DHA And Mom's Persistence

Ahhh!! The "monkey see monkey do" phenomenom worked for me today with the DHA and Lil' J.

I was taking a gel cap myself, and he wanted it. He wanted the adult sized, must swallow whole if you don't want to chew on fish oil, capsule. He insisted he could swallow it. He begged me for one! Hmmm. I actually briefly contemplated letting him have it but reconsidered, since it's been awhile since my husband and I took that parents' first aid course that covered, among other things, choking rescue.

Must take refresher course.

Anyway, I remembered the orange flavoured Smart Squirts that I had in the cupboard, and opened the bottle to take a look. Hmmm. NOPE, you're not swallowing that either.

"Here, Bud, chew on it, ok? It's yummy!"

He did it. I mean he actually chewed the whole thing and swallowed it, and asked for another one! (The first time he tried them he didn't like them AT ALL).

I promised him another one after dinner. Fingers crossed that he keeps liking them...
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My DHA Triumph

Back to the fish oil, and my thus far failed attempts to get it in my kids. Neither one of them are fond of Smart Squirts - the chewable orange flavoured gel caps made especially for kids. Nope, not my kids.

I came up with somewhat of a solution yesterday, if you can live with the idea of orange flavoured powdered Gatorade. My husband buys it for drinks for his lunches at work. I had said no to a trip to 7 Eleven for a Slurpee, and he suggested I make homemade Slurpees with "that Gatorade powder and some ice".

(sigh)

Um, OR... (here's a thought) I could use real orange juice!!! (But where's the fun in that?) Sure enough, my two started jumping up and down, excitedly chanting "Gatorade! Gatorade!". Oh for Pete's sake. I'm stuck now, or I'm the Mom who ALWAYS SAYS NO.

But wait... The Smart Squirts!!! I could add some of those. They'll either drink up the DHA with the Gatorade, or they'll think Gatorade tastes fishy and won't ask for it anymore.

(heh heh)

So I whipped out the Magic Bullet and went to work. Some Gatorade powder, fish oil, water, real orange juice, frozen cranberries, mango, and ice later, I had an orange flavoured slushy concoction that I could live with.

Guess what...

They drank it!!


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The Dog Got The DHA

He finished the kids` toast this morning, which I had sneakily spiked with fish oil. Now before you get visions of gutted salmon hanging in my kitchen, let me explain further...

I bought some fish oil softgel caps to increase our Omega 3 & DHA intake. The adult variety cost about $6 for 120 caps containing 1000 MG each. According to the dosage recommendations on the label, this is enough for one adult for one month. Six dollars - not too bad.

The Smart Squirts, however, cost twice that amount for 30 x 211 MG caps. According to their label, this is enough for 2 weeks per child. So I would need to spend... $48 per month.

Ouch.

Why the price difference... I`m assuming it has to do with the orange flavouring in the Smart Squirts. They taste bearable, and are therefor feedable to kids. Not the like adult variety, which is meant to be swallowed without being tasted. Ugh.

So why not, you say, slice open the gel caps and spike food with the adult (cheaper ;) oil! This is precisely what I`ve been trying, with limited success.

This morning, I dripped about three drops each on the kids` toast (they have peanut butter and jam). You could still taste it. My daughter, surprisingly, ate half of hers. My son took one bite and then passed on the rest. The dog got the leftovers, hence the title of this post.

Last night I tried putting some in spaghetti sauce. I managed to hide the flavour, but that was because I only put one adult capsule in an entire pot of sauce. Sigh.

I`ve also tried adding some to my daughter`s OJ in her lunch kit, but it clumps. You guessed it - she won`t drink it.

I`m trying to come up with other ideas, and will keep you posted on my progess. Meanwhile, if anyone has any suggestions, I`d love to hear them!


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More Sneaking Nutrients Into Kids' Food

Here's a quick and easy way to get some wheat germ and flax into little tummies if they want toast, instead of a cereal type of breakfast (such as porridge).

I make cinnamon toast, which they find irresistible. I toast whole grain bread, then add butter. I sprinkle each slice with about 1/2 tsp of brown sugar (you don't need much, surprisingly), and before I add the wonderful, flavourful and fragrant cinnamon, I also sprinkle a bit of wheat germ and ground flax. I use a knife to spread it all together, cut into pieces and serve.

Mmmm... yummy!
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Sneaking Nutrients Into Food

I'm always looking for ways to sneak nutrients into my kids' food, and here something I tried the other day that worked (good thing they don't read my blogs ;-)

I sprinkled some wheat germ into their peanut butter sandwiches.

Victory!!

The idea is to not go overboard or they'll notice. Better to have them eat sandwiches with a little bit added each time, rather than have them reject them entirely.

This is a handy trick if your kids are very "bread colour oriented". My kids prefer white bread because it's softer and it's what Daddy eats, but if I simply say "not today!" for white, they will eat whole grain, and I never pack anything but whole grain in A's school lunches.

However, I know there are kids out there who won't eat bread unless it's white, so sneaking some wheat germ (or flax, or bran) inside might be a solution that works.

Now What???

I have the veggies ready, grated and pureed, and the dinner hour is looming. My only problem now is figuring out what to make.

I'm not going to complain about lunch... I offered pancakes (in which I could sneak zucchini and wheat germ ;-), but that was flatly refused. Really??? even with the syrup? Instead they had apple slices with peanut butter, cut up avocado, mini carrots, and a cheese string. Like I said, not complaining.

Hmmmm. Hey!!! I think I'll try homemade mac 'n cheese, and mix in some leftover cauliflower puree...

Deceptively Delicious

Adding pureed veggies to kids food is not a new concept, but what I like about Jessica Seinfeld's approach is the way she has incorporated it into her weekly routine.

She sets aside one night a week to steam and puree veggies, and then stores them in her fridge for the week, using them as she needs them. This method never occurred to me; ideally the fresher the puree the more nutritious, but puree that's been in the fridge a couple of days is better than none. Frankly, steaming and pureeing with every meal was too much for me (call me a wimp - I don't mind ;-)

I struggle with my two kids (although my daughter has recently decided she likes broccoli - I'm still waiting for "the catch" on that one). I have in the past added things like wheat germ to porridge and pancakes, but was running short of ideas. Then I saw the Oprah episode that featured Jessica Seinfeld and her approach to infusing nutrients into food that kids will actually eat, and I am newly inspired to try again with my own.

Wish me luck... lol!!

How Many Calories Per Day Do My Kids Need?

I looked this up on a whim and found some info:

My kids are in the 4-6 year category here, and it looks about right:
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/children/nutrition_calorie_needs.htm#cals

The trick is making the calories count. I'm lucky that my kids LOVE high calorie foods like avocado, peanut butter and bananas, so I can restrict things like pasta and white bread and not worry that they're not getting enough fuel.

Here's another chart:
http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/consumer/archives/percentDV.htm

My issue is making sure they get enough, and that I'm not too overzealous in my "crap cutting".

My daughter is a skinny mini, and never stops moving. Today she asked me for a hamburger bun with peanut butter on it. Instantly my Nutrition Warden hat came on, and I recoiled at the thought of letting her eat refined, white bread.

"Mommy please? I know the bun has no vitamins, but the peanut butter does, right? Please?"

I gave in, because I knew she'd be back outside in the yard, burning it all off. Sure enough, as I type this, she's hanging from the monkey bars.