Cake: Tam's White Cake
The White Stuff is merange with xylitol and vanilla. ( The whip cream made out of coconut milk was not a success.)
William loves strawberries. I put some star fruit on the side to decorate that we happen to have from the co-op. Not an ounce of cane sugar in this birthday cake!!!
At first they said it tasted like the bread I make, but the boys had seconds. Much better than Publix birthday cake, IMO.
Can you tell William has lost five pounds since he gave up soda?
Uncle Ed gave me a very nice compliment today. He said that a lot of people say they are going to eat healthy and few people actually do it. He has noticed that the boys are much more focused and less spazzy. Ed likes to play games with them like chess and risk, so he would be one to notice. Noticing improvements in the boys means much more than noticing (little) changes in me. I also appreciate his comments because I feel like what I do is an inconvenience to so many. (I feel like a nag.) Noticing benefits through my kids and telling me the work is paying off feels good.
Surprisingly my kids are becoming little advocates (they may not realize it yet) . The boys have Sigg Containers now that they are responsible for filling with water and taking with them if they want a beverage (no more soda, no more emergency runs to corner store for false-hydration liquids). William and Scott take their water to Hebrew School now and pull out the water at snack time. They tell me that kids ask why they don't drink the soda and juice provided. Scott says something like, " Soda is poison and high fructose corn syrup is bad for me." Scott says the kids are resistant, "Soda is not poison and HFCS is natural." Scott says it doesn't bother him what the kids think. I've also been concerned about the snacks in the Temple. I figured that I would work on the beverage first. But after the boys told me the snack was cinnamon honeybuns, YUCK YUCK, last week, I thought they might be ready for the next step.
I asked the boys how they would feel if I packed them a banana instead. We discussed snacks that I'd be more tolerant of if they wanted to eat at the Temple. You never know what will be brought in. As it turned out Grandma Irma made them empanadas and I wrapped each boy an empanada for snack time. This week the snack was a cookie and my boys told me they enjoyed the empanada much more than they would a cookie. Don't get me wrong, there is a time for boys to have desserts, but does the dessert need to offered routinely on Sunday at 10:30 in the morning at school for the rest of the school year ?(The snacks are provided on a rotational basis by the parents.) The Temple serves crap after Friday Family evening service ( I agree to that once monthly snack.) and the teachers often provide a "treat" at their own discretion on Tuesdays. It seems like Hebrew school should be a time to give the kids something nutritious and ban soda. I find myself limitting how often I go to Temple so I am not faced with the sugar buffet. I hang out with a lot of healthy people who seem to "get it." I would say the Temple crowd is among the most unhealthiest groups I affiliate with and its not a wonder why looking at what they eat.
When my turn comes to provide a snack and beverage on Sunday, the congregation will run, "Egad, Coquelet's mom bringing in Organic stuff and a compost to collect the waste."
My boys have done amazingly well this past month accepting new things to eat. I'll tell you one funny exception.
I made fruit smoothies out of mango, banana, peach. I added a few bean sprout as it wouldn't change the color. I intentionally use straws. Scott drank his. William gives me his empty cup and I am very suspicious. "William, what sink did you pour yours down?" He turned pale. "Mom, I drank it all." "No, you didn't. Look you poured it out. (How can I tell?) I can tell by the way the smoothie sticks to the side. If you used the straw it wouldn't look like it was poured."
I caught him, red-handed. He gets a double thick GREEN smoothie tomorrow.
The White Stuff is merange with xylitol and vanilla. ( The whip cream made out of coconut milk was not a success.)
William loves strawberries. I put some star fruit on the side to decorate that we happen to have from the co-op. Not an ounce of cane sugar in this birthday cake!!!
At first they said it tasted like the bread I make, but the boys had seconds. Much better than Publix birthday cake, IMO.
Can you tell William has lost five pounds since he gave up soda?
Uncle Ed gave me a very nice compliment today. He said that a lot of people say they are going to eat healthy and few people actually do it. He has noticed that the boys are much more focused and less spazzy. Ed likes to play games with them like chess and risk, so he would be one to notice. Noticing improvements in the boys means much more than noticing (little) changes in me. I also appreciate his comments because I feel like what I do is an inconvenience to so many. (I feel like a nag.) Noticing benefits through my kids and telling me the work is paying off feels good.
Surprisingly my kids are becoming little advocates (they may not realize it yet) . The boys have Sigg Containers now that they are responsible for filling with water and taking with them if they want a beverage (no more soda, no more emergency runs to corner store for false-hydration liquids). William and Scott take their water to Hebrew School now and pull out the water at snack time. They tell me that kids ask why they don't drink the soda and juice provided. Scott says something like, " Soda is poison and high fructose corn syrup is bad for me." Scott says the kids are resistant, "Soda is not poison and HFCS is natural." Scott says it doesn't bother him what the kids think. I've also been concerned about the snacks in the Temple. I figured that I would work on the beverage first. But after the boys told me the snack was cinnamon honeybuns, YUCK YUCK, last week, I thought they might be ready for the next step.
I asked the boys how they would feel if I packed them a banana instead. We discussed snacks that I'd be more tolerant of if they wanted to eat at the Temple. You never know what will be brought in. As it turned out Grandma Irma made them empanadas and I wrapped each boy an empanada for snack time. This week the snack was a cookie and my boys told me they enjoyed the empanada much more than they would a cookie. Don't get me wrong, there is a time for boys to have desserts, but does the dessert need to offered routinely on Sunday at 10:30 in the morning at school for the rest of the school year ?(The snacks are provided on a rotational basis by the parents.) The Temple serves crap after Friday Family evening service ( I agree to that once monthly snack.) and the teachers often provide a "treat" at their own discretion on Tuesdays. It seems like Hebrew school should be a time to give the kids something nutritious and ban soda. I find myself limitting how often I go to Temple so I am not faced with the sugar buffet. I hang out with a lot of healthy people who seem to "get it." I would say the Temple crowd is among the most unhealthiest groups I affiliate with and its not a wonder why looking at what they eat.
When my turn comes to provide a snack and beverage on Sunday, the congregation will run, "Egad, Coquelet's mom bringing in Organic stuff and a compost to collect the waste."
My boys have done amazingly well this past month accepting new things to eat. I'll tell you one funny exception.
I made fruit smoothies out of mango, banana, peach. I added a few bean sprout as it wouldn't change the color. I intentionally use straws. Scott drank his. William gives me his empty cup and I am very suspicious. "William, what sink did you pour yours down?" He turned pale. "Mom, I drank it all." "No, you didn't. Look you poured it out. (How can I tell?) I can tell by the way the smoothie sticks to the side. If you used the straw it wouldn't look like it was poured."
I caught him, red-handed. He gets a double thick GREEN smoothie tomorrow.