Saturday, March 19, 2011

Stuffed Red Peppers

These are always a favorite of mine, but this time made them a little differently! Delicious!!!

4 Red Bell Peppers
1 lb. Ground Turkey
2 Carrots - Diced
1 Green Bell Pepper - Diced
4 Cloves of Garlic (I used a little more) - Minced
1 Small Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Cup *Cooked* Wild Rice Blend (I was in a hurry so used Uncle Ben's microwaveable wild/brown rice blend...all natural)
Bit of Sea Salt
Crushed Black Pepper

Saute green pepper, carrots and garlic. Then add ground turkey (cook thoroughly), then rice, salt and pepper. Fill red peppers with mixture and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Or cover with foil and leave in for 30 minutes or so!! My son likes his topped with cheese, but I drizzle balsamic on mine, and I really think that's what makes it SO good!!!

Pair this with a nice green salad and heart healthy glass of red wine, and Bon Appétit!!!


Thursday, March 17, 2011

What’s in your child’s lunch box?

Something has got to be done about our children’s nutrition!! You can’t even call what they serve in school cafeterias "food"! You would think that by having a degree in nutrition and being in the “wellness” industry for the past decade, people would listen when I talked about the subject (most do, just not my son's dad). I am so tired of people turning the other cheek, because they don’t want to change the way they eat! And honestly, I’m to the point where I don’t care what adults that "know better" put into their bodies; my concern is what they put in their children’s bodies!!

For me personally, it is a constant battle when my son is with his father (and father’s family). They come from a different culture, and were raised on different foods; desserts and sweets were heavily consumed. They think it’s an insult when I try to educate them on proper nutrition. They think that I’m just a “diet freak” and that things like the recommended serving of fruits and vegetables is just a joke (sadly, many children don‘t even get 1 serving per day)! Again, I’m done trying to help those people!! If they want to be obese, have diabetes and the inability to live a life off of their sofa (while only in their early 40’s), then so be it!! But when I see what they feed my child, and I see him walk around like a zombie and watch his behavior go from good to bad (because he doesn’t have any “fuel” to focus), then I have to draw the line!!!

People just don’t get it!!! They don’t see that ADHD is not a disease, it’s a result of the toxins we put into our children!! Granted, there are some children that have such “diseases” even when they’re on a healthy diet, but to a lesser degree. It just breaks my heart! I want to break it down into simpler terms for some parents…I want to take that box of sugar cereal and “strawberry” or “chocolate” milk they give their children for breakfast, and dissect it. I want to get a bowl and add 20 or so teaspoons of plain sugar, some artificial food color, then some artificial flavor, some chemical preservative and some "grain" (so that somewhat resembles food) that has been BLEACHED and stripped of it's nutrients…I would then top that off with a splash of milk, more artificial food color, and more artificial flavor, some "stabilizers", and then MAKE THEM EAT IT!!! Do you think they would get it then? And sadly, that’s just the child’s breakfast!!!

How can we expect our children to focus and do well in school, when they don’t have the proper fuel for their engine? And people wonder why things like ADHD and behavioral problems are so prevalent these days! And I’ll go so far as to say, I believe there is a link to even worse behavioral problems…perhaps a partial explanation for all the violence in schools (and in society)!?! Call me crazy, but the effects from the toxins we consume as food, are NO DIFFERENT THAN THE EFFECTS FROM DRUGS OR ALCOHOL!!! Our children are NOT in their right minds!!!

So what part are you going to play in helping this escalating problem?


Be a healthy role model for children : http://www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/TenTips/RoleModelTipsheet.pdf