Healthy Eater 101

K is a horrible eater. Has been since she was a toddler. Now, at 6, she eats NO vegetables, and NO fruits. Seriously. She eats baby food banana/mixed berries and she eats applesauce, but that is it. She also eats no meats. Chicken nuggets only. No hamburger, no hot dogs, no grilled chicken or chicken in any form other than nugget, no red meat, no pork, no turkey or other poultry. She is pretty much surviving on dairy (yogurt, cheese) and grains (bread, bagels, cereal, pasta). She will eat peanuts and cashews to help with protein and she likes quiche (with cheese only, of course).

B, at 4, is a much better eater. She loves all fruits, many veggies, but is also bad on proteins. She will eat chicken nuggets and grilled chicken pieces - but that is about it. She also like nuts, but does no like eggs. Worse, K has started to wear off on her and she is getting picky.

Big Man eats everything and lots of it (he moved up to the 20% at his 2-year checkup - yay!).

This is something I have wanted to work on for a while, but just haven't had the will. A few weeks ago, the straw broke the camels back. I had taken the girls berry picking and we made a beautiful strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry pie. It smelled soooo good. B eats all these berries and LOVES them. She also like bread. So pie should be right up her alley. I knew K would scoff at it. When it had cooled and I cut a slice for B, she refused to even taste it. I was so angry. I actually left the room and went upstairs so I didn't just kill them. When I came down I was still really pissed. I basically told them that I had had it. They were not going to continue to eat like they were and when I got back from vacation we would all eat as a family. Whatever mommy (or daddy) cooked for dinner was IT. Nothing else unless you clear your plate, and no snacks when they come home from school (they get a snack at school at 4pm).

This week we started it. And what a joy it has been. Monday I played it easy on them - homemade chicken strips and McDonalds french fries. I actually went to Mickey Ds and bought the fries. Big Man gobbled it all up and wanted more. K and B sobbed to the point of hysteria all through dinner. DH decided that they could not leave the table until they had finished their plates. They had about 4-5 small pieces of chicken. K finally finished around 8:15 (15 minutes past bedtime). B didn't finish until nearly 9:15, after I had coated each piece in grated cheese.

Tuesday we had pork tenderloin with rice and green beans. The rule was you could leave the table after you had tried a bite of everything on your plate, but no more food unless you finished your dinner. This got all three of them screaming crying. Big Man liked the rice and green beans, but the pork was too much chewing for him. He had two pieces, and cried when I wouldn't give him yogurt. I could not get him to understand he had to eat the other two first. But I didn't want to break the rules in front of the girls. K and B again had sobbing crying fits. B eventually ate enough to get a cheese stick. K ate one piece and was done.

Tonight we are having chicken Marsala with pasta. Should be lovely. I think we are in for a few weeks of this, but I am hopeful we will someday have our nice, pleasant dinners. At the very least, I think I am going to need a nightly glass of wine with dinner to get through all the tantrums!

Berries Berries Everywhere

On Saturday I took the girls berry picking. We went to the same farm we did strawberry picking last month. It wasn't too hot a day, so it was really fun. First, all three of us picked blueberries. Oh my goodness they were so good. Not as big as the berries we picked last year, but oh so yummy. Then B and I went and picked blackberries (K rested in the shade under a tree). These blackberries were so sweet and SOOOO big! Like Silver Dollar big. Delicious! B and I also tried raspberries. But it is very early in the season for raspberries, and they were difficult to find ripe and there were lots of thorns, so we probably picked about 20. Lastly, K and I went to the flower garden and picked flowers. We got a huge bunch that we put in 3 vases when we got home.

On Sunday the girls and I made pies. We made blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry (from the frozen stash we picked last month) pie. We made one large pie, and three small pies. YUM YUM YUM. On my diet, I only had one bite- but tonight I get to have a piece! The girls wouldn't eat them (an entirely other post altogether), but they smelled and looked awesome! I love berry pies because you don't have to do anything to them. Just add a little cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice - and pour them in the crust. They have all the flavor themselves. Can't wait for my piece tonight!!

Workin' It

So for the last 3 weeks I have been on this crazy diet. It is called Cracking the Fat Loss Code. It is a plan that is supposed to train your body to use your fat loss stores for energy and not just what you are eating. For the first week you have to totally carb/sugar deplete. It is not easy, but its just a week, so bearable. After that, you rotate carb up and down days. In three weeks I have lost about 15 lbs. Not bad. Not sure about the science of the diet - but these days I need the discipline. I am a carb-lover (pasta/bread/etc)..so this isn't easy for me. But it is working - maybe not from the science, but just cutting out a LOT of calories/fat.

I have also been upping my exercise. I am trying to do 5-days a week now. During the deplete week I tried to run. It wasn't even funny. I made it a mile, and then hit a brick wall. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I walked for a block, and tried to start running again - no dice. It was awful. So instead I stuck with a new 25-minute workout tape that is KILLER. It is called the 30-day shred, and is done by Jillian, the trainer on Biggest Loser. I have been doing this 3x a week for 3 weeks, and man it really kills you. I highly recommend. I am on level one (of three levels)...I don't expect to move to Level 2 for at least a year!!! I am also back to running (now that I have some level of carbs/sugar), and had a great run yesterday. I also signed up for my 3rd 5K for the end of this September. REALLY want to break 40 minutes.

Of course, on Friday I leave for Paris. I don't have any planned exercise - but expect a LOT of walking. Also expect a lot of bad eating- cheese, wine, pastries, chocolate. But at least I feel like I am in a mode now that I will be able to get back into it when I return.

Any good dieting/fitness tips!

Food and Drink Pairings

Now I know I had a recent post about wine, but don't go thinking I'm getting all foodie on you. I had to share this sign I saw at a recent stop at Burger King. Seriously. Burger King. I prefer the Sprite with the Tendercrust. You?

In Salute of the Freezer

So March is (was) Frozen Food month. I LOVE using my freezer. I have 2 - the regular top of the refrigerator kind and a stand alone upright freezer in the basement. It can make mealtimes do-able in my crazy household. I use it for a few things. 1) stocking up when frozen veggies or staples are on sale. I always have chicken breasts, chicken tenders, steaks, and hamburger in there. 2) meal-prep meals. I am a HUGE fan of meal preparation places. My favorite is dinnerdone. It is such a relief to have complete dinners ready to go - I just look at the list and pick one out! 3) leftovers. When I make sauce I always freeze half the batch (quick tip - mini muffin tins are great for this - pour the sauce in, flash freeze, then transfer to freezer baggies!). I also have a few recipes I will make double of (chicken in white sauce, taco meat, BBQ beef in the crock pot) and freeze half.

I think the freezer (combined with judicial use of the microwave) are a great way to get dinner on the table. Now if I could just get my kids to eat it!

Big Money Bake Sale

All of last week, our daycare had a bake sale to raise money for improvements to the center. The daycare is in a federal building so there are lots of hungry workers there to try and hit up.

I spent many nights baking cookies. The funniest part was dealing with Big Man. He LOVES chocolate. My girls have no interest in chocolate (are they really mine??!!), but Big Man is a HUGE fan. He can hear you unwrapping a hershey kiss from anywhere in the house. He will come running with an open mouth and a panting breathe. It totally cracks me up.

Anyway, I was baking and DH was helping sell, and they made over $1000!!!! For a four-day bake sale. I am seriously in the wrong business. I need to quit today and start a business running those carts that go around inside office buildings selling breakfast and lunch foods. Seriously, I would make a killing. If they can sell some cookies and brownies at a dollar each and raise over one THOUSAND dollars in four days, I would be making 6 figures in a heartbeat with my lunch cart.

I seriously would love to do this. I assume the health department issues combined with the security issues in many DC buildings make this infeasible. I can't image why else nobody is doing this. If you saw the line at the Starbucks in my building every morning you know this would work. And after seeing this bake sale, I'm sure of it. hmmm...

Best Popcorn Ever

Seriously if you like popcorn, this is an awesome recipe. It is awesome and easy. I love popcorn, and have been having the microwave kind for years now, but I have never been fully satisfied with it. I often have lots unpopped, and could live without the chemical taste. Now with all the hoopla about the chemicals in it, I have been looking for other options. I bought a cool bowl that you use to pop it in the microwave with just the popcorn kernels and/or oil. But again, not full poppage. So..turns out the old fashioned way is the best. This does use some oil- but not alot. that said, if you melt about 2 tbl butter in the pan after popping, then pout over the popcorn - it is AWESOME! I wouldn't use the butter everyday, but the popcorn is great. Only 3-4 kernels didn't pop and it just tasted so good. And I was using generic brand popcorn kernels from the supermarket. I know some people swear by special kernels, but these were great. Enjoy!

Making Life Easier

We all need things to make our lives a little easier. I have a few.

1) laundry - I have someone who comes in every two weeks and does 6-8 loads of laundry, folds, and puts the kids stuff away. I know this sounds totally frivolous. I mean, I can do laundry. And I did (and do). But putting it away just never seemed to happen. When we got home from work, we had catching up, homework, playing, dinner, baths to do. After that the kids were asleep and I didn't want to wake them putting their stuff away. This REALLY helps. 2) Dinner Done. This is a dinner-prep place, and I love it. The food is great, and I LOVE not having to think about dinner. Now I just look at my list of foods from my freezer, and on Sunday nights, plan it out on my calendar. Which leads me to

3) My weekly calendar. This is a BIG calendar that hangs in my kitchen. Everything goes on it - meal plans, school events, classes, work commitments, ticketed events, etc. Helps me see what is going on in one glance. 4) house cleaner. Normally, we have someone that comes in 2x month and takes care of general cleaning - bathrooms, kitchen, vacuuming, dusting, changing sheets on beds, etc. Our most recent one moved away a month ago, and we are still without one. This I must get on soon! These are what Work for Me!

What kinds of things do you to make your life easier?

Say it isn't so!

Trader Joe's has stopped carrying frozen avocado halves!! What is up with that? I love avocado, but don't eat it often enough to keep it fresh. TJs was the perfect solution - frozen avocado halves - what a great thing. I nearly always had a bag in the freezer to dip into. Well, recently I ran out and went looking for them. I was informed that they no longer carry them. What the %$(*$%&??? I am so bummed. I have written to corporate TJ and begged them to bring them back. I refused to even buy anything on that trip, I was so disappointed.

I hate when stores discontinue products with no warning - I would have majorly stocked up!!!

If you liked these too - please go here and tell them to bring them back!

Food, food, glorious food

So this website shows what a typical family eats in different locations all around the world. It is very interesting, I think. Things I found surprising:

1) the family in Italy is so skinny - and LOOK at ALL THAT BREAD! My goodness! There have to be 20 loaves of bread in that picture!!!

2) how much soda the Mexican family drinks

3) I don't begin to have a guess where Konstancin-Jeziorna is. Not even the continent. (Hope I never get that one in our geography/world game, Duffy and dan!)

4) the family from Bargteheide spends over $500 a week on food??!! I didn't think Germany was that expensive.

Anyway, I was glad we weren't on there. Lord knows what we consume in a week, but I'm sure it wouldn't look good. There would be unbelievable amounts of yogurt. And a pathetic lack of fresh vegetables (although I did sign us up for a vegetable/fruit delivery service, so that should help).

Ewwww! Food issues.

So I'm flipping through a magazine last night and see an ad for Wheat Thins. Except it was for Cinnamon Wheat Thins. YUCK. I like Wheat Thins. They are yummy. But they are savory. Not sweet. Don't put cinnamon on them. I mean, I know cinnamon is a versatile spice. I love cinnamon in chili. I've even had it on chicken. But cinnamon wheat thins sound like they are trying to be graham crackers. That grosses me out. I hate when foods try and be something they aren't.

Of course I hate more when foods pretend to be other foods. Turkey bacon? I'm sorry, a pig and a turkey are VERY different animals. I know it is healthier, but I'd rather have bacon less often than have turkey bacon at all.

I have the same problem with shelf-stable dairy. That's just wrong. If it has milk in it -- refrigerate it! I won't eat shelf-stable pudding or milk if you put a gun to my head. At least pretend to refrigerate it. Are there less chemicals in Jell-o brand pudding? I doubt it, but they sell it in the refrigerated section, and that's where I like it.

My exception is Velveeta. Love the stuff. I fully acknowledge its a chemical stick -- but its a yummy, melty, creamy chemical stick. I also bought some of the shelf-stable milk to keep in the diaper bag from the kids. But it grosses me out.

What types of weird foods gross you out?