We had a good week of meals last week even though I had one of those days where takeout was the only answer.  It was a tough day at work and I didn’t get much sleep due to my teething  15-month old.  I couldn’t imagine myself in the kitchen preparing a meal so I didn’t.  My husband picked up Pollo Loco instead.

I think that is what takeout is for — those days that you just need a break. It so hit the spot and I did not feel an ounce of guilt.

Last week updates: I tried the Gnocchi with Spinach and my husband and I loved it.  But neither of our kids gave it a try.  I think my son had a little stomach thing because he didn’t eat much of his afternoon snack either. We enjoyed the healthy sloppy Joes. I’ll be posting some recipes soon.

This week I”m pulling out the slow cooker for a couple of recipes from Stephanie at A Year of Slow Cooking.  I feel like it’s time for some meat so I will be making Carnitas. I’m also trying a new pasta and bean dish.

For more meal plans see Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week?

Monday: Slowcooker Carnitas with sides of black beans, tortillas and all the toppings including guacamole and salsa.

Tuesday: Garlicky Pasta, bread and green beans (Six O’Clock Scramble Cookbook)

Wednesday: Slowcooker Cowboy beans, mixed green salad and fruit

Thursday: Potluck/leftovers

Friday: Salmon topped with veggies, mashed sweet potatoes, salad and fruit

Challenges

My 3-year old is going through another stage with her eating.  Bean burritos are one of her favorites but lately she is only eating the tortilla and guacamole.  And for some reason she’s no longer eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Both days last week I sent them to school and she ate everything else I sent except the sandwich.

I’ve seen her go through stages like this before and she always returns back to eating more of a variety.  Sometimes I wonder if she does it to get a reaction out of me but I never make a big deal out of it.  I will remind her about all the food on her plate but I that’s it.  What bothers me the most is that I can see the consequences of this change of eating in the toilet.

Yes, I’m going there.  She’s been getting a little constipated– and has been going less frequently.  Actually, since she’s been potty trained, for several months now, she seems to put off going poo as long as she can which doesn’t help.  I know she has to go when she walks on her tippy toes.

Harder stools usually have one of three causes — hydration, fiber and activity.  Since she stays pretty well hydrated and is active, I know it’s the fiber.  She still eats plenty of fresh fruit though some days she shuns it.  But I think the real culprit is she’s eating fewer beans and whole wheat bread.

I’ve been talking to her about how eating a variety of foods helps make her poo softer (not at the kitchen table of course).  I’m using those toilet times as “teachable moments.”   I’m also going to make some high fiber muffins and up the fresh fruit and veggie offerings.  I plan to write a post on this wonderful subject in the near future so if you have any questions/challenges let me know.

Somebody has to talk about it.

News

We recently went out to dinner when a babysitter with three kids sat down next to us.  When their meals were served the babysitter helped set the kids up and they started eating.  I’m guessing the ages were 3-8.  The youngest, no doubt the pickiest of the bunch, barely touched his burrito (but he did eat quite a bit of rice). 

The babysitter started pleading with him to take at least a three more bites of his burrito or else dessert wouldn’t happen.  There was no talk about whether or not the kid was hungry or full.  I wondered if their parents knew how their babysitter fed their kids.

This reminded me of something I read on one of my go-to blogs, Family Feeding Dynamics.  Dr. Rowell mentions an article published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior where they videotaped childcare workers feeding children.  I looked up the study.

More often than not, the childcare professionals told children to take more bites or to finish their food without mentioning hunger or satiation.  There was also a lot of “you won’t get dessert until you finish your food.”  I discuss the consequences of such feeding strategies in 10 pitfalls to avoid when feeding picky eaters.

If your child is in childcare/school it’s important to find out how they are being fed.  You may provide the food, but the “how of feeding” is just as important.  As Rowell says in her post, “Remember that over time, children can be fed in a way that overrides and buries their internal cues which means they are likely to eat more or less then they need.”

I think this is a completely overlooked culprit to weight problems in kids and adults.  Almost every adult I see for weight problems tells me they were told to “clean their plate” as kids.  

For those of you new to my site, I often talk about how important it is to raise my kids to be intuitive eaters.  That means they eat for hunger (not boredom, etc) and stop when they get full, a gift they are actually born with. 

I’ve been talking to my daughter about tuning into her tummy.  Is it full?  Still hungry?  Satisfied?  We were having ice cream the other night and I stopped and told her I was satisfied.  She asked me what satisfied meant.  I told her it’s that perfect point you know you’ve had enough.  Not quite full but not wanting more.

She soon stopped and said “I’m satisfied now.”

It finally feels like summer here in San Diego. Why? The weather has turned warm. Very, very warm. So warm that people are complaining and doing what they can to stay cool. Now this is summer.

This change in weather has also changed what I feel like cooking — and eating. I’m going to hold off on my long slow-cook day on Wednesday and stick with some quick meals for a while.

I have a new meal report. We tried Halibut with Mango Salsa and while I liked it, my husband thought it was just okay. My three-year daughter really enjoyed the salsa which I think was the reason she took a couple of bites of fish.

I think fruit salsas are not only great for kids but perfect this time of year. When I asked my daughter what she wants on the menu this week she actually said fish (of course her first vote was for cupcakes but I informed her that’s not a dinner choice).

Could she be turning into a fish eater? Only time will tell.

This week I’m trying another recipe from Food on the Table’s No Whine Wednesday because it looks right up my alley — it contains beans and it’s super easy. I’m also going to try this sloppy Joe recipe I got from the Six O’Clock Scramble Newsletter which is made with lean meat and veggies. Other than that it’s old standbys.

For more meals plan ideas check out Org Junkie.

What’s cooking this week?

Monday: Chicken enchiladas with black beans

Tuesday: Skillet gnocchi with white beans and spinach

Wednesday: Pot luck/leftovers

Thursday: Not your mother’s sloppy Joes and baked fries.

Friday: Baked salmon, mashed sweet potatoes and green beans

Kids serve themselves?

I’ve known for a while that having kids serve themselves at mealtime can be beneficial. According to a 2003 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, children who were allowed to serve themselves ate 25% less of an entree than the child served the large entree portion

And there’s another consequence to serving big portions. Kids who eat very little at mealtime can be intimidated with too much food on their plate. But if they serve themselves, it really changes the dynamic at the table. Now they are the ones responsible for the food on their plate.

So the last couple of dinners I put everything in serving dishes on the table. My daughter loved taking each item and putting it on her plate. She turned around and tried EVERYTHING on her plate.

I plan to do serve dinners like this as often as I can. Yes, it’s more dishes. But it’s worth it. And it helps that my husband is on dish duty most nights.

Packing lunches

My daughter starts preschool this week! This means I’m joining all you parents out there who make lunches for your kids. Some of you might be taking the summer off but before you know it you’ll be packing lunches again.

This September, I’m collaborating with another blogger on a Lunch Box Series to be hosted on Foodie-isms.The creator, Stephanie Holguin, is a foodie, mom and an amazing cook. For the series, I will provide key information including a detailed “Nutrition Checklist” to help parents pack lunches that help their kids learn and grow. Stephanie will use her culinary expertise to provide tasty food options kids simply can’t resist.

In the meantime, Stephanie is going to be posting reviews for lunch box options. Check out her first one where she highlights Planet Box.

So tell me. What is your biggest challenge when it comes to packing your child’s lunch?

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. We had a fun day but made it home nice and early. Our kids are still too young for fireworks so we didn’t get too crazy.

I didn’t post a meal plan last week but I’ve been getting some great meal ideas with my new subscription to The Six O’Clock ScrambleNewsletter. If you are struggling with meal planning, I highly recommend you try it out. Each week you get a week of meals, recipes for each meal and a grocery list. I made a tasty tilapia dish that even my daughter tried (see successes below).

I’m cooking less this week because we are going out to dinner on Monday for my mother-in-law’s birthday. I plan to try this awesome looking halibut from Food on the Table’s No Whine Wednesday that incorporates a fruit-based salsa. I’ll make salmon and bean burritos for lunch to get to my fish and beans twice a week goal.

I’m having a little trouble coming up with an 8-hour plus slow cooker recipe for Wednesday (work day) now that’s it’s summer. The meals that look appealing to me are not “all day” slow cooker dishes. If you have any long slow-cook meals you like send them my way!

For more meal plans check out Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week

Monday: out to dinner

Tuesday: Chicken Pesto Parm with potatoes, broccoli and garden salad.

Wednesday: Lentil and Beef Stew (will use turkey), bread and spinach salad (strawberries, almonds and feta)

Thursday: Potluck/leftovers

Friday: Baked Halibut with Tropical Salsa, mac and cheese and grilled asparagus (with cilantro & chive yogurt dip from TJs)

Saturday: Chicken Garlic Pizza

Successes
A few weeks ago I posted about my daughter hounding me for ice cream every night. I’m happy to report that she has calmed way down. We still have ice cream a couple of nights a week, but it’s no longer a huge focus for her.

Sometimes I forget the process kids go through while learning about different foods. They go through stages where they “have to have” a certain food but if given the chance to eat it within the structure of meals, the novelty wears off. I’ll be writing more about this topic in my upcoming managing sweets series.

Since she turned three, my daughter has been very food neophobic (afraid of new foods), something I discussed in my last article in the picky eating series.But lately she has been trying more foods. After serving salad for what seemed like a million times, she finally ate the lettuce part instead of picking at the fruit and nuts. We had tilapia Saturday night and she announced, “I’m trying fish.”

On Friday, we were at a friend’s house for dinner where there were three large dogs. My daughter has always been frightened of dogs even though we assure her that they won’t hurt her. She seemed to do much better with the dogs and when we gave her positive feedback she said, “I’m trying not to be scared of dogs.”

Noticing she has been trying more foods, I asked her if she was doing the same thing with her eating and she said “yes.” We had a nice talk about how it’s good to try new things even when you feel afraid.

There’s the belief that if left to their own devices, children won’t try new foods on their own. But with enough time and opportunity, kids will surprise you. I know mine do. My non-fruit eating 15-month old (besides apples and bananas) now is eating cantaloupe.

News
An interesting study was published in last month’s Judgment and Decision Making. The researchers presented 114 college students with two sets of Oreo cookies: one without health claims and another labeled “made with organic flour and sugar.” They posted the calories per serving which were identical.

Despite the calories listed out, the subjects perceived the organic cookies to contain fewer calories and said it was okay to eat more of them. This study adds to a growing body of research that shows that “health halos” around foods perceived as healthy can lead to over-consumption. Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating, has done some interesting research on this subject.

In his 2006 study published in Journal of Consumer Research, he found people ate 28 percent more M-n-Ms when they were labeled as “low fat.” Those same people underestimated the calories of the M-n-Ms and denied that low fat labels affected their intake.

I think this kind of stereotyping around food is an overlooked cause of obesity . The idea is good/healthy food = eat as much as you want and that bad/unhealthy items are so bad for weight they should be avoided. This means people need excuses to eat the bad foods they enjoy such as vacation, TGIF, stress, uncomfortable feelings and holiday celebrations. How many times have you heard someone say, “I’m on vacation, I’m going to eat whatever I want (third helping).”

This is why focusing on hunger and satiety, no matter what food is being eaten, is best. We also need to be careful how we educate our kids about nutrition so they don’t see food as “good” or “bad.” More about this topic in a future post.

If you want to read more on healthy halos, check out Janet Helm’s post, The Devilish Effect of a Health Halo, over at Nutrition Unplugged.

Any thoughts on this? Was there a time you used to eat more because you thought a food was healthy? I know I did this in the nineties. I ate a enough fat-free frozen yogurt to last me a lifetime.

This week I’m going to briefly discuss my weekly meal plan — and then review the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Report.  I like to keep my readers updated on public health recommendations including the latest nutrition research. I also wanted to let you know that we have a winner for our SOS cookbook giveaway — Merri Ann, mom of three from Texas. Congrats Merri Ann!

So two weeks ago I tried fish tacos for the first time.  They were good but both my husband and I didn’t love them.  My son ate up the fish (I used tilapia) and my daughter took a bite but didn’t continue.  My husband made the comment “maybe there’s a reason fish tacos are fried.”

So this week we’ll stay basic and do bean burritos on Mexican Monday.  And because it’s still June gloom I’m going to try this salsa and chicken black bean soup for the long slow cook day.  I’m also working on expanding our lunches and snacks and plan to post some soon. 

For more meal plan ideas see Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week?

Monday: Bean Burritos with salsa, guacamole, cheese and lettuce.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna with bread and spinach salad

Wednesday: Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup topped with avocado and served with carrots and cut-up fruit

Thursday: Potluck/leftovers

Friday: Salmon with avocado dip, mashed sweet potatoes and green beans.  Will serve with bread.

Weekend: Plan to try Rainy Day soup one reader sent in.

News! Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee   

Quick Review Course
Since 1980,  the United Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have published Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  These evidence-based recommendations, published every 5 years, provide healthy eating advice for Americans age 2 and older. 

In 2008 the USDA and HHS appointed 13 health and nutrition experts to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) to provide recommendations to revise the 2005 guidelines.  The DGAC released their findings in a report last week.  After the public comment period is complete, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans will be finalized.

The Report

So what did these experts find?  Here are the key takeaways:

How Americans Are Eating?

• Americans still consume too few vegetables, fruits, high fiber whole grains, low fat milk and milk products and seafood and eat too many added sugars, solid fats, refined grains and sodium.
• SoFAS (added sugars and solid fats) contribute almost 35% of calories in the typical American’s Diet which is true for all age groups/sexes – children, adolescents and adults.
• Nutrients many Americans are missing (”short-fall” nutrients) include vitamin D, calcium, potassium and dietary fiber.
• Americans consume too much sodium and not enough potassium putting them at risk for hypertension.

 
Weight Management

• Focuses on children and primary prevention (yeah!!). Any and all systems-based strategies must include a focus on children.  Primary prevention of obesity must begin in childhood.  This is the single most powerful public health approach to combating and reversing America’s obesity epidemic over the long term.
• The macronutrient intake (carbs vs. fat vs. protein) of someone’s diet is not the driving force in excess weight gain, it’s total calories and low physical activity.
• Excess weight gain before and during pregnancy is problematic as many women have trouble losing weight postpartum.
• Certain behaviors have been associated with weight gain including too much TV, too little physical activity, eating out frequently, skipping breakfast, snacking on energy-dense food and drinks and consuming large portions.

 
Key Recommendations

• The DGAC recommends a total diet approach (eating patterns over time) that is more plant-based emphasizing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, cooked dry beans and peas, nuts and seeds.  Increase the intake of seafood and low fat dairy products and consume more moderate levels of lean meats, poultry and eggs.
• Consume less sodium, 1500mg or less (down from 2300mg in 2005), and increase potassium (no levels).  See potassium food list.
• Limit saturated fat to 7% of total calories or less and cholesterol to 300mg.  Avoid trans fat and increase omega-3 fatty acids from marine sources (DHA/EPA).  Recommendations include two servings of seafood per week (4oz) for an average of 250mg/day — maternal dietary intake during pregnancy and lactation is especially important. 
• There is strong evidence that moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks per day) is associated with lower risk of diabetes and heart disease among middle-aged and older adults.  Excess alcohol intake is not beneficial.  Moderate means one drink for women and two for men.
• There is no evidence that multivitamins offer health benefits, and under certain circumstances may even cause harm (excluding certain population groups).  Individual mineral/vitamin supplements based on need (vitamin D, iron etc) may be appropriate. 

 
What do I think about the report?  I am a huge proponent of prevention from everything to excess weight to the development of chronic diseases, so I like that focus.  I think it’s good that we might finally have recommendations for omega-3 fatty acids (DHA/EPA), though the levels will probably be less than international guidelines. They are reducing dietary targets for sodium and saturated fat which I’m not sure is necessary for everyone.  They are taking a stand on multivitamins, which I plan to talk more about in a future post.  I don’t have strong feelings about it overall.

I’m curious, how do you feel about the Dietary Guidelines?  Do you pay much attention to them?  Once the final guidelines are here I’ll be sure to write about it.

Happy Monday. I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of summer.

Two weeks ago I made red beans and brown rice in the slow cooker and it turned out bland. My son ate it and so did we. But I couldn’t do it leftover.

I was talking recipes with a coworker and she said she make beans and rice “Cuban style.” So I googled it and am going to try this Cuban Black Beans and Rice Recipe from Betty Crocker. The secret seems to be the combo of onion, garlic and bell pepper. I’m determined to find a flavorful, beans and rice recipe.

I’m also going to try fish tacos, which means we are having fish twice this week. For more on nutrition goals and meal planning see 7 Must-Do’s for Family Meal Planning.

And for more meal plan ideas see Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week

Monday: Fish Tacos with guacamole and a side of beans

Tuesday: Spaghetti with Trader Joe meatballs with roasted asparagus and salad

Wednesday: Cuban Black Beans & Rice with cauliflower and cut-up fruit

Thursday: Potluck/leftovers (more beans)

Friday: Grilled Balsamic-glazed salmon, Mac and cheese and grilled broccoli (SOS Cookbook).

Challenges

We don’t have dessert after dinner every night. On some nights, when my 14-month goes to bed early, we’ll have ice cream with my daughter. For some reason she’s been fixated on it lately. Maybe because she sees me buy it at the store (”Banilla,” her favorite) so she knows we have it.

The problem is she’s been asking for it every night after dinner. Here’s an example of one of our conversations:

Anna: Mommy, can I have ice cream….please!

Me: We don’t have ice cream every night but we’ll have it again soon.

Anna: Daddy, can I have ice cream?

Dad: Anna, you know mommy makes those decisions.

Anna: Mommy, can I have ice cream? Can I have ice cream?

I sit her down and tell her that mommy decides when we have ice cream. I tell her that she’ll have it again soon but that it’s not something we eat every day. This seems to get her off the ice cream subject.

I think I’m having trouble with this one because ice cream after dinner falls out of our regularly structured meals. We don’t have night-time snacks because my kids go to bed early, about an hour after dinner ( 7:30.) Usually when my daughter asks for a certain something to eat (repeatedly) I tell her I’ll plan it for some near-future mealtime. But with ice cream, it’s just something we randomly have after dinner.

I really don’t want ice cream, or anything sweet for that matter, to become the thing she wants because she can’t have it. I believe this push and pull — her asking and us saying no — will inflate her desire for sweets. This is why I don’t say “no” but, instead, inform her that even though we aren’t having it that night, she’ll have it at some future date.

I’m not going to make any changes right now but will let you know how this develops. I’ll be discussing this topic in much more detail in my upcoming “Managing Sweets” series so let me know your challenges.

News!
Last week I posted a Washington Post storyon my Facebook page about bringing home economics back to schools. Right now, it’s an optional class that consists of teaching basic cooking skills. The article talks about making it a required class but modernizing it to be less gender specific and teaching children how to make quick, tasty and nutritious meals.

I think this is a wonderful idea and it got me thinking. I’m grateful for the women’s movement because it’s given women like me so many amazing opportunities. But I also feel that cooking and regular family meals took a big hit in the process. As a result, convenience foods and fast food options popped up everywhere. And years later we can see how this has negatively affects the health of so many Americans.

But the worst part is that many people grew up not knowing how to prepare meals for themselves. What I’ve learned in the past 10 years since starting to cook is that it’s not that hard. It’s actually empowering being able to make tasty and nutritious food that doesn’t take oodles of time. Even though I wanted to marry someone who could cook, I’m glad my husband can only make mac-n-cheese because it made me step up to the plate.

So, yes. I like the idea of bring a new kind of home economics back to the classroom. What do you think? Did you take home economics in school? Who taught you how to cook?

Last week turned hectic because my daughter’s sickness spread to the rest of us.  It wasn’t as bad as last time but it still threw the whole week off.  I never got to the Red Beans and Rice but I did make the Chicken Pesto Parm.  I haven’t had much success with producing tasty and moist baked chicken, but the mixture of parmesan and pesto worked beautifully.  I know I’ll make this one again soon. 

I’m looking forward to this week’s meals because I have an incredible new cookbook to try.  I’m going to review it soon but first want to test a few recipes.  For Wednesday slow-cook day, I’m going to make my favorite stew-like meals before the weather gets too hot.  I’m usually not a fan of stews but this one rocks. 

For more meals plans go to Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking This Week

Monday:  Black Bean Burritos, guacamole and toppings

Tuesday: Ravioli with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes, bread and salad (new cookbook — recipe forthcoming).

Wednesday: Italian Chicken with White Beans, Parmesan Crusted Asparagus and bread.

Thursday: Potluck/leftovers

Friday: Roasted Vegetable, Feta Cheese and Basil Pizza

Will have salmon/tuna for lunch to make up for this week’s fish deficit.

News

Three months ago news of the Let’s Move campaign to fight childhood obesity, and Michelle Obama’s leading role, took center stage.  The new White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity promised the public a “plan of action” in 90 days.

And they delivered on that promise.

Last week the Task Force revealed their 124-page report to the President: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity within a Generation. 

I did not read the entire document word for word (but you can!) but concentrated more on the recommendations. 

The five areas the taskforce focus on include Early Childhood, Empowering Parents and Caregivers, Healthy Food in Schools, Increasing Access to Healthy and Affordable Food and Increasing Physical Activity. 

The Early Childhood section includes ways to increase breastfeeding, improve the quality of prenatal care and childcare settings and make the American Academy of Pediatrics screen time guidelines (2 hours or less) more available.

Empowering Parents and Caregivers focuses on ways to disseminate the 2010 Dietary Guidelines (out soon) and to improve food labels and food at restaurants (with calorie counts for both vending machines and establishments). 

Marketing unhealthy foods took center stage in this section.  The taskforce recommends no advertising to kids, even in-store.  They recommend media and licensing of popular characters only be allowed for healthy food.  And if this doesn’t work they recommend the FCC consider new rules all together.

There will also be a heavy focus on BMI at pediatrician offices and at schools.  This means weight is likely to be checked at schools and kids would go home with a note for parents. 

Pediatricians and schools will provide tips to parents on ways they can help their overweight children.  If things don’t improve more intense treatments may be recommended.

Healthy Food in Schools covers the importance of nutrition education, improving resources for healthy meals, establishing farm-to-school programs and updating nutrition standards for meals and expanding them to a la carte and vending. 

In order to improve Access to Healthy Affordable Food, the taskforce recommends a multi-year, multi-agency healthy food financing initiative to improve the food at underserved urban and rural communities.  They also recommend incentives to grocery stores to include more healthy food as well as wellness policies at public and provide facilities that serve children.

The last one, Increasing Physical Activity, includes ways to decrease the cost of sports, increase recess and physical education classes and make “active transport” a reality for more kids.  Basically active transport is walking or biking to school.  According to the report, 13% of kids currently walk to school compared to 44% in 1969.   Some ideas including walking school buses with adults walking kids to school.

What I don’t like

I’m having trouble with the Empowering Parents and Caregivers section.  Not much of what they recommend is empowering at all, especially the concentration on marketing to children.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a proponent of marketing to kids.  But how do these messages empower parents?  Instead of telling parents they are powerless to advertising, let’s tell them they are the biggest influence on their kids’ eating.  A study published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology showed that parents who talked to their kids about the nature of advertising and provided limits/structure on such foods, had kids that were less impacted by advertising.  Restricting advertising only worked for young children (<8 years).

And there is no mention of family meals or how to feed kids.  How can this message not be included when study after study shows the benefits of family meals on weight, fruit and vegetable intake and disordered eating?  Instead it’s the same old focus on the “what” of eating, telling parents of overweight children to eat healthy.  Don’t they already know that? 

I’m still concerned how this focus on weight will play out.  How will pediatricians counsel families?  Maybe having a dietitian on staff would help?  And they don’t mention anything about making health tips a family affair.  Successful childhood weight management programs that have been shown to effective, such as Shapedown, include the whole family in the process. 

I could go on but I won’t.  I just know that information alone will not motivate people to change.  We need to remove their barriers.  They will take the note and tips from the doctor and go home to the same roadblocks.  When I first started working as a dietitian, I counseled patients this way and most never returned for follow up.

What I like

I like the increasing physical activity section, especially the idea on active transport.  Finding ways kids can have activity naturally built into their environment is key. And making exercise a regular part of their school day is vital.

I also hope that schools get more resources to help them expand their nutritious meals.  And the ideas for increasing healthy foods in more communities sound pretty good. 

I’m curious what you all think about this.  As a parent, do you think much about this obesity epidemic?  Sometimes I think this “childhood obesity” conversation is only being had by health professionals, policy makers and food enthusiasts.

Have a great week and let me know your thoughts!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day. We had a nice relaxing day which ended with a meal I did not cook. But now it’s Monday.

I didn’t post a meal plan last week because my husband was out of town and my daughter was sick. I made the easy chicken noodle soup again and still can’t believe how quickly this meal comes together (especially when I cheat with store-bought rotisserie chicken).

I also discovered an amazing recipe for restaurant-style salsa on Pioneer Women. She does a fantastic job with her recipes – great pictures, instructions and humor. I made the salsa for a family get together and everyone loved it! I plan to make it every couple of weeks and keep it in the fridge.

This week I have a couple of new items to try including Pesto Parm Chicken and Red Beans and Brown Rice for Wednesday, the long slow cooker day. I haven’t found a red beans and rice recipe I love yet so let’s hope this one is a keeper.

For more meal plans go to Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week

Monday: Have it Your Way Tacos

Tuesday: Chicken Pesto Parm with Couscous and Vegetable Stir fry and Bread

Wednesday: Red Beans and Brown Rice served with a salad and fruit

Thursday: Leftovers/potluck

Friday: Baked Salmon Topped with Veggies, mac and cheese, green salad and fruit.

Challenges
A post on Simple Bites — Stocking Your Pantry for Success — got me thinking about my biggest meal-planning challenge.

Right now, I pick items for the week and make one big shopping trip (Sunday) followed by a little one later in the week (Friday). The Friday trip is supposed to be spent at the farmer’s market getting mostly perishable items like fruits & veggies. But lately I end up running low on something else like soap or cereal, and that makes me choose the grocery store instead.

We do stock up on certain items like paper towels, spices and toilet paper but I haven’t been keeping the rest of my pantry full of items I use on a regular basis (broth, beans, pasta, canned tomatoes etc).

So I’ve decided to have a monthly shopping trip dedicated to buying adequate amounts of the nonperishable items I use most often.

Maybe I’ll even have inventory day and get up at 5 in the morning like they to in restaurants. Just writing that makes me realize it’s a bad idea.

I’m hoping this decreases my weekly trips to the grocery store allowing me more time to go to the Farmer’s Market to get fresh and local produce.

I’m curious, does anyone else shop this way? Am I a late bloomer?

News
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its 2010 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 for Produce. For those not familiar, the EWG routinely tests produce for pesticide residues so consumers can decide when it’s worth it to buy organic.

The produce with the highest level of pesticides (dirty dozen) are celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, kale, cherries, potatoes, grapes (imported) and spinach.

The produce with the lowest levels of pesticides (Clean 15) include onions, avocado, pineapple, mangos, eggplant, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, mangos, kiwi, sweet peas, asparagus, cabbage and sweet corn.

Well that’s it for now. Have a great week and let me know how you are doing!

I was happy with how last week’s meals turned out. The pork tenderloin was tender and juicy. The Pineapple gave it a Hawaiian flare and it was just as good (if not better) the next day. The Boboli thin whole wheat crust was an easy and tasty way to have pizza. I didn’t make the cod on Friday because we ended up going out to dinner for my brother-in-law’s birthday, so I will try it again this Friday.

This week for Monday Mexican night I’m going to make Turkey tacos but will change things up a bit. I’ve been reading some recipes that add salsa and different spices to the turkey while it’s cooking. I’m also going to make veggie lasagna in the slow cooker. I’ve tried this recipe before and it’s super easy and tastes just as good as my time-intensive veggie lasagna.

For more meal ideas check out Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week

Monday: Turkey Tacos with black beans and toppings.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna with bread and a spinach salad.

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Indian Spiced Chicken and Lentils (can easily be made vegetarian) with carrots.

Thursday: Potluck/Leftover night

Friday: Oven Roasted Cod, mac and cheese and green beans.

Successes (sort of)
My 3-year old daughter, Anna, is very cautious with new foods. As most of you know, I follow the Division of Responsibility of Feeding. I decide what she eats and she decides how much and whether to eat the food I serve. Over the last few months I’ve been talking to her about where different foods come from and why it’s important to try something before deciding whether or not she likes it.

It seems every time Anna tries something new, it is clearly her own decision. For example, last Friday we were having sandwiches. I was eating turkey and she had PB&J. I meant to give her half and half (half turkey half PB&J) but I wasn’t happy with the way my sandwich turned out. Anna has never taken to turkey but I keep trying.

After eating her grapes she made an announcement.

Anna: “I want to eat your sandwich”

Me: “You do?”

Anna: “Can I sit on your lap?”

Me: “Of course sweety”

Anna: “I want to take bites”

She took two bites of my turkey sandwich and after the second bite made a funny face. I asked her if she wanted to eat “just the turkey” part of it and she ate two pieces while I finished her PB&J (all I can say is bad turkey sandwich).

Then, Saturday after her nap she asked for an “egg” for her snack. This made me very happy because Anna stopped eating eggs awhile ago except for French toast. So I got out the last boiled egg in the fridge and began to crack it.

Anna: “No, that’s David’s egg!”

Me: “I thought you said you wanted to have an egg?”

Anna: “I want a chocolate egg!”

I guess she thought the chocolate eggs we had over Easter were still in the fridge.

News
The winner of the slow cooker giveaway is Mary from Florida. I really appreciate all of you making this giveaway such a success. Because this one was so much fun, I’m planning on something bigger and better for next time so stay tuned.

As far as food and nutrition news, sodium has been taking center stage. Last week the Institute of Medicine released a report recommending that the government regulate the amount of sodium food manufacturers and restaurants add to their products. According to the report, Americans get an average of 3400mg of sodium per day which is higher than the Dietary Guidelines recommend (2300mg). They also estimate that 100,000 lives could be saved with reductions in sodium.

There have been voluntary commitments from some food companies to gradually lower the sodium in their products. And The National Salt Reduction Initiative, a New York-led nationwide effort, is working to help reduce sodium intake from packaged foods and restaurants over the next five years.

I for one tend to cringe at the thought of government taking over here. I am all for volunteer initiatives but mandates from the government, I believe, go too far.

So what do you think? Do you believe the government should regulate the sodium intake of packaged and restaurant foods?

This week I’m mixing new recipes with some old standbys.  I’ve been making a lighter version of chicken enchiladas for years now (I’ll reveal the recipe at a later date) so that’s my choice for our Mexican food night.

In honor of our crock pot giveaway, I’m going to make pork tenderloin in the slow cooker using a recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking.  I’ve been meaning to try more meat-type dishes.  I’m not very comfortable cooking meat and think that the slow cooker is the ideal way to start.  The boys in my family really like meat — and my youngest just switched to whole milk so I’m seeking out iron sources. 

I’ll let you know how it turns out. For more meal ideas check out Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking

Monday: Chicken Enchiladas and Black Beans.  Will make a side of guacamole.

Tuesday: Spinach* and Mushroom Pizzausing Whole Wheat Boboli Crust.  Will serve with a salad.

Wednesday: Pineapple Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker (made with green and orange peppers*).  Side of fruit and bread. (Not sure Anna will eat the pork but she loves bread and fruit)

Thursday: Leftovers/potluck

Friday: Oven Roasted Cod, lentils and carrots.*  Will serve with bread. (Anna may not go for the cod but she’ll have some lentils and carrots).

*vitamin-A rich

Last Week’s Recap

Last week I tried making two new items from scratch: turkey meatballs and salsa.

The meatballs turned out good but were somewhat high maintenance.  My kids were playing in the living room while I immersed both of my hands in the ground meat mixing everything (very gross, very gross). 

After some kneading I stuck my head in to check on David and saw him chewing on something (he just turned one).  I rushed over with my hands all covered in raw meat and removed a small battery from his mouth without cross contaminating.  After quickly washing my hands and checking the area, I saw that he finagled the battery out of the remote control.

Little ones never cease to amaze.

Thankfully the salsa was drama free.  It was decent but way too “oniony.”  I’ll keep trying and will post it when I get it right.  I really, really love fresh salsa and want to get good at making it.

So I’m slowly learning my limits for cooking at this stage of the game.  With really young children, I need my attention on them and may not be able to spend as much time in the kitchen.  But I’m hoping that will get easier as they get older and I become a more confident cook.

I’m always on the lookout for tasty and nutritious recipes but am going to really focus on ones that take very little time.  I’m going to start timing how long it takes me to prepare items.  If I can make it fast you KNOW it’s easy.  My goal is 10 minutes or less. 

Let me know if you have a super-fast easy and nutritious recipe that you’d like to share.  

 Challenges

I have a confession to make: I’ve been getting sloppy with my meal planning. 

Last week I forgot a few items and had to run back to the store.  Our printer hasn’t been working so I’m back to writing out my list on random pieces of paper. No bueno.

I’m going to add a food prep day for those little annoying items I never feel like making during the week.  For the last three weeks I’ve been meaning to make tuna salad.  I buy the red onions and celery but the whole week goes by and nothing.   

So I’ve decided to make Sunday “food day” around here.  I’m going to get up early, start my meal plan and grocery list and get to the store before my kids’ naps.  During their afternoon nap I will make the little things I need for the week like muffins, tuna/chicken salad and salsa. 

I’m going to remind myself that the more I get done this one itty bitty day of the week, the better the whole week will go.  When the food part of the week goes smoothly, everything else seems to follow. 

I’ll leave you with an article a friend of mine just sent me about moms judging other moms. I think this is especially true when it comes to food and feeding kids. There is so much judgement, not just with other parents, but ourselves. But no one is perfect or has it all figured out. We just need to keep trying and helping each other out.

Well that’s it for now.  Have a great week!

I’m done celebrating my birthday and am ready to settle into a normal week of eating. I’m trying a couple of new things this week including making salsa and meatballs from scratch (not at the same meal).  I’ll let you know how they turn out.

For more meal ideas check out Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking This Week
 
Monday: Make-Your-Own Burritos: Black beans, rice, homemade salsa, shredded spinach*, cheese, guacamole and tortillas.

Tuesday: Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs: I got inspired by this recipe posting on Little Stomaks.  I will serve with bread and roasted broccoli.**

Wednesday: Greek Chicken Pita: I found this slow cooker chicken filling recipe in Fix-It and Forget-It.  The chicken will be done when I get home from work so will serve with whole wheat pita, lettuce, cucumber, tzatziki sauce and a side of hummus and carrots*.  I’m not sure my daughter will eat this one but she’s likely to have the hummus, carrots and pita bread.

Thursday: Leftovers/potluck

Friday: Grilled Salmon with Avocado Dip: I will serve with macaroni and cheese, green beans and a spinach salad*.

Weekend: Instead of gong out to eat Saturday, I’m <thinking> of making our own pizza.  I will see how I feel. And like always will have dinner with extended family on Sunday.

*vitamin A Rich
**vitamin C Rich

Challenges
 
My son, who just turned one, is already rejecting food.  And the best part is he shows his displeasure by throwing the food he doesn’t want.  Although sometimes he throws a few pieces and then eats a few pieces, so it’s hard to tell.  All in all it’s pretty frustrating.

It’s interesting to see how different he already is from my daughter.  My daughter always ate fruit (and still does) but he seems to take more to veggies and meat/fish.  He still eats as much as an adult, but is starting to voice his opinion.  I was hoping this would not happen for another 6 months or we would avoid it entirely.  I can dream, right?

My daughter has learned two new words, “I’m hungry.”  I’m trying to teach her how to reconize hunger because I don’t think she knows quite yet.  She seems to say “I’m hungry” when she doesn’t want to do something like go to bed or leave somewhere fun. 

I’ve also been feeling run down and in need of a break.  I had a mini-meltdown after falling on my hands and knees in front of the grocery store (gotta love sobbing with strangers comforting you).  I told my husband that all I want for Mothers Day is a day to sleep in and do whatever I want.  I love my kids but need some time for me. 

News

I wanted to share an eye-opening article, Don’t Let Your Child’s Doctor Label Your Child Obese, written by Dr. Katja Rowell at Family Feeding Dynamics.  One of the outcomes from the Let’s Move Campaign is pediatricians are going to be closely monitoring BMI in children and giving parents advice if there’s a problem.  So when you go for your next child’s check-up you’ll want to be ready for this possibility.  Dr. Rowell brings up some very important points that all parents need to keep in mind. 

Have anything to share?  Feeding challenges, new recipes or anything else?  Leave a comment and let us know. 

Have a great week!