I call these easy peasy because they mostly only use 1 fruit, how difficult is that to make? I was delighted to find some of these suggestions in Victoria Butenko's books after months of dealing with recipes calling for an average of 3 fruits. She also suggests that keeping your green smoothies simple enhances your body's ability to absorb the vitamins and minerals.
Usually I don't specify which greens to use as it largely depends on what is available wherever you are located. In some recipes, I will specify it as it as influence the taste of the green smoothie. However, feel free to modify it as you deem necessary.
Greens with soft stems e.g. basil, mint, spinach can be used as it is. The ones with tough / thick stems, e.g. chard, kai lan, bok choy should have their stems removed as they are very fibrous and can sometimes change the flavour of the green smoothie (e.g. chard stems have a slight peppery flavour)
The quantity of the greens can also be altered to suit your taste.
Basic Balance
1 mango
1 cup greens
1 cup water
Cantaloupe Parsley Smoothie
3 cups cantaloupe, cubed
1 bunch fresh parsley
Parsley Maddness
4 ripe pears
1 bunch fresh parsley
2 cups water
Zesty Watermelon
4 cups watermelon, cubed
1 cup greens
Juice of 1 lime
Romanian Bananas
4 ripe bananas
1 cup romaine lettuce
2 cups water
(Note: romaine lettuce can be bitter, adjust quantity as you go along)
Sunny Island
1 mango
2 oranges
1-2 cups water
1 cup greens
(Make sure the fruits are sweet else you can get a very sour smoothie)
Going Bananas
4 bananas
1 knob of ginger
2 cups of greens
2 cups of water
Two Pears and An Orange
2 ripe pears
1 orange
1-2 cups water
2 cups greens
That's all for now! I'll add more as I try out various recipes from books and other websites. Have fun and enjoy!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Green Smoothies: Tips & More
1. Rotate your greens
Almost all greens contain a small amount of alkaloids, a type of poison. Each green’s alkaloids are different from the next one. This is Mother Nature’s way of preventing extinction: by forcing animals to rotate their greens, the plants do not become extinct. Tiny quantities of alkaloids cannot hurt you and can even strengthen your immune system. However, if you keep consuming one single green, be it spinach, kale or any other green, for many weeks without rotation, eventually the same type of alkaloids can accumulate in your body and cause unwanted symptoms of poisoning. Simply rotating your greens will prevent this from happening. Do note that there is no need to rotate the fruit as most commonly used fruits have very little or none of the alkaloids and cannot cause the same toxic reactions as greens. The simple reason for this is because fruits are intended to be eaten. It is Mother Nature’s way of ensuring that the seeds are propagated and the plant will have future generations ahead of it. The purpose of rotating fruit is simply to enhance the variety of flavor and nutrition in your smoothies.
There are different strategies available: either use 1 type of green per day or a mixture of greens everyday, depending on what you prefer. Victoria Butenko recommends using a minimum of 7 different type of greens. The larger the variety, the larger the spectrum of nutrients you receive. Herbs such as parsley, basil, dill are also considered as greens. I usually buy 3 types of greens per week (depending on how large the package is) and each week has a different ‘set’ of greens.
Fruits do not contain any alkaloids so you don’t have to rotate them. However, rotating your fruits will give you more variety in terms of taste and a wider range of vitamins and minerals.
2. Fresh is best
Green smoothies keep up to 3 days in the fridge, in an air-tight container. While freshly blended green smoothies are best, if you are busy or travelling, preparing them ahead means you don’t have to forego your daily green smoothie. Something is better than nothing. If I know that I have a busy morning ahead, I will prepare my green smoothie the night before. For my husband, I always prepare his the evening before so he will always have a bottle to bring to work, regardless of what time I wake up.
Though, ideally, prepare yours first thing in the morning in the amount that you usually consume in 1 day (1 or 2 litres). Pour enough into a glass for your morning enjoyment and keep the rest in a refrigerator or another cold place.
3. Glass is best
Storage in glass containers is best as it does not contain any chemicals that will react with fruits, but it is tricky to transport.. If consuming at home, use glass. Otherwise, use BPA-free plastic bottles. Wide neck ones are best for easy cleaning. Stainless steel can work too but is difficult to clean as you can’t see if there is any residue in the bottle. Another good alternative is to use stainless steel thermo coffee mugs, which many coffee joints like Starbucks and Coffee Bean sell these days. It helps to keep your smoothie cool and since it is opaque, it slows oxidation (light oxidizes fruits and juices, that is why your fridge and freezer is dark when the door is closed) plus, you can avoid having to answer awkward questions about the colour and consistency of your drink!!
4. Savour it
Sip your green smoothie slowly, mixing it with saliva. The process of absorbing nutrients and digestion starts in the mouth, with the enzymes in saliva. This tip would actually apply to all food! Hence, the old adage to chew your food slowly and properly before swallowing! Thankfully, the blender has helped us to ‘chew’ the greens and the fruits and makes it so much easier to consume large amounts of them.
5. Always use organic – you deserve it!
The absence of pesticides and other toxic chemicals is only one of the many benefits of organic food. The most important reason is the superior nutritional value of organic produce compared to conventionally grown ones. Many conventionally grown ones lack nutrition as commercial soils are so chemically fertilized and depleted of minerals that eating the produce borne from it is really just eating for the sake of eating it, rather than for its nutritional value. Eating locally grown produce ensures maximum nutrients as they have not been languishing in a warehouse since harvest. It is also very important to get fruit that was allowed to ripen on the vine. Vine / tree ripen fruit is several times more nutritious and when consumed shortly after picking, retains significantly more nutrients.
Definitely, organic greens are a must as the leaves and stems have no protection against pesticides. If a farmers’ market is accessible, those could be an alternative. However, speak to the farmer to find out how their produce is grown and obviously avoid those who use chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Organic fruits are preferred. However, if budget is an issue, the general rule of thumb is thick-skinned fruits need not be organic, e.g. avocados, bananas, pineapples, kiwis. Pears and apples should always be organic as they are in such high demand; non-organic versions tend to have too much chemical fertilizers and pesticides. All berries, peaches, apricots and nectarines must be organic as they do not have a protective membrane that prevents pesticides from entering the fruit. A good website for such information is: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/the-dirty-dozen-and-clean-15-of-produce/616/ which provides a condensed version of the information available on http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/.
As extracted from www.pbs.org: The fruits and vegetables on “The Dirty Dozen” list, when conventionally grown, tested positive for at least 47 different chemicals (*yikes!!), with some testing positive for as many as 67. For produce on the “dirty” list, you should definitely go organic — unless you relish the idea of consuming a chemical cocktail. “The Dirty Dozen” list includes:
• celery
• peaches
• strawberries
• apples
• U.S. blueberries
• nectarines
• sweet bell peppers
• spinach, kale and collard greens
• cherries
• potatoes
• imported grapes
• lettuce
All the produce on “The Clean 15” bore little to no traces of pesticides, and is safe to consume in non-organic form. This list includes:
• onions
• avocados
• sweet corn
• pineapples
• mango
• sweet peas
• asparagus
• kiwi fruit
• cabbage
• eggplant
• cantaloupe
• watermelon
• grapefruit
• sweet potatoes
• sweet onions
A recommendation I have received for washing greens and fruits is to add a splash of apple cider vinegar to the washing water. For non-organic produce, soak for 20 minutes; 10 minutes for organic produce. Apple cider vinegar purportedly kills bacteria and is able to remove some of the residual chemicals that regular water can’t. Part of the reason is that many pesticides are formulated to resist rain water, hence by adding the apple cider vinegar, the pH level of the water is changed and can therefore remove the pesticide(s) more efficiently.
6. Pre-prep saves time and hassle
Washing your greens ahead of time makes it so much easier and faster to make green smoothies fresh every morning. Wash them, dry them well and wrap them in kitchen towels (cloth or paper, your choice). Store them in large BPA-free plastic containers. Use ziplock bags and squeeze out all the air if there is no space in the fridge. On the average, greens stored in this manner keep up to a week in the fridge, depending on how fresh they are in the first place. Fruits can be pre-cut and stored in air-tight containers in the fridge or freezer.
Money-saving tip: whenever any organic fruits go on offer, buy loads. Then cut and freeze in single portions.
7. Use a high speed blender, e.g. Vitamix or Blendtec
Not only does this yield green smoothies with smoother texture. It is also faster, saves time (there’s no need to cut the ingredients into tiny bits) and the powerful blending breaks open the cell membranes, making it easier for the body to assimilate the nutrients.
Personally, I prefer the Vitamix as the Blendtec’s computerized blending system doesn’t sit well with me. But it is the individual’s choice. My only complaint is that all high speed blenders are so so so deafening!!
8. Drink as many smoothies as you like, experiment with sweet and savoury flavours.
There’s no limit to how many you can consume per day. Experiment with different flavours for variety. Victoria Butenko’s books have both sweet and savoury recipes to try out and she has now even launched an app detailing all sorts of possible combinations. I also like green puddings, which are similar to green smoothies, except that no or little water is used and the consistency is much thicker, like a pudding and eaten with a spoon. These are good for the days when I know I have no access to public toilets (they are hard to find in Germany!) and will save me the discomfort of holding on to a full bladder!!
9. Dried greens are acceptable
As a substitute when fresh greens are not available, that is. There are many green superfoods available and as always, ensure that they are organic and raw (i.e. processed below 40 degrees Celsius). I use Healthforce Nutritionals Vita-Mineral Green and have been told that the formulations by Dr. Mitchell May are good too.
10. The 40-minute rule
According to Victoria Butenko, don’t eat anything, not even a small cracker or candy, within 40 minutes of a green smoothie as starch and other (animal) proteins interferes with the absorption of nutrients in the gut. However, you can eat other fruits and greens (plain, without oils and other dressings) after consuming a green smoothie. Admittedly, this can be difficult at times. So my personal rule is to usually have as much green smoothie as I can first thing in the morning. If I have any leftover, I try to keep to the 40-minute rule if I can but if not, I don’t fret about it.
11. Save the starchy fruit vegetables for other purposes
Do not add starchy root or fruit vegetables e.g. carrots, beets, broccoli stems, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, egg plants, pumpkin, squash, okra (lady finger), peas, corn, green beans, potatoes and others into your green smoothies containing fruit. They tend to combine poorly with fruits and lead to a gassy, bloated feeling.
12. Keep it simple
Don’t add too many ingredients into one smoothie, e.g. 9 different fruits and a dozen different greens. Keeping it simple maximize nutritional benefits and keeps it easy on your digestive system (not to mention, making prep work easier!). In the wild, many animals eat a mono-diet i.e. one type of greens or fruit per meal. There has to be a reason why!!
13. Learn to prepare a really delicious green smoothie
This helps you (and your family) to look forward to the next one. If your drink is not tasty, you will eventually lose heart and discontinue consuming it. Keep your taste buds happy.
14. Serve it to your children and pets
Everyone can benefit from it! Children tend to prefer sweeter, less green ones until they get used to it. Pets should consume smaller portions. Victoria Butenko’s book, Green Smoothie Revolution, and app, Green Smoothies, has good guidelines and recipes for both groups.
15. Don’t add anything except greens, fruits and water
Victoria Butenko doesn’t recommend adding nuts, seeds, oils, supplements or other ingredients as most of these slow down the assimilation of green smoothies in your digestive tract and may cause irritation and gas. While she does provide recipes with more than basic ingredients in her books, she recommends sticking to the basic green smoothie recipe in your daily routine.
Almost all greens contain a small amount of alkaloids, a type of poison. Each green’s alkaloids are different from the next one. This is Mother Nature’s way of preventing extinction: by forcing animals to rotate their greens, the plants do not become extinct. Tiny quantities of alkaloids cannot hurt you and can even strengthen your immune system. However, if you keep consuming one single green, be it spinach, kale or any other green, for many weeks without rotation, eventually the same type of alkaloids can accumulate in your body and cause unwanted symptoms of poisoning. Simply rotating your greens will prevent this from happening. Do note that there is no need to rotate the fruit as most commonly used fruits have very little or none of the alkaloids and cannot cause the same toxic reactions as greens. The simple reason for this is because fruits are intended to be eaten. It is Mother Nature’s way of ensuring that the seeds are propagated and the plant will have future generations ahead of it. The purpose of rotating fruit is simply to enhance the variety of flavor and nutrition in your smoothies.
There are different strategies available: either use 1 type of green per day or a mixture of greens everyday, depending on what you prefer. Victoria Butenko recommends using a minimum of 7 different type of greens. The larger the variety, the larger the spectrum of nutrients you receive. Herbs such as parsley, basil, dill are also considered as greens. I usually buy 3 types of greens per week (depending on how large the package is) and each week has a different ‘set’ of greens.
Fruits do not contain any alkaloids so you don’t have to rotate them. However, rotating your fruits will give you more variety in terms of taste and a wider range of vitamins and minerals.
2. Fresh is best
Green smoothies keep up to 3 days in the fridge, in an air-tight container. While freshly blended green smoothies are best, if you are busy or travelling, preparing them ahead means you don’t have to forego your daily green smoothie. Something is better than nothing. If I know that I have a busy morning ahead, I will prepare my green smoothie the night before. For my husband, I always prepare his the evening before so he will always have a bottle to bring to work, regardless of what time I wake up.
Though, ideally, prepare yours first thing in the morning in the amount that you usually consume in 1 day (1 or 2 litres). Pour enough into a glass for your morning enjoyment and keep the rest in a refrigerator or another cold place.
3. Glass is best
Storage in glass containers is best as it does not contain any chemicals that will react with fruits, but it is tricky to transport.. If consuming at home, use glass. Otherwise, use BPA-free plastic bottles. Wide neck ones are best for easy cleaning. Stainless steel can work too but is difficult to clean as you can’t see if there is any residue in the bottle. Another good alternative is to use stainless steel thermo coffee mugs, which many coffee joints like Starbucks and Coffee Bean sell these days. It helps to keep your smoothie cool and since it is opaque, it slows oxidation (light oxidizes fruits and juices, that is why your fridge and freezer is dark when the door is closed) plus, you can avoid having to answer awkward questions about the colour and consistency of your drink!!
4. Savour it
Sip your green smoothie slowly, mixing it with saliva. The process of absorbing nutrients and digestion starts in the mouth, with the enzymes in saliva. This tip would actually apply to all food! Hence, the old adage to chew your food slowly and properly before swallowing! Thankfully, the blender has helped us to ‘chew’ the greens and the fruits and makes it so much easier to consume large amounts of them.
5. Always use organic – you deserve it!
The absence of pesticides and other toxic chemicals is only one of the many benefits of organic food. The most important reason is the superior nutritional value of organic produce compared to conventionally grown ones. Many conventionally grown ones lack nutrition as commercial soils are so chemically fertilized and depleted of minerals that eating the produce borne from it is really just eating for the sake of eating it, rather than for its nutritional value. Eating locally grown produce ensures maximum nutrients as they have not been languishing in a warehouse since harvest. It is also very important to get fruit that was allowed to ripen on the vine. Vine / tree ripen fruit is several times more nutritious and when consumed shortly after picking, retains significantly more nutrients.
Definitely, organic greens are a must as the leaves and stems have no protection against pesticides. If a farmers’ market is accessible, those could be an alternative. However, speak to the farmer to find out how their produce is grown and obviously avoid those who use chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Organic fruits are preferred. However, if budget is an issue, the general rule of thumb is thick-skinned fruits need not be organic, e.g. avocados, bananas, pineapples, kiwis. Pears and apples should always be organic as they are in such high demand; non-organic versions tend to have too much chemical fertilizers and pesticides. All berries, peaches, apricots and nectarines must be organic as they do not have a protective membrane that prevents pesticides from entering the fruit. A good website for such information is: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/the-dirty-dozen-and-clean-15-of-produce/616/ which provides a condensed version of the information available on http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/.
As extracted from www.pbs.org: The fruits and vegetables on “The Dirty Dozen” list, when conventionally grown, tested positive for at least 47 different chemicals (*yikes!!), with some testing positive for as many as 67. For produce on the “dirty” list, you should definitely go organic — unless you relish the idea of consuming a chemical cocktail. “The Dirty Dozen” list includes:
• celery
• peaches
• strawberries
• apples
• U.S. blueberries
• nectarines
• sweet bell peppers
• spinach, kale and collard greens
• cherries
• potatoes
• imported grapes
• lettuce
All the produce on “The Clean 15” bore little to no traces of pesticides, and is safe to consume in non-organic form. This list includes:
• onions
• avocados
• sweet corn
• pineapples
• mango
• sweet peas
• asparagus
• kiwi fruit
• cabbage
• eggplant
• cantaloupe
• watermelon
• grapefruit
• sweet potatoes
• sweet onions
A recommendation I have received for washing greens and fruits is to add a splash of apple cider vinegar to the washing water. For non-organic produce, soak for 20 minutes; 10 minutes for organic produce. Apple cider vinegar purportedly kills bacteria and is able to remove some of the residual chemicals that regular water can’t. Part of the reason is that many pesticides are formulated to resist rain water, hence by adding the apple cider vinegar, the pH level of the water is changed and can therefore remove the pesticide(s) more efficiently.
6. Pre-prep saves time and hassle
Washing your greens ahead of time makes it so much easier and faster to make green smoothies fresh every morning. Wash them, dry them well and wrap them in kitchen towels (cloth or paper, your choice). Store them in large BPA-free plastic containers. Use ziplock bags and squeeze out all the air if there is no space in the fridge. On the average, greens stored in this manner keep up to a week in the fridge, depending on how fresh they are in the first place. Fruits can be pre-cut and stored in air-tight containers in the fridge or freezer.
Money-saving tip: whenever any organic fruits go on offer, buy loads. Then cut and freeze in single portions.
7. Use a high speed blender, e.g. Vitamix or Blendtec
Not only does this yield green smoothies with smoother texture. It is also faster, saves time (there’s no need to cut the ingredients into tiny bits) and the powerful blending breaks open the cell membranes, making it easier for the body to assimilate the nutrients.
Personally, I prefer the Vitamix as the Blendtec’s computerized blending system doesn’t sit well with me. But it is the individual’s choice. My only complaint is that all high speed blenders are so so so deafening!!
8. Drink as many smoothies as you like, experiment with sweet and savoury flavours.
There’s no limit to how many you can consume per day. Experiment with different flavours for variety. Victoria Butenko’s books have both sweet and savoury recipes to try out and she has now even launched an app detailing all sorts of possible combinations. I also like green puddings, which are similar to green smoothies, except that no or little water is used and the consistency is much thicker, like a pudding and eaten with a spoon. These are good for the days when I know I have no access to public toilets (they are hard to find in Germany!) and will save me the discomfort of holding on to a full bladder!!
9. Dried greens are acceptable
As a substitute when fresh greens are not available, that is. There are many green superfoods available and as always, ensure that they are organic and raw (i.e. processed below 40 degrees Celsius). I use Healthforce Nutritionals Vita-Mineral Green and have been told that the formulations by Dr. Mitchell May are good too.
10. The 40-minute rule
According to Victoria Butenko, don’t eat anything, not even a small cracker or candy, within 40 minutes of a green smoothie as starch and other (animal) proteins interferes with the absorption of nutrients in the gut. However, you can eat other fruits and greens (plain, without oils and other dressings) after consuming a green smoothie. Admittedly, this can be difficult at times. So my personal rule is to usually have as much green smoothie as I can first thing in the morning. If I have any leftover, I try to keep to the 40-minute rule if I can but if not, I don’t fret about it.
11. Save the starchy fruit vegetables for other purposes
Do not add starchy root or fruit vegetables e.g. carrots, beets, broccoli stems, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, egg plants, pumpkin, squash, okra (lady finger), peas, corn, green beans, potatoes and others into your green smoothies containing fruit. They tend to combine poorly with fruits and lead to a gassy, bloated feeling.
12. Keep it simple
Don’t add too many ingredients into one smoothie, e.g. 9 different fruits and a dozen different greens. Keeping it simple maximize nutritional benefits and keeps it easy on your digestive system (not to mention, making prep work easier!). In the wild, many animals eat a mono-diet i.e. one type of greens or fruit per meal. There has to be a reason why!!
13. Learn to prepare a really delicious green smoothie
This helps you (and your family) to look forward to the next one. If your drink is not tasty, you will eventually lose heart and discontinue consuming it. Keep your taste buds happy.
14. Serve it to your children and pets
Everyone can benefit from it! Children tend to prefer sweeter, less green ones until they get used to it. Pets should consume smaller portions. Victoria Butenko’s book, Green Smoothie Revolution, and app, Green Smoothies, has good guidelines and recipes for both groups.
15. Don’t add anything except greens, fruits and water
Victoria Butenko doesn’t recommend adding nuts, seeds, oils, supplements or other ingredients as most of these slow down the assimilation of green smoothies in your digestive tract and may cause irritation and gas. While she does provide recipes with more than basic ingredients in her books, she recommends sticking to the basic green smoothie recipe in your daily routine.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
A Day in the Life of A....
What are some of the things that these people do in an average work day?
- Accountant: Updates ledger / balance sheets, pay bills, chase for payments, ensures sufficient cash flow for the month
- Cook: Menu planning, mise en place for the day's meals
- Chauffer: Drives boss around, ensures that he / she gets to destination in time
- Housekeeper: Tidy / clean house, deal with laundry (washing, ironing, folding), grocery shopping, prepare meals
- Nanny: Feed baby, change diapers, gives baby a bath, plays with baby, prepares baby's meals / milk feeds
- Secretary: Ensures boss has the necessary documents for the day's meetings, manages boss' calendar
- Teacher: Plan curriculum, prepare teaching materials, conduct lessons, discipline students
- Pay bills
- Ensures expenditure is within monthly budget
- Prepares breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Plans meals for the week
- Tidy / clean house
- Deal with laundry
- Buys groceries
- Feed baby
- Change diapers
- Gives baby / children a bath
- Plays with baby / children
- Discipline children
- Teach children manners, words, songs, numbers, colours, etc..
- Drives children to/from school and activites
- Ensures that family calendar is in order
- Ensures that kids go to school with their bags packed with what they need for the day
Quotable Quotes
I somehow 'collect' quotes in my head. Mostly, I remember them because they are thought-provoking and/or apply to my life. I will keep editing this post as and when I come across new quotes. Meanwhile, here are some. (Where possible, I will state the author's name. However, I usually can't remember the name, so if you do know it, you can help by commenting!)
- Do not worry that your children aren't listening; worry that they are watching.
- The term 'working mother' is redundant. (Seen on a poster at Brewerkz)
- It takes a village to raise a child. (African proverb)
- To parent is not to impose, but to guide, moderate and support.
- Raising a child is like flying a kite. Sometimes you need to pull back, but sometimes you need to let go... to really see a kite soar, you've got to let it go.
- If you want your children to respect you, respect them first.
- Write your plans in pencil and give the eraser to God. (Seen on a bumper sticker)
- Bone of my bone,
Flesh of my flesh,
Blood of my blood,
Milk of my breast,
Child of my heart,
Person of your own. (Kristin Gillespie) - The modern mother faces a very large problem: her own possible extinction. She has the same powers of observation, the same intuition, the same instincts, and the same love for her baby that mothers have had throughout human history. But she is threatened by a world in which it is no longer safe to be a mother.
- "You are not a pacifier; you are a Mom. You are the sun, the moon, the earth, you are liquid love, you are warmth, you are security, you are comfort in the very deepest aspect of the meaning of comfort.... but you are not a pacifier!" (Paula Yount)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Book Review: The Happiest Toddler on the Block
Author: Dr. Harvey Karp
ISBN: 0553384422
Publisher: Bantam
Format: Paperback
Published: August 2008
No. of pages: 336 pages
Available for loan from: National Library Board (www.pl.sg)
Price: S$22.17 (www.opentrolley.com)
Suitable for: Parents of 8 – 36 months old
Verdict: Recommended (3.5 / 5)
The sequel to Dr. Karp’s best-seller, The Happiest Baby on The Block, this book aims to get frazzled parents through the trying terrible two’s and three’s by teaching parents how to boost their child’s good behavior, curb annoying behavior and immediately stop unacceptable actions with a highly effective green light / yellow light / red light method for moulding toddler behaviour. Written in his trademark friendly, humourous and engaging manner, it is easy for parents to digest the information after a long day.
What I loved most are the insights it gave into my toddler’s mind – which make it a worthy read, even if the positive discipline methods don’t work. It explains why toddlers behave as they do and how to help them traverse their pre-historic world to become civilized pre-schoolers. Obviously, I don’t remember what life is like as a toddler and often assume that toddler J is a little adult and treat him as such. However, I found that it only made his tantrums worse when I tried to reason with him during a meltdown, or try to counter his escalating emotions with calm, low-key responses and lengthy explanations. The book helped me to understand that toddlers are far from being rational or logical, much less an adult. I found that he sometimes calmed down more quickly when I used Dr. Karp’s Toddler-ese and ‘Fast-Food Rule’ which is basically talking at your toddler's level when he or she is upset by using and repeating short, simple sentences and mirroring their emotions. This technique enhances the ability of children to label their emotions by providing them with the correct vocabulary. Toddler-ese needs practice and patience. It isn’t easy to master (and is sometimes embarrassing to use in public). I’m certainly no expert, but, it certainly does get easier over time. I don’t use it all the time, usually only when I feel that my normal way of defusing a situation won’t work. I noticed that it defuses potentially tantrum-causing situations. Toddler J sometimes looks at me with a ‘hey, mommy understands me so I don’t have to yell’ expression, calms down and is able to wait till I can attend to him or distracts himself with something else.
The rest of the book has lots of great reminders about how to best communicate with our toddlers so that they feel respected and loved, while we parents get the essential outcomes we need and want to keep our kids safe and our homes sane. While some of his advice is common sense, e.g. clear and consistent limits, Dr Karp gives numerous suggestions on boosting good behavior e.g. patience stretching, so parents can choose to use those they feel most comfortable with. I haven’t used his ‘clap-growl’ method yet – which I find a little too prehistoric! My main grouse is with the book’s layout because it classifies the methods into green light / yellow light / red light, yet not all methods are suitable for younger ones around 1 year old. I would have much preferred the methods to be classified by age instead of having to flip through the book to find them.
About the Author(s)
Dr. Harvey Karp is a nationally renowned pediatrician, child development specialist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine. He completed medical school training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NYC, pediatric residency at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles and fellowships in ambulatory pediatrics and child development at UCLA. In pediatric practice, for almost 30 years, Dr. Karp has taught thousands of parents, from working moms to superstars like Madonna, Michelle Pfeiffer and Pierce Brosnan his secrets for soothing colic, boosting infant sleep, reducing tantrums, promoting patience and making parents and children happy.
Balancing Organic & Conventional Food
A fairly recent convert to organic products, I used to be skeptical about organic food… sure, I’ve heard all about the goodness of organic food but, like many people, was put off by the high prices. Over the past year or so, I’ve gradually become more convinced that organic is truly better: not just for our bodies, but also tastes better and is environmentally friendly. I have become more educated about nutrition, having learnt about the effects of ingredients such as sugar and salt on our bodies. It took me some time to find a balance between conventional and organic products and to buy wisely. As much as I wish to prepare everything from scratch, use 100% organic, etc… it is highly unrealistic, because like everyone else, I have constraints such as finances, time, health, and other day to day pressures.
When baby J started having solids, we started him on as much organic produce as we could afford – and it was easy to prepare his food, mainly steaming and cutting into bite size pieces or mashing. Since he eats so little, it is inevitable that our help was needed to finish the food. As he becomes older, I’ve started to include his portion in family meals and meal preparation became slightly more complicated, compounded with the difficulty of putting together a decent meal with a toddler literally hanging onto my legs. I struggled to find a balance between having a healthy lifestyle, home-cooked meals, while being time-pressured and making sure that we aren’t spending everything we have on food!
Hence, currently I purchase organic products if it is for baby J, if we are consuming it raw e.g. salads, or if it is a processed product e.g. cereals, cookies. I particularly focus on processed products because I was so frustrated trying to decipher nutrition and ingredient labels of conventional products - particularly those that list items in vague manner by using E numbers (who on earth can remember what all these numbers represent?!) or stating items like “permitted flavourings”, “permitted preservatives”. None of these tell me what I’m consuming, thus defeating their raison d’être! I found that organic or natural products are labeled in a manner that I can understand and tend to use better quality ingredients like sea salt instead of conventional table salt (which is a chemically derived product devoid of vital minerals) and healthier natural sweeteners like agave nectar or juice concentrates.
Ultimately, I feel so much better knowing that we are reducing our consumption of artificial flavourings, pesticides and artificial preservatives. This peace of mind and the potential savings on medical bills are worth the money spent on organic foods and natural health solutions. I have reached the conclusion that while it may be hard to go 100% organic, something is better than nothing – one just needs to determine the most suitable path to take after prioritizing financial and health concerns.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Organic? Natural? What's the Difference?
I recently had a conversation about natural vs organic produce and how it is important to distinguish between the two. Natural products can sometimes be priced as high as organic products, so whenever an organic version is available, I highly recommend choosing that over the natural alternative. One day, I came across this nifty little table on a cereal box that clears up all the confusion between organic and natural products so do read the label!
| Ingredients / Processing | Organic | Natural | Conventional |
| Artificial flavours | NO | No | May be used |
| Artificial colours | NO | No | May be used |
| Artificial preservatives | NO | No | May be used |
| Artificial fertilizers | NO | May be used | May be used |
| Artificial pesticides | NO | May be used | May be used |
| Irradiation | NO | May be used | May be used |
| G.M. Ingredients | NO | May be used | May be used |
Furthermore, organic products are required to undergo testing in order to qualify for the certification, whereas, no certification is required for natural products.
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