Hi, my name is Summer and I am a snacker. I have snacks in my purse at all times. I blame it on being a mom but really I eat at least 50% of the snacks that I haul around. Most of the snacks in my purse are of the cracker and nut variety. I am a big almond and cashew fan. And when I am really on top of it, I will mix my nuts with some dried cherries and blueberries. Thank you Costco for the wonderful big bags of dried fruit!
But my go to snack, morning, noon and night is cereal. I love it. Now, I realize that it is not the ideal "on the go" snack but it is so fun to eat. I am sure you are questioning the whole fun to eat theory but it is and I will explain why I feel this way.
My addiction/obsession with cereal began in college. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved cereal but when I got to college it became a creative and fun snack as well. See, our sophomore year at Stanford, 6 of us girls all lived together in a dorm called "the suites". We loved it for so many reasons. We each had our tiny, little room and could hang out in our decent sized common room. But we LOVED it because we got to belong to an "eating club". Yes, it is just as it sounds. During the first week of school you would go around to the 4 different clubs connected to the suites and decide which style of food or vibe you liked better. I forget the one we decided on but I loved their cereal selection. It was at this point when I began to mix my cereals. I would mix 3 or 4 cereals in one bowl and create a masterpiece.
Hmmm...I am starting to sound very obsessed now...it wasn't that bad. I just really liked the idea of mixing and I could never, for the life of me, figure out why it took me so long to do it. I was raised to put one type of cereal in my bowl in the morning. Putting 2 kinds in one bowl would have been kind of nuts. But the eating club changed all that forever.
Since college, I always mix my cereal. Always. For instance, if I am staying at a Hampton Suites and they have a buffet breakfast in the morning, I will take 2 or 3 different boxes of cereal and dump them in the same bowl. Crazy, huh?! You can't stop me. At home I go from the Cherrios and Quaker Oat Squares mixture to the Craklin Oat Bran and Grape-nuts mixture. But enough about the mixtures, let's get back to cereal as a great snack.
Cereal is not just for breakfast anymore. My kids often snack on cereal and I am totally fine with that. My daughter and I often have a cup of cereal before we go to bed. I love this as a healthy option to fuel yourself for a good night sleep. I am usually hungry before bed and this really helps me. It is such a better option than some ice cream and cookies(although I do that sometimes as well)
As parents, we need to have good snacks in the house. If you have the healthier snacks available and ready to go, kids are more likely to choose them. I know cereal is a sit down at the table snack but it is very easy to prepare. Make sure that your cereal choices are healthy and not sugary and you are ready to go. I don't think you can have too many boxes. We are consistently stocked at about 10 boxes.
No matter when, cereal is your belly's friend. Happy eating!
Showing posts with label healthy eating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy eating. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
The best breakfast for your kids.
This was a big debate in our house the other day. I had a friend who said that eggs were, hands down the best thing to have for breakfast, kid or adult. I love eggs but I also brought up oatmeal as a wonderful option. This made me think. Am I feeding my kids the best breakfast possible. It is, after all, the most important meal of the day.
When I was younger, my mom made me oatmeal before every swim meet. She made it in the pan, not the microwave, and loaded it with brown sugar and milk. I loved it. She would say to me, "You better eat all your oatmeal. It sticks to your ribs." I actually believed this. I envisioned the oatmeal sticking to my ribs, giving me energy all day long for my races. Maybe that is why it gave me energy, because I believed!
When I was pregnant with my kids nothing could get me through my morning like a couple of scrambled eggs. The key to a good scrambled egg is butter in the pan. I don't even mix them up in a bowl ahead of time. I just crack um in the pan and break up the yoke right as they are cooking. I also add a dab of salt. So, every morning, while I was pregnant I had two eggs. And you know what, I believed my baby liked it and that it was good for me. Believed, sound familiar?
But now to the best kids breakfast. If you are like me, you are fighting them to eat before heading out for your day or to school. I love breakfast and most times I am done before they even sit down to take a peek at their plate. The most important thing is to give them something healthy. Never give in and feed them sugar cereal. It is 'nothing' before sugar cereal. I usually give them a choice between good cereal or eggs and toast. The one constant at every breakfast is fruit. My kids love fruit. The winner for the best breakfast is...whatever they eat.
Here are your healthy choices...
Cereal with fruit.
Oatmeal (you can get creative and add peanut butter, apples, nuts, etc)
Eggs with some toast and fruit
3 easy options to help your kids and you start the day off on the right foot! Help them believe that what they eat makes a difference in how they grow and behave! Habits start early, make them good ones.
When I was younger, my mom made me oatmeal before every swim meet. She made it in the pan, not the microwave, and loaded it with brown sugar and milk. I loved it. She would say to me, "You better eat all your oatmeal. It sticks to your ribs." I actually believed this. I envisioned the oatmeal sticking to my ribs, giving me energy all day long for my races. Maybe that is why it gave me energy, because I believed!
When I was pregnant with my kids nothing could get me through my morning like a couple of scrambled eggs. The key to a good scrambled egg is butter in the pan. I don't even mix them up in a bowl ahead of time. I just crack um in the pan and break up the yoke right as they are cooking. I also add a dab of salt. So, every morning, while I was pregnant I had two eggs. And you know what, I believed my baby liked it and that it was good for me. Believed, sound familiar?
But now to the best kids breakfast. If you are like me, you are fighting them to eat before heading out for your day or to school. I love breakfast and most times I am done before they even sit down to take a peek at their plate. The most important thing is to give them something healthy. Never give in and feed them sugar cereal. It is 'nothing' before sugar cereal. I usually give them a choice between good cereal or eggs and toast. The one constant at every breakfast is fruit. My kids love fruit. The winner for the best breakfast is...whatever they eat.
Here are your healthy choices...
Cereal with fruit.
Oatmeal (you can get creative and add peanut butter, apples, nuts, etc)
Eggs with some toast and fruit
3 easy options to help your kids and you start the day off on the right foot! Help them believe that what they eat makes a difference in how they grow and behave! Habits start early, make them good ones.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Feel good about what you eat today!
Start the night before. Plan our your meals and write them down on one piece of paper. Make sure you have all the ingredients needed because if you don’t you won’t go get it and you won’t do it. So put yourself in a position to succeed by lining everything up on Sunday. I think starting one of these little mini-diet-tests is always best on Monday. That way you can really live it up on the weekend.
Decide what you want to focus on. Is is to eat lean protein? Is it to eat more veggies? Is it to eat less carbs? Is it to cut out sweets? Ouch!! I remember being on the road for the NBA and deciding I couldn’t take another snack tray. After the game I ordered a huge plate of broccoli from room service. My person was needing veggies in the worst way.
Decide what you feel like your body is craving and do that for the week. This is not a change forever, just a fun thing to do for the week. But it can also be a helpful learing tool. What kind of foods can you NOT live without or what kinds of foods actually make you feel better.
It is fun to get the whole family to do it with you…most times just the adults. If you feel like this is something you might want to do more often, it would be a good idea to keep a food journal so you know what worked for you and what did not.
Enjoy eating!
Decide what you want to focus on. Is is to eat lean protein? Is it to eat more veggies? Is it to eat less carbs? Is it to cut out sweets? Ouch!! I remember being on the road for the NBA and deciding I couldn’t take another snack tray. After the game I ordered a huge plate of broccoli from room service. My person was needing veggies in the worst way.
Decide what you feel like your body is craving and do that for the week. This is not a change forever, just a fun thing to do for the week. But it can also be a helpful learing tool. What kind of foods can you NOT live without or what kinds of foods actually make you feel better.
It is fun to get the whole family to do it with you…most times just the adults. If you feel like this is something you might want to do more often, it would be a good idea to keep a food journal so you know what worked for you and what did not.
Enjoy eating!
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