Well, here it is! Yet another yummy (and surprisingly healthy!) pancake recipe. This recipe could be considered to be a follow-up to the last article posted on raising our healthy kids. This particular article mentions ‘Eat Right Ontario’, as a popular reference for dieticians and other health care providers. I decided to check out the website and picked out this recipe which just so happened to be the …
2015 Kids Recipe Challenge Winning Recipe: 2nd place!
New research into child development demonstrates that parents and caregivers can play a critical role in ensuring their child’s individual success in all areas of development. In order for that to happen, we often need extra support, wisdom, and encouragement along the way, so that we can feel confident in our ability to give our child a healthy start and provide early intervention. This is why Dieticians of Canada and Alberta Health Care Services have created a free video series called ‘Raising Our Healthy Kids’.
Lana Kelly
Editor, momstown Guelph
With National Autism Awareness Month happening in April, and Food Allergy Awareness Month coming up next month, I wanted to focus on this question: ‘Are autism and food allergies connected in some way?’ As I have had some experience in helping children with autism, as well as with food allergies (both in schools, and my own children), my answer would be a firm ‘Yes’.
Lana Kelly
Editor, momstown Belleville
Pancakes come in all different types and sizes. From griddlecakes, to flapjacks, to pancakes, to hotcakes – kids seem to love them all! This recipe is like a pancake, but called a flapjack, which originated in Britain, as a dense chewy, cookie bar. It is healthy, and great for kids’ lunch boxes, as a Pancake Day treat and throughout the school year!
You had better make them quick, though, as they will sell faster than a stack of hotcakes with your youngsters!
Since we celebrate Valentine’s Day (of which I recently heard someone call “Single’s Awareness Day”!) on February 14th and Pancake Day on February 17th this year, I thought it would seem logical to have a recipe that is relative to both of these commemorations.
Valentine’s Day and Pancake Day both have their roots in demonstrations of love, and the idea that we must show another the love that is in our hearts. So, this recipe is well suited.
These red velvet pancakes are surprisingly simple, super festive, and I have added a special ingredient which makes them extraordinarily fluffy!
Everywhere we turn, there are commercials, poster ads, and social media images which shame us, as parents, into believing that we are solely to blame for the fact that our child is overweight. It can even start as early as birth, when you have that first ‘well-baby check-up’, only to be advised that you are feeding your baby too much (on demand, imagine that!) and that he or she is above the average weight percentile. And, when our child gets older, we are constantly comparing him to his thin peers, and wondering where we went wrong, since he does not seem ‘a-typical’. In a sense, we are being brain- washed by the societal demands placed upon us as parents. We are conned into thinking that just because our child does not fit the ‘norm’, he is going to be ostracized because of it, and we tend to develop extremist attitudes that force us to do anything in our power to prevent the bullying that he will, no doubt endure, because of his ‘abnormal’ bodily appearance. Studies show, however, that focusing too much on our child’s weight can be harmful to their health – both physically and emotionally.
Lana Kelly
Editor, momstown Guelph
There might be no food that kids love more than pizza. But there is a way to make it a little more fun: Let each of your children make his own mini pizza. Momstown, in Guelph, hosted, what looked like, its’ very own pizza party during their Alphabet Play Program last week. The children learned about all of the alphabet sounds, while making a craft depicting a real pizza with pepperoni-type letters. This is a craft that parents can easily do at home, in order to teach letter sounds in a fun way, by making something that all children love. PIZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAA! The mere word makes my stomach growl and my mouth water! The facilitator was able to see which toppings were most popular (it looks like pepperoni won out!). This Alphabet Play reminded me of the fun we had at home hosting several of our kids’ homemade pizza parties. The idea of learning letter sounds with this pizza-type alphabet craft, plus, making a child’s own mini pizza would, I think, be a great way to celebrate a birthday or any celebration, or play-date activity. Read on to find out how you can host your very own Kids’ Mini-Pizza Party (both real and Alphabet Play style!).
Lana Kelly
Editor, momstown Guelph
Well, it is pretty safe to say that Canadians generally wait in hopeful expectation to see the beginning stages of the great Canadian winter.You know, the first snowfall, fun and cozy, long underwear, snuggly winter pajamas, toe- wiggly, warm slippers, chestnuts roasting by an open fire, and so on. This excitement quickly moves to a hibernation stage, as we not-so-eagerly look outside to see the snow piles heaped so high, that we have to dig ourselves out of our driveway in the frost-biting, bone-chilling cold days ahead. So, let’s just resolve to make some good old-fashioned comfort food, shall we? Whether it’s shepherd’s pie, soul-warming soup, or mouth-watering and cheesy quiche, that makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, we’ve got a freezer meal recipe that will help you to find refuge from harsh weather and biting cold in the comfort of your kitchen.
Most moms said that they started introducing puree at about 6 months and in about 8 months would introduce baby-led weaning such as finger food, using food that have handles like banana and broccoli spears, making sure that they are suitable for the age of your baby.
