Friday, April 9, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
What’s for Dinner?
Week 5 in the Series
Hey Mamas and Papas, time to check in! We are wrapping up the first part of our Feeding Your Family Series. This week is the time for HONEST reflection.
Can you answer all 3 questions?
1. What day of the week do you meal plan?
2. What day (s) (no more than 2) do you grocery shop?
3. What day (s) of the week do you cook and prepare food (no more than 3 or 4)?
If not, make those decisions, write them down on your calendars, and set up a reminder system to keep you accountable. These 3 questions are your building blocks to finding peace with food.
I want you to notice that I did not ask if you knew HOW to meal plan, HOW to grocery shop, HOW to prepare the food. We are going to spend the next few weeks exploring these components in more detail. At this point, it’s important that you become consistent with the knowledge you currently have.
The Game of 20 Questions! The questions below are meant to bring awareness and help you to navigate more clearly, your personal path to creating peace with food. You are the only person seeing these responses so answer HONESTLY! And remember: you can’t help someone else, including your family, until you begin to help yourself.
Grab a pen and paper!
1. Do you enjoy cooking?
2. Do you enjoy eating?
3. What inspires you to cook?
4. Do you skip meals?
5. Do you eat main meals in your car more than 2 times a week?
6. Does your family eat together at a table 4 or more times per week?
7. Would you or someone close to you consider yourself a picky eater?
8. What textures, foods, smells do you typically avoid or limit?
9. What thoughts run through your head when you see an overweight person?
10. What thoughts run through your head when you see a normal weight person?
11. What thoughts run through your head when you see a very thin person?
12. Who does the food shopping in your house? (If it isn’t you then get that person to read with you.)
13. Who does the cooking in your house? (If it isn’t you then get that person to read with you.)
14. Do you dine out more than 3 times a week (including breakfast/work cafeteria)?
15. Does your cooking repertoire consist of 6 or less recipes that you rotate through each week?
16. Do you eat planned snacks every day?
17. Do you eat breakfast every day?
18. On a scale of 1-10, how much to you value providing quality, nutritious food to yourself and your family? (10 being the highest)
19. You’ve made it through all these questions, what is keeping you here?
20. You deserve a reward! What is a non-food reward you can give to yourself?
Loads of questions, I know! But knowing this information is going to be helpful in assessing your food attitudes and what you are modeling to your children as appropriate behavior. Remember, you can’t help someone else, including your kids, until you begin to help yourself.
Stay tuned! Next week we dive into the art of meal planning. Thank you to one of my followers for asking for recipes. I'm happy to start adding a fun recipe each week. See you next Monday.
P.S. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! PLEASE WRITE YOUR STORIES & QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. If you like what you read, SHARE IT with your friends and family.
Recipe:
2 pre-baked chicken breasts, diced
1 bunch kale
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
¼ cup diced red onion
1/3 cup currants
¾ cup diced apple, (½ apple)
2 cups cooked quinoa
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons unfiltered apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Cook quinoa as you would pasta. (Add to boiling water, boil until tender, then drain. For extra fluffy effect, add uncooked quinoa to dry pan and lightly toast while water is coming to a boil.) De-stem kale by pulling leaf away from the stem. Wash leaves. Spin or pat dry. Stack leaves, rollup and cut into thin ribbons (chiffonade). Put kale in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, massage salt into kale with your hands for 2 minutes. To toast seeds, put in a dry skillet over low to medium heat and stir constantly for a few minutes until they change color and give off a nutty aroma.
Put kale in a fresh bowl and discard any leftover liquid. Stir onion, currants, apple, quinoa, chicken and toasted seeds into kale. Dress with oil and vinegar and toss. Taste for salt and vinegar, adding more if necessary.
PS This is a great recipe for your kids to help with. They can mix, add, taste test.
FACT: Kids are more likely to try it if they’ve helped make it. Weekly Challenge: Involve your kids in helping you with at least ONE meal this week.
Hey Mamas and Papas, time to check in! We are wrapping up the first part of our Feeding Your Family Series. This week is the time for HONEST reflection.
Can you answer all 3 questions?
1. What day of the week do you meal plan?
2. What day (s) (no more than 2) do you grocery shop?
3. What day (s) of the week do you cook and prepare food (no more than 3 or 4)?
If not, make those decisions, write them down on your calendars, and set up a reminder system to keep you accountable. These 3 questions are your building blocks to finding peace with food.
I want you to notice that I did not ask if you knew HOW to meal plan, HOW to grocery shop, HOW to prepare the food. We are going to spend the next few weeks exploring these components in more detail. At this point, it’s important that you become consistent with the knowledge you currently have.
The Game of 20 Questions! The questions below are meant to bring awareness and help you to navigate more clearly, your personal path to creating peace with food. You are the only person seeing these responses so answer HONESTLY! And remember: you can’t help someone else, including your family, until you begin to help yourself.
Grab a pen and paper!
1. Do you enjoy cooking?
2. Do you enjoy eating?
3. What inspires you to cook?
4. Do you skip meals?
5. Do you eat main meals in your car more than 2 times a week?
6. Does your family eat together at a table 4 or more times per week?
7. Would you or someone close to you consider yourself a picky eater?
8. What textures, foods, smells do you typically avoid or limit?
9. What thoughts run through your head when you see an overweight person?
10. What thoughts run through your head when you see a normal weight person?
11. What thoughts run through your head when you see a very thin person?
12. Who does the food shopping in your house? (If it isn’t you then get that person to read with you.)
13. Who does the cooking in your house? (If it isn’t you then get that person to read with you.)
14. Do you dine out more than 3 times a week (including breakfast/work cafeteria)?
15. Does your cooking repertoire consist of 6 or less recipes that you rotate through each week?
16. Do you eat planned snacks every day?
17. Do you eat breakfast every day?
18. On a scale of 1-10, how much to you value providing quality, nutritious food to yourself and your family? (10 being the highest)
19. You’ve made it through all these questions, what is keeping you here?
20. You deserve a reward! What is a non-food reward you can give to yourself?
Loads of questions, I know! But knowing this information is going to be helpful in assessing your food attitudes and what you are modeling to your children as appropriate behavior. Remember, you can’t help someone else, including your kids, until you begin to help yourself.
Stay tuned! Next week we dive into the art of meal planning. Thank you to one of my followers for asking for recipes. I'm happy to start adding a fun recipe each week. See you next Monday.
P.S. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! PLEASE WRITE YOUR STORIES & QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. If you like what you read, SHARE IT with your friends and family.
Recipe:
Massaged Kale, Apple & Quinoa Salad
(adapted from Cynthia Lair’s Feeding the Whole Family Cookbook)
Preparation time 25 minutes
Makes 4-6 servings
Ingredients:Preparation time 25 minutes
Makes 4-6 servings
2 pre-baked chicken breasts, diced
1 bunch kale
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
¼ cup diced red onion
1/3 cup currants
¾ cup diced apple, (½ apple)
2 cups cooked quinoa
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons unfiltered apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Cook quinoa as you would pasta. (Add to boiling water, boil until tender, then drain. For extra fluffy effect, add uncooked quinoa to dry pan and lightly toast while water is coming to a boil.) De-stem kale by pulling leaf away from the stem. Wash leaves. Spin or pat dry. Stack leaves, rollup and cut into thin ribbons (chiffonade). Put kale in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, massage salt into kale with your hands for 2 minutes. To toast seeds, put in a dry skillet over low to medium heat and stir constantly for a few minutes until they change color and give off a nutty aroma.
Put kale in a fresh bowl and discard any leftover liquid. Stir onion, currants, apple, quinoa, chicken and toasted seeds into kale. Dress with oil and vinegar and toss. Taste for salt and vinegar, adding more if necessary.
PS This is a great recipe for your kids to help with. They can mix, add, taste test.
FACT: Kids are more likely to try it if they’ve helped make it. Weekly Challenge: Involve your kids in helping you with at least ONE meal this week.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Food Revolution Revolutionizing Your Family?
Week 4 in the Series
If you haven’t seen the new show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, then I recommend you go to hulu.com and watch the first 2 episodes soon. He got my full attention when he exclaimed in the first episode that parents should be pissed at the type of food being served to their kids. This guy is getting people talking and I love it!
Coming from a school foodservice background, I have seen the breakfast pizzas, colored milks, and French fries in masses. The amount of processed food served in many of our schools is appalling.
When I have attended past SNA (School Nutrition Association) conferences and school foodservice trade shows I was overwhelmed by the presence of big food industry sponsorship and their overrated food samples. While working with schools at the district and state levels I learned more about why these foods have integrated themselves onto our childrens' plates….and it’s the same plight that we face as parents on a regular basis…it’s cheap and it takes less time to make.
Essentially each school cafeteria is its own little business. Yet they don’t get to make up their own rules (can’t charge more than $2.60 per meal, has to serve specific number and types of food items, and has to meet USDA macronutrient and micronutrient guidelines) and profits are typically shunted from their “business” account to meet the needs of another school district department that is deemed more important. This leads to no extra money to purchase the more expensive but also more nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. It also doesn’t allow for higher labor costs to pay for the foodservice workers to prepare more homemade meals.
The food industry has really found a creative niche with the school foodservice market. To better serve their clients, these companies have engineered these school food products to comply with the USDA requirements and they have also run all the nutritional analysis on their products. They even label the boxes with the number of USDA equivalents required-like 2 breads, 1 vegetable, etc. You can find it right next to the diabetic carbohydrate exchanges on the label. The schools can then use these edible food products with solace in knowing they are in line with the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) requirements for school foods.
The new Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization has just passed the first Senate Committee meeting. In it, they are asking for several changes that will help our school nutrition programs be more viable as a business (like not shunting their few extra dollars to other departments within the school district). It will also reduce some of the red-tape to help schools be able to feed children, regardless of income status. They are also asking that the nutrition standards be re-evaluated and updated on the basis of America’s childhood obesity epidemic. All this is great and will no doubtedly improve the efficiency of school nutrition programs and improve the overall nutrition profile of the foods served, however there was a BIG piece missing within the legislation that I read.
What I did not see in the bill was a specific measure to enforce the availability of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, real meats and whole grains. Yes there was an amendment for schools to make local farm connections and create relationships which will in turn help boost fresh food availability, but unfortunately this is not realistic for every school in our nation. I see this absence in verbiage as an open invitation for the food industry to reformulate or re-size their existing products to comply with the new regulations, which in turn just puts us back into the same boat. Serving our kids processed, edible, food substances.
For more information on the updates to this renewal act click here: Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010
To sign a petition to increase fresh food options in school cafeterias, click here: Hungry for Change
If you haven’t seen the new show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, then I recommend you go to hulu.com and watch the first 2 episodes soon. He got my full attention when he exclaimed in the first episode that parents should be pissed at the type of food being served to their kids. This guy is getting people talking and I love it!
Coming from a school foodservice background, I have seen the breakfast pizzas, colored milks, and French fries in masses. The amount of processed food served in many of our schools is appalling.
When I have attended past SNA (School Nutrition Association) conferences and school foodservice trade shows I was overwhelmed by the presence of big food industry sponsorship and their overrated food samples. While working with schools at the district and state levels I learned more about why these foods have integrated themselves onto our childrens' plates….and it’s the same plight that we face as parents on a regular basis…it’s cheap and it takes less time to make.
Essentially each school cafeteria is its own little business. Yet they don’t get to make up their own rules (can’t charge more than $2.60 per meal, has to serve specific number and types of food items, and has to meet USDA macronutrient and micronutrient guidelines) and profits are typically shunted from their “business” account to meet the needs of another school district department that is deemed more important. This leads to no extra money to purchase the more expensive but also more nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. It also doesn’t allow for higher labor costs to pay for the foodservice workers to prepare more homemade meals.
The food industry has really found a creative niche with the school foodservice market. To better serve their clients, these companies have engineered these school food products to comply with the USDA requirements and they have also run all the nutritional analysis on their products. They even label the boxes with the number of USDA equivalents required-like 2 breads, 1 vegetable, etc. You can find it right next to the diabetic carbohydrate exchanges on the label. The schools can then use these edible food products with solace in knowing they are in line with the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) requirements for school foods.
The new Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization has just passed the first Senate Committee meeting. In it, they are asking for several changes that will help our school nutrition programs be more viable as a business (like not shunting their few extra dollars to other departments within the school district). It will also reduce some of the red-tape to help schools be able to feed children, regardless of income status. They are also asking that the nutrition standards be re-evaluated and updated on the basis of America’s childhood obesity epidemic. All this is great and will no doubtedly improve the efficiency of school nutrition programs and improve the overall nutrition profile of the foods served, however there was a BIG piece missing within the legislation that I read.
What I did not see in the bill was a specific measure to enforce the availability of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, real meats and whole grains. Yes there was an amendment for schools to make local farm connections and create relationships which will in turn help boost fresh food availability, but unfortunately this is not realistic for every school in our nation. I see this absence in verbiage as an open invitation for the food industry to reformulate or re-size their existing products to comply with the new regulations, which in turn just puts us back into the same boat. Serving our kids processed, edible, food substances.
For more information on the updates to this renewal act click here: Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010
To sign a petition to increase fresh food options in school cafeterias, click here: Hungry for Change
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Model Behavior
Week 3 in the Series
1. Set daily meal and snack times for yourself, not just your family
2. Eat with your kid, not just feed them
3. Acknowledge your own food preferences and attitudes and how that influences your family’s meals
4. Stop talking about how much was or was not eaten at meals-including your own
5. Do not comment about weight (yours, theirs, or anyone else, even if joking or you think your kids aren’t listening)
6. Reward yourself with NON-FOOD rewards like “you time” or a spa treatment instead of food
7. Share what passions you do have about cooking and healthful eating with your family
8. When no longer hungry, stop eating. (This is a shift in focus. We are used to asking ourselves if we are full versus asking ourselves if we are no longer hungry. This will lead to a big difference in calorie intake at the end of the day.)
9. Set boundaries at the table: what you prepared is the meal, do not make special food or become a short order cook when food is refused.
10. Forgive yourself for not being perfect and be okay with trying again and again. Practice makes perfect!
Weekly Challenge: Choose one item on this list to work on in the following week. Have fun!
Top Ten Ways Parents Can Model a Balanced, Healthy Relationship with Food
1. Set daily meal and snack times for yourself, not just your family
2. Eat with your kid, not just feed them
3. Acknowledge your own food preferences and attitudes and how that influences your family’s meals
4. Stop talking about how much was or was not eaten at meals-including your own
5. Do not comment about weight (yours, theirs, or anyone else, even if joking or you think your kids aren’t listening)
6. Reward yourself with NON-FOOD rewards like “you time” or a spa treatment instead of food
7. Share what passions you do have about cooking and healthful eating with your family
8. When no longer hungry, stop eating. (This is a shift in focus. We are used to asking ourselves if we are full versus asking ourselves if we are no longer hungry. This will lead to a big difference in calorie intake at the end of the day.)
9. Set boundaries at the table: what you prepared is the meal, do not make special food or become a short order cook when food is refused.
10. Forgive yourself for not being perfect and be okay with trying again and again. Practice makes perfect!
Weekly Challenge: Choose one item on this list to work on in the following week. Have fun!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Who’s The Boss?
Week 2 in Series Feeding Your Family
In the words of Ellyn Satter, “Children want to eat. They can’t help it. They are in the business of growing up.” What determines if they develop a healthful and balanced relationship with food hinges on how we, as parents, relate to the food we provide.
So even though at some meals it can EASILY feel like your kids are in charge…you are the real GATEKEEPER!
It’s true. You get to decide which foods will come into the house, which foods will be on the table at meals and snacks, and how the food is going to be prepared.
They are in charge to a degree. They get the choice of which foods they want to eat on their plate and whether or not they want to eat it at all.
This division of responsibility (created by Ellyn Satter) is an absolutely proven method for the past 40 years. It is so solid that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dietetic Association have embraced it with open arms.
What does this mean for you as a loving and caring parent? Essentially, your role is to designate set meal times through-out the day. Provide balance and variety in the food choices offered to your family. Provide a quiet and pleasant atmosphere to enjoy the meal. Then leave the rest up to your kids. End of story.
*no bribing your kids to try, to eat, or to taste anything on their plate
*no discussions about what is left or not left on the plate
*no rewarding children with desserts for skinned knees, eating all of their meal, etc.
*only offering water between set meal and snack times
*No more food battles, power struggles, guessing who is in charge of what
Of course when this new routine is implemented there will be resistance. Just like you might be feeling while reading this: “How is that going to work? I don’t know if I can do this?”
First thing to know, your child will not starve. No matter how picky they are, they will eventually eat. Usually by the next day because like I quoted before: “They can’t help it. They are in the business of growing up.”
1. Your child will trust his/her personal hunger cues
2. Grow predictably
3. Learn to try new foods all on their own, without your coersion
4. Have less risk of developing disordered eating patterns (ie emotional eating, eating disorders, using food as a coping mechanism)
5. Because of the autonomy to take care of such an natural, basic need, they will have increased levels of confidence that you will see transfer to many areas of their lives (such as self-esteem, learning competencies, social awareness).
Step 1 begins with setting the meal times and sticking to them regardless of what your day may look like, what errands needs to be run, what mood you or your family is in. A rule of thumb for meal times is eating breakfast within one hour of waking up, continuing to eat every 3-4 hours until bed-time. (If dinner is a 5 and your bedtime is at 9pm or later-then include a planned and healthful evening snack suck as a piece of fruit and low fat string cheese.)
In the words of Ellyn Satter, “Children want to eat. They can’t help it. They are in the business of growing up.” What determines if they develop a healthful and balanced relationship with food hinges on how we, as parents, relate to the food we provide.
So even though at some meals it can EASILY feel like your kids are in charge…you are the real GATEKEEPER!
It’s true. You get to decide which foods will come into the house, which foods will be on the table at meals and snacks, and how the food is going to be prepared.
They are in charge to a degree. They get the choice of which foods they want to eat on their plate and whether or not they want to eat it at all.
This division of responsibility (created by Ellyn Satter) is an absolutely proven method for the past 40 years. It is so solid that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dietetic Association have embraced it with open arms.
What does this mean for you as a loving and caring parent? Essentially, your role is to designate set meal times through-out the day. Provide balance and variety in the food choices offered to your family. Provide a quiet and pleasant atmosphere to enjoy the meal. Then leave the rest up to your kids. End of story.
End of story =
*no bribing your kids to try, to eat, or to taste anything on their plate
*no discussions about what is left or not left on the plate
*no rewarding children with desserts for skinned knees, eating all of their meal, etc.
*only offering water between set meal and snack times
*No more food battles, power struggles, guessing who is in charge of what
Of course when this new routine is implemented there will be resistance. Just like you might be feeling while reading this: “How is that going to work? I don’t know if I can do this?”
First thing to know, your child will not starve. No matter how picky they are, they will eventually eat. Usually by the next day because like I quoted before: “They can’t help it. They are in the business of growing up.”
Benefits of a Positive Feeding Relationship:
1. Your child will trust his/her personal hunger cues
2. Grow predictably
3. Learn to try new foods all on their own, without your coersion
4. Have less risk of developing disordered eating patterns (ie emotional eating, eating disorders, using food as a coping mechanism)
5. Because of the autonomy to take care of such an natural, basic need, they will have increased levels of confidence that you will see transfer to many areas of their lives (such as self-esteem, learning competencies, social awareness).
Getting Started
Step 1 begins with setting the meal times and sticking to them regardless of what your day may look like, what errands needs to be run, what mood you or your family is in. A rule of thumb for meal times is eating breakfast within one hour of waking up, continuing to eat every 3-4 hours until bed-time. (If dinner is a 5 and your bedtime is at 9pm or later-then include a planned and healthful evening snack suck as a piece of fruit and low fat string cheese.)
Weekly Challenge: Identify your meal times (including snacks). Write them down. Post them up in a HIGHLY visible place. Aim to meet these meal times at least 3-4 times this week.
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