Bed Time Snacks with Brummel and Brown

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Brummel and Brown. 

Does anyone in your family ever want a little bedtime snack? My husband has taught our kids that toast with butter makes for a great snack before bed. :)

The kids don't worry about what they are eating, they just know it tastes good, but as a mom, I worry about too much butter, too much sugar, you know, the usual unhealthy stuff. We have tried different sugar substitutes and even a few substitutes for butter, but I can't ever get my hubby and the kids to give up the butter.

Our kids love yogurt, so when I recently learned that Brummel and Brown was a butter substitute, made with nonfat yogurt, I hoped I had a good shot at getting the kids to give it try on their toast.

I did my research. The spread has 50% less fat than butter, zero cholesterol and 0 grams of trans fat per serving. Plus, you can use the spread alone, or cook with it in recipes.

Instead of telling the family that I was going to make the switch, I loaded up their toast with Brummel and Brown spread and stood back to see what they said. "Yum, can I have more", was all I heard. No complaints, no concerns, no questions about where the butter went. They loved it. Hubby included.

I did a little more testing and tried the stir fry recipe on their facebook page. Delicious! After a week of using the spread, the kids have decided their favorite is to have it on waffles in the morning before school.

The family enjoyed the taste the most. I loved the texture and how easy it was to spread. Much easier than a cold stick of butter out of the fridge.

It has been a long time since I have found a product that does what it says, but our entire family was really impressed with the Brummel and Brown spread. Given how much my husband loves butter, that is saying a lot. Want to learn more ways to use the spread, be sure you visit the Brummel and Brown facebook page. Not only will your food taste good, but it will be good for your family too.

Do you have any food substitutes that have been successful in your house? What do you switch out to help your family stay healthy?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf or Brummel and Brown. 

6 Tips For Helping Your Children Make Healthier Food Choices.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Facts Up Front program.

My husband and I are always trying to make healthy food choices for our family. As the primary cook in our home, I feel like it is my responsibility to help our children develop healthy food habits and positive feelings towards food. But, it can be really hard.

After my daughter asked why I was “reading the back of the box” while grocery shopping not too long ago. I showed her how to read labels. She thought it was fun, but had a hard time with all the info and the small print. While reading a cereal box during breakfast, she pointed out that the box nutrition info on the front that was much easier for her to understand.

And that was the first I heard about Facts Up Front. Facts Up Front aims to help families (consumers) make informed choices about food, by putting the nutrition information on the front of the packages where it is much quicker and easier to read.

I have noticed that since our kids have started paying attention to nutrition labels and especially the Facts Up Front, they are much more conscious about the food choices they make. I have loved the quick reference it provides me as I am working to make wise choices for our family. 

Here are 6 tips for helping your kids make healthier food choices. I hope they help your and your family.

 1. Stop restricting Food. Restricting food, leads to a higher chance of eating disorders and negative feelings towards food. It can also promote binge eating and sneaky eating. When kids do get their hands on the restricted food, they tend to overeat it, and even sneak around to get it. We are friends with a family that doesn’t allow one drop of sugar in their home. No candy, cookies, not a single sweet of any kind. Recently, their 6 year old has been stealing candy from his friends, and hiding it under his pillow to eat at night when no one is around. This can be a result of banning, or restricting food. Instead, talk about healthy food choices and don’t loose site of moderation. Teach kids to look for the Facts Up Front label on food for a quick look at what foods are healthy for their bodies.

 2. Don’t use food as a reward. Argh, this one can be so hard as parents. It seems to make things so much easier to be able to bribe with a lollipop, or promise a treat if our daughter does well on her spelling test. But, using food as reward often leads to weight problems, as our children get older. Instead of using food as a reward, reward with fun active things like going for a bike ride, or having a play date outside with friends.

 3. Don’t label food as “good” and “bad”. Labeling food as good or bad teaches our kids to feel guilty as they get older about the choices they make with food. Stop labeling and start teaching. Teach your children how food affects their participation in the activities they like and how it makes their bodies function and feel. This will teach them to make decisions based on what is best for their own bodies. And use words like healthy and unhealthy instead of good and bad.

 4. Stop constantly pointing out unhealthy food choices our children make. Instead of always pointing out the unhealthy choices our kids are making, praise the healthy choices. And don’t hesitate to suggest healthier choices like pretzels over potato chips and fruit over candy. Need help figuring out what food choices are best for your family? Take the Interactive Nutrition Quiz.

 5. Let kids choose. It is empowering when we get to make our own choices. It lets us feel like we are in control. We make so many of the daily choices for our children. When they sleep, what they get to do, what they get to put in their mouths. It can be stifling to them. So, let them make some of their own choices. Before a meal, explain that you are going to have a vegetable, and then let them choose between carrots and green beans. Simply letting them choose will make them more likely to eat the veggie. We tend to own our choices and follow through with things when we are the ones deciding. When your children choose healthy foods they like, serve those more often.

 6. Eat dinner together as a family. This one is really important. Children who eat dinner with their parents are less likely to make unhealthy food choices and are also less likely to engage in delinquent behavior. If you want to read more about the power of family dinners, check out this post. You can also use the Shopping and Meal Planning Tips on the Facts Up Front website to help your family overcome common obstacles for getting from the grocery store to the family dinner table. If you are not eating dinner together now, this can seem overwhelming. Start slow with twice a week and then increase until you are sitting down together as many nights as possible. Utilize resources like the Facts Up Front recipe section for help with what to cook your family.

 The Facts Up Front label is becoming much more prevalent in grocery stores around the country. Go on a little scavenger hunt and have your kids see how many products they can find with the new labels. Couple that with the six tips above and start talking about good nutrition with your kids today.

 This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Facts Up Front program.

A New Baby! AND Listen To Your Mother!

WOW! The last few months have been busy busy busy. No different from your lives, but it has forced me to take a step back from something, and FamilyVolley is always the first thing to take the hit. So, what has been keeping me up at night? Besides the laundry, cooking, cleaning and general mom stuff... Well, two things.

First, we had another baby. The sweetest little baby girl. That makes one boy and four girls for our family. She is the perfect addition and everyone adores her. She is also our first baby to sleep more than three hours at a time, at night. Heaven sent is what she is.

Second, it is LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER Season and the show must go on. If you will recall from last year, I produce and direct the Listen To Your Mother Show. It is one of the most rewarding projects I have ever had the opportunity to be involved in. The show is a celebration of motherhood, giving Mother's Day a microphone. It is a 90 minute show filled with a series of monologues by some of the biggest bloggers and writers in the Northern Utah area. The audience will laugh and cry, often at the same time.  The show sold out last year. So this year, we have a bigger venue and we are hoping to fill the house. If you live in Northern Utah, you should join us. Come, bring your mom, girlfriends, sisters, neighbors, ward friends, even your husband will enjoy it, and celebrate motherhood together. The show is in 32 cities this year and it is a big deal to host in Northern Utah.

The show is Tuesday April 29th at 7pm on the University of Utah Campus in the Union Building Ballroom. Tickets are only 10 dollars and are well worth every cent. Promise. The cast will knock your socks off. Join us, and be sure to come and say hello. Click here for tickets and click here to watch my monologue from last years show. It is the most vulnerable I have ever allowed myself to be in public. I apologize in advance for the crying.

What have you been up to the last few months? Anything new in your house?

Tips for Keeping Your 2014 Family Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions aren't just for individuals, they're for families too! 

I know what your thinking. It is hard enough to keep my own personal resolutions and goals. Why would I want to set goals with my family too? Why? Because setting goals together, and working towards those goals, brings us closer as a family. It builds trust, unity, and is a great opportunity to teach our children values and skills. Research shows that by the first week of February, only 50 percent of us will still be keeping our resolutions. Don't let your family become a statistic.

Whether you have a word of the year, make New Year's resolutions, or just have a few goals you want your family to work on this year, here are a few tips to help your family stick with those resolutions so you can grow and improve together. 

1. Make your resolutions something that YOUR FAMILY really wants. Your family's goals and resolutions should NOT be something you think you should do as a family. Or something that you are doing just to keep up with what you see on Pinterest, the internet, or that your neighbors are doing. Honestly evaluate what is best for your family. One of the biggest mistakes families make is making resolutions to keep up with "the Jones' "  Don't worry about what other families are doing. 

2. Make sure your eyes aren't bigger than you stomach. AKA, don't set too many goals. In fact, two or three is perfect for your family. Too many and they get hard to keep and focus on. 

3. Goals should be specific. For example, "Save money", is a good goal. But it is not specific. "Save 5 dollars a week" is a better goal. Being specific makes the resolutions more do-able and makes it easier for everyone to understand what is expected. 

4. Leave room for forgiveness. No family is perfect and there will be many times when we falter on our resolutions. That is normal. The difference between those families who reach their goals and those who don't, is the way they react to set backs. Instead of throwing in the towel, problem solve. Then you can rebound and get back on track. 

5. Include the entire family. It is easy to think that successful family goals are only achieved by the parents. But family goals should include the entire family. Including our children provides opportunities for us to work together, hold one another accountable, allows us opportunities to teach our children, and gives our children the chance to see success and failure. Not to mention, each member of our family has great ideas. I can't tell you the number of times that our children have come up with the solutions to family situations. Including them also lets them know that they have a voice in your family. Knowing that they are heard makes them feel loved, important and understood. (Which also leads to kids being better behaved.) Not to mention that kids are great at keeping us accountable. :)

6. Create short term goals to keep you accountable. We hear this all the time, because it is true. As a family, set a resolution, and then set short term goals to help you along the way. Your family will be much more likely to achieve your goals that way. 

7. Make it fun and celebrate! Whoever said resolutions have to be boring? Find fun ways to achieve your goals and celebrate your milestones along the way. This also helps to keep it fresh in everyones mind. Because a year can seem like a really long time.

Looking for a fun way to set resolutions for your family? Create a vision board! Have each member of your family sit down with old magazines, newspapers, markers and crayons, even the computer. Have everyone cut out or print off pictures, words, phrases that represent what they see for 2014 for the family. Put them all on a big piece of cardboard. Then, step back and evaluate the themes that are most prevalent on the board. Use the common themes to create two or three resolutions to best benefit your family this upcoming year. 

And remember, everyones resolutions look different, just like our families. And that is okay.

I would love to hear what your family resolutions are for this year?

This post was written by me, and was originally posted as a guest post on TheIdeaRoom.net.

Elf on the Shelf-Ideas for Where to Put Your Elf (Week Two)

Time for more Elf on the Shelf Ideas for you to use at your house. Remember, if you are following along, Family Volley is taking the guess work out of where to put your elf this holiday season. Here are 7 more ideas for the upcoming week.

1. Set your elf up to have a snow ball fight with another toy. Use blocks or lego's and make two little walls and have the elf and the other toy stand behind their respected walls. Then, scatter some mini marshmallows around the scene.

2. Photo Booth: make a few tiny photo booth props. A mustache on a stick would do the trick. Then have your elf posing with the prop. You could make a few extras and have your elf posing with a few stuffed animal or Barbie friends.

3. Set your elf up holding a small pair of scissors, cutting a snow flake out of paper. Be sure you put another finished snowflake next to him too.

4. Using candies or cereal have your elf spell out a message to for your kids. "Be Good", "Happy Holiday's", etc...

5. Set your elf up working on the computer.

6. Set your elf up doing a puzzle.

7. Using big Marshmallows, have your elf building a snow man. They make jumbo size marshmallows now also. Those would work even better.

I would love to hear your favorite Elf on the Shelf ideas. Share it with us in the comments, or email me, and I will include it next week with a shout out to you.