Good fats for better fertility

Once upon a time, and not that long ago, fat was a four-letter word. Diet and nutrition gurus told us (and some still tell us) to cut back on fat whenever and wherever possible. Millions of Americans have dutifully followed that advice. Guided by the low-fat mantra, we tossed out salad dressings and mayonnaise made with olive oil or canola oil in favor of fat-free versions made with extra sugar. We replaced other fats in the diet with carbohydrates, usually the rapidly digested ones in white flour, potatoes, white rice, and sugar. This purge didn’t make us any healthier. It had no effect on heart disease, its intended target. And it may have contributed to the epidemic of obesity sweeping the country.

The big problem with the low-fat approach is that not all fats are bad. Let me say that again, because it runs against what we’ve been hearing for years: Not. All. Fats. Are. Bad. In fact, some fats are downright good for you. This good fat–bad fat dichotomy applies to fertility, too. Some types of fat can help you get pregnant, others get in the way:

• Artery-clogging trans fats contribute to infertility.
• Saturated fat has little effect on fertility, but isn’t so hot for your heart.
• Unsaturated fats are good for fertility, and they’re important for pregnancy, a baby’s healthy development, and long-term heart health.

Out with the bad

Trans fat, the “stealth” fat found in many foods, harms the body in a variety of ways. It boosts the amount of artery-clogging low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol) in circulation, depresses the amount of protective high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or good cholesterol), promotes low-grade inflammation, and increases the tendency of blood to form clots inside blood vessels. Trans fats are so bad for the heart that eliminating them from the food supply could prevent tens of thousands� of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events each year in the United States alone. Trans fats are just as harmful to reproduction. In the Nurses’ Health Study, the participants who ate the most trans fats were the most likely to have developed ovulatory infertility. An effect was seen at the fairly low level of about four grams a day, an amount you can easily exceed with a small order of fast-food fries.

The Institute of Medicine says there’s no safe level of trans fats, and recommends getting less than two grams a day. Foods that contain trans fats include solid margarines, vegetable shortening, some commercial baked goods, and some fast foods. Until 2006, it was tough to tell if a food contained trans fat because it wasn’t listed on food labels along with saturated fat and cholesterol. Today, food labels must carry information about trans fats (see figure). This change has food makers scrambling to find trans-free fats for their products.

A loophole in the law lets food companies say “no trans fat” on the package and list zero trans fat on the label as long as the food contains less than 0.5 grams of per serving. So if you’re serious about clearing trans fats from your diet, you need to squint at food labels’ fine print, where the ingredients are listed. If “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “vegetable shortening” appears in the list, the food contains some trans fat.

Detecting trans fats in a restaurants isn’t as easy, since they don’t have to provide nutrition information about the food they serve. You’re in luck if you live in New York City or Boston, which have banned restaurants from using oils containing trans fats. California is set to phase out trans fats by 2011. Other cities and states are certain to follow suit. One good strategy is avoiding deep-fried foods when eating out, since many restaurants still use partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in their fryers. A KFC Chicken Pot Pie, for example, has 14 grams of trans fat. A Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit with a large order of hash browns at Burger King gives you 18 grams, nearly 10 times the daily healthy limit. Other examples are here.

Moderation in the middle

Saturated fats aren’t across-the-board bad for you like trans fats are. A healthy diet can include some saturated fat. Just don’t overdo it.

In the Nurses’ Health Study, women whose diets included a lot of saturated fat were no more likely to have had ovulatory infertility as women whose diets were low in saturated fat. That isn’t a green light to chow down on foods rich in saturated fat. It strongly influences cholesterol levels, and thus heart health. To stay strong for the baby you hope to be carrying—and the grandchildren you may someday have—go easy on saturated fats. For someone who takes in 2,000 calories a day, that means keeping saturated fat intake under 17 grams. That’s the amount in a fast-food cheeseburger, a three-ounce sirloin steak, or a half slice of a Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Mousse cheesecake.

In with the good

Two fat families—the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats—are essential for good health. They’re to be embraced, not avoided. That’s doubly true for the group of unsaturated fats known as omega-3 fats. They are especially important for fertility, pregnancy, a baby’s healthy development, and long-term heart health.

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats benefit the body in many ways. They lower levels of harmful LDL and increase protective HDL. Monounsaturated fats improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin and ease inflammation. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are an important part of cell membranes, and so help regulate what goes in and out of cells. They provide the body with the raw material for hormones that regulate blood clotting, the contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation. Babies need omega-3 fats to make connections between nerves, both in the womb and after birth. Later in life, omega-3 fats help the heart beat steadily and not lapse into erratic and potentially deadly rhythms.

Good sources of monounsaturated fats are olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocados, nuts such as cashews and almonds, and seeds such as sesame and pumpkin seeds. Good sources of polyunsaturated fats include vegetable oils, especially corn, soybean, and safflower oils; soybeans and other beans; and walnuts. Make it a point to get some omega-3 fats every day. Good sources of these include fatty fish such as tuna, salmon, herring, and anchovies. (In a separate column I’ll try to clear up the confusion about eating fish.) Plants that are good sources of omega-3s include chia seeds (sold as Salvia), flax seeds and flaxseed oil, walnuts and walnut oil.

More detailed information on the health effects of fats in food are available from the Harvard School of Public Health’s NutritionSource.

Next up: Slow carbs for fertility, not no carbs�

How Diet Affects Fertility

You’ve probably been hearing for years that what you eat and how you live affect the health of your heart and blood vessels, your chances of developing certain kinds of cancer, the strength of your bones, and more. What about fertility—can what you eat help you get pregnant? It certainly makes sense. After all, the reproductive system is subject to the same influences as the circulatory system, nervous system, and others.

Farmers, ranchers, and animal scientists know a fair amount about how nutrition affects fertility in cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and other commercially important animals. But until recently, fertility experts knew next to nothing about whether food and fertility are linked in humans. That hasn’t stopped folks from offering advice on what to eat to get pregnant. There are a few infertility diet books in circulation, and the Internet is rife with dietary advice for couples trying to get pregnant. But their recommendations—eat oysters, yams, kelp, and garlic; go organic; stop drinking coffee and alcohol—are scatter-shot approaches based on limited information.

The first systematic study of diet, lifestyle, and fertility has revealed several common-sense strategies, and at least one surprising approach, that can help women avoid ovulatory infertility. This type of infertility stems from trouble making mature eggs or releasing eggs at the right time. It is the single most common cause of infertility in America today.

This work is part of the landmark Nurses’ Health Study, the grandmother of research into women’s health. It is based on information supplied by nearly 19,000 women who were trying to get pregnant at one time or another over an eight-year period. The results were initially published in respected, peer-reviewed medical journals such as the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Human Reproduction, and Fertility & Sterility. Rather than have this information languish in medical journals, we decided to get it to the people who need it the most—women and couples having trouble getting pregnant. So I helped researchers Jorge Chavarro and Walter Willett, both of the Harvard School of Public Health, compile the findings, translate them from science speak, and add some recipes. The end result was The Fertility Diet (McGraw-Hill, 2007), which offers a natural way to boost ovulation and improve the odds of getting pregnant.

The plan described in The Fertility Diet doesn’t guarantee a pregnancy any more than in vitro fertilization or other forms of assisted reproduction. But it helps restore the balance of hormones essential for reproduction provides a nutritionally receptive environment for conception and the survival of a fertilized egg. The Fertility Diet focuses on:

• avoiding harmful fats and choosing healthful ones
• switching to whole grains and other slowly digested carbohydrates
• eating more vegetable protein, like beans and nuts, and less animal protein
• taking a multi-vitamin that contains folic acid and other B vitamins, and getting plenty of iron from fruits, vegetables, beans and supplements (not from red meat)
• picking the right beverages
• getting into the “fertility zone” for weight and exercise
• and for women who drink milk or eat dairy foods, choosing the best ones

In the Nurses’ Health Study, women who said their diets or lifestyles included five or more of the ten steps described in The Fertility Diet were 84% less likely to have had ovulatory infertility as women who didn’t practice any of them.

The steps we describe are virtually free, available to everyone, and have no negative side effects. They work for women who have neverf had a child as well as for those experiencing secondary infertility. Best of all, they set the stage for a healthy pregnancy and form the foundation of a healthy eating strategy for motherhood and beyond. That’s a winning combination no matter how you look at it.

I’ll outline the plan in installments that focus on different parts of a fertility boosting plan, from fats and carbs to beverages and exercise. First up: Fats and fertility.

Recognized in the literary world with stories such as Cinderella, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, the pumpkin is no stranger to the spotlight. Each year in the USA, thousands of pumpkins are carved into jack ‘o lanterns and many pumpkin pies are eaten at Thanksgiving celebrations!

Pumpkin is excellent for you. It has no cholesterol and is low in fat and sodium and rich in vitamins. The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that it is loaded with the antioxidant, beta- carotene. Current research indicates that a diet rich in foods containing beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and offers protection against heart disease and other aspects of aging.

On top of being good for your health, Pumpkins taste good too. That’s why they are a part of the diet in almost every country in the world.

Age to introduce: About 8-10 months (cooked and pureed).

Toddler Treat: Pumpkin Sauce

This is the not-so-well-known cousin of apple sauce — a side dish that can go with any meal, delicious as a spread on bread too!

Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree (see below)
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup of honey

Instructions:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Serve

Age to introduce: Over 12 months

Storage: Refrigerate for 2-3 days. Freeze for up to 2 months.

Fresh Pumpkin Puree: You will need 1 small to medium pumpkin.
Prep: Wash, cut in half, and remove seeds. Cut each half into four pieces.
Cook: Place in microwave-safe dish with 1 Tbsp of water. Cover. Cook 13-15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Pumpkin is done if you can pierce it easily with a fork.
Puree: Scoop out pumpkin meat into blender/food processor. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Discard Skins. Process. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup additional water to develop smooth texture.

Pumpkins for everyone

Pumpkins find their place across the menu — breakfast, lunch and dinner and dessert — whether its pancakes, muffins, seeds for snacking, hearty soup, stuffed pumpkin or tasty pie. Here are few ideas for adding more pumpkin to your family meals:

1. Add 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned) and 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to you pancakes for breakfast. They taste terrific with maple syrup and chopped pecans!

2. Add 1-2 cups of pumpkin puree (fresh or canned) to your favorite chili recipe

3. Use pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned) instead of banana in your favorite banana bread or muffin recipe.

4. Make mashed potatoes with 1/2 white potatoes 1/2 pumpkin.

5. Bake pumpkin like a squash. Before baking, drizzle pumpkin meat with a mixture of balsamic vinegar, honey and chili flakes.

Roasted Pumpkin seeds: Don’t waste pumpkin seeds after cooking or making jack-o-lanterns. It is easy to roast the seeds for a delicious and nutritious snack. The hulls are a great source of fiber with the seeds containing a high amount of phosphorus. Let the kids slosh through the slippery seeds and pick out the fibers.

1 quart water
1 Tbsp salt
2 cups pumpkin seeds
1 Tbsp vegetable oil or melted, unsalted butter (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.

2. Pick through seeds and remove any cut seeds. Remove as much of the stringy fibers as possible.

3. Bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the seeds and boil for 10 minutes. Drain, spread on kitchen towel or paper towel and pat dry.

4. Place the seeds in a bowl and toss with oil or melted butter.

5. Spread evenly on a large cookie sheet or roasting pan (cover pan with aluminum foil for easy clean- up).

6. Place pan in a preheated oven and roast the seeds for 30 to 40 minutes. Stir about every 10 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.

7. Cool the seeds, then eat or pack in air-tight containers or zip closure bags and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Pumpkin Fun Facts

Original recipe for pumpkin pie: Colonists sliced off pumpkin tops; removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes.

I recently received this question from a mom who needed help planning for healthy feeding for her toddler while their family was traveling and staying in hotels overseas. It is a common challenge among parents to find nutritious foods while on the go, so I thought I would share in case you are planning one more trip during the last few days of summer or brainstorming easy preschool and day care snacks.

“We are searching for ideas for feeding our little one while staying in hotel rooms during our time in abroad. We know that it is going to be hard to do much in the way of food preparation. Any advice or suggestions for feeding him while on the go?”

In general, toddlers can eat most of the same foods as adults, just in smaller portions, softer versions, and with fewer spices. When you are stopping at restaurants for a bite, most countries have a menu version of a side pasta dish with tomato or cheese sauce, chicken tenders, or slices of bread, meats and cheese. Look for fruit and vegetable options also such as a chopped fruit and yogurt cup, slice of vegetable pizza, or cup of vegetable soup with crackers or grated cheese.

Healthy snacks for stocking in the car and hotel room are whole grain crackers, dry low sugar cereal, and maybe non-refrigerated fruits and vegetables such as bananas, apples, raisins, tomatoes, or raw green beans. Toddlers love to dip foods, so look for some ketchup or other local condiment that he can try dipping. Single serving cups of yogurt and applesauce are also very nutritious and portable.

If you have a kitchen in the hotel or can get baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, you can try mashing or slicing those with yogurt or dip. Iron fortified rice cereal is an excellent staple food, as is oatmeal. Another option is to look for canned, low sodium vegetable and chicken soups to serve. You can drain the broth and serve the contents as finger food. Once you arrive at your destination and know what foods are easily available to purchase, check the grocery aisles for shelf stable foods and beverages. Always choose pasteurized beverages.

Keep an eye on your toddler for any allergic reaction when you are serving a foreign food. The most common allergenic foods are eggs, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, and cow milk. If you don’t know his history with these foods, introduce one at a time and watch for any type of reaction such as hives, wheezing, or diarrhea.

Herring is a very common fish abroad and it is very nutritious. Stir some canned herring together with cream cheese and serve it on sliced bread or crackers. Watch to see if your toddler reacts to the fish, but if he’s OK with it, that is a perfect source of healthy omega three fats and protein. In the U.S., we have other canned fish options such as canned salmon, light chunk canned tuna, or sardines. I know it sounds horrible, but you never know till you try it! This month’s recipe is a surprise winner, donated by the Colorado State University Omega 3 for Baby and Me research program.

Omega 3 Spaghetti
1 (16 oz.) package spaghetti noodles
1 (25 oz.) jar your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 (8 oz.) package sliced mushrooms
2 small zucchinis, sliced
3 (2 oz.) packages sardines
Grated parmesan cheese, optional

In large saucepan, sauté sliced mushrooms and zucchini. Cook noodles according to directions on package. Add spaghetti sauce and sardines to vegetable mixture. Stir to break up sardines. Cook until sauce is heated through. Toss noodles and sauce in large serving bowl. Serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Picture this: Carrie Couponer is standing in the check out line at the grocery store when she realizes she can’t find the coupons she had planned to use.� She knows she cut them out of the paper. She thought they were somewhere in her purse hiding among the hand sanitizer, loose change, 50 pens and lip gloss (which was free at CVS last week with the sale and manufacturer coupons!).� Where are those coupons?� By the time she finds them, she has long since left the store with the higher priced items.� Sound even remotely familiar?�
�
The moral of the story is that being organized when it comes to your coupons will save you a lot more money than being unorganized.� You have to be able to find your coupons when you need them.� Many new couponers simply give up couponing because they get frustrated with organization. The good news is that there are some very effective and manageable ways to organize your coupons that will increase your grocery savings tremendously.� There is no one method that works for everyone, but there are some methods that work much better than others.
�

Popular� coupon organization methods:�

• Accordion-style file
• Envelope in the purse
• A lunchbox or shoebox with dividersA plastic box made for index or recipe cards
• The binder method

�
Accordion Style Organizers, Envelopes and Boxes
�
The organization methods that involve filing coupons one in front of the other have their benefits.� The accordion style, envelopes or small boxes are often small enough to put into your purse and they are usually lightweight.� If you don’t use many coupons, these types of methods may work very well for you. The downside to these methods is that they make it very difficult to see what coupons you actually have.� When you are in the store searching for a coupon, you will spend a lot of time flipping through each envelope or section and looking through each stack.� It is very easy to let coupons expire with these types of methods because you can’t see the coupons easily.

The Binder Method
�

The binder method involves filing coupons in baseball card holders, dividing them by product type and storing them in a three-ring binder.� This method takes couponing to a new level of organization and allows you to find what you need, when you need it.� When I first started couponing� nine years ago, I used a traditional accordion-style organizer. It worked for about a month� but I quickly needed a more effective� method. I was frustrated because I couldn’t find the coupons I needed when I was making my grocery list and when I was shopping in the store. I was also having trouble fitting all my coupons in the accordion style organizer.
I discovered the binder method in 1999 and have used it ever since. I will� admit that the binder is bulky and certainly doesn’t fit in my purse.� I� have decided� that lugging it around is like weight lifting and I am� burning a� bunch of extra calories while saving a ton of money.� Although the binder method is not for everyone, it is my favorite method and has worked beautifully for me.
�
Benefits of using the binder method:

• A binder organizer can hold far more coupons than most accordion files, envelopes or recipe box organizers.
• Each coupon and its value are visible, cutting down on the time it takes to find a coupon when you are looking over the sales ads or shopping at the store.
• Expiration dates are easier to see and you are less likely to let a valuable coupon expire.
• You can quickly flip to the pages for the section of the store you are in and see all the coupons you have available. � This is especially important if you run into an unexpected or unadvertised deal (which happens to me almost every time I shop).
• The binders fit easily on the child seat section of the cart so flipping through the pages as you walk through the aisles is simple.

• Binder organizers are easily expandable.� As your coupon inventory increases, add more coupon pages to your binder.
• Many binders have pockets with room for your sales ads, calculator, pens and store reward cards.�

Create Your Own Binder Coupon Organizer

You can easily make your own binder organizer with any three ring binder (either zippered or not), baseball card pages (found in the trading card section of most big box stores) and tabbed dividers (found in the same big box stores or office stores).� I recommend labeling the tabbed dividers by product type so you can see all the coupons for a specific product in the same section.� Here are the tabbed divider labels I use on my organizer:

• Baking
• Beverage
• Bread
• Canned
• Cereal
• Cleaning
• Condiments
• Dairy
• Deodorant
• Entertainment
• Feminine
• Frozen
• Hair
• Laundry
• Meat
• Oral Care
• Over the Counter
• Paper & Plastic
• Pasta & Rice
• Pet Care
• Salad Dressing
• Snacks
• Soap
• Store Coupons

You will need at least 24 baseball card pages, one for each tabbed divider section.� Soon after you start using the binder method, you will probably want to add at least another 24 pages.
�
File your new coupons every week so you don’t end up with a backlog of coupons. Bring your organizer with you to your child’s extra curricular activities and file while they are in ballet, soccer, music lessons, etc.� If you watch a favorite television show each week, that’s a perfect time to be cutting and filing coupons. Remove your expired coupons once a month and then send them to our military stationed overseas. They can use manufacturer coupons that expired up to 6 months ago at the commissaries on base.� For a list of couponers whose families are stationed overseas and can use your expired coupons, see my website at http://www.smartspendingresources.com/resources.html.
�
If you want to see a picture of my organizer or (warning – blatant sales pitch coming your way) you would rather purchase the binder organizer inserts than put them together yourself, see my website at: http://www.smartspendingresources.com/services.html .
�
Each time you go through the cycle of filing coupons and shopping with your organizer, you will become more efficient and save more and more money. Don’t be surprised if other shoppers stop you in the store to marvel at your organization and fantastic savings!
�
Good luck organizing and please feel free to share your coupon organizing suggestions and feedback.� And remember……..it’s your money – spend it wisely!

Question: What foods and food ingredients should I avoid feeding my dog?

Answer: This is by no means a list of everything on the planet that’s bad for dogs. But it’s a few of the things that should be avoided by themselves or as an ingredient in something else.

1. Chocolate. This contains the alkaloid theobromine which is toxic to dogs. It also contains caffeine and may contain sugar.

2. Dairy. Dairy products include milk, cream, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, whey, sour cream, kefir, casein, and ice cream. Milk is a hormonal growth fluid produced by a mother for her young of the same species. Dogs do not “milk” cows and, after weaning, have no need for dairy products. A weaned dog isn’t equipped with the enzymes needed to digest the protein and sugar in dairy products. Plus, studies with some animals show that casein (a protein in milk) interferes with the absorption of other nutrients.

3. Essential Oils. Dogs are very sensitive to the potent essential oils that may be used on humans. If you wish to use aromatherapy for your dog, check references for safety and always dilute them in a carrier oil. Use caution with cleaning products that contain essential oils. Also make certain your dog doesn’t get into potpourri.

4. Grapes and Raisins. These are tricky because no one is certain yet why there have been recent reports of toxicity due to grape and raisin ingestion. Until we know more, they’re best avoided.

5. Houseplants. There are too many houseplants that are toxic to name here. Some aren’t toxic but, personally, I presume one is until I find out otherwise. Let your dog know that chewing on houseplants is definitely a “no no.” If you like, you can provide a pot of fresh wheatgrass for safe nibbling.

6. Onions and Garlic. Ingestion of onions and garlic are related to destruction of red blood cells. They may also irritate the gastrointestinal system. There’s still debate about the harmful effects of garlic as many people including holistic vets have used it in dogs without problem, but I do want to inform you of the potential risk.

7. Raw Salmon. Salmon poisoning is an infectious disease caused by a rickettsia that uses a parasitic fluke on salmon as a host. It can cause serious illness and death.

8. Soy. Soy is found in various forms in many products. It contains compounds that may negatively affect dogs by interfering with nutrient absorption, normal growth, thyroid function, and hormonal development.

9. Sugar. As discussed earlier, cancer cells thrive on sugar as do many other disease processes. And sugar comes in many forms, including beet, raw, brown, cane, fructose, corn sweetener, corn syrup, date, dextrin, dextrose, glucose, lactose, maltose, manitol, polydextrose, sorbital, sorghum, sucanat, sucrose, turbinado, barley malt, molasses, honey, and maple syrup. Xylitol, a sweetener made from carbohydrate should also be avoided.

10. Yeast. This is a fungus that many dogs cannot tolerate. It may cause allergic reactions, bloating, digestive and urinary problems. Different forms include brewer’s, nutritional, baker’s, torula, and primary yeasts.

My kids have always enjoyed cooking and baking, and it has been my pleasure to teach them.� My son, Dylan, is 4 and he is still happy with the toy ovens and licking the mixing spoons, but my daughter, Juliet, who will soon be 10, has already mastered stirring (while keeping much of the food inside the bowl), cracking eggs, and measuring; and has begun wanting a bit more leeway in the kitchen.

I am always anxious to try a kid friendly product in the kitchen and was delighted to test out King Arthur Flour K.A.F. Kids™ Snickerdoodle cookie mix.� I sat the box out on the kitchen counter and tied an apron around Juliet.� She had no problems following the kid friendly directions.� Not only were they easily spelled out, with child friendly fonts, margins and spacing, but there were illustrations for each step.� I helped with a couple steps, but quite frankly she could have done each step solo.� She turned on the oven while I melted the butter she lined the cookie sheet with parchment paper and then cracked her egg.� Once the butter cooled a bit she used a whisk to incorporate the egg with the butter and then used a spoon to add the packaged cookie mix.� She then followed the directions on the box and rolled the dough into balls.� Dylan got into the action at the next step as he got to roll the balls in the cinnamon and sugar (the cinnamon and sugar come with the box and there is more than enough).� They placed the cookies on the cookie sheet and I placed it in the oven.

The 8 to 10 minutes that followed brought great anticipation through our home as the kids waiting patiently for the cookies to finish baking.� They took turns flipping on the oven light and smashing their faces against the oven door, watching the dough balls spread out into proper cookie form. When the buzzer rang and we confirmed that the cookies were ready, I placed each of the 16 cookies onto a cooling rack.� �

After a few minutes I placed 2 warm cookies on plates and poured them each a glass of cold milk; quite a reward for their efforts in the kitchen.� The cookies were absolutely perfect.� We stored the leftovers in an airtight container and the texture of the cookies stayed perfect for days: edges firm, top layer crinkly, and oh-so-soft inside.

If you are looking for a fun and tasty way to spend some time in the kitchen with your child, I would certainly recommend this product.� King Arthur has a whole line of kids’ mixes and you can view them online at www.kingarthurflour.com, or you can request a catalogue by calling 800.827.6836. For about the same price of a kid’s meal at a fast food restaurant (the mixes retail for $5.50-$5.95) you will have a learning experience, great memories, and yummy dessert!

Although it would sometimes be far quicker to do it yourself, or purchase prepackaged foods, the time spent with children in the kitchen is absolutely priceless.� I fondly remember graduating from my own light bulb powered oven and becoming Mommy’s little helper.� The times spent with� my mom� in the kitchen are some of my fondest memories, thanks Mom!

Happy Baking!
Betsy

Fun foods are everywhere. Most of us live in a culture where processed, white flour, high sugar and/or deep fried foods are commonly eaten and easily purchased. The availability of these foods combined with food advertisements on all types of media are over whelming. These types of foods are so common that avoiding them becomes a challenge.

I encourage you to focus your efforts on providing whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible. This includes:

• All fresh fruits and vegetables
• Low fat meats
• Nuts, seeds,
• Beans and tofu
• Eggs

Whole grains such as oatmeal, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and whole grain breads and bread products.
Low fat dairy products such as mozzarella cheese, low fat cottage cheese and 2% milk can be added without over doing it.

If you can offer these foods to your child more than half of the time, nutrition will happen even when fun foods are part of your child’s regular diet. We are all born with an innate drive for survival. This survival instinct will attract us to the right nutrients for our bodies if we know how to follow these instincts.

In studies, children were offered a variety of healthy and fun foods for a week. They were allowed to choose what they wanted to eat and eat as much as they wanted. The study found that these children consumed the correct amount of calories and the right balance of nutrients. Yes, there were times when they chose fun food exclusively, but over time their bodies directed them to the foods that their bodies needed.

So we need to help children maintain an intact instinct to survive. It sounds harder than it is. Here are 5 tips to let nutrition happen.

• Offer a variety of healthy foods
• Children’s eating like, dislikes, and amount consumed are erratic. If they don’t eat much on one day or one meal they will make up for it later.
• Help children focus on how their body feels during a meal by not distracting the eating process with television, reading or intrusive music or radio programs.
• Always offer a healthy food with a fun food (that is served in a limited portion) so a child can eat until they decide they are full.
• Respect a child’s decision to eat or not.

Eating a good breakfast can do a lot more for your children than you may realize. There are many studies that conclude that eating breakfast has many health benefits, including reduced risk of obesity, better school performance — both learning and behavior — reduced tooth decay, and children who eat breakfast are more likely to get a full day’s supply of calcium.

Many of us often meet the challenge of getting everyone out the door on time. When this happens, breakfast runs the risk of being short changed or overlooked. Breakfast is just too important to your children’s success at school to let this happen.

Here are some tips for breakfast success:
• Sit down and eat breakfast as a family
• Turn TV off and avoid other distractions
• Develop the habit of getting your children ready for school before bedtime, so there is more time in the morning for breakfast
• Prepare breakfast foods in advance, and freeze them in single servings
• Have “on the go” breakfast items, such as small boxes of whole grain cereals, fresh fruits, yogurt in the tube, granola bars, etc. on hand. Just in case someone sleeps through the alarm clock.

A healthy breakfast should consist of:
• Protein
• Whole grains
• Fruit or vegetable
• Calcium

Here are some examples of healthy breakfasts:

• #1: Breakfast burrito: scrambled eggs, black beans and salsa wrapped in a flour tortilla, and a glass of orange juice
• #2: Toasted English muffin, a hard boiled egg, a glass of milk and a bowl of strawberries
• #3: Bowl of whole-grain cereal with milk and a banana
• #4: Buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup, a bowl of melon and a glass of milk
• #5: Bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and milk and glass of orange juice
• #6: Yogurt, a slice of whole wheat toast and a handful of raisins
• #7: Piece of spinach quiche, a slice of whole wheat toast and a handful of blueberries

Spinach Quiche
Quiche is quick to make, and makes a healthy breakfast for children and adults. Make it ahead of time, cut it into single serving pieces, wrap the individual pieces in foil or plastic wrap and freeze them. In the morning just defrost and reheat in the microwave. Simple and very tasty.

Ingredients:
3/4cup of shredded Swiss cheese
3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
1 (10oz.) package of frozen chopped spinach, squeezed dry
4 eggs
1 cup of half & half or milk
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 prepared 9-inch pie crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sprinkle spinach and onion in prepared pie crust. Toss cheese with flour and sprinkle in the pie crust. In a large bowl gently whisk together eggs, half & half (or milk), salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over all of the other ingredients in the pie crust. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.
Let stand 10 to 12 minutes before serving. If you are cutting it into single servings and freezing it, let the quiche cool completely.