Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Te"X"as Tea



The object of the song The Ballad of Jed Clampett, is the oil they find, the Texas Tea, that made them millionaires. And so the tv show went on for several seasons in their mansion in Beverly Hills.

But what is your Texas Tea? To children it's "sugar". Make no bones about it, sugar makes the world go round when you are a child. Think fairs and bazaars. Snow cones, cotton candy, ice cream, funnel cakes, taffy, and much more.

My Child Care Food Program is regulated by the USDA and they are updating their regs for meals and snacks. One of their biggies is "sugar". We will be limited, once approved, on the kinds of sweets available to children. There are many pros and cons about this and I am sure I could make a major debate on the topic. But I prefer to find solutions for myself and my little precious charges because the changes are most definitely coming. Here are some options I will be putting "On the Table" instead of "cake-type sweet items" as their laws will Xclaim.

Instead of Donuts, I will be topping off my biscuits with some fresh berries and a dab of Cool Whip.

No Poptarts anymore. Instead we'll be making some toast and strawberry preserve sammies in my Panini press. YUmmO!

Can't have Cookies? How about Graham Crackers topped with Pineapple Cream Cheese? We can use raisins, craisins, banana slices or grapes to decorate.

For partytime, I'm going to let them make their own Yogurt parfaits. Each layer will have different colored fruits and we'll use some of my Auction finds, ice cream glasses.

Brownies eliminated? No problem. We're serving up Muddy Buddies. Chocolate Chex mix has "Whole Grain Rice" as its first ingredient. So There!!

I need to make sure I note that the changes on sweet items is not yet in effect. But where the children are concerned, I will find ways to 'sweeten' their day:)



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8 comments:

  1. I remember Beverly Hillbillies! It's impossible to get Hubby off sugar and I have to have my chocolate fix once in a while but kudos to you for making your family's diet healthier!

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  2. I'm guilty of loving sugar. I blame my grandmother who nicknamed me "Sugar". Doomed I am. lol Thank you for dropping in :)

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  3. When my daughters were younger, we made finger jello (will jello still be allowed?) We called them Wigglies, you just added unflavored gelatin to flavored jello to make a firmer jello that could be cut in the shape of stars, etc. It was in a book with recipes on feeding kids healthy snacks. We also made a cocoa-oatmeal no cook cookie. . .

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    1. We can make jello for an extra but it doesn't count nutritionally. (Don't tell Jello Corp. that. Wouldn't want them to change their recipe. lol) Cookies may or may not be accepted anymore? Have to wait and see. Stay tuned......

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  4. Sodium is bugging me more than sugar. Have you ever tried to reduce sodium in your diet? You'd think all you'd have to do is just not add salt. Not so. Sodium is in EVERYTHING (probably for the cheap preservative capabilities).

    Since I'm repaying your visit for the A-Z Roadtrip (Rantings and Ravings of an Insane Writer), I'm late enough to be able to pass on the new "S'mores" recipe of graham crackers, strawberries, and yogurt. The recipes sounds good to me, but why do they have to denigrate the original S'mores in the process? Can't they coexist and let people choose?

    I've added you to my RSS feed to read via TheOldReader. Looking forward to reading.

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    1. Thank you for adding me to your feed :) As for the S'mores changes, it's all about 'letting the kids do it' in education. Learning by doing. So it adds another step in letting them get involved I suppose. Also they eat better when they make something themselves in my experience. And I truly understand the sodium. We have gluten intolerance with 1/2 my family, peanut and egg allergies with my daycare kiddos and lactose intolerance with my eldest daughter. It wears me out! Phew!

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