crunchy parenting

© crunchyparenting.com

Barely a smidge of rain, and the girls would rather stay in and play airplane.

They’re using their portable booster seats as airplane seats (the amazing OXO Seedling boosters that have traveled everywhere with us), playsilks as seatbelts, and I’m the flight attendant serving oranges and water for snacks.

What a great Friday. :-)

Update: It’s now a falling zone.

© crunchyparenting.com

© crunchyparenting.com

I’m a terribly impatient person. I’d have to say one of my biggest fears is looking back on my life and realizing that I was never in such a hurry as I think I am.

Here’s an example. How many times have you seen fancy-schmancy instructions for cooking chicken breasts? And then you get to that “even thickness” part. You squint at the one- (or two- !) inch DIFFERENCE between each side and go “Eh, close enough!” And you toss that sucker on the grill.

Woe is me, for I have been that sucker until now.

© crunchyparenting.com

Last week sometime (don’t ask me when), I had whisked the potatoes in the oven and set the spouse-unit’s salmon to thaw and actually had time to kill with two innocent but misshapen chicken breasts. (hmm, this sounds naughtier than it actually was.) Wondering what that whole “beating a piece of meat with a mallet” action actually resulted in, I remembered seeing someone do this with a cast iron pan and thought I’d give it a whirl. (If you own cast-iron, you know that feeling of wanting to use it for everything from a Dutch baby to a panini weight.)

As well as being impatient, I’m also terrible at getting tangled in plastic wrap, so I opted for two sheets of wax paper instead. Insert chicken breast, cover with wax paper and whack the hell out of it. Well, aim for the thicker parts to get it more even thickness.

I wish I had a nice picture for you of the grilled result, but the kids were hungry and we ate it too fast. :-) Still, for someone who rushes through things by habit, I’m starting to truly learn the benefits of slowing down, even if only in the kitchen.

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The number of young children who are obese and extremely obese is going down, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In what researchers say is the first national study to show that the prevalence of obesity among young children may have begun to decline, scientists analyzed data from more than 27 million children from low-income families between the ages of 2 and 4 in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Read the full article from CNN.

Check out the facts on Childhood Obesity, from MayoClinic.com

So, how did we get here? Where little kids — you know, the ones that we put the food in their mouths every day — are suffering from obesity?

“The fast food industry spends more than $5 million every day marketing unhealthy foods to children.”

The facts on junk food marketing and kids, PreventionInstitute.org

Read that again. $5 million every day. Yes, that’s TV and radio, but even if you eschew TV for your kids, then there’s still magazines at the supermarket checkout, billboards, signs, posters, junk mail, etc. And even if you try to keep these to a minimum around your kids, there’s still… other kids with the same advertising merchandise on their clothes, bags, food packaging, etc.

I’m sure you’re running out of creative ways to say ‘no’, too. :-)

What can you do, as a parent?

“[...] a national survey of 1,000 moms, which revealed that children are 25% less likely to be overweight if a parent participates in meal preparation.”

Organic Food Fights Childhood Obesity, OrganicAuthority.com

Yup. It’s that simple. Cook at home more often, and get your kids to help in the kitchen.

• Look up a CSA to deliver farm fresh fruits and vegetables to your door.
• If you eat meat and have a big freezer, check out US Wellness Meats.
• Go look at theStoneSoup.com for some great cooking ideas with 5 ingredients or less, made in minutes.
• Sign up on CHOW.com (free) and learn more about your food.

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My birthday is just around the corner and the spouse-unit keeps asking me what I’d like. “World peace,” I answer. He grins. “I’ll see if Amazon has any in stock.” Beat. “What else would you like?”

It’s been part of my meditative practice for the past few months to believe I have everything I need to be happy, and not worried/stressed. Most of the time it works.

“Peace for myself.” I have to look away at the end. It almost feels like a selfish request.

“We can work on that,” he says sincerely, and I take a bite of my food, silently thanking the gods for the gazillionth time for giving me a partner that is so insanely patient.

It’s not that I’m unhappy. It’s just that with the fibro, my body thinks I’m stressed and causes all sorts of havoc that does make me feel… well, less than stellar. I end up feeling like I jump through hoops all day and night in order to get through the day like an average mother of two.

Then again, none of us are average.

At the end of the day, we’re all doing the best we can with what’s available.

© crunchyparenting.com

I know I’ve blogged before about kale chips, but healthy eating just doesn’t get easier or yummier than this. We had four bunches in our produce box last week and we easily ate two bunches with dinner. The girls love them, and I love that, not only is there no argument to get them to eat their veggies, but they actually jump up and down, begging me to make them. :-)

They’re also perfectly acceptable adult munchies for late-night TV-watching, without the guilt of an empty potato chip bag in the morning.

Get the recipe: Baked Kale Chips.