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Breaking old habits is hard and if you didn’t start your kids out eating healthfully, it’s hard to get them to enjoy doing so. To avoid fighting a battle at every meal and snack time, I usually change things out slowly, making swaps: changing an unhealthy food for a new healthier alternative. Here are my favorites.
7 Easy, Healthy, Kid-Approved Snack Swaps
100% Organic juice with no additives for regular juice
The main idea here is to get rid of all those additives. If you ever flip over a bottle of juice and read the ingredients, you’ll usually find a ton of added sugars, flavors and dyes. Last time I checked, fruit was pretty sweet on its own and didn’t need all that stuff, so why give it to children? What you want to find is a juice that 100% juice or at least 100% natural with no added sugar. Some people don’t like to purchase juice from concentrate, but if your budget, like mine, limits you to that, it’s okay. Making small changes is better than making no changes. If possible, buy organic, especially when purchasing a juice made from one of the dirty dozen foods, like grapes.
While these juices are a bit pricier, their popularity is causing a lot of grocery chains to offer their own versions that don’t break the bank. My grocery store tends to charge a bit more than a dollar extra for store brand organic juices, which makes it easier not to break the bank. Also, since these juices are so sweet on their own, they’re incredibly easy to dilute with a little water, which can stretch your money a little farther.
Almond Butter for Peanut Butter
The first time I tried almond butter, it was grainy and awful. But I mentioned it to a friend who had made the switch and she said “oh, that brand? That brand is gross. There are way better ones out there.” A few years later, I did try again after reading various reviews of other brands. She was right. There are a number of almond butters that are amazing. So amazing, in fact, I don’t think our family will ever go back to peanut butter.
Our family’s favorite is the MaraNatha brand. There are quite a few choices and though the Creamy No-Stir one isn’t the healthiest of them all, it is our family’s stand out favorite. It’s creamy and sweet and delicious. If you’re a bit hungry or just craving sweets, a small teaspoon of it is completely satisfying.
Almond butter goes great with sliced apples, celery and my 9-year-old’s favorite: pretzels. If your family likes almond butter and you want to try another nut butter, I’ve heard great things about cashew butter and hazelnut butter (not Nutella). These two can be much harder to find though and typically have to be ordered online or purchased at a specialty shop.
Roasted Seaweed instead of Chips
If your kid is a bit daring and willing to try new things, you’ve got to give them some roasted seaweed. These snack packs are found in the chip aisle and also with International foods and come in a variety of flavors. You can get them plain, salted, sweet or spicy and the crispy texture combined with choice of flavor makes a great substitute for chips. It’s roasted, not fried an entire pack is usually only about 60 calories.
“Simple” yogurts instead of regular or kid-branded ones
Have you ever read the label of a kid’s yogurt? There’s a ton of frightening stuff in there: chemicals you can’t pronounce and tons of dyes because kid’s won’t eat it if it’s not a circus color, right? Flip over a “simple” yogurt and you’ll find exactly what should be there: the same fruits listed on the front of the package, milk and maybe some other natural, easy to pronounce stuff. It’s a no-brainer. Not only that, but neither of my kids ever noticed when I made the switch to the simple yogurts: The flavor is still great without all that added junk.
Organic mac n cheese instead of store brand
I’ll admit that Kraft is getting better about this and I hope this is a trend we’ll keep seeing with big companies. While we haven’t tried the new Kraft macs yet, we have been buying organic mac from a couple of other companies for a while and my mac-addicted kiddos claim the organic stuff is way more delicious. The two favorites in my house are Annies and Back to Nature. Both are amazing and both can be purchased at warehouse stores (Annies at Costco and Back to Nature at Sam’s), so the cost of them becomes about the same as buying a name brand, non-organic variety.
Hummus instead of ranch dip
While ranch dip is delicious and you can purchase low-calorie or low-fat varieties, hummus is all natural. Not only that, but hummus is a great source of iron. This is really important if your child doesn’t eat a lot of meat or has an iron deficiency (My own daughter is both). There are some delicious varieties of hummus at the grocery store or for even more health benefits, you can make your own. It’s super simple and comes out delicious (and it’s great at parties). Pair it with pita bread, crackers or veggies. And for more iron-packed goodness, serve it with orange juice: it will increase iron absorption.
Home made chips instead of store bought
I know this one looks a little scary, but it’s not too tough. Store bought chips are usually fried and are covered in who knows what kind of flavorings. For an amazingly delicious and easy to make alternative, you can pick up one of this Top Chips Maker for around $15. Simply slice your potato, sweet potato, squash, etc. and place on the ring. Then cook it in the microwave and you’ve got instant, fresh chips. My pickiest eater loves these more than anything he’s had store bought, and from him, that’s a huge endorsement.
So what are some healthier swaps you make for your kids snacks?
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I hate to admit it, but year’s ago, I thought “organic” was just a marketing ploy. I thought plastic bottles were all safe. I fed my family convenience foods that came in a box. I never gave any of it much thought. But over the years, I’ve learned that there are a lot of dangerous chemicals and additives, even in things you wouldn’t think would have any, and that avoiding them is hard! Searching the Internet can help, but a lot of the information is so overwhelming, it can be hard to know where to start.
I’m by no means an expert in living healthfully or organically, but these books and documentaries were really engaging and helped me learn how to make changes one small step at a time. Here are my top 5 books and documentaries that changed the way our family lives.
1. Fast Food Nation (Book)
I read this just after Super Size Me came out. It was the first time I had really thought about what was in fast food and what that could do to a person. This book starts out simply enough with the beginnings of modern fast food: the restaurants, how they started, how they created systems to make food quickly. Then it peels back that layer and starts going to the distributors, the factories and even the slaughterhouses. Hearing about the conditions, the additives and the lack of oversight will make you think about what you’re really eating at fast food places.
2. Food Inc (Documentary)
This engaging documentary will blow you away. A lot of the movie has to do with food laws: do you know if what you’re buying is genetically altered? What if the chicken in your dinner is cloned? Or from another country? You might be surprised to know all these dirty little secrets of food laws and the arguments both for and against each one.
3. Salt, Sugar, Fat (Book)
I borrowed this as an audiobook from my local library. Not only was it fabulous as an audiobook, but the content was life changing. The author talks about the history of cereal and how post-WWII, with women in the workplace, it rose to the breakfast food of choice by being convenient and choc-full of sugar (seriously, in the 70s they were open about it with Sugar Pops, Sugar Smacks and even Super Sugar Crisp). In the years since sugar became seen as a negative, some major companies have relied on false advertising about how students who ate certain frosted wheat cereal scored better in tests. These were false of course, and punished by the government, but those punishments were so small and so long after the offense that most people didn’t even know about them.
Salt, Sugar, Fat also talks about the soda industry as well as convenience foods like Lunchables. As a kid who grew up on Lunchables, I was horrified to find out the history of them and what goes into those delicious little squares of meat and cheese. This book also teaches you an important code word: cheesier. Whenever a company wants to sell more of a product, they make it cheesier. It ups the fat content which makes people crave it more. Once you hear examples of it though, you will not be able to stop seeing cheesier marketing everywhere you look.
4. The Human Experiment (Documentary)
I came across this a few weeks back as a recommendation on Netflix. It deals mainly with the chemicals in our everyday lives that are altering our health. It gives the example of BPA which we all know now was in our baby’s bottles just a few years back. Before that, there was data that showed that babies were being born with BPA in their bloodstreams, but the information was slow to get to the consumer. This movie also talks about chemicals you might not know about like the flame-resistant coating on children’s sleepwear, or the chemicals allowed in baby shampoo in the US that are outlawed in Japan. You start realizing that there are harmful chemicals in pretty much everything around you, the government knows it, but there are purposeful actions to keep you from knowing about it.
5. The Flavorists (60 Minutes, 2011)
This one has a sort of honorary spot on the list because it’s not so much a documentary as a 15-minute news story. In 2011, 60 Minutes was given a behind-the-scenes look at how flavors are created. It starts innocently enough with these scientists figuring out how to create fruity flavors in drinks, but then it moves on to how these flavorists make their products. All the flavors are chemicals. While natural flavoring may come from natural sources, they don’t necessarily come from anything you’d be interested in eating on purpose: like beavers. Then they talk to Dr. Kessler, the former head of the FDA about how packaged foods are full of additives that make the foods addictive and fattening. Can you guess what those additives are? Salt, sugar & fat…again. It’s a brief film, but will definitely change the way you look at the foods you find in the grocery store.
I admit that I’m not the best at knowing all the healthiest foods and in our family, we still do buy several things that are not healthy for us. However, knowing what to look for and the red flags has changed our habits tremendously. When we can easily find and organic option, we do. If we have the ability to make something ourselves instead of from a package or a restaurant, we make it. And when we are buying those packaged foods, we’re comparing the labels and looking for red flags and keywords. While we don’t make healthy choices 100% of the time, we’re doing it more and more and that’s better than where we started.
What have you watched or read that changed the way you look at chemicals in our lives?
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Happiness seems such a difficult thing sometimes. I have a devoted husband, loving and successful children, a beautiful home and the kind of life I always thought would be out of my grasp. Yet some days, the failures of my life play over and over like a movie reel, reminding me of unforgivable shortcomings and casting a shadow of fear across my future.
The thing is, I’m human: a flawed, imperfect human who’s in a constant mode of figuring things out. We all are. As much as we believe we’re supposed to understand everything by now, the truth is we don’t and we can’t and we never fully will. The best we can do is accept ourselves and our lives for the amazing miracles that they are and learn to be happy, because we only have this one life.
Here are 5 realistic, tried and true ways to improve happiness.
Declutter
It seems counter-intuitive: decluttering is such a stressful activity, but the results are life-changing. Studies have shown that a cluttered area makes your brain feel like there’s chaos around. You automatically get a heightened sense of stress. This becomes your baseline and everything else piles on.
Start out small and set easily attainable goals like “By the end of January, I’m going to have my bedroom sorted”. This doesn’t mean it has to look like something off Pinterest. It simply means that clothes are neatly put away in drawers, surfaces are clear of all but a few possessions, floors are clear and cleaned. Waking up in a space where you aren’t reminded of things you have to catch up on will improve your mood from the get go.
Live Like Martha
I don’t mean have the perfect home and craft everything yourself and cook like a pro. Nope. What I always find soothing on Martha’s shows is that she frequently plays soothing music in the background. It’s the kind of music on the kiosk by the greeting cards in Target: a kind of classical with acoustic guitars and whatnot.
For the month of December, I played the “Classical Christmas” station on Pandora at a soft volume at home. It changed the entire vibe of the house. Not only was it calming, but I noticed that I became more productive. It worked so well, in fact, that I started using it during my Girl Scout meetings and it really seemed to help move things along.
Find a Problem, Fix a Problem
“My face looks old and I hate it”. “I’ve gained so much weight, I’ve let myself go”. This kind of negative self-talk will ruin you. Not can, WILL. It’s tough to fight those demons, so take a logical approach and think of yourself as a trusted friend you can give advice to.
If my friend said she hated the way she looked, I would a) tell her she’s beautiful and perfect just the way she is; and b) suggest that maybe she can make a small change with big impact: a new hairstyle or color. Maybe new makeup. For me, I find just spritzing a little MAC Fix+ on my face makes me instantly look more alert, which is transformative. When I feel fat, I go out shopping for a new shirt or two that are not oversized and hiding myself, but flattering to my figure, no matter what shape that may be at the moment. Having at least one outfit that makes you look good will do so much more for your self-esteem than thinking you look like a blob in everything.
Put Things in Perspective
A few years ago, my husband and I had a huge argument. I can’t even remember now what it was about. It wasn’t anything life-changing, but I was beyond angry. Beyond. I wondered to myself, “what comes next?”. I imagined a high-drama movie where a divorcing couple has to stand in front of a judge and state the reason their marriage is irreparable. I imagined the judges annoyed reaction when I told him that this fight was the reason for our split. I realized that in the big picture, this argument was nothing. I couldn’t hold this grudge forever, and really, I’d be terribly flawed if I did.
The point is to try to see situations in perspective. Are you being fair in the discipline of your children? Are you responding appropriately to people who are less than courteous? Is that conflict with a teacher/administrator/parent going to matter in a year? How about a month? How about a week? Are you even going to remember this happening? Probably not. Put it into perspective and respond appropriately.
Find Joy in Every Day
Whether you’re jotting it down in one of those handy line-a-day journals or just taking a quiet moment to reflect, make sure you take the time to find something positive in each day. In our family, we have a tradition: every night at dinner, we go around the table and everybody states how their day was (for better or for worse) and then they tell the best part of the day. For the kids, they also have to state what the best part of school was. This helps us to ensure that each day, no matter how tough, we all find something that brought us joy. As an added bonus: it keeps our family close and gets a lot more info out of the kids than simply asking “what did you do at school today?” which always produced a non-answer.
I hope these tips help you keep happiness close. If you feel though that nothing can make you happy anymore, please see a professional. Sometimes we need personal coaching to be reminded of how incredibly precious our lives are.
What do you do to keep happiness close?
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Written by Christine @ So Domestically Challenged, Contributing Writer
Tis the season! Thanksgiving is just four days away and the season of caring has begun. this is the time of year that we not only think about giving gifts to people we appreciate, but also the time when performing acts of kindness come back into our consciousness.
Hebrews 13:16 says “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
In the spirit of this scripture, here are my 10 new ways of sharing and being a blessing to those around us.
10 Ways to Bless Others
Neighbors
1. I used to bring a plate of fresh baked cookies to every new neighbor that moved in, but since our new house is in a new construction area, the stream of new neighbors seems endless. Instead, this year, I’ll be picking a December day to do tons of baking so that I can bring everyone on our street a plate of fresh baked goodies with a card.
2. Bonus Blessing: I like to bake some fresh, homemade peanut butter dog treats as well. This recipe is healthy, easy and dogs love it.
Schools
3. I’ve spent a lot of time in schools, both public and charter, and the things I’ve noticed are universal: kids and classrooms are always in need of supplies. If you want to bless a school in your area, consider dropping off a goody box with pencils, erasers, glue sticks and Kleenex. It seems every class that either of my children has been in, has been out of these essentials by Thanksgiving break.
4. Bonus Blessing: If your school has crossing guards or staff that have to stay outside in the cold to help kids, bring them some hand warmers. You can pick them up cheap from any store that has camping supplies, or you can make them yourself using fabric and rice.
Police or Fire Department
5. These are the men and women who put themselves at risk every day and might even save your life at some point. Nothing we can do for them can ever feel like enough. Consider stopping by with a couple of boxes of bagels or donuts along with a ‘thank you’ card. Bonus points for bringing items by in the evening to the often forgotten night shift.
Senior Homes, Nursing Homes, & Hospice
6. Stop by with some holiday decorations and literally deck the halls! Spending the holidays in one of these places can be incredibly depressing and frequently the budgets are razor thin. Bring a little joy to the building by giving it a lively, festive, happy look.
7. Bonus Blessing: A lot of people in nursing homes never or almost never have visitors. We owe our seniors more than that. Grab some inexpensive gifts: thick, warm socks & simple slide-on slippers are great, practical gifts. For something a little more fun, grab some large-print crossword puzzle books from Dollar Tree or some magazines (you can get used copies of National Geographic and other timeless mags for next to nothing at used book stores). Most importantly, give the gifts in person, visit with the elderly, hold their hands and let them feel loved and not alone.
8. Extra Bonus Blessing: Bring some hot chocolate mix or a large container of warm apple cider for the nurses’ station. These nurses (especially hospice) have an incredibly tough job and we’re blessed that there are people like them willing to do it with compassion.
ICUs
9. When I was a kid, my grandmother had a couple of strokes and ended up in the ICU, once for a very long period of time. One of my most vivid memories is of a nice Japanese woman (another patient) who showed me how to make origami swans. I remember her because she broke my boredom. Patients end up in the ICU quickly and without warning. That means that family members have to drop everything to be at their loved ones’ side. Because of the delicate health conditions of these patients, childrn are not allowed to visit. When the woman taught me about origami, I had been sitting in that waiting room alone with nothing to do for hours.
I’d like to say that a lot has changed, but in the last few years, as I’ve lost my grandparents and father-in-law, I’ve found that all the ICU waiting rooms my children have waited in have given them the same experience I always had. You can bless these children (and help take a burden from their worried parents) by donating a small bin with coloring books, crayons and puzzles to your local hospital’s ICE ward.
Donate Your Time or Talent
10. As a Girl Scout leader, I cannot tell you how many badges have requirements that I’m just not really qualified to teach. There are crafty things like painting, drawing and jewelry-making and there are outdoorsy ones like horseback riding. Going to businesses that can teach these requirements can cost the girls a ton of money (keep in mind they only earn about 40 cents per box of cookies). If you have a horse or know how to teach a craft, consider donating your time to Scouts, school groups, seniors or even special needs adults. The memories you can give the people you teach will last a lifetime.
This Thursday, my family is kicking off our season of giving by serving Thanksgiving dinner to homeless and people who wouldn’t otherwise have a Thanksgiving. How will you be kicking off the giving season with your family?
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Written by Christine @ So Domestically Challenged, contributing writer
A few weeks ago, I was invited by Rachel to be a contributor here on Day2DayJoys. I read her invitation. I got excited. I closed my email and made a mental note to get back to her…and I did get back to her a few days later.
She invited me to do a post. Immediately, at least 6 great ideas popped into my head. I was thrilled. I was energized. I was ready to go. But here I sit, in the last few hours before my first post is set to go live, and I have nothing. Those half-dozen great ideas have betrayed me: each one seemingly fantastic until I realized that I couldn’t find the words or it just wasn’t so interesting after all.
Here I am, a blank. I’ve spent days analyzing my life and motivations, reading notes I’ve written, mind-mapping, reviewing books, magazines, Pinterest…and nothing. Have I truly lost my mojo?
The truth. I turn my focus inward to look for reasoning. The truth, though I hate to admit it, is fear. I have procrastinated since day one because of fear. Not that I have any kind of real fear for my own well-being. No, my fear is distinctly first-world. My fear is of disappointing, failing, not being good enough. My fear makes me feel like a child, but is a fear I always tell my own children they have to push through.
The reality is that I procrastinate because I’m scared of failing and scared of the unknown. I figure this is an issue that probably faces a lot of us, so for my first post, my introduction to you, I’m going to share 5 ways to stop procrastinating and get things done (in the future).
5 Ways to Stop Procrastinating:
Commit
Saying “I’m going to do this later” or “I’ll have time after work on Thursday” are open-ended and set yourself up to keep moving the day or time you’re going to do something. Instead, make a “To Do List” every day, and write in how much time you’re committing to the task and when, just like an appointment: “I’m going to write my post from 5:45pm-6:30pm on Tuesday night”. Writing it down has the added bonus of somewhat tricking your brain into believing that the task absolutely has to be done at that time.
Reward Yourself
As I write this, I’m craving my three biggest vices: a cup of coffee, a coconut Outshine bar, and a book….okay, not a book. I want to play spider solitaire online. Guilty. I know that I’m going to enjoy doing those things a lot more when I don’t have anything else hanging over my head, stressing me out. I’m not going to allow myself any of those things until this post is complete! Not only does the reward give me something to look forward to, but it also takes away my ability to use any of those things to procrastinate: “I’m going to get back to working after this ice cream”. Bam! A two-fer.
Visualize the Future
This is actually something I do with my family and my Girl Scouts when they’re stressed and it works great for both long-term and short-term issues. Take a minute, relax, breathe and go through the steps of what is going to happen next. Work it out.
I’m going to keep typing.
I will get to the end of what I want to say.
I will read it back to myself.
I might hate it.
I will make sure it’s correct and of good quality.
I will submit it.
Some people might not like it.
I might be asked never to write again.
I will keep breathing. I will keep living.
Tomorrow, I will write about something else.
In a week, I won’t even think about it anymore.
Break a Job Into Tasks
Sometimes a job can seem stressful and overwhelming because it’s got several steps to it that don’t immediately sort themselves out in our minds. Try breaking a job down into various smaller tasks and write out a checklist. Even if you don’t have time to do an entire task, you can look at your list and get a few parts done.
For example:
Brainstorm talking points
Type up post
Review & edit
Format post
Add links
Take photos
Edit photos
Add photos to post
Submit post
Stop Being Your Worst Critic
Where did we all learn this? Every day is like one long Dove commercial, but instead of just criticizing the bags under my eyes or my flabby middle, I criticize my entire being: “I just did that because I’m an idiot” or “I could never understand that” or “I’m a terrible housekeeper” or “I wish I was better/smarter/more comfortable with myself”. Sometimes even confident-sounding statements to yourself can be undermining you: “I’m just going to fake it until I make it” or “I’ve still got it” or “I was great at that when I was younger”. All of these statements have an implied “there’s something wrong with me”. We send ourselves these constant messages that we are somehow less than our full potential, and worse than that, we quietly start believing it. Instead, make statements that are inherently true and non-objective.
I am a mother.
I am a wife.
I am a mentor.
I am a writer.
I am enough.
My words/actions/abilities are enough.
And they are all perfectly me.
Do you procrastinate? Why do you think you do it and what do you do to fight it?
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