Ground Beef: Do you know how it’s made?

You may not want to read this.  I almost wish I hadn’t.

The article from the NY times shares the story of Stephanie Smith a dance instructor left paralyzed from the waste down after E-Coli from a hamburger made her sick in 2007.

It was eye opening to learn more about how ground beef is often made and what increases our risk for exposure to E-Coli.  I might have to watch my beef be ground after reading this story!

A few excerpts…

“Ground beef is usually not simply a chunk of meat run through a grinder. Instead, records and interviews show, a single portion of hamburger meat is often an amalgam of various grades of meat from different parts of cows and even from different slaughterhouses. These cuts of meat are particularly vulnerable to E. coli contamination, food experts and officials say.”

Further… in regard to the E-Coli incident in Stephanie’s story…

“The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria.

Using a combination of sources — a practice followed by most large producers of fresh and packaged hamburger — allowed Cargill to spend about 25 percent less than it would have for cuts of whole meat.

Those low-grade ingredients are cut from areas of the cow that are more likely to have had contact with feces, which carries E. coli, industry research shows.”

Read the whole story:

Woman’s Shattered Life Shows Ground Beef Inspection Flaws – NYTimes.com

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Healthy Food For Children: Sell It in Your Home!

The major food manufacturer’s have been marketing food to kids forever.

It may take a little extra effort, but the fact is we can have greater success if we steal a few techniques from the marketing pros. Studies have shown that children will choose a “branded” banana over a plain one.  It’s all in how you sell it!

Serving sizes

Children don’t have a great sense proportion and portion sizes. As parents we can use this to our advantage.
When serving treats, placing them on a small plate, will make the treat seem bigger and they will think they have a bigger piece.

When serving healthier choices giving them a larger serving may work in your favor. Serving a sizable stack of green beans and having them eat four or five might get them to eat more than if you only give them only four or five beans to start out with.

These same principles work with beverages.

Typically you will want your children to drink a good amount of water – serving it in a large glass – say 12oz. They won’t finish it all, but if they drink half of it it’s still a nice quantity. My two each have a stainless steel water bottle they drink from throughout the day and I refill it as needed.

Juice is a special treat in our home, but if you are a juice family serving the juice in a smaller tall glass they will feel like they’ve had more than a shorter fat glass, when in fact the actual oz will be fewer.

Serving veggies you can get payoff for being creative. In our home I’ve found that food often goes over better if I give it a fun name:

Sweet Potato Circles
Cucumber Spears or Cucumber Squares
Dragon Tails – Asparagus
Frog Feet – Broccoli Stems
Broccoli – Magic Forest

Almond Butter

Almond Butter has more nutrients and healthier oils than peanut butter. It’s also allowed in many schools that don’t allow peanuts. My children like both and it’s nice to have the options for variety. In our home the children can choose between the two, but if they choose almond butter then they can have it with fruit juice sweetened raspberry preserves. So almond butter is often the winner. Getting your child to eat alternatives like this is usually a matter of introducing it to them early.

Inspiration!

In searching for fun ways to entice children to eat more fruits and vegetables and to fuel my creative juices (it’s hard not to get stuck in a rut!) I found Sheri, a mom from New York who does amazing things with her lunchboxes.  She sends  her 3 children to lunch with stunning Bento Boxes.

Little Diva drooled over Sheri’s amazing pictures, she wanted to try everything!

Bento Boxes are s a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine.

Sheri has agreed to share her ideas here at PND and I hope that our readers are inspired her work. Let her ideas inspire you and reach  out of your own comfort zone to create better health for your family.

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