We Need to Redefine Healthy
Are these healthy or the lesser of possible evils?
Louisa brought home a request from school yesterday, for snack donations to a weekend snack program for children in a less fortunate town in our area. I think the concept is wonderful, but I have to question some of the items on the list, after all, as the request flyer stated “this may be the only nutritional snack these children have until they return to school on Monday.”
The items I question the most on this somewhat nutritious list are: Rice Krispies Treat Bars; Teddy Grahams Snack Bags; Goldfish Snacks; Snack Size Baked Chips; Snack Sized Pretzel Bags; Packaged Cheese/Crackers. I think, as a society, we’ve lost sight of what’s nutritious, and are looking for the lesser of two evils. All of these items are fun snacks, that can fit into a well-balanced diet as long as they’re served in small portions. But they’re not chock full of nutrition by any means. What they are, is better than the alternative snacks that may be more heavily laden with sugar and fats. But we’ve grown so accustomed to serving these as the healthier alternative to our kids, we’ve forgotten that they’re still not intrinsically a nutritious food.
The donation list should have just stuck with the bottled water, pure juices, packaged dry fruits, protein and cereal bars. Then those kids would have had taken and enjoyed those snacks without the empty carb alternatives. But once again, the food companies have managed to sneak into our minds and taught us to look at the supermarket through their filters instead of through our own sensible eyes.
So Here’s My Problem…
Tonight's Solution is Cooking in the Oven as I Type
I don’t do well with planning meals for those nights on the run. You know, the nights when you begin running the kids to activities at 4:30, and nobody is home for dinner until after 8:00? That’s way too late to begin cooking dinner, but I don’t want to succumb to the quintessential American fallback of the drive through. Perhaps I’ll grab an occasional fast food meal for lunch, but that’s as far as I’m taking that stuff.
For example, right now the girls are at piano lessons, giving me just enough time to type this blog post before I need to pick them up and head over to Annie’s softball game. Tonight’s solution to dinner is an “8-layer” casserole that is now cooking in my low temp oven. It has meat, vegetables and rice in it and should be ready when we walk in the door. On other nights like this I’ve prepared stews for dinner. But there are only so many evenings we want to eat that type of food, especially now, at the end of May when we want something lighter to eat.
Next week is my problem. There will be five out of six nights like this beginning on Sunday. Between soccer tryouts, softball games, and a school concert, we won’t be home for dinner until after 8:00. So what can I prepare in advance that will be ready to serve when we walk in the door?
My friend Stacey sympathized with my problem as we were groaning about the problem of kids’ activities earlier today. She gave me one of her go-to dinner salad recipes that I can prepare in the afternoon, and simply toss together when we walk in the door. However, that leaves me with 4 other nights. I welcome all ideas for fresh, healthy, tasty make ahead spring dinners. I’m not asking for much, am I?
Mother’s Day Breakfast – Photo of the Week 5/13/09
Made with Love - By Someone Else!
To start my Mother’s Day off right, Joe and the girls prepared this breakfast for me. Louisa complained that the waffles came from a mix (!), but home-cooked food prepared by someone other than myself always tastes good, even if it did come from a mix.