Feeding your little monsters...

With so many babies around us these days (or is that just my clock ticking?), we are constantly being asked about nutrition for kids. "My kid is a picky-eater; what should my baby's first foods be?; my child doesn't like veggies" and so on. Let's discuss :)

WARNING: you are about to witness pictures of our adorable nephews!

Ideally, your baby should be exclusively fed breast milk for at least the first six months and beyond. If this is not an option, organic formula is the next best thing. Once your baby is sitting up on their own, starting to reach for your food, or beginning to mimic your hand-to-mouth movements at the dinner table, organic pureed fruits and veggies are a great place to start. Be wary of commercial baby food products. They are often packed with sodium or ingredients that aren't recognizable. The best foods that you can give your baby are ones that are prepared at home. Many pediatricians and books suggest rice cereal; however, processed rice is stripped of fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients that your baby needs.

Mashed sweet potato, avocado, carrots, bananas, and peaches are all soft and packed with nutrition. Introduce one new food at a time, waiting two to three days in between in order to monitor for food allergies and intolerances.


Kathryn's nephew Andrew (6 mos.) trying his first food, sweet potatoes! 

As your child gets older, remember that they will eat what you feed them and that their preferences will form based on what they are exposed to. They can eat the same foods that adults do, as long as they are soft and cut into kid-sized pieces. Whole foods, not "kid foods" like chicken nuggets and processed cookies and crackers, will provide them with the nutrition they need to grow into healthy little humans :)


Carly's nephew Asher (18 mos.) wreaking havoc with broccoli and chicken


Does your child need supplementation?
This depends. If they are picky-eaters, have an aversion to veggies, or tend to gravitate toward "kid foods", then quality supplementation should be considered. And we ain't talkin' gummies and Flintstones :)

Addendum:  as Asher got older, his desire for chicken and broccoli declined (but did any of that get into his mouth anyway?!). Now four and a half years old, his diet is 95% pasta, 3% cheese, 2% vegetables.  To my surprise, he actually loves the supplements.  We also don't hide what they are! He asks his mom for "fish oil, probiotic and vitamins"... he knows that probiotics are good for his belly, fish oil is good to protect his heart, and vitamins help his body grow. Andrew is still deciding if he likes sweet potatoes...avocado up next!




Multigenics Chewable

Chewable multi-vitamin and multi-mineral for children ages 2 to 7
https://nutritionalwisdom.mymetagenics.com/store/view/product/181


OmegaGenics DHA Children's

Chewable tutti-frutti fish oil soft-gel to support brain development and eye health
https://nutritionalwisdom.mymetagenics.com/store/view/product/665


UltraFlora Children's

Chewable probiotic to support GI and immune health for children 3 years of age and older
https://nutritionalwisdom.mymetagenics.com/store/view/product/737
  

Stay tuned for our upcoming lecture How To Feed Your Kids - coming soon!

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Success Stories:

Congrats Virginia and Brandon!

  

 Brandon - "For 20+ years I have had stomach pains and GI issues, which resulted in Western doctors telling me that I needed to be on prescription drugs for the rest of my life to cover the pain.  In that time and under that approach, I developed a lot of bacterial growth, gluten, dairy, soy, and egg intolerances, extremely low SIgA levels, etc.  Carly's approach to actually finding out what the root of the pain was and correcting that has resulted in a much higher quality of life, much less pain, and all of my food intolerances are gone.  Craziness!  This was all done in a little over a year with a change in diet and addition of probiotics (not to mention all of the wisdom that she gave me).  I have already reduced my Western prescription medications quite a bit and will continue to slowly get 100% off of it. Not to mention I was able to take off over 5 pounds of pure fat and add 5 pounds muscle. Thanks Carly!"

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Recipe of the Week:

Spaghetti Squash Crusted Breakfast Quiche

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash (2 pounds), cut in half lengthwise
¾ pound pork breakfast sausage
6 eggs, whisked
½ tablespoon dried parsley
½ tablespoon dried basil
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 cups raw spinach
Ghee or coconut oil, to grease pie plate
Scallions, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake squash for 20-25 minutes or until you can press on the outside of the squash and it gives a bit. Once spaghetti squash is done cooking, remove from oven, scoop out the seeds and excess strings and let cool while you finish the rest of the quiche. Once spaghetti squash is cooled, use a fork to remove the threads. Turn oven down to 350 degrees. Place breakfast sausage in a medium pan over medium heat. Break up and cook until there is no pink left. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Remove from heat and drain any excess fat, if needed. Whisk together eggs, parsley, basil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pull out a pie plate and grease thoroughly with coconut oil. Add all the spaghetti squash threads to the pie plate and press down into the plate and up onto the sides. Try to make it even throughout. Pour the eggs into the plate, then add the crumbled sausage, on top with sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with a bit more salt on top. Place in oven to bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees or until eggs are cooked through in the middle. Let rest before cutting into it. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner is served!

Recipe of the Week

Still feeling the sugar high from Valentine's Day? Hopefully these muffins will help you ease back off the sweet stuff. Carly (and Asher who made a "that was the worst thing I ever tasted" face) didn't think the frosting was worth it so we turned the recipe into muffins rather than cupcakes. Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

    

Ingredients:
2½ cups blanched almond flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
⅔ cup honey
⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon lemon zest
½ cup finely chopped strawberries

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with baking cups. Combine the honey, coconut oil, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest in the jar of a blender. Puree on medium speed for 20 seconds or until frothy and smooth. Add the dry ingredients and blend on high for 30-45 seconds. The batter should be very smooth and contain no lumps. If needed, scrape down the sides with a spatula and blend again for a few seconds until all of the dry mixture is incorporated. Gently fold the chopped strawberries in by hand. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin, filling about ¾ of the way full. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick can be inserted into the middle and comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before serving.

For other sweet treats, please visit
http://www.nutritionalwisdom.com/recipes/sweet-treats/

More Products We Love

More products we love:
Sometimes being healthy feels like a big pain in the butt! We are always excited to share the products that make the day to day easier. 

NatureBright SunTouch Plus Light and Ion Therapy Lamp
http://astore.amazon.com/nutritwisdom-20/detail/B00FZNPN7C

Suffering from the winter blues? This lamp is effective in helping people who suffer from low mood, loss of energy, jet lag, and sleep disorders, and is especially proven in helping people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The SunTouch Plus Lamp and Ionizer bathes you in Sky Effect light while simultaneously releasing healthy negative ions into the atmosphere. A natural way to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit :) 

Paderno Tri-Blade Veggie Spiralizer
http://astore.amazon.com/nutritwisdom-20/detail/B0007Y9WHQ

We know it's not pasta, but this is as close as we can get! The Paderno veggie slicer creates spiral cuts and veggie noodles, is BPA-free, and easy to use. 

Glass Water Bottle & Bottle Cleaner Brush

 

The glass water bottle is a great alternative to plastic, can be reused, and easily helps you track your daily intake. We know it sometimes feels like there is a science experiment being conducted at the bottom of your bottle, so use this handy brush from Target to keep it clean :)

Valentine's Day Expectations

What are your Valentine's Day expectations?
 

"Expectations are like fine pottery. The harder you hold them, the more likely they are to crack." ― Brandon Sanderson

 

Valentine's day is about celebrating the people you love, although we can all agree that this practice should be a daily occurrence. Regardless of the holiday, days regarded as "special" bring up the subject of expectations.  Even though it's been over 10 years, I'll never forget the Valentine's day of 2002.  I was living in Ithaca, NY attending Ithaca college and my boyfriend of three years (sorry Josh if you are reading this) had driven up to visit me for a special Valentine's Day.  I was super excited because I had bought him a very expensive art piece from a gallery in Manhattan.  I couldn't wait to give it to him and I couldn't help but wonder about the amazing gift he had gotten me.  As I gave him his gift I squealed in delight, so proud of myself for buying something adult and meaningful.  In return, he handed me a small blue box to which I could only have assumed was some fantastic piece of jewelry.  Unless you are in complete denial, a blue Tiffany's box will excite even the most stoic of women. I opened it to find a Tiffany's "heart" key chain.  A key chain.  A KEY CHAIN!?!?!?!  Did he think I was the type of girl that 1) uses a key chain and 2) would want a key chain from Tiffany's?  I was so utterly disappointed I could hardly feign gratitude.  If my memory serves me right, we wound up getting into a huge fight, I called him the worst boyfriend ever, threw his flowers away, and he drove the two hours back to his house.... all this drama on one little day. Although it was quite ugly at the time, I learned an important lesson about expectations.  The higher expectation you have of someone else, the more disappointment you open yourself up to feel.  It's a vicious set up when you think about it.  If I had expected nothing other than the company of my loved one, I would have been able to appreciate his token of love for what it was and returned it to get something else like any other logical Jewish American princess would have.

I read that more people break up on Valentine's Day than any other day of the year.  I can't help but think that this is due to our abnormally high expectation of our partner to display the measure of his/her love for us.  This year try having no expectation of your partner or yourself (if you are single, you don't necessarily need to feel lonely just because culture tells you that you should be).  The more present and conscious we are as people (and eaters), less and less will we need to use expectation in order to measure our success.  Practice self-love and self-care every single day as changing any unwanted behaviors can only begin with love.  I love you all!



Addendum: I contacted Josh to let him know I would be sharing a story of ours and he responded by saying the art I got him still hangs in his house to this day.  Josh is now married with two kids. Thanks for completing the story for everyone and for putting up with me for 4 years!  Sorry I threw away your flowers :) enjoy everyone, Happy Love Day!!!

Practicing the F Word

Being on live news is exciting and energizing, although quite frankly, I never know what’s going to come out of my mouth (that statement may extend to more than live news).  For those of you that watched this past weekend, I was asked to be on KXAN to talk about eating healthy during a Super Bowl party.  At the end of the segment, the anchor asked me about quality of food.  Not sure why, but I wound up using the chicken wing restaurant Pluckers as the example of low-quality meat.  As soon as it came out of my mouth I thought to myself “Guurl you done f&*$d up” so I tried my best to redeem myself in the 20 seconds we had left and then before I knew it the segment was over. 

Does Pluckers deserve the slandering for selling poor quality, abused, innocent little chickens?  Either way, it’s not nice news etiquette to use brand names unless I am promoting something or speaking in a positive manner about that business.  Whether or not I spoke the truth, I felt bad about what I said.  In the past, I would have let that one comment block my happiness and gratitude for another successful news segment.  I would have willingly engaged in a guilt and shame cycle that may have ended in consuming some unhealthy food (maybe Pluckers? Just kidding).  After years of that destructive behavior I now do something new and it’s been working wonders for my happiness: immediate forgiveness. 

We have all made mistakes in the past and we will continue to make them in our future.  Practicing the ”F word” allows us to see us as we truly are: imperfect beings on a path to self-discovery and growth.  Next time you make a mistake, say something you wish you hadn’t, or think anything that makes you question yourself, try IMMEDIATELY forgiving yourself, and then let it go.  Welcome your mistakes. They are how we grow into the people we are meant to be.  Forgive all of the people who have ever wronged you, it is absolutely the best gift you could ever give yourself.  Practice the F word all day long and see how your life changes. 

Yours in health, happiness and peaceful mind…