Prevention

Ask Holly: How much is too much coconut water?

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Hi Holly,

I am giving my son coconut water to drink every day as he seems to prefer it to water. (We live in Thailand so it’s available at every corner and fresh) He drinks app. the content of 1 coconut per day. I worry that he is getting too much sugar from it and if that much sweet liquid is not good for his teeth. Thank you for your answer!
p.s. besides that he still drinks milk formula

Katarina O.

Hi Katarina!

Thanks for your question- this is a good one. Technically coconut water is juice and pediatricians recommend no more than 4-6 ounces of juice a day for one year olds.

A young coconut can contain anywhere from 10 to 33 ounces of water. So try to limit your child’s intake of coconut water to 6 ounces and keep offering him plain water.

Another option is to dilute it with regular water- that way he still gets the flavor of the coconut but is consuming less sugar.
That’s great that he’s enjoying such a healthy beverage! Keep up the good work mama!

Recipes

The New Kid Food

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Tonight as I was watching my 3 year old son shoveling forkfuls of lentils into his mouth, I said a little prayer of thanks that he is not a picky eater and I don’t have to make separate meals of “kid food.”

But I think the reason for this is because we have exposed him to lots of different flavors and textures from the time he started eating solids, and we just expect him to eat what we eat. We don’t offer an alternative. So far this week he’s eaten for dinner:

  • Beef enchiladas with salad (at a friend’s house)
  • baked cod with roasted squash, quinoa and broccoli
  • carrot lentil soup with cornbread muffins
  • Caramelized brussels sprouts, butternut squash and brown rice

He also helps us prepare dinner everynight which encourages his desire to try what he’s created.  Brussels sprouts are requested almost daily, so I adapted this recipe from my favorite magazine http://www.wholeliving.com/.

post image for the new kid food

He LOVED this dish! So did his parents.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Grapes With Walnuts
(serves 4)

4 cups brussels sprouts quartered
2 cups grapes
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbso fresh thyme
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 450. On a rimmed baking sheet toss brussels sprouts and grapes with olive oil and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Roast, until caramelized and tender, about 20 minutes. 2. Drizzle each tray with 1 tsp vinegar and scrape up any caramelized bits with a wooden spoon. Toss in walnuts.

 

The brown rice called for the use of his Constructive Eating Utensil Set. The bulldozer is great for getting grains on the fork! The set is BPA-free and made in the USA.

Prevention

Do You Have a List?

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Like most people, I keep a running list in the back of my mind of things I want to do during my lifetime. It gets updated often, as I check things off and add more.

I know these things won’t bring me true joy, but there’s nothing wrong with having events to look forward to. Plus, I  love crossing things off of lists.

I’ve not really thought of it as a bucket list,  but that is essentially what it is.

So today when I heard about a big giveaway Just Ask is doing that involved travel, I knew I had to enter. After all, travel is the common thread running through almost everything on my list.  All I have to do is share 15 things on my bucket list.

Here goes!

  1. Learn to speak a second language fluently
  2. Bicycle through wine country from vineyard to vineyard tasting every wine in my path
  3. Visit the small village in China where my great grandfather was born
  4. Seriously organize my closet (that would bring me such joy!)
  5. Play the piano more often and learn to play the ukulele well
  6. Spend at least 10 days in Bora Bora in one of those coconut thatched huts over the water
  7. Write a memoir
  8. Go back to school to become a Naturopathic Doctor
  9. Zen out at Miraval
  10. Chop my hair off
  11. Read all of the books on my bookshelves (how many lifetimes do I get?)
  12. Take my husband on his fantasy cross country Airstream trip
  13. Chill out at the Ice Hotel in Sweden
  14. Dine in the dark at Dans le Noir in Paris
  15. Hire a personal chef

This list is not to be confused with who I want to be as a person, what matters most to me in life, the love I have for my husband, family and friends, or the hopes and dreams I have for my children… all of that seemed a little too personal and soul baring to share. But it was really fun listing all of these things and is exciting to think about doing them!

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.