The Debut of Doctor Yum’s Cooking Club
This week I was pleased to attend the first gathering of “Doctor Yum Cooking Club.” The Lake of the Woods Chapter of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) agreed months ago to pilot our spring debut of “Doctor Yum’s Cooking Club” To back track, I teach a free shopping class to help families to shop for healthy food and feed families better while saving money. Some of the moms that have attended my classed asked if we could put out a cooking assignment with some of my kid-tested recipes that...
Read MoreTeachers, Join the Fight Against Childhood Obesity
Dear Teachers, I am writing you today as a pediatrician, a mother, and a colleague to enlist your help. Like, you I chose my profession because I love children, and I love to teach. When starting my practice, I was excited to teach families how to navigate through the ups and downs of child development and occasional pediatric illnesses. I looked forward to seeing my patients grow up healthy and happy. Unfortunately, so many of the children in my practice are neither healthy nor happy. Every single day I care for...
Read MoreDoctor Yum’s Prescription for a Healthy Family
Here it is -our new and improved “Prescription for a Healthy Family”! These are the 10 simple rules that emcompass the messages of Doctor Yum and our nonprofit, “The Doctor Yum Project.” Click on each heading for much more information and ideas: 1.Make Wellness Number #1. Time and effort spent teaching healthy habits is an investment in a healthy long life for your kids. Long after designer shoes, electronics and fancy clothes wear out, kids will still have good health from good nutrition. 2. Get...
Read MoreDoctor Yum Meets the Queen of “YUM”, Rachael Ray
Today I had the honor of interviewing Rachael Ray, the popular cooking personality first made famous by her TV show “30 Minute Meals.” She also is a host of her own Daytime Emmy winning television show, author of almost two dozen cookbooks and her popular magazine “Every Day with Rachael Ray.” Her business empire is impressive, but more impressive is her list of charity work including one project close to my heart, Yum-O. This nonprofit organization was started by Rachael Ray with a...
Read MoreChristmas Tree Veggie Appetizer with Lemony White Bean Hummus
Around the holidays many of us are asked to bring food to holiday gatherings. Instead of bringing the usual chips and dip or Christmas cookies, how about a veggie Christmas tree with lemony Whity Bean Hummus! This 3-D appetizer piled high with veggies and surrounded by hummus will be a hit at the party and will delight kids. You can also feel happy that you are contributing a healthy item to your holiday gathering. I made this last night for a neighborhood Christmas party. My mom saw it and loved it, so we made...
Read MoreParents Take Charge of their Family’s Health
This article first appeared in the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star on Sunday October 28th. _________________________________________________________________________________ Betty and Steve Brown and their son Johnny have made the kind of dietary and lifestyle changes that pediatricians wish for all of their patients. Over the course of a year, they’ve knocked sugary treats off their grocery list, starting cooking more meals at home and taken other important steps to lead healthier lives. The result has been a...
Read MoreWhat are you Paying for at the Grocery Store?
Today was doing my Sunday morning grocery shopping run for the week. Often when I am waiting in line, I like to observe what other people have in their shopping carts, particularly those people shopping with kids. This morning there was a mother with three school-aged kids in front of me. It appeared that they were doing the same as me, stocking up for the week. On the conveyer belt, I spotted a lot of “kid food.” There was sugary cereals seen advertised on TV. I saw single servings of flavored yogurts...
Read MoreDoctor Yum’s Cooking Adventure for Kids
In August The Doctor Yum Project, our newly formed nonprofit, debuted it’s Cooking Adventure for kids. We enrolled 12 children, age 7-12 and spent the week learning about nutrition and cooking plant-based recipes. Each day we focused on a different food group including Leafy Greens Berries Melons Tomatoes Citrus fruits We started off the day with a nutrition lesson which highlighted the food group of the day. We learned that plants not only give us vitamins and minerals but powerful body-boosting...
Read MoreMango Strawberry Yogurt Cake
My kids (age 9 and 5) made this cake ALL BY THEMSELVES! I just read another great book on French parenting called Bringing up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman. This American author describes her experience raising children in Paris and the observations on the French way of parenting. She describes a culture and government that sets parents up for success in many ways and a calm, authoritative way of raising children that seems second nature to many French parents. Like Karen Le Billon’s book French Kids...
Read MoreFive Tips for Feeding Snacks to Kids
In a quest for constant improvement of our family’s diet, I recently decided I would tackle one issue that constantly plagues us: SNACKING! Let me first backtrack. I read a fascinating book recently called French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon. In the book this mother describes the year she spent in her husband’s native France trying to get her two small children in touch with the French way of life. She soon discovers that the typical North American way that kids eat just won’t do in...
Read MoreFive Tips on Feeding Toddlers
Feeding toddlers doesn’t have to be nightmare. At my office I talk to parents of toddlers all the time about the frustrations of feeding their picky, unpredictable and stubborn little ones. Here are a few points to keep in mind when feeding toddlers: 1) TODDLERS DON’T NEED MUCH FOOD- In the first year of life the growth curve is very steep and parents get used to their kids gaining a lot of weight every time they visit the doctor. After the first year, however, the growth curve flattens...
Read MoreParents, Junk food is EVERYWHERE!
I just read an article that states today’s average American consumes almost 580 calories more PER DAY than in a typical day during the 1970’s. It’s no wonder. Has anyone noticed recently that high calorie junk food is being sold EVERYWHERE? It used to be that nutrition-minded parents would only have to fight junk food battles with the kids in the grocery store (see my post on “How to Say No with Love at the Grocery Store”). “Mom, but can I PLEASE just get some peanut butter cups?” These...
Read MoreDyeing Easter Eggs with Natural Foods
For young kids, getting used to eating good whole food can start by playing with it. This past weekend we dyed Easter Eggs using common whole foods. It was fun and interesting for the kids to see what colors could be made with the foods we eat everyday. My husband said to me, “The colors aren’t bright like the fizzy tablets you buy at the store, but it doesn’t seem to matter. The kids are having a ball!” While we dyed the eggs we noticed some natural textures and patterns emerging....
Read MoreEnjoy A Few Girl Scout Cookies with Balance
It’s that time of the year. The Girl Scouts are out selling cookies! The Girl Scouts have an eighty year-old cookie tradition that has blossomed into a seven hundred million dollar business. In fact, the Girl Scout cookie business is the largest girl-run business in America! How do we let our kids (and ourselves) enjoy these special treats at this time of year without going overboard? The reality right now is that one-third of the population of children I see in my practice (and around the nation) is...
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