Healthy Heart Kids – Chicken Recipes

By Kiera S. Campbell

In recent times, a revolution has been happening in kitchens in households everywhere - and that is a revolution towards raising healthy heart kids. It is alarming to note how people who are afflicted with heart disease and diabetes are becoming younger and younger. And what’s sad about it is that these diseases are easily preventable with the right diet and an active and healthy lifestyle.

We all know that the earlier we can teach our kids to enjoy healthy food, the greater our chances of lowering their risk for these deadly diseases. According to “Yummy Healthy Tummy: The Secrets of Raising Healthy Kids Every Parent Needs to Know”, with the right mindset and tools, parents can teach children to make healthy food choices and to actually love and enjoy healthy food. It all starts in the home, though, in our kitchens and on our dining tables.

One popular food item that can be our ally in the goal of raising healthy heart kids is skinless chicken breast. Chicken breast is known as the leanest part of the chicken. Using this portion in your chicken based dishes can help keep cholesterol levels in check.

Here are a couple of chicken based recipes you can try today:

Cheesy Chicken Pasta.

Ingredients:

8 oz whole wheat penne
2 cups cauliflower florets (1/2 inch)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup finely chopped onion
3 cups milk
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
¾ teaspoons of salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
3 cups shredded cooked (or poached) chicken breast (turkey can also be a substitute)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or scallion greens.

Procedure:

1.Cook penne, and cauliflower until pasta and florets are tender – a good 9 minutes. Drain, rinse, and et aside.

2.In a large saucepan, heat oil and sauté onion. Add just a little water (about 1/8 cup will do).

3.In a bowl, whisk milk, flour, salt and pepper; add this to the onion.

4.Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook until thickened for about a minute.

5.Stir in cheese until smooth.

6.Put in chicken and mustard into sauce and cook for not more than 5 minutes. Stir sauce into pasta and cauliflower. Sprinkle chives on top.

Chicken Meatballs in Tomato Sauce.

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast - cut into chunks
1 cup white bread crumbs
¼ cup of milk
1 large egg white
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¾ teaspoon dried oregano
salt and ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can whole tomatoes.

Procedure:

1.For the meatballs, ground chicken in food processor. (Note: You can buy ground chicken, but sometimes they include chicken skin. So to make sure that its fat-less, it would be best to do it yourself.)

2.Put in bread crumbs, milk, egg white, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper. Shape into 12 meatballs.

3.Cook in skillet and olive oil until golden brown.

4.Puree tomatoes, add to meatballs and bring to a boil. Simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

5.Remove cover and cook for 15 minutes more while still simmering.

Delicious and healthy chicken recipes need not have extravagant ingredients. Your child will now realize that eating healthy also doesn’t mean having meals that taste bad. And these simple dishes are evidence of that.

Looking for more tips like these on cooking healthy for kids? Head on over to http://bit.ly/f9Fdg5 to get more tips and information not only on how you can serve healthy food to your kids, but more importantly, on how you can get your kids to LOVE eating healthy.

Remember, healthy eating is the best weapon we can leave our children with that will help them live longer and healthier lives free from diseases like obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart attacks. Start now while your kids are still young!

Breakfast This, Not That

Breakfast is considered by many to be the most important meal of the day. This means that, depending on what you decide to eat for breakfast, can either make your day or it can hinder your performance. Let’s take a look at a few types of food that you should pick above some of the all-time favorites.

Breakfast Sandwich

Breakfast sandwiches are great. They are convenient, portable and incredibly delicious. More breakfast sandwiches are sold at fast food restaurants than any other menu item during the morning rush. The fast food versions of these delicious deli creations are usually loaded with saturated fats and sodium. In order to keep the sandwiches fresh, artificial preservatives are used and the process to heat the sandwich back up is no less invasive, usually involving a deep fryer or a heat lamp.

A great alternative to this morning food is to either buy a breakfast sandwich from a deli, such as your local grocery store or bakery, or make one yourself. Either of the above choices will be fine because truly fresh ingredients will be used and the sandwich will not need to be stored for any length of time.

Toaster Turmoil

The toaster is considered king of morning heating rituals. From the goo-filled toaster pastries to the soggy, meat and bread combinations, the toaster can cook just about anything. Make it a toaster oven and in fact, it can cook anything. The toaster does not need to be looked upon with disdain and remorse any longer. There are better ways to make use of the heat your toaster wants to provide for you.

Freezing food that you cook is a great way to make use of a toaster’s heat in the morning. Frozen pancakes or waffles are a great start to your day and do not need to be pre-packaged to make it to your table. The next time you are on the hunt for a good breakfast, reach into your freezer, bypass the goo pastries and opt for a home cooked meal with a frozen pancake or waffle.

Substitutes

When you are able, try and substitute healthy foods for the not so healthy ones. For instance, instead of slathering your toasted waffles with sugary syrup, try smearing them down with peanut butter and a little honey, or perhaps some cream cheese and jelly. There are many substitutions that are just as yummy and much healthier than the typical way we, as Americans, choose to do breakfast.

Whether you are making your own breakfast sandwich, toasting up the perfect breakfast or making sure you are sticking to healthy choices, just remember there has to be a better way. Keeping your health on your mind at all times will aid in making sure you choose the right breakfast food to give you the perfect start to your day.

Healthy Kids Meals – Breakfast

By Kiera S. Campbell

Making a healthy kids breakfast can sometimes be a daunting task, especially when you’re barely awake yourself. Plus hearing your kids bickering over who gets the bath first and anything to that effect can put a damper on your nerves. It’s sometimes nerve-wracking that you sometimes resort to just letting the kids have some cereal, milk and they’re on their way to school. Then you berate yourself afterwards because you let the “routine” happen again.

The secret to changing this scenario? According to “Yummy Healthy Tummy: The Secrets of Raising Healthy Kids Every Parent Needs to Know”, plan your morning meals in advance! For example, my kids and I (yep, I include them in the “planning” sessions) have a weekly planner for whatever breakfast we should have for that week. In this way, they always have something to look forward to – even during breakfast.

Sometimes, we make it so that they know what recipes would “come out” within the week, but I have control as to when to serve them. In this way, it keeps some element of surprise and excitement during meal times.

Also, here are some recipes that are sure to perk up any young one’s heart:

Sausage muffin.

1. Heat the skillet.

2. Form some ground sausage into a patty. Put into skillet and cook until deep brown and has a crispy crust.

3. In a bowl, beat 1 egg, a pinch of pepper and a dash of hot sauce until blended.

4. Take out of skillet and drain sausage patty between layers of paper towels. (Get almost all of the grease out if possible.)

5. Pour egg into skillet and cook until set.

6. Put a slice of Cheddar cheese on the top half of the English muffin. Put both halves in oven and heat until cheese melts and the bottom halves are toasted.

7. Put the sausage patty on 1 half, egg, a thick slice of tomato and the cheesy muffin. Good for 1 serving.

Mini Frittatas.

1. Preheat oven to  350 degrees.

2. Grease a muffin tin with oil or cooking spray.

3. In a bowl, whisk 6 large eggs, 1/3 cup of milk, ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of ground pepper, and 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. Stir in ¼ cup chopped turkey pepperoni.

4. Divide ¾ cup of cheddar cheese among 24 muffin cups.

5. Pour egg mixture over cheese; fill cups to the top.

6. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until frittatas are puffed and golden brown on top. Cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Makes 24 frittatas.

An adage says that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. You can actually apply that to your kid. Pretty soon, he’ll be in tip-top shape because of the healthy dishes you’ll be serving him – and he wouldn’t even notice unless he gives it some thought.

Looking for more tips like these on cooking healthy for kids? Head on over to YummyHealthyYummy.com to get more tips and information not only on how you can serve healthy food to your kids, but more importantly, on how you can get your kids to LOVE eating healthy.

Remember, healthy eating is the best weapon we can leave our children with that will help them live longer and healthier lives free from diseases like obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart attacks. Start now while your kids are still young!

Are Carbs Really Bad For Me, And Why?

Yes, carbohydrates really are bad for you. They are also not only good for you, but essential to your daily health.

Paradox? No, because what most people fail to appreciate about carbohydrates is that they really come in two forms. There are the complex carbohydrates, which are the variety found in the "leafy" vegetables, and there are the simple carbohydrates, that are found in most of the convenience foods that we enjoy so much today. You can find a thorough exploration of this top in Carolyn Hansen's book: 21 Days To Healthy Eating

It is the latter type of carbohydrates, the simple kind, that are so bad for us. Not because they are chemically very distinct from the complex kind, but because they are rapidly digested by the body and are far more easily converted into fat than the complex carbohydrate. In fact, we could graze on complex carbohydrates (eat them almost nonstop, like cows do) and we would probably end up losing weight because we had displaced the simple carbs from our diet.

The only real difference between the two carbohydrate forms is that the complex variety is essentially very long strings of the simple variety. Your body cannot digest complex carbohydrates immediately. It first has to break them down into very short strings before significant absorption into the wall of the gut can take place. Meanwhile the food is making its way out of your system. On the other hand, simple carbohydrates have already been broken down into short "strings of sugar" before entering the body. Therefore it only takes a few minutes for simple carbs to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

So when you chow down on the last two iced-donuts left in the tea room after morning break you are flooding your body with simple sugars. This is the "rise in blood sugar" that always has diabetics so concerned. When blood sugar rises too much, the body secretes insulin to mop up the excess and convert it into fat for use at a later date. This is why eating sugary food quickly leads to weight gain, especially around the midsection if you are a man, and the hips, thighs, and butt if you are a woman.

Sugar is added in abundance to all of the "sweet tooth" items you can think of: cookies, cakes, candy, donuts, bagels (and any other "bready" snack). But it does not stop there. Today there is a growing obsession with low fat foods, and the problem with removing fat from foods that naturally contain it is that they lose a good part of their taste.

So the makers of low fat yoghurt and milk are left with two alternatives: (1) lose customers who decide they no longer enjoy the low fat versions of their favorite foods, or (2) add sugar and other taste enhancers to offset the loss of taste. Well, you can guess which option appeals most to the food marketers. They up the calorie count of their products to offset the fat loss. So their supposed "healthy low fat" products are not nearly so healthy as they would have you believe.

So beware. When you are looking at the food labels, forget about the number of grams of fat. It is the total number of calories that should concern you. Fat is not bad for you, provided that it is not the man-made hydrogenated variety, like trans fats. Fat just happens to be very dense in calories, so you cannot add too much of it to your meals before you are overloading yourself on calories. Eat fat in moderation for taste, and do not obsess over it.

Add more complex carbohydrates to your meals whenever you can. Your body will extract much fewer calories from the food than the equivalent mass of simple carbs. Also, add a decent portion of protein to your meals. Every meal. Protein, like complex carbs, is relatively difficult for your body to break down, and will slow the absorption of calories. Try to limit the quantity of simple carbs you add to your plate. Also beware of the fact that some of the non-leafy, root-like, vegetables, like potato behave much more like simple carbohydrates, than the complex form. If you want to limit your fat gain, limit your allocation of potato and rice, two of the staple vegetables that are added to our plates today.

If you would like to know which natural foods fall into the complex and simple carbohydrate groups, check out Carolyn Hansen's easy-to-read book on healthy eating: 21 Days To Healthy Eating

Inside you will not only find out how to construct meals that offer a good balance of protein, complex carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates, and fats, but you will learn why you need to reduce the size of your meals and eat more often. Yes, it sounds strange, but the best way to burn more fat involves a schedule of meals that occur every 2-3 hours throughout the day. Remember the grazing analogy? This is how you put it into action for steady, but sustainable weight loss.

Corporate Breakfast Conundrum

If you lead the corporate lifestyle, you understand how difficult it can be to have a proper breakfast. Just because you are working your way up the corporate ladder, doesn’t mean that you have to skip out on a great breakfast. Actually, being in the corporate world gives you a better chance to grab a healthy breakfast if you make wise decisions and do not rely solely on speed.

Better than Doughnuts

Doughnuts are quick, easy, and oh so yummy. However, those doughnuts are packed with fats, sugars and simple carbohydrates that all lead to the bottom line; your bottom line. Sure, you don’t have a lot of time while running out of the door to make something healthy for yourself, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat junk all day.

There are plenty of healthy options to choose from, rather than the sugar-laden doughnut. You could have just as easily grabbed a bagel from your freezer, a banana or apples and some peanut butter, or perhaps even a frozen waffle you previously made. While a donut seems good at the time, it is filled with fats and sugars that will give your metabolism a quick boost, but then drop your energy off the side of the desk as the sugar high comes crashing down.

Vindictive Vending Machine

The vending machine is another bottomless pit when it comes to corporate jobs. It is so easy to get up from your desk, reach into your pocket and get back to work with cheesy orange fingers or a look of pure chocolate bliss on your face. The vending machine is no way to get your morning meals in hand. If you are a sucker for the peanut butter crackers, bring your own from home. Pack some peanut butter along with some basic crackers and even throw in a few slices of cheese. It turns out you have a better snack then you could ever get from B3.

There are many options to replace your vending machine craving with simple foods from your home. Plain popcorn sprinkled with a little cheese powder can make a great snack and can be popped fresh in your office instead of sitting inside a sealed baggie for who knows how long. Your other options are packing some healthy chips or even veggies and dip to bring with instead of hitting the vending machine to cure your breakfast hunger.

Don’t Forget Your Briefcase

Believe it or not, your briefcase can actually double as a highly sophisticated breakfast traveling compartment. Within the slim walls, you have the ability to carry everything you need for a completely balanced and healthy breakfast. Just think about it, you can easily toss in a cereal bar, banana and a pouch of V8. Your briefcase is a great way to store your breakfast foods while still allowing you a free hand for coffee or the paper.

Your breakfast is the most important part of your day. Even if you are wound up in the corporate race, there is always time for a decent breakfast, whether it is a bagel from the freezer, some popcorn and pretzels or a whole spread from the comfort of your briefcase. Work should not interfere with your health and your health starts with good choices for breakfast.

Cooking Healthy for Kids – Tips to Get Them to Eat Well

By Kiera S. Campbell

We as parents would always want to prepare delicious and healthy meals for kids. Unfortunately, some kids turn out to be very picky eaters, and having them eat something good for them can be a challenging, if not a thought-provoking task. Cooking the food and eating them should be always be an enjoyable activity for the one making the food and the one eating them.

To make sure that your kids stay in tip-top shape, here are some pointers to remember. Some of these are taken from “Yummy Healthy Tummy: The Secrets of Raising Healthy Kids Every Parent Needs to Know”:

Eat what you want your kids to eat.

You are what you eat. And your kids see that. As parents, we should become models for our children. If we don’t want them to eat junk food, then they shouldn’t see us gobbling up portions of that. Eating your own cooking will encourage them to eat it too – they won’t feel like you’re overfeeding them with veggies (which they probably see as a poison anyway).

Have regular family meals.

It is said that children who participate in family meals are more likely to eat their fruits and vegetables, less likely to smoke, use marijuana or drink alcohol, and eat unhealthy, too-salty snacks. It’s also the time when the parents catch up on their kids’ lives and reconnect with each other. Bonding and closeness – now what parent wouldn’t want that?

Serve a variety of foods and healthy snacks.

Your children may love pasta, but if you feed them that everyday, then they would eventually get bored and disinterested, even if it is a variety of pasta. Try to make something new everyday, or make a menu. Say like, have some soup today, make some pie tomorrow, or a casserole the next day. Kids get tired of what they see easily. Let your creativity run wild.

Allow kids to help you in your mealtime preparations.

Kids can actually learn to like healthy food if they learn to cook or at least help prepare healthy food. I let my eldest daughter help out in the kitchen from time to time – you know, tearing off the salad greens, or washing carrots or cucumbers. Then when her daddy comes home, she’ll beam proudly and say, “I helped make that.” And then she’ll eat everything on her plate – vegetables, yes, broccoli included.

Remember that healthy cooking isn’t just for kids but for the whole family as well. Invest a little time in preparing your family’s food, and I’m sure, you will be richly rewarded via the smiles, the conversation, the banter and the laughter that you will forever keep as part of a very good memory.

Looking for more tips like these on cooking healthy for kids? Head on over to YummyHealthyTummy.com to get more tips and information not only on how you can serve healthy food to your kids, but more importantly, on how you can get your kids to LOVE eating healthy.

Remember, healthy eating is the best weapon we can leave our children with that will help them live longer and healthier lives free from diseases like obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart attacks. Start now while your kids are still young!

A great healthy on the run breakfast recipe

Good Morning Granola

What You Need:

2 C of old fashioned oats
1/2 C of coconut, flaked
1/2 C of toasted wheat germ
1/4 C of oat bran
1/4 C of sunflower seeds
1/4 C of almond slivers
1/4 C of pecan pieces
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 C of honey
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp orange peel, grated
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 C of dried cranberries
1/2 C dried apricots, chopped
3 tbsp of golden raisins

How to Make It:

Set the oven temperature to 350 and preheat.

In a large bowl toss together the oats, coconut, wheat germ and oat bran.

Stir in the sunflower seeds, almond slivers, pecan pieces and sesame seeds.

In a separate bowl whisk together the honey, oil, orange peel, vanilla and salt.

Pour the mixture over the oat mixture and stir until well coated.

Spread the mixture out evenly into a 15X10 baking pan.

Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Remove and cool completely.

Stir in the cranberries, apricots and raisins.

Store the granola in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes 7 cups

This is a great healthy on the run breakfast recipe. It’s low fat, full of fiber and ready to go whenever you don’t have time to make a sit down breakfast. Add any of your favorite dried fruits, nuts or seeds to give this granola exactly the taste you’re looking for.

Nutritional Information: (approximate values per 1/4 C serving)

Calories 132 ; Fat 5g; Saturated Fat 1g; Carbohydrates 23g; Fiber 3g; Protein 3g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 57mg

The Family That Eats Together Stays Healthy Together

Recent studies have shown that not only do children like to sit down at the dinner table and eat a meal with their parents, but they are more likely to eat a well-balanced, nutritious meal when they do.  But with the hectic lives we seem to lead these days, getting the family all together in the same place at the same time can be a difficult chore.

Between work schedules, after-school activities, errands, and the like, it seems we have less and less time.  But with a few simple ideas and some planning, meal time can be an enjoyable and treasured family time.

Designate no less than one night per week to have a sit-down meal with your family.  Sunday nights are usually a good choice for this because you have more time to relax and the weekend chores have been completed. 

Involve your children in the meal planning and preparation.  This gives them a strong sense of self and the foundation for a lifetime of healthy meal planning and preparation. 

Make sure the television is off, and make it a rule that all phone calls go to voice mail or the answering machine during the meal.  Take this time to visit with one another and enjoy one another's company.  This is a great time to reconnect and find out what events happened this week.  Take your time eating, and teach your children how to do the same in the process. 

Eating slowly is a healthy habit.  Don't jump up and start clearing dishes and putting things away until everyone is done eating and talking. 

On those days that you can't sit down as a family, try to make a habit of sitting down and chatting with them while they are eating, instead of rushing around catching up on the chores. 

This shows them you're interested and that you care and want to be and involved and important part of their every day life. 

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Top 10 Ways to Reconnect with Your Family (Free Report)
http://www.hb2k.com/reconnect.pdf

A wonderful healthy breakfast recipe

Good for You Blueberry Crepes

What You Need:

2 egg whites
2/3 C of fat free milk
2 tsp canola oil
1/2 C of flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C of reduced sugar orange marmalade
1 C of unsweetened blueberries
Splenda, equivalent to 8 tsp of sugar
1/2 C fat free sour cream
1/8 tsp of cinnamon

How to Make It:

Place the egg whites, milk and oil in a bowl and whisk until well blended.

In a separate bowl combine the flour and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the egg white mixture and blend it in well.

Place the marmalade into a saucepan.

Stirring constantly, cook the marmalade over low heat until completely melted.

Remove from the heat and stir in the blueberries and Splenda.

Mix the sour cream and cinnamon together.

Coat a small skillet with cooking spray.

Place the skillet over low heat and add 2 tbsp of the batter.

Lift the pan to evenly coat the bottom with the batter.

Cook until the top is dry and the bottom is lightly browned.

Remove the crepe to a wire rack to cool and continue cooking the batter until all the batter is used.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spread each of the crepes with 1 tbsp of the sour cream mixture.

Roll each crepe up over the mixture and place in a baking dish.

Spoon the blueberries over the top of each crepe.

Bake 15 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

This is a wonderful healthy breakfast to serve to your family on a lazy Sunday morning. Use raspberries, blackberries or strawberries in place of the blueberries if you prefer.

Preparation Time: approximately 25 minutes
Cooking Time: approximately 15 minutes
Total Time: approximately 40 minutes

Children and Nutrition – Grains and Cereals

By Kiera S. Campbell

A discussion of children and nutrition is not complete without including grains and cereals. Grains and cereals provide our body with a rich source of energy and fiber. If you look at the food pyramid, you’ll find them at the base of the triangle - which means they should be consumed the most among the various food groups.

To develop a habit of healthy eating for teens and younger kids also means cultivating a love for grains and cereals. According to “Yummy Healthy Tummy: Secrets to Raising Healthy Kids Every

Parent Needs to Know”, the best way to get our children to make healthy food choices is to educate them and introduce them early to foods that are truly good for our bodies. And where better to start than with knowing what these foods are ourselves?

Demeter, the Greek goddess of the grains and harvest also has a Roman name, Ceres. This is where cereal got its name from. Grains and cereals are carbohydrate rich foods. They also provide energy, some protein, and significant amounts of B complex vitamins. They are popularly served with nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and/or milk. All grains can be ground into flour and made into bread and other dishes requiring flour.

When it comes to grains and cereals, here’s a list of the most popular ones:

1. Corn

Corn (or maize) is one of the most popular grain around. In many parts of the world, corn is considered food for certain domesticated animals. In some, it’s considered a staple and a fantastic main ingredient for popular snacks (popcorn, corn on a cob, etc.)

Corn can be ground and used for making bread. Bread that is made from corn flour is easily digested without difficulty as compared to other flours. And believe it or not, most dextrose is produced from corn. Corn is considered a laxative as it encourages peristalsis (wave-like movement in the intestines necessary for waste elimination).

2. Rice

Rice is a staple food, particularly in Asia, but not confined to it. There are many types of rice, and all these varieties share certain qualities in common.

The earliest mention of rice dates way back to 2800 BC. Rice was then used by the emperor’s royal physicians for healing purposes. Starch consists the main bulk of the rice grain, but it also contains protein, albeit in quantities much lower compared to wheat. Rice protein has 8 of the essential amino acids in perfect balance. Also, this is said to be 98% digestible and can be fully digested in an hour.

With its low-fat, low-cholesterol and low-sodium content, it is ideal for the person suffering from high blood pressure and hypertension. Calcium is also present in rice, specifically brown rice, which helps soothe and relax the nervous system. It contains B-complex vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin) which nourish the skin and blood vessels, providing a youthful glow. (If you have a daughter who is somewhat vain, this information will be quite useful.)

Rice is also useful in the treatment of digestive system disorders such as gastritis, gastric ulcer, stomach and intestinal cancer, indigestion and gas in the intestines, to name a few. For children, it is said to be very effective in treating diarrhea. Experts in naturopathy in India recommend a teaspoonful of powdered charred par-boiled rice mixed with a glassful of buttermilk. This is given in doses of 1 ounce for every half hour. It is said to bring excellent results.

3. Wheat

Wheat is more widely used in breads due to the protein called gluten. Starch and the gluten provide energy, the outer bran becomes the fiber that helps in bowel elimination, and the protein helps rebuild and repair muscle tissue. In the process of refining though, the wheat germ – which has vitamin E – is removed. Unfortunately, when this is missing, so does some of the cardiovascular health benefits of wheat. Refined wheat flour also contributes to constipation and other digestive illnesses.

Whole wheat provides the opposite of that. It protects and helps keep you from incurring the following: constipation, heart disease, diverticulum (a disease specific to the colon), diabetes, appendicitis and obesity. It also prevents and cures pyorrhea (inflammation of the gums and tooth sockets leading to loss of teeth), tooth decay and tooth aches. Wheat grass juice, when taken regularly, promotes cell activity and helps detoxify the walls of the colon.

Healthy and easy kids recipes like this are fun to make. But are you able to teach your kids the importance of choosing healthy food all the time?

Looking for more tips like these on cooking healthy for kids? Head on over to YummyHealthyTummy.com to get more tips and information not only on how you can serve healthy food to your kids, but more importantly, on how you can get your kids to LOVE eating healthy.

Remember, healthy eating is the best weapon we can leave our children with that will help them live longer and healthier lives free from diseases like obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart attacks. Start now while your kids are still young!

Cooking Healthy For Kids – 4 Tips for Healthier Meals You Can Serve Today

By Kiera S. Campbell

In this day and age when childhood obesity is becoming more and more common and diabetes patients are becoming  younger and younger, creating a healthier diet for our children is becoming even more important. It is perhaps the best weapon we have against these diseases that are caused by our lifestyle and rich diet.

When cooking meals for our kids, there are techniques and considerations that can help make the meals you prepare even healthier. Cooking healthy for kids can actually be easy and convenient if you plan out your activities well.

Not sure where to start? Here are 5 things you can start doing today:

Steam. When cooking, it is best to limit the amount of oil that you use. If you look at the kids food pyramid, you’ll see that oils are at the tip of the pyramid, which means we should consume very little of it. Whenever you have the option of using different cooking methods, choose to steam or boil, rather than to fry or deep-fry your food.

1. Use natural spices. Creating sauces, dips and dressings using natural spices is a great way to enhance the flavor of healthy food (steamed food included).

2. Smoothies – Raw Veggies and Fruits. The less processing that food gets, the more nutritious it is because there are some nutrients that are lost whenever food is cooked. Of course, unless your family is used to a raw foodism, this may be a bit of a stretch to expect your kids to immediately take to it. If you are determined to introduce raw veggies into your kids’ diet, one good way to do this is by making smoothies that uses a combination of raw vegetables, fruits and yogurt. It’s tasty, healthy and refreshing – your kids might just love it.

3. Buy fresh and organic. Organic means the food did not undergo any artificial enhancement while it was being grown. In plants, it means that no artificial fertilizers or pesticides were used in the farm where it was planted. In animal food products, it means that no artificial growth enhances were fed to the animals when they were being raised. Organic foods are healthier and safer because there is no chemical residue left on the food which can be ingested by your kids.

4. Whole foods over processed foods. In the same manner that cooking diminishes the nutritional value of food, processing food also has the same detrimental effect. Whenever possible, it is best to choose whole foods over food that has been refined and has undergone a lot of artificial processes. Aside from losing some of their nutritional value, the process of refining food may also make use of ingredients and additives that are not healthy.

Looking for more tips like these on cooking healthy for kids? Head on over to http://bit.ly/f9Fdg5 to get more tips and information not only on how you can serve healthy food to your kids, but more importantly, on how you can get your kids to LOVE eating healthy.

Remember, healthy eating is the best weapon we can leave our children with that will help them live longer and healthier lives free from diseases like obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart attacks. Start now while your kids are still young!

Raising Healthy Eating Kids

Raising Healthy Eating Kids: 9 Ways How You Can Encourage the Healthy Eating Habit In Your Children

By Kiera S. Campbell

For a lot of parents, raising kids who are conscious of choosing healthy food is a lifelong mission. Given the massive health advantages attributed to healthy eating, kids who are trained towards it stand to gain a lot. As parents, it is probably one of the best gifts we can give to our children.

So how exactly do we go about building healthy eating habits in our kids? First thing we need to recognize is that habits are built with positive reinforcement. This means that the more positive and happy things our kids can associate with a certain behavior, the more likely they are to repeat it.

Making healthy food choices is a behavior that is directly influenced by our attitudes and reactions towards it. This is a very important principle to keep in mind if we want to encourage certain behaviors in our children. This principle applies not only to eating habits and food choices, but to other behaviors as well.

Keeping this principle in mind, these are just some of the ways you can help encourage healthy eating in your kids:

1. Make meal times pleasant. Avoid fighting over food or having negative discussions when eating.  Especially avoid fighting over fruits and vegetables.

2. Model the behavior you want your kids to follow. This simply means that if you want your kids to eat healthy, then you yourself have to eat healthy. Children naturally follow what their parents do. If they see you enjoying fruits and vegetables, they are more likely to try it and are more likely to enjoy it.

3. Praise them whenever they choose healthy food. Let them see how happy and how proud it makes you that your kids choose to eat the healthy food that you put on their plate.

4. Praise them whenever they TRY new food. Even if they don’t like it the first time they try it, some kids just need to see it served often before they acquire the taste for it. Praising them for trying will leave them open to try the new and healthy dishes that you serve them.

5. Prepare healthy snacks that they can munch on while engaging in recreational activities. In line with creating a lot of positive associations with healthy food, it may be worth your while to prepare healthy food that they can eat when watching TV or movies, reading books, after sports activities and so on.

6. Let your children know what they are eating. We’re all guilty of hiding vegetables in our kids’ food, but sometimes it’s actually better to let them know what goes into their food. Teaching them which foods are healthy will allow them to recognize healthy food when they see it.

7. Involve your children in the preparation. From meal planning to grocery shopping to cooking the food, getting your kids involved, assigning them tasks that they can do will make healthy eating much more fun for them.  You can be certain that they’ll be more open to trying food that they helped prepare in some way.

8. Introduce something new once in a while. If you can do this weekly, even better.

9. Eat healthy when eating out. This is a great way to show your kids how you can consistently choose healthy food even when you’re in a different environment.  This will definitely reinforce the importance of healthy eating and they’ll also realize how easy and accessible healthy food actually is.

Did you know that healthy eating can cut our kids’ risks for diseases like obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart attack by up to 40%? That’s why it’s absolutely crucial that you instill the habit of eating healthy in your children. Learn the secrets and the principles to raising healthy eating kids.

Can you name the top 12 worst junk foods?

Think you can name the top 12 worst junk foods? One thing is for sure, if you cannot do it your chances of eating these foods is probably pretty high. In fact, here's a good test of your "chances of slimming down" over the next 12 months.

If you can say you haven't eaten at least 6 out of 12 of these foods in the last month then you are doing better than 95 percent of the rest of the people around you (you only need to visit a food court to see how true this is!)

By the way, I ripped this list of the top 12 worst foods right out of Carolyn's book "21 Days To Healthy Eating":

But don't worry, she assured me that I can spread the message far and wide because there is nothing to be gained withholding this kind of information. So here it is, her list from page 35 of "21 Days To Healthy Eating":

THE TOP 12 WORST JUNK FOODS

1. Ice cream and frozen 'treats'
2. 'Fizzy' drinks, energy drinks and soda
3. Candy and sweets
4. Hot dogs, fast food burgers
5. Cookies, biscuits, cakes
6. Potato 'chips' and other man made snacks
7. Fruit drinks and packet fruit drink mixes
8. Doughnuts and pastries
9. White bread and buns
10. Sausage and luncheon 'meats'
11. Processed meats such as chicken 'nuggets'
12. Sugar laden breakfast cereals that pretend to be healthy

So go ahead an tick off all the ones you have not eaten in the last 30 days. If you managed to place 6 or more ticks then you are doing great. If not, keep reading, because your prospects of losing weight over the next year are not good.

The problem with most of these foods is that they are high in simple carbohydrates which means that they are quickly broken down by your body and converted to blood sugar. The result is that the excess of blood sugar in your system is rapidly converted into fat, usually swelling the size of your waistline.

Other junk foods on the list are high in hydrogenated fats, like trans fats, which make your food tasty but do real damage to your arteries and put you in line for heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Trans fats are responsible for perhaps 30,000 early deaths every year in the United States alone.

If you want to live longer than the average lifespan, and particularly if you are already at or past the halfway mark (which would make you around 40 years of age, or higher) it is DEFINITELY time to be pro active and educate yourself about the quality of the foods you are eating and the consequences of eating not only food that clearly falls into the category of junk foods, but all the common processed foods that line your supermarket shelves. Processed foods probably do as much damage, or more, than junk foods do, given that they tend to get a "pass" by most people and routinely end up on our dinner plates.

Well, if you think the average food item delivered from a package, whether it be from a can, a pouch, or a plastic or glass container of some type, is good for you, well... you need to think again. If a food is not recognizable as something that has been plucked off a plant, dug out of the ground, or taken as unprocessed meat from a farm animal, then odds are very high that you will not be doing your body a favor by eating it.

So how did I fare on the little test I gave you above? I failed.

But after reading Carolyn's book "21 Days To Healthy Eating" I have a lot better appreciation of the subject of healthy eating and I fully expect that in a month or two (after I have worked to eliminate most of the foods on that list) I won't ever fail the test again. If you want to join me and increase your odds of not only passing the test, but living a much longer life because of the changes you make to your eating habits today, check out Carolyn's book here: http://bit.ly/astqu7

You don't have to eliminate ALL the junk food from your life. You just need to learn how to remove MOST of it, and that's a manageable goal that everyone can achieve.

Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Sometimes we need a quick breakfast as we run out of the door. Other times we need to spend a little while longer in the kitchen to make something extremely healthy. With today’s culture, very rarely do the two time frames merge into a quick AND healthy first meal. Let’s take a look at some ideas to consider while pondering this flitting idea of a quick and easy breakfast.

Get your servings

Ok, so your fried hash brown only took you a couple seconds to order and it contains potatoes; good job, you have effectively over-starched yourself while wasting money. Just because it came in a convenient package in under two minutes and has, what still somewhat resembles a vegetable doesn’t make it quick and healthy. One of the hardest things to keep in mind while working in the health-on-the-go routine is making sure we get all of our daily servings.

The morning is usually the best time to get your fruits, grains and dairy in, mostly because they are portable. It is easy to drink a glass of milk and grab a banana and an orange to take with us. Perhaps we carry a Tupperware of cereal or granola, along with some yogurt to work with us, it doubles as a nice “first break” from the monotony that is bound to pile up.

Think ahead

While this is probably the most difficult thing to do, because we are usually in the moment, thinking ahead can afford you both quick and health breakfasts. For instance, if you were to remember the night before that you wanted fruit and nut pancakes the next morning, you could actually mix all of the ingredients and store them in your fridge overnight. In the morning, turn on your pan and let it heat up while you are putting in a little more liquid to loosen up the batter. Believe it or not, you will actually have the pancakes you desire in less than 10 minutes.

Thinking ahead can also help when it comes to getting ready. If you were to set the timer on your coffee pot, and used the delay start function on your oven, you could actually have coffee and a hash brown and ham casserole ready for you by the time you got out of the shower and were dressed.

Use what you have

The reason why many breakfast ideas take so long to produce is because of the amount of work that needs to be done beforehand. In the last section, we talked about thinking ahead, well, this section will discuss what to do if you, like most people, forget to remember.

Say you had the best homemade stir fry last night. You threw together a ton of your favorite ingredients, such as bell peppers, onions, carrots and bamboo, and amazingly you have some uncooked ingredients left over. Now is the time to make use of the prep work you did the night before. Whip up a couple of eggs and make an omelet or a delicious egg and veggie scramble.

Roasted Chicken Breast with Spinach and Walnut Stuffing

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

• - 4 large fresh chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (average 8oz per breast)
• - 4 cups fresh spinach
• - 2 Tbsp of garlic
• - 1/4 cup walnuts crushed
• - Salt
• - Fresh ground black pepper
• - Olive oil (not extra virgin)

  Directions

• 1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Butterfly Chicken Breasts (cut along side and lay out flat leaving attached at one end like a book) and lay out flat on cutting board. You can pound it slightly to flatten a bit if you want.
• 2. Rub both sides with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
• 3. Lightly wilt spinach in non-stick pan, or if using frozen just thaw.
• 4. Spread roasted garlic paste onto one half on inside of chicken breasts.
• 5. Sprinkle with crushed walnuts.
• 6. Place spinach on top of walnuts.
• 7. Fold top over and place on a rack fitted inside a sheet pan or roasting pan.
• 8. Place chicken in oven and bake for 20 minutes on 400. Then reduce heat to 325 and roast for an additional 30 minutes, or until inside stuffing reaches 145 degrees.
• 9. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

  Nutritional Facts

  (Per Serving)

• Calories: 407
• Protein: 55g
• Carbohydrates: 4g
• Fat: 19g

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