3. Feed your body (and your grocery cart) like a caveman...

I was just recently consulted by a very close girlfriend of mine on the grueling task of grocery shopping. This particular girlfriend of mine, we'll call her J in this post, was frustrated with her inability to do what she considered to be "healthy" grocery shopping. She, like many of us, was lured into the inner aisles of the grocery store where things have a shelf life of up to ten years! If not more! GROSS! But as busy moms, sometimes perishable items are not appealing due to their propensity to go "bad" so quickly. The pantry items are just so much more convenient- AND FULL OF PRESERVATIVES.

Think like a caveman. I know you can because most of you if not all of you have a husband or a father or a brother or an ex-boyfriend that on a good day is just a notch up from a caveman. This kind of thinking will get you mentally touring through the grocery store, a virtual tour if you will. How did a caveman eat? Meats. Fruits and vegetables. Nuts. Some whole grains. Done. No Pop Tarts. No Fruit Loops. No Lunchables (no, silly, these are not good for your kids). No Goober Grape. No Vienna Sausages (seriously, I'll call CPS on you for these). Fresh, clean foods.

Let's say that together: "Fresh, clean foods." Say it out loud right now, "Fresh, clean foods."

This is probably not the first time you've heard to shop from the "outer aisles" at the grocery store. But as moms, all those lovely pre-packaged snacks look too good and too easy to resist. I get it. I've been there. But it's worth it to stop the madness now. And the good news, if you don't have it around anymore, you won't be eating it either (i.e. a few inches lost here and there).

I have had the question posed to me more than once, "Well what about breads? Good breads? Whole grain breads?" Well to be 100% honest with you, all of those breads on the bread aisle are full of so many preservatives it is disturbing. Buy them if you must, but your best bet is the "live" frozen bread in the frozen food section. It has to be frozen because it has ZERO shelf life because it has ZERO preservatives in it. Get where I'm going with this?

And if you think canned vegetables have any nutritious value at all, think again. First off, the sodium in those things is just almost criminal. The only canned anything you should be buying is beans and corn. Other than that, go either the fresh route or the frozen route. This is a good time to mention that a lot of times, frozen fruits and vegetables are actually BETTER for you because they are flash-frozen upon picking/cleaning therefore their nutrient content is intact. The longer any fresh produce sits, the more and more nutrient and anti-oxidant content it loses. Don't be afraid to buy frozen. Just make sure and read the ingredients. It should just say, "Mangoes." "Peas." No other ingredients at all. None. The only frozen item that has anything extra is peaches (ascorbic acid) which is basically just a vitamin C preservative/color preserver.

Story: I one time had a good friend of mine come to me all excited about a casserole recipe she'd found. She said, and I quote, "It is a great way to get your kids to eat vegetables." Sure, I say! Send it my way! Ingredients? ALL CANNED VEGETABLES. And then some nasty Campbell's soup that has MSG in it. Are you kidding me? That is not a good way to get your kids eating vegetables. That is an empty solution to a problem more and more American households are facing today. All your doing is getting them hooked, literally addicted, to sodium. Try pureeing a bunch of fresh or frozen vegetables and sneaking it into spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce or even chili and other stews. But her enthusiasm was sad to me. Why? Because she didn't know any different. If we're not educated, how on earth can we expect our children to be? And their children? And so the cycle goes....

Now, at this point I think it important to mention that I am NOT one of those moms whose kids NEVER get fast food or junk food. That is ridiculous, not realistic and just down-right boring. I can say, however, that my kids NEVER get sodas/soft drinks. Ever. Never. Ever. Period.

But the thing is, when your kids eat a certain way 90% of the time, who cares if they have pizza, cake, apple juice, sugar cookies and candy at ONE birthday party? Seriously? You don't want your kids to have a bad relationship with food, ESPECIALLY your girls. This will be the topic matter of an entirely separate post at a later date....

Back to the grocery cart. Back to "J." I proposed this question to J: "If someone like Jillian Michaels or Richard Simmons JUMPED OUT at you at the check-out stand to 'grade' your cart, what grade would you receive? Ask yourself that every single time you're about to check-out. Look down at your cart. Is it mostly processed or mostly fresh or frozen?" I can undoubtedly say that nine times out of ten my grade would be an A to an A+. And to me this is NOT subject to interpretation. Bring it Richard Simmons! Bring it all day long! You should be able to say that when you're checking out. I literally am sometimes ridiculously proud of my shopping cart! You should be too! If you're not, you need to start doing things differently.

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!

1. Satisfaction Guaranteed! An intro to Cutie Patootie Foodie...

Several people in my life have suggested I start a blog on feeding kids (the right way) for awhile now. Today, my kids' Godmother got her claws into me and REALLY talked me into it! Thank you, Godmudder Cherry.

What got me interested and passionate about feeding my children? Well, several things. One, anyone slightly educated on nutrition knows the importance and benefits of feeding not only ourselves, but young children as well. Growing brains and bones and bodies have special requirements. What I have learned throughout the years is that moms are either uneducated on how to go about this, or sadly, just too dad gum lazy. Insert my blog. I'll do ALL the work for you. You just read it!

And my other reason? The thing about feeding your kids well is, it's OK for it to come from a "selfish" place. As moms, we beat ourselves up daily about everything. Discipline. Are our kids smart enough? Do they have good manners? Are they healthy? How do they stack-up against other kids? How do I stack-up against other moms? Just a bombardment of "what ifs" and "I should'ves" and all the mommy guilt that just simply comes from being a mom. But let me tell you ladies, there is nothing quite like laying your head down at night and knowing that you COULD NOT HAVE fed your kids any better than you did that particular day. It is satisfaction that a million dollars could not buy. And in the long run, though a couple more puzzles or "crafts" in a day might have their own benefits, there is nothing, nothing, nothing more important than feeding them well.

When you really start to look at children around you, the ones that have fewer discipline issues, better sleep habits, better manners, make better grades at school, have better listening skills, get along better with other children, are more active, more inquisitive, have shiny hair, brighter eyes, glowing skin and are less-likely to get ill are the children that are just simply fed better. That is a fact- plain and simple. If guilt is starting to well-up a little bit as you read the above, don't sweat it. You just found someone who not only takes this subject very seriously, but sincerely loves researching it and sharing it with others. Satisfaction guaranteed!