One of the things I love about winter is using my crockpot to make yummy stews and pot roasts too. I am always looking for new easy crockpot recipes. Don’t even know if there is such a thing as a hard crockpot recipe LOL. I love the fact that you can just throw everything in the pot, plug it in, turn it on and voila you have dinner.

I’m putting you all to the test. I’m asking everyone to email me your favourite crockpot recipe and I will post one crockpot recipe each week. Come on people let’s see what we can stir up. Please email me your recipe to info@durhamregiondaycare.com

Happy Eating!

Tamara

Cold and Flu Season: Part 1

Here is part two of the cold and flu article from Kim Corrigan-Oliver of Your Green Baby.

It’s Here – Part Two

The time is here to focus on supporting the immune system for the cold and flu season ahead. In my last post I provided some old tricks to support the body naturally and enhance the functioning of the immune system. Today I will provide some information on a few supplements that are particularly beneficial to you and your family during cold and flu season.

• Deep Immune liquid by St. Francis for adults or Deep Immune KIDS for children to support healthy immune function. These are made up of Chinese herbs and have been proven to be effective at boosting immune function in both clinical and laboratory work. The primary purpose of Deep Immune is to improve immune system function and decrease the tendency of frequent colds, flu and infection.

• Vitamin D3 liquid – research continues to show that vitamin D supplementation is better at preventing the flu than the flu shot

• Omega 3 fatty acids are necessary for normal immune function. Omega 3 fatty acids can be found in flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, fatty fish, cod liver oil supplements, fish oil supplements and algae supplements.

• Probiotics (good bugs for your gut) taken daily will support immune health. Up to 80% of the immune system is in the gut, providing good bugs daily will help the body and immune system function optimally.

• Antioxidants vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, glutathione, and zinc are important for immune health. Providing your body with nourishment from real foods, with vibrant colours and avoiding processed packaged foods will help you to meet the need for these antioxidants from your diet.

These are just a few supplements we have in our “prevent the cold and flu” campaign in our home.

If you have any specific health issues, concerns, questions or disease/diagnoses, please consult your health care provider, Naturopathic Doctor or Holistic Nutritionist to help you customize a plan to meet the individual needs of you and your family.

What tricks or supplements are in your family’s “prevent the cold and flu” campaign this year?

Cold and Flu Season: Part One

With cold and flu season upon us I thought I’d share this interesting article from Kim Corrigan-Oliver from Your Green Baby. This is part 1 so stay tuned for part 2!

It’s Here!!!!

Yes cold and flu season is here and now is the time to think about supporting your child’s immune system, as well as yours, so it is ready to put up a fight against any foreign invaders that may try (notice I said try) to take hold and bring you or your babe/toddler down.

So what can you do naturally to support immunity, here are a few old tricks:

Sleep – rest is important for immune health, the body needs the time to repair, restore and rejuvenate. If you are feeling particularly tired or stressed this becomes even more important. Ensure you and your family get adequate rest and if you feel yourself or see someone in your family starting to get run down, take time now to rest, if not the body will force you to rest (unfortunately with a cold).

Drink – plenty of liquids: water, herbal teas (ginger, peppermint, nettle, alfalfa, horsetail, lemon balm, etc) and fresh juices. Moms and dads keep in mind caffeine and alcohol dehydrate your body and weaken your immune system – limit or avoid if possible.

Eat real food – eat a diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, food with few ingredients, food in its natural state, food that is not packaged and processed. The body needs quality nutrition from real food to support health and well being.

Avoid sugar – sugar suppresses the immune system for up to six hours after ingestion making the body more vulnerable to pathogens. Sugar requires nutrients for its digestion, the same nutrients that were stripped away during processing, and will steal these from the body – leaving the body depleted and vulnerable. Sugar also actively competes with vitamin C for entry into your cells. Your cells need vitamin C, if there is too much sugar in the body competing for entry into the cells, less vitamin C will be allowed into the cell. When you eat sugar you are slowing the immune system down to a crawl.

Include garlic –it has anti bacterial, anti viral, anti parasitic and anti fungal properties; eat it raw for best results, and include it as much as you can when cooking. To take it raw, finely chop one clove of garlic, let it sit for a minute or two, then swallow with a mouthful of water. The key to no garlic breath is not to let it touch your teeth. You can get raw garlic into your little food critics in bean dips, guacamole, homemade salad dressing, etc. Breastfeeding moms if you take raw garlic your baby will get the immune benefits via your breast milk.

Be positive – your thoughts play a role in your health and well being; be positive, think positive, know that your body has the amazing potential to support and defend itself against the many pathogens you come in contact with on a daily basis. And don’t forget to laugh with your children every day for an easy and fun way to boost immunity.

Be hygienic – the only portals of entry for pathogens – the flu virus or cold germ, are the mucous membranes – mainly nostrils and mouth/throat. It’s almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with a pathogen in spite of all precautions. Contact with pathogens is not really the problem; proliferation is. To prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, there are some very simple steps you can practice:
• Frequent hand-washing
• Hands-off-the-face approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face.
• Gargle twice a day with warm salt water. Pathogens can take 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive, age-old yet powerful preventative method.
• Similar to above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, try a nasal irrigation device, found at most drug stores or try blowing your nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with Q-Tips dipped in warm salt water, this is very effective in bringing down viral population.
• Drink warm or hot liquids. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

You can’t avoid cold and flu season it is here, but you can support the immune system to do what it naturally wants to do – defend itself against foreign invaders.

In my next post I will discuss natural health products that can help to support and strengthen the immune system along with the recommendations above.

What are you doing to ensure you and your family stay healthy this season?

I love recipes that are quick and easy. I especially love recipes that kids love to eat too! Here is a new recipe that I tried with my daycare kids (and my own too) and they were begging for more.

The great thing is you can make them with chocolate chips or without. Next I think I am going to replace the chocolate chips with blueberries. Please let us know what kind you make and how the kids liked them.

Enjoy!

Tamara

 Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.

Sift together with a wire whisk.

In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.

Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Makes 24 mini pancake muffins.

Let cool slightly and remove from the pan. You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan.

Serve immediately with warmed butter if you like or even just with maple syrup.

Even though it’s still technically summer, I thought I’d share this great fall recipe we love to play with.

Apple Cinnamon Dough

1 cup ground cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
Mix applesauce and cinnamon together until you get a clay-like consistency.Roll out with a rolling pin or create shapes with your hands.. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
Add glitter for fun!!
Let your creations dry on cookie racks. Store unused dough in air tight containers.

Have fun!

Tamara

Another great recipe brought to you by Your Green Baby!

I’m all about telling my kids what they are eating too, but we have gotten in the habit of asking them to try it first and then tell them. It’s worked so far.

Being Sneaky

by Kim Corrigan-Oliver Your Green Baby

 As many of you know I am not a big fan of the sneaky approach to getting your kids to eat their vegetables; I think it is very important they learn to like them as they are. There are so many ways to get them interested in eating their vegetables and I think the sneaky route back fires in the end – one day they will eventually find you sneaking vegetables into their meals and all trust will go out the window.

But, there is always a but; I have a great recipe for your today. Not only does it have two great vegetables in it, it is also an excellent replacement for a kid favourite – macaroni and cheese. This version is dairy free, vegan and if you use quinoa or rice pasta like we do, it is also gluten free.

I usually make the sauce, mix it well with some quinoa macaroni, sprinkle brown rice bread crumbs on top with some extra nutritional yeast and bake for 20 to 30 minutes; absolutely delicious.

Pasta Sauce

1 small eggplant, cubed

1 small cauliflower, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 tsp turmeric

1 Tbsp fresh thyme

2 ½ cups water

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 Tbsp olive oil, drizzle on sauce after cooking

Put all ingredients into a pot, except olive oil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook without a lid, stirring occasionally until most of the water has evaporated and vegetables are tender.

Puree the mixture with a hand blender, pulse for more texture or completely puree into smooth sauce.

Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

Serve over your favourite pasta.

Let me know if it passes the taste bud test of your little ones.

 Organic produce doesn’t have to be costly. Here’s how to spend wisely.

 by Kim Corrigan-Oliver Your Green Baby

Don’t think you can afford organic food on your family’s grocery budget? Think again. With a few simple tips, you can become a savvy organic shopper and your family will reap the benefits.

Choosing to go organic is an easy decision to make when you understand the advantages. First and foremost, by choosing organic you are avoiding pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals used in conventional production methods. These chemicals have been shown to have adverse effects on our health and health of our children, and many of them are known carcinogens.

Second, by choosing organic food you are taking a huge step towards helping our environment. With a reduction in chemicals for production, and care and support for the soil, organic farming is better all round for Mother Earth. And last but not least, organic food just tastes better. If you don’t believe me – try it! Be warned though, you may have a hard time going back.

Organic food is more expensive then conventional food simply because it costs more to produce. Organic food can only be labelled organic if the farm it comes from has followed very stringent guidelines that prohibit the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified seeds, or crop radiation. Following these guidelines, paying for yearly farm inspections to maintain certification, and the manual labour required to control insects and weeds, means higher prices for organic food for the consumer.

While most parents want the healthiest foods for their kids, and agree that organic is the best way to go, it’s hard on the budget to always choose organic fruits and vegetables. Here are a few simple ways to stretch your organic dollars.

Eat seasonally and locally.  As consumers, we are used to buying the produce that we need all year round. When buying organic, we need to alter that thinking. Organic foods are grown and harvested according to seasons. If we buy our organic produce locally and in season, it’s much easier on the wallet. Buying organic food that is not in season or grown elsewhere will be more expensive.

Visit your local farmers’ market. Buying directly from the farmer cuts out the middle man, and you get to talk to the person who is responsible for growing your food. Many small family farms my not be certified organic – this is after all a long, tedious, expensive process – but nevertheless use organic farming methods. It pays to chat with farmers about how they grow their produce; you may just find organic foods at very reasonable prices.

Join a CSA. CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. Some CSAs are certified organic, and even those that are not tend to practise organic farming methods. Again, it pays to talk to the farmer. When you join a CSA, you buy a share of the farmer’s bounty, giving the farmer access to guaranteed funds to help support their farm and crops. This is a mutually beneficial partnership for both farmer and member.

Grown your own. The best way to know for sure how your food is grown and to cut costs is to grow it yourself. Growing your own is very rewarding – avoiding pesticides and other chemicals, and using organic fertilizers and your own compost produces beautiful and delicious vegetables. It is so satisfying to head out to the garden each afternoon to pick food for your dinner. You gain a whole new appreciation for the food on your plate. If you have never grown your own food, start small – a patio tomato plant or some fresh herbs. You will be amazed at how satisfying and cost effective it is.

Use these lists. The U.S.-based Environmental Working Group (EWG) has compiled two lists for consumers – The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen (see below). The Dirty Dozen lists the 12 foods you should buy organically; they use many different chemicals in their production and have high residues. Your organic dollars are best spent on The Dirty Dozen. The Clean Fifteen on the other hand are foods with little chemical exposure in production and low residues. You can save your organic dollars on these foods. With a few simple tips you can stretch your dollars a little further, enjoy organic food and feel good about what you are doing for the environment, your community and your health. Happy eating!

The Dirty Dozen

Peach, Apple, Bell pepper, Celery, Nectarine, Strawberry, Cherries, Kale, Lettuce, Grapes (imported), Carrot, Pear

The Clean Fifteen

Onion, Avocado, Sweet corn, Pineapple, Mango, Asparagus, Sweet peas, Kiwi, Cabbage, Eggplant, Papaya, Watermelon, Broccoli, Tomato, Sweet Potato

Welcome to another provider profile, where we highlight the great childcare workers in Durham Region!

Name: Tamara

Family: Married to Ken for almost 9 years and we have three wonderful children. Connor is 7, Sierra is 5 and Callum is 20 months. We also have two bunnies named Hoppy and Pumpkin.

Daycare type & location: Tamara’s Tots Home Daycare, located in North Oshawa.

How long in business: 5 years in home daycare and 3 years in a centre.

Why did you decide to become a childcare provider?: I missed working with kids and wanted to be home with my own children.

What’s your favourite part of the day?: Circle time. I love seeing the kids dance and sing and express themselves. They are little balls of energy.

What do you find most challenging about your job?: Scheduling. Trying to get everything done and spend quality time with the kids too.

What makes you unique?: I help run a local home daycare provider group (Childcare Providers Unite). This group has allowed me to be a better provider and parent. We meet on a regular basis to learn new things, exchange ideas and plan lots of wonderful field trips to take the kids on.

Favourite memory as a provider: Hearing the kids call each other their best friends. They are so little, but they form such bonds.

If you could change one thing, what would it be?: To have a bigger playroom. It’s always nice to have more room to do more fun activities.

Cleaning out some old magazines, I came across a great set of daycare articles in Today’s Parent that I think is a must-read for parents and providers alike.

• Daycare decisions: Finding the right child care arrangement can be overwhelming. Here’s help sorting through your options. Full story here.
• Child Care. What Canadian Parents Need Now: Listen up, politicians, as Today’s Parent readers tell it like it is. Full story here.
• Report Card: How the provinces — and the country — spend on child care. Full story here.
• Four Ideas That Could Change Child Care: Surprise — it may happen sooner than you think. Full story here.

Don’t forget there are great resources and links on Durham Region Daycare for parents and providers.