Portions

I eat pretty well and with two children I don't get much of a chance to slow down yet the weight won't seem to go away! I was rapidly losing after I gave birth to Ryder and now at a standstill for too long! Soooooo I am going to blame it on portions! If I like something I am eating, I will eat until bursting point and even if its as healthy as can be that is still a bad thing. Time to employ Michelle Obama's portion plate for the family and eat the right portions (minus the meat for the boys!) of each type of food! Hope this helps you out too because I have many friends unsure of what and how much to feed their children!

WHEN TO BUY...

ORGANIC! Buying organic can be a very expensive blow to your pocketbook but thankfully Farmers Markets are abundant here in Tennessee and fairly inexpensive. If it is still a strain to your budget, below is the current list of what produce is important to buy organic and what you can go cheap and non-organic on...

Go organic for...

celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, cherries, kale/collards, potatoes and grapes.

You can skip organic for...

onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mangoes, sweet peas, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potato, honeydew and melon.

Skip those with icky pesticides contaminating them greatly, especially for our little miracles we call children! The plus side at the Freeland house this year... our veggie garden is growing so quickly! The down side is these infesting cicadas seem to have sucked the life out of our fruit trees and the peaches that were beginning to bud have no been eaten it seems. Isn't it time for these pests to leave for another thirteen years yet?????????????????????????

Anyway, until next time, be well and eat organic~love

http://www.picktnproducts.org/

Rocklyns Fave Foods

I have had a lot of moms ask me about what to feed their young children to keep them healthy because it seems chicken nuggets and mac and cheese are the easy way to fill em up but dont provide much nutrition. My oldest is 16 months old and as many of you know we do not feed him meat. I don't mind much if he spends life as a vegetarian but I would rather him begin life this way in order to enjoy the great fruits and vegetables the world has to offer. I myself do not eat meat unless I am pregnant or nursing. I may have a different point of view if we were in the financial position to buy organic, hormone free, grass fed only meat but until then I would rather do without all the dyes and hormones filling up my precious sons tummys. So what does Rocklyn enjoy??? Here is a list of some of his favorites for ideas to get your children beginning a healthy lifestyle or changing to a more healthy diet:

SWEET POTATOES! He loooves them and he has become a bit more picky so after baking and smashing them up I either put a tiny bit of jam that was locally grown and made or honey on them to add some flavor.

HONEY BANANA WRAPS: Whole wheat tortilla, honey, tiny bit of cream cheese and banana slices (or whatever fruit you prefer)! voila!

APPLE WALNUT PUREE: steam peeled apple slices and walnuts and process them into a mush. I enjoy this one myself. So tasty!

TOFU NUGGETS: posted this recipe a while back if you want it go to the archives!

HOMEMADE FRUIT OATMEAL: blend a mix of fruits and old fashioned cooked oats, easy enough.

STEAMED MINI CARROTS AND HONEY

HOMEMADE FLAVORED WATER: I give my son water most of the time and if I do give juice it is about 5 percent juice and the rest water but I once tried very liquified fresh fruit in with his water and he downed it.

So those are a few of his favorite foods over the past few months! Easy and simple enough. I personally do not think they take much more effort than making some macaroni and cheese and they definitely provide much more nutrition. It would break my heart to see my child struggling with their weight because of the eating habits I began them on and I hope that I can influence other parents to begin their children's lives giving them a preference for Earth's best foods for our bodies. In turn I truly believe we can see a lot less disease and other health issues.

homegrown

I have been attending a spiritual discipline class at our church, The Journey Church of Lebanon, and it has really impacted me in many ways. Last Thursday, we discussed the topics of serving, time and money. I have made a commitment to my family to save as much money as I can through couponing, meal planning and homemaking our son's food and to better the health of all of us. In a society of fast and processed food, obesity and laziness, I have made a commitment to my family to go in the opposite direction. I have struggled with my weight all of my adult life and I never ever want to see my children go through this struggle as well. Eating out of boredom, eating just based on taste and not for health and energy, eating to mask emotions; these have become such a part of the lives of many Americans and it will not be a part of my family. It is not only life threatening but it is sinful and God has provided us with these bodies and entrusted us to care for them.
I have began making all of my ten month old son's foods and not only is this the best for his health, I have found I really enjoy it. I spent a couple hours this past Saturday in the kitchen making meals for him and not only ended up making over a month's worth of food to freeze but gaining a peace of mind as well. Cooking is therapy! I have decided to add in some favorite recipes throughout the week for not only babies but some for my family as well. I will also add in some sweets that are not organic and the most healthy but portion control is everything!!!! The meals I prepared this past weekend include butternut squash, butternut squash and cinammon apples, zuccini with banana, pumpkin, lentils and pumpkin, sweet potato and brown rice, spinach and carrots, and beets. Rocklyn's favorite has definitely been the butternut squash and apples followed by the zuccini with banana. He has no desire for the lentils and pumpkins, but lentils are so great for him, especially since we are not introducing meat into his diet and I hope to find a food to mix them with that will get him chowing down on them.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND APPLES: cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and guts, place facedown into a baking dish of one inch of water and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Core, peel and slice the apples into 1 inch pieces, place into a baking dish with 1 inch of water, sprinkle cinammon throughout and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Then take them both out, remove them from water, scrape the squash out of the peel and place both items into a food processor. Voila.
ZUCCINI WITH BANANA: Cut the zuccini into slices or chunks, steam until softened, chop up banana pieces, place all in blender. Easy enough.
I have been using breastmilk storage bags for storing the foods in the freezer and easy de-thawing but I welcome any suggestions on better storage!
A few books I highly recommend include First Meals and More by Annabel Karmel, Cooking Light First Foods by Cooking Light and Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield, (yes, Jerry's wife!). I picked up the first two at the local library and purchased the third at Kohls for less than ten dollars! Deceptively Delicious is a great recipe book especially for those families who have not raised their kids on healthy foods from the start and need to "trick" them into eating better. These are DELICIOUS and she is coming out with a second book as I write this called Double Delicious! Good, Simple Food For Busy, Complicated Lives. I highly recommend checking these out for husbands and children who are having trouble changing their tastes for healthier meal options.
I hope these suggestions have helped and I am more than happy to welcome any recipes, baby food mixture suggestions, storage ideas and more!
God bless!