Carrots Sneak In

Food. Food. Food. Meal planning for the week. Trips to the grocery. Time to cook. I am pretty sure that meals take up about 90% of my wakeful hours. I need good healthy family friendly food. I want every one in my house to have eaten a balanced and healthy diet at the end of the day. Except on Fridays. We order pizza and ice cream on Friday.

Eating healthy is not as easy as it sounds. Since having a baby, my husband has realized a need to eat healthier in order to not succumb to a genetic predisposition to diabetes and heart disease. I have a toddler who, once upon a time, love spinach and broccoli. Now, he barely tolerates the presence of veggies on his plate. I am pretty sure that he would eat grapes and PBJ three times a day if I allowed it.

I have no idea how to make everyone happy and healthy all of the time, but I feel that I must take some action. I decided that I needed to start with the veggies. My family, every single one of us, needs to eat more of them. After reviewing some deceptive methods of getting veggies into everyday food, I was very disappointed that many of the recipes I looked at snuck in only an extra 2 tablespoons of veggie per serving (1/2 cup veggie divided by 4 servings). While that is better than nothing, I wanted to see if I could pack in more. If I am going to make this effort, it better be worth my time.

This past month I have decided that I am sneaking in some  carrots. I decided that I was not going all the way back to purees for baby food. Grating would have to do. It turns out that I can mix in a LOT of carrots with ground meat dishes, and neither my toddler nor my husband noticed at all. I successfully mixed in a whole cup of finely grated carrots with a pound of ground meat in several different dishes including: stuffed peppers, meatloaf, and chili. Let's say that a 1/4 pound of meat is 1 serving. Then, everyone just got  an extra 1/4 cup of veggies. That is worth my effort! I should stress that the carrots be very finely grated. My toddler will try to pick out regular grated carrots from his food. While that is fun to watch for a few minutes, is gets old and messy. I am excited to try to add carrots to meatballs and hamburger.

I still serve carrots and other veggies as side dishes with dinner in the hopes that my son will someday decide that he likes veggies again. Tonight, he pointed at his carrots, shook his head "no" and returned to eating his meatloaf.

I would love to know if any one else has a way to sneak larger quantities of veggies into their everyday cooking.

Contributed by Patricia

Some Adults Must Have Been Perfect Children...

The Following was Posted on Starbucks new Idea Site:

My Starbucks Idea

Note: this was not written by me, just cut and pasted by me.


More kid friendly? Please, no.
Sorry to sound like a Scrooge, but I do not go to Starbucks to listen to other people's children. When I have seen children there they are usually crumbling cake all over the floor or walking around touching things while their parents igore them. There are plenty of kid-friendly places (think fast food restaurants with play lands) where you can take your kids. I think it would take away from the coffee house atmosphere to gear it more towards children.
Comments [35] | Posted by starbaby to Atmosphere & Locations , 3/19/2008 4:19 PM

Another one:

mepabove
3/21/2008 12:14 PM

Sarah357 - and any one else out there who CAN NOT seperate a child from an adult - If you had the ability to communicate on an Adult level and not feel intimidated by other Adults, you would not need to hide behind your kids. Thus you would be free to enjoy a place where adults can relax and fraternize with other adults. And leave the kids at home. The only reason so many parents need to take their kids every place they go is because of a severe insecurity & low selfesteem issue they(the parents) don't want to deal with. Stop hiding behind your kids. We see right thru this scenario and are sick of it. Deal with your personal issues and then return to public society.

Comments like this really needle me. What do you think about this?

Please share your thoughts.

The Challenges of Motherhood

It’s funny but I have run a successful business for 15 years, but have never found myself presented with anything quite as challenging as motherhood. Never before have I fretted as much whether or not I was doing the right thing. I also have never been so acutely aware of my actions having such lasting effects. I heard that for some becoming parents can hurt their relationships with their own, but for me, it has made me appreciate my parents so much more fully. I now can see the sacrifices they made firsthand. I would characterize myself as the more laid back type, but it amazing how much more paranoid I have become regarding my 11 month old twins. It is so easy for me to fall into the trap of making sure they are in the right classes, that they are developing in the appropriate manner, eating the right foods ( I feed them better than myself), and it is a constant struggle for me to just chill out. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that I am also working 3 days a week. When I am at home with them I get completely exhausted and actually welcome my job as a break (I am imagining some of you are a bit horrified at my saying this), but when I am at work, I miss them and start feeling a bit guilty. I can only imagine it getting more difficult once they have a voice.
I am trying so hard to be a super mom, employer, friend and wife that I never have time for myself. Something has got to give! Are any of you experiencing the same things? I would love to get ideas on how you are coping.


Contributed by Kristy P.

The Future of 2D/ 4D Ratio

The idea of establishing a 2 digit /4 digit ratio to form conclusions about a person's behavior and health fascinates me.

Supposedly, by measuring the second digit (pointer finger) and dividing it by the fourth finger (ring finger) it can be determined whether or not an individual was exposed to greater levels of testosterone in the womb. Within the womb, exposure to a greater level of testosterone increases the growth of the ring finger, while estrogen promotes the growth of the index finger. This information correlates to many other behaviors such as aggression, assertiveness, fertility, heart disease, and even being easily influenced by pretty women! (Bye Tracy!)

My husband knew I would get a kick out of the video below: Testosterone Factor, by National Geographic. He was right. Wanting to believe that things are not so happenstance, I often speculate the idea that humans are quite predictable and are hardwired to act in predetermined ways. So to discover a biologic equation that supports this theory is very exciting indeed!


It brings to my mind the 1997 movie Gattaca. A film where genetics determine peoples' futures. The protagonist is one of the last "naturally" born babies and his genes are defective. He has to go to great lengths to take on another man's genetically perfect identity in order to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut.

Similar to the movie's constant genetic evaluations, the cruder 2D/4D ratio accomplishes the same prejudices. Imagine going on an interview and being asked your ratio and having your hand scanned for measurements, or insurance companies utilizing this information to raise your individual rates, or evaluating a future spouse based on digit ratio?

2D/ 4D may be a coincidence or a just a crock, but always curious about people and nature, I will tuck it into my toolbag. Da Vinci was brilliant, insightful, and was known for intricate analysis of the human figure. We would be as wise to observe and investigate the human form.

So don't be surprised when I meet you for the first time, and I take a longer glance than normal at your fingers-- it is in my nature and probably indicated in my digit ratio.

Guide to Birth Settings Around Seattle

Since we got started on the topic of pregnancy and birth...

In 2006, I moved to Seattle 3 months pregnant. Being new to the area and feeling pressured to finding appropriate prenatal care, I quickly did some homework and then went with a midwifery practice in the Seattle area. My son was born early 2007 and I was left feeling that there was something to be desired by the care I received during my pregnancy, labor and birth of my son. I learned the hard way that the styles in midwifery practice, and obstretical practice differs widely from provider to provider. In my research and preparation for our next child, I knew I needed to educate myself better as a consumer. I found myself wishing that somewhere there existed the statistics of various practices as well as reviews of providers by women themselves to inform my choices.

Then I found that Seattle has an awesome resource for expectant families. Great Starts Birth and Family Education is a program operated by Parent Trust of Washington. Each year they publish a Guide to hospitals, birth centers and home birth midwives in King County which reports provider rates of procedures and evidence based care.*

The Guide is a useful tool in determining the level of care a family desires and includes descriptions of birth settings and the characteristics of types of providers, as well as a summary of research findings regarding safe and appropriate birth care. An innovative feature of the Guide is a quiz that assists families in determinging the type of care they value most: whether its heavily managed and directed, the comfort measures and pain relief offered and the style of practice, as well as worldviews regarding the process of birth.

The Guide also contains a directory to local birth providers that reflect the range of services available in the Seattle area.

Another resource to look forward to is the unveiling of the national Birth Survey being developed by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services which will compile the intervention rates reported to the state Department of Health as well as collect information, ratings and reviews from mothers directly relating to the care they receive from area providers.

With the information provided by the Great Starts Guide and the Birth Survey, as well as word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, family and community members, pregnanct women in Seattle will be more equipped with the information for a safe and joyous birth experience.

*Rates are reported by the providers/facilities and the records they maintain independently.

Baby Dreams

Already a mother of three young boys and not remotely pregnant, I am surprised that I have had two very vivid baby dreams. In one dream I even saw the outline of a baby's hand pushing the skin of my belly outward. I don't' have any desire to have another baby, yet apparently my mind or body would like to.

Is it possible the dreams are psychological and I am struggling with the fact the the babies are growing up? Or maybe I am feeling torn between two worlds, compelled by the idea of heading back to work. The dreams could be a warning. My body might be telling me... this is your last chance, your not getting any younger. If that is the case, I resent physiology for trying to influence my mind.

I looked up pregnancy dreams on Dreammoods.com and this is what it said:

To dream that you are pregnant, symbolizes an aspect of yourself or some aspect of your personal life that is growing and developing. You may not be ready to talk about it or act on it. This may also represent the birth of a new idea, direction, project or goal.

I appreciate that this interpretation treats pregnancy as a symbol for something other than a baby, I have already had my share of those around here.

Maybe the search for the meaning of these dreams will lead to something inspirational, rather than an serving as an omen. It will be interesting to find out...