‘Milk Life’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Fueling a Healthy Life {and a Giveaway!}

November 2, 2015 · Narrative

So, for the last post in my three-part series with the folks at Milk Life, we’re going to talk about how to fuel a healthy life.

Seems pretty apropos after a weekend Halloween binge, right?

I think my guidelines on how we try to fuel a healthy life in our own home come down to four things:

1 – Be active. Whether it’s sports (soccer, track, dance, and cheer these days) or pursuing other interests (Girl Scouts for Madeline, and a Leaders group for Nick), being active is an integral part of our day to day life. In tandem with their own organized activities, we also do a lot of active things as a family – regular hikes and walks together are a part of our weekly routine. Because it stands to reason, that, hopefully, the more active you are, the healthier you are. And that goes hand in hand with item 2.

2 – Be still. As much as it’s important to be active, it’s perhaps equally important to have downtime. Whether it’s a family movie night, an afternoon where we have purposely said no to anything and everything, or adhering to an earlier bedtime, rest fuels your body just as much as activity and healthy eats do.

3 – All things in moderation. And for this point, I’m referring to food. Chocolate is a part of our life, pure and simple. But it’s a small part. The day starts with oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, banana chocolate chip muffins, or egg white omelets (depending on time or lack thereof), and it’s punctuated by healthy snacks, and a well-balanced dinner. Which means the occasional piece of chocolate or dessert is a-ok. A fact that even the nutrition class that I’m currently taking backs up.

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A Day in the Life {Milk Life}

October 22, 2015 · Ad-Free, Narrative

The folks at Milk Life asked me to talk about A Day in the Life of our home and how I instill healthy eating habits, and as the kids had a heated debate over who was going to eat the last Nutella and Go, I had to chuckle.

Because that’s really it right there.

Nutella is life.

I mean, it has dairy in it, right?!

No, no, no … that isn’t my message.

At least not this time.

An hour earlier and they were divvying up the roasted broccoli to make sure they each had a heaping plateful.

And that’s my message.

All things in moderation.

I don’t harp on what is healthy, and what isn’t healthy necessarily. I more or less guide the kids as to what may be a better choice, and what we need to keep a rein on (see: Nutella), and it’s served me well over the years.

Madeline eats cherry tomatoes like they’re Hershey Kisses. And Nick loves to snack on frozen grapes and yogurt. And yesterday, when they saw I came home with a bunch of broccoli for dinner, they high-fived each other. Because roasted broccoli is everything. No joke.

From the time we wake up to the time we hit the pillow, we just try to make smart choices most of the time.

A grab-and-go breakfast like these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, a granola bar, a Go-Gurt, or something else along those lines.

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Four Things You Might Not Know About Milk {and a Giveaway}

September 29, 2015 · Narrative

Milk. It does a body good.

Anyone remember that slogan from, um, 1980, or am I dating myself?

A few years ago, when I attended the Food Blog Forum in Orlando, I was the lucky winner of one of the door prizes … a year’s worth of milk from the very generous Florida Dairy Farmers. And I swear that was as good as winning $500.

Because we go through a ridiculous amount of milk in our home. To the tune of nearly two gallons a week. Which is kind of awesome, but it also means I’m at Costco every week picking up more.

Clearly I need to win another year’s supply because the kids, particularly Madeline, can drink me under the table.

But I needn’t complain. Because it’s actually (and perhaps surprisingly) one of the most affordable ways to make sure the kids get enough calcium, vitamin D, and potassium in their diet.

But milk is for more than just kids.

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