For those with kiddos, eating healthy to lose weight is extra hard when you have to cook yourself a "separate" meal from the family. Have any of you had success getting the whole family to eat your healthy foods and meals? Check out this link for Feeding Picky Eaters and then check out the "related links" down below the article. I think the "peaceful plate" is kind of a neat concept, but generally chaos reigns w/ hungry munchkins, so it would take a lot of effort. Is this all "roll your eyeballs" and "dream on" tactics or do you think that it could work or is worth experimenting with your kiddos? Share some things that have worked for you in this department. What healthy snacks/meals do your kids love?
That orange julius smoothie recipe I posted Monday in my comment has been rocking my mornings lately :)
ReplyDelete1 cup OJ
6 ice cubes
2 scoops protein powder
Another smoothie recipe we like is berry banana, but it's higher calorie, more for after a workout/run instead of a mid-day snack
1 cup skim milk
1 banana
1 cup frozen berries
2 scoops protein powder
And this week my hubby has liked a spinach salad w/ sliced sandwich meat smoked turkey, a diced tomato, and a pinch of shredded fat free cheddar- it's juicy enough and flavorful enough that he doesn't use any dressing on it. This week I've been liking a simple spinach salad w/ crumbled goat cheese and Kraft light balsamic vinaigrette.
Can't wait to hear what kiddo friendly snack ideas you have b/c chances are, they'll be foods I'd like :)
Yay! It's Wednesday! :)
ReplyDeleteOK, on topic today: I'm not rolling my eyes. Kids will eat healthfully if that's what they're given. With that said, however, my kids do prefer carbs to veggies a little. So I make the carbs healthier by:
1) using whole wheat flour when possible
2) adding canned pumpkin, banana, or other fruits/veggies - works well for muffins, breads, even cookies
2) adding whey powder for protein
3) adding almond meal (ground almonds-you can purchase them this way in the nuts section at your grocery.
The added protein keeps the glycemic index lower so your blood sugar won't spike as much which results in less fat storage.
Here's a delicious recipe for almond meal corn bread that my kids LOVE:
Almond Meal Corn Bread
6 oz. whole wheat flour
1 1/3 c yellow cornmeal
1 1/3 c almond meal
2/3 c sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t salt
3 T. oil
1 ½ c buttermilk (or milk)
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients and stir until just moisted. Bake in greased 13X9X2 inch pan for 20 minutes.
One great piece of advice (which seems obvious now) that the pediatrician gave me was let your young kids eat off your plate. They will be introduced to more foods and won't be limited to "kid foods." Although it is annoying to have to feed half of my dinner to my grazing children, my son ate snap peas, avacadoes, cherry tomatoes, and black beans off of my lunch plate! And it helps me make better food choices for myself because I know my kids will be eating it as well.
ReplyDeleteOur favorite "fancy" snack is frozen berries with a dollop of cool whip. Good job everyone! Keep it coming!
Also anyone have any good lunch recipes? I struggle to make a quick meal for myself that is healthy and filling.
I look forward to Wednesdays because I love food (maybe too much at times). This week I have re-fallen in love with bell peppers. They were on sale this week so I stocked up. I have been eating them with everything! I added some to the chili I made on Monday and it was great. I have been eating them as a snack almost every day. For snacks, I have been eating them with humus lately because I had some on hand; otherwise, I just dip them in a little bit of light ranch dressing. I freeze the extras and use in recipes later. My other shopping fine this week was whole pineapple on sale for 99 cents. Fresh pineapple would have to be one of my favorite fruits, so I have been savoring every piece of it.
ReplyDeleteMy recipe contribution for this week is beef stroganoff. I am a huge meat eater, so I have been looking for lighter versions of some of my favorite dishes. I found this one on myrecipes.com, but it originally came from Cooking Light.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1031645
The one change I made was using fat free sour cream; it still turned out great. Next time I think I will leave out the tomato paste and compare to see which I like better.
Sarah, I've been thinking about getting a protein powder to put in my smoothies. Which would you recommend? Abrey? Anyone else find one they would recommend?
ReplyDeleteMy philosophy with the whole "kid eating healthy" and me making a separate meal for myself is this: Since I'm the one cooking the food, you have to be the one to eat it! My family and I all eat the same things for dinner with very few exeptions. There are those things that my kids will refuse, but that's their right and they are welcome to wait until breakfast to eat again. Luckily, my husband is on board with this system so, it works great for my family.
I'm all about fast dinners. I found a new recipe last week that I LOVE! It's for Sausage, Mushroom and Tomato Stew -- YUM!
6 oz fully cooked Italian style chicken sausages, sliced
1 10 oz package sliced white mushrooms
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 15 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 c water
1 tsp garlic and herb seasoning
2 c lightly packed baby spinach
1. Spray a lg nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over high heat. Add sausages, mushrooms, and zuchinni; cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 min.
2. Stir in all the remaining ingredients except the spinach and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer about 2 min. Add spinach, stirring gently until it wilts, about 1 min. longer.
Serves 4 and is 5 WW points for any of you out there counting.
(1 1/2 c.)
249 cals
6 g fat
2 g sat fat
0 g tran fat
24 mg chol
1079 mg sod
34 g carb
8 g fiber
18 g protein
89 mg calc
Jen- thanks for the idea of almond meal- I've never heard of that before! Heidi- avocadoes, black beans, cherry tomatoes, & snap peas sounds like a delicious lunch today! Was it a salad or some kind of salsa you made? Do share :) Leah- I checked out that stroganoff recipe- sounds really good! Meghan- the stew sounds yummy, too! As far as protein powder, the one I prefer is Isopure Zero-Carb Creamy Vanilla, which you can buy online or at GNC. It's also the brand that Smoothie King uses in their performance smoothies (little smoothie shop in Fitchburg at Hatchery Hill shopping center). Another one I'd suggest is GNC's store brand of vanilla protein powder (my father-in-law's protein powder of choice). Both of those have really good mixability and don't taste very protein-y :) You can buy much more inexpensive protein powders at Wal-mart or Target, which we've tried back in the day, but they either don't dissolve very well (i.e. sudden chunks when you're drinking it) or they taste really "protein-y" and are hard to choke down. The Isopure and the GNC are both really yummy. I'm not positive on prices, but I think it's about $50 for a big cannister of the Isopure and $75 for the GNC, but the GNC is 1.5x as big as the Isopure, so I guess in the end they're the same price. Jen and Nicki use protein powders. What kind to you use, Jen? Nicki uses Melaluca I think... Does anyone else use protein powders?
ReplyDeleteI use NOW Whey Protein Isolate, unflavored. I purchased a 10 lb bag for $70 at www.allstarhealth.com. The unflavored is nice because you can add it to any baked good without changing the flavor. It dissolves well and has no artifical sweeteners or "stuff" in it.
ReplyDeleteI use protein powder as well. I use Puritan's Pride Soy Protein Isolate Powder and get it online at Puritan's Pride website (www.puritan.com). It's zero carbs and 25 grams of soy protein per scoop. I stick it in fruit smoothies and even some baked goods (actually use it as a partial or full substitute for flours sometimes). The one I use is also unflavored (although I know they make flavored) and only contains Isolated Soy Protein and Soy Lecithin.
ReplyDeleteI use the Arbonne protein shakes. They are more of a meal replacement with both carbs and protein and lots of vitamins (170 cal per 2 scoop serving) . The protein is from pea, cranberry and rice since the product is vegan and soy can be a hormone disrupter. I find that I prefer to blend the powder with ice and whatever else. There are ready to drink shake now too, that are good on the go.
ReplyDeleteI try really hard to fix the same thing for everyone since I am trying to get my whole family to eat healthy. They are pretty good to eat whatever I fix and if it's something they don't like they have to at least try a bite :)
ReplyDeleteA snack that my kids really like is you take a serving of 100 cal. yogurt and you mix it with 1 cup of frozen berries and 1/4 cup of grapenuts. We all love it and it's very healthy for you! We also love to eat reduced fat wheat thins or wasa crackers with a wedge of light laughing cow cheese. Yum!
As for the protein drink, I use the pre-made Premier Nutrition Protein Shake found at Costco. It's really convenient and It tastes just like chocolate milk but better :) and it only has 160 calories, 30 g protein, 3 g fat and 1 g of sugar! I recently bought some Melaleuca ProFlex20 which I haven't tried yet but heard it is good.
Also could anyone tell me how much protein, carbs, fruits, veggies we should be consuming and when we should be eating or not eating them. Sometimes I feel like a newborn and realize I really don't know anything about nutrition and I am just amazed at the knowledge that you women have. A year ago I was going to a nutritionist and this is how she broke it out for me:
Pre-workout snack: 1 starch, 1 protein 1/2 fruit
Post-workout snack: protein shake
Breakfast: 2 starch, 2 protein, 1 fruit
Mid-morning snack: 1 fruit, 1 protein, 1 starch
Lunch: 2 protein, 2 veggies, 1 starch
Mid-afternoon snack: 1 protein, 1 starch, 1 veggie
Pre-dinner snack: 1 starch, 1 protein
Dinner: 2-3 protein, 2-3 veggies
If I remember correctly we came up with this plan because my husband doesn't get home until 7 pm and that is when we eat dinner with him, so that is why she stuck in a pre-dinner snack and she also said not to eat fruit after my pre-dinner snack and to not eat anymore after 7:30 pm.
Do you have anything else to add or any other great tips?