2016
July 31, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Child Nutrition, Gardening, Gratitude, Life Balance, Nutrition, Wellness
The other night as I was picking peas in my garden, I was blessed by two visitors: my neighbor and her 2-year old daughter Renee. I squatted down, opened up a pea pod, and showed Renee the big green balls inside. She looked at me strangely, not sure what to do. So I pulled out a pea and popped one in […]
Tags: Division of Responsibility, Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables, Picky Eaters
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July 13, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Child Nutrition, Gardening, Gratitude, Life Balance, Nutrition, Recipes, Wellness
When you think of beets, what pops into your mind? For many of you, you think of the deep red blood turnip, the one that bleeds into other foods on your plate if you aren’t careful. Others think of canned beets, soft and tender, sometimes too soft. Me? I think of fresh white, gold, purple, red, and […]
Tags: Beets, Classes for Families, gardening in North Dakota, Healthy Eating, Healthy Eating classes, Healthy recipes, Joy of Gardening, Nutritious School Meals, Roasting Beets, Simple Vegetable Recipes
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June 24, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Child Nutrition, Gardening, Gratitude, Nutrition, Wellness
It’s quite simple. Don’t ask them to. The other night I was weeding my garden, which is a rather simple garden, mostly tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and peas planted around my house and garage. The neighbor children, ages 10 and 8, had cousins and friends over to their above ground swimming pool, and I was enjoying […]
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May 25, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Child Nutrition, Fitness, Nutrition, Stress, Wellness
There are a number of reasons I’m suggesting this, but the main one is this: It’s not very nice. It’s a label given to children who are very selective about what they eat. This can be for a number of reasons: a. They are uncomfortable with the sight, texture, smell or idea of this food – […]
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April 21, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Attitude, Gardening, Nutrition, Wellness
The renowned garden photographer Marina Schinz once wrote, “Gardening is an exercise in optimism. Sometimes, it is a triumph of hope over experience.” Living in North Dakota, we may have an edge in this optimism and hope due to our long winters and cravings for spring. We continue to exercise caution even when the weather warms […]
Tags: indoor garden, Indoor gardening, planting indoors
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March 31, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Fitness, Gratitude, Life Balance, Nutrition, Recipes, Uncategorized
Some of you may have noticed that the recipes in my blog and on my kitchen site are a little different from those of other food bloggers. For starters, I am not rigid about measurements of ingredients. I prefer to invite your creativity in the kitchen. After all, do you see the chefs on the Food Network measuring […]
Tags: Baked Pecan-Crusted Fish, Pecan-Crusted Fish, Pecan-Crusted Walleye
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March 15, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Child Nutrition, Fitness, Life Balance, Nutrition, Recipes, Wellness
Whether you are Irish or not, ’tis always fun to go “green” on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s also the perfect day to sneak Vitamin A-loaded green into your family’s diet! Enter the delicious St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Smoothie! (Click on the recipe title for the full recipe.) And after March 17th is over, we can call […]
Tags: getting children to eat greens, getting children to eat vegetables, healthy snacks, Kale Smoothie, St. Patrick's Day Smoothie
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March 2, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Attitude, Child Nutrition, Fitness, Gratitude, Nutrition, Wellness
What better surprise could there be on a cold winter day than a a package from my twin sister, Barbara! Inside was a small piece of our childhood food, a family tradition, a beloved dessert…. a slice of Polish coffeecake! No note, but knowing my twin well, she simply wanted to share. Yes, I poured […]
Tags: eating slow, Mindful Eating, Polish Coffeecake
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February 12, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Child Nutrition, Fitness, Gratitude, Nutrition, Recipes, Uncategorized, Wellness
The highlight of the new 2015 Dietary Guidelines was seeing eggs set free from Food Rules Prison. They have been wrongfully accused for being “bad” in association with heart disease for way too long. Eggs are among the healthiest foods available. In recent years, many studies have shown the lack of correlation between egg consumption […]
Tags: 2015 Dietary Guidelines, cholesterol and diet, Eggs
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January 19, 2016 | by Bev Benda | Attitude, Fitness, Gratitude, Life Balance, Wellness
Having played sports most of my life, I like to encourage others to give any game a try. When people say they are “uncoordinated” I question that – I tend to believe that with patient instruction and time, learning a new skill is within reach. This comes from my own experience teaching and coaching sports. Even when I taught the […]
Tags: Bowling, learning sports
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