And then my 8-year-old got sick. For two days he didn’t leave the couch, which led my 5-year-old to get squirrely and crabby, and my plans for our perfect week to go up in smoke. Normally this kind of week would have made me grumpy, stressed, and anxious to get out of the house but I was shocked to find that, for the most part, I was able to just accept the reality that was my home-bound life.

So this morning, instead of going for a bike ride, we ended up at a local coffee shop, board games in hand, to eat a late breakfast of chocolate croissants and juice. Gone were my mealtimes and generally healthy food choices. Gone was my hope for some exercise and time outside with the boys. But when I stopped to notice, it was more than ok, it was actually fun. I didn’t feel anxious about the calories consumed, the sugar ingested, the lack of fruit or vegetables, or the fact that nothing was getting crossed off my list, instead I just embraced the reality of what was possible and enjoyed the time we were having.

This is a big change for me. As my friends and family can attest to, it can be very hard for me to let go of my expectations and enjoy the moment. In thinking about why this week has gone as smoothly as it has, I think it comes back to this new thing I am trying: embracing the imperfect. Not accepting it, not settling for it, but actually embracing the imperfect.

One of the things I talk about all the time during workshops and with clients is that for many people the first step in starting to cook for oneself is to doctor something that is pre-prepared and make it healthier and tastier. For instance, adding vegetables to jarred tomato sauce, boxed mac and cheese, or frozen pizza is a great way to boost the flavor and the nutritional content. Is it as good as making it from scratch? No. But it is a nice way to boost your confidence and get into the habit of being in the kitchen and cooking.

I’m starting to learn that this same concept can apply to other aspects of life as well. Whether it is starting to get exercise by going for a walk around the block at lunchtime or working on keeping the house cleaner by making sure all the dishes are in the dishwasher before going to bed, these little things can boost our confidence and help propel us to better and better things. And so being proud of those small accomplishments and building on them can do us worlds of good as we seek to get stronger, healthier, happier, etc.

For me, this week I had to embrace the reality that this was not the week to accomplish large things but instead to celebrate the small victories of getting through a big pile of old papers, getting a bunch of recycling to the recycling center, and managing to keep my cool (for the most part) in the midst of cranky kids.

Will I get more accomplished next week when the kids are in camp? I hope so. Will it be perfect? Definitely not. And for now, that is just fine by me.

<p>The post Embracing the Imperfect: The power and productiveness of accepting reality first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

Then one evening my mom heard a story on NPR about the importance of protein for brain function but also for staving off hunger and a light bulb went off in her head: I was hungry! The next morning she made sure that I had protein in my breakfast and, like magic, the problems disappeared! From then on, she was adamant that I have some sort of protein every morning.

So imagine my chagrin a couple of weeks ago when I started getting messages from my 7-year-old’s math teacher wondering why my normally helpful, engaged kid was suddenly having trouble. Had something happened at home? She asked. Were there problems with friends? We had long talks and strategy sessions with him but to no avail.

And then one morning it hit me: he was hungry. In the weeks leading up to the change he had been going through a breakfast strike where he would only eat a tiny bit of his breakfast each morning and in my attempt to respect his listening to his hunger cues, I had tried to be flexible about it. But now it was clear: the kid wasn’t eating enough.

So I told him my story and we sat down to strategize, not about his behavior, but about what he would like to have for breakfast that had protein in it. At first the conversation didn’t go very well because he is not a fan of nuts, peanut butter, meat, or tofu. And he is choosy about his eggs, plus asking my husband to whip up a batch of eggs each morning (breakfast is the meal he’s in charge of each day) when we are often rushing felt like a bit much. But we managed to come up with a list of options and, you guessed it, the problems in math class disappeared overnight.

So, in honor of our newly re-established commitment to protein consumption at breakfast, I wanted to share this list of quick and easy ways to get protein in, even with the morning rush:

Vegetarian Options:

1) Cheese Slices– with some toast or a muffin

2) “Cheesy Toast”– melt mozzarella or cheddar on a piece of bread in the toaster oven

3) Eggs– hard boiled and mini-frittatas can be made ahead of time, which can make things easier

4) Nuts– by the handful or mixed into cereal, granola, or oatmeal

5) Yogurt– especially Greek, which has more protein that the regular version. Use plain and top with some honey, maple syrup, apple sauce, or frozen berries

6) Avocado Toast with Cheese– Top avocado toast with feta, cheddar, ricotta, etc. Good fats, fiber, and protein!

7) Smoothies– make sure to include peanut butter or Greek yogurt to boost the protein and good fat

8) Peanut Butter/Almond Butter/Sunbutter– on toast, bread, or rice cakes.

Meat options:

9) Smoked Salmon– my 7-year-old’s favorite. On toast or half a bagel.

10) Bacon– one minute per slice in the microwave, not the tastiest way to eat it, but the fastest

Outside-the-Box Options:

11) Leftovers– who says soups, pastas, pizza, steak, etc. can’t be for breakfast?

12) Quesadillas– this is actually a traditional breakfast in Mexico. Throw together in a frying pan or toaster oven.

13) Hummus and Pita– filling and delicious! What more can you ask for?

14) Deli Meat– a slice or two with some toast or bread

15) Beans– with rice or on toast as the British do it

What is your favorite way to get some protein into breakfast? Do you have a favorite breakfast that might surprised some?

<p>The post 15 Quick and Easy Ways to Protein-Pack Breakfast first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

But for many of us Thanksgiving can also be overwhelming. It is a lot of work to produce so much food. There is a lot of pressure to have it be the perfect day. And that is where I think we need to shift our expectations. For me, the importance of Thanksgiving is in the coming together of people, it is in the sharing of plenty, and it is in the expression of gratitude for all that we have, which feels especially poignant to me this year as we are witnessing so much misery around the world.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving this year, this time of year to give thanks, I wanted to advocate for all of us to be kind to ourselves and to take the stress out of the day, so that we can truly focus on the important aspects of this holiday.

So here are my tips for ways to make Thanksgiving a little more relaxed and pleasurable, so that you can stay present and enjoy the day for what it is meant to be.

1. Develop a plan. If the quantity of food and how much you may eat is stressing you out, take a minute to come up with a plan. What foods are the most important to you? Which could you pass on? Will you want to go back for more? If so, what size portions should you take the first time around?
2. Don’t feel guilty. If you overindulge, don’t worry. It is one day. It does not have to undermine your long-term health goals. If you get wrapped up in the guilt and regret, you risk sending yourself down a path of giving up for the whole holiday season. Don’t do it! Instead, just look back on the meal with gratitude and happiness and move on. Tomorrow is another day.
3. Go for a walk. The walk after the big meal is actually my favorite part of Thanksgiving. I always love the fresh air, the stretching of legs, the jovial conversations. If this isn’t a part of your tradition, try suggesting it this year. I bet you will find there is at least one other person who is eager to join you!
4. Make the space for gratitude. Whether it is with the whole group or just quietly to yourself, take a moment to pause and say thanks for all that is before you and for all that has come in the year. It may feel cheesy, but how often do we really take the time to take stock of all we have to be grateful for? It is pretty wonderful when we actually think about it.
5. Keep it light. Whether it is politics, religion, or favorite sports teams, if there is a topic of conversation that you know would stress you or others out or cause strife, avoid it. And if someone pushes it, be honest and say, “I know that this is something we should talk about at some point and I want to, but let’s find another time to do that, so that we can really enjoy this day.”
6. Have fun! Play a game, listen to great music, have fun conversations. Enjoy the time off and the ability to be present for a day.
7. Help out! This is probably the most important one of all. If you are hosting, ask for help! If you are a guest, offer to help and be specific. Maybe it is bringing a dish or two, maybe it is helping to set up, maybe it is cleaning up, in any case make sure that the work is not all on the shoulders of one or a few. This way everyone can enjoy.

<p>The post 7 Tips to Help You Actually Enjoy Thanksgiving first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

The reality, though, can be very different. People can feel frantic, tired, and stressed. Family members can arrive late. Someone refuses to eat the meal in front of him or her. The presentation of the meal is haphazard. Or family dinners just aren’t even happening.

The truth is that family dinners can be a challenge, but they are a challenge worth having.

From my own childhood I have memories of long family dinners with wonderful food and tons of laughter from a seemingly endless stream of puns (yes, I come from a very verbal family), but I also have memories of tears, slamming doors, and meals I found unappetizing. The truth is, that is what family dinners are. They are a chance for us to be our best selves and our worst selves. It is an opportunity for everyone in the family to be themselves as they are in that moment, and to still be loved at the end of it.

A lot of my clients feel really guilty about what their family dinners looks like. One of the main reasons for that is it because what people see on Instagram tagged with family dinner caption or with funny dinner captions.

Folks, those aren’t real.

People stressed, less-than-perfect food on the table, or not everyone eating together. And what I tell them, and myself, is that it is ok. We are doing the best we can and making due with what we’ve got.

So in an effort to help to take some of the angst out of the concept of family dinner I thought I would share what our family dinners look like at this stage in our family life.

My husband is in a busy time at work, which means he often in unable to be home before 6:45 or 7, which is just too late for my 5 and 7-year-old sons to start dinner. So I cook one meal for everyone and I eat twice. I sit down with my boys for dinner around 6 or 6:15. I offer them everything that I have prepared—sometimes they eat it all, sometimes they eat one thing, sometimes they pick at different items—and I try my best to not push. While I am sitting with them I eat a little bit and usually focus my own eating on the vegetables that are being served. This is in part because they are often my favorite part of the meal and also because I want my sons to see me happily eating them.

As we eat together I ask them to each tell me at least two things about their days. Sometimes this conversation lasts 5 minutes, sometimes it lasts 45. I usually share a story about something I did during the day as well. Sometimes, if they are really tired from a long day, I will read to them while they finish eating. This is something that I am trying to move away from, since it distracts them, but sometimes they just need that comfort. And my rule is that reading only happens after we have shared about our days. If my husband gets home early enough, he will also get a small plate of food and eat with us, so that we can all be together, at least for a minute or two.

On the nights when my husband gets home late, he and I will eat together after the boys are in bed. I try hard to keep my portions small at both meals so that I am not overeating. Most of the time I do ok at this, sometimes I don’t.

Then, on the weekends and on any evenings when my husband can get home early enough, we make a point to have as many meals together as possible.

In order to keep things pleasant at the table (for everyone) there are certain expectations we have for family meals:

• There is always at least one thing on the table that each person likes.
• Trying all of the food is encouraged, but not obligatory.
• You are allowed to say that you don’t like something, but only after you have tried it. And words such as “yuck,” “gross,” and “disgusting” are not allowed.
• Condiments and seasonings (salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs, ketchup, Parmesan, etc.) are always welcome if that will help someone to try or eat a food.
• Everyone clears his/her own plate and helps to clear the rest of the table, if asked.

Have you managed to find a family dinner set up that works for your family? If so, what does it look like? If not, what are the stumbling blocks?

<p>The post The Truth About Family Dinners: What it looks like in our house and simple guidelines that helped to make it better first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

I am in the midst of three (3!) weeks with the kids home without summer camp, which means that I am doing that juggling act many of us experience at some point during the summer when we are trying to get work done and also provide fun and engaging activities for our kids (although I am definitely also a believer in free time when kids entertain themselves and even get bored!). Our plans for these weeks include some house projects (cleaning and reorganizing the playroom!), some fun out-of-the-house activities, and cooking projects to stock of the freezer for camp lunches.

As I have written about before, cooking with kids is great for many reasons including decreasing picky eating, introducing new foods, helping them to understand where their food comes from, giving them confidence, and introducing them to math concepts, but it is also a lot of fun, especially when they can get their hands dirty!

If cooking with your kids is a daunting thought, try one of these recipes to get you started. They are favorites in our house!

1. Scones—these are fun for two reasons: 1) they require some squishing with hands, which kids love and 2) they are perfect for an afternoon snack or tea party.

2. Granola Bars—these are great because you can let the kids have a say in what mix-ins you add (nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, etc.).

3.Pizza using my basic tomato sauce—I use Mark Bittman’s pizza dough recipe with the whole wheat substitution and let the kids make their own pizzas. You can start with just having them do the toppings and then move on to letting them stretch out their own crusts into fun shapes.

4. Watermelon Water (recipe below)—Easy. Healthy. Delicious. Kids love cutting up the watermelon (you can even just use a butter knife to practice knife skills) and turning on the blender. Put it in a fancy glass and you’ve got a really special treat.

<p>The post 4 Cooking Projects to Do with Your Kids, Plus Watermelon Water first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

As we all know, life can get super busy when we are trying to balance responsibilities at work, activities for our children, the needs of our significant others, obligations at home, and time with friends and family. It is all important stuff and a lot of it is good, but it can also get overwhelming and my husband and I have both been in a state of overwhelm. So when he asked what I wanted to do for Mother’s Day I said that I wanted to go to the beach as a family. He tried to convince me that maybe a day without kids and husband would be more to my liking, but I insisted. I insisted because I knew that while my day off to myself would be nice, I would come back to a tired and stressed husband and I wanted us both to experience some rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. I was convinced that both of us benefitting would help to make the benefits last longer and I was right.

So on Sunday morning, instead of getting dressed up for a fancy brunch or my leaving the house to go be alone, we packed a picnic and our beach bag and headed out the door, grabbing breakfast on the road. We drove for an hour and a half and arrived in what felt like another world. All four of us had a wonderful time splashing in the water, looking for shells, flying a kite, digging in the sand, lying on the beach blanket, and picnicking. It was five hours of rest and relaxation and it was wonderful.

As we trekked back through the woods we played the “raise your hand” game. “Raise your hand if you had a good day.” “Raise your hand if you enjoyed the picnic.” “Raise your hand if you loved splashing each other.” As we each came up with statements to call out, we laughed and enjoyed the feeling of relaxation that had taken over our family unit.

It was a wonderful day, full of fun, but what was even more important was that we all did it together. By playing hooky as a family, leaving behind meal planning and food shopping and homework and house cleaning and other chores, we shared the experience and we shared the relaxation. A lot of times we forget that our stress and tension overflows onto our family members. I am convinced that if I had gone off by myself I would have had a wonderful, restful day, but then I would have come back to the same dynamics and exhaustion, and the benefits would have disappeared almost instantly. Instead, by enjoying the break together, it was like we all got to hit the restart button and this week I have really seen the benefits of that. There has been less bickering among the boys, my patience has lasted much longer, and all those chores? Somehow they got done and it didn’t even feel like a burden.

<p>The post Playing Hooky as a Family: The healing power of a break first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

As I have talked about before, getting kids cooking is such an important aspect of helping kids to have a healthy, happy relationship with food. And as I watch my mom and my sons cook together this summer, I have also come to realize that there is something particularly special about other family members (or friends) getting in on the cooking. Here are some of the benefits that I have noticed:

• Dynamics are different. Even if cooking with your kids is an activity that is always fun and light-hearted in your household, we still get stuck in our roles and patterns, and bringing someone new into the mix can help to open things back up. For instance, I taught my older son how to crack and egg, but it was my mom who thought to take it to the next level and teach him out to separate eggs. This can also be a great way to get them to try a new food.
• Approaches vary. As we all know, there are many ways to do things in the kitchen. Some are more efficient, some are safer, and some can be less intimidating. Sometimes a new person in the kitchen will introduce a new approach that will help your kid (or you!) to try something new.
• It gives your child a chance to show off their skills. Maybe it is their ability to count, maybe it is their knife skills, maybe it is how well they can flip a pancake, or maybe it is letting them teach someone else how to make one of their favorite recipes. Giving kids the opportunity to show their competence in the kitchen to someone else is a great way to encourage more participation and experimentation further down the line.
• New recipes make things more exciting. Cooking with a new person is a great opportunity to try out, or be introduced to a new recipe because everyone can learn together.
• It is an opportunity to pass on family or cultural recipes. Every family has recipes that Grandma Cathy/Aunt Sally/Great-grandpa Mike used to make and it is important to pass those recipes on. They always come with stories and they are a source of family/cultural pride.

Do your kids ever cook with other family or friends? What benefits have you noticed?

<p>The post Generational Cooking first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

In the final days of the year, as I was trying to think about my hopes and dreams for the coming year, one of the things that I kept coming back to was the question: as a health coach, where do you need to do more work? What will help you to more authentically walk the talk? And the answer that stuck was: Mindfulness.

To me, mindfulness is such a simple concept but requires a radical shift in our approach to the world. To be mindful is to be conscious and aware in the current moment. That is it. Sounds pretty simple, right? But for many of us, myself included, our lives are so busy and fast-paced, that we are often much more distracted than we are present. I am hoping that this coming year will be a year when I am able to integrate mindfulness more completely into my life and here are some ways I am planning on doing that.

1. Being mindful about my food. For me, this means two things: 1) to be more thoughtful about the foods that I eat—choosing healthier options, acknowledging and trying to understand my cravings, planning out my meals more thoroughly, and 2) to be more present when I am eating. To take the time to enjoy the smells and the texture, as well as the tastes. To put my fork or spoon down between bites, so that I am not just shoveling the food in. To be grateful for each meal.
2. Being present in my interactions with my kids. This is hard to admit, but a lot of the time that I spend with my kids, half of my mind (or more) is somewhere else—thinking about that email I need to write, thinking about the meals I need to prepare, thinking about the phone call to a friend that I need to make. While I don’t think I should hover over my kids and fixate on their every action, in fact I think it is essential to give kids plenty of space, I do think that giving my kids the quality time they need and deserve is important. So when I notice that I am not engaged when I should be, I plan to remind myself and refocus, letting go of the things that are pulling me away.
3. Breathing. When I catch myself being distracted and not in the present moment, I plan to stop myself, take a breath (or a few breaths), and remind myself to recenter and refocus. I am hoping to do this without guilt or judgment, but rather gently and calmly.

I am excited about trying this approach to mindfulness out. I don’t see it as a resolution, per se, but instead as a shift that I hope to support myself in making over the coming months. I truly believe that as I get better at being more mindful, the benefits will be profound because I will be able to better enjoy the quiet moments, to engage in the social ones, to notice the world around me, and to acknowledge and respect what my body tells me.

What resolutions or changes in yourself are you hoping for this year?

<p>The post New Year, New Approach: Mindfulness first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>