More on Milk

When I posted why I feel completely safe buying regular milk, I received a request to address the potential use of growth hormones and steroids to make cows produce milk more quickly. So I asked my good friend, who is in the dairy business, if she could please share the truth of what really happens on the dairy farm. I am posting exactly what she shared with me in the interest that it may help all of us make wise, informed consumer choices.

Milk is Milk

I will begin by stating the difference between organic raw milk and regular raw milk. The difference is none other than the price…seriously it is one of the biggest marketing scams.

Why should I have knowledge of this? First off I have lived on a dairy farm for pretty much my whole life. We are a family owned business that has been going on for several generations. This is also true for pretty much all of our neighbors as well. It is also safe to say that 90% of us dairy families drink our own raw milk—straight out of our milk tanks at the barn—and it is not organic. We have never felt any worry about the safeness of drinking our own milk…probably because we are witness to everything that goes into it. It is safe, to say the least. (On a side note: raw milk of any kind can cause digestive issues to those not acclimated to raw milk since it contains high contents of live flora and probiotics.)


One of the first scare tactics the media likes to use against regular milk is the possibility of antibiotics contaminating the milk. To put things into perspective, on our dairy we milk between 2,000-2,200 cows daily. The milk truck comes two times a day to pick up our milk from our 6000 gallon tanks. Each milk truck tests each tank of milk for antibiotics. Before the milk even makes it to the creamery, the result is clear: yes or no. If there are any antibiotics detected, the entire tank is literally dumped down the drain at the barn—nothing can be salvaged. Cows treated for various illnesses and infections with antibiotics are milked separately and none of their milk goes into the tank. There are a certain number of days before that cow is even allowed to be milked again with the rest of the herd. If however, the cow somehow manages to get mixed in with the herd before she has been cleared, the antibiotic detection test will find it in the milk. If even one cow in a herd, in our case out of 2200, has antibiotics in her milk, it will be found out and the entire tank of milk will go down the drain. So as an obvious fact, there are no antibiotics in milk.

For point number two I will address the growth hormone scare issue.

I have read recently a new and very surprising myth relating to dairy cows: that a growth hormone or steroid is used in raising dairy cattle. There is nothing more to say on this point other than it is absolutely not true (I am only speaking for the dairy industry, not the beef, which I do not feel as though I have knowledge in). I can only think that perhaps people are getting mixed up with the natural bst hormone that several years ago was used by many dairy farmers to increase milk production in some cows. The strange thing about the bst hormone was that it already occurs naturally in cows. This hormone is what allows a cow to produce milk. Dairy farmers simply injected more of into some of their cows that fell into a certain category of production. In fact, this bst hormone is so natural that there is no scientist in the world that could distinguish between “bst raw milk” and “organic raw milk.” This comes from over 20 years of extensive milk study. Nevertheless, several years ago, the milk board decided that because of the bad publicity bst (scare tactics!) was getting, it is now near impossible to sell milk that came from cows that had a bst injection. That is why you see most milk in grocery stores with the label of no bst . As a side note, the FDA, American Medical Association, American Cancer Society, National Institutes of Health, US Surgeon General’s Office, and the World Health Organization all have given this milk the ok, but since the paranoia and skewed facts, this type milk has been taken off the market.

Next point is the feed of dairy cattle. In a nutshell, if we humans took as good care of our diets as we dairymen take care of our cows, we would be living in one of the healthiest possible societies ever. Great care and pain is taken to see that our cows are fed the perfect diet—enough of all the essential minerals, proteins, fats, carbs, fiber, etc. Hired nutritionists are often testing cows pH balance (a common practice for cancer surviving people who attempt to control cancer by their diet), noting herd conditions, milk production, and health. All of this data they collect is then transformed into a perfect ration for the ultimate health of the cow (think spinach fruit smoothies for us). This ration is often made up mainly of wheat or corn silage and alfalfa hay along with a list of interesting commodities (no ground up meat or bones!!) to bolster the mineral, proteins, and energy a cow needs.

 I have to stop on this nutrition point to quickly point out the amazing “green-ness” of dairy farms in this respect. Most of these commodities that are added to the cows’ feed: cotton seed, almond hulls, distillers waste (bi-product of ethanol from corn), bakery waste (ground up cookies, cakes, and bread), citrus (the bruised fruit from local orchards), soy meal, and many more similar natural occurring wastes that normally would be simply disposed of in landfills are now being processed by cows to produce milk! So as stated, the cows are fed a very stellar diet that reaches all of their needs to be as healthy as possible.

Organic milk promotes that there are no pesticides in their milk…that is great…but also our “regular” milk also has zero pesticides in it! All milk, whether organically or conventionally produced, must comply with the standards set forth in the federal pasteurized milk ordinance. Milk and dairy products are among the most highly tested and regulated food in the country, therefore making it one of the top safest foods in the USA.

As stated above in the nutrition point, a dairy farmer is always very concerned about the care and well being of his cows. A fact: happy cows produce the most milk. If a cow is stressed, sickly, crowded, weak, tired, or hungry, she will not produce milk at an optimal level. A dairy farmer needs each cow to be at her best production in order to make a profit. The dairy cow is the farmer’s best asset. You cannot force an “unhappy” cow to produce milk in a profitable way. In fact, at milking time, cows are usually huddled by the gate ready and wanting to get milked. When a cow gets sick, has a hoof ailment, or birthing problem antibiotics may be used to treat her. It seems to be a bit inhumane to deny treatment to a suffering animal…but perhaps organic dairy farmers simply beef these down trodden cows. We use antibiotics sparingly as a cow may not be milked with the rest of the herd while she is on medication. In other words, antibiotics are not over used (as they are in our own human medical world). It is against federal regulations to ship milk or beef that has not properly gone through the withdrawal periods, very strict protocols are written on this by our vets and incorporated into our data base to decrease any chance of polluting the milk or beef products with antibiotics.

The care of our animals is the biggest part of our job: we can match up with most zoos on how much we spend on trying to keep our cows healthy and comfortable! One last stress on the safety of our cattle is that we (as most of our dairy farming community does as well) eat our own beef—the beef we use comes from our own herd. I can truthfully say I have never felt worried about cooking it up, and in fact, my family does not like “store bought” meat—only ours. But perhaps this is another chapter for another day. Hopefully this essay has brought to light the skewed facts and myths about milk so that next time you are in a grocery store you will feel confident in your decision about choosing regular milk as a healthy food/drink for your family.

Why I Don't Buy Organic Milk

As moms, we pay close attention to our grocery dollars. We choose which foods our family's hard-earned money will purchase and which foods we'll say no to in the interest of health, nutrition and expense. One of the big debates today is organic versus non-organic--specifically with regard to milk. You'll read horror stories about non-organic dairies--the foods fed to the cows, the over-crowded feedlots, the antibiotics and steroids pumped into the cows that reportedly makes its way into the milk we drink. I read one blog post once where a mom compared buying non-organic milk to buying her family illicit drugs. A little over the top, in my opinion.

Yet, one of the first lessons I learned as a news reporter was to choose your sources carefully. First-hand sources are the most reliable and trustworthy. Therefore, my opinion that the arguments against regular milk are largely untrue is based on first-hand information from one of my best friends, whose parents and in-laws both own large dairies in California. Plus, the Central Valley area in which she lives produces something like 90% of the nation's milk. I'd say she's a pretty reliable source. So you can read and believe what other sources tell you about dairies, or you can believe her first-hand account. Here's the truth of what happens on a dairy, according to my friend.

First of all, the cows are the farmers' livelihood. This means great time and expense is devoted to taking excellent care of the herd. The better cared for they are, the better their milk will be, and the greater the profit for the dairy. (Plus, many of these dairy families are committed Christians, and so there are stewardship issues and deep personal values involved in caring for their cows).

My friend told me nutritionists come often and check the cows' pH-levels, to see if they are alkaline or acidic. Their diets are adjusted accordingly. Few of us monitor our diet and nutrition as closely as these cows are checked. My friend said they grow their own corn, but in addition, citrus producers send surplus citrus, almond producers send almond wholes, and other healthful foods are ground up and fed to the cows as well. Plus, yes, they are also turned out to pasture where they can graze on grass.

Contrary to public opinion, they do not administer steroids to the cows to help them make milk faster. Plus, most milk cartons these days are printed with a statement that the milk is from cows not treated with rBST growth hormones. I don't know where that idea got perpetuated, but I believe the vast majority of dairies do not employ the dreadful practices the organic-milk crowd rails against them.

Yet, here's my favorite, most convincing argument about the safety of non-organic milk:

My friend's family's dairy is made up of 2,200 head of milk cows. One day, one cow was on a trace amount of antibiotics. This cow accidentally made it in the milking line. Oh-oh, right? Antibiotics in our milk. Wrong. When the milk truck came to take the milk, mandatory testing (performed on the milk every time it is picked up) detected that trace amount of antibiotic--from one cow out of 2,200. The entire tank of milk had to be dumped, per FDA regulations. So since this is true, how in the world can people say that cows' antibiotics make it into the milk we drink? It just doesn't happen.

Here is some additional proof:

"Sick dairy cows treated with antibiotics for humane reasons go through an FDA-prescribed withdrawal time that varies, based on the antibiotic and the animal’s illness. This means that during the withdrawal time, the sick animal’s milk and the antibiotics are kept out of the milk supply. The FDA also has set strict standards for the presence of antibiotics in milk, and each and every milk tanker is tested for the presence of the important antibiotics before the milk is allowed to enter the milk processing facility. The milk from the rare tanker truck which has been accidentally contaminated is discarded and does not enter the human food chain." Source:  http://www.realcaliforniamilk.com/farm-life/animal-care/animal-faqs/

Additionally, with the radiation issues coming from Japan, my friend shared with me that we are all safer if we do not rely on any one dairy or farm--organic or not--for our milk, eggs, and meat. This is because if a radiation cloud were to contaminate a farm, or radiation got into the feed, we would be exposed to that radiation through the cow's milk, let's say. If it were our only source of milk, its effects would be highly concentrated in our bodies. But if we bought our milk at the store from a wide range of producers, any effects from possible radiation at one farm would be dispersed and lessened in our bodies. Does that make sense?

Going back to the heart of the issue, my friend lives just down the road from an organic dairy. She really believes her family takes better care of her cows and devotes more time and attention to them than the organic dairy does.

If, after reading this, you are still convinced you want to dedicate some of your grocery budget to organic milk, that's fine. But if you are on the fence about it all, I hope this report helps convince you that non-organic milk is really ok. Don't believe everything you read against non-organic dairies. Listen to dairy farmers themselves. Hear what they have to say about their farms and practices (a great source is realcaliforniamilk.com), and then make a decision for yourself.

I'd love to hear your opinion of it all, and if you have any questions, I'll see if I can get them answered for you. (My friend, a conventional California dairy farmer, shared in a post here about the nutrition and care they give their cows, and her take on why organic is a non-issue when it comes to milk, in her professional opinion. That post of mine is here).
(linked to Works for Me Wednesday)

Make Breakfast Count, for Less

My almost two-year old and, to some extent, my three-year old aren't great eaters. (I mean, they are if we're talking about candy and sweets, but obviously they can't eat that all day.) They don't eat much at lunch, and my youngest hardly touches his dinner. Yes, it usually stresses me out a bit, but I have learned a survival strategy:

Make breakfast count.

You see, if my boys don't eat much at dinner, they will be starving in the morning. They will be so hungry that they will eat whatever is set before them with gladness. This is not the time to serve Lucky Charms or toaster strudels (we don't eat those anyway). Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, eggs and whole wheat toast, and other nourishing foods packed with vitamins, minerals and healthy calories.

Here are some other breakfast ideas that are healthy and filling and won't break the bank:

• Whole-wheat pancakes or waffles
• Crepes (you can even fill them with a bit of cottage cheese and top them with a triple berry blend, found in the freezer section this time of year)
• Biscuits 
• Granola
• Eggs (scrambled, boiled, or fried) and toast with oranges or another fruit
• Blueberry muffins, or this time of year, pumpkin
• Baked oatmeal
• Coco-Wheats (we like to put a spoonful of peanut butter in each bowl and swirl it in with extra milk...yum!)
• Smoothies with yogurt and fruit, toast

My childhood piano teacher and her husband grew up in Germany and Switzerland, respectively. She served oatmeal to her children every single day. While every day may be a bit much, her children ate it without complaint (as far as I know), because 1) they were hungry, 2) it's all they knew, and 3) they probably developed a taste for it. 

If you struggle with picky eaters at your house, my best advice is to make breakfast really count. Serve healthy foods, and even if children complain a bit, hang in there. Especially if they didn't eat great at dinner, they will be hungry and they will eat what you have made them.

For more information on feeding small children, see my series here, here, here.

What are your favorite healthy breakfast ideas?

Getting Back to the Basics

We, as women, have come full-circle as cooks. In the early 19th century, there was no such thing as running to the grocery store for a tube of refrigerated crescent rolls or a cake mix and frosting in a can; everything was made from scratch. Then somewhere mid-century, after World War II, home-cooks began appreciating the ease and convenience of using packaged mixes. Companies thrived on their business, and their test kitchens invented new recipes--published on the back of the boxes--to keep their items rolling off the shelves.

It seems like hard work these days to find a recipe that does not involve a boxed mix (or any other pre-made item) of some sort, whether it be pudding, stuffing, muffins, or cakes. I admit, some of my favorite recipes use mixes of some sort (or refrigerated crescent rolls or biscuits). But here's where the full-circle part comes in: I want to get back to the basics in my kitchen, as do many other cooks these days. Whether it is for financial reasons, or health reasons, or a mixture of both, I want to convert recipes back to their pre-1950's-from-scratch-versions.

Unfortunately, converting a box-mix recipe back to a scratch-recipe is not always as easy as it sounds.
For example, recently I made a mandarin orange cake. The recipe called for a yellow cake mix. I made my own yellow cake. But, the recipe also called for a can of undrained mandarin oranges. The extra liquid stumped me: should I decrease the liquid in my from-scratch recipe to compensate? The box mix recipe was starting to look tempting, since I new if I followed its proportions, everything would turn out fine. In the end, I decreased the liquid slightly, added the mandarin orange juice, and it turned out ok. Not great, but good enough.

Yet, conversions can be fairly straightforward. If your recipe calls for a box of brownie mix, just make your own brownie batter (yes, from scratch). If you find a recipe calling for a white cake mix (or whatever kind), make a white cake from scratch (the only difference between white and yellow is white uses only egg whites and yellow uses whole eggs). If the recipe uses a tube of biscuits, make your own biscuit dough and proceed from there. If you need a pudding mix, you can google how to make it from scratch. I learned that butterscotch pudding is: 1 c. dark brown sugar, 1/4 c. cornstarch, and 1 tsp. salt; I use this mix in my overnight caramel rolls recipe (which does call for Rhodes rolls; I'm working on modifying it!). There is a way to convert any item back to its made-fresh-in-your-kitchen state (if you want to).

In this going-back-to-scratch endeavor, old-fashioned cookbooks are your friend. I just found my 40th anniversary edition Betty Crocker cookbook. In it, I found a recipe for caramel rolls that did not involve a package of frozen dough; it was entirely from scratch. I think a copy of Joy of Cookingwould also work. I recently heard a recommendation for an early 1970's Pillsbury cookbook. The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbookis helpful (or The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-Duty Revised Edition). In addition to cookbooks, you could also turn to your local county extension service, or an older cook for help getting back to the basics.

If you have any other conversion tips to help us get back to scratch, I'd love for you to share them in the comments section!

(By the way, if you like the ease of using mixes, I'm not trying to force you away from it. But for me, personally, I already have most everything in my pantry to make stuff from scratch, and it is
more satisfying for me to do it that way (plus, I save money).)
Some interesting historical information about the early reaction to boxed mixes:

"What Pillsbury/Betty Crocker hoped to achieve after World War II initally backfired because home cooks felt compelled/obligated to return to the way things were. Like mom used to cook. They say good salesmen don't take "no" for an answer. America's largest food concerns obviously hired these men. Despite the fact that early mixes often produced less than satisfactory results and invoke a complicated set of psycho-social baggage, they prevailed. Eventually mixes were accepted. Today? Most people who make cakes for people they love regularly employ mixes (universally perceived as home-made, as in "made in the home") instead of buying a premade "cake in the box." The real "scratch cake" is very nearly lost.

"The very marketable premise behind cake mixes was, and still is, the ability to have a fresh, "home-made" cake with very little time and effort. Though Betty Crocker--like her competitors--promised that cake mixes offered freshness, ease, and flavor in a box, the market was slow to mature. Puzzled, marketers reiterated the message that homemakers need only drop this scientific marvel into a bowl, add water, mix, and bake. But that was still a little too good to be true for Mrs. Comsumer America. Certainly, cake mixes sold, but--compared with the early performance of Bisquick or Aunt Jemima pancake mix--not up to industry expecations. The "quick mix"...industry, eager to correct the shortfall, conducted research even as the development of new mixes continued. General Mills considered the market research of the business psychologists Dr. Burleigh Gardner and Dr. Ernest Dichter to explain the mediocre sales of cake mixes. The problem, according to the psychologists, was eggs. Dichter, in particular, believed that powdered eggs, often used in cake mixes, should be left out, so women could add a few fresh eggs into the batter, giving them a sense of creative contribution. He believed...that baking a cake was an act of love on the woman's part; a cake mix that only needed water cheapened that love. Whether the psychologists were right, or whether cakes made with fresh eggs simply taste better than cakes made with dried eggs, General Mills decided to play up the fact that Betty Crocker's cake mixes did not contain...dried eggs of any kind...Before long, cake mix started to gain some acceptance and notoriety; even Mamie Eisenhower instructed her cooking staff to use this novel invention at the White House."

---Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America's First Lady of Food, Susan Marks [Simon & Schuster:New York] 2005 (p. 168, 170), quoted from http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html

Feeding Our Families with Love, Frugally

Coffee Talk Thursday

Cooking and baking for my guys is one of the most tangible ways I can show them how much I love them. While I enjoy preparing healthy, delicious, and attractive looking meals, as a one-income family, I do have to watch my grocery spending. We love lots of fresh produce, but it adds up fast. I budget $100/week for groceries (this includes paper products, cleaning products, and diapers). Fortunately, the last few weeks have been a little under, since I am now only buying diapers for one and not two.

Today, for Coffee Talk Thursday, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the ways we save money at the store.

Here are some things I do:

• 
  
  Pay attention to the sales ads. By familiarizing myself with prices, I know when a sale is lackluster, and when it's a "cart-buster." I stock up when something is at a rock-bottom price.
• 
  
  I buy store-brand items, for the most part. But sometimes, the brand is on sale for less than the store-brand. When you're familiar with usual prices, sale prices, and the best-ever sale prices, you'll know when to buy a bunch at the best price.

image courtesy Karin Dalziel

• 
  
  One of my friends taught me a tip of buying produce that's on sale for .99/lb. or less. Since sales change week-by-week, you will get variety this way. I aim to shop for produce this way as much as possible. At the same time, fruits and vegetables are some of the best foods for my family; so buying them is kind of like an investment in their health. It's still hard for me, in my frugal nature, to spend $4 for a bag of spinach or $6 for a box of clementines, but I'm thinking I should realize it's ok to pay a bit more for the right foods for my family.
• 
  
  A beans and rice night is great once-a-week, or every few weeks. You can use it as a filling in tortillas with cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sour cream (like tacos). There are many great recipes out there, so beans and rice does not have to be boring or bland.
• 
  
  A bag of flour costs about the same as one box of cereal. Yet from it, you can make oodles of breakfasts: muffins, scones, coffee cakes, pancakes, waffles, crepes. You can make your own snacks: cookies, quick breads, and more.
• 
  
  Quaker oats sometimes go on sale for $1 or $1.50 for the big canister. I bought seven canisters, I think, the last time it was on sale at that price. I bought a 5-gallon bucket at the Walmart bakery, and I store the oats in it.
• 
  
  I use some coupons. Our newspaper is fairly small, and the coupon inserts do not have the same coupons as a metro paper includes. I go online to coupons.com and print a few to use when the store has cereal and granola bars on sale. I like diaper coupons; there have been some good ones lately.
• 
  
  I try to find ways to creatively use leftovers and make new meals out of them.

image from ilovemypit

So I'm monopolizing the conversation. :) I want to hear what you do, and how you look at grocery
shopping--especially buying produce. Do you think we should just pay the going price for the produce we want, since it is an investment in our family's health; or do you sometimes grimace at some of the prices too?

(By the way, Friday will be the Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys review and giveaway.)

Let's talk!

(linked to Frugal Friday)

Go Nuts and Fight Dry Skin

It’s dry where we live. Dry and windy. This is not a good combination for healthy skin. So I am going nuts. Literally.

Nuts—especially walnuts—contain a high level of omega 3 fatty acids, which help moisturize one’s skin. They also offer many other health benefits. Research suggests they lower cholesterol, protect arteries, prevent heart attacks and heart disease, minimize blood clots, control diabetes, and even fight depression (another great reason to eat omega-3 containing nuts in the winter when the blues can set in).

So what kind should you turn to when you’re ready to go nutty?

• Walnuts contain the highest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids among nuts. Research on walnuts shows they also boost the immune system, can aid weight loss, help lower blood sugar levels, and may even help fight cancer.
• Brazil nuts, butternuts, hickory nuts, macadamia nuts, and even peanuts, also provide some omega 3’s. While almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts and pecans offer other heart-healthy benefits, they are not a good source of omega 3’s.

How many nuts a day should you eat?

• Most sources seem to agree on a handful. Just ¼ cup of walnuts a day will provide you with 2.5 grams of omega 3’s.
• Pair some walnuts with cheddar cheese cubes, another source of omega 3’s. You could also add in some apple slices for a heart-healthy and “skintastic” snack.
• *Note: It is difficult to track down an exact recommendation for daily omega-3 amounts. One source said the FDA recommends that consumption not exceed 3 g. a day. Other sources suggest 1,000 mg a day. However, when I researched these claims for myself, I found no FDA dietary recommendation for a specific amount of omega-3 fatty acids (although clinical trials cited on FDA.gov usually used 1-2 g/day, and as much as 12 g/day). The FDA’s website says, “It is also not known how much omega-3 fatty acids a person would need to eat on a regular basis in order to have heart health benefits.” That said, the FDA follows the American Heart Association’s recommendation of eating two servings of fish a week, using oils such as flaxseed, canola, and soybean, and eating nuts such as walnuts.

Other non-nutty tips for banishing dry skin:

• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water
• Apply a moisture-barrier out of the shower or bath. Our pediatrician recommends Aquaphor ointment.
• Use a humidifier or vaporizer.
• "'Itis' illnesses, such as dermatitis, are caused by inflammation. Omega 3’s act like anti-inflammatories to help heal and repair the skin. Omega 3’s can be given in supplement form if your children aren’t fond of fish." (from "Winterizing Your Child's Skin" on askdrsears.com)

Certainly salmon and flaxseed oil are two of the best sources of omega 3's. However, I can buy a whole package of walnuts for the price of one salmon fillet, and I can take them with me anywhere. They’ll fit in my purse or the glove compartment of my van, and I can leave them there for days. I can’t say that about a salmon fillet now, can I?

Visit Works for Me Wednesday for more tips!
Sources:


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/05n0413/05n-0413-ref0001-full-info-handout.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/03/Nov03/110303/03q-0401-sup0001-03-ref1-vol2.pdf
http://www.livestrong.com/article/34459-nuts-omega-fatty-acids/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid
 http://www.supplementquality.com/news/omega3.html
http://mayoclinic.com/health/nuts/HB00085
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/11/T086900.asp

Using Food as a Teaching Tool

Learning tools don't have to be elaborate and expensive to be effective. Often, the best (and cheapest) teaching aids are everyday items that are always around. Food fits the bill. Since you prepare several meals a day and probably some snacks, too, use those times to teach your children. You'll get a snack and squeeze in a mini-English, math, or science lesson too!

 

You can use food to teach:

 

Language skills

• Colors
• Flavors (salty, sour, sweet, spicy, bland, bitter)
• Textures (crunch, crispy, smooth, dry, juicy)
• Shapes

 Math skills

• Size concepts: big, small, light, heavy
• Order: first, before, after, next, last
• Sorting, measuring, matching, counting (smallest measuring spoon, biggest cup, how many seeds in an orange)

Science Skills

• How are foods changed by heat and cold (solids, liquids)
• Where does food come from? How does it grow?
• Divide various foods into groups
• Nutrients and vitamins each food provides, and how our bodies use those vitamins and minerals

Social Skills and Manners

• Help children learn to share and take turns (while helping bake or prepare a meal)
• Table etiquette
• Helping set and clear the table
• Discipline to sit properly at the table

Motor Skills and Hand-Eye Coordination

• Learning to properly use utensils and hold a cup
• **"When your children are helping, the job will not go quickly and will likely be messy. However, you are building lifelong skills. While you are enjoying your meal, encourage children to talk about what they have made and what happened during their day." Mealtimes are great conversation times, and as you share great food, you can all grow closer as a family too.

(Above ideas from my Cent$ible Nutrition Cookbook)

So the next time you're in the kitchen, don't just think about chopping up the celery; think of all that the experience of chopping the celery can teach your children! Have them count the diced pieces or sticks, sequence them into a row from smallest to largest, develop motor skills by spreading peanut butter on the sticks, and more. (Obviously, this is geared more toward preschoolers and early elementary, but with some creativity, you could come up with lessons for older children as well).

Mercy and Practical Help for Feeding Toddlers

Because toddlers and small, and their tummies are small, they can't eat very much at any one sitting, so they get hungry every few hours. They need nutritious food at these times to fuel their growth, meet their energy needs, and keep the "crankies" at bay.

Planning healthy snacks every few hours indeed takes work. When we're busy, and they start whining that they're hungry, it's often easier to grab something quick from the cupboard. These quick choices may not provide optimum nutrition. I have found it helps so much to plan some snack ideas for each day as I'm writing my menu plans for the week (even though I haven't posted them lately, I'm still writing them!).

There are other challenges when it comes to feeding toddlers as well. That's why I am sharing the following tips, which are excerpted from my Cent$ible Nutrition Cookbook and based on Ellyn Satter’s approach as a dietitian to feeding children. As with anything, adapt these to fit your own family. I should also note that these tips are intended to help families with reasonably healthy children; children with special needs may need a different approach.

• Serve foods near room temperature. Foods that are too hot or too cold can hurt a young child’s sensitive mouth.
• Offer new foods gradually and matter-of-factly. It is advised to not force a child to try the new food. Introduce new foods only when the child is hungry and serve it with familiar foods. Talk about the new food, its taste, color, texture, how it grows. Accept rejection but serve it again in a week or so. A food can be offered 8 to 10 times before a child will accept it. Try preparing it different ways.
• Set a good example yourself by eating healthy foods.
• Provide three meals and planned nutritious snacks so that food is available every 2 to 3 hours. Energy needs are high and a child’s stomach is small.
• Children (usually at about 3-4 years old) may have food jags where they demand the same food over and over. Continue to offer a variety of foods at regular times. As long as the child demands food that is not high in calories and low in nutrients, be patient until the food jag passes.
• Present a variety of foods at mealtime, and let the child pick from what is available. [Again, this is the recommended advice in my book; modify it to fit your family.]
• Plan meals in advance, including requests from all family members. Planning helps moderate food jags. [By planning, you can say, “We’re having ____ for lunch today. I’m not making macaroni and cheese again. But we’ll have that in a few days.”]
• Children may develop food rituals where they always want to wear a certain bib, use a particular cup, or have their sandwich cut in a particular way. “Food rituals help children feel more secure…Let them have their rituals; they are usually short-lived.” [In my house, one of my boys always had to eat with a certain color utensil. He has since outgrown this.]
• Your child may learn to get attention by refusing to eat. Give the child plenty of attention before and during the meal for reasons other than not eating.
• Give children small portions and let them ask for seconds. This makes them feel successful and helps reduce overeating.
• As children reach age 4-5, parents may still need to cut up some foods, especially meat.
• Children may tire of chewing and may take food out of their mouths. You can train them in how to use a napkin when one needs to discreetly remove food from one’s mouth.
• Offer a variety of colors and shapes in meals.
• The more involved in the preparation of a meal, the more likely the child is to eat it. Give children age-appropriate jobs.

These tips really helped me with one of our children in particular, who was quite picky and ate like a bird. His eating made me very anxious. But once I learned that my job was to supply healthy food every few hours (meals and snacks), and his job was to choose what to eat and how much to eat (my husband and I still offered guidance though), it helped me loosen up. Now he eats pretty well. That works for me!



Other helpful information can be found here. Ellyn Satter's site offers nutrition and meal-time advice for children from birth through age 17. I also recommend the following of her books:


and

and




Next time, we'll be addressing ways we can use food to help teach various skills. Whether or not you homeschool, there are some fun ideas here!


 

Tips for Feeding 12-18 month olds

For me, it seems like the trickiest age for making sure my boys are getting enough to eat and that I'm giving them the right foods in the right quantities is the 9-15 month stage. At 9 months to a year, I'm still nursing, but they also start eating solid foods. It's hard to know whether to think of nursing as providing a main meal, a light snack, or just a drink (not that I'm trying to say breastmilk is "just" a drink of course).

I've wondered about it so much, in fact, that at Jack's one-year doctor check-up recently, I asked our pediatrician how to look at nursing at his age. The doctor (who has 6 young children and is very pro-nursing and attachment parenting) said at a year, nursing does not provide him enough calories to get what he needs. So the bulk of his nutrition (and appetite filling) should now be coming from meals and snacks. There's a shift there from nursing providing everything in the early months to nursing providing less (and food providing more) as far as supplying the necessary calories for growth as the baby becomes a more mobile and active toddler. 

If you've wrestled with this shift as well, and wondered if your little guy or gal is getting enough to eat (and drink), I hope the following tips will offer additional insight.

Tips for feeding a 12-to-18 month old child:

-Switch from formula (if you use it) to whole milk (the fat is necessary for brain development until age 2)
-Let your child use a spoon or hold her own cup about 6 ounces a day. Offer milk with meals and water with snacks.
-Serve bite-sized pieces that are easy to pick up (about 1/4-1/2").
-Remember as they're making a mess in their high chair that young children like to feel the texture of foods.
-Since they eat small amounts, children should eat 4-6 times a day. Plan nutritious snacks.
-Appetites can change daily. Remember, your child will eat when hungry.
-A helpful guide to gauge the portion size to give: about 1 tablespoon per year of age (I think this means one tablespoon of veggies or fruits, one tablespoon of a main dish, one tablespoon of a side dish--not one tablespoon total of all foods at a meal).

Kitchen tips for this stage:
-Lay a strong foundation for your child's mealtime habits at a very young age.
-Sit down at the table as a family. When your child is old enough, place a high chair at the family table, so he/she can be part of everything
-Allow your child to feed himself. Although this can be messy, it encourages independence and builds self-esteem. Put a vinyl cloth or newspapers under the high chair to ease clean up.

*Above tips taken from my Cent$ible Nutrition Cookbook and guide through the UW Cooperative Extension Service

Since kids usually stop eating baby food around 9-12 months and prefer more solid table food, but lack all the teeth necessary for adequate chewing, knowing what kinds of foods--and especially snacks--to give them can be challenging. I am always looking for fun new snack ideas. Here are some healthy snack ideas for kids at this age (or any age), taken from the Cent$ible Nutrition cookbook:

• Apple wedges (peeled) and cheese cubes
• Cut-up bran muffin and juice
• Gingersnaps and applesauce
• Whole grain crackers and cheese
• Fruit cup and cheese
• Cucumber and cottage cheese
• Cut-up vegetables with ranch dressing
• Cottage cheese with crushed pineapple
• Graham crackers with milk
• Bread sticks with spaghetti sauce
• Oatmeal raisin cookie and milk
• Blueberry muffin and pineapple chunks
• Raisin bread with cream cheese
• Partially thawed frozen strawberries (great for teething!) with milk or yogurt
• Yogurt topped with fruit (peaches/mixed berries/bananas/etc.)
• Cut-up orange sections and pretzel pieces (watch carefully or break them smaller)
• Vegetable or fruit kabobs (perhaps better for an older child)
• Halved cherry tomatoes with yogurt for dipping

I will continue posting tips for feeding young children for the next few days. We'll talk about tips for feeding older children, what to do if your child is going through a phase where he or she is not eating much, and how we can use food and meal times to teach skills. Plus, if you have any questions, being the former reporter that I am, I'll go in search of the answers for you if I don't know them, so ask away! :)

Mercy for Mealtime: Feeding Young Children and Picky Eaters

Mealtime with kids can be a lot of fun. They say funny things. They make you laugh. They ask a whole bunch of questions, almost always while you're right in the middle of chewing your food or in mid-sentence talking with your husband.   They share their thoughts, and it's fun to hear their personalities develop.

Mealtime with kids can also be incredibly tough. There's the spilling, the throwing, the constant up and down on our parts as mom (more milk, more ketchup, more paper towels to wipe up the spilled milk...). Then there's the picky eating--"I don't want a turkey sandwich. I want PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY!"
Do you give in to these whims? Absolutely not.

"But if I don't give him peanut butter and jelly, he'll go hungry." That's right. But here's the key--he'll eat again in a few hours. If he chooses not to eat the snack you make, you'll make him dinner in a few more hours. Chances are, by then, he'll be so hungry he won't care anymore that he doesn't really like tuna casserole; it will be his tummy's new best friend (although if your child has been on a picky streak and hasn't eaten much in a day, I would recommend making something that you know he likes for dinner).

Once, when I went through a nutrition class through our university's cooperative extension service, I learned some tips for feeding young children that helped me immensely. I hope they help you too.

Divisions of Parent-Child Responsibilities When it Comes to Eating:

Parent's responsibilities:

• Respect the child's ability to know when he is hungry and full.
• Make sure to serve small, child-sized portions
• Prepare and serve healthy meals and snacks
• Set regular meal and snack times

As the parent, you decide:

• What food will be given (making sure it is nutritious)
• When it will be given (making sure it is provided every few hours)
• Mealtime rules and where food will be given
  

The child decides:

• What, out of what is given, he or she will eat
• How much, out of what is given, he or she will eat  

End of struggle. For good. This really works. I've been following Ellen Satter's wisdom for feeding young children for the past several years. It's common-sense, it eliminates almost every food battle, and my boys are learning to be pretty good eaters (that's a boy thing, I know). :) In the event one of them is picky at mealtime and doesn't eat too much, I don't stress about it too much. Maybe the picky jag will even last a day or two, but eventually, he will get really hungry, he will eat, and it will end.

The other key to success with this program is to make sure there is at least one food at every meal your child will eat (as in, he likes). Often times, this can be bread. Bread three times a day for several days is not very balanced, I know. But again, eventually, he will get sick of eating only bread and will decide to venture into uncharted territory and try other foods. And it will be without a control struggle. That works for me.

I'll be posting more tips for feeding young children in the next few days. You can even call it a series if you want to. :)

Trick-or-Treat: How Much Is Too Much to Eat?

(Full-size candy bars--notice Dad going for the Kit-Kat?!)

Even if you don’t allow your children to go trick-or-treating, many alternative Halloween events—including those at church—still involve passing out candy. Kids’ buckets fill up fast! So let’s talk about how much candy we as parents should allow our kids to consume.

Our pocketbook took a big hit from dental expenses this year (we don’t have dental insurance). Both my two- and three-year-olds (at the time) were diagnosed with 8 cavities, each. I know, I know. My oldest even needed baby root canals and silver crowns. They both had to go under anesthesia at an outpatient surgical center. (Yes, we brushed their teeth regularly, and no, I did not feed them junk all day. My husband had horrible baby teeth; apparently, it can be genetic.)

So this year, thousands of dollars later, my husband and I are on super-duper-cavity-patrol. No cavity is getting into our sons’ mouths, if we have anything to do about it! And there is a lot we can do about it, starting with what kinds of foods we do—and do not—allow them to eat. Collecting a basket full of candy? I’m not so sure.

On the other hand, restricting the kids to pretzels and apples is not much fun-- our dentist himself said not to do that. He said giving them candy is ok. (Maybe he wants our kids to get cavities??! Just kidding). The key, though, is to brush teeth well after consuming candy.

(last year...the binkie didn't help the cavity situation!)

That said, I want to avoid the never-ending-candy bag that I remember so well from my youth—where Halloween candy carried over until the next Halloween until I finally dumped it to make room for a new stash. So my somewhat arbitrary guideline is: two-to-three pieces a day for maybe about a week. We’ll stop collecting when their buckets reach that point. Period. (Plus a little extra for Mom and Dad) :)

What candy collection guidelines do you adhere to? (That sounds so official and technical, doesn’t it?!) When do you say “That’s enough?!”