Real Food Compromises I Make So We Can Stay Within Budget (and ways I will never compromise)

Real Food Compromises I Make So We Can Stay Within Budget (and ways I will never compromise)

Pardon me while I eat my organic raw greens with free range chicken IN BETWEEN SIPS OF PEPSI.

That was me just a few years ago. Cute, huh? Makes no sense, right? Those were the days I had a small panic attack anytime someone offered my kids a non-organic apple. No! That will poison them!! It MUST be organic! Regular beef from the store is horrid and so is all milk that comes out of a jug! Oooh, are those Nacho Cheese Doritos? Don’t mind if I do.

Suffice it to say that in the early years of my real food journey, as I was learning about nutrition and food sources, the good, the bad, and the ugly – I turned a little bit crazy. I over-freaked out about all the food issues in America and had nightmares about evil pesticides coming to life and grabbing us by the throats. But all the while, I had an awful time giving up Pepsi, Doritos, and basically anything that started with a de and ended with a ssert. Oh yes. I loved my sugar.

So first things first: If you’re new (or not so new) to eating real food and struggling to trade in all of the “bad stuff” for all of the “good stuff” all at the same time, RELAX. You’ll settle in to what’s best for your family. Your body and taste buds will adjust. Your cravings will change. God will help you.

It took years for me, but I don’t even want Pepsi or sugary foods now. And (shhh), sometimes my kids walk into the room and find me snacking on raw spinach leaves. You don’t even have to tell me how weird the spinach thing is. I already know, because it is obvious, and because my kids have been happy to tell me. (But I also still like a Dorito or three now and then, because when you refuse to read the ingredient list, the disodium guanylate can’t hurt you.)

So now that I’m about 11 years into our Real Food Journey, let me share with you some of the food patterns I’ve settled into. Some of these decisions have been made because I took a big chill pill and realized that when all is said and done, God is bigger than a free range chicken.

I’ve also had to make some choices based on our ever growing food budget needs. With four male teenage athletes in our home, along with a hard working, athletic husband – we buy a huge cart full of groceries every week. If I bought organic everything, free range everything, the very best of everything everything – I would spend $3,000-$4,000 a month on groceries (not an exaggeration). I think my food budget is already high enough, thank you very much.

Real Food Compromises I Make So We Can Stay Within Budget

1. Not everything I buy is organic.

I used to be much more diligent about this – especially when it came to the “Dirty Dozen” list. But as our kids got bigger and began eating huge quantities of food, the cost of buying organic food exclusively became impossible. When it came to fruits and vegetables, I noticed that since I couldn’t afford all organic produce, I stopped buying much produce at all!

So let’s see…should we stop eating many fruits and vegetables because I couldn’t buy them all organically, or choose to buy the “regular” ones so we would still be eating plenty of fruits and vegetables?

Through prayer, I found much peace in buying regular produce and feeding us a wide variety of fresh produce consistently. (This applies to our dairy products too. We have a great source for organic, raw milk, but not for sour cream, butter, and cream cheese.)

When foods are available at reasonable prices I can afford, I most definitely buy organic. But my bigger goal is to fill us with many nourishing fruits and vegetables every day, even if they haven’t been grown in a way I feel is best. God is bigger, but my budget is not. So God wins.

2. Sugar is sugar, so why pay more?

When making treats, I still prefer to use organic sucanat. But I’ve stopped using it exclusively because it costs so much more than regular ol’ brown sugar. At the end of the day, our bodies don’t care what kind of sugar we’re feeding it – it wreaks the same kind of havoc. So that’s another compromise I have made, which you can read details about here.

I do still avoid high fructose corn syrup, which means we use Real Maple Syrup on our pancakes and waffles and to sweeten a few treats (like smoothies). I’ve personally found that Liquid Stevia is my favorite sweetener, though my kids aren’t huge fans. :)

3. The cheese may not be raw. But at least it’s cheese.

I really like raw, organic cheese that hasn’t been turned freakishly orange with food dye. But wow do we go through a lot of cheese at our house. Therefore, to save money, I’ve gone back to buying regular Colby jack cheese blocks at the store. You can read more about this here.

4. I buy pork products at the store.

I have had a huge dilemma over this through the years. Pork is not the healthiest meat choice – I know this. I used to avoid it altogether. Then I started buying a little from a farmer who had healthier, but kind of expensive, pork options. Then, because I’ve found that starting our day with a high protein breakfast really is best for my family of teenage boy athletes (and their non-athletic mom who really feels much better when she eats a lot of protein and fat) – I started adding in more bacon and ham.

It tastes so ridiculously good.

We eat more beef and chicken than pork, but I’ve stopped worrying about avoiding pork altogether, and I typically buy the regular ol’ piggies from the store. I usually stock up when there’s a good price-match option, so this helps save our budget. Then I save time by cooking it up ahead of time for fast breakfasts.

Real Food Compromises I Just Can’t Make, Even if it Saves Money

1. I will never buy margarine.

I don’t even like to type the word. At our house, it’s real butter all the way. I don’t care that it costs more. I trust real butter because it is made from cream and salt – and those are real food ingredients our bodies can use for nourishment. Marga-blech is made in a factory from chemicals our bodies don’t recognize and can’t utilize for nutrition. This makes my stomach churn. Butter for the win.

2. I make unattractive faces when I think about Jif and Skippy.

Peanut butter “spreads,” as they are labeled, contain FULLY hydrogenated oils and a bunch of added sugar. When I learned this, our family transitioned to buying Natural Peanut Butter, though admittedly, we didn’t love it. (Plus I found that stirring it every time we needed it was a big pain in the neck – and messy too.)

Next I started making peanut butter like this, which is more amazing than ever. THEN, I discovered how to make this creamy, spreadable homemade peanut butter and we are all in love. My kids actually brag about this peanut butter to their friends.

3. “Processed Cheese Food” shouldn’t have a shelf life.

I had a hard time giving up velveeta – and I won’t say I’ll never eat it again – but it’s kind of freakish, wouldn’t you say? I’ve noticed that the price keeps going up (over $6.00 for a block, really?) so it’s not like buying it actually saves money compared to making our own cheese sauce.

But who even cares about velveeta now that we can make this amazing Real Food “Velveeta” and Rotel Dip Recipe!

I’m probably forgetting a thing or two, but I would say those are the main compromises I make, as well as the biggest compromises I feel strongly about not making. Care to share what real food compromises you make to help you save money – and what you feel like you just can’t compromise on?

Original article and pictures take heavenlyhomemakers.com site

Real Food and My Child’s Autism Diagnosis

Real Food and My Child’s Autism Diagnosis

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

When my eleven year old son was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism last year, I had no idea how much the everyday details of our life would change.

He had been struggling and exhibiting signs for years, so I wasn’t surprised by the diagnosis itself. In fact, once the very real, very shattering oh my goodness my child has autism and there is nothing I can do to change it grief lessened, I actually felt a kind of relief. I thought it would be obvious now what we needed to do to help him.

Oh my goodness, was I wrong.

It was anything but obvious. One doctor would give us one bit of advice. The next would contradict it. One book would say to address something immediately, the next would say wait. It was like being a first time mom again – completely unsure of what to do next.

This was especially true in the realm of food and eating.

It started even before the official diagnosis.

My son was having violent, self harming, destructive meltdowns every single day. In a desperate attempt to help, we spoke with a biomedical nutritionist.

Finding Our Own Way

This ‘”doctor” (yes, the quotes are intentional) told me I would need to give her my credit card information over the phone before we could proceed. When I asked her what for, she simply stated, “I will give you what you need to be a warrior mom for your child. You need a specific diet plan and many supplements that only I can provide for a monthly fee.” I hastily made an excuse and hung up.

I burst into tears as I realized this was not going to be as simple as I thought. My son was suffering, all the time. I needed answers, but I also needed compassion with a little common sense thrown in.

It’s not that I didn’t want the help. I did.

It’s not that I wasn’t willing to change our eating habits. I was.

It wasn’t the message. It was the way this person interacted with me that made me uncomfortable. The I have all the answers without even knowing or ever having met your son approach did not sit well.

Over the course of the next two months, I heard several versions of this same thing – “Pay me and I will come up with a food strategy for your son that will help with his behavior.” I also heard several versions of, “There is no scientific basis for any of that. There is no link between food and autistic behaviors.”

I wanted to scream.

The reality is, no one child on the autism spectrum is the same. My child has massive sensory issues that dramatically affect his life, and he has a genius level IQ. Another child we know is the exact same age, with the same diagnosis, and has the exact opposite – no sensory issues at all, but a lower than average IQ.

What this means is no expert advice, no set of therapies, no book on Amazon, no other mom with a child who has autism will absolutely know what to do to help.

Since I am the person closest to my child, and his eating habits for that matter, I decided to take some time before working with biomedical experts and see how I could impact his diet on my own.

Based on some initial online research, my own observations of my son, and a book from Amazon, I made a list of three priorities:

1. Identify any Gluten/Casein Allergies or Sensitivities

The first thing every resource suggested is eliminating gluten and/or casein (dairy) to determine if any sensitivity exists.

I already had some experience with this. When my son was a baby, he was extremely sensitive to my breast milk when I had consumed dairy products. I eliminated dairy from my diet for two years while he nursed and the impact was obvious and measurable. In addition, I generally had him avoid dairy until he was around 5 years old. When we added it back in, I didn’t see the same symptoms as when he was a baby (mostly eczema and nasal congestion) so I allowed it in his diet.

Fast forward 5 more years…we went right back to where we started and eliminated dairy entirely.

It. Was. Rough.

He craved dairy. He would beg for a glass of milk or cream (yes – he LOVES fresh cream and half and half). He lost it every night over not being able to have ice cream for dessert. But after two weeks, there was an obvious change in his ability to remain calm under stress. His complexion improved. He had more energy.

Occasional treats of ice cream showed obvious and immediate behavior changes. Once it would leave his system he would calm down. It wasn’t too difficult to completely cut out these treats.

We tried the same thing with gluten, but it did not have the same dramatic effects. Instead of eliminating gluten entirely, we chose instead to eat more whole grains and make our bread from scratch whenever possible.

(Please let me stress, every child is different. As much as eliminating milk products helped my son, some families report no change at all. For some, gluten was the game changer. For others, nothing seemed to help. That’s why I think mommas can and should be part of the conversation in determining how to best treat their child and their diet.)

2. Add Real Food Into Our Diet Wherever Possible

I was a single, working mom for many years. In those days, my goal was to not eat fast food more than once a day. (I wish I was joking. Please have grace. I was so stressed and never home. It was the best I could do at the time.)

When I began staying home with my children, part of that included moving away from eating fast food. It also included serving more foods made from scratch. When it became clear that my son has a very special brain chemistry, it just made sense that preservatives, additives and dyes might be affecting that brain chemistry. It was time to really step up my efforts.

One of the very first things I did was change where I shopped. Since this was all relatively new to me, it was easier to just frequent more natural food stores than the regular grocery chains or Target. It was a quick way to help me get on track. (Once I was a little more familiar with what to look for when shopping, and understood what my family liked and didn’t like, I was easily able to find food that would meet our needs in other stores.)

The added benefit was actually saving money. I assumed I would have to just make room in our budget for the increase in food prices at natural stores. What I found is that with less options, I just bought less overall.

This is also when I started avidly following natural living blogs, including Kitchen Stewardship. Having wisdom and recipes and encouragement one click away made it feel so much more achievable – even to a recovering fast food restaurant momma.

3. Involve My Son

My son is eleven. He is not a toddler who simply eats what I put in front of him. He has his own preferences and interests and expectations when it comes to food.

In addition, because of his sensory processing issues, he struggles with eating in general. Texture, taste and smell can overwhelm him very easily. Even the chair and the way it feels to sit at the dinner table has been something we have dealt with for years (to date we have changed out his chair four times in an attempt to find one that is comfortable and allows us to require him to eat at the table with the family).

In order for this to be a long term solution, I knew that he needed to feel involved and in control of the changes we are making.

Here are some of the simple ways he has been a part of this shift in our home:

• He has his own budget at the Farmers’ Market or the store each week. He can choose to buy anything he wants that we consider “healthy.”
• He is involved in preparing and cooking as much as possible (I am really lucky here – Alton Brown is his hero so science in the kitchen is kind of his thing).
• He helps with any gardening we do, including choosing what we will grow and researching the best soils and techniques for our climate.
• He chooses his treats and splurges. I allow them.
• He mixes up natural cleaners and toothpaste for me.
• He finds recipes he would like to try.

All of this has helped to make this shift much more fun. It has also allowed him to understand that this is just part of how he lives his life (something I am hopeful will carry over into adulthood!).

These changes have helped my son, to be sure. They have also changed the way our entire family eats and cares for our home.

We have so far to go. I know many families who are much further along in their commitment to more natural living and eating. If you are a momma, wondering where to start or what to do next, I want to encourage you to just take time and try new things.

There is no deadline and no finish line.

Small changes over time, add up. If we can do it, I know you can too!

Have you made any changes in diet for your family? What benefits have you seen?

Shawna loves Jesus, her handsome husband and her two uniquely challenged little boys. She finds herself daily required to live beyond the limits of herself and serve a wonderfully complex family. She also finds herself always grateful that the Lord covers her failing to do so. She blogs about the messy and the painful, the sweet and the beautiful at Not The Former Things. Join her and other moms just like her on Facebook at Not The Former Things.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post to Amazon from which I will earn some commission if you make a purchase. See my full disclosure statement here.

Original article and pictures take www.kitchenstewardship.com site

Real (Healthy!) Meal Ideas for Toddlers from a Real Mom

Real (Healthy!) Meal Ideas for Toddlers from a Real Mom

It’s easy to get stuck in a carrots and apple rut when feeding your kids healthy meals. I hope this list inspires you to shake things up with real (healthy!) meal ideas for toddlers and preschoolers from a real mom.

Was it just me or did everyone have an image of how they’d be when they became a mom? I knew I would have endless patience, spend hours planning elaborate arts and crafts, and of course I’d make sure to take the time to cut cheese into shapes to make adorable scenes on their plates. My kids would think I was the coolest as I placed their breakfast in front of them– tadaaa!

source

Fast forward to today and though I’d tell you I love being a mom more than I ever could have imagined, the perfection fantasy has long since flown out the window. I admire and aww at the incredible meal creations others make look so easy, but beyond a raisin stuck on some peanut butter’d celery and an occasional Mickey Mouse pancake, there isn’t much effort put into cutesy presentation around here.

However, I still believe in good food and in hopes of staying free from the dreaded meal rut, I wanted to compile a visual reference of real meals my 2 year old and 4 year old have been eating and enjoying lately.

Breakfast

Peanut butter waffle bites with syrup to dip. Blueberries and strawberries on the side.

Oatmeal with blueberries and nectarines. Half a cream cheese sandwich on the side.

Cheese grits with fried egg and tomato.

More tomato of the side since separation is sometimes key!

Scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese, buttered toast, banana slices.

Lunch

Ham and cheese tortilla rolls, cheery tomatoes, oranges, graham cracker squares, shelled pistachios and an Adora chocolate disk.

Cheese and cracker sandwiches, grapes, arugula salad with goat cheese crumbles (dip into a dressing).

Ham and cheese tortilla rolls, blueberries, carrot pieces, yogurt, and fruit gummies.

Greek quinoa, crackers with hummus, and applesauce.

Dinner

Hamburger bites, roasted Brussels sprouts, corn on the cob, and a pickle.

Mexican rice and beans, grilled chicken, avocado, and red pepper.

Leftover lasagna filling with garlic toast, roasted sweet potatoes, garlic and lemon green beans, and nectarine pieces.

Greek lamb burger with ranch, steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and dill pickle sauerkraut.

Shrimp and linguine with a garlic and parsley butter sauce with roasted asparagus.

Bourbon and brown sugar salmon (a kid favorite!), with broccolini, and roasted Yukon and Sweet potatoes.

I believe that healthy food doesn’t have to be complicated. We eat a lot of simple meals and get the girls involved in the process. This helps my even more “selective” eater, Kaitlyn (2), get excited about enjoying healthy food.

Moms, weigh in!

What are some of your kids’ favorite meals lately?

I know I’m always looking to shake things up too!

For more healthy kid recipes and food talk, visit my Munchkin Meals page!

Original article and pictures take www.ahealthysliceoflife.com site

Reading Printables.

Reading Printables.

We love to read over here, and I recently did a little rearranging in our house so that we have a little reading corner in the living room now. I wanted to have some reading artwork for that area, so I made a few printables. If you want to download them for yourself, just click the link below each one.

Original article and pictures take i0.wp.com site

Read this before you use Eucalyptus, Peppermint, or Rosemary Essential Oils (1,8-cineole)

Read this before you use Eucalyptus, Peppermint, or Rosemary Essential Oils (1,8-cineole)

1,8-cineole, a compound found in Eucalyptus, peppermint, and rosemary (and possibly others, these are the ones I’ve heard of though), is referenced by some bloggers to cause slow breathing and possibly even stop breathing in infants. Scary stuff! The last thing we want to do is cause respiratory problems by using essential oils. The goal with essential oils is to promote wellness, and use them to solve health problems that aren’t caused by a needed diet change or unhealthy lifestyles. Essential oils can be a powerful healing tool, but they also are a very very concentrated part of the plant. Anything in a high concentration is more likely to cause problems, at the same time, the high concentration is what makes these effective medicines.

Looking at Claims

Before I listen to any claims on ‘oh, it’s safe, I’ve always used it for my children’ or ‘no, it’s absolutely not safe because it contains 1,8-cineole’ I want to look for actual studies, and make an educated decision off of that. More leeway can be given to things that have been used for hundreds or thousands of years, I believe, because there has been more time for issues to surface and be warned about. But I’m willing to bet that 100 years ago Grandma wasn’t using a diffuser to diffuse a bottle of concentrated oil into the air for her infants to breathe. She was, however, giving her children cod liver oil- I can get behind that, for sure.

But *my brand of oil* is super pure

When we’re looking at 1,8-cineole the issue isn’t the purity – this is a naturally occurring substance within the plants that the oils are derived from. The substance itself is the problem. Just like caffeine is naturally found in tea and coffee, even a very pure extract of green tea with no additives will still contain a bunch of caffeine. That doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing to give to our children.

Studies

I was first told about the dangers of eucalyptus oil with children in the group Using Essential Oils Safety, see this article. I wanted to do more research and read some studies, rather than just rely on ‘this person said it’s safe’ or ‘that person said it’s dangerous’.

A web search of 1,8-cineole reveals lots of documented studies. The compound is said to be found mostly in eucalyptus, but also in peppermint, ginger, basil, rosemary, sage, and cardamon (source). It has shown to be effective at reducing inflammation in the lungs (source), helping therapeutically with asthma (source), bronchitis (source) and helping with a sinusitis (source). See? Essential oils are a great thing to have in your medicine cabinet, but they also are *medicinal* and not to be used without consideration.

This article talks about how lethal dose (orally) of eucalyptus oil in mice produced similar symptoms of an overdose of topical eucalyptus oil in a 6-year-old girl being treated for hives (source) with a topical preparation.

This study looks at incidences of accidental eucalyptus oil ingestion (usually in the form of vaporizer liquid) and states, “ingestion of eucalyptus oil caused significant morbidity in infants and young children. Significant depression of conscious state should be anticipated after ingestion of 5 mL or more of 100% oil. Minor depression of consciousness may occur after 2-3 mL. Airway protection should precede gastric lavage.”

In our family

To put the above study in perspective, 1/4 teaspoon is one mL, so that’s not an insignificant amount of oil, but the symptoms are severe and alarming, and not something I’m comfortable with messing around with.

Some of the blends have eucalyptus in them, and where I have used them in the past with my kids, I will now skip eucalyptus in the diffuser around the baby, unless we are hanging onto a cold or cough even with the use of alternative oils, and could use the documented medicinal qualities of eucalyptus.

Because eucalyptus has the highest concentration of 1,8-cineole (source– it shows 28% in eucalyptus vs 1% in peppermint), I’m going to use peppermint with caution, but if it’s in a blend and not going to be used excessively, I’ll continue to use it, while watching closely for any reactions, as always should be done.

Some oils that can clear congestion and relieve coughing that don’t have 1,8-cineole:

Original article and pictures take healthhomeandhappiness.com site

Raspberry Lime Smoothie

Raspberry Lime Smoothie

Hello, gorgeous! I just love the color of this Raspberry Lime Smoothie, it’s definitely a great way to put you in a good mood in the morning. I drink a smoothie almost every morning, unless I go to Starbucks to get a very berry refresher, which are my favorite especially in the summer.

And speaking of favorite, this Raspberry Lime Smoothie is my new favorite smoothie. It’s so refreshing and perfect for the upcoming summer months. I made one this morning and I thought it would be a perfect “adult” drink too, and I totally agree. Add some vodka or some rum and you have yourself a fruity summer drink, perfect for sipping by the pool or the lake!

JUST A COUPLE SMOOTHIE MAKING TIPS:

✓ USE FROZEN FRUIT: I like to use frozen fruit instead of ice cubes in my smoothies. For this smoothie you want to use frozen raspberries, I just buy a big bag of them in my local grocery stores freezer section. But you if want to use fresh raspberries, no problem just add about a cup of ice cubes.

✓ FILL UP YOUR BLENDER: You always want to layer your ingredients softest to hardest (frozen). First, add the limeade, greens, and yogurt. Then, add frozen raspberries.

Original article and pictures take deliciouslysprinkled.com site

Rainbow Citrus Infused Water.

Rainbow Citrus Infused Water.

Rainbow citrus infused water is a great way to stay hydrated! It’s beautiful and full of citrus flavor!

Our life is just topsy-turvy right now. Everything is everywhere, we have boxes in every room, furniture in every corner. I told Darryl we should just go for it and sell our house and move since we are already halfway packed. ;)

Since it’s a mess at my house, I’m feeling a bit stressed and tired out. I’ve been trying to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables so that I feel good and not sluggish.

One thing that I’ve been doing is making some rainbow citrus infused water to keep in the fridge and drink all day.

I used a variety of citrus in this water – a blood orange, a satsuma mandarin, a lemon, and a lime. I just sliced them up and layered them in a quart size mason jar, then poured ice cold filtered water over them, and placed the jar in the refrigerator. You can start drink it right away, but the flavor improves after it’s been sitting for a few hours. Once you drink the water, you can just add more to the jar. I find that it works to refill the jar a few times – the citrus will keep adding flavor over an entire day.

Adding citrus to your water gives you a nice Vitamin C boost, and lemons and oranges contain potassium as well. Blood oranges have lots of antioxidants and make the water turn a pretty pale pink. Drinking citrus infused water can help keep your blood sugar from spiking and can help reduce bloating in addition to giving your skin a healthy glow! So drink up!

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Do you drink any infused waters? What’s your favorite flavor combination?

Original article and pictures take i0.wp.com site

Quick and Easy Homemade Bug Repellent with Essential Oils

Quick and Easy Homemade Bug Repellent with Essential Oils

Many of the natural brands of insect repellent do not work. This quick and easy homemade bug repellent with essential oils really works!

Conventional Bug Repellent Has Toxic Chemicals

You want to avoid using the conventional brands because of the extremely dangerous substances in them. Here are 5 quick and easy formulas that you can make at home that really work!

You really don’t want to put conventional bug repellent anyone’s skin. The skin absorbs chemicals very quickly – as if you were ingesting them. Also, children have thinner skin that absorbs quickly and they are more sensitive to chemicals.

The conventional brands have toxic chemicals that have been documented to cause many acute events such as seizures, migraines and skin reactions. Beyond that, there are the long term problems of hormone disruption and carcinogenicity.

One of the most common active ingredients found in synthetic insect repellents is DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide). DEET is a powerful insecticide used in many products. Although DEET is very effective as an insect repellent, it can be a neurotoxin. When applied directly on the skin, over half of DEET is absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

DEET can cause side effects such as skin rashes, muscle spasms, nausea, lethargy, and irritability. Severe reactions can be seizures or even death. Studies have shown that DEET may not be safe for use in and around water sources.

Here are some tried and true remedies that won’t poison your family.

Quick and Easy Homemade Bug Repellent

The most convenient way to use an insect repellent is to have it in a spray bottle. There are many spray bottles you can purchase at your local Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, etc.

Simply fill the spray bottle (I use an 8 ounce bottle) 1/2 full with distilled or boiled water (cooled). Add some witch hazel almost to the top. Then add 30 – 50 drops of the essential oils you have chosen. The more oils you use, the stronger the spray will be.

1 – Neem Oil has been shown to be effective – especially when mixed with lemongrass and peppermint. Neem is like a light garlic oil and some say that simply eating lots of garlic will help keep bugs away!

2 – Lemon eucalyptus oil and citronella are listed by the EPA as an effective repellent.

4 – Catnip oil has been shown to be more effective than DEET as a bug repellent.

5- Rosemary, basil, thyme, clove and oregano essential oils have strong odors that work effectively to keep bugs away. Simply growing the plants around your garden will help keep bugs away with the added benefit of having them handy to make a bug spray or flavor your food!

Homemade Bug Spray Instructions

1. Fill spray bottle (I used 8 ounce) 1/2 full with distilled or boiled water
2. Add witch hazel to fill almost to the top
3. Add 30-50 drops of essential oils to desired scent. The more oils you use, the stronger the spray will be.
4. You can vary the amount of drops of each you mix or use equal amounts of each. You can try a mixture of just one or two oils (#1,#4, #2) or you can use the more complex combination (#5).

As with any new substance, use cautiously, especially on children. Even thought these oils are safe, some people may react to the scent and/or the oil. With essential oils, less is more. I like to spray these insect formulas on clothing rather than skin when possible. See more of my disclaimer here.

Proper Use of Essential Oils

In order to properly use essential oils you really need to inform yourself as much as you can. You can read books, go online, or join into a company that sells the oils and also offers training in its use.

All of this takes time and research.

You don’t have to do this on your own! I have a simple solution for you!

Are you as Fascinated About Herbs and Essential Oils as I Am?

Seriously, just two items that I am interested in – the Cancer, Nutrition & Natural Healing eCourse by Sayer Ji, a $39.00 value and the The Thinking Parent’s Guide to Natural Remedies by Kresha Faber, a $17.99 value, together are more than the super low price of The Herbs and Essential Oils Super Bundle! and you will get so much more!

Inspire Your Real Food Healing Journey with my FREE Grain-Free Meals e-Cookbook and Getting Started email series!

Original article and pictures take realfoodforager.com site

Quick and Easy {NO SUGAR} Elementary School Halloween Party!

Quick and Easy {NO SUGAR} Elementary School Halloween Party!

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Healthy school Halloween party plan, complete with more food ideas than you need plus games, activities, and minimal prep work needed.

Are you in charge of planning a kids’ Halloween party for your child’s elementary school classroom this year?

Are you low on time and ideas?

Do you wish Halloween (and classroom parties) could have far less sugar and hyped up children than they do?

I’m here to help.

Do People Want Healthy Halloween Parties?

After I posted this on Facebook a few years back:

Facebook post about my healthy Halloween party at my kid's elementary school

I decided to share this simple Halloween party plan with you all.

That’s almost as many likes as I got when I birthed a child, for Heaven’s sakes! Apparently this “no sugar Halloween party” is a hot topic…

And because I am who I am, it is also a (sort of) low maintenance plan, at least as far as games go, so if you’ve got a few parents to help, you could totally pull this off with even just a couple days notice.

We had a blast with a one-hour Halloween party in second-grade with this plan, and as a former teacher, I was totally energized being in front of the classroom again. I’ve tweaked and reused it a few times since then too, for kindergarten and fourth graders!

Katie here, just interrupting for a sec if I may with an exciting announcement about something I’m super passionate about…kids cooking dinner!

Your kids can learn to cook!

If your dream would be a night off dinner – or you know it’s vital that your kids have life skills like cooking – or they’re ASKING to help in the kitchen but you’re not sure where to start – these brand new videos can help!

It feels like you don’t have time for anything else – but teaching kids to cook truly creates time where there was none once they start pitching in on dinner prep. #kitchenmiracle

For a fun sneak preview of one of our recipes, here’s my 5yo making mac and cheese in the Instant Pot – can you figure out what that secret VEGGIE ingredient is?

No White Sugar Halloween Party Food

A few parents thanked me for planning food that didn’t include a bunch of candy, and I didn’t hear any kids say, “Hey! Where’s the cupcake with inch-thick frosting and a sugar cookie as big as my face?!??”

I’m thinking the food went over well.

Here’s a real food menu for a Halloween party, complete with some dramatic presentation– because I love to show kids (and adults) that healthy food can still be FUN and we don’t need to drown ourselves (and our kids) in sugar!!

Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

Whole wheat, sucanat as the sweetener, real pumpkin puree (and here’s the gluten-free pumpkin muffin version)

Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Muffins

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies

4 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups real pumpkin puree and only a smidge over 1/2 cup honey for 6 dozen cookies! I made half raisin, half chocolate chip.

Now in my wisdom of later years, I’ve realized that a party treat should have no more than 3 items, or a lot of good food gets tossed in the trash. I’d skip the muffins and keep the cookies since there’s less sweetener and kids think “cookies” are more fun!!

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies

Carrot Witches’ Fingers

I explained that I had invited a group of witches to do a singing and dancing number for the class, but instead of witch singers somehow a box came with just witch fingers. (They’re baby carrots with a sunflower or pumpkin seed stuck in the end – and they look just as good with shelled sunflower seeds too.)

Witch's Fingers (carrot and sunflower seeds)

Slimy Eyeball Grapes

I held up that sticky eyeball toy on the left and asked if anyone would like one on their plate, then sent a dad around with a bag marked “EYEBALLS” to serve. (They’re peeled grapes. I recommend peeling one per child for the touchy-feely experience, then offering extra unpeeled grapes.)

Eyeballs (peeled grapes)

Popcorn

I said I had also invited a skeleton to do a comedy routine, but the parking lot was so busy with parents that when he got out of my van and rushed out without looking both ways, he got hit by a car! I could only collect his vertebrae in the bowl…

(The popcorn is popped in coconut oil and covered in about a stick of butter per cup of unpopped popcorn kernels…it was so good I had parents asking how I did it! Full instructions in Healthy Snacks to Go)

Skeleton Vertebrate (popcorn)

Cheesy Ghosts

Slices of white cheese cut into ghost shapes with a cookie cutter (or freehand with a knife). The family who did these used pre-wrapped slices and wrapped them back up so they were super easy to pass out. They wanted to keep going and make orange pumpkin shaped cheese, too!

They were SO cute, but I forgot to bring my camera to the actual party!

Drink: 100% White Grape Juice with a Gummy Worm…

Here’s where the only white sugar at our party entered. I apologized to the kids and said that I had been gardening before coming to the party, so “I’m terribly sorry if anything out of the ordinary got in your cups from the garden…”

It was fun.

But if I really had my druthers, I’d just serve water. In general, I’m not a fan of juice, and I’ve since gone to only water when I help plan parties, usually with something fun about it like the Christmas ice cubes we made for that party.

Skip the gummy worm and you also have a party without any artificial colors, another feat worth Facebooking about.

Simple Halloween Kids’ Party Games

Trash monster as a Halloween party activity - plus healthy food ideas!

Landfill Monsters

Ask the children to bring in recyclables or (clean) trash for this activity. An email from the teacher will be a great quick reminder to parents.

Either in groups or individually (we introduced it as a group activity but most kids wanted to make their own, and there were lots of parents to help), tell the kids they’ll be creating monsters out of trash.

Kids can try to build the largest, scariest, most creative, etc. monster, using cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, bottle caps, oatmeal canisters, plastic bags, and whatever else you can drum up.

Make a goofy (or scary) monster out of your recycling for your kids' Halloween party

Be sure to tell them that if they finish early, they should make a friend for their monster, a baby monster, a pet monster, or whatever, rather than run around and bother others.

Optional: Have a “show and tell” where the groups/individuals get to share their monsters and tell which “-est” they made (cutest, ugliest, etc.).

Supplies needed:

• trash and recycling (everyone contributes)
• duct, masking and packing tape
• string and yarn
• scissors
• permanent markers (if kids are old enough, to draw faces)
• optional: embellishments like pipe cleaners or foam stickers

Time: give at least 20 minutes to build, maybe more, plus sharing time

Extra Benefit: We’re told kids don’t get a lot of creative time these days AND that life can get too competitive…but this open-ended project with no real winners is perfect!!

Apples on a String

Simple Halloween party game - apples on a string

Here in Michigan, we had an apple shortage the year I first used this healthy Halloween party plan. I told the kids there just weren’t enough apples to bob for apples, alas, so we would make the apple fly instead.

Bonus: This method is quicker, needs no water, and has far less germ sharing than actually bobbing for apples.

Children paired up, and one child held an apple SLICE on a string while the other tried to eat it as fast as they could – without using their hands. Emphasize that rule a few times. I would say, “Without using your —” and wait for the class to fill in “hands.”

If you can, have another parent or two passing out the apples while you’re explaining the rules.

Choose a winner for round one from the whole class OR a winner from each row/table/group of desks.

Be sure to explain from the start how the winner is chosen – do they need to have the apple gone as in “in their mouths,” or do they need to run up to a leader and show that they’ve swallowed the apple, etc.

Round two is simply switching places. Kids might ask, “Can we move the apple around?” and the simple answer is that if you make it hard for your partner, they’ll probably make it hard for you!

Give prizes to any winners OR have a championship round in the front of the class where the 2-8 winners from both rounds compete for one big winner. You can be silly and have adults hold the strings and purposely make it difficult, if the class has that personality.

Supplies needed:

• apples sliced in eights (enough for one for each student plus extras for a championship round and the ill effects of gravity)
• 3-foot lengths of string tied around the middle of the apple
• prizes (or not…)

Time: 10-15 minutes

Note: Tie the strings tightly enough to make a dent in the apple or you’ll end up with many on the ground. This game can also be done with pretzel rods, but that’s decidedly less healthy.

Mummy Wrap

Divide the class into groups of four kids.

Each team will wrap “mummies” using a roll of toilet paper. They can have a child hold the end and spin around, or the kids can walk around the “mummy” to wrap him or her.

Any time the mummy gets dizzy or wants to switch, they can just tear the paper and start a new mummy on another child. In this way, all the kids can really participate and be silly, and there’s some decision making about how to be fastest. Also, hopefully no one gets toooooo dizzy. (I recommend doing this game before food, not after!)

The first team to use all their toilet paper wins!

Supplies needed:

• rolls of toilet paper, enough for each group of 4 to have one
• prizes

Time: 10-15 minutes?

We didn’t actually have time for this game, but we’ve decided to make it a Christmas game of “putting garland on a spinning Christmas tree” like in a department store. We’ll put a bow on their heads as they play to keep it festive!

Backup Activity: Halloween Word Play

This is a good 5-minute game that takes zero prep and can be inserted if you (a) don’t have enough time at the end of the party for the Mummy Wrap or (b) have a bit of extra time to kill.

Simply write “HAPPY HALLOWEEN” on the board and set a timer for 3, 4 or 5 minutes. The kids work independently or in groups to make as many words as they can using the letters in Happy Halloween.

They may use letters more than once, but not in the same word.

For example, having both “low” and “wall” on a list is fine, even though there’s only one “w” available.

The word “wool” would not work, because there’s only one “o” to use in each word.

Make sense?

I recommend this game for 2nd grade and up, maybe first grade if it’s a pretty bright class.

Award prizes to the top 3 (or more) with the most words; bonus prizes for the longest word.

Supplies needed:

• paper and pencils
• prizes

time: 5-10 minutes

Healthy school Halloween party plan, complete with more food ideas than you need plus games, activities, and minimal prep work needed.

Backup activity: Holiday Word Ball

This is a little twist on “quiet ball,” that rainy day school game where kids sit on their desks and toss a ball around. Anyone who misses or is not quiet has to sit down on their chair.

In this version, the leader chooses a category related to the holiday. For Halloween, I had prepared:

• orange things
• things made of pumpkin
• scary costumes
• Halloween TV specials
• Halloween decorations
• Halloween animals

The leader calls out a category, and when each child catches the ball, they have to say the name of anything that would fit that category. If someone can’t think of anything, they have to sit down in their chair and a new category begins.

For example: “things made of pumpkin” might include cookies, pies, pancakes, muffins, pumpkin seeds, jack-o-lanterns…

When anyone drops the ball after a decent throw – determined by the adult in charge – they are also “out” and have to sit down.

Supplies needed:

• ball or holiday something to throw – I had a stuffed pumpkin
• list of categories

Time: as short or as long as needed; a good time filler while waiting for the “costume parade” to come around.

I hope this helps some last-minute planners out there make their child’s school Halloween party a festive, fun, and healthy experience!

Other Halloween posts:

No sugar or artificial dyes (almost) at this healthy school Halloween party. Plan games, activities, and real food without fuss!

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Original article and pictures take www.kitchenstewardship.com site