“Efficientize” Kid MealPrep

I get tired of the before-dinner-halt that occurs due to the required cutting up of all of my darling kids’ meals. Sometimes the cooking part is a cinch but getting the food from pan to plate to child takes forever when the little crew is cranky, tired and hungry. So when feasible I get out my handy dandy Pampered Chef chopper! I have heard from many a mom who has been suckered into buying this gadget that they don’t use it. ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!? Just dish out each child’s portion onto plate or bowl and bang bang bang, dinner delivered kitty food style! Here is a picture of the pasta we had last night which reached my kids’ tummies in record time thanks to my chopper. Oh, and if you don’t have one of these handy dandy choppers, I have a friend (Courtney M.) who happens to be a Pampered Chef dealer. I am happy to get you in contact with her regardless of your location.

Breakfast Popsicles

An Old Favorite Returns

We often have fruit smoothies for breakfast. I mentioned them before but I will elaborate. Basically I freeze browned bananas (after peeling them) three at a time in a freezer bag. In the blender, I toss in a bag of frozen bananas, a few frozen berries, some yogurt (plain or with fruit), some whey protein powder, and orange juice or whatever fruit juice we have or some milk if none and mix it all together. The kids love these smoothies and haven’t tired of them. When there are leftover smoothie slush I pour the remaining liquid into popsicle molds for later. Then we’ll have popsicles for breakfast on another day. They used to think the popsicles were great but somehow it lost its appeal and we haven’t had the popsicles in nearly a year. Well I broke out the popsicle molds again and we had breakfast popsicles this morning and the kids loved them all over again. I suppose it’s like the toy rotation method, sometimes you have to put it a toy away for a while, get it out again and it’s like brand new.

I just read in Martha's Everyday magazine that you can make similar smoothies with rolled oats. I have not tried that before but will give it a shot next time.

The Halloween Candy Gnome

We have a Halloween tradition in our house that has been passed to us through a very clever friend of ours. We have modified the tradition just a bit but basically this is how we handle the overabundance of Halloween candy that our kids try to stuff in their little bodies. On the night of trick-or-treating, the kids may gorge themselves on their candy until the grotesque display makes my husband want to vomit and he calls it quits for the night. The kids go to bed all sugared up and with queezy tummies. The next day they may have candy treats 2-4 at a time a few times throughout the day. After dinner they may choose one piece of candy per years old that they are. They may eat those pieces of candy whenever they wish. The remaining candy is left out for the Candy Gnome. The Candy Gnome will visit any house that has clearly left candy out for him. We leave ours in our front entry hall in our trick-or-treat bags. He takes the candy that is left out for him and delivers it to all the girls and boys who did not get any trick-or-treat candy such as children in hospitals or those who have circumstances where they can not trick-or-treat. The Candy Gnome leaves a small thank you gift. Last year the kids got “head flashlights” that strap around their heads. They had loads of fun in the basement with those. This year the Candy Gnome was not able to shop without children so if he doesn’t get out to shop today then he’ll have to choose something from the Christmas stash. Right now it’s looking like it will be bank calculator jars for the 4 year old and 6 year old and a threesome pack of balls for the 1 year old.

Happy Halloween!

Healthy(ish) Quick Breakfast Ideas

Ok, so I'm looking for some, got any? We have children that do not eat eggs. My husband and I eat eggs every day. I'm hoping that one day our egg habit will rub off on the kids. Until then I will continue to occassionally put egg on their breakfast plate in the hopes it enters their bodies. If it's never on their plate then it has NO chance, right? So here are some of our regular breakfast entrees that I think are somewhat healthy, minus the syrup we put on the pancakes:

1) Pumpkin Pancakes http://www.marthastewart.com/article/pumpkin-pancakes?autonomy_kw=pumpkin%20pancake&rsc=image_1
2) Oatmeal Pancakes http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oatmeal-Pancakes-II/Detail.aspx
3) "Muscle Pancakes" - loaded with protein http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oatmeal-Pancake/Detail.aspx
4) Breakfast smoothies - blended frozen bananas, frozen berries, yogurt, OJ & protein powder
5) Banana slices with peanut butter on top
6) Turkey Sausages
7) Granola cereal (homemade, any recipe will do it - nuts & craisins/raisins)
8) Popsicles made out of leftover smoothies frozen in popsicle molds
9) French toast (at least I get eggs in them this way)
10) Oatmeal with a sprinkle of brown sugar & raisins or mashed banana & splash of milk
11) Bran muffins w/ raisins or blueberries http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Low-Fat-Blueberry-Bran-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Lately I've really been at a loss for breakfast so I'm looking to branch out. I'll let you know what I come up with. My preference is to stay away from cold cereals. You can choose a healthy cereal but they are just so expensive.

Why I Refuse to Do “Kid Friendly Meals”

I see this terminology used all the time, even on foodie blogs. I can understand and appreciate that the short people who live in my house have immature taste buds. However, I refuse to make mac-n-cheese, hot dogs or PBJs for dinner just because they might prefer blandness over the “foodie” preferences of their mother. This refusal actually has little to do with my desire for yummy food, instead it has to do with more with my theory of parenting. Now raise your right hand and place your left hand over your heart and repeat after me, “I believe that a nutritious diet filled with variety of whole foods and flavors is what is best for my children.” I truly believe it is our duty as parents to feed our children healthy food that is within our capabilities and budgetary constraints. If we are smart and not lazy then our capabilities are nearly endless so really there is no excuse, right? Now no one can ONLY give their children HEALTHY food. To not indulge a sweet tooth or whatever craving here and there would mean overindulgence whenever one could get away with it But if the core of a child’s diet is healthy and they are continuously exposed to new healthy flavorful foods, then shouldn’t these individuals grow into strong healthy adults with good eating habits? This is my hope.

In our house supplying kids with healthy food is a basic requirement to raising kids. It is as important as providing them with shelter, clothing, opportunity for physical activity and love. It does not make us good parents, it just means that we meet their basic needs.

Ok, so assuming that we all agree that providing a child with a healthy diet is important, I haven’t necessarily said why I will not do Kid Friendly Meals because I can hear someone reading this saying, “kid friendly meals can be healthy.” I agree. My kids generally do get Kid Friendly Meals for breakfast and lunch because the foods that my husband and I eat for those meals happen to be kid friendly. For one meal each day I think it is important that they are exposed to flavorful and healthy foods that are often new to them and sometimes even to us. I want them to know that mommy and daddy enjoy trying new foods too. It’s not only healthy, it is fun so we enjoy doing it. In my father’s house when I was growing up it was equivalent to swearing if you said, “I don’t like it” before trying it. To this day I can not stand hearing anyone say that when they haven’t even tried a food. It’s a terrible terrible habit to get into that some people carry into adulthood. To give a healthy food no chance to ever nourish your body based upon looks, smells or one disliked ingredient is a crime. If we do not expose our kids to normal non-kid friendly meals then how will they learn to eat healthy?

I don’t get the Kid Friendly Meal approach to feeding a kid. Why waste away 3 opportunities a day to expose them to a variety of healthy foods? The more often you expose a child to something that you want them to learn the quicker they will master it. So why slow down this food acceptance process by filling them up with buttered noodles 3 days a week till they are 12. I don’t have a 12 year old but I bet it is much more difficult to get a 12 year old who has eaten “Kid Friendly Meals” for half his life to try Moo Shoo Pork than it is a 4 year old who has been trying new Non-Kid Friendly Meals every day since she starting eating solid food.

Homemade Lunch Snacks

This is the first school year that I have had to pack a lunch for one of my kids. My oldest, Carter, has entered the halls of first grade at a parochial school that does not serve lunch so everyone must bring a packed lunch. Being the food Nazi that I am I was determined to provide a healthy homemade desirable lunch snack that would not leave my son feeling deprived and longing for all the other pre-packaged chemical laden foods that I know that other kids will be eating right in front of him. So in late August I set out making 4 different recipes of sweet delectable treats and froze them in individual servings. They were a hit! Of course I am sure that the previous 6 ½ years of brainwashing him that EVERYTHING homemade is better than store bought pre-made junk helped.

We just finished off those 4 recipes that were stashed away and made 3 more batches of similar snacks. We probably went through them faster than necessary because my daughter could not understand that the snacks were for her big brother’s lunches and that I could whip up other things for her at home. So my 4 year old Vivian consumed some of the snacks and if the littlest one, 18 month old Dillon, saw her nibbling on one then of course he had to have one also . . .but overall I think 4 batches that lasted us from the beginning of the school year to October 20th is pretty good.

The adjective “healthy” is used loosely here. I really should describe these snacks as “slightly better than a cookie” and of course everything homemade is way better than store bought, right?

1) Rice Krispie treats made with whole grain Cheerios (generic brand of course) instead of Rice Krispies
2) Playgroup Granola Bars http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Playgroup-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx -- I don’t think these are great but the kids love them. Healthy qualities include wheat germ and raisins.
3) Chewy Granola Bars http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chewy-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx -- Made with rolled oats. Carter does not eat oatmeal so I like that a lot of these bars are made with old fashioned/rolled oats. Fiber anyone?
4) No bake cereal bars. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/No-Bake-Cereal-Bars/Detail.aspx Ok this is one that I kept eating. A little too close to candy really to be considered “healthy” but it does have that protein packed peanut butter in it and whole grain cheerios. J
5) Granola Cereal Bars - crunchy http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Granola-Cereal-Bars/Detail.aspx I was surprised that this one was also a favorite with the kids. Oats and peanut butter are the pluses for this one.
6) Peatnuty Caramel Bars http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanutty-Caramel-Bars/Detail.aspx Ok, this one is also way too close to candy and I kept sneaking them. I gave this one out only once a week or less as a treat but at least it has peanuts in it which I can not get Carter to eat otherwise.


It was funny and horrifying to hear my son report on what other kids brought for their lunches. It was his favorite thing to tell me about school the first couple weeks. I’m glad to hear that the kid who brought a sprite every day the first week has been told that soda is not permissible. I would love to know which girl is bringing a salad and bacon every day. Some girl was apparently making the moves on my Carter because she gave him a little Debbie treat but the school started enforcing their “no sharing or trading” lunch policy.

"Yuck!"

Dinner time can be a bear for those of us with children if we as the parent are hell bent on giving our children a well-rounded diet and want to regularly introduce new foods. I am not qualified to give advice on many child behaviors, what is age appropriate, child discipline, sleep issues, and certainly not on potty training but I do have this food battle figured out in my house. Actually it isn't a battle. It is easy for me to dish out mealtime advice because I am a food Nazi and have been from the day my first son was born. No, I am not kidding. I could tell you about all my breastfeeding struggles but this is not what this blog is about and it would be way TMI. So it's easy for me because my kids do not know anything different. Other than a weird toddler phase when my firstborn only ate 5 things at age 1, I have always put dinner in front of them and that was dinner, period. Absolutely no special meals. My food Nazism has been passed on to me from my father, who grew up under extremely poor conditions in a house of 7 kids where if you didn't eat fast, you didn't get to fill your belly because it would be gone. Don't worry, my dad is the oldest so his belly is plenty big. He still eats too fast and says that he just can't break the habit.

If you are trying to implement food Nazi rules with older children who are used to having a PBJ made for them on the side I can imagine itmust be quite difficult. It will be a battle of wills and you can not win unless you are unrelenting, deteremined and do not go back to your PJB ways. Keep reminding yourself that nutrition is important and establishing good eating habits is worth the battle. If you do not believe in your core that it is important then you will lose. If you stick to it, surely they will be hungry enough to put some food in their bellies at some point.

There are simple rules in our house that make our mealtime less of a hassle than it otherwise could be. Here they are:

1) Any negative comment about dinner results in being sent to your room for the remainder of the meal. (You may come down only after apologizing to the cook and you get another opportunity to eat what was on your plate but you will be sitting at the table by yourself.)

2) No one is going to force you onto the ground, hold your nose and make you eat what is in front of you so no complaining is necessary. (Keep in mind that the next meal is breakfast.)

3) If you would like dessert then we will tell you when you have eaten enough to earn dessert.

Before I had a first grader that came home starving at 4 pm I used to have a no snack rule past 2:00 which increased the chances that food (even if they didn't like it) entered their bellies at dinner time. Now my first grader can eat the remainder of his lunch that he didn't eat at school (because he was goofing off with the boys at school) when he gets home starving at 4 pm. I'm not sure that he could do his homework in the state that he comes home in without food so for now I allow that 4 pm snack and have pushed back our 5 pm dinner to 6 pm and it's still going pretty well. Snacks in our house are usually the fruit on the fruit stand. Don't want an apple, banana, carrot or orange? Then you must not really be hungry.

I hope this food Nazism won't come back to smack me in the face, only time will tell. Jim grew up with fruit and veggies as snacks and he assures me that it is perfectly fine. Our pediatrician says that kids don't need snacks at all. We have PLENTY of treats in this house believe me, we are not lacking for those things, but when the treat is given, it is made known that it is a treat and not the expected norm.

My friend Barb has instilled most of these mealtime rules but also has her kids say when they are finished with their meal, "Thank you for this delicious meal, may I please be excused." I have not implemented this but I think it is a wonderful way to teach gratitude and manners at the same time.