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Ways to Help Kids Eat Healthier

Most parents realize that a diet of soda and candy isn’t a healthy choice. What’s a parent to do if their child is a picky eater who refuses fruit and vegetables? There are ways to help kids to eat healthier that don’t involve dramatic fights at the dinner table. Jane E. Brody wrote an article for the New York Times in August of 2015. The article is titled “Another Approach to Raising Healthy Eaters”. In this article, she shares her experience as a child who was a picky eater. She provides some enlightening insights for parents who have a child … Continue reading →

The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals by Missy Chase

Missy Chase Lapine has given parents 272 pages of good advice in her book, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals. We all want our children to eat healthier and cringe when they balk that they do not like their vegetables. We cannot force our kids to eat what they should. We cannot bribe or punish them either. It just does not work like that. They either have to want to eat what we make or make what they want to eat with a few extra ingredients added to it. Ms. Lapine shows us … Continue reading →

Is It Time For a Fitness Makeover?

While I haven’t watched it in some time, one of my favorite television shows used to be “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” I loved the stories behind the families who were chosen and the excitement on their faces the first time they laid eyes on their new home. There are so many other types of “makeover” shows on now…everything from your clothes, to plastic surgery. So what is the draw to makeovers? It’s a chance for something new, a fresh start in life. It can be very inspiring and motivating. The same is true in fitness. So perhaps it is time … Continue reading →

Make Mine Fruit

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Fruit and vegetables experts agree, are good for you. They can cut the risk of some cancers, help in regards to heart disease and provide all sorts of benefits yet, they are sadly underrated by many people, which I find hard to understand. Fruit and vegetables are among my favorite foods. When it come to fruit, I’m a big wrap for apples, especially Jonathans because they have that tarter taste. But they don’t keep as well as some other apples, and have limited shelf life, which is why orchards have stopped growing them as much. Cameos and Sundowners, and Granny … Continue reading →

Why Are Comfort Foods So Comforting?

I’ve finally recovered from my virus (I think!), four days of fever haze and comfort foods. And now that I’m thinking clearly again, I’m wondering why comfort foods are so dang comforting? The general consensus seems to be that comfort foods bring up good, safe, happy childhood memories. They’re generally not fancy, not gourmet… they’re familiar, comfortable, and filling. My own comfort foods? Well, as soon as I started feeling sick, I asked my roommate to go to the store for ginger ale and orange juice. They’re my go-to sick drinks… almost definitely because that’s what Mom always gave me … Continue reading →

An Antioxidant Boost for Your Tea

Tea is good for you. We’ve discussed it plenty of times here at Families.com. It’s full of healthy antioxidants that can provide all sorts of health benefits! Green tea has become the superhero of the tea world, with a ton and a half of good press. Are you ready to make your green tea even healthier? A study from Purdue University has figured out how to kick your antioxidant absorption up a notch — add a splash of citrus juice. Just three tablespoons of your favorite citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit) can improve the stability of catechins — … Continue reading →

10 Weight Loss Tips for Harried Homemakers

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The American Obesity Association has recently released a top 10 weight loss tips for teens that I felt could be easily adapted for adults, especially those of us who are stay-at-home moms. Here they are: 1. Plan some type of activity every day. Plan a walk or bike ride with your kids and hold yourself to it. If your kids are very young, bundle them up in a stroller or consider getting a trailer for your bike so they can ride in comfort (while adding a little extra resistance to your ride). 2. If you like to take your kids … Continue reading →

Make It Easy To Eat Healthy!

Let’s face it: junk food is easy. A trip through the drive-through on a busy day? Easy. Ripping open a package of cookies at snack time? Easy. Sugary donuts or other breakfast sweets? Easy. Eating healthy can be a challenge just because it isn’t always easy! Here are some tips to make it easier for you and your family to choose healthy foods. Stock the freezer. Keep easy meal starters, like turkey burgers and chicken breast strips in the freezer so you can whip up a tasty (and healthy) meal without a lot of effort. Like to grill? Make things … Continue reading →

10 Tips for Eating Your Way Through the 4th of July

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I imagine that if you are American, you likely have plans this weekend. I further suppose that your plans include food. . .lots of it. My mother-in-law, who I swear is somehow related to Martha Stewart via some type of home organizing gene, puts out quite the spread for the 4th of July. I haven’t spoken with her but I have visions of bratwurst, chicken, cheeseburgers, no less than 3 or 4 desserts, potato salad, and the list goes on. (She actually puts on quite the spread for any holiday. . .) However, a day of binging can set you … Continue reading →

Hot Dogs and Your Health

What goes better with summer’s favorite pastime than a juicy hotdog? According to the National Hotdog and Sausage Council baseball fans will eat almost 28 million hotdogs this year. Personally, I can’t stand hotdogs… and I’m not a huge fan of baseball either. (I wonder if one begets the other?) In fact, I cringe whenever I hear my young daughter tell me that she was fed a hotdog at a friend or relative’s home. Forgive me. It’s just that I have a long-standing dislike for the popular frankfurter mainly because I spent the better part of my childhood hearing about … Continue reading →