Change Becomes Change

Nutrition or price - how to choose at the market

A new survey highlights that consumers are putting price ahead of nutrition at the grocery store during these tough times. While that's not a complete surprise, it seems that what is really in order is some nutrition education. There are a lot of inexpensive, nutrient-dense choices we can make so that we can still eat well on a tight budget.

Here's a few choices that I'm going to call my Healthy Dollar Menu (not sure if they actually cost $1 per serving, but you get the idea):

• Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (on whole wheat bread)

• Bean and cheese burritos (we like to put red bell peppers in ours for a little extra taste)

• Eggs with spinach

• Oatmeal with some chopped nuts and dried fruit

• Apples dipped in almond butter

• Yogurt mixed with granola

• Whole wheat pasta tossed with broccoli and chickpeas (with some olive oil and spices)

• Stir-fry with bright-color veggies and lean meat like turkey or chicken

• Tortellini tossed with chopped veggies (we serve this warm or cold, tossed with flax oil and some herbs - kids devour it!)

Keeping a few staples in the pantry, and looking for fruits and vegetables full of nutrients on sale can really help us all meet our family's nutritional needs while spending less.

What are you doing to eat healthy and cut back?

Recycling water bottle (caps)

Did you know that the caps of plastic bottles need to be removed before you recycle them? Yes indeed. Up until now, those little caps had to be tossed into the trash while their partner, the bottle, went on to another life. But now, the caps have a chance to become something else as well. Thanks to the great people at Aveda.

My husband recently informed me that we can take our caps to Aveda stores or salons and they'll work to make sure they're recycled into packaging for future products. They'll take screw-on caps from soda or water bottles, and those with other openings like shampoos and toothpaste, and food containers (think mustard and ketchup).

If we don't recycle our caps, they unfortunately end up being hazardous for wildlife. And no one wants that, right?

Make it easy on yourself to do this. We recycle quite a bit at work so I'm going to set up an extra container for caps right next to the one for bottles. We'll do the same at home. If you don’t live near an Aveda store or salon, check to see if your local school is participating.

If you'd rather reuse the little guys, here's a few ideas:

• Magnets - let your kids decorate, fill them with epoxy and glue a magnet to the back
• Snakes - drill holes in the center and string them up to make colorful snakes
• Art - add them to your supply bin, sit back and watch what your children come up with

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Food-raising event to help feed hungry families

It's a sad fact: there are more people hungry in our country every day.

“Foreclosures, layoffs and rising food costs are forcing more and more families to seek help,” says Rachel Bristol, executive director and CEO of Oregon Food Bank. “These sharp increases in demand for emergency food are stretching OFB and its network of agencies to the limit. In order to meet the need throughout Oregon and Clark County, Wash., the OFB Network needs an additional of 1-million pounds of food per month with support from the state and the entire community.”

That's a lot of food. And if the need isn't met, that's a lot of hungry families. We need to help, right?

Well, we're organizing an event at work that we're calling a Sidewalk-A-Thon. There's a large park block right in front of our building and we're having a fun challenge to get around the block however you want and gather sponsors to donate a pound or dollar for each lap. Pretty simple way to hopefully reach our goal of a ton (yep 2,000 lbs) of food for the Oregon Food Bank.

We're making this a family event since feeding the hungry is the kids' "go-to" answer when we ask them what they want to do to help people. And it's just going to be a lot of fun!

So, will you sponsor us?

Better yet, want to join us? The Sidewalk-A-Thon in the North Park Blocks (Pearl District) is Thurs June 4th at 3pm. Let's see how much food we can raise together for hungry Oregonians!

Send me an email or leave a comment, and let me know how you want to help out. Thanks!

Finding time to help others

I will often get asked: how do you find time to help others? Between work, family, chores and life…where does it fall? It's hard, I won't kid you. And, the painful truth is that it only happens if it's a priority. The first step (and the hard one) is to look at life and what you want to accomplish. Is it important that your children be active in sports or other activities, or to spend time with close friends and family? How important is having an immaculate home? Is it important for you to have downtime and relax each weekend or do you need to keep busy?

We happen to like being (but not in an over-scheduled way.) Helping others is important to us so we find easy ways to weave it into our lives. We're also really fortunate that we have one stay at home parent so that most of our chores and errands can happen during the work week, leaving our weekends open to play, see friends and family, and serve. I know for many families with two working parents that weekends can quickly get full with errands, sports and other obligations.

So, here's a few doable ideas that might spark some of your own:

• Helping hungry people you see on the road or near a freeway entrance is easy if you keep some granola or energy bars in your car - we stock up from Costco.

• Some families we know have a in and out rule: if new toys or clothes come in the house, some need to leave the house. There are many great organizations across the nation that take used items like Goodwill, Salvation Army and other local places like shelters. Once a month, fill up a bag or two - this kind of cleansing is good for mama's soul too!

• Keep a couple plastic bags in the car to pick up litter when you're out and abut, on a walk or hike, or just out in your neighborhood.

• Feeding the birds is super easy with a pine cone covered in peanut better and rolled in bird seed.

• Before you put something in the trash or recycle bin, think twice. Is there something else you could do with that? We use yogurt cups for painting, empty toilet paper rolls for spotting scopes and magical wands, and glass jars for flowers and homemade salad dressings.

Hopefully one or two of these are easy enough that they can fit right into your schedule. You may already be doing some things like this and not giving yourself credit. If you need more ideas, let me know.

And, please add some of your own ideas in the comments too! Help other families find easy ways to help.  Thanks

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Shopping the spring Famer's Market

With the Farmer's Market officially open here in Oregon, everyone in my house was excited to make our first trip to our local Beaverton Farmer's Market today. Since the only thing ready to pull from our own garden is lettuce and kale (and it's pretty slim pickings so far), we were looking forward to seeing what our local farmers will offer. We found leeks, lettuce, asparagus, fresh cheese and eggs, and free range chicken which sounds pretty tasty for a bar-b-que on what's due to be a gorgeous weekend. There's also herb and vegetable starts which will help us expand our garden - we picked up more rosemary, along with lavender, mint and basil.

Even though we didn't get out of the house quite as early as I had hoped, getting there early in means we beat the really big crowds so there's more selection and more time to talk with the growers about their farms and practices. It's important to us that our kids know where their food comes from and they like seeing the familiar faces each week. I've even caught them talking about the grower or farm when sharing a sweet juicy peach with a friend.

And an early Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market was the perfect way to start our day in the garden. We still have some plants that didn't make the brutal winter to dig up, some to move around and many spaces still to fill. We're replacing anything that didn't survive the winter with something edible or useful in some way. And as much of our yard as possible is being turned into a growing garden this year so that we can also share our bounty with neighbors, friends and hungry family through the Oregon Food Bank's Plant a Row for the Hungry program.

Have you been to your local Farmer's Market this year? Is your home garden ready? What are you growing this year?

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Amazing kid moment - JT Robertson really made a difference

This Amazing Kid Moment is brought to us by Kids Are Heroes - the place where all kids can make a difference.

JT Robertson collects cans and returnables. He then uses the deposit money from those returnables to buy tickets for less fortunate children on the Arcade and Attica Railroad for a trip on Make A Difference Day every October. When JT first started, there was a problem with boarding the train for children with disabilities - especially wheelchairs. So JT continued to collect returnables to fund the trips but also started to raise awareness of the problem. He made a video and asked for letters of support for an Extreme Train Makeover.

JT's mom sent the video and the request to ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. During the time the tape was sent and JT waited to hear, an article about the Make A Difference Day Express appeared in Trains magazine. This article caught the eye of a producer at ABC.

On September 16th 2008, JT was a guest on Good Morning America. The GMA crew surprised JT with his hero Ty Pennington. Ty announced that with the help of Sears and two of his crew members an Extreme Train Makeover would happen. Paige Hemmis and Micheal Moloney went to Arcade, New York and helped to make two rail cars wheelchair accessible.

This past October was the fourth Make a Difference Day Express. The first year JT bought tickets for 21 total strangers. The following year (2nd) 84 children and 44 adults were able to ride. The next year (3rd) 328 people were able to ride. This past year was the biggest year - 728 tickets were bought due to recycling efforts and donations from complete strangers! Next year - who knows what will happen...

Check out JT on Good Morning America. Want to send a Shout Out to JT and let him know how proud you are? Click here to send your note. Have your own Amazing Kid Moment to share with us? Send us a note and we'd love to share your great stories.

Ronald McDonald Houses: helping families when they need it

Many of us, unfortunately, know a family who has experience with a child who needs medial attention - whether it's a birth defect, serious disease or illness, accident or some other tragedy that leads them to long-term care in a medical facility. We all want the very best for our children, and certainly when it comes to their health, which often means traveling to another city or region for many families.

Ronald McDonald Houses provide a "home away from home" for families and their ill or injured children that travel far for treatment. These Homes allow them to connect with other families, and children to meet other children going through a similar experience. The Homes are comfortable, safe and offer a free or low-cost place so they can get a peaceful night's rest knowing their children are close.

Both of our children where in the NICU shortly after birth - Patrick for less than 24 hours, Marcelena for 7 days - and I've seen these many of such families. Marcelena was in the NICU after I was discharged and we made the 8 mile drive to St Vincent hospital often each day. We were fortunate to live near a hospital that was able to take care of her needs. Each time I walked by her shabby-chic pink nursery at the top of our stairs, I cried for my little girl who was fighting so hard to get strong enough to come home. We couldn't even hold her during those days in the NICU - it was a heart-breaking week but we still felt blessed looking around at the other families.

My career has led me to work with the Ronald McDonald Houses in Oregon so I'm familiar with many of the family stories. You can view some of them here at their site - they will all touch your heart. The Houses offer a tremendous, much-needed service to these families, but they can't do it alone. Here's just a few, fun ways you can help and get involved:

Help out around the House - Volunteers make a house a home!

Collect new toiletries to donate - Many families arrive at the hospital without a toothbrush or change of clothes. Toiletries can be really appreciated!

Make a meal for families - There is nothing more fun and rewarding than getting together with co-workers, friends or family to make a meal for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House.

Help out at a big event - Attending fundraising events is a great way to give back, but being part of the planning and execution is an even more rewarding experience.

Make a day of it  - Let them help plan your next community service day at the Ronald McDonald House.

As a family, we're planning a weekend night to make dinner and spend time with the families there. It's a great experience for children and a nice way for them to interact and play with the children who might not have had a playdate in a long time.

Want a few more ideas? Find something at 30 Ways to Volunteer on their site. Most of these are simple, easy and fun for kids!

Goofy Nectarines? The Incredibles Apple Slices? Disney food at your market.

 

There's been a lot of talk lately around a new Disney program that puts licensed characters like Cinderella, Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell on products in your grocery stores. In fact, there's a Disney Garden partnership with Imagination Farms specifically to market food to children 4 to 12 years of age who are huge influencers on their family purchase patterns. I'm not surprised that Disney formed this partnership after their long-standing agreement with McDonald's to use their characters on Happy Meal toys ended - it's a well-known fact that young children have purchase power, even at 4 years old.

Whenever you talk about marketing to children there are a lot of strong opinions, and this time they're on both sides of the debate.

For me personally, and some of the folks I've heard from, we'd rather not see Disney Princesses or other characters in the grocery store. We want our children to love pears and asparagus because they taste good (and hopefully someday because they know how good they are for them!). But we also come from the parenting perspective that we don't want advertisers telling our children what they like, want or need - and do our best to remove advertisements from our family (disclosure: yes, I'm in marketing and have spent the last 10 or so years in advertising).

But there's another side which is really important for some families. In these homes, there's not a true love for fruits and vegetables, and other foods that are necessary for growing bodies. And there might be little fans of these characters showing up on produce stickers or packaging. For these parents, the priority is to get nutritious food eaten by their children - no matter what that means. If your daughter loves Tinkerbell, she just might eat a Tinkerbell Green Bean.

So, how do you feel about Disney selling food to your kids? Is it really different than McDonald's marketing Happy Meals to children? Why? Are you thankful that Disney is helping you get fruits and vegetables into your child's diet?

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Amazing kid moment - John Sun gives his mom the best gift ever

This Amazing Kid Moment is brought to us by Kids Are Heroes - the place where all kids can make a difference.

John Sun is a happy and healthy 9 year old who loves animals and hopes to a veterinarian one day. John has dedicated a great deal of time and effort to raising money and awareness for premature births. To date, John has collected more than 173 lbs. of aluminum cans from his community in order to purchase 50 Boyds Bears miniature stuffed animals for the NICU unit at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. He has delivered 143 gift bags to families of preemies at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital and Frederick Memorial Hospital and served as the honorary NICU Santa at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital this past Christmas.

His passion for animals, big and small, led him to Small Angels Rescue, a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing and finding loving homes for small animals including, chinchillas, degus, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, and mice. To date he has raised $425.00 in donations for this organization.

In addition to toys he donates quilts, blankets and preemie hats that he gets from nursing homes and local businesses.  When he delivered his first set of gift baskets he turned to his mother and said, "Mom, that was the most important thing I have ever done!"  I can't think of a better gift to a mother than hearing that from her child.

Want to send a Shout Out to John Sun and let him know how proud you are? Click here to send your note. Have your own Amazing Kid Moment to share with us? Send us a note and we'd love to share your great stories.

How you can support Kid-Safe Chemicals Act

Last week I wrote about the work that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is doing for the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act and why we got involved too. Well, Lisa Frack, who is an Online Parent Organizer for EWG, an Urban Mamas Activista, and was the director for our video last weekend, has some additional things we can all do to support the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act:

1. Sign The Declaration
2. Spread the word to friends via social networks (including,  embedding the video below on blogs, Facebook, etc.)or emails
3. Join EWG's Facebook group: http://tinyurl.com/a2aanp - soon there will be a Kid-Safe 'Cause' linked to this group, so it's a good way to stay plugged in
4. Contact your reps in Congress - email, call, go in and meet with staff
5. Add a Kid-Safe blog badge to your site or blog - click here
6. Visit the Environmental Working Group website to learn more

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