Tips on Coping with Picky & Opinionated Eaters

First, I have rarely had the problem of dealing with a TRULY difficult, picky eater. Early on with my kids I adopted certain philosophies to keep me sane, and whether they worked or I am just lucky... I haven't figured out yet. What I know about opinionated eaters is vast, as I have a three year old living in my house right now. 

 I work very hard to purchase the best foods and prepare beautiful meals for my family. When they eat and enjoy something I have made for them it feels good. Here is what has been happening in our house lately: At the store two days ago I found organic blueberries and raspberries. Not very abundant this time of year and my food opinionated daughter's favorites. It sounds lame, but I was excited because I thought she would be SO excited the next morning at breakfast. The next day she gets sprouted grain cinnamon raisin bread with organic butter, the organic berries washed and dried, and a sliced banana. She sits down at the table and sees this beautiful plate of food and says "I don't want this." And for a second I forget that she is three and I get more than a little offended. I think I said something like "This is breakfast. The only breakfast. Now eat it." Different power struggles and additional words ensued and this minor morning affront to my feelings affected the entire day. 

The breakfast in question was not documented, but on any given day this could be completely rejected as well

 I don't know if it bothered me more that I wanted her to be surprised and excited that I had found something she loved... and she clearly was not. Or if I REALLY want to get the point across to her that we should not waste any food, but especially good, wholesome, EXPENSIVE food that we make a priority in our family budget. Then here comes that reminder again... she is three. I am a grown adult. 

What worked with both kids from the first sign of frustration with food was following a lot of the Food Rules from "French Kids Eat Everything." I never finished the actual book, and I didn't have to. The fact is not all french kids eat everything. (And for a nice counterpoint to the francophile parenting movement, please see this hilarious personal essay from Vogue.)

The food rules from French Kids Eat Everything make sense though. Not because they make your kids mini gourmands who instantly appreciate all of the wholesome and beautiful ingredients of the world, while shunning burgers and pizza.... It's because they keep parents sane and create predictable situations. Any time you can apply rules to a part of your life with kids (and stick to them) it lets everyone know what to expect. And when everyone knows the rules it makes life easier. 

You don't have to follow the rules word for word.. Make them work for YOU! Here is the lowdown on the official "French Food Rules" and how we actually apply them to our family life. 

Rule #1: Parents: YOU are in charge of Food Education.

We apply this by making the grocery store/farmer's market a place where we talk about ingredients. With the above mentioned 3 year old we talk about which vegetables and fruits she wants to eat, and she helps with as much cooking as is manageable. 

Rule #2: Avoid emotional eating. Translation: Do not use food as a reward.

This is a hard one. I absolutely dropped this rule while potty training. At the end of a successful grocery store trip I used to swing by the mini cookie cube at Whole Foods or HEB (they both have them now) and let L pick a cookie. This was back in the ideal days of one child shopping. When I saw this rule we switched out the cookie for a Balloon or a piece of fruit from the kids club (whole foods & still a food reward, I know) or a trip to see HEBuddy. It only took a few trips with consistent "no cookie" to get her off of that habit. I work on this rule a lot.

Rule #3: Parents plan and schedule meals. Kids eat what adults eat. No Short Order Cooking.

When I embraced this rule I got a good amount of kitchen sanity back. As the parent fill your child's plate with only items you would be happy if they ate. For example, my kids will always eat sweet potato and avocado, so for most lunch or dinner meals, this is on the plate. Then your child decides what they will eat. And if they don't want what's on the plate then they have to wait until the next scheduled meal time. I will say with the opinionated eater, I often let her know that she has to try one of everything offered before she steps away from the table. More on that in Rule # 6

Rule #4: Eat family meals together with no distractions.

This is a hard one for us given the kids ages and our schedules. The way we make it work for us is that the kids always eat together at the kitchen table for every meal at home and snacks. If I am here I try to sit down with them and eat as well. With a one and three year old, that is just sometimes not feasible. My kids go to bed early and my husband works late. But during any and all home meal times there is no tv. It's about the meal. 

Rule #5: Eat your veggies.

If you have ever done the VegOut Challenge with Recipe for Success then you know how many vegetables there are. We try to make this one fun and try new things or old things in new ways. If you make it a game kids get more interested. That doesn't guarantee they will like it, but it's a start.

Rule #6: You DON'T have to like it, but you DO have to taste it.

I can't tell you how many times I have set down a plate to hear "I don't like (enter something she liked yesterday here)." And like a broken record I say "you might not feel like eating it today, but I still need you to try at least one bite." And sometimes the stubborn little sweetheart will take that one bite and leave the rest. Other times she realizes after tasting it that she does actually like it and eats the rest. This is a fantastic rule. Maybe my favorite. You are giving your kids the power to say they don't like or want something, but you are also giving them the opportunity to change their mind. 

Rule #7: No Snacking! It's ok to feel hungry in between meals.

We follow this in a way that works for the young age of our kids. It's not something I am proud of, but sometimes a young child who is about to spiral into a tantrum can be distracted with a snack. And I prefer light snacking to tantruming (new word) any day. If someone wants a snack in between meals at home, we stick to the following list: a banana, some avocado, some berries, an apple, applesauce, grapes, or raisins. They are things we always have and you be surprised how many times a "hungry" child who wants a snack suddenly decides they can wait until their next meal. 

Rule #8: Slow food is Happy food.

Take you time with meals. Enjoy the taste of your food and teach your children to do the same. There are times when you will need to rush through breakfast to get to school or work, but try to take the time to sit at the table and enjoy your food. I have to remind myself of this one as well, but it's a great one when put into practice.

Rule #9: Eat mostly real food.

This rule notes that treats on special occasions are ok. The problem I fall into with this one is I can pretty much find a special occasion in every day. So we have started making real food "treats" like the whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread and baked apple chips. We do follow a mostly real food diet and love it. 

Rule #10: Remember: Eating is Joyful.... RELAX!

Right... here are nine rules to remember, now relax. But the truth is, when you start implementing some of the above it makes your kitchen less of a battle zone and more of a family space. The relaxation comes naturally because you have a solution to the picky and opinionated eating problems that arise. It's hard to believe (I sometimes have to remind myself) but your kids will not starve. They also know what they can get away with and with whom.

I follow two additional rules of my own. 

1. From first solids to forever is that there is no such thing as not liking something forever. If your child hates peas today, tomorrow and next week, that doesn't mean he won't like them next month. We give our kids lots of opportunities to dislike foods because we continue to feed them to them in a variety of forms. Maybe you don't like white meat chicken, but if I slice it thin and put a little sour cream on top, you'll devour it.

2. If you are throwing food on the floor you are probably no longer hunger and the meal is now over. With a one year old, this rule is like sanity. In rule form. 

The final lesson of the above is as follows: We are all trying to feed our kids the best of what we can provide. Even if they don't appreciate it, your spouse, their grandparents, and their future selves all do. So figure out what kind of kitchen rules work in your house and turn your battle zone into a place to create, taste & explore. And a place to open a bottle of wine when all of that creative exploring doesn't go as planned.

RT

Halloween Recap, a Second Sugar Break, & Why I Don't Work Out

I used my trick or treaters this year. I started to wonder what a non candy Halloween would look like and the next thing I knew I was on Amazon buying mini gliders, spider rings, glow in the dark bugs, glow stick  bracelets, and mini bubbles. And I was excited like a nerd about it. I had a lot of apprehension about the possibility of an old fashioned egging or making small children cry, so on October 30th I went out and bought a mixed bag of mini M&Ms, Snickers, & Skittles. The candy lived inside of the ghost (a decoration my grandmother made with paper mache, a balloon & a milk jug) and the toys were in an open bowl. 

 At the end of the night the candy was gone, but I will have no problem with the possibility of not buying it next year. EVERYONE was nuts over the glow bracelets. I didn't make them into bracelets, just kept them straight like little sticks. Kids were running around with them & when we handed them out the reactions were fantastic. The runner up non candy giveaway was the mini bubbles. Everything else was kind of meh. The reason the candy was gone is because after they picked a toy I was like "and take some candy, too" because I did not want that stuff lying around the house. More on that in a sec. In the mean time, please enjoy Ariel and the Strong Man: 

So back to getting the candy out of the house. I decided sometime last week that I was ready to clean out the refined sugar again. I haven't gained weight, but as sugar has been around once a week (or sometimes twice if I can find an excuse) I'm ready to get it all the way out again and feel really great for the holidays. It's a good reason to resist all of those side treats that seem to be around EVERY DAY of December, and why wait until January 1st to feel and look great? People take pictures during the holidays, so let's all try and look good for the pictures. I am definitely not as concerned about it this time and am actually looking forward to how great I'm going to feel having it totally gone. It all starts tomorrow & will run through December. I'm giving myself Thanksgiving, ending it on Christmas Eve, and adding two free days to throw around. The rules I stick to are: no obvious refined sugar, but yes to wine. I'll stay away from honey, pure maple syrup, & dried fruit for about ten days and then pull them back in. All other natural sugars are in. 

Another item on my feel better list is working out. I haven't worked out since my first pregnancy. That would be... August 2012. There. I said it. I'm not proud of it, but I've never been one of those people who is really intense about it. And if I'm being really honest, I was doing pretty well with running until April 2012 and that's when I really quit. Here are my best reasons for not working out:

Morning sickness

All day sickness

So pregnant right now

So tired

I just had a baby 

Breastfeeding. It's like working out and so I've already really worked out

I JUST had a baby (nine months ago)

It's the summer in Texas... It's too hot for this.

Then I had a brief period of walk running and THEN:

Oh, I thought that was morning sickness before, THIS is actually morning sickness

Constantly

for 27 weeks

So pregnant again

Just had that baby, again

Breastfeeding, again

I'll start working out when the baby is one

The baby is one, it's July. If I start now I will die

Maybe when he drops his morning nap

I JUST had a baby (15 months ago) 

Do you know how hard it is to push a double jogging stroller? against the wind?

With my two most favorite workout excuses

 And here we are, all caught up to present day. While I do believe that somewhere around 80% of what you look like depends on what you eat, it's GOOD to be as healthy as you can be. I am not unhappy with my size, I'm not looking to lose any weight. In fact if I start working out, some of my non muscle is going to turn into muscle so I will likely gain weight. The thing is, I can't stand it when people complain about something and ignore the fact that they could change it. So if I'm still looking for more energy, more tone, more stamina, and I want my kids to enjoy physical activities, it's time to lead by example. It's not going to be intense, I'm going to have to commit to it, but there it is. I'm going to start working out again. Just need that new pair of running shoes. The world is your gym. Thank God Houston is so beautifully flat!

 

August... I'm coming for you

I kind of accidentally took a summer break from the blog. Oops. But now that I sweat every time someone opens the door, I've sent in L's new school year forms, and I'm getting about 40 "start the school year off right" spam emails a day... It must be August. I also hadn't backed up my iphone since Mother's Day. 956 pictures and videos later, time to get back on track.

Speaking of summer, if you live around Houston or are visiting soon, go to the Museum of Fine Arts and see the Soto Penetrable. It's amazing for all ages and it leaves early in September. That's just one thing I was doing while I was not blogging. 

Sometimes your child asks to take of their shoes in public places and you don't realize until you see pictures that you must have said yes. Entering the penetrable.

  If you're following along on instagram you know that things have not slowed down much. The pace that requires a photo or two per day was right up my alley. Here's a quick catch up:

• I am still only doing refined sugar one day a week. I love it. Best decision I ever made after the month long cut out. The weight has stayed off and I feel SO much better.
  
• I just finished another 30 day green smoothie challenge (one green smoothie a day) and after three months, I am fully converted. Smoothies are just a part of my day now. I don't even have to think about it.
  
• We have a one year old! Officially. After mama and dada, his third word was his sister's name. Landon sounds more like man-men when he says it, but it's a hard name for a baby and I was VERY excited. It's his new favorite word.
   
• The new one year old has spent the entire summer teething. He is the proud owner of 10 teeth. I am the proud owner of large black under eye circles. His top molars are STILL COMING IN. Help me lawd. 

 And... that's about it food and kids wise. 

Now that I'm at a healthy place with my sugar, and my breakfast smoothies are going strong, it's time to work on a few things for August. The first thing is LUNCH. My possible problem meal. When I'm at work I usually have the chance to get away and get something real food & healthy. When I'm home I'll graze on whatever I'm cutting up for the kids (which is good food) but then pull out something with lots of cheese or that I can make quickly and shovel it in while I zone out for a minimum amount of alone time. Turns out I like naps more than my 3 year old. 

MY GOAL: Prepare a lunch for myself that I would be comfortable serving to a guest. Prep it, plate it and (what might be the hardest) sit down at the kitchen table and enjoy it. No phone, no tv, just me and my food. And maybe a magazine... maybe. OH, and a ten minute timer to make sure I am chewing and enjoying. I started this today and it was honestly wonderful. Looking forward to lunch this month.

My second goal for August is kind of simple, but really hard for me to do every day. When I was breast feeding drinking enough water was a no brainer. My anxiety about a drop in supply caused me to constantly be drinking water. Since then I just cannot get enough water a day and I know how much better I will feel if I'm hitting those big water intake numbers. 

MY GOAL: Every day in August I'm aiming for a minimum of 80oz of water a day. There are a few reasons this is going to be tough. One of them is peeking her head around my office door right now. During nap time. The other one is actually sleeping. Not that I'm picking favorites (today). Another reason is bathroom breaks are hard to come by when you are at home with two kids, or having to find a bathroom in public with two kids. More water = more bathroom breaks. My last obstacle is my memory. I always start the day with great water drinking intentions. I try to have a glass of lemon water first thing before my smoothie. And then.... life happens. And at lunch I see a half full glass of lemon water sitting on the counter. 

So here's to August! We've got lots planned. There is a cool front coming!! TO HOUSTON?!?!  In August. I KNOW. We're taking our first family of four flight (more to come on that one) and school is back. Hey there August... I'm coming for you. 

RT

Not So Sweet May: How I Stayed Away from Sugar

First, wow. I got such a great response from yesterday's post about my month without refined sugar. The low end of that is that most people want to try and kick their sugar habit, but don't think they can. At the risk of sounding more like a motivational speaker, if I can do this for 31 days (two more left) then you can do this. This post is going to be about the foods and products that helped me stick to it. Along with tips and tricks, you have to have some kind of motivation to see it through. For me it was putting myself first and wanting to feel better every day. 

Here is what a normal day of eating used to look like for me:

Breakfast: Organic Chocolate Os with Skim Milk. Weekends were maybe pancakes and syrup.

Lunch: Salad, Sandwich, Leftovers from previous night. Followed by a cookie when I could get my hands on one or something sweet.

Dinner: Grilled chicken or fish, lots of veggies. Followed by ice cream an hour later. Maybe two ice creams.

So essentially I was having sugar for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is not accounting for the random candy that might be in the kitchen at the office that I would eat in between meals, or the junk snacks I might pick up in the checkout line. THIS is why I had to get it out of my system, and it's also why I know that if you are ready to do this, you can. Not that it is easy, but that you can definitely do it.

During the month of May I also had two and a half weeks of teething, sick kids, causing me to miss work or have to find time in the days or evenings to get work done. And sick babies do not sleep well, especially when they have three new teeth coming in at the exact same time. THREE TEETH. So you could say that stress levels were high in May and sleep levels were low. You can do this even with stress.

This May we had three birthday parties, Mother's Day, a beach weekend, and a three day holiday weekend. Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, candy, cake, ice box pie... you name it, it was there. There is always going to be "something" in life, you just have to decide it's time anyway. 

Please meet my new best sugar free friend:  

When I decided to do this I knew I was going to have to change the way I started my day. I ate cereal mostly because it was fast and easy. I decided Smoothies were the way to go. Since I threw away my last blender in a hormonal pregnant moment 3.5 years ago, I researched and was ready to invest. Lucky for me this little sucker (officially the Ninja Master Prep Pro) was about $125 less than I was ready to spend. It shreds spinach like a pro and is also great at making baby food. Werk.

Every day I have a smoothie, essentially a salad in a cup. Every morning I am having a banana, an apple, a cup of blueberries, and over two cups of spinach or kale. I add in other fruits and mix it with either unsweetened almond milk or coconut water, but that is the base. It is sweet and totally satisfying. And when I add frozen fruits it tastes like ice cream. If you are just starting out there is a great instagram account called @simplegreensmoothies. They post a new green smoothie recipe every day. They also made this handy chart: 

They say the formula serves two, but as far as I am concerned a 32 oz smoothie is all for me. The first two weeks, if my sweet tooth was bad enough, I would have a smoothie for dinner or half of one as a snack. I always add cinnamon, my other best friend these last 31 days. 

Smoothies were my main tool. I didn't limit any other real, unprocessed foods as long as I was staying away from refined sugar. To keep me from feeling hungry I made sure to eat lots of real whole foods. Most foods that are advertised as "fat free" have added sugar or chemicals to make up for the fact that removing fat removes flavor. 

When I was on the go I had lots of Chipotle (I get the veggie bowl with green salsa and no cheese or sour cream), and at home we had our normal grilled dinners and sandwich lunches. We use Ezekiel Bread. It has no sugar.

Speaking of Ezekiel Bread, they also make a Cinnamon Raisin version. After my two weeks without dried fruit were up, I was all over toasted cinnamon raisin bread with unsweetened peanut butter.

Unsweetened peanut butter was a handy tool all month long. Find a peanut butter that has the following ingredient list: dry roasted peanuts. That's it. No sugar, no salt, just peanuts. Good fat that can go on anything. This was another favorite snack when I was back on with dried fruit: 

Never underestimate the power of a good, sweet, apple. An organic Honey Crisp apple can solve just about any sugar craving that came up. Add some peanut butter and you've got extra happies. 

When dried fruit came into the picture, clearly my snack options opened up. I now usually have a Lara Bar on me. They have various bars with different levels of ingredients, but my favorite is Peanut Butter Cookie. Ingredient list: peanuts, dates, sea salt. That's it. It tastes like a peanut butter cookie. 

pic from weelicious.com

If you want to start this now, here is some good news.... It's berry and cherry season! Nature's candy. Sweet Washington cherries, strawberries that smell amazing, raspberries, blueberries... all of it. So great when you need a sweet fix. If you find out which fruits are ripe and in season, they are going to be perfectly sweet and delicious. 

When you have your veggies and a sweet tooth, all you need to know about is caramelization. By cooking veggies the right amount you can bring out the subtle sweet goodness in them. 

Last but not least, DRINK LOTS OF WATER. I would aim for 60 - 80oz a day. On days when I wouldn't have enough water, the cravings were always worse. When I had plenty of water things were much easier.

That's really it. Cooking at home a lot also makes this easier and being prepared for the cravings. 

If any questions are left after the above, I'm happy to answer them. And for lots more smoothie info, as well as what our family is eating, you can follow Raising Texas on Instagram. 

Have a great weekend!

RT

28 Days and No Dessert... The Results are In

I feel confident that I can tell you how Not So Sweet May went, even though I still have three more days left. Technically three days, three hours, and twenty eight minutes. But it will be less by the time I finish this post. Yay!

My May desserts.

 Quick little recap on what I did the last 28 (and next three) days:

*No refined sugar when I was aware of it. The side note is for things like eating other people's cooking. Some people add sugar to the weirdest things... like vegetables. I did my best to guess on my own, but who knows. A lot of time there is sugar in your own products that you don't think about, but I am an ingredient label reader anyway, so I already knew my bread, peanut butter, and jar pasta sauces were without sugar. 

*No processed sugar substitutes (equal, splenda, powdered stevia, etc). This was something I have been doing for a while.

*No "sugar free" products. See above.

*For the first half of the month I stayed away from dried fruits. They are a natural sugar, but they have a really high sugar content and I didn't want to feed my previous demons. 

*I also stayed away from raw honey & pure maple syrup, even though they are natural sugars. 

*I don't normally have any caffeine beyond a cup of tea once or twice a week. This is an always thing for me, not just May. Although before May most of my caffeine probably came from chocolate.

And that's about it. 

Here is what I really wanted to happen this month: 

NOTHING. That might sound weird, because this month was really hard for me. If I'm being honest with myself, I wanted to be able to say, "See, I can eat as much sugar as I was eating and everything is the exact same! Go for dessert!" 

Here is what actually happened this month:

1. I stopped feeling tired all of the time. 

I really didn't get it. Both my kids sleep 11-12 hours a night. Why was I so tired? Why couldn't I fall asleep at night? Even if I did fall asleep and get a good 8 hours, why did I still wake up feeling like my head was glued to my pillow? Apparently the answer to all of the above was: because I eat so much refined sugar.

2. More than not being tired I have energy to burn.

This happened about 7 days in. More energy to actually want to get out of the house and get things done. More energy to prep kid and family meals, be on time to places, to hop out of bed instead of dragging myself out. Of course, normal stress and tiredness happens. We were up a couple hours last night with the "super scary" thunderstorm and I was dragging all day. The new energy cannot defeat a thunderstorm. But it's great and things are getting done in and out of home. 

3. No more bloating.

There is really not a lot of explaining to do here. Even when I was full of fruits and veggies and felt like I should be bloated, I wasn't. Even when I felt bloated, I still wasn't. 

4. Real weight loss.

Not water weight, or crash diet weight. The last four weeks I have watched real pounds go away. I normally don't weigh myself, but I did to see if the no sugar made a difference. One week in my weight range was the same. Two weeks in it was two pounds less. Four weeks in and I'm five pounds down. At this point I can feel the difference in my clothes, which is a good feeling.

5. No more headaches, no more mystery upset stomach.

I don't know if anyone else has ever had this issue. Mid day headaches that come out of nowhere, random stomach upset that can't be traced to anything in particular. But that's been nonexistent the last 28 days. 

6. Setting an example.

My daughter used to think that meals outside of the home meant a cookie or dessert at the end. And that is what I taught her by always having dessert. Now she doesn't think that way anymore. After just the last few weeks. 

7. Food tastes better. 
Sugar covers up the natural sweetness and flavors of food. Things taste better now which makes it easier to eat those tasty sugar free foods.

So that's where we are. And where do we go from here? The tough news for me is that I can't go back. You know that annoying saying "nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels"? Sub out "skinny" for "healthy" and it makes more sense to me. After feeling this good and knowing all of the above, I can't go back to my old norm. 

In June I'm going to try one floating day a week. That way if there is a special occasion, a delectable treat, or a needed half pint of ice cream (a joke!).... I have the flexibility to take a day off. In the mean time, I am going to look for other ways to indulge my sweet tooth that use natural sweeteners. Raw honey, dried fruit, pure maple syrup, things like that.

I know that 31 days is a long time for some people, and it was for me. Especially with the amount of sugar I was regularly consuming and how much I REALLY enjoyed that consumption. If this is something you are interested in doing, I would love to help get you through it. 

Another option is the Fed Up Challenge. If you haven't heard of the movie Fed UP, you can check out the trailer HERE. After you watch the movie they encourage a 10 day challenge that eliminates all sugar and also honey, agave, and all flour products. But it's only ten days long and there is a ton of social media support - check out #fedupchallenge. For more on that, click HERE.

This one is getting a little long, so next post I'll talk about some foods and kitchen items that got me through the cravings. It really took me the last four weeks to see and feel all of the benefits. And outside of taking on this challenge, it has not been an easy or stress free month. I know that if I can do this, you can. Maybe you don't want to, and that's fine. I'm not a judger of the sugar loving people. I was just ready to feel better. 

Now I feel like I'm selling something. 

Buy it. 

To be continued.....

RT

Embrace Your Inner Hippie

Granola... It's not just a fancy word for describing hippies anymore. It's in my kitchen and it's delish. The more I try to stay away from chemical ingredients that I've never heard of and processed food, the more I look into things I can make at home. Let's be more honest... the more I look into EASY things I can make at home. Because buying things at the store is really, really easy, but if I can easily make something at home, then I'm game. 

So at the end of the chicken salad post I told you I was using the chicken carcass to make chicken stock. That is a super easy (you are going to be seeing this word a lot in this post) process and you can use chicken stock in all kinds of ways. I put the cooked stock in the fridge overnight. The fat floats to the top and hardens. You take the stock out, spoon off the fat and trash it, then freeze the stock in whatever portions you want. Mine is laying flat in the freezer in ziplock freezer bags. 

My next move was to try out homemade granola. My husband eats granola for breakfast and my daughter loves it too, and we've never really settled on the perfect granola. Most of the time they are just too sweet. I had been eying a recipe from 100 Days of Real Food for a while and I finally pulled the trigger. I had the spices and a few other things on hand. Everything I didn't have I could find in the bulk section of our HEB. The unsweetened shredded coconut was with the dried fruits. This was a GREAT recipe to make with kids too because it involves dumping things in a bowl. I had a three year old helper who was REALLY excited about making granola. 

Here is the recipe direct from 100 Days of Real Food. It makes 3lbs of granola:

Ingredients

• 3½ cups rolled oats (if you want bars use steel cut oats so it will stick together better)
• 1 cup raw sliced almonds
• 1 cup raw cashew pieces (or walnuts or pecans) - we used pecans
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
• ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Also need – parchment paper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, coconut, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla and salt.
4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Here's the sous chef showing off her dry ingredients. I did a little more stirring after this pic. 

Easy peasy honey and butter on the stove with the vanilla extract:

We mixed the wet and the dry with the spatula and then poured it on the parchment lined cookie sheet. (Look mom, I'm a real grown up who now has parchment paper!)

Seventy five minutes later, this crispy goodness came out:

and we did this to it:

And then packaged it away like this:

Later in the day my inner hippie wasn't done. (She had a big day.) I made my own hummus, which was so easy (there's the word again. Sorry) I was able to make a last minute decision to do it. There are tons of different versions and ways, this is what I did:

Lemon Garlic Hummus

2C Chickpeas (also called Garbanzo Beans) drained and rinsed

1/3 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice (I had two really juicy lemons and used them up)

1.5 Tablespoons of Tahini (found usually in the asian food section of your store. It's sesame seed paste)

3 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

Put it all in a food processor (I did mine in the medium sized Ninja Pro canister) like so:

 Then you pulse it and this happens:

BOOM! HUMMUS! And it was SO GOOD. I'm never buying hummus again. 

I have lots of facebook friends who make their own lotion. Hummus, granola & chicken stock are just child's play. You can totally do this. Or you can still buy it all at the store. No judgement here. But this tastes so much better. Just saying. 

Peace, Love & Granola,

RT

Cooking with Kids: Honey's Chicken Salad

There are certain things that remind me of summer, and chicken salad is one of those things. It's hot outside, you're spending time by the pool, at the park, or at the beach. You open up the cooler and pull out ice cold chicken salad. Yes time. 

I might be a chicken salad snob. I usually don't like grocery store chicken salad. There's always something wrong. I have certain chicken salad rules that put me in the position of making my own or eating my moms. Chicken salad must:

1. have something crunchy in it. Celery or onion or pickle. It can't all be mush.

2. have something sweet in it. Grapes, dried fruit, apple, etc. 

3. can't be too creamy. It's like too much dressing on a salad. All you taste is dressing. Gross. 

4. none of the above apply to a shredded chicken salad. Those are a category all their own. I recommend the chicken salad from Brown Bag Deli or Nielsons Deli for examples. 

This one is going to be short and sweet. We have a sick 10 month old in the house who happens to also be getting in three top teeth and this mom needs some sleep. If you prep the chopping, etc. this is a great recipe to make with a helper. Essentially it's a lot of dumping things into bowls followed by stirring. Kids get that kind of stuff. 

Honey's Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

8-10 pickled okra, sliced

1/2 a small onion, finely chopped (about half a cup)

2 large stalks of celery, finely chopped (about half a cup)

1 cup of red grapes, cut in half (I used a cup and a half because I like the sweet)

1 apple, cut into small pieces

1/4 C chopped walnuts

1 whole chicken (I just pick up a rotisserie chicken)

1/2 C full fat mayo

1/2 C regular sour cream

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Chicken Salad is great because you can make it into exactly what you want it to be. If you like more grapes, put more grapes in. If you want it saltier, put in more pickles or okra, or whatever. Make it once to see what the flavors are like and then adjust accordingly. What I love about Honey's Chicken Salad is the light curry flavor in the dressing. Next time I might add more Curry Powder to bring it out. 

 So here's what you do... take your chicken and shred/chop it. I hate having a chicken salad with huge bites of chicken. So I do a combo shred and chop. It makes it so that with each bite of chicken you have room for the other ingredients to sneak in. 

After you have taken your chicken apart, chop, slice and cut everything else and throw it in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix your sour cream, mayo, curry, and garlic. The sour cream really cuts the richness of the mayo. I might try this again with some greek yogurt taking the place of a portion of mayo, but today I was a traditionalist. Once you have the dressing mixed and it tastes the way you want, dump it into the bowl of ingredients and stir. 

Stir and taste and stir and taste, etc. Adjust the flavors you feel are lacking. Chop more of this, add a pinch of that, do what makes it taste best to you. It's your chicken salad after all! It won't last long. This is a great one!

If you want a bonus, take the chicken carcass and drop it in a pot. Fill with water and boil to make homemade chicken stock to freeze for rice, pasta, soups, beans, or other recipes. Our little rotisserie carcass was not thrown out. If you want to cut the fat from your chicken stock, put the cooled stock in the fridge overnight and spoon the fat off of the top the next morning before putting it away.

** Not So Sweet May Update - it seems like lots of other people are giving up sugar recently. I'm a trend setter. This is the halfway point. And not to be undone, it is also nation cookie day. Jerks. Here is where I am:

It is getting easier. I am happy to say that. I am getting used to turning to fruit instead of junk sweets.

My energy is the biggest tell. It used to be so hard to get out of bed. Now, even if I have a horrible night's sleep, I can get up more easily and get my day going. This is huge. 

Again with the not as bloated, but I have also lost two real pounds. Not water weight or fluctuation, real pounds. 

So we are going along. The smoothies are what has made this doable for me. They are sweet and I sometimes imagine they are milkshakes. I will keep them forever and always. It is giving me a daily dose of fruits and veggies that I wasn't getting before. 

Hope y'all are seeing some positive differences. It's so hard. 16 more days!

-RT

What I Really Want for Mother's Day

Last night I dreamed a dream about eating cupcakes. There. So that's how Not So Sweet May is going. Let's move on.

You see a lot of these "What I really want for Mother's Day" posts this time of year. And most of them go like this: "to go to the bathroom alone," "to sleep in," "to not have to cook anything, all day," "a quiet bath," and this year I saw a few "to be completely alone for 24 hours." Mothers work hard and they deserve to want what they want for Mother's Day. Wanting these things does not mean you love your kids less than anyone else. Moms for moms over here.

I often dream about having a day completely to myself. A day where I can read an entire book, leave the house without worrying about naps or bottles, and get dressed without making sure I can throw what I'm wearing in the wash to get spit up out of it. After some thought, and a second child, I realized that Mother's Day is not really a day for me. It's a day for me AND my kids.

What do I remember about Mother's Day? Usually, my memories involve getting dressed up and going to brunch with my maternal grandparents and most of my mom's 6 siblings, their spouses, and my cousins. We were always a large crowd. The grand presentation of homemade gifts, the hallmark cards passed around the table, and the dessert. Afterward, we came home, got comfortable and had a pretty normal Sunday. Then I wondered how I would feel if my memories of Mother's Day consisted of my mother being alone while we did something with my Dad.... and when I put it that way it didn't sit well. 

As a parent, I spend a lot of time trying to create memorable experiences for my children. Things they will look back on and think of fondly. The funny thing is that most of my fond early memories with my mother were normal occurrences, or daily routines. I remember looking at her blond hair from the backseat of her car as we drove from here to there. You know the sound that a leather steering wheel makes as you complete a turn and let it glide back into position through your hands? I remember that. And I was fascinated by it. I couldn't wait to be able to drive so that I could turn a steering wheel just like my mom. 

I remember the round rug that used to be on the floor of her bathroom. I would sit there and watch her get ready for dinner with my father, an evening with friends, or a business outing in the city. There are great 1980's details like the way she used a curling iron to perfectly sweep her bangs to the side, and her favorite shade of Clinique lipstick. (It was Watermelon and has since been discontinued, but it could make a comeback!) She would sometimes ask me to help fasten her bracelets, and I would sometimes beg her to stay home instead of leaving. After she left I'd go back into her bathroom, sit down on the round rug and breath in her lingering perfume. It was Yvonne LaFleur from an eclectic shop of the same name in the Riverbend area of New Orleans. 

These memories are warm in my soul. They are forever rooted there. The feeling of being driven is a feeling of being cared for, being taken along for the ride. Witnessing the ritual of getting ready taught me the importance of taking time to dress up when the occasion calls for it. The time to be a woman, wife, friend or sister for the day or evening, and take a short break from being someone's mom. The times when my mother was likely not trying to make me feel specifically cared for or to teach me anything, those were the times that I learned and remembered.

What I really want is for Mother's Day to be day one of another new year as a mother. This year I resolve to be happy. To create a foundation for these basic moments to one day serve as a beautiful memory for my children. To make the day to day tasks more sweet for all of us. To spend time letting my 10 month old crawl all over me and not worry about spit up. To play whatever game my 3 year old wants to play. To appreciate my husband for the ways he provides, supports, and helps me to be a better mother. AND I also really want to sleep in. 

Happy Mother's Day to my mom. Through her daily actions she continues to teach me what being a mother is about. I love you to the moon and back.

My two best girls.

The Sugar Addict Quiz, Something for your Sweet Tooth & Something to do tomorrow night

I want some chocolate right now.... bad. But here I am. Eating pecans and pretending they are not pecans. Here is how my first six days have been going:

First, I never realized how mindlessly I eat. I had some idea of it, but midday Saturday I was standing around waiting on someone and I picked up a cookie and took a bite of it. And I was chewing and thinking about my breakfast smoothie and then I was like "OH shit" (I'm being honest about the moment) and I spit cookie on the floor. I really picked this cookie up without even thinking and ate. This was a big wow moment for me. I wasn't hungry, I was just eating because I was waiting. 

Things you already knew made into a fancy graphic!

  Second, I am not over the cravings BUT I can get through them. I think about eating something sweet a lot of times a day. Mostly after meals and mostly when I haven't had enough water. And it's worse when I'm at work because something sweet is more accessible. I'm hoping this craving sweets will get better in the next week. 

Third.... I am FULLY not as bloated. I feel slender in the midsection even though I am eating like normal, or maybe more than normal to curb the cravings. But I'm still sticking to 95% real, whole foods, and that has helped me so much in life to stay at an appealing weight. I should start working out again. It's been... three years plus 40 weeks of pregnancy = 2010. 

Fourth - I have not had any caffeine because I haven't needed it. I have had so much more energy. That's been a big thing that was easy to tell from the start. I don't have the roller coaster up and down with my energy. I'm really loving that and it's making a big difference in my days at home with the kids. Everyone is happier. 

So all good things so far except that I would LOVE to get to the bottom of a 1/2 pint of ice cream right now. I made cookies for Landon's teachers last night and it was smelling delish. I went in search of a sweet treat without sugar and with some healthful elements. Great for Not So Sweet May or a really good option for the kids when they want a treat. 

Ingredients:

3 mashed bananas (ripe)

1/3 cup apple sauce

2 cups oats

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine and bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes

And if you are up for some fun, I have found a mostly dramatic sugar addiction quiz online. I guess I'm not as bad as I thought. Take your quiz here.

On a non sugar related topic, I will be signing on to the Recipe for Success Instagram account tomorrow night posting live photos from their Fashion Gene Awards at Tootsies. Recipe for Success Foundation is dedicated to combating childhood obesity by changing the way our children understand, appreciate and eat their food, and by educating and mobilizing the community to provide healthier diets for children. It is a cause near and dear to my heart. So if you live in Houston you can still BUY A TICKET for the fashion show, or the fashion show plus dinner. Because of generous sponsors, 100% of proceeds will directly benefit Recipe for Success. And if you cannot attend, be sure and follow their Instagram page and like everything you see! 

And if you aren't following Raising Texas on Instagram yet, you should be.

Throw any other sweet (but not sugary) recipes my way and good luck this week! 

-RT

Not So Sweet May

Welcome to Not So Sweet May! It's been an interesting first day. I knew that I ate a decent amount of sugar daily, but I didn't realize how mindlessly I did it. For my specific Not So Sweet May, I am staying away from as many processed sugars as I can find, and some naturally occurring sugars for at least the first 2-3 weeks.  What are natural sweetners? The best and most simple definition I have come across is from Food Renegade. Simply put (by her): A natural sweetener is one that a person could reasonably expect to grow, harvest, and process themselves without the use of added chemicals, enzymes, or expensive machinery. Think things that grow on trees and bushes, maple syrup from maple trees, honey from bees, etc. The reason why this difference matters is because your body processes natural sugar differently than processed sugar. 

From Examiner.com: A natural sugar is unprocessed by chemicals and other refined processes, and so still contains the enzymes, vitamins, minerals and fibers it was ‘born’ with. As in other raw foods, the elements just listed allow the body to recognize the sugar as a real food and digest it normally in the digestive tract. This means it will end up in your blood stream, which, if you’re not diabetic, would generally be preferable as your body will deal with the sugar accordingly.

A processed sugar is devoid of pretty much everything except the sugar/fructose or other concentrated sugar derivatives. This means it is considered foreign to the body and is thus digested by the liver and turned to triglycerides and stored as fat. Too much of it will make you fat, and also your body is not recognizing it as food and you’ll still be hungry, making you eat more and voila, around in circles you go!

I don't want to be a total downer because I love sugar and dessert so much, but if you want to know the super scary truth about what daily refined sugar intake can do to your body, click here. 

So let's move on. During the first part of the month I am going to try and avoid some of the more concentrated natural sugars like dried fruits, honey & maple syrup. I really want to try and get my taste for super sweet sugars out of my system. I am also staying away from "sugar free" products, because that isn't going to cut my cravings and I want the benefits of the natural sugars. 

One big hurdle this month is going to be my typical breakfast of Cascadia Farms Organic Chocolate Os. Mornings are hectic with two young kids, so I made a plan a few weeks ago to combat this: Smoothies. I made a slight investment in the Ninja Master Prep Professional Blender and I started making smoothies the day it came. I really love this product because it is super easy to clean and I discovered that it is AMAZING for making baby food.

The other great side effect of making a smoothie for breakfast: my kids both want to eat it. I make enough for me, our 3 year old and for our 9 month old as well. Landy has hers on the side of her eggs or waffles, Will has his with a few organic Os to keep him busy while I throw it together. 

I'm not really following any secret recipes. I usually throw in a handful of spinach and whatever fruits or veggies I have on hand. Sometimes Greek yogurt, sometimes coconut water, sometimes almond milk. Frozen fruit is a great addition to give it more of a treat feel, and I love a dash of cinnamon to give it some more flavor. If you are looking for smoothie inspiration, I am finding it all over Instagram.

A breakfast smoothie for everyone.

Some of my favorite combos plus chai seeds.

 Tonight I did dinner on my own, and had a big lunch, so I am having a two smoothie day. While I made my dinner I made baby food for tomorrow. I keep falling in love with this stupid blender system.

Dinner on the left, baby food on the right

Dinner and baby food after

I can already tell that this is going to be a great month for finding ways to keep our entire family eating more real, natural foods. I feel like I learned a lot just on the first day. It was harder than I thought it would be, but I'm excited about how I'll feel in two weeks. If you've joined in, hope your first day wasn't too bad. This weekend is going to be tough. We have a family get together and those always include dessert. For daily updates be sure to follow the Raising Texas Instagram account and #notsosweetmay.

I'll be dreaming of chocolate cake tonight, but I've got some great recipes coming up this month that should help curb your sweet tooth. 

More to come next week!

RT

Introducing Real Food to Real Babies

My 9.5 month old son is easy going. He did like to eat 2-3 times a night for the first six months, but when he wasn't eating he slept. A lot. This kid was maybe awake 4 hours a day for the first six months of his life. The point I'm getting at is that he has been neglected as second children sometimes are, and he has been generally great with that. But now things are changing. We're working on self feeding and I'm excited to get into what this little guy is going to wolf down. I had a couple friends asking me what babies eat and when and how, then another question today about feeding a one year old. So I thought we could get into what William eats and what he plans to eat in the future.

First off, we don't do baby led weaning. I always wanted to look into it further, but here's why I didn't: I already had one child go through the typical food eating steps and it seemed fine to me. Also, I don't even have time to read books for pleasure right now, so reading a book about changing feeding tactics just wasn't going to happen. From what I  have heard it seems very interesting and something I would probably like, it just wasn't the route we took. 

So what should you feed your baby? The simple answer is "whatever you are eating."  Here is what we did.

Months 0-5.5 our kids only had breast milk. Landon's first food was rice cereal, and William's was pureed avocado both at 5 and a half months. Someone asked me why people use rice cereal and there are a few reasons. When you are first introducing foods to your child you don't know what they may be sensitive or allergic to. Rice cereal is easy on their tummies and there is a very low likelihood that they will have an allergic reaction to it. It also tastes like nothing and can be mixed to be thin or thick depending on the abilities of your baby. The truth is, there are a decent amount of fruits or vegetables that have similar qualities and more benefits. That is why we used avocado with William. Mashed and thinned out with breast milk (or formula) and we usually had one around anyway. 

Months 6-9 we go through the list of all of the fruits and vegetables that we can think of. You try one and wait a few days before trying something new to make sure there aren't any allergies or reactions. It's really annoying. During this time you might feed your baby some of the following: sweet potatoes, mangoes, squash, tomato, carrots, apples, bananas, corn, peas, more avocados, pears, peaches, regular potatoes, green beans, broccoli, braising greens, kale, spinach, etc. Basically anything that isn't naturally soft (carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc) you can steam, roast, or boil then throw in a blender or food processor and make it as thin as it needs to be for your baby by adding in breast milk or formula. Or buy the jars or pouches at the store. They have an amazing selection even since Landon was a baby with lots of different veggie combos with spices added in. Check the ingredient list to make sure there aren't weird additive or preservatives. You should be able to understand every ingredient. Those are great to throw in the diaper bag or take on weekends away. 

Babies develop at different rates and during this time your baby might be ready for some chunks of food or finger foods. Both of ours weren't ready until after 9 months. We worked on it with them, but it really didn't click until they hit that magic 9 month mark. 

Side note: when your baby is learning to eat, they have to also learn to swallow and learn to not choke. Food will get stuck in the baby's throat and it is scary. And then they cough it out and with it sometimes comes half of the bottle you just gave them. So when you are trying new chunks or working on self feeding, make sure it's two hours after a bottle so you don't run the risk of wasting and cleaning up 6-8 oz of milk.

Months 9-12 is when we bring the baby to our table. Figuratively because clearly the baby is there already, this is just when we are working toward the baby eating what we are all eating at dinner. So with William at 9.5 months, we are still working on perfecting his self feeding skills. I found a great brand of organic toasted Os that I love & shredded cheese. He has mastered those. We cut up avocado, sweet potato and banana and he works really hard, but they are still a little too slippery for him. Once he gets those going, we'll move on to mashed rice and beans, chopped up pastas and sauces, and then onto chopped up versions of whatever we are eating. At his age and beyond we start by chopping things into about pea sized pieces and limiting the amount on the tray so that he doesn't shove it all in at once. 

Another tip that worked great for us was to serve the food separately. So if you are giving your baby dinner of sweet potatoes, broccoli and shrimp and you know that he will eat all of the sweet potato and then might not eat the broccoli, you hide the sweet potato and the shrimp and start with the broc. Once he has had a decent amount, add in some shrimp, and then when he has had some shrimp bring out the sweet potato. This maneuver kept Landon eating foods that weren't necessarily her favorite, because she had them when she was hungry and didn't know there was another option.

From 12 months on we continue introducing more of what we are eating. What we have learned with Landon is that kids often love things you wouldn't expect. She would much rather have salmon or shrimp instead of chicken. She will eat spinach raw. And the rule in our house is that you don't have to like everything, but you have to try everything once. We also have a new rule that you CANNOT say anything is spicy. It's Landon's magic food turnoff word. If she doesn't like the taste of something she'll say "oh, mommy. Well that's spicy." 

Don't let how many teeth your baby has determine what you are feeding them. Most one year olds will not have their chewing teeth (one year molars) yet and will be chewing food with their gums. Your baby will progress with the food regardless of how many teefies are in there.

Don't be afraid to let your baby try ANYTHING when they get to the right age. I was shocked that Landy liked chopped spinach. But she also loved raw salmon spring rolls and kale salad. Try it all! Let your child determine what s/he does or doesn't like. Don't let preconceived notions about what babies and children "like to eat" cause you to put your child's meal offerings in a one size fits all box.

So for the one year old question, we are taking a trip down memory lane. Here is what Landon was eating  from about 10 months to 14 months: 

Starting small with Os and cubed cheddar cheese.

Finely chopped broccoli and salmon

Chopped banana

The remnants of chopped broccoli and chicken tikka masala

Clockwise from top left: Salmon, chopped spinach, fresh mozzarella, and sweet potatoes

She has this for breakfast for a year. Fried eggs... you guessed it: Chopped

Black eyed peas, pineapple, strawberries and zucchini before they were chopped

 

Os, chicken breast, sweet potato, broccoli, and peas

She was able to handle the larger chunks of salmon about 13 - 14 months.
With avocado, mashed potato and raspberries.

Chicken breast with bbq sauce, chopped spinach, avocado, carrots & broccoli.

Normal snacks or meal additions

 Here is what made this easier on us: When we made dinner we would make sure it was something we could put aside a little of for Landon the following day. For added veggies (which she ate much more of than we did) we would buy bags of organic frozen broccoli, chopped spinach, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, peas, and corn. Then I would pour out a portion for her meal and pop it in the microwave for 1:15 and let it cool. Fresh veggies for the kids. Minimal effort from mom. Other things not pictured above that were very popular: Meatloaf, Lasagna, & Spaghetti Squash.

I'm happy to answer any more questions about our approach and how things worked for us. One thing we tried REALLY hard to do is to keep snack type food to a minimum. You need it, because it is a life saver at least once a day, but kids get hooked on snack foods and it's a slippery slope. We stick mainly with regular bland flavor organic Os because eventually the taste of real food beats out the taste of cheerios. 

Apologies, once again, to my sweet neglected boy. A post about what he is eating turned into a post about what his sister used to eat. Second child. At least he can't read yet, so he can't be too offended. 

#NotSoSweetMay starts in almost 24 hours..... Maybe you'll see me eating cookies at Brown Bag Deli tomorrow... all. day. long. 

- RT