Wellness Wisdom: Activities for Building Happy, Healthy Families
Make Time for Family Meals
Eating together has benefits for children and adults of all ages. It allows everyone to take part in a family activity, motivates family members to listen and talk to each other, helps children learn new words during mealtime conversations, and encourages your child to try new foods.
Benefits for Ages 1-5
- Conversation at the dinner table is even better than reading to children in boosting their vocabulary and helping them to read.
- Kids who start eating dinners now are less likely to be overweight later.
- New parents who develop a dinnertime ritual feel more satisfied with marriages.
Benefits for Ages 6-12
- Strong link between family dinners and academic performance, even stronger than doing homework, sports or art.
- Increased intake of fruits, vegetables and micronutrients, and fewer fried foods trans fats and sodas.
- Children feel more connected to siblings and parents.
Benefits for Ages 13-18
- Teens who eat regular family dinners are more likely to get A’s in school.
- Reduced high risk teenage behaviors like smoking, substance abuse, eating disorders, teenage pregnancy and violence.
- Reduces depression and anxiety and increases self-esteem.
- Opportunity to check in with kids to find out how they’re doing.
Source: thefamilydinnerproject.org
Breastfed From the Start: Helpful Tips for Mastering Breastfeeding
Does Your Baby Spit Up?
Don’t worry! Most spitting up is normal and baby should grow out of it when they sit up without help. Spit up can occur from getting more milk than needed, over supply, forceful letdown, improper latch, or too much movement during or after a feeding.
Some tips to lessen spitting up if you’re concerned:
- Burp baby more often during a feeding
- Try a different breastfeeding position
- Keep baby still and upright after feedings
Call you doctor if you notice:
- Coughing or painful crying before spitting up
- Large amount of projectile vomiting
- Pink or red in spit up (which could be blood)
- Baby is losing weight or gaining very slowly
Delicious & Nutritious Recipes: Simple, Kid Approved Dishes to Try at Home
One Pot Jambalaya
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup onions
- 3 bell peppers
- 1 stalk celery
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 Tablespoons oil
- 1 1/2 cups chicken
- 8 ounces sausage
- 3 cups low-sodium broth
- 2 cans 15-ounce crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 1/2 Tablespoon Cajun spice (mix of paprika, cayenne, garlic, oregano, other spices)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 8 ounces peeled and deveined shrimp
Directions:
- Wash prep surfaces, your hands, and vegetables.
- Chop onions, peppers, and celery into bite-size pieces. Mince or crush garlic.
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or sturdy pot. Sauté veggies and garlic until they soften, about 4-5 minutes.
- Cut chicken and sausage into bite-size pieces.
- Add the chicken and the sausage and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink on the outside.
- To the pot, add the rest of the ingredients, except the shrimp. Stir to combine.
- Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Once the rice is soft, add more seasonings to your taste preference.
- Add shrimp and continue to simmer until the shrimp are pink and cooked through.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
This post was last updated on January 11th, 2022 at 10:26 PM
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