A Breakfast Solution On The Go

I'm fortunate to work four days a week, although it seems to make Tuesday through Friday more hectic working longer hours. One of my biggest stumbling blocks in eating well is breakfast. On a regular basis I tote three eggs to work that I nuke once there. It gets boring though. Plus I've heard over eating one thing can lead to sensitivities. I don't know.

So today before I made the grocery run, I pondered how to shake things up this week. I came across some meatball recipes and went from there. I ended up with meatballs with some veggies hidden inside. I'm happy and think you and your family will like them as well.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 package no preservatives sausage
Diced onion to taste
Two handfuls of dry slaw mix

Preheat oven to 375

I mashed and smashed all ingredients by hand. Make sure everything seems equally distributed.

I rolled the mixture into balls about the size of golfballs.

I placed them in the oven for 15 minutes and then broiled them on low for maybe 3-4 minutes. Perfectly browned.

I sampled one and bagged the rest for the fridge. One less thing to stress about!

The Appreciative Child

Ok, so I intentionally try to not boast about how awesome of a little guy my son is. Of course I think he's great because he's my little biological, psychological project LOL. But I also am aware that he is special to me because he is mine. You know those parents who go on and on about how special baby girl is because she's counting to 100 at age 3? Yeah, impressive but annoying.

So, your attention please! I am proud of Luke for being genuinely appreciative of things we give and do for him much of the time. Not all the time, but most of the time. Not bad for a five year old.

We have intentionally not given him everything he asks for. He's an only child and the youngest grandchild by 11 years. I am hellbent on him being NOT being spoiled by material things. It's not easy because we can afford to lavish him with more things and the instinct of parenting is to make your child happy. But we are looking to his future. Learning the meaning of no, making choices, and earning things is what will bring peace to him as a man. That $1 gadget in the checkout lane is momentary.

He keeps a mental tally of things he really wants. We give him opportunities to earn extra money to save for his list. After he's saved a chunk of cash we ask if he'd like to buy something. He's learned to prioritize in a 5 year old way and is thrilled once he gets his prize.

Today I happened upon a chance to buy a couple sets of Monster Legos used at a great price. I immediately set the sale up and met the lady twenty minutes away. Why? Because he's been patiently waiting for them since Christmas. He got one set from Santa and plays with it daily. I knew he would be genuinely thankful.

He hugged me so tightly this evening and has told me at least ten times how nice it was of me to do that for him. He makes my heart smile. Such a great little man.

Does he have a lot of toys? Yeah, we buy him toys and treats, but he has things he actually plays with. This is in line with our values and hope it serves him as well.'

WHY?

Short post here. Today I made my first ever trip to Trader Joe's because I was in Atlanta for the day. I'd heard the buzz about their great prices on healthier foods (whatever your idea about that may be).

I saw quite a few options that I liked- organic vegetables and fruits, uncured bacon, raw yogurt, etc. I was very impressed with the prices. Very little difference between price of conventional products and the special products. The grass fed beef hotdogs I bought were $4.99! A bag of organic avacados were $3.50. That's a great value.

As I was looking through the frozen foods I spotted pizzas. They are made in Italy. You know, one of a zillion other places that don't mess with wheat and over process everything. I got to wondering- maybe I could eat one of these once in a blue moon and it wouldn't harm me like the others I use to buy here. I flipped the package over and the short list of ingredients about knocked me over! There's not a essay size list of foreign and weird things. Take a look at the picture below and compare to a Tombstone pizza in your local market. Why?

Transitioning Your Family's Way of Eating

Let's say you've resolved that you and your family are going to eat better. You've decided that fresh, unprocessed foods will be the norm rather than the exception.
What's step 1? Many would suggest opening the pantry door and throwing all the junk away- I don't think that's such a great idea unless you are prepared for the battle of your life.

In many situations, the mother is the instigator of change. We have so much influence on what happens in our household, but never mistaken it for power. Power is for dictators. We want our families to see the new way of eating as a choice they are making with you.

My advice, especially with kids, is to slowly transition from Point A, to Point B, to Point C, and so on until you are where you wish to be. Children (and husbands) tend to revolt if they are suddenly pushed into something without input. I might have a slight tendency of pushing back if pushed too strongly as well. Ask anyone.

So if your current eating style is the Standard American Diet...Poptart and juice for breakfast, cold cut sandwich and Doritos for lunch, and a couple of frozen pizzas for dinner...please don't think your family is going to quietly accept asparagus and organic bacon as the new breakfast of champions.

Go ahead and finish the junk in your fridge and pantry. However, begin talking about nutrition and the value of food from nature. It may seem silly at first to talk about vitamins found in fruits and vegetables to a three year old as you shop or fix a snack, but it works. You are influencing them slowly. It builds a base for why a change is coming. Openly talk about the coming changes and show excitement. Get them prepared for a change.

The next time you go grocery shopping, decide what less healthy household items you are going to trade in for real food items. Just pick one or two. For example, if you normally buy fruit gummies for Junior, negotiate a trade with him. Tell him/her that you are no longer buying gummies to keep in the house but he/she can pick any fruit to replace it. Make it theirs. You are making a parent decision here, but allowing them to assist in the process. It alleviates some of the resistance.

Think about it. In two months, you could eradicate the majority of the processed food from your home. Slowly and steadily. But please don't mistakenly replace one piece of junk for an advertised "healthier" version. For example, regular soda for diet soda. That's just wheel spinning.

Perfection isn't your aim at this time. Well really it never is. Improvement and overall health value. Yes, I bought Luke Spaghetti O's per his request last week. Yesterday I warmed them up for his lunch. He was so excited! He ate about five bites. The end. I have to admit, I was pretty smug about it. I'm tweaking his taste buds and winning.

Best of luck in your transition. Key points to remember are casually educating your family as you go, slow but real changes, and commitment to the process. Your family deserves the best in life and health!