I am not still not sure how she found me, but a lovely lady who does work for the Subway peeps got in touch about a new program to prevent childhood obesity they're doing in conjunction with the National Institute of Health's We Can! program. There are some scary stats out there: Almost one in five American four-year-olds is obese, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics. And one out of three kids ages 2 to 19 is overweight or at the risk of becoming overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Granted, you and I have a lot more pressing issues than chubbiness to worry about when it comes to our kids. Max actually needs to gain weight, which is why he has been on the Dunkin' Donuts diet. But I know that his slimness has been a boon to his mobility; heft doesn't do kids with physical challenges much good. At four, Sabrina is a little too young to be watching her figure, though she is big for her age. At her annual the doctor told us to put her on skim milk, lay off the snacks and consider liposuction. Kid-ding!
Subway has a YouTube video on childhood obesity that features boxer Laila Ali and Jared, that guy who lost serious weight by eating subs. One of the anti-obesity tips is to reduce screen time on computers, so for the love of God, make sure your kids are not reading this blog. Here's the video, FYI.
I have five $20 Subway vouchers up for grabs—so if you're one of the five winners, you get $20 worth of free Subway eats! To enter, just leave a comment below about your favorite meal to make for your kids. It doesn't have to be admirably healthy, I just want some ideas! I'll choose five winners at random on Sunday evening and announce them on Monday (then you can send me your e-mail so Subway Lady can get in touch about where to mail the vouchers). Alternatively, if you don't have any great meal suggestions, just let me know the time and day you'd be willing to come over to my house and bring some good takeout.
xo
Congratulations Ellen! You are making the big time when sponsors are contacting you :) How exciting!
ReplyDeleteOur favorite easy meal around here is pasta & sauce and meat. I love this because some days we want easy & we just boil up the pasta & top with Parmesan cheese. Other times I will chop up veggies and sausage and mix it with a canned pasta sauce for a more balanced meal. It is quick, easy and the Little Dude loves it!
I am excited to see what others do for an easy meal. I am trying to get better at not doing so much take-out.
As for Subway, we have one a block from our house and we love to take a walk up to grab a quick sub and walk home. I figure that the 2 block walk means I can add chips, right?!?!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Well... I hope this counts! I don't have my own children, but I have loads of nieces and nephews. When I am visiting I make loads of homemade meatballs and ragu'... all the kids love em'! I make special ones without egg for the Godson with the egg allergy ... and the rest of the kids gobble them up! Best part is I leave a stash for everyone to continue to enjoy until my next visit :)!!! Good luck everyone!
ReplyDeleteOk, here's a little funny....
ReplyDeleteMy favorite meal for Caleigh..hehe..
It all starts by popping the top on the most beautiful can of Elecare Elemental Formula you've ever seen. Adding three unpacked level scoops of formula to a pure, glistening 6 oz bottle of water. I then pour that delectable, and mighty stinky, Elecare straight into a feeding bag. Hook tha' baby up and hit the run button. One hour later we have a full and 'sometimes' happy kiddo.
Rinse and repeat 6 times a day!
Thanks for the opportunity to feed mommy and daddy :-)
our favorite meal is probably spaghetti...and Zach is finally eating some cheese if I melt it on some bread with sauce on it. I have to say that subway is one of our favorites. Zach used to be so picky and would not eat veggies or meat...he loved their bread...then after a couple exposures to subway he started eating the meat also! So subway was an influence in my childs eating!
ReplyDeleteMy guys love a healthy (and a bit lazy) version of shepherd's pie that I make. I brown about a pound and a half of ground turkey, then mix it with peas and carrots and about 12 oz of plain tomato sauce. I usually add a little pepper, too. Then, I spread it in the bottom of a casserole dish, top it with mashed potatoes (made with soy - even Hubby can't tell!) and low fat shredded cheddar, and bake it at 350 for about 10 minutes or until the edges turn brown. It's ridiculously easy (it was one of my fallback meals for when we're running home from an evening therapy appointment when Daniel was a toddler) and surprisingly healthy.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Daniel is sort of on the same diet as Max. We're not terribly concerned about his weight yet, since he has a pretty round face and sturdy limbs. But he has the tiniest hips, waist and butt that you've ever seen and I do worry sometimes about his weight. He eats like a horse and gets enough calories from each food group, so I don't know what the deal is. All I know is that I so wish I had Daniel's and Max's diet!
One of our family favorites is pasta w/ blue cheese and parsley-it's easy, the sauce is a combo of butter and olive oil, chop the parsley and put it in the melted butter/oil combo, then add 2/3rds cup of blue cheese-pour over pasta and toss! My 4 year-old helped make this recently and felt so accomplished (the only thing I had to do was chop parsley, handle the boiling water, and direct)! I have to say the grown ups covet the largest blue cheese chunks, but both kids yummy it up!
ReplyDeleteCongrats that is AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteMaria - I totally was going to enter the meatballs!
ReplyDeleteEllen - I have made meatballs, sauce, and pasta for the kids, and they speed eat! I love the red faces, hands, hair, chairs, floor, shirts, pants, socks, shoes (do you get the picture - a total mess afterwards!) It is not a fast meal to make, but I baked the meatballs instead of frying them, and cook the sauce usually 3 hours.
bon appetit!
Our favorite meal hands down is pizza! Sometimes I make my own dough, or I just pull a frozen ball of pre-made dough from the freezer (LOVE Trader Joe's brand). Load it up with tons of fresh veggies--we like onions, peppers, olives, broccoli and zuchini, put some pizza sauce and some cheese. Bake and voila a yummy cheesy, veggie filled dinner! Serve it with a salad and we are good to go!!
ReplyDeleteLeah eats about 4 slices when I make it--so we have it a lot!! Plus, who can resist pizza!?!
Fun, fun, fun!!!! I love Subway!!! Esp when they go on group trips for the Biggest Loser! I love Bob too! I don't have a baby yet but I do make my husband sandwiches sometimes! My specialties are PB&J and turkey and cheese which I stuff with sprouts or cucumbers! Yummo!
ReplyDeleteWoo Hoo! I love me some Subway!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite things to make for Gavin are Quinoa with Veggie Stew all pureed with some olive oil. He loves it! I also love pureeing Lentils with butter and banana. My third favorite? Chicken, Yams and Avocado all pureed together. Gavin eats better than all of us.
I'll be over at 7:30 with some Burritos smothered with cheese, Nachos Supreme and some Coke for us, Ellen. ;-)
We do a really easy (and only moderately awful for you) version of alfredo sauce. You brown a pound of sage flavored sausage, drain and rinse it in a collander so the sauce doesn't taste greasy, then put it back on the burner and add 2% milk and 1 or 2 packages of fat free cream cheese. It actually comes out better with the fat free than with the low fat or regular. Don't know why, but it does. Heat it up and squish the cream cheese around until it melts. Spice it like it's regular spagetti sauce, add a cup of parmesean cheese and let it simmer while you cook spagetti. Serve it over the pasta. It's really yummy and doesn't involve any measuring. You figure out how much milk to add by looking at the sauce and deciding if it looks like it should be thinner, LOL.
ReplyDeleteHi, I enjoy reading your blog, I think I found you through Rob Rummel-Hudson's blog (did I spell his name right?). Anyway, lately my kids really like tacos, which I'd like to think are healthier than "regular" because I use ground turkey instead of beef. I think they like them because it's a complete finger-food meal :)
ReplyDeleteErica
Quesadillas make my kids happy and I discovered you can make about six at a time by putting them in the oven on a cookie sheet instead of one at a time in a skillet.
ReplyDeleteI try to get away with as much veggie and/or beans as I can and put in enough cheese to stick it all together. You could always go cheesier for Max--I know how it goes juggling meals for different needs!
Just fold your tortillas in half with the goodies inside, brush the tops of the tortillas with olive oil and bake them at 425 til they're nice and brown and the cheese has melted-bout 10-15 minutes.
Giveaways are always fun, thanks!
For Kendall my special baby it's chicken mixed with mayo (puree'd of course) and smashed bananas. (sounds tasty, huh?) and for Kamden (my healthy 8 year old) its usually frozen "mini foods" as he calls them...bagel bites, potato skins etc..
ReplyDeleteThank God my husband can cook.
Oh I love Subway! Well I actually don't cook that often, because my husband loves to cook every chance he gets....but there are two three things that are requested from me as hands down favorite meals:
ReplyDelete1: Spaghetti (the kind that takes at least five hours to do correctly)
2. Pot Roast
3. Grilled Cheese
Apparently some things are just not dad's cup of tea.
Current favorite at our house--velveeta shells and cheese with rotel tomatoes, green onions, and corn mixed in. We do it spicy, but I'm sure someone could do it with mild rotel if they wanted.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has been NPO since 2005, but my other kids love these simple to make wraps:
ReplyDeleteIngredients:
Large soft flour tortillas
Fat-free sour cream, mayo, hummus or ranch dressing
Reduced-fat cheese of your choice
Whatever chopped veggies your kids will tolerate (we use baby spinach, tomatoes and black olives)
Breast of rotisserie chicken, sliced thin
Instructions:
Spread dressing, sour cream, mayo or hummus over soft tortillas. Add chopped veggies, cheese and chicken. Roll and eat. Can be served hot or cold. So easy and my kids always loved them!
It seems like pasta is a winner in most houses, so I'll give a different recipe. My girls love casseroles. I'm surprised as my friends tell me their kids eat their food in sections and don't like the food to touch.
ReplyDeleteI usually make the leftover kitchen casserole -
1.) leftover meat (usually chicken, but also works with turkey or beef)
2.) veggie heated from frozen bag
3.) can of cream of chicken soup (or celery or broccoli - whatever is in the cabinet)
4.) wild rice- quick cooking kind, cook in microwave first then add to the mix of ingredients here
5.) a jar of gravy (chicken, turkey or beef, depending on type of meat)
6.) some shredded cheese on top
I don't really measure the ingredients as I go with whatever I have. Mix together and cook at 350 for about 20-30 min or until bubbly.
This works great as we are trying to get Emma to keep weight on or even gain weight. You can use full fat gravy, soup, cheese and then I puree it up. Or, if the whole family will eat this, I use low fat ingredients and add butter, cream to Emma's before I puree it.
OK, giveaway is closed! I'm off to pick winners.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellen:)
ReplyDeleteI love Subway!
ReplyDeleteFavourite kid's meal is grilled cheese sandwiches with lots of raw veggies to go along with it.
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