skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I realize that as a mother of a 6 and 4 year old, I'm still very new to this parenting journey. I'm beginning to think that we will only truly know what good parents we were when the kids are 30. Till then I waiver between wondering what power we really have to help the Superstars become upstanding human beings and what things really have nothing to do with our "failures" in parenting, but are battles they will fight in some form or fashion for the rest of their lives by virtue of their personality. One of the battles that I hope we help them win is the one of good healthful eating habits.
I talked with my Mom the other night about the phenomenon of kids eating habits. My kids pretty much eat whatever we eat. They love raw veggies including broccoli, bell peppers and cauliflower, all types of fruits, baked fish, clams, beef, chicken, pretty much anything we put before them. They eat Indian food, sushi (they love smoked eel), Italian, German, Korean, Thai, and will try most things at least once - the catch being, if Mom and Dad eat it too.
And it's with that I had an "AHA" moment, because if we've heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times, "It's not what you say but what you do." When I searched on line about how to fixing food for kids I see tons of lists suggesting WHAT to feed them, HOW TO disguise good foods in "fun" foods and WHAT a balanced diet looks like. What I rarely see is the kids' point of view - and I don't mean "How does your kid FEEL about what they are eating?" but "What do your kids see YOU do?"
Do you fix your kids macaroni and cheese for dinner and eat something totally different with your spouse? Do you ask them to eat their veggies because "it's good for you" then push your own vegetables to the side? Guess what? They totally notice (yeah, that's a throw back to my So. Cal. upbringing...totally, Dude!).
Kids seek the approval of their parents. Goodness, at 40 I still want to know that my Mom & Dad think I'm smart, a good parent and a self-assured woman! How much more do our children look to us to help us make sense of this crazy world we live in?
What you as a parent think about food, defined by what you fix for your meals and theirs, how you serve it (on the fly or sit down meals), and the choices you make when you eat out, are viewed by your children as "the food laws" or "that's just what we do when it comes to food in our lives."
The other day when Daddy was out of town we ate sushi. I watched Superstar #1 close her eyes and relish the taste of the sushi she ate with a sigh. What 6 year old does that? Uh, mine, because I realized that I often do the same thing when I eat something I love. She was just mimicking me. Now just because my daughter enjoys sushi does not make me a better mom by ANY stretch of the imagination, it just shows the power we have as parents to help mold our children's view of food.
And for that I have MY parents to thank. My Dad, a Japanese-American soldier, met my Mom in a disco in a small fishing village in northern Germany back in the sixties and was the first to introduce her to Habachi-grilled steak and prime rib. My Dad, in turn, ate my Oma's (grandmother's) traditional German food with gusto and asked for seconds. A few short years later my Mom & Dad moved back to my Dad's hometown, the colorful and diverse melting pot of Honolulu, Hawaii.
My Mom dove into the various ethnic cuisines with relish learning how to prepare Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean and Hawaiian dishes from the numerous family potlucks that define much of Island life. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, my Mom came, saw and conquered so proficiently that she earned "props" from my Dad's side of the family as well. Food has always been an adventure, a way to get to know people and cultures better, and I hope we are teaching the Superstars the same.
If you're not there and don't want to be, well, then there's not a whole lot I can say to convince you that eating healthy, even small choices to be healthier (choosing the apple dippers without the caramel versus fries with the McDonald's kid meals) and helping your kids make those decisions has a long term positive outcome on the longevity of your child's life (and yours!). Your children are less likely to deal with excessive weight or tiredness. They will be healthier, and you're less likely to deal with drama of sugar highs and crashes.
If you want to be there, but it's overwhelming, don't worry! It's not an overnight thing, but each little decision you make and talk to them about "No, Mommy/Daddy doesn't like spinach, but hey, Popeye did and it seemed to help him. Let's just try this together because it's good for us" is a step in the right direction. Because, let's face it, nothing is more endearing to a child when a parent shows that LIFE IS A JOURNEY and it's not about being right all the time, or doing the right thing all the time, but being willing to learn and grow.
The key is to find what works for YOU, your family and your shopping habits. Everyone has parameters within which they work. Maybe your child has food allergies, maybe your child hates everything but bread, maybe you don't have time to start something new because you're so overwhelmed with what you already have - just start where you are with baby steps.
In the coming weeks I hope to spend more time on savvy food savings and healthy (yummy!) eating not just for your Superstars but for you too! I'll be interviewing a sweet woman named Vui whom I met on one my trips to Whole Foods. Vui use to own a restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia and I can't wait to share some of her ideas and tips to cook and eat healthy with lots of flavor and fun.
So, it's been a week! Turns out Superstar #2 had something that caused hives. Nothing major and yet three nights last week, around 9 o'clock she's complained about itching all over and next thing you know, she's breaking out in hives! As the daughter of a nurse, I tend not to freak out right away, and yet it's NEVER fun to see your child in distress, but a dose of Benadryl stopped the itching and allowed her to go back to sleep in each case.
We went to the Dr after having spoken to the on-call physician the first night it happened. I was pretty sure it was an allergic reaction, but wanted to be sure, and hey, that's why we have a Dr, right? I explained that there has been nothing out of the usual with her diet, no new detergents, no new soaps. Nothing except a tiny drop of a new hand lotion I had gotten, which I have since put away and would therefore not account for the other bouts we experienced. The Dr said that it could be a virus and that it could mean the hives cropping up here and there in the next few days but not to worry. Sigh. What can you do but worry a little and pray a lot!
Then Superstar #1, not to be left out, had a Dr's visit (on a separate day) for this crusty yucky stuff in her eyes. It wasn't conjunctivitis, but has since come and gone with no explanation. The Dr said it was probably drainage from her recent cold and since her ears and lungs looked/sounded clear, she was just fine. At any rate, between the mom-on-call and the mom-on-the-go-with-a-meeting and helping my neighbor by watching her 3 children one day, my week was gone before I knew it. During that time, however, I have been plotting and planning my return and so, without any further ado....
Today's topic - SHAKES!
So my husband, while not an unhealthy eater, has never been one for breakfast. And really, when he gets busy at work, he has been known to skip lunch. Of course, I keep telling him that doing that only puts your body into survival mode and can cause your metabolism to slow, but what do I (daughter of a German nurse who use to MAKE plain yogurt and mix it with wheat germ for breakfast as well as roommate & bestfriend to a woman who earned a degree in nutrition in college) know? I'm just his wife.
At any rate, I stopped nagging long ago since it doesn't help anyone, and he really had been trying with breakfast shakes in the morning using some supplements from Whole Foods and frozen fruit. I had used our big blender but found myself getting resentful for cleaning the durn thing every morning. I mean, yes, I want my husband to be healthy but he seemed to "need" my help making the shakes or he wouldn't do them (could it be because cleaning the blender afterward was such a pain????).
I solved that dilemma in savvy style a week ago when I bought a "magic bullet" type of mini-blender at Macy's. Belle Cucina is the brand name, and whereas the Magic Bullet runs around $79 retail, this runs $49 retail. It was on special for $19! The great thing is that I put all the "stuff" into the container at night (powder, fish oil, yogurt, frozen fruit, etc.) and he just pulls that out in the morning and sticks it in the nice small blender and Voila! A healthy, DELICIOUS shake and VERY easy to clean. It has to taste good or my husband will not drink it. He could be dying and he would not drink it. Me, on the other hand, will stomach just about anything if it's good/healthy for me. That's what happens when you are the daughter of a German nurse.
The blender comes with several cups, in 2 different sizes and with different attachments (a rim for easy drinking, a shaker top, a cover, etc.). "A shake top?" you ask. While I didn't buy it for this reason, you can grate things like cheese in this little guy too! In fact, the other night I did use the mini-blender to make a Shrimp & Feta dinner; first to chop the parsley and secondly to dice the diced tomatoes a little smaller. It was easier to use AND clean than my KitchenAide mini-chopper.
From what I understand, this thing makes a MEAN Mudslide too. I'll let you know once it gets warmer outside!
Ahhh the warm rich smell of fresh brewed espresso...even my kids love the smell. Thankfully they don't like the taste. Yes, I let them try it, crossing my fingers the entire time that they wouldn't like it and start bugging me about it for them, but I digress.
Whether it's a daily fix at Starbucks or a counter top high-tech espresso machine, good espresso can be a very expensive habit, but being the savvy sort of coffee-loving chick I am, I found a delightful product called a Bialetti, introduced to me last year by a dear friend.
What was new to me is something the Italians have been using for years. I believe it was invented in the 30's by a gentleman (Bialetti!) who figured you could use the same technology from washing machines for a stove-top espresso maker. He was right, and today it is used by thousands of Italians and has thankfully made it's way to America.
At about $20 this delightful invention will provide you with a wonderful rich dark brew that's about as close to espresso as you can get without buying one of those thousand dollar machines. Or you could get lucky and find one of these, like I did, for $3 at the thrift store!
Here's a quick how-to. It's so easy and tasty that my husband even likes making it!
Now you are ready to sit down and enjoy a great cup of espresso, or at least as close as you're going to get without going to Starbucks or buying one of those expensive machines!
Truthfully, the more I cook the less inclined I am to want to go out to dinner. Like my taste in clothing, I like expensive food. Give me a choice of where to eat and it's going to be sushi or somewhere that has fresh fish or great steak. I cook pretty well so most middle of the road places just don't seem to be worth the price they are asking when I know I can make something so much better at home. It's not even worth NOT cleaning dishes, which of course leaves me in a bind. What if I don't want to cook?
We do like places like Baja Fresh or El Pollo Loco (sigh, wish we had one here in Music City) and even pizza at a local pizzeria every once in a while, but what I have found works great is Whole Foods dinners. For just $15 you get a large entree, side item and dinner salad for a family of 4. They change up the choices regularly so it's a GREAT way to have a healthy meal that just requires heating up. I even keep the containers they come in and re-use them when making dinners for friends having babies or are sick.
Last night I watched a commercial touting a bucket of chicken feeding a family of 5 for just $3 a person - while its a better deal (marginally) financially, I'll let y'all guess which is healthier. I've got nothing against a bucket meal if it's done every once in a great while, but if it's a weekly thing, why not try a Whole Food Value meal one of those weeks. It's a simple switch that your body will thank you for in the long run.
