Thursday, June 28, 2007

Guess the Joke is on Us!

My family and I watched Shaq's big challenge the other night at Christopher's request. He was so excited. He started doing pushups, situps and talking about how Shaq eats baby carrots and so much more. He begged me to go to the website and join the challenge. I said sure, thinking we may have found a way to get him to try healthy and new foods. He is so excited about Shaq and the challenge and "getting helfy". So I went to the website today. Started putting in my info and wahlah........had to quit, because it is a whopping 52 dollars every 3 months to join the challenge. 208 dollars, may not sound like a lot to some, but to us that is a lot! It proves my point that to get healthy and eat healthy in America is only for those with money. Look at the high cost of FRESH fruits and veggies and non processed foods. They are more expensive than other foods that are less nutritious. So I told Christopher we would do our own challenge. But I am soooooo disappointed. And what about those with children who are morbidly obese and can NOT afford the challenge but would like to. So Shaq's big challenge boils down to if you have the money you can do it. If not forget about it. I fired off an email to the program. Wonder if I will get a reply? Probably not, but if I can use it somehow to get my son interested in eating healthy by watching the program we will watch it. But all the activities, recipes etc are not available unless you have the money. I will make up my own activities, my point is that I think it is sad everything like that costs so much and if you dont have it, forget about it.

Okay my vent is over, now I am coming up with ideas to challenge my son to eat healthy, nutritious foods even if he only THINKS it is part of Shaq's challenge, maybe it will encourage him to try.

8 comments:

tinamtl said...

Well I still disagree. A can of chick peas costs 1 dollar here. A cucumber costs 60 cents and a tomatoe costs about the same...thats a chick pea salad. Green apples for snacks are dirt cheap. A big sack of potatoes, boiled and mixed with eggs, lemon juice, olive oil, cucumber, pickle etc...makes a really nice potatoe salad...add some cheap meat to that and you have a nice supper.

It does take some research - recipes etc...and shopping "in season" but I am certain eating well and nutritionally can be done on a small budget Thelma.

What they say to do is to shop around the grocery store - not in the aisles.

Around is vegetables, fruits, brains (whole grain), milk and eggs.

Skip the prepackaged. Which is almost always over priced.

Make your own sweets. Throw bananas in the freezerif they turn brown...and make your own banana bread (even better with whole wheat flour). Maybe Christopher would even love to help you mix and bake it!

We Montrealers are known for shopping across the border - 30 minutes away in Plattsburg - because it is so much cheaper then here.

Best of luck and by the way I find that price for your challenge thingy expensive. That I agree on.

Unknown said...

you have a point Tina.....I agree it is according to what you buy. Part of my expense is that I buy healthy and I am the ONLY one that ends up eating salads and veggies and have to throw stuff away......makes me irate...LOL. I am going to try the local farmer's market and see if that helps the cost. I think the other part is I need to search for better recipes. Today I made a really inexpensive but healthy meal....dried limas, can of tomatoes, italian sausage and put it all in the crockpot. It smells so good. The limas are so good for you and the tomatoes as well. I think it will take some practice on my part. I think I need to learn how to shop healthy....LOL. I grew up in the south and we are notorious for our unhealthy eating BUT we also grew our own veggies, cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, squash etc. I am willing to learn and I will get my family eating healthy. I will do what it takes to get my family eating healthy. I know one treat my son used to love was baked sweet potatoe "fries".....they are good and healthy. I just have to learn to look for deals and find the local farmer stands etc. I still think that some things are overpriced that I would love to buy but again part of that is because my family ends up NOT eating it and part gets wasted.......so I have to work on my family as well......LOL. Tina any hints or suggestions you have I would love to have...just email me or comment me here......I will have my family eating healthier.....it is important.......for all of us. I also have to find dairy free, egg free recipes which adds to the frustration. IN any case......I am willing to learn.

Unknown said...

oh and tomatoes here were more than that the other day but then again my dh tried to buy organic.......whew! But regular tomatoes were cheaper but the quality of the ones in the store that day was horrid.....so I think I need to go to either roadside stands are the farmer's market.

Unknown said...

p.s. Thanks Tina

Shawna said...

I agree, Shaq should be ashamed of himself...this is obviously a plug for his newest marketing campaighn!

I also agree that eating fresher and healthier is not more expensive, but is more time consuming and takes more thought and planning. Once you get used to it you beginto wonder how on Earth you were able to buy the other LOL

The no dairy and no egg would make it harder!!!

We had Sloppy Joe's here tonight, but completely homemade. I was so surprised at the ingredients it takes...especially when I looked at all the ones in the can that I cannot even pronounce LOL served it with corn on the cob and sliced avacado!

Unknown said...

I was really proud of myself last night.....I not only made the sasuage and bean soup with tomatoes. I made homemade chicken parmesan. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I browned them in a skillet, and added some green peas cause I had no green peppers, then I added our own family recipe for the sauce, 2 cups of minute rice(as I did not have brown rice) and topped it with moazarella cheese. It was soooooooo good and not that expensive after all. the boneless, skinless chicken kept it lower in fat. Of course christopher couldn't eat it but everyone else enjoyed it. It was tasty and we did not miss the green peppers and Hannah loved eating her peas that way. I just have to make an ingredients list the next time I go shopping and buy from that.

Unknown said...

and thanks Shawna....oh and never have used the canned sloppy joe....I have my own recipe as my dh does not like manwich and neither do I. I guess I make more from scratch than I thought.....LOL. Now to add healty side dishes and salads etc. I CAN do this

marsha said...

It takes so much practice to eat right without spending money. I live alone right now, and it is so easy to waste fresh food. Organic foods are ridiculously expensive, and I think it's better to eat fruit and veggies, even if they're not organic.

Did you hear back from Shaq? What about approaching his organization for "grant" money?

I used to buy a lot of sweets, and I've noticed lately that cookies are so expensive, and they're not that good. The freshly baked foods in the stores is even more ridiculous. I enjoy baking and would rather eat my own cookies. At least I know what's in them.

That show sounds like a great idea; it's too bad there's money involved. :-(