Family Food Experts - Kid Kritics » Sweets

RADIO GEM: Enter Pamela’s Recipe Contest NOW!

ellenbriggs — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:43:09 +0000

Do you want to be added to a great group of moms and dads who have entered Pamela’s Annual Recipe Contest and win? Do you want Pamela to make, test and taste your creation and find it to be at least one of her favorites? Go to www.PamelasProducts.com and enter before the end of August. While there, check out all the recipes, including last year’s winner. You will find yourself salivating. The prizes are great so go for it!

Pamela has succeeded with her goal of making wheat/gluten free products taste better than ones made with wheat. We can assure you that because her baked and baking products are delicious, they are for everyone. The Kid Kritics were crazy in love with her Banana Bread recipe as well as other cookies and brownies. Look for their pictures and quotes on www.KidKritics.com. Put this brand on your shopping list!

… for the health of your family,
ellen and sally

How much Soda does it take to overdose on sugar in a day?

ellenbriggs — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:25:26 +0000

It doesn’t take much soda to overdose on sugar in a day. On average, four ounces will do it. There about 6 teaspoons of sugar in an 8 oz. soda. A half cup has about 3 teaspoons. Kids should have about 2 teaspoons of sugar a day. Adults don’t need much more. When was the last time you saw a small 8 ounce container of soda? Kids, teens and adults drinks a lot more, a recipe for obesity, diabetes and depression. Drink ice cold water or diluted 100% fruit juice instead.

… for the health of your family,
ellen and sally

Radio Gems: Excess oral bacteria leads to heart disease and more

ellenbriggs — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:06:14 +0000

Your mouth is the door to your health. Excessive bacteria in your mouth not only leads to tooth decay and infections, but also to heart disease and even joint pain. Bacteria in your mouth promotes lactic acid. This hardens and sticks to our teeth . The result: plaque buildup – a substance which actively de-mineralizes the teeth and decays them. But that’s not all. Don’t forget, what’s in your mouth leaks into your gut and into your bodily systems.

Dr. Stacey Stein’s preventative advice. Dental visits should be quarterly in order to control bacteria accumulation and to monitor oral and physical health. Why? Because every 3 months bacteria accumulates in your mouth. After cleanings, a good dentist looks for any symptoms in your mouth which reveal signs of illness. Thus, this quarterly oral health check by your dentist is also beneficial. Both provide cost efficient health insurance. Cleanings by your dental hygenist are cheaper than fillings, caps, crowns and oral surgery, much less heart disease. Get thee to your dentist’s friendly dental hygenist! And, chuck junk food.

For lots more great info on oral health from Dr. Stacey Stein, listen to the archived interveiw (Oct.30th) on www.BetterFoodChoicesRadio.com.

… for the health of your family,
ellen

Radio Gems: How to choose Good Chocolate

ellenbriggs — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:33:43 +0000

Per Terry Wakefield, Chocolatier for Bissingser’s Chocolate, chocolate’s melting point is 87 degrees F which is why it melts in your mouth. If you have to bite into chocolate, unwanted fats have been added in a process that gives it the waxy harder texture – talking about hydrogenated oils, the sickening kind. Now you know how to determine if you are eating good chocolate! See if it simply melts in your mouth.

If you missed this radio show, listen to the archived version. Terry was loaded with neat information about chocolate. It is well worth your time. Go to www.BetterFoodChoicesRadio.com.

… for the health of families,
ellen

Kids are Smoking Smarties

ellenbriggs — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:13:21 +0000

Smarties have always been on our NO list – a combination of sugar, artificial dyes and flavors. The good news is that kids are wonderfully inventive. The bad news is that some invent bad ideas. Here is the latest one. First they smash Smarties in their wrapper. Then they suck the powder into their mouth, and exhale it out of their mouth and nose. The turn on – it looks like they are smoking. They love freaking everyone out by doing this. Needless to say, there have been no studies on how this may prove damaging to their nasal or respiratory passages. There are no studies saying this will lead to the habit of smoking of cigarettes. Do we need studies to prove this is not good for them? If you want to view this in action, kids have made You Tubes so you can learn how smoke Smarties. I can just see it now, Smarties Parties. Just not cool. I shudder to think what those artificial dyes and flavoring chemicals may do to the young as they pretend to smoke. Medical professionals warn against possible, coughing (lung irritation), infections and even the existence of maggots in the nose since they live on powdery sugar. Gross.

Parents, there is not one good reason to have Smarties in your house, your kids’ lunch boxes or pockets, as party or school favors. Take action now. Buy your kids Sun Drops (like M&Ms with naturally colored coatings) for treats instead. It is really hard to “smoke” real smooth chocolate.

… for the health of your family,
ellen

Radio Gems: Moms Making Noise are Back!

ellenbriggs — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:23:12 +0000

Moms Making Noise confess their regifting experiences – yes, we all have participated one way or another. Jodi has one that is missing in action, Body Paint - it’s a mystery. She also has mom stories for the worst presents – seems her mom was an expert at selecting the most off-the-wall gifts. One dynamite gift received from a husband was a snow-blower, the latest and greatest of course… Yes, it really was for him. These moms talked about holiday treats (snowballs, carrot cake) meals and frustrations… You’ll learn from their good and bad ideas! Have fun and tune into this archived show aired Dec. 26th!

There’s No Shortage of Candy Money

ellenbriggs — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:19:21 +0000

$2 Billion – that’s how much money shoppers are expected to spend on candy for Halloween. That’s 2 with nine zeros following it – $2,000,000,000! How much of this is going on credit cards adding to debt? How many credit cards will be used to pay for the medicine purchased for all the kids who will eat this candy and then get sick? How much money will be spent paying for dentist bills afterwards? Halloween is a costly holiday and no one even gets presents – just candy full of fake dyes, flavors, and sugar.

What’s the solution? Since we are warned not to give out or receive anything thing that is not packaged, why not some small bags of trail mix, crackers (Cheddar Bunnies), and even cookies (Late July) that kids love – the ones that meet our Better Food Choices standards? Joseph’s Lite Cookies has some little snack paks of cookies that have been Kid Kritics Approved. This is money better spent. I also like the idea of having parties with home-cooked treats, especially those using fruit. Serve a good ice cream made with real cane sugar and cream topped with frozen berries and nuts (for those not allergic) - yum! If you use chocolate syrup, make sure it is Ah! Laska. Let’s Go Organic has some sprinkles made with natural food colors that are fun.

As a child years ago, I loved running around our village in a home-made costume going from house to house for treats. There was one house always to be avoided because they always made you do a trick first- sing a song or something – before they gave you anything. I am afraid that those days of fun innocent trick or treating are over – too many real scary possibilites in today’s world of “crazies”. Unfortunately, this holiday tends to lend itself to bad experiences.

Please spend your portion of this $2 billion on good healther food and fun.

The VOMIT Story

ellenbriggs — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:41:50 +0000

Everything you put into your mouth and swallow has a positive or negative reaction in your body. Everything.

A few nights ago, my son began vomiting at midnight and couldn’t stop. With time, the frequency of vomiting increased. After ten nightmare hours of this I took him to doctor who immediately put him on an IV with some drugs to quell the retching. It worked. He was zonked for 17 hours. This long period of silence was eerie. I kept walking into the bedroom to check to see if he was still breathing. The good news is that after he woke up and he was fine. Why did this happen? He ate something that caused his body’s alarm system to go into action and repel whatever had “ food poisoned” him.

Too bad our bodies aren’t quicker to repel the ingredients that collectively cause cell damage and disease. Your body knows what foods properly fuel our bodily systems and what “food” it needs to turn over to your good guy defense system to destroy. The destruction and management of cell damaging foods is your immune systems job. When you insist on continuing to overtax the body’s immune system by eating too much unhealthy food, eventually the immune system goes into overload, breaks-down and the bad guys win. Bottom line, you get sick.

Each time you put something in your mouth and swallow it, think twice and ask yourself this question, “Is it worth it?” Is the Robo popsicle worth it? Is the tri-cheese pepperoni pizza worth it? Are the French fries worth it? How about when you go to the movies and order the giant soda with the giant container filled with popcorn coated with fake butter? (Doesn’t it drive you bonkers when you have to listen to them grab and munch on the popcorn during the quiet moments in the movie?) A treat once in a while is okay. Make sure it is worth it. Have a scoop of REAL ice cream made with REAL sugar, cream and cho colate – not a fake version. Enjoy it once in a while – not often. I look forward to my annual scoop of real mint chocolate chip ice cream that is not dyed green. (Mint flavors come from the oil of the leaf. These oils are not green.) Writing this makes me salivate for my favorite ice cream as I now anticipate it melting all over my eager taste buds . Yes, indeed. It will be worth it! Maybe I won’t wait until summer…

… for the health of families

Ellen

TV Advertising is Way “Too Sweet”

criss — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 02:20:54 +0000

Commercial television advertising of kids products is heavily invested in junk food. Of the estimated 40,000 commercials aired for children each year, 32 percent are for candy, 31 percent for cereal, and 9 percent for fast food. Unfortunately most of the cereals advertised fall under the classification of “candy cereal” as they contain about 3 teaspoons for carbohydrates (usually not complex) per ounce. Thus, about 63 percent of these TV ads (25,200 ads) are selling sugar products to young children. Since 9 percent are selling fast-foods (more junk food), only 28 percent of the ads targeted to kids are selling other stuff. No wonder adult-onset diabetes, obesity, ADD/ADHA and other “diseases” are skyrocking in number among the young.

Kritisen Harrison, professor at University of Illinois, noted that these nutrient-poor, high-sugar products continue to dominate television advertising aimed at children between the ages of 6 to 11. The National Advertising Review Counsel (NARC) are looking at making recommendations designed to strengthen self-regulation in children’s advertising. Too bad they didn’t stop to think how the proliferation of these junk food ads would impact the health and behavior of children, young and old, and take a healthier position sooner.

Source: FOOD USA navigator.com, “Are parents or the food industry to blame for obesity?”, 9/26/2005

Is Splenda “Natural”?

criss — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 11:05:54 +0000

Splenda.com states that this sweetener is made “through a patented, multi-step procedure that starts with sugar and converts it to a no calorie, non-carbohydrate sweetener. The procedure selectively replaces three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molecule with three chlorine atoms.”

Consumers perceive Splenda as natural. It was before the transforming multi-step procedure.

Chlorine is a gas used as a bleaching oxidizing agent. When applied to the skin, it is a real irritant. Yes, there is a difference of concentration. But in quantities, there may be some physical repercussions. Some studies are beginning to question the impact quantities Splenda has on the thyroid and thymus glands, as well as digestive tract.

BOTTOM LINE: Splenda is a synthetic sweetener. Food manufacteres are adding it to the ingredients of hundreds of products. Too much may lead to some health issues.

Source: Jess Halliday, FOOD USA Navigator.com, “Should sugar labeling laws be changed?”, August 12, 2005