Healthy Habit Thursdays: Give Your Kitchen a Health Makeover

Posted on February 24, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Genre scene, woman in kitchen peeling vegetables

Image by George Eastman House via Flickr

What do you think are the dirtiest, most germ-laden areas in your home?

Most people would probably say the bathroom or the kitchen.

Interestingly enough, studies reveal items like your television remote, cell phone and computer keyboard are actually the culprits!

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/ten-most-germy-places-in-the-home/

How many of you lifted your fingertips off the keyboard just now? 🙂

No worries…you can easily clean it by turning it upside down and gently shaking to release any crumbs…then wipe with a cotton ball slightly damp with alcohol or special computer cleaning fluid and finish with an antibacterial wipe. Clean each key…the black ones are dirty even if you can’t see the bacteria. 🙂 For more detailed information: http://www.ehow.com/how_2215315_clean-computer-keyboard.html

Even though some research has put computer keyboards, TV remotes and cell phones at the top of the germ hot-spot list, the kitchen is not far behind.

So what can you do to insure that your kitchen is a safe place to prepare and store food for your family?

Here are 6 simple steps to give your kitchen a Health Makeover!

1. Always start with freshly washed hands when preparing or serving food…then wash hands, utensils, countertops and cutting boards, especially after touching raw meat or poultry.

2. Promptly refrigerate leftovers…bacteria can grow at room temperature.

3. Switch to glass food containers because some plastics contain chemicals that leech into the food.

4. Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly and remove outer leaves of lettuce and cabbage.

5. Wash off the tops of cans before opening…you never know who or what was crawling on the merchandise in the store warehouse.

6. Rinse off your can opener after each use…and give it a good wash on a regular basis.

Young children love to help in the kitchen…mixing and measuring give them a sense of competence…one of the building blocks in the formation of a positive self-image. If you are looking for fantastic fun-filled cooking activities, check out SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING, available right now at half-price on my website.

Don’t forget, Mother’s Day is coming sooner than you think (May 8^th)…why not grab a copy for a special mom or grand-mom in your life. And maybe one for yourself! It’s a gift that provides 100’s of fun-filled educational activities…and answers the question…what are we going to do today?

Make-A-Meal Mondays: President’s Day Special

Posted on February 21, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

Every four years, the citizens of the United States have the opportunity to choose a new president who will hopefully lead the country on an upward path of economic and social reform, while staying within the budget.

Every day, three times each day, moms (and sometimes dads) have the opportunity to choose a new dish to serve to their families that will hopefully provide good nutrition and good taste, while staying within the budget.

Hmmm…have you also seen the similarity between running the country and running a household? 🙂

It is true, though, that the responsibility of putting high quality, highly nutritious¸ good-tasting, affordable meals on the table is a heavy one. I thought that since today is President’s Day, I should offer up a recipe that includes CHERRIES as one of the ingredients.

Why cherries you might ask?

I’m sure most of you know the story of our first president, George Washington, and the incident with the cherry tree. As it was told when I was in school, young George went out into the garden with a new hatchet and chopped down a young cherry tree. When questioned by his father as to whether or not he did it, George replied, “I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree.” His father, impressed with his young son’s honesty, did not punish him, but praised him for telling the truth.

Of course, the moral of the little tale is that we should always tell the truth…no matter what we have done or what the consequences of our actions might be. I know this is what we teach our children…and this week I’ll be examining the topic of honesty in many of my posts. And, if you are looking for any information or resources about President’s Day, hop over to Mirth and Motivation. The author of that blog is the consummate researcher…a great writer and funny to boot! And she is having a Mega-Blog Hop…if you join, you will meet a bunch of awesome bloggers!

But for now, I’d like to provide you with a recipe for lovely child-friendly fruit crisp…full of super foods…and with the option of using cherries (sometimes they are available only in season and can be quite expensive) or substituting other fruits.

CHILD-FRIENDLY COLORFUL FRUIT CRISP

You will need: 5 cups mixed fruit, washed and then sliced if necessary (peaches, plums, apricots, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, apples), ¼ cup white sugar, ¼ cup orange juice, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 Tb flour (for the fruit), ¼ cup flour (for the topping), 2 cups rolled oats, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ cup healthy margarine softened, a greased 9×13 inch pan, and 2 large bowls.

1. In a large bowl, gently toss fruit with white sugar, orange juice and lemon juice.

2. Sprinkle with 3 Tb flour, toss gently again and spread in the greased pan.

3. In another bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and the remaining flour.

4. Add the margarine and mix till crumbly.

5. Sprinkle crumbly mixture over fruit.

6. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

8. Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge.

9. Serves about 12.

This recipe has so many super foods: oats, orange juice, lemon juice, cinnamon and all of the fruits…even though it is a dessert, you can rest easy giving it to your family because it is so high in nutrition and fiber while being fairly low in added sugar and fat. Plus, it is really simple to prepare…your young children will love to help with the measuring and mixing. It’s only one of the 100 easy-to-make child-friendly healthful recipes you’ll find in my new parenting book, on sale now for a limited time on my website for half price! Check it out…I think you’ll be glad you did…it takes the hassle out of planning activities with preschoolers.

I hope you’ll stop by tomorrow for Quotable Timeless Tuesdays…for an honest look at honesty.

Healthy Habit Thursdays

Posted on February 17, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

I’d like to devote my Thursday blog posts to health issues. I’ll be revising a few of my older posts and then adding new ones down the road.

Staying healthy is not always easy, especially when we are busy. Eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, remembering to wash hands frequently and dressing properly for the weather…all are factors in keeping healthy. Paying attention to these may help you stay healthy, even when others are falling victim to colds and flu.

What we eat contributes to our overall state of health. As parents, not only should we oversee what our children are eating…we should also try to be good role models. I actually LOVE junk food…and work really hard to keep most of it out of the house because I know that if it is easily available, it will be eaten by ME! Here are some suggestions I have that work for me…I hope they work for you also.

Plan your weekly menus ahead of time…when we get busy as most of us are, failing to plan in this area is almost guaranteed to equal planning to fail. Fast-food, take-out or frozen TV dinners may have their place on occasion…but if you put aside 30 minutes a week to plan some basic well-balanced meals, your family will be eating more healthfully most of the time. This also allows you to maximize on weekly specials at your local stores. And, it gives you more time for other things…like time to read a book or take a bubble bath.
Choose one morning or one afternoon or one evening a week to turn on your oven and use it to prepare casseroles, a roast chicken, baked potatoes, healthy cookies/cakes/muffins. If you are able to put aside several hours on one day for this task, the rest of the week will be a breeze. Refrigerate or freeze what you have prepared and you will have healthy, ready-made meals for most of the week.
Include your family in the planning and preparing…picky or fussy eaters often eat what they help prepare. Children LOVE helping in the kitchen…it builds their confidence and self-esteem.
Think about portions…I truly believe that the large, super-sized meals that many of us eat, at home and in restaurants, are one of the largest contributing factors of childhood obesity. Just because the cereal bowl can hold 2 or 3 cups of cereal doesn’t mean we should fill it to the top…if you read the portion size on the box of cereal, you’ll see it says 1/2 to 1 cup, depending on the type of cereal. Dinner plates are really large…maybe you can use smaller plates when serving.
Remember to keep hydrated…I know that when I get busy, I forget to drink enough water…and then I think I am hungry and eat a couple of cookies, at 100 calories each, when what my body really wants is a glass of water. With NO calories! Also, try to nix the soda…full of empty calories and not much else except a college education for your dentist’s children.
Plan to have healthy snacks ready for hungry children and yourself between meals like carrot sticks and humus or apple slices and almond butter. Again, if we don’t plan ahead, we will probably grab the first thing we see…and that might be cookies or chips.
If it works with your schedule, try eating 6 smaller meals, instead of the traditional 3. When we are REALLY hungry, we tend to eat more than we should because we eat quickly and our internal hunger regulator doesn’t have time to kick in to tell us we are full. And, on the subject of full, try to stop eating BEFORE you feel full…if you feel full, you’ve had too much. This always happens to me when I go to an all-you-can-eat buffet…and I am never a happy camper afterwards.
Make sure you do allow yourself and your family some special food treats that are part of your holiday traditions or customs…denying oneself EVERYTHING we love is a sure way to feel deprived…and that often leads to overeating, oversnacking and going overboard. I actually have a small ice-cream (made with fat-free frozen yogurt, a handful of homemade granola and a few almonds) every night after dinner. I look forward to it and enjoy it immensely…it is my reward to myself for a good day’s work…and, so far, I haven’t had to hide the scale.

Check out the child-friendly healthful recipes in my new parenting book. There are snacks, salads, soups, and even main dishes. All of them are easy to make and most include low-fat, low-sugar, high fiber ingredients.