Surviving Dinner with Young Kids

I'm pretty blessed that mealtimes at our house seem to go without much argument. Since the early days of toddler-hood, I've believed in a "meal of 4 items". There are so many different tid-bits of information out there, that I find it hard to wade through the sea of knowledge without feeling like I'm sinking. I do believe in much of what Ellyn Satter has to say about it only being my responsibility to provide appropriate meals - it is my child's responsibility to eat. I've also had the pleasure of meeting members of the Popsicle Center.

So this meal of 4 items (and I apologize, since I don't know if I read about it somewhere, or how I started doing this!) is really a simple concept. Basically, it means that we aren't having just a dish of spaghetti, or just a bowl of cereal, or just a sandwich. Basically, with each meal I strive for 2 different fruits/veggies, 1 protein/carb and maybe something fun (basically, the 4th item is always something I know my kids will eat - even if I have to chop up a cheese stick.)

In this meal - we were celebrating our trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom. There is a salad, and Rainier cherries, and Mickey shaped chicken nuggets (Costco) and baked onion rings leftover from another meal. I know for sure my kids are going to devour the nuggets. So what's so important about being sure there's at least one thing you know the kids love? Well - that gives you creative licensing to mess around with the rest of the plate - add something new, or even re-try something that hasn't been successful a month or so back. It takes a few times to warm up to some foods.

Our "rule" on second helpings of food goes a little something like this: you don't have to eat everything on your plate, but if are hungry enough to want more chicken mickey heads, then you are hungry enough to work on the rest of your plate. With the exception of the new food. If the new food is a bust, then it's okay to overlook that slimy onion-ring for the sake of more broccoli in the salad. Who knew? My kids have never had onion rings before and really didn't like them! The whole point of having 4 items is that some will be hits and some will be misses, but you will likely get some nutrition in your kids without an argument, and without without bribing them to eat, and the big catch is that one day they will surprise you and ask for more broccoli for their salad.

Speaking of salads. I keep a variety of dressings on hand. Some store bought and some that I've made myself. My two favorite are here:
The hospital I work in has a great salad bar, but their variety in dressing is ho-hum. So as odd as it sounds, I pack along my salad dressing! This week, I've gotten up a little earlier and packed along some Super Greens to have with my salad. My big wish is for a Vita Mix for Christmas, so I can juice my greens.

Cheesy Taco Wraps

At our house, movie night means bento-style snacks. I was in hurry and did not snap a picture of the snacks this week.

We used these containers from the Target garden area. I couldn't find the exact picture, but that's a good similar picture.

In the long area of the container, we do air popped popcorn.

In one of the two small areas, I put in rainier cherries. So yummy! (By the way, I'm in the market for a good cherry pit picker and am open to suggestions.)

In the other of the two small areas, I made cheesy taco wraps.

Cheesy Taco Wraps

2 blocks cream cheese

8 oz sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 tbsp of onion soup mix

1 tbsp of taco seasoning

1 package of wheat wraps

Mix all of the ingredients (except the wraps!).

Spread mixture all over one side of the wrap and then wrap up. Wrap the wrapped up wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

After an hour, take out the wraps and slice into appetizer sized yumminess - don't forget to take the plastic off first!

Reviews:

- I loved the wraps.

- Hubby loved the wraps and asked me to make more of the filling, which he used as a spread on some crackers the next night for a snack.

- All three kids gave it a collective 6 thumbs down. Apparently, it was a little too spicy for them, and so next time I'll leave out the taco seasoning (which is a combination that I made a while back that seems to be heavy on the cayenne pepper).

Skin Care Products

I've been trying to be more mindful of the chemicals that I put on my body and that of my family. My favorite line of beauty products is made by Yes To Carrots.

After checking the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, I'm very confident with the products I'm using. I have extremely dry skin and I love the moisturizers made by this company. And as my kids are getting bigger, my daughter loves to sit with me while I'm washing my face at night when I get home from work, and I love that I can use the cucumber wipes on her face, too, when she wants to wash with me.

Don't even get me started on the eye cream. I love the cucumber eye cream. Unfortunately, I'm a belly sleeper, which means that my eyes are very swollen every morning. To add insult to injury, I get up at 5am for work, and my peepers need a little kick in the morning!

I'm in no way endorsed by these folks. I just wanted to share my favorite safe skin care products.