I know you have heard the saying, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." The question is why? In short, my answer is brain food. Did you know that the only fuel the brain uses is glucose? I honestly believe that this is the reason many people crave sugar in the morning.
Think of all the breakfast foods out there--most contain high amounts of sugar or starch. Pancakes, pastries, cereal, milk, donuts, fruit, waffles, oatmeal, etc. are all huge sources of sugar or glucose. Physiologically this makes sense because our brain needs glucose to function. However, too much glucose can be damaging to the brain. Therefore, a breakfast meal with only simple sugars like sucrose, table sugar, can be harmful because of the huge surge of glucose your body is getting. It is best to always eat breakfast, especially kids who are trying to absorb an extensive amount of information every day, but always combine it with fat and protein to balance the surge of sugar.
I have heard all the excuses, "I'm not hungry in the morning", "If I eat breakfast, it makes me sick to my stomach", "I eat more if I eat breakfast." Honestly, it is a matter of habit. My husband has given me all of these excuses, until he gave up DPs and I started preparing him breakfast to take to work. Now he wants breakfast every morning.
If you are not eating breakfast and your kids are, I bet one or more of your kids will eventually start giving you excuses for not eating breakfast as well. If it is not a priority for you, why should it be for them? I happen to think it is vital for every kid to eat a nutritious breakfast in the morning, but it does take effort on our part.
I make myself get up 30 minutes earlier than my kids, and I decide the night before what I am going to make for them in the morning. I make things like blueberry pancakes and bacon, or French toast and sausage links, or this morning I made homemade donuts (sounds decadent, right? but it is an occasional item on our list) and cheesy eggs. If for some reason we only have time for a whole grain cereal, then I combine it with a fruit and yogurt protein shake (see snack ideas on my "Kids" blog). I often cook a sheet pan full of bacon on parchment paper in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes and refrigerate the left-overs for the rest of the week). If you prefer turkey bacon that is fine too, but we like the real thing. Combine the following ideas with some fruit or 1/4 c. of juice, and you have a well balanced meal.
Other breakfast ideas:
omelets with fresh, chopped spinach (optional but good), ham, and cheese and toast
mini-quiches (Nancy's is a good all-natural brand or you can make your own and freeze them, recipe follows)
chocolate chip and banana muffins (recipe follows) and scrambled eggs and bacon
breakfast sandwiches like scrambled eggs and ham on whole grain toast or a biscuit
oatmeal and a protein shake
cinnamon rolls with chopped nuts and bacon
BLT
breakfast pizza (recipe follows)
There will be other benefits to adopting this type of lifestyle. Your metabolism will kick in and burn the fuel that you give it (food) more efficiently. You will start to eat more regular but smaller lunches and dinners, with snacks in between because your body's metabolism will require it. However, you will probably lose weight even though it may seem that you are eating more. Believe me, it's true! Remember, your body is working more efficiently. You will be able to think clearer and mornings won't be such a drag.
Recipes:
The following recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law, Katie. I have adjusted it for muffins instead of bread. These are so good! Thanks, Katie.
Chocolate chip Banana Muffins
2 large or 3 small bananas
3 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup room temperature butter (leave it out the night before)
2 cups unbleached flour (you can use all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a regular 12 muffin pan and a mini 12 muffin pan with cooking spray. Whip together bananas and milk with whisk or in mixer. Add sugar and whip; add egg and whip. Add remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and mix on low just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin pans and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown for small muffins and 15 to 20 minutes for bigger muffins.
Mini Quiches:
3 refrigerated pie crusts
8 large eggs, beaten
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups fresh, chopped spinach, washed and drained
1/2 lb. bacon, finely diced and cooked until crisp
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Pinch off pie crust dough, roll into a ball and place in mini muffin pans. Use a shot glass sprayed with cooking spray to press dough into thin shells. Pour mixture into shells and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until light brown on top.
Breakfast Pizza
2 cans crescent rolls
6 eggs
8 oz. shredded cheddar/jack cheese
2 tablespoons flour
1 can green chilis, drained (optional)
2 c. frozen hash browns, defrosted
1/2 lb. breakfast sausage
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Spread crescent rolls out on a pizza pan or baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray; seal the edges. Mix cheese with the flour. Beat the eggs and stir in the green chilis, cheese, and salt and pepper. Spread mixture out on the dough. Sprinkle on the sausage and then the hash browns. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Serve with salsa.
Good eating!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Diets
Every time I hear of a new diet, I sigh in frustration. Diets fail...period. They get you hooked with some weight loss or maybe a lot of weight loss, but in the long run, unless it is a change for life, they will fail. Biologically, our bodies were made to adjust our metabolism according to a bountiful harvest or a food shortage. During a food shortage, like most diets, your body goes into starvation mode and hoards all of the calories that you take in. When there is an abundance of food, your body will adjust your metabolism to burn those calories more efficiently. So say you go on the ever popular no-to-low carbohydrate diet where you eat very few carbs.
Let me preface this by saying that I am all for limiting refined or simple sugars in your daily living. We eat 100% whole grain breads, cereal, pasta, rice, etc. for the most part, and we limit ourselves to one sugary item per day. For example, if my kids had a cookie for lunch at school, they get fruit for dessert that night.
Back to the diet, if you go on this diet, and you start limiting things that you will eventually put back in your diet, the diet will fail you because you have not made a life style change. Limiting calories in any form will make you lose weight, but when you add those calories back in, most of the time, unless you are burning them off with exercise, the weight will come back plus some. Remember the starvation mode, your body thinks that it has been in starvation mode, so it packs on the weight in case you go into starvation mode again. It is our amazing ability to survive that takes many people on a roller coaster ride when dieting.
What I advise instead are life style changes, permanent things that you can manage for life. For example, I think everyone should know how to read a food label. I know that most of you reading this probably do, but do your kids? Do they know what protein is? Do they know why vitamins and minerals are important? Do they understand why they should try to limit sugar in all of its many forms, i.e. high fructose corn syrup, modified corn starch, glucose syrup? I think they should be taught this early in school, but I know my kids aren't learning this in school. It falls to us to educate ourselves and to share it with our kids. Tori and Brendan can read a food label and tell me if that food is healthy or not. They don't always make the right choices, but my hope is that I am setting them up for a life time of conscientious eating.
Tips of the day:
Tip #1: teach your kids how to read and understand a food label. When you are at the grocery store, and they want something, like a sugar packed cereal, have them look at the label, or read the label to them depending on age, and tell you if it is good for them.
Tip # 2: Don't diet! Make life style changes that you can stick to.
Tip # 3: You hear it all the time, but get active. If all you can make time for is a 20 minute bicycle ride with the kids, do it! When I started exercising regularly (3 to 5 times a week) 2 and 1/2 years ago, I started with ten minutes a day. When I was able to increase the time, it was an accomplishment, and that kept me going. If I had made myself start at 30 minutes, it might have been too taxing on my body, and I probably would have quit.
Tip #4: When making a soup, stew, casserole, etc., I always finely dice my vegetables. That way it is very hard for them to pick anything out, and they don't get freaked out by anything that I have snuck in.
Recipe:
The following recipe is packed with high quality protein which I think kids do not get enough of, and it is delicious. It takes a little time to chop up the vegetables, but if you can use a chopper thing, like the one Pampered Chef makes that you push up and down on, it makes the chopping a lot easier. There are cheaper ones at other stores too.
Chicken, Sausage and Ham Stew
3 chicken breasts, bone in and skin on
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil, not EVOO
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
2 cups yellow onions, finely diced
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
1/2 pound smoked ham, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
8 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 lb. dried lentils, soaked in very hot water for 15 minutes
1/2 c. wild rice
Directions:
Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a deep dish. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking to remove any excess. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until evenly browned, about 5 minutes per side, adding more oil if needed. Remove with tongs to a plate. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, celery, carrots and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the ham and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves, and bring to a boil, stirring to deglaze the pan. Return the chicken to the pan and reduce the heat to medium low. Add the drained lentils and the wild rice. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and is very tender, starting to fall from the bones, about 1 hour. Add more water, if necessary for a stew. Take the chicken out, remove the meat from the bone, and shred using two forks. Return the meat to the pot and remove from the heat. Discard the bay leaves and serve.
Side note: For even more nutritional value, throw in some washed and chopped greens for the last 30 minutes or so. There is so much flavor in this stew that you can't go wrong sneaking them in there. This makes a lot of stew so freeze what you don't eat, and it will be a great go to meal for a busy week night.
Let me preface this by saying that I am all for limiting refined or simple sugars in your daily living. We eat 100% whole grain breads, cereal, pasta, rice, etc. for the most part, and we limit ourselves to one sugary item per day. For example, if my kids had a cookie for lunch at school, they get fruit for dessert that night.
Back to the diet, if you go on this diet, and you start limiting things that you will eventually put back in your diet, the diet will fail you because you have not made a life style change. Limiting calories in any form will make you lose weight, but when you add those calories back in, most of the time, unless you are burning them off with exercise, the weight will come back plus some. Remember the starvation mode, your body thinks that it has been in starvation mode, so it packs on the weight in case you go into starvation mode again. It is our amazing ability to survive that takes many people on a roller coaster ride when dieting.
What I advise instead are life style changes, permanent things that you can manage for life. For example, I think everyone should know how to read a food label. I know that most of you reading this probably do, but do your kids? Do they know what protein is? Do they know why vitamins and minerals are important? Do they understand why they should try to limit sugar in all of its many forms, i.e. high fructose corn syrup, modified corn starch, glucose syrup? I think they should be taught this early in school, but I know my kids aren't learning this in school. It falls to us to educate ourselves and to share it with our kids. Tori and Brendan can read a food label and tell me if that food is healthy or not. They don't always make the right choices, but my hope is that I am setting them up for a life time of conscientious eating.
Tips of the day:
Tip #1: teach your kids how to read and understand a food label. When you are at the grocery store, and they want something, like a sugar packed cereal, have them look at the label, or read the label to them depending on age, and tell you if it is good for them.
Tip # 2: Don't diet! Make life style changes that you can stick to.
Tip # 3: You hear it all the time, but get active. If all you can make time for is a 20 minute bicycle ride with the kids, do it! When I started exercising regularly (3 to 5 times a week) 2 and 1/2 years ago, I started with ten minutes a day. When I was able to increase the time, it was an accomplishment, and that kept me going. If I had made myself start at 30 minutes, it might have been too taxing on my body, and I probably would have quit.
Tip #4: When making a soup, stew, casserole, etc., I always finely dice my vegetables. That way it is very hard for them to pick anything out, and they don't get freaked out by anything that I have snuck in.
Recipe:
The following recipe is packed with high quality protein which I think kids do not get enough of, and it is delicious. It takes a little time to chop up the vegetables, but if you can use a chopper thing, like the one Pampered Chef makes that you push up and down on, it makes the chopping a lot easier. There are cheaper ones at other stores too.
Chicken, Sausage and Ham Stew
3 chicken breasts, bone in and skin on
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil, not EVOO
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
2 cups yellow onions, finely diced
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
1/2 pound smoked ham, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
8 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 lb. dried lentils, soaked in very hot water for 15 minutes
1/2 c. wild rice
Directions:
Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a deep dish. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking to remove any excess. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until evenly browned, about 5 minutes per side, adding more oil if needed. Remove with tongs to a plate. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, celery, carrots and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the ham and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves, and bring to a boil, stirring to deglaze the pan. Return the chicken to the pan and reduce the heat to medium low. Add the drained lentils and the wild rice. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and is very tender, starting to fall from the bones, about 1 hour. Add more water, if necessary for a stew. Take the chicken out, remove the meat from the bone, and shred using two forks. Return the meat to the pot and remove from the heat. Discard the bay leaves and serve.
Side note: For even more nutritional value, throw in some washed and chopped greens for the last 30 minutes or so. There is so much flavor in this stew that you can't go wrong sneaking them in there. This makes a lot of stew so freeze what you don't eat, and it will be a great go to meal for a busy week night.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Kids
Kids are the main reason I decided to write a blog. My heart breaks for them--I don't care who they are, what they look like, how old they are, I hate to see injustice done to defenseless, struggling kids. You may be thinking that you have seen a lot of kids who are not so defenseless, but what I see are kids who have been made to act a certain way because of their environment. I may be naive, but I think all kids just want love and attention, and they get it any way they can, whether it be positive or negative.
I could write a whole book on this subject, but I will try to keep myself on track and talk about nutrition. This past summer, Tori and Brendan, my kids, went to tennis camp. I was astounded at the number of overweight children. I am not over-exaggerating when I say that two-thirds of the kids were overweight, and at tennis camp. Their parents were doing a great thing by bringing them there for the exercise, but how did all of these kids become overweight?
I don't know their specifics, but what I do know is that most kids learn by example. Now I know I am not telling you anything new; our kids learn from our actions. One of my earliest and most distinct elementary school memories is of me telling my friends at lunch time in the second or third grade that I was going on a diet. I remember not eating anything for lunch and getting a lot of attention from the kids around me. I had to explain what a diet was to most of the kids (I think I said, "I am fat so I'm not going to eat anything."). I remember their shock and awe at what I was saying. For me, all of that attention was a big deal because I was painfully shy and hardly got noticed.
My mom was always on a diet. She would talk about it often. My husband says in good humor that I threw him under the bus in my last blog, so I going to try not to do that to my mom here, but if it helps someone, it's worth it...right, Mom? I think I picked up from my mom a general dissatisfaction she had for herself, and a diet was going to solve her insecurities. I thought I would feel better about myself, as well.
From that point until a few years into college (I went for eight long years), I had a love/hate relationship with food. I am not saying that it is my mom's fault, but I had to learn on my own how to see food and not connect it with my self esteem. I will be honest and say that I struggled with anorexia and over-eating during those years. I would have struggled with bulimia, but I tried and tried to make myself throw up, and couldn't--even when I have a stomach virus, I rarely throw up.
I say all of this because I know what it feels like to be a kid who struggles with their relationship with food and with weight issues. This is why my heart breaks for these overweight kids. Most of them are maliciously made fun of, and they cannot fix it. They don't know how, and they don't have the tools to do so. It is my passion to help make parents aware of how their choices with regard to food and nutrition can help or hinder their children. However, I have written too long today, so tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story....
Snacks:
I was asked by a friend of mine about snacks for her kids, so I will touch on that briefly. Let me say this first though, if you have a kid that does not eat well at meal time, try not to let them drink any sugary drink, including more than a 1/2 cup of milk, or eat a snack two hours before meal time. Also, a snack should include protein, carbohydrate (with some fiber), and fat. This keeps their insulin from spiking and makes them feel fuller faster and for a longer period of time, so they won't be hungry 30 minutes later. One example is anything with peanut butter (apple slices, celery sticks, bananas, pretzels, graham crackers, toast, etc.), but please buy the all-natural, no-sugar-added kind of peanut butter. Make sure all of the snacks you buy are all-natural, no artificial flavors or colors.
More easy snack options (read labels to make sure they are all-natural):
cheese and apple slices
yogurt but avoid the kind with high fructose corn syrup for reasons explained later
granola bars with nuts
ham and cheese roll ups
string cheese and mandarin orange slices
honey, banana, and peanut butter fold-over on whole grain bread
turkey and cheese fold-over on whole grain bread
hard-boiled egg sprinkled with salt and whole grain cinnamon toast
deviled eggs
yogurt smoothie with frozen fruit
frozen fruit smoothie with protein powder (I only buy GNC's unflavored protein powder because they use an all-natural milk protein called whey)
trail mix (our favorite mix that I make has equal amounts of raisins or craisins, almonds, and dark chocolate chips)
Signing off, but please post comments or questions. I welcome them...good or bad. Thanks!
I could write a whole book on this subject, but I will try to keep myself on track and talk about nutrition. This past summer, Tori and Brendan, my kids, went to tennis camp. I was astounded at the number of overweight children. I am not over-exaggerating when I say that two-thirds of the kids were overweight, and at tennis camp. Their parents were doing a great thing by bringing them there for the exercise, but how did all of these kids become overweight?
I don't know their specifics, but what I do know is that most kids learn by example. Now I know I am not telling you anything new; our kids learn from our actions. One of my earliest and most distinct elementary school memories is of me telling my friends at lunch time in the second or third grade that I was going on a diet. I remember not eating anything for lunch and getting a lot of attention from the kids around me. I had to explain what a diet was to most of the kids (I think I said, "I am fat so I'm not going to eat anything."). I remember their shock and awe at what I was saying. For me, all of that attention was a big deal because I was painfully shy and hardly got noticed.
My mom was always on a diet. She would talk about it often. My husband says in good humor that I threw him under the bus in my last blog, so I going to try not to do that to my mom here, but if it helps someone, it's worth it...right, Mom? I think I picked up from my mom a general dissatisfaction she had for herself, and a diet was going to solve her insecurities. I thought I would feel better about myself, as well.
From that point until a few years into college (I went for eight long years), I had a love/hate relationship with food. I am not saying that it is my mom's fault, but I had to learn on my own how to see food and not connect it with my self esteem. I will be honest and say that I struggled with anorexia and over-eating during those years. I would have struggled with bulimia, but I tried and tried to make myself throw up, and couldn't--even when I have a stomach virus, I rarely throw up.
I say all of this because I know what it feels like to be a kid who struggles with their relationship with food and with weight issues. This is why my heart breaks for these overweight kids. Most of them are maliciously made fun of, and they cannot fix it. They don't know how, and they don't have the tools to do so. It is my passion to help make parents aware of how their choices with regard to food and nutrition can help or hinder their children. However, I have written too long today, so tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story....
Snacks:
I was asked by a friend of mine about snacks for her kids, so I will touch on that briefly. Let me say this first though, if you have a kid that does not eat well at meal time, try not to let them drink any sugary drink, including more than a 1/2 cup of milk, or eat a snack two hours before meal time. Also, a snack should include protein, carbohydrate (with some fiber), and fat. This keeps their insulin from spiking and makes them feel fuller faster and for a longer period of time, so they won't be hungry 30 minutes later. One example is anything with peanut butter (apple slices, celery sticks, bananas, pretzels, graham crackers, toast, etc.), but please buy the all-natural, no-sugar-added kind of peanut butter. Make sure all of the snacks you buy are all-natural, no artificial flavors or colors.
More easy snack options (read labels to make sure they are all-natural):
cheese and apple slices
yogurt but avoid the kind with high fructose corn syrup for reasons explained later
granola bars with nuts
ham and cheese roll ups
string cheese and mandarin orange slices
honey, banana, and peanut butter fold-over on whole grain bread
turkey and cheese fold-over on whole grain bread
hard-boiled egg sprinkled with salt and whole grain cinnamon toast
deviled eggs
yogurt smoothie with frozen fruit
frozen fruit smoothie with protein powder (I only buy GNC's unflavored protein powder because they use an all-natural milk protein called whey)
trail mix (our favorite mix that I make has equal amounts of raisins or craisins, almonds, and dark chocolate chips)
Signing off, but please post comments or questions. I welcome them...good or bad. Thanks!
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