Five Apps To Help With Meal Planning

Meal planning is a chore a lot of us don't like to do, though we do it anyway because we know that we'll save money, reduce waste, and our waist line. Menu planning keeps families eating together on a nightly basis, which cuts down on problems many teenagers face such as poor grades, using drugs, and even issues with bullying. There honestly is no value that you can put on having family time around the table. But, for most busy families, it's impossible without some planning ahead. The following five apps will help you do just that.

 

1. Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner Pro -- This app that works with Android, Windows Phone, iPhone and Kindle Fire does a lot. It's only $2.99 for the pro version. You can get your menus and recipes while at the store without having to print off menus and wasting paper. Together with an Allrecipes.com membership you'll be able to plan your menus in literally minutes simply by clicking.


2. BigOven.com Leftover Wizard -- Use this app to input what your leftovers are and let the super fast search function deliver fabulous recipes for you to use them up.  BigOven.com also has mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, NOOK, Windows, Windows Phone and the web. Bigoven.com was one of the first online recipe sharing downloadable software apps and due to community input it's still up there with the best and most useful menu planning apps around. With fabulous drag and drop features along with syncing, menu planning could not be simpler.


3. Google Play Food Planner -- This app allows Android users to enjoy menu planning on the go. You can search multiple websites for meals, add them to your menu, then create a shopping list, all right on your phone. If you're looking for an app that lets you make your meal plans and create shopping lists on the go, this is the app for you. It's easy to use, and with the added features you won't forget an ingredient.


4. ZipList.com -- With this app you'll be able to search over 600,000 recipes to create your menus. Additionally, ZipList lets you see the deals and what's on sale in your local area making meal planning even easier. In addition to creating menus, you can select a specific date on the calendar, or simply choose a week's worth of meals and then create a shopping list. It's up to you. If you're an iPhone user, you'll also have mobile capability eliminating the need to waste paper.


5. Evernote -- This app is not just for recipes and meal planning. You can use it for a variety of purposes including menu planning, recipes, and shopping lists. They have apps for pretty much every mobile device and computer operating system there is, so you can have your notes on the go, at work and at home too. They also have a great blog that shares how to use Evernote in a variety of ways so that you can get the most use from Evernote. Oh, and did I mention, it's free?

 

 

 

Great Ideas for Excercising at Home

Having a gym membership these days can be to expensive for some household budgets so I was trying to find great exercise tips you can do at home and still burn a few calories. Below is some diagrams of exercises you can do at home with full demonstrations. But there are also exercise ideas for things you can do from your home with little to no equipment to buy.

1-Walking: this is the easiest form of exercise that you can do from your home. Get outside in nature and go for a long walk, and check out the scenery and meet a few neighbors in the process. Of course it is cold outside or raining you can still work out from home like I do by making laps inside your home. When the weather is bad outside I will make like a walking track through my kitchen, dining and living room and back and I will just keep walking it over and over again. Great way to still be active while the weather outside is not cooperating.

2-Stairs: Do you have a set of stairs in your house or maybe even a few stairs outside of your home to get in your front door. You can use these stairs to get a good workout, by going up and down them like you are on a stair climbing machine.

3-Pushups: While pushups may not be an ideal form of exercise for everyone remember there are many ways to adjust a pushup to fit your body type and your exercise routine. If you cannot get down on your knees you can push off of a wall with your hands and do a mock push up that way. There are many ways you can change this up to fit your fitness levels.

4-Jumpin Jacks: Back in elementary school I remember these were one of my favorites to do as a kid, but they can also be a great way for you to work on your cardio at home while not needing to use any exercise equipment.

5-Leg Lifts-These are great way to really stretch out your lower body and also work on your strength in your legs. If you have a hard time with certain exercises remember you can change this exercise up to suite your needs, for example you could try bending your legs slightly to make it easier.

6-Crunches: As many of you know crunches are like the holy grail to work on your core muscle area your abs. And there as many different versions of doing a good crunch that you can find one that will suite your fitness level.

7-Jogging In Place – Jogging is a great exercise for your heart. You can jog in place at home while watching TV or listening to music. The only equipment you will require is a good pair of shoes, to eliminate any stress to your legs.

8-Squats – These are wonderful exercises for your legs and buttocks. You can even just try these by sitting and standing up again from a regular chair, if you’re finding them to be too difficult. As long as you’re able to do a few repetitions, you will be providing some benefit to your body.

Low Calorie Breakfast Ideas

Lately I have been running to the YMCA first thing in the morning to do water aerobics so finding a healthy breakfast option that is fast has become my new challenge. So I wanted to share some good alternatives I have found and might work for you to get still get a healthy breakfast in but also keep those calories low. As you should know studies have proven that those whom eat a healthy breakfast are more likely to loose weight and not gain weight, than those who skip breakfast or eat a high calorie breakfast.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and they are true, breakfast helps to give your body and your metabolism a good kick start in the morning. Great way to get you going and to help wake up your body by adding healthy low calorie fuel for your body to run on. For breakfast you will want to try and keep your calories around the 250-300 calorie mark to help ensure weight loss and that you have enough calories for the rest of your meals throughout the day.

The ingredients in these easy breakfast ideas are heart healthy, and low calorie and the most important they are easy to throw together for those of us with busy mornings. All of the recipes below are below 300 calories:

• Peanut Butter on top of english muffins


• 1/2 C Mixed Berries with a cup of oatmeal and 8 ounce glass of Fat Free Milk


• 1 Medium Banana and 1/2 Cup sliced strawberries and 1 cup oatmeal


• 1/2 Cup of wheat cereal such as Kashi Go Lean, 1/2 Cup Fat Free Milk, 1 Banana


• 1 Cup Fat Free Milk, 1 cup assorted frozen fruit, 1 tbsp protein powder, 1 tbsp benefiber mix in blender for a smoothie


• English muffin toasted, to 2 scrambled eggs or egg beaters and sprinkle with fat free cheddar cheese server with fresh fruit like banana


• Layer in a glass your favorite yogurt and fresh fruit and top off with a granola


• Half of a cantaloupe cut up and diced with a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese

 

Spices that can help you loose weight

Found this great graphic on a Facebook post that shows you what health benefits certain spices have for losing weight. The spices are cinnamon, cayenne pepper, black pepper, mustard seed and also ginger.

Avocado Strawberry Spinach Salad

I love love spinach salads and one of my favorite salads is the Strawberry and Almond salads they have at Wendy's during the summer and this one is pretty close to that salad. The other benefit of this great salad is the avocado that is in it. Avocado has become one of my most favorite foods with so many ways you can use it, and they are a great alternative to mayonnaise on your sandwich

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Sausage Scramble for Breakfast

My ex husband always to use to make this for my kids and they loved it, so I adapted for myself by changing the sausage to turkey sausage to make it healthier.

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My Easy Veggie Soup Recipe

When it comes to cooking for me easier is better, I am not a big chef so if it is easy I am more inclined to make it. This soup is not only easy to make and contains a ton of yummy veggies but you can have a whole bowl for around 330 calories.



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Healthy Family Cooking Ideas

Nothing is better than a home cooked meal to make a family come together. But, cooking together is even more fun. Getting the kids involved with preparing meals can go far in teaching cooperation, nutrition, and budgeting skills to the entire family. Once a child is old enough to start helping, enlist their help and you'll be surprised at the excitement plus clean plates. Kids are known to eat a lot more veggies if they helped prepare them.

Some kid friendly ideas to try are:

Personal Pizzas -- Get prepared crusts and let the children help prepare a host of toppings like bell peppers, onions, broccoli, zucchini, and even beans! Everyone can choose what goes on their own pizza, then mom or dad can cook them up in the oven and everyone is happy because they have their own personalized pizza to enjoy. No more auguring about who likes what toppings!

Potato Bar -- Why not have a potato bar night? No need to go to a restaurant to recreate this favorite treat. Arrange a variety of toppings from the traditional, to the unique and let everyone prepare their potato the way they like it. A great way to use up left over chili, taco meat, and fajitas! Not much clean up from this healthy dinner either.

Breakfast For Dinner -- Everyone loves a good pancake. Why not make them for dinner. You can increase the health by using whole wheat flour, and some canned pumpkin puree to make delicious pumpkin pancakes! Why not try shredded carrots and raisins for some awesome carrot cake pancakes. The sky is the limit when it comes to breakfast for dinner.

Hors d'oeuvres for Dinner -- No doubt about it, kids love finger foods for dinner. They don't have to be unhealthy either. Dinner can be a simple fruit and veggie tray, all the way to a more fancy miniature spinach quiche. Bruschetta and crunchy baguettes are an all time favorite, especially if you put them under the broiler for a couple of minutes to melt a little mozzarella cheese. It'll feel like party night. While you're at it, you might as well play a game or make camp in the living room and watch a movie while you eat.

Smoothies -- This will be almost like having dessert for dinner, yet, it's not and it's healthy. Create smoothies with a combination of frozen bananas, berries, and this is what kicks in the healthy, leafy greens. The kids won't taste the greens, but it will be a healthy meal. You can make these vegan friendly, or add in some Greek yogurt to enhance the protein quota. Try out different combinations to find out what really makes you happy. Great idea when you're on the run during the school year. A quick dose of nutrition prior to games and recitals!

Caramelized Banana French Toast

For those days we have allowed yourself a few extra calories these would make a yummy addition to your families breakfast. What is better on a weekend morning than a warm plate of French toast? French toast with caramelized bananas of course!

Made with eggs, milk and bread, French toast is one of the most inexpensive and easiest breakfast treats you can make. It’s a great way to use up bread that has gone stale and if you have more than you need, simply refrigerate it for up to two days and microwave when ready to eat.

You can top French toast with anything you like from cheese or peanut butter to sweet syrups or fruit. Just about anything your taste buds desire will be great on this dish. Slice into strips and serve with a side of fruit for a great afternoon snack for kids.



 

Ingredients

 

6 lg. eggs

1 c. whole milk

1 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 lg. orange

½ tsp. nutmeg

6 slices Oat Bread (or other heavy bread)

Canola Oil

3 firm bananas

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

3 Tbs. packed brown sugar

½ c. fresh orange juice (or more)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have a baking sheet available to hold the cooked toast and keep it warm. 


• Place a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat and add a tsp. of oil. 


• While the skillet is heating up, scrape the zest from the orange into a large shallow bowl.


• Break the eggs into the same bowl and add milk, sugar, nutmeg and vanilla. Whisk together. 


• Cut the bread in half and place as many pieces as your skillet will hold in the egg mixture.


• Let the bread soak about 30 seconds - 1 minute on each side.


• Fresh bread soaks up more than stale bread so be careful you don’t soak it too long or it will fall apart when you transfer it to the frying pan.

Transfer the bread from the eggs and cook until golden brown on both sides. Place cooked toast on the baking sheet and store in a warm oven to keep warm.

Peel and slice the bananas. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the bananas and cook gently until they begin to brown. Stir in the brown sugar and continue stirring until the sugar melts. Add the orange juice and cook until the liquid becomes like syrup. If it gets too thick, add a little more orange juice.

Place toast on a plate and spoon on some of the caramelized bananas. Serve with bacon, sausage or ham and even a side of hash browns if you wish.  Add slices of the orange used for zest to garnish the dish.

 

Tips:

This may look like a complicated breakfast dish but it’s really simple. If your family doesn’t like bananas, you can easily substitute apples or pears or prepare two toppings and let them choose.

For a contrast in flavor, try spicy sausage when serving with this sweet syrup.

 

 

 

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Five Apps To Help With Meal Planning

Meal planning is a chore a lot of us don't like to do, though we do it anyway because we know that we'll save money, reduce waste, and our waist line. Menu planning keeps families eating together on a nightly basis, which cuts down on problems many teenagers face such as poor grades, using drugs, and even issues with bullying. There honestly is no value that you can put on having family time around the table. But, for most busy families, it's impossible without some planning ahead. The following five apps will help you do just that.

1. Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner Pro -- This app that works with Android, Windows Phone, iPhone and Kindle Fire does a lot. It's only $2.99 for the pro version. You can get your menus and recipes while at the store without having to print off menus and wasting paper. Together with an Allrecipes.com membership you'll be able to plan your menus in literally minutes simply by clicking.
2. BigOven.com Leftover Wizard -- Use this app to input what your leftovers are and let the super fast search function deliver fabulous recipes for you to use them up.  BigOven.com also has mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, NOOK, Windows, Windows Phone and the web. Bigoven.com was one of the first online recipe sharing downloadable software apps and due to community input it's still up there with the best and most useful menu planning apps around. With fabulous drag and drop features along with syncing, menu planning could not be simpler.
3. Google Play Food Planner -- This app allows Android users to enjoy menu planning on the go. You can search multiple websites for meals, add them to your menu, then create a shopping list, all right on your phone. If you're looking for an app that lets you make your meal plans and create shopping lists on the go, this is the app for you. It's easy to use, and with the added features you won't forget an ingredient.
4. ZipList.com -- With this app you'll be able to search over 600,000 recipes to create your menus. Additionally, ZipList lets you see the deals and what's on sale in your local area making meal planning even easier. In addition to creating menus, you can select a specific date on the calendar, or simply choose a week's worth of meals and then create a shopping list. It's up to you. If you're an iPhone user, you'll also have mobile capability eliminating the need to waste paper.
5. Evernote -- This app is not just for recipes and meal planning. You can use it for a variety of purposes including menu planning, recipes, and shopping lists. They have apps for pretty much every mobile device and computer operating system there is, so you can have your notes on the go, at work and at home too. They also have a great blog that shares how to use Evernote in a variety of ways so that you can get the most use from Evernote. Oh, and did I mention, it's free?

Product Review: Special K Cereal Protein Plus

As everyone knows by now I am striving to make sure every meal I am getting the most protein I can, so when at Walmart last week I stumbled across Special K Protein cereal. The box and ingredients boasted that with each bowl of cereal and milk you could get 10 grams of protein, that is alot of protein for your meal. Since I do not like to cook much in the morning, I figured I would give this a try and see if it is as good as I was hoping for. Being a Special K fan for many years, I figured this cereal would taste simliar to the regular Special K cereal that I love so much, I was very wrong.

Special K Protein Cereal is not like normal Special K in that it is very sweet with a hint of cinnamon flavor, where as regular Special K Cereal contains hardly any sugar and is not a sweet cereal. Now on one point I enjoyed the cereal because I do have a tendancy to have a sweet tooth, but more times than none especially at breakfast I am not looking at sweet options. So while this cereal had a sweet cinnamon flavor that was delicious, it would probably not be a cereal I would eat on a daily basis, like I would with regular Special K cereal. From the reviews I have read online this Special K Protein is a new redesigned flavor that was recently rolled out as the original flavor was not sweetened and more closely resembled the regular Special K version. Personally I would of liked the older version, while this cereal is yummy and delicious, it is very very sweet. Almost sickening sweet, meaning I felt guilty while eating it like I was cheating on my diet it was so sweet.

The other aspects of this cereal is that within a few minutes your cereal is literally so mushy it is hard to swallow anymore, I love a cereal that has a great combo of softness and crunch. This cereal disappoints in that if you don't eat your cereal very very quickly, you are literally stuck with a bowl of mush. Not really how I want to spend my morning in a race to finish my cereal before it turns to nasty to eat. Special K brand is one of my favorites and I love their regular cereal, even the regular brand gets mushy quickly, but this Special K Protein really get soft fast.

Nutrition Facts:

• Calories are 120 of just 3/4 cup of cereal or if you add a 1/2 cup skim milk the calories are 160


• Calories from fat is 10


• Total Fat 2%


• Saturated Fat 0


• Sodium is 8% for just cereal or 11% with skim milk


• Potassium is 4% just cereal or 9% with skim milk


• Protein is 10 Grams per bowl

Pros:

Great if you have a sweet tooth, this cereal has a sweet cinnamon flavor that is sure to appeal to anyone with a large sweet tooth.

Cons:

The cereal gets soft and mushy way to quick, and causes you to race to eat your cereal as fast as possible. Special K Protein Cereal is way to sweet, almost so sweet it made feel guilty like you were cheating on your diet. This is a product that I am glad that I tried, but will not buy again I will look into Kashi cereal or another brand that is less sweet and still high on protein.

12 Tips to Shed Pounds (Great tips)

Again I found  this little gem online and it is from PositiveMed and it has some great tips that I wanted to share. Figure it would be great for you to print off and put in your wallet or on your fridge to help keep you on track.

Great Weight Lose Poster to Print

I found this on the internet I wish I could find the right person to credit, but this is a great way to keep track of your measurements and how much weight you have lose and where you have lost it.

Eat Better With Meal Planning

Meal planning can help a family with many things, such as a busy schedule, a small budget, and even dietary concerns. Plus, having regular family meals together, at the table, is an important aspect of bonding. Studies show that teenagers, especially, who eat at the table as often as possible with their parents get better grades and are less affected by peer pressure. Knowing all this, it's obvious that meal planning is helpful on many fronts.

Planning meals doesn't have to be hard. Today, there are a variety of online tools to help you. Of course, you can still do it the old fashioned way, with paper, a calendar and your favorite cookbook. However, if you want to use one of the fabulous online tools to help with menu planning it will cut your planning time, and probably increase the range of foods your family eats from week to week.

A really useful tool is found at allrecipes.com. You can search for recipes for free, or you can pay a low membership fee to use all the meal planning features, including phone apps and more. If you prefer a more hands off approach, letting someone else pick the recipes for you, try savingdinner.com for done for you menus. The creator of this site has many tried and tested cookbooks of her own.

When you plan your menus do so with full knowledge of your schedule for the week. Get out the calendar and check to see where you will be, where the kids will be, and where your spouse will be. If it's an especially busy week, you'll want to plan to cook ahead (freezer cooking), or find 30 minute one pan meals that are nutritious and tasty so that you don't fall off the menu wagon. If you make it too difficult for yourself it'll be hard to stick to, and you'll find that you waste food, upping your over all food bill instead of lowering it.

The thing about preparing home cooked meals, whether one pan meals, freezer meals or even ethnic dishes, you control the ingredients. You can adjust any recipe to fit your family's nutritional needs and dietary requirements. Plus, as long as you steer clear of processed "fake" foods, you'll ingest less saturated fats, less processed sugars, less chemicals, less hormones, less additives, and you will experience a much healthier lifestyle than if you keep eating out just because you're busy or unprepared.

For anything you do in life, having a plan helps, and that includes planning menus for your family. You don't go on a trip without mapping out how to get there, or at least enter the information into your Garmin, why would you trust something as important as your family's nutrition and health to last minute fast food runs? The great thing is, if you make this a regular part of your life, getting other members of the family to help out, all of you will soon look forward to stress free family meals at the dinner table more than the drive through.

Paremesan Baked Chicken

This Parmesan Crusted Chicken is a great alternative if you are like me and love fried chicken. One of the things I am really trying hard to do is to not deny myself things I love, but instead to find a  healthier alternative instead.

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Garlic Broccoli Crisps

Ok this is not an original recipe this is one that has been floating around Facebook for awhile and yesterday while my girlfriend and I were on a cooking frenzy we decided to try this since I had a head of broccoli left over. These were simply amazing and so yummy. This would be great to eat instead of popcorn or chips while watching a movie. These come out crispy and crunchy, and mine came out a little black but I promise you they were so delicious. Try some for yourself!

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Healthy Cooking With Herbs and Spices

One of the joys of cooking has to do with the wonderful smells that come from your kitchen and flow throughout the house. Cooking with herbs and spices makes those smells and flavors come alive like no other addition. Everyone loves the food so much more when it's well seasoned. There are ways to get the flavors to explode without overdoing it. One way is to avoid adding all seasonings at once. Food should have layers of flavors, so adding one herb or spice at a time, giving it time to combine with the other ingredients before adding another one is a good idea. Another important factor is to always measure your herbs and spices and start with small amounts. You can always add more, but you can create a disaster by adding too much from the start. Herbs and spices are also medicinal, so they are a very healthy addition to your daily food intake.

Most herbs are best when used fresh. The flavors are fresher, smell great, and are perfect for roasting or sautéing. Popular herbs are basil, oregano, parsley, bay leaves, cilantro, basil, rosemary, and thyme. Plus, you can grow your own herbs easily right in your window sill. Dried herbs are great infused with oils or other fats. Crush the herbs first then add to the oil and let the flavors sit over night before using for best results. This is a great way to create wonderful dressings, sauces, and condiments. There is no exact science to how much to add, just add a bit, give it some time to combine, then give it a taste. Tasting food as you cook it is the only way to ensure the best flavor experience for anyone who will eat your creations.

Spices are usually dried but you can use them in their whole state as seeds or roots with fabulous results. A great example of this is ginger root and garlic. Nothing tastes better than fresh ginger root over dried ginger, and fresh garlic, any day in recipes. Popular spices are peppercorn, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cayenne pepper, chili powder, curry, cloves, cumin, garlic, five-spice powder. Spices give dishes a flavor punch. They go great with sweet or savory dishes and can mean the difference between a successful dish and a flop. As with herbs, a little can go a long way. Try adding a little of a spice to a dish before adding more to ensure the flavor is right. When trying out a new spice you might want to just flavor parts of a dish and taste before adding more.

The best thing to do is open your mind and palate and start experimenting with different flavors and cultures. Curries for instance, are really a combination of different spices, so you can have a variety of flavors of curry. Try out making your own curries to see what you like. You can make curried rice to go with a main course of roasted chicken and veggies. Or, mix in your favorite curry combination into mashed potatoes for a little added oomph to your basic mashed potatoes dish. Above all, don't be shy to try cooking with herbs and spices. Your family will be glad you did.

Not Your Ordinary Scrambled Eggs

A great way to spice up your eggs, especially if you are like me and trying to get more protein in at every meal. This eggs are heavy in fresh spices and herbs and a little heat, great way to get your morning going before work.

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Product Review: Special K Pastry Crisps Cookies and Creme

While shopping at Walmart this weekend I was looking for items to help satisfy my sweet tooth while still being low in fat and calories and came across these Special K Pastry Crisp in Cookie and Creme flavor. The package showed a half of an Oreo cookie, and being a huge chocolate lover this really appealed to me. Oreo cookies is a huge weakness of mine and if these tasted anywhere similar to an Oreo cookie I was going to be thrilled.

The box of Special K Pastry Crisp were priced at normal price for $2.99 and contain 10 bars inside and 5 pouches, breaking down to about $.30 per bar. Now once you open the package you will see that is two nice sized chocolate bars inside, which to me was a bonus. When I have a snack I like to savor it and having two bars would allow you to feel full and still satisfy your sweet tooth. The bars are a very light and airy crisp like a wafer consistency, on the top it has chocolate frosting drizzled over the top. Inside the chocolate wafers is a marshmallow like frosting that was sweet and creamy, similar to a regular Oreo cookie. As to the filling and wafer ratio I felt that bars has just enough marshmallow frosting inside and had a definite crunch when you would bite into the wafer cookies. To give you a good example of the flavor of these bars if you have ever had Pop Tarts Cookies & Creme, these bars taste very similar just not as sweet.

Pros:

Very convenient for grabbing a snack in a  hurry and still keeping your diet. Also very tasty and can help curb your sweet tooth and chocolate cravings.

Cons:

The frosting on the top of the bars melts very easy and can make for a messy eating experience. The insides of the crisp could use a little bit more frosting in some spots they felt a bit hollow. Also these could be hard to eat just two, so keep track of your calories.

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not receive any compesenation from anyone for my product reviews currently these are based on my own personal opinions.

Healthy eating for Picky Eaters

Most people start out as picky eaters. The flavors of various foods are both exciting and frightening to feel on our tongue. But also, children have a natural ability to know when to eat, and when not to eat. If we force small children to eat more than they want, and to eat foods they find distasteful we're more likely to create a picky eater. Therefore, start young and don't force children to eat anything. Provide a large choice of healthy foods, limit or eliminate empty calories from the choices, and provide fresh filtered water for hydration instead of flavored drinks. Most children prefer "mono" meals, to casseroles or mixed foods. It's okay, over time they are getting what they need.

If it's too late, or this didn't work, there are ways to feed a picky eater, whether it's a child or a spouse.

Involve Them -- Most people who take part in cooking the meal will delight more in eating it. Get everyone involved with cooking a healthy meal. Someone can mix, set the table, chop, and stir. From growing backyard gardens, to helping grocery shop, to putting it on the table, if everyone does their part to get the meal on the table they'll appreciate the labor much more and eat more.

Don't Force -- You can't please everyone all the time, all you can do is offer healthy choices at each meal. If a child, or spouse, doesn't like something that is on the table, let them eat more of what they do like, and let it go. Making it an issue will cause more problems than just letting people be. There are times that people just don't like something.

It's Science -- Scientifically, there are reasons people like things and not others. Some foods taste different to people based on their genetics. This is why some people love broccoli and others hate it. Some kids hate milk because they have a milk allergy or are lactose intolerant, don't force them to ingest things they hate. There are always alternatives to meet their nutritional requirements.

Hide It -- If you have people who say they hate veggies and simply won't even try them, try hiding them. You can add many pureed veggies to sauces, meatloaf, and other foods and they won't even know. Think of colors, for instance, add squash to mac & cheese, and they'll never know. Add carrots to spaghetti sauce, and it won't even show. Create nutritional smoothies with bananas, and other fruit with a little spinach added in. It'll look green, but it'll taste like fruit.

Relax -- No picky eater purposely starves themselves. It's okay to say no to some items and it's okay not to cook special replacements for the picky eater, but it's not okay to force them to eat things they don't like. A few days of not having a replacement food will cause the picky eater to get hungrier, their digestive juices will start flowing, and formerly unsavory foods will naturally taste better.

Eat more whole grains and love it

Getting more whole grains into your diet is easy, and believe it or not, they taste great too! Eating more whole grains will provide specific vitamins and key minerals to ward off illness such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and even obesity. You need to eat three or more servings of whole grains per day for optimum health. But, it can be tricky if you don't know how. Here are some tips to help you get there and love it.

Read Labels  -- The words, "Whole Grain" or "Whole Wheat" must be on the ingredients label. Also, for added benefit try not to buy any item that has sugars before the third ingredient. Ingredients are listed in order of amount and "Whole" should be first. In addition there are some seals to look for on the packaging such as the Whole Grain seal, and a statement about whole grains reducing the risk of heart disease. These are not allowed to be on anything that is not made with Whole Grain but having said that, still read the label and check for added sugars and chemicals. You want the most pure product you can find.

Start Eating -- It's simplest to start with cereal if you eat cereal for breakfast. If you don't, there is a way to eat cereal that will keep you full longer. Try mixing the types of cereals. Some oats, some granola, some mini wheat's, add in a whole banana, or other fruits and raisins. The trick is, do not use added sugar cereals even if it is "whole grain". Use honey to sweeten it, or you can use already sweetened Almond Milk which makes the cereal taste great and has more calcium than cow's milk.

Be Sneaky -- A lot of kids will turn up their noses at anything you tell them is healthy. It doesn't have to be this way. You can sneak in whole grains to any food. Try adding freshly ground flax seeds to casseroles, spaghetti sauce, soups and stews, meatballs, and even salads. It will add a lovely nutty flavor as a garnish and mixed in, more than likely no one will even taste the difference.

Start Replacing -- You don't have to start over night but start replacing anything you eat now such as rice, breads, pasta, flours, with the whole grain equivalent. You can even use oatmeal flour instead of regular flour for a tasty alternative in baking. Believe it or not, after a couple of months, if you try to go back to the white versions, you won't like them. Whole Grain actually tastes a lot better.

Change Techniques -- You may need to learn new cooking techniques to ensure the best taste of your healthy food. For instance, the best way to cook brown rice is to cook it the same way you do pasta. Place 2 cups of rice in 8 cups of boiling water. Boil for 30 minutes, drain, place back in the empty pot, cover with a lid for 10 minutes for the best rice anywhere, perfect and fluffy, every single time. Rice cookers can make brown rice (and white) mushy and tasteless, this method makes it wonderful.