Serve It Up - Book Review

Being a mom is hard work.  My days are long and crazy.  Even if I wanted to go to bed the minute I walked in the door, I can't.  Homework needs to be done, children need fresh air, dogs need to be walked, dinner needs to be cooked, kids need to be bathed.  So somewhere around 10:30 I usually drag myself to bed.

My biggest issue is usually dinner.  What should I make?  Do I have the ingredients?  Will the kids eat it?  Will Clif like it?

On the nights when I don't have a good answer for any of these questions, I do something easy.  I open a box of mac and cheese or throw waffles in the toaster.  Anything that can get dinner in our bellies and move us on to the next task at hand.

But when I do that, I don't feel great about myself.  I know it's not a balanced meal.  But I have to admit, that Clif and the kids often prefer these nights over veggie pizza night.

Kids don't like to eat healthy.  From day one I've been stuffing apples and broccoli in these kids mouths and they would still rather have corn dogs or chicken nuggets.  Kids only care about gratification, not about their health.  I can't explain Clif's gravitation towards junk food...he does know better.

I've often wondered how I can make these easy meals, that my kids like, but still feel good about what they're putting in their mouths.

Then about a month ago I was asked to review Serve It Up: A Parent's Guide to Kid-Friendly Portions by Laura DeSimone.  It's a quick read and really, there's not even a whole lot of reading.  It's more of a reference guide. 

Laura DeSimone surveyed parents about their kids' favorite foods.  She then created a guide showing how much of those favorite foods kids should eat based on age, gender, and activity level.  Honestly I never even think about portion sizes with my kids.  I give them both the same amount and figure they'll eat until they're full. 

She also paired those food with more healthy options to give the child a balanced diet.  So instead of just popping one frozen waffle in the toaster for each kid, Ainsley should get two and Freddie just one.  I should add some fruit and milk to make sure they're getting the vitamins and protein they need.

I think this book is a great guide.  I mean, I really can't think of a kid food that's not in it.  The table of contents lists all the foods, so you can flip to whatever you're looking for easily.  Plus at the bottom of most pages is a little hint about getting extra vitamin C or protein or whatever with very few added calories.  For instance: "Add 1 plum to your lunch and gain 26% of your vitamin C and 2 grams dietary fiber for only 75 calories!!!"

I highly recommend this book to any busy mom looking for an easy meal once in awhile that she can still feel good about.  I've already used it a few times to plan meals and plan to keep it on hand.

Now if only she could give me a plan for my 36 year old husband...is that in the works, Laura?

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I was asked to review Serve It Up but all opinions and thoughts are my own.  I was given an advanced copy of the book to read and review but was not compensated in any other way.

A New Outlook

I'm not going to lie...I love junk food.

I mean that I could probably eat some sort of sugar passing for breakfast every morning, gorge myself on a McDonald's value meal for lunch and finish it all off with a steak dinner out.  Oh and don't forget dessert.  Preferably of the ice cream variety.

I love food, and I've never been picky about it...except for mushrooms, keep them far from me.  I've always been more concerned with the cost of food.  So if it was cheap it was fine for me.

Then something happened.  I'm not exactly sure when this change exactly took place.  But over the past couple of years I've definitely gone from "Who cares if it's processed" to "Chemicals?  In my food?!?!?!"

On top of that, I was tired of feeling so blah all. the. time.  I had gained weight since having the kids and dieting wasn't happening.

I made the decision to start feeding us better.  Not because I want to fit back into my 7 for all Mankind jeans (although that would be awesome).  Not because I wanted to eat cardboard.  Not because I wanted to make my family hate me.

Because I wanted us to be healthy.  I took a really good, hard look at what our meals were consisting of and I just decided that it wasn't worth it.  We were eating food from boxes most nights.  Other than an occasional grape or banana, fruits were not being utilized for healthy snacks.  A side of veggies was a steam fresh bag from the freezer.  But just one, because those things are expensive and even if it only says 2 servings, the kids can share with us.

Suddenly I couldn't believe the garbage I was feeding myself and my family.  So I made a change.  A pretty big change.  I changed grocery stores, started following vegetarian blogs and my sister even bought me a *gasp* VEGAN cookbook.

My husband, may be divorcing me soon.

Let me be clear, we are not giving up the meat...but we have cut way back.  I've been finding other things like sweet potatoes and quinoa and beans to replace the chicken and ground beef.  So, where our menu used to look like this...

Monday: Chicken
Tuesday: Ground Beef
Wednesday: Chicken
Thursday: Chicken
Friday: Ground Beef
Saturday: Eat Out
Sunday: Pork

It now looks like this...

Monday: Fish
Tuesday: Veggie
Wednesday: Chicken
Thursday: Veggie
Friday: Ground Beef
Saturday: Grill
Sunday: Crock Pot

I'm not going to say we always stick to it, because with our crazy lives it's just not possible.  Sometimes I forget to defrost the fish so that means grilled cheese and tomato soup (and it was heavenly).  Sometimes we are travelling and a drive through burger is the best we can do.

But I want my kids to have healthy options.  I want them to grow up knowing how to feed their body well.  I don't want them to have every McDonald's toy and know the Chick-Fil-A Cow by name.  I felt like we were getting dangerously close to that line.

And guess what?  I haven't lost a pound.  But I feel better.  I think my skin looks better.  My body fits in my clothes a little better. When I do indulge in something (like pizza for lunch yesterday), I enjoy it so much more.  And if I over indulge?  I feel it.  I feel horrible and sluggish and cranky.  And every time I feel that way, I'm more motivated to stay the course.

My family is not always digging this change.  There are nights that I'm the only one eating a vegan meal because no one else likes it.  But I've gotta give Clif props...he always tries it and always tries to finish it.  He always says "You make it, I eat it." 

So even though there are nights that I am frustrated and at my wits end about no one liking dinner, I know that I'm doing the right thing and I know in the long run it will pay off.