Giving away copies of Feeding The Kids

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the readers who have recently written to us about how Feeding the Kids has helped your family or your clients! We wrote the book with an earnest desire to help as many children as possible learn to love eating foods that are good for their bodies.

I am a former teacher and still volunteer in schools regularly. My co-author spent years working with obese adults and children. What the two of us saw daily left us wishing that all kids to grow up with a healthy attitude toward foods, a strong body, and the skills they need to help the next generation (our grand kids) eat well, too. So, we wrote Feeding the Kids.

But, honestly, some days writing, and especially so-called "book promotion," seems more like drudgery than the pursuit of what I hope is a noble cause. Then I hear from a mom who no longer fights with her kids at the dinner table or whose kids now like veggies...and it is all worth it again.

Still, I often daydream about ways reach more families. So, with the full support of all the authors and Mancala Publishing, we are going to try something crazy. (I am very excited about this!) We have decided to start GIVING AWAY copies of Feeding the Kids to parents who desperately need (and want!) this information. To start with, we are going to donate one book for every book sold direct from the publisher (i.e. through our website). We have also set up a way for people who already have a copy to help. For every one copy you donate, we are going to give away 2 more. Please join us in this effort by visiting www.feedingthekids.com/donateabook.html.

And one more thing...if you have other ideas about how we can help kids, please comment below!

Love Sugar But Hate Veggies? Think Again!

I went to the National Stock Show, in Denver, over the weekend. We saw cows, chickens, more cows and some horses. But I saw one thing I just can't stop thinking about: a sugar beet.

Here are some fun facts about sugar beets:

• 30% of the world's refined sugar comes from sugar beets
• A sugar beet is a vegetable. In fact, I found out, sugar beets are related to chard!
• You have to do a lot of work to turn the veggie into sugar. Look it up on Wikipedia if you are curious.

So, if you have a child who believes he HATES vegetables, but loves candy, maybe it's time for him to learn that at least some of our sugar comes from...vegetables. (And this is not to say that sugar is healthy or should "count" as a vegetable.)

The lesson, really, is that many foods that start out as pretty healthy, can be processed into foods that are devoid of nutritional value. Corn becomes corn syrup, wheat becomes refined flour, vegetable oils are hydrogenated.

Sardines for Snacks

Yesterday, my 1st grader came home from school and immediately stuck her head way back into the kitchen cabinet where I keep snacks, canned food and cereal. Now, as I have mentioned before, she can be a bit picky about what she eats. So I wasn't sure what she was up to. Normally she asks me what's for snack and then either enjoys it or complains about it.

From deep in the back of the cupboard, she called "Can I have sardines for snack?"

"Oh, sure." I started. "Oh, wait. But you absolutely have to sit at the table, and use a fork, and try not to drip or touch anything until after you've washed your hands. And we are having fish for dinner, so don't eat sardines now if that will make you not want fish later."

She ate the whole can, washed up and then she went off to play. She ate a huge portion of fish for dinner, too.

This is just another example of why I believe so strongly in letting kids make some food decisions themselves--and trying not to overly influence them with our ideas about what isn't good. Would I have ever offers sardines as a snack? No, I'm just not a fan of sardines. But she must have needed fish yesterday. Other days, she's gone vegetable crazy, and still other days she's wanted nothing but citrus fruits. Kids, and human bodies, are just amazing, aren't they?