Thanksgiving is over. The holidays are here.  It’s official.

You are going to see articles about eating healthy and how to avoid overindulging this holiday season.  I can almost rehearse the tips: Avoid creamy sauces, choose fruit for dessert and cut calories where you can. 

I don’t like the eat-healthy-during-the-holidays advice because it feeds the illusion that people can’t trust themselves around food.  And when people hear something enough, they start believing it.

So while I won’t tell you to eat healthy, I do have some advice about getting through the holiday season.

1. It’s a good time to evaluate your eating: If you feel like overeating and indulging all season long, it may be a sign that you relationship with food needs some work. 

I used to this exact thing: look for an excuse to eat food that I thought didn’t belong in my diet.  Whether it was vacation, the holidays or the weekend, those were times I was “allowed” (and stuffed myself with) less-than-nutritious foods. 

I believe this is an overlooked culprit to overeating and weight problems.  People go back and forth between eating healthy and indulging.  If they could live happily somewhere in the middle– and listen to their hunger and fullness — their desire to overindulge would decrease.      

2. Go for the Balance: Rather than eat healthy, I tell people to balance their eating this time of year.  So continue meal planning to keep your family on track with nutritious meals and snacks while including your share of holiday food. 

I find that people who are able balance their eating in most situations have made a mental shift.  They don’t overly restrict what they eat, they simply prefer to eat well most of the time. 

This mental shift changes the language in your head.  So instead of saying I “should” or “shouldn’t” eat something, you eat food that you “want” or “don’t want” to eat.  I have found that since I’ve made the mental shift years ago, there are less indulgent type foods I really want to eat, and many more nutritious ones I crave.

3. Don’t graze, eat meals. In his research, Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating, finds that the average person has already met 90% of their daily calorie needs before sitting down to their holiday meal.

So instead of grazing, fill a small plate with your favorite appetizers, sit down and enjoy every bite. Remind yourself that you need just enough to hold you over (but not to spoil your appetite) until the main meal is served.

4. Be active. Exercise is your secret weapon during the holidays.  It’s a stress reliever and it gives you the additional energy you’ll need.

And there really is no better time to be active. The weather is crisp and the gyms are free of crowds. I try to sign up for a walk/run in late December/early January. This way, I’m more motivated to run all December long.

5. Cut back on the to do’s. The stress of the holidays makes matters worse. Families aren’t eating together, food is grabbed in a hurry and many parents stay up late doing more stuff.

Ask yourself if you really need to do everything this year. Maybe it’s time to cut back, be choosy about how you spend your time and focus more on enjoying the season.

Any thoughts?  What do you do to stay balanced during the holidays?

When I got Real Simple’s A Month of Easy Dinners in the mail, I knew I had to try the Shrimp Tacos on the cover. While their picture was way better than mine, it didn’t show up in the taste which was excellent (hopefully Santa is getting me a new camera this year).

This is a great way to present shrimp to kids who are relactant to eat it. Little D ate some but Big A stuck with her tortilla, guacamole and beans.  They say it takes 15 exposures so I only have 14 more to go!  I will definitely include shrimp tacos in my Mexican Monday rotations.

If you try it let me know how it turns out!

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
-1/4-1/2 cup olive oil plus 1 Tbsp (I used less than the 1/2 cup called for)
-4 scallions, sliced, white and green parts separated
-2 15 ounce ans black beans, rinsed
-1 pound peeled and deveined small shrimp
-1 large egg white beaten
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup cornmeal (I skipped this ingredient as I didn’t have on hand)
-8, 6-inch corn tortillas, warmed
-toppings of choice (avocado, salsa, sour cream)

Directions: Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add the scallion whites and cook, stirring for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the beans, 1/4 cup water, and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Cooked until warmed through, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the scallion greens.

In a shallow bowl, toss the srhimp with the egg white. In a second shallow bowl, combine with the flour, cornmeal, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and toss.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry the shrimp until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Serve in the tortillas with the toppings along with the beans.

Happy Monday! I hope you all are well.

This week I’m trying a quiche for the first time. I’ve been wanting to make more egg dishes – even though Big A is still on an egg hiatus. I’ve also been trying some time savers in the kitchen like making roasted veggies earlier in the day so that all I have to do is heat them up before dinnertime.

I haven’t made chicken enchiladas in a while so the next night, Tuesday, we’re having one of my kids’ favorite meals — spaghetti with meatballs. This is the easiest meal on earth especially when I cook the pasta ahead of time. I hate when I’m in a hurry and the water just won’t boil.

For more meal planning inspiration see Org Junkie.  And don’t miss the last giveaway in our Take Back Dinnertime Challenge at the end of this post.

What’s Cooking This Week

Monday: Chicken enchiladas with black beans and guacamole

Tuesday: Spaghetti and meatballs with salad, Parmesan green beans, bread and fruit

Wednesday: Kids’ choice

Thursday: Make Your Own Quiche with fruit salad

Friday: Sweet orange salmon, baked fries and roasted veggies (made ahead of time) and fruit

Weekend: Mexican pizza

Salad of the week: Apple walnut salad

The forgotten reason for family dinners — Connection
A new study presented at the Developmental Psychology Section Annual Conference showed that family dinners are associated with kids who are less picky about food. According to the article in Science Daily:
The results showed that friendly interaction between mother and child instead of coercive strategies, like pressure and physical prompting, may encourage young children to try different foods.

The results of this study mirror other research that shows that an authoritative feeding style is linked to better eating habits in children.

What is an authoritative feeding style?

According to a 2005 study in Appetite an authoritative feeding represents a balance between authoritarian (controlling) and permissive (let kids make all the choices) such that the child is encouraged to eat healthy foods, but is also given some choices about eating options. For example, with authoritative feeding, adults may determine which foods are offered, and children may determine which foods are eaten.

But I think the benefits of a positive feeding style go beyond eating habits.

The key reason a lot of us parents go to the trouble of family dinners is to connect with our kids. We want to have a time where we all gather and catch up on what’s going on. For those of us with younger kids, we are building the ritual — as kids don’t always do well at dinner until they are a bit older.

But if the family table is a negative place — full of pressure and hostile negotiations over food — we are missing the chance to really connect. And it just makes sense to me that kids that feel supported and free from pressure will eventually do better with eating.

I say eventually because a pleasant family table doesn’t mean a picky-eating kid will automatically start eating every food under the sun (it is a stage of development after all). I know this from experience. I think of it more like an investment — taking the time and effort until one day you can actually see the pay off.

Take Back Dinnertime Challenge Week 4
This fits right in with the last week of the Take Back Dinnertime Challenge. Don’t miss this week’s video with ideas on engaging your kids at the table. There are also some great tips on getting kids involved in the kitchen.

And to end the challenge, Real Simple is offering a copy of Laurie David’s The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids One Meal at a Time for one lucky winner. To enter leave a comment about how you try to connect with your family at dinner.

This is the last giveaway for a while — I promise!  I hope this challenge has given you some ideas and inspiration for making it dinner the best part of your day.

In week 3 of the Take Back Dinnertime Challenge (Get Inspired), we’re tackling food inspiration.

Readers always tell me they want to branch out from the same old meals. Getting out of a food rut isn’t be easy but it doesn’t have to be hard either.

So here are some simple steps you can take to jazz up your nightly dinners without giving up what’s familiar. Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of the post.

1. Keep new recipes in one place:
I have a word document entitled “New Recipes to Try.” Every time I see a recipe I like, I copy and paste the URL in that file. When it comes time for my weekly meal plan, I check that file to see if I want to make any of the meals.

If the meal turns out then I transfer it to my “Jacobsen Meals” document. I print out all the recipes and include them in one folder. My goal is to gather a good variety of recipe and meal ideas for the years to come.

2. Tag recipes in (old and new) cookbooks:
When I first get a cookbook I look through it and try a couple of recipes — and then the cookbook sits. When I’m looking for meal inspiration I go through old cookbooks and tag the recipes I want to try.

Bottom line: don’t forget about your cookbooks!

3. Do weekly online searches:
I find most of my meal inspiration online. I store and save recipes on All Recipes where I check the comments and never choose a meal that has less than 4 stars. I also like Cooking Light and any recipe I find through Google.

I turn to my fellow RDs for inspiration including Estela at Weekly Bite, the Meal Makeover Moms, and Jill Castle’s Dinner Bar (family style meals) at Just the Right Byte. Other healthy resources include Six O’clock Scramble, Super Healthy Kids and Simple Bites.

4. Try new recipes on a regular basis: I incorporate a new recipe every week or two. While I reserve the right not to make the new meal if it’s a stressful day, I make it a point to keep the new meals coming. (Hint: skip new meals on Fridays!)

When choosing a recipe, I try to pick something that has familiar ingredients with only one or two new items. I also consider my children’s food preferences and ability to chew food.

5. Keep your child’s future taste buds in mind:
If I waited for approval on new meals from my kids, especially Big A, we’d never branch out. My husband and I carefully decide whether or not a meal is worth making again. It has to be kid-friendly enough, but it does not need to be something they chow down the first time they try it. As they get older, they will have more say.

On nights we try something new, I always make sure there are familiar sides that my kids are likely to eat.

6. Don’t give up: I know too well what it’s like to have dinner failures. It’s enough to make you run to the tried and true meals. But I’ve learned that you have to take the good with the bad — and the bad will happen more than you like. For every 4 or so new meals that I make, one ends up a winner.

The good news? With time I’ve gotten much better at choosing new recipes so the failures aren’t so bad — they’re just not worth a repeat performance.

Don’t miss this week’s Real Simple video about getting inspired. And for a fun bonus, Real Simple is offering 5 free issues of their Family issue.

To enter leave a comment about where you go for meal inspiration. For an extra entry, share with someone through facebook, twitter or email. Just leave another comment. This will run until Monday September 12th.

To keep in line with Real Simple’s Take Back Dinnertime Challenge (Week 2 — Get Organized), I wanted to dig deeper into the organization-side of meals. Why?

Because it haunts me. Every. Single. Day.

While I always plan weekly dinners for my family, I’m often plagued by a crowded kitchen, stressful preparation and many calls to my husband to pick up a missing ingredient on his way home from work.

I also believe what’s really behind the no-time-to-cook complaint is a lack of organization. Unfortunately, there isn’t a “one size fits all” solution. Everyone needs to find a system that works for them.

So I reached out to the universe and got some inspiring ideas for stress-free dinners and an organized kitchen (hint: these two things go together). If you get through all 8 tips, you get the chance to win an incredibly helpful book.

1. Commit Yourself: “Without a commitment to regular family dinners nothing is going to work,” says Susan Nicholson, RD, and author of the 7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies. “It’s the most important first step for taking control of dinnertime.”

Nicholson, a veteran meal-planner herself, explains that like anything new or challenging there will be times you want to quit. But with a strong commitment you will get through it and slowly build the foundation needed. She assures me that meal planning and preparation gets much easier with time.

2. Clear the Decks: “Eliminating visual clutter can help tremendously,” says Dawn Perry, food editor at Real Simple. “It helps make the kitchen a place you want to be.”

She advises people to remove unnecessary items off their counter-tops. For example, if you only use your blender once a week it might be better stored in a cabinet.

Trust me, once you clear the counter space, you’ll instantly feel better.

3. When it doubt, throw it out:
While you’re organizing the kitchen, you might as well tackle the cabinets and refrigerator.

“If you haven’t used it in 6 months, throw it out,” says Perry. “Make sure to keep the items you use most often close at hand.”

I went through my cabinets last weekend and it has been much easier finding things for meal preparation. If you can, spend one day a week re-organizing your cabinets and refrigerator.

4. Make a weekly meal plan:
Both Perry and Nicholson recommend planning meals one week in advance (if meal planning is not for you, see number 5). Nicholson says to pull out the calendar so you can choose meals with your family’s activities in mind.

In the 7 Day Menu Planner for Dummies. Nicholson shows you how to strategically pick the right meals. Making a roast chicken on Sunday, for example, and using the leftover chicken for some of the week’s simple meals can be a life saver. And a slow cooker meal is a perfect solution to complement weeknight activities like sport practices.

She also advises the head meal planner (usually mom) to include everyone in the meal planning. This makes kids feel more excited for– and involved in– this important ritual.

5. Think outside the meal planning box:
When one mom left a comment saying she knew the meal planning advice by heart but still didn’t do it, I knew it wasn’t for her. The truth? Some people don’t do well with weekly meal planning.

To give you some ideas, one reader wrote in saying she has a list of 16 meals on her fridge of which she always has the ingredients. She goes through this list when it’s done she starts over. She likes it because if they have to miss dinner one day it doesn’t throw the whole week off.

Every 2-3 weeks, Michelle Segar at Smart Women Don’t Diet, slow cooks 10 garlic cloves cut up for 30-40 minutes in about ½ bottle of virgin olive oil, about 15-20 ounces, on very low heat. Then she pours it into a small glass pitcher with a “pour” feature.

She uses this garlic-infused oil for most of her cooking. She buys the veggies and adds other items depending on what she’s got. She cooks all of the ingredients in the oil, adding garbanzo beans, cooked rice and chicken…whatever inspires her that day.

Bottom line: if traditional meal planning isn’t working for you, try something that more closely matches your cooking personality.

6. Do the work ahead of time:
I get many comments from working moms struggling to get dinner on the table. Doing the preparation on the weekend, or when you have more time, is a good solution.

For example, one of my coworkers takes a few hours every Sunday to make the week’s meals and then freezes them. All she has to do during the week is reheat, make a salad or cut up fruit. Others like to do their cooking once a month (check out Once a Month Mom for meal plans).

Jodi, a busy mom, likes to double the recipe on items like lasagna, casseroles and meat (with the marinade), and freezes the other half.

“It’s great to have homemade freezer meals prepared for those nights with sports practice, school meetings, scouts, church studies, etc,” she says. ” Just defrost and pop in the oven, there’s hardly any extra dishes!”

7. Cut your veggies ASAP: My friend Beth Hirsch, also known as The Cooking Coach, advises her clients to do the chopping right when they get home from their shopping trip. She also suggests placing the chopped veggies in baggies or small containers and putting them in a basket or open container on a shelf in the fridge so they are easier to find.

I did this last Sunday — cut up some raw veggies for the week and onions/celery for salads. I even made the tuna salad!

8. Have back up meals: In her book, Nicholson includes 10 meals to make when you have “one of those days.” You know what I’m talking about. Those ultra-stressful days you don’t want to set foot in a kitchen, much less make dinner.

Having the makings for super quick meals is key whether the meal is spaghetti with meatballs or easy Mexican like quesadillas. It can also be a freezer meal you made ahead of time (see number 6). Nicholson recommends making a generic pasta sauce and having it on hand to use on top of ravioli/pasta or for a quick pizza.

Organization can make or break your meal-planning efforts
We live in a different time than our parents and grandparents did. If we want our kids to get all the benefits of family dinners, we need to be creative. And organizing and planning — in a way that works for individual lifestyles — makes this important ritual happen.

Nicholson was nice enough to send me two copies of her book, 7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies. I’m very impressed with the depth of this book and plan to use the advice and nutritious recipes. I want one of you to get a copy too.

For a chance to win a copy of the book, leave a comment about how organizing is going for you (can be good, bad or neutral). And for an extra entry, share this article on Facebook, twitter or via email. Just leave a second comment so that entry will count.

One of the biggest challenges that parents face is dinnertime. Whether it be picky palates, kids that won’t sit, busy schedules or a lack of cooking skills (or all these things!), it can be a huge stressor. As one mom once told me, “My heart rate goes up right before dinner…I dread it.”

Dinner is the hardest meal for me too. Just yesterday after a long day at work, I got the dreaded call that my husband had to work late, had a no-napping two year old attached to my leg and a picky eater announcing that she wanted nothing in her burrito (tortilla only).

Two of my biggest challenges with young kids is staying organized and choosing meals that are simple enough to prepare during the witching hour. I know that when I keep things simple and prep ahead of time, dinners go more smoothly.

That’s why I said “yes” to the good folks at Real Simple when they asked me to participate in their Take Back Dinnertime Challenge. The goal is simple: Take the challenge to help make dinnertime the best part of your day and you could win $2,000!

Today is the first day you can sign up for Real Simple’s Take Back Dinnertime Challenge — and here’s what you get:

-Tips and ideas on how to cook healthier meals

-Advice on how to get organized in the kitchen — I desperately need this one!

-Ways to find cooking inspiration and connect with your family at the table

-The chance to win weekly prizes, including $2,000 in groceries.

Here’s how it works: Join the challenge and create a profile to enter the sweepstakes and keep track of your points. Starting August 22, you’ll get daily emails with cooking tips, recipes, and easy dinnertime ideas. The more ideas you try, the more points you earn.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the challenge—for every friend who joins, you’ll get another point. And the more points you earn, the more sweepstakes entries you’ll get, meaning you’ll have more chances to win.

What will you get from me? I’ll be trying the tips too — and blogging about them. Let’s do it together.

Deal?

While we’re on the topic, what stresses you out most about dinnertime?

I got this meal idea from one of Super Healthy Kid’s Daily Dinners on facebook. The meal Amy posted was chicken, pasta and veggies made with a homemade white sauce. I looked up “homemade white pasta sauce” and it looked so easy I gave it a try.

I cooked the whole wheat pasta ahead of time and used frozen veggies and leftover chicken breast so was able to put this meal together in under 15 minutes!

It was really good and the kids liked the creamy pasta. I served it with bread and fruit. The perfect summer meal.

Have a great weekend!

Ingredients:
-1 (8 ounce) package dry pasta
-1-2 cooked chicken breasts chopped
-1 package frozen veggies of choice
-1 cup milk (used 2%)
-2 Tbsp. butter
-2 Tbsp. flour
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. garlic powder
-salt and pepper to taste
-parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Follow directions on package and cook the pasta. Heat up the chicken and cook the frozen veggies in the microwave.

2. In saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour, garlic powder (or any other spice you prefer), salt and dash pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more.

3. Mix all ingredients together and enjoy.

We made these one night my husband was gone — and the recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks SOS! The Six O’clock Scramble to the Rescue. I usually top homemade pizza with veggies but Big A is always asking for pepperoni. I like to show her that her food preferences matter to me (without catering of course). And it helped that the recipe called for pepperoni. Instead of taco size tortillas we used large whole grain ones and only made two.

Big A helped me prepare these. The recipe suggests serving it with fruit smoothies. Our blender broke so I served it with fresh fruit and carrot sticks. A big hit and super easy. So the next time you want homemade pizza and don’t have time to make dough, consider making tortilla pizzas!

Serves: 8

Ingredients:
-2 TBS olive oil
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-8 small to medium (soft-taco-size) whole wheat or four tortillas
-1/2 cup tomato-basil flavored pasta sauce
-1.5 cups reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese, or to taste
-4 ounces sliced pepperoni (traditional, turkey, or veggie), or toppings of your choice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the oil and garlic powder. Using a pastry brush, coat each tortilla with a thin layer of garlic oil. Spread a thin layer about (1 TBS) of sauce on each tortilla, and sprinkle them with cheese. Top them with pepperoni (or a very thin layer of toppings of your choice).

For a crispy crust, carefully transfer the tortilla pizzas directly to the oven rack and cook them for 3 to 4 minutes. For a softer crust, cook them on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray for 4 to 6 minutes (Meanwhile make the smoothies.) Remove the pizzas from the oven when the tortillas start to brown on the edges — watch them carefully so they don’t burn!

Side dish suggestion: To make Strawberry-banana smoothie, in a blender puree 2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, 2 ripe bananas, 1 cup orange juice and 1 cup nonfat vanilla or plain yogurt.

One of my readers recommended this Betty Crocker recipe for Salmon patties (thanks Goodfountain!). I finally made them last Friday and they turned out great. My husband  gave the meal a thumbs up, which he doesn’t always do with new fish dishes.

I served it with guacamole, hamburger buns, fruit and salad. Little D dipped his salmon cake pieces in the guacamole and Big A ate the guacamole, fruit and bread (shocker!).  Although she continues to say salmon is one of her favorite foods.

Overall, a nice change for fish night. I think next time I’ll double the recipe and freeze some. These patties would be perfect topped on a salad for a quick and easy lunch or as a snack. 

Serves: 4 Patties

Ingredients:
-1 cup bread crumbs
-1/2 cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix
-1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
-1/4 teaspoon pepper
-8 medium green onions, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
-2 eggs, slightly beaten
-1 can (14 3/4 oz) red salmon (I used 2 smaller cans), skin and bone removed, drained and flaked
-2 tablespoons butter
-4 whole wheat burger buns
- Lettuce leaves
-4 tablespoons dill dip, ranch dip or guacamole

Directions:
1. In a bowl mix all ingredients except the butter, buns, lettuce and dip. Shape mixture into 4 patties (about 1/2 cupfuls per patty).

2. In a nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat and add the patties cooking for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once, until brown and cooked through (mine almost burned so watch out).

3. Make into sandwiches with dip and lettuce or eat by itself. Enjoy!

Our dinner theme nights are going well — and that includes a night dedicated to stir fry recipes.  I tried this recipe from Gina over at Feed Our Families.  It is incredibly easy and super tasty.

I’ve made this twice already — once with just broccoli and another time with added carrots and onions.  The second time I steamed the veggies beforehand to soften them up a bit for the kids (and make the actual cooking time faster).

Did the kids go for it?  Little D happily ate from his bowl where I cut every thing up extra special for him (below is the after picture) 

And Big A stuck with rice and fruit only.  I’m sure she’ll come around…eventually.

Does your family eat stir-fries?

Ingredients (serves 4)
-Vegetable or sesame oil
-1 pound chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (can substitute with tofu or shrimp)
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tsp grated ginger
-6 to 7 cups of broccoli (or mix it up with your favorites), chopped
-3 tbsp hot water
-3 tbsp peanut butter (chunky works great)
-3 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
-1 tbsp rice vinegar

Directions
1. Coat a nonstick pan with about 1 tablespoon of oil. Sauté vegetables in oil on medium heat until tender. Set aside in a bowl.

2. Coat the same pan with another tablespoon oil, and add the garlic and ginger for two minutes, until golden in color. Add chicken and sauté on medium heat until cooked through.

3. While chicken is cooking, make the sauce by adding hot water to the peanut butter. Whisk until well mixed. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

4. Add the vegetables back in the pan. Add the sauce and toss until thoroughly mixed.

Serve over rice of choice of rice and sprinkle minced peanuts (optional) if you use smooth peanut butter.

For more stir fry ideas see this article on Cooking Light