2. The basics.

There are just a few basic things everyone must be familiar with before you embark on the exciting journey of good nutrition for your kiddos. One, you must have a little knowledge about the food pyramid. Yes, that's right. The same ol' food pyramid you learned about in grade school. However, it has been tweaked a couple of times (including recently) since then! Print it off and hang it in your pantry door. I hang any beneficial charts or info dealing with nutrition on the inside of my pantry door with double-sided tape. A good habit to get into! Here is the link to the food pyramid: http://www.mypyramid.gov/.

Secondly, I have some recommended books that I think are must-haves. If anything, I piggy-back off a lot of the recipes instead of following them exactly. Here are my endorsements and what I consider to be a good jumping-off point for recipes and advice!

Mommy Made, Martha and David Kimmel (Where it all began for me.....)
Super Smoothies, Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford
Top 100 Baby Purees, Annabel Karmel (Yes, I am passionate about making baby food from scratch.)
Super Foods for Babies and Children, Annabel Karmel
The Sneaky Chef, Missy Chase Lapine AND/OR Deceptively Delicious, Jessica Seinfeld

I haven't yet made up my mind about, Lunch Boxes and Snacks by Annabel Karmel. It is definitely for the older child and their lunch box- not preschoolers. But I did get a couple of ideas from it (like doing "safe" skewers of tortellini pasta, cheese cubes, grapes, cherry tomatoes and any other "skewable" healthy thing your kids will eat). Those are all obviously MAJOR choking hazards as well so make sure your kiddo is ready. I'll let you know as I continue to peruse this read if it's worth purchasing or not....

Here is the link to Amazon where if you have over $25 in your cart you qualify for free shipping. Not to mention the books are always cheaper on Amazon than retail at ANY bookstore around (except maybe Half Price Books).

http://www.amazon.com/

Just cut and paste the above title/author(s) into their search field, add it to your cart and PRESTO! Done!

I think Mommy Made does a fantastic job of not only telling you which fresh foods contain a certain vitamin or vitamins, but it also explains the importance of these vitamins and body functions they help support. I learned a great deal from Mommy Made that not only benefited my children, but my husband and I as well. For example, did you know that when black beans and corn are mixed together your body processes them as a protein, not starch? Crazy. So you know that dip with the black beans and corn that everyone makes? PROTEIN! And the thing, as you dig deeper and deeper into the world of child nutrition, you will quickly realize that this stuff is (obviously) applicable to adults as well! For forever! For a life time! This is an investment for better health on every level!

Thirdly, make sure your family is on some kind of multi-vitamin. For those of you think you're a rock star right now because your kid is on some crappy vitamin like Flintstones or something, think again. First off, most vitamins like "that" (including Centrum for adults) are made from CHEAP synthetic CRAPPY ingredients. Get yourself to the local health food store and get a higher quality, more natural multi-vitamin for children that has natural elements in it (not to mention tons of natural minerals as well). Secondly, and this is very important, liquid anything absorbs better into your bloodstream more efficiently than anything "solid" that must first be broken-down by your body. Therefore, getting your kids a liquid multi-vitamin will help their bodies absorb it better and pass less of it as waste in their urine. Plus, it isn't has hard on the stomach and the liver to breakdown. Ask for help at the health food store as well. You will learn this as you continue to read my blog, I am a huge fan of health food and whole food stores. They are an un-tapped treasure trove of hidden health secrets that really will make you feel like a ROCK STAR once integrated into your family's every day life!

And lastly, get your you-know-what up right now and purge your fridge and pantry of HALF of all processed foods you currently own. Get up. GO NOW. GO. And if you're sitting here thinking to yourself you don't even know what a processed food is or you wouldn't even know where to begin, we've got bigger problems.

But not to worry. My next blog post, "Feed your body (and your grocery cart) like a caveman..." will help you learn the error of your ways!