Have you heard of ‘Picture It Picture Books‘? What a fun and creative way to get children excited about reading!

The concept is simple: the books contain a story without any pictures. Aside from the text, the pages are blank so that readers can illustrate their very own books. By engaging with these books in a physical way, kids not only exercise their imaginations, but they really take home the message of each of the stories.

Here’s an example of one of the pages. You can read the text to your child and then let them draw what they saw in their imagination. LOVE IT!

There are a few story lines to choose from. Click here to learn more.

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I’m going on vacation soon and now have the book that I am going to read while lounging on my beach chair. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Sears, founder of  the infamous ‘Zone’ diet. He has released a new book ‘TOXIC FAT: When Good Fat Turns Bad’ and it has most certainly caught my attention.

Just to give you a little background on my eating habits – 5 years ago (when I had my first daughter) I joined Weight Watchers to help me lose my last 10 pounds. The program really opened my eyes to misconceptions I had about food. For example,  I was a fanatic about quesadillas from Baja Fresh. I swore that a little cheese, chicken and pita was a healthy option for me to consume. After I got on the plan, I saw that my little meal was costing me about 50 points! Mind you I was only allowed to eat 20 points a day. Talk about a revelation!! Changed my life.

This meeting with Dr. Sears felt the same exact way. We talked about things that I never knew before. I am sure that some of what I’m about to say will be common knowledge to a few readers, but this is for those people who (like me) don’t really understand the ins and outs of healthy eating. I never really thought about how much protein I was consuming per meal. Dr. Sears said that it should be a steady stream throughout the day. Most Americans eat no protein for breakfast, a little bit for lunch and TOO MUCH for dinner. That pretty much sums me up perfectly! It’s important to change the way we think about eating and it’s important to make that change today. For you. For me. And for our children.

Dr. Sears knows that we all aren’t just going to start munching on raw carrots. It’s just not realistic to think a change like that will last forever. So, instead of walking that route – he decided to change the dietary ingredients of some of our favorite foods – not the recipes to make those foods.

What do I mean? Granola and bagel chips that have over 10 grams of protein layered in them and made healthier. If you are going to snack on bagel chips, why not choose the ones that will keep you feeling full longer? That’s what we all want, right? When the hunger pains kick in… there’s no turning back. Fight them before they ever have a chance.

His new book, TOXIC FAT is built on several provocative, proven principles, including:

• If you’re fat, it’s not your fault: A genetic predisposition, combined with hormonal imbalances triggered by Toxic Fat, can cause your fat cells to trap incoming dietary calories preventing their conversion to the chemical energy we need to survive and move around. For those with an active “fat trap”, trying “eating less, and exercising more” can actually cause the body to “cannibalize” itself. To make matters worse, Toxic Fat makes you constantly craving food by increasing hunger signals in the brain
• The obesity epidemic was triggered when the government’s agriculture policies changed radically in the 1970s: This resulted in seismic change in that food processing flooded our supermarkets with cheap, refined carbohydrates and cheap vegetable oils— the nutritional equivalent of pouring kerosene on a fire, resulting in the current epidemic of Toxic Fat.
• Toxic Fat causes inflammation, which is the underlying cause of obesity and other chronic diseases. Dr. Sears and numerous other researchers have shown that inflammation is the root cause of most chronic disease, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s. Obesity can’t be reversed unless inflammation in the fat cells is reduced. Drugs can’t do this, but appropriate dietary changes can do so very effectively.
• Thin people can have dangerously high levels of Toxic Fat, detectable in the bloodstream. Dr. Sears has worked with numerous Olympic athletes whose inflammation levels were dangerously high. He also knows that it’s possible to be fat, but remain perfectly healthy, as long as inflammation levels are in check.
• Obesity is best understood as a cancer. It can be benign (by increasing body fat to store Toxic Fat like a toxic waste dump) or it can be malignant (releasing stored toxic fat into the blood to reach every organ in the body. Like a cancer, obesity is best treated by either surgery (gastric bypass surgery) or “chemotherapy,” using the anti-inflammatory

So, what’s the solution? It’s pretty simple. Dr. Sears said something that make me sit up straight yesterday afternoon. He said,  “It’s easier for someone to change their religion than it is their diet.” WOW! And… I agree! I hate when I’m told to eat a salad instead of my typical lunch. I’m not one to rely on fast food chains to feed my family, but there are those days when I make meals out of a box. Processed food is what got American into this mess but Dr. Sears believes his new line of processed foods will get us out.

Why? Because he has made available food people know and love but which are altered to be BETTER for you. So, instead of telling someone they have to eat a 4 egg white omelet and a cup of oatmeal for breakfast, he has created a cinnamon bun which is jam packed with 14 grams of protein which is equivalent. So it’s still something you would want to eat and is feasible to do on a daily basis, but it is BETTER for you than what you are used to eating. Remember, I am not talking to people who  have their diet under control. I’m talking to the people who eat two waffles in the morning like I do. This morning at 630AM, I had the cinnamon bun from his website and at 10:50 I am just starting to get a little hungry. Usually at this point I would be ripping open a snack to get me to lunch.

Take these pita pizza crusts. They are a much better alternative to buying pizza on your own because they are LOADED with protein. They come pre-cooked and all you have to do is add the toppings. Three pieces are equivalent to eating a 4 egg white omelet as far as protein is concerned. I tend to make pizza at home a few times a month and after tasting these two versions I am officially making this change. Why NOT?

Not ready to take the dive and try to purchase some of Dr. Sears’ packaged food? Here’s his one tip that you should walk away with. Eat what your grandmother ate growing up. Everything that they did 50 years ago is exactly what we should be doing today.

• Smaller meals
• Adequate amount of protein with each meal (about a palm full)
• Lots of veggies

Here’s a few more tips from our lunch:

• Only shop the perimeters of your supermarket. Anything down the center is over-processed and full of omega 6 fatty acids.
• Aim to consume 2.5 grams of omega 3 fatty acids a day (with supplements)
• The omega 3 fatty acids that are found in cereals and eggs do not have any anti-inflammatory properties
• Cook with lard – yes LARD. Throw out your vegetable oil.
• Eat nothing with mono-saturated fats – instead aim for fats found in avocados and slivered almonds
• Reduce your bread intake (even if it’s whole grain)
• Lentils are the best legumes to consume
• For every 1 gram of fat you have in your meal you should have 2 grams of protein and 3 grams of carb
• If you drop your omega 6 fatty acid intake it will help with your attention span (studies verified this)

Get the book. Read up on everything. I feel awakened. It’s all about bringing it back to the basics. It’s all about making the right decisions when you are cooking for your family. It’s all about starting the change today.

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Are you ready to have your mind BLOWN away? I am a sucker for cookbooks and Yum-Yum Bento Box is like nothing I have ever seen before.

Are you looking for a way to get your children excited about lunch? Do you have picky eaters? Make lunch fun and interesting with a little creativity. Ok, a lot of creativity – but that’s all been taken care of by Crystal Watanabe. Just look at some of these cool designs:

Hundreds of styles to choose from. You don’t have to replicate the recipe completely if you don’t have the time, but take certain ideas from the book. For example, Crystal uses scrapbook cut outs to make cute animal designs with sandwich meat.  You will have a better chance of your child eating bologna if it looked like an octopus than the way it looks straight from the deli right?! LOL!

There’s even a blog to check out for more inspiration. Click here to get started.

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My sister had my first niece, Layla, 3 months ago but they live in Texas, so I don’t see my goddaughter nearly as much as I want to. I call every day and talk to her so she’ll know my voice but its still not enough. I came across this book at at gift guide event and thought the idea was so great. Its a children’s book, much like many Layla will have. The difference is that this book lets me record myself telling the story so that every time my sister opens the book for her, its like I’m reading to her!
As awesome as I thought this was, I was sure it was going to be complicated and difficult to record so I set aside a Saturday afternoon to accomplish the task of recording my voice. The name of Layla’s book is Bright and Beautiful and its about all the beautiful things in nature. The instructions told me to sit in a quiet place and press REC to record my voice, wait for the prompt, then press STOP at the end and turn the page. What if I wanted to re-record my voice? I just had to press REC and do it again before turning the page. Could it really be that easy? I started with the first page, which is a dedication page, then proceeded to press REC, read, press STOP, turn the page and so on until the book was completed. Then, I opened the battery case and slid the button to lock it. I was done, already! I turned to the front and, sure enough, my voice spoke the words on the page for each page. And this was all done in less than 5 minutes! The recording is clear and loud enough for a child. I thought that the child would have to press a button to hear the voice but all you have to do is turn the page. I love love love this book! Now, I feel like Layla will have a piece of me in her room at all times.
Its not only a great gift for aunties and other family members like me who live far from their little loved ones. Its perfect for parents who share custody. Layla isn’t ready to grab this book off the shelf just yet but toddlers sure can, when they miss that parent. Its also a neat idea for kids who are just starting to go on sleepovers. They can pack this book and hear their parents’ voice reading them a bedtime story.
Hallmark has 12 of these books to choose from. One of my favorites is “We’re not scared of anything!”. “The Very First Christmas” is also a fun gift idea for the holiday season, which you know will be here before we know it. Go to www.hallmark.com to see all the others.

Written by Tabitha

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