One way for your children to eat healthy snacks is to get them started on naturally sweet foods. Since most kids crave sweets for snacks, naturally sweet foods such as fruits are ideal. Encourage them to enjoy a banana, orange, apple, cherries, strawberries and other berries whenever they have a sweet tooth. You can mix in yogurt or even make a fruit smoothie for them with some milk and a drop of chocolate or other natural flavors.

Another great way for your little ones to enjoy healthy snacks is to give them fresh nuts. Kids love peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, etc. One of the things to recognize about children is that if they try enough types of natural and healthy snacks, they will find one that they love. The problem is that many times parents give up trying to find the snacks that their kids enjoy and settle for popular junk foods instead.

When deciding on a healthy snack, what you want to avoid are products with boatloads of sugars, unwanted preservatives and empty calories. While most kids will fight you tooth and nail if they have to eat wheat germ and tofu, most children will be more than happy to eat snacks if they have a sweet taste and are presented in the right way.

Other healthy snacks that many children like are dry cereals. For example, there are many breakfast cereals that are derived from corn, wheat, bran and include nuts and honey. These cereals when consumed at breakfast usually include milk; however, you can easily serve them without milk to your children. One of the most popular dry cereals which are healthy and nutritious for your little one at almost any age is Cheerios. Cheerios are lightly sweetened and tasty either moistened with milk or dry. If your little one craves a delicious snack for lunch or to take along for camp or little league, dry cereal is not only nutritious, but delicious.

For those children that are terribly picky and only want junk food, one strategy to use in order to get your child to eat nutritious snacks is to buy premade natural snacks. Today, there are tons of prepackaged snacks that might look like junk food, but are actually healthy and nutritious for your little one. They include certain fruit roll ups, string cheese and granola bars. Many of these snacks look like junk food, but are actually made from natural ingredients and include relatively little sugar and empty calories. If you are looking for a great way for your child to remain healthy, check out the above mentioned tricks on healthy snacks for little ones.

Dine Without Whine is a great menu planning service for active families. Go to http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com to discover even more rewards to menu planning.

A woman in her 80’s commented recently that “food is not important; it is just there to sustain me.” Since obesity has become a pandemic in this country, the question we have to ask is: Do we, as a society live to eat?

In his book, Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Dr. Joel Furhman “offers his healthy, effective, and scientifically proven plan for shedding radical amounts of weight quickly, and keeping it off.

Losing weight under Dr. Fuhrman’s plan is not about willpower, it is about knowledge. The key to this revolutionary diet is the idea of nutrient density, as expressed by the simple formula Health=Nutrients/Calories.”

To lose weight, keep it off, and live a long and healthy life, we must consume fewer calories. The big question always is: How to do that and still feel satisfied? You’ll learn in Dr. Fuhrman’s book that the answer is filling your diet with the most nutrient dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, and beans, which tend to be very low in calories vs. their physical bulk.

With these foods, your body’s nutrient requirements are met very quickly, therefore controlling hunger. Also, you can eat large volumes of food, feel very satisfied, and still not consume too many calories.

This book is not composed of a diet plan. Rather, it is a change in lifestyle. It is written for anyone who wants to lose weight and is committed to the challenge. The plan is a simple one. The first six weeks encompasses meals such as salads, fruits and vegetables. Once you understand the difference between the hunger you feel two hours after a burger and fries, and real hunger in your stomach, it is easy.

For example: The book includes 7-day menus and recipes for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. A sample day may include the following meals:

Breakfast: Baked apple with raisins and cinnamon.
Lunch: Salad-stuffed pita with hummus spread and fresh fruit.
Dinner: Mixed baby greens with cracked peppercorn dressing, broccoli and red pepper soup, slice of 7-grain bread, corn on the cob with vegetable-based seasoning.

In a nutshell, this book contains all the information you need to implement healthy changes in your life. As one reader commended, “No one could adopt these dietary changes without seeing improvement, or complete resolution, of their chronic health conditions.”

When you were a child, how many times did you mom tell you not to eat something.  As a mom, you probably told your child to eat a particular food in place of something else.

A popular book out today, and co-authored by David Zinczenko and
Matt Goulding, is entitled: “Eat This, Not That! Thousands of Simple Food Swaps that Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds–or More!

Readers are raving about this book for a variety of reasons.  Each two page section has a list of high-calorie foods that are a healthier alternative.  Also included are the reasons why one is a better choice than the other, as well as quick lists of other good choices.

This simple, but effective layout conveys a myriad of information you can access quickly and easily.  The sections are listed by restaurant so that given any situation, whether you are shopping at the mall, or making reservations at a specific restaurant, the book is packed with good ideas on how to make better food choices.

Eat This – Not That is a great resource for someone who dines out a great deal or prefers to buy pre-packaged foods.  The book is also full of photos with details that break down major restaurant chains best and worst menu choices.  Another very helpful section in the book is the decoding of menu items at major types of restaurants.

The Editorial Review tells you a great deal about what you can expect to find in this highly-rated book:

“Eat This - Not That” is jam-packed with secrets the restaurant industry doesn’t want you to know.  For example:

* Burger King doesn’t want you to know that a BK Big Fish® Sandwich and fries have a whopping 1000 calories—nearly half your daily caloric intake.
* Pizza Hut doesn’t want you to know that a standard pizza in Italy contains 500 to 800 calories, but the same meal at Pizza Hut can top 2,100 calories.
* Macaroni Grill doesn’t want you to know that a single serving of their Grilled Teriyaki Salmon has more than three times your daily allowance of sodium!
* At McDonald’s, an Egg McMuffin® is actually a healthy choice, with just 300 calories.
* At Krispy Kreme, all you need to do is order the Very Berry Chiller instead of the Mocha Dream Chiller, and you’ll save 500 calories.
* At Chipotle, you can cut 570 calories out of your Chicken Burrito just by ordering it as a bowl (without the tortilla) and asking them to hold the rice.

Most readers found they were uttering the same thing when reading this book: “I didn’t know that!”

If you want the “skinny” behind most fast-food restaurants as well as those you occasionally frequent, pick up a copy of this most fascinating and eye-opening tome.

Grab the smoothie cookbook and get started right away.

Main Dishes:

Caramelized Onion Smothered Sirloin Steak

Italian Cheese Spinach Lasagna

Glazed Hoisin Chicken Breasts

Soups and Stews:

Turkey Chili

Cheesy Winter Seafood Chowder

Veggies, Salads and Sides:

White Beans and Squash Medley

Spiced Winter Slaw

Winter Citrus Fruit Salad

Caramelized Butternut Squash Custard

Lemon Topped Broccoli

Sweets and Treats:

Honey and Spice Yogurt Fruit Dip

Orange Green Tea Smoothie

Pineapple Mango Salsa Spread

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 ounce) can peeled whole tomatoes and juice
1 (7 ounce) container sun dried tomato pesto
2 free range eggs
2 (15 ounce) containers ricotta cheese
1 (14 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 (8 ounce) package Italian cheese blend, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 oven ready lasagna noodles

Instructions:

Pour the oil into a large skillet and place over medium heat.
Once the oil has is hot but not smoking add the onion.
Cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally.
Stir in the garlic and continue cooking 1 minute garlic should be fragrant.
Pour in the tomatoes and use the back of a spoon to crush being sure to leave chunks in the sauce.
Place the heat on low and cook 3 minutes.
Add the pesto and stir well.
Remove the skillet from the heat.
Beat the eggs slightly in a large mixing bowl.
Add the ricotta cheese, spinach and 1/2 of the cheese blend.
Stir well.
Add the Parmesan cheese and salt and continue stirring until completely combined.
Cover the bottom of a large baking dish with sauce.
Lay 4 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.
Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over the noodles.
Cover with sauce.
Repeat layers 2 more times ending with sauce on the top.
Bring the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle the top of the lasagna with the remaining Italian cheese blend.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
Bake 45 minutes.
Remove the foil and continue baking 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Allow lasagna to stand 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 (16 ounce) bag coleslaw
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped fine
1 Serrano chile sliced thin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons lime juice

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet until hot over medium high heat.
Add the mustard seed to the hot oil.
Cover the skillet and heat the mustard seed 30 seconds or until the popping stops completely.
Add the coleslaw mix, cilantro and chile and blend together.
Sprinkle in the salt, cumin and turmeric and stir well to incorporate the flavors.
Continue cooking and stirring continuously for 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender.
Pour in the lime juice and cook an addition 1 minute.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter, divided
3 cups sweet onion, sliced thin
1 teaspoon sucanat
3 tablespoons all natural beef broth
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
2 (6 ounce) beef sirloin steaks, boneless and 1 inch thick (preferably grass fed beef)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

Place 1 tablespoon of butter into a large skillet and place over medium heat.
Let the butter melt completely.
Add the onions.
Stir in the sugar and allow to cook 20 minutes or until caramelized being sure to stir often.
Pour in the beef broth and add the thyme.
Stir well to incorporate.
Cook 3 minutes or until the beef broth is reduced.
Sprinkle both sides of the steaks with the salt and pepper.
Place the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter into another large skillet.
Allow the butter to completely melt over medium heat.
Add the steaks and cook 5 minutes.
Turn and continue cooking 3 minutes for a medium rare steak.
Adjust cooking times for rare or well done.
Remove and place the onions over the steaks before serving.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup butter
14.5 ounces chicken broth
1 cup potato, peeled and cubed
2 ribs of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/4 cup clam juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 cups organic milk
1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (6 ounce) can crabmeat, drained and flaked
1 cup shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked

Instructions:

Place the butter into a soup pot over medium heat.
Allow the butter to completely melt.
Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until tender.
Pour in the broth.
Add the potatoes, celery and carrots.
Pour in the clam juice and stir to combine.
Sprinkle in the lemon pepper and stir to blend the ingredients together well.
Bring soup to a rapid boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.
Place the flour and milk together in a small bowl.
Whisk until completely combined.
Turn the heat back up to medium.
Add the mixture to the soup.
Bring the mixture back to a rapid boil.
Continue to cook stirring constantly for 2 minutes as the liquid thickens to your liking.
Once thick reduce the heat to low and add the cheese, crabmeat and shrimp.
Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the cheese has completely melted into the soup.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeds removed
2 teaspoons olive or coconut oil
4 free range eggs
1 3/4 cup organic half and half
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

Brush the entire squash with the oil.
Place cut side won on a baking sheet.
Heat the oven up to 400 degrees.
Bake the squash for 55 minutes.  The squash should be fork tender when done.
Set the baked squash aside until cool enough to handle with your hands. 
Bring the oven temperature down to 300 degrees.
Once the squash has cooled remove the skin.
Place the flesh into the blender and puree until smooth.
Place 2 cups of the puree into a large mixing bowl. 
Add the eggs. 
Pour in the half and half and the maple syrup. 
Blend together until completely combined and very smooth. 
Sprinkle in the salt and pepper and stir to incorporate into the mixture. 
Very lightly spray a ceramic baking dish with a non stick cooking spray. 
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. 
Fill a slightly larger pan 1/2 full of water. 
Place the baking dish into the water filled pan. 
Bake 50 minutes or until the custard sets and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. 
Be sure to cool before cutting.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 cups mixed salad greens
1 pink grapefruit, in segments
1 orange, in segments
1 pear, sliced
1 cup grapes, seedless
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Instructions:

Pour the olive oil, orange juice and vinegar into a small bowl.  Whisk slightly to combine.  Add the honey and whisk briskly until the honey is completed blended in.  Sprinkle in the pepper and stir to incorporate the ingredients together.

Place the salad greens on a plate.  Top the greens with the grapefruit segments, orange segments, pear slices, grapes and cranberries.

Drizzle the dressing over the entire salad.

Serves 4