a peek inside the fishbowl

21 Jun, 2010

Know More Do More Monday: eating stuff, doing stuff

Posted by andrea tomkins in: - Know More Do More

Last Thursday I realized that we didn’t draw an activity from the KMDM tip jar. So I drew one (late!):

Put meat, veggies and cheese on a kabob for school lunches. The best choices are foods from the four food groups.

That was easy enough. But I didn’t have a kebob (isn’t it spelled kebab?) so I just artfully arranged everything in a reusable food container: turkey kielbasa, red pepper slices, mozzarella cheese, and some cut up pita. One kid looked at it and exclaimed: YOU MADE HOMEMADE LUNCHABLES!

I guess I did.

I have an issue with proteins at lunch. I want the girls to have protein, but nuts and nut butters are not allowed. One kid eats eggs and the other does not. I can’t even mention leftovers without someone making a face.

SO. The girls get ham or salami three or four times a week – mostly because That Is What They Will Eat. Also? We eat a lot of bacon at home. Processed meats are awful for us. Processed meats are associated with a higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. They are probably the worst thing we eat around here. Gah. [For more information about this, check out this press release from the Harvard School of Public Health. It’s interesting stuff: “…results showed that, on average, each 50 gram (1.8 oz) daily serving of processed meat (about 1-2 slices of deli meats or 1 hot dog) was associated with a 42% higher risk of developing heart disease and a 19% higher risk of developing diabetes.”]

I also had to disagree with the latter half of this tip… “the best choices are foods from the four food groups.” Well, yeeees. And no. We should all be aware by now that some foods from the four food groups are better than others. I could – technically – pack each kid an iceberg lettuce and mayo sandwich on white bread with a side of juice, tortilla chips and chocolate pudding and it would be a lunch built with foods from the four food groups. But it wouldn’t be healthy. (See what I mean?)

Let’s just say that I am mighty glad the school year is coming to an end, and that I can take a much-needed break from packing lunches.

Anyway, I thought we could be doing something else for KMDM this week. This weekend, Father’s Day, was a perfect opportunity to get out and do something active to celebrate dad. And we did.

It was a lovely day!

So here’s our KMDM activity for the coming week:

Make a list of physical activities you like. Pick one to do this week. 1/3 of youth indicate doing no physical activity as part of their free time. 

Eek. Can that be true? 1/3 of youth surveyed don’t do anything physical? Wow. That’s kind of sad, don’t you think?

This post is part of the Know More Do More initiative spearheaded by the Champlain Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Network. KMDM is about empowering parents and inspiring them to take charge of their children’s health by taking easy steps to increase activity levels and improve eating habits. I’m one of two champion families who has been asked to take this challenge. You can join too. Check out the official website for more information. You can also get healthy tips by following @knowmoredomore on Twitter. If you’re blogging about your participation, please let me know so we can cheer each other on!


21 Responses to "Know More Do More Monday: eating stuff, doing stuff"

1 | karen

June 21st, 2010 at 8:47 am

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My son eats mock chicken at least once a week, usually twice. I wish I could send him to school with left over chicken but he won’t touch it. He also eats a lot of turkey bacon, this sounds better than mock chicken but I can’t imagine it is all that good for you.

2 | andrea

June 21st, 2010 at 8:54 am

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I hear ya.
I have come to this conclusion (wrong or right): if processed protein is going to be the only protein in the packed lunch, it’s probably better to have none at all.

Other sources of protein include eggs, milk and yogurt.

Thankfully my kids are big fruit and cheese eaters.

There’s nothing wrong with a “vegetarian” lunch. And then give them a PB sandwich as a snack when they get home from school.

3 | Krista

June 21st, 2010 at 9:19 am

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Have you tried sunbutter – made from sunflower seeds and tastes remarkably like peanut butter. Would that count as protein?

4 | karen

June 21st, 2010 at 9:35 am

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The day my son eats a piece of cheese I will jump for joy. This is a kid who has never had a sandwich, a bowl of soup or mashed potatoes. The list of what he has never even tried goes on and on. This past winter he started eating cinnamon buns and I was happy about this only because it was the first new food he had tried since he was 2. He will be 8 next month.

5 | Carla

June 21st, 2010 at 9:50 am

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Argh. I hate to admit it but we really enjoy more than our share of bacon, salami and other processed meats. Although we eat a lot of beans and nuts, we don’t eat dairy,eggs. So when packing lunches for daycare (where nuts are not allowed) or to go out for the day (and so many child places don’t allow nuts we’re not left with much: beans, lentils, tofu and meat. I feel like I could use more ideas on how to repackage the beans and lentils so we eat more of these on snacks, but it’s a challenge. Oh and time to do that too.

6 | andrea

June 21st, 2010 at 9:58 am

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Hummus (served with pita/cuke/carrots) is a great way of getting the kids to eat chickpeas. I’ve also made it 50/50 chickpeas/white beans.

Here’s a variation of the recipe I use. complete with edible cutlery. :)

7 | andrea

June 21st, 2010 at 9:59 am

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Krista: I’ve never tried it, but many have recommended it. I will definitely put it on my grocery list!

8 | kaitlin

June 21st, 2010 at 10:02 am

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as an adult whose portion control was out of whack as a child, can i tell you how much this tip frustrates me?

it’s important to have a healthy lunch, but having food from all four food groups doesn’t always mean healthy. missing protein or milk from lunch doesn’t mean you’re going to lack calcium or vitamin A.

when i was growing up, my mother made the mistake of telling me that cheese was a healthy snack. it’s not really. at least, not for everyday.

my mom also insisted that i have servings from all four food groups at every single meal. i realize now, as an adult, that that isn’t as important as making sure that i have enough (and not too much) to eat.

i just fear that this tip can be misconstrued and while kids might eat better food as a result, they may end up eating more.

9 | Rebecca

June 21st, 2010 at 10:21 am

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I hate lunch. although, lately, I hate all my kid’s meals because they took a picky turn (well some days).

My son isn’t in school full time so I don’t pack a full lunch (just snack) and I dread it. However, his fav lunch? pita pieces (low in sodium!), cheddar cheese and baba ganouj or hummus. I think it works with the nut-free schools at least. He eats a lot of fruit for snacks/dessert but veggies are nearly impossible. Gah.

So true about processed lunch meats etc. But if he’d eat them I probably would buy them a bit more. He won’t touch a hot dog. But bacon? I have to cut him off after so many because he loves it.

10 | meanie

June 21st, 2010 at 11:07 am

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Gawd I hate making lunches, and unpacking (the Tupperware, ohhhh the Tupperware).
I actually have a calendar and rotate their lunches and stick to it religiously. That no-nut butter has been a lifesaver. I also make tortellini the night before and reheat it for the lunches in the morning. One will take a cheese sandwich, the other feigns death at the sight of one. One will take eggs, the other cries a little if she sees one. Only 13 more years to go :)

11 | kaitlin

June 21st, 2010 at 12:19 pm

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hm. it just occurred to me that credible edibles might have some good lunch ideas.

http://www.credible-edibles.ca/home.php

i visited them during taste of wellington and was so impressed with their no-nonsense approach to food.

especially yummy sounding (and, a one container meal) is the brown rice salad with strawberries, slivered apricots, fresh Basil, toasted pecans, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

12 | kaitlin

June 21st, 2010 at 12:19 pm

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i should note that they also have amazing hummus and all sorts of other yummy spreads and dips with protein and healthier fats.

13 | Marianne

June 21st, 2010 at 7:16 pm

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How about chicken fried rice? Or pasta salad with cubes of ham?

14 | Marla

June 21st, 2010 at 8:59 pm

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Agreeing with hummus and chickpeas for proteins for lunch – but Josie likes a quinoa and bean or chickpea salad sometimes too!

I also see (as a lunch room supervisor) that most sandwiches don’t get eaten unless they’re made visually smaller for the little kids – it’s not that they don’t like the crusts, it seems – it’s that they only like the size of the sandwich and the part with the filling – those little PC hamburger slider buns are the perfect size for her sandwich, and the rest of her lunch is colourful things to munch on like purple cabbage and orange cauliflower.

I went grocery shopping tonight, and whenever there’s a choice, I buy more colour. The little mini sweet peppers in red, yellow and orange. When I go the farmer’s market and there are carrots in all colours…

15 | andrea

June 22nd, 2010 at 7:22 am

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re: sandwich size.
I agree that a whole sandwich – given the size of today’s loaves – might be too big for smaller kids. When the kids didn’t eat their entire sandwich I started packing 1/2 a sandwich. It did the trick.

16 | Elizabeth

June 22nd, 2010 at 8:16 am

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I love the idea of the sunbutter spread, and other non-peanut spreads. (Freenut Butter is a very credible substitute for real peanut butter, for example.) But I’ve been told that for many schools that ban peanut butter, even peanut butter lookalikes are frowned upon. I’m not sure why.

17 | bushidoka

June 22nd, 2010 at 11:04 am

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I agree you are better off sending no protein than processed meats. If they like sliced ham will they not eat home-sliced ham? Does that classify as “leftovers”? Why am I the only person in the world who loved leftovers?

If you are worried about protein in general you really need to get yourself a copy of Diet for a Small Planet and read the first 100 pages or so of it, since it explains in great detail how protein works. But in a way easy enough for everyone to understand.

Also, the 4 food groups is a complete and total sham! Brought to you by industrial food lobby groups! The food pyramid is a far better template to use, but make sure to use the Harvard University Alternate Food Pyramid, not the one from the government agencies because they still get it wrong.

18 | bushidoka

June 22nd, 2010 at 11:05 am

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Erm, it did not like my link to the Harvard pyramid, but just google and you’ll find it.

19 | Lee

June 22nd, 2010 at 12:02 pm

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Elizabeth: My guess would be that it’s too hard for the lunch staff to police peanut butter vs faux peanut butter to ensure the safety for those who are allergic.

20 | bushidoka

June 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm

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WRT lunch allergens, I’m not sure why more schools don’t do what our school does. All the kids with allergies eat in their own room together and are each allowed to take a friend with them – but the friend of course also has to have a non-allergenic. Sure, I know, the argument is that it makes the kids feel like outcasts. But I don’t buy it for a second. Seems to work extremely well at our school, and our boys can take whatever they like for lunch unless one of their friends have invited them to the special lunch room.

21 | Susan

June 22nd, 2010 at 12:52 pm

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Another couple of suggestions for protein-based lunch items: this bean dip recipe (from Nigella) – what makes it really lovely is the cinnamon (sounds gross, but it’s great): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/red-kidney-bean-dip-recipe/index.html

another hit is baked tofu, served with pita, veggies, etc

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My name is Andrea and I live in Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Sunny who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. During the day I work as a freelance writer. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

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