Photo credit: bluewaikiki.com / flickr.com

There are two types of men in this world: Those who love to grill and those who don’t. I used to fall into that second category, and I will tell you why. Because I had crappy grills.  Tiny table-top Hibachis.  Rusty black orbs on unbalanced wheels. As sweat dripped off my nose and onto the food, I churned out Chicken Breasts with Salmonella Sauce, and hotdogs marinated in lighter fluid.

I am pleased to report those days are over. In my latest advance from dude to dad, I have relieved myself of twelve hundred bucks on a completely kickass Weber Genesis. Did you know it is possible to create fire without a sack of charcoal bricketts? I, for one, did not know. But now I am wise. I have two tanks of propane, just in case I run out before the peppers get those cool black skidmarks on their skin.  Yes, I know how to do that now.

This weekend, I would like to invite the world’s population to my deck to show off my new grill. My only request is that you leave me alone while I do my magic on your meal. I may be a rock star on my Weber, but a multi-tasker I am not. For me, it’s distracting enough to have my kids around during the course of a normal day. Imagine what your food is going to taste like if you stand there talking to me while I’m  trying to grill it.  Please just stay inside until I tell you to come out. You’ll thank me when you taste your steak. Unless you want shrimp. I’m on a shrimp trip this week because my in-laws got me a special shrimp tray you’re supposed to put on the grill so no stray shrimps fall through the bars. It doesn’t prevent the occasional shrimp from falling on the ground, though.

This exact incident occurred when my friend Paul visited from the city to see our grill (and our kids) (in that order). When I dropped his shrimp on the deck, it led to a lively discussion about that “five second rule” we have in our house. You know, if your kid drops food on the floor, they’re allowed to eat it as long as it was only on the floor for five seconds.

Tell me, do you subscribe to that rule in your house? I need some answers pronto. I’m asking you this because on the morning of the shrimp-dropping incident, I happened to have put a little tin of ant poison on the deck. And some of the ant poison crumbs fell on the floor as I was I was putting it down. I was the only one who knew these were ant poison crumbs as opposed to regular, non-poison crumbs. But when the shrimp hit the deck, I suddenly realized there’s got to be ant poison crumbs on floors all over the place. The whole world, really. So. When it comes to grilling, this is the main lesson I want to leave you with: Just because your shrimp has only been on the floor for five seconds doesn’t mean it’s okay to eat it. It means you’re about to eat a shrimp with five-second-old ant poison on it.

And now, a recipe.

Dan Zevin’s Grilled Shrimp On The Special Shrimp Tray His In-laws Gave Him

• Step one: Take the bowl of raw, marinated Costco shrimp outside.
• Step two: Use the crazy, giant tongs from your in-laws to place them on your special shrimp tray.
• Step three: Grill them for like, hardly any time. Just until they turn orange.
• Step four: Eat the ones that didn’t fall in the poison ant crumbs.

The “From Our Readers” series features articles submitted by – you guessed it – readers of THE FATHER LIFE.  Today’s entry comes from William Reid, a WIC nutritionist and chef from Tarboro, NC.

The greatest year of your life has just ended and infanthood has now progressed to toddlerhood.  Your little bundle of joy will always be your baby and that will never change.  Developmentally they are no longer a baby and toddlers do need to be fed differently than babies.  The time has come to replace formula with whole milk.  If you are still breast feeding you may continue to do so but your child stills needs to drink whole milk. The additional calories in whole milk are beneficial to children from one to two years old, unless instructed to drink low fat milk by nutritionist or physician due to childhood obesity.

Milk should not be the primary source of calories for your one year old.  Meats, fruits, vegetables, breads and grains and dairy should round out your toddler’s diet.  A multivitamin is not usually needed if you are providing a variety of foods to ensure adequate vitamins and minerals. Consult your physician or nutritionist before starting a vitamin regiment.

Toddlers do not grow as rapidly as babies, which is perfectly normal.  Toddler’s nutritional requirements relative to their size decrease during the second year of life.  Continuing to feed them foods as nutrient dense as a babies diet will likely lead to childhood obesity. Your child should continue to gain weight but they should no longer double their weight as infants do.

Your toddler is becoming more active as they learn to crawl, walk, and eventually run. They will need adequate calories for this development.  Your toddler will usually eat only small amounts at one time.  If this is true for your child you will need to feed them frequently (4 – 6 times) throughout the day, so healthy snacking is strongly encouraged.

Water should become your toddler’s primary source of hydration.  Local water supplies often contain minerals such as sulfur that causes a foul flavor that toddlers can detect that we cannot so filtering your water might be a good option.  Two to three cups of milk a day is recommended for your toddler by the National Association of Pediatrics, the governing body for your child’s pediatrician.  An 8oz cup of milk has 150 calories and 8 grams of fat.  Three cups of milk gives your child 450 calories a day.  For those of you who give 6 and 7 cups of milk that equals 1050 calories and 56 grams of fat.  That is over half the average calories an adult needs in a day.

Most children are drinking way too much juice.  Orange juice, apple juice, cherry juice, and grape juice all has more calories, the same amount of sugar or more, and the same amount or greater total carbohydrates as a Coca-Cola.  The National Association of Pediatrics, your child’s pediatricians governing body; recommends no more than 6 oz of juice a day.  If you just can’t seem to get your children off of the juice sugar ride consider sugar free fruit punch or like items.  These are essentially flavored water and while not ideal it is better than serving 6 cups of grape juice to your child with 1440 total calories.

Feeding sweets or sweetened beverages is not recommended to prevent decreased appetite, tooth decay, and childhood obesity.  Salt, sugar, and strong spices are not recommended.  Toddlers have around ten thousand taste buds whereas adults have about two thousand.  The affect of the spices and enhancers on a toddlers tongue is more intense.

Caffeinated products are strongly discouraged.  While Caffeine has not been confirmed as a cause of ADD or ADHD, caffeine’s affect on children is greater than it is in adults.  Toddler smaller body and lack of tolerance to caffeine’s affects can cause them to be much more hyperactive than normal.  The caffeine crash adults experience is also greater in children and can cause unneeded irritability and grumpiness.

Keep in mind that toddlers are just small humans.  Like adults they can eat for the wrong reasons.  Like adults children get hungry when they are bored and can over eat when not appropriately stimulated.  Sometimes it is better to give your toddler or young child something to do instead of something to eat to promote good eating habits and prevent overeating.  Unlike adults toddlers are not in control of what or when they eat.  If they are allowed to do they have entirely too much control.  Remember that they are watching everything that mommy and daddy are doing and if you have a bad habit they are learning that bad habit.

After a long day, and the house finally quiet with the kids in bed, these evil evening hours can bring on the snack attack that can make the difference between being a fit or fat father.

From chips, candy to chocolate, whatever junk food you have in the house will eventually being eaten, despite your best efforts. It’s one of the basic laws of the universe, if food is in your house, it will end up in your gut. So shop smart and don’t take it home with you when you leave the supermarket. That’s half the battle right there.

Now to win the war on the snack attack I have 3 quick and nutritious healthy snack recipes that are salty, crunchy and sweet. They only take minutes to make, are high in nutrients AND taste, the perfect win-win!

1. Krispy Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of sea salt

2. Perfect Pistachios

3 tbsp of natural butter
1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2  tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups shelled dry-roasted pistachios

Stir everything together in a bowl, tossing to coat. Place pistachios in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes, give em a shake and stir and bake for another 10 minutes.

You will love the smell coming out of your oven and they taste even better the next day stored in a air tight container.

3. Guiltless Greek Garlic Dip

1 cup of plain Greek Yogurt
1 tsp of Clubhouse Roasted Garlic and Pepper Spice

Add to bowl and stir to mix. Takes 5 seconds to make and probably 5 seconds to eat with some homemade whole wheat pita chips!

Now you and your wife will be fighting over the food instead of the remote…

Give these a try and let me know in the comments below who got the last bite!

If you want some hearty and healthy meals this time of year that warms your belly instead of expanding it, then I got you covered with very little effort required.

Plus, these recipes all got thumbs up from our 2 year old daughter. Win! Win!

With this first recipe it don’t get much easier than throwing some meat and veggies in a pot, walking away and coming home to a savory supper full of high quality protein and finely cooked fresh vegetables.

Unless your running a marathon the next day, piling up on the pasta is not such a great idea if you want to be slim and trim. Switching to whole wheat spaghetti will give you some extra fiber but still almost a days worth of carbs in one meal.  But what if I told you that there is an awesome substitute for spaghetti that looks the same, and comes pretty close to taste and texture as well…

Say hello to the Spaghetti Squash. Rightly named, as the flesh of this squash closely resembles spaghetti noodles when cooked and scraped out using a simple fork.  It’s loaded with natural fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants as well as omega 3 fatty acids.

2. Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 4 cups spaghetti squash
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter (melted)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1lb extra lean ground beef
• 1/2 of bell pepper
• 1 cup onion (small diced)
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut squash in half and clean out the centre and seeds. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil or butter. Season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon and then place in the oven.

Bake squash for 45 minutes or until squash is tender enough to stick a fork into it with minimal resistance. Remove from oven and allow to cool a little.

While the squash is baking, preheat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, lightly coat with spray and add the ground sirloin until lightly browned and cooked all the way through. Add onions and bell pepper and sauté for 5 minutes more then add in the tomato sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Once squash has cooled a little, scrape the flesh out of the skin with a fork, then place serving on plate and top squash noodles with meat sauce and garnish with the parmesan.

Here is a post-Thanksgiving recipe for Tasty Turkey Soup that is so easy even a turkey can do it!

3. Tasty Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups turkey light meat, skinless, cooked and cubed
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup celery, sliced
• 10 ounces frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 carton of natural chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup whole wheat macaroni, uncooked

Directions:
In a quart 4-quart saucepan, combine turkey, water, celery, vegetables, broth, poultry seasoning, and black pepper. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil. Add macaroni and reduced heat to low. Cover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until macaroni is tender. This recipe can also be a “set it and forget” meal in the slow cooker before you head out the door.

So now you have 3 hearty and healthy go-to meals made with REAL foods that you can feel good about feeding your family and even going back for seconds…

Image by Carly Lesser and Art Drauglis

Getting back in shape is pretty basic. It’s a simple combination of the quality of your excercise, rest, and food.

The devil is in the details.

I recently received this inquiry, “I am at the beginning of the realization that I need to get out and be active. I have been cycling about 5 miles a day 5 days a week for almost a month now. I have not seen the weight loss that I was hoping for but really haven’t changed my diet and I know deep down that is what is to blame. What advice can you give a guy who wants to get back down to his ‘fighting weight’? I’m at 195ish and would love to be be back down around 180.”

First of all, getting back out there is probably the hardest step, so that’s commendable!

But here’s the problem, gotta change the diet! Our bodies are engines and we’re either putting in good fuel or bad. The hard part is, our bodies literally get chemically addicted to bad fuel. The chemicals, dyes, overprocessed sugars, etc. in most American’s diets are addictive and deadly. Treat it like you would heroin.

Skeptical? Google ‘processed food more addictive than drugs’ and see what you come up with, read a bit, and than get back to me…

The Huffington Post ran a recent article that gives a really good summary of how bad processed foods are for you. In “Food Addiction: Could It Explain Why 70% of Americans are Fat?”, Mark Hyman, MD writes, “New discoveries in science prove that industrially processed, sugar-, fat- and salt-laden food — food that is made in a plant rather than grown on a plant, as Michael Pollan would say — is biologically addictive.” It’s a disturbing article, and there are many more like it.

The solution?

#1 - Eat Real Food. The more processed your food is, the less it’s doing you any good. It’s hard to avoid all processed foods of every kind, but use your head. If the ingredients list sounds like a chemistry lesson than don’t eat it. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, they’ll fill you up and give you the right kind of energy. Grill a chicken breast instead of tossing the fried popcorn chicken in the microwave for dinner. Make more of your food from scratch rather than buying pre-packaged food.

This is a hard step for most folks because they think they’ll end up eating tofu and munching on almonds. The truth is, you’re body will thank you and so will your taste buds. Food made with fresh ingredients tastes far better than something pumped full of salt, vaccum packed, and thrown on a shelf. Maybe you’re not a good cook? Teach yourself. Involve the kids too, it’s time well spent, a lot of fun, and you’ll be modeling good habits for them. I’ve gotta say that one of my absolute favorite things is getting home from work, grabbing a glass of wine, and cooking with the family.  

The other misperception most folks have is that eating ‘real food’ costs more. It can, but it doesn’t have to. Our family of 5 eats very well on about $70/week. It’s very doable. In addition to your grocery store, buy from local farmers and at local markets. You’ll save money and get fresher, healthier food.

#2 – Don’t Eat Too Much. This is where I fall flat on my face. Did I make that grill-fired pizza from scratch with real ingredients? Yup. It is healthy? Relatively; all the ingredients were real and fresh. Is it tasty? So tasty I’ll go ahead on that 8th slice, thank you very much! You get the picture. Use your head. You know how much “too much” is. If you’re out to lose weight, it’s simple math. 3,500 calories is a pound. You’re either burning more than you’re eating or eating more than you’re burning. It’s that simple.

#3 – Be Patient. Truly the hardest part about making the switch to ‘Real Food’ is getting the junk out of your system first. Your body is literally addicted to processed ingredients and will crave more of them. But as you transition to more wholesome foods (i.e. – real ingredients), you’ll feel those chemicals flush out of your system.

The change that myself and my family has experienced by switching to real foods is nothing short of night-and-day. I don’t “crash” anymore, ever. And I have a lot more mental energy and focus. But it took time. It took a good 2 months, probably, until I felt like my body had made the transition. But it’s worth it because it means mastering your habits. And if you can master your habits, you can make any change in life that you need to! 

There is no doubt that we are busy people, yet we always seem to find time for those activities that we enjoy the most. The fact that you are reading this post tells me that you have free time, and chances are this is not a quick visit to the computer, nor will it be the last time you will play for a few minutes.  Look at what people are doing on Facebook these days… Farmville and similar time wasting games must consume a whole schwack of people’s time, yet they will tell a fitness professional, or their doctor, or their nutrition councilor that they don’t have any time to exercise, eat well, or plan for their week.

I understand that people are busy, especially parents.  Now that I am a parent, I don’t have the time to do some of the things I was used to doing before fatherhood.  Now, I am forced to choose what is most important for me to do in my free time.  Do I choose to chat on the phone, play Mafia Wars, go to pubs, watch television… no.  Does that mean that I am better than you? Definitely not; it just means that when it comes time to chat with my doctor on my yearly check up, I don’t have to worry about them telling me that I need to change my eating habits and begin an exercise program because I am in danger of a heart attack or diabetes.

When I talk to my students about their health, eating habits, and other wellness related topics, they always tell me that they don’t have enough time.  They don’t have the time in the morning to eat breakfast.  They don’t have the time to play a fun game with their friends.  They don’t have the time to exercise, and so on.  Now, I remember when I was in High School… I woke up in the mornings, stoked the fire, got my family up and ate my breakfast, showered and then watched television or played with my siblings, or did some home work and even some household chores.  I was usually running to the bus, but that wasn’t caused by a lack of time, it is because I was a life long procrastinator when it came to all things uninteresting.  If I had a game or practice, I was there plenty early.  If I had to go to work, I waited until the last possible moment.

Today, I am still the same when it comes to doing things that I don’t have on the top of my list, however, when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle and enjoying life, I manage that side of things quite well.  This is the purpose of this article, planning and prioritizing health and wellness.

For some reason, our society seems to go backwards when it comes to exercise, and eating.  We plan everything else, yet we seem to skip out on some of the most important things that will allow us to love long and more importantly, vibrant lives.  Because we skip out on eating well and exercising, we have to make extra trips to the doctor, the dentist, the pharmacist, and we take more days off work.  We multi-task every other aspect of our lives – in fact I saw a woman driving while brushing her teeth this morning! – Yet we seem to think that we need to exercise for hours to gain any benefit from the activities.  We will go out on the front step to have a smoke, but don’t have enough time to walk the dog.

Enough of my rant and back to the purpose of the post…

I want to offer what works for me and for many other of my friends in the fitness industry, or just people I know who plan their meals.  Each Sunday morning I sit at the table and go through my binder which sits in the cup board beside the fridge.  My lovely wife has organized the binder into sections for beef, chicken, vegetarian, casseroles, deserts, breakfast, and so on.  In each section is a bunch of recipes that have worked for us in the past, so we now have about 5-10 of our tried and true recipes in each section to choose from.  When we try a recipe that doesn’t work, we toss it in the recycle bin.

I make a plan on a piece of paper which I divide by day and meal.  I use breakfast and dinner for meals that we plan because we will always make enough for a dinner, lunch the next day, and then dinner the following night.  Breakfasts are a daily thing, and thus I plan for 5 breakfasts and 3-4 dinners per week.  Here is how it would look:

Monday: Breakfast – veggie omelet and smoothie Dinner - Chili & spinach salad

Tuesday: Breakfast – bacon & eggs with veggies & a smoothie Dinner – Chili & Spinach Salad

Wednesday: Breakfast – Waffles with berries & a smoothie Dinner – Salmon with broccoli & salad

Thursday: Breakfast – Open Faced English muffin & egg sandwich with smoothie Dinner – Sheppard’s Pie with Salad

Friday: Breakfast – Egg Scrambler & Smoothie Dinner – Sheppard’s Pie with salad Once I have the plan, then I create my grocery list with the required items and head out to the grocery store.  I generally go to Costco for most of the meat, fruits & veggies, nuts, and dairy, and then head to Safeway on the way home for the things that we only need to buy a few of such as sweet potato, yogurt, English muffins, and so on.

Once I have done my shopping, I look through the list and decide what needs to come out of the freezer.  For example, I should have some chili in the freezer so I will take that out and put it in the fridge for Monday.  On Wednesday I will take out the Salmon, and then on Thursday morning I will take out the Sheppard’s pie.

Why do I have all this food prepared in the freezer?

Because that helps with the planning for the week. I generally like to cook a bunch of meals on the weekend so that we can freeze them and thus do less preparing during the work week.  In the photo at right, I made 2 Sheppard’s pies, 2 bags of Chili, and 2 Bags of Spaghetti sauce which should last a month in conjunction to the other meals we choose. The pie, chili, and spaghetti are great for days when I forget to plan, or when something comes up and we need something quick with minimal preparation. The whole process of the Sunday cookout took 2 hours of prep and 1 more hour of the chili cooking on the stove.  I had everything cleaned up within 2 1/2 hours (except for the pot of chili).

This planning has made a significant difference in the amount of cooking I have to do after work, and because Jen is home these days, the meals that are already prepped can go into the oven about an hour before I arrive home from work! This means more family time and less chaos after a full work day.

I hope that you get the general gist of what goes into the planning department for our weekly meals.  To conclude, all you need is a freezer for your prepared meals, meat and fish, a binder for recipe organization, and a few hours on a weekend to plan the upcoming week. I would love to hear about how you and your family have managed to maintain a healthy lifestyle while raising children.

Do you want to know the one food that has all you need to build lean muscle and burn bodyfat? Oh yeah, and it tastes great AND is easy to prepare!

Your mother always told you to “eat your breakfast,” it’s the most important meal of the day!” Well, your Mom was right… again.

Just think of the word Break-Fast for a minute. You are breaking the fast of going all night without eating and get this… eating breakfast is a daily habit for the people who belong to The National Weight Control Registry. These people have maintained a 30-pound (or more) weight loss for at least a year, and some as long as six years.

If you skip breakfast you end up replacing calories during the day with mindless nibbling, binging at lunch and dinner, and you are setting yourself up for failure from the start.

Stay away from white breads and bagels if you want to avoid the mid-morning carb coma and reach for some perfect protein… the egg.

The egg is a complete protein food because egg protein has all nine of the essential amino acids (as well as all nine of the non-essential amino acids). Egg protein is second only to mother’s milk for human nutrition!

And, despite what Joe bodybuilder at your gym might tell you, eat the WHOLE egg. It contains half the protein and all the essential fats, vitamins and minerals…and no they won’t drive your cholesterol sky high.

*Data taken from the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15.

If that’s not enough to convince you to go yolk, eggs are also great the morning after a few too many as egg yolks also contain large amounts of cysteine, which breaks down the toxin acetaldehyde, one of the culprits behind a hangover…

Starting off the day with a good source of protein and healthy fat will help you build fat burning muscle, give you sustained energy and keep you full longer.

Left - free range; right - mass market

Reach for the omega 3 enriched egg,s as they are a better choice for the healthy fats as the hens are fed flaxseed; ree range eggs from your local farmers market are even better again, as they are of much higher nutritional quality than eggs from confinement chickens.

Just ask your kids to draw and color an egg, and they will reach for the yellow crayon. We all know egg yolks as yellow in color, but take a look at the difference in color of the yolks in mass market eggs compared to free range eggs. The free range egg is on the left. You are getting really healthy eggs if the yolk is bright orange.

So here is a quick 5 minute breakfast recipe for Jamaican Scrambled Eggs that is good for your taste buds and even better for your body…Now get cracking!

YOUTUBE VIDEO

Title image: RRRuslan

Those unfamiliar with spirits (liquor, not ghosts) might not a have a clue what the title of this article means. No, this is not an article about a nearly dry river bed that is now flourishing due to a recent and well overdue rainfall. It’s not the story of how this stream will now quench the thirst of the townsfolk who previously walked around aimlessly with dry mouth as they waited for the drought to end. But, for some people it’s as big of a deal.

Knob Creek, the U.S.’s top selling super-premium Bourbon, completely ran out of their stock of barrels this summer due to fact that this spirit is always in such high demand and because each and every batch has to age in barrels for nine years before it’s up to the standards set forth by the founder of Knob Creek, Booker Noe. His son Fred, a seventh generation distiller of the Beam family now runs the distillery.

This batch was barreled in 2000 and was tapped in a ceremony called “barrel dumping” on October 29th by Noe and Bill Newlands, president of Beam Global Spirits and Wine, U.S.

“We want to thank Knob Creek fans everywhere for their patience and understanding these past months, and promise it was worth their wait,” said Newlands during the ceremony. “Accelerating production and compromising quality, by a few weeks, even days, was never an option we considered. Knob Creek fans have been in touch, many thanking us for doing things the right way. It is very gratifying, and validating.”

Many major news outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ran stories about the shortage and a the distillery held a live webcast in September so that experts could explain why the shortage happened and answer questions from Knob Creek drinkers who worried that they would never get to taste their favorite Bourbon ever again.

“Dad would have been proud today, seeing his vision for Bourbon’s discovery by a new, sophisticated generation come to fruition,” said Noe. “That was his wish in creating a richer, longer aged Bourbon like Knob Creek, and with it, the entire Super-Premium Bourbon category that’s growing so rapidly. Increased demand wound up outpacing our own very solid 2000 forecasts, and created the shortage that’s on the road to ending today.”

So, a disaster is averted and a great (and reasonably priced) Bourbon is back on the market. Now, if we can figure out a way to get hop prices down and Crystal Pepsi back on the market, the beverage world will finally be at peace.

For more information, visit: www.knobcreek.com.

For all you busy dads who can’t find the time to master the art of roasting and basting and chopping and sauteeing to get a meal on the table like your mother used to make, take heart.  I have some short cuts to offer so you can get a healthy meal on the table in just 30 minutes.

What is a healthy meal?  Consider the following characteristics: you want adequate protein, carbohydrates, and fats, and moderation so you don’t go overboard on any one of these; you want variety so there’s a good chance of getting plenty of vitamins, minerals and fiber in each day; a balanced meal will have a small portion of meat, fish, or chicken and a hefty side of vegetables along with a side of starch; and you don’t want your family to have loads of extra calories every night at dinner that can lead to obesity and all the risks it brings.

If you’ve been counting on fast food drive thru windows and going out to grab something quick most nights, you can see why these haven’t been healthy meals: they rarely contain fruits or vegetables; they’re heavy on the starch (usually a sandwich plus fries); high in fat (from fries, mayonnaise and other sauces, and higher-fat cuts of meat or fried chicken/fish entrees); and as a result they are high in calories.  Plus, there isn’t a lot of variety if you’re ordering the same items frequently during a typical week.

The solution?  Find ways to get a balanced meal on the table almost every night without taking hours our of your day using these shortcuts:

1) Try simple recipes that include all the components of a healthy meal in one dish.  There are many casseroles with pasta and rice that include a protein food and a vegetable as well.  Examples of this would be a chicken and rice casserole with mixed veggies contained, or shrimp and pasta with spinach tossed in.  For many casserole dishes you toss all the ingredients in a dish and place it in the oven for 30-45 minutes and, voila!  Dinner is served.  It doesn’t take much time to prepare, but you do have to be home an hour before dinner to let the casserole cook.

Other options include crock-pot recipes that are also very simple, and take just a few minutes to pour together at the beginning of the day.  The crock pot stews your dinner for 5-8 hours during the day and you come home to a cooked meal.  If the recipe doesn’t call for any vegetables, modify it and throw some in!

Check sites like Campbell’s soup for many of these fast and easy recipes.

2) One of the fastest ways to cook meat, fish, or chicken is using the George Foreman grill.  Almost any entree can be cooked in less than six or seven minutes: hamburger, chicken breast, fish steak, beef steak, or pork chop.  It gets cooked all the way through with no mess, no fuss, no saucepans, and easy clean-up.

You can season with your favorite combination of spices or you can marinate the meat in the refrigerator during the day while you’re busy out of the house.  To balance the meal, add a side of your family’s choice of frozen vegetables: these can be microwaved in less than six or seven minutes as well!  And the starch side can be made instantly, literally: rice, cous cous,  stuffing, mashed potatoes, even mashed sweet potatoes can be fixed as fast as it takes to boil water and “let sit 5 minutes”.  Then you have a balanced meal on the table in less than 10 minutes… and it’s low in fat in calories since you haven’t fried any of the foods served,  So far, you’ve vastly improved over driving through to big up a bag of burgers and fries.

3) Take advantage of the deli counter in the supermarket.  Most of the time you can find some tasty entrees that are prepared with limited added fat.  Of course, you want to avoid the fried chicken and creamy coleslaw and stuffed potatoes.  But it’s easy to find roast chicken (usually whole chickens are available for just $6 or $7 in most grocery stores) or sliced ham that you can just bring home and serve with your own fast and healthy side dishes (see #2).

4) Get in extra nutrition with healthy desserts.  There are some easy recipes that incorporate peaches, pears, apples, berries and other fruits.  It takes a few minutes to put together some type of crust or crumble and briefly bake these cobbler-type dishes.  Reduce some of the fat and sugar the recipes call for and you’ll be serving your family more vitamins and fiber and less fat and calories for a tasty way to get in an extra serving of fruit.

Another way to get plenty of nutrients into your family’s diet is to make smoothies with fresh fruit and low-fat milk.  Cut the fruit into chunks and freeze at least a day ahead of time.  Then, put a cup or two of fruit in a blender and add milk to cover.  The result is a smoothie the kids will love that is chock full of calcium and vitamins.  No need to add anything fancy or sweet–it’ll taste great, naturally.

There are many simple ways to get your family low-fat entrees, a healthy amount of starch for energy-yielding carbohydrates, and vitamin-packed fruits and vegetables.  You don’t have to be a genius in the kitchen or a talented chef!  Keep chicken tenderloins, ground beef, instant rice and potato boxes, and plenty of frozen fruit and vegetables on hand:  Any night you need a healthy, balanced meal in a hurry you’ll be able to whip one up in less than a half hour.  Providing healthy meals for you and your family instead of those high in fat and low in nutrition is another notch in your belt for being a great dad!

Image credit: Jay Simmons ]]> http://thefatherlife.com/mag/2009/11/05/how-to-make-a-balanced-meal-in-a-hurry/feed/ 0 http://thefatherlife.com/mag/2009/09/10/review-suction-calibowl-no-more-messy-spills/ http://thefatherlife.com/mag/2009/09/10/review-suction-calibowl-no-more-messy-spills/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:06:50 +0000 Cate Burke http://thefatherlife.com/mag/?p=3795

My 16-month-old daughter eyes me warily as I open the mysterious box that has just arrived and pull out a strange bowl that looks nothing like any of her bowls. As I begin to remove the CaliBowl Kids Suction Bowl from its packaging, I sympathize with my little girl’s skepticism. Can a bowl really “eliminate the frustration of self-feeding and messy spills” as the product claims? However, with two toddlers and lots of uh-oh’s, I have a sense of hopeful optimism and look forward to seeing if it’s up to the challenge.

Within seconds of freeing the bowl, my 16-month-old son grabs it and races into the other room. His twin sister is in hot pursuit with the lid. “Ah well,” I think to myself as the giggling over the new toy begins, “if nothing else at least they enjoy playing with it!”

The Kids Suction Bowl, like the other CaliBowls, was produced by Simple Wave LLC with a patent-pending no-spill lip. The lip of these bowls was modeled after the tide of a wave, pushing food back onto the utensil. The original concept was conceived 20 years ago by construction worker and surfer dad Jeff Bollengier while surfing in Baja Mexico. The Kids Suction Bowl ($14.14 MSRP) is made from BPA-free polypropylene plastic, has a non-slip suction foot and is dishwasher safe. Some of the other bowls are available in both ceramic and plastic.

Once I round up my little product testers, we spend the next few days comparing the new bowl to our other ones, both suction and regular. After having each child use the bowl for several meals, here is what we discovered:

The 1.5 cup bowl is the perfect size for toddlers and the lid makes it easy to store leftovers. Both kids found the wide, shallow bowl easy to remove food from. The suction foot held up brilliantly to a great amount of biting and chewing by my teething tots. However, if you are looking for a suction foot that stays stuck, this is not it. The first time I set my daughter down in front of it, she pulled it up in 3 seconds and then four more times over the course of the meal. The bowl is hard to tip over if knocked from the side, thus the advertising of a “non-slip” suction foot.

My twin testers are still at the early stages of self-feeding; they can get food-to-mouth and spoon-to-mouth but are still working on the concept of food-on-spoon-to-mouth. Although I could not find a suggested age on this product, my kids (16 months) may be a bit younger than the optimal users of these bowls. At the end of the feedings it didn’t seem to make much, if any, different when comparing messes. It seemed to help a little with larger-piece food like mac ’n’ cheese, but I found it to be more difficult to scrape oatmeal from the sides of this bowl than from others. Overall I am still undecided on the no-spill lip, but then I do not find food spilling over the side to be a major problem in our house.

Honestly, I find the company’s mission more impressive than the product we tested. According to press materials “Simple Wave [LLC] and, by extension, CaliBowl are committed to enhancing the long-term sustainability of our planet by developing a framework for helping to preserve the environment.” With a Zero Landfill Policy, they have a “Recycle-a-Bowl” program that offers consumers a 20% discount of subsequent orders when they return a used CaliBowl at the end of its life. In addition, the company donates CaliBowls to Shriners Hospitals internationally though their “Charit-a-Bowl” program.

My son loves the new bowl, or seems to as he insists on putting it on his head every time he empties it. I like the Kids bowl well enough, but the bottom line is because of the price and lack of grip on the part of the suction I am more likely to consider the other offerings in the CaliBowl line in the future. I must admit, as a California girl who is far from home, some of the set names (Del Mar, La Jolla, Santa Barbara) make me a bit nostalgic. At least my kids have fun new toy that I am also willing to let them eat from; none of their other toys can make that claim!

This suction bowl was tested on Fisher Price Rainforest highchair trays. Results may vary by surface.

For more information about the company and products, go to www.calibowl.com.