Tag Archives: healthy food

Food, Friday Food Facts, Life, Parenting

Learning to Walk and Butt Spins + Friday Foodie Fun Facts: Pears

09/12/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Only 3 days left until my “bet” that Avery would be walking by 10 months will expire. Of course, technically, this counts as walking, right?

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She’s getting very close, just needs to let go and realize she doesn’t need support to stand on her own. It’s hard, but we are trying not to rush it as that will make the task of keeping up with her all that more difficult! A crawling baby is hard enough as it is!!

Although, she does give us a break every now and then just to spin on her butt….

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This is pretty new and took me a while to actually capture on video, but now she does it multiple times a day. Her Aunt Lindsay, Going Mom’s sister, said she just likes a panoramic view, and I fully agree!

But I don’t think she’ll be “grounded” much longer. I’ve been catching her working on her leg strength with squats to prepare for her momentous first steps.

What do you think? Before 11 months for sure or would say even longer? I feel pretty confident she’ll make those steps before her 11 month mark, but only time will tell for sure.

Maybe she’ll be motivated as we start going to meetups with the Dallas Dads Group another stay-at-home dad, David Kepley, and I just started with a lot of help from some great guys at City Dads Group.

Our first official meeting is tomorrow, at nice park with a miniature train to ride! How do you think an almost 10 month old will handle a train ride? I think she’ll love it.

Now, being Friday, that means I have a few fun food facts to share. We’ve been receiving organic, local produce each week from a co-op we just joined, and I’ll start giving facts about one of the items we receive. Today, it’s pears.

I love pears and haven’t had them in a while, so it was a nice treat to see them in our last box. Being organic, I just grabbed one and ate it as is, no need to wash since even organic soil has nutrients. It was delightfully tasty and left me eager to learn more about this sweet treat. Turns out, there’s a lot to know; here’s a few things….

Before tobacco was introduced in Europe, pear leaves were smoked.
Pears are often recommended for weaning babies because they are low in acid and aren’t too harsh on a baby’s digestive system.
Pears have more nutrients per calorie than calories per nutrient which is surprising since they are so sweet. They are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, copper & vitamin K.
Pears don’t float.
Most pears ripen from the inside out, and if left on the tree to ripen, many varieties will turn brown and rot in the middle.
The skin of pears contain at least three to four times as many phytonutrients as the flesh. These phytonutrients include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory flavonoids, and potentially anti-cancer phytonutrients like cinnamic acids. The skin of the pear has also been show to contain about half of the pear’s total dietary fiber.

Wow, I’d say when put against these bell-shaped treats, other fruits just can’t com-pear!

Happy Friday!

Food, Parenting

The Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants for Kids

06/20/2014 R.C. Liley 11 Comments

After extensive research and numerous comparison tests, I have compiled the healthiest fast food restaurants for our children. To some, the results might be shocking, while it may come as no surprise to others.

With all of the claims made on billboards, tv, and magazines, it’s hard to know what truly is best when it comes to going to a fast food establishment. Hopefully this info will help you navigate the confusing hub bub and make the best decisions for your family.

Here is my list of the healthiest fast food joints to take your kids:

1. NONE!

And that concludes my list.

Nope, I didn’t forget 2, 3, 4, etc.; number one is the only answer. There is no healthy fast food restaurant for anyone, and especially your children who depend on you to provide! Maybe there are healthier choices, but they are still devoid of the nutrition from something similar made at home.

I get that many parents are short on time, but I don’t see that as being a good reason to resort to fast food or frozen, packaged meals to feed your kids. True, I don’t know everyone’s life story or current situation, but our kids depend on us, their parents, to protect and properly provide for them.

If you claim to care about your child’s health, then why subject them to overly processed, chemical laden “food”? It’s unfair to children who don’t know the difference between healthy vs. unhealthy food, and can only accept what you get them or have nothing at all.

Most fast food options will have you waiting in line either at the drive-thru or inside which can take upwards of 15 to 30 minutes depending on time of day. Alternatively, you could prepare a healthy meal with whole foods at home and even get the entire family involved.

And the argument over the cost of healthy food being too high is absurd. The amount of money you spend on going out easily outweighs the cost of buying your own ingredients and cooking at home. Factor in the gas it takes to go wherever you’re going, price for drinks, added tip if at a sit-down restaurant, and the lesser quality food that impacts health, it’s just not worth it.

We show Avery how eating our homemade meals makes us feel great and gives us energy to get through the day. Plus, making your own food can be educational and fun for your kids. She watches me prepare meals in the kitchen and then takes part in eating (or attempting to eat) healthy foods like carrots, broccoli, and lately, cucumber.

It’s important to start your kid on the path to eating healthy from the start, but I realize many of you have grown children who may resist your attempts at offering healthy food. This is no reason to just give up and let them go about their way; that’s just a guarantee to lead your child down the path to obesity.

Here are 5 ways to get your kids interested in healthier food options and maybe even help you bond more as a result:

Teach by example. As parents, we are our children’s role models, so when you eat healthy, they will want to eat healthy too.
Take them grocery shopping. Sounds crazy, huh? Well, stay out of the middle isles with colorful boxes promising “fun” and “happiness” and peruse the perimeter with your kid. Let them pick out a new produce item to take home; they will be more interested in trying something they chose.
Let them help. If your kids are old enough, get them in the kitchen to “help” however they can. Just having the slightest bit of participation will make kids more prone to trying something they had a part in preparing.
Don’t give up. If at first you don’t succeed, try again! A child may need to see a food several times before actually trying it, so be persistent. We learned this with Avery; she wouldn’t look at the carrots we gave her, but now she’ll pick them up and bring them right to her mouth!
Make it easy. Kids (and most adults) tend to pick food based on what’s the easiest to grab. So when looking for a snack, most of us will grab that bag of chips instead of chopping fresh produce into bite-size pieces. Try cutting fruit and veggies and have them ready to grab right out of the fridge for your kids to snack on. You’ll be surprised at how they’ll go for them now that they are easy to eat! This will also help the adults in the house!

By now, you get my point, if you truly want to best for your kids and want them to grow up strong and healthy, focus on healthy food. Exercise is another important aspect, and I’ll get into that on another post I’m sure. For children, just getting outside and being active is the best exercise. Limit time in front of a screen and hey, try joining and playing outside with them!

Here’s a long, but extremely eye-opening info-graphic on the childhood obesity epidemic; it’s sad to read, and I hope to do what I can to change this!

Our kids look up to us and want to do what we do, so by living a healthy life, we are helping shape a healthy future for our little ones. If you don’t know how to start on a healthier path, MR. Google has plenty of information.

This post is part of the “I’m Proud of That” Link-up on the Daddy Space blog. Click the badge below to check out other awesome parent bloggers:

Here’s a search I performed for you to find Healthy, easy weekday meals.

Are you currently trying to change your unhealthy habits at home?

Do you already follow healthy living? If so, any tips for other parents?

Parenting, Pinterest Picks

Going Dad’s Top Ten Pinterest Picks (7): Food Matters!

06/06/2014 R.C. Liley 3 Comments

Do you know exactly what went into the last meal you ate? If it wasn’t you making the meal, chances are, you may not.

This way of thinking has had me making my own meals for several years now. There are times when I go out to eat, not by my choice, and I have to pick apart the menu and annoy the crap out of our wait staff. But, I have no shame when it comes to wanting to know exactly what I’m being served and how it was prepared.

I wasn’t always like this, I used to go out all the time and the words macronutrients, calories, trans-fat, high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, etc. were never a consideration. If it looked and sounded good, I ate it. Back then, I was being “healthy” when I requested no cheese on my double-meat hamburger from McD’s.

Yeah, things have changed and now I’m a health food advocate who questions any and all ingredients. If it’s packaged, I have to scrutinize the label several times and maybe even perform a Google search. For the several years I’ve been like this, I get extremely irritated at how food companies advertise their “healthy” products and at the ignorance of the average consumer.

And now, as a parent, I’m disgusted at what some parents feed their children. I might get a lot of negative responses here, but I see no reason any kid should have to eat fast food. There is a wealth of information out there on what is healthy vs. unhealthy and enough buzz on the topic to claim you “didn’t know.”

I know Going Mom and I will instill our healthy values in Avery, but I fear how powerful the influence of her peers will be. I remember what it’s like being in grade school, and how no one wants to be the odd one of the group! All I can do is hope Avery values health and knows what is good and what is not when she’s faced with choices on her own.

Hopefully, these ten food related Pinterest Pins help open your eyes and inform you in a way to be able to make changes for the better. I know right after I changed my eating habits, I felt, looked, performed, and recovered better than ever before. I could easily go way beyond ten, but for these are a great to start with to make changes today!

3. 10 reasons not to eat at most restaurants.

4. Convenience, not price, limits veggie consumption.

5. A 20-ounce soda contains 65 grams of sugar, that is approximately 22 packets of sugar in just one bottle.

10.

Hopefully you found some or all of these thought-provoking and useful to help you start making changes for yourself and loved ones. Or maybe you’re already in the know and these are nothing new to you.

If you already are a health living advocate and you have older children, how have you worked to keep your little ones from eating fast food or other processed junk when at school or a friend’s house?

I would love to hear anyone’s tips/advice as I feel like we are a minority when it comes to caring about what we eat.