Nourish Your Kids

Sports Drinks? [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Hopefully you have received our email by now about our new name - NourishMD - and the launching of our website later today. Along with reconfirming your email to continue to receive our newsletters, if you are a subscriber to our blog you will also need to re-subscribe on the new blog. Sorry for the inconvenience - it's due to the change in our website software. Thanks!

Sue, welcome home. At least you came home to some beautiful weather in Michigan!

As we continue talking about sports nutrition, I've had people ask me what I suggest for older kids who are involved in high-intensity sports. First is always water. Beyond that, unless they are exercising for a solid 90 minutes or it is very hot, they probably don't need anything else. If they want some flavor, put some fruit - orange slices are great - in a big glass pitcher of water overnight. It's a great refresher during sports.

When my kids get to the age that they are involved in high-intensity sports, which I know Jacob and Lucas will at the rate they are going, I will also have them drink Kids' Vibe mixed with water before and during strenuous workouts. Not only will it get nutrients into their cells, without the sugar and other junk, it will most likely help them perform better. I've had evidence of that from a few high school track athletes. The coach saw a marked increase in performance in terms of strength and speed. That is just evidence of the cells functioning more efficiently and so the whole body functions more effectively. Proven cellular nutrition - 'predigested' vitamins and minerals - formulated by an MD who knows nutrition.

McCreadie Family Menu [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:42:00 +0000

Wow! Busy, busy.

I've been away for a week, and returning home "mom in charge" is quite something. Luckily, I am so well supported. Catherine, who has been with us since Kaitlin was born (lucky us!) helped out BIG time today with dinner. Thanks Catherine! :)

Breakfast: Eggs with sea salt [honest, that was it! I'm honest at least :)]

Snack: banana and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookie

Lunch: pork tenderloin (left overs) with brown rice and peas

Snack: at school (forgot to ask)

Dinner: peanut crusted chicken (made gluten free - Go Catherine!) and brown rice with veggies

Kaitlin and Elle weren't crazy about the rice, but loved the chicken!

Dessert: another oatmeal chocolate chip cookie

Dirty Dozen Guide and Menu [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:58:00 +0000

The Environmental Working Group's new Shopper's Guide to the Dirty Dozen is out and you can access it here. It is based on nearly 87,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between 2000 and 2007.

A day's menu at the Batten Home this week:

Breakfast: Mexican Omelettes - spinach, Aduki Beans, avacado, salsa, cheese and sea salt
Snack: Cheese and Carrots for the boys; Turkey and Carrots for Natalie
Lunch: Turkey Wraps with lettuce, avacado and grapeseed oil mayo; carrots; trailmix with cashews, dark chocolate and raisins
After School Snack: Raw Food Bar
Dinner: Ruby Tuesdays - The kids had Turkey Minis, a side of broccoli and a big plate from the salad bar. The waitress forgot and brought the side of french fries instead of broccoli. The kids asked if they could try one - they've actually never had restaurant fries - so they did and they found them pretty tasty. Surprise, surprise. They didn't say anything when we replaced them with broccoli, but I can guess what they were thinking. We talked about how addictive and tricky the fries are and that they are always in the top 3 of all the lists of the worst foods you can consume - along with doughnuts and pop.
Snack: Apple

The Bottom Line: Nutrients and Toxicity [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:10:00 +0000

Sue is at a conference all week - in California (poor girl). So, Readers, you're stuck with me this week. We're talking about all the sports drinks and snacks kids are consuming and how it is impacting their health.

I like to simplify the thinking about all these Fake Foods kids are getting.

It comes down to lack of nutrition and toxicity. First, the Fake Foods are void of any real nutrition, so your child's body is not getting the nutrients it needs. Often children (and adults) will feel the need to keep eating because the body is still 'asking' for the nutrients it needs. Second, the Fake Foods are introducing toxins into the body at a quick rate - sometimes quicker than your child's body can process. These toxins accumulate and contribute to less-than-great health.

So, the body is not working most effectively at the cellular level. The cells are not getting what they need and they are getting too much of what they don't need.

We need to shift the balance and help our kids get more nutrient-dense foods and less toxic foods. And, more water to deliver the nutrients and flush the toxins.

If your child needs a convenient snack for sports and activities look for a food bar like the Kid's Food Bars we have in the Healthy Snack section of our NYK Shop. Nutrient-dense with no junk. Read labels.

(Sunny California....Rainy Michigan...hmmm?)

Bright Orange Cupcakes [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:53:00 +0000

We were at Natalie's last basketball game this weekend. The celebratory snack was cupcakes loaded with frosting. Natalie enjoyed every last bite.

The thing is I don't think it was necessary, but it was okay because it was the last game of a long season. I'm glad she enjoyed it.

Anytime this happens the moms who know me and know what I do often comment to me about it or wait to see if I am going to let the kids eat the sugary snack. I've gotten used to this response.

What I'm finding more and more though is that one or more of the moms open up and start talking about their child's diet or what they are doing at home or what they are struggling with when it comes to nutrition. This weekend, one of the moms told me she just read our newsletter on Sports Snacks and Drinks and as she laughed about the bright orange-frosted cupcakes, she went on to say that she is starting to pay a lot more attention to what her kids are eating, especially with diabetes on both sides. She commented on the rice crispy snacks she brought on her game day for the girls and that it probably wasn't the best snack.

I'm encouraged by the conversations and the raising of people's awareness. So, moms, the next time you are at a practice or game or any other activity and you have something on the tip of your tongue about kids and nutrition, go for it. Open the conversation. It's a part of the process of changing the way our children are fed and consequently their health.

Batten Daily Menu [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:44:00 +0000

What the Battens were eating one day this week:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs, cheese and spinach in a whole grain spelt wrap

Snack: trail mix with dried mulberries, raisins, almonds, and a few left-over bunny crackers from Annies

Lunch: Salsa Salad with quinoa, chicken, spinach, aduki beans, cheese and salsa - mixed and chilled, chocolate fridge bars with nuts and mulberries, cut-up pears, trail mix

After School Snack: Green Smoothie with extra spinach

Dinner: More Salsa Salad!

We've been using the water chart from this month's newsletter. Especially, Jacob and Lucas who are so into it. They have amped up their water intake big time. They love (!) coloring in the graph. We just use pencil and they erase it each day and do it over. It's great.

Natalie is a bit in the 'too smart' for mom mode at the moment so she's playing it cool with the water chart, but it has brought more attention to her not drinking enough water if she wants to be her best at basketball, so she's definitely drinking more even if she's not charting it!

Water Water Water Please! [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Making food/drink choices is yet another skill we teach our children as parents.

I was shocked to hear Kaitlin [4 1/2] reasoning in her mind one day about sweets. Of course she reasoned out loud so all of us could enjoy. I can't remember the specifics, but it was basically that she wasn't going to choose juice at a party, because she would rather have the cake and ice cream. We had gone over this many times before, but it was nice to see her initiate the thought process on her own. I didn't feel so badly, as she had decided for herself to drink water!

We make food choices as a family all the time.

Dave is definitely on board with this as well, which makes it that much easier. We opt to pick up the suckers (sometimes), but don't eat them all the time. Or if there are healthier options, like raisins, we choose those. For special occasions, we sometimes do a free for all :) but we pay the price with melt-down behavior. I actually use those times as teaching points too, to remind Kaitlin that too much sugar and sweets can make us feel this way. Of course, nothing is sticking yet with Elle, almost 2 years.

We have yet to enter the world of sports, about to roll that out this fall with starting Kindergarten. As my mom says, yet another opportunity to build one's character. Same with all the school parties, etc. We will participate, but still make educated choices, otherwise our healthy lifestyle within our home goes out the door if we are eating party food everyday.

I need to get back to the stainless steel water bottles.

We were using the Sigg Bottles for a period of time, but fell off the wagon because of the lack of sippy cup option. We are currently using BPA-free Nalgene Bottles. I'd prefer to steer clear of all plastic. So I will try out the Klean Kanteen Sippy Cups this Spring/Summer. It's a journey, always something to incorporate!

Sports Snacks [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:21:00 +0000

So, we will be getting our March newsletter out (hopefully today - some glitches in transferring content over to our new site) and we are talking about sports snacks and drinks. Since children are involved in sports and other activities at younger and younger ages - soccer, T-ball and dance at 3 - this is an issue for all of us as moms.

One thing I do is make sure the kids have plenty of water to drink before, during and after practices and games. We love our Klean Kanteen water bottles. They have smaller ones, even with sippy cup lids, for little guys. We use the 27 oz. colored ones. No plastic - yeah! They are a little heavy when full, but that just helps build our muscles more, right?!

The way I handle snacks for games is that I've let the kids know that they aren't going to have the sports snack most of the time. Not because we are being judgemental, but because being a healthy person in today's society means making choices about whether to eat everything that people offer to you or not. Think about it - as an adult - if you eat everything in the conference room at work, or every cookie at the bank or all the sweets offered during playdates - it would add up to lots of extra pounds and to poor health.

Our children get offered food more than we do! We have to teach them to say no to some of it or they will not learn about making responsible choices when it comes to their health. As moms we can't be worried about offending other people all the time. They aren't worried about offending me by giving my kids Fake foods.

Having said that, I still worry about it some. It's my nature. I have taught the kids (or tried to) that they can say "no thank you" to the snack or take it so we can look at it together and decide about eating some or all of it. They also know that they can ususally have the snack from the last game of the season or if there is a birthday treat that is offered at some point. It helps that Mike is totally on board with this.

I feel like I'm constantly negotiating this issue and the kids get even more involved in activities. This is what works for us right now and I'm sure it will change as the kids get older.

McCreadie Family Menu [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Oops, realized I didn't include a daily menu this week.

Here's what the McCreadie's ate today!

Breakfast: Overnight Pancakes with chopped nuts/seeds topped with blueberries.

Apple sauce with probiotics.

[note: Kaitlin ate eggs, not a fan of the pancakes, imagine :)]

Snack: Oranges and blueberries [where's the protein?]

Lunch: Lentil soup with oranges and a few corn chips [where's the raw veggies?]

Snack: Popcorn [where's the protein?]

Dinner: Chicken quinoa soup [used quinoa instead of noodles, delicious]

Dessert: Catherine's version of the Chocolate Fridge Bars [made with gluten free oats]

So easy to see, I'm far from perfect. There's always room for improvement! :)

Batten Daily Menu [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:58:00 +0000

I definitely hear your voice coming through on that post, Sue! Well done.

My disclaimer before sharing a daily menu this week is that I ordered a lot of food from our friends at Pure Food. I knew I wasn't going to be able to shop and prep for food last weekend, or for that matter on Monday, so rather than stressing out about when it was going to happen, I decided to 'treat' us to prepared REAL food. If you're a local mom reading this and you haven't tried anything from Pure Food, I am suggesting you do the next time you want a break from cooking. Chef Kelli and her team do an amazing job.

So, one of our daily menus this week was:

Breakfast: Turkey Stew (PF) - this tasted incredible, no beyond incredible actually

Snack: slice of turkey breast (PF) and blood red orange slices

Lunch: Chicken Fingers (PF) w/ homemade (PF) ranch dressing, raw broccoli, cottage cheese, and a chocolate chip cookie (we made)

After School Snack: cheese and cut-up red pepper

Dinner: Chicken and Cheese Quesadilas (PF) and some Garlic Red Skin Potatoes (PF)

I've been spoiled this week and I am loving every second of it!! Back to the One Easy System next week.

Juice - Ugh! [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:24:00 +0000

Ditto on the juice Angelle. You know my feelings about juice are quite strong!

I beg anyone to tell me the health benefit of juice?

Take for example apple juice. You peel away the colorful peel filled with phytonutrients, you throw away "the pulp" filled with beneficial fiber, you heat up what's left, the juice, to pasteurize it and destroy the beneficial enzymes. What are you left with? Sugar, with a splash of Vitamin C.

Please realize, if you are allowing your children to drink more than the occasional treat juice box, you are basically handing them sugar packets and saying "enjoy"! Don't fool yourself into thinking that it's anything nutritious (no matter what the advertisers tell you).

So what are some juice alternatives?

I'm not sure you're going to find anything as sweet as juice, but that's the point isn't it? We want to help our children be happy and healthy, and that includes training their taste buds to enjoy a wide range of flavors.

Kaitlin and Elle's favorite is "fuzzy water",

like Poland Spring Sparkling Water that's flavored with an essence of orange or raspberry.

We also enjoy herbal teas, like Rishi brand.

Some of my closest friends feed their children juice everyday. I love them and their children all the same. But, I want moms to realize and have it be crystal clear in their mind, that when they are handing juice to their children, they are not supporting their health.

'Less Sugar' Ideas [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:23:00 +0000

I'm with you on my tastebuds adjusting. Same thing happened to me at a friend's house. I took the chocolate oat muffins, which are not that sweet - but they are chocolate - and she had some kind of packaged carmel-covered brownies. I took one bight of the brownies and thought they tasted heavenly - for about 2 seconds. Then I couldn't eat anymore because they were sickly sweet. I would have ate 5 of those years ago.

I truly appreciate more subtle sweetness and the chocolate oat muffins tasted delicious to me. Some of the kids visiting didn't like them because they had the brownies to compare them too, and so they found the muffins not nearly sweet enough. My kids liked the brownies, but I noticed they didn't ask for 2nds. They went for the muffins.

Visualizing the sugar packets - 1 per 4 grams of sugar - really helped me as well. Once you 'see' all those sugar packets hanging off of a food product you realize that you would never hand your child 5 sugar packets for a snack.

Another practical change to make has to do with beverages. Cut out juices and pop. That removes lots of sugar from a child's diet if they currently drink either of those things. If a mom did only that, it would be a huge benefit to her child's health, both short-term and long-term.

Keeping the Sugar Down [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:44:00 +0000

You know Angelle, I think the best practical tip re: sugar is the one you taught me and we teach now.

Every 4 grams of sugar is equal to a packet of sugar.

That's when it all started clicking for me. I then realized how much sugar was in the cereal we were eating [that we no longer or rarely eat]. I also now routinely check the sugar content on the food label for any packaged product that I buy; whereas I used to just somehow skip over that part :)

Moving away from packaged products automatically reduces your sugar intake.

We no longer eat packaged crackers, cereal or cookies. We do still eat cookies and muffins :) We make them mostly with honey or maple syrup and occasionally sucanat.

No more white sugar in our house! And you know what, I don't miss that white sugar - at all - in fact, I feel much better without it. I was at a party the other night and one of the desserts was a seven layer bar (sweetened coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, white sugar, etc.). I took a bite and that was it - it's too sweet for me now, over the top you know?

Don't get me wrong.

I still love sweets, but my taste buds have adjusted

and I'm happy about that!

Paying Attention to Snacks [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:17:00 +0000

I love that video - brilliant the way the person crafted the words. Thanks for sharing it, Sue.

This last week of February we're blogging about sharing practical ways of reducing sugar. So, if any of our readers have some ideas we would love to have you share them in our comments area of the blog!

One of the things that has helped me the most is to pay attention to snacks. That's where a lot of sugar 'sneaks' in. When I plan our snacks I am more successful in making sure everyone has some protein, good fat and fiber. That way even if there is sugar involved in the snack, including from fruit, I know it's not going to affect the blood sugar so dramatically as if there weren't good protein, fat and fiber.

Some suggestions for snacks that fit the bill are: fruit with nut butter or Sunbutter; hard-boiled eggs and fruit/veggie; celery with nut butter or cream cheese and blueberries on top; rolled up slice of Applegate Farms turkey with cut up veggies or fruit; rolled up sandwich cut into bite-sized pieces; cottage cheese (full-fat) and berries; trail mix with fresh fruit like blueberries or grapes (when in season); left-over whole grain pancake 'sandwich' with nut butter; a short kebob with chicken, cheese, tomatoes and broccoli; and small portion of leftover stew or soup. (Read about snack planning in this article.)

Sometimes we just need to change our paradigm about what constitutes a snack. For children, it needs to be 'fuel' for the body, not party food to just fill up on. Usually cookies, crackers and cereal are not nutrient-dense enough to be considered a snack. They are just 'filler' foods and often have too much sugar or are filled with white flour, which the body basically processes like sugar.

Sue, what practical idea(s) do you have to help you be more conscious of the girls' sugar intake on a daily basis?

Why We Care [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 02:38:00 +0000

A mother in my practice shared this YouTube video with me.

I shared it with Angelle and she insisted I post it on our blog.

Why? It's yet another piece of inspiration to keep us going here at Nourish Your Kids.

A reminder to never give up hope that

each one of us can make a difference in this world...if we choose to

Take a minute and listen.

Cereal, Sugar, Teens and Batten's Daily Menu [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:57:00 +0000

If you don't ask, you won't know, right? Which is why I now know that Food for Life cereals are not extruded!! They are baked at the low temperature of 270 degrees. The grains are sprouted and the cereals are considered low-glycemic. It seems they use traditional food processing to make th food more digestible and nutritious. Yeah - there is hope. If you've never tried the Ezekiel cereals I might start with the raisin one.

Sugar is a huge problem for our pre-teens and teens. Parents have no way of even knowing how much sugar their older kids are taking in each day because kids this age are so much more in control of what they eat. Many times parents 'give up' by the time kids reach this age. It's important to either start or keep a conversation going about the effects food choices have on their bodies - looks, sports performance, learning, and mood. A resource for parents and teens is http://kidshealth.org/teen/. They actually have a survey question about sugar in pop on the homepage today.

Batten Family Daily Menu:

Breakfast: Poached eggs on sprouted English Muffins and apple

Snack at School: Pumpkin Oat Muffins with Cream Cheese

Lunch: Leftover Chicken, steamed broccoli, pear slices, mini-pumpkin oat muffin

After School Snack: banana with peanut butter and Natalie's Tootsie Roll Sucker from Catechism

Dinner: Chicken Quinoa soup with veggies (green beans, celery)

Where is Sugar Hiding? [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:34:00 +0000

Boy, you are good Angelle. I am hiring you as my food detective, calling all of these companies to find out hidden ingredients, or how they process their food. Too good - I love it! :)

In our group talks, we help moms see that

our families eat a lot more sugar than we realize (mine included).

Why? Because we are often not paying close enough attention to labels. Some examples that always shock people include the comparison between a soda pop and a bottle of juice - both around 16 oz or so - and both around 30 grams of sugar (or 7-8 packets)! That's a lot of sugar! And what's even more shocking is when you hold up a bag of Skittles next to it (which we all realize is sugar) - they are about equal! You know what else is pretty darn close? Most yogurts. If your family is eating flavored yogurt, there's usually at least 24 grams of sugar (or 6 packets) in a yogurt.

So am I saying avoid juice, pop and Skittles? YES! Unless it is raw vegetable juice :)

Am I saying to avoid yogurt? No. How about plain full fat yogurt and mix in blueberries or bananas? That's adding sugar, but in it's original package of fiber.

That's the beauty of REAL food, designed by nature.

The REAL deal in a perfect package.

Keep moving forward. Keep your head up. I get discouraged as well, always trying to eat better. Remember it's a journey - keep it balanced and most of all have fun!

Kashi Cereals - Yes or No? [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:25:00 +0000

I want to respond to Charlene's comment to my Cheerio's post (you can click on comment for 2.14.09 post to read) because other moms might be feeling the same way.

Charlene, you are on the right path - because you are thinking about how food impacts your family's health. It's a journey. I have felt like you many times - thinking I'm doing something new and good and then finding out that it's maybe not so good.

I called Kashi. They said their 'flake' cereals are not extruded. Anything with a shape is. So, bitter sweet news. They were not able to tell me how exactly they process the flakes though.

Food processing has been around forever. Traditionally it was to enhance nutrient value or make food more easily digestible. Now, food processing seems to be about convenience and money. Nutrition gets sacrificed, sometimes even from companies who we think are doing the right thing.

So, maybe you use the Kashi flakes once or twice a week, but start adding REAL food breakfast items on the other days: overnight pancakes (yes the ones Sue eats every week); scrambled eggs in a whole-grain roll-up; whole milk organic yogurt with berries and nuts; or leftover casseroles and soups. (Share the research study about the rats eating the box outliving the rats eating the cereal with your family if you need support for eating less cereal!)

Make sure your kids start out with enough protein. Teenagers all ready have enough issues with fluctuating moods. Steady amounts of good protein and healthy fat can help with stabalizing moods (for moms too). A bowl of cereal and berries is not much protein. Also, you may want to consider full-fat milk or yogurt. The fat is there to satiate us, give us energy and help assimilate fat-soluable vitamins.

Still waiting to hear from Food for Life about my Ezekiel cereal...

Sue, let's talk a little about teenagers - food/drink choices and mood?

McCreadie Family Menu [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:56:00 +0000

Oh - that makes me laugh Angelle - I can just see your sweet dad - eating his morning O's! :)

On the McCreadie Menu Today:

Breakfast: Need I even say - it's embarrassing! -

Chef Jackie's overnight pancakes.

Yes, loaded with chopped nuts & seeds for phytonutrients.

Actually, Kaitlin opted for scoops of PB and homemade applesauce.

Snack: Nut mix and an apple.

Lunch: Hard boiled egg with raw veggies (red peppers, carrots, celery)

Snack: At work, forgot to check with Catherine.

Dinner: Homemade Sloppy Joe's with brown rice (no buns!)

I'm not there yet, eating ground meat - I opted for homemade lentil soup!

Dessert: Dark chocolate (of course!)

What Do You Mean You Don't Eat Cheerios?! [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:11:00 +0000

To this day, my dad eats Cheerios almost every morning of his life (except when we visit). As I type this, I can picture him sitting down, pouring his skim milk and cereal and topping it with sugar. He turns his bowl with one hand and uses his other to hold a spoon and 'tap' the cereal down. I'm pretty sure he believes this is why he's still around and kicking - Cheerios is really good for you after all, right? Much better than Rice Crispies.

Toddlers everywhere carry baggies, or if they are really lucky, Cheerios Brand containers, filled with the little finger food. Moms everywhere think those little o's are so wholesome and feel great about the low-sugar, whole-grain snack.

I used to be a cereal fanatic - my favorite next to Cheerios was Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch. Sometimes I feel guilty that my kids haven't experienced a bowl of those deliciously crunchy bits. Sometimes I miss them and wish I could be healthy by starting out each day munching on Cap'n Crunch and reading the box as I sit at the kitchen table.

Being on the journey I've been on for 10+ years with REAL food, I eventually had to come to terms with letting go of my morning favorites. The first step was moving toward 'healthier' whole grain organic cereals. I was fooled into believing these were good for me - high fiber and all. Then I heard Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, speak about why 'health-food', whole grain versions of boxed cereal are probably as bad or worse for you than the conventional ones. She spoke about the experiements on rats (the rats who ate the cereal boxes lived longer than the ones who ate the cereal).

So, I quickly realized that boxed cereals, as much as I love them and their convenience wouldn't have a place in my family's diet. It was a sad day for me.

Then I found Food for Life's Ezekiel cereals. They are not extruded - which is the major problem with cereals as you can see in Sally's article. They are baked at a low temperature. The proteins and fats are not damaged. I rejoiced. Not because they are as tasty as my Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter morsels, because I would never try to convince anyone of that, but because pouring some cereal into a bowl of milk or yogurt is comforting to me.

We go for months without having any Ezekiel cereal and then I pick up a box like I have on my last 2 shopping trips. Everyone in the house gets excited, well, not Mike. If he can't have the Cheerios or the Cap'n Crunch he's not wasting his time. That's okay - more for the rest of us.

(Because I'm a bit of a REAL food geek, just to make sure, I put an email into Food for Life this morning asking them to confirm that the cereals are not extruded. My fingers are crossed...)

Snap, Crackle, Pop [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Rice Krispies were a staple in my house when I was growing up. Now, not so - since the second ingredient is sugar and the fifth is high fructose corn syrup - double whammy! - wow, didn't realize that.

Anyway, do you know what makes Rice Krispies go snap, crackle and pop?

Take a listen to this video.

Food scientists discovered that it's actually all the sugar in the Rice Krispies cooked at a high temperature that make the sugar form crystals and air filled cavities. The milk then fills these cavities, pushing air out to break the crystallized sugar. Who knew?

Remember to check your cereal boxes.

Sugar is usually one of the top 3 ingredients.

We don't even eat cereal much around here anymore. Angelle, I know your family eats the Ezekiel cereal occasionally, which is sprouted whole grain cereal. A real improvement over Rice Krispies!

Batten Daily Menu [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:11:00 +0000

Interesting info I rec'd in my inbox this morning - right on topic:

Human genes remember a sugar hit for two weeks. What’s more, prolonged poor eating habits could be capable of permanently altering your DNA.A team studying the impact of diet on heart tissue found that cells showed the effects of a single sugar hit for 14 days. The cells switched off genetic controls designed to protect the body against diabetes and heart disease.Regular poor eating could amplify the effect, with genetic damage lasting months or years, and potentially passing through bloodlines.

Sources:
Journal of Experimental Medicine September 2008, 29;205(10):2409-17

The good news is that even though we are born with a set of genes that may be predisposed to a certain disease, we have a lot of control over the expression of those genes. What we eat, i.e. sugar, is up to us! We can switch those genetic controls on or off for ourselves and our children.

Daily Menu at the Batten House this Week:

Breakfast: Ezekiel Sprouted Cereal w/ added blueberries, ground nuts and flax seeds in milk or yogurt

Snack: Pepperoni (Creswick Farms) and sliced yellow peppers

Lunch: Leftovers - Jacob took Chicken Quinoa Salad and Lucas/Natalie took White Bean Chicken Chili - everyone took sliced green apples with almond/flax butter, carrots, trail mix

After School Snack- Ants on a Log w/ blueberries and peanut butter

Dinner - Crustless Quiche from Chef Jackie's Recipe

1 Thing is for Certain, that's CHANGE. [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:11:00 +0000

Well thanks Angelle; your comments keep me positive that my girls and our family are eating well. But it's my personality to always want to improve - so that's my challenge.

Yes, it is so true that our taste preferences do change, because our taste buds are trainable!

Imagine that. Not to hard to imagine, if you can remember your little one's first bite of solid food with a grimace :) And now they gobble their veggies down! I can hear some moms saying, actually my kids used to eat well when they were younger, and now that they are school age, their diet has deteriorated.

One reason that our children are drawn to sweets

is that they are SURROUNDED by sugar everyday, around every corner!

Their taste buds are trained to prefer sweet.

But, rest assure!

Science has shown that our taste buds

[and YES our children's taste buds :)]

can EASILY be reprogrammed, even to love healthy food.

The reverse it true too. As Angelle mentioned on her journey, her taste buds were tuned into sweet and so that's exactly what she craved - sweets! I say this as if I don't have a sweet tooth - I do [just finished eating dark chocolate :)]. But, here's the thing - I trained myself to love dark chocolate. I used to hate it, it wasn't sugary sweet enough for me. Now I think the reverse. I don't like milk chocolate for the very same reason - it's too sugary sweet. Why? Because my taste buds were trained and VOILA - I'm eating the healthier chocolate! :) oh - and so is my family!

Giving Your Sweet Tastebuds a Break [Angelle]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:28:00 +0000

I look at your weeky menu and other than the Overnight Pancakes, I think you have quite a bit of variety. I also love seeing that your girls are eating split pea soup and chicken satay and veggies.

A lot of moms would automatically say, "My child would never eat those things."

Your girls eat them because you've trained them that 'this is what we eat in our family.' They may not both always like everything everytime, but they are open to these kinds of meals.

Split pea soup is not normal at my house, but I know the kids would be open to trying it.

For me personally, I had to detox my body of sugar to begin to accept the tastes of REAL foods, especially vegetables.

As I ate more and more REAL foods, I began to realize my 'sweet' tastebuds had been way overworked and my other tastebuds had been neglected.

As you decrease your child's sugar intake, you can begin introducing more and more REAL foods, starting with sweet REAL foods and then moving into new taste territory.

Check out our other blog posts on picky eaters as well as the article Your Child Can Learn to Love (or at least like) Vegetables!

Sugar & Inflammation [Sue]

noreply@blogger.com (Nourish Your Kids) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:29:00 +0000

Angelle, you asked that I talk (and I add briefly) about

how sugar increases inflammation in the body &

how this impacts our children's health & happiness.

We need to re-frame the word inflammation. I've found (from being married to my honest husband) that the word inflammation doesn't really mean much to people. What do you mean my child is inflamed.....how so? What signs or symptoms is he or she showing that he is inflamed? How about:

asthma (inflammation in the lower airways)

eczema (inflammation in the skin)

allergic rhinitis (inflammation in the upper airways)

inflammatory bowel disease (inflammation in the digestive system)

So we may not think of common childhood diseases as inflammation, but that's one of the core issues at play and why steroids are so well prescribed these days. Steroids are great at reducing inflammation - but the trick is, unless you get to the core issue (what is causing all of this inflammation) you will forever need the steroids to keep the fire of inflammation at bay.

How does sugar play into this inflammation?

See my blog from February 4, 2009 about a healthy digestive tract. It boils down to a few key points, one of them being:

we need lots of beneficial bacteria in our GI tract to promote a healthy immune system &

these beneficial bacteria help keep our inflammation in check.

Sugar helps non-beneficial yeast to grow. It's survival of the fittest in our gut - so those who can survive best in a sugary acidic environment win! And often that is non-beneficial yeast and other potential pathogens.

So the moral of the story -

limit your sugar and your child's sugar intake - to support a healthy gut environment,

which naturally supports a healthy immune system and keeps inflammation in check.

A simple and easy way to promote a healthy gut environment is to supplement your diet and with probiotics. It's super easy and very effective.

McCreadie Family Menu Today:

Breakfast - you guessed it, wow do we need variety! yes, once again it was Chef Jackie's overnight pancakes filled with chopped nuts and seeds. Homemade applesauce with blueberries on the side (I mix the probiotics into the applesauce).

Snack - nut mix and apples

Lunch - split pea soup with ham with raw cut-up veggies

Snack - hmmm - forgot to ask Catherine - I was at work today!

Dinner - brown jasmine rice with chicken satay and peanut sauce with raw cut-up veggies