Teaching Children the Art of 'Down-Time'

My 90 year-old friend Betty is always saying "It's a mad, mad world." And, from a certain perspective she is right, especially when it comes to our schedules these days. How often do you find yourself thinking or saying "It's been a really hectic week!" Or my recent favourite "Life has been moving at a frightening pace," which I have been saying far too often lately.

Inevitably we are subjecting our children to these crazy schedules of ours. Soon, their calendars are filling up as fast as ours are with play-dates, sports and other activities. How do we keep a balance and have the time to even breathe let alone practice personal hygiene?

Well, I believe one way to strike a balance in today's hectic life is to take time for the still things. Stop and smell the roses so to speak. Take moments to stop and look at a delicate cherry blossom, smell a fragrant flower, admire the ocean or mountains, take a deep breath of fresh air, enjoy a fun moment with your child... and slowly exhale, turning off your mind for a moment, letting go of the constant to-do list and brrrrrrreeeeeaaaaaatttthhhhhhhhhhhhhe...........

My friend, who is a massage therapist, has a motto: "Being still is doing something." I think it is brilliant. We, women in particular, are such high achievers, such stalwart champions to the point where we are even very competitive with each other. We seem to not be able to stop for a moment because, god forbid, we may look like we're being lazy or unproductive. Well, the irony is that we tend to be much more productive in the long run when we take the time to rest our minds and bodies and let ourselves just be for a few moments.

These little, quality things are monumental in their advantages to our health and wellness and do not even take much time out of our day. And it is a wonderful influence to have on our children despite these frenetic times running from task to task, errand after errand.

When it comes to eating, we have a great opportunity to take advantage of being in the moment. Start by having as little distraction as possible while you and your kid(s) eat. Use conversation to point out the characteristics of the food you are eating. For example sometimes I'll say to Oskar, "How do you like how that feels in your mouth? Is it soft, squishy, hard or smooth? What flavours are you tasting? What colour is your broccoli/carrot/beet? What flavours are in your soup?" Or perhaps you can just reflect on the day and recognize what you are grateful for. Now that's an easy and rewarding thing to do regularly!

These are wonderful ways to a reconnect with your body, mind and spirit. It will also strengthen your body's ability to digest and metabolize and, therefore, its ability to absorb nutrients. It may sound a little strange but this practice ultimately acts as a distraction from your typically overactive left brain that actually creates a lot of physical stress in our bodies. This is why yoga and meditation have become so popular in our culture. We need it to stay sane and to find some balance in such an overproductive, competitive culture.

So next time you sit down to have a meal, turn off the television, put down the to-do list and focus on the food and your time with your family. It will pay off in dividends and you may just find your life is just a little more manageable.

*The following are some helpful links to help you be better nourished, manage the stress of your schedule, learn to incorporate a brief meditation into your day or perhaps even take a yoga class with your child:

Good Enough Moms website: Check out the podcast: Are you getting the most out of your meals, nutritionally and emotionally?

Transform stress in 30 days with One Moment Meditation (This week's e-newsletter article on Oprah's website)

Little Tree Yoga

Bowen Island Wellness Retreats: watch for our upcoming Mother's Day retreat announcement

Fermenting Paltrow's Pancakes

The last couple of weeks have been adventures in wild fermentation for me. I’ve never done it before and was filled with some fear. The word fermentation makes my husband say, “Yuck, gross.” But really, it’s one of the best things you can do to flour and grains to make them more digestable. So, what is it?

Well, my husband’s reaction is kind of on the mark in the sense that the term, fermention, conjures up the words “sour, spoiled, breakdown.” In fact, when done with intention fermentation is a process of breaking down and adding healthy bacteria to your flour and grains, aiding it’s digestibility like never before. I don’t know if it’s just me…but I felt the guilt of eating pancakes three mornings in a row, as I experimented with different types of flour and fermentation processes, lift as I felt that I was eating something in which the potential nutrients had become more available to my body.

I’ve always wanted to try foodie and health purveyor Gywneth Paltrow’s favourite pancake recipe that she posted on her newsletter Goop. I thought I would take her recipe one step further by fermenting the batter overnight. After several tries…this was my favourite and most tasty version of GP’s recipe.

How to Ferment your Pancake Batter

To ferment your flour add the following ingredients in a bowl and gently mix them. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm dry place (such as on top of the fridge) for about 12 hours.

½ cup: Buckwheat Flour
½ cup: White Spelt Flour

11/4 cups Buttermilk
1 or 2 teaspoons of plain, organic (goat) yogurt

The next morning add the remaining wet ingredients in one bowl, and the dry ingredients in another. Mix each and then together and then add to your fermented dough.

RECIPE
SERVES: 3 or 4 (makes about a dozen pancakes)
1 1/4 cups butter milk
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup white spelt flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bananas, thinly sliced

Be careful not to over-mix, as that’s how you get tough pancakes. Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat Ladle as many pancakes as possible onto your griddle. Place a few slices of banana on top of each pancake. Cook for about a minute and a half on the first side or until the surface is covered with small bubbles and the underside is nicely browned. Flip and cook for about a minute on the second side. Repeat the process until you run out of batter. Serve stacked high with plenty of maple syrup. Enjoy!

READ HERE for the original recipe . Feel free to play with different types of flour and gluten free varieties. Paltrow suggests some gluten- and dairy-free options.

Grandma’s Penicillin with a Twist

The weather here on the West Coast has taken a turn again and it feels a little like winter. So it is only fitting that we share a yummy cold-weather, kid-friendly recipe that will warm you all up and nourish you to the core.

Chicken noodle soup is nicknamed “Grandma’s penicillin” not only because of its nourishing properties but its ability to stave off colds and flus. This is likely because it provides immune strengthening vitamins and minerals as well as a warming, soothing energy. I’ve been hearing of folks getting the last round of flu lately so, with any luck, this will help some of you that have not been afflicted, and certainly those of you who have.

Kids love this soup because of the noodles. We suggest using brown rice noodles. Your kids will never know the difference from white noodles, plus they’re much easier to digest and are more nourishing. They’ll love slurping them up and making a grand mess. Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle soup, with Ground Turkey Sausage

3 carrots, scrubbed, not peeled and sliced thinly
2 celery sticks, sliced thinly
1 onion, minced
2 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil and/or organic butter
10 cups of organic chicken broth (ideally homemade but in the carton is ok too)
2 cups of brown rice noodles, spiral, or other favorite shape J
A handful of minced parsley, minced
Unrefined salt and pepper – just a pinch

1/2 pound of specialty ground turkey or turkey sausage (preferably organic & nitrate-free)
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of garlic or one clove
1/2 teaspoon of unrefined salt
1 teaspoon of thyme or sage
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat oil in pot over low to medium heat. When hot, add chopped veggies, stirring frequently. Cook until vegetables are soft. Feel free to add your kids favourite veggies, it doesn’t have to be the same as above.
2. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add noodles, return to a boil, lower heat and let simmer until noodles are soft (check package for time allotment).
3. Meanwhile prepare turkey. In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the turkey with seasoning until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper, and add to soup when the noodles are done.
5. Add some minced parsley and cook for a few minutes. Check the taste. If using homemade broth, salt and pepper to taste.

The Fussy Foodie

You’ve done everything right. Exclusively breastfed your child until they are ready for college. Fed them fresh, organic seasonal vegetables, never once buying the easy store bought prepared food that boasted being organic. Disappointed grandparents with your homebaked hockey pucks or those sugar, gluten and dairy free cupcakes you served at your little one’s first birthday. You’ve made everything yourself. Let your baby make a mess at meal times to encourage eating on their own and asserting their independence. And then it happens. Your adventurous foodie suddenly refuses to eat all their healthy favorites. And, nothing healthy seems to please them. That precious tiny hand pushes the food away as if to say “No.” Ever been there?

Well, if you haven’t yet…you’re lucky. Or, that first refusal might just be around the corner. Like most phases in your child’s life this one too shall pass. What matters here are the choices you make and how you react in the moment. This phase is temporary, but how you respond can have lifelong effects on your child’s diet, eating habits, and tastes. Signs of refusal from our children and our anxieties about our children not eating enough can lead to reaching for bread, processed sugary foods, and a life without those precious greens.

To help you through this period, WeeMunch has come up with a range of questions and ideas to consider before radically altering your child’s diet.

• Is your child teething? That’s often a difficult one to know for sure and can often become an excuse for everything, but is also a valid explanation for fussiness. There are times when their sore mouth may show in a loss of appetite or a desire for liquids over solids. This usually doesn’t last more than a day or two.
• Are you serving the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Or the same foods regularly? There does come a point when our children notice. And, what seems like a disinterest in broccoli is really an interest in more variety!
• Phases: There are many of these in your child’s life. When it comes to foods there are many colours under the rainbow. Picasso went through a blue period, then a rose period. Children sometimes want orange, or green, or red only. Don’t fret. Perhaps this is their way of telling you what their body needs. Just try to keep offering a variety.
• Give up control. Some parents are really afraid of a mess. And, sadly the best way to encourage healthy eating is to allow our children to play and experiment with their food. This isn’t always comfortable for us, and we may worry about “teaching” our children bad manners. But my son has proven time and again that his food refusal is often his way of asserting his independence about wanting to lead the eating process. This doesn’t mean letting them play with food that they are clearly finished eating—that’s different. It’s about striking a balance and teaching respect for food.
• We don’t encourage “hiding” or “disguising” the veggies, so to speak, at WeeMunch. But the first years are foundational for brain, bone and immune system development. We also don’t encourage the use of supplements…but there are some good whole food supplements that can enhance your little one’s diet during prolonged periods of fussiness. Read More
• Never give up. Find healthy alternatives. Don’t make a fuss. If they’re not interested…let it go. Don’t get into preparing a new meal…that will go on forever and encourage fussiness in the long run. They’ll eat a bigger dinner or snack later.

Believe it or not, we don’t have all of the answers. So we’ve interviewed some of our favorite foodie mothers for their stories about working through the fussy phase. Send us your stories. We would love to hear from you.

Leslie Sarracino & Heather Jacobs, Owners / Founders of Graze Organic

Not serving your child new and different foods can lead to food fussiness. Don’t give them just chicken fingers and cheese quesadillas. Lead by example. They’ll eat what you’re eating. You don’t have to wait until they’re older to offer them a variety of foods and tastes. Start right away—when they begin eating solids.

We always include the kids in the preparation and cooking of something new and exotic. They can help with cutting, measuring, even setting the table.

We also have a small vegetable garden and we try to plant something new (not the usual tomatoes & cucumbers). Throw in some kale, beets, etc. If they grow it, they will try it. We promise!

Barbara Schellenberg, Owner of Ethical Kitchen and Controversial Kitchen and Vancouver Chapter Leader of the Weston A. Price Organization

Being fussy is probably something that is going to come and go throughout development. When I set out to feed my daughter, Tessa, I imagined that she would eat what I gave her and that would be that… not quite so, I have discovered that she carries with her a temper, a will and this astonishing inner wisdom and all these things influence how, when and what she is going to eat.

In many cases I do believe fussiness starts with the parent… many parents I notice make decisions on what their child ‘won’t eat’ based on a one time rejection of a certain food. People forget that it takes continued exposure to develop tastes for things that are new to us. In many cases I see children being given convenience food where choices were made by the parents based on whether the particular food is going to make a mess, be sticky, etc. not based on how nourishing it is.

That aside, I notice that the inner healer in my child, or probably in any child, when observed, speaks loud and clear about what is going on inside. I have noticed that when Tessa is teething, she nurses more, she refuses rich foods and sticks exclusively to daikon radishes, celery, light colored fruit and frozen grapes. All very cooling foods for her feverish state.

There are days when she is looking very chubby and obviously in a growing spurt because she is sleeping much more than usual and eating only the richest, fattiest foods she can get her hands on; fatty lamb, butter by the finger-full, cheeses, and always some kombucha or water kefir to balance herself.

Seeing as though she is growing up in a restaurant and is around food all day every day, and with a staff that love her so much, it’s inevitable that she is getting her hands on sweet treats probably more than is optimal. I noticed that sometimes the fussiness is really a true fussiness, not a state of her body wanting to heal itself. There are times now when it is clear that she is rejecting her meal because she would prefer a fresh baked cookie or a morsel of chocolate.

I have to use my own wisdom in acknowledging when she is acting from her inner healer and when she is being truly fussy. Most of the time, however, I find she is happy with a staple of broth, which she has never rejected though at times prefers cold over warm broth; and the freedom to pick and choose what she needs in her state.

I have faith on days when she is excessively fussy that she will eventually get hungry. I don’t follow her around the kitchen with a spoonful of soup and I don’t try and strap her into a highchair until she is finished with her meal. If she won’t eat, I know that she will be hungry later and that eventually she will eat.

The Truth about Sugar

Recently I’ve been letting small amounts of refined sugar creep into my 2 year olds diet (usually in so-called healthy store-bought snacks). Until now I have been quite strict about sugar intake (basically nothing except some raw honey and the odd bit of real maple syrup in homemade foods) but I realize I can only carry on for so long. Also, the increasing frequency of play dates and outings has made it harder to control what passes his lips. Since when have Goldfish become an official food group?

I have noticed lately when he has ingested some of these more refined foods his sleep suffers. On several occasions recently he has been impossible to put down for a nap and my husband and I were totally baffled as to why. Then I started watching his food intake and, sure enough, the fussy naptimes correlated with his refined food intake, albeit only in small, infrequent doses. His overall demeanor is also affected as he is more irritable and does not listen and cooperate well.

This inspired me to write a post about sugar and its many guises. We are all gradually becoming better at reading labels—good for us! But unfortunately as we consumers become smarter the marketers of food get smarter as well, and can be very deceptive about their advertising and labeling in order to reach a broader group of people. And this is not necessarily intentional as there is a lot of ignorance about what is considered healthy amongst good food manufacturers.

They want their food to be appealing so they’ll make it look sexier on the outside when it’s really rather un-appealing on the inside. For example, many marketers of children’s food incorporate cartoon characters to make it almost impossible for your child to pass it by in the grocery store (I hate those). And of course they desperately have to have it because their favourite cartoon is on it. That is almost sure-fire criteria for me to actually avoid the product, as it is likely to contain loads of sugar.

WeeMunch Guidelines on Sugar:

1. First, remember the saying “If you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not healthy”? This is pretty sound advice.

2. There are many pronounceable words as well that we need to avoid: Anything on an ingredient label ending in 'ose' (ie: fructose, sucrose, glucose…) is a refined sugar, which is not a healthy staple food (these are only really appropriate for occasional use, meaning maybe once a month, at most).

3. Pretty much anything that doesn’t say unrefined or raw (when labeling sugar) is refined or too highly processed in some way.

Sweeteners we recommend using exclusively in your kitchen:

Raw, unprocessed honey (“straight from the bees knees” as I say) *not pasteurized or unpasteurized, which is still processed too much and destroys beneficial nutrients. This is my personal favourite as it is local and eco-friendly

Real Maple Syrup (“straight from the tree’s knees”)

Brown Rice Syrup

Blackstrap Molasses (unsulphured)

Panela, Rapadura (sourced from Central/South America)

Jaggery (traditionally used in India and Africa)

Stevia (unrefined and ideally green in colour, as it comes from a green plant which you can, incidentally, easily grow yourself.)

Important Note: Sweeteners can be introduced to your little one from one year onwards, from time to time and in small amounts.

How our bodies are affected by refined sugar:

When we eat sugar in its refined form our body processes it much differently that it would in its unrefined form. Being the natural beings that we are—our bodies are attuned to natural food and thrives best on it in its most pure, unprocessed form.

When you eat something with ‘white sugar’ in it, for instance, your body wonders: “Where’s the fibre? Where are all the vitamins and minerals?" Your body makes the best of it and metabolizes it anyway. Over time, if we continue to eat these foods on a regular basis, the lack of fibre, vitamins and minerals plays havoc on our systems as our bodies begin to miss the lacking ingredients that should inherently be there. This is what happens when deficiency sets in. The very missing parts become our bodies deficiencies. Snd those deficiencies potentially become the roots of disease.

Raw/unrefined sugar contains the same vitamin and mineral consistency that is found in the juice from the sugarcane plant. These minerals include Phosphorous, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Potassium. When sugar is processed there are many harmful chemicals added such as Phosphoric Acid, Sulfur Dioxide and Formic Acid. Fortified (added) vitamins and minerals are not nearly as beneficial as the naturally occurring ones found in fresh food, so don't rely on them for your daily intake. They'll keep you alive...but not healthy.

Sugar Addiciton

Another consideration is the addiction potential of refined sugar, which is much greater without the refined-out nutrients. When we crave sweet things our body is actually craving the ‘whole package’ so it will keep craving it until we feed it the unrefined sweets our body really wants and needs. I personally reversed my pre-diabetic condition several years ago by totally removing refined sugar/grains from my diet and eating predominantly raw honey as my sweetener of choice. It took only 6 weeks to see major results and renewed health.

Almost every modern illness is linked to regular consumption of refined sugar/grain intake. For example: Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease/High Cholesterol, Attention Deficit Disorder, Weight Issues and Obesity, Immune-Related disorders. And we are seeing them occur more and more in young children.

Your raw, unrefined sugar should look brown, crumbly and uncrystallized, like this:

Believe it or not, your sugar should NOT look like this:

And definitely not this: