Here’s the low-down on your oats:

• Oats help to reduce cholesterol.   Simply put, soluble fiber binds to cholesterol in your gut and keeps it from being absorbed into your bloodstream, thereby reducing your LDL (bad) cholesterol.
• All oats are created equal.  Old fashioned, steel cut, instant, Irish – it doesn’t matter – they all have heart health benefits.
• Oats might help you lose weight.  Oats have lots of fiber and fiber keeps you full.  Having a fiber-rich breakfast may help curb afternoon snacking.
• ½ cup of oats has 4 grams of fiber, which is 15% of your daily needs.
• Oatmeal is a great vehicle for other healthy foods – like nuts, fruit and peanut butter.

Try these yummy, Nurturing Nutrition-tested oatmeal recipes:

Chunky Monkey Hot Brekkie

• ½ cup instant oats
• 1 tsp. Skippy, all-natural peanut butter
• ½ ripe banana, sliced

Classic Morning Oats

• ½ cup instant oatmeal
• 2 tbsp raisins
• ½ tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp sliced almonds
• Cinnamon, as desired

Tropical Treat Oatmeal – sorry, no pic.

• ½ cup instant oats
• 1 tbsp sweetened coconut
• 1 tbsp dried cherries
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tbsp. macadamia nuts, chopped
• Cinnamon, as desired

Other delicious additions – apples, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, dates, walnuts, flax seeds, honey, mango, pineapple, blueberries.  What do you add?

Hunger is a better cue that your baby is ready for solids rather than the date on the calendar.  Most parents will tell you that there is a point, usually between 4 and 6 months, that their baby just became so hungry that breastfeeding or formula wasn’t cutting it anymore.  That is when they knew that it was time to supplement baby’s diet with solid foods.  This cue-based feeding method is the right approach to take.  At the heart of it is continuing to pay attention to your baby’s cues, just like you did for the first four months.  When your baby starts showing signs of hunger that you can’t keep up with – time to add some solids.

What you start with is up to you.  Most doctors will advise you to start with iron fortified rice cereal, and if your baby is younger than 6 months that is probably a good place to start.  Then you can add vegetables, fruits and meats as you move along.  If your baby is 6 months you can start with meat as a first food to supply your baby with the iron she needs then move onto vegetables, fruits, grains, egg yolks, etc.

SP started a couple of weeks ago, at 5 months and 1 week, and we started with Happy Bellies Brown Rice Cereal, but soon moved onto bananas, broccoli and avocado – all through the mesh feeder bags. Except for the raw broccoli experiment below.

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We were never ones to overspend, we pay our credit card in full every month, we’re never behind on mortgage or car payments and we can still afford to eat out and buy extras when we want.  But then life changes, a baby and a job loss moved us from easy comfort and into stretching every dollar.  We put tape around our credit cards and I imposed the “envelope method” for budgeting.  We allot a certain amount each month for groceries, gas and extras.  At the beginning of the month the envelopes are filled with cash and we can only use that cash to buy our essentials.  It has taught B and me a thing or two about how much we used to spend and how we can really live off of so much less.

The biggest change to come out of this is how we’ve been able to stretch a meal.  This is the story about how we got 12 meals out of one chicken.

Day 1: Roasted Chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli.  This was a frozen whole oven roaster chicken that finally saw the light of day.  It was bought at a BOGO sale months ago, so already half-price chicken!  Fed 2 adults (Meals 1 and 2).

Day 2: Chicken soup.  The night before I got my hands slimy and tore apart the chicken to remove every edible morsel of meat.  The chicken soup was simple enough – Sautéed onion, celery and carrots, sliced garlic, and whole peppercorns.  Then chicken broth,  1 1/2 cups of chicken meat and pre-cooked whole wheat egg noodles.  This was served with ½ a grilled cheese sandwich.  Fed us for 2 dinners and 2 lunches. (Meals 3-6).  With about 3 cups of chicken meat left I froze 1 cup knowing that I wouldn’t be using it until the next week.

Day 3: Chicken Pot Pie.  See Cooking Light recipe here.  We used a real pie crust, B was sick of the biscuit top, so it was a treat!  Meals 7, 8, 9 and 10 because we had it on day 3 and day 5.

Day 7: Chicken Quesadillas.  I took the 1 cup of frozen meat out to thaw.  We whipped together sautéed garlic, onions and peppers, the thawed chicken meat, frozen corn with some chili powder, cumin and garlic salt.  Used whole wheat tortillas and cheddar cheese to make 1 whole quesadilla, split in half for 2 adults.  Served with avocado, sour cream and salsa and a green salad on the side.  Meals 11 and 12.

And that’s that, twelve meals made from one chicken.  Granted, B and I eat small portions, I know that one family could easily devour a whole chicken in one sitting, so you might need a bigger bird.  But by following proper portion guidelines and adding vegetables or fruit to every meal and this plan can easily feed two adults for a week.

What are some ways your family stretches your food dollar?

What else would you do with extras from a whole chicken or turkey?

Without going into too much detail I will tell you that my little SP needed medical attention at 6 days old.  My little angel was dehydrated because I wasn’t producing enough milk.  At that point, for her health and safety, I had to start her on formula.  While I pumped and pumped and pumped and nursed and nursed and nursed she needed to be supplemented with formula for 5 weeks until finally, at one point, my supply equaled her demand.

Since I’ve seen both sides I can definitely understand that many formula feeding mothers are faced with judgment regarding their lack of breastfeeding.   Sixty years ago moms who breastfeed were judged, put down, not offered support from the medical profession nor their friends and family.   Now, I see the opposite problem.   Moms who have chosen to formula feed for any reason are judged for their very personal decision of how to feed their baby. 

So, let’s give all moms a break.   Formula feeding or breast feeding neither makes you a better mother.  In each case you are giving your child exactly what he or she needs – nourishment to grow and develop.  So breast feeding moms – stop judging.  Formula feeding moms  – stop feeling bad.  We are all doing a great job!

Fit Kids Fun Run

Free Race!!! Usually, these events cost at least $10

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

City Park, Warwick, RI

Yesterday, I had one of my favorite little guys in my office and we were working together to come up with a plan to help him get more exercise.  I remembered a news report I read recently about how people who took more steps during commercial breaks burned more calories, no surprise here, and you don’t need me to tell you that calorie burn equals weight loss.   So, I asked my young patient what he thought about having a contest during commercial breaks – a contest?  Yeah!  I suggested that he try to see how many jumping jacks he can do during one commercial break, he loved it and he suggested that he also do toe touches and run in place during the next commercial breaks – what a great idea!  That patient left with 3 new ways to be active and have fun and an exciting thing to work on and come back and tell me about at his next appointment.

When it comes to being active with children you’ve got to make it fun and sustainable.  Most kids I know don’t want to walk for thirty minutes on a treadmill, but playing Simon Says for thirty minutes is the most fun ever!  Turning off the TV and turning on the music and having a dance party is not only a good way to burn calories, but it’s actually a good way to blow off some steam and connect with your kids on in a fun way.  Getting the family involved in active games like Simon Says, Mother May I, Red Light Green Light and Twister or even something as simple as building a fort in the bedroom are the most fun you’ll ever have exercising!

I have a new baby (four and a half months now), we’ll call her SP (Sweet Pea, Sweetie Pie, Stinky Pants…take your pick).  Feeding SP is a blog all in itself.   Also, my family has also just implemented a new budget and we are learning how to stretch our food dollar more than ever before!  So, there will be lots of budget-friendly tips and recipes!  Then there’s feeding myself and my husband.  For me losing my baby weight, running and beginning training for another half marathon while working full time and being a mom will all be nutrition and fitness challenges that I’ll need to face.  As for my darling husband (we’ll call him B), one might think that having a dietitian for a wife automatically makes you the perfect specimen of health – I wish.  Every once in a while we’ll discuss my efforts to get him on my bandwagon!  So, stick with me and invite others to join you.  It’s my New Year’s Resolution to pick up the pace, get on board with this blogging thing and bring need-to-know nutrition information to the masses (I’m thinking positive here)!

I apologize now for my sentence structure and grammatical errors – that’s next year’s resolution!

Since I decided to have it as my dinner I went for the whole box for 180 calories, 10 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber.  Not to mention – 60% of my Vitamin A, 8% Calcium, 12% Iron and 20% of my Vitamin C for the day.  I paired it with 1 cup of Minute Brown Rice and I had dinner in under 10 minutes.

It wasn’t the tastiest dinner ever but it certainly hit the spot and filled me up – a lot!  I think I actually ate too much (didn’t practice the “Apple Test”) so it is definitely filling.  After working and being home alone with an infant the Healthy Weight frozen veggies from Green Giant hit the spot.  I’m sure I could have dressed it up a bit by adding some onion and garlic or half and half and pasta for creamy tossed pasta, but there’s a possibility that I would have been asleep before it was done!