I am on the advisory board for Produce for Kids. It’s a cool organization that provides ideas, inspiration, and education for kids on eating healthily. As part of my involvement with Produce for Kids, I wrote a recent article about how to get kids to eat a wider variety of foods. Check it out:
Category: Cooking
Building Confidence in Kids
I’m excited to announce that I am now a Parents on Produce advisor at Produce for Kids! Produce for Kids is a great organization ” dedicated to educating families on the benefits of healthy eating and supporting worthy causes for children.” Among other things, Produce for Kids publishes yummy kid-friendly recipes like this “Ideal Meal” that you can find at your local grocery store or on their website:
Photo by Produce for Kids
As part of my job as a Parents on Produce advisor, I will be writing tips, articles and blogs for both Produce for Kids and PBS Parents (an awesome resource for parents of young kids!). Check out my latest article on Building Confidence in Kids over at PBS Parents. If you like what you see, sign up to receive more tips through PBS’s Eat Smart for a Great Start Challenge.
Photo by PBS Parents
CREATE Mental Health Week – Edible Sugar Flowers
This is a guest post in the series CREATE Mental Health. All week we will be exploring how different people use creativity to create and maintain mental health. Today’s post is by Rachael Teufel. Rachael is the owner of Intricate Icings, a cake design studio in Erie, CO. Perhaps you’ve seen Rachael’s work on the Food Network’s Cake Challenge. Welcome, Rachael (and thanks for letting me eat the samples shown here – DELICIOUS!!)
Sugar has always been my stress reliever. Well making art with sugar that is, although I have been known to eat sugar in times of stress as well (not quite as healthy for you though). So I thought I’d share an easy way to make your cupcakes super cute in a quick and easy fashion, while hopefully releasing a little stress.
First bake some cupcakes and ice them with your favorite buttercream. If you’re not so much into the baking thing, it’s okay just buy some premade cupcakes and top them with your own edible flowers.
Here are the things you will need:
- Flower shaped cookie cutters and a small round cutter or piping tip
- A rolling pin
- 2 colors of Fondant or modeling chocolate (Fondant can be found at your local craft store)
- Paint brush
- Water (in very small amounts!)
First start by rolling out one color of fondant on a smooth work surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar. You’ll want to roll the fondant as thin as you can, about 1/8 inch thick. Using your cookie cutters, cut out a large and a small blossom. Apply a small dab of water to the center of the blossom and using the tip of your finger; securely attach the small blossom to the center. Repeat this process until you have the desired number of flowers. You can cut multiple flowers at one time, just be sure to work quickly as fondant does dry out fairly fast.
Roll out your second color of fondant and using your piping tip or small round cutter, cut out the centers of your flowers. Apply a small dab of water to the center of the blossom and using the tip of your finger or the end of a paint brush; securely attach the center to the blossom. Then transfer your beautiful flower to the top of the iced cupcake and serve.
This most certainly is a very basic flower, but be creative and you can find other fun ways to embellish them. For instance… use a textured mat to imprint a design on the fondant before cutting out the blossoms. You can use a paint brush and gel food color to paint designs on the petals. Or you can form a lady bug, bumble bee or butterfly out of fondant and place them on the flower. The options are endless. Whatever you choose, just remember to have fun!
CREATE Mental Health Week – Healthy Garden, Healthy Food, Healthy People
This is a guest post in the series CREATE Mental Health. All week we will be exploring how different people use creativity to create and maintain mental health. Today’s post is by Dr. Kaycie Rosen. Dr. Rosen is a Naturopathic Doctor and also the owner of Golden Naturopathic Clinic in Golden, CO. Welcome Dr. Rosen!
It’s springtime again and my yearly obsession is in full swing: tomatoes! Every year for the past 10 years sometime in the middle of February I notice a warm breeze in the air and start dreaming. I dream of ripe, warm, luscious, juicy tomatoes picked right off the vine, sliced, drizzled with some good olive oil and a touch of sea salt. My alternate dream is of fresh, toasted sourdough bread, crunchy thick-cut bacon, a light smear of mayo, a fresh lettuce leaf, and thick juicy slices of a giant tomato from my backyard.
Dr. Kaycie Rosen with a bowl full of delicious tomatoes. Good for the body and the soul!
The sprouts emerge!
This year the process is particularly special. We just rebuilt our backyard and put in several new garden beds; we have been watching workmen transform a bit of the open mountain behind our house into a home for all our delicious dreams. We’re putting in fruits, vegetables and herbs, hopefully enough to substitute for the farm share we used to get weekly. Right now our garden is all anticipation, and for me is the fruition of many years of “halfway†gardening in various combinations of limited space, poor soil, pots only, unfavorable climates, or limited time. This year, we are fully committed.
Gardening for me is an invaluable asset to my mental health for several reasons. First and foremost, I love good food. Fresh, flavorful produce is one of my greatest passions in life, and the best way to get it is to grow it myself. I love to cook and to feed healthy, delicious meals to my family, and gardening helps me do just that. Secondly, I love plants. As a Naturopathic doctor and herbalist, I use plants as medicine, but even more than that, there is something amazing about getting to know the intricacies of how mother nature works. Each plant has its own ideal soil conditions, watering needs, and interactions with other living beings from soil microbes to the animals who consume it. For me to learn about and understand plants helps me feel more connected to the planet and to my spirit because it helps me understand how interconnected every living being on the planet is. Finally, gardening gets me outside, breathing fresh air, moving my body and getting my mind off of things. Somehow, fiddling around with the vegetables helps me lose track of time and lets the stress melt away.
Getting ready to be transplanted!
But back to February. One of the most satisfying parts of gardening is that if you follow the process, you reap great rewards at the end. In February, I buy my seeds and starting medium, resurrect the seedling trays from the garage, and start counting down the days to planting. Mid-March, seeds go in, trays go under the grow light, and the watering and watching begins. 5 or 6 days later, we have sprouts, a couple weeks after that I transplant sprouts, a few weeks later transplant again, and a couple weeks after that we start hardening off so our baby tomatoes get used to living in the outdoors. Mid-May my tomatoes finally get to go to their home in the ground, and from there it’s just pruning, watering, and finally in August my BLT dreams come true! I’m excited about all the food we’re growing, but there’s just something about tomatoes that feeds the soul.
CREATE Mental Health Week begins!
Welcome to CREATE Mental Health Week! I am so excited to be starting the blog party this week – it has been a long time in coming! This week I will be featuring guest bloggers from all over the country who are going to be writing about how creating helps them maintain their mental health. They will also be sharing secrets of their craft with us. I am so excited to learn and create along with these awesome ladies! Check back often as there will be lots of ideas shared this week!
Want to promote CREATE Mental Health Week? Grab the button on the right side of page.
The first guest post will go up in a couple of hours, so come back soon!
Want to read more about how creativity and mental health go together? Read my posts:
Stress Management: The Importance of Hobbies
CREATE Mental Health Week starts May 2nd!
CREATE Mental Health Week is coming!
Next week Dr Stephanie will be hosting crafters, artists, and other creative folks from around the country! Check back for simple, creative tutorials as well as information about how CREATING helps maintain mental health.
Want to promote the event on your blog or site? Thanks! Feel free to grab the button on the right! Thanks and look forward to seeing you next week!
Making the Most of Dinnertime
Dinnertime provides some of the best teaching opportunities. Setting the table correctly, chewing with your mouth closed, and always passing the salt and pepper together are important things for kids (and adults!) to know. But, as a psychologist who works with lots of families and children, I think the lessons available to be learned at dinnertime can be much greater and more meaningful than simple, Emily Post-like etiquette.
Communication. When all is said and done, I’m not sure there are many more important skills in life than being able to communicate effectively with others. Speaking clearly and honestly, listening attentively, not interrupting, asking – and answering – questions in succinct, but interesting ways – these are some of the most important things in life. So why not use dinnertime as the ultimate communication training ground for your family? Some tips:
- Everyone talks. Good manners dictate that everyone should have an opportunity to speak – not just the loudest, oldest, youngest, or funniest among us. Encourage each member of your family to share something about their day or a cool story they heard on the news.
- Everyone listens. Sure dad’s tales from the office might be boring to the kids, but you know what? Listening attentively when someone is talking = good manners. While talking about age-appropriate things at the dinner table is important, avoid “dumbing down†all conversations for the sake of the kids. Learning to listen to other people’s stories in a polite way is an important lesson of childhood.
Responsibility. There is a lot of work that goes into preparing dinner, and it’s important that all family members know it. Earning money to buy the food, going to the grocery store, preparing the meal, cleaning up afterwords – meals are seriously time and energy consuming! Take this opportunity to instruct your kids about each family member’s responsibilities in the home. Some tips:
- Review the process. Sometimes we as parents forget to include kids in the business of running a household. While they don’t need to know the intricacies of the budget, it is important that they know the relationship between work, money, and food. Food isn’t free, and meals don’t prepare themselves (even when they come from the drive-thru!). Talk to your kids about where their food comes from, how you decide what to buy at the store, and where you learned to make the dishes you prepare. They might be more interested than you think!
- Give them a job. Everyone should have a job around mealtime. Whether it’s planning the meals, preparing the food, setting the table, or cleaning up afterwords, everyone can pitch in. Use this opportunity to help your kids learn about managing household tasks. Dinnertime is the perfect time to encourage your family to work as a team.
Relax. Life moves fast. So fast that many of us feel we need to be “plugged-in†all day long. How many hours (or minutes?) of the day do we really spend without some form of technology buzzing in the background? If you’re like me – not many. Yet we all know that taking time to relax, unwind, and unplug are important parts of maintaining health. So in addition to using dinnertime as a time to feed ourselves, teach positive communication and responsibility – why not use it as a technology-free zone too? Some tips:
- Turn it off. I’m talking the TV, the computers, the radio, and yes, even your phones. Use the 15-30 minutes you spend at the dinner table to connect in a real, live, face-to-face way with your family. It might be a struggle at first, but I promise it will get easier with practice. And don’t forget: If you expect your kids to ignore the calls and the texts at the table – that means you need to, too!
- Slow it down. Someone recently told me that in generations past, parents used to chat after dinner while sipping on coffee. I laughed out loud! There’s no way I would have time to do that – and certainly no way my kids would let me get away with it! But as I thought more, it occurred to me how nice it would be to linger over dinner, rather than shove down my food, then immediately move onto the next task. While it may not be realistic in this day and age to sip a latte until 9pm, perhaps we can remember to slow down, taste and appreciate our food, and – most importantly – take time to enjoy our loved ones around the table.
Not sure where to start in making the most of dinnertime with your family? Try picking one of the above tips and giving it a try for a week – see if it makes a difference. And ask your kids what they think – they will surely have some ideas of their own about how to make dinnertime memorable.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Kraft Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
Craft Time: Good for Our Mental Health
Whether it’s at preschool, elementary school, home, girl scouts, or even in the psychologist’s office – I have found that almost all kids love crafts. Even tough 12-year-old boys can usually be talked into making a collage out of sports magazines or decorating a poster for their rooms.
But sometimes I wonder what kids really get out of arts and crafts. Is it really worth it to lug out all those craft supplies and then (ugh) put them all back? And what about the psychological effects of crafting – is it something I should be including in my professional work? And what about for us adults? Should one of our New Year’s resolutions be to spend more time at the easel (or sewing machine, or potter’s wheel, or table saw)?
Below are some thoughts about the benefits of participating in arts and crafts…and I hope to hear your thoughts on some I am sure I have missed.
It’s creative. Ok, so this is a no-brainer. But I think it is important to remember that kids (and adults too) don’t have much time to be fully creative in their everyday lives. Math problems, gym class, homework assignments, chores at home – most of these things need to be done in a certain way. But art is something different. When presented in an open-ended way, kids are free to do/create/design whatever they please.
It’s messy. An important part of learning and development includes experiencing different sensations in a tactile way. Squishy, sticky, pokey, fuzzy. Craft supplies can provide kids with opportunities to feel all these sensations. In addition, arts and crafts time allows us to get some paint on our hands and glue under our nails. Most kids enjoy creating a mess – and teaching them to help clean up afterwords is an important benefit too.
It’s not about perfection. I am an anti-perfectionist. And I encourage others around me to forego perfectionism as well. Kids and adults who hold themselves to such high standards often struggle to enjoy life, try new things, and be tolerant of others. Crafts can be a wonderful way to help kids get used to the idea of enjoying the creative process, instead of getting hung up on a perfect end result.
It’s a good way to get talking. If you’ve ever been part of a quilting bee, a sewing circle, or any kind of craft group you know 
that the main purpose of the group is often not the craft, but the conversations that happen in between. When our hands and eyes are busy creating, it often makes it easier for us to talk about tough things. Having trouble getting your tween to open up? Teenager not talking like she used to? Try doing a craft together and see what happens.
Need some ideas about where to start in the crafting world? Check out Family Fun Magazine, take a class at Michael’s; or for older kids and grown-ups check out Made (one of my favorite blogs), or V and Co.
Stress in America – Stress Tip #2 – Do Nothing But Eat
As I mentioned yesterday, I am marking yesterday’s American Psychological Association release of their annual Stress in America survey with a week’s worth of easy, free, and do-able stress management tips. We all may be able to come up with excuses for not going to yoga, writing in a gratitude journal, or meditating for 30 minutes before we leave for work – but my tips are so super easy, that I dare you to come up with a legitimate excuse not to give at least a couple of them a try!
Today’s Tip:
Do nothing but eat. A naturopathic physician friend of mine told me a few years ago that when I eat a meal, I should do nothing but eat. No watching TV, checking email, flipping through a magazine, paying bills, or driving. I must have looked at her like she was speaking another language – the concept seemed so radical to me! But in thinking about it more over the years, it makes so much sense to actually give ourselves a few minutes a few times a day to sit down, enjoy our food, and relax before we start our next task. Of course we know that sharing a meal and conversation with family and friends is great, too; but for those meals you eat alone – give it a try. Do you notice a difference in your stress level? The amount you enjoy your meal? A change in the quantity of what you eat?
Stress Management: The Importance of Hobbies
I spend a large percentage of time helping people manage their stress more effectively. And when I talk to the media, one of the first questions they typically ask is “What are some good ways to manage stress?” My answer: Anything that’s healthy and works. Sure, yoga’s great but so is just breathing, sitting quietly, reading, and walking. I’ve admitted to reporters (I always let my guard down when they get me talking!) that some of my favorite stress management strategies include: watching House Hunters and tweeting John Mayer. Embarrassing – yes, but also effective. Given that @johncmayer no longer exists, I’m glad I have a few other stress management tools up my sleeve.
In our fast-paced, productive-every-moment, never-relax world, I think many of us have forgotten the importance of hobbies. I had a supervisor on my internship in graduate school who told everyone who walked in his office that they should be spending more time on their “avocations,” i.e. hobbies. I’m not sure I would go that far, but I do think the pleasure, stress relief, and change of pace that hobbies afford us are quite valuable.
One of my favorite hobbies? Baking. Not only is it fun, your friends and family will likely encourage you to spend time doing it – the rewards are just too sweet to pass up!
Halloween cupcakes - Yum!