It's the spookiest, yet "sweetest" time of year....Halloween!

Many parents struggle with deciding how much Halloween candy is too much for their little trick-or-treaters.

Here are some tips that are posted on York Region Community and Health Services:

1. After trick or treating, let your children empty their candy bag, sort it and eat as much of it as they want. Let them do the same the next day.

2. On the third day, have them put the candy away and only allow it to be eaten during meals and snacks: a couple of small pieces for dessert and as much as they want for snack time.

3. If children can follow these rules, they get to keep control of the candy. Otherwise parents take control.

4. Offer milk, fruit or vegetables with the candy to offer some nutrition.

5. Schedule meals and snacks at regular times and keep the routine of letting your child have Halloween candy only at these times. This way candy will not spoil a child’s diet.

6. Remind children to brush their teeth after eating the candy and if this isn’t possible, at least rinse their mouth.

These tips were adapted from: Your Child’s Weight: Helping Without Harming Birth Through Adolescence, 2005 by Ellyn Satter.


You'll notice that these tips follow Ellyn Satter's Division of Responsibility of Feeding, where parents decide WHAT, WHEN and WHERE, while children decide IF and HOW MUCH. In order for this theory to be successful, a parent must trust that their child is capable of eating the amount they need. Ellyn believes, "if parents do their jobs with feeding, their children will do their jobs with eating".


What do you think about this idea? What are the "rules" in your home when it comes to Halloween treats?

Recipes FOR Kids Made BY Kids!

Check out these new award-winning kid-friendly recipes on the Eat Right Ontario website that were designed by kids themselves! These are perfect for back to school snack and meal ideas. 

Here's a sneak peak of one of the delicious recipes you can find on the site:

Edible Butterfly Quesadilla

School day snacks: Grades 4 to 6

Making your snack into a fun shape or animal can be a new way to enjoy it. By cutting your quesadilla and using some other vegetables, you can create this tasty butterfly snack. Riley, from Belle River, thinks kids will like this recipe because it is creative and colourful and it looks like a butterfly!

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 1 butterfly

Ingredients 

2      small whole wheat flour tortillas                                         
2      slices cheddar cheese                                 
1      small tomato, thinly sliced                           
1      large leaf romaine lettuce                             
3      baby carrots                                                
1      small stalk celery, cut in two                         

Directions

1. Place one of the tortillas on a plate. Top with cheese, tomato and lettuce. Place remaining tortilla on top. 
2. Cut into 4 quarters and separate slightly. Place 3 carrots in the middle to form the body of the butterfly. Place the celery sticks on top for the antennae.

 

Tip

Make the quesadilla and wrap in plastic wrap one day in advance.

Nutrition information per butterfly quesadilla: Calories: 436, Protein: 20.5g, Fat: 21.9g, Carbohydrate: 39.4g, Fibre: 5.8g, Sodium: 863mg, Calcium 417mg, Iron 2.1mg 

Click HERE to check out the rest of the yummy recipes on Eat Right Ontario

Food Skills for Little Chefs

Sharing these fun child-friendly cookbooks and resources I came across at Chapter's today!

Teaching kids how to prepare meals at an early age will help them to develop important food skills that will last a lifetime! 

The first step is to get your kids excited about food and where it comes from! Plant a fruit and vegetable garden together or visit a local farm, orchard or pumpkin patch. Use the fresh produce you pick to create delicious, healthy and colourful meals as a family.

Involve kids in meal and snack prep by teaching them age-appropriate techniques. For example, you can teach younger kids how to stir, whisk, knead or mash, and older kids how to safely peel, slice or chop. 

Your kids will feel proud when they get to taste a meal that they helped contribute to from start to finish!

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

Wishing all you mommies out there a very happy and enjoyable Mother's Day Weekend with your family. You deserve it!

- Jenna

Kids Eat Right

Do you have food and nutrition related questions? Eat Right Ontario has answers!

Eat Right Ontario is a free service that provides easy to use nutrition information to residents of Ontario. You can call Eat Right Ontario at 1-877-510-510-2 to speak directly with a Registered Dietitian or you can visit their website at www.eatrightontario.ca. I would highly recommend this service to answer your nutrition questions from the convenience of your own home.

For parents, there is a website called Kids Eat Right. Kids Eat Right includes evidence-based, trusted nutrition information to help your children grow healthy. The resources on this website are both credible and easy to use. Visit Kids Eat Right to check out healthy recipes, nutrition information and featured how-to videos.

The Bittersweet Truth About Sugary Drinks

Remember the old saying "Just a spoonful of sugar" from Mary Poppins? Well since then, the food industry has been adding a whole lot more than just one spoonful of sugar to many drinks. This post will hopefully help you as a parent to choose healthier, delicious drinks that are packed with flavour and nutrients instead of sugar!

The Sweet Truth:

Sugar is a carbohydrate that helps to make food and drinks taste sweet. When we hear sugar, we usually think of table sugar or brown sugar. This type of sugar is called sucrose. Many foods that are rich in carbohydrates are made of different kinds of sugars. The sugar found in milk is called lactose and the sugars that can be found in fruits are called fructose,  sucrose and glucose.

The sugars found in fruit and milk are "natural sugars", while the sugar added to food and drinks to sweeten them up are "added sugars". It is important to choose foods with natural sugar because they are also packed with many vitamins and minerals! Foods with added sugars are not as good for your body. They are often found in foods with higher fat and more calories. You may be surprised by how many foods that appear to be healthy actually contain a lot of added sugar (like some breakfast cereals!). This is why it is very important to read nutrition labels and ingredient lists to know how much sugar is in the food and drinks you serve your little ones! You can also help prevent cavities by reducing your child's sugar intake.

So just how many spoons of sugar are in common drinks? Check out this diagram found on the Dietitians of Canada website.

Many juices and fruit cocktails on grocery store shelves are also made of a lot of added sugar! Be sure to read the nutrition labels on fruit juices to make sure they are made of 100% fruit juice and do not contain added sugar. Remember, whole fruits and vegetables contain less sugar than juices do! Try serving different fruits and vegetables rather than juices when possible.

Try serving your kids some of these drinks instead of the ones found above:

• Water is a great alternative to juice to quench your child's thirst!
• Fruit flavoured water (water with lemon, lime, berries or orange slices)
• Milk
• 100% fruit juice (you can also dilute with water)

References:
Eat Right Ontario
Dietitians of Canada