Gardening with Children

Even though we live in a townhouse, we are fortunate enough to have a garden. We have friends behind us that don’t use their back field, and they've allowed us to use it to plant a garden. I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am that we have this opportunity to teach our children to work hard and see the benefits of their efforts.

We all work together planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, and composting. The kids get to help pick what vegetables we will plant each year, and they get to help pick what we use the produce for. We have yellow and green zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, artichoke, asparagus, corn, rhubarb, raspberries, blue berries, strawberries, blackberries, and plums.  Most of the time, our kids wouldn't want to try some of these foods. But since it came from our garden, and the kids helped care for it, they dive in at eating it!

My all time favorite dessert that uses produce from our garden is my Raspberry Rhubarb Crisp recipe:

Raspberry Rhubarb Crisp

4 cups brown sugar

4 cups flour

3 cups oats

1 3/4 cup melted margarine

2 Tbsp cinnamon

5-6 cups rhubarb, raw and diced

1-2 cups raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Mix first 5 ingredients until crumbly. Press half of mixture into greased 9x13 pan. Cover with rhubarb. Cook sugar, cornstarch and water until thick and clear. Remove from heat; add vanilla to syrup and pour over rhubarb. Sprinkle raspberries over the rhubarb, then sprinkle the remaining crumbly mixture over all and pack lightly. Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream!

(note: the "crisp" part of this recipe is doubled. I prefer it this way. If you half everything,  use 1 cup of butter.)

We've found some creative ways and new favorite recipes to incorporate our garden produce into all of our daily routine

Parmesan Crusted Zucchini

Zucchini

Olive Oil

Bread Crumbs

Parmesan Cheese

Coin zucchini. Dip it in olive oil, then bread crumbs, then parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until Golden Brown.  Another variation is, instead of using olive oil, use a beaten egg. Also delicious!

Zucchini Lasagna

Recipe from HERE

3 pounds large zucchini, scrubbed

1 quart spaghetti sauce or thick tomato sauce

1 cup bread crumbs

1 pound ricotta cheese (more, if you like - the original recipe calls for 2 pounds)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped

1/2 teaspoon each dried oregano, basil

Salt & pepper to taste

1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1 pound mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated

Slice zucchini into long, semi-thin slices. Cook in boiling water just until limp, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. (If you cut your zucchini really thin, don't boil for as long, or even at all. You can do this if you don't have enough zucchini, or if you want the zucchini flavor to be less prominent.)

Combine ricotta, eggs, parsley, seasoning and half of the parmesan cheese and half of the bread crumbs in a bowl. Set aside.

In a 9x13 pan, spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle with a quarter of the bread crumbs. Arrange layer of zucchini over this. Spoon half of the reserved ricotta mixture on top of the zucchini. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella cheese. Arrange the rest of the zucchini over this, layer more tomato sauce and the rest of the bread crumbs and top with remaining ricotta mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour or until top is brown. Let stand 20 minutes before cutting. 

If you try these recipes, I'd love to hear how they turn out for you. And, I'm always looking for new recipes to try, that allow us to use our produce. If you have any recipes that you swear by, send them my way!

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Eating Well (or trying to!) During Pregnancy

Good nutrition is important at every stage of life, but something about pregnancy drives many women to take extra care of themselves, including how they eat.  Whether it is realizing you are no longer just taking care of yourself or wanting to keep your body in the healthiest shape for your eventual labor and delivery, many a pregnant woman takes a second look at what she eats.

However, as a second time mama, sometimes it isn't as easy to keep focused on your nutrition as well as you do your first child's!  Here are some quick tips to help you eat healthy during your pregnancy, whether this is your first, or one of many children:

- Drink tons of water!  Water intake for pregnancy recommendations vary based on your source, but drinking somewhere from 64 to 80+ ounces per day seems to be a common finding.  Water intake decreases dehydration related contractions and aids in your blood volume and baby's amniotic fluids, even if it does keep you running to the ladies' room!!!

- Take your prenatal vitamins.  This may seem like a no-brainer for some women, but for others, it can be hard to remember, especially if you take no other medications, or if you have other children at home on which you are focused.  I've found personally that setting a smart phone alarm with the label of "Take your Vitamin!" tends to work well for me :)

- Vary your colors.  Watching the colors of your food intake can, in many cases, help you to increase the vitamins and minerals you are obtaining.  When you eat a meal, you want to try and eat a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables to gain more of your nutrients from your food than from relying on vitamins and supplements.

- Think about the overall picture.  When my son began to eat solid foods, we were given the advice to judge his intake over a week's time, instead of a day.  This helped my husband and I to not obsess over every meal he ate.  Overall, by the end of each week, his intake is widely varied and covering all categories.  This can be a helpful outlook to have while eating for your pregnancy as well.

What are some things you do to eat well during pregnancy?

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Foods to Avoid While Pregnant

I had no idea before I started having children that there were so many foods I had to avoid. It was all new to me. Here's a list:

-Soft cheeses--During pregnancy, try to avoid Brie, goat, Camembert, feta, queso blanco, an blue or other veined varieties of cheese. The reason is that they may be unpasteurized and might contain listeria, which can trigger food poisoning. Cheeses like cheddar and Parmesan have been aged, which process kills bacteria naturally.

-Eggs--Don't avoid eggs, but we all know that can be contaminated with salmonella, which is more dangerous for pregnant women. Just make sure you eat refrigerated eggs that don't have any cracks and or have unclean shells. And, avoid runny eggs. We also aren't supposed to sample the cookie dough, but I have to admit, it is very, very hard for me to resist!!

-Deli and prepacked lunch meats--I somehow completely missed the memo on this one during my first pregnancy. Turns out they can also be contaminated with listeria if they aren't handled properly. Before eating deli or prepackaged lunch meats, make sure you heat them until they are steaming hot so you can kill the bacteria. Some meats can also be infected with toxoplasma. If the meats aren't fully cooked, it's one of the infections that can cross into the placenta.

-Some fish--There are fish that contains high levels of mercury, which is obviously bad for fetal brain development. Fish to avoid are shark, tilefish, king mackerel, swordfish, and albcore tuna. Don't think you have to stay away from all fish though. Canned tuna has very low levels of mercury and is ok once or twice a week. And salmon doesn't contain mercury. It's actually great for you during pregnancy, when your body needs a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, which it has!

-Caffeine--A 2008 study from Kaiser Permanente confirmed that high doses of caffeine daily during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage. It found that women who consumed more than 200 milligrams or more of caffeine per day had twice the risk of miscarriage than women who didn't have any. So beware of coffee, tea, soda, cocoa, and energy drinks...especially during the first trimester.

-Alcohol--I think almost everyone knows this by now, but let's cover our bases just in case. Did you know that alcohol crosses into the placenta immediately? Women who drink frequently while pregnant put their child at risk of fetal alcohol syndrome, which can have mild to very severe side effects. In 2005, the US Surgeon General urged all pregnant women to avoid any alcohol.

-Soft serve ice cream--I just heard about this one a few weeks ago! I had no clue. It poses another danger when it comes to listeria. It can live in the machines that hold and serve it. Listeria can affect the placenta, amniotic fluid, and the placenta if you are infected.

With all that said...if you've had these things, don't stress. I can tell you I have enjoyed large amounts of chocolate, soft serve ice cream, cookie dough, and unheated lunch meats while pregnant, and it's all been ok. Just use caution in everything!

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Some better options

I LOVE sweets. Chocolate, and ice cream, and cookies, and cake, and more ice cream, and more chocolate, and more cookies. Truely my biggest weakness. And when I am pregnant/nursing, it's even harder for me to resist the cravings. And I am a firm believer that giving in to cravings a little bit is better than denying yourself the treat and then bingeing when you do finally give in.

Luckily there are options that are slightly better than others. Here are a few things you can try.

--According to Dr. Oz one option of a healthier alternative is double churned (or slow churned) ice cream. It has more air in it, but is still creamy. It is also made with real cream, which means its less likely to have artificial sweetners. Half a cup is around 100 calories, which is better than most frozen yogurts.

--Another healthier alternative that Dr. Oz suggests is dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate. It has flavonoids, which are an important antioxidant that helps lower blood pressure. You want dark chocolate with a cocoa conent higher than 70%. Another good option is to have dark chocolate with almonds since they provide healthy fat.

--Now that the weather is cooling down a bit, a good option when you are craving chocolate is hot chocolate instead of a candy bar or cookies. Swiss Miss has a breakfast blends hot cocoa that has only 60 calories. Or you can go for the marshmellow hot cocoa for 110 calories.

--If you are baking treats yourself, use applesauce or canola oil in your cakes and cookies instead of butter. Just make sure to use the natural applesauce, not the kind that has loads of sugar to sweeten it up.

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Making baby food

I have had my eye on the Baby Bullet ever since I saw the infomercial for it months ago. I never thought I would want to make my own baby food but the Baby Bullet made me feel like I should. The only problem was the price. Since my attempts to feed my daugher baby food have all failed, I couldn't decide if it would be worth it.

But then while out shopping a few weeks ago, I saw that Munchkin brand has a baby food grinder. The one I saw was $10, and I figured it was worth a shot. It worked great, and my daugther actually eats the food that we grind up for her. I have to say it was money well spent. You can buy one here for $7.99, or probably find it at any of your department stores.

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What's for lunch??

Whether you are pregnant, just had a baby, working, have a working husband, have kids at home, or have kids at school there is something you need every single day. Lunch! (And if you aren't eating lunch, shame on you!!) Eating a good, healthy lunch is so important for you and your family.

One of the toughest things, I've found, with this thing called lunch is figuring out what to eat everyday. Alternating between pb&j and chicken sandwiches through out the week can be dreadful. Not to mention it can often be difficult to figure out good, healthy things to have for lunch.

So if you are looking for some new, delicious, healthy (and sometimes unhealthy for the times you need to indulge)

ideas for you, your husband, and/or your children you need to check out The Lunch Box Lowdown blog. She has so

many great recipes and ideas so that you won't have to keep eating the same boring things every day. Some of her recipes include the wild west sandwich wrap, green pasta salad, and honey and chicken salad.

AND since the school year is getting started (it's hard to believe in some states kids are already back in school!) she is having a fun giveaway. I know you're probably wishing that she's offering to make you these lunches for the rest of the year. Unfortunately she's not, but it is something just as fun!

Head over to her blog to enter to win a new lunchbox filled with goodies!

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Good food for the litte ones

Don't forget about the Milan Maternity Sofia Giveaway, enter HERE!

When I was pregnant with my son and I imagined having a child, I pictured a perfect little child who wore what I wanted him to wear, slept when I wanted him to sleep, and ate what I wanted him to eat. So far, he does none of those things. So it looks like my mom was the only person to have the perfect child when she had me.

When it comes to him eating what I want him to eat, he is the pickiest eater! He eats toast, crackers, Cocoa Pebbles, chips, fries, apple sauce, yogurt, and a couple of other things. Not the best diet for a 2 and a half year old. Which means I have to cram the good stuff in when I can.

I have two "go-to" foods that he has everyday. It is my only way of making sure he gets at least a little bit of the good stuff.


The first is YoBaby and YoToddler yogurt. With "meal" combinations of apple & sweet potato, pear & green beans, and peach & squash I finally have a way to get some vegetables in to him. My son loves them, which is great since they are organic, have live active cultures, and have vitamins and important nutrients. And seriously, with as picky as an eater as he, it was such a relief when I found these and he liked them so much.

The second is something that I recently discovered and am probably a little behind on. My son requests the GoGo SqueeZ apple sauce every-single-day for lunch! They are made from 100% fruit, and have yummy combinations like apple-banana and apple-strawberry. Plus their pouch makes it perfect for a snack when you are out and about, and my son loves having something to eat in a fun way.

There are so many things that we have to worry about as parents, so it's nice to have to worry a little less about getting in some healthy food. If you have anything that you've found, do share!

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