Stay Healthy During Cold & Flu Season

It sure is that time of year when it seems like everyone around you has come down with a cold or the flu!  Rather than sniffling away, here are some tips to stay healthy and to recover quickly if you’re sick so you can get back to having a great 2015.

How to stay healthy during cold & flu season

1. Wash your hands!  This is the best way to prevent infections so try to wash your hands regularly throughout the day.  This is especially important after touching public surfaces like doorknobs.  A lot of hands equals a lot of germs—gross!
   

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2. Go for a walk.  Studies show that people who are active are less likely to get sick.  Try to exercise a little bit every day to stay healthy, even if it’s cold out!  Do you get bored while exercising?  Switch it up by playing sports with your family or by doing something different every day.
   

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3. Get some rest.  Stress can lead to a weaker immune system and sickness so it’s important to relax and get enough sleep every night—7 hours is the recommended amount.  If you’re having trouble sleeping, try to cut out caffeine later in the day and don’t look at digital screens like your phone, computer, or TV within an hour of going to bed.
   

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4. Eat well.  Our bodies need nutrients to stay healthy and fight infection.  Veggies are the most natural way of getting these nutrients so try to work them into your diet if you aren’t getting enough—aim for fruits and veggies to take up half your plate. Don’t forget to stay hydrated too!
   

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How to recover quickly if you’re already sick

1. Eat chicken noodle soup.  This one doesn’t take convincing but chicken noodle soup has been proven to have anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties, so eat away!
   

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2. Take a hot shower.  The steam will help with congestion and it can also help you relax.
   

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3. Drink hot tea.  This will help you stay hydrated and will soothe a sore throat.  Add a little honey—it’s a natural immune booster.
   

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4. Increase your vitamin C intake.  In addition to helping prevent colds, it can also help shorten them.  Oranges and green leafy vegetables are great sources of vitamin C.  Ginseng and zinc are other natural supplements that can help shorten a cold.
   

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While some of these may seem obvious, they are so important!  By doing simple things every day like washing your hands, you can keep yourself and your family healthy this year.  Do you do these already?  Have other remedies ideas?  We love hearing from you so if you have any additional suggestions, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to share what works for you and your family!

Nothing better than being healthy 🙂

Tips for a Lean, Clean 2015!

It’s the New Year, and what better time to make 2015 a healthier time for you and your family! The key to success is to make small changes and for your resolutions to be attainable and meaningful. Before long, this year’s goals will become lifelong, healthy habits!

Below are my top five food and health resolutions for a lean, clean 2015!

1. Choose organic more often. There’s no doubt that organic farming is good for the environment, which helps secure a better future for our children and our planet. The USDA Organic label on a food is also your guarantee that the food is free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), was made without the use of synthetic pesticides and that animals were raised without antibiotics. All Mom Made Foods adhere to organic standards and carry the USDA Organic seal.
   

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2. Eat your veggies! Let’s face it, fruits are easy to like – they’re so portable and sweet. Vegetables can be a little harder to love, especially at first and in particular the more bitter ones like Brussels sprouts and broccoli. While fruits and vegetables should make up half of every meal and snack, most people aren’t eating enough – especially vegetables, which are loaded with fiber and vitamins and low in calories. Make veggies the prominent part of your dinner, and don’t be afraid to experiment. To a child, a cooked, coin-shaped carrot is a completely different food than a raw baby carrot. Don’t be afraid to pair veggies with a favorite food or condiment to help kids eat them. I’d rather a child eat cauliflower with cheese or ranch dressing versus no cauliflower at all!
   

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3. Pack a healthier lunch. School food may get a bad reputation, but recent studies show what’s served in school can often be healthier than what’s brought from home. When you think about it, pre-packaged “lunch” foods for kids with ready-to-assemble “pizza”, cookies and gummy “fruit” is hardly what I’d consider health food! When packing your children’s lunches, use MyPlate as your guide: make sure half of what’s packed is fruits and vegetables, one-quarter of the meal should be protein, and one-quarter grains (preferably whole-grains). Add a carton of lowfat or fat-free milk, and your kid is fueled up for the afternoon ahead.
   

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4. Eat a meal together. It may seem impossible with competing activities and work schedules, but setting aside even just one night a week to eat dinner together as a family has immeasurable benefits. Some studies suggest that children of families who eat together do better in school and are less likely to abuse drugs. If dinnertime is too hectic, then set aside a day for breakfast or weekend brunch.
   

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5. Give yourself a break. The goal should be eating dinner together, preferably something prepared at home. But that doesn’t mean everything needs to be made from scratch! Frozen and canned foods can be the perfect shortcut while supplying essential nutrients. Just look at the ingredients list to make sure the label is clean, without added preservatives, salt or sugars. I love the Mom Made meatballs for this very reason (and they’re better than anything I could make myself!)

The best way to make resolutions stick is to make your resolution public and not to do it alone. Support from family and friends can go a long way to keeping you on track – and to getting you back on track if you’ve had a slip-up. To help keep your resolutions, sign up for the Mom Made Foods Healthy Pledge 2015 and tweet or post your intentions to your social media community. By making a commitment to make 2015 more nutritious and delicious for your family, Mom Made Foods will send you some coupons to get you on your way. And be sure to join the Mom Made Community on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Post your nutrition questions in the comments below and we’ll look to address them in future blogs. In the meantime, here’s to a healthy, happy new year!

Healthy New Year’s Resolutions

One of our New Year’s resolutions this year is to “be healthy”–whether that means exercising more, eating better, or fostering healthy relationships with our families.  Our Founder, Heather, recently went on the WPTA Morning Show with Bob Waters to share some tips about how to make (and keep) your New Year’s resolutions.  Click to listen!

Did you find these healthy tips helpful? If you have any other suggestions please share with us on Facebook! We would love to hear from you!

Getting on a Healthy Track

Maybe the only green food your child eats is mint chocolate chip ice cream. It’s easy to get frustrated when your child eats a limited diet, but it’s not too late to learn new habits! Get your children involved:  Even little ones can tear lettuce and wash fruit. Older children can stir or help with chopping things up (under your watchful eyes, of course!) . Let your child be a taste tester. Most children will try what they help prepare.

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Focus on colors and flavors: Rather than saying, “Do you like your broccoli?,” ask if it was crunchy, sweet, bitter or sour. Ask what other foods are the same color. This often helps children focus beyond yummy or yucky.

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Decisions, decisions: Bring your little helper to the grocery store, and let them pick the fruit or vegetable you’ll make that week. Let them choose what to have for snack. The trick is to give two good options, i.e. “Should we have apples or pears for a snack?”

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Slurp up veggies with soup: Many children like veggies better as part of a soup! Adding carrots, celery and potatoes to chicken noodle soup is a start, or try a bean soup or minestrone. Yummm….

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Get growin’! Sprout a seed or even grow a tomato plant and help your child get interested in fruits and vegetables. If you can, take a trip to a local farm for apple, pumpkin or berry picking.

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What’s in a name? Goblin goop may sound more fun than sweet potatoes. Be creative and come up with your own names for new foods!

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Make it fun! Most kids like to dip their food. Let them dip broccoli, carrots, celery and other veggies or Mom Made Meatball Bites and more into ranch dressing, sour cream dip, hummus, guacamole, mild salsa, or plain or vanilla yogurt, etc.

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Use more veggie ingredients: Make sweet potato “fries” instead of French fries with dinner. Add butternut squash to Mac and Cheese, add corn, peppers and tomatoes to rice and beans, or let Mom Made make it easy with Mom Made™ Meals.

Have “make your own” yogurt sundaes: Take a scoop of vanilla yogurt, and add toppings like blueberries, bananas, strawberries, pineapple or crushed graham crackers. Fresh or frozen fruit in its own juices are delicious too.

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Monkey see, monkey do: Nothing makes kids want food more than seeing someone else enjoy it. Be a great example and make sure you’re eating your fruits and veggies, too!

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Written by Cheryl Harris, MPH, RD,
Mom Made Food’s Dietician

Top Ten “Rules” for Successful and Positive Mealtimes with Your Kids

Mealtime can be hard.  From getting the meal on the table to getting your kids to eating it, it’s definitely stressful.  Here are some tips on how to have successful and positive mealtimes with your kids.

• Keep meals and snack times consistent and regular.
• Eat as a family. Model good food habits and table manners. They will follow.
• Sit down to eat and drink – don’t take meals on the run!
• Keep a distraction-free eating area – no T.V., toys, or other distractions such as cell phones, laptops, or newspapers.
• Provide a balance and variety of foods to keep kids interested satisfied.
• Empower your child to make healthy choices about what to eat and how much. They will feel empowered, for example, if you offer them the option of healthy choice #1 or healthy choice #2, such as peas or carrots.
• Don’t pressure your child to eat – this will backfire!
• Respect your child’s choices and trust their natural ability to self regulate their food intake.
• Set limits on age appropriate behavior at the table and stick to your boundaries.
• Have fun! The less you stress at mealtimes, the more fun all of you will have!

Do you have other tips that work for you and your family?  Share them with us on Facebook and Twitter!