I like to keep my readers up-to-date on the latest and greatest resources. Here are three books (the first two were sent to me) that can make life with feeding little ones a little easier.

My Plate for Moms: How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better: This clever book by Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, helps moms translate the 2010 dietary guidelines, along with the new My Plate icon, into their daily lives. I like this because the Dietary Guidelines provide a wealth of information that few people ever truly understand and benefit from. Ward has found a way to bring all the research and tips to the daily task of feeding kids.

In the book she breaks down helpful information in an easy-to read format tackling subjects such as maintaining a healthy weight, portions, maximizing nutrition, physical activity and how to balance all foods and beverages. She ends the book with 50 family-friendly recipes including Chocolate Chili, Coconut Chicken tenders and Tilapia Tacos. I can’t wait to try these.

So if you’re looking helpful nutrition advice, healthy food ideas and simple recipes for feeding your family, check out My Plate for Moms — you can also “like” on Facebook. I’ll leave you with one of the recipes for the book:

Cinnamon Pumpkin Smoothie: According to Ward, “Cinnamon brings out the natural sweetness of pumpkin, so you don’t need much added sugar.”

-1/2 cup milk
-1/2 cup canned pumpkin
-2 tsp brown sugar
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-pinch of ground cinnamon
-2 ice cubes

Blend all the ingredients in a blender and serve. Double the recipe for 2 servings.

The No-Cry Picky Eating Solution: Gentle Ways to Encourage Your Child to Eat — and Eat Healthy: You are probably familiar with the “No Cry” series of books by parenting expert Elizabeth Pantley, including the No Cry Sleep Solution. This book includes gentle advice on how to help your child accept a wider variety of healthy foods. I like how Pantley explains the why behind picky eating, reminding parents that this is a normal part of development. She includes real-life stories from parents and advice from experts which add both personal and professional components.

Much of her advice is in line with what I write about on this blog (sans the division of responsibility). She makes reading easy for parents by organizing her book into four areas: Attitude, Environment, Amounts, and Rules.

Admittingly, there are some things I disagree with including having your child wait 10-15 minutes for seconds, incorporating a one-bite rule for every kid and hiding veggies (actually I don’t disagree with adding veggies to food, but I believe that you should be honest with kids so there is no “hiding”). But the overall tone of the book — non judgmental (to parents) and being patient and gentle with a child’s eating, is right on.

If you are looking for some support and general information on picky eating, this book may be for you.

Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet. I bought this book for one of my writing projects. After reading it, I felt the title doesn’t represent what this book is really about. If you have a normal picky eater — this book may feel too clinical for you. But if you have a child who gags or throws up at meals, isn’t growing adequately or has tantrums at the sight of new foods, than this book is for you.

Food Chaining will help you decide whether or not your child needs professional help as it walks you through the potential underlying problems that can negatively affect eating, whether they be sensory, an underlying medical condition, underdeveloped feeding skills or behavioral issues.

The process of food chaining helps problem feeders accept a wider variety of foods. The basic idea is to start with foods your child already likes and slightly tweak them. So if your child likes mac and cheese you might first change the shape of the pasta, then the sauce, then you could add some chicken. It’s all about slow gradual changes based on your child’s preferences.

Bottom line: If your gut is telling something isn’t quite right with your child’s eating, than you might want to read this book to help you find resolution.

Happy Monday! Before getting into my book review and giveaway, I wanted to share my weekly meal plan.

I’m trying a couple of new recipes this week included a veggie filled pasta sauce from Jamie Oliver and a tasty-looking chicken recipe from All Recipes. I’ve never been good at pan frying so this should be interesting.

To me, summer meals are all about ease and pre-prepping so when you get home you can make everything really fast. We’ve been enjoying the longer days and like to swim in the late afternoons.

For more meal plans, see Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week

Monday: Chicken Fajitas with all the toppings.

Tuesday: Spaghetti and meatballs with homemade sauce, salad and bread

Wednesday: Kids’ Choice

Thursday: Chicken Marsala with brown rice and zucchini, salad and fruit

Friday: Salmon cakes with baked potato fries and fruit (new family favorite)

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet

I often get sent products and books to review. I like to review products that I think my readers will find helpful. While I know some of you are out of the baby and young toddler stage — many of you are in it or planning to be in it again (and again and again).

When I decided to make baby food for Big A, I was disappointed that there were no up-to-date books on introducing solids. Actually, this is one of the reasons I started the blog — to keep parents up-to-date on the latest and greatest research regarding childhood nutrition issues.

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet is written by a nurse and dietitian. It is well organized, easy to follow and chock full of nutritious recipes for kids 2 and under. Of course these recipes can still be used for older kids such as Strawberry -Banana Tofu Smoothie, Banana Buttermilk Pancakes and Awesome Avocado and Egg Sandwich.

While a majority of the book is filled with recipes, the authors also help clarify key issues like whether or not to buy organic and how to prevent cavities and choking. They also provide a checklist of everything needed to make baby food — and they really keep it simple which I like. I don’t think any new parent has hours to make food!

The book also includes a feeding chart on when to introduce different foods. It still recommends waiting to introduce allergenic foods but I think the literature is starting to go the other way — encouraging parents to introduce such foods earlier. We still need more research and no doubt this is a confusing area. I encourage parents with a family history of food allergies to choose a pediatrician who specializes in this area.

This is a great book for any parent looking to get started making baby food. I still recommend parents get a resource on how to feed, such as ones from Ellyn Satter, which recipe-based books don’t address.  We all know around 2 kids become pickier and feeding more challenging and it is vital to be prepared for this lengthy stage of development.

I have an extra copy of the book waiting to be sent to one of you. And for those of you out of this stage, this book makes the perfect baby shower gift. To enter here’s what you have to do:

1) Mandatory entry: Leave a comment telling us why you would like to win this book.

2) For another entry, tweet this post or share this post on Facebook. Leave another comment.

3) For a third entry, sign up for Raise Healthy Eaters’ email updates or RSS Feed. If you already subscribe, tell at least one friend about Raise Healthy Eaters. Leave another comment saying what you did.

4) To increase your chances further, like Raise Healthy Eaters on Facebook. If you are already a fan, like The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet. Leave another comment saying what you did.

The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be announced on Raise Healthy Eaters’ Facebook page. The giveaway will ends in one week — Monday, July 18th at midnight.

Good luck!

I kept hearing about this book until I finally bought it one day at the bookstore. After reading the first chapter, I knew I had to share it with you.

NurtureShock: New Thinking About Childrenwill force you to reevaluate your thinking about parenting. As a busy mom I sometimes find myself overwhelmed and doing things because others are doing them. And that’s not a good reason to do ANYTHING.

If you’ve read this blog for a while you know that I like to keep up on the research of feeding and nutrition. This is not because research gives me black and white answers (I wish), but it gives important clues. And as I mention in this article, what seems like the logical thing to do with feeding our kids can have negative consequences. But what about other aspects of parenting? Is the same true?

Nurture Shock reveals new research that not only challenges modern-day parenting practices but question old practices as well. It’ll make you think and second guess some of the decisions you make. Let me show you what I mean:

Praise, praise, praise – how many times do you tell your child “good job” or “you are so smart?” According to the book, 85% of parents do this — all the time! The authors demonstrate with research and stories, how labeling kids as “smart” actually causes them to under-perform and lack confidence as they grow up. (Good thing I was never labeled as “smart.”)

Not making a big deal out of lying –To be honest, I haven’t thought about lying much. Big A, who is 4, will lie to get out of sticky situations, usually involving her little brother. I feel like this is typical and she will grow out of it but this book tells a different story. I was amazed at their stats — 96% of kids lie.

The authors argue that the better — and sooner — a young child can tell the difference between a “lie” and the “truth” the less likely he or she will grow up lying. And simply punishing kids is not the answer because it does not teach them the difference.

Teaching your young child to talk by talking: My son has been much slower to talk than my daughter was. I had always heard that talking to a child was key to getting them to talk. I took this up a notch with my son by using books and overwhelming my poor child.

What I learned in this book is similar to what I have learned in my son’s speech therapy. While talking around a child does help, there are other strategies that help even more. Following their interests with words, responding quickly to every sound that comes out of their mouths and repeating single words over and over. The book offers up intriguing research and tips that I wish I had read earlier.

Keeping kids busy to keep them out of trouble: Many older kids are over-scheduled and busy. They go from one activity to the next with parents or caregivers driving them everywhere. There is the notion that these busy schedules help keep kids out of trouble. While this may be partially true, there may be a downside to all of this activity.

According to the authors, too much time with peers may increase aggression in adolescence:

“The average teen spends sixty hours per week surrounded by a peer groups (and only sixteen hours a week surrounded by adults). This has created the perfect atmosphere for a different strain of aggression-virus to breed — one fed not by peer rejections, but fed by the need for peer status and social ranking. The more time peers spend together, the stronger this compulsion to rank high, resulting in the hostility of one-upmanship.”

Discounting the importance of sleep: The authors point out how kids today get about an hour less sleep than they did 30 years ago. Yet according to one survey in the book, 90% of parents think their kids are getting enough sleep. The authors point to how this lack of sleep negatively effects behavior, intelligence (IQ), memory and weight. Part of the problem: most schools start way too early.

The book also details innovate ways to help preschoolers and kindergartners learn more effectively, the truth about sibling rivalry, why it’s wrong to choose gifted kids too early, how we promote racism by not talking about it, surprising reasons for teen rebellion and many other thought-provoking topics.

I think this is a must-read for parents and not because I believe it is all fact, but because it will cause you to take a closer look at your own parenting. And that is always a good thing.

Anyone else read the book?

I had the pleasure of reviewing Kathleen Cuneo’s workbook: Empowered Parenting: A Workbook for Parents of Toddlers and Preschoolers, Helping You Become the Parent You Want to Be. I really like her comprehensive approach to parenting. She says that in order to become an empowered parent, you need to a) know yourself, b) know your child, and c) communicate effectively. This workbook helps you define these three important areas to be more effective and confident in your parenting.

Dr. Cuneo offered to answer parenting questions from my readers.  So for part 1 of this 2-part series, we’re talking about discipline. If you like what you see, you can purchase her workbook here — it’s available at a discounted price until the end of January.  

1. How do I discipline an unruly 2-year old?

If a parent came to me for parent coaching or counseling with the question of how to discipline an unruly 2-year-old, I would want to explore the meaning and details behind their question. Not only what does the child do, but also how does the child’s behavior affect the parent.

I’m guessing that this parent has tried many things to manage their child’s behavior but isn’t feeling too successful at it.  Part of the process of learning what will be successful for this parent and child requires that the parent have some understanding and control with regard to his or her own buttons that are being pushed by this little one. In general, the most effective parenting approach with young children is to establish and maintain firm, clear limits while also nurturing a warm and loving parent-child connection.

More details about how to do that can be found in my workbook and in some of my answers to the questions that follow below.

2. How do you discipline kids while letting them know you still love them unconditionally?

You can love your children unconditionally for who they are, but that doesn’t mean that you have to approve of all their behaviors. Children thrive when they have firm limits that are enforced by a loving parent. Your “house rules” should be clearly defined and communicated. That does not mean, however, that you need to be angry or rejecting when your children don’t behave appropriately. The key is to focus on keeping yourself calm (not always possible, I know, but something to shoot for most of the time). 

When you have a strong, positive foundation in your family, it is much easier to foster a sense of cooperation from your children and also to repair the inevitable rough spots that will occur in your parent-child relationships from time to time.

I also think it’s important for parents to really try to understand their children and their individual temperaments. It can be incredibly affirming for a child to feel that they are heard and understood by their parent. I include some exercises to help with this in my workbook.

And finally, it’s valuable to consider discipline as a form of teaching rather than punishment. When parents make it their priority to motivate positive behavior in their children rather than to solely correct negative behaviors, it makes for a more pleasant environment for everyone in the family.

3.  What are alternatives to spanking a child?

Spanking is not effective in the long run as a way to motivate positive behavior so I’m happy to see someone asking for alternatives.  The alternatives that I suggest are:

a) Emotion coaching – This is a concept described by John Gottman in his book, Raising and Emotionally Intelligent Child: The Heart of Parenting, which involves helping your child connect their behavior with their feelings. Emotion coaching also involves helping your child problem solve and come up with more appropriate behaviors for the future.

b) Learning how to give effective commands and warnings with consequences that are directly related to specific behaviors. This is an area where lots of parents can get derailed and find themselves resorting to yelling and becoming angry and/or feeling frustrated by being repeatedly ignored. Briefly, giving effective commands and warnings requires a parent to be calm and confident in establishing their authority with their kids and in consistently following through with meaningful consequences.

c) Using effective behavioral plans when trying to motivate a change in behavior. Using behavioral plans effectively involves choosing a specific target behavior, choosing an appropriate and meaningful reward, and having a system for monitoring progress.

All of these alternatives are described in more detail in my workbook with exercises to help parents apply these techniques with their own families. Also, I have a free report, “6 Steps to Effective, Loving Discipline with Toddlers and Preschoolers,” which is available at my website, www.drcuneo.com.

 4. How do you get an 11-month old to stop biting?

Most likely an 11-month old is biting because of teething. In that case, you will need to provide her with and direct her to bite on more appropriate teething objects (i.e., not people!)

Regardless of a child’s age or reason for biting, it is important to be calm yourself before you respond when your child does bite. If you react with intense feeling, you will likely make the situation worse. Your child needs to receive a clear, firm, brief message from you that biting is not acceptable. Usually, “No biting.”  or “Biting hurts.” is sufficient. The victim of the bite should receive more attention than the biter especially if the victim is hurt or upset.

The next step in dealing with your biter is to help her develop connections and problem solve. How well this will work depends a lot on the language skills of your child. With an 11 month old, you might not get too far and “No” and some redirection might be the best you can do. 

With slightly older toddlers, I would suggest pointing out the cause-effect connection between the bite and the crying victim (if there is one). Then talk about more acceptable strategies and behaviors for the future. Depending on your child’s verbal skills, you can ask questions such as, “If someone takes your toy away what can you do next time?” If she doesn’t have answers, you supply them. And finally, redirect your child to another, more positive activity. Depending on the situation, she may or may not need a time-out period to cool down, reorganize, and be ready to be with others again.

And have patience.  It’s not likely that biting will be extinguished in one try. You’ll have to be consistent in your response and reactions over time.

Thanks Dr. Cuneo!  Anyone having any challenges disciplining at home? 

Julie Negrin, MS., C.N. knows something about cooking with kids.  She has spent the last twelve years teaching both adults and children how to cook, devoting 5 years to developing recipes and curriculum specifically for children.

She has even been on Sesame Street.

I admit to feeling overwhelmed with having my 4-year old help in the kitchen.  I always seem so hurried to get meals on the table that I don’t take the time to have her help.  But this book has made me realize there’s much more I can do to get the ball rolling.

Here are some tips for getting started straight from Julie Negrin’s book, Easy Meals to Cook with Kids:

1. Start with something familiar: When introducing the concept of cooking to kids, start with one of their favorite dishes so that they’ll equate cooking with something they already enjoy. Once they get the hang of it and “trust” the process, you can graduate to unfamiliar dishes.

2. Find assistants: Invite Grandma over or keep your sitter for an extra hour. It will be more fun for everyone if there is someone else to help oversee the project and clean up.

3. Accept that it will get messy: Kids are great cleaner-uppers, so ask them to pitch in. Many kids, as young as two years old, love using a sponge and do a surprisingly good job of wiping up.

4. Give specific instructions: Since kids think very literally, be extremely clear with them. Years ago, I asked my students to peel carrots and turned around. When I looked again, they had peeled the entire carrot down. (From this experience, I realized it was a safe way for them to “grate” the carrot and continued using that method to prep carrots.)

5. Roll with the punches: If something goes wrong, just laugh. It’s a good opportunity to teach children how to shrug off mistakes and learn from their blunders. Best of all, that “mistake” could end up being a new recipe idea for family dinners!

More about the book…

While the beginning of the book is filled with tips, the majority of it contains nutritious and tasty recipes.  Each recipe includes age-specific tasks for 2 and up, 4 and up, 6 and up, 8 and up and over 10 or adults.  The dishes are divided into 4 different regions Latin, Italian, Asian and Mediterranean.  Oh, and there’s a section on dessert! 

While many of the dishes are vegetarian, they are appealing and simple.  Even if my daughter doesn’t end up helping much, I will use these recipes. I can’t wait to try the tropical mango salsa, mini black bean burgers and the mini spinach pies.

You definitely won’t get only kid-friendly fare here (although there is a recipe for mac and cheese and garlic cheesy bread) which gives you a great opportunity to expand your kid’s palate.  Julie admits to haven been a picky eater growing up but because her family was too busy enjoying their own food to notice, she finally decided to join them.

Before I reveal the dish my daughter and I made, I have to tell you how much I love this book.  Julie’s dedication for helping kids prepare good food shows up on every page.  It’s nice to have advice from an expert on the most effective ways to have kids help (and learn) in the kitchen. 

Because she made this book all on her own (self-published), Julie was not able to send me a complimentary copy.  So I happily bought it knowing that if I’m going to have one book on cooking with kids, this is the one to get.

So even with a half-put together kitchen, we were able to make this super simple and tasty dish.

I’m curious, what meals do you make with your kids? And if you don’t, why not (let’s be honest here!)

Zesty Black Bean and Corn Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
-One 15 ounce can black beans (or 2 cups cooked)
-2 cups corn kernels (fresh; frozen and thawed; or canned)
-2-3 TBS red onions, finely diced
-1/4 tsp garlic, minced
-3 TBS olive oil
-2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon (about 1 lemon)
-1/4 tsp kosher or sea salt
-freshly ground pepper to taste
-2 TBS cilantro, minced

Directions:
Kids 8 and up: Clean off the top of the canned beans (and canned corn, if using). Open the can and drain the liquid. Rinse the beans off in a colander and drain well.  Combine the beans and the corn in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
 
Kids 2 and up: Add the onion and garlic to the beans and corn.  In a small bowl, whisk the oil and the lemon juice together and pour over the bean mixture. Stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Fold in cilantro (or serve it separately for picky eaters) and stir.  Let the salad stand for 15 minutes (or up to one day in the fridge) to allow flavors to blend.  This salad is best served at room temperature.  Store the salad in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Recipe, used with permission, from Easy Meals to Cook with Kids by Julie Negrin © 2010

This is the first part of a 4-part book review series I’m running this holiday season.

I interviewed Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA, RD, author of Read It Before You Eat It: How to Decode Food Labels and Make the Healthiest Choice Every Time, for my Managing Sweets series. She is a nationally recognized nutrition expert with many years of experience (click here for her impressive bio). During our interview she told me about her book and sent me a copy.

“It’s about time!” is all I have to say about this book. Since the FDA got involved in regulating nutrient labeling in 1990, the nutrition label has become even more complex. 

The first half of this book provides readers with the history of labeling, what claims really mean, tricky terms, whether organic is worth it, the different food rating systems and how to shop with different health conditions in mind.

The second half of the book takes readers on a tour of the grocery store. Taub-Dix provides tips and insights on how to choose the best produce, protein sources, fats, grains, snacks and beverages. She helps clear up the confusion so consumers know exactly what they are buying — and which choices to make. Each chapter has “fast facts” which help summarize the key points.

The book also has a nice appendix with seasonal produce and information on which food additives are safe and which ones to avoid (or consume less).

Having worked with food labeling and nutrition claims, I know how complex they can be. I often see people make mistakes with their food purchases — buying something they think is healthy but really isn’t. Read It Before You Eat It does an excellent job of summarizing the key information people need to know.

While the food label can be confusing, it’s also incredibly helpful. Once you understand what all the terms mean (and don’t mean), it’s easier to make the best decisions for you and your family. This book is a great addition to any family’s book shelf.

I like to let my readers know of good reads in the area of family-related food, health and nutrition. I’m going to be gradually expanding the recommended books in my product section. These are books I find credible, well written and sometimes life-changing.

One way you can support this site is to click on one of the links and buy any product from Amazon. As these are affiliate links, Raise Healthy Eaters will get a (very) small percentage. This is one way you can support this site and help it grow into the premier destination for family nutrition.

Over the past year I’ve worked hard to build trust with my readers. I would never tell you I like a product when I don’t. Most of the books I review I seek out myself, knowing they are very likely to be credible and worth your time. I aim to bring the best expert advice to you!

Below are a few books I’ve been meaning to review — and decided to review them all at once. Got a book you highly recommend? Let me know about it!

Baby Bites: Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Babies & Toddlers in One Handy Book

Bridget Sweeney, MS, RD, has written a manual on nutrition for babies and toddlers. She goes through each nutrition stage including liquids (0-6 months), adding solids (6-12 months) and toddler feeding.
She includes tips on everything from how to make baby food to pleasing picky eaters. She also includes recipes.

Baby Bites is a comprehensive book with credible information that any new parent can benefit from. While I also like Super Baby Food and First Meals, I highly recommend parents have at least one childhood nutrition book written by an RD. This one definitely makes the grade.

100 Questions & Answers About Anorexia Nervosa

When I interviewed Sari Shepphird for my eating disorder prevention series, she sent me her book, 100 Questions & Answers About Anorexia Nervosa. This is a very thoughtful and thorough book that aims to educate parents and patients dealing with this very serious disease. As I learned from the series, the first step parents should take is educating themselves about this disease.

100 Questions & Answers starts with the definition of anorexia, how it is diagnosed and discusses the potential causes. Shepphird covers a variety of topics including warning signs, treatment and how to prevent relapses. This is well written and research-based book that is a must-read for anyone who has had anorexia touch their lives.

Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy
Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy

The American Dietetic Association teams up with Elizabeth Ward, dietitian and mom, to bring women a scientifically-sound book on pregnancy nutrition. Expect the Best covers it all. What to eat before, during and after pregnancy, motherly wisdom from moms who’ve been there, how to find a prenatal vitamin, how much caffeine to drink (or not), whether or not artificial sweeteners are safe, how much and types of fish to eat, specific nutrients that are needed, meal plans and more.

This book takes the confusion out of what to eat during pregnancy. Instead of asking your friends if it’s okay to eat or drink something, just go to this book to get the latest, credible information.

I wholeheartedly believe that raising healthy eaters starts when a couple first thinks about becoming pregnant. Expect the Best should be on the bookshelf of every woman wanting a child or that is already pregnant.

Gearing up for baby number two or three? See Elizabeth Ward’s guest post on your pre-conception to-do list.

Havoc at the Hillside Market

I won a blogging contest a few months ago and received this book in the mail. Now it is one of my 3-year old’s favorite before-bed books.

Mellissa Halas-Liang, dietitian and creator of Super Kids Nutrition, writes about the Super Crew who have super powers by eating super fruits and vegetables (I said super four times!). This story begins at the Farmer’s Market where the Super Crew load up on their favorite fruits and veggies. They run into some questionable characters and use their super powers to get out of it.

The goal of this book, as Halas-Liang points out, is to pique your child’s interest in trying new fruits and vegetables. The end of the book contains tips and a recipe for Happy Face Pizza. This is a creative way to help children develop a positive view of nutritious foods.

Okay, it’s time to reveal the new cookbook I’ve been raving about. Just so you know, I’m usually not a big cookbook person. I still buy them from time to time but I’m usually disappointed when the touted quick and easy recipes are really more involved and time-consuming.

This is one of the reasons I love SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue: Earth-Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Dinners for Busy Families Cookbook. Many of the meals are Scramble Express meaning they can be made in 30 minutes or less. And Aviva Goldfarb, the author and busy mom, denotes the meals that can be made ahead of time or frozen.

For some reason, I find the meals in SOS especially appealing. I’ve already tried the Ravioli, Spinach with Sun Dried Tomatoes and the Crispy Parmesan-Panko Crusted Chicken Cutlets. I can’t wait to make the Orzo Salad with Peas and Feta Cheese and the Mango and Black Bean Salad to use as sides for some upcoming BBQs.

I also love the structure of the book. Golfarb, who runs The Scramble Meal Planning System, provides weekly menu plans and recipes based on what’s in season. The beginning of the book contains a seasonal fruit and veggie guide and other helpful suggestions like how to stock your pantry (wasn’t I just talking about this?).

I also really, really, really appreciate having the suggested sides which includes easy and nutritious salad and veggie ideas. Each section of the cookbook has tips for families including school lunch ideas, easy composting for families, best dishes for school potlucks and much more.

The only thing that’s missing from this cookbook are pictures but I can live without that. It really is an amazing resource for busy families. It’s a must-have book for every family’s kitchen!

Because the nice folks at the Six O’Clock Scramble sent me two books, I’m going to give one away for free! Here’s what you have to do to enter the cookbook giveaway:

1) Leave a comment saying why you need more quick and healthy meal ideas.

2) For another entry, sign up for Raise Healthy Eaters’ email updates or RSS Feed. If you already subscribe, tell at least one friend about Raise Healthy Eaters. Leave another comment saying what you did.

3) To increase your chances further, become a facebook fan. If you are already a fan (now called like), suggest some of your friends become fans. Leave another comment saying what you did.

4) And for a bonus entry, tweet, blog or share this post on Facebook. Again, let me know you did it by leaving another comment.

This giveaway will end next Friday the 4th at midnight. The winner will be picked at random.org. Good luck!

Today on her show Oprah will announce that she will never diet again. Many of us who embrace a non-diet approach to healthy living are doing the happy dance. We’ve seen Oprah struggle and have been waiting for the day she would learn to eat more intuitively – and use her platform to get the message out.

The person responsible for Oprah’s “aha” moment is Geneen Roth, the author of the new bestseller, Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything. Roth has gained and lost 1000 pounds in her lifetime bouncing between anorexia and obesity. When I heard of this book I rushed to the store and devoured it.

And, of course, I had to tell you all about it.

The premise
“No matter how developed you are in any other areas of your life, no matter what you say you believe, no matter how sophisticated or enlightened you think you are, how you eat says it all”

This is the crux of Roth’s message. After years of many highs and lows in both her weight and emotional state, she decided to give up the struggle with food and her body. She not only naturally fell to the right weight for her, she found her true self in the process.

Roth is not new to writing books or helping women conquer their issues with food. But for the first time the mainstream might be ready for what she has to say. Having Oprah’s endorsement is a major plus, but it helps that many women are tiring of the endless quest for the perfect weight, body and diet.

The concepts in Women Food and God, like food, take some time to digest and absorb. It’s the kind of book you want to read and then re-read. What one woman takes from it, another will completely miss. But this is what makes it such a wonderful and potentially life-changing read (and the perfect book club pick!).

The why of eating
Roth eloquently explains why there is more to overeating, weight problems and food obsessions than people think. (And if food or weight is not your issue, you can still relate what she says to almost any “obsession,” whether it be shopping, over-working, people pleasing or worrying. Men can enjoy this book too).

Obsessions about weight and food, Roth explains, take us away from our true selves:

“Compulsive eating is a way we distance ourselves from the way things are when they are not how we want them to be. I tell them that ending the obsession with food is all about the capacity to stay in the present moment. To not leave themselves.”

Of course there are differing degrees of eating for non-hunger reasons. One person may eat out of boredom or stress while another eats out of sheer dissatisfaction with life. Roth explains that when we learn to tolerate uncomfortable feelings, instead of trying to flee them, we become more in touch with our true selves. And the weight part takes care of itself:

“When you stop struggling, stop suffering, stop pushing and pulling yourself around food and your body, when you stop manipulating and controlling, when you actually relax and listen to the truth of what is there, something bigger than your fear will catch you.”

This bigger-than-your-fear is what Roth describes as God. She admits that God will mean different things to different people. Roth explains that the lessons learned from suffering, the same things we try desperately to hide from, is the gateway to love and holiness. And she believes our relationship with food can lead us there.

I often write about parents raising kids to have a healthy relationship with food by how they feed. But this book reminds me that teaching kids its okay to feel — and learn from — difficult feelings is also important.

How to eat
Towards the end of the book Roth discusses her “eating guidelines” which are not a set of strict rules but rather a very simplistic way to eat. The key is to eat with awareness and listen to your body (not your mind):

“When I first realized how simple it was to end the compulsion with food — eat what your body wants when you’re hungry, stop when you’ve had enough — I felt as if I had popped out of life as I knew it and suddenly found myself in another galaxy.”

When Roth first started eating whatever she wanted she ran to the very foods she wasn’t allowed to eat on many diets. In her sugar-induced state, she realized it wasn’t food she was looking for:

“I needed to prove to myself that what I wanted most was not forbidden, but what I didn’t understand was that I didn’t want the cookies; I wanted the way being allowed to have them made me feel: welcomed, deserving, adored.”

Roth says that when women stop listening to their minds, and start tuning into their bodies, they find it doesn’t want a bunch of cookies, cake, loaves of bread or salty foods. It wants to be nurtured with wholesome food. It wants to move. It needs sleep and self-care.

Moving away from diets and bodily perfection, ironically, make us healthier, stronger and inherently more beautiful.

I highly recommend this book to all women but realize it may not be for everyone. If you get the chance, tune into to Oprah today or record the show. Listening to Geneen Roth just might change your mind — and your life.

If you’re like me then you are nowhere near done with your holiday shopping. To help you last-minute shoppers, I decided to share some new books from the blog world. I haven’t read these books yet but because I follow these blogs I know what to expect:

Erin, a mom of three boys, created www.5dollardinners.com. I found this site in my search for easy and nutritious recipes. I like to save money too but that’s not why I follow this blog (although it should be). Erin often “healthifies” her recipes and includes plenty of fruits and vegetables from her garden. Some of my favorites include her fruit and veggie muffins and a recipe she found for lentil and brown rice casserole. Because of the popularity of her blog, she recently came out with her first book The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Nourishing Meals That Are Easy on the Budget and a Snap to Prepare. This is a great idea for parents looking to fix nutritious and economical meals.

Stephanie, a soon-to-be mom of three, created A Year of Slow Cooking in 2008 when she made a New Years’ Resolution to use the slow cooker every day. I’ve recently tried some of the recipes from her site including one for lemon and dill salmon with spinach and I loved it. (Yes, it is possible to cook fish in the slow cooker.) Her recipes prove that slow cooker recipes ain’t what they used to be. Her book, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking, is the perfect gift for any busy mom with a crock-pot. For an even better idea, buy a crock-pot with the book!

And last is Naveen (twintoddlersdad) a dad of toddler twins. He created www.littlestomaks.com to help parents through the maze of feeding their toddlers. He has a variety of experts on his blog and is revealing their tips in the ebook, Expert Nutrition Tips for Your Toddler. And the best part is 100% of the proceeds go to Share Your Strength to help end world hunger. So you get some good tips while helping kids in need at the same time!

Hopefully that will give you some ideas as the holiday stress gets more intense. Have a safe and happy holiday!

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