Kid Friendly Meals - My Favorite Web Sites

Healthy eating can be truly difficult when you have a busy family and little time to prepare dinner on some nights. It's easy to throw a frozen pizza in the oven when you have run out of time (like I did this week). Planning ahead is essential.

This weekend I plan on getting back on track by preparing my menu, checking out this week's grocery ads and setting a budget. I keep a long list of foods that my family likes to eat, but I have been looking for some new ideas and came across some really great Web sites with recipes that everyone will love. If you are hard pressed for time and need some new ideas, check these out:

Super Healthy Kids
This site is really cute and user friendly. I love the way this mom writes and her meals are extremely budget friendly!! She even has a recipe for cereal power bars. I have found numerous meal ideas on here that I am going to use!

Eating Well
This website doesn't just have kid friendly meals, but I did link you directly to kid menus because I know they are the most difficult to please. I love the look of almond crusted chicken fingers! Yummy.

Meal Makeover Moms
This site has a lot of information, not just about recipes or meal ideas. However, there is a lot of information to be found.

There are a million other Web sites out there with loads of information about how to feed your family nutritious food without blowing the bank. Check these out and I will do my best to find others to pass along. Happy eating!

Homemade Bread is Easy Now!

I absolutely love baking bread...love it! I have grown to dislike the gummy consistency of most overly processed store bought bread. But homemade bread takes so darn long to make. There's the kneading, the rising, and the baking...you get the picture. It takes forever. Until now! I am excited to say that I have become a convert of the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" movement. Okay, so it's not actually a movement yet, but I think it will become one!

I first found the recipe on Mother Earth News -http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

It's so incredibly easy to make consisting of only four ingredients - flour, water, salt, yeast. You literally mix them together, let it rise for a little while and put it in the fridge to use over a span of two weeks. By the end of two weeks, the bread starts to take on a sourdough consistency which is just amazing. I love it and I now I can seriously have my bread every day!!

Here's a quick version of the recipe for boule:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsps granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 Tbsps granulated kosher or other coarse salt (if using regular table salt, reduce!)
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour

Mix dry ingredients, add water and mix until doughy consistency forms and let rise. Place in bowl with lid, but you do not want it to be airtight.

It is that simple! Place in refrigerator for up to two weeks.

I know that most people wonder if baking their own bread is really a good idea that it will lead to extra pounds. Well, it might if we eat too much of it. I don't use bread for sandwiches at lunch very often, but this bread comes in handy for toast in the morning. This makes a great ciabatta bread that would be great for sandwiches. The book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois gives you a ton of different ways to make your bread - naan, pita, roasted potato garlic bread, granola bread, spinach-feta bread...tons of different bread! I am really excited about having bread in which I can give you the exact ingredients. I am sick of the laundry list of ingredients that go into other breads so this makes me feel a little bit safer and it's really no more time consuming than going to the store except one type of dough can yield you several different styles of bread (pita, naan, sourdough, white use the same recipe). Check out the book and see for yourself! I picked my copy up at the local library.

You can also use the boule for pizza dough, but I found another quick recipe that I mixed up one night when I got home and had pizza dough in about five minutes. This was found at AllRecipes.com labeled Pizza Dough I. I added a few of the seasonings (listed below) to mine. I threw in however much I thought looked good at the time so I apologize for not adding amounts.

Homemade pizza dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
Add oregano, garlic, or Italian seasoning, parmesan or anything other seasoning at this stage.
1 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup warm water

1. Combine flour, salt, sugar, seasonings and yeast in a bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Stir until combined and dough starts to form. Spread out on a large pizza pan.
*Add yeast to water and let foam for a crispier crust.

2. Bake crust for 5-7 minutes before adding toppings to keep from being doughy in the middle.

2. Bake at 375 degrees C for 20-25 minutes.

Homemade bread can be as easy and quick as store bought and can offer many other variations. Use different kinds of flour (wheat, rye, oat, etc) to lend a heartier taste to the crust and to add more fiber. Hope you enjoy!

11 Free (or Really Cheap) Activities for Kids This Summer

My little one has her first day off of school this week. Summer is officially here. Unfortunately, we are not able to join our local pool this year due to finances being a little tighter this year. She stays with my mother in the summer and she doesn't have a ton of cash to blow either so we are always on the look out for free or close to free (or cheap) things to do in the summer. Here is what I have come up with so far...

1. Library Fun - Our library has lots of great programs in the summer. In fact, our library has a group from Newport Aquarium coming with some reptiles this summer. They seem to have all kinds of fun things planned and it's all FREE!! But hurry and sign up now because many public library programs fill up quick!

2. Local lakes and parks - We have Caesar's Creek and Cowan Lake parks very close by. They are free to swim and take hikes for the day. Camping is not terribly expensive especially if you pitch a tent. It's generally about $15-20 a night depending on where you camp.

3. YMCA - This one isn't exactly free, but they offer scholarships to those who cannot entirely afford to pay for their programs. The Clinton County YMCA is working on improving all of it's programs for kids and will roll out a fun children's fitness program this summer. It will start on Wednesday nights at 5:45-6:45 so parents can drop their kids off while they go workout themselves.

4. Flea Markets - My kid is a huge bargain hunter. Although she usually only goes to the local flea market with a couple of bucks in her pocket, she manages to have a great time and always comes back with a fun item.

5. Parks and Playgrounds - Parks again! Your local park most likely has playground equipment to play on. Take your kids and let them run out all of their pent up energy and then take them home for homemade popsicles and if your lucky, a nap!

6. Theater Groups - Look for programs offered by your local theater or college. Our college has a program called Kids & Company. It's free for kids and every kid gets to be in the play. They only audition for the part. It keeps them busy for a couple of weeks in the afternoons and then you have a really fun play to go to in the end. The play costs money, but it's not very much. It's also a great way for kids to make friends.

7. Crafts and Home Fun - My little one loves to paint, sew and do just about any craft imaginable. I have tons of fabric that I picked up at yard sales and thrift stores and I have a giant roll of paper I picked up at our local newspaper. She is allowed to use any of this stuff at any time. Find some fun craft ideas on-line and let them have at it. This is especially great on a rainy or extremely hot day when going outside just doesn't sound too appealing unless you are going swimming.

8. Homemade Slip-N-Slide - My husband bought an inexpensive Slip-N-Slide a week or so ago. Our daughter slid down that thing so many times (okay, we may have tried it too) that it busted (that might have been our fault). My husband has been looking all over and has found that inexpensive plastic rolls found at Wal-Mart and other retailers would make a great homemade Slip-N-Slide. All he needs to do now is figure out to put at the bottom so she (we) can end up in a nice little pool of water at the end. We have two acres and a lot of it is one long hill which is perfect for this contraption. I can't wait to try it out ;).

9. Gardening - We started a garden this year and our daughter has been helping us with it. I can't wait to start harvesting and preparing our bounty. This will be a great lesson for our child and we will healthy fresh and healthy meals because of it. Gardening is not expensive and you don't need a lot of room to create one. Our local college even offers small plots for anyone that is interested. They provide all of the equipment. Look for community gardens in your area if you don't have the room or the funds to start your own.

10. Festivals - We joke that Clinton County is the festival capital of Ohio. We have festivals all the time. Most of them are free or really cheap to get into. Most communities have at least one or two in the summer so be on the look out for festivals in your area.

11. Host Friends - Invite your child's friend/s over for a sleep over or for play dates. This is a very inexpensive way for you little one to enjoy summer. That's really all my kid wants all summer long. She just wants to play and have fun with other kids. Mine doesn't have any siblings and her triplet cousins aren't big enough to play just yet, so we invite friends over to play. Find activities for them to do outside or crafts when they come in to keep them busy. You can also do a fun movie night and pop corn and act like your really at a movie theater. Check a movie out at your local library and enjoy!

This list isn't as long as it could be. Keep an eye out, check your local paper, Google the information, ask around, call the local college and parks. There is a lot to do for free if you just look for it. Hope you have a safe and healthy summer!

Dealing with Stress

It has been ages since my last post. I decided to take some time off to finish my final paper for my master's degree. I am not completely finished, but I am almost there! The reason I chose to end the hiatus was because I needed to. Someone last week asked me how I handled my stress. I answered that I normally exercise, journal or talk it out. Lately, I have only been dealing with stress by talking it out. This works well, but not as well as the combination always has. So, I hit the gym yesterday and decided to go back to blogging today.

I started wondering how other people have been dealing with their stresses since the economic downturn. I have noticed that many people that I see on a regular basis in my community look like they have gained a few pounds. Our community was hit especially hard this past two years with our largest employer (DHL) picking up and leaving thousands jobless. I began wondering if many of us gaining weight is due to the stresses we have felt because of the economy. Then I realized that many of us are not dealing with our stresses in healthy ways including myself.

I need to take a step back and remind myself that snacking to relieve stress doesn't work. What has worked over the years is going for a run or a long walk to clear my head. If that doesn't do it, I can sit down and write down my thoughts. I took a stress management class many years ago and many of the journaling tricks I learned there have continued to help me today, especially the part about writing down what you are thankful for about your life each and every day. I have written about this in a previous post but it's definitely worth repeating.

So how do you best handle stress? Physical exertion can be a great way to feel better. Try getting out for a walk with your family every evening, or go for a run in the morning before work, get a game of one-on-one going or play some tennis with your spouse. There are many great ways to relieve your stress in a physical way, eating is not one of them. I am taking my own advice right now and I am getting off this chair and going for a quick run before work. I am sick and tired of my pants getting tighter! Adios for now....