More School Nutrition and Lunch Tips

Brown bag lunch or school cafeteria lunch?

This question is not an easy one to answer. Only you can make that decision based on your school's menu, your household economy, time available to make lunches and your child's eating habits.

Brown bag lunch -
Food allergies or certain health conditions such as Type 1 diabetes or even asthma may be a problem for some that makes it necessary to make a lunch every day. Others may believe in the nutritional power of organics and would like to provide fresh, organic food for their children every day. Still others may have picky eaters and know that the school cafeteria food may not always appeal to their children so a brought lunch is a necessity. For some fun ways to dress up the "brown bag lunch" and make it more eco-friendly, check out Laptop lunches, Eco lunch boxes, Lunch bots, Fresh snack pack and Mimi the sardine. These companies are all local and offer fun, green and safe alternatives to the standard lunch box.

School cafeteria lunch-
But, many parents will opt for the cafeterial lunch for convenience or the belief that a hot lunch is better than a soggy sandwich that may not be eaten. And, there is a new focus on school nutrition at the federal level. According to an article in The New York Times, "The Department of Agriculture is expected to upgrade school food nutrition standards this year, many of which haven’t been changed for nearly 15 years." Congress is looking at banning trans fats in cafeteria kitchens and reviewing proposals to re-equip kitchens to prepare healthier food. "A recent School Nutrition Association study showed that over 80 percent of schools cook fewer than half of their entrees from scratch." Much of this emphasis on healthy foods within the schools is due to President Obama's agenda to improve school nutrition. The First Lady is also actively promoting better school nutrition.

Both brown bag lunch and school cafeteria lunch-
If you want to find a happy balance between your child's desire for chicken nuggets, pizza and hamburgers every week for lunch and your own desire for fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats, you could combine the brown bag lunch and a cafeteria lunch. Once school starts, check your school's monthly lunch menu and post it on the fridge. There may be some selections that both you and your children agree on. This would give them the opportunity to get a hot lunch a few days and a brown bag lunch the rest of the month. Everyone is happy!

How to encourage literacy with your children

Encouraging literacy is very important. And, new studies have shown that you can never start too early. Literacy is a key foundational block to being successful as an adult and gives children confidence as they enter school. Here are the top five steps. For more information, see the full article on Gideon Learning Blog.

1. Read aloud to your child.

2. Attend age-appropriate storytimes with your child.

3. Have books in the house.

4. Encourage reading by being a reader.

5. Encourage conversation with your children even before they can speak.

Review, remove and recycle

'Tis the season to start looking through all those broken toys, unstuffed stuffed animals, torn books and limbless dolls and decide what to do with them after receiving more toys and dolls from Santa. It is this time of year that I do my "winter cleaning" and start to throw away those broken and unrepairable toys. I give away those repairable toys, dolls and books as well as those games that have one piece missing that could be substituted or any toys that are past the age of my children. I also go through clothes to see which ones can become official play clothes and which ones should become rags. Or even, some can be given away. I always find it a nice way to start the New Year with an organized house. And, even if the holidays are over, there are still families and children in need of things that we are fortunate enough to replace. Think about it and review, remove and recycle!

Genetically modified sugar in Halloween candy

It is always important to know where are food is coming from and how it is processed. Food labels are more helpful these days as they include calories, ingredients and whether the food is organic or not. However, one area that is not being labeled is genetically modified ingredients. There are several products that are genetically modified (GM or GMO) such as corn, soy and now sugar beets. The manufacturers, specifically Monsanto, of the GM seeds are lobbying hard to prevent any labeling for consumers. This has been an ongoing issue for several years.

With Halloween around the corner, it was brought to my attention that there are two candy companies, M&M/Mars and Herseys who are ignoring a September 2009 ruling by a Federal Court that GM sugar beets should never have been approved for introduction into the food supply without better environmental impact studies. So, be aware that most if not all of the Halloween candies from these companies have GM sugar beets as an ingredient.

Be educated and be healthy.

Happy Halloween!

For more information:

Reuters news organization's article covering September ruling against GM sugar beets and Monsanto

SF Gate's November 2008 coverage of the upcoming 2009 GM sugar beets ruling

Seeds of Deception newsletter by leading expert on GM foods, Jeffrey M. Smith covering GM sugar beets in January 2008

Center for Environmental Health and Care2's coverage and petition against GMO sugar beets

Financial Tips for Families

With fall activities in full swing and the holidays just around the corner, budgeting, spending and family finances become topics of discussion. We all want to save where they can and stretch our money. So, how about saving a little more money with all these expenses? Here are a few tips to help you save without changing your spending habits!

1. Earn money while you shop online - there are web sites that allow you to earn money for every purchase you make, such as Fatwallet and Upromise. They have retail partners which give you back a percentage of your purchase when you sign up and order through their sites. Fatwallet and Upromise put the money earned with every purchase into your account. They will send you a check or you can save it in a regular account or even a 529 college savings account. What do the partners get from this? They get advertising exposure and enjoy customer loyalty. But, remember, you must go through these specific web sites and not the retail sites. See Fat Wallet and Upromise for more information.

2. Cut health care costs for your children - ask if you can email or phone in to your pediatrician for questions before making an appointment that may easily be covered over the phone or on email. This is an easy way to cut down on office visit costs. Another way to cut costs is to keep current on all vaccinations for your children. This is the best preventative medicine for many serious illnesses. If you have any concerns about specific vaccinations, consult your pediatrician. Another way to cut down on costs is to make all your appointments or cancel ahead of time. Most offices charge a fee for any appointments that are not cancelled more than 24 hours in advance. Lastly, eating well and exercising as a family will help to keep you all healthy and as illness-free as possible.

3. Use credit cards that pay you - Discover cards are well-known for their cash back bonuses. They gives you 5% on many categories such as travel, gas and groceries. Capital One has a no-hassle cash rewards card too which offers 2% for gas and grocery purchases and 1% on all other purchases. Chase rewards and Citi cash returns also offer cash back for purchases. For more information on cash back credit cards, see e-wisdom.

4. Schedule automatic payments - when you miss a bill payment, you end up paying a fee. To avoid these fees and the hassle of remembering when your bills are due, set up automatic payments, especially for those consistent monthly bills like mortgage, cable, trash and water. You can set up automatic payments either through your bank or through each individual service provider. There shouldn't be a cost with auto pay as many service providers and banks find it advantageous to get paid on time!

5. Use your discounts - if you are a member of AAA or Costco, you often receive discounts at hotels, museums and for trips. Also, if you own a museum membership, oftentimes there are partnerships with other museums and/or cultural or science centers. Happy Hollow members get into Coyote Point Museum and Oakland Zoo free. Make sure that you have a list of benefits for your membership.

6. Mark your calendar - if you are renting movies at the video store or loaning books from the library, mark your calendar with the due dates. This way you avoid unnecessary late charges.

7. Drive to save - you can save money on gas by keeping your car properly maintained. If you don't, you could end up with large car repair bills. A few things that take little to no effort and help you save money: keep your tires properly inflated, don't drive aggressively and clean out your trunk. These three things can give you better gas mileage immediately.

8. Help your schools - programs such as e-scrip, box tops and good search are no brainers for parents. Each of these programs lets you support your school without doing anything differently. escrip gives money to the school you register from purchases with your registered credit cards and grocery cards automatically. For each box top you turn in from everyday products such as Cheerios and Ziplock bags, your child's class room gets money back. For internet searching, you give money to your registered school for each search through Good search. How easy is that?!

For more info:
20 lazy ways to save money
5 ways to save without trying
Cutting children's health care costs

Flu and Cold 101

With the school year in full swing and H1N1 is making its mark, it is time to think about germs again. With greater contact along with the change of weather, colds and flus show up again. Believe it or not, viruses and bacteria can live up to 2 hours or longer on surfaces such as cafeteria tables, doorknobs and desks. But, there are many ways to prevent germs from spreading to your household too often.

1. Advise your children to avoid close contact with those who appear sick.

2. If your children are sick, keep them home. They will feel better faster and you will not spread the infection. This is especially important with the spread of H1N1 since it seems to be contagious a lot longer than seasonal flu.

3. Teach your children to cough and sneeze into their elbows instead of into their hands. This will avoid spreading germs by hand contact.

4. Model effective and frequent hand washing - wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice.

5. Have hand sanitizers available when washing is not possible. Keep them in your car, in your purse and in the sports bag. If your children have been playing soccer, gymnastics or any other after school sport and need a snack once in the car, you will need hand sanitizers first!

6. Teach your children to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth since these areas lead to the quick spread of germs.

Although flu vaccines are in short supply, call your healthcare provider to see if they have vaccines available, especially for your children who are considered high risk.

For more information, contact your healthcare provider and see the CDC web site for seasonal flu and H1N1 info.

Pumpkin patch visit

If you still have not made the customary annual visit to the pumpkin patch and are unsure where to go, check out Where to find pumpkin patches website. This site is great because it not only gives you a directory of pumpkin patches (with and without hay rides) but it also has the history of halloween, how to pick a good pumpkin, how to carve a pumpkin, pumpkin recipes and more.

Yes, the popular places to go are Half Moon Bay's Pumpkin Festival (this weekend - Oct 17-18) where they have prizes for the largest pumpkin and Uesegi Farms in Morgan Hill with a train ride. But, if they are not close by and you would rather take an hour or so at the patch vs. a half day, then check out G&W Farms in Livermore. They have pony rides, corn maze, big patch, corn kernal play box and hay bale maze.

Happy Pumpkin Hunting!

More kids eat free

We all love it when our kids eat for free. So, here are a few places that are offering "kids eat free" deals. Some of limited and others are ongoing. Check it out and enjoy a meal out as a family without breaking the bank!

Sweet Tomatoes: National Pajama Month is this month and Sweet Tomatoes is celebrating with a free breakfast special for kids from 9 am to noon on Sunday, October 18th. This is the third annual "kids eat free" celebration and features Belgian waffles, French toast, burrritos, frittatas and scrambles. Kids 12 and under eat free at the locations in Fremont, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, San Jose and Sunnyvale.

Boston Market offers two free kids meals per family through October at their restaurants in Foster City, Fremont, Mountain View, Oakland, Palo Alto, Pleasant Hill and Santa Clara.

Pasta Pomodoro continues to offer its free kids' meals Tuesdays at selected East and South Bay locations. Check the web site for more information.

Happy Dining!

Spanking may lower a child's IQ

A report was presented in San Diego on September 25th by a sociologist that suggests children who are spanked or physically punished have lower IQs. Murray Strauss along with his colleague from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation looked at 1,510 children — 806 kids ages 2 to 4, and 704 ages 5 to 9 over a period of 4 years. They "found that roughly three-quarters had endured some kind of corporal punishment in the previous two weeks, according to interviews with the mothers. Researchers measured the children's IQ initially, then again four years later. Those kids who hadn't been spanked in the initial survey period scored significantly better on intelligence and achievement tests than those who had been hit. " The connection between physical punishment and brain development is explained as fear and stress from the hitting which inhibits focus and learning. They even tracked countries that accept corporal punishment and the lower levels of IQs in those countries. Most of us know that hitting doesn't solve the problem or teach our children the lessons we want to teach them. But, now there is strong evidence to suggest we are truly doing our children a disservice by hitting them when they need discipline. For more information on this study, visit the time.com link to the article covering this story. There are also other sites who are covering these findings so you can simply google it.

Homemade fruit and vegetable wash

These days with all the pesticides and concern for contamination in fruits and vegetables, many people choose to use fruit and vegetable wash. However, it can be expensive if you use it with all your fruits and vegetables as I do. But, making your own wash allows you save money while ensuring your fruits and vegetables are as clean as possible for your family. Here is the recipe as found on about.com.

Items needed: spray bottle, white vinegar, water

Directions: Fill the spray bottle with equal parts of water and white vinegar. Spray your fruits and vegetables, rub the wash into them and rinse well.

Easy and cheap!