Nutrition From Our Kitchen

My blog posts have not been too consistent these days, both in frequency and content. Today's is no different. Since the beginning of this year our family has been making bigger efforts to eat healthy, excercise more and to really learn about how different foods affect our bodies. Lately with the change of season, we've started new goals and tried new things in the kitchen, which have both been inspiring me lately, and I guess the result is this seemingly random post.

Every so often I enjoy blog cruising for helpful tips for moms and families. I really appreciate coming across a really great idea and I love that people take the time to share them. It seems that at this time of year, I am finding more and more ways to use those cans of cooked pumkin that have been in my pantry for a year. Yay!

I wanted to take the time to sit and write down a couple of our family's favorites, and possibly pay forward some of the helpful information that I've read. All of which, are our attempts at getting our family to eat healthy and properly as much as possible. None of these ideas are new, they just seem to work for us.

Healthy attempt #1: Sprinkles on yogurt.

My daughter has so many allergies (peanuts, milk, eggs, that we know of...) that cooking for her and finding nutritious alternatives has been a challenge for me since the she took her first bite of rice cereal and broke out in a rash. She has not minded soy yougurt as a dairy alternative, though she certainly doesn't love it, and pushes it away half the time. I can't take credit for the idea of adding sprinkles - I read it in Jerry Seinfield wife's cook book (Deceptively Delicious - I HIGHLY recommend) and Elizabeth took to it right away and was finishing her bowls of yogurt in record time.

Healthy attempt #2: Oatmeal Ice Cream Cones

I thought I was pretty clever for thinking of this, but later found out that my sister in-law does this as well, haha. For lunch, our kids love an ice cream cone filled with oatmeal (not the individual packs filled with sugar....) mixed with some honey and cinnamon. They also love a few added blueberries on top for decoration. Today at the grocery store I picked up pink kiddy cones and Elizabeth asked for seconds.

Healthy attempt #3: Healthier (and secretive) ways to add flavour, sweetness and nurtition.

Fresh Grated Ginger: adds a really nice flavour to lots of things for kids - cooked apples, steamed sweet potatoes, etc. We (and by we, I mean Mason and I) like adding fresh grated ginger to morning fruit smoothies. I used to never have ginger on hand and now I always have some in the fridge since there are so many things you can add it too. Bonus, ginger aids in digestion and is a natural metabolism booster for us adults. SWEET.

Cinnamon: YUM. One of my daughter's favorite supper side dishes is boiled sweet potatoes with spinkled cinnamon. Adding only half a teaspoon for flavour can help normalize blood sugar levels. Too much insulin encourages our bodies to store fat, so for any adult who is looking to lose a few extra pounds (aren't we all), cinnamon can help, haha!

Another great sweetning alternative to sugar is Honey (honey boots our immune system with bacteria fighting and anti-fungal compounds). Of course honey is beneficial in moderation, since it is still pretty high in calories per tablespoon...however Elizabeth has it everyday on peabutter and toast (yes, PEAbutter, not peanut butter...) for breakfast and on her oatmeal at lunch which is most days....oops I guess that's not moderation.

Cooked fruit: My parents were here not too long ago and my mom made a really great dessert. She sliced up a bunch of summer fruits (peaches, white nectarines and plums - with skins) and put them all in a frying pan. She covered them with a lid and simmered/lightly cooked them for about half an hour. The fruits produced a delicious natural juice, and LOTS of it, and together the cooked fruit and syropy thick juice made a really great summer dessert. You could eat it alone, or you could add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, like we did :) oops.

Healthy attempt #4: Leaving fresh veggies around the house and NOT asking your kids to eat them.

I've read it before, it's nothing new, but I am discovering it actually works. I try not to feed the kids snacks after lunch, so they are purposely REALLY hungry for dinner. We leave out chopped celery and carrot sticks in a bowl sitting on the counter or table around 5pm and the kids start helping themselves. They can spoil their dinner all they want on vegetables. The key I've found is to get them really hungry though - otherwise they aren't tricked.

Healthy attempt #5: Soups.

Morg and I spent most of our summer eating variations of salads. It started getting boring when the weather started changing, so we turned to soups. I have hardly ever cooked soups before, though this year we are eating soups almost every second night. My favorite so far is a recipe I found in Oxygen's (I think it's a magazine only sold in Canada) Nutrition issue. I have made it probably 7 times already, and each time I tripple the recipe. I have tried a few different variations of vegetables but these are my favorite proportions:

2tsp trans-fat-free margarine

1 cup chopped leeks

2 stalks chopped celery

2 inches fresh gingerroot, grated

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1.5 pounds chopped carrots

1. on medium-high heat hear in a large non-stick skillet, add margarine, onion, celery, gingerroot and pepper and salt. Saute for 10 minutes Avoid browning.

2. While sauteing vegetables, in a large pot add broth, carrots, parsley. Cover and bring to boil. While boiling, add saute mixture and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes, until carrots are soft.

3. I use my hand blender to puree the soup, though you could use a regular blender just as well. Blend until smooth and creamy.

I spent the first portion of Elizabeth's life just trying to get her to eat anything, and now that she is an active almost-4-year-old who is liking food a lot more, I am trying to focus on her getting the right foods. Mason is my meat and potatoes kid, and so if he will one day willingly pick up a piece of celery and eat the whole thing, I will have accomnplished my goal! So, at the risk of this being a totally boring post (I have a feeling I will probably wake up in the morning and say "why did I write all that?"), I guess I wanted to record some of the things that are inspiring us in our family, and to say I love reading the wealth of information available on all the blogs out there about tips for family nutrition.

Nighty Night!