get a Healthy Habits Plate for $2.99 (the shipping is 0.99 per plate).   Budget a little tight? Head over to Simply Healthful and Heather is giving away a plate (Only until Friday).  Here is part of Heather’s review:

When I served this lunch to him he said,”Mommy the plate says I need carrots too”, I was shocked, he is not a carrot boy.

Thanks Heather!!