Sectional Plates Part 2: Half Plate Vegetable Pictures

Welcome back to Sectional Plates Part 2, where we are discussing sectional plates for children.. (Click here for Part 1). Here you will see some of our real dinners using sectional plates for children.  Most people assume that the larger section is for the main dish.  Change your perspective and see how it encourages your kids to eat healthier and be healthier.  Fill half their plate with produce. They may not eat it or they may ask for more chicken or more rice or whatever, just go with their instincts and keep filling half their plates with produce. It doesn't have to be a gourmet veggie side dish.  In fact it does not have to be a plate at all- soups, kale chips, bean/veggie filled tacos, green smoothies...get in their greens (and fiber, phytochemicals, and antioxidants) any way you can.   Here are some ideas from our dinner table these past few months using sectional plates.  Give me more ideas in the comments section!
Part 3 next week will be a giveaway so stay tuned.

Peas & Corn, Beets, Amaranth Baked-Ziti

Green beans, Salsa rice & Black-eyed peas, Pineapple chicken

Dipping dinner: Broccoli, cauliflower, romaine, & potatoes 

with protein packed hemp/sunflower pesto dip.

Brussels sprouts, millet, chicken

Salad & other veggies, lima beans & peas, chicken

Greens/carrots/pickles, tuna salad, miso dipping sauce

Asparagus, beets, barley & bean salad

Broccoli/ Romaine/ Sweet Potato, Kasha (Buckwheat), Chicken

Leftover chicken and kasha with pomegranate seeds, salad, black beans

Here we are at my older son's birthday party at Grand Central Terminal filling half their MTA-themed plates
(my husband made these without any input from me! thanks!)

Some ideas for adults:

If you can't fill half your plate, fill half your day by adding veggies wherever you can.

Here is what I call my half-carb rice.  Its brown rice with tons of crunchy veggies, oil, salt, rice vinegar

Here it is again with greens, and a veggie/bean stew

Ditto for my half-carb pasta.

There are pasta shells in there, I promise. 

Happy & Healthy Eating!

Don't forget, you can't serve vegetables, if you don't shop for vegetables!

To schedule a shopping tour, schedule an appointment here.

Sectional Plates Part 1: Half Your Plate with Vegetables

 

Last June, The United States Department of Agriculture revealed the new "Food Pyramid" in the form of a plate, depicting half the plate filled with fruits and vegetables.  On the live twitter stream, most nutritionists were loving it, some thought it still had problems (too much milk, no definition of "protein"), but EVERYONE loved the simplicity of it, including me.  I was also happy for my colleague, Amy Roskelley from Healthy Kids Plate, who was ahead of her time and who had recently sent me some plates for review.

I have always loved the idea of a sectional plate for kids that helps teach kids how to eat.  But I did have some reservations about sectional plates in general (more on that tomorrow), and some of the plates on the market you can find at the time.  I thought the food options would be too limiting (depicting chicken for protein and no beans, a picture of bread and pasta but no quinoa or millet, a picture of pretzels for grains).

However, after using various sectional plates for many months, I can see how they have helped me and my children.  I am more aware of serving vegetables and my children are more aware of having them on their plate (and hopefully eaten) too. And Amy has a new plate with beans and no pretzels, yay! But I have to say that I still prefer to use a plate with no pictures- it's simple, clean, and leaves room for imagination. Just remember that the largest section is for produce.  I try to have just vegetables in it at dinner since my children have usually eaten fruit during breakfast and snack already and may not have eaten vegetables at breakfast or in school. An added benefit is that the "lip" on the sections, assists young eaters to self-feed and be more independent.

So here is the roundup of sectional plates available, with and without pictures, you can decide what you like.  Tomorrow I will showcase how my family fills half of our plates, so stay tuned! And a plate giveaway is coming up soon too!

Still clueless about what to serve your child?
For more assistance with pediatric nutrition, make an appointment here.

Sectional Plates, no pictures:





Tommee Tippee's puts fruits and veggies up and center and has nice deep sections
Disclaimer: Tommee Tippe provided this plate to me free of charge at their NYC premier.










Sectional Plates, with pictures:
(As one mom told me: "Maybe these will show my kids I'm not making this nutrition stuff up.")

Amy's Healthy Kids Plate, New Design (no pretzels for dinner, yay).
Disclaimer: Healthy Kids Plate provided me with this plate for review.

Gelato Ad Reduces Women's Worth

Passing by this Duane Reade subway ad near 96th and Lexington, I was overcome with anger. Not only because of it's attempt to get you to eat more more junk food, but because of the pitiful message that goes along with it.  Don't women see enough of the depressing "eat ice-cream to wallow in your sorrows" on television?  Can't a store (who is trying so hard to endear itself to New Yorkers) attempt to empower it's NY women instead of degrading them to a depressed mess?  

Women: If your guy dumps you, please do take some necessary time for inventory and reflection. Buy yourself some nice bath salts (not at Duane Reade) and take a nice long warm bath, have a good cry, write in a journal, and eat some good old wintry comfort food (veggie stew, lentil soup, brown rice veggie casserole, miso soup), preferable surrounded by loved ones.  Your body, your health, and YOU deserve more than sugary gelato. Nourish you.  And please, if you still feel the need for ice cream (don't we all sometimes?), at least go for the good stuff.  The fat/cream will help balance the sugar.

For more on sugar, click here.

For loads of healthy snack ideas to feel empowered, get 'em here.

Are Low-Fat Products Okay for Fertility, Pregnancy, & Children?

I am really interested in "catch phrases" and their effects.  For example, saying "The benefits of breastfeeding include...(insert whatever superpower you want your child to embody)" implies that breastfeeding is not the norm of society, but if you do it you will reap certain benefits. When in fact, breastfeeding should be the accepted normal way of feeding infants/toddlers.  


Other examples: "artery-clogging saturated fat," "healthy low-fat recipes," "heart-healthy." All of these imply that saturated fat is unhealthy.  And many women, pregnant women, and moms avoid them like the plague, and make their children do the same, all the while partaking in carbohydrate-laden juices and snack foods.


Do you know that these phrases are simply not proven to be true? (Sources below)
Do you know that fruits, vegetables, oats and barley, beans and legumes, natural fats, other food-based phytonutrients, and stress reduction are more powerful at keeping your heart and your whole body pumping?
Do you know that excess carbohydrates is more likely to give you heart disease, diabetes, gestational diabetes, and make it super easy to gain weight?
Do you know that on it's own, non-fat yogurt with added carbohydrates (fruit-flavored) is worse for you than whole milk non flavored yogurt with added real fruit? Besides for the fact that the non-fat version will keep you satisfied for about, oh, a half an hour.


Probably not, because then how would food manufacturers sell you their fat-reduced, carbohydrate heavy products? Food products with health claims sell more! So much more, that manufacturers make up their own symbols, like the hearty healthy symbol found on orange juice.  I can think of many greater health inducing foods than orange juice.


Most people who visit our house are shocked to find out we only have whole milk and whole yogurt (no flavors!) in the house.  The reason for that is two-fold:
1. Leaving the product in its whole state keeps the ratio of carbohydrates:fat in check.  Read more about carbohydrates in this post.
2. We don't drink that much milk.  We limit our dairy intake to no more than 2-3 servings per day.  Notice, I did not say at least. And if you eat calcium containing vegetables, you may be able to forgo dairy altogether. That leaves room for all the other healthy food we should be eating (lentils, beans, greens, peppers, broccoli, onions, garlic...).  That means if my son had yogurt and cheese in school for snacks/lunch, I will only serve milk ONCE at home if that.. And if we are having dairy in our main course, I'll serve water or flavored seltzer.  


Spend some time with these related articles on low-fat products or food-based natural fat, and be prepared to change the way you think about fat:


Low fat yogurt intake during pregnancy may heighten child allergy risk
(Presented at the European Respiratory Society poster session)


Fat, Carbs, and the Science of Conception

Low-fat dairy doesn't help kids drop pounds

Awesome article about the awesomeness of coconut oil

David Katz, MD on "Eggsoniration"

Cod liver oil may lower respiratory tract infections in children during winter and early spring

More on saturated fat and heart disease:

Expert Panel Perspective (Article)

Is saturated Fat the Bogeyman (Article)

(Journal Source 1)

(Journal Source 2)

And kudos to the ADA for hosting the Great Fat Debate at their 2010 conference. Also discussed in the post mentioned above (here it is again!). For those who have access to these articles:

The Great Fat Debate: A Closer Look at the Controversy- Questioning theValidity of Age-Old Dietary Guidance

The Great Fat Debate by Walter Willet, MD: Total Fat and Health

The Great Fat Debate: Reducing Cholesterol

The Great Fat Debate: Taking the Focus Off of Saturated Fat

The Great Fat Debate: The Importance of Message Translation

Fertility, Rosh Hashanah, and Sukkot

Rosh Hashanah passed but we can always talk about fertility on this blog, right?  In the last post, I mentioned that on Rosh Hashanah we eat foods symbolic of ideas we wish to bring in with us to the new year (fertility, abundance, sweetness, life...).  The symbols for Fertility and Lifecycle feature proudly on many tables. Fertility is also a major theme of Rosh Hashanah as it is thought that the Matriarchs (Rebecca, Rachel, and Sarah) and Hannah, all of whom were infertile for many years, all had their prayers answered during the month we celebrate Rosh Hashanah. This year I became partcularly intrigued with this concept and loved seeing how some of the symbolic foods may also help women get pregnant, from a nutrition standpoint.

Fish: Fish are an ancient symbol of fertility and abundance due to their fertile abilities.
Some people say an accompanying phrase "May it be your will that we be fruitful and multiply like fish."
Fish oil supplements have also been shown to help balance blood sugar levels in women with PCOS and can sometimes help with unexplained infertility. There is also some research indicating that fish oil may prevent allergies and asthma in toddlers when taken in the last trimester.  Talk to your doctor about dosage. The protein and fat in fish at a meal is also really helpful to control blood sugar in PCOS patients who are having trouble getting pregnant.  Read this post for more info on carbohydrates and PCOS.  Stear clear of fish high in mercury and other toxicities, read here for more info.


Starfruit and food cut/baked into star shapes: In the spirit of the blessing given to Abraham,  "I will exceedingly multiply your seed as the stars" (Genesis 22:17)."  Starfruit are also a great source of Vitamin C.  Vitamin C is really important for women with Luteal Phase Defect who are having trouble getting pregnant due to low progesterone levels. Food should be your first source (hence, BeyondPrenatals).  It has been shown to increase progesterone levels during the luteal phase of your cycle (Ovulation through menses) and help with fertility.  Vitamin C is also an antioxidant and may help with sperm count and motility.

Pomegranates and other fruit with lots of seeds: The many seeds represent abundant fertility. The shape and red color of the pomegranate also symbolize the womb, along with the fact that the entire fruit consists of the seeds of life. Red symbolizes the blood of life and has the same root (Adom) as the hebrew word for man (Adam). The pomegranate has very high levels of antioxidants, which prevent subtle oxidative "stress" to the body, making it important for fertility, pregnancy, and the fetus, not to mention sperm health.

Round foods: Circular foods such as chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs represent the cyclical nature of life and are eaten at meals to welcome new babies as well as mourners.  They are also said to represent the longing that babies have to be sheltered in the womb.  I often use chickpeas as add-on's for PCOS patients to help slow down the rise in insulin when consuming carbohydrates, even healthy sources, such as buckwheat, brown rice,  barley, and wheat berries.   Plant proteins have also been shown to increase fertility in a recent Harvard study.   Roasted chickpeas make a great snack for fertility.  Enjoy this recipe while thinking about fertility and lifecycle.

Roasted Chickpeas Two-Ways

Open, drain, and rinse two cans of BPA-Free Eden Organic Chickpeas.
Or Soak a bag of dry chickpeas overnight and drain the next morning (no need to cook!)
Place the contents into two bowls, coat lightly with olive oil.
In one bowl add Corriander, Cumin, Sweet Paprika, Cinnamon, Allspice, Ginger, Cayenne Pepper.
In the other bowl add Agave, Basil, White Pepper, Cinnamon.
Mix well.
Spread out in two baking pans lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 for 40-1 hr depending on preference of chewiness or crunchiness. Enjoy! Store in airtight container.

For the upcoming holiday of Sukkot, I found two traditions, which I was previously unaware of:
Lulav Loosening and Etrog Eating.

May this time of year, which we celebrate the birth of the world, bring forth the birth of healthy children.

To your health and happy New Year, Debra