My dad and I just came back from the National Speakers Association annual convention. We had a wonderful time and met a lot of fascinating people. I returned home feeling energized, inspired and recharged. Talk about living a healthy lifestyle… there is nothing healthier than feeding your mind and your soul.

During the convention I attended an informational panel in which GJ Hart (California Pizza Kitchen) and Kat Cole (Cinnabon) were interviewed. Kat Cole, the president of Cinnabon, is poised, pretty, well spoken, smart, charming and has a powerful story. It made me mad that a super star like her works for Cinnabon. Imagine if a talented woman like her could grow a healthy restaurant chain!

After the session I just had to question her!!!!

I asked her two questions in which she I confess she gave me great answers. The first question was “How do you stay so skinny eating Cinnabons??” to which her response was that she does eat Cinnabons, but when she’s not treating herself to a Cinnabon,  she eats a very strict healthy diet…fruits and veggies….She claims with her its either totally healthy or totally naughty (Cinnabons) but nothing in between.

My second question was “How do you handle running a company like Cinnabon with  these healthy, anti-sugar movements that are becoming so popular?”

Her response was…. Cinnabon is totally unhealthy. But they are honest. They do not lie about the ingredients. They don’t try to disguise that they are fattening and bad for you. She suggested that many companies try to cater to healthy eaters by disguising their ingredients and being dishonest and that’s where they get into trouble. If you choose to eat Cinnabon, you have chosen to treat yourself to something that is bad. And that’s a choice you can make. She also added that they have created smaller portion sizes for those who wish to take a bite of the cinnabon without a full splurge.

I thought that was a fantastic answer. You see, I believe we all have a choice. I don’t see anything wrong to have an unhealthy treat once in a while if it is something you would truly enjoy. I choose not to eat Cinnabons ever because it is just too much sugar for me. I would prefer to eat something sweet that I would enjoy more and is healthier. But again that is my choice. As long as your diet focuses on vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and good fats…why shouldn’t you splurge from time to time on a sinful Cinnabon???

But Kat’s answer didn’t appease some of my fellow healthy bloggers/authors. My friend Connie Bennett, author of Sugar Shock! was not pleased with this response and this is why. Processed food companies use sugar, salt and fat to addict us. According to Michael Moss, Pullitzer Prize winning investigative reporter, author of Salt Sugar Fat, food scientists use cutting edge technology to calculate the exact quantities of each of these ingredients to hook us and leave us begging for more.
So if that is the case, then maybe my choice argument is not 100% accurate. If we are so addicted to these foods that we can’t stop eating them, do we have a choice? And if we do manage to break the chains of addiction and stay away from these foods, will an occasional Cinnabon bite send us spiraling down the road of addiction making it oh so difficult for us to stay on track???

And even more thought provoking is what our brains experience through this process. Once we cave to this little treat and the addict within us is reactivated, then to deny more puts us in a state of resistance. That state of resistance causes us much stress. Should we live under a state of distress, constantly flexing the will power muscle to stay healthy? Deepak Chopra, in Super Brain, argues that we are not designed to live in a constant state  of resistance and to do so is harmful to our brains and bodies.

Knowing this, are these food companies responsible for our poor food choices? Should they be blamed or do we blame ourselves for caving in to these addictive foods? Do the food companies have a duty to protect us from obesity and disease? Or is this simply a matter of survival of the fittest, every man for himself?

Having explored both sides to this argument I am left confused. I don’t have an exact answer. But one thing I know for sure. Regardless of what the food companies are doing, the best way to keep your ability to choose is through EDUCATION. We need to know what the ingredients are. We need to know what these foods do to our bodies. If we are going to choose, we cannot be ignorant…and if we are, then we never had a choice in the first place.

I would love to know your thoughts about this. Please share.

What seems like a hundred years ago, I remember my mother starting a diet called “la sopa milagrosa.” As happens with most memories, I cannot remember this time entirely. My memory is simply highlighted glimpses of what I captured at that time. I remember I was very young, although not sure how old I was. I remember seeing a big pot on the top of the stove boiling contents I was not familiar with. I remember thinking it looked absolutely disgusting and being thankful I was too young to have to be on that diet. And I remember never hearing about that soup again for the rest of my life.

I don’t remember what was in the soup or what the rest of the diet entailed and I don’t remember if my mother ever lost weight as a result of that soup.

Ironically, soups have now become a huge part of my family’s diet. On a regular basis we eat cabbage soups, lentil soups, chicken soup, butternut squash soup, potato-leek soup…we love soups!!!!

A couple of years ago our cousin began eating healthy like we did. She lived in California at the time and she started making soups for herself, mainly because she was only cooking for 1 and soups allowed her to use lots of vegetables and have food for the week without the fear that everything in the fridge would perish quickly. She introduced her soup to her grandparents on one of her trips to Miami and they loved it. They started making the soup and having a bowl every night for dinner without altering anything else from their daily diet. All the sudden they began losing weight and going to the bathroom regularly. They were thrilled. The soup became a staple in their home. Every time we go to their house we eat a huge bowl of it. My kids love it. Its a happy soup…full of good ingredients and love.

Recently I was making the soup at home for my dad (in my never ending quest to get him to eat healthy!). He came over to have some and despite the fact he has no palette for vegetables, he enjoyed the soup. I thought to myself…wow this is una sopa milagrosa (a miracle soup). The thought immediately transcended me to my mother’s kitchen so many years ago. Funny how the name of that soup stuck in my head despite me not liking the smell of the soup or even trying it myself.

It made me wonder what was all the hype of that soup as a diet so many years ago. Luckily for me… we now have google. A 2.5 second search gave me all the answers I was looking for. This is a 7 day diet written in spanish, in which each day during the 7 days you’re told exactly what you can consume in addition to the soup that they have you make. It basically goes like this:

• day 1 – fruits and soup only
• day 2- no fruits, only greens including soup
• day 3- fruits and veggies combo

You get the idea. The diet claims you will lose 8.5 kilos (roughly 18.7 LBS) in just 7 days. That is pretty intense…I have no idea if its true or not but I can definitely see WHY the diet makes this claim. This diet is essentially a cleanse.  The ingredients of the soup are celery, cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and chicken stock.

If you eliminate all grains, processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and only consume fruits and green vegetables you will obviously lose weight! Of course the soup is miraculous…its putting nothing but good into your body and eliminating all the bad.

But I have a problem with this diet. My problem is on day 8. Anyone can do this diet, but if you do not like vegetables and fruits, if you are accustomed to eating a certain way, if you are only looking for a quick fix…from day 8 on, you will inevitably revert to your old eating habits and regain the weight you lost.

Although the soup may be excellent for you, the process is so painful that it is unsustainable. Cleanses are super popular these days and heavily promoted. But I don’t think cleanses are for everyone. Cleanses require much will power and can leave you feeling exhausted. Especially in our high stress lives…our brains are not designed to endure so much sacrifice. So essentially even if we make it through the cleanse…we can easily be setting ourselves up for failure.

Eating well should not have to be so hard. Now, if you have 15 days until you have to go out in a bathing suit, you may be willing to make all sorts of sacrifices to lose weight quickly. But these quick fixes come with a price if you’re not careful.

I say Don’t Eat The Marshmallow! Focus less on the instant gratification of weight loss and more on the long term effects of changing your dietary habits.

Did you know that just a 20% change in your dietary habits can have huge long-lasting, weight impacting effects on your body?

So if you’re open to making small changes that make big impacts, try this experiment. Make yourself a big pot of this killer, awesome for you soup (our recipe not la milagrosa recipe). Store it in several individual-sized portion containers -depending on your family size and how many of you will be having some. Keep a couple containers in the fridge for the week and freeze the rest. Then begin eating the soup before dinner, for dinner or for lunch.  If you’re still hungry after you eat the soup, eat a small portion of whatever you want. You can try different combinations. For example, one night you may eat a piece of grilled chicken or a fillet of fish and the soup on the side. Another day you could eat the soup on top of some quinoa.

See how eating this soup regularly affects your digestion, your bowels and your food cravings. I believe that if you commit to doing this for a couple of weeks you will see miraculous things happen. Your brain will naturally start making better choices throughout the day without so much sacrifice. You will like how eating this soup makes you feel. You will notice the difference when you go to the bathroom. You may even shed some weight. If any of the above happen for you, you will inevitably want to start making more changes. The beauty of this experiment is you can do it without any huge expectations or huge sacrifices. There is no pass or fail.

I will reiterate: this relaxed approach to transitioning into a healthy lifestyle may not sit well with someone who has a goal of losing XX IBS in a certain amount of time. But I am not trying to help you meet your goal. I am trying to help you create a system. I am hoping that by eliminating goals and creating systems – we can eliminate this yo-yo way of life that becomes so taxing on our bodies and psyche.

Give yourself this gift…the right to eat healthy and enjoy it without the pressure of a diet. Good luck and have fun.

Stephanie’s Super Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped tomato
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 chopped red pepper
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of cremini mushrooms
• 1 stock chopped celery
• 2 boxes of organic vegetable broth
• 3 chopped carrots
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 head of broccoli
• 3 leaves of kale
• 3 leaves of collards
• 1 baby bok choy
• 1 cup of spinach
• 1/2 Daikon
• 1 sprig of parsley
• celtic sea salt to taste

Directions

• Sautee onions, tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, garlic, celery, and cremini mushrooms in a little bit of coconut oil. You can add a dash of celtic sea salt for seasoning.
• Once those veggies are soft and aromatic, add 2 boxes of organic vegetable broth (you can buy at the store or make your own whichever you prefer) and bring to a boil
• Once the broth is boiling add your carrots, cauliflower, and daikon since they take the longest to cook. Reduce broth to medium heat. You can add celtic sea salt to taste, black pepper, kelp, turmeric, or any other spice you enjoy cooking with.
• After a few minutes when the carrots and cauliflower start to get soft, add your leafy greens and parsley. These should wilt in about 3-4 minutes. Once they have wilted and are still a beautiful green- take the soup off the heat.
• You can serve and eat as is or you can put the veggies in a blender with a little bit of the broth and blend into a puree. (That is the way I eat it)

NOTE:  I can’t give you exact quantities of the ingredients because it really all depends how much you make of it. My measurements were estimates and you can put more or less depending on your tastebuds. Also, you do not need to put in every single vegetable I listed. And you can add or replace any of these veggies with your own choice. If you don’t recognize some of these veggies, don’t let that intimidate you. Simply skip them for your first try. Then if you like the soup, you can always look for those later and incorporate them in another soup. And change it up. If you put in and leave out certain ingredients, you will essentially make different soups and avoid getting bored of the same ole recipe every time.

Your options are endless. Put on a little music in the background and let chopping and cleaning these veggies be more therapy than work. Let this be an experience.

To happy cooking. Have a wonderful week.

On Saturday night we celebrated my mother in laws birthday at our aunts house. It was a small dinner-just the family- coupled with some nice jazz music in the background, wine, and good laughs. It was a nice night. But there was something different about that night than similar dinners we’ve had in the past…what we ate. A few years ago we would have had exactly the same celebration and the menu would have likely been “arroz imperial” (chicken with yellow rice, ham, and cheese) or some other meal that included rice, bread, fried foods but not likely to have any good vegetables. Last night we had a perfectly cooked rib eye steak, salmon, baked pieces of sweet potatoes and asparagus. The meal was absolutely delicious. What I found wonderful was that at the end of the night, everyone was satisfied. No one was overly full or unbuttoning their jeans. Those who wanted Dessert weren’t trying to make space in their bellies. It was a light, pleasant, and tasty meal.

It got me thinking about why the menu changed. It’s been happening subtly over the years. It used to be that my cousin was always eating on a somewhat strict regimen and she would come to our parties but would bring her own food or eat only certain things. Then I started to eat healthy so I would eat the ground turkey but skip on the rice and bread. Orlando joined in a few months later and would offer suggestions like, hey could we make a side salad for Caro and I? It was mostly the younger generation of our family that was becoming more aware and more involved in the food choices. Just like anything the atmosphere started becoming contagious. Our aunt and uncle who are the most gracious hosts started making sure that we had salads and vegetables available to eat… And they began enjoying them also. The gradual change led us to this Saturday night dinner. What was wonderful was that there was no sacrifice involved. No one was turning away the white rice because it wasn’t offered. The sweet potato was not coated with brown sugar just light salt and pepper. The salmon and steak were cooked to perfection, not to mention the roasted asparagus. And at the end of the meal those who wished to have dessert (apple pie with vanilla ice cream) did so knowing it was Saturday night and the only cheat of the evening. 😉 I chose my piece of dark chocolate not because I had to but because it was what I was in the mood for. It felt good to be in an environment where I wasn’t being looked at as if I were on a diet, or as my way of eating was “special”.
Actually it was quite the contrary.

This made me think… Why shouldn’t eating healthy be the norm? Why is it such a big deal in the first place?
Isn’t it wonderful to eat in good company… Well wouldn’t it be even more wonderful to eat healthy, delicious, food in good company??

The next time you host a dinner party or are invited to bring a dish to a dinner party, maybe you can start that subtle trend. Maybe you can introduce a healthy option that blows people away. Little by little we can spread the word and create a community of nice music, good laughs and healthy food- what a wonderful world it will be. 🙂

One of the funnest parts of starting a new hobby is usually the gear that accompanies it. Newfound cyclers start with a cool new bike and then of course they start gathering all the accessories; the helmet, the shorts with the cushion, the lights for night riding, maybe even a heart monitor or an iPod arm strap. It’s fun and exciting to get all geared up and go out for an awesome bike ride. The same goes for any hobby from playing golf to sewing or photography… There is always gear. The drawback is that once the interest in the hobby fades or life starts getting in the way, the gear finds its own little spot in your home to collect dust, act as an accessory or gets tossed in the goodwill pile. I am aware of this cycle… We have all been victims of it at least once! The lesson I have learned is to test drive your hobby before you commit to the gear. That will save you money and storage space.

The kitchen is similar but different. When you move in to your new place or start a wedding registry, you tend to accumulate kitchen appliances. Blenders, mixers, food processors, cheese graters, etc. If you enjoy cooking you are familiar with these tools and may even be partial to some brands. If you’re not familiar you may put some of this stuff on your registry anyway because it looks cool and you think you might need it one day anyway, as you are convinced you will start cooking at some point. We fell into both of these categories, so our kitchen is pretty stocked up with appliances. The cool thing about that is that when you make the switch, you don’t have to go out and buy all new things. You probably have tons to work with already in your home.

When I started eating healthy, I already had a salad spinner, a good peeler, a food processor…I even had a mandolin (which I am totally going to write about in another post)

But I did go out and buy a couple of new things that I didn’t know about, like a kitchen scale and some green bags to preserve my veggies. I was really excited about those.

And then I learned about blenders. Smoothies require a blender and I already had a blender that I received as a wedding gift so I had no issues. (Or so I thought). There began my long journey to find the right blender. A few months after using my run of the mill wedding gift blender, it died on me. It wasn’t too tragic because it was big and bulky and a pain to clean. I had heard of this bad boy blender called the Vitamix but it was so expensive I thought to myself… I’m not going to fall into the new hobby trap. What if I buy this Vitamix and I stop making smoothies in a month and now I wasted the money.  So I ruled out that option. I did, however, think it would be the perfect opportunity to invest in a magic bullet! Everyone was talking about them so I got it and I was in love! I would make my cups of smoothie, one for my husband and one for me…and it blended so much better than my first blender. But after 9 months that fell apart. It didn’t work the same anymore and I was now making smoothies for my sons too and the individual cup situation was getting annoying. Then I learned about the Ninja. And it was only $99! How could I go wrong??? Oh, it went wrong.  I didn’t enjoy the ninja at all. The lid is overly complicated to put on and take off and it breaks quite easily. The blender is a decent blender but my smoothies were always chunky. I couldn’t stand to have a carrot smoothie because of the texture. So I bought a cheese cloth to squeeze the juice out but that takes forever.

To make a long story short, I bought 3 different types of blenders, a juicer, and a cheese cloth in my quest to make good juices/smoothies. When my last purchase, the Nutribullet, started giving me trouble I caved. I have been eating healthy now for almost 3 years. I make smoothies probably 5 times a week. I need a blender that will last me more than 1 year. If I were to add up all the purchases I made in this quest, it would have cost the same as a good blender! That is the bad news.

The good news is that by the time I started looking to invest in a good blender, I felt like I had EARNED it. I am committed to this lifestyle. I have drank the chunky smoothies, the pulpy juices, I have struggled with my recipes…but I kept at it. Now it was time to say goodbye to all these gadgets, clear my kitchen cabinets and make room for the real deal.

After doing all my research I chose the Blendtec. The final deciding factor for me between the Vitamix and Blendtec was the Twister Jar the Blendtec offers. I liked it because its great for baby food and nut butters and I make both often.

And then there was an added perk to this purchase. Starting a new hobby, health plan, exercise routine is exactly that…NEW. New is fun, different, exciting…even when painful or uncomfortable. But after a while new becomes routine, ordinary and boring. There is nothing wrong with that but its always nice to spice things up. The new blender did the trick for me. Not only was it fun to use my cool new toy, but it also came with a recipe book.

My favorite of all was a Cocoa-Nut Almond Butter recipe I tried with my twister jar.

Here it is:

• 1 1/4 cup raw almonds
• 1 Tbsp raw cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 Tbsp of coconut oil
• a dash of celtic sea salt

Yummy!!! This was my modified recipe. (the recipe called for sugar but I didn’t add any) This butter is delicious with a banana or pear or a slice of ezekiel bread. And it is sooooo healthy and full of good fats. Its a must try.

As for the quality of the blender, I am totally in love and impressed! My smoothies and juices (yes it actually makes whole juice) are smooth and delicious. My husband who never liked the texture of these drinks before is constantly pleasantly surprised! And it works great for soups and purees and all the good stuff we eat here at the Pile On the Greens household.

I have decided to keep my nutribullet to travel with because of its size but I had to order new parts.

In summary, if you can make the investment, go for it…you won’t regret it. But if you can’t…that is no excuse! You don’t need a fancy blender to commit to a healthy lifestyle. You can make do with a cheaper alternative.

What you do need is the will to make the change, the right state of mind, and the time to prepare. Those things, my friends, are priceless!

Ok I’m going to come right out and admit that every year during the New Years holiday I make it a point to reflect on the past year. I contemplate my high moments and my low moments; my successes and my mistakes. Some may think its cliche but for me it helps recharge my batteries. A few weeks ago I had a long, interesting, philosophical conversation with my doctor about nutrition, medicine and staying healthy. We discussed how science is continually changing and how experts have such differing opinions in the benefits or detriments of different things. For example, there are scientists who swear by taking fish oil while others argue that it is actually detrimental to consume fish oil supplements. The conclusion of our conversation is that at the end of the day there is so much we just don’t know. This got me thinking.

During New Year’s Eve as I sat and reflected, it hit me that one of the mistakes I have made since my health journey began is that I got married with my ideas. I learned a lot when I made the commitment to change my eating habits. I read, I watched videos, I spoke to experts. But when I learned something, I accepted that concept as truth and that’s it. And if what I know is truth then that makes a contradictory concept false, right? Therein lies the problem.

Because there is not one truth. There is so much complexity in our system. Some people gain weight easier than others; some are susceptible to diabetes and others to heart disease; we metabolize foods differently and react to medicines differently. There is no perfect science. That’s why smokers often justify their habits by pointing out that their grandfather smoked until age 90 and never got lung cancer. And others tell the tale of that friend or family member who was young, fit and healthy and died of a sudden brain aneurism. And then there are those who smoke and do get lung cancer and those who are fit and healthy and live long healthy lives. There is no way to be totally sure and we have no guarantees. Furthermore as science develops we discover different complexities that change what we know. How we process food, what our DNA says, our genetic makeup, the power of our thoughts. There is simply no one formula that fits all.

That’s why I find it so admirable that my doctor who knows so much accepts that he has so much to learn. I find that to be admirable but quite difficult to practice. Why is it so hard? My theory is that when you think you know something it gives you a sense of control. That feeling of control helps in child rearing, in dieting, in the workplace. It helps you lunge forward thinking that you are doing things right. And then you grow older… Times change …. Knowledge changes….and suddenly things are being done differently. It is hard to think you we’re doing whatever you were doing incorrectly or things weren’t the way you thought they were. Some stay married to their old ways to make sense of it all… To sustain that feeling of control they had once. Others accept the change happily… And they are grateful to have the opportunity to discover more, to be better than they were.

During this reflection something my doctor has told me many times before really clicked for me. It doesn’t matter if things change… It doesn’t matter if what we did or how we did it wasn’t perfect. What matters is that we do the best we can with the information we have available to us right now. What matters is that we act in good faith and with love. And many times just the fact that we think we are doing whats best for ourselves or for our loved ones is more important than what we are doing.

After all, we all change. Our goals, our priorities, our physique, even our marriages change through the years. So my goal for this year is not to get married to any idea. To know that my way is not the only way… And to keep learning… All the while knowing that what I learn today may not be true tomorrow but that’s ok because I am and will always act in good faith and with love.

Happy new year. I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity.

Ok I’m going to come right out and admit that every year during the New Years holiday I make it a point to reflect on the past year. I contemplate my high moments and my low moments; my successes and my mistakes. Some may think its cliche but for me it helps recharge my batteries. A few weeks ago I had a long, interesting, philosophical conversation with my doctor about nutrition, medicine and staying healthy. We discussed how science is continually changing and how experts have such differing opinions in the benefits or detriments of different things. For example, there are scientists who swear by taking fish oil while others argue that it is actually detrimental to consume fish oil supplements. The conclusion of our conversation is that at the end of the day there is so much we just don’t know. This got me thinking.

During New Year’s Eve as I sat and reflected, it hit me that one of the mistakes I have made since my health journey began is that I got married with my ideas. I learned a lot when I made the commitment to change my eating habits. I read, I watched videos, I spoke to experts. But when I learned something, I accepted that concept as truth and that’s it. And if what I know is truth then that makes a contradictory concept false, right? Therein lies the problem.

Because there is not one truth. There is so much complexity in our system. Some people gain weight easier than others; some are susceptible to diabetes and others to heart disease; we metabolize foods differently and react to medicines differently. There is no perfect science. That’s why smokers often justify their habits by pointing out that their grandfather smoked until age 90 and never got lung cancer. And others tell the tale of that friend or family member who was young, fit and healthy and died of a sudden brain aneurism. And then there are those who smoke and do get lung cancer and those who are fit and healthy and live long healthy lives. There is no way to be totally sure and we have no guarantees. Furthermore as science develops we discover different complexities that change what we know. How we process food, what our DNA says, our genetic makeup, the power of our thoughts. There is simply no one formula that fits all.

That’s why I find it so admirable that my doctor who knows so much accepts that he has so much to learn. I find that to be admirable but quite difficult to practice. Why is it so hard? My theory is that when you think you know something it gives you a sense of control. That feeling of control helps in child rearing, in dieting, in the workplace. It helps you lunge forward thinking that you are doing things right. And then you grow older… Times change …. Knowledge changes….and suddenly things are being done differently. It is hard to think you we’re doing whatever you were doing incorrectly or things weren’t the way you thought they were. Some stay married to their old ways to make sense of it all… To sustain that feeling of control they had once. Others accept the change happily… And they are grateful to have the opportunity to discover more, to be better than they were.

During this reflection something my doctor has told me many times before really clicked for me. It doesn’t matter if things change… It doesn’t matter if what we did or how we did it wasn’t perfect. What matters is that we do the best we can with the information we have available to us right now. What matters is that we act in good faith and with love. And many times just the fact that we think we are doing whats best for ourselves or for our loved ones is more important than what we are doing.

After all, we all change. Our goals, our priorities, our physique, even our marriages change through the years. So my goal for this year is not to get married to any idea. To know that my way is not the only way… And to keep learning… All the while knowing that what I learn today may not be true tomorrow but that’s ok because I am and will always act in good faith and with love.

Happy new year. I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity.

Both my boys are playing soccer this season. I have to say that I LOVE having my boys in a sport for several reasons. First of all it gives us incentive to get a head start on the day on Saturday mornings. We’re up bright and early, dressed, and out of the house before 9am. Secondly, we’re in the sun. I’m a big believer that we need to be outdoors as much as possible for the vitamin D, the fresh air, and to earth (its my hippie side and I’ll save that for a different day!). Lastly, it keeps my kids active and having fun. I truly hope that they will carry with them a healthy active lifestyle long after I’ve raised them.

Needless to say, soccer is great. But this season we have a new guest in our soccer field every saturday…the super fun snow cone truck.

Its a great idea. After the kids get all sweaty and tired from their game, they are rewarded with a cold snow cone. Genius! But of course the catch is…the actual snow cone. That syrupy sugary mess that is considered a treat. One of the moms actually told me that her son ate the snow cone and was later literally bouncing off the walls. So of course, parents encounter the never ending predicament.

On the one hand you think:

• I want to reward my child for playing well and he would kill for that snow cone
• kids should be kids and eat treats once in a while.
• This is not something they eat every day.
• My kid is watching all the other kids get snow cones
• I don’t want to be too crazy about eating healthy

On the other hand you know:

• The snow cone is full of sugar and high fructose corn syrup
• The snow cone will probably spoil my child’s appetite for lunch
• These kinds of foods are completely addictive

So what do you do? Do you let the child have it for the sake of the experience, or do you put your foot down and just say no???

The first week, being caught off guard, we caved and bought the snow cone. But by the following Saturday, my husband (being the out of the box thinker that he is) opted for a clever third option. He figured he wanted to have all the positive aspects of the truck…the experience, the reward for playing well, the happy kid…without the negatives – the ingredients. So he thought, I’ll simply buy the ice and pour gatorade on it so my kid gets a healthier alternative… essentially the best of both worlds.

As luck would have it, the snow cone truck also sold Powerade so my husband bought the fruit punch powerade and poured it on the plain ice cone.

The whole thing resulted in happy kids and happy parents.

Well, I have to confess that the whole plan backfired on us when we realized that Powerade also has High Fructose Corn Syrup!!!!! Regardless, I still felt that the idea was worth sharing.

Maybe one day we will have a fun snow cone truck with healthier alternatives…like real fruit pops or some option that is fresh, tasty, colorful and good for you.

But until then you have the choice: be strict, be carefree, or be creative!

Whichever choice you opt for…as long as you choose with love…I’m sure you’ll be just fine!

We had an experience the other day that I really wanted to share. It was Sunday morning and I needed Orlando to go buy some stuff at Whole Foods. Since our food choices tend to be expensive, I am very specific about what we buy where. So when I send Orlando to Whole Foods…it is not to browse. It is to buy items that I know I can’t find at Costco or Winn Dixie (I try to save where I can!).

Anyway, Orlando takes my oldest son Orly with him. When they returned, they both seem excited to show me stuff. Turns out that because it was just the two of them, and they weren’t in a terrible hurry like we usually are, they did actually browse. Or better said…Orly browsed. As they looked for Berries, Orly found a box of Longans. He asked his dad what they were and he had never had them before. Orly then said, “Dad, we should buy these because we’ve never tried them before.” My husband confessed that at first glance he thought to say no to purchasing this unnecessary (not on the list) item…but then he thought about it and remembered how he is always drilling in our kids’ heads that they have to try new foods, over and over like a broken record. Well if that’s his mantra then he certainly wasn’t going to say no to trying a new food when his son suggested it. So the Longans were added to the shopping cart.

A wheatgrass drink called Velu made it home also because there was a distributor giving a presentation and Orly had a shot and insisted that they buy one so the rest of the family could try it. And lastly, my personal favorite….

They were selling this Children’s Planting Bag at the register of Whole Foods as a fundraiser for underprivileged children. Apparently the project is trying to help teach these children to eat healthier foods.

I can’t explain the energy that followed my husband and kid as they walked through the door. They were so excited to share this new stuff they bought. They were dying to try the Longans, Orly couldn’t wait to go plant his seeds, and they were excited to share this with the rest of us.

Sitting there watching them plant their seeds in the pot, it dawned on me that eating has so much to do with planting seeds. Most mothers have heard when they start introducing solids to their babies, that eating is as much social as it is nutritional. Mothers are told not to worry how much of the food actually makes it in the baby’s mouth. Its more about the baby learning to eat with the family, learning to chew, learning about textures, learning to grab the food, learning to use utensils…its quite a process. But the process doesn’t end once the baby knows how to put food in his/her mouth and chew. Actually, it then is really only the beginning. Because eating is more than chewing food. Eating is tied to culture, to emotions, to income levels, to education. What we eat evolves based on age, health, physical status, stress levels, even seasons. And despite how many factors are involved in this process, our society has managed to make eating a “mindless” experience.  Food has become fast and easy. Drive throughs, lunchables, microwavables, packaged bars, frozen pizza, canned fruits and veggies…fast, fast, fast. Hurry up and eat so you can move on to your next important event. Have you ever been asked to journal what you ate all day? How many times does the day pass and you can’t remember what you ate that day?

But to actually STOP. Plant a seed. WAIT for it to grow. And then USE it in your food preparation…wow! what a concept. We don’t have a yard big enough to have the luxury of planting mango trees, avocado trees, and papaya trees…but on this day we planted Swiss Chard and Radish Daikon. And the point was that my children will learn the concept of planting a seed, watching it grow and eating it. We have some dear friends that do have a huge yard and we have had the privilege of taking our sons to their house to pick mangoes and avocados and papayas. To evaluate whether they are ripe or not, to clean them, and to eat them. I think this teaches kids the lesson of being MINDFUL of what food is and where it comes from.  We don’t always have time for this kind of stuff…but we take advantage of it when we do have a moment.

And it made me think of one more thing…I’m often told that I’m so lucky that I don’t have picky eaters. And with everything in life, there is always a little luck involved 🙂

But I truly believe that a big reason that my kids eat well is because we (as a whole) are mindful about food. We have rejected the fast and easy food system as the norm in our home. And our attitude about food is one of openness, exploration, curiosity, excitement. Its not just me trying to get my kids to eat their veggies. My husband and I share this attitude. We practice it in our own lives and our home has adopted that attitude. Which is why my husband came home with the wheat grass drink and the velu bottle. Its why we huddled around our kitchen counter ready to try these new things.

It probably cost us an extra $20 for just these three little items. And the Longans and Velu drink could have been a hit or miss. But truly that didn’t matter at all.  Its really all about the experience.

I used a “tacita de cafe” for us to have shots of the wheatgrass. We all thought it was tasty.

And I LOVED Longans. They will definitely will make it into the shopping cart again in the near future. I am going to research the nutritional info of this tasty fruit and I’ll let you all know!

Orly was so proud of himself for finding this tasty treasure and we definitely thanked him for giving us something new to explore.

So I put this question out there today for you to answer truthfully. What is the food culture in your home? Does your eating philosophy differ from your significant other’s? Are you eating mindlessly? The answers to these questions may help you if you are struggling with what you feed your children, or with your weight or health. And regardless of what the answer is, know that even though this attitude doesn’t change overnight…you can always help plant the seed of change….wait for it to grow…and reap the rewards!

Have a mindful day.