Smash Cakes
- By Lisa Soesbe
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- 19 Oct, 2018
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Something to ponder when planning your ALMOST one-year old's birthday party
When we give birth to our babies we want to protect them and keep them healthy and we follow all of the rules at the beginning and then after one year because doctors have given us "permission", as soon as they turn one we bring on the refined sugars. We load up our kids with refined sugars on their first birthday and give them their own cake to "smash" into because , now it is "allowed"? This is kind of bizarre to me when I actually took a few minutes to think about it. There is ZERO benefit to giving your child refined sugar mixed with artificial colors on their first birthday. It provides them ZERO nutrition. So why do we do it? Because it is the trend? I mean look at the picture of my daughter above....does she look like she is happy or more like she has a bellyache? I absolutely understand that the pictures are cute and I am not taking that away from anyone, I am simply saying perhaps we should all just rethink the ingredients that go into one of these cakes. Follow the trend if you want to, but do it in a way that is better for your baby. I get it, I followed the trend too....I mean do you see this next picture?
This is when my son turned one. Super cute I know and knowing what I know now, if I could relive this moment, I would have done it with a healthier cake with more nutritional value and no artificial colors. There are so many options nowadays for healthier ways to follow this trend and we will get to them, but first I wanted to point something out. Do you know WHY parents are warned by doctors not to give children under one sugar?
I did some research about why children should not consume refined sugar by the age of one. These are the top reasons:
1. Too much sugar causes tooth decay.
2. Sugar is highly refined using chemical processes.
3. Too much sugar can depress immunity.
4. There is a lot of research to back up the fact that children fed with a high sugar diet are prone to diabetes, obesity as well as heart issues.
Um, am I the only one who thinks that consuming a lot of refined sugar is not good for anyone? If these are the reasons not to give refined sugar to babies under one, then why should anyone consume them? Don't these reasons apply to all of us? According to www.sugarscience.org, " growing scientific evidence shows that eating too much added sugar is linked to serious diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and liver disease. " It is not just babies under one who are affected by these reasons, it affects all of us, young and old.
Who started this smash cake trend anyway? The sugar industry? Why are we making a decision to essentially give our precious new one year olds a sweet tooth the minute they turn one that could very well set them up for a possible sugar addiction? I know you may be thinking this is far fetched or an over reaction but it needs attention because this is where it starts. We must be paying attention otherwise we are setting our children up for a potential lifetime of unhealthy habits. There is sugar in plain sight and then there is also hidden sugar in just about 74% of packaged foods. That is a problem that we need to pay attention to if we want our children to grow up healthy.
I am not saying you need to take away this cute photo op but I am saying, pay attention to the ingredients of the foods you introduce to your kids especially when they are young. If you give them all of this sugar as soon as they are "allowed" to have it, you will have a hard time getting them to try and like the healthy vegetables and fruits that their bodies need for nutrition.
There are several recipes online of first birthday cakes that have no refined sugar that are more nutrient dense substitutes for a smash cake. Here are a few that are really good and will not get your child started on a lifetime of possible sugar addiction problems down the road.
First Birthday Applesauce Cupcakes (Grain Free, Dairy Free, and Nut Free)
Grain Free Dairy Free Birthday Smash Cake
Smash Cake with Yogurt Frosting
First Birthday Apple Spice Cake with Maple
Refined Sugar Free Carrot and Date Cake
I share these because I care! If you try one of these, feel free to share the photos with me of your cute one year old enjoying a healthier cake. I would love to see them. :) If you know someone who will be planning a birthday party for their soon to be one year old, please share this info with them too!
In schools, sporting clubs, and other activities where children are involved, people reward children with candy and other unhealthy snacks. There are even popular lesson plans used in schools that include using M&M’s or Skittles; after the children use the treats for their lesson, they get to eat them as their reward. In American society, this has now become the norm. Go to the barbershop and Johnny gets a treat because he sat so nicely for his haircut. Go to dance class and little Mary gets a piece of candy at the end of class. Go to the bank and Joey gets a lollipop for being a good boy in the bank. It goes on and on. The people that assume that this is okay think, “What’s the big deal?”. This may even be you! I will tell you why this is such a big deal. This is affecting our children both physically and emotionally.
I want to share a little hack I discovered a long time ago that I use a lot and pretty much for any online shopping. Have you ever heard of Ebates ? If you are not a member, you are going to want to click on the word Ebates anywhere in this post and sign up today because it will save you lots of money on anything you buy and if you use the referral link, once you sign up and spend $25 or more, you will get $10. If you are not a member you have nothing to lose because it costs you nothing. Do you shop online at all? Chances are your favorite retailer is on Ebates and you will get paid for your normal shopping routine just by signing into Ebates first and then going to your favorite site. Some examples of stores I am talking about are Target, Walmart, Kohl's and even Amazon! You simply must check this out.
Now, let me tell you about how I get cash back for eating healthy. My hack is to log in to Ebates and then shop the sales on Vitacost.com. Vitacost is an online health and wellness store with over 45,000 products. They also tend to have the best prices on most things. This gives me great savings because I can buy stuff like organic coconut milk, raw nuts, soy free chocolate chips, nut butters, and gluten-free flours as well as personal care items like deodorant, shampoo and conditioner from Vitacost when it is on sale and if I am buying through Ebates I will normally get at least 3% cash back from Vitacost. They also offer free 2-day shipping on orders over $49 so I usually order stuff that I will need for the month in one order so that I can save on shipping as well.
