We eat these weekly. I love that they make a big enough batch for dinner, lunch and some leftover to freeze. While other fish cakes that I’ve made in the past crumble and fall apart, these keep it together. I’ve made toddler fish cakes in the Mommy Chef classes for years with potato and they love them. It’s time for a new fish cake. If you didn’t read it below, you wouldn’t guess they contain oats.

Give this fast and easy recipe a try and share how they went.

Fish Cakes

Makes 8 servings

Tip: A favourite dip or sauce is the perfect accompaniment to these delicious fish cakes. They aren’t fishy, but super tasty eaten warm or cold. This makes a large batch, perfect for freezing.

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

oil for pan-frying

lettuce, tomato, red onion (and other toppings)

Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl. Heat oil on medium heat. Form into patties and pan fry for 5 minutes per side until golden. Serve on a whole grain bun with lettuce, tomato and other favourite burger toppings and condiments of your choice.

*recipe from Super Charge 2012 Meal Plan

I prefer my fish cakes with a side salad, but you could serve on a bun, in a pita or make a sausage shape to fit in a wrap. Top with sunflower seed sprouts, tomato, arugula or any other favourite topping.

How do you like yours? Did the kids go for it?

Depending on the age of your child or children, heading out to a gathering of work colleagues, distant family members or friends of friends might make you gulp as you watch Johnny tip is bowl of dinner over the edge of his high chair. How on earth are you going to keep him under control enough, keep his wandering hands from sampling every dish on the buffet table, or worse pull the table cloth off the table along with every meatball and deviled egg (you know what I mean—you’ve seen it in the movies).

I’ve got some suggestions for you that have helped me survive possible embarrassment from my kids:

1. Don’t go with any expectations that that she’ll eat anything at the gathering. If it’s a family get together and Aunt Trudy’s famous spicy meatballs are being served as a main dish, your kid is going to go hungry and worse, be crabby.
2. Feed him before you go. Serve a slightly later lunch if attending an afternoon party along with a snack en route. A full belly should lessen the need to dip fingers in the double Brie, and the hunger induced melt down as the afternoon goes on.
3. Ask the host what’s on the menu. If you need to bring some snacks from home and it seems appropriate (depending on how well you know said host), it might be worth a mention.
4. Talk about what’s likely to unfold before you go. Explain who’s who and those that need special attention and hugs such as great grandmother.
5. If you know it’s going to be boring, without any other kids to keep yours occupied, take along something quiet to do like crayons and paper, a favourite book or a quiet, non rolling toy to play with (you wouldn’t want to be responsible for it getting under Uncle Bert’s foot and him landing on his behind!)
6. Avoid any gathering at naptime unless it’s at your home and he can sleep in his crib and the bedroom is sound proofed. You are asking for trouble if that nap is missed, cause you’ve been there and lived it. No nap = misery. There’s not way around it.

And lastly, never be afraid to leave. If you’ve got young kids and you can’t enjoy yourself because they are underfoot, out of control and you are loosing your mind, just excuse yourself, wish everyone a happy holiday season and head out.

Here’s a fantastic snack recipe to make in advance and feed to your wee one on the way. Although they are called “Go-Faster Granola Bars” I promise, they won’t instantly become an Energizer bunny!

Go Faster Granola Bars

These wholesome granola bars are packed with slow-releasing carbohydrates and healthy fats to keep your toddler going longer.

1 cup Nature’s Path Millet Rice Flakes cereal 250 mL

1 cup whole rolled oats 250 mL

¾ cup dried fruit (raisins, chopped dates, apricots) 175 mL

¼ cup sunflower, pumpkin, or sesame seeds 50 mL

¼ cup chopped almonds 50 mL

½ cup brown rice syrup 125 mL

2 tbsp coconut butter or unsalted butter 30 mL

¼ cup almond butter 50 mL

1.  Mix cereal flakes, rolled oats, dried fruit, seeds, and almonds in a bowl.

2.  Gently heat brown rice syrup, coconut butter, and almond butter in a large saucepan until melted and smooth. Add dry ingredients to saucepan and quickly stir well to coat. Press into an 8-inch (2 L) square pan.

3.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour and cut into squares. Store at room temperature. Makes about 16 bars.

Nutritional Information

A good source of vitamin E, calcium, zinc, vitamin B1, manganese, magnesium, protein, copper, selenium, phosphorus, vitamin B5, and folate.

For ideas on how to hold your own holiday parties with ease check out this video.

How do you handle gathering with your kids?

For starters, we made sure the usual precautions were taken – ate lots of vegetables and fruit, drank lots of water, practiced good hand-washing, and made sure we all got to bed in good time. Beyond the basics, I added some natural immune-boosting measures to ensure that our already busy lives were not hampered with pesky viruses.

As soon as the weather turns cool, I start adding extra garlic and ginger to everything I cook. These flavorful herbs have potent anti-inflammatory properties and they’re gently warming to the body, especially when it’s cold and damp outside. These days, if you can’t get past the smell of garlic on your hands, you can get pre-chopped garlic cubes in the freezer section of your grocery stores. However, I find smashing and chopping my garlic to be cathartic (and yes, please be sure to give it a good smash to release the active form of allicin). For ginger, grate a whole bunch in one go and put it in an airtight container in the fridge for use all week long. The leftover nub of the ginger root can be steeped in some boiling water for a great cup of tea! Both garlic and ginger work well in soups (like the chicken soup below), stir-fries, vegetable sautés and stews.

Next, we ramp up the vitamin C, not only from foods (citrus fruits, kiwi, red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) but also in supplement form. I find that a powder like Genestra’s Ascorbate C that dissolves in water is very effective at boosting our defenses.

The final preventive measure is probably the most important – probiotics. Our gut, not our respiratory tract, is actually the point of entry for many pathogens that come aboard food, or fingers and toys that go into little mouths. Supplementing with at least 6 billion CFUs (colony forming units) of Acidophilus or Bifidum species guards our 20-foot long GI tract from bad bugs.

If these extra preventive measures (ginger, garlic, vitamin C, and probiotics) fail and someone in your family does get stricken with a cold or flu, here are some natural but effective ways to fight back:

Echinacea – take it at the start of a cold or flu for one week, then stop for a week.

Elderberry Extract – very potent antioxidant to take for 3 to 5 days at the start of symptoms.

Oil of Oregano – one drop on the feet of children, or one to two drops in juice for older people, is very effective at killing viruses. (Also only recommended for short-term use.)

Chicken Soup – This recipe is a twist on an age-old remedy with a extra veggies and immune-boosting herbs added:

• 6 cups water
• 4 cups broth
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
• 3 cups fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 3 cups sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 bunch kale, chopped
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley
• 2 tsp miso paste
• ½ cup dried goji berries (from a health food store)
• 6 pieces dried astragalus root slices (from a health food store) – optional

Saute garlic, onion, and ginger in olive oil. Add mushrooms, sauté for 30 seconds. Then add chicken and sweet potato. Pour in the water, broth and lemon juice. Add astragalus (if using). Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Remove from heat and remove astragalus.

Makes 6 kid-friendly servings

What do you do to avoid getting a cold or flu?

One of the hairy routines of back to school is getting everyone out the door, washed, brushed and fed with the backpack full of essentials and a healthy packed lunch. When I say routine, I really mean the “for the last time, puleese finish your breakfast, the school bell rings in 5 minutes and it takes 10 to get there” kind of rush in the morning.

So how do you keep your sanity in the morning and your kids bellies full until recess or lunch? It’s all about what you feed them. It needs to be fast, filling and check off a nutritious box or two in the process.

Start the day off right with a balanced breakfast:

•  Cereal with egg and fruit

•  Cereal or granola with plain Greek yogurt and fruit

•  Toast with boiled egg and fruit

•  Smoothie and toast

In case you didn’t pick up on the theme above, there’s almost always a protein (egg, Greek yoghurt, smoothie with protein powder) offered at breakfast. Oats are a slow releasing carbohydrate and don’t lead to energy highs and lows, leaving your budding Einstein with his head on the desk for a snooze before lunch.

Cereal is a staple in most families, but don’t be drawn in by the marketing of sugary, refined and colour laden cereals being a good source of fibre or nutrients that will make a difference. With more awareness about the importance of fibre, salt and trans fats, my hope is that reducing sugar will be the next wave. You can be on the cutting edge of a new trend by looking out for a cereal’s sugar content as far down the ingredient list as possible, if it’s there at all. Nature’s Path do make some cereals without sugar; Millet and Rice Flakes, Rice, Millet, Kamut and Corn Puffs and Agave Granola. Mix them all up and presto, your own healthy cereal!

Now to pack those darn lunches. The first couple of weeks may start off swimmingly, but then soon becomes to the hum drum of the same old and you are reaching for new ideas.

Here’s some to keep you going:

• Get the kids involved. Put up a list or calendar on the fridge and have everyone contribute to what’s for lunch. It may need some tweaking, but here’s a chance to teach them about a balanced lunch with protein, carbs, fruit and veggies.
• Try to incorporate leftovers to cut down on cooking. Add your suggestions to the list on the fridge, knowing what’s on the menu for the week. You’ll know that because you meal plan right?!
• Use wraps instead of sandwiches or roll out the bread with a rolling pin and fill with spreads of calcium rich tahini (sesame seed spread—if it’s safe for your school) and banana or hummus and grated carrot for the fastest lunch ever.
• Have thermos days, wrap days or sandwich days. It’ll take away the boredom of the same old in the lunch bag.

For more ideas to save your sanity, I’ve make a Smart Kids Breakfast and Lunch Meal Plan to support parents feed their kids a healthy breakfast and lunch to get the most out of the school day, and avoid the after school crash that leaves you wondering if you picked up with wrong kid from school.  Here’s a few ideas to wet your appetite:

Filling for a Wrap, Pita or Sandwich:

Grated cheese and grapes

Falafel, hummus and salad

Grated carrot with cucumber, sprouts and hummus

Sides or Accompaniments

Seaweed – nori sheets, strips or krinkles

Edamame

Cream cheese or soft goats cheese as a dip with low sodium pretzels

The meal plan has over 15 recipes, 10 breakfast ideas, 15 thermos fillers, 20 sandwich and wrap fillings, Sides and sweet endings to finish off the mid day meal and a two week meal plan to get you started, a template for future meal plans.

I know you can do this. A healthy packed lunch without pulling out your hair every morning. Just think of those great grades, glowing remarks about your energetic and well balanced kid from the teacher—you’ll be the one deserving top marks!

Smart Kids Breakfast and Lunch Meal Plan special – Click here and enter the promo code of smartkids on check out for the “save your sanity” price of $18 until Sept 18^th. It’ll arrive in your inbox shortly after purchase.

Ingredient lists sometimes require a chemistry degree to decipher, so I’ve got a cheat sheet for you here:

• Modified Milk Ingredients – these can include casein (factory-extracted milk proteins), butter oil compound (which is generally 51-per-cent sugar) and whey proteins.

• Water – makes it go further and up profit.

• Sugar – there’s something I recognize and expect.  It’s ingredient #3 so it’s pretty high.

• Glucose – commonly known as high fructose corn syrup, a corn-based sweetener that has replaced common table sugar in many food products (often as a cost-saving measure). It’s said to be more harmful to humans than sugar.

• Hydrogenated Coconut Oil – trans fat right there.

• Cellulose gum – commonly found in many household products, from certain foods to hair gels and laxatives. Helps to glue two liquids together, provides no nutritional value but causes no harm to the body.

• Natural and artificial flavour – artificial flavour is defined as any flavour derived from a product not generally intended for human consumption.

• Guar gum – this water-soluble fibre thickens milk in ice creams. It’s also a laxative.

• Colour – really?  This is vanilla ice cream.  And tartrazine is the worst artificial colour out there.  Just avoid it.

• Propylene glycol alginate – an additive derived from kelp, for thickening food such as ice cream and salad dressing. There’s some evidence that it inhibits nutrient absorption.  On another note, it does protect you from strontium absorption if a nuclear bomb drops on you while eating your ice cream cone!

• Carrageenan –  A vegan alternative to gluten, this extract from red seaweed increases viscosity. It is also used in shampoo, beer and shoe polish.

As well as being high calorie and laden with sugar, most ice creams should be offered in moderation.  Parents are cautioned against daily visits to the ice cream truck, as you’ll find similarly unnatural ingredients in—what starts as powder, ice cream.

Instead of relying on store bought, how about making at home?  You don’t need an old-fashioned milk churn or cow out back, just a few ingredients and a good ice cream maker.  I love Cuisnart’s Ice Cream Maker and have used it for a few years with great success.  Even a blender, frozen fruit and some plain yogurt and a splash of honey whip up easily into instant frozen yogurt.

Here are a few of tried and true recipes that are real winners:

Blueberry and Maple Ice cream

3 cups blueberries, can be defrosted from frozen

1 cup maple syrup

1 cup whipping cream

Method:

Puree blueberries in a blender or food processor.  Add maple syrup and cream and blend until mixed well.  Blend for longer for a smoother ice cream.  Pour into ice cream maker and leave for 15 – 20 minutes.  Scoop and eat immediately or store in a container in the freezer.

If you’d like to try out something new, how about a coconut milk ice cream?

Blueberry Coconut Ice Cream

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup

2 cans regular coconut milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla pod seeds

Method:
In a large bowl, whisk yolks and syrup together until pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Add coconut milk and whisk again until well combined.

Transfer coconut mixture to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon – about 8 to 10 minutes. Be sure not to let the mixture boil. Remove pot from the heat and stir in vanilla.

Transfer contents of pot to a bowl and chill until cold.

Pour mixture in ice cream maker and leave for 20 – 30 minutes or until it’s the consistency of a milkshake.  Transfer to a container with a lid and freeze until firm.

Fruity Frozen Yogurt

1 cup plain yogurt

2½ cups fruit salad*

½ ripe avocado (optional)

3 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Spread fruit salad evenly on a parchment-lined baking tray and freeze. Alternatively, use pre-cut and frozen mixed berries or fruit.

Purée yogurt, frozen fruit, avocado, and maple syrup in a food processor until smooth. Makes about 2 cups (500 mL).

* Be sure to include banana for sweetness and creamy texture.

If making your own isn’t part of your summer plans, here are some tips for choosing a better ice cream:

• Look for the made with Canadian Milk symbol.  Any ice cream made with milk from the US may have growth hormones and other chemicals that aren’t allowed in Canadian farming, unless it’s organic.
• Look for cream on the list of ingredients.  At least that’s one less chemical process and a real ingredient.
• Avoid colours and flavourings.  Not that easy to do, but remember that ice cream sundaes are usually made with vanilla ice cream, just read the label.  Jazz it up yourself with nuts and blueberries.
• Try alternative milk ice creams made from rice or coconut milk.  So tasty and may have a few less calories than cream based ice creams.

Now that you’ve got the scoop, comment on how you plan to have a healthier summer below.

It struck me how high the expectations of what a toddler eats are.  Whether it from parents, doctors, grandparents or friends, I see many concerned and worried faces when we talk about toddler eating habits.

Some toddlers are really only thought of as toddlers because they’ve had their first birthday.  There’s no internal switch to say that they are ready for super chunky meals, or meals fit for the rest of the family.  A one-year-old predominantly eating puree isn’t uncommon.  Recently I’ve seen 15 to 18 month olds who are still eating smooth puree at the majority of their meals.

Parents who are concerned about choking (and some I’ve come across are nothing short of petrified), a slow progression onto lumps and bumps, finger foods and whole anything, seems to follow.

How can you get over the fear?  First, book yourself and spouse in for CPR and first aid training.  You’ve got to know what to do in the event of choking and any other emergency.  Second, take a deep breath and know that your toddler’s gums are strong, and try out some soft pieces of food.  Start with Nature’s Path Rice Puffs for instance, and see how they melt on your tongue.  I usually recommend these for nine month olds, but for really intimidated parents, they are the first step to feel more confident about their toddler managing pieces of food.  From there try steamed cauliflower, carrots and broccoli.  Even cubed and steamed beets are a firm favourite!

Toddlers learn fast how to feed themselves and embrace independence, whether you like it or not.  That’s when finger foods, patty or burger shaped foods come in handy.  In our recent class, we made bean burgers, fish cakes and quinoa patties.  All easy for little fingers to pick up.  In all the recipes there are a boatload of veggies, seeds and sneaky nutrients to keep a very busy toddler going.

No matter what stage you are at, slow moving or on the fast track, offering foods that pack a nutrient punch trumps what form it comes in.  I promise, your toddler will eventually eat at a table with a knife and fork and a plateful of food in front of them and eat.  Some sooner than others, but the day will come.  If not, I’ve got your back!

Need ideas? I’m doing a webinar for toddlers hosted by WeeWelcome.ca and sponsored by Cuisinart on May 25^th at 1:30 pm (nap time!) so please join us.  Details here.

How did you handle your choking fear?

This trip needed minimal packing compared to years gone by, but trying to figure out how to keep to our diet of gluten, sugar and dairy-free left me standing in the kitchen wondering what to take on our 2 1/2 day road trip.  I thought that if I could start us off with a big breakfast, pack a lunch and then wing it for dinner the plan would have worked out well… had I actually remembered the cooler bag.  It contained hard-boiled eggs with cereal for breakfast and sandwiches and salads for lunch.

It was still in the fridge back home.

It hit me just as we where around Burlington and at 5:00am and with 10 hours of driving ahead of us we made the gutsy call to forge ahead and figure it out as we go.  We did have some other food items with us anyways such as goat cheese, rice milk, cereal, bars, muffins, fruit and some other items (don’t shoot me cause it’s all healthy!).

I thought dinner might be tricky and with our first stop in West Virginia, we searched for local restaurants and came across one called, “Logan’s Roadhouse”.  Logan (our 7 year old) was over-the-moon about the idea of going to a restaurant named after her (love how she thinks!).  Honestly, the best thing about the restaurant was its name.  Somewhere between the out-of-a-can sautéed salty mushrooms, sweet potato fries laden with cinnamon sugar, and the ice cream scoop of butter on the baked potato for the girls I vowed that once I was within WiFi range I’d be Googling the nearest Whole Foods for tomorrow.

Some might think that taking along any kitchen appliance is a bit OTT (over-the-top) but I really wanted to keep our breakfast quick and easy, so I packed my Cuisinart compact blender as it really lives up to its name – compact!  It has drinking cups with travel lids so we can blend our morning smoothies in the same cup we drink them out of – brilliant!  I did remember the frozen mango and ripe bananas (in another bag to the one left in the fridge) so I threw them in the blender along with the rice milk, hemp protein powder  whizzed it all up so we all had a quick, healthy breakfast and we were good to go.

I get that what I think is a convenient way of feeding the family doesn’t fit with most, but it works for us and I hope that it teaches our daughters that you can eat healthy no matter where you go!  We all survived the rest of the week, and are back in one piece, all the better for some sun, food that mom doesn’t make and a new appreciation for a home cooked meal!

What’s your experience with eating while on the road?  Do you pack and go, or wing it?

Truth: For some this might be their experience, but most often I see the opposite.  What to start with, when, how much and what do I do if there’s a reaction are all great questions that you’d probably like the answer to before you jump into starting solids with your baby.

If your baby is breast-fed, start with a cereal that doesn’t contain formula, otherwise you are introducing two new foods at the same time.  I recommend oatmeal as I’ve found it to be tolerated well (much less constipation for starters).

Start with one meal, at lunchtime, and offer about two tablespoons for the first meal.  Increase the amount and frequency over time to be offering your baby three meals per day by they time they reach six months.

I recommend starting with butternut squash as a first food.  It’s smooth, sweet and well loved!

Myth: All babies like both fruit and vegetables.

Truth: Some babies like both fruit and veggies and some just like fruit and some just like veggies.  Some like orange, and not green and visa versa.  And that situation can change at any time.

If you are stuck in a veggie or fruit rut, try to add a teaspoon of the least favourite to the favourite and increase over time.  That way your baby is exposed to the taste, even if it’s just a bit every now and then.  Don’t rule out anything as they start solids as it could end up being the next best thing!

Myth:  Once a baby starts food, they should stop drinking breast milk or formula.

Truth: Breast milk or formula (milk) is a baby’s main source of nutrition until they are one year old.  Don’t expect their intake of the white stuff to change until they are on three meals a day at around nine months of age.  Let them decide how much they need and when they are consistently not interested, drop that feeding.

If you see that they are favouring food more than milk, look at the variety of food (protein, fruit and vegetables and carbohydrates) to see what might be missing.  Their milk does offer a spectrum of nutrients as well as protein, fats and carbohydrates needed for growth and development.

Myth: By my baby’s first birthday, she should be eating anything and everything, including food from my plate.

Truth: Every baby is different, and not all are ready for table food by the time they are one year old.  Some still love their puree, which I think has its benefit.  In a puree, you can hide the not-so-favourite foods as well as some super nutritiouos leafy greens, which is tough to get them to eat if not mixed in with something else.

And as for eating off your plate, well that depends on how good (or bad) your diet is!  Maybe it’s time to clean up what you are eating if it’s time for sharing!

So far I’ve heard of Norwalk hitting hard, lingering coughs and colds, but not the flu… yet. Whether you find yourself achy all over, warming up with a fever, that scratchy throat feeling or nose is running like a tap, it means something’s coming. Those damn bugs gotcha!

Do you go for the medicine cabinet, or vitamin cupboard? In my house, well you can guess, I get out my remedy first aid kit and start there. I pull out the oregano oil (mixed in some Echinacea syrup so we can get it down), probiotics, vitamin C, garlic drink and specific homeopathic remedies depending on what the symptoms are. My daughters know that feeling sick means the caster oil and cold wet socks are coming at bedtime too (I’ll explain that craziness later on).

That may sound like quite a list, but I really hate being sick. If I could just lie on the couch and let it ride, I still wouldn’t like it. So I throw it all at us. And it works. If we’ve had some virus or whatever bug gets us, it generally hits us less or leaves faster.

What can you do to help your family? Here are my top tips:

1. Find yourself a naturopath or homeopath. As well as booking an intro consult, ask if they offer phone/email consults for acute situations. I’m able to email mine with symptoms and get feedback of what homeopathic remedies that will help speed recovery and lessen symptoms. If you aren’t familiar with homeopathy, it sure packs a punch. Your naturopath or homeopath can help you with specifics, so don’t worry about not knowing what it’s all about.

2. Create your own remedy first aid kit. Start with vitamin C.

A powder is best and most versatile for the family. It should dissolve in water or dilute juice and can be downed in one or sipped throughout the day. Adults can take about 2000 mg once or twice a day and kids 200 – 400 mg per day (too much vit C = diarrhoea, so ease off if that’s the case). Chech out the link below for my favourite product, Ascorbate C.

Oil of Oregano has potent antiviral and antifungal properties. It is taken against colds and flu’s, candida and parasites. Start it as any symptoms start. Adult dose – one to two drops mixed in with juice. Babies and children – put one drop on the soles of their feet. *Oregano oil is not recommended for breastfeeding. Use for no longer than three weeks and dose up on probiotics too while taking it.

Echinacea is an herbal immune booster. It works best when you feel the start of a cold or other symptoms. Long-term use is not advised. Take for one week then not the next. Continue over the winter months.

Probiotics are a sneaky way to boost the immune system. It sounds kind of backwards, taking good bacteria when it will go to my intestines – but when you understand that about 80 per cent of your immune system is in your digestive system, it all makes sense. Check out the link below for a description of Genestra’s products that I’ve used for years.

When you are hit with something, these crazy sounding remedies can be used on the whole family.

Castor Oil – Rub a loonie size of caster oil on the chest, over the lung area, front and back. Do this before bed, and use a hot water bottle over the area if age appropriate.

Cold Socks – This is a great natural remedy for coughs, colds and congestion. Here’s what you do:

Before bed, make a pair of cotton socks with cold water, squeeze out excess water. Put the socks on the feet and cover with wool or wooly overtop. As crazy as it sounds, it really works. I’ve got up in the middle of the night before to re-wet my socks so I stop coughing. It’s better than cough medicine.

I have not made either of these up, they’ve been around for years. I know it sounds completely nuts, but I promise you it really helps!

Check out SproutRight.com here for more information on specific supplements. http://www.sproutright.com/supplements.php

Other suggestions include:

Avoid sugar – I know, I know, you only feel like snacking on comfort foods. Sugar can suppress the immune system for a period of hours, so it might be the difference to one day off to a few.

Drink immune boosting herbal teas and ease off the coffee and milk – don’t send me packing with my ideas just yet – let me explain. Your body (or your kid’s) need fluids so herb teas are warm, wet and also can help give a boost. Dairy products are mucus forming, so you may find yourself not needing any help in the mucus-producing department (both coughs and colds), so just shelve it for now.

Try the ‘Garlic Bomb’. You are at home anyway so it doesn’t matter if you have garlic breath. This one is probably only for adults, not kiddies.

Fill a mug with boiled water from the kettle. Use a garlic press to crush a clove of garlic into the water. Add a teaspoon of honey, a squeeze of lemon and even a chunk of fresh ginger if you have it. Drink it all. The garlic bits at the bottom too.

So now that you’ve got more than enough ideas of how to make this a healthier winter, go stock up and be ready for what comes!

How are you going to deal with your little gremlin this October 31st?

Here are my top six tips for parents to survive Halloween, avoiding the extreme sugar highs and lows:

* Plan a pre-holiday family meeting – Parents, meet with your kids before Halloween trick-or-treating or parties and work together to come up with a plan for how much candy they can have. Make them a part of the decision making process so they feel they have some say.

* For better or for worse – What’s better, what’s worse? Look out for food dyes and colours as some kids react; allergies, behavioural issues or difficulty sleeping. If chocolate is their favourite, have some healthier choices (organic or dark choc) on hand and make a trade for the ‘junk’ ones. Talk about why you are trading, using this as a great learning opportunity for all (and don’t forget to mention that in your family meeting).

* Post-holiday crash – Ever notice an increase in colds, flu or tummy aches post sugar rush? Sugar can depress the immune system for hours so boost the immune system with some probiotics for a week or so before and give some extra vitamin C (powders work well – mix in water or dilute juice) to try to dodge the sickness that’s likely to follow October 31st. Also if you notice digestive upsets, headaches and eczema flare-ups, the sugar intake can be the cause.

* Balanced dinner before – Help keep those blood sugar levels from peaking and crashing with a pre-trick-or-treating meal, which is a balance of carbs, veggies and protein. Take a water bottle with you en route with diluted juice, or thermos with herbal tea as it’s usually chilly.

* Do YOUR part – Ever thought about starting a new trend? It’s easier with the younger ones. Start a new tradition of giving out small toys to your trick or treaters. Talk about giving out healthier choices and alternatives. My faves include:

– Recycled Crayon Stars – pack of 20. Hand out one to each kid (maybe the younger ones.

– Glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets – a visit to the dollar store got a whole lot healthier!

– Stickers or temporary tattoos.

– Candies and other treats made with alternative sweeteners. Whole Foods Market has a fantastic assortment of lollipops and individually wrapped treats that won’t have your dentist running for cover.

– Candies or treats made with natural food colourings including beet, carrot and others.

* Trade up the Loot – is there something that your little princess or Spiderman has been coveting? Suggest a trade of their bag of loot (after some nibbling of course) for a longer lasting treat, or have the “Halloween Pumpkin” (cousin of the tooth fairy) come a day after Halloween and leave that special something in its place.

Now if I could only find somewhere to donate the treats to after my daughters forget about it (out of sight out of mind after a few days), I’d be happier.

If you know of a charity that would welcome some treats, or have a great suggestion of what to do with it all, please share!