Good news for coffee drinkers (so, all moms). Moderate consumption of “unsweetened and sugar-sweetened coffee” has been shown to increase longevity, according to a new study. That’s right. Pour that second cup as you chase your family out the door in the morning and go about your day.
The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, found people between the ages of 37 and 73 who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee per day (even with a teaspoon of sugar) were around 30 percent less likely to die than those who didn’t. In fact, the more you drink (to a reasonable point), the lower your risk of dying.
— Dave Swims // Get Salty // Stay Salty 🇦🇺🇺🇸 (@sanderling68) May 30, 2022
Researchers found people who drank unsweetened coffee were 16 to 21 percent less likely to die (we know, it sounds morbid), and those who consumed three cups per day had the lowest risk when compared to noncoffee drinkers. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can go to your local Starbucks and order a triple grande vanilla latte with added whip. “All bets are off when it comes to matching this with a latte, a Frappuccino, the super mocha whipped whatever,” said Dr. Eric Goldberg, a clinical associate professor of medicine at the N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine. These drinks are higher in calories, fat, deliciousness, etc.
But the study results had researchers and coffee drinkers celebrating. “It’s huge. There are very few things that reduce your mortality by 30 percent,” said Dr. Christina Wee, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a deputy editor of Annals of Internal Medicine.
For this study, researchers looked at coffee consumption data collected from more than 170,000 people from the U.K. Biobank, a large medical and health information database from people across Britain. The mortality risk remained lower across the seven years they followed participants, which included both decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee drinkers. The data was inconclusive for people who used artificial sweeteners, so clearly, real sugar is the way to go.
This is not the first study to find the benefits of drinking coffee; a recent study also found that drinking coffee can help one live longer. https://t.co/UdZS8aHXXo
This isn’t the first study to find such results. Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles tracked more than 185,000 people over 16 years and found people who drank one cup of coffee per day were 12 percent less likely to die during the course of the study than those who didn’t drink any.
It’s official. Parents can keep fueling their bodies with the brown stuff all day. Science said so, and we’re exhausted. Let us have this.
It’s cool to be kind. And it turns out, despite what you might hear in the news, Americans are pretty good at in general. So as you model kindness for your kids at home, check out this new data from Verizon and Kindness.org: a first-of-its-kind academic research study to find out the state of kindness in the U.S.
People in all 50 states took part in the survey and most (86%) said they’d donate part of their liver to a family member. Nearly three in four would lend money to a friend in financial crisis and more than half would donate their vacation time to a colleague.
The kindest things you can do for others? Respondents ranked becoming an organ donor for a family member, pulling someone from a burning car and adopting and raising a family member as the top three. Other popular measures of kindness include covering a work shift for a colleague, cheering up a family member or calling a friend to encourage them.
You and your family can get involved in Verizon’s “A Call For Kindness” campaign by signing an online pledge, downloading kindness cards and visiting murals with encouraging messages around the country. And if you’re looking for activities just for kids, Kindness.org has developed a whole K-8 curriculum that teaches students to Learn Kind, plus a series of easy-to-use activities.
Since a child’s gut and immune system is always adapting we can help our children to develop a healthy response to viruses and other infections that they encounter. We asked the expert, Glaudia Galate, Functional Nutritionist, and busy mom who believes healthy eating should be simple and enjoyable. See what sources of food she recommends to support our kids’ immune systems. Enjoy also lunchbox ideas we curated from the community to help you get started!
Sources of Food to Support the Immune System
Most micronutrients including vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, and fatty acids, have a role to play in building a healthy immune response and this is why a varied diet bursting with lots of fresh fruits, veggies, salads, herbs, spices, pulses, nuts, seeds, poultry, meat, and fish really do count.
Whatever the food you get, you want to make sure that they are loaded with Vitamin D, C and Zinc, and Selenium this season.
Vitamin D: Because your kids may have spent more time inside than normal, even during the summer. Vitamine D is modulating immune cells in the body, bone health, cell growth, and more.
The best sources of vitamin D: 5-30 minutes of sun exposure at least twice per week (over 100 percent of daily value), Cod Liver Oil, fish like wild-caught salmon, Mackerel, tuna, sardine, beef liver, egg. Pro Tip: Go for a daily walk and play outside for at least 20 minutes to maximize your vitamin D intake.
Vitamin C: Helps both with wound healing and fights infections effectively.
The best sources of vitamin C: Black currants, kiwi, bell peppers, leafy greens like kale, spinach, broccoli, parsley. Berries (all types, including strawberries, camu, acai, etc.). Pro Tip: Squeezing lemon or lime juice onto foods will also give you a bit of vitamin C.
Zinc: Helps the kids’ learning, growth, and immunity. Interestingly zinc is also important for a healthy sense of smell and taste and we often find that the “fussy eaters” are low in zinc and when you boost this up they are more interested in trying a wider variety of foods, and their appetite improves. Most zinc comes from animal products.
The best sources of zinc: Beef, fish, oysters, crab, beans, lentils, pumpkins seeds, cashews, egg. Pro Tip: You can maximize your kid’s zinc intake (around 5 mg per day) via a whole beef burger or through a few meatballs. A half a can of baked beans is around 3 mg.
Selenium: Benefits immunity because it is needed for the proper functioning of the immune system and can also be a key nutrient in counteracting the development of viruses. It’s also a powerful antioxidant.
The best sources of selenium: Brazil nuts, eggs, liver, tuna, cod, and sunflower seeds. Pro Tip: A single Brazil nut will provide more than enough selenium for kids per day.
If you want more ideas and tips to boost your immune system don’t hesitate in contacting Glaudia. Also, always ask a physician or health care provider before giving any supplements.
How to Boost Your Kid’s Immune System through Food
Start with simple food ideas that kids will respond to like pomegranate seeds, plums, nectarines, yellow or orange peppers, or purple carrots, and sweet potatoes. Try to introduce your child to one new food ingredient every week at home – pop something a bit novel and exciting in your shopping trolley and they might surprise you and like it. If they don’t like a food straight away, then don’t fret as you can try again another day or serve it in another way.
You can also visit Teuko.com and discover daily lunchbox ideas from other parents, who, like you, want to add new foods and new textures to their kid’s lunches. You can explore various food combinations by searching for the ingredients you like on Teuko.com.
Teuko is the first platform that empowers families to simplify lunch packing. Using Teuko, they can find and share kid-approved lunchbox ideas, recipes, and tips, all in one place. Teuko is transforming the lunch packing experience by boosting inspiration and motivation week after week.
Me, for one. And quite a few other people I know. None of us is wealthy, but still we have laid out what some would consider extreme – even obscene – amounts on our pets.
First, let me say that these are regular cats and dogs, mostly rescues, strays, and shelter animals, not fancy, purebred show animals. The expense doesn’t come with the initial investment. Vet check, shots, worming, spaying and neutering – though shelters and local organizations sometimes offer lower-cost options on these – are just the cost of entry into pet guardianship.
Likewise, toys, beds, pet furniture, and other accouterments don’t need to be large investments. I’ve known cats that would ignore fancy toys to play with the plastic rings that come on milk jugs. Dogs can be amused for hours with a stick, tennis ball, or Frisbee.
No, the real expense comes with veterinarian bills. When I was a child, hardly anyone took pets to the vet, except to get the mandated yearly shots or to stitch up an injury from an attack by another animal.
My, how times have changed!
We know a lot more these days about heartworm, feline AIDS, urinary or intestinal blockage, fatty liver disease, kidney failure, and a host of illnesses that pets experience. We sympathize because we humans can get many of the same or similar ailments as well (though we don’t generally catch them from the animals).
So how do the costs scale up into the thousands? Well, veterinary training is as rigorous as medical school – perhaps more so because of the number of different animals a vet might be expected to treat. (A cow and a cat have different anatomy, after all.) Veterinary drugs can sometimes the same ones humans take, though usually at different doses. An x-ray is an x-ray and an ultrasound is an ultrasound. And you can expect to pay more for an after-hours emergency clinic visit than a regular office call.
Still, thousands?
Yes. We’ve been through it a number of times. When my cat Laurel had fatty liver disease, she needed, in addition to all the regular medical care, several weeks of intensive treatment – hand feedings, fluids, specially mixed vitamins. The vet actually took her to his home and treated her there for several weeks. I got a raise that year at work, and every cent of it went to that marvelous vet. He didn’t have to do what he did for Laurel – and I suppose not many people would have paid for the personal care. We did so willingly.
When our dog Bridget developed a tumor on her shoulder, the vet was honest. “We can operate on it, or we can do nothing.” Bridget was middle-aged, as dogs go, a formerly feral rescue dog.
“Do whatever it takes,” Dan said. “She deserves a chance.”
“She’s lucky to have you,” the vet replied.
Bridget came through the operation, never had a recurrence and died peacefully at the age of 17.
We’ve learned to give subcutaneous fluids to cats with kidney failure. We’ve taken them to specialty vets who have given them – literally – years of comfortable life with us. (Once we even had a parakeet that needed an operation – and pulled through.)
Every time we pulled out a checkbook or a credit card and paid willingly, though often with a wince. Some vets kindly allowed us, as long-time customers, to pay in installments.
But the question remains, why? Why do we spend this time, energy, care, worry, and especially money on maintaining the health of our pets or making them comfortable in their last days?
I don’t expect everyone to understand this, but these animals have become family to us. And as family members, they deserve our attention, care – including medical care – and love as long as they are capable of benefiting from it.
When the time comes that we have to let them go, when there is nothing we can do medically except prolong their misery, we take them to the vet for that final act of mercy, or let them pass quietly at home.
And the only cost we count is in our hearts.
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Hi! I'm a freelance writer and editor who writes about education, books, cats and other pets, bipolar disorder, and anything else that interests me. I live in Ohio with my husband and a varying number of cats.
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for always being there for me. I just can’t quit you, no matter how hard I try.
I’m sorry I get mad at you sometimes it’s just…I need space, you know? Even when I go away for a day or two, I can always count on you, waiting patiently, for my attention. You don’t mind chilling all clean in a basket while I pretend you don’t exist. You don’t mind when I leave you in the dryer and forget about you until I wash some of your friends. Heck even when you’re overflowing in the hamper, you don’t get mad me. You just wait until I’m ready, which is true compassion. Clean, dirty, left in the washer so I have to wash you again…you just stay. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. For the rest of my life until I die. Dang, Laundry. That’s some real devotion there.
You don’t happen to know Dinner, do you? She’s not quite as…zen as you are, Laundry. She’s a little more demanding and pretty possessive actually. Between you and me, Dinner can be kind of be a b*tch. But I still gotta chill with Dinner, even when she’s being a total b. She’s not like you, Laundry. She can’t be left alone, not even for one day. Very needy. And a total diva to boot.
She constantly needs to be coddled with options and demands I shop for her at least once a week and then half the time she just lets herself go to waste because God forbid she hang out with Leftovers while I take a night off to see Bookclub. But do you think Dinner cares about my needs? No. In fact, lately, all Dinner does is get upset that it’s Chicken. Again. As if Chicken is going to be her ruination. As if Chicken is some sort of gateway to Liver.
Well, guess what? I’m done being ashamed of Chicken. Chicken gets me. Chicken is low maintenance. Chicken is adaptable to my needs and if Dinner is going to demand nightly visitation and weekly shopping, I’m bringing Chicken whenever I want, however, I want. Dinner even expects me to be perfectly punctual each night and if I dare be a little early or a little late, there’s no compassion. There’s no understanding. There’s just interrogation. Where here have you been? What have you been doing? Who were you with? I mean she literally doesn’t do crap all day except sit around and wait for me then conveniently forgets that I’m also dealing with Breakfast. And Lunch. And Snacks. Snacks alone thinks he might die if we don’t hang out seven times a day but at least he only needs a minute of my time. At least he’s not sucking the soul out of my life.
I’m beginning to think that Dinner and I might need a trial separation.
But don’t worry Laundry. I could never abandon you like that. I don’t need Dinner the way I need you because frankly…I’ve got Popcorn. But without you, Laundry, I have nothing. I know it might not always feel like it, but…I see you. I support you. And always remember—I will get to you. Eventually.
I’ll check in with you later. I gotta go see what’s up with Dishwasher. He’s so full of it.
Emily is a sometime writer, all the time mom, who constantly wonders how it is she became completely superior at loading the dishwasher. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her two budding teenagers who provide daily inspirational quotes such as: I'm hungry! and Close the door! She loves them a whole lot anyway.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced a voluntary recall for Wawona Frozen Foods frozen raspberries and frozen berry mixes containing raspberries due to possible Hepatitis A contamination. The berries were sold at Aldi Grocery Stores and Raley’s Family of Fine Stores under each retailer’s private label brand. Representatives from Wawona Frozen Foods did not immediately return Red Tricycle’s request for comment.
If you have these berries in your fridge or freezer, read on for important recall information.
Recalled Product Description: Frozen Raspberries
The recalled products include frozen raspberries and frozen berry mix containing raspberries sold under Aldi Grocery Stores and Raley’s Family of Fine Stores private labels. These include Season’s Choice Raspberries and Season’s Choice Berry Medley in Aldi stores and Raley’s Fresh Frozen Red Raspberries in Raley’s stores.
Why the Berries Were Recalled
The recall was initiated after the potential for Hepatitis A contamination was detected. Hepatitis A is a virus that can cause serious liver disease. The illness can last from a few weeks to several months and has symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, dark urine and jaundice.
As of now there are no reported cases of illnesses due to the recalled berries.
How to Tell If Your Berries Were Recalled
The frozen raspberries included in the current recall are:
Aldi: Season’s Choice Raspberries (frozen): 12 ounce bags, “best by” date of June, 10, 2021, August 1,2021 and August 23, 2021. “Product of Chile.” UPC Code: 0 41498 12419 9. Season’s Choice Berry Medley (frozen) containing raspberries: 16 ounce bags, “best by” date of July 17, 2021, July 20, 2021 and July 22, 2021. “Product of USA, Chile.” UPC Code: 0 41498 31344 9
Raley’s: Raley’s Fresh Frozen Red Raspberries: 12 ounce bags, “best by” date of June 5, 2021 (lot code:20156A04), August 1, 2021 (lot code: 20213A06) “Product of Chile.” UPC Code: 46567 00754
The affected berries were imported from Chile.
What Consumers Can Do
If you have the recalled products, don’t eat them. Throw the berries away or return them to the place of purchase for a refund. Consumers with questions can contact Wawona Frozen Foods at 866-913-0667.
When Hillary Weidner posted a pic of her kiddos’ lemonade stand, the mom to three never expected what would happen next.
Weidner, and best friend Amanda Zerbe, have a combined six children. Zerbe’s five-year-old son Jack set up the stand over Labor Day weekend, and Weidner’s kids joined in on the fun. In 45 minutes the Weidner-Zerbe lemonade stand made a whopping $148.
Instead of using the money on toys and candy, the families decided to donate the earnings to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital—where Weidner’s oldest daughter Beatrice received a liver transplant. Born with a rare liver disease, Beatrice needed a transplant to thrive and survive. Luckily, her mom was a perfect match. Weidner told Good Morning America, “It was a crazy, traumatic, amazing experience.” She went on to add, “We owe so much to the hospital.”
The two moms decided to take a pic of their combined families with an over-sized check for the $148 donation. Weidner posted the photo on Instagram with a request for matching donations to the hospital via Venmo.
The photo, and request, went viral—with the donation total climbing to over $125,000!
Whether it’s your first baby or your fourth, moments with your child feel a little different when you know you’re done having kids. Here are 15 things you might notice when you’re on your last baby.
photo: iStock
1. Part of you hopes that pregnancy kicks, even the ones that feel like your baby’s pummeling your liver, never end.
2. As soon as your baby moves on from 3- to 6-month-size onesies, you chuck them into a bag and pass them off to your expecting friends.
3. You buy the cute (and expensive) diapers because they’re so adorable, and you won’t have a reason to keep diapers around much longer.
photo: iStock
4. You don’t try to encourage this little one to walk early by having them toddle around while gripping your fingers. You want this baby to stay right where you can see them, and out of the kitchen cabinets, for as long as possible.
5. Since you see an end to nursery rhymes coming, you can last multiple rounds of the usually mind-numbing patty-cake.
6. You coo (and sometimes even get a little teary) over babies just a few months younger than your own.
photo: iStock
7. You’re shocked by how quickly you’ve become the random stranger in the grocery store who tells parents of newborns, “Enjoy it while it lasts! It goes by so quickly.”
8. There’s a tiny thrill, amid the exhaustion, when your little one wakes you at night, because you get to spend more time with your sweet, snuggly babe.
9. You scope out doggy rescue websites to find a puppy to fill the unmet need for cuddles you’ll have once your baby is toddling about and out of your arms.
photo: iStock
10. As you flip back through old photos, it’s not with a desire for more little ones, but to reminisce about the moments you had with your own children.
11. You no longer find conversations about the best jogging stroller on the market or the newest advancements in baby carriers quite so fascinating.
12. Every moment gets snapped and shared on social media so your friends and family can savor these last remaining moments of teeny-tiny baby cuteness along with you.
photo: iStock
13. You start looking forward to having grandchildren of your own one day to spoil and snuggle.
14. You’ve already replaced sweet nursery decor with older kid stuff: out with the bird mobile, in with a life-size cutout of Boba Fett or Superman.
15. You look around at your family – whether it’s a family of two or three or four or more—and you just know it’s complete. It’s just the right size.
According to U.S. News & World Report, approximately 80 percent of resolutions fail by the second week in February. Why? Because dramatic and immediate changes are not sustainable long-term. So make this not a year of resolutions or diets but one of incremental changes to instill habits that create real, long-lasting results.
Do What You Enjoy
Commit to trying new things or even old things to remind yourself of what you enjoy. This is especially true for keeping active and fulfilling your body’s desire for movement and exercise. This can be taking frequent walks through nature, biking, dancing, hiking or yoga.
Start taking ballroom dancing lessons that you promised yourself you would try years ago. Take a barre method class where you can let your inner ballerina shine. Better yet, put that music on full blast while you are preparing dinner and dance like no one’s watching. It is not about perfection, it is about finding what you love to do and what brings a smile to your face, then it becomes fun and not something you want to do.
Add Things—Don’t Remove Them
If your goal is to improve your nutrition to lose weight and improve your energy levels, try adding foods into your diet like vegetables. Find fun ways to prepare them to fit your taste buds. Often times if you start with a deprivation statement like, “I am going to stop eating all carbs,” then the only thing you will think about is carbs.
When you introduce something new and start noticing the benefits of that change, then you are often inspired to move on to add the next change. Think addition—not deprivation!
Stop Eating by 6 p.m.
If you want to encourage the body to burn fat for energy, stop eating by 6 or 7 p.m. This allows the body to put most of its energy into rejuvenating and restoring the body for the next day. It also gives the body all time it needs to use up all the sugar storage in the liver so then it can start burning the fat cells for needed energy.
Take Five Minutes to Stop & Breathe
If one of your goals is to start being more mindful or to simply start incorporating some relaxation techniques to help you react to stressful events with more ease then perhaps going from not meditating to promising to meditate every day for 45 minutes a day may be a bit overwhelming. Try this simple strategy:
Wake up in the morning, take a deep breath and then record in a journal or on your phone one thing you are grateful for, appreciate or just makes you happy. Read it out loud and then follow with five slow breaths and really feel that joy.
This way you are starting the habit and getting your body used to what relaxation and being in a state of gratitude feels like. During the day when things get hectic, pull out that book or play that recording and take five deep breaths. Fast, easy and often times very effective for decreasing the effects of those stress reactions.
Go to Bed 15 Minutes Earlier
Work on getting a good night’s rest. A healthy amount of sleep helps you to be more alert, make better decisions, maintain a healthier weight and helps you to look and feel younger. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier each week for a month so you total an hour more of sleep. Remove all electronic devices in the bedroom that gives off artificial light and creating a bedtime routine that signals the body that it is time for bed.
Spend Your Time with Like-Minded People
Make an effort to spend more quality time reconnecting with family or friends. Individuals who have social connections suffer less symptoms of depression and may live longer healthier, lives. Also, establishing a support group can help to stay on track with our goals. This may look like once every two weeks to a month spending some time with your girlfriends or Skyping or FaceTiming them to catch up.
Making these gradual changes can help you to create habits that will help to feel more energized, feel less stressed, think more clearly and make better choices for you. With each choice comes the opportunity to be the person you have always envisioned.
Eudene Harry MD is the medical director for Oasis Wellness and Rejuvenation Center, a wellness practice devoted to integrative holistic care. She is a veteran physician with over 20 years of experience. Her most recent book, Be Iconic: Be Healthy & Sexy at Any Age, is now available on Amazon.
Didn’t it used to be that kids got enough iron (not to mention other vitamins) in their diet? What are we doing wrong today that so many kids (and adults) are anemic or nearly so? The most common cause of anemia, or low-iron in the blood, is nutritional. Simply stated, the person is not eating enough iron-rich foods in their daily diet to provide what the body needs. The body uses iron to help make red blood cells, which carry oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body. With too little iron, the body cannot make new red blood cells and in turn, begins to suffocate from the inside without sufficient levels of oxygen.
Although it can recycle iron from old red blood cells, the body requires even more red blood cells during periods of growth. This means that children need lots of iron in their diets. Children ages 9-24 months are most likely to test anemic, frequently due to dietary deficiency. Babies who drink breast milk need less iron because it is absorbed better when iron is ingested with breast milk. Babies who drink iron-fortified formula usually get enough iron, too. Children who transition to cow’s milk before their first birthday may be anemic. Not only does cow’s milk contain less iron, it actually makes it harder for the body to absorb iron from other foods
Thankfully, milk is not the only source of iron. Even kids who drink a lot of milk may become anemic unless enough iron is eaten from food sources. What foods are iron-rich and which ones are just okay? Of course, meats provide the most iron, but I will share several non-meat options to feed your vegetarian kids, too.
Super Sources of Iron
Liver, of calf, chicken or beef – I don’t love the taste of liver, so I cook the liver from my chicken and chop it into my stuffing or make a broth with it. Liver is known as nature’s multivitamin, even though it is not as popular as it once was, in my mother’s day.
Other organ meats, like heart, tongue, kidney and tripe – Okay, I don’t expect you to go making tripe soup tonight, but the heart and tongue can be tasty and easily hidden. Actually, cow’s tongue is quite delicious. More likely, you might brown organ meat and grind into a recipe or use to create intensely-flavored and highly-nutritious broths.
Oysters, clams and other shellfish – I am from the Ocean State, so ocean-fresh seafood can be obtained nearly year-round, but even canned clams make a tasty chowder or sauce for linguine. If your little one detects the chewy beasts, use a grinder or food processor!
Blackstrap molasses – Make a batch of grandma’s old-fashioned hermits (with raisins) or ginger snaps and watch their iron levels rise! In fact, any recipe that calls for brown sugar can use the same amount of molasses (make sure the jar says blackstrap).
Cereals which have been fortified to the 100% level of the US Recommended Daily Allowance – Read the label! Only cereals whose Iron row indicate 100, like Total and Product 19) are in this category.
Good Sources of Iron
Beef, veal and ham and to a lesser degree, chicken, lamb and fish, even eggs and egg yolks – Very good sources of Iron and more kid-friendly than the better sources above. These can be ground to disguise them or served more traditionally, depending on your family preference.
40% Bran Flakes – I love these, but…if your kids are like mine, they won’t have it. Crush up bran flakes and use them to coat oven-fried chicken, or top your favorite casserole with crushed bran flakes instead of breadcrumbs. Follow your favorite overnight-oats recipe and substitute bran flakes (if you don’t want them to get too mushy, add the bran flakes in the morning or right before you stir and eat). Other cereals provide much less, even though their label may say Fortified with Vitamins. Cereals with values of 45, like Kix and Cream of Wheat, are better than ones with values closer to 25, like Cheerios. If feeding a baby cereal, make sure it says iron-fortified on the box.
Beans – Black beans, Garbanzo beans and Pinto beans are top of the list for being iron-rich. Get these first, then reach for the others. Maybe make chili with the top three and add one can of their other favorite bean (if that exists).
Last Resorts to Feed Them Iron
Other beans – Navy, kidney, soy, lentils, split peas, and yes, even green beans have iron.
Enriched products – Bread, macaroni and rice may be tasty options, but too much will add to your waistline.
Greens – Spinach and asparagus are best, but broccoli and green peas are okay too.
Other vegetables and fruits – Bake your potatoes with the skin on, serve healthy snacks like carrots, raisins, prunes, strawberries, dried apricots, apples, oranges, bananas, avacado and even peanut butter.
Nuts and seeds – Sunflower seeds and walnuts make easy, portable snacks that have at least some benefit more than munching on chips or crackers full of salt and sugar.
Enlist the help of your family to sneak something into every meal. Have your after-school childcare provide items off this list. Remember though, when choosing these “Last Resorts” that having less iron means eating more of these to get the same benefit you would by eating from the Super or Good list. There’s my advice. Now go shopping and don’t tell the kids!
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Go Au Pair representative, cultural childcare advocate, Mom to six great kids, I earned my BS at RI College and MEd at Providence College. My hats: educator, tutor and writer of local blog for Go Au Pair families and Au Pairs. Baking, gardening, reading and relaxing on the porch are hobbies.
