Is Chewing Gum Good for Your Teeth?

Is it Okay for Your Kids to Chew Gum?

Two Thumbs up for Trident Gum!

My kids love to chew gum, in fact, gum is a good bargaining chip in our house! As a health conscious mom and Dental Hygenist, it's important to me that it's sugar-free and good for their teeth. Trident Gum fits the bill on both counts. This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Trident. The opinions and text are all mine.


The kids really enjoy all the amazing chewing gum flavors available - especially the fruit ones! And, I am so happy for it to meet my health requirements. So... Enjoy!

I also love, love, love that Trident supports the non-profit Smiles Across America which provides preventive dental care to underserved children. Their donation of 2.5 million dollars has helped more than 2 million children. That's a win in my book and even better - during the week of September 20, $.05 from every pack sold will be donated to help more kids (up to $250,000). Void in AL,MA, and SC.

Dental care is super important to our family, and chewing gum can actually be a great adjunct to seeing your dentist every six months along with brushing twice and day and flossing daily. Chewing Trident can actually help clean and protect your teeth and 4 out of 5 dentists recommend it to patients. There's a reason Trident was the first and is the leading sugar-free gum - cavity fighting has never tasted better!

Check out those Trident happy smiles!

What is your favorite flavor? We all have different favorites! My husband likes the blueberry and mine is one of the mints or cinnamon. My oldest loves anything orange, my middle two like strawberry, and my youngest will take whatever she can get her hands on! Have you tried the Trident Layers Gum? YUM! So many creative flavor combinations.

Have you tried this flavor?! So many others, too!

So, try a new flavor the week of September 20 and know that your purchase will help a child in need!

Recommended:

Follow Our Tooth Fairy Saga

Teeth Clip Art

The Night Before the Tooth Fairy*

Things to do with Yogurt: Patriotic Trifle Popsicle Dessert

Patriotic Summer Dessert: Things to do with Yogurt

Looking for a refreshing summer dessert for the Fourth of July? When brainstorming for this post, we found lots of things to do with yogurt and yogurt cups. Scroll down to see our favorites! To add to the mix, we created a patriotic trifle with yogurt, frozen fruit juices, and fruit. This is patriotic slushie with fruit and yogurt is a delicious recipe! Especially, with the new flavors of Yoplait® Yogurt.

For this yogurt slushie dessert recipe, we used the Limited edition Yoplait® Rainbow Sherbet Yogurt that we found at Walmart. It makes the perfect seasonal treat for summer snacking and Fourth of July get-togethers. Enjoy!

Refreshing Summer Snack with Yogurt.

Freeze your juice in a shallow baking dish.

Scoop into clear, glass cup.

Layer with berries and Yoplait® Rainbow Sherbet Yogurt.

How to Make a  Frozen Yogurt Trifle Dessert Recipe. Freeze for about an hour.

Things to do with Yogurt: Trifle Popsicle Dessert.

Things to do with Yogurt

Things to do with Yogurt Containers.
Visit Color My Bliss Blog for details on this bracelet.

Make a bracelet from a recycled yogurt container.

Make a Mini Drum with Recycled Containers.

25 Things to do with Yogurt.


Recommended:

How to Make Yogurt Ice Cubes

Use Popsicles to Make a Slushy

101 Things to Do with Yogurt


This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Yoplait®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Kabobs: Yogurt Ice Cube Snacks Recipe

Recipe for Yogurt Ice Cubes Kabob Snacks

Are you looking for a healthy, refreshing summer snack for children? We've combined Yogurt Popsicles and Yogurt Ice Cube Kabob Snacks in this fun, easy to eat, recipe for kids. After playing games outside, the kids will appreciate this cold treat. Enjoy!

How to Make Yoplait® Yogurt Ice Cube Snack Kabobs

First, head to your local Walmart and pick up your favorite flavors of Yoplait® Yogurt. We found some fun, new flavors for summer! The limited edition comes in an 8 pack with Watermelon and Harvest Peach. While you are there, be sure to purchase all of the supplies you need to make this tantalizing treat.

How to make Yoplait® Yogurt Ice Cube Snack Kabobs.

You will need: Bamboo Skewers, Ice Cube Trays, Yoplait® Yogurt, Plastic Wrap, White Grape Juice (or your favorite juice flavor), Berries, Bananas, Watermelon, Grapes, and/or Pineapple.

First, empty two six ounce containers of yogurt into a mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of juice. Blend together with a spatula.

Next, spoon the mixture into the ice cube trays and cover with plastic wrap. Place in freezer for at least two hours.

When frozen, remove yogurt from tray. Have the kids grab a skewer and build their kabobs, Yogurt cube, berry, yogurt cube, pineapple, and so on.

Finally, enjoy your healthy, homemade Yoplait® yogurt treat. Yum!

Be sure to eat them quickly, like all popsicles, they melt quickly.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Yoplait®. The opinions and text are all mine.


Recommended:

Make Homemade Yogurt

Patriotic Fruit Kabobs

Make a Homemade Slush

Elementary Homeschooling Science and Health Resources Online: From Netflix to Khan Academy

Online Elementary Science and Health Resources for Homeschoolers

I scour the Netflix episodes to find a title that coordinates with our daily Science or Health lesson. Below, I've highlighted some Health Resources for Homeschoolers with episodes we used to study the Human Body and Human Growth and Development which can be a touchy teaching subject. Enjoy!

Online Science and Health Resources for Homeschoolers.

Those old Saturday edutainment programs are an excellent resource for companion videos. Reward children who don't like to read with a video upon completion of their reading assignment. The video will reinforce what they've read. 

Don't do the video first, or they will say things like, "I know this already."  "I don't need to read it; I just watched it!"  "This is boring me!" The video can help them remember key points of information. They may even have to refer back to what they've read to make sure the two media forms agree. My kids are always looking for mistakes in school books!

Beakman's World 

Beakman touches on many things to do with the body like flatulence (super fun for kids), lungs, allergies, the skeletal system, and much more. When studying about health, especially for fourth-grade, with those all important hygiene lessons (remember those cheesy movies about getting your period and raging hormones?) and the birds and the bees, Beakman's world is a good place to start.

We signed up for Time4Learning and love it!

Previously, I had searched for a companion video to teach about the senses. There were plenty of videos out there, but all of them targeted preschoolers. Beakman's World had many great videos on Science and Health. (We started with Season 4 to learn about Human Growth).

The Magic School Bus

Is an awesome resource that public school teachers often use as their go to video to fill in some curriculum time. In the past, it was available only on DVD through Netflix, but now it comes in the streaming version too.  Inside Ralphie and Goes Cellular are two episodes that focus on the body. We paired Flexes its Muscles (Season 2 Episode 2) with Beakman's World on Human Growth.

Khan Academy is an online school of sorts. It is every bit as good as some of the popular academies for online learning (We previously attended Connections Academy), but it isn't an official school.  Kids can learn at their own pace. It is TOTALLY FREE! Lessons are set up for grade levels. Children can watch videos, do practice problems, and take quizzes until they've mastered the subject.

Exploring, can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is an AMAZING educational resource. Kids earn badges in each subject matter. Lessons are targeted on core learning principles. Some of the video are a snore, but they are consistently getting better. They even offer an online scratch pad, hints, and more to insure your child doesn't get frustrated by taking the tests. A lot of it is for older children, but they have been adding new material for early elementary age students. Our favorite lessons are Computer Coding, but there are some videos on health and the senses too.

Speaking of Coding, you might also enjoy Minecraft Summer School Camps. These is an online learning experience, you  won't learn about the human body, but you will learn about Wonder of the Natural World!

Recommended Reading:

Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)*

Homeschool Art: Crafting with Minecraft

Homeschooling Lesson on Geography: Country Study of China

The Everything KIDS' Human Body Book: All You Need to Know About Your Body Systems - From Head to Toe! (The Everything® Kids Series)*

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Healthy Living Tips and Ideas on Pinterest: Why I'm Taking Baby Steps to Change my Life

A few weeks ago, I published a post with a BMI calculator asking you to join me in my weight loss endeavor. I've been trying to shift my focus to healthy living. For me, eating isn't really the problem, but I'd like to get the entire family on a healthy schedule and diet. So, I've been visiting lots of healthy living websites looking for tips and ideas and pinning healthy lifestyle pins on Pinterest.

Tomato plants in our organic garden.

I'm too young to be a hippie and too old to be a hipster, so I guess I'll just become a crunchy mama. I lean that way for sure, but it isn't always practical for me. I am into attachment parenting though, so I am well on my way. Only... I don't look the part. I lost my way, and I am struggling to get back to an appropriate level of fitness.

Fake it 'til you make it. That's what I intend to do.

Yep, I have a little garden patch, some chickens, and a few ducks. I've been building a coop and a barn for something else. Maybe a goat or a llama? It popped into my head this week that I need to build a greenhouse for my plants. I kill Rosemary every year. This year, I didn't even bother with her!

Enter Pinterest.

Wyandotte Chickens and Pekin Ducks at 3 months old.

If you follow this blog, you probably know we're kind of Pinterest superstars. As a visual person, I love Pinterest. No, I probably won't get back to any of the things, but I sure like to look at the pretty pictures and dream. So, what are my favorite boards for healthy living?

• Crum Creek is a health food company with the motto "indulge in healthy".  They have great Pinterest boards with lots of ideas for making healthy choices.

• Vegetarian Zen is a blog about a family learning to become vegetarians with the motto "happy body, healthy mind".  This is a great place to learn all about how to be healthy. Vegetarian Pinterest Boards.

• Pure Health Girls this is a site focused on raising awareness on how to take control of your health and longevity. They provide valuable information about the dangers of pesticides, hormones, and GMO's. See the Pinterest Boards here.

• Green Rainbow Revolution is a new company dedicated to finding the best ethical, healthy, and sustainable products. They have fun, educational Pinterest boards.

For great healthy living tips be sure to hop over to Pinterest and check out all of these great pinners :)

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A BMI Calculator Can Give You the Motivation to Lose Weight

Online BMI Calculator

Been indoors packing on the pounds? It's time to shed the layers of clothing and get outside and play. Growing up, I was chronically skinny except for a brief time in 5th and 6th grade. Due to health issues and medication, as I got older, the weight crept up every couple of years. When motivated, it's easy to get the weight off and drop pounds. Now, as the aging mommy of two kids, the motivation rarely comes and the weight sticks around. I did find a little motivation by plugging my numbers into a BMI calculator. Scroll down to use it, the first BMI Calculator picture is a just pinnable image for Pinterest.  Enjoy! 

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

Pin this image to save to Pinterest.

Below is the actual, interactive, online BMI CALCULATOR.

The Food Pyramid

 
Free Online BMI Calculator.

Online Weight Loss Tracker

Ditch the The Food Pyramid?

Motivation. I've worked on upping my food intake. Yes, upping. I never ate more than once a day. Now, I try to eat three times a day with snacks. I've reinvented meals. I rarely sit down to eat, and I don't fill my plate in a food pyramid with one "meal." For me, that means a yogurt here, a banana there, a peanut butter sandwich, or veggies with dip spread throughout the day. I do eat everything in the food pyramid, but not in one sitting.  Should you eat dairy? at 45, I found out I was allergic to milk (not lactose intolerant.) I ditched milk and rarely eat ice cream. Yogurt and cheese don't cause me problems, so I'm able to fulfill my dairy needs. I also discovered a had hyperparathyroidism, so now I take vitamin D softgels every day.

I tried to ditch the pop, but that didn't work. However, I've made little changes. Food before pop in the morning. One soda or less per day. You'd think I'd gain weight, but I didn't gain a pound. In fact, I lost a few. I tried to find a picture to share, but I run from the camera.  Below, is the best I can do for a before picture. On the positive side, the weight always seemed to keep me looking younger. These days, aside from being old, I'm fairly healthy. Unfortunately, the BMI calculator doesn't agree. Another option is to find a good Weight Tracker App. With an app on your phone, you can track everything on the go.

**UPDATE (2016) 
I've lost over 30 lbs. and kept it off. My biggest tip is to stop eating bread (any sort of gluten). Also, take a daily probiotic. I've ditched the pop! Started by swapping Mountain Dew for Sierra Mist (natural sugars and sweeteners) and then I switched to Coca-Cola Zero. I'm working on swapping this for Propel. I drink a lot of Propel, but I want my caffeine. My go to snack is Vanilla Oikos Triple Zero try it in a Strawberry Smoothie. In the past, I was too sick to exercise. The weight loss was all diet related. Bread, cereal, cake, cupcakes, doughnuts, bagels, pizza, pasta- all gone from my diet during the weight loss. Since I've been able to exercise, I do eat them occasionally. I plan to lose 20 more lbs. this year, by adding exercise.

*I'm not a doctor. These are what worked for me. No health advice is implied.

2010

2016

What do you wish you could do differently to improve your health?

Positive Weight Loss Goals

**UPDATE (2019)

I'm 50 now and look better than I've looked in years! Still eating while on the move and using resistance bands for stretching every day. Working on losing 10 more pounds. I'm able to walk, do squats, bike ride, etc. I've even started kayaking! If you told me 10 years ago that I'd be kayaking, I would've laughed in your face! Getting fit allowed me to get healthy. So many health issues have disappeared. I'm thinking about running marathons. Not sure my knees can take it. We'll see.

What are you waiting for?

2019

2019

Recommended:

Best Daily Probiotic

Healthier Recipes that helped me. 

Get Resistance Bands to Workout

Keep up with me on Instagram.

Fingerling Potatoes, The Perfect Baked Steak Fries

What are Fingerling Potatoes?

Have you seen Fingerling Potatoes? Wonder what are Fingerling Potatoes? They are so cute! They are little potatoes that look like fingers, of course. What can you do with Fingerling Potatoes? Make the perfect baked Steak Fries. Enjoy!

I bought a bag of little "fingerling" potatoes for $1.00, just because they were cute.

Then I surfed and found a recipe for roasted steakhouse fries.

I found these frozen, steakhouse roasters ~ more than $1.00

Fingerling potatoes are the perfect size for little fingers. The kids helped wash, coat with oil, brush with french-fry seasonings, and bake at 400 degrees for approximately twenty minutes. See, even potatoes can be new and exciting!

Recommended:

Homemade Potato Chips

Panfried Fish and Chips


















ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Organic Strawberry Raspberry Smoothie Recipe

Healthy Organic Strawberry Smoothie Recipe Kids Like

Kids like shakes. If only they knew healthy yogurt smoothies are just as good. This healthy, organic, strawberry-raspberry smoothie recipe is fun to make at home and delicious too. Enjoy!

Healthy Kid-friendly Strawberry Smoothie Recipe.

Cascadian Farm sent us coupons and a little book of 
recipes to made our Strawberry Smoothie.

Blend the Strawberry Smoothie.

To Make a Strawberry Smoothie at Home you will need:

Fresh or Frozen Strawberries and Raspberries

Crushed Ice (We tweaked the recipe.)

Plain or Vanilla Yogurt.

Whip Topping (Added that too...)

Cascadian Farm Spa Smoothie Recipe 

So good, kids will love to drink smoothies.

Fun Try It:

We also made a Smoothie with Frozen Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri Mixer, Frozen Strawberries, and Vanilla Yogurt. Tastes great, but the Mixer is sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Grown-ups can add the rum for a little extra kick. :)



Recommended Reading:

Kids' Fun and Healthy Cookbook*

Kids Creative Chaos Cooks (Kitchen Kids Book 1)*


















ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Celebrate Earth Day Organically with these Activities: Grilled Chicken and Raspberry Salad Recipe

Raspberry and Grilled Chicken Recipe for Earth Day

This Earth Day, celebrate with organic and green friendly recipes. Let the kids help make dinner with this easy grilled chicken and raspberry salad recipe. Enjoy!

 Homeschool Science: Research an Endangered Species for Earth Day

Click Photo for Free Printable Recipe from Cascadian Farm.

Earth Day. What a fabulous day to celebrate life. This year, Cascadian Farm sent us an awesome gift pack to help us celebrate organically. The main thing I want to say is, YUM!

Earth Day: Celebrate with a Cooking Lesson for kids.

I love the honey granola cereal, chocolate chip granola bars, and the to die for raspberry fruit spread.

They sent us a picnic basket with water bottles and yummy recipes to try. We chose to make the Grilled Chicken and Raspberry Salad with Spa Smoothies and Spinach Manicotti. 

Marinate Chicken in Pomegranate Red Wine Vinegar
 and Raspberry Fruit Spread.

Earth Day Craft for Kids

Arrange on plate. Why, yes, that is a styro-foam plate. Not Earth friendly you say?  I use them, wash them, and re-use them for lots of craft projects. We try...

Spinach Stuffed Manicotti Recipe for Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!  Note the Earth Friendly Tickle Me Crown and Necklace.

This weekend, we moved into our new home on five, amazing acres (in which I have high hopes for self-sustainable farming) we'll have a picnic next to the pond with the awesome basket they sent.

How we celebrated Earth Day

Recommended Reading: 

I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (Little Green Books)*

Hip Moms Go Green: 
Very Berry Smoothie Recipe and Organic Garden Party  

For Such a Time as This: Earth Day Picnic  

In the Kitchen with Audrey: What's for lunch? 

Cascadian Farms and Snack Girl's:  Healthy Blueberry Muffins














ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Easy How to Make Zucchini Fries Recipe

Need to know how to make Zucchini Fries? 

This recipe, from Angie, makes crispy zucchini fries easy to do. Zucchini fries are a very tasty! After making this recipe, I came up with some alternative herbs to use for the dip. Enjoy!

               Easy How to Make Zucchini Fries Recipe.

How to make Crispy Zucchini Fries

Ingredients:

1 Medium Zucchini

1 1/2 Cups large fat free seasoned restaurant style croutons

1 oz Parmesan cheese, divided

1 egg white

1/2 Cup plain yogurt

1/2 Cup loosely packed Basil (can also use Dill, Chives or Cilantro); if you cannot find fresh herbs I found the tubes of chopped herbs you can squeeze sold in produce dept of  store work very well.

3 Tbsp Light Mayo

2 garlic cloves peeled

1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Trim and discard ends of zucchini; cut in half crosswise then cut each half using the french fry cutter (or cut into 3/8 in sticks) and discard any thinner pieces.  Place croutons in manual food processor and finely chop.  Place chopped croutons and half of parmesan cheese in coating tray; mix well.

Whisk egg white in classic batter bowl until frothy.  Add zucchini; mix gently until well coated.  Dredge zucchini in crouton mixture, pressing firmly to coat.  Arrange zucchini in single layer on cookie sheet.  Bake 14-16 minutes or until crisp.

Meanwhile, for dip, combine remaining cheese, yogurt, basil (or herb of choice), mayo, garlic and black pepper in manual food processor (or press garlic if using the squeezable tube of fresh herbs) and blend well.  Remove cookie sheet from oven and serve zucchini fries with dip.

Recommended Reading:

Kids Creative Chaos Cooks (Kitchen Kids Book 1)

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

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How to Make Chicken Salad Recipe and Bread Bowl

How to Make Chicken Salad in a Bread Bowl

Here is a great how to make chicken salad recipe that has instructions for making a bread bowl, but you can substitute a loaf of Hawaiian Bread if you are short on time.

Angie's Recipes 

How to Make a Bread Bowl Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad Recipe in a Bread Bowl

2 loaves frozen bread dough
1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 ribs of celery
1 onion
1 C. Light Mayo
salt and pepper
1 glove of garlic
1 C. of grapes
1/2 C. pecans (optional)
1 apple (peeled,cored and quartered)
1 tsp. Dill Seasoning
1 oz of Parmesan cheese
Crackers or bread slices of choice

How to Make a Bread Bowl:

Spray food storage bag with non stick spray.  Place frozen bread in bag and refrigerate the night before.  Roll dough into a circle.  Using a baking bowl, spray outside of bowl with non stick cooking spray then place dough on outside of bowl.  Bake in a 350 oven til bread is done and slightly brown. Cool then release bread and place in a serving dish.  Or just use Hawaiian Bread and cut off top of bread and hollow out the center.

Place salted chicken in the Deep Covered Baker and microwave until chicken is done.  Cool chicken and quarter it.  Place celery, onion, garlic,chicken and pecans in Manual Food Processor and chop the ingredients.  Place  contents in a batter bowl.  Put grapes and apple into the Manual Food Processor and chop and then add to the chicken mixture.  Add dill, cheese and mayo to the mixture.  Mix until well blended.  Place mixture in bread bowl and serve with crackers or toasted bread of your choice.

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Recommended Reading:

Salad of the Day (Williams-Sonoma): 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year

Famous Cartoon Chicken Names