The Importance of Teaching Your Children to Cook

Dear Andrew, Addison, Family and Friends;
I believe one of the most important things I taught my children was to
love and respect food, the people and the environment that brought
the food to our home. We hear so much about spending quality time
with our children, well here is one way to spend quality time with your
kids. Kids love to spend time with their parents and by combining
constructive lessons, exercise and conversation makes this time
quality time.

10 Reasons Why You Should Teach Your Children to Cook

1. Builds self-esteem in your child. When you spend one on one time
with your kids, it shows your kids that you love, value and respect
them, remember actions do speak louder than words!

2. Teach your children about nutrition and menu planning as well.
With 1 out of every 3 children in the U.S. being overweight, it is up to
families to teach our children about nutrition and exercise.

3. Calorie control and portion control. When you prepare meals from
home YOU are in control of the ingredients and how much your child
eats.

4. Take your kids to the grocery store and teach them how to shop.
Raising my children we always shopped the perimeter of the store
first, this is where all the healthier foods are located. Start in the
produce section, choose produce that are bright in colors, add variety
to your diet, try a new fruit or vegetable, show them the food labels on
packaged foods.

5. If you teach kids at an early age how to cook, they are more
inclined to cook as an adult.

6. Kids are more apt to eat foods that they have prepared.

7. Kids love to show off, let them share with the rest of the family how
they prepared the meal. They will feel like they are a major contributor
to the family.

8. Make a lesson out of how to cook. Go to a farmer’s market and
introduce your kids to the farmers who bring the food to the table. Pick

your own produce; check your local area for farms. Turn your cooking
lesson into a math or science experiment, bring out the measuring
cups!

9. Family meals together. Make your meal time, family time. Try to sit
down at the table at least one meal a day. Enjoy good conversation.

10.Make it a habit. Its quality time well spent and there is no
television, video games or computers to interfere with your time
together.

Enjoy your quality family time!
Kimberly Wechsler

Homemade Apple Sauce

This is a very EASY recipe! I consider this recipe one of my Anytime Meals.

For breakfast serve this warm applesauce on top of oatmeal,
pancakes, waffles or toast. Serve it all by itself with a piece of whole
grain toast and a glass of milk. Pack it for your kid’s lunch. Use it as a
snack with an oatmeal cookie. Serve it for dinner with a lean protein,
whole grain and a green veggie. Or, use it as dessert; my dad likes
this warm applesauce on Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream.

Homemade Applesauce

4 medium apples
½ cup of water
1/8 cup of brown sugar or 3 tablespoons organic natural cane sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly ground nutmeg
Peel apples and cut into 1 inch chunks. Place apples and water into a
saucepan on low to medium. Let the apples cook until soft about 5 -10
minutes. Remove from heat and add the spices.

What Are Power Foods?

Power foods are foods that supply additional strength and have the ability to do more good for your body and overall health than any
other foods. These power foods;

• Are the richest in amount of nutrients, highest in fiber,
antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
• The least amount of calories.
• Lower in fat.
• Helps in creating stronger bones and fewer fractures.
• Have the most health benefits.
• Decrease risk of heart disease, cancer and strokes.

Nothing is more important than good health. We need to eat in order
to live, so food is very important. The food we eat makes up the
building materials for growth and repair of our bodies. It also supplies
the energy that our bodies need to function properly. The best way
to get the nutrients that your body needs is from whole-based foods.
Foods the way nature prepared them are nutritionally balanced.

If your body does not get the proper whole food nutrition it needs, it
simply cannot be healthy, if you take steps toward a diet based upon
power foods, your physical health will improve.

The typical diet in North America is often referred to as the Standard
American Diet (SAD). The SAD diet is a diet consisting of chemically
engineered foods that are processed, refined, and concentrated. It
is high in salt, sugar, fat, protein, and calories, and low in fiber and
essential nutrients.

The SAD diet is linked to multiple diseases. Research studies show
that populations who are on the SAD diet die from more heart disease,
diabetes, strokes, and cancer of the colon, breast, lungs, and prostate
than other groups of people. These lifestyle-related illnesses cause the
greatest amount of deaths in North America!

Before 1900, the typical American diet consisted of foods grown in
local gardens and farms. Families ate freshly cooked food and baked
their own bread. Meat came from barnyard animals and range-
fed cattle. After World War I, cardiovascular disease became more
common. More and more families could afford to eat meat more
often. At the same time, the food industry was beginning to produce
more highly processed foods on a larger scale. Another large problem
we have today is that our American lifestyle has become hectic and
over scheduled that families no longer have the time to make their
own meals from scratch. Fast foods have become a necessity and an

accepted norm in most families.

Everything comes with a price. The price we are paying for these
unhealthy convenience foods is damage to our health and the health
of our family. I want to teach you ways of implementing whole-based
foods into your healthy lifestyle that are tasty and easy to prepare.