Chicken Loaded Vegetable soup

I am tired today. 3 year old has been battling a bug and has had a fever since Friday night. Each night since Friday he has been up in the middle of the night wanting me to cuddle and sing to him. He wants me to do this SEVERAL times each night... Poor guy just needs me! I am happy to do it but MAN am I tired.. 

This is going to be a quick post. I apologize. 

Chicken Soup

Carrots, Zucchini, Broccoli, Onion, Garlic and Chicken

The Directions:

Cook the chicken until tender. Add vegetables and seasoning with broth and basil, garlic, parsley and whatever else you want to add. 

Pineapple Coconut Honey Salmon and Roasted Asparagus

Have you ever had success with fruit and meat??? 

When Hubby and I were just married, 7 years ago, Hubby had this WONDERFUL idea to make chicken and apples. He had had it before and he "says" it was tasty. 

BOY WAS HE WRONG... 

Thankfully, I waited for him and my father-in-law to try the mixture. With pure disgusted looks on their face, I quickly ordered a pizza. I did not even think of tasting the chicken or the apples. 

 The reason I bring this past memory is I attempted Pineapple and Salmon. Hubby would not try the pineapple with the chicken and apples still in his mind. I did and there was a slight taste of Salmon but it was not terrible. I think the it would have been better on the grill but the oven had to do. 

The Ingredients:

Salmon

2 TBSP Dijon Mustard

2 TBSP Raw Honey

1 TBSP Coconut Aminos

shredded coconut

1 cup of fresh pineapple, chopped

The Directions:

Preheat oven 400 degrees. 

Mix Dijon, Raw Honey, Coconut Aminos and top the Salmon. Sprinkle Coconut on top and place pineapple pieces on top of the Salmon. 

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes. Serve with Roasted Asparagus.

ENJOY!!!!

Part of Real Food Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday

Venison Jerky

A few weeks back, when our freezer went out, AGAIN... I made Venison Jerky out of Venison Loin. 

This time the marinade was Djion Mustard, Olive Oil, Garlic, and a very little Coconut Aminos.

I used the same cooking process as the Beef Jerky. I think it would have turned out perfect had I did the same "typical" flavoring for jerky and  used a dehydrator instead of the oven.

Everyday Paleo's thoughts on feeding kids

Today's Friday Fact fact comes straight from one of the blogs I LOVE... EVERYDAY PALEO!
I love Sarah's blog for several reasons. She has quick and easy recipes!!! Her kids are often featured in posts. Either they have picked the meal or they have helped prepare! I love kids in the kitchen. My 3 year old loves time cooking with me. Not only is it a bonding time, it is a great time to educate on food and nutrition. 


I first heard about Sarah's blog from a friend. He loved her site and wouldn't stop raving! I spent a lot of time reading her first posts and found such a connection. 


It wasn't long ago when Sarah switched her ENTIRE family to Paleo Lifestyle. Lucky for us she blog along the way. She even posted transformation pictures --- AHHHHH MAZING!!!!


Sarah has just published her first book and it is a MUST HAVE!!!!  Not only did she include recipes. She has included her pre-paleo story (with pictures), workouts (with pictures), weekly meal plans with prepared grocery lists (HUGE BONUS!). 

Throughout the book, photos of Sarah and her kids bring the information to life. The chapter on kids’ fitness delivers helpful tips for moving your kids away from the XBox and into the yard where they can run around like the little maniacs they’re meant to be. Photos of the wee ones demonstrating exercises are not only informative, but just might convince a reluctant child you know to give it a try. And bonus! Sarah demonstrates how to use your sweetheart for added resistance and stretching assistance. I can’t wait to tell Dave we’re doing partner pushups!

Visit Everyday Paleo now to learn more about how you can win! And definitely bookmark/subscribe to her blog – you can never learn too much about nutrition, exercise, good health, and yourself.

Now onto her post which is directly from her blog! 

If I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me, “What do you feed your kids when eating Paleo?” I would be a gazillionaire…  The short answer is, they eat what I make - and what I allow in my house.  If you only have healthy options available in YOUR house, there will not be any need for arguing, negotiating, begging, or pleading.  ALL the food in my house can be eaten whenever my kids want to eat it, there is no “special” food, reward food, or “dessert” food.  If we DO have ice cream in the house, or chocolate, the kids can eat it.  BUT this does not happen very often and if we want a dessert like ice cream we leave the house to get it.  This way –  it’s over, it’s done, and there are no crying fits for dessert after every meal.  A big treat in my house is sliced strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries with a drizzle of honey and served with home made whipped cream or served in a bowl with coconut milk.

Next big question I have been getting, what do I pack my kids for lunch?  Pictured is what my 6 year old will have for his school lunch tomorrow.  It’s a tupperware of chicken and hard boiled egg salad, carrot sticks, dried cranberries and pistachios, and mandarins.  Sometimes school lunch will be deli meat, celery sticks, apple slices, and a dried fruit bar from Trader Joes.  My 14 year old usually packs his own lunch of pastrami, celery and carrots, an apple, and cashews.  Sometimes he chooses to eat hot lunch and comes home feeling like crap.  He’s 14 and understands what happens when he makes his own choices.

Another question that often arises is how do we handle the need for a quick breakfast: My oldest is typically our breakfast guy.  I teach early morning classes 5 day’s a week so my husband and kids are on their own most mornings.  My son will fry up some bacon, scramble up a half dozen eggs, and then my husband packs individual tupperwares of eggs and bacon for everyone and they all eat in the car.  Sometimes I’ll make a big batch of sweet potato and sausage hash that lasts a few days or I’ll make a giant frittata that we eat throughout the week.  Hard boiled eggs are a must and I recommend always having a dozen ready to go in the fridge and you can see from my pics that hard boiled eggs do not have to be boring!  : )

Also pictured is a bunch of after school snacks as well as food I always have in the car such as tupperwares full of nuts, dried unsweetened cherries, and pieces of beef jerky.  I never leave home without a bag of beef  jerky, dried blueberries, sliced apples and nuts.  My kids are ALWAYS hungry when I pick them up from school and with food in my car there is never even a request for fast food.  At this point my kids understand that fast food is horrendous anyways, in fact, my 6 year old got into a huge debate with his teacher the other day – his argument being that no one should EVER go to McDonald’s.  She was teaching a health unit and mentioned that it is possible to find healthy choices at McDonald’s and that eating fast food periodically is ok…  For those of  you who know my 6 year old, you can probably imagine this conversation…

So, those of you with kiddos, you can make it happen!!  Don’t be neurotic, but be strong.  Remember, the food that enters your house is there because it was YOUR decision.  If my kids go to a friend’s house or to a party, I DON’T attach a note to their foreheads reading that they cannot eat gluten or sugar, I just rest assured that 95% of the time they have real, quality food, and I SEE that they are healthy, active, and overall pretty amazing kiddos….

Beef and vegetable soup

Hello SORE DAY! I have done a couple nights of videos this week and WOW am I sore!!!! I love feeling sore! I know that I worked hard and did my best at the workout. 

Today is Day 4 of my 30 day challenge to gain back control! I must admit that I quickly feel IMPROVED! It amazes me! Plus I feel great when I eat good and colorful!

 Eggs and Avocado

Strawberry, Spinach, Coconut, Almond Milk Smoothie

 The kids and I enjoyed leftovers!

I am so sorry for this terrible picture... I made soup the other night and SPACED taking a picture...

Beef and Vegetable Soup

The Ingredients:
Ground Beef
1 Zucchini
1 can tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cloves garlic
2 cups water

The Directions
Brown the meat. Drain the fat. Season the meat with Garlic Powder, Lemon Pepper, Basil, Nutmeg.

Add Spinach and cook down with the ground beef and garlic. Add can of tomatoes and water. Bring to boil. Add zucchini and bell pepper.

Once vegetables are tender serve and ENJOY!!!

This was a very quick and easy dinner! I just threw this together in 15 - 20 minutes.

Meat Glue Secret

The following is from my daily email from Dr. Mercola.

He says,

If you are still on the fence, wondering if you should make the switch to organic, grass-fed beef from a local farm instead of the mass-produced variety from your local supermarket, perhaps this news brief from the Australian Today Tonight show will help change your mind.

If you haven't yet seen the video, please click through and be ready to be amazed.

By now most people probably realize that ground beef contains the meat from hundreds of animals from different parts of the world, but few would ever suspect that the same can be true for prime cut steaks! Well, that's possible through the use of so-called meat glue, used to "super-glue" small chunks of meat together that are too small to sell, and passing it off as prime cuts...


To read the whole article, click here!


I have said it before but I am thankful!!! I know that my meat does not contain meat glue. I know that my meat is fresh. I know that my meat is not mixes. I know that there are no ADDITIVES. 


Check out local farmers, please! Most will be cheaper than store meat and you will be getting a high quality meat instead of high quantity. :) If you need help searching for local farmer, I am happy to help! 

Lime Pepper Salmon and Cauliflower Rice

We are now in the month of May. Are you still sticking to resolution??? 

I have stayed strong to my resolution of eating fish once a week. We have eaten a lot of Salmon and have tried new fish (some good some bad). The thing I like about this resolution is that it gives me an excuse to try new salmon recipes (some good some bad) but I am looking forward to grilling Salmon. That is if it would STOP raining! 

We have had a LOT of rain... our ground is puddling and will not go down because it doesn't seem to stop. I think in the last month we have had 2 - 3 days without rain and they were not together. 5 days of rain here, day break, 4 days of rain, you get the point. LOTS of RAIN... It has been raining so much I have not had a chance to plant my garden... PLEASE stop raining so I can plant!!!! :) 

Eggs and Beef Bacon

Lemon Pepper Salmon
The Ingredients:
Salmon Filets
1 lime
1/2 - 1 TBSP Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

The Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Rinse Salmon under water, pat dry
Lightly rub the salmon with Olive Oil. Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper.
Broil Salmon for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from oven and squeeze lime juice over the Salmon.

Served with sauted Spinach, Broccoli and Cauliflower Rice

Part of Primal Toads Primal Den

30 day challenge

Happy Tuesday!!! 

I have wondered off the path (far off the path) and am back on!!! 

Hubby and I are starting a 90 day Insanity challenge and Monday I started a 30 day challenge. I am really going to try my best to document my daily food but that is a lot of work so I might commit to doing it once a week or use old picture! I cannot commit to EVERYDAY but I will do my best!!! :)

Egg Casserole

8 Eggs, 3 Asparagus, 8 cherry Tomatoes cut in half, Beef Bacon, 1/2 green bell pepper

Spinach and Strawberry Smoothie

Spring Mix Salad

Spring Lettuce, Strawberries, Avocado, Tomatoes, Beef Bacon, Sunflower seeds, Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Chicken Curry Soup with Vegetables

The Ingredients:

6 - 8 chicken tenders

Curry Marinade (Curry Powder, Mustard Powder, Garlic Powder, Cinnamon, Cayenne Powder, Cumin and Coconut Oil)

Broccoli

3/4 red bell pepper

10 - 15 small carrots, chopped

1 can coconut milk

3 cups chicken broth

The Directions:

Soak Chicken in Curry Marinade for 6 - 12 hours. 

Brown chicken in frying pan. Add the chicken to pot and pour coconut milk over the chicken. Bring to a boil. Add the Chicken Broth and bring back to boil. Then Add the vegetables and let cook for 10 minutes. 

ENJOY!!!! 

Part of Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Made from scratch Tuesday, hearth and soul blog hop, Tuesday at the Table, Tasty Tuesday, delectable tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, No Whine Wednesday, What's on your plate, Full Plate Thursday, Tip Day Thursday, Fight Back Friday

Primal/Paleo Den

Spinach and Strawberries

I am sorry that I did not post a Monday Morning Mix-up last week.. Things have been crazy. I have been making smoothies but forgetting to take pictures... 

SO BETTER LATE THEN NEVER!!!!

 3 strawberries
1 large handful Spinach
1/2 cup almond milk
5 ice cubes

ENJOY!!!!

Two ways...

I am lucky to have such great eaters. I make one meal and everyone eats what I make. The only thing that is different sometimes is adding the dinner to lettuce. 

The other day, I HAD TO use the rest of the lettuce. One more day (lunch) and it would be bad. I decided to mix up my dinner and add my meat and vegetables to lettuce. 

Hubby's dinner

My dinner 

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

Oven cooked Zucchini and Yellow Squash

Chicken marinated in Pineapple Spice 

Avocado Eggs with Coconut

I know, what a mixture!!!

You are probably thinking... "Lindsey, what are you thinking???"

Well - it was by mistake!!! I swear but it really turned out great and the kids loved it!!!!

***Picture is terrible --- SO SO SO SORRY! ***

Here is what happened! I was looking over the blogs I followed and saw PrimalToads $2.23 Happy Meal. Not reading all the directions and looking at my half avocado on the counter, I started making my eggs.  Really - I did not follow the directions at all... WHOOPS... But came out to be alright! Kids were happy and I was happy!!!

The Ingredients:
Farm Fresh LOCAL eggs
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Primal toad added cinnamon but I did not.

The Directions:
I tossed everything into my vitamix and mixed on a low setting. I added the whipped mixture into a hot pan with coconut oil and made scrambled eggs. 3 year old love that he was eating green eggs and baby didn't care about the color, just gobbled down!

ENJOY!!!!

Might I add -- I eat eggs and avocado together often. I usually cook my eggs over-medium and the pick up all the extra yolk with avocado pieces.

Grilled Venison Loins

We have had a few days, here and there, where we are able to get out and grill!!! We love grilling. We love getting out there and hubby grilling while the kids and I play in our backyard. We have had a lot of rainy, cold, GROSS weekends and weeknights but are eagerly waiting SUMMER!!!! 

Hubby had someone bring him Venison Loins.

The Ingredients:
Venison Loins (Ours were sliced, not sure if that is normal)

The Marinade:
1 TBSP Dijon Mustard
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Parsley

The Directions:
If you are using frozen meat, thaw completely. Place venison in a baggie and mix the marinade ingredients together. Add to the bag and mix into the meat.  Let the venison marinate for 2 hours, in the fridge (you can do all day).

Take meat out of the fridge 1 hour before grilling. I read that when meat is room temp it cooks evenly.

Grill and ENJOY!!!

Sides: Green leafy salad, Grill Steamed Zucchini and Asparagus.

Carrot Cake

Happy Monday!!!! 

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter! We sure did! We enjoyed some great food with family :) 

I made The Food Lovers' @ Primal Plate carrot cake. 

Mine ended up not looking like that... 

ha... ok this is a terrible picture. 

When taking the cake out of the pans, the cake broke into pieces. This always happens to me...  The cake was not going to win this one... I decided to turn my pieces into a layered cake in my trifle dish! 

I followed the recipe, here, then layered the cake pieces, icing and walnuts (and repeat). 

THIS WAS AN AWESOME CAKE!!!! AMAZING flavor!!!!! :) Best Carrot Cake EVER!!!! :) 

Thank you, Primal Plate for sharing this recipe!!!! 

Creating Healthy Eating Habits

I am really excited about this new little series. I am extremely passionate about nutrition and children! It is too important not to be passionate about! :) 


Here are some simple ways I have found to help my boys. 

Make Eating at Home Fun

The more involved the kids are in the preparation of eating, the shopping for the food, etc. the better. I could definitely see a family ritualistically making dinner together as a team. This could be very fun, telling the kids to pick out the music (with a no-Bieber rule on hot dog night of course) or do role playing with little waitress outfits, making menus on the computer, or whatever else you can think of to get everyone involved. If it is not a routine, it will be work and a major drag to put down the video game controller to come make dinner. But if it is routine and the kids are actively learning and growing with their knowledge of food and cooking they are more likely to become well-connected to it. Of course, you have to really assess this for yourself. You don’t want it to become a chore or this concept will totally backfire. 

Television 

This is unfortunately not a war many will win, and this is potentially more important for overall physical, social, and psychological well-being than any other modern thing we face. Not only are there endless images showing kids having a great time eating junk food, but there is an avalanche of messages designed to make us feel bad about our bodies, endless messages showing kids that dieting is cool, fun, and improves life, and more including the general idea that animal fat is going to kill you. Statistics show stronger correlations between hours of tv watched and childhood obesity than any other lifestyle factor – and most dietary factors as well.

Never Limit Macronutrients or Calories

Putting your kid on a low-carb, low-fat, or calorie-restricted diet is the dumbest thing ever. I don’t know any severely obese individuals, or people with eating disorders that didn’t start dieting in some shape, form, or fashion at a young age. Restricted and restrained eating, especially for a young person, is very dangerous. Many kids, like myself, lose excess fat upon hitting puberty anyway – just in time because my retarded family doctor had just given me the “cut out snacks” speech for being in the very high percentiles of weight for an 11-year old. Trying to impose a diet on a young kid is like giving a 13-year old breast implants because she’s not developing quite as quickly as her friends. If you want your kids to have emotional issues with their bodies, practice the famous starve and binge approach to healthy eating, and develop life-threatening conditions from it long-term, then, by all means, put them on a diet immediately.

Never Push Certain Foods

When a strange new food gets pushed towards a young kid, that food gets pushed right back at ya. I would suggest cooking a wide variety of foods in the home from the time the kid is very young and let them develop their own curiosity about those foods at their own pace. Remember, they know better than you do what is good for them. I mean seriously, how many times have we, as adults, been totally wrong about “the healthy way to eat?” It’s best to do what you can to help the intelligence of their bodies come forward without any interference, including keeping chemically-enhanced and highly-refined and sweetened foods out of their diet until they have developed a wide variety of preferences for various real foods (like, say, until age 4). 

Give Them Real Food

It’s always great to have a nice spread laid out for kids consisting of real food that tastes good. By real food I mean things that don’t contain white flour, white sugar, corn syrup, chemical flavor enhancers, or otherwise refined or packaged foods. A parent’s prime food duty is to have healthy food available to eat, with very little, if any, junk available to eat in the home. Junk foods pervert natural taste and reward centers, making wholesome food bland and uninteresting. The most important thing, as mentioned above, is that if you are going to be a food Nazi, do so for the first 3-4 years of the kid’s life before they become exposed to the outside food world. This builds a great template for good health and a more likely preference for real food. 

Breast Feed Your Kids

Eat lots of wholesome food without macronutrient or calorie restriction yourself, and breastfeed your kids. Obviously the longer the better, but we all have lives to live. Infant formula is pure death as far as I’m concerned (speaking from experience) unless your own nutrition is so poor that you just can’t produce good milk. 

Conclusion

You want to serve up great homemade food that becomes favorites over the competition. You don’t want to reinforce the idea that there are forbidden foods to be strictly avoided and make food the place where they express feelings of rebellion.

Obviously there are some lessons in here for us big kids as well.

Spaghetti Squash with ground beef and vegetables

Last week was a weird week in cooking. Let me explain!

Like every Saturday, I went to the store and bought groceries. I bought a lot of what I normally bought but for some reason, last week when I would get ready to plan dinner, I couldn't find anything. 

Last week was a struggle for me!!! We made it through it and are back on track!!!

Spaghetti Squash, Ground beef, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Zucchini, Coconut Aminos, Lemon Pepper, Garlic

I love this kind of recipe because it is easy to change or add things too! So many options!!!

Do you have days that meals are just a struggle??? Even when you have all the ingredients???

French Rack of Lamb

Food Revolution was on last night. I have said it before and I will say it again I am a HUGE fan of the show. I love the show for so many reasons. Jamie Oliver's main focus is to change the way we eat and the way we feed our children. He often talks about how UNhealthy America is and not only is he educating, he is finding ways to change.

For example. This season he is working with a fast food restaurant. He came up with 4 (organic local meat) hamburger recipes and a healthier fresh fruit shake (no strawberry sugary additive) recipe. Before he presented this idea to the restaurant owner he took it to the streets with his little push cart stand. He told everyone pay me what you think the burger is worth. He had people walking up and offering to pay $5, $8 and even $15+. Burgers and Fast Food do not have to be expensive and that is his point. He took his menu back to the restaurant and was able to charge $4 and change (and still able to make a profit). 

That is my point... You can enjoy "healthy meals" at the same cost as a "normal" meal. 

Saturday while grocery shopping at TJ's, I thought it would be fun to try something new. Not new to eat but new to cooking in my kitchen! On one of the blogs I follow they made a lamb roast last week. I guess lamb was on my mind. 

I found lamb roast ($22+) but they were not in our weekly food budget. I was bummed until I spotted French Lamb Racks($10+).

So, Saturday, we spent the night enjoying delicious Lamb Racks!!!! 

The Ingredients:

Rack of Lamb ( from TJ's)

The dry marinade:

21 season salute (from TJ's)

Basil

Parsley

The wet merinade:

Dijon Mustard

Olive Oil

Parsley & Basil

2 drops stevia

Garlic Powder

The Directions:

Take meat out of the packaging and place in a dish, large enough to let the rack of lamb can lay flat. Season with the dry mixture and let the meat sit out for 1 - 2 hours until meat is room temp. 

Preheat grill to medium high heat. Sear both sides (couple minutes each side) and then move to the upper racks for 15 - 20 minutes. Hubby added the wet marinade when he moved the lamb to the upper rack. (You may want yours more pink but with little ones and my first attempt at making these we went a little more safe!!!!)

We served our Rack of Lamb with green beans (saute in Olive Oil and Beef Bacon*) and steamed Cauliflower.

*more to come on Beef Bacon!!!! 

Part of Real Food Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday

Pennywise Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Tip Day Thursday

Fight Back Friday, Food on Friday

Honey Coconut Salmon

Are you ready for the most AMAZING Salmon recipe, EVER????

Seriously, This salmon was ridiculously good.

Sweet and Salmon just go together, nicely! Hubby loves salmon this way.

The Ingredients:
Salmon
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 TBSP Raw Honey

Melt the three together. Pour over Salmon and let set for 30 minutes. Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (depending on the size).

Check back tomorrow for my Rack of Lamb recipe!!! Was awesome and a perfect app for Easter!!!!

Green Smoothie with Grapefruit

I am sorry for not posting a Monday Morning Mix-Up last week. 

I have been making lots of goodies in my Vitamix but kept forgetting to take pictures! Here is one of my favorite smoothies for the time being. 

Kale, Grapefruit, Banana, Almond Milk 

A peach would be good in this too! 

What is your favorite smoothie right now???

Store bought meat...

Hello again!!! I know, posting again! 

I was on yahoo getting ready to check my email when I came across this... 

1 In 4 Supermarket Meat Samples Tainted With Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Nearly a quarter of the meat and poultry sold in U.S. supermarkets is infected with nasty drug-resistant bacteria, too.

There are more than 30 types of Staphylococcus, but Staphylococcus aureus causes most staph infections in people, including skin infections and food poisoning, according to the National Institutes of Health. The drug-resistant strains found in the meat and poultry samples are especially difficult to treat because they've evolved beyond the regular arsenal of drugs that kill them.

The researchers say that most Staph found in meat can be eliminated by cooking food thoroughly, but it can still pose a risk to consumers if handled unsafely or if it cross-contaminates with other things in the kitchen.

Click here to read the whole story. Just another reason you should look into local meat. I am thankful, again, for J&J Farms!!!! 

Creating Healthy Eating Habits, Part 1

“How do I change my child’s eating habits?” This is a question that I am asked at least once a week, thus it is worthy of a post :) ! Honestly this is not highly complex. It boils down to you, the parents or guardians. If you are eating healthy food choices and demonstrating healthy eating habits your kids will do the same. Don’t get me wrong this may not be a smooth transition depending on the age of the child, but it is definitely achievable. In my experience with kids (pre school and grade school) if you show that you are apprehensive or unsure about anything from food to activities, kids will sense it and feed off of it. It goes both ways though! If you make it fun and are excited about what you are going to do or eat and get the kids involved on whatever level is age appropriate they will be more likely to want to try it and like it!

I have decided that I am going to dedicate the next few Friday's to KIDS and creating Healthy Habits.  

My boys eat very healthy and eat pretty much anything I put in front of them. I pride myself on their eating habits. Our baby has only had limited grains and limited dairy. I wish I could say he hasn't had either but he has. I, like many moms, offered my baby O's to help teach eating bigger foods and to entertain him while we are finishing dinner. I pride myself that he prefers peas, carrots and diced up zucchini over the O's now. Although, O's are easier to clean up and easily storable in the diaper bag for a quick grab. Now that baby is getting bigger it is so important for us to offer REAL foods to him and encourage vegetables. 

Baby and 3 year old love eating vegetables. They each have a half of avocado daily (sometimes every other). Our 3 year old loves fruits and vegetables. He sneaks apples and oranges as snacks. The other night, 3 year old went out to dinner with his Aunt and Uncle. I asked him what he was going to get and he said "hamburger and brussels sprouts" He was so excited.

I do understand my boys are young and we starting eating healthy from day 1 so creating this plan was easier but I plan on having a few friends write a blurp on how they get they older kids to eat and eat healthier choices. I am really looking forward to this little series! Please make sure to comment... I love hearing from you! 

IN THE NEWS:

Did you happen to see the article this week about the Chicago school banning homemade lunches???

I mean, seriously? I wanted to think this was some joke. A late April Fool's joke. Unfortunately it is not. A school in Chicago is baning homemade lunches. I am not too much into politics but this ban is flat our wrong. What about our freedoms? What about the US being the greatest country in the world? That is hard to believe today.

This may be only one school but its in Chicago. Its in one of the biggest cities in the world. If it was in some small city then it may not have made headlines.

I do understand the importance of limiting the amount of sugar and junk the kids are eating. The school, or should I say, the teachers, experience the sugar affects on the children. The sugar highs and lows. Why ban all school lunches, though? Why not compromise and accept lunches that do not contain white flour, refined sugar, or other "processed" foods, like a Tucson, Arizona School started last year. 

To me - I agree that we need to limit the amount of junk food entering our children but at the same time I know that the school is not going to have my high standards on meat and vegetables. Why would I want my child to eat a FACTORY beef burger or some FACTORY chicken dish. 

NO - THANK YOU... My children will not be eating this school lunch. 

Did you watch the clip on Wednesday's post? Check out how school lunch meat is made... Pink Slime.

What do you think about the homemade lunch ban??? I want to hear your thoughts!