Change Becomes Change

Cooking with Kids: How Are You Growing Lil' Foodies?

I want to share with you some of the incredible work that my friend Michelle is doing to encourage parents cook with their children. Michelle owns a company called What's Cooking that offers healthy cooking classes to kids in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her classes teach kids and their families to enjoy delicious home-made foods, and motivate families to use food and cooking to help those less fortunate. She just started a new feature on her website called What's Cooking With YOUR Kids to showcase how other families are doing this. Here's some of my recent chat with Michelle to learn more about this project:

What was your inspiration?

My What's Cooking with YOUR Kids program was inspired by a blog series on The Perfect Pantry, called "Other People's Pantries".  Readers send Lydia photos of their food pantries and cabinets, and share tips on what type of items are helpful to have on hand and how to stay organized.  It is a fun way for us to see how other people are "doing it."

For me, I was curious about whether or not people are cooking with their kids.  If they are, I wanted to get a glimpse through their virtual kitchen window to see what they were up to.  What types of recipes were they making together?  Do they only make "kid food" or do they make their family meals together?  Did they have tips on where their kids should stand or on jobs their kids felt comfortable doing in the kitchen?  Did anything funny or disgusting ever happen?  

What are you hoping to accomplish?

I think that deep down, many people doubt their abilities in the kitchen - and are therefore nervous about cooking with their kids.  Or, maybe they are great cooks, but are unsure about how to "teach" their kids or make it safe for them to participate.  By starting this series, my goal was to show lots of success stories, so that we could inspire others to give it a shot.  I would love it if someone were to read these posts and say, "hey - if she can do it with her 3 kids, I can do it too!"  Or maybe someone will realize that kids can make more than just cookies!  They can help you prepare the veggies for your stir-fry or they can become Head Salad Maker of your household.

Why is it important to cook with our kids?

I could probably go on for days about why I think it's important for children to learn to cook - especially with their families.  But if I were to give you the super-duper abbreviated edition, I would start by saying that it gives kids the experience to make good food choices for the rest of their lives.  They can learn that their choice of ingredients can not only affect their personal health, but it can effect the environment, too.  Plus, kids who get the opportunity to cook are exposed to a greater variety of flavors and become better eaters.  They also get to spend quality time with the family - which is hard to come by, these days (with such a prevalence of t.v., video games, etc.). 

How can families share how they're cooking with their kids on your site?

So far, I have received a variety of submissions.  I adore when photos are included - they really make these stories come to life.  Some people share silly stories, while others share touching tales of culinary wisdom being passed down from one generation to another. But all of them are wonderful - and will speak differently to each of my readers. You can submit yours by sending a note to Michelle(at)WhatsCooking(dot)info

We hope you're cooking, baking and having fun with your kids in the kitchen too!

Michelle Obama Tackles Childhood Obesity

Our first lady has recently announced that she’s launching an initiative this month to bring solutions and improvement to a growing problem in America: childhood obesity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16% of children (over 9 million) 6 to 19 years old are overweight or obese -- a number that has tripled since 1980 - another 15% were considered at risk of becoming overweight.

Over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2 to 5 years and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese.

She has her work cut out for her, to say the least. But if our children, and their children, have a chance, it’s going to take the muscle that those strong first-lady arms hold to tackle this one.

How did we get here? Experts say poor nutrition and lack of movement. Instead of riding their bikes ‘till the street lights come on, kids today are often playing computer games. Physical education and sport programs have been cut from many schools. One-third of children ages 4 to 19 eat fast food every day. And have you looked at the lunches served in the school cafeteria lately?

From USA Today: 

Michelle Obama, speaking at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said the idea was simple: "To put in place common-sense initiatives and solutions that empower families and communities to make healthy decisions for their kids".

The initiative will involve the federal government working with local officials and leaders in the business and non-profit sectors, she said, to provide more nutritious food in schools, allow more opportunities for kids to be physically active and give more communities access to affordable, healthful food.

Mrs Obama is hopeful and has high ambitions. She believes that parents want healthier lives for their children but don’t always know what to do. Choices at the market can be confusing and difficult to make. Some low-income areas are what experts refer to as “food deserts” – convenience stores might be the best choice for food options and we all know how fresh and healthy food is there.

In our own communities, there are simple things we can all do to help support this initiative:

• Fight to keep physical education in our schools (how about nutrition class too?)

• Demand that schools remove sodas and vending machines full of sugary, salty snacks

• Break-down obstacles to walk or bike to school

• Support your local YMCA and rec center programs

I’m in this fight…are you?

 

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What Do Farmers Eat...and Avoid?

I've shared with you a few times here the reasons we buy fresh, organic foods, but those are our personal opinions and reasons. Even though I consider myself to be educated in this area, those are still my opinions and I'll admit that I'm passionate around local, organic real foods. So who's opinion matters to you? Who do you trust?

When I'm not sure or have a new question, I look to the food experts that are well-known in the industry and well-respected by the food community. I also like knowing how growers feel and what they're eating at home with their family.

As you can probably imagine, I was very interested, and curious, when I came across this headline: The 7 Foods Experts Won't Eat. I had to know: what could be so horrible that farmers, doctors and scientists wouldn't eat?

If you enjoy tomatoes, beef, popcorn, potatoes, salmon, milk or apples (and who doesn't love at least one of those?) I urge you to READ THIS NOW. It's a quick read and may affect your next trip to the grocery store. I know it's changed ours.

I hope you'll come back here and leave a comment below to let us know if you'll make a change too.

No More Soda In Schools for Massachusetts

New England students may soon enjoy healthier snack and beverage options at school. This is good news for parents, the health care system, educators and other supporters of raising healthy kids.

This week, the Massachusetts House approved a bill that would potentially allow the state to ban high-calorie sodas, along with salty and sugary snacks (you know, junk food) from elementary and high schools. In it's place, the bill encourages schools to serve low-fat dairy products and whole grain pastas and breads.

Although the bill still needs to pass the Massachusetts Senate, backers of the bill are hopeful. They firmly believe that removing sodas and poor-choice snacks is key in fighting childhood obesity.

What options do your kids have at school? Even though we pack lunch for our kids, I'm glad that vending machines aren't welcome at our school. I trust them to make smart food choices, but they're still kids and don't need the temptation.

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I Blame Plastics

What exactly do I blame plastics for? Things I don't even know about yet. Things that scare me. The unknown and known.

I grew up on plastics. Remember Tupperware parties? Little People? Plastic dolls? I had jellies on my feet, plastic head bands for my long locks, and those clear plastic purses popular in the early 80's. During my college years, my caffeine of choice was diet coke delivered in an Arco AM/PM plastic 32oz sipper cup that went thru the dishwasher daily (those were meant to be heated up to the point that the shape gets distorted, right?).

My life wasn't all plastic though. Starting in high school, I wore cheap drug store makeup, frequented fast food and never heard of organic food until the last decade. We used the usual chemical-laden cleaners in our the house, raid to kill our annual visits of summer-rain ants, and played outdoors in Southern California until our lungs hurt when we took a deep breath.

Don't get me wrong - I had a wonderful childhood and have many special memories with my loving parents. My childhood was probably pretty similar to most children of the 70's. I know that if my parents knew then, what we know today, things would have been a lot different.

If my parents knew that exposure to all that BPA (bisphenolA) found in many plastics would prevent me from ovulating, and cost my husband and I thousands of dollars trying to conceive our son, my childhood would have looked different. Our toy box would be filled with wooden, glass or cloth toys from companies who have proven to make high quality toys for children.

If we knew then that exposure to chemicals in cleaners, foods and personal products could affect my immune and reproductive system function, lead to cancer, or negatively affect my nervous system, I am certain that we would've used baking soda and vinegar to clean our house, sought out pesticide-free food options, and avoided slathering petroleum from a tub all over ourselves (you know, the "V" brand we used to remove eye makeup & moisten chapped lips).

But they didn't know. Knowledge and awareness of these issues weren't where they are today. Options weren't what they are now. Today, we know better. We have options. We get to make informed choices for our children.

Because we know, we keep chemicals out of our house, buy organic foods as much as possible and certainly the "dirty dozen", buy toys and other items for our children only from trusted brands, and have fallen in love with glass, stainless steel and other BPA-free food containers.

So, now that you know the dangers and risks with chemicals, what changes will you make? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us.


To learn more about the dangers of chemicals, please visit the Environmental Working Group HERE. And discover safe, green toys for your children from Healthy Child Healthy World HERE.

Recycling Surprises

Last week we shared 7 Surprising Things You Can Recycle and hope that you found one or two new ways to give something a second (or third) life. Now we want to hear from you. Yes!

Please leave a comment below and tell us, what has been your biggest recycling surprise? Could be something you'd been recycling and found out you couldn't...or something you hadn't been recycling and learned you could. Or something funny about recycling.

No strict rules here! Just an opportunity to share. Thanks!

7 Surprising Things You Can Recycle (or Reuse)

My son has been learning more about recycling this year at school and knows all about the usual suspects: paper, glass, plastics, cans and cardboard. But now he's ready to step it up and talk about recycling, or reusing, other things we no longer need but don't have to go in the trash. Why? Like you, we're concerned about our growing landfills. Anything that we can keep out of them is a great thing for future generations.

Here's a look at some of the more surprising things that we can recycle:

Packing peanuts can be taken to your local Kinkos/Fed Ex shop, or other pack and mail place to be reused. Or save it for the holidays if you ship gifts across the country. I've also seen preschools and daycare facilities use them in their sensory bins.

Shoes. Yes, you can take old sneakers, no matter their condition, to one of the many drop off locations to be turned into Nike Grind. Nike then uses that material to surface playgrounds and other athletic areas. 

Toys can enjoy longer playlife by sharing them with friends, your church, shelters for families, or places like Goodwill or Salvation Army. You can also drop them off at a children's consignment store and replenish your own toy funds.

Wine Corks can be collected and dropped off at many places. Our local Whole Foods accepts them and I know other grocers do as well
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Appliances big and small can be recycled too. Visit Earth911 to find a local donation center near you.

CFL Bulbs contain mercury and need to be disposed of in an eco-friendly way so that we keep that out of the ground. Thankfully Home Depot stores accept these bulbs and take care of that for us.

Doing some work on your home? Donate old hardware, molding, windows and doors to salvage companies, restoration organizations or put an ad on Craigslist. We gave away about 700 sq feet of our old carpet when we put wood floors down that way.

For so many items that we're done enjoying, we can always turn to places like Goodwill or Salvation Army. Sharing gently used items with friends is a great way to help another family out who might not be able to afford fancy new toys or clothes. We also know a few friends who rotate toys with other families so that their kids don't get bored with "the same old toys". And, of course, another option is to put your items up for sale on eBay or Craigslist or plan a neighborhood garage sale this summer.

Key: almost any thing can have a second or third life, even if it doesn't work or is in poor condition.

And it's easier than you think. We organize items that can't go out to the curb in our pantry, garage or in a closet by the front door - depending on the item. We drop off our donations as we run errands in that area so that we're not making an extra trip.

So, tell us...what do you recycle or reuse that might surprise us? Help us all with your ideas. Thanks

Doing Good With One Click

Do you have any idea how many advertisements you see while you're online each day? What if clicking on the ads resulted in a donation by someone else for that organization? Do good, with one click on an ad - and it's not even your money. That sounds great to me.

I just learned about Do Good today and have been playing around with it so that I felt confident sharing with you. 

Do Good offers a free browser plug-in that works with Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. It was super easy to install - even for me! The plug-in hides the regularly placed advertisements on any site and replaces them with messages about green initiatives,philanthropic causes, and health and wellness ideas. Doesn't that sound better than those ads for car insurance or mortgage loans? 

Did I mention that Do Good donates 50% of their profits to charitable foundations and green movements? Check it out for yourself and start helping others today. 

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MLK Day "On" for Service

Today is Martin Luther King Day, an ideal time for us to reflect on our shared values and -- more importantly -- to act on them.  Americans from all over will come together to honor Dr. King with a Day of Service.  With Haiti utterly devastated by a recent earthquake, and with our country still reeling from the economic crisis and job losses, we are reminded that our country and the world need service now more than ever.

If you have the day off, make it a "day on" to help others in need. Even if you don't have the day off, there are many simple ways you can make a difference in your community today. Here's a few:

• Make a donation to your local food bank
• Drop off used books to your library or school 
• Clean up a park near your home
• Start up a bottle cap recycling program at your office
• Get your kids involved in helping others (they'll probably love it!)

These are the easier things that take little to no planning but can really have some impact.

What are we doing? We're taking advantage of the open invitation from the Oregon Food Bank to tour their west side facility. They usually only allow older kids to tour the grounds but will open their doors to children of all ages. We're going to stop off at the store to pack up donations and head over.

So, what will you do?

Mangrove Fund: Helping Haiti Since 2007 and Today

There's no doubt in my mind that you've heard, seen and read of the tragedy in Haiti that jeopardizes the country. The recent estimates from the Red Cross are that 45,000 to 50,000 people have died, and those that remain face living conditions that we cannot begin to comprehend. Hospitals, government buildings, homes, orphanages, and Port-au-Prince's air traffic control tower have collapsed or badly damaged. While Haiti has seen devestation and hardship many times, the 7.0 earthquake that shook this poverty-stricken country this week is cataclysmic in impact. More than 3 million people will be affected.

People around the world have watched Haitians suffer and are stepping up to help. The list of countries, organizations, businesses and individuals who are helping is long and growing. For those of us that want to help, there's many ways to do so but I want to share one special option with you today.

Bill and Mary Pierznik began the process of adopting their son, Richelor, from Haiti in early 2007.  They have visited the country a total of more than 12 times but upon their first visit they were captured by the plight and spirit of the Haitian people.  Since then, they have established Mangrove Fund to focus exclusively on support for Haiti. 

Since the tragedy they have focused Mangrove exclusively on relief efforts.  They audit every dollar that they spend and keep zero money for administrative costs meaning 100% of all funds go to Haiti.  Their plan is to split relief money between immediate assistance (such as food, shelter and water) and longer term issues (such as preparing the rural areas for the inevitable human migration out of Port-au-Prince).  

Bill and his team at Mangrove Fund are coordinating with people on the ground in Haiti to ensure that the funds raised are sent directly to the organizations leading the recovery efforts. This coordinated effort will make sure that those in need get help. And fast.

No matter how you're going to help Haiti pull through this tragedy, I hope that you'll do a little homework or make sure that your "trusted friend" has. While it's unthinkable that someone would take advantage of this situation for their own profit, we've already heard of a few scams out there. We all want our hard-earned money to go right to those who need it.

Here's the Mangrove Fund website where you can learn more about Haiti, their project and make a donation to help Haitians recover. Thank you