Fight Time, I mean, Dinner Time

I want to go on strike.
To quit making dinner. Can we just go to Chick-fil-A?
This is not the dietitian talking.
This is the mom, who is tired to fighting to feed every single bite of healthy food into my children's mouths.

Maybe it's because I'm tired or pregnant, but our dinner time has become a major fight time with my two children. I attribute this all to the prolonged winter weather and record cold temperatures, and the lack of the ability to lock send my children outdoors before dinner.

There are stages where it is explainable, commonly known in the nutrition world as "food jags", when kids get stuck on certain preferred food items-- but what about all the other times?

A RDN (registered dietitian nutritionist) named Jill Castle, wrote a great series on feeding toddlers, as well as wonderful resource for raising healthy eaters through childhood. In her article, "Your Toddler's Development: What to Expect and How It Affects Nutrition" she says,

Toddler eating can worry parents. Understanding how the toddler develops, both physically and cognitively (fancy word for brain development), can help you get a grip on why your toddler behaves the way he does, especially around food and eating.

Instead of giving up, I try to remember that children use food as the first power play-- they are learning to exert their independence as well as using it as a power play with parents and the limits we set. My role is simple: make and offer healthy food choices and model good eating behaviors.

In agreement with Castle's guidelines, we have never had many "rules" for eating at the table, but we have structure and standards for manners like: sitting still and not getting up from the table until you are finished with your meals, saying "please" and "thank you for dinner", not complaining about the meal, and trying at least one bite of a food that is "not your favorite".

I think it has worked for the most part, but with our long winter, I've been relying on a lot of warm foods, like soups and stews, which seem to be particularly difficult for them to try, because they can't separate the ingredients.

My husband was so kind as to offer to help me make some freeze-ahead meals for the next month or two, so I started by writing a list of our children favorite meals.

Here's a snapshot of what I came up with:

For the full list, you can find it on my Pinterest page here.
I am going to get a shopping list and few of the recipes together and start posting them as I go and fill up my freezer again with some of the freeze-ahead versions and shopping lists.

Thanks for stopping by!

My little ham bone

I haven't written about my son, Grant, in quite a while. After receiving this picture, I couldn't help but pause and reflect.

Isn't he a ham? We didn't prompt this pose at all. During the photo sessions after my brother-in-law's recent wedding, we were trying to get him to smile, and my husband gave him a "thumbs-up" from the sidelines. 

At three and a half, he has returned to his normal, cheerful, but mischievous self. In contrast to my daughter, he is much more sneaky. We often find him hiding with various electronics under our large ottoman, our bed or his bed. The same goes with food-- he says "surprise" with his little eyebrows raised, as if the candy or chocolate in his mouth was a great idea. He also has very specific preferences and explains those in great detail at great volume. This morning: "Mom, I need milk in. a. sippa. cup." Every word is emphasized. As if I didn't know or hadn't heard that one before.

Most of his winter days involve couch acrobatics, breakdancing spins on the wood floors, or going over "to check if Ben's home." Ben is his neighbor friend next door; Grant explains it like this, "You know, Ben's my bruder, you know, Mom?" Here they are roasting marshmallows in front of your favorite winter activity: making a fire. I think you get this love of woods, outdoors and fires from your Opa, who loves to take you outside to chop wood every time you visit him.

In other ways, you are still a little guy. Every morning, if you don't find me in bed, you ask me, "Why you not in bed, Mom? You supposed to 'nuggle me!" You bury your cold feet against my warm legs and you nuzzle down under the covers or blanket next to me. I love these little moments because I know they won't last forever. I always knew I wanted little boys for their rambunctious and spirited energy-- and I got a special one in you.

Pantry basics

There are those moments we all have, when we open up the fridge door or the cupboard and we just stare.

No, the Pioneer Woman is not in your back field, and Ina Garten has not invited you over for dinner. It's just you and the fridge and the pantry. You need an edible meal and fast. 

So what do you do, when you haven't planned a thing and you are looking at a bunch of random ingredients and the kids are screaming and you're about to fall over from hunger yourself? This is when you need a secret weapon. And no, it is not take-out {although I do recommend saving a good two of those on speed dial for those nights when cooking would equal more yelling than eating.} 

You need a good pantry.

Here's a new handout I posted on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pin/260082947203239053/

to show you what I keep around on hand in my pantry and fridge to solve the dinner crisis hour.

What am I making this week?

 Roasted Organic Chicken Drumsticks with Steamed Cauliflower and Garlic Sautéed Rainbow Chard

 Steak Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Homemade Buttermilk Ranch (leftovers from party)

 Tomato and Garlic Shrimp over Linguine (Kate's birthday) and Salad

 Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado Sandwiches and Sliced Watermelon

 Thai Quinoa Salad with Peanut Dressing

 Beef and Black Bean Tacos with Salsa

See! I don't make complicated dinners and I don't have a huge pantry. We just try to incorporate at least two vegetable servings into every dinner and mix in kid friendly food nights with more adventurous nights as well.

Happy pantry digging! Cleaning out your pantry is a great way to restart your diet into a healthier path.

"I'm Hungry"

If you're kids are like mine, they are hungry. "I'm hungry, Mom," or "Mommy, I need a 'nack," and "I'm starving." My friend and I always say that the sunshine makes them grow. Summer heat is here and the fridge cannot stay open any longer or my precious butter http://pinterest.com/pin/260082947203375136/ will melt. 

But what to feed them?  I'm with you. I definitely don't have it figured out. So, take this as a {public} brainstorming session. And don't think I came up with all of these myself; intelligence is often found in copying smarter people than yourself.

First of all, some education. You don't need as many calories as a kid does. What?!? You might be confused, but by weight little kids need more calories than adults. Basic nutrition science has determined that little kids need more calories and protein than adults, because they are physically adding mass to their body every minute until they are eighteen to twenty-two. Which would explain why they want to eat every. single. minute. of. the. day.

Let's start with MORE. My philosophy is that we all need to see nutrition through the MORE googles, not the LESS goggle. If adults don't take this approach, then the kids will imitate the bad habits, including negative attitudes about food.

What should you eat more?

More vegetables.

More nuts.

More seeds.

More dairy.

More vegetarian.

The science is there. Study after study after study show us that we should eat more of these foods, yet we continue to offer, buy and shop for prepared foods for our children. Now, don't get me wrong, I feed my children the occasional Cheezits. I don't want them growing up with a neurosis because their mother is a dietitian. And I want to help them learn to be inwardly motivated to be healthy.

Take the peanut-butter and Nutella phenomenon at my house as a case study. When I moved from Arizona to Virginia, I couldn't make and take my spring batch of strawberry jam. So we got a little overly attached to Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches all winter long. 

The other day my daughter comes to me and say, "O, Mom, I have such a tummy ache. I ate too much peanut butter and chocolate, and now my body hurts." I told her it was her fault for scooping out and eating a 1/2 cup of each of them as a snack and told her that too much of a good thing is just too much. 

So we parents, and I'm including myself in this, need to manage our children's appetites. Not that we deny them when they are hungry or thirsty, but, we should be teaching them which foods are better choices. Don't buy it if you don't want them to eat too much of it. Neither should we keep 90% snack foods in our pantries and then expect them to choose the withered apple in the fridge. 

We have to be more strategic. I always tell my friends and clients that we don't let our children choose whether or not they brush their teeth, so neither should we make healthy foods optional.

Here's a list of some snacks we keep around and I try to encourage:http://pinterest.com/pin/260082947203409886/

Hope you pull out a snack out of the back of your pantry, sit down and enjoy a summer snack with your kids!

Love,

Nora

Just for fun

If you are heading to New York City anytime soon, I thought I would share some of my new favorite spots from my trip this past weekend. And just in case you are confused-- we really only do three things on any vacation: exercise, eat and shop :)

We started out at lunch at Toasties. Our nose drew us in and our mouth confirmed how fresh their food was. Travis reported it was the best Rueben sandwich he has every had. This is great compliment coming from a connoisseur of that particular sandwich.

We then wandered through Rockefeller Center fighting our way through crowds of people looking at them decorating the Christmas tree, which was unveiled today, I think. We showed my mother and sister Travis' and my favorite chocolate places-- Teucher and La Maison du Chocolat--but settled for a cup of the best hot chocolate at La Maison. As if it was settling. It's the best chocolate in the world, some say.

After fighting the crowds at Rockefeller and checking out the new couches my fabulous uncle made for Michael Kors new store, we wandered down Fifth Avenue. Here's a picture of Mr. Kors, sitting on those very couches. Because who else is going to brag about him, unless it is me??My uncle is so modest, he doesn't even have a website, so you can read about him here. The same fabulous uncle also made us a fabulous dinner that night.

A new spot that we happened upon was this store, Rain, of which there is only one store in the US. Don't you just love the elitism of NYC? It makes the average woman feel so special and privileged.  I fell in love with their scents as well as their bath salts.

The next morning we went to brunch at ABC Kitchen. We also had a celebrity spotting, where Jesse Tyler Ferguson sat at an opposite table behind us, enjoying the same kind of awesome brunch foods. The best part was that it was all hot. I burned the roof of my mouth hot.

After breakfast we wandered through the ABC store's, where I saw some very inspiring jewelry by St.Kilda, especially the piece she carved out of Victorian rubber into a chain on a silver necklace. Not to mention that her name happens to be Nora. No wonder we are in sync.

These are pictures from our long walk after our brunch on the Highline. I just loved all the textures of the buildings and architecture in contrast with the soft grasses and trees. It was super fun to walk through Chelsea Market as well... I think that it didn't even exist five years ago when Travis and I were there last.

\

Overall, my mom and sister and I had a wonderful time reinventing our "Shopping Trip" started so many years ago. It was a joy to spend time together uninterrupted and rejoicing in all that God has kept us through over the past five years. Here's to more eating together, exercising together and shopping together!

Off to the city!

My favorite city in the US. My favorite people. My favorite weekend (it's my birthday on Monday).
Here I come.
Off on a plane by myself. It has been years since I've had eight whole hours to myself--not since our trip to Italy. I am looking forward to trying out some of the places that she recommends, eating here, and enjoying my family and this guy.

Here we were on our first anniversary trip. It will be five years ago come December. How time snowballs faster and faster, gathering speed and growing our love stronger and bigger.  I've missed him, even in 48 hours since he left. Especially since there was no freshly brewed coffee awaiting me this morning. He was kind enough to leave me some already ground in the coffee grinder though. What a guy.

According to my brother...

He's still got game after all those years :) It was so nice to have him visit us the other day on his way home from Sacramento. Kate especially liked your pink socks. Can't wait to see you again. Hopefully more than business will bring you back soon.

Merry Christmas!

Our gift to you. Hopefully will be a smile :) You've seen one family shot in the blog title, but here are a few favorite that hopefully will bring you a little joy from our family.

Our other child

Meet our dog.
Princeton.
He's one.
Which in dog years means he is still a child :)
We love him.
Especially the kids.

(Sorry but this is the best picture I could get of him...a quickly moving object :)

Christmas Preparations

It was quite a shock to come home and have only three short weeks to prepare for Christmas. You see, I love Christmas preparations. I love decorating, baking, crafting, and designing. I love gift strategy, gift surprising and gift giving.

So my house is clean. My cookies are baked (favorites from last year are from Sunset magazine here). My crafts are sewn. My cards are sent. My house is decorated. I just love these new felt ball garlands I added to our decorations this year which Janis spotted on clearance at Crate & Barrel last year.

One little problem.

I came home and I had purchase exactly two gifts. I also hate mall shopping. Thank goodness for the internet. Tomorrow I am going to tackle the rest of the in-person shopping. But here are some holiday finds that I have used to make things go a little more smooth.
     North Face Gear here at great prices. (They even send you a $20 coupon for your next purchase!)
     Desk accessories at West Elm with free shipping.
     Amazon Wish Lists with free shipping.

I'll let you know how the real shopping goes tomorrow. It's quite a list of place to go :)

Happy Thanksgiving

What a wonderful time we are having here in Maryland seeing all our other family and introducing our newest member of it to everyone. Grant was quite surprised to be the center of attention; it was if he was saying, "Why am I the center of attention...that's usually Kate's job!"

Still singing.

Our family is going on another adventure.
We've been on this trip before.
But now we are a team.
And Kate is leading the way, cheering us on in song.

Lord, make me a servant, humble and meek. Lord, let me lift up those who are weak. And may the prayer of my heart always be "make me a servant today".

We found out on the Friday before the July 4th weekend that Travis' division was eliminated in a restructuring at his company. Without much warning, we are in a put on this road of unemployment again. Last time, we were living on my part-time income and Travis was in school; we found out Travis lost his job last time the beginning of September and we found out we were pregnant with Kate a month later. This time, I have to admit, it is a little more scary initially that you are without a primary income when you have a house and two children.

But Kate is singing. And we are too. She sings for us all as we depend on the great Provider.
We have never gone hungry or been without a bed to sleep in. God has always been faithful to us over these past five years for employment.

There are many signs of God's faithfulness. He provided a baby grand piano for us unexpectedly as a  permanent "loan"-- this reminds us to sing in the midst of trial. He provided 10 days of work for me on short notice at the hospital. He also provided for my Dad his third job in a year in a bad economy. Travis also has three great job leads as well as a much larger network than the last time.

Pray for us that today we would continue to sing.

Mother's Day

This picture grabbed me. The flavors sounded so fresh. So call me crazy, but I mostly cooked my own Mother's Day meal. Isn't the work worth it though sometimes? How could one not like shrimp cakes, eggs benedict and fresh hollandaise sauce? We had this ridiciulous brunch made from this menu out of the Arizona Republic from our local Four Seasons hotel. We made a few adjustments like shrimp jalepeno cakes instead of crab with chipotle due to the lack of available fresh crab meat, and a less alcoholic sangria; and beware of the proportions. They are really off for number of servings (leave it to a chef to resize wrong). Every bite was worth it. Here's probably one last picture of just the three of us before we gorged ourselves.

The Zoo

My parents joined us by narrow escape between Maryland snow storms for a nine-day visit to enjoy Arizona's liquid gold sunshine.

Today we headed to the Phoenix Zoo. We have loved belonging to the zoo and being able to go for just an hour and a half-- it's enough to go and see the major animals, get a good walk in and not ruin nap time! I am looking forward to being able to take the kids all this year-- in the summer they have a water-park to beat the heat.

My parents treated Kate to the experience of feeding the giraffes and the merry-go-round. I thought Kate might be scared of the giraffes, but she loved it. She did not, however, like the merry-go-round. "Stop, pease, stop" was all she could say once she realized that the lion went up and down, AND around and around.

ps...Emily we miss you!

Pregnancy Update

Can you believe I've only posted twice about this little boy? We have about 90 days to go and the thought that consoles me is that boys don't really want to read all the gory details of their in-utero experience like girls do. Here's a pregnant picture of me (by request) at almost 7 months.

My pregnancy has gone well this time, without any major differences. I am tired, which I expected, but it still suprises me. I realized that my pregnancy with Kate was only different because we lived with other people who did most of the cooking, cleaning, etc...all I had to do was light cleaning, laundry once a week and ironing. So it is no wonder that my home routine with a full-sized house involving cleaning, cooking, shopping, laundry, ironing added to the activity of a toddler is leaving me ready for bed so early!

He is constantly reminding me of his little life around eight pm, when I sit down at night-- I hope this is a pattern he will not continue once he is finally here! I tjink he is bigger (longer) than Kate as his little feet seems to run into my inner parts much sooner. And his head--o my. If his head is up (which I never felt with Kate) I can hardly breathe or eat...so I am expected a bigger headed, longer boy.

I may have a different allotment of energy for this baby but my heart has been more inclined to pray for him. I have sensed, with some trepidation, that God will call him to carry forth the legacy of the gospel from our families. We do not have a first named picked, but his middle name will be John, after Travis' great-grandfather, a godly man of faith. Both of our children come from strong families of faith. Both of our great-grandparents (our children great-great grandparents) have a strong and reliable heritage of a heart inclined toward faith in God.

I pray that for this little one, our first son, and the first grandson on both sides. I pray that whatever his name will be and whatever path he will take, that God would take hold of his heart and direct his paths.

Gigi, we miss you...we wish we could be playing with you this week too!
Don't be too sad about Emily-- remember I am going to be MUCH closer than she is...you can always visit me :)

That first lick...

Around here in Arizona, the heat is creeping up upon us. We're not there yet, but the sun is warm, and the sunshine warmer. Some days we have eighties. Most nights are still deliciously cool. We love sleeping with the windows open and waking up the cool morning with a hot cup of our favorite Hawaiian Hazelnut coffee.

The warmer temperature have us thinking about all our favorite summer activities. Kate is signed up for her first swim lesson. The grill is going full tilt. And then there is our favorite dessert-- ice cream...

Kate had her first taste of it when my parents were in town a few weeks back. She loved it. She screamed for more when it was done. My daughter likes her food. Maybe it's genetic :)

Thanksgiving Recap

I admit it.
I'm behind.
Why spend my time online when I can be busy with my dear family???
They were here a whole week enjoying the fabulous Phoenix weather and activities for Thanksgiving. The Nams generously moved into the MacKays and my family moved in with us.
We have officially dubbed the Nam's home "Nam-elback Inn" in lieu of the famous landmark Marriott hotel here in Phoenix called the Camelback Inn. My family laughed as we listed the amenities: individual rooms, comfortable beds, gourmet foods, great restaraunts, great shopping, free vehicles, swimming, cheap golf, tennis, a hot tub and endless free, instant movies (Thank you Scott for the Roku!!!).
Not to mention the spread we had at Steve and Janis' for Thanksgiving. They hosted a wonderful meal and day, filled with surprises and gifts. Despite the rainy weather, they entertained all 33 of us for dinner and activities with their usual class and grace.
My personal highlight was using my mom's new driver and having my first real drive on the golf course go farther than Chuck thought it would! I even bogied a real hole! If I had my mom's driver I would be at the golf course a whole lot more...I guess all the golf knowledge floating around here at the house has rubbed off on me more than I thought!
My family highlights included shopping at Target with Emily and my mom, sorting through the clearance section and the pile of clothes we dragged into the dressing room to try on and laugh through. Another highlight was seeing my brothers enjoy Kate, as they didn't have as much time with her in Maryland over the trip. Lastly, running with (or shall I say trying to keep up with) my little brother Brett in the new semi-annual JamKay 5K we ran on Thanksgiving morning (the name stands for Jansen, Shank and MacKay participants).
Here's a slideshow from the week:

Preview

Look at this adorable preview picture we got from when we were in Maryland! Thank you to our friend Janelle B. an awesome photographer.

In Memorium

On early Tuesday morning, Travis' grandfather, Robert Brown, passed away in his sleep from complications of emphysema and other health issues, in Davenport, Iowa. We grieve over his loss for both ourselves, having lost Travis' and my last living grandfather, and for the Brown family. I had the honor of meeting him last spring and was grateful to have met the man through which God used to give me my husband.