Cooking Together With Friends
  • Home
    • Diane & Jerry's Socially Distanced Thanksgiving
    • A Gregory Virtual Food Event
    • The Joy of Meals with Friends
    • The "Best Ever" Dinner Party!
    • Structuring the Evening
    • Expeimenting with new recipes
    • Fat Tuscan - Cooking Class
    • A New Style Church Dinner
    • Camp Cooking
    • Sushi Feast
  • The Young Cook
    • Willow >
      • Easy Graham Crust Cheesecake
      • Pesto Bruschetta
    • Ryan - A Talented Cook >
      • Ryan's Menu
      • Sausage and Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers
      • Lemon Bars
    • Veronica
  • Menus
    • Menu #1 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 1
      • Warm Spinach Salad
      • Pasta alla Puttanesca
      • Peach and Blueberry Crisp
    • Menu #2 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 2
      • Risotto with Peas
      • Chicken Saltimbocca
      • Tiramisu
    • Menu #3 >
      • Shopping list - Menu 3
      • Broccoli & Squash Soup
      • Salmon en Papillote
      • Creamy Brandied Cherries
    • Menu #4 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 4
      • Salad with Greens and Stawberries
      • Paella
      • Pineapple Coconut Crumble
    • Menu #5 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 5
      • Citrus Avocado Lettuce Salad
      • Shrimp with Feta Cheese and Orzo
      • Pears with Raspberry Sauce
    • Menu #6 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 6
      • Fennel and Orange Salad
      • Moroccan Turkey Stew
      • Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze
    • Menu #7 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 7
      • Beet, Apple, and Walnut Salad
      • Chicken with Goat Cheese
      • DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE
    • Menu # 8 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 9
      • Green Salad with Roasted Pears and Blue Cheese
      • Orange-Raisin Chicken with Toasted Cashews
      • Nutty Brownies
    • Menu # 9 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 9
      • Green Waldorf Salad
      • Baked Fish with Ripe Olives and Feta
      • Chocolate-Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
    • Menu #10 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 10
      • Squash Mushroom Soup
      • Quinoa Salad
      • Banana Strawberry Frozen Dessert
  • Recipes
    • Salads >
      • Green Salad with Roasted Pears and Blue Cheese
      • Salad with Greens and Stawberries
      • Warm Spinach Salad
      • Fruit and Nut Tabouli
      • Hurricane Salade Niçoise
      • Fennel and Orange Salad
      • Beet, Apple, and Walnut Salad
      • Green Waldorf Salad
    • Vegetables, Legumes, & Potatoes >
      • Les Trois Pommes
      • Pasta Primavera
      • Brandied Winter Squash
      • Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese
      • The Best Sweet Potaoto Wedges
      • Sweet Potato Salad
      • Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito
      • Cuban Black Beans
      • Sautéed Tofu with Broccoli in Chili-Orange Sauce
      • Willow's Tuna Cakes
      • Brussels Sprouts
      • Quinoa Primavera
      • Spinach, Mushrooms, and Red Peppers
    • Soup >
      • Squash & Mushroom Soup
      • Parsnip Soup with Walnut Pesto
      • Corn Chowder
      • Lemony Shrimp & Bean Soup
      • Turkey Mushroom Rice Soup
      • Pear & Carrot Soup
      • Lentil Soup
      • Hearty Vegetable Soup
      • Onion Soup
      • Avocado Cucumber Soup
    • Seafood >
      • Pasta alla Puttanesca
      • Sesame Stir-Fry Shrimp and Spinach
      • A Great Lobster Roll
      • Flavorful Shrimp
      • Fish with Lemon Garlic Sauce
    • Meat & Poultry >
      • Chicken, Apricots, Sweet Potatoes, & Prunes
      • Hurricane Chicken Salad
      • Sweet Potato, Turkey, & Peanut Stew
      • Shepherd's Pie >
        • Shopping List - Shepherds Pie
    • Impossible Quiche
    • Sweets & Breads >
      • Sun-Dried Tomato Cheese Bread
      • Ryan's Cranberry Sauce
      • Chocolate Prune Cake
      • Pear & Custard Dessert
      • Chocolate Yogurt Pavlova
      • Banana-Walnut Souffle >
        • Shopping list - Banana Souffle
      • Powerful Bran Muffins
      • Orange Walnut Torte
      • Nuts - 2 Ways
  • Blog
  • Your Ideas
    • Maureen & the Air Fryer
    • Ohan's Perfect Steak
    • Myra's Soups
    • Ron's Sweet Potato
    • Sallie's Quinoa Salad
    • Ron & Brenda's Puttanesca on Coucous
    • Julie's Crunchy Cheese Snack
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Eating with Kids Mindfully - In the Midst of Chaos

12/11/2019

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     Mindfulness has certainly become one of the new buzz words, but is mindful eating with kids a reasonable goal?  Isn't just getting kids enough food to eat between all their activities enough of a challenge?  Clearly that alone takes real effort.  Many of us have chosen a very busy, tightly scheduled life style that our children share.   Mealtime is often not on the schedule and includes something quick on the way to the next activity - confirmed by the long lines in the drive-through lanes at fast food establishments. However, learning about eating mindfully is important for kids today, as well as for adults, precisely because of all the activity.    We all find ourselves in a very toxic food environment with supersized portions and foods that have been manufactured with increased sugar, fat, and sodium to make them what some researchers are calling "hyper-palatable" because they encourage overeating.
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These foods and this environment result in the large percentage of eating disorders we see in young people today.   As a consequence, obesity, binge eating, and anorexia, as well as other common diseases of our civilization like diabetes, reflux, and bowel disorders, are increasingly showing up in children.   How can we start to incorporate mindfulness into children's lives?  To consider the issue more completely, I recommend getting the book, Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food by Jan Chozen Bays, MD, co-abbot at the Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon.  There is a chapter specifically dealing with children. Remember, mindfulness is about awareness, making eating a more enjoyable, nourishing experience.  As you become more mindful of the food you eat, it can also help you make decisions about what to eat. ​
Below is my 13 year old grandson, Ryan, practicing taking a bite of bagel mindfully.  Video

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Take a Deep Breath and Start Slowly
Mindful eating is an important  for all of us, but it's important not to make it an all or nothing goal.  In her book, Chosen says, "We can get off to a good start by lowering our standards and initiating our mindful eating by having one conscious sip of tea in the morning" .  Or, like Ryan,  1 bite of  a bagel.  
In my weeks with my grandchildren, we did some mindful exercises.  One they liked best was cooking a favorite dish.  Here are their recipes, cranberry sauce, and tuna cakes.  Although not the recipes I might have chosen,  they ate them mindfully because they had chosen them.  You can check out the videos of their cooking in the following links.
                Ryans cranberry sauce                                  Willow's Tuna Cakes
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#stonesoupblog,  #mindful eating, #eating with kids, #cooking together
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       Tricia Gregory,               MA,RD/N

     A dietitian who is a foodie and loves a great dinner party with wonderful food and terrific friends.

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  • Home
    • Diane & Jerry's Socially Distanced Thanksgiving
    • A Gregory Virtual Food Event
    • The Joy of Meals with Friends
    • The "Best Ever" Dinner Party!
    • Structuring the Evening
    • Expeimenting with new recipes
    • Fat Tuscan - Cooking Class
    • A New Style Church Dinner
    • Camp Cooking
    • Sushi Feast
  • The Young Cook
    • Willow >
      • Easy Graham Crust Cheesecake
      • Pesto Bruschetta
    • Ryan - A Talented Cook >
      • Ryan's Menu
      • Sausage and Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers
      • Lemon Bars
    • Veronica
  • Menus
    • Menu #1 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 1
      • Warm Spinach Salad
      • Pasta alla Puttanesca
      • Peach and Blueberry Crisp
    • Menu #2 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 2
      • Risotto with Peas
      • Chicken Saltimbocca
      • Tiramisu
    • Menu #3 >
      • Shopping list - Menu 3
      • Broccoli & Squash Soup
      • Salmon en Papillote
      • Creamy Brandied Cherries
    • Menu #4 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 4
      • Salad with Greens and Stawberries
      • Paella
      • Pineapple Coconut Crumble
    • Menu #5 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 5
      • Citrus Avocado Lettuce Salad
      • Shrimp with Feta Cheese and Orzo
      • Pears with Raspberry Sauce
    • Menu #6 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 6
      • Fennel and Orange Salad
      • Moroccan Turkey Stew
      • Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze
    • Menu #7 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 7
      • Beet, Apple, and Walnut Salad
      • Chicken with Goat Cheese
      • DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE
    • Menu # 8 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 9
      • Green Salad with Roasted Pears and Blue Cheese
      • Orange-Raisin Chicken with Toasted Cashews
      • Nutty Brownies
    • Menu # 9 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 9
      • Green Waldorf Salad
      • Baked Fish with Ripe Olives and Feta
      • Chocolate-Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
    • Menu #10 >
      • Shopping List - Menu 10
      • Squash Mushroom Soup
      • Quinoa Salad
      • Banana Strawberry Frozen Dessert
  • Recipes
    • Salads >
      • Green Salad with Roasted Pears and Blue Cheese
      • Salad with Greens and Stawberries
      • Warm Spinach Salad
      • Fruit and Nut Tabouli
      • Hurricane Salade Niçoise
      • Fennel and Orange Salad
      • Beet, Apple, and Walnut Salad
      • Green Waldorf Salad
    • Vegetables, Legumes, & Potatoes >
      • Les Trois Pommes
      • Pasta Primavera
      • Brandied Winter Squash
      • Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese
      • The Best Sweet Potaoto Wedges
      • Sweet Potato Salad
      • Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito
      • Cuban Black Beans
      • Sautéed Tofu with Broccoli in Chili-Orange Sauce
      • Willow's Tuna Cakes
      • Brussels Sprouts
      • Quinoa Primavera
      • Spinach, Mushrooms, and Red Peppers
    • Soup >
      • Squash & Mushroom Soup
      • Parsnip Soup with Walnut Pesto
      • Corn Chowder
      • Lemony Shrimp & Bean Soup
      • Turkey Mushroom Rice Soup
      • Pear & Carrot Soup
      • Lentil Soup
      • Hearty Vegetable Soup
      • Onion Soup
      • Avocado Cucumber Soup
    • Seafood >
      • Pasta alla Puttanesca
      • Sesame Stir-Fry Shrimp and Spinach
      • A Great Lobster Roll
      • Flavorful Shrimp
      • Fish with Lemon Garlic Sauce
    • Meat & Poultry >
      • Chicken, Apricots, Sweet Potatoes, & Prunes
      • Hurricane Chicken Salad
      • Sweet Potato, Turkey, & Peanut Stew
      • Shepherd's Pie >
        • Shopping List - Shepherds Pie
    • Impossible Quiche
    • Sweets & Breads >
      • Sun-Dried Tomato Cheese Bread
      • Ryan's Cranberry Sauce
      • Chocolate Prune Cake
      • Pear & Custard Dessert
      • Chocolate Yogurt Pavlova
      • Banana-Walnut Souffle >
        • Shopping list - Banana Souffle
      • Powerful Bran Muffins
      • Orange Walnut Torte
      • Nuts - 2 Ways
  • Blog
  • Your Ideas
    • Maureen & the Air Fryer
    • Ohan's Perfect Steak
    • Myra's Soups
    • Ron's Sweet Potato
    • Sallie's Quinoa Salad
    • Ron & Brenda's Puttanesca on Coucous
    • Julie's Crunchy Cheese Snack