The Educated Plate

Does The World Really Need Squeezable Bacon?

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:39:00 +0000

I can officially one-up Jon Stewart. Just when I thought I found the ultimate stomach-churning food product invention with Baconnaise my husband sends me a "post suggestion" for a product called Squeez Bacon. Yes, you read it right. Squeez Bacon is a fully-cooked 100% bacon paste that is placed in a convenient to carry tube. As you can see from the picture below, the manufacturer feels it just about goes well on everything! Eek. Frankly, I'm finding myself a bit speechless right now! Is there any hope for humanity?

There Is No Such Thing As Too Many "Kids" In The Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:45:00 +0000

My kids have had half-days of school all week, which might help to explain my lack of blogging. With more free time this week we’ve been able to explore a cookbook my daughter recently took out of the library, Pretend Soup. When my daughter first handed me this cookbook I was immediately excited to give it a try since it was created my one of my personal favorite cookbook authors, Mollie Kazan. I’m sure many of you are also familiar with Mollie Kazan, not only is she the creator of the Moosewood Cookbook series, which has been in publication since the late 70’s, but she was also one of the first chefs to take vegetarian cooking to the masses with delicious and easy to prepare recipes. Many of her recipes have become my family mainstays, especially her egg- and butter-free Spanakopita – a dish that is frequently requested for birthday dinners.

Pretend Soup is an extremely kid-friendly cookbook with its simple to follow (healthy) recipes and playful step-by-step illustrated instructions that even a preschooler could follow.

Again, taking advantage of my kids’ half-days, they decided to design an entire menu around this cookbook and I can honestly say that with the exception of some cutting that required a sharp knife and a lot of cleanup, they did everything themselves and had a lot of fun doing it too.

Ben and Rachel’s Dinner Menu

Broccoli & Chicken Sausage Stromboli*

D-I-Y Salad Bar

Homemade Lemon-Lime Soda Pop

Bright Pink Fruit Dip Served With A Fresh Fruit Assortment

*The Broccoli & Chicken Sausage Stromboli was the only item on the menu that was not in this cookbook. It was actually a recipe I adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. The only difference between her recipe and mine was I omitted the salami and replaced it with precooked chicken sausage, which I happened to have leftover from a lasagna I had made earlier in the week.

My kids had so much fun playing with their food that my son asked if I would allow him to cook dinner for the family once a week. Other than a little extra cleanup I figure this is a win-win situation for the entire family. Not only does it give me one less day of torturous meal planning, it also gives my kids a greater feeling of control, allows us an opportunity to reconnect as a family, gets them to eat more since they made it and teaches my kids important lessons about good nutrition without having to endure one of my "yawn" lectures!

While researching Mollie Katzen for this post I discovered that she has another cookbook for children called Salad People and also one due to be released in November called Honest Pretzels.

On that same library visit I also stumbled across Mollie Katzen's new adult cookbook, The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without -- let me just say to any member of my family who might be reading this right now -- My birthday is coming soon -- wink, wink.

A Super Healthy Cookie That Even The Cookie Monster Could Not Resist

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:01:00 +0000

We're quickly approaching the weekend and I just discovered that our cookie jar is empty with the exception of a few cast-off crumbs. There has been an oatmeal cookie recipe patiently perched on top of my cookbooks just waiting to be tried. When I first saw this recipe I thought it was too good to be true -- a cookie that was chock-full of not just one, but more than four super-foods including oats, flax seed, walnuts, dark chocolate and dried cherries. Given all of this heart-healthy goodness in one cookie you're probably feeling a bit suspicious about the taste right about now, as was I. Do yourself a favor and give these cookies one chance to win you over. I promise you that while these cookies might be really good for you and your family you'll make them again not because they are really healthy, but because they are also really that delicious -- just ask my husband! Here's a quick low-down on why these cookies are not just great tasting, but also incredibly good for you too.

Deconstruction of perhaps the healthiest (and greatest-tasting) cookie I've personally ever encountered:

Oats

Protects against heart disease

Lowers "bad" cholesterol and raises "good" HDL levels

Rich in fiber, which helps to regulate blood sugar and keeps the digestive tract running smoothly. Fiber-rich foods are also good for weight management

Flax seed

Protects against certain cancers

Helps to prevent heart disease

Lowers "bad" cholesterol

Good source of omega-3's

Fiber-rich

Walnuts

Good source of omega-3's, which helps care for the heart and brain

Reduces "bad" cholesterol

Improves mood

Fights cancer

Wheat Germ

Great source of vitamins, including vitamin E, which is a potent antioxidant that may help to combat cancer and heart problems

Lowers "bad" cholesterol

Excellent source of fiber

Dried Cherries

Brain food that helps to improved concentration and memory

Dark Chocolate

Reduces blood pressure

Lowers "bad" cholesterol and increases "good" HDL levels

Improves mood

Now that you know why you should eat it, here is how to make it:

"Heart"y Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup of light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup of white sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup of flax seed meal
1/4 cup of wheat germ
2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped finely*
1/4 cup of dried cherries
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl beat butter until smooth, about 45 seconds to one minute. Add both sugars, cinnamon, baking soda and salt to butter and beat until well combined.

2. Scrape down sides of bowl and then add egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in flours and then stir in oats, flax seed, wheat germ, dark chocolate, cherries and walnuts just until dough comes together.

3. Drop dough by the teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets half-way through baking. The cookies should be lightly golden. Let cookies cool completely.

*For recipes that call for chopped dark chocolate I like to use Trader Joe's 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate. These bars are well-priced and come in a package of three 1.65 oz bars -- one bar is perfect for this recipe. These chocolate bars are also delicious on their own.

Swimming Through The Confusion About The Safest Fish To Eat

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:00:00 +0000

While I am well aware that fish, especially fish rich in omega-3’s are extremely good for our hearts and brains I must confess that I find myself steering clear from it these days because of the countless reports of unclean waters, antibiotic feed fish and dangerously high levels of mercury. Don’t get me wrong, while I myself still enjoy an occasional spicy tuna roll (yep, raw fish and mercury - I really know how to live on life’s edge) I have become so bewildered and confused by the endless rules and regulations that now govern buying healthy fish I rarely buy it to serve to my family. In fact, I’ve grown so alarmed by the mercury levels found in a simple can of tuna that while my kids think they’re eating tuna fish sandwiches they’re in fact eating chicken salad instead – I can’t resist – “chicken of the sea?”

To the rescue is an article in the March 2009 issue of Cooking Light called “How To Buy The Best Fish.” It is a great article to read if you, like me, have abandoned the fish counter altogether because it is just too overwhelming to select wisely. I found this article extremely helpful in not only explaining the different types of fish available and finding affordable omega-3 rich fish alternatives, but with the help of very simply and straightforward language this article helped me to better understand the differences between harvesting methods (i.e. wild vs. farm-raised) and the environmental and health implications of each method on the fish we buy.

Perhaps the most useful piece of information in this article was a list of the “eight safest and most sustainable fish on the market,” which was developed with the aid of several legitimate institutions including the Blue Ocean Institute, The Monterey Bay Aquarium, The Environmental Defense Fund, The Smithsonian Institute and The Chef’s Collaborative. This list cuts through all of the confusion and gives us an easy to follow list of the safest fish to feed our families. In fact, I found this section so useful I now carry it in my wallet along with the list of the “dirty dozen” (the twelve fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticides contamination). What can I say, at almost 43 years old you’ve got to get a bit creative to keep the memory fresh, not to mention eat a lot more omega-rich fish too!

Here is the list of the eight healthiest and safest fish to buy according to Cooking Light Magazine:

1. Albacore tuna (pole or troll caught)*
2. Catfish (farmed)
3. Cod (Pacific)
4. Halibut (Pacific)
5. Pollack
6. Salmon (wild Alaskan)
7. Striped Bass (farmed)
8. Tilapia (farmed)

You’ve probably heard this before, but this article also points out that our children and anyone pregnant or trying to get pregnant should not eat:

Shark
Swordfish
King Mackerel
Tilefish

These fish are very high in mercury due to the fact they are carnivorous. According to numerous studies eating fish high in mercury may adversely affect brain development in young children and fetuses.

Since it is widely popular in our grocery stores I thought it was worth mentioning that it is also recommended we stay away from farm-raised salmon because it tends to me higher in contaminants like PCBs because it too is carnivorous and might eat fishmeal in these potentially contaminated waters.

I hope this article helps clear up some of the confusion for you too. Maybe now I can start buying fish for my family again with a bit more confidence.

For more information call the FDA at 1-888-SAFEFOOD. For a complete list of fish and shellfish with lower levels of mercury click on this link which will take you to the FDA website.

List of Fish and Shellfish With Lower Levels of Mercury

*The FDA & EPA states that if you choose to eat albacore white tuna instead of canned light tuna, eat only up to 6 ounces per week.

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:39:00 +0000

While strolling with my daughter through the produce aisle of my local grocery store late last week, my daughter stopped to admire a display of foiled packages featuring several Disney characters. I quickly realized that what she was actually looking at were single serve packages of 100% naturally freeze-dried fruits called Brothers-All-Natural Fruit Crisps. It appears from the package that Brothers-All-Natural has licensed the Disney name to create this line of all-natural fruit crisps specifically to appeal to kids.

Given the fact that these fruit crisps got my daughter's attention I could not resist scanning the price (.99) and the nutritional label to ensure that they were not too expensive or candy in disguise, which I am happy to report they were neither. In fact, each single serve package is equal to a serving of fruit and there are no added ingredients -- just 100% freeze-dried fruit. The variety of fruit crisps include apples, pears, peaches and sliced strawberries & bananas.

Once they passed my test, I asked my daughter if she would like to give them a go in her lunch box the next day, which she happily replied by grabbing two bags of Goofy's Strawberries & Bananas. I'm pleased to report that both of my kids really enjoyed the flavor of this product as well as the presentation. While I would not suggest replacing all of their fresh fruit with a product like this, I think Brothers-All-Natural is a great way to bring some fun and excitement to the lunch box as well as makes for an extremely healthy and portable snack for those days we are on-the-go.

For this blog I decided to visit the Brothers-All-Natural website. Here I discovered they have a full line of all natural fruit crisps in addition to a line of potato crisps. Their site claims that their goal is "to provide snacks parents feel good about serving their families because they're wholesome and free of confusing, artificial ingredients. Nothing artificial, 100% Natural, 100% Fat Free. No added sweeteners, colors or flavors. The HEALTHY SNACK, the one Mother Nature would eat!" -- sounds like a good goal to me!

Every Step Counts

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Now that the weather is improving and the sweet smell of Spring is finally in the air this might be the right time to put on our sneakers and take a nice long walk with our families. Personally, I find the best time for my kids and I to enjoy a walk together is right after they climb off the bus at the end of the school day. This time together allows us to reconnect as a family, catch-up on events of the day and sneak in some good ole' exercise without them ever really catching on. National Start! Walking Day is actually coming up on April 8th -- why not use this day as a fun way to get the entire family started and if your kids need a bit more motivation you should check-out this pedometer I discovered...

I saw this gadget in a magazine recently and thought it was interesting enough to share with you. For those of us whom are always trying to find new ways to get our kids' moving this kid-friendly pedometer seems like a pretty fun and useful tool that also does not cost a lot of money. Come on, what kid these days doesn't love a gadget, especially one that is attached to a website!

This pedometer is called a Pedz. It is a colorful frog-shaped pedometer that can be clipped onto your child pants or shirt. Like most pedometers, Pedz allows kids to track their steps, miles and calories, but in addition the Pedz also allows them to set-up an account at their website, MyPedz.com , which enables kids to record and keep track of their mileage, set fitness goals and challenge friends on-line. The site also rewards kids for their hard work.

Pedz seems like a great way to engage children in walking while also showing them the power of movement with respect to burning calories and the thrill of earning rewards through their physical fitness. It would also be a fun idea to challenge kids to find new ways to increase their steps with different games, activities and sports.

Photo By: Scott Lidell

School Recess Is An Important Part Of Our Children's Academic Success

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:23:00 +0000

I don’t know what the situation in your community is, but where I live school recess for the K-5th grade crowd seems to be shrinking by the minute quickly becoming an artifact of the past alongside blackboards and white chalk. To make matters worse, in my community once our children move up to Middle School in the 6th grade recess is not even offered, making it completely obsolete.

What happened to the days of hanging off the monkey bars and playing freeze tag with your friends or better yet, the youthful innocence of the girls chasing the boys all around the playground pretending to find them “gross?” Not only is recess an opportunity for our kids to get fresh air and clear their minds for a brief few moments it also gives them valuable exercise as well as helps them to fine tune their social skills. Clearly a big reason why my community as well as so many other communities across the U.S. have reduced or completely eliminated recess is because they want to free up more time for academics and in many cases in order to improve standardized test scores for the district.

While I’ve been feeling restless on this topic for sometime now – I have a son getting ready to step-up to the Middle School -- I recently read an article in The New York Times that further validated my frustration about the demise of recess. In this article, The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess, the author, Tara Parker-Pope, shares with the reader recent research that appeared in the journal Pediatrics. This research demonstrated the importance of recess as an essential part of a child’s academic experience and to a certain degree their academic success.

This study was conducted among 11,000 children between the ages of 8-9. The research revealed that the children who had more than 15 minutes of recess each day showed better behavior in the classroom than the children who had little to no recess. Dr. Barros, the lead researcher on this study as well as a pediatrician and professor, said these findings were valuable because it demonstrated to educators the importance of recess as a necessary educational tool. She said “we should understand that kids need the break because the brain needs that break” and she believes in order for children to thrive and essentially recharge their brains for improved concentration it is important that educators look upon recess as part of the curriculum along with math, science and social studies.

Furthermore, other smaller studies have been done that have also linked recess with improved test scores as well as improved concentration and behavior in the classroom, especially with regard to children whom suffer attention deficit disorder.

An explanation for these results could possibly be explained by how the brain uses attention. Apparently there are two forms of attention, "directed" and "involuntary." "Directed" attention allows us to concentrate on things like math, reading and taking tests, while "involuntary" attention takes over when we find ourselves distracted by something in the outside world. It seems that our brains can only handle a limited amount of "directed" attention before it becomes fatigued. It is at this time that an involuntary activity like recess could help our "directed" attention rest, allowing it to recharge for the next lesson.

Interestingly, I could write an entirely new post about the importance of recess on reducing childhood obesity, however, I won't. What's important to keep in mind is that recess is a crucial academic requirement that should not be crossed off the list as an unnecessary luxury -- would they do away with math? If you find recess is disappearing in your school district take a copy of these findings to the next school board meeting and demand that they reconsider recess. Not only will it serve our children better, but it will also better serve the teachers and the school in the long run.

A Delicious And Easy Way To Serve Up Five-A-Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:37:00 +0000

Here is a great way to tastefully sneak in most of your family's recommended five vegetable servings a day and get an easy and healthy dinner on the table in no time.

I adapted this recipe from a healthy fried rice recipe I saw in Fine Cooking Magazine. This recipe was originally created by one of my personal heroes, Ellie Krieger. Don’t feel married to the vegetables included in this recipe. If your family has any preferences feel free to substitute any or all of the veggies listed here – we’ll do anything to get them to eat their veggies, right?!

This dish makes a great side dish when served with grilled chicken and fish or you can make it as the main dish by incorporating additional protein such as cooked shrimp (my daughter's personal favorite).

Five-A-Day Fried Rice
Adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine
Serves 4 as a main meal

2 T canola oil
1 cup shredded green cabbage
¾ cup peeled and finely cut broccoli stems (great use for leftover broccoli stems)
¾ cup red pepper finely diced
¾ cup carrots finely diced
¾ cup frozen corn kernels
¾ cup frozen green peas
4 thinly sliced scallions
2 T freshly grated ginger or 1 T ground ginger
2 minced garlic cloves
4 cups cold cooked brown rice*
2 large eggs that have been slightly hand beaten
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
1 cup cooked baby shrimp, browned diced tofu or shredded roasted chicken, completely optional (another great use for leftovers)

Heat 1 ½ tablespoons of canola oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add cabbage through carrots to pan cooking vegetables until tender, about 5 minutes; be sure to stir often.

Add frozen corn, green peas, scallions, garlic and ginger and continue to cook until about 1 minute.

Add rice and pre-cooked protein if using and stir until heated through, about 3-5 minutes.

Make a large well in the center of the mixture and add the remaining ½ T of canola oil and then the beaten eggs. Stir eggs until they are fully scrambled and once scrambled stir into the rice mixture. Take off heat and stir in soy sauce and sesame oil. It is ready to serve.

*Leftover rice works well here. Also you can make the rice earlier in the day and refrigerate it until you are ready to use. In order for the fried rice to keep its firmness and not become mushy it is best to use cold rice.

A World Where Baconnaise and Pancake & Sausage On A Stick Are Allowed To Exist

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

After our children have been kissed goodnight and are tucked safe and sound in their beds my husband and I have a nightly appointment with The Daily Show followed by The Colbert Report (we watch the 8:00pm reruns on Comedy Central). Honestly, given all of the horrendous things that are going on in our world today this is about the only way I can watch the news and be able to keep my dinner down at the same time!

However, this past Friday even The Daily Show’s tongue-in-cheek approach could not curtail my tossing and turning in bed all night long sickened with the state of our country and trying to make sense of the legacy we are leaving our children. Believe it or not my sleeplessness was not due to their report on the unspeakable state of our economy, but rather it was the result of Jon Stewart sharing the most shockingly disgusting examples of the food industry’s ideas of desirable food products. For those of you that did not happen to catch the show hang onto your hats or better yet brace your bellies because I’m getting ready to talk to you about a product called Baconnaise as well as another product that wraps a blueberry pancake around a sausage and then deep fries it and PLACES IT ON A STICK – come on people, what is our world coming to!

While Jon Stewart uses Baconnaise to illustrate the laziness of Americans (all in good fun) I just can’t help and think that Baconnaise is just another example of why well over 60% of Americans are overweight (80% of children), not to mention why the rest of the world thinks we are just a bunch of consumer-driven gluttons with an insatiable appetite for “stuff” – even a product that combines mayonnaise with bacon! I have to say it again, come on people! Don’t even get me started on Jimmy Dean’s Pancakes & Sausage On A Stick -- you really have to see it to believe it!

What kind of lesson are we teaching our children when nutrition-less products like these are allowed to exist? More importantly, who is buying this stuff and feeding it to themselves or their family? Clearly someone must be buying this stuff or it won’t exist, right? I believe that as guardians of our kids’ health we need to start to take a stand and tell the people that make this “garbage” that we will not permit it into our homes and especially into our families’ bellies. Maybe if we all do a better job of leaving these kinds of unhealthy products on the store shelves marketers would get the message that products like Baconnaise and Pancake-On-A-Stick should have never left the new product ideas brainstorming meeting – boy, I would love to meet the “genius” behind either of these ideas.The video is a bit long (Baconnaise appears about 3 minutes into the video), but believe me, stick it out (no pun intended) to the end.

While incredibly gross to watch, Jon Stewart is extremely funny while also pointing out the ridiculousness of these products. If for no other reason watch this video because we can all use a really good, belly-busting laugh!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Bobby Jindal's Republican Response

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Moms Lending A Hand With Healthy Kid-Pleasing Meal Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:09:00 +0000

I’m sure many of you have already beat me to the finish (its been know to happen and OFTEN), but for those of you like me who might of arrived a little late to the race I thought I would share with you a website I recently discovered –http://www.mealmakeovermoms.com/. This site was started by two moms who also happen to be registered dietitians. The premise of the site as well as their cookbook, free moms’ club and weekly radio podcast is to provide its audience (i.e. moms like us) with healthy, kid-friendly meal ideas as well as with other helpful tips for getting nutritious and healthy food into the mouths of even the pickiest of eaters. I find the site very easy to follow and it provides some pretty tasty and easy to pull together alternatives to many of our kids’ favorite foods – check out their South-Of-The-Border Mac & Cheese.

In addition to recipes, Meal Makeover Moms has a great section they call Mealtime Tools. This section allows you the opportunity to print-out a premade grocery list as well as a seven day meal planner right from your computer – it really helps me to take some of the guesswork out of planning our weekly meals as well as keeps me from wandering aimlessly around the grocery store buying stuff we really don't need. However, while I found the grocery list a useful tool, I did find I had to add a few things to reflect my family’s personal taste.

The next time you find yourself struggling for an easy to prepare meal that your kids are guaranteed to eat you should check out their site -- I promise you'll probably find yourself going back again.

A Bounty Of Brain Power Can Be Found In This Little Berry

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:26:00 +0000

We’re heard it before (even right here) that it is vital for our kids to start their day with a healthy whole grain and protein-rich breakfast in order to kick-start their brains and bodies for better concentration and improved performance in school.

Here is a simple and easy way to further ensure that our kids are getting the most out of their school days by feeding their bodies brain-friendly berries anytime of the day or night. Oh, by the way, this is pretty good advise for the over 4-foot set too – I don’t know about you, but I feel brain cells slipping away by the minute now that I’m over 40!

According to recent research conducted in Britain, eating just a little more than a cup of blueberries daily can help to improve memory function. According to this research, participants who ate 10 oz. of blueberries every day for 12 weeks showed marked improvement on recall tests. It is believed that flavonoids, which are linked to brain cell growth, have something to do with this result. In addition to blueberries, cherries, blackberries and cranberries are also rich in flavonoids and it is believed they would have the same positive impact on the brain.

It doesn’t take a “brain surgeon” to find simple and easy ways to incorporate berries into our family's diet each and every day. Here are just a few suggestions:

Mix berries into their morning yogurt or blend frozen berries into a fruit smoothie. Fresh berries in season are always great, but I also find it just as easy and affordable to use frozen berries. While I'm impatiently waiting for my morning coffee to brew I’ll use this time to pour a couple of cups of frozen berries into a microwave-safe bowl and defrost the berries for about one-minute before adding them to my and my kid's yogurt -- warmed berries with yogurt and a little low-fat granola is like having a healthy and delicious breakfast fruit crumble.

Sprinkle berries on top of their morning cereal or even into their oatmeal. Dried berries work great here too.

Whip up a patch of blueberry or cranberry muffins or even a simple quick bread. Dried cranberries and cherries make great cookie mix-ins. The next time you are baking a batch of cookies that call for raisins, try mixing in dried cranberries or cherries instead.

Replace maple syrup with berry syrup on top of pancakes, waffles or french toast. Not only will they get all of the added benefits of the berries, but it will also safe them a lot of unnecessary calories too. I also like to use berry sauce on top of yogurt. If you don’t have the interest or time to make homemade berry sauce you can either microwave all-fruit berry jam or fruit spread until you’ve reached the proper consistency or I also like to use Trader Joe’s Maine Wild Blueberry Sauce . Not only is it great on pancakes and french toast, but also on yogurt and ice cream.

Dried cranberries and cherries are great additions to green salad, in fact, you might get your kids to eat a little more salad if you sweeten it up with some dried berries.

Instead of their usual dessert, give your kids mixed berries with a dollop of whipped cream and maybe even a little chocolate sauce for an extra special treat.

Beware Of The Hidden Sugars Lurking In Your Family’s Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:45:00 +0000

I can’t tell you how let down I am to have to write this post today given the fact that I’ve been a huge fan of Stonyfield Farms products for quite sometime. In fact my loyalty runs so deep that long ago I stopped checking the nutritional labels because I was confident their yogurt products were made with the best possible ingredients, are certified organic and do not contain high fructose corn syrup or other unhealthy additives. However, one thing I never stopped to consider and due to my blinding loyalty to the company neglected to follow more closely is that some of the Stonyfield Farms flavored yogurts I have been feeding my family contain as much sugar as a candy bar!

The other day I was preparing after dinner yogurt parfaits for my kids when the nutritional label on the Stonyfield Farms Underground Chocolate I was using caught my eye. While I of course realize that chocolate yogurt is a bit more decadent then say, plain yogurt, I’ve always believed a couple of spoonfuls of this stuff, especially when accompanied by berries or other fruits was a much healthier alternative than giving my kids candy for dessert -- not to mention my kids love the taste. Of course, now I see why!

What I did not realize until this sad day was that I was in fact giving my kids as much, if not more, grams of sugar per serving than many chocolate bars on the market today, including Snickers. Did you know that a serving of Stonyfield Farms Underground Chocolate has 35 grams of sugar compared to the 30 grams of sugar found in a Snickers bar and the 22 grams of sugar in a Hershey’s 1.55 oz bar!

Unfortunately, Underground Chocolate is not the only Stonyfield Farms flavored yogurt with a ton of added sugar. Their Carmel flavor also has 35 grams of sugar in a single serving and the majority of the other flavored yogurts in their line contain anywhere between 25-20 grams of added sugar – albeit it “organic milled sugar.” While some of this sugar is lactose, which is the kind of sugar that naturally occurs in dairy products, given the fact that “organic milled sugar” is the second ingredient listed on most of their flavored yogurts, clearly many of the sugar found here is of the “added” variety. (Note: A serving of low-fat plain yogurt as about 12 grams of sugar.)

After uncovering the sugar-buzz Stonyfield Farms delivers, I was curious to see how the other popular brands of flavored yogurts compared. Unfortunately the news here is not much better:

Dannon’s All Natural and Fruit Blends varieties contain between 25-20 grams of sugar per serving and while their Light & Fit variety contains only 11 grams of sugar per serving it was the result of artificial sweeteners, not to mention Light & Fit has other artificial ingredients.

Yoglait Original flavors contain even more grams of sugar per serving than Dannon, with the majority of their flavors weighing in at 27 grams of sugar per serving.

Columbo Classic has 27 grams of sugar per serving in most of their flavored varieties while their Light variety has 12 grams of sugar in addition to high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and coloring.

Obviously, I’m not suggesting that we all stop feeding our children yogurt and start giving them chocolate bars. Clearly with the protein, calcium and probiotic benefits associated with yogurt it is an important part of everyone’s diet. However, what I am cautioning is that we all need to more closely scrutinize not only the calories, fat and ingredients of the foods we are feeding our kids, but also the amount of sugar found in these products. It is important to note that the FDA suggests that adults eat 8 teaspoons or less of sugar daily (for children I would suspect the goal would be for even less) – that equals 32 grams of added sugar a day, which is less than what is found in Stonyfield Farms Underground Chocolate.

So, what should we do to decrease the amount of added sugar, but continue to reap of health benefits of yogurt – here are several ideas:

You can begin by slowly incorporating plain yogurt into your family’s diet. If you know they will wince at the idea, start slowly by cutting their favorite flavored yogurt in half with low-fat plain. Another way to go is to use plain yogurt but sweeten it with natural apple sauce, pureed berries, all-fruit jam or even honey. I mostly use frozen berries for this because than they are always on hand and are a bit less expensive during the off season. We also like to top our yogurt with a sprinkle of low-fat granola.

Instead of eating chocolate flavored yogurt or other high-sugar varieties, use fun mix-ins like a sprinkle of mini-chocolate chips (8 grams of sugar per tablespoon), a squirt of chocolate syrup (less than 8 grams of sugar) or a crushed up cookie into their yogurt. While you might be adding a bit of sugar, I’m sure it will be much less than that of flavored yogurt.

Replace traditional yogurt with low-fat Greek yogurt. Low-fat Greek yogurt has a very thick and creamy texture and not only does it have less sugar per serving (5-8 grams), but it also has more protein than the traditional yogurt we have grown accustomed to eating. Greek yogurt is growing in popularity so it can now be easily found in the dairy case of your local grocery store.

If you must feed your kids flavored yogurt, aim for the smaller 4 oz cups specifically designed for children. Danimals, Yoplait Kids and YoKids by Stonyfield Farms all have 13 grams of sugar per 4 oz. serving and these brands do not contain HFCS or artificial flavorings, unlike Trix and Go-Gurt (also made by Yoplait) -- come on, neon-green yogurt?!

A Sprinkle of Cinnamon A Day May Help To Keep The Doctor Away

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:02:00 +0000

Research has shown that just eating ½ teaspoon of cinnamon a day could lower bad cholesterol by 18%, helping to keep the heart free from disease. Maybe the next time you are making heart-healthy oatmeal (even the instant kind) for you or a member of your family, sprinkle a little cinnamon on top for a double dose of cholesterol fighting goodness, not to mention great flavor.

It is also believed that cinnamon may help to regulate blood sugar, making it beneficial for diabetics or even dieters.

Other ways we like to use cinnamon in my house is on top of our yogurt parfaits, mixed into our granola and especially, my personal favorite, sprinkled on top of a toasted almond butter and banana sandwich – try it, it is really good. Also, for the grown-ups in the house, next time you are brewing a pot of coffee, try sprinkling a little cinnamon on top of the coffee grounds before brewing – a little cinnamon will infuse your coffee with the subtle flavor and scent of cinnamon. I promise it will make an ordinary cup of Joe feel extra special, a delicious and calming start to your day.

Important Note: A sprinkle of cinnamon goes a long way, especially with regards to our kids. Too much cinnamon can be potentially toxic to the body so for adults keep it to ½ teaspoon a day, for children I would personally use less.

Study Suggests That Cola May Double Risk of Kidney Disease

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I’ve just read another troubling reason to keep our kids (and ourselves) far from the cola. According to a recent study conducted among 900 participants by the NIH (National Institutes of Health), drinking just 16 ounces or more of diet or regular cola a day doubles the risk of chronic kidney disease. While it has been clear for sometime that drinking any type of soft drink increases the risk factors for kidney disease, including diabetes, kidney stones and hypertension, the fact that cola-type products are twice as dangerous was a relatively new and disconcerting finding. It is believed that the ingredient found specifically in cola, phosphoric acid, is to blame for this increased risk. Phosphoric acid has time after time been linked to the development of kidney stones. Phosphoric acid is also known to lower bone density, causing osteoporosis -- not only is this a disturbing fact for our kids, but given the fact I'm over 40, I need to hold on to as much bone density as I can.

If you even occasionally allow your children to indulge in soft drinks it is safer that you allow them to drink the non-cola variety like Sprite, 7-Up or ginger ale.

Even better, find new ways to infuse more fun into healthier beverage options like carbonated water, such as seltzer and even water. I like to make juice ice cubes for my kids. Not only do my kids find them fun, juice ice cubes also allow my kids to explore new varieties of juice combinations without a lot of unnecessary calories.

Simply pour 100% juice into an ice cube tray and then place in the freezer until frozen. Drop a couple of juice ice cubes into your kid’s water or seltzer.

Click on this link for even more dangers associated with soft drinks.

There Is A Better Way To Evaluate Kids' Movies.

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I've always loved going to the movies. In fact, in my younger and more happening days -- read between the lines,"before kids," my husband and I would often go to several movies in a single weekend -- not to mention, sleeping in and enjoying long and lingering dinners! Now that kids are the biggest part of our lives the majority of movies we do go to see these days are the kid-friendly kind, or so I thought.

I don't know about you, but I've come to discover that just because a movie has a "PG" rating it does not guarantee it is appropriate for all kids -- especially, my very sensitive 7 year old daughter who thinks that "stupid" is a bad word. Up until now I've had to rely on the opinions of other parents who have already seen a movie that we might be considering in order to determine if it will be acceptable for my daughter and son. While this has been somewhat helpful, as we all know we each have different standards of acceptability so sometimes this approach has left me running out of the theatre covering my daughter's eyes -- my son on the other hand usually remains riveted and takes over his sister's abandoned popcorn.

With this in mind, I was thrilled to have recently found a very useful website kids-in-mind.com. This website provides an extensive review of just about any movie you can think of (both current and DVD movies). However, unlike the MPAA single, age-specific rating, kids-in-mind.com will rate all movies according to several criteria, including Sex & Nudity, Violence & Gore and Profanity. It gives each of these categories a scaled rating of 1-10 (e.g. a 10 would imply the most profane). In addition to the number rating, kids-in-mind.com provides a detailed description and explanation of specific scenes within each category so that a parent may determine for themselves if this film is inappropriate for their specific child or their personal criteria. Let's just say, I very recently successfully used this system to clearly demonstrate to my nagging 10 year old son why Quantum Solace was not appropriate for him to see and even though "Everyone else has seen it" I still was not comfortable sending him into the theatre.

Its important to note that kids-in-mind.com does not condemn or criticize a movie, but rather provides the necessary information so we may make an informed decision and decide for ourselves if we feel a particular film is appropriate (or not) for our children. Click on this link to take a closer look at their rating system explanation. Kids-in-mind.com Methodology

Since we are heading into a long weekend and we will be searching for entertainment for our kids I went to the site to check out their review of Coraline. Given it is a Tim Burton film I already had a suspicion that it would be inappropriate for my daughter, Rachel. Let's just say, I think we'll go to the Aquarium instead. For a look at their review, click here: Kids-in-mind.com Review of Coraline

My only caveat would be that in order to reap the benefits of this site you must also endure the ads. While I am willing to spend a little extra time skipping the ads, for those of you with a bit less patience (or time) I believe they offer an ad-free membership at a very low cost (I think it is $1).

Happy week-end!

Are Air Fresheners Really Safe For Our Family?

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:34:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but I grew up in a household where there was always a cone-shaped container filled with this strangely colorful and waxy-looking stuff inside that had a permanent position on top of the toilet bowl. Yes, this air freshener would sit there day and night filling the room with the unnatural scent of "a freshly picked bouquet of flowers" or perhaps some even more unnatural smell like, pine trees. As a kid I remember watching the waxy interior shrink with every passing day to only be replaced with a brand new scent when that air freshener had obviously worn out its welcome. Quite frankly, as a kid I did not think much about this air freshener beyond this, but for whatever reason I decided not to follow this same tradition into my adulthood -- I would much rather throw open the window and smell the genuine outdoors!

Anyway, I was reading a past issue of Prevention Magazine the other day when I came across Dr. Weil's regular feature. Someone had written to him asking the question about the safety of these air fresheners. While I do not use them in my household, I know a lot of people that do (including my parents) and if you ever turn on the television you will soon discover that the air freshener industry is huge -- clearly, playing on consumer's paranoia about having a "smelly house." Given this I thought it would be worth my while to share his feelings about air fresheners.

Are Air Fresheners Safe?
Based on this article, they certainly do not appear to be. In fact, the information here was a bit alarming, especially if you have a household filled with children.

Increases Asthma Symptoms
Recent studies have suggested that air fresheners raise the risk of several pulmonary diseases and that being exposed to the chemicals in air fresheners for as little as once a week may increase chances of the development or worsening of asthma symptoms by 71%.

Potential Link To Cancer
A study out of the University of California, Berkeley, revealed that some air fresheners when used in a small, poorly ventilated room (possibly like a bathroom?) released pollutants that create unsafe levels of formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen that has been shown to "cause cancer in animals and respiratory irritation in humans."

Health Concerns So Great Government Regulation Has Been Requested
After the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) independently tested fourteen common air fresheners, some which were advertised as "unscented" or "all-natural," they became so alarmed by their findings that they filed a petition along with several other environmental groups demanding that air fresheners be thoroughly tested and regulated by our government to ensure a higher degree of consumer safety. In this study while none of the air fresheners listed phthalates in the ingredients, 12 of the 14 air freshener products tested by the NRDC did contain them. Phthalates are chemicals that are believed to affect fertility, cause cancer, birth defects and may cause developmental abnormalities in babies.

As I always say, it is better to err on the side of safety, especially with respect to our developing children. In my humble opinion we would all be better off and probably a lot safer if we simply threw open our windows or filled our house with pleasant smelling real flowers or potted plants.

Click on the link above to read more about NRDC testing. You can also click here for a summary of reports produced by the NRDC regarding air fresheners.

NRDC's Concerns About Air Fresheners

They Can Have A Cookie And Eat It Too!

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:47:00 +0000

I can’t lie to you – I am a sucker for a freshly baked cookie! While I do my very best to feed my family healthy low-fat meals and in general limit the amount of sweets they eat, even I must admit there is always a place for a fresh from the oven homemade cookie.

Not only do I enjoy the pleasure of spending time with my kids while baking (a great way to get them to talk) and eating (my husband’s favorite part) our homemade goodies together I also take comfort in knowing exactly what’s going into the foods they eat. With so many additives and preservatives lurking in our packaged foods today I like that our homemade treats contain only words I can pronounce (i.e. ah, butter, sugar, eggs, etc.). Not to mention that I probably already have most of these ingredients sitting in my fridge and pantry right now.

However, given my desire for a healthy lifestyle I’m always on the look-out for new ways to cut down on the fat and calories in our much loved baked goods without sacrificing flavor or texture. Of course there are lots of dessert recipes that use fruit purees, especially apple sauce, as a method for cutting down on the butter or oil in a recipe. While I’ve had some success using this approach with cakes, muffins and quick breads where the goal is for a spongy or moist texture, I find this same approach simply does not work with cookies. Unlike cakes, a great-tasting cookie is crispy on the outside with a slightly chewy inside – in my opinion this texture profile can simply not be accomplished without a little added fat. I personally find these fruit enhanced cookies a bit too sticky and cakey to be described as a great-tasting cookie.

Finally, to my rescue came One Smart Cookie by Julie Van Rosendaal. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to find her book since it was first published in 2000, but I can’t tell you how happy I finally did. I actually stumbled across her book on another blog (sorry, I’ve forgotten who’s). While the author was not specifically discussing her book, but rather her personal weight loss goals for the New Year, Ms. Rosendaal’s book was featured in a photo. Intrigued by the title I immediately went to my local library website and requested a copy of this cookbook to try out (Hint: I always borrow a cookbook before committing to a purchase in case I find the recipes unappealing.)

Needless to say, it only took about two recipes to be convinced that One Smart Cookie was a keeper! Not only do her cookies stand up to the real think – only healthier, but you can proudly share them with the most skeptical cookie connoisseur and they will not notice a difference, nor will they miss the added fat (just ask my husband, our resident Cookie Monster). Here are a few of her tricks:

Reduce The Amount Of Butter
Most cookie recipes call for 2 to 1 sticks of butter. The cookies in this book require no more than ¼ cup or half a stick of butter (and some call for even less). In the foreword Ms. Rosendaal points out that everyone needs a little fat in their diet and with respect to cookies, a little fat goes a long way to achieve a chewy, crispy cookie.

Throw Out The Yolks But Keep The Whites
While some of her recipes still call for a whole egg, there are many more that replace the whole egg with egg whites, once again reducing the added fat.

Stick With Lower Fat Versions of Popular Ingredients
Low fat cream cheese, sour cream, milk and even peanut butter will reduce the amount of calories and fat in many baked goods without destroying flavor, unlike many fat-free varieties.

Cocoa Powder In Replace Of Solid Chocolate
Cocoa powder with a little added milk or water has less fat than solid baking chocolate. In many of her chocolate-based recipes Ms. Rosendaal replaces melted baking chocolate with cocoa powder.

Do Not Over Mix or Over Bake!
What I also love about this book are the recipes are so simply to do – in many cases it is not even necessary to pull out your mixer, in fact, she warns us to not over mix our dough, which would result in a tough cookie. Also she cautions us to not leave the cookies in the oven too long, but rather take them out when they are only slightly golden around the edges and still a bit soft on the inside.

Use More Whole Wheat Flour
As you might already know, I’m a big fan of replacing half of the white flour called for any recipe with whole wheat pastry flour – Ms. Rosendaal recommends it to. Whole grain flour improves the “healthfulness” of the cookie as well as increases its fiber content. I find whole wheat pastry flour is very effective in baked goods because of its more refined texture versus traditional whole wheat flour. It can easily be purchased right in your supermarket’s baking aisle.

Hope you give this cookbook a try -- I can't wait to try another recipe!

Taking A Closer Look Inside The Shell. Pistachios - A Delicious and Nutritious Snack For The Kids

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:02:00 +0000

I must say that the one good thing that has come out of this peanut products recall is it has forced me to look at other options for sandwich and snack ideas for my kids, which has positively broadened their food choices as well as has exposed them to a wider variety of beneficial nutrients.

Having temporarily removed many of our peanut product staples from lunch and after-school snacks (e.g. peanut butter filled pretzels, peanut butter granola bars and peanut butter snack crackers – oh, I can go on.), I started thinking a little bit more outside the box and turned by attention inside – that is, inside the pistachio shell.

One of the biggest reasons I’ve allowed peanut butter to be the focus of my kid’s snacking is for its high level of protein and nutrient-richness. I recently discovered that pistachios deliver on these very same benefits, plus some. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Nutrient-Dense Star
The USDA recommends that our diets are primarily comprised of nutrient-dense foods, which by definition are foods that provide substantial amounts of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients as well as are relatively low calorie. Let’s just say that pistachios are one of the shining stars among nutrient-dense foods. Not only is it one of the lowest calorie nuts (160 calories per one ounce serving compared to the 180-200 calories per serving of other types of nuts, including walnuts) but pistachios are also an excellent source of Vitamin B6, copper, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. A single serving of pistachios offer more than 30 different vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

High In Vegetable Protein
Along with almonds, pistachios have more protein per one ounce serving than most other nuts. Pistachios are a great way to increase the protein in our children’s diet without the over-dependence of foods high in unhealthy saturated fats, such as beef.

Heart-Healthy Fats
Almost 90% of the fat found in pistachios is unsaturated, which means it is primarily made up of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats – both of which are considered the heart-healthy kind. It is believed that mono and polyunsaturated fats help to reduce blood cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease, especially when they replace saturated fats in the diet. In fact, the FDA went so far to publically state:

“Scientific evidence suggests, but does not prove, that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, such as pistachios, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Fiber-Rich
Did you know that pistachios are one of the highest fiber nuts? With 3 grams of dietary fiber per one ounce serving, pistachios have as much fiber as almonds, pecans and hazelnuts and more fiber than cashews and walnuts. Fiber has been proven to help manage cholesterol, control blood sugar as well as helps to keep the digestive system running smoothly. Fiber is also believed to be an important part of healthy weight management because foods rich in fiber keep you feeling satisfied and full longer – hopefully, helping you to keep the kids away from additional snacks before dinnertime.

One of the Highest Ranking Antioxidants
A study revealed that pistachios were in the highest ranking group of antioxidant capacity. Antioxidants help to protect the body from certain cancers and heart disease.

Fun to Eat
Come on, when all is said and done while all this other stuff is meaningful to you and me, kids just want to have fun! Pistachios come in its own natural wrapper, making it a fun and interactive food for kids to enjoy. Not only does the shell provide some tactile amusement for kids it is believed that it may also aid in weight management given that you must shell the nut before eating, slowing down the consumption time.

Here are a couple of examples on how to incorporate pistachios into your kids’ diet now:

Fill a small bowl with a single serving of unsalted shelled pistachios and watch them dig in. Learn from me – have an empty shell bowl on hand or you’ll spend the rest of the afternoon sweeping the floor.

Mix-up some heart-healthy granola. I like to add pistachios with dried cranberries, their flavors blend so nicely.

Substitute pistachios for another type of nut in your favorite muffin or quick bread recipes.

Sprinkle pistachios into oatmeal or yogurt.

For more information on the benefits of pistachios and to find recipe ideas visit pistachiohealth.com

Lack of Communication By Nature's Path Is A Huge Let Down, But Trader Joe's Continues To Win Me Over

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:55:00 +0000

Early last week I visited the FDA Peanut Butter Recall webpage to see if there were any additional products placed on the list since I had last checked. To my shocked surprise, Trader Joe's had just recently added several of it's granola bars, including their Nutty Chocolate Chewy Coated Granola Bars, to the growing list of voluntarily recalled products. Among their other granola bars, the Nutty Chocolate Chewy Coated Granola Bars are a standard part of our school snack rotation and we just so happened to have a box sitting in our pantry ready to be loaded into future lunchboxes. Given the fact that up until this moment I prided myself on being on top of this recall you could probably imagine how I was now kicking myself having completely overlooked this possible threat to my children's health. I immediately contacted Trader Joe's and asked them what my next steps should be. After just a couple of rings I was greeted with a very pleasant human-being who welcomingly shared additional details regarding this recall and while still behaving cautiously, attempted to comfort me by telling me that to date there had not been a single case of salmonella sickness reported as the result of these granola bars.

Given what continues to be revealed on a daily basis about this extensive peanut butter scare and the fact that I blindly overlooked these granola bars, I decided to have a much closer look at the products I've been feeding my family. Another product that I as a result of a recent Costco run had tons of in my pantry were the Envirokidz Organic Crispy Rice Bars in chocolate and peanut butter flavors. Envirokidz is actually owed by Nature's Path. After going to the Nature's Path website and learning about a recall on one of their other products, Peanut Butter Optimum Energy Bars, I decided to contact the company directly to confirm the safety of the Envirokidz Organic Crispy Rice Bars in Peanut Butter. Unfortunately, unlike my positive experience with Trader's Joe's consumer affairs, I was unpleasantly ignored at Nature's Path. Rather than a human voice I was greeted with a very long telephone message. After staying on long enough to find out whom I should speak with regarding this matter I was then sent to another long telephone message that asked me to leave my concern along with a return telephone number and/or e-mail address. While I did as instructed and was ensured a reply by the company it has now been just under a week and I have not heard from anyone at Nature's Path.

Given the gravity of this peanut butter recall and the fact that children's lives might be at potential risk, I am utterly disappointed with the complete lack of attention I've received from Nature's Path -- a company I've been a loyal and supportive customer of for quite some time. While I will continue to seek attention from Nature's Path, as a form of rebellion I've decided to throw out any remaining boxes of Envirokidz Crispy Rice Bars I currently have at home and will not purchase additional products from Nature's Path at this time.

It all comes down to the fact that as parents we need to take the lead and a stand for the health and well-being of our children. In these confusing times, here are several rules I plan on following going forward:

Until this scare settles down, check the FDA Peanut Butter Recall homepage regularly. I'm not exaggerating when I say new products are being added to this list DAILY. Don't assume that just because a product has not been recalled yet it is safe to eat.

When all else fails, check company websites and read their newsroom section for any potential recall information. If you are still not satisfied contact the company directly and do not give up until they address your concerns.

Lastly, avoid peanut butter and peanut oil products, especially if they are uncooked. They now believe that some of the peanut butter products from Peanut Corp. have left their faculty contaminated since January of 2007.

Find alternatives to the peanut butter products you've been using. My kids are enjoying almond butter and I also have plans to try sunflower and cashew butter (by the way, both are sold at Trader Joe's)

Oprah Says "America's Kids Are Fat" -- What Can We Do As Parents To Help

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:07:00 +0000

Thanks to one of my best girlfriends who called to tell me that Tuesday’s Oprah focused on our children’s diets and how to make healthier choices for them I was able to schedule the time so I may tune in. This episode was entitled “Why America’s Kids Are Fat” and it was primarily lead by Oprah’s favorite resident doc – Dr. Oz. (Oh, as an aside, this same girlfriend has a BIG crush on Dr. Oz. Don’t ask me, it must be his hospital-green scrubs that do it for her or the way he handles a human brain with his bare hands!) Anyway, while the state of “our” children is quite unsettling (i.e. 1 in 6 kids are overweight), Dr. Oz and the author of Eat This, Not That For Kids, David Zinczenko, had some helpful insight and advise to share.

For those of you who did not have a girlfriend looking out for you and might of missed the show, here are some of the key points I took away from the program:

Being An Overweight Kid Is Not Just About Food

Oprah put it perfectly -- this is their “drug to numb the pain.” Being overweight is a “multi-health issue.” We as parents must address the emotional element of the overeating as well as creating a more healthful environment with respect to food and exercise options.

80% of children that are overweight today will be overweight adults. This means their live expectancy takes a considerable nose-dive. More kids will die prematurely due to being overweight than as the result of using drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, COMBINED. Time is of the essence. We need to teach our children how to adopt healthy eating and exercising habits now – these habits will help them for a hopefully long, long lifetime.

Several of the overweight children featured on Tuesday’s show had diabetes or were pre-diabetic as well as suffered internal inflammation, fatty liver syndrome and what Dr. Oz referred to as “rusting out from the inside.”

Losing a little weight goes a really long way. Dr. Oz said it takes a loss of just 10 pounds to see marked improvement in one’s health.

It’s Never Too Early To Teach Your Kids to Read Nutritional Labels

Dr. Oz demonstrated a proper portion of cereal (something I’m always doing with my own children) as well as discussed the importance of reading a food label. He made a really important point about how everything on the top of the nutritional labels (i.e. trans fats, cholesterol, sodium) is stuff that you want to eat 5% or less of and everything below (fiber, vitamins and minerals) are the things you want to eat 20% or more of. Click on this link to see more of what I’m talking about. Dr. Oz - How To Read Food Labels

“Sugar creates hunger” – this basically means that if our kids are eating foods with too much sugar (e.g. unhealthy, high-sugar cereals and soda) they will continue to eat because our bodies are programmed to demand nutrients. The body will continue to desire food until it has gotten the nutrients it needs, but a whole lot of unnecessary calories might have been consumed along the way.

Breakfast Is King

Never let your kids skip breakfast. Children that start the day with a high quality breakfast tend to be thinner because they burn 65% more calories throughout the day compared to those that skipped breakfast.

People who skip breakfast are 450% more likely to be overweight.

Protein rules the school. Not only is breakfast important, but it is important that you incorporate a high quality protein such as eggs, peanut butter, low-fat yogurt or cheese into your children’s breakfast menu. According to David Zinczenko, “eggs are the magic bullet of weight loss” because they help to keep energy levels high while also helping you to stay full longer.

School Cafeterias Are The Dead Zone

According to Dr. Oz’s research 82% of middle schools and 97% of high schools in America offer unhealthy foods right there in the vending machines. He was dismayed by the lack of healthy food options available in most school cafeterias. His primary concern was that the food available was basically a “nap in a box” for kids because it lacked the appropriate nutrients and fiber to keep kids alert and energized to face the rest of their school day.

Aside from packing your kids' lunch, other suggestions for an improved lunch included lean, substantial proteins like turkey or ham on whole grain bread. It was also suggested that swiss cheese replace cheddar because it is lower in sodium, fat and calories. Peanut butter is another good choice.

Easy Steps For Weight Loss and Weight Control

Limit Beverages -- The average kid drinks 450 calories in beverages a day, which is up 50% versus 30 years ago. Dr. Oz said weight loss could be achieved simply by eliminating these high-calorie drinks and replacing them with water, low-fat milk and reduced calorie juices.

Portion Control – Portion size in America has literally grown out of control over the last ten plus years. At home we should use smaller plates and bowls to better control portion sizes.

Eat Meals Together – While obviously we cannot plan every meal to be eaten together it has been proven that children that have scheduled meals with their family three or four times a week had half the weight issues of those children that only ate as a family once a week.

Don’t Give Up To Quickly – It is proven that it sometimes takes up to 12 exposures to new foods/flavors before taste buds adapt. Don’t give up on offering whole wheat breads, reduced fat milk or other dairy products because your kids claim to not like it. Keep trying, you might be surprised to see that they eventually come around.

Walk For Exercise – Walking is low impact on the body while also being an effective way to burn calories and help the heart stay healthy.

Click on this link to get more information on this program as well as Eat This, Not That For Kids:

"Why America's Kids Are Fat"

Educated Plate Post On Eat This Not That For Kids

Healthier Fruit Snacks For Your Children

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:32:00 +0000

OK, lets all face the truth – our kids love to eat fruit snacks and if you are anything like me you cringe at the thought of buying them because most of the brands we find on the shelves at our local supermarkets are loaded with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors and do I even need to point-out, tons of artificial colorings -- come on, where does neon blue “naturally” occur in nature?!!

Some of you might feel that these “fruit flavored snacks” might be a harmless treat, but putting aside the issues that surround HFCS and hydrogenated oils for a moment, there is also now growing concern that the artificial colorings and preservatives found in many of these fruit snacks as well as many other packaged goods that appeal to our children might be linked to hyperactivity. A study conducted in the United Kingdom found that color additives Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Red No. 40 and sodium benzoate, which are all commonly found in our food products, might cause hyperactivity in kids. While more information and research needs to be gathered, I’ve always played by the rule that if I can find healthier alternatives to replace these questionable products with, I’d rather play on the safe side of the street to safeguard my children’s health in the long run.

So in an attempt to please these childhood indulgences (and maintain their good social standing) I’ve tried to find the “healthiest” versions of these lunchbox staples without completely compromising my children's good health. While I’ve had some good luck with the Fruitabu brand in the past and the Trader Joe’s all-fruit leathers, I’ve recently discovered two new fruit snacks that my kids both seem to prefer because of their good taste and the fact that they look more like a traditional fruit snack (again, back to that social component).

Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks - The last time I was shopping at Target I happened upon a new product by the Annie’s Homegrown line of products. These new fruit snacks are certified organic, made with real fruit (yes, they also contain organic sugar), naturally colored with purple carrot juice and contain no preservatives. My kids really enjoyed the fruit flavor and texture of these fruit snacks – not to mention, the fruit snacks are shaped like bunnies. We’ve tried the Berry Patch. Annie’s Bunny Fruit Snacks also comes in a Tropical flavor.

Florida’s Natural Nuggets and Fruit Stiks - I’ve actually been using these awhile. Again, I found Florida’s Natural on one of many trips to Target (I can’t seem to find these in the grocery store). Like Annie’s, these fruit snacks are all-natural and contain a combination of fruit juice and natural fruit flavors (orange, strawberry and blueberry). In fact the nuggets are made with 66% real juices and fruit and the Fruit Stiks are made with 90% real juice and fruit. Similarly to Annie’s, Florida’s Natural gets it coloring from purple carrot extract and contains no gelatine. Each Florida’s Natural box contains a mix of strawberry, orange and blueberry single pack nuggets or fruit leathers. My children (and husband) really enjoy the flavor of these snacks and in fact have stopped asking for those other brands I’m a little less comfortable buying.

While obviously these are not designed to replace fruit, it is nice to have a few healthier options to turn to that allow your kids to feel like one of the kids without making you feel uncomfortable about giving them something you are just not too sure about.

You Thought Pizza Was Just For Dinner - Mission Fruit Continues With This Good-For-You Raspberry Dessert Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:22:00 +0000

The recent peanut butter recall threw me off my “Mission Fruit” postings for a little while. There were a couple of other fruit-based recipes I’ve successfully tried out on my kids that I wanted to share with you. Given the upcoming weekend, I thought I would share with you a recipe for Raspberry Dessert Pizza. This low calorie, fresh-fruit dessert makes a special weekend treat for just the family or can even stand-up to serving guests.

Raspberry Dessert Pizza
Serves 8

Crust
2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 T sugar
1 t cinnamon
¼ t baking soda
2 T canola oil
3 T plain or vanilla-flavored yogurt
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Filling
¼ cup raspberry jam, preserves or fruit spread*
¾ t almond or vanilla extract
Pint of fresh raspberries (if unavailable feel free to use frozen)
2 T sliced or chopped almonds (optional)

Heat oven to 375.

In medium bowl combine oats through baking soda. Stir in oil and yogurt until stiff dough forms. If dough is too stiff add a little more yogurt (go slowly).

With slightly oiled hands, spread and flattened dough, creating a 10” circle on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes.

Once out of the oven, evenly sprinkle the top of the crust with chocolate chips and place back in oven until chocolate begins to melt, about 3-4 minutes. Let cool.

In a microwavable bowl place raspberry jam and extract. Microwave on high for 5-12 seconds, or until melted. Spread generously over cooled crust, leaving a little left in the bowl.

Top dessert pizza with raspberries and then spread remaining jam on top. Sprinkle with almonds.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Stores nicely in fridge for a couple of days.

Cut into 8 wedges – a pizza cutter works really well.

Hope you and your family enjoy this guilt-free treat. Happy weekend!

* I like to use the preserves from Trader Joe's.

Flaxseed - A Powerhouse of Health Benefits in a Little Seed

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:19:00 +0000

I was thinking today about how sometimes the smallest changes to our diets have the greatest effect on our overall health because these types of changes usually have little impact on our day-to-day lives and in general require little to no extra effort to execute, which helps us to stick with them, getting a bigger nutritional bang over time with little sweat at all. The types of changes I’m talking about are things like replacing half of the white flour in recipes with whole wheat flour, using low-fat dairy products versus the whole-fat kind or substituting apple sauce for some of the oil or butter in our baking – these little changes are not life-altering in the least, nor are they terribly difficult to do every time, but in the long run they have a truly positive impact on the health and well-being of our families. Let’s just say that asking them to become vegetarian overnight might be a bit trickier than sneaking a little flaxseed into their oatmeal -- which brings me to the real point of this post – flaxseed.

What is flaxseed?
For those of you not yet familiar with flaxseed, let me begin by explaining that flaxseed is a plant-based source. It can be consumed as a seed, ground into a meal or turned into oil. For my family’s personal needs I prefer to use it in the form of ground flaxseed meal, which can be purchased easily and relatively inexpensively right at your local supermarket. Also, ground flaxseed is considered more nutritious because the milling process makes the nutrients in the flaxseed “come alive” versus simply passing through the body with little impact at all.

Ground flaxseed has a subtle but pleasantly nutty flavor and can easily be sprinkled directly into oatmeal, yogurt, baked goods and even main dishes like meatloaf and soup. Because its flavor is so subtle the majority of kids will not even know that it is there, but the inclusion of flaxseed will give them a healthy and nutritious boost. A little flaxseed goes a long way (especially with kids) so one bag stored in the fridge will last a while.

Why flaxseed?
Flaxseed has many truly amazing health and nutrition benefits. Including:

Flaxseed is one of the best sources of lignans, which are potent anti-oxidants that have been proven to help to prevent heart disease, lower bad cholesterol and protect against certain types of cancers as well as they might also protect against Type 2 diabetes.

Flaxseed is a natural and powerful source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are essencial to neurological functioning and since omega-3 fatty acids are not naturally produced in the body we must find it in our food source. Other beneficial sources of omega-3 are oily fish such as salmon, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, canola oil and soy.

It is also believed that Omega-3 can help to keep cholesterol levels healthy and stable as well as can fight against inflammation in our bodies which might help to keep chronic diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and even asthma at bay.

Flaxseed is extremely fiber-rich. As discussed in previous posts, a diet rich in fiber will help to maintain healthy cholesterol levels, keep blood sugar stabilized as well as help to maintain a healthy weight and keep all well in the GI tract.

Here is a flaxseed oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe I tried this week. Since my kids went back for seconds I'm assuming that they thought they were pretty good.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip with Flax

Ingredients
1 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time. Add vanilla until combined.
Whisk flours, oatmeal, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda together, salt. Blend dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if using.
Form into 1" balls and place in ungreased cookie sheet or parchment about 2" apart.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Rotate cookie sheets half way through baking.

For much, much more information on flaxseed and its benefits, uses and a great variety of recipes go to Healthy Flax.

IMPORTANT UPDATE - ADDITIONAL RECALL OF PEANUT BUTTER PRODUCTS

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:47:00 +0000

Click on this link to find the complete and most up to date list of FDA Peanut Butter Recall Products. As of today many more companies have recalled products that contain peanut butter or peanut paste produced by the Peanut Corp. of America. In addition to the Kellogg Co. (including the Keebler, Austin and Famous Amos brands), other well-known food manufacturers, supermarket chains and mass merchandisers such as Walmart have pulled products off shelf they believe might pose a potential health threat to consumers. Several examples of these product recalls include, but are not limited to:

--Clif Bar & Co., of Berkeley, Calif. Clif and Luna brand bars made with peanut butter

--Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie snack bars

--Little Debbie Peanut Butter Toasty and Peanut Butter Cheese Sandwich Crackers

--Ready Pack Eating Right Kids Apples with Peanut Butter , which is manufactured by Safeway

To demonstrate the gravity of this situation, Kellogg Co., who late last week voluntarily recalled their popular brands of Austin and Keebler peanut butter crackers, has confirmed that the salmonella bacteria was found in a single package of one of its recalled Austin peanut butter crackers.

As stated in my earlier post, it is believed that nationally branded jarred peanut butter is safe, but for the time-being it is best to keep you and especially your children away from crackers, cookies, snack bars, energy bars, in-store baked goods and ice cream made with peanut butter or peanut butter paste until this health-scare is resolved.

Again, for a more comprehensive list of recalled peanut butter products click on the link above.

Especially given the popularity of many of these products among our children, please let us work together as a community of voices to get the word out to family and friends about this important product recall.

PRODUCT RECALL ALERT - FDA URGES CONSUMERS TO AVOID PEANUT BUTTER

noreply@blogger.com (The Educated Plate) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:24:00 +0000

While most of you are probably already aware since it has been all over the news, given the gravity of the situation I felt the need to post an important alert about a nation-wide recall on peanut butter and all products manufactured with peanut butter or peanut paste. Yesterday, Saturday, January 17th, the FDA advised that consumers avoid any products containing peanut butter until they can get a handle on a deadly outbreak of salmonella contamination that has sickened over 470 people in 43 states and has sadly taken the lives of six people, mostly the elderly. Stephen Sundlof, who heads the FDA's food safety center said "we urge consumers to postpone eating any products that contain peanut butter until additional information becomes available." While the FDA believes that most national brands of jarred peanut butter is safe and that the outbreak stems from peanut paste mostly used in commercial baking, they are asking that consumers avoid all peanut butter products at this point in time.

Officials are focusing on peanut butter and peanut paste produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Peanut Corp. of America serves many well-known food manufacturing companies and baking facilities. In fact, The Kellogg Co. is one of Peanut Corp.'s clients and as a result of this national recall, The Kellogg Co. has recalled over 15 of its own products, including the Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter sandwich crackers, snack-size Famous Amos peanut butter cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle peanut butter cookies. For a complete list of their recalled products click on the link below.

Press Release from The Kellogg Co. with list of recalled products

Peanut paste is commonly used in cookies, cakes, crackers and ice cream. It is further suggested that for the time-being, peanut butter based baked goods that are prepared on-site at your local supermarket should be avoided until this situation is clarified.

To read more about this recall click on direct link to the FDA alert:

FDA Consumer Alert Regarding Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak - 1/18/09

Given the fact that peanut butter is a staple in most households with children it is important that we work together to get this message out to our friends and family.

Educated Plate Note: I was thinking this morning about how tough restricting peanut butter will be for some families that really rely on it as a dietary staple for their kids. This might be a great time to introduce alternatives to your children, like having them use almond butter in replace of traditional peanut butter. Almonds are considered a super-food by many. Not only do they provide valuable protein and calcium, they have also been proven to lower bad cholesterol and help to maintain a healthy heart.

updated: 1/19/09