No Time? Really?

I was listening to three people talking the other day and was saddened by their discussion. I planned to say something to them but decided I’d be wasting my time … and theirs.

The discussion was centered around one of the women, about how hard it was for her to prepare meals for their family. Her children’s pediatrician informed her she has some things to watch out for in her children’s diet, since her children (and she) are morbidly obese… things like fat, sugar, salt, blah, blah, blah. Sad I thought … as I recalled her earlier conversation … she had time  for a weekly pedicure, happy hour drinks and eating out with friends three times a week (!!), a bowling league and she worked full-time.

When did tending to our own primal needs and those of our children become secondary to personal frivolities? Granted I’m no spring chicken, but I can’t recall ever not feeding my children the best and healthiest foods I could afford. Rarely did a plate find itself in front of my children that didn’t have a vegetable and/or fruit. I always tried to eat and provide balanced and healthy meals. That’s what my mother did and my grandmother and my great-grandmother. I watched the women in my family create wonderful food and watched them laugh and enjoy themselves and those around them every time. I remember the wonderful smells finding their way through the house and vowed my home would provide the same happy memories when I had children. Granted the foods weren’t always heart healthy but we all learn as we go along, don’t we? While I am still using my ancestor’s recipes I have updated them to make them more heart healthy. It’s just what I do … I’m not everybody.

Well enough whining about that!  There must be a reason it is so. But I asked myself, how can I help? What can I do to help people provide the best they can for their families? I thought about several options but dismissed them all because they’ve all been done before. When I need information I hit the Internet or bookstore or my local library until I have what I need to succeed. Perhaps someone who needs help managing their family’s meals will happen on this blog and take whatever information will help them. In the meantime, here are a few ideas for those of you have already found this blog … a few ideas to make preparing old favorites a new way, easy ways to provide healthy choices for your family, and if you have an idea you’d like to share, just leave a comment.

Breakfast is easier than you think just look the nutritional analysis on the side of the box ,,, more than 5 grams of sugar? Pass. Check the fiber? Less than 1 gram? Pass. Check the ingredients … look for whole grain something as the first ingredient. Be sure sugars (yeah, there are many types of sugar - check a previous blog called “The ‘-ose’ no-nos” and you’ll read all about the ways manufacturers slip sweeteners into their products.

Whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter or almond butter and a tiny drizzle of honey or agave nectar (a sweetener from a plant rather than a bee).

A scrambled egg and whole wheat toast. Spray a little bit of butter-flavored cooking spray in the pan and reduce the fat considerably. Skip the butter on the toast and spread a little whole fruit jam on instead.

Oatmeal is a breeze to whip up, as well, so you can skip the convenient oatmeal. For one serving put ⅓ cup of any non-instant oatmeal with a cup of water in a 1-quart microwave safe bowl, and toss in some diced apple or peaches and/or dried cranberries or raisins and you have a luscious bowl of healthy oatmeal in front of you in less than a minute and your kids can enjoy it without a lot of added sugar though you may have to add sugar for a little bit reducing it each time until your kids get used to actually tasting oatmeal!