Cupcake Parties
Healthy Eating for the Kids—Easy Tips
It all starts with some planning. It’s best to create a menu for the week with healthy recipes that take thirty minutes or less to prepare, unless you know you’ll have more time available for cooking. There are many easy, healthy recipes available online which you can prepare in a snap.
Homemade cooking is the best way to ensure the family will be eating right. Even healthier TV dinners can be packed with sodium. When you prepare your own food, you are in control of it. You can add powerful nutrients by throwing in some wheat germ oil, rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, low-fat instead of regular cheese, or whatever you’ d like.
When you go grocery shopping, I recommend that you leave the kids at home. If you do have to take the kids along with you while you go shop, make sure everybody eats a big, filling meal first. One of the most important steps in improving your kids’ diets is keeping the house full of healthy foods instead; remember, your kids can’t binge on junk food at home if you don’t have any.
Prepare snacks ahead of time for the week, keeping them in high-quality storage containers. Your kids can grab from these ready-made snacks, such as celery and almond butter, when they start to get hungry. Eventually, you’ll be sure to find tons of good-for-them goodies that you’ll both approve of.
Finally, get the kids involved in healthy cooking. Studies show that children who participate in household chores, such as cooking and making their own lunches, grow up with a better sense of self and end up more successful than less helpful or involved children. Kids of all ages will be able to find some way to help with the cooking, and they will love to be included.
Danny the Dragon Contest Winner for November!
Leah Naumec was the winner of the October contest as part of the October Danny the Dragon Gluten-Free cupcake party hosted by Tina Turbin in Florida.
She received a Danny the Dragon gift basket loaded with goodies and Danny the Dragon give-aways!
I am very pleased to also share Leah’s story. Her mother briefly shares what it has been like to raise a child with celiac:
A new mom, feeding journals, diaper journals, sleep schedules… all trial and error! Leah’s precious life started with a week in the NICU, but as a fighter she bounded out and has been that way for her six dear years. Leah never delayed her eating and loved noodles, bread, cookies and of course her fruits and vegetables. However, Leah seemed to have one cold after another, Eczema and vomited every so often. Again as a new mom, nothing seemed odd just part of the development course. At 18 months, however we realized that her shape was that of a bird and a food deprived child with an extended abdomen. Our pediatrician indicated her weight was declining rapidly and she was diagnosed with “Failure to Thrive”.
Obviously fear struck (don’t look up Failure to Thrive) we quickly tried to find what the cause was. Fortunately, two family members had heard of Celiac Disease and mentioned it to us. Having an amazing pediatrician, he requested a blood test which was an immediate indicator of Leah’s issues. Soon after Leah endured an endoscopy and received the diagnosis of Celiac. In just three months we went from scary to diagnosed.
Ok, so what now? Daunting! As a new mom and truly not a person who enjoys cooking, the challenge was on. We were on a mission, what was Leah going to eat, how were we going to establish a “typical” lifestyle for her, what resources were available? Needless to say we began our education process and we had tremendous support from our family.
Once gluten free Leah’s health improved tremendously and rather quickly. Leah is an amazing child and has taken responsibility for her nutrition and diet, always asking if there is gluten in the item or just declining gracefully. We take great strides to make sure Leah fits right in to any food situation by contacting party hosts to see what food is served, we are in constant communication with teachers and we have open conversations with her about the food she will eat and why it might look different. As a positive being gluten free is a healthy alternative and the world today has become more aware of what it is to be gluten free.
For parents of newly diagnosed children I say take a deep breath and take it one step at a time! Become informed and join a local ROCK (Raising Our Celiac Kids) group online if possible. Know it is overwhelming at first, but there are some great resources. Try to make an event, holiday, or food based situation about the event and not the food! Having Celiac is challenging, but manageable.
Danny the Dragon Contest – October Winners!
The Fowler family including Tyler (7 yrs old), Parker, Isabell and Peyton (4 yr old triplets), pictured above in their Halloween costumes, are the winners of the October contest as part of the Danny the Dragon Gluten-Free “Halloween” cupcake party that was hosted by Tina Turbin in Florida.
The kids will soon receive their Danny the Dragon gift basket loaded with goodies and Danny the Dragon give-aways!
I am very pleased to also share the Fowler triplets’ story. Their mother briefly shares what it has been like to raise 3 children with celiac:
Our Celiac Disease Journey started in May of 2007, the triplets were about to turn two and I was questioning the doctor about their small stature. Like most, the belief was that there were 3 of them, so it might just be their size, but at their two year check up we would run more tests if they had not gained any weight. No surprise, their two year check up came and the girls had failed to put on ANY weight in the 6 month period prior to their checkup.
At that point, we decided to see the Pediatric GI here in St. Pete who immediately thought Celiac or Cystic Fibrosis. He was pretty optimistic and we were sent home wishing for an auto immune disease. Being a mom with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Auto-immune hepatitis and Thyroid Disease (all auto immune diseases), I only began to worry about what the girls health would look like in the future. Not a promising outlook but the Celiac diagnosis was manageable and that is what we were hoping for.
Halloween 2007 we spent the majority of the day screening at All Childrens for Celiac and Cycstic Fibrosis. The girls were poked, and encouraged to sweat for their tests, so we walked the halls of All Childrens prompting them with Candy corn.
Long story short, the results were Celiac Disease and after their biopsy’s we learned their small intestines had been effected and they were no longer absorbing the nutrients they needed to grow. AHHHHHHHHHHH at last a diagnosis, now to change the diet.
My husband and I left the hospital that day and went straight to the health food store in St. Pete and began our Gluten Free lifestyle. We also have a 7 yr old soon (5 at time of diagnosis) and another son (the 3rd triplet), both who do not have Celiac, so we knew we were in for a big change.
The transition went better than expected and within 6 months the girls blood levels had balanced off and were within normal range. We finally saw the weight gain, and they were beginning to look like big kids, instead of a year or two younger than they actually were.
The girls are now getting close to being on the growth charts, and are showing signs of growth all around. We still hear that they are small because they were multiples but at least now we know it is not their diets causing it. Overall you can see they are eating more of what they like and just feeling better.
It is a big adjustment to make, but it is manageable and with the right attitude and support you can fine tune the diet so that no child is left out or feels “different” because of what they eat. My girls are sure to ask at every outing, “is it gluten free?”, and that alone puts a smile on my face.
Misdiagnosing Has to Stop
Aside from my role as a children’s author, many of you are also aware that I am an avid supporter of Celiac Disease Research and that I am very involved in a major project to gain government support for the only auto-immune disease which the government does not support. Why? Because the drug companies and pharmacies do not make money off of this disease because the simple solution is to abstain from the gluten in their diet.
Please sign up for my Newsletter (click on link and scroll down the right side of the page) to stay on top of this. The “project” details will be fully released by the end of October.
Click here to watch a 7-minute video interview with Dr Peter Green, the doctor I am 100% behind and will be on some radio interviews with across the world over the next many months! He is a delight and is the TOP doctor truly helping strongly to encourage celiac awareness in the USA. Listen to him and his simplicity. I think you will agree he is wonderful man with a heart of gold to help. He too agrees many kids in the USA should NOT be on drugs and are terribly misdiagnosed! He is the Head of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.
Let’s raise awareness about the overwhelming amount of misdiagnosed and long undiagnosed children and adults. Let’s get the word out about the effects celiac disease has on 1 out of every 100 person in the USA! Connect up with me and I will share with you what is happening to help this area.
Again, watch this video and get yourself informed in just 7 minutes by an amazing man I respect with all my heart. Dr. Green has devoted his life to opening the eyes of Americans and intends to continue to raise awareness. He is CORRECTLY diagnosing an average of 2,400 people per year as he continues to research this disease and facts of gluten.
Please ask any of your friends or associates who may be interested in this field to connect up with me at my Gluten Free Help website. I have had 7 radio interviews on this subject alone in the past 2 months and scheduling an average of 2 per week at this point in time, and this is increasing.
Side Note: Pamela’s Products sponsors my monthly Gluten-Free cupcake party videos. This month we have one scheduled in Tampa Bay, Florida. If you are interested, just let us know. Space is limited. This month’s theme will be Thanksgiving for the kids and families! FUN! All gluten-free of course. This too is to raise awareness for this disease and all videos promoted broadly.
Thank you,
Tina Turbin
Tina’s Florida Cupcake Party – A Warm Thank you
This is a lovely “thank you” card sent to me from a child that had attended one of my fun and exciting monthly Gluten-Free Cup Cake Parties, generously sponsored by Pamela’s Products and Nature’s Food Patch in Clearwater.
And an equally lovely note from his mother. Enjoy!
Dear Tina,
Thank you so much for including us in your cupcake party Saturday! It was really cute, when we got home from your place, Bodhi (my 4-yr old, who you met at Spring Valley School) was actually reading Danny the Dragon! So Tristan picked up the book and got to the part where they are all eating dinner together, and he said, all matter-of-factly, “Danny the Dragon eats healthy.” I responded with, “yes, and his author, Tina Turbin, eats gluten-free!”, and just as matter-of-factly and straight-faced, he responded, ‘yes, true’. You could not have planned it better!
Then Sunday night I was telling Shane and Tristan that Monday was a holiday (their school started today, Tuesday), and that the four of us (Shane, Tristan, Bodhi and I) would have the day to play, so I asked them to think of some fun things to do on Monday. Shane got all bright-eyed and exclaimed, “I know, we can write Tina Turbin a card thanking her for Saturday!”. Oh Tina, just what every mom wants to hear, an un-prompted desire to write a thank you card! And that’s what fun thing he wanted to do on our day off! So I am enclosing that card – it looks like both boys drew you scenes of a Pokemon battle – quite an esteemed gift from their point of view!
It was wonderful to see you, and thank you again for including us. I went to a dinner party Saturday night and must have told about 15-20 people about it, and gluten, and did the same today when I returned to work, so I am defnitely spreading the word. Even Allen (my hubby) was telling people about it at his office yesterday, and he wasn’t even there!
Love,
Lael
Cupcake Party in the Taste Section of the St. Pete Times!
The St. Petersburg Times recently ran an announcement about my Gluten-Free Halloween Cup Cake Party in the “Food File Calendar” located in the Taste Section of the newspaper! Thank you to the Times!
Danny The Dragon and Me- Cupcake Parties Are Fun!
Boy oh boy, Danny has me busy folks. There is so much happening and such wonderful people reaching out to us to come to schools, events, hospitals and venues. My books are spreading out there and landing in some lovely venues for sale. Thank you everyone!
I am heading to Los Angeles right after my very popular Halloween Cupcake Party Danny and I are hosting with a terrific team a children and parent bakers. I only have 100% Gluten-Free Parties! Pamela’s Products, is sponsoring this event in support of my efforts and my interest to help Dr. Peter Green at the Celiac Disease Center. This amazing man correctly diagnosed about 2500 celiac patients last year alone and the year before and the year before that…. Need I say more?
All of this will be filmed on October 24th, Saturday. Check your Tampa, St Pete .and Clearwater newspapers, check the internet and check out http://is.gd/4pYn1 for specifics. ( Los Angeles cupcake party will be announced before the end of this year too!) I invite you to join in the fun and support my this Cause.
Please contact me via the contact page if you are interested.Id love to have you join. We have limited spaces available but I was told this week-end we can take a few more kids and moms, since I really want to bake and decorate a load of gluten free cup-cakes for everyone to take home. Yummy!
Thank you Everyone for your support and good wishes, Tina Turbin and Danny
