Is Nutella As Good As It Says?

I am a little disturbed by a bit of news I read on the Reuters site about the high protein chocolate spread called Nutella.

For years Nutella, which is a chocolate hazelnut spread has been sold as a source of high energy and protein. I have always trusted the product because I have been eating on toast and in sandwiches ever since I was a child. I also give it to my own kids on crackers as a high energy spread. It also goes well in hot or cold chocolate drinks. If you grew up in Europe and particularly if you were Dutch, you probably ate butter and Nutella sandwiches that were put in your lunchbox by your mother. Many mothers also mixed the Nutella with sprinkles to make the food even more attractive. Of course this is a rarer sight but Nutella with pink and blue sprinkles sandwiches were quite a common site in U.K. and European countries. It was okay for kids to eat this much sugar as the hazelnuts used to make the spread were so high in protein.

I have also put Nutella on pancakes because it melts so nicely and it goes really nicely with a bit of whipping cream and maple syrup and maybe even a bit of chestnut puree. I have often thought of making a cake with it and using the nutritious spread as icing. The cookies made with Nutella in the middle are quite famous and there are recipes for it all over the web. You can just buy a commercial pack of cookies and spread Nutella in the center to make a kind of Nutella Oreo if you want. Keep in mind that this is a special treat as Nutella is quite high in sugar!

As I have always been a fan of the stuff it was a bit disappointing to read that it was trying to oversell itself as a healthy food when everybody already knows it is not. A stories on 'Reuters Life!' reported that it's television commercial was pulled off the air for exaggerating its health benefits. This was done after over 50 parents complained about the way it was marketed as a healthy breakfast explaining that each jar of Nutella contains 52 hazelnuts, cocoa and the equivalent of a glass of skim milk. The commercial also claimed that Nutella releases energy slowy to the body.

It is the way that the energy is purportedly released by the food that raised the ire of so many viewers. This is because Nutella is equally high in fat and sugar and eating too much at once would not be very good for anyone. Although it is high in protein that it is a bit cancelled out by how high the food is in sugar.

The upshot was that the commercial got pulled off the televisions screens of the United Kingdom. The people who make Nutella, Ferrero UK also put out a statement that they did not mean to mislead anyone.

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Why Cooking With You Is Good For Kids

According to a show I watched on ABC ( the Dish Network) recently about cooking with your kids there is a lot more to it than just teaching them a life skill that they can use the rest of their lives. There are also many other benefits.

Learning to cook with me could increase a kid's vocabulary in general. They learn more exotic terms like baste or agitate or steam. They also learn a fair amount of math especially when it comes to using the measuring cups and measuring spoons. Studies have been done at Harvard that also prove that parents that who have a little bit of dinner conversation with their children tend to raise kids who are smarter and have larger vocabularies.

Letting your kid cook with you makes he or she feel trusted and like you know that they can achieve great things. Cooking is confidence building. They feel the sense of accomplishment and feel like they are contributing to the family. Furthermore it is a chance during a very busy day to spend quality time with your kids. It is important to view them as help in the kitchen and not as a liability so this can work. Remember it is key to teach your kid the value of teamwork and the joys of giving and sharing.

By doing this and sitting down together for a meal you train your kids not to eat in front of the television. Kids that don't eat in front of the boob tube have more respect for their bodies, as they are more aware of what they are putting into it.

Another good aspect is that if you make an agreement with yourself to cook with your kids more you will find yourself spending less time with them in restaurants. Making your own junk food is also cheaper and economical.

Nutritionally eating and cooking with your kids is also superior, as you are not generally eating junk food while you are cooking. Usually home cooked meals are low in calories and fat. By feeding them at home you are also teaching your kid to have a discerning food palate and crave more than one kind of food. They also become more manually dexterous and are more likely to be able to be trusted with a cooking implement like a knife when you are not around as they have had some practice using it.

Educationally kids can use organizational and creative talents while cooking. Decorating a cake or making a pizza usually involves a bit of a visual sense or the food will look unattractive. Kids also become more sensual as adults as they learn an appreciation and respect for food through its sounds, smells, tastes and textures.

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