How to pack for those all day tournaments??

 I'm heading out to a tournament this weekend ... here is an article I wrote last summer about what has worked for us when there aren't always food vendors on site.  

Have a great weekend!

Krista

 

Refueling For All Day Events

 Playing in tournaments, invitationals, or other full day sporting events are great opportunities for young athletes to reach new levels of play and have some fun while doing it!  It can also be a challenging day, whether you are the parents supporting the athletes or the young athlete who is working very hard to do well and keeping up their energy to keep playing what they love!
After coming back from a soccer tournament this past weekend, I emptied out all the coolers, cleaned out my car with 20-plus water bottles and other recyclables, and thought about what worked and what didn’t “sell” in my cooler that I had brought for my family’s nine games that were played.  Bottom line … every kid is different in what they like!  I have a few guidelines for you as sometimes these all day events don’t actually sell food and the options on the roads aren’t exactly what you want.

Snacks that are great between games (less than 2 hours apart):
*fresh fruit (my daughters’ teams love grapes, watermelon, strawberries)
*small bagels with a small amount of spread (peanut butter, hummus, cream cheese)
*smoothies (you can bring them from home – ex. Stonyfield Farm)
*pasta salad (make it the night before – a little goes a long way for them)
*cheese stick with crackers
*carrot sticks/celery sticks/cherry tomatoes



Small meals between games (2 hours or more):
*Grilled chicken salad (ex. A Panera salad is great with some bread and a small smoothie)
*Turkey sandwich with some lettuce and tomato (ex. Subway gives you some options that allow you to keep their sandwich just “right” and not too heavy)
*Chicken noodle soup, hearty wheat roll and an apple (ex. Panera does this in a bread bowl with an apple)

Avoid these kinds of foods to deter low energy and belly aches:
*Carbonated drinks
*High fructose corn syrup drinks
*Anything with caffeine
*fried foods
*candy
*highly refined dry cereals

Drinks to bring:
*water
*low sugar fruit drinks
*sports drinks with low sugar (or dilute a Gatorade with water)
*diluted lemonade or fruit juices

Note on drinking during very hot days:  make sure you are sipping consistently versus gulping an entire drink at once to avoid nausea.  See my article on hydration from May.


Hope you are enjoying your summer of sports everyone!  Stay cool and keep refueling those young athletes!  If you are interested in more information please follow me on: facebook: Krista Daley - Holistic Health Coach or @kdaleynutrition on twitter .

“Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.”
-Zig Ziglar

Sneaking the Spinach In ...

If you have kids you know the end of the school year is filled with all kinds of goodies to celebrate graduations, pool parties, birthday parties, and of course the start of Summer!!!  I am guilty of buying some non-traditional food to celebrate too!  Kids love this ... at least in my house!  I bought a bag of marshmallows to have on hand for s'mores and found it empty the next day.  No one will fess up to it but I realized I need to find a new hiding spot or use the safe ... not kidding.  There is a sugar fairy in this house who I can never catch!  Lol!

Anyway I just wanted to share the easy way to hide greens ... not all kids will eat salad as you know.  My kids used to eat spinach salad and now they turned their noses up to anything but romaine lettuce ... not quite as heavy in the nutrients!

This recipe was posted on my facebook page this week but if you missed it here you go:

Ok so here's the deal ... Use fruit to hide the greens in the smoothie recipe I promised you:

Pink Smoothie for Non-Veggie Lovers:
•1 banana
•1/2 cup frozen mango
•1/2 cup frozen pineapple
•1 cup frozen mixed berries
•1 cup coconut milk, rice milk, or orange juice
•1teaspoon ground flax seeds (to start)
•1 handful of baby spinach
•agave or honey to taste

Blend till smooth ... Serves 2.

This is a good way to start with the greens and flax seeds. Add more if you would like to get extra good stuff in your little ones.

Hope you have a great Sunday ... the first official weekend of Summer!
Keep those veggies coming into the house ... and hide as needed :)
Krista 

The day after school ended we hit the beach!  Sweet!

 

Breaking the fast ...

Hey Mommas,

Are you prepping for kids busting out of the school yard at any moment?  I'm trying to get my lists together (yes, this is the summer they will learn to do their laundry, make their own breakfasts, lunch and help out with all those jobs they have no clue even exist!)  I love summer, but I tend to get off schedule (my tendency everyday!) and forget to eat breakfast!  Before I know it, it's lunchtime and I  have the shakes from coffee and no food!  Sound familiar?

Here's a nice and easy way to keep yourself ready to go ... and keep up with all the kids' activities ... oh and just a bonus ... keeping yourself fed, feeds your metabolism and you burn off more calories!  Don't let yourself fall into the "emergency" zone your body thinks it is in if you forget to eat.  Your hard working bod will think you are starving it if you don't feed it!  It will hold onto all that you do put into it.  Simple ... fuel the fire and it will burn :)

Breakfast in a Jar

6-8 ounces of plain yogurt (I use Fage Greek)
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1 peach or nectarine (substitute whatever fruit you love) chopped
1/2 cup granola (I use Kind Healthy Grains)
1 Tablespoon of your favorite nut butter  (I found a great banana/peanut butter)

1. Combine chia seeds and yogurt in a separate bowl, mixing well.  Divide in half.
2. Layer half of the yogurt with chia seeds on the bottom of the jar.
3. Cover with half the granola.
4. Add half of the fresh fruit.
5. Repeat layers one more time.
6. Finish with your favorite nut butter.

This is full of protein, fiber and is very low sodium and low sugar!  Chia seeds alone are packed with 6 grams of fiber, three grams of protein and 2.9 grams of Omega-3 fatty acids!  Yogurt is packed with high protein as is the granola.   

Give yourself a great start to the day ... better yet, make it tonight and have it ready for tomorrow morning!

Here's to Summer :)
Krista

Sideline Observations

The coolest parents are really just that ... cool.  Not too many ruffled feathers to get in the way of watching their kids play.

I have laughed with, chatted among and observed some quite interesting parents in hundreds of games the past decade.  But today for some reason, it really made an impression on me the importance of training children to be good citizens.  Simple as that.

If they are argumentative on the field, disrespectful on the field that is one thing.  If the parents encourage that behavior ... well that is scary to me.  You've all seen this before if you are reading this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't we promote some good stuff instead of the negative vibes?  Yelling at players on the fields from the sidelines is just so sad.  My daughter came home upset from her game where the other team's parents were calling her names.  Really?  How old are we?

Just sayin'...

Breed love not hate :)

Krista

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me ... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being."
                                                                                                                              ~Jackie Robinson