What a deal! Every Tuesday and Thursday at my children’s school you can purchase 10 Twizzlers for $1.00 from our very own Snack Shack. That is 10 cents per Twizzler. Deal or not deal? For your $1.00 you get 320 calories of strawberry flavored, chewy ropes, of bright red yumminess. What else you ask? Well what else do you need to know? They taste good and, well…it is only a treat, right? Here is the break down…All the ingredients are listed by volume with the greatest amount first.
•
Corn Syr…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on November 13, 2009 at 9:55pm —
3 Comments
Repeat. It is what I do all day…repeat myself. “Please eat your breakfast.” “Do you have your shoes on?” “Make your bed.” “Brush your teeth.” “Did you pack up your backpack?” “Pick up your room.” But my all time favorite is “Keep your hands to yourself!”
This morning after about the 10th time of asking my lovely children nicely to please eat their oatmeal, it hit me. Remember the saying “If only I had a nickel for every time…”?
I announced that the next time, and every time after that, I have…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on November 3, 2009 at 9:48am —
15 Comments
The apple, a globe or heart shaped fruit that got Eve in a bunch of trouble comes from a small deciduous tree and is a member of the Rose family, really roses. The tree originated in Central Asia somewhere between the Caspian and Black Seas. While archeologists have found evidence of humans enjoying their “apple a day” as far back as 6500 BC; Alexander the Great is credited with finding the dwarfed apple trees and introducing it to Europe.…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on October 27, 2009 at 9:23am —
No Comments
My youngest child is in kindergarten this year so I volunteered to be the room parent with another mom in his class. Usually I don’t like the whole co-room parent thing, but I really like this mom and we can organize a party together pretty well.
Our first task is of course the Halloween Party. Halloween at…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on October 13, 2009 at 8:30am —
5 Comments
So for the past two weeks I have had writers block. There is no shortage of things to write or comment on, god knows there are nutrition issues, energy efficient ideas, what to plant in your kitchen garden for fall and winter ideas, signing up for a CSA in your area information, fall farmers market, apple picking and recipes, throwing a Halloween party at school, news about fruits and veggies and childhood obesity, the best children’s vitamins I have found, a week's worth of crockpot recipes…the…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on October 6, 2009 at 9:58am —
6 Comments
No one denies that snacking, when done properly, is a great way to keep your energy up and your weight down. And with today’s busy lifestyles, having “grab and go” snacks are a way of life for most of us. But have you ever stopped to think of the cost to your wallet and your health? The snack industry estimates that the retail sales of packaged snacks are at $68 billion for 2008, with projected sales to be near $82 billion by 2013. Yes BILLION!
I agree in some way that having portioned controll…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on September 17, 2009 at 12:56pm —
1 Comment
So it’s no secret that I like to garden. I especially find it rewarding when my children and I can pick our own vegetables and eat them, our own farm to table program in the back yard. I also teach this concept at my children’s elementary school and am proud to say we have a tons of tomatoes ready to harvest right this minute and have had plenty of afternoon snacks in the playground.
As I was sitting at the kitchen table today looking at the screen of my laptop wondering what I should write abo…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on September 10, 2009 at 1:22pm —
2 Comments
Like many of you reading this blog, I subscribe to several email newsletters, some for work, some for pure enjoyment. One of the ones I receive for work related topics is
Innovations in Food Ingredients. It can get pretty technical at times so I usually just look it over to find out if anything is now dangerous that we have consumed in the past or what is coming down the pipeline as a trend. Today I was struck by an absurd title “Transparent gel advance may give ‘excellent food ingredient…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on September 2, 2009 at 10:57am —
5 Comments
Lunch matters. It has to fuel an entire afternoon of math, science, PE, and language arts. It keeps your child strong, focused and happy, therefore what you choose and how you pack it does and always will make a difference in your child’s ability to perform well in the afternoon as well as be happy and stay healthy.
With the news reminding us that this year’s flu season could be terrible, it is up to us, the parents, to keep our children healthy by bolstering up their immune system. Even…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on August 25, 2009 at 11:10am —
6 Comments
Now is a good time to look for eco friendly lunchbox items, why you ask? Well shops are starting to stock up now; you can order online and not pay express shipping; you can try a few things out or research other items in time for back to school; and you can practice using them before school starts.
Here are a few great resources to start with:
1.
EcoBags
2.
Laptop Lunches
3.…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on August 4, 2009 at 8:58am —
1 Comment
In North America the hamburger is divided up into three categories: The Fast Food Burger, the Restaurant Burger and the Homemade Burger. Depending on where you live, the burger has many different personalities. In Texas they add BBQ sauce and bacon, in North Carolina they add Cole Slaw, in Hawaii they use teriyaki sauce and grilled pineapples. Burgers are as versatile as they are delicious. You can make them with any combination of ground meats, seasonings and cheeses; they can even be made with…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on July 24, 2009 at 10:25am —
2 Comments
With all the great fruit and berries abound during the summer I think of delicious pies. Really, I have never met a person that doesn’t like a fruit pie of some sort. However, over the past year I have more and more people with an allergy or intolerance (yes, there is a difference) to wheat. No wheat, no pie…right? Not anymore.…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on July 16, 2009 at 8:32am —
2 Comments
Need a quick and easy dessert for this weekend’s parties. Here is a super simple cupcake recipe I used last weekend for my children’s birthday parties. They tasted great!
Makes 36 cupcakes
Ingredients:
• 4 ½ cups cake flour (or all purpose flour)
• 2 2/3 cups baker’s sugar (super fine sugar)
• 6 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter softened, but not melted
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 large eggs
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In the bowl o…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on June 30, 2009 at 8:07am —
1 Comment
On the Today Show this morning, Martha Stewart was making ice cream. I love to make ice cream with my kids. It is so easy; takes about ½ hour and you choose the ingredients and flavors. One of my kid’s favorites is the plain old vanilla but I make it with honey not sugar. I don’t make the custard, just put in 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup honey and a pinch of salt and toss it in the ice cream maker for 25 minutes. If you want, add chips, berries or other mix-ins and freeze for…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on June 17, 2009 at 9:49pm —
4 Comments
On June 30, 2004, President Bush signed the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 into law (Public Law 108-265). This law required all school districts that participate in the National School Lunch Program to have local wellness policies in place by July 1, 2006. This program also provides the tools to help assist the school community to implement this policy. On September 30, 2009 it is set to expire. Before then, congress will meet to review this law and decide its fate. If you w…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on June 1, 2009 at 9:41am —
1 Comment
Yesterday, May 12, 2009, in the news there were two announcements that struck me as odd.
>The EPA To Ban Carbofuran Pesticide Residue on Food
>The First US state bans BPA in baby bottles
Minnesota became the first state to ban the use of the bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles. BPA has been known to be hazardous to human health since the 1930’s and they just banned it. Really? What about the other 49 states, they aren’t that interested yet? Are we all going to be looking for the “Made in Mi…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on May 13, 2009 at 1:27pm —
4 Comments
Have you jumped on to the band wagon of reduced salt intake, no processed foods, more organics, less dairy? Where have you been getting iodine? Have your children been getting enough for proper development? The best source of iodine is sea vegetables like seaweed or kelp. But really very few parents I know have had luck getting their children to eat these two vegetables on a regular basis. The second best place to get iodine is yogurt, milk, eggs and cheese. I know I was shocked too. Iodine is a…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on April 30, 2009 at 6:20pm —
5 Comments
The strawberry is a small plant of the rose family (Rosaceae). Strawberries are not really berries or fruit in the botanical sense at all. A strawberry is an aggregate fruit; the real fruit are the objects we think of as the strawberry seed properly called achenes. Achenes are fruits in the same way that a raw sunflower seed with its tough shell is a fruit. The "berry" is actually an enlarged receptacle and is not reproductive material. As a result, strawberries must be picked at full ripeness,…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on April 23, 2009 at 5:00am —
1 Comment
I find afternoon snacks to be essential in the day of my children. Whenever possible I use the afternoon snack as an opportunity to get more calcium in my children's daily diet. Pair breads and muffins with yogurt, a glass of milk or slice of cheese. Here are 25 healthy snack options.
1. Sliced Apple and Dip (peanut butter, yogurt or both: mix equal parts peanut butter and vanilla yogurt together until smooth)
2. Whole Grain Bread with…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on April 17, 2009 at 12:50pm —
7 Comments
I want to color my Easter eggs the perfect shade of teal, or maybe a dusty rose, or how about the exact color of a daffodil. But really I am hopeless at getting the colors exactly like the professionals. Don’t get me wrong, they look good, taste good and the kids are having fun creating…
Continue
Added by Beth Ann Bentley on April 8, 2009 at 11:24am —
3 Comments
