I’m happy to say my family is no longer sick and we are finally back on regular food. The chicken noodle soup I made last week really hit the spot. I ended up using a rotisserie chicken from the store and it was incredibly easy and tasted much better than canned soup. I will definitely make it again.
I never got around to making tilapia so we’ll have it on Tuesday. So for this week at least, I’m meeting my goal of fish twice in one week.
This Monday, in addition to the weekly meal plan & challenges, I thought I’d recap some interesting nutrition news. For more meal ideas go to Meal Plan Monday at Org Junkie.
What’s Cooking This Week
Monday: I plan to spice up Mexican night with Chicken Fajitas served with tortillas and black beans
Tuesday: Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with butternut squash* and roasted asparagus (thanks for the recipe Deb).
Wednesday: Beef and lentil soup, bread with spinach* salad (dried cranberries, feta cheese, and almonds)
Thursday: Potluck/leftover night
Friday: Baked Salmon with Tomatoes, Spinach, and Mushrooms
Challenges
Lately, my 3-year old has been trying to take over my job of deciding the “what” and “when” of feeding. I jotted down some notes of one of our recent interactions:
7-7:30 It’s cereal, eggs, and some fruit for breakfast. She’s off eggs right now but ate a lot of cereal and cantaloupe
8:30: Big A: “I want cheese and crackers”
Me: “we’ll have them at snack time in a little while.”
Big A: “I want milky”
Me: “We’ll have it later with lunch.”
Big A: “I want apple juice”
Me: “We’ll have some with dinner tonight. Why don’t you have some water right now?”
Big A: “I—(crying)—don’t—–want—(crying)—-water!”
Me: “You don’t have to drink it, but I’ll put it right here in case you change your mind.”
Two minutes later Big A chugs the water and plays happily.
Nutrition News
Super Kids Nutrition: There’s a blogging contest going on at Super Kids Nutrition for National Nutrition Month. Fellow dietitian, Melissa Halas-Liang, has created a site that offers tons of tips and books to help kids develop healthy eating habits. I like that the tips come from registered dietitians and that the books for children seem like a great tool for getting kids excited about eating healthy. Check it out and get a lot of great info. (If I win this contest, I’ll review one of the books!)
Calories on menus: Last week the passing of the healthcare bill stirred a lot of debate. But something interesting came out that was somewhat underplayed: a new nutrition requirement for fast food and chain restaurants. More than 200,000 restaurants will have to post the calories in their items for everyone to see (even on drive-thru menus!).
We don’t eat out very often so I’m not usually concerned with calories etc. I mean, every 6 months I crave an In ‘N Out burger and my husband is out the door faster than I can say “Let’s have In ‘N Out.” But I have to admit, the nutrition facts on items at my work cafeteria do sway my decisions. When I saw the cheese enchiladas had a day’s worth of fat and saturated fat, I decided to go with the veggie burger. So maybe not such a bad thing. How do you feel about this?
Babies not getting enough vitamin D: I write a lot about the importance of vitamin D in children. A new study in the Journal of Pediatrics reveals that 9 out of 10 breastfed babies and a majority of formula-fed babies do not get the recommended amount of vitamin D (400IU). In order to meet the requirement, formula-fed babies would need to get a liter of formula a day. Another surprising detail is very few parents are supplementing their babies with vitamin D.
Are you supplementing your babies (or child)? And if not, why? For more on why it’s important read this mega-post on Vitamin D.
Kids prefer crunchy vegetables: A new study came out testing which vegetable preparation method was most preferred by 4-12-year-olds. They mashed, steamed, boiled, stir-fried, grilled, and deep-fried veggies. They found kids liked the steamed veggies the best as they retained their crunchiness. I’m not sure why they didn’t include raw veggies which are the crunchiest of all. And they left out my new fav– roasted veggies. But the point is kids like crunchy.
How does your kid like (or not) like veggies?
Well, that’s it for now. I have a lot in store for this week so stay tuned…
I’d love to hear how your beef/lentil slow cooker recipe turns out and if your family likes it. I’m always on the lookout for good slow cooker meals. Also, I love the study on crunchy veggies. I find that when I steam veggies at my house, if I top them with evoo and kosher salt, they go over big.
I’ve made it one time before and it turned out great. Great leftover too. I used ground turrkey instead of beef. I got it from the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook.