Safety is the most important thing to remember when cooking with a child. You must use common sense and keep the child away from sharp knives, anything breakable and of course the hot stove and oven. l would set everything up in measuring cups and then let her pour each item into a bowl and stir or mix things together. I would give her a tablespoon to scoop up batter and roll into cookies. But my rule was that when it was time to open the oven door, to put things in or take them out, she was out of the way. She stood where I could see her but she was safe from getting burned.

One of our favorite recipes to make is Apple Crisp. This is a very basic recipe that I got from my mom a long time ago. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. You will need 4-6 of your favorite apples. I like to use some Macintosh and Granny Smiths. I prefer to core, peel and then slice them. You can have your child arrange the apple slices in an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish.

Now, in a separate bowl, you and your child can put together the crisp topping. You will need 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup of oats, 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and a 1/2 cup of softened margarine or butter. You can also add 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts, at this time. Mix all these ingredients together with a fork and then have fun sprinkling the topping over the apples.

Bake uncovered until the topping is golden brown and the apples are tender. This takes about 30 minutes. Enjoy your apple crisp warm or cold with a little whipped cream.

If you’re trying to encourage your kids to learn to cook, then you might consider some easy recipes for kids for pasta.

Most kids quite like pasta, and if they can make something gooey with lots of cheese, or make something with lots of slippery sliding pasta shapes, they might eventually notice that they like other things about pasta dishes as well.

There are lots of places to find easy pasta recipes that kids can make. For example, at Get-Kids-Cooking.com there is a recipe that takes very little time, but which gives parents an opportunity to teach kids how to cook spaghetti.

While seven ounces of spaghetti is cooking for ten minutes, the kids help chop six ripe tomatoes, and will no doubt enjoy giving two cloves of garlic a good crush. The tomatoes and garlic, three tablespoons of olive oil and two ounces of carefully grated Parmesan cheese can go into a bowl, and the cooked spaghetti can be stirred into it, along with fresh chopped basil. It’s very simple, but introduces kids to some good tastes.

Easy recipes for kids to make can sometimes be found on larger recipe websites like AllRecipes.com or Epicurious.com, but most of those are geared toward adults. You may have to look harder for pasta dishes aimed toward the kids themselves as the cooks, but there are some entertaining and fun ideas out there. If they prepare the pasta themselves, then the kids may eventually become interested in cooking more elaborate, “grown-up” dishes.

You can get elaborate for your own pasta meals, with complex sauces and ingredients, but for getting kids involved in cooking, there’s nothing like a few simple and fun to make pasta recipes.

Finding recipes for kids lunch boxes can be tricky. Most parents just reheat last night’s dinner left overs and send their kids on their way.

Lunch is a pretty important meal during a child’s day, though, so if you have more time to think about and make what your kids will be taking to lunch at school, put in the extra effort. Making sure your kids are eating right in the middle of the day will definitely pay off in the future! Here are four recipes for kids lunch boxes:

· Tortilla Wrap

This is easy to do, and you can still use the leftovers! Wrap some meat and vegetables in a tortilla. You can add salsa, cheese, and/or sour cream if you like. Brown rice and beans are good additions too! Roll it up and put it in a sandwich bag or you can wrap it up in foil so it’s easy to hold. It’s a no fuss recipe that most kids will love, and it covers four of the five major food groups. Plus, you’re sure it’ll be healthier than anything your child can but at the school cafeteria!

· Chicken Salad Sandwich

Put some chopped chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber between slices of whole wheat bread. You can add cheese or salad dressing to this sandwich to make it yummier and more appealing. Remember that you don’t have to use chicken. You can substitute chicken for tuna, sliced beef, or sliced turkey. Almost any member of the protein group will go well with this sandwich, and so you can actually mix it up and have a different one everyday!

· Meatball Sub

Grab a mini baguette and line it with mustard (if your kid likes mustard), mayonnaise, cheese, tomatoes, and pickles. Put in some meatballs cooked in tomato sauce (you can use the leftovers from the spaghetti and meatballs you served the other night), and top it off with some sour cream. Wrap this well in a sandwich wrapper or foil, and your kid is ready to go!

· Croquettes

This recipe takes a bit more time to prepare. You can do the prep for it the night before, and just do the frying on the morning you’re going to pack it. While frying isn’t the healthiest form of cooking because of the excessive oil, croquettes are easy finger foods for kids. You can shape them into ping pong balls to make them easier to eat. Stuff them with mashed potatoes, tuna, turkey, or other healthy proteins. You can also just stuff them with bechamel and cheese, and your kids are in for a tasty treat!

Always try to put in a juice box and fruit cup into the lunch box apart from the above suggestions. Yogurt and granola bars can also work as a sweet snack. Ask your children what “extras” they’d like in their lunch boxes and keep them healthy!

Proper and balanced nutrition is crucial to normal child development.

Children need to obtain a balanced diet that should include plenty of vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereals, lean meat, fish, poultry, milk, yoghurt, cheese and water. Nutrients can largely be grouped into macronutrients(carbohydrates, protein and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).

The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity may have caused parents to be extra careful when considering the amount of fats to include in a child’s diet. And with the constant bombardment weight loss and ‘thin = beautiful’ messages from the media, children are exposed to image problems at a much younger age. The reality is, for a growing child, fat is an integral part of a child’s diet as it:

1. provides a concentrated form of energy for their growth and development

2. essential fatty acids such as omega-3 are necessary to maintain regular functioning and structural integrity of cells in the body and the brain.

3. is required to deliver certain Vitamins around the body

Two of the most frequently seen nutritional deficiencies now seen in children are iron and calcium.

Iron Deficiency

Children need to absorb an average of 1mg of iron per day for regular growth. However, since only about 10% of iron is actually absorbed by their bodies, they will need to consume about 8-10mg of iron per day. Iron deficiency in its mild stages usually remain asymptomatic but if prolonged, you may see you child become increasing lethargic, out of breath, losing appetite and having headaches. Therefore, it is important to know which foods are rich in iron sources. There are 2 types of iron found in foods:

• Haem iron are found in red meats and chicken
• Non-haem iron are round mostly in fortified cereals, eggs, legume, wholegrain bread and some vegetables. To improve the absorption of non-haem iron, it is a good idea to combine these foods with those high in Vitamin C, such as citrus fruits and juices.
• too much iron can lead to constipation and black or grey stool so iron supplements should be handled with caution unless advised by your doctor

Calcium deficiency

Calcium needs for children are particularly high due to growth in their skeletal tissues. Children ages between 4-8 yrs need about 700mg per day, rising to 1000mg per day for those aged 9-11yrs. Over two-thirds of children do not receive the amount of calcium they require on a daily basis.

• Milk and milk products are the highest sources of dietary calcium for young children
• Vegetables such as tofu, legumes and green leafy vegetables generally are quite high in calcium.
• Vegetables low in oxalate provide better absorption of calcium such as bok choy, Chinese cabbage and broccoli.
• Nuts and seeds (sesame seeds, almonds and brazil nuts) also add calcium to the diet (as well as being low GI)

For those who aren’t aware, miso is a paste made from fermented and ground soybeans which has been fermented for two months up to two years. It is often mixed with rice, barley, or wheat to speed up fermentation. Normally, it can be found in the international aisle of most grocery stores.

1. Miso is versatile. It can be made into a dressing for salads, soup, or made into a tea. Miso comes in white, brown, deep red and creamy beige, each with its own distinct flavor. Flavors range from sweet and mild to savory and earthy.

2. Miso is also high in fiber and probiotics. It increases the enzymes your body produces in your digestive system by increasing beneficial micro-organisms. These micro-organisms will break down foods better which will enable more nutrients to be absorbed, giving you more energy.

3. Most people eat meat to get protein. However, miso provides high quality vegetable protein that is highly usable in the body. In fact, if you were to eat miso with whole grains, the proteins you consume would be increased. It also contains unsaturated oils and zero cholesterol, which doctors recommend as part of a heart-healthy diet.

4. Some reports have confirmed miso as being beneficial by helping prevent some cancers, heart disease, and other illnesses. It has also been touted to eliminate heavy metals, nicotine, and air pollutants from your system. Women who eat miso regularly have been shown to be less likely to develop breast cancer.

5. Miso is high in essential minerals such as zinc which aids the immune system. Iron, copper and manganese are also in ample supply in miso.

6. If you’re moving toward a more vegetarian diet, miso would be a great addition. It is high in vitamins K and B12, both essential for a healthy body.

How on earth do you use miso? There are a number of ways you can try to start using miso in your family’s meals: use it instead of a stock (chicken or vegetable) when making home-made soups, spread it on toast similar to butter, use it as a salt substitute when you’re cooking, or mix it with sesame oil and your favorite seasonings to make an Asian-inspired salad dressing.

Although doctors in the West can be slow to acknowledge the health benefits of foods used traditionally in the East, it seems they’re taking notice of miso. By reading these six reasons to start eating miso, you can see how this food from Japan can improve your health and help you avoid some diseases. Maybe it’s time to find it in your grocery store and make it a part of your family’s diet.

One of the main benefits of slow cooking is how easy it is. Unlike traditional cooking methods, you don’t have to stand over the stove to ensure the dish cooks properly. You can place everything into the slow cooker, set it, and then walk away. In fact, you don’t even have to be at home while your meal cooks as most recipes require four to eight hours cooking time.

Depending upon the recipe, you can place the ingredients into the cooker and the meal will be ready to eat either when you get up in the morning or when you return from a day at work. What could be easier than that? And the slow cooker did all of the hard work for you!

Saving time is another benefit of slow cooking. The major portion of the meal is done by the slow cooker, which leaves a side dish or salad and your meal is done. If you have more than one size of slow cooker, you can make a different component of the meal in each one.

Another benefit of using a slow cooker is how versatile they are. You can cook nearly any style of recipe in a crock pot. Do you need something special for breakfast? There are slow cooker recipes for that. How about a casserole for dinner? There are many ethnic recipes. The fact is you can find recipes for any meal of the day, even dessert.

Slow cooking is also nutritious. Use fresh or frozen ingredients rather than ingredients which are full of chemicals or preservatives. You can use fruits that are in season rather than canned ones which have fewer nutrients. Cooking foods on low heat over a longer period of time also helps the foods retain more of the vitamins and minerals.

Some people think slow cookers can only be used during the cooler months. The truth is, however, you can use a slow cooker at any time of the year. Slow cookers won’t heat up the kitchen the way an oven will, but will provide you with delicious food your whole family will enjoy.

Finally, the benefits of slow cooking can also improve your pocket book. You can find ingredients which are on sale at your grocery store to use in your slow cooker. You can also use cheaper groceries such as dried beans, noodles, and rice.

It’s obvious the benefits of slow cooking are many. If the ease of use isn’t enough to convince you to get one, think about the time you can shave off of preparing meals or how much money you can keep in your wallet. Why not give it a try?

There is a serious problem of obesity in children the world over, as more children give up active outdoor activities to sit in front to televisions and computers. The easy availability of fast food, soft drinks and microwave meals does not help either. The backlash from obesity comes in the form of medical and psychological hazards that are putting our children at risk!

As parents we have a responsibility towards maintaining a balanced healthy diet for kids to help prevent childhood obesity. To do this the parent needs to ensure that the child consumes foods that will provide nutrition and help maintain a healthy weight. Beverages can also greatly increase calorie intake, so it is best to try to limit the amount of soft drinks consumed and promote water as a healthier alternative.
Parents are encouraged to find new and interesting recipes and to make foods that provide nutrition and the right amount of calories as attractive and appealing as possible. Some of the healthy foods on the food pyramid include: fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low fat dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, beans and lentils. You can reduce portion sizes so that they are reasonable instead of unlimited, and pour out water for your family as an alternative to unhealthy soft drinks. The consumption of refined sugar and saturated fats should be controlled.
Parents will need to bring all of their ingenuity into play to find ways to promote a balanced healthy diet for kids, which is both nutritious and attractive. A heap of greens on a plate is far from appealing and of course your kid is not going to want to eat it! The internet is filled with recipes for new ideas to make dishes more nutritious and balanced with vegetables and even fruits. A macaroni and cheese diet is easy to throw together and will fill your child up but will it provide the nutrition needed?
Team up with the mother’s in your child’s play group to trade ideas on how to get children to eat the food that is good for them, trade recipes and plan play activities. What you need to be aware of is that simply eating right is not enough; your child needs an active lifestyle as well. You can also balance diet by ensuring that the appropriate amount of physical activity is engaged in to strengthen bones, reduce blood pressure and stress and help with weight management.
You have to be firm and remove all those calorie rich temptations from your fridge. If children see ice cream and chocolate and all those yummy things every time they stick their heads in the fridge, how much resistance do you think there will be to the temptation to gorge? A very good idea for a dessert is yoghurt filled with fruit; peaches, berries, mango in yoghurt make for a naturally sweet dessert that is really enjoyable.

Ensuring a balanced healthy diet for kids is every parent’s responsibility and one that needs to be taken very seriously.

People often think that when they’re trying to drop extra pounds they’re limited to what they can eat, and that’s true to a degree. But, there’s no need to starve yourself or eat nothing but rice cakes. You can have snacks which are healthy and taste great so you won’t have to suffer while you’re slimming down.

Advertisements on television and in magazines state each person needs a certain number of dairy servings a day. The ads claim you can actually lose weight by consuming dairy products. Well, why not eat low-fat yogurt as a snack. Add fresh fruit to the yogurt and you’ve taken care of one serving of dairy and one serving of fruit for the day. You’ll also have the benefit of the vitamins and minerals from both foods which are necessary for health.

What do you do if you don’t like yogurt that much? You can get dairy servings in other ways, too; try a low-fat milkshake or smoothie. Using skim or low-fat milk, ice, and either fresh or frozen fruit, you can make a great milkshake to enjoy for breakfast or at any other time of the day.

If you’d like to try something different, why not simply try a green smoothie? You use water, 100% fruit juice, water, fruit, and then add raw spinach or another green leafy vegetable. It may take a bit to get used to, but once you’ve had this type of drink you’ll soon learn to love them. This will be very low fat, as you’re not adding anything to the fruit, vegetables and water, and will be full of health-giving vitamins and minerals.

Make muffins using applesauce in place of the fat (margarine or butter). This will make the muffins lower fat than traditional recipes and you may not even recognize the difference as far as taste. Add shredded carrots to the muffins to give you more nutrients. Use other fruits or vegetables such as bananas and zucchini to make the muffins moist and delicious.

Popcorn is a great healthy snack idea as long as you don’t smother it in butter. Air-popped popcorn has no fat, is healthy, and can be filling. Instead of using salt and melted butter to flavor the popcorn, try adding onion powder, garlic powder, or nutritional yeast instead. Be adventurous and try to find a combination that you’ll enjoy. If you feel you must use fat to help flavor the popcorn, use a spray of olive oil which is a good fat.

When choosing healthy snacks that help you lose weight, remember to choose foods which are low-fat. You also want to limit the amount you eat at one sitting. Even snacks which are healthy can cause you to gain weight rather than lose it if you eat too much.

Balanced, nutritious meals are a must for every growing child because the benefits transcend into adulthood. Poor diet leads to obesity and a host of medical and psychological problems for the child.

For those of us not aware of it there is a good guide pyramid, which can help us better understand the different food groups. All of our food is divided into grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products and meats, beans, poultry, fish and nuts. Your child gets a balanced diet when all the food groups are covered. There are some groups where the intake needs to be lesser than the others, such as the oils and meats.
The benefits of healthy eating for kids will not be felt if you blindly follow the food groups. For example an apple in its natural state will do more for your child’s well being and overall good health than an apple pie with sugar would.
For children to develop healthy eating habits the parents will need to lead by example. It is always advisable to start a child out eating right from a very small age because this becomes habit forming. You should never put a child on a restrictive diet without the approval and supervision of a pediatrician. Overweight children go through quite a lot of trauma as a result of their size and all of this can be avoided if the parents take onus for ensuring that the children eat the right kinds of healthy nutritious foods they need.
Given below are some ideas on how to draw on the benefits of healthy eating for kids:
• You can guide your family’s choices by doing the shopping right; never dictate it will not go down well. Make sure your home has plenty of healthy foods like fruit and vegetables, yoghurts and dips that you can turn into healthy meals and snacks for the family. Don’t stock up on crisps and other junk food no matter how attractive the packaging and how easy it makes the shopping, to simply load up the trolley with a bunch of pre-packaged foods for kids.
• Make mealtimes a family affair with a lot of happy talk and exchange of ideas. This will help children to eat more slowly. Gobbling food will not help a child differentiate between a full and overfull stomach. When there is fun and laughter at the table you will find your children wanting to stay put and take the meal at a slow pace.
• Take your children with you when you go shopping and when you prepare meals as much as possible. Take the time to learn about their preferences and use the opportunities to teach them about the importance of nutrition and the benefits of healthy eating for kids.
• It is no secret that children enjoy snacking between meals and plenty of low fat milk and fruit should be the healthy alternatives. Try to avoid over eating at any cost. Always remember that what you don’t have at home your children cannot eat – so throw out the junk food!
Exercising and being active goes hand in glove with eating right so make use of this article to better understand the benefits of healthy eating for kids.

These games are a very interesting and innovative way of imparting basic cooking knowledge to your kid and various games are present depending upon the age of the specific kid. Kid cooking is indeed a fun-filled and exciting experience not only for your kid but also for you. You would simply be amazed to see your child getting hooked on to the various educative cooking games. From these games the basics of maths, english and logic are also imparted appropriately. They would also know about the fundamentals of nutrition and food. These interactive games teach your kid the different nutritional facts in an easy manner. Memorizing the same facts from a cookbook or any other resource is boring and less interactive.
Kids can be subtly inculcated with the healthy dietary habits early on in their lives at an impressionable age. You can keep your kid engaged for hours while you are busy with some other urgent activities. Various authentic websites are present which provide cooking games for kids to play online. These games have been devised by experts to ensure that your kid gets to learn something valuable and important for the rest of their lives. Your kids get a close to real-life experience from these games and many associated constructive works are also taught along with cooking. Some websites charge a fee while many are available which provide good games for kids to play online free of cost. An initial interest for cooking is developed in the minds of the kids and they easily learn to prepare the basic dishes like sandwiches, burgers, salads, pizzas, omelets, coffee, tea, ice-creams, and many delicious recipes like barbeque chicken too!
Just because the games are meant for kids does not imply that you cannot play them. When you find spare time for yourself and want to pursue something exciting you can also join your kids and help them with their games. You might also learn some new recipes which you might like to try later on. Your kids also develop the sense of proportion and realize the importance of adding the ingredients properly. The various games for kids to play online that are quite popular are ‘Making Chips’, ‘Make Cranberry- Smoothies’, ’Pizza Making’, ‘Cake Decoration’, ‘Grilled Skewer’, ‘Donuts Mania’, ‘Magic Baking’, ‘Ice Cream Parlor’, ‘Making Christmas-Cake’, ‘BBQ Hero’, ’Preparing chicken-burger’, etc. A person can use the keyboard, or the mouse, or both, for playing these games.
One interesting game that is also quite popular is cooking a breakfast. In this game one has to drag the eggbeater with the aid of the mouse. Then an omelet needs to be prepared over the frying pan. Similarly various other simple yet useful recipes can be stirred up. Do not be amazed when one fine morning you find your son by the side of your bed standing with a plate of omelet, noodles and milk-shake after learning from games for kids to play online.

However if you can carefully select the nutritious as well as yummy items for your kids, then your problems are solved. You can innovatively encourage your kid to try out new dishes with exotic flavors and explore them. If you teach your child the importance of healthy eating right at the onset then lot of complications can be avoided later on when the kid grows up. You give them a healthy future, because unhealthy eating gives rise to obesity and other related diseases. Hence inculcate the healthy habits early and your kid would always remain fit and active.
You need to use your ingenuity in utilizing the kid friendly favorite recipes to develop the healthy eating pattern. Give a judicious mix of proteins and vegetables having low calorific value, which your child would enjoy eating. Hectic lifestyles and food cooked in microwave ovens can take a toll on the overall health of kids. Unhealthy eating habits tend to fill the body of kids with toxic materials which have serious health repercussions later on. Some parents have this misconception that any deficiency that arises during the early age can be made up by taking health supplements or capsules. But it needs to be clearly mentioned that there is just no substitute for natural kid friendly favorite recipes.
When you give your kid potato chips you are giving him something that is tasty but low in nutritious value. But when you make your own home-made custard and serve it to your kid, he would find that yummy, and a nutritious item would also be provided. The difference in the two is that you have to invest much more time in preparing the later dish in a tasty manner and to get all the required ingredients ready. Picking up munches and snacks from the superstore is not a tough task, but it requires much more patience, effort and creativity to prepare kid friendly favorite recipes. Many fruits can be provided to your kids, and they taste amazing keeping the nutrition value intact. You can buy lot of fish and make delicious recipes with those. Fishes are an amazing source of Omega-3 fatty acids which fight against the harmful free radicals in the body.
With the advent of the internet finding kid friendly favorite recipes has become much easier. Many websites are present where dieticians and expert cooks provide easy-to-make recipes for kids. If you can get in touch with a qualified pediatrician, then there is really nothing like it. He would give you advice on quality food that can be provided which also tastes good. Ensuring that the important vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients are all present in the diet is very crucial. Various recipe books are easily available in the bookstores which give you ideas to prepare tasty recipes for kids. Hence use your creativity and see your kid developing healthy food habits.

1. Instilling good habits- Kids are very impressionable and anything which is taught at this age remains ingrained in their lifestyle for the rest of their lives. Hence it is imperative that you teach your kid to cook nutritious and healthy food at an early age, because afterwards they would be subject to temptations of junk and fast foods. If you want to instill sound habits in your kids, this stage is ideal.
2. Boosting of self-esteem- When a child finds that he/she is accomplishing a task successfully, his/her self-esteem gets boosted. Kids want to contribute in their own small way to their families and in this way they feel that they are doing something worthwhile.
3. Passing of family values and tradition- When you spend quality time with your kids, the family bonding becomes stronger. These priceless moments would remain etched in their minds forever. Later when they grow up or become old, they would pass on the things leant to the next generation.
4. Teaching practical lessons in math, science, language and creativity- A kid would learn to count, measure, sort and work with fractional quantities, which would strengthen their fundamentals in math. The initial experience of experimenting with various combinations and proportions of ingredients is an integral part of learning science. When the kid is taught to read a certain recipe or to categorically write down a list of ingredients that need to be bought, he/she is imparted language training. Improvising and fine–tuning require imagination and creativity and those are also brought into play when a kid learns to cook.
5. Making them self-reliant- It is observed that many grown-up individuals find it hard to live outside their homes, as they do not know how to prepare even the basic recipes. Cooking with kids would easily address this issue and your kids would face no hassles when they grow up.
6. Teaching teamwork- If you teach your kids how to cook, participate actively with them and bring some of their close friends along, they would learn teamwork very easily. They would learn the tasks of assigning and taking work. Sharing the workload and co-operating with others are extremely important in successful teamwork. When your kids interact freely with their friends, their communication skills also improve and initial shyness which is present in many kids also gets dissipated.
Hence, whenever you find some quality time to spend with your kids, ask them to come to the kitchen and notice the elation on their faces when you shout- - “Let’s do it together!”

Your kid would also learn to carefully follow the instructions provided which is really the preliminary lesson taught in primary schools. In addition to knowing the easy recipes for kids to follow you also need to get certain kitchen items handy for your kids like plastic/metal mixing bowls, wooden spoons, hot pads, cups, and apron.

The 2 easy recipes for kids to follow which would be discussed over here are “Krazy Kake”, and “Mouse Cupcakes”.

For preparing the dish of “Krazy Kake”, you would require 2 teaspoonfuls of baking soda, 1 teaspoonful of common salt, 2 teaspoonfuls of vinegar, and 1 teaspoonful of vanilla. You would also require 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, ½ cup of cocoa, ¾ cup of oil and 2 cups of water. Before putting anything, preheat the oven to a temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all the dry ingredients in a baking pan. Make the ingredients smooth. With the aid of a spoon, you need to make 3 big holes in a dry mixture.

Pour vanilla in one of the holes, in another one pour vinegar, and then oil in the 3rd hole. Pour water over the total mixture and stir with the help of a fork until the mixture becomes uniform. Bake this at the same pre-set temperature for approximately 40 minutes. Then take out the cake and allow it to cool. You can use powdered sugar as a topping for this cake. Ensure that your kid has understood the quantities of ingredients required and the process of preparation, which is quite simple.

The second preparation that is going to be discussed in easy recipes for kids to follow is “Mouse Cupcakes”. The ingredients required would be 1 chocolate-cake mix, 8 scoops of vanilla ice-cream, small candies, skittles and licorice. The quantity of ingredients taken would be sufficient for preparation of 8 cupcakes.

First make the mixture for the cake preparation. Keep the muffin cups two-thirds full. Then make the preparation and allow it to cool after baking has been completed. When the cakes become cool, put ice-cream as a topping on them, and decorate them in a manner which gives a mouse’s appearance. You can use 2 mint-cookies to make the ears of the mouse and candies to resemble the eyes and the nose. Cut the licorice and insert it appropriately for the whiskers of the mouse. If the cake has started to melt in between all this, place the cupcakes in the freezer for half an hour. This recipe is extremely easy to prepare and your kid would also use his creativity in giving the appearance of the mouse to the cake.

These easy recipes for kids to follow would help your kid to learn a lot about the cooking nuances and also improve his observation and improvisation skills.

Families sometimes face problems providing these to their kids as kids can be sometimes very fussy and choosy about foods which they like to eat. Hence the clever approach would be to incorporate such items which the kids find tasty and are also nutritious for their all-round development.
1. Meat- This is a food item which is a rich source of protein and also Vitamin B. Apart from these valuable elements like copper, niacin, and iron are also present in it. To have a balanced and healthy meal you can prepare a tasty mix of vegetable stew and meat. Now and then you can allow children to have hamburgers, but that should be within limits. Grilling and barbequing are two safe methods of preparing meat along with green vegetables.
2. Eggs- Eggs can be used in various delicious dishes, and kids simply love to gorge on them. Proteins, vitamins and minerals are all present in this wonderful item and this should definitely be in the list of top 10 diets for kids.
3. Milk- Many kids do not want to consume milk directly. For them an innovative way of providing milk would be by giving them delicious milk shakes, custards, yoghurts, etc., which contain fruits as well as milk. You can find many useful minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates in milk.
4. Berries- Strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are all highly nutritious items. These wonderful berries contain Vitamin C, potassium, fibers, carbohydrates, and important anti-oxidants which powerfully fight against the harmful free radicals. Children as well as kids love to have strawberries in various preparations You can give strawberries mixed with yoghurt or with whole-grain flakes.
5. Tuna fish- This fish should definitely be included in the top 10 diets for kids. Apart from containing niacin, protein, Vitamin B, zinc and iron, this fish contains extremely vital omega-3 oils. The benefits of this oil are slowly being revealed. But one needs to be cautious about the quantity of this fish consumed as mercury levels can elevate due to excess intake. These fishes also taste great with salads.
6. Yoghurt – Kids simply love to eat this and hence one should not forget to include this item in the top 10 diets for kids. Being a good source of calcium, protein, carbohydrates, Vitamin B, phosphor and zinc you can easily have a delicious and nutritious preparation with fresh fruits.
7. Cheese- This is another extremely delicious and healthy item. Cheese can be used as salad toppings or for garnishing certain vegetables. Kids also adore having cheese sandwiches. This item contains plenty of calcium, Vitamin B12, Protein and also phosphor. One should be careful of providing cheese in moderate amounts because of its fat content.
8. Whole grains- Very nutritious and delectable recipes can be cooked with these when one applies a bit of resourcefulness. This item must be included in the list of top 10 diets for kids.
9. Broccoli- It is a highly fibrous vegetable and is ideal for kids. If your kids are fond of broccoli, fry it with low oil or stew it to prepare a tasty dish.
10. Sweet potatoes- These vegetables are naturally sweet and lot of kids love having this item. It is again a rich source of fiber, Vitamin C, potassium, Vitamin A, Iron and Calcium.

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Who said vegetables have to be so boring? Here comes this crafty and creative recipe for kids combining cheese and vegetables.

Ingredients:
1 small onion, diced
½ c celery, diced
10 oz broccoli, cut up in florets (you can also use frozen broccoli)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup Minute Rice (uncooked)
¼ lb Velveeta cheese
¾ stick butter

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8? square casserole dish.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and sauté the onions and celery, until the onions are translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the cheese starts melting.

Pour mixture into the greased casserole dish and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.

This is a very easy rice dish to make. Serve immediately with a tossed salad.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter
4 pears, halved and cored
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup pecan nuts, coarsely chopped (or other nuts)
1 cup dark brown sugar

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees with oven rack in center position..

Place the butter on a baking pan and put into the heated oven. Once butter has melted, sprinkle with brown sugar. Add the pear halves with the cut side down on top of the butter/sugar (caramel) mixture and bake for about 30 minutes.

Once the pear halves are tender, turn them over and baste with the caramel sauce. Bake for a further 10 minutes until nice and golden.

Serve the pear halves in bowls and top with sour cream, caramel and the pecan nuts.

Serve immediately.

A delicious fall dessert

Serve generously and spread the delight!

People often think that when they’re trying to drop extra pounds they’re limited to what they can eat, and that’s true to a degree. But, there’s no need to starve yourself or eat nothing but rice cakes. You can have snacks which are healthy and taste great so you won’t have to suffer while you’re slimming down.

Advertisements on television and in magazines state each person needs a certain number of dairy servings a day. The ads claim you can actually lose weight by consuming dairy products. Well, why not eat low-fat yogurt as a snack. Add fresh fruit to the yogurt and you’ve taken care of one serving of dairy and one serving of fruit for the day. You’ll also have the benefit of the vitamins and minerals from both foods which are necessary for health.

What do you do if you don’t like yogurt that much? You can get dairy servings in other ways, too; try a low-fat milkshake or smoothie. Using skim or low-fat milk, ice, and either fresh or frozen fruit, you can make a great milkshake to enjoy for breakfast or at any other time of the day.

If you’d like to try something different, why not simply try a green smoothie? You use water, 100% fruit juice, water, fruit, and then add raw spinach or another green leafy vegetable. It may take a bit to get used to, but once you’ve had this type of drink you’ll soon learn to love them. This will be very low fat, as you’re not adding anything to the fruit, vegetables and water, and will be full of health-giving vitamins and minerals.

Make muffins using applesauce in place of the fat (margarine or butter). This will make the muffins lower fat than traditional recipes and you may not even recognize the difference as far as taste. Add shredded carrots to the muffins to give you more nutrients. Use other fruits or vegetables such as bananas and zucchini to make the muffins moist and delicious.

Popcorn is a great healthy snack idea as long as you don’t smother it in butter. Air-popped popcorn has no fat, is healthy, and can be filling. Instead of using salt and melted butter to flavor the popcorn, try adding onion powder, garlic powder, or nutritional yeast instead. Be adventurous and try to find a combination that you’ll enjoy. If you feel you must use fat to help flavor the popcorn, use a spray of olive oil which is a good fat.

When choosing healthy snacks that help you lose weight, remember to choose foods which are low-fat. You also want to limit the amount you eat at one sitting. Even snacks which are healthy can cause you to gain weight rather than lose it if you eat too much.

You can create a food journal out of any number of materials. You can get a three-ring binder with notebook paper, a spiral ring notebook, create a journal to suit your needs, or print out pre-made food journals which you find on the internet.

The purpose of a food journal is to track what you’ve eaten during the day. This will give you an accurate picture of what you’ve eaten all day long. It will ensure you’re getting all of the nutrients you need as well as helping you keep track of how much water you’re getting each day.

* Choose the type of journal you’ll use. As stated above, you can use nearly anything as a journal as long as you can carry it with you to track what you’re eating. Online journals aren’t recommended unless you write everything down during the day and then record things at the end of the day.

* Write down everything you eat during a 24-hour period. This includes all meals, snacks, chewing gum, hard candies, or beverages. You may want to use two pages per day to ensure you have enough room to write everything down. You can also use the space for the day to write down if you’ve eaten alone, with friends, what mood you were in when you ate, or other information which might affect how much you ate during the day.

* Throughout the day, look at your journal to ensure you’re getting enough of each food group. Did you eat get five servings of fruits or vegetables? Did you drink enough water? Did you eat too much of any food or too many fats?

* By keeping the journal, you can see what you’re actually eating, which foods you’re eating too many of and can cut back on, and which foods you need to eat more of. You can also determine how many calories you’re eating each day, and then make a decision as to where you can cut back.

Some pre-made journals will break down what you’re eating into categories such as fats, proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, fruits, and vegetables. You decide how in-depth you’d like your journal to be; if it’s too detailed and is more trouble than it’s worth you may not continue using it. The simpler you keep your journal, the more likely you’ll be to use it.

What can you learn when you create a food journal to help you lose weight? You can see if there are certain foods that cause you to stumble. You can also note if there are certain times of the day which you struggle most. Finally, you’ll have a better understanding of how much you’re actually eating during the day so you can decide what changes can be made to help you shed those unwanted pounds.

It has long been agreed that humans need a certain amount of fat in their diets. It’s a small amount, but this little bit of fat is essential to good health. And if you strive to make sure that most of the fats that you consume are of the “good” variety, your health will flourish even more.

Good Fats

All good fats are known as unsaturated fats. Within this category, there are two different kinds of fats.

Monounsaturated fats have been proven to aid in weight loss. They also lower our LDL (bad cholesterol) levels while raising our HDL (good cholesterol) levels. Monounsaturated fats are found in many different kinds of nuts, including almonds, peanuts, pistachios and walnuts. There is also a large amount of monounsaturated fat in certain oils, including avocado oil, canola oil and olive oil.

Like monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats lower LDL cholesterol. But they also provide protection to the heart, making heart disease and heart attacks less likely in those who consume them regularly. There are two main categories of polyunsaturated fats: Omega-3 fatty acids and Omega-6 fatty acids. These fats are found in corn, soy and sunflower oils, as well as fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and rainbow trout.

Bad Fats

Saturated fats are naturally occurring bad fats. We need a small amount of saturated fat in our diets, but most of us get too much of it. Eating too much saturated fat raises bad cholesterol and increases our risk of many different diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

There’s another kind of bad fat, which is man-made and is found in many foods. Hydrogenated fat, also known as trans fat, is created by adding hydrogen to polyunsaturated fat. This is done to make the fat solid at room temperature. Use of trans fat was widespread for many years, because it was believed to be less harmful than saturated fats. But it was recently discovered that trans fat is even worse for our health than saturated fat, as it raises LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL. The FDA now requires the amount of trans fat in foods to be shown on the nutrition label.

Too much of any kind of fat is a bad thing. But if we replace the harmful fats in our diet with those that are good for us, and consume them in moderation, our health will benefit.

People often think that when they’re trying to drop extra pounds they’re limited to what they can eat, and that’s true to a degree. But, there’s no need to starve yourself or eat nothing but rice cakes. You can have snacks which are healthy and taste great so you won’t have to suffer while you’re slimming down.

Advertisements on television and in magazines state each person needs a certain number of dairy servings a day. The ads claim you can actually lose weight by consuming dairy products. Well, why not eat low-fat yogurt as a snack. Add fresh fruit to the yogurt and you’ve taken care of one serving of dairy and one serving of fruit for the day. You’ll also have the benefit of the vitamins and minerals from both foods which are necessary for health.

What do you do if you don’t like yogurt that much? You can get dairy servings in other ways, too; try a low-fat milkshake or smoothie. Using skim or low-fat milk, ice, and either fresh or frozen fruit, you can make a great milkshake to enjoy for breakfast or at any other time of the day.

If you’d like to try something different, why not simply try a green smoothie? You use water, 100% fruit juice, water, fruit, and then add raw spinach or another green leafy vegetable. It may take a bit to get used to, but once you’ve had this type of drink you’ll soon learn to love them. This will be very low fat, as you’re not adding anything to the fruit, vegetables and water, and will be full of health-giving vitamins and minerals.

Make muffins using applesauce in place of the fat (margarine or butter). This will make the muffins lower fat than traditional recipes and you may not even recognize the difference as far as taste. Add shredded carrots to the muffins to give you more nutrients. Use other fruits or vegetables such as bananas and zucchini to make the muffins moist and delicious.

Popcorn is a great healthy snack idea as long as you don’t smother it in butter. Air-popped popcorn has no fat, is healthy, and can be filling. Instead of using salt and melted butter to flavor the popcorn, try adding onion powder, garlic powder, or nutritional yeast instead. Be adventurous and try to find a combination that you’ll enjoy. If you feel you must use fat to help flavor the popcorn, use a spray of olive oil which is a good fat.

When choosing healthy snacks that help you lose weight, remember to choose foods which are low-fat. You also want to limit the amount you eat at one sitting. Even snacks which are healthy can cause you to gain weight rather than lose it if you eat too much.

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
½ cup raspberries
2 cups cottage cheese
1 tsp apricot jelly

Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine sugar and lemon juice. Add banana and mango slices and stir, so that the fruit is well coated.

Use a fine mesh strainer and press the raspberries with the back of a spoon. Extract all the raspberry juice.

In a small pot on very low heat, melt the apricot jelly and stir in the raspberry juice.

Divide the cottage cheese in 4 individual bowls and cover with the fruit slices. Drizzle with raspberry sauce and enjoy this delicious and light dessert.

(Yields 2)

Ingredients:
¼ lb angel hair pasta
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
10 medium shrimp, cleaned
2 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 ½ tbsp freshly chopped parsley
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Cook angel hair pasta according to package directions and drain.

In the meantime, in a skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until golden brown. Remove garlic from skillet and discard. Add shrimp, salt, pepper and parsley to oil and cook until shrimp turn pink. Remove skillet from heat.

Toss with spaghetti and add parmesan and remaining parsley.

Serve immediately with garlic bread and a tossed salad.

Ingredients:
2 cups water
¾ cup sugar
1 piece cinnamon stick (about 3”)
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 firm pears

Sauce:
¼ cup cream (half-half)
½ cup sugar
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp almond extract

Instructions:
In a two quart microwave safe casserole dish, combine water, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Microwave at HIGH (100% power) for 4 minutes, covered.

In the meantime, pare pears, cut thin slice off each bottom so that pear will stand up. Leave the stems on.

Place pears in the casserole dish with hot syrup and microwave covered at HIGH for 10 minutes. Turn the pears after 5 minutes. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Sauce:
In a medium size bowl, combine cream and sugar. Microwave, uncovered, at HIGH for two minutes, After 1 minute, give it a quick stir. Add the chocolate and microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Add almond extract and butter and stir until melted.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of chocolate sauce onto each dessert plate, top with a pear and pour another tablespoon of sauce on top.

Serve immediately!

Ingredients:
2 cups smoked oysters
¼ cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp garlic, minced
½ lb bacon strips, cut in thirds
Toothpicks

Instructions:
Wrap bacon slice around an oyster and place toothpick through to hold it together.

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet, add garlic. Then fry bacon wrapped oysters until the bacon is nice and crisp. Remove from the skillet and place on paper towel to drain.

A great appetizer for your Valentine’s Day Party.

For those of us not aware of it there is a good guide pyramid, which can help us better understand the different food groups. All of our food is divided into grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products and meats, beans, poultry, fish and nuts. Your child gets a balanced diet when all the food groups are covered. There are some groups where the intake needs to be lesser than the others, such as the oils and meats.

The benefits of healthy eating for kids will not be felt if you blindly follow the food groups. For example an apple in its natural state will do more for your child’s well being and overall good health than an apple pie with sugar would.
For children to develop healthy eating habits the parents will need to lead by example. It is always advisable to start a child out eating right from a very small age because this becomes habit forming. You should never put a child on a restrictive diet without the approval and supervision of a pediatrician. Overweight children go through quite a lot of trauma as a result of their size and all of this can be avoided if the parents take onus for ensuring that the children eat the right kinds of healthy nutritious foods they need.

Given below are some ideas on how to draw on the benefits of healthy eating for kids:
• You can guide your family’s choices by doing the shopping right; never dictate it will not go down well. Make sure your home has plenty of healthy foods like fruit and vegetables, yoghurts and dips that you can turn into healthy meals and snacks for the family. Don’t stock up on crisps and other junk food no matter how attractive the packaging and how easy it makes the shopping, to simply load up the trolley with a bunch of pre-packaged foods for kids.
• Make mealtimes a family affair with a lot of happy talk and exchange of ideas. This will help children to eat more slowly. Gobbling food will not help a child differentiate between a full and overfull stomach. When there is fun and laughter at the table you will find your children wanting to stay put and take the meal at a slow pace.

• Take your children with you when you go shopping and when you prepare meals as much as possible. Take the time to learn about their preferences and use the opportunities to teach them about the importance of nutrition and the benefits of healthy eating for kids.

• It is no secret that children enjoy snacking between meals and plenty of low fat milk and fruit should be the healthy alternatives. Try to avoid over eating at any cost. Always remember that what you don’t have at home your children cannot eat – so throw out the junk food!
Exercising and being active goes hand in glove with eating right so make use of this article to better understand the benefits of healthy eating for kids.

You can give your kids what they like to eat, yummy foods that are delicious and healthy. Teaching a child to eat healthy from the start will avoid a lot of problems later on as the child grows. Overweight children tend to have medical issues involving the heart and blood pressure and then there is the psychological factor as well, overweight children get bullied and mocked. You can prevent all of this as a parent by making sure your child eats the right kinds of nutritious food and leads an active life.

Parents can develop healthy eating patterns in children by being innovative and making use of some very healthy kid friendly recipes that use vegetables and proteins in combinations that provide for lower calorie, vitamin and mineral rich foods will teach a child to eat right and enjoy it. Whole grains are full of proteins but need to be served up as appealing fare to get children to eat the food and calcium rich foods are a must for the child’s bone development.

Busy work schedules and microwavable food have seriously affected the growing child’s overall growth and development, because bad eating habits make for nutrition less food. Parents tend to think that as the child grows these deficiencies can be made up for but that it is absolutely the wrong thinking. Right nutrition goes a very long way in making for a healthy child and the positive effects carry on into adulthood, helping defend against medical illnesses.

Children who are raised on nutritious foods adapt quickly to the food and don’t have any problem with eating it, but it is important to start them off right from the word go. Potato crisps are yummy but not nutritious, while fruit is tasty and good for a child. While it is true that it is far easier to whiz through the market picking up snacks and other munchies, it is well worth the time invested in shopping for healthy fruits and vegetables. Buy more fish, which is full of omega 3 fatty acids that are excellent for the body. Always check the child’s food pyramid for your food options and try as far as possible to stick to it.

Make sure your healthy kid friendly recipes include generous helpings of the daily recommended allowances of vitamins and minerals. You can get the vitamins and minerals chart to help you closely adhere to the necessary daily intake and make sure the food groups you buy cover all of them. Children who eat healthy, nutritious food seldom need vitamin supplements. Your pediatrician can help you make informed decisions about the food you give your child. Calcium, iron, zinc and fluoride, and vitamins A, C, D and K should be included in healthy does in the foods you feed your child.

There are several good books that you can buy, which provide healthy kid friendly recipes to help feed your child favorite foods that are healthy alternatives to high calorie diets.

While it is very easy to hand a bag of potato chips to your child to munch on, it will not give the child any nutritional value. Too much fast food, oily foods and over eating have led to a huge problem of overweight children across the country. As parents we have to take control of our children’s eating habits and steer them on the right path to eating foods that provide the nutrition the body needs to grow healthy and strong.
Children get hungry very quickly and if you have trained your child to eat right from a very young age you will not have any problem in getting them to eat the right kinds of snacks. Every growing child is going to need fillers between meals and it is better to train a child to eat smaller portioned meals more often. Healthy snacks are good fillers and can consist of fruits and other whole grain snacks that will add value to the growing body.

Supermarkets are inundated with kids snacks in exciting packages and oh so easy to just dump a few in the trolley and move on. Time savers indeed! These processed foods contain plenty of sugar that is not good for anybody. You can make eating fruit a lot more fun by blending it into yoghurt that makes for a very tasty snack. Alternatively you can also serve the child a fruit platter with a bowl of flavored yoghurt as a dip. Another alternative to getting your child to eat more fruit is to make fruit popsicles – goes down great on a summer day. Fruit smoothies are really very popular among children and can be made from low fat milk, yoghurt and fresh fruit. Your child gets the dual health benefits from fruit and low fat dairy products together. You can make up combinations of fresh vegetables and exciting dips or put low fat peanut butter on whole grain crackers. All of these ideas make for healthy snacks that are going to fill your child up in more ways than one with the goodness of nutrition.

When we are busy rushing around between work, the kids and home with barely a minute to breathe, it is very difficult to think nutritious when easy is all that comes to mind. However, every parent is urged to find the time to make up a list of fun healthy kids snacks based on the preferences of the child. Make a conscious effort to shop right; if you don’t have it in the house the child is not tempted to eat it!

If you take the time to consider your options to provide fun healthy kids snacks you will be pleasantly surprised, there is quite a list of possibilities ranging from fruit, pretzels, crackers with peanut butter, muffins, yoghurt, granola and so much more. Make the time – your child’s health depends on the food you feed him or her.

As parents we have a responsibility towards maintaining a balanced healthy diet for kids to help prevent childhood obesity. To do this the parent needs to ensure that the child consumes foods that will provide nutrition and help maintain a healthy weight. Beverages can also greatly increase calorie intake, so it is best to try to limit the amount of soft drinks consumed and promote water as a healthier alternative.

Parents are encouraged to find new and interesting recipes and to make foods that provide nutrition and the right amount of calories as attractive and appealing as possible. Some of the healthy foods on the food pyramid include: fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low fat dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, beans and lentils. You can reduce portion sizes so that they are reasonable instead of unlimited, and pour out water for your family as an alternative to unhealthy soft drinks. The consumption of refined sugar and saturated fats should be controlled.
Parents will need to bring all of their ingenuity into play to find ways to promote a balanced healthy diet for kids, which is both nutritious and attractive. A heap of greens on a plate is far from appealing and of course your kid is not going to want to eat it! The internet is filled with recipes for new ideas to make dishes more nutritious and balanced with vegetables and even fruits. A macaroni and cheese diet is easy to throw together and will fill your child up but will it provide the nutrition needed?

Team up with the mother’s in your child’s play group to trade ideas on how to get children to eat the food that is good for them, trade recipes and plan play activities. What you need to be aware of is that simply eating right is not enough; your child needs an active lifestyle as well. You can also balance diet by ensuring that the appropriate amount of physical activity is engaged in to strengthen bones, reduce blood pressure and stress and help with weight management.

You have to be firm and remove all those calorie rich temptations from your fridge. If children see ice cream and chocolate and all those yummy things every time they stick their heads in the fridge, how much resistance do you think there will be to the temptation to gorge? A very good idea for a dessert is yoghurt filled with fruit; peaches, berries, mango in yoghurt make for a naturally sweet dessert that is really enjoyable.

Ensuring a balanced healthy diet for kids is every parent’s responsibility and one that needs to be taken very seriously.

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You can create a food journal out of any number of materials. You can get a three-ring binder with notebook paper, a spiral ring notebook, create a journal to suit your needs, or print out pre-made food journals which you find on the internet.

The purpose of a food journal is to track what you’ve eaten during the day. This will give you an accurate picture of what you’ve eaten all day long. It will ensure you’re getting all of the nutrients you need as well as helping you keep track of how much water you’re getting each day.

* Choose the type of journal you’ll use. As stated above, you can use nearly anything as a journal as long as you can carry it with you to track what you’re eating. Online journals aren’t recommended unless you write everything down during the day and then record things at the end of the day.

* Write down everything you eat during a 24-hour period. This includes all meals, snacks, chewing gum, hard candies, or beverages. You may want to use two pages per day to ensure you have enough room to write everything down. You can also use the space for the day to write down if you’ve eaten alone, with friends, what mood you were in when you ate, or other information which might affect how much you ate during the day.

* Throughout the day, look at your journal to ensure you’re getting enough of each food group. Did you eat get five servings of fruits or vegetables? Did you drink enough water? Did you eat too much of any food or too many fats?

* By keeping the journal, you can see what you’re actually eating, which foods you’re eating too many of and can cut back on, and which foods you need to eat more of. You can also determine how many calories you’re eating each day, and then make a decision as to where you can cut back.

Some pre-made journals will break down what you’re eating into categories such as fats, proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, fruits, and vegetables. You decide how in-depth you’d like your journal to be; if it’s too detailed and is more trouble than it’s worth you may not continue using it. The simpler you keep your journal, the more likely you’ll be to use it.

What can you learn when you create a food journal to help you lose weight? You can see if there are certain foods that cause you to stumble. You can also note if there are certain times of the day which you struggle most. Finally, you’ll have a better understanding of how much you’re actually eating during the day so you can decide what changes can be made to help you shed those unwanted pounds.

The New Year is the time for resolutions, especially ones about kick-starting a lifestyle that’s healthier for the body as well as the planet. This January, Organic Valley - a farmer-owned cooperative of more than 1,300 organic family farmers nationwide - is wheeling out a promotion that will help people fulfill that noble but often elusive resolution for recipes for kids and adults.
Beginning today, consumers can go to OrganicRising.com and enter to win prizes that complement the healthy choices they make when purchasing Organic Valley breakfast products at their local grocery store. Organic Valley will award three grand prizes of a Trek bicycle, free subscriptions to Organic Gardening magazine; and five prizes of a year of free Organic Valley products. The website also offers healthy breakfast tips and valuable coupons for nutritious Organic Valley breakfast products, including milk, orange juice, soy milk, eggs, butter and Organic Prairie brand breakfast link sausage. While online, consumers can use Organic Valley’s online calculator Organic Counts (www.organicvalley.coop/organiccounts) to measure the amount of toxic pesticides and synthetic nitrogen they’re helping to keep out of the environment by purchasing Organic Valley products.
For each Organic Rising contest entry, Organic Valley will donate $1 to the Rodale Institute (www.rodaleinstitute.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of people and the planet through organic farming. This will add up to thousands of dollars for organic health and environmental research.
“Organic Valley wants to inspire families to start the new decade focused on the health of their bodies and the planet,” said Sarah Bratnober, marketing communications director for Organic Valley. “Simple choices, from starting each day with an organic breakfast, to heading out the door for a bike ride for some exercise, to supporting the work of organizations like the Rodale Institute are small actions that add up to a big difference.”

SOURCE Organic Valley Family of Farms