Is getting your child to eat a nutritious breakfast every morning a battle that leaves you feeling defeated and exhausted? Do you give in most of the time and let your little darling have the bowl of Sugar Coated Choco Lumps she’s screaming for just so she’ll have something in her stomach when she leaves for school?

I’d ask you if you were feeling guilty, but if you’re a parent that’s a ridiculous question.

Here’s the plan. First of all, no child should ever be allowed to see this.

Take the top off of your blender and toss in some berries and chopped banana. If you have time, throw in some chopped carrot. Top that with a half cup of high-quality plain yogurt, then scoop in some soy or whey protein powder and a spoonful of ground flax seed. Pour in about a half cup of pure orange or grape juice. Add a spoonful of honey. Blend these ingredients and then pour some into a glass.

When your child enters the kitchen you should be leaning against the counter, holding the smoothie in your hand. Sport a sheepish look as you say “I shouldn’t drink a shake for breakfast but I guess it won’t hurt just this once.” Take a big drink, smack your lips, and say “I’m so bad but this is so good!”

At this point, pretend like you’ve just now noticed the child who is staring at you. Hand her the box of Choco Lumps and say “eat your cereal, sweetheart, you don’t want to be late for school.”

Give in after some whining and cajoling and allow your child to have a “shake” for breakfast. Warn her that this will not become a habit. From this point on, pretend that you can’t stop drinking shakes in the morning. Allow her to guilt-trip you into letting her have them too since if you don’t have the willpower to resist them, how can you expect her to?

We can debate the question of whether or not you should ever deceive your child under any circumstances later. In the meantime, she’ll be healthier.

I love when I am standing in the check-out line at the supermarket scanning the women’s magazines and I see that common headline “From Preparation to Table – 15-Minute Meals!” I admit I usually fall for it and throw the magazine in my cart. After all, if we don’t have hope, what do we have?

To be fair, I didn’t count the shopping time needed for buying all the ingredients for the fabulously fast meal I was going to try cooking. I set the timer for 15 minutes right when I began preparing the meal. (Hey, I bought the magazine on the promise that they were going to make my life easier with these splendidly speedy meals. Darned right I’m going to time them.)

They don’t tell you that you need to be a ninja food-chopper using a knife that can split a hair in mid-air.

Since I wasn’t the former and didn’t own the latter, nine minutes had passed by the time I was done preparing the food for cooking. Since the entire dinner cooked conveniently in one pan for a practically effortless dinner experience (not my words), I scooped everything up and put it in the pan, then stirred as I cast furtive glances toward the timer. [Read more...]