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.

Finding Socks That Fit

Our niece, who's petite, can wear her ten year old's shirts. A friend of mine has a twelve year old daughter who, at 5'7", towers over her and borrows her clothes. Being the Mom of a four and five year old, I'm still a few years away from this.

Or so I though ;-)

I was out of socks this morning, and starting digging in the clean hamper for whatever I could find. The last time I was at Zellers I bought J (my four year old son) some socks that are a bit too big (the next size down would have been too small). I was thinking at the time that he might get more wear out of the bigger ones.

Little did I know, so would I!!

They fit me better than they do hm. Now the only question remains is when he notices (and oh he will), what will his reaction be?

Healthy Tacos?

Hey!!! Who put wheat germ in there???

Seriously. I'm going to try it. Why not? Kids and Hubby never read my blogs, and with all the taco seasoning that goes into the meat, they'll never notice.

Wish me luck.

Now if only I could get them to east salsa, then I could puree some fresh tomatoes to add some lycopene (do you think they'd notice the tomatoes mixed in with the grated cheese instead? Yes?). sigh.

I'll let you know how the wheat germ works out...

Healthy Kid Lunches

I was scouring the net just now looking for some new ideas for my daughter's school lunches... it seems like I pack the same things for her day in and day out, and I want to add some new items.

Then it occurred to me that other Moms might be doing the same thing, so I thought I'd post my list in case it gives someone else some new ideas :-)

The following are some things I have packed for my daughter for school lunches:

• Cheese sandwich on whole grain bread


• Frozen juice box as an ice pack


• Cheese string


• Mini carrots


• Banana


• Granola bar


• Apple sauce


• Fish crackers


• Cheerios


• Fig Newtons


• Green grapes

...see what I mean? It's all good stuff, but there's not a whole lot there. My daughter is pretty picky. I guess I'll just keep surfing and see what else I can come up with...

Chewing Hair

My daughter has hair down to her waist.

Kind of.

Now she has two mid-cheek length fringes on either side of her face. The layered look? Yup. A hair dresser? Nope. She chewed it that way herself.

That's right, she chewed her hair. Chow down, baby... and pass the ketchup.

It was cute for a couple of days - you know, kids and their weird and endearing habits - until I noticed that some of her hair has been significantly shortened.

Um... hang on.

So today after school when she put another big chunk in her mouth, I couldn't help myself - I threatened her with a real hair dresser appointment (as in, scissors - not teeth).

"If you're going to chew it off, I'm going to take you in and have it ALL cut off!"

I was then the recipient of a narrowed eyes dirty look.

"Well Mommy, I could still chew it!!"

(Um... EXCUSE ME??? You want to take on your MOTHER???)

She's got spunk, I'll give her that. But for all her tough kid comebacks, I haven't seen any hair in her mouth since...