FIT KIDS - MINUTE BY MINUTE

To help you and your child get in the habit of being active I would suggest you take it a minute at a time.

 Childhood obesity is at record levels and it is expected that for the first time in over 100 years this generation of children may have shorter and unhealthier lives than their parents.  You must take this situation and your kids health seriously.

If this is a change in your lifestyle too, then I hope you are considering what you need to do to make the necessary switch.  To make this lifestyle change stick you must make really small changes; make each one a habit, which takes a couple of weeks.  Take it minute by minute.

Nutrition in childhood and physical fitness for kids starts with parents…that would be you.  If you are going to make a purchase to facilitate these changes I would suggest a kitchen timer.  They cost about $8, which you can likely handle if you take some junk food or processed food out of your shopping cart.

Challenge your kids to do some active for literally one minute, set the timer…jumping jacks, knee lifts, running on the spot, squats, and do it with them.  Make your kid's workouts (and yours) one minute long to begin with.  Those would be small changes, and do it for a couple of weeks.  You can likely find 10 one minute periods in a day, TV commercials, watching something on the computer.  Instead of sitting there get up and do something.

Healthy living kids….long living kids, and parents who set the example.  What a great idea!

KITCHEN FITNESS

Keeping dinnertime as simple as possible requires some planning ahead.  A short period over the weekend or after dinner while someone else is cleaning up the dinner dishes can make all the difference in the world.

Here is something you can try that has worked for me very well.

PRE-COOK AND FREEZE LARGE BATCHES OF RICE

 

 1.  Precook and freeze your own long grain rice.  It's cheap and easy. You can mix different kinds as long as they require similar cooking times.  I mix long grain brown with wild, 3:1 approx.


Method:


In a large skillet or pot with a tight fitting lid pour 2 cups of long grain brown rice, or the mix you choose
Add half teaspoon of salt (optional) and a bit each of onion powder and garlic powder
You can use real diced onion and garlic if you like
Mix 3 cups water or stock or mixture with 1.5 cups tomato juice or orange juice or whatever flavour you like
Pour this 4.5 cups of liquid over the rice, stir to mix
Bring to a boil with the lid on, turn down to a low simmer and cook until all liquid is gone
I usually set the timer for 30 minutes and then check it and keep resetting for another few minutes each time
When the liquid is absorbed (often about 40 minutes cooking time total) turn off the heat and let it sit
I stir it up a bit with a fork to fluff it and let it sit for an hour or so or whenever you can get back to it
Then I freeze it in containers or zip lock freezer bags that hold just enough for my family


You can experiment with flavours by using different stocks.  You can add some cooked veggies to it when you re-heat it for a meal.


To use I take it out of the freezer in the morning to have it thawed by dinner.  Put it in a microwave safe bowl, add about 1 tablespoon of liquid and microwave on high until hot, stirring part way through cooking time.  A minute or two should do it.


You can double this or do two different batches with different flavourings at the same time.  Just label the containers so you know which is which in the freezer.

And while all this is cooking you can throw together a meat loaf or a casserole or do a couple of other chores you want to get out of the way.

Try to do something like this once a week, always cooking in bulk and freezing.  Teach your kids or if they are older try it together.  It's good for them to see you learning something new.  Let them do it and learn together.

Within a few weeks you will find you have enough variety in the freezer to significantly lighten your load at dinner time.

KIDS CAN COOK

Every family has its favourite meals…pasta, pizza, a casserole.  I'm going to share with you the recipe for a meal that we have about once a week in our house.  The perk is that most kids, if they are over the age of 4 can probably make it.  All you have to do, as the parent, is provide the cooked meat you want on it if you want meat for the protein.  But you could use canned tuna or salmon, store bought pre-cooked chicken, tofu or cheese.  You don't have to use meat if you don't want to.  I use the term "recipe" loosely because there really are no rules…except maybe one, use fresh vegetables and fruits.  We call it the "Grouse Grind Salad" because when I served it to my family members visiting from West Vancouver, BC, they said the restaurant at the top of Grouse Mountain, where the Grouse Grind trail/hiking path ends, provides a very similar meal for their patrons.

Here is the list of ingredients.  Note the substitutions!

Start with a handful of greens…spinach, red leaf lettuce, kale, romaine (no iceberg lettuce)

If you have some red cabbage dice a bit of that up too

I dress my greens and toss them before putting them on my plate

My husband builds his and then tops it with his favourite dressing or yogurt

Add any veggies you like…sliced carrots, celery, tomatoes, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli (I pour boiling water over my broccoli pieces and then chill them)

Top with raisins, cranberries, any pepita, sunflower or other seeds or nuts you like

Top again with orange sections, pineapple, strawberries, diced apple, whatever you have…or not

At any point you can add some protein…cooked meat, cheese, fish, tofu

If you want a grain with it you could have a whole grain slice of bread or a roll.

Ta da…dinner is done, and you could do it as a family or a team.

A four year old could do most of this and would likely love to do it…and then would eat it. If you teach them about nutrition in childhood and aren’t afraid to let them create healthy meals like this with you then you will be providing great nutrition education for your kids and will be well on your way to developing a family book of healthy, good meals.  Note, this is a very filling meal…if you fill a dinner plate you will have trouble eating it all so I suggest you use a salad plate or bowl.