Is it safe to say the Brianna’s is all natural? I always make my own dressing b/c I don’t like the chemicals in many bottled versions( or the taste for that matter)

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I went on their website and called the company just to be sure.  The Briannas dressing I have suggested, Real French Vinaigrette, is all natural.  They have 14 flavors and only 3 of the dressings have sodium benzoate because they’re made with cheese.  I stay away from sodium benzoate (most sodas use it), so I wouldn’t suggest those ones.  But the others are all natural, no msg, no trans fats, “nothing artificial”.  There are very few dressings I like out of a bottle so I wouldn’t suggest one without really loving it. 

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Grilled Pork Chops, Roasted Potatoes, Salad

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My husband marinated 2 pork chops with 1 shallot, 1 garlic clove, bunch of fresh sage, (all chopped) salt and pepper and a half cup of maple syrup (100% not pancake syrup) for at least 24 hours in a plastic bag in the fridge.  They were grilled and served with grilled zucchini and eggplant (just brush with olive oil, salt and pepper), peas (day before CSA pick up we tend to get low on fresh veggies if we haven’t been to another store/farm), mixed green salad and roasted red potatoes.   Pork chops can take some time to cook, so use that time to make the salad and other sides.  We put the potatoes in just after putting the chops on the grill.  Forgot to add earlier- put chops on indirect heat so they don’t burn (sugars in maple syrup will get too black over direct flames).

 

The potatoes are washed and cut then put in a mixing bowl with olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, celery salt and pepper.  Toss and then put on baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes at 400.  I like the higher temps to get a nice crisp outside.  The kids love the flavors, but be careful as some paprika can be spicy.  Potatoes are another vegetable that I buy organic.

As I’ve mentioned I serve several salads per week.  Often they’re simple: mixed greens with romaine and maybe some chopped fresh herbs.  I find that some kids prefer the less-bitter taste of romaine to some mesclun mixes, so I often blend romaine in to counter arugula, frisse and radicchio. Other times I add fresh bell peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, red cabbage, and/or avocados.  I believe we need a good supply of fresh raw vegetables (and different colored ones) in order to get the most nutrients.  They always go to school with carrots, cucumber and/or celery.  I also love a simple vinaigrette.  Just some oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper can make a wonderful dressing (and when I’m pressed for time, I use Brianna’s).  You add a nice flavor, the oil helps get the nutrients to the blood and you don’t add many calories. 

You might notice from the photos we serve juice at times for dinner.  I buy only 100% juice (except lemonade) and we serve it if they had milk for lunch.  Otherwise it’s milk or water. 

 

© 2010 mykidsreallyeatthis.com

 

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Grilled Seafood and Baby Bok Choy

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While shopping my sons the other day, my middle one requested some shrimp.  I saw some beautiful diver scallops there as well and decided a few of each would be great for grilling.  When I showed the boys the baby bok choy they actually hoorayed!  My brother joined us for dinner so I included an approximately pound-sized filet of salmon to grill with the shellfish (or else it wouldn’t have been enough for 5, especially with my brother’s appetite).  Salmon and seafood are great to grill for clean up convenience and also so you don’t have the smell lingering around the house the next day! 

After putting the jasmine rice on the stove and starting up the grill I put the baby bok choy on to stea m.  With baby bok choy you can steam the whole thing together, with the larger size you should cut the stems off to steam a minute longer first before adding the leaves.  Once the leaves are wilted, they’re done.  Shock with cold water.  Keep to the side to finish later.  

I then shelled the already cleaned shrimp, put a 2-3 on a soaked bamboo skewer, then  drizzled them with olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper.  I repeated skewering, etc. with the scallops.   I then put some olive oil on a plate and the salmon on top, flipping it over to coat it, then added salt and pepper.

I put the salmon on the grill first since it takes longer.  Once it had cooked a few minutes I added the shrimp and scallops.  I took them off after turning and the shrimp was just pink and scallops had more whitish-solid appearance.  You don’t want to over cook either as they’ll become tough.  It only takes a few minutes. The salmon doesn’t take very long either- it should still be dark in the center to be flavorful and tender. 

After the seafood and fish were done I finished the bok choy.  In a pan I heated 1 tsp sesame oil, a Tbsp canola oil and 1/2 tsp soy sauce.   I added the bok choy (I chopped mine into approximately inch pieces which make the leaves easier for the kids to eat) until warmed and coated.

 

Delicious for all!  My kids love this meal!

We use Tamari (by San-J and others) soy sauce which is richer in flavor and has no wheat, unlike the most popular types of soy sauce.  Perfect for those on gluten-free diets.  It also has no artificial flavors or preservatives and is naturally fermented.  Shoyu soy sauce (think Kikkoman’s) is made with a combination of soy and wheat.  There even are some cheaper soy sauces that use acid hydrolyzed soy protein instead of traditional brewing methods.  They have a longer shelf-life but you sacrifice quality, taste and possible health benefits.

© 2010 mykidsreallyeatthis.com

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Best laid plans… or no plans

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I wanted to go to bed but I also knew my sons want some toast in the morning.  All three love a slice of toast or bagel before they have the rest of their breakfast (eggs, oatmeal, cereal).   We ran out of bagels and toasting bread and I had picked up fresh eggs, rhubarb and milk from one farm and our shared harvest (CSA) from another but forgot about bread.  I just searched online for the bread recipe (wish I’d had more time to do the no-knead one that Mark Bittman featured in the NY Times recently). Since I am not a huge baker, my yeast might be a little old because the dough didn’t rise.  Ugh.  So, I put the dough in a preheated to 100F convection oven for twenty minutes. That didn’t work.  Next I took 2 different yeasts I had and tested them with some water and sugar.  Both bubbled and rose.  So I added more of it with some more flour.  I want it to rise once, punch it then go to bed.  Boy do I want to punch it.  It’s rising now at least.

So not every dinner works out as planned.  Or I mean not every dinner is enjoyed as much as I would wish.  Tonight I made a pasta because with chaperoning a field trip, driving over 2 towns for pick-ups and drop-offs, and making it back after 5 pm I just didn’t have dinner planned.  So I thought I’d use some of the spinach, parsley and garlic scapes in my CSA bin (the center of the young garlic shoot- great grilled).  I sautéed a chopped scape in olive oil, added two chopped plum tomatoes, chopped parsley, sea salt and pepper.  Tossed the pasta with them and added steamed spinach and some Trader Joe’s party meatballs.  I thought it was great.  The kids thought the spinach was too bitter and mostly just ate the pasta and meatballs.  Oh well.  Not every meal can be a success.  At least we ate together, talked about the day and I tried to get them to eat all their veggies.   In the end I warmed up some of last night’s peas just so they got some more greens without me having to spend more time in the kitchen…. before bedtime.

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If the food is there at the classroom party I can’t stop the kids from trying (and then suffering the consequences later in the bathroom) but it’s the parents I have my eye on. Maybe your post will inspire me to be a class parent (cannot believe I just wrote that) and limit the poison. Hey, maybe we can stop the oil spill with some of it, just about anything is worth a try now.

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Go for it!  Keep the junk out of school!

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Again, another great post. I am definitely going to try the tuna salad. I loathe the blue, green and all the other artificially flavored foods. Keep on posting.

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Thank you!  I hate the sodas too, I just try to not go too heavy on the kids when it’s a special occasion.  I am trying to instill a love of good, healthy foods and not an obsession with rules, nutrition or junk.  Hope that when they’re older they’ll make the right choices.  Fingers crossed! 

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Hi Vanessa, While you’re out and about for family picnics and summer swims, down here in New Zealand we’re wrapped in merino, snuggling by the fire and dusting off the ski gear. And while you’re munching crisp salads and barbeques, we’re enjoying slow roast lamb shanks, steaming hot soups, honey baked yams and Jerusalem artichokes. Don’t you just love the seasonality of cooking?! Keep up the great blog, Anna.

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Thanks Anna!  I always notice the seasonality when I receive my Cuisine magazines!  I save them for when the proper season comes around I can make some of the delicious recipes/ideas I’ve gotten from them.  Love that magazine! 

Who doesn’t love the warmth and comfort of a stew in winter and the fresh coolness of a crisp fresh salad in summer?  Love cooking with the seasons.  Stay warm! 

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Picnic and Barbecue Time

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I find it really challenging to get kids to eat the healthier choices when we’re out.  We had several picnics and barbecues over the Memorial Day weekend starting with my kindergartener’s class concert/family picnic.  I made a quick lunch with leftover steak, egg salad, mixed greens salad and strawberries.  The dessert table was full of blue jello cups, blue punch, cupcakes and very shiny marshmallow treats.  I find it so hard to get the kids to eat anything healthy if other children are already on dessert, but they have to have some good things first before they’re allowed.  I also try to get the kids to not pick the artificially colored desserts and choose the more “real” stuff like ice cream and cupcakes.  Not sure that I’m on the right track but the color thing gets to me.  I don’t serve my children dessert at every meal or every dinner for that matter, but I do give them some sometimes.  And again, holidays and birthdays my rules get much more relaxed.  They’re even allowed soda on those days (I try to get the ones without preservatives and artificial ingredients- like Virgil’s- if I buy any, which is next to never) but I serve them real juice or water if it’s available.  

One of the parties we went to I brought my mother’s old standby rice salad with tuna.  It’s such an unusual combination but so many people love it.  Perfect for summer gatherings. My kids love it too!  Maybe it’s the crunchiness and sweetness of the apple together with saltiness of the tuna and pickle.

Julia’s Rice & Tuna Salad

  • One and a half cups of white or brown rice (or 3/4 of each), cooled
  • One or two cans of tuna (depending on your taste preference)
  • 1/2 onion chopped (I prefer red)
  • 2 peeled and cubed tart apples, (Granny Smiths, Braeburns) soaked in a little water and lemon juice so they don’t turn brown
  • 2 pickles cubed
  • 2 chopped plum tomatoes –sans seeds if possible 
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs cut into large pieces (add last so they don’t break apart too much)
  • handful of chopped parsley
  • Tbsp fresh chopped basil or mint (optional)
  • vinaigrette or Italian style dressing
  • sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

 Mix together and serve chilled.

 

I also have another great rice and fish salad that I adapted from Chef David Raymer’s chopped rice salad.  You can make it with white fish or salmon or even canned salmon. Fabulous for left-overs!

Make it same way as above but without the apples, eggs, tuna or pickles. 

 Use the rice, red onion, tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, and vinaigrette dressing.

Add veggies-(select your favorite or what ever’s left over) like zucchini, summer squash, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli and green beans (prefer haricot verte)—all chopped. Add handful of nicoise olives, several handfuls of chopped mesclun greens and 2-3 Tbsp capers.  Really delicious!  Not all my children will eat the olives but they love capers …and the salad in general. 

 

 

 

©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis.com

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