Salad designs

Soooo funny, I just had to share. Hayley and I were watching a cooking show today and they were making a salad to go with the meal. I was interrupted by a disgruntled Hayley saying "Mum, they are just not doing that right, how is anyone supposed to eat that salad, it only has walnuts and leaves in it" I guess the "experts" have a lot to learn.
We don't usually have "fruits" with our salad's but tonight, Hayley came up with a wonderful mix of flavours, we had a Mandarin mountain with almond snow. I started with a tossed salad made up of lettuce, grated carrot, finely chopped cucumber,red cabbage, sliced roma tomato's and almond slivers, chopped. She made it up in a large bowl, formed a "mountain" with a Mandarin mote and sprinkled the almonds on top. I really need to get pictures up soon to show the creativity flowing from this little girl, just amazing and the best part was, it tasted delicious! Hopefully I will have a chance to post before Christmas but if I don't have a wonderful tasty Christmas!

Happy cooking :)

I have family who live a long way from us and are going to celebrate a white Christmas, yet we live in Queensland where Christmas is usually scorching hot. It gives us an opportunity to enjoy alfresco dining almost all year around. Eating outdoors on a hot day is a great way to get children to enjoy good healthy foods, we eat protein in the form of a roast or some type of meat or chicken, salad and fruit, and we drink a lot of water. Sometimes we have seafood on ice and chilled salad, but we very rarely have carbs with our meals. When Hayley was carrying the extra weight, I noticed that when we had our BBQ's we usually had bread, potato salad and pasta salad. It was easy to make these changes because I sat down with Hayley and we came up with so many different recipes to try. I love doing this, it makes us a lot closer and our recipe books look so colourful and different from any other, it makes it special. The last recipe Hayley came up with was just a salad, the best part of it was the "design or shape" of it. She puts an amazing amount of thought into everything she does which still amazes me every time she does something new. I look forward to sharing our recipes with future generations and I hope they enjoy them as much as we do. Until next time, happy cooking :)

Regaining lost weight

The one thing that scares me most is Hayley gaining the weight that she lost. I know if I do the right thing and teach her as much as I can about healthy food and Nutrition, I will be helping her to understand what she needs vs what she wants. However, I know that all I can do is guide her now and she will eventually be able to buy her own food and have more control over what she eats. So I decided to look into the reasons we gain weight and of course, eating the wrong food or too much food, are not the only ways to gain weight. Emotional eating is such a big problem for so many people. It can be caused by depression or sadness, even a bad day at work can send some people for the nearest sweet or savoury snack. The problem is, when we feel this way, one or two slices, biscuits, pieces etc: just isn't enough to make us feel better. So I am on a mission to find a way that Hayley and I can redirect our feelings away from food and find another way to deal with it. I love to go for a walk when I am feeling down, the only problem with that is, I have a small window of opportunity deciding to go or saying oh well, I'll just eat. So that is what I will be doing in the next few days and hopefully, I will be able to post some other people's answers as well, until next time, stay healthy :)

Junk food vs healthy eating

I had a wonderful day with Hayley today. First we went Christmas shopping, then we had a coffee at a local cafe, Hayley says "I had the babychino and you had the Mummy one!" We did some window shopping, went to a park for a play then ended up at a place starting with a big M for lunch. I must say, this is certainly one take away that I just don't like, the foods usually make me feel sick, but I noticed they had some new lighter choice foods on the menu so, in we went. Hayley chose the kids meal with a burger and chips and I had a wrap. Now, we don't usually eat at these places so I thought I would take a step back and let Hayley choose, then I would wait for about 20 minutes and discuss with her how the food left her feeling, (I felt safe enough to do this because she usually has healthy foods and she will eat these type of foods from time to time but I wouldn't allow it very often, they really are so unhealthy), Well, let me just say I don't think Hayley will be asking for that food any time soon. She said she felt sleepy and almost too tired to play on the playground...whew, that was close! On the drive to pick up her little sister from kindy she made me promise to remind her that she doesn't like that food, it really makes my job a whole lot easier. Hayley decided when we got home that we needed to eat a really big salad to make up for the junk food that we had eaten.

I was chatting to a couple of Mother's yesterday about the obsession with food and diets that teens and pre teens seem to have developed, this is scary, but as I spoke to these parents about having open conversations about good healthy food and teaching your kids by being in the kitchen, they looked at me like I was crazy. One of the Mothers said there is NO WAY I am letting my kids anywhere near my kitchen, they'd only make a mess! I explained that everyone needs to start somewhere and if they have the luxury of teaching their kids now, why not teach them that preparation right through to cleaning is what cooking is all about! I wont say they were convinced but at least it's on the table for future conversation. I hope your having fun with your kids in the kitchen, enjoy! Until next time, stay healthy :)

Holiday cooking

I love this time of year. I love spending hours cooking and preparing wonderful healthy meals for my family. The best part is having my kids in the kitchen helping, this, I believe is one of the best and easiest ways to teach children the value of quality healthy foods. My kids choose foods from the chart in our kitchen and they are encouraged to make their own recipes. Sometimes it's a hit and sometimes a big miss! But it's exciting for them to create a meal for the whole family to enjoy and every time they put the meal on the table, I see their confidence building and they are so proud of themselves. I find the whole act of creating, cooking and serving a meal is crucial in preparing them for the future, we start with the ingredient list and finish with cleaning the whole kitchen, leaving it the way we found it, that way they learn the full act of preparation of not only a meal, but they could even know their way around a successful dinner party! I am hoping to get some pictures up by the end of next week so until then...happy cooking :)

My daughter's name is Hayley, she is now 6 years old. To look at her now, most wouldn't be aware that she had a weight problem. She's happy, active and healthy but there is a part of her that still struggles with an addiction to food. I don't believe she will always have this obsession but for now, it is a serious issue that we need to deal with. I also had an unhealthy obsession with food as a child, my issue was never dealt with, which has helped me in a lot of ways to help Hayley, if I didn't go through this myself, it may have been a lot harder to understand. I find the best way to approach food and eating is in a positive way, we all eat, it's a necessity, right up there with breathing so why not teach Children that food is a wonderful and positive thing. That's why I took Hayley into the kitchen at three years of age and started to teach her about food, all types of food, then I made up a chart of everyday, sometimes and occasional foods so she would have a better understanding food and just how many healthy foods that are available. I didn't take long for us to discover, there were a lot of healthy foods that Hayley loved. If you are having trouble with your child's weight, maybe you could start in the kitchen, slowly make a list of foods that they love and find healthy recipes together. Until next time, Stay healthy :)

I don't think anything can prepare you for having an overweight or obese child. I tried so many things to help my daughter and on some diets, she even gained weight! I tried to come up with ways that she could exercise whilst having fun and stopped her having treats but as any parent knows, this is a lot easier said than done. Just yesterday I was speaking to a Mother at my daughters school who said that her daughter is the only one in the family with a weight problem, this is tricky because the parent can feel like they are depriving the other children if they need to follow a plan. I find if I am eating healthy and my kids aren't having regular meltdowns due to an overload of sugar, I'm doing something right. On the other hand, I have also changed the way my kids eat, they now eat more than they ever have and are maintaining a healthy weight, it's what and when they eat that is the most important. If your feeling sluggish, it's probably because your carbohydrate to protein ratio is out of balance, very simple. The reason only one person in a family has a weight problem is also very simple, we are all different, weight gain or loss is just another way we are different. Trial and error should be easy and should not make the child feel like it is all about them, if your making healthy meals, then the whole family will benefit, even if they have no weight to lose. I hope your all eating healthy and feeling good, if not, it's probably a really good place to start. Until next time, stay healthy :)

My First Post

Well, where to start... I am the Mother of a formerly obese child. Through criticism, shame, heartache and pain, we overcame my daughters obesity but it certainly wasn't an easy ride.

I decided to start this blog for anyone else out there who may be suffering with an obese child and not knowing where to look or who to ask. I hope some of our story will help others to find the support and encouragement they need to overcome their child's obesity.