Tag Archives: food

Empty Calories

Posted on by
Reply

Snacks, snacks, snacks.  Why are there so many snack foods?  And why do kids need so many snacks in a day?  Also why are most snack foods void of nutrients?  Pretzels- not terrible as far as a processed snack food goes, but think… where’s the nutrition in them?  I don’t mean where’s the health-food, but where are the nutrients that the body needs to function?  So you’ve given your kids some calories to tide them over, but those potato chips, cheese puffs and corn chips are lacking any vitamins or minerals. So guess what?  The body says, “great I’ve got something now, but in just 15-30 minutes when I realize I got nothing out of those calories, I will want more food to fuel me.” This cycle is a major reason our population is getting fatter… along with portions being too big plus a reduction in physical activity.  

So think— is this snack food going to tide them over just to be hungry again or maybe some carrots, apples and cheese are better alternatives to the empty calorie snacks. 

Also, try for the snacks that don’t have my 3 worst types of ingredients: artificial colors, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. 

Here are a few ideas for those in-between times when you really must fill a hole until mealtime.


Fresh Vegetables!

 
Ola Granola with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote and Yogurt

 
Dukkah 


Fruit salad


Fresh Whole Fruit


Avocado on fresh bread

Roasted Seaweed 

Another idea is to serve some hummus or vegetables with the chips, pretzels, etc.

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share

Bacon Love…meets pizza love

Posted on by
Reply

My kids love bacon.  I love bacon.  But we don’t eat bacon often. 

This was my cross of a BLT and a Margherita pizza.  It’s made on the Middle Eastern Flatbread I’ve used for pizza before. Of course it’s got bacon…

I used up some left-over spinach, mixed shredded cheeses (mozzarella, cheddar, jack, queso blanco, fontina), sliced tomatoes, fresh basil and a side salad.  

I also cooked the bacon on parchment in the oven.  Came out so evenly cooked and yummy!

 

This one came out fuzzy— my camera’s been acting up again.  🙁

Yes, the kids loved it.  Well, they all loved the bacon.  My youngest one didn’t want to eat the pizza— just the bacon off the top.  We compromised (over an hour later) with him eating all the salad and I gave him some left over chicken from the night before.  

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share

Gallery

Posted on by

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Chickpea salad I brought to friend’s party on Saturday.  3 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)1 cup plain Greek yogurt2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives2 tsp cumin1/2 tsp cayennejuice of 1 lemondozen chopped grape tomatoessalt & pepper to taste … Continue reading →

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share

Some helpful tips

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever seen my tips for getting kids to eat well?  It’s posted on my blog on a separate page, but in case you’ve never seen it I’m posting it here today.

          Eating/feeding tips:

  • Eat with them!  Make them the same dinner you make yourself.  Let them see what you eat.  Don’t just feed them what you think they’ll eat, but what they should.
  • Start them early— when they can first eat solids with foods besides cereal.  They might spit out the beans and peas a few times, but keep doing it.
  • Get them interested in foods by planting vegetables or herbs, shopping at a farm, farmer’s market or stand, and cook with them (let them help)!

  • Don’t treat vegetables like a punishment.  They’re delicious, but kids need to get accustomed to them.
  • Don’t quit.  Really, your kids will eat them.
  • Don’t beat yourself up on those times than you give them the unhealthier stuff.  Just try to limit those times.
  • Have fun!  For example: Make up games or dances; tell them their favorite super hero or cartoon character loves a particular food; cut foods into shapes or arrange on plate so it’s a smiley face.

Cooking tips:

  • If you’ve noticed my pattern with cooking vegetables- I do this for almost all the vegetables I cook (just to varying lengths of time).  Bring pan of water to boil and submerge veggies or steam, when just done (still crisp but tender and still have vivid color) remove from heat, strain and dunk into cold/ice water to stop them from cooking, keep on side until ready to serve meal.  Reheat in sauté pan with pat of butter, pinch of sea salt and some fresh ground pepper until just hot enough to eat (you don’t want them to cook further).  You can substitute butter with olive oil or olive oil and garlic if you prefer.  Just careful not to put too much olive oil to overpower the veggies.
  • If you start with a family recipe or something you know how to cook well, do it.  Don’t try to make gourmet meals if you’re not a confident cook.  Just go for healthful ingredients, fresh vegetables… real food.  Go ahead and cut corners when you’re in a rush—frozen brown rice takes 3 minutes in the microwave as opposed to 40+ minutes normally. 
  • If you need recipes that are kid friendly you can check out my archives.
  • Go with popular cookbooks like those by Jamie Oliver or Mark Bittman—quite easy to follow.

 

           Shopping Tips:

  • Trader Joe’s is such a great place!  Best organic butter— and not outrageously priced.  All their own brands are GMO-free.  Applegate Farms cold cuts are affordable there too.  The abovementioned frozen organic rice- Jasmine or brown.  Cheeses, milk and yogurts are all without growth hormones.  I get so many appetizers for gatherings there.  (One I like to make is from their frozen nan.  I put goat cheese or Boursin with chopped spinach and tomatoes or sliced shiitakes.  Cut into pieces.)
  • Read labels.  Don’t serve anything with high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners (even Splend!), or artificial preservatives (BHT, TBHQ).  Notice the top three ingredients as they make up the majority of the food.  Try to avoid the stuff that has sugar listed as first ingredient unless it’s a dessert or just sugar.
  • Try to get local produce, dairy and meats (join a CSA—community supported agriculture program or shop farmers’ markets).   If you can’t try to get those without pesticides and hormones. 
  • Utilize the larger stores own brands of organic foods; they’re usually cheaper. 
  • Buy the fresh stuff on the outer edges of supermarkets instead of the processed stuff that’s usually occupying the middle aisles.
  • Go without kids if you can.  You’ll be less likely to be swayed into getting something they may have seen on TV or with cartoon characters pushing junk at them.
  • If you buy juice- go with organic if possible and avoid added sugar, corn syrup or artificial ingredients.
  • Don’t buy low-fat or fat-free foods (in foods that normally have fat), but just limit the fats you eat.  Go for more vegetable than animal fats.

 

You can also contact me with any particular question or trouble you may be having.

 

Good luck!

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share

Crying is not the end of the world.

Posted on by
Reply

I recently received a complimentary copy of a book from a publisher. It was about getting kids to eat without crying. I don’t know if they expected me to blog about it, but much of what I read in there was against my own methods/beliefs. I’m not naming the book because I don’t want to put the author down (after all, she is trying to get kids to eat well) or say that there aren’t many valid points, but I just don’t see what’s so awful about crying occasionally.

Of course, we don’t want our kids to cry. For one it grates on our nerves, but also we don’t like having our kids distressed. I just won’t give in to the cries over a dish just to make them stop. It sets a precedent—they’ll learn to cry to get out of things they don’t want to do or like, even if it’s good for them. I don’t try to make my kids cry (remember, I don’t like to hear it) but I just don’t avoid it. I want them to eat well. If they cry because they don’t like what they’re served without even trying it— well, sorry, that’s the meal and that’s what we’re eating. It’s not like I’m a hard ass all the time. I will often make them meals that they love and do try to please them. I want my kids to be happy. I just think sometimes people are so afraid of crying that they’ll do anything to avoid it— similarly giving in to the food battles just to get them to eat. If they’re really hungry they will eat. If they would just stop crying and try the food, they might find that they like it.

Now what I do do is make healthy and tasty foods. I know most of the time that they will enjoy it if given a chance to taste it. It happens most often with my middle son. I don’t know why he continues to cry when he sees a dish that is new to him and he thinks he won’t like, but he does. He will cry for a little time, realize that we’re not budging (as in making him an alternative meal) and then eat. So often to the bottom of the bowl or until his plate is clean. And when he’s eaten— he’s happy. No signs of having been upset left over from the beginning. I love it when they enjoy their meal.

So, don’t worry about an occasional tear. Do the right thing by them and teach them to eat healthfully. They’ll be better for it than if they’re given whatever they want to eat. Look at these statistics. And, they will learn to stop crying (eventually) and just try other means of getting out of things.

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share

Vietnamese Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry

Posted on by
Reply

At the end of the last school year, my son’s wonderful third grade teacher gave me a gorgeous and interesting cook book alice’s Cook Book by Alice Hart.  It has very creative recipes with pairings that I wouldn’t think of; which for me makes it even better! 

Last night I perused it to find something to make with the chicken breasts that I had to use.  Not surprisingly I found a wonderful recipe and it is quite easy. 

I was fairly certain but not absolutely that my kids would eat it— well, without any fuss.  I added green beans to give them one vegetable I knew they’d like and thought would go well with the dish.  I opted not to use the hot pepper as my middle son is especially sensitive to hot spices. I added it to my own dish afterwards.  You could also use Siracha. The cilantro I had looked too sad, so I left it out. 

Continue reading →

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share

Empanadas– or as my sons call them “those tacos things”

Posted on by
Reply

At this month’s Cooking Club we had a Latin American theme.  I usually try to make something I’ve never tried making before or something I think is creative or challenging.   So, I made arepas (sort of like corn flour rolls) but in case they didn’t work out, I had bought some frozen empanada dough discs (made with yucca and annatto).  It wouldn’t have mattered – I ran out of time– so if they didn’t work SOL.  (They weren’t too bad, but wasn’t my best dish.)

Anyway, on the following night since I had already defrosted the empanada discs and some stew beef from our CSA I suggested to my husband he make empanadas for dinner, which he did (he’s good like that).   I helped by grinding the beef in the food processor and making some of the sides, but that’s about all. I wasn’t too sure the kids would eat the empanada without any fuss, but I figured if they tried a bite they’d probably like them.  We told them that they were similar to tacos.  They all love tacos, and it stuck.  They just called them “those taco things” for days afterwards.

I was pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm for the dinner even before it was fully assembled and in the oven; especially by my youngest two.  They were thrilled to see the meat go in the shells (I think meat is such a boy thing) and ate them with such gusto. 

We served a salad, black beans, brown rice, salsa and my husband’s delicious guacamole with the empanadas.  Though my youngest wouldn’t touch any beans, salsa or guac—he’s the pickiest of all three.

Beef Empanadas
10 pack of empanada shells (used Goya with yucca)  
1 pound beef (ground)
½ onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp ground cumin
handful chopped fresh cilantro
olive oil
water
salt & pepper

Pour Tbsp olive oil in a fry pan and get it hot.  Add the ground beef and cook until browned.  Turn down heat to medium and add onions and sauté until nearly translucent.  Add garlic, chili powder and cumin.  Cook stirring often for a couple of minutes then add the oregano and tomato paste.  Thin out with about ¼ cup of water (adjust according to desired consistency).  Salt and pepper to taste.  Take off heat and cool.  Stir in cilantro when cooled. 
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Place about 2 Tbsp of mixture onto center of a shell, brush a little water along edge then fold in half and press outside edge together.  Press with a fork around round edge to completely seal. 
Add Tbsp olive oil to hot pan.  Sauté each side until brown, then bake on parchment lined cookie tray for 20 minutes. Serve while hot. 

We had 4 extras that went into the freezer instead of the oven – my middle son asked me to serve it for dinner the following night (he had to wait 2 nights, but I was happy to oblige).

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share

Girlfriends– a source of inspiration

Posted on by
Reply

I am blessed in my friendships— I have such wonderful friends around the globe.  I’ve been helped out of many a mess; shared in fun times; been proud of their accomplishments (I truly have some super-women friends); and inspired by so many of them.  One area (not surprisingly) in which I have been inspired, is in my cooking and baking.  I love cooking with friends too — my house or theirs, I find it a fun thing to do together with a glass of wine or cocktail in hand and fresh news to share. 

Two of my girlfriends are a constant in inspiration and cooking camaraderie.  One (AK) has 3 kids and one (SO) 2 kids— all that eat well (as in, they like our food).  I love when we can all get together and cook/eat/play.  We always have fun.

Recently for SO I tried out one dish that AK had cooked for my family- stuffed pork roast— which is stuffed with stuffing (as in traditional Thanksgiving-style sausage stuffing).  I think my girlfriend made it better than I did, but it was still quite good.  I was too afraid of getting the stuffing mushy that I erred on the side of too little stock to moisten the stuffing so it was too dry. The pork itself was great. 

I also introduced SO and her girls to kale chips which my boys and I love. I made some with sesame oil, canola oil and salt and some with olive oil, salt and pepper.  The boys were cheerfully exclaiming, “kale chips!” when they saw them.

Simple Sausage Sage Stuffing
4 links, casings removed, Italian sweet sausage
1-2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 cups croutons
Handful fresh sage, chopped
Approx 1 cup chicken or veg stock
salt & pepper

In a large stock pot sauté the sausage until cooked.  Set aside. Then sauté the onion and celery in olive oil (or sausage fat) until onions are translucent.  Add sausage back in with croutons, sage, ½ tsp salt and pepper. Mix well and slowly add stock until stuffing sticks together nicely but isn’t too mushy.  Add more salt if necessary.  Let cool then stuff your meat/bird. (Tie if necessary to keep in the stuffing.)

I’d never stuffed anything with this type of stuffing besides a turkey or chicken.  Now, I figure I’ve tried something new thanks to my friend.  And this is only one of many dishes/desserts these two are introducing me to…and inspiring me to do it too.

Digg This
Submit to redditShare on Tumblr Share