Junk Food vs Fresh Food

No one buys junk food because it is good for you. Everyone understands that junk food doesn’t stand a chance when you compare its nutrients, calories or health benefits with fresh or non-processed food.


So why do people continue to buy junk food? It is cheap and fast. Or is it?

When I talk to parents, the overwhelming reasons why they turn to junk food are that it is the least expensive and most convenient option. Whether it is a quick dinner with the kids at McDonalds or providing snack for a kindergarten class or soccer game, most parents turn to nuggets and fries or fruit roll-ups and cookies.

I have argued before that Fast Food isn’t actually faster than boiling water for pasta or cutting up a carrot.  Faster Than Take-Out Pasta

What about cost? Most parents nod their heads in agreement that times are tough and so junk food is necessary for cost reasons. Here’s new data that tells a different story. According to the New York Times, junk food is not cheaper than fresh/non-processed food.



 Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?
By MARK BITTMAN

It's a myth that chips are cheaper than broccoli. They're not. So what's stopping people from eating more healthfully?

Pancakes Pancakes

Pancakes get a bad reputation. But really, with a few simple tweaks, it can be a healthy breakfast or snack. I just came across this post about spinach pancakes from Snack Girl.
This looks delicious – however I know that my kids would see green in their pancake and turn up their noses. I wanted to share this link – because maybe your kids will love them – but also to point out that you don’t have to put something green in your pancake in order for it to be a more healthy option. Just by using whole wheat flour, canola oil and not too much sugar, makes it healthful in my book. Pancake mixes often have unwanted added ingredients but making them from scratch is actually pretty easy.

I guess now would be a good time to talk about what goes on the pancake! You can start with a whole wheat cake and think you are doing pretty darn good. Then comes the butter, whipped cream and high-fructose corn syrup maple syrup. Okay, now we have a dessert. But there is an easy fix. Skip the butter and whipped cream and replace your maple syrup with a high quality one that does not contain high fructose corn syrup.

Here is my basic pancake recipe. Feel free to add fruit (blueberries, bananas, etc.) or even shredded squash or sweet potato or as Snack Girl suggests, spinach.



Whole Wheat Pancakes

1-1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2-1/2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 tbsp. brown sugar

2 eggs

1-1/4 cup milk (or buttermilk)

2 tbsp. canola oil

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in one bowl. Mix eggs, milk, and oil in another. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well. (if you are adding a fruit or vegetable, now is the time to add it.) Fry in a non-stick frying pan into pancakes. Freeze extra in a plastic bag for quick snacks to heat up later.

Mud Soup

My kids won’t eat soup. I don’t know why exactly. Maybe they don’t like the fact that more than one ingredient are mixed up together in one bowl? Or perhaps it is because you have to eat it with a spoon? When my kids are sick I can sometimes get them to slurp down a few spoonfuls of chicken soup as long as they don’t detect anything but broth in their bowl. I’ve also tried pureed soups, but my kids think it’s too gross and oozing.

One day my daughter checked a book out of the library called Mud Soup by Judith Head. The book is about two kids sharing their lunch where one is eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the other mud soup. The story covers “International Day” at school where everyone brings a dish from their culture to share. Mud soup is on the potluck menu. By the end of the book, the boy with the peanut butter sandwich gets up the courage to taste the mud soup. To his surprise, he finds that it is not made with mud after all. No, mud soup is really black bean soup that looks like mud. And guess what? He likes it!

My daughter loved reading this book because she thought it was so funny to talk about actually eating mud soup. I mean, that’s what she makes in the sand at the beach, right? Who doesn’t love to pretend to eat mud soup? At the end of the book, there was a recipe for Mud Soup.

“Can we make it?” my daughter asked with bright eyes.

“Sure,” I said.

I soaked the beans overnight and the next day prepared Mud Soup with our dinner.

“Yuck, what is that?” my son and daughter cried in unison.

“Mud Soup!” I said. “Just like in the book.”

“Smells like beans,” my son said, unimpressed.

“Oh Mommy, thank you for making Mud Soup!” my daughter said, giving me a hug.

They both tasted the soup. Sure enough, my son thought it was the most disgusting thing he had ever tasted. Instead he ate up the bowl of black beans that I had extracted from the soup and put in a separate bowl in anticipation of exactly his reaction. My daughter, on the other hand, loved the soup. She even asked for more and ate the beans floating in the bottom of the cup.

Does my daughter now like black bean soup? All I know is that she wanted to eat what the girl in the book ate and exclaim, “Delicioso!” after every bite. That desire pushed her to taste a new food, and for that, I am happy. Maybe she will eat black bean soup the next time I make, it. Or maybe she won’t eat it again for 6 months or even a couple of years. Either way, she tasted it, liked it and so I know she will come back to it eventually.



Mud Soup (from Mud Soup by Judith Head)

2 cups black beans

3 tbps of olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

Salt to taste

Wash the beans. Put them in a pot with 6 cups of water. Soak them for 4-8 hours. Drain them and pu them back into the pot. Add 6 cups of water. Add the oil, the onion, and the bay leaf. Simmer for 1-2 hours or until the beans are tender. Add more water if the water boils out. Add salt and stir.

Talking to Kids About Nutritious Food

If I have learned one thing about being a parent it is that my kids outsmart me every time. They may not figure out my tricks today or next week, but soon enough, they beat me at my own game.

Let’s take my daughter’s blanket, for example. When our first child was born, a good friend gave her a soft, satin-edged, pink blanket. Embroidered all around the satin edges were our daughter’s name, birth date, birth weight and length, etc. It was a beautiful blanket and a thoughtful gift so we gave it to our baby girl to enjoy.

Our daughter took to the blanket so much that soon she not only slept with it every night but had a difficult time falling asleep without it, even for a short nap. She tried to say “blankie” but it came out “bobby” and so began the story of Robert B. Blanket, as my husband and I affectionately referred to it. Everything seemed to be smooth-sailing with our daughter and her blanket until one night she threw up on her faithful friend. We put Bobby in the washing machine for a good cleaning while we changed our daughter’s pajamas and attempted to put her back to sleep. It turned out to be the longest wash, rinse, spin and then dry cycle of our life. Our daughter cried her eyes out until clean, warm from the dryer, Bobby was returned to her.

This event occurred every time Bobby needed to be washed. I tried to strategically plan the blanket’s wash time when our daughter was pre-occupied with toys or a play date. But sure enough something would happen, a skinned knee, or a bump on the head where she would all of a sudden go looking for Bobby.

“Bobby is getting a wash,” I would say. That was all she needed to throw herself into a terrible tantrum that didn’t end until Bobby was returned to her.

When our son was born two years later, I decided that although I may not be able to fix the mistakes I had made with our first child, at least I could learn from them and not make them again. Our son didn’t get a fancy embroidered, one of a kind blanket to sleep with. Instead I went to Target and purchased not one but two identical, inexpensive satin-edged green blankets. “One for my son and one for the wash,” I thought, satisfied that I had solved my biggest problem.

For the first 18 months my plan worked beautifully. Spilled milk on blankie? Who cares. Dragged blankie through the mud? No problem. Each time I carefully swapped out the dirty blanket with an identical clean one and our unsuspecting son happily went to bed. I should have known, however, that all good tricks eventually come to an end. One day our son spotted his green blanket edge sticking out of the laundry basket in the hallway awaiting the trip down to the laundry room. He pulled the blanket out of the basket and held it up for a moment. Then he went to his bedroom and retrieved the second blanket from his bed. He showed them both to me and happily said, “two blankies!”

“No reason to panic,” I thought. When he started playing with his toys again I took the dirty blanket and threw it in the washing machine. That night at bedtime our son held up his one blanket and cried “two blankies” to me over and over again.

I stood back in amazement. “No way,” I thought to myself as I made the trip downstairs to the laundry room and retrieved the back-up blanket from the dryer. I handed the second blanket to our son and he happily cuddled up with, not one, but two satin-edged green blankets.

That night I learned a lesson about parenting. If I lie or trick my kids, they will eventually beat me at my own game.

When it comes to nutrition, trickery will eventually fail you just as my secret blanket trick did. You may not be able to predict the outcome, but rest assured, it won’t end well. Instead of using trickery or bribes, I tell them the truth. Sure I may embellish with an imaginative story, but at the end of the day, I haven’t actually told them something that flat out isn’t true.

Talking to kids about nutrition is just as important as getting them to eat it. Tell them why we are eating nutritious food rather than attempting to sneak it by when they aren’t looking. Kids want to know how the world works. Tell them!

“Here are some apple slices, it will give you energy.”

“Have some carrots, they make your eyes shiny.”

“Finish your milk, it is good for your bones.”

“Try this, it tastes just like sweet potato.”

Sure maybe some of my statements are old wives tales or circle around the truth, but at least it puts a positive image in their heads while they are eating nutritious food. And perhaps the explanation doesn’t always convince your child to take a bite. However, giving kids reasons (beyond bribery) to reach for healthy food will only inspire more healthy choices down the road.

“Mom, look how long my arm is,” exclaims my son after eating a banana, “did it grow yet?”

Some things in life you just can’t predict. When in doubt, tell the truth in an imaginative way and hope for the best. My son curled up in his bed, hugging two identical blankets, is my nightly reminder that my kids will outsmart me every time.

Candy or Mini-Meal?

Nutrition bars and granola bars are marketed for kids as healthy snack options, or even mini-meal substitutes. But are they? I typically don’t stock my pantry with either for the simple fact that I think they are bad for my kids’ teeth. No matter how healthy the bar may claim to be, they are still either sticky or gooey more than anything else. Of course, I let my kids eat them now and then, but more as a treat rather than a staple. When something has that much sugar in it, whether it is organic or nutrient-rich, in my book it constitutes dessert not a meal.


But that’s me – the parent. What do kids think? They don’t read the ingredients on nutrition bars. So how do they tell dessert from meal food? Kids rely on taste and past experiences. The story goes something like this. My 4 year old and I are walking to the bus stop to meet my kindergartener at the school bus. When the bus arrives, and my daughter hops down from big steps, she is holding a bag of treats. She had been on a field trip that day and received a “goodie” bag with pencils, erasers, rulers, raisins and a health bar inside. All good stuff, I think compared to the typical bag of “goodies” I have seen get off the bus with her before. She asks if she can eat the health bar on the walk home from the bus stop. I say yes, but that she has to give her brother a piece.

I hear a few “yums” and “oohs” as we walk home, the two of them savoring every bite of the health bar.

“I want MORE candy!” demands my 4-year-old all of sudden.

“I don’t have any candy,” I explain to him, confused by his sudden outburst. “How could I give you more candy when I haven’t given you candy in the first place?”

“MORE CANDY, PLEASE!!!!” he wails, ignoring my reasoning.

I am confused. I try to retrace our steps over the last fifteen minutes until it dawns on me. He thinks the nutrition bar is CANDY! Here I am, the parent, suspicious of the “health” bar market because I am not so sure of the actual health benefits. Then my son takes one bite and files what he has consumed under candy, not food.

What’s my conclusion? Is it a good thing that health bars border candy in sugar content and gooeyness? I suppose it is much better to reach for a health bar rather than a Snickers. But on the other hand, health bars should be served as treats, a healthy desert, shall we say, rather than a mini-meal substitute. Just ask your kids.

What happnes in kindergarten, doesn't stay in kindergarten...it comes home.

Long before my daughter could talk, she taught me that well-timed nutrition snacks were my secret weapon to keeping her balanced and eager to explore the world around her. I discovered, first hand, the effects that good nutrition had on her behavior and moods. By the time I figured it all out and felt like I could predict her every move, my toddler grew into a preschooler and now a kindergartener.


What happens in kindergarten, doesn’t stay in kindergarten…it comes home. Sugary snacks, high-fructose corn syrup chocolate milk, fried everything and candy rewards. My kindergartener was exposed to and expected to maneuver through a new landscape of food choices except this time I couldn’t act as tour guide. My only hope was to teach my daughter to make healthy choices for herself because I wasn’t there to make them for her.

All of a sudden, nutrition wasn’t just about what we ate at home. Once my daughter entered school, nutrition became a community-wide concern. And so, I decided to tackle school lunch as I did my daughter’s snacks. Replace the junk with fresh food. They have a name for it. It’s called Farm to School.

No big deal right? Well my county doesn’t have one high school, two middle schools and 5 elementary schools as did the town I grew up in. No, my county has 19 high schools, 19 middle schools, 79 elementary schools and 20 specialty schools. Here is how I got involved.

When my daughter started kindergarten at our neighborhood public school this past fall, I asked the newly formed school garden PTA committee who was working on a Farm to School program and how could I get involved. Aside from the brand new and exciting school garden, no one else was heading a farm to school initiative. In fact, no one in the county had started one either. That day the school garden PTA parents looked at me and said, “You do it.”

And so here we are. More than halfway through the school year and I have assembled a group of PTA parents devoted to the Farm to School initiative, introduced some ideas about nutrition awareness campaigns to do in our very own school, and organized a county-wide stakeholders meeting to discuss how our county could start a Farm to School program.

Our county-wide meeting is scheduled for the end of March but already I have received an RSVP from three principals, a school board member, our state representative, a member of the county board of health, our county school nutrition director and possibly more elected officials. We also have many parents and teachers from schools all across the county as well as farmers and local businesses coming to our meeting.

This meeting is truly exciting for the fact that it will bring so many varied members of the school community together under one purpose, to improve the school nutrition and support local farmers. Whatever the outcome of this meeting, we have taken a gigantic step in the right direction just by initiating a discussion of Farm to School.

Salad: Dressed for Success

Salad dressing is one of my favorite foods. As much as I love greens, I am in it for the dressing. But here’s the thing, most commercially made salad dressings are expensive, use poor quality oils and contain large amounts of sodium and additives.

When I find myself wondering if I should make something from scratch rather than buy it in a store, I ask myself a simple question. How much effort goes into making it myself and how much healthier is that home-made version? For salad dressing, my answer is not much and quite a bit. It hardly takes any time at all to make your own salad dressing while the health benefits and taste over a commercially-prepared one are tremendous.

Salad dressing is like a child’s drawing. There are no wrong answers. As long as you have something to draw with and something to draw on, the rest is up to you. Salad dressing is the same – as long as you have 1 part vinegar and 2-3 parts oil, you are ready to dress those greens! The beauty of salad dressing is that the variations are endless. Once you understand the basic components, start experimenting with your own concoctions.

As for the kids…I will never forget the discussions I had with my 3-year-old son about the difference between salad dressing, getting dressed and wearing dresses.   His older sister got dressed in dresses almost every day so he was sure that the lettuce had something to do with it too.  After you’ve had a good laugh over how Amelia Bedelia might dress her salad, what better way to get the kids eating greens than dipping them in a homemade dressing?

Here are some simple guidelines to making your own fabulous dressing with ingredients you might already have on hand.

Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Dried Oregano (optional)
1 tsp Dijon mustard (or whatever mustard you have)
1/4 tsp sugar (optional)
1 pinch Kosher salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil



Basic Lemon Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pinch Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. dried herb like coriander, basil, or oregano (optional)


Basic Yogurt Ranch:
1/3 cup Greek style plain yogurt
1/3 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1-1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. onion powder (optional)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh chives (optional)
Salt to taste

The Lost Art of Stovetop Popcorn

Are you still making microwave popcorn? Didn’t you open a bag one time, just out of curiosity, before popping and get so grossed out by all the fat and chemicals that you never bought another box of microwave popcorn again?


Well if you didn’t, let me give you a healthy and inexpensive alternative that takes just as long as the microwave version. I am talking about the lost art of STOVETOP POPCORN. And don’t even start in about the air-poppers of the 1980’s that turned perfectly good kernels into cardboard. Stovetop popcorn tastes better that the microwave version and is ten times better for you.

All you need is a large pot with a tight-fitting cover, popping corn kernels and canola oil.

Sprinkle a couple handfuls of kernels in the pot and then generously cover them with a few table spoons of oil. (You will have to experiment with the amount of corn that will fit in the pot so start small if you are unsure. You don’t want the popcorn to pop itself out of the pot!) Pick up the pot and shift the kernels around in the oil until they are all coated. Then cover tightly and put it on the stove on high. Stand by the pot and shake it back and forth every minute or so to make sure the kernels don’t burn. Once it starts popping, continue to shake it every ½ a minute. When the popping starts to slow down, shake the pot again and remove from the flame. Remove the cover immediately (stand back in case there are stray kernels ready to pop) and dump popcorn in a large bowl. Salt to taste and enjoy the healthy snack of fresh popcorn!

Snow Day Blues

The possibility of a snow day is typically met with excitement, anticipation and joy. However when you find yourself starting snow day #3 in a row, it can feel more like a very cold block party with no end date in sight. Life gets put on hold while snow ball fights, hot chocolate and cabin fever become the reality. The first 24 hours is a dream come true. The second, not so much, and the third feels more like punishment. How to cope? Here are some tips to remember.


1. Don’t watch TV all day. Remember that although it’s cold outside and everyone is stuck inside, watching TV all day long won’t end well for anyone. Decide when the TV will go on rather than just leaving it on all day. Turn the TV off and organize another indoor activity that doesn’t require looking at a screen. Art projects or dress-up plays tend to work well. Try putting large paper all over the wall or floor and letting the kids go crazy with the crayons.

2. Don’t forget to move. Bundle up and take a walk in the snow or go outside and build a snowman. Getting outside, even in cold weather, can do wonders for you and your kids. But if it’s just too icy, figure out ways to move inside. Putting on some music and having a dance party also works wonders. Try organizing an indoor scavenger hunt.

3. Don’t forget to drink water. I don’t know about you but for us snow means hot chocolate. That’s all fine until you find yourself on your third cup of the day. Keep track of how many cups you are drinking and remember to drink lots of water in between.

4. Don’t forget nutritious snacks. Of course this tip is Veggie Toddler’s favorite. I honestly think it is the key to many behavior issues. Well-timed, nutritious snacks throughout the day can do wonders for everyone’s personality and mood. After breakfast try chopping up some veggies or steaming frozen ones for snacks later that day. Then when you need a snack in the afternoon, you are good to go with something healthy. The best way to get out of the kitchen and enjoy the day yourself, is to do a little extra preparation in the morning.

5. Enjoy the time with your neighbors. Everyone is home, no one can go far so spend some quality time with the people who live nearby. A change of scenery from your house to your neighbor’s can do wonders for the cabin-fevered kid (and grown-up).

White Broccoli

When I prepare a food that I haven’t yet served to my kids, I sometimes attempt to market it in terms that are already familiar to them. For example, when I steamed cauliflower for the first time, I introduced it to my kids as white broccoli. I figured since they eat plenty of broccoli without complaining, why not align the new vegetable with an already accepted one?
“It’s just like broccoli,” I argued to my kids, “but white!”

My kids looked suspiciously at the white florets but eventually took a bite. My 2-year-old son gave it a dramatic “blech,” while my 4-year-old daughter went back for more.

“It does taste like white broccoli,” she confirmed and then tried to coax her little brother into one more bite.

Fast forward a year when one day I open my weekly box of organic vegetables and find three heads of cauliflower. For dinner that night I bring steamed cauliflower to the table.

“Tonight,” I tell my kids, “we have white broccoli.”

“I know that’s not what it’s called, Mom,” says my 5-year-old who acts like a teenager.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I know what it is,” she says as she takes a bite.

“You do?” I ask.

“It’s called cauliflower, Mom!” she says in triumph.

Meanwhile my son has removed all of the cauliflower from his plate. White broccoli or not, he wants nothing to do with it. I resolve to serve cauliflower more often.

My daughter likes it plain and steamed. My son, not at all.

My husband and I, however, prefer a little more flavor.

Garlicky Cauliflower

1 large cauliflower head, rinsed and trimmed into florets

3 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix cauliflower, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl to evenly coat. Transfer into a baking dish. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the florets are softened. Remove from oven and sprinkle in cheese. Serve warm.

Getting to know unfamiliar vegetables

There is a lot of talk of super foods these days. Those are food that have been identified as packed with more vitamins and nutrients than most other food. Many nutritionists remind us to eat our super foods. However, if I ate only blueberries, broccoli and walnuts I’m not sure how healthy I would actually be.

Super foods are great, no doubt. But eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and grains is still the best way to go. Nutrition fads come and go because they all claim to hold the key to healthful living. No one wants to know the boring truth which is that there is no one key; if you eat a wide variety of fresh food, simply prepared with good oils, in moderation, chances are you will be pretty darn healthy.


I always take note of Super Foods (yogurt, nuts, sweet potato, berries, and broccoli for example) and make sure I include them in our diet. However I like to bring vegetables out of the super hero realm and integrate them into our boring every day life. I strive to make eating vegetables in our house to be no big deal rather than doing a song and dance every time something green hits the table. I’ll take Clark Kent over Superman any day.


So then, let’s talk about what a wide variety of vegetables means. I plead guilty to cooking (and therefore eating) the same old vegetables day in and day out. I eat what I know how to prepare and therefore only know how to prepare what I eat!


It takes effort, self confidence, and a little bit of inspiration to get me to buy a vegetable that I have never or seldom prepared. This year I tried artichoke, brussel sprouts, rutabaga, and collard greens. My family willingly tasted some of the “new” vegetables but certainly not all of them. The key is repetition. If I get comfortable with preparing vegetables that are unfamiliar to me, then eventually my family will too.


What vegetables have you tried new this year or don’t usually serve because you find it challenging to prepare?

Eat Your Veggies

[October 5th, 2010 in the Dining section of the New York Times, Jane E. Brody wrote an article called “Even Benefits Don’t Tempt Us to Vegetables.” At the end of the article, Brody asks for opinions of why America won’t eat their vegetables. What follows is my response.]

I eat plenty of food during the day so why is it that I can’t seem to consume enough vegetables? If I treat vegetables as an afterthought, waiting to be “fit in” to my daily routine, like an optimistic visit to the gym, even I know it just won’t happen.

Nutritionists bombard me with technical information proving why vegetables are good for me. They label some of them “super foods.” I know vegetables are good for me. That’s not the problem. But no matter what cape my broccoli puts on, it won’t swoop down to save the day unless I actually eat it.

Maybe the problem is less about the actual vegetable and more about the stigma surrounding the unfortunate food group. If simply adding vegetables to my diet doesn’t work, then maybe I need to fundamentally change how I am thinking about them. What if I manipulate my daily routine by swapping out the unhealthy food, those with empty calories, and replacing them with nutritional ones like vegetables?

I can identify three basic concepts that will get me eating more vegetables, every day.
1. I don’t need to be a trained chef in order to prepare vegetables.
I visit the farmer’s market or the produce section of my grocery store and bring home some vegetables. Now what? When did vegetable-preparation become so complicated? I look on line for how to cook broccoli, for example, and I find an array of recipes from a mushy casserole to a sauté with exotic ingredients, smothered in cheese. No one tells me that I don’t need to add anything at all in order to eat broccoli but perhaps a little heat to soften up its raw crunch. A lot of vegetables can be consumed raw. Most vegetables may also be steamed, baked or sautéed. Then all I have to do is put them on a plate and enjoy. Sure I can add some butter or olive oil and salt or I may need some tips on how to peel or chop or steam, but vegetables don’t have to be gourmet.

2. I need snacks with calories that count.
 I eat snacks for a reason; I get hungry between meals. Snacks need to satisfy my hunger, give me energy without making me feel too full so I can go about my day until the next meal. Who said junk food is the only snackable food group? Companies have been perfecting junk food’s packaging, shape, taste and texture for years making it more irresistible each time. There is no way vegetables can compete on the outside. But when it comes to the inside, there is no choice. Vegetables will give me the nutrients I need without the unwanted fat, sodium, sugar or calories. A veggie snack truly gives me more bang for my buck when I consider nutrition first. Why not grab some carrots and dipping sauce or a bowl of steamed peas for a snack? How about rushing out of the house with a bag of snap peas or sliced up bell peppers? Why does a snack have to be shrink-wrapped with a shelf life of over a year?

3. I won’t eat what I don’t crave.
In between meals, my energy drops and I look around for a snack. I grab a bag of chips or a muffin or maybe even an organic granola bar. I eat the junk food and I feel satisfied. The next time I need a snack, I crave junk food. It is a cycle. My body wants what my body knows. If I satisfy my cravings with junk food, I will only crave it again the next time hunger strikes. Consider the alternative. My energy drops and I grab a vegetable snack (an avocado and salad dressing or lightly steamed string beans, for example) or even an apple. I feel satisfied after my snack and so the next time I am hungry, I crave another veggie or fruit snack. Could it really be that simple? My body craves what I give it. If I don’t reach for vegetables, my body will never know what it is missing or be able to ask for more. The same goes for meals. If I don’t include a vegetable as an integral part of dinner, I won’t miss it and then I will never eat it. But if I eat vegetables every night, when I do forget, I will miss them and crave vegetables.

If I keep vegetables on a silver platter saved for special occasions, they will never have the opportunity to infiltrate my everyday life. Super foods may have super powers but I need them to put on their street clothes and meld into my daily routine without all the excitement. Eating vegetables should be no big deal. America needs to pop the mystery bubble that makes vegetables appear unattainable and take them off the to-do list that simply never gets done.

Healthy Enough

In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about how you don’t need to be the tallest person around to be a professional basket ball player, you simply need to be tall enough. The same is true for education, according to Gladwell. You don’t need to go to the best college in order to win a Pulitzer Prize; you simply have to go to a school that is good enough. Well I would say nutrition works in a similar manner. Sure there will always be someone who eats a more healthy diet than I do. But in order to live a healthy life, I don’t think I need to grow all of my own food and raise my own cows. I simply need to eat healthy enough.

Perhaps there is a threshold for nutrition just like Gladwell’s basket ball players and Pulitzer Prize winners. We need to strive to eat a healthy diet but not necessarily the most healthy diet possible. Striving to eat healthy “enough” means cutting ourselves some slack now and then. I do all I can to put nutritious food in front of my family, but we also need to live a little. And at the end of the day, that makes us a little more healthy. To be healthy, after all, has to do with not only what we eat but how we live as well. Eat well, exercise and don’t forget to indulge now and then and have fun.

Of course this begs the question, how healthy is healthy enough? I am sorry to say that I have no perfect formula for what constitutes healthy enough. Everyone has their own threshold that works for them and the particular needs of their family. All I can say is that as much as I believe in nutritious food, I also believe in moderation. Every now and then it’s good to stand back from the most recent toxic plastic scare or obesity statistic and say to myself, “you know what? I am doing a pretty good job of getting fresh food on the table for my family.” Although my family may not be the most organic farm fresh, marathon-running family on my block, chances are, we are healthy enough.

Faster Than Take-Out Pasta

Well, maybe not faster but I think it takes just as much effort to call up and order food, get the kids together, drive or walk to a restaurant, bring the food home, and eat it. Okay, so maybe you’ll say, why not just sit there, at the restaurant and eat it? Or perhaps you live in an area where you can get any type of food delivered to your door. I understand, some nights I want to eat at home without making a big fuss in the kitchen. Even if I call for food to be delivered, I still have to wait maybe 30 minutes for it.

Typically I think of ordering take-out because I am tired or pressed for time or my kids are all in bad moods or I haven’t gone to the grocery store and so I think I have nothing to cook for dinner. Whatever the situation may be, the fact is, I can make a quick and easy dinner with items I have in my pantry, stocked in my freezer or left over in my refrigerator that will satisfy myself and my kids and be ready in just as much time it takes me to order take-out.

Some nights I simply need a break and order take out. But those other nights when I just get lazy, those are the times when I remember Faster Than Take-Out Pasta.

What’s my secret? Pasta, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Really, that’s it. Okay so you may have some leftovers to throw in like left over chicken sliced up or a side dish of steamed frozen peas or garlic and zucchini to sauté. You may even have some fresh parmesan cheese to grate up or basil for garnish. Whatever you’ve got – put it together, put it on the table and call it dinner. Chances are it will be quicker, easier and certainly more nutritious and less expensive than another night of take-out. Not every home-cooked meal requires planning and shopping and standing over pots.

A nutritious meal doesn’t need to be complicated. What’s your faster than take-out meal?

Halloween Teeth

“Mommy! Mommy!” scream my kids as they run from trick-or-treating at a house in our neighborhood. “I got a toothbrush!”

One of our neighbors is a dentist. Every year for Halloween, instead of candy, he hands out a toothbrush to the kids trick-or-treating at his house. The adults standing on the sidewalk chuckle over this choice of Halloween treat. I’ve seen pencils, pennies, stickers, or even small containers of play-dough in lieu of candy. I’m always in full support of any effort to diminish the candy fever but even I recognize that the kids just want candy.

To my surprise, the toothbrush causes just as much of a craze as the candy. When we get home that night, after eating quite a few pieces of candy from their loot pumpkins, I say to my kids, “time to brush your teeth.” Usually I get a moan or an “aw mom,” before they sheepishly mope off to the bathroom for the nightly ritual. But tonight is different

“My new toothbrush!” my 5 and 3 year-old exclaim practically in unison, as they rush of to find it buried in the candy pile. Tonight they both brush their teeth with a new found energy. I suppose it could just be from all the sugar they have consumed over the course of the evening. But to me, it is an excitement over a new toothbrush that is brought up to the level of candy on Halloween.

You may not have a neighbor who is a dentist, but this experience got me thinking. Why not give the kids a brand new toothbrush as part of their Halloween treats? I know I can’t stop the candy, so I might as well get in a good brush before bedtime. Happy Halloween!

CSA Box of Treats: Collard Greens

Each week I open my box of organic vegetables and am surprised by what I find.

Last week I found a large green-leafed head of collard greens in my box. Although I live in the South now, I am from the Northeast, so cooking collard greens is simply not in my repertoire of vegetable side dishes. Faced with the task of preparing these enormous green leaves for the first time, I quickly went on line to find a recipe. After weeding out anything that required me to be in the kitchen for more than 30 minutes, I settled on a simple collard greens and bacon recipe. I rushed out to the grocery store to buy the bacon, came home and cooked up delicious collard greens of which I am sure even a real southerner would approve.

This week when I opened my box, I found another large bouquet of collard greens. I gave the impressive green leaves a wink and made a mental note to swing by the grocery store for more bacon. One thing led to another that afternoon and I ended up skipping my quick trip to the store. Then I got to thinking, why was I in such a rush to buy bacon again? The reason I didn’t have bacon lying around in the fridge is because I don’t usually cook with it. I love bacon but it is not something I buy every week. Why am I rushing out to buy bacon for the second time in 1-1/2 week? Oh yeah, I need bacon for the collard greens recipe.

Hmmm…. That doesn’t sound right. I signed up for my weekly organic veggie box in order to eat more organic vegetables not to add large amounts of bacon to my diet. Vegetables shouldn’t require fat and salt in order to taste good. Sure, bacon with collard greens is a delicious side dish. But if I am going to eat it every week, I need a new strategy.

In general there are 3 rules of thumb that I try to stick to in my kitchen:

1. Cook with what is on hand. I don’t let a missing ingredient keep me from making a home cooked meal. Instead, I put together whatever I have even if that means making new variations of familiar dishes. In other words, I improvise.

2. Cook simple dishes that do not require long prep or cooking durations. I love to cook but I don’t have the time or the energy to stand in my kitchen all day long. I like to chop it and cook it, and maybe give it a stir or a flip and then move on with my day.

3. Make it healthy. I try to cook with all fresh ingredients, salt only enough for flavor and use extra virgin olive oil as much as possible.

If I apply my 3 rules of thumb to me and my collard greens having a stare-down in my kitchen, it would seem that I do not need to rush off to the store for bacon. Instead, I reach into my box of organic vegetables to see what else I have on hand. “Garlic, and green pepper,” I say aloud as I reach into the box, “I can do something with those too.”

So Here is the recipe that I improvised in order to prove my point; collard greens do not NEED bacon in order to taste good. Enjoy!



Collard Greens (hold the bacon)

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
¼ tsp pepper
Several dashes of hot sauce(to taste)
2lbs collard greens (or 1 large head), rinsed, center stem removed, cut into strips and then cut in half again
2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
Optional: 1 small green pepper, chopped, or several stalks of celery, chopped

Sautee garlic and onion in olive oil over a medium flame for 3 minutes. Add any optional vegetables (other than the grens) and cook for another 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Stir and bring to a slow boil. Add collard greens and stir. Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the greens have fully wilted and lost their bright green color. Serve warm in their juice as a side dish.

Picky Eater Enabler or Responsible Parent?

A good friend mentioned to me in an email the other day that she may be guilty of enabling her kids to be picky eaters. After taking in the context of her comment, I decided that I disagreed. In fact, I thought she was acting as a responsible parent. This got me thinking…am I a picky eater enabler? Should I make my kids eat what I eat or not eat at all? I don’t want to fall into the trap of becoming my family’s short order chef. But I also don’t think food should be put on an “eat this or else” plate. Where is the line?

Let me give you a specific example. Let’s say one evening for dinner I cook fish, mashed potatoes and zucchini. I know my kids don’t like any of the food I am preparing, but I serve it anyway. Maybe they taste it, maybe they don’t. Maybe they can’t stand the smell of the fish or the consistency of the mashed potatoes. Whatever their reasons, they won’t eat. I tell them that’s what’s for dinner, like it or leave it. They choose to leave it claiming that they are not hungry. They leave the table in a bad mood with their plates untouched. Fifteen minutes later it is dessert time. The kids come bounding in for dessert and want seconds. Soon it is bedtime and the kids want snacks. I give then some cheerios. They are still hungry so I give them apple slices.

Have I won the battle? I cooked one meal, yes. But my kids ate dessert, cheerios and apples for dinner. Meal time was about unhappily looking at food they didn’t want to eat, disobeying my commands to take a bite, and leaving the table feeling hungry and dissatisfied. Then moments later, they return to the kitchen whining for more food.

Here is an alternative scenario to the above example. Let’s say I cook fish, rice (instead of mashed potatoes) and zucchini as well as broccoli. I know my kids do not like to eat fish or zucchini but I also know they love rice and broccoli. I offer them a taste of the fish and zucchini. Maybe they taste it, or maybe they give it a big “yuck.” Then I fill their plates with rice and broccoli and make a mental note to have a protein they like at dinner tomorrow. The kids happily eat the food that they like while watching my husband and I eat the additional food items that they refused. Everyone leaves the table with clean plates, feeling full and satisfied. When it is time for dessert, the kids eat one portion and do not ask for more food before bedtime.

Am I enabling my kids to be picky eaters because I am catering the dinner menu to their likes and dislikes? Some might say yes. But I say no. Catch phrases always sound great when I hear them by themselves but when put into play in real life, they don’t always hold up. My goal for dinner is to have some food on the table that I know everyone will eat. Everyone doesn’t need to eat EVERYTHING on the table. But everyone does need to eat SOMETHING. My job is to make sure there is something for everyone.

Kids get hungry. Kids need to eat. Kids need to consume food with nutritional value. Eating should be a positive experience which should leave kids feeling satisfied with what they have consumed. My job as a parent is to build-up my child’s confidence in eating good food while slowly expanding her tastes into new territory. Some kids naturally try new food while others tend to want to eat the same thing over and over again.

I don’t think I am enabling my kids to be picky eaters. Instead, I am making sure that everyone has something nutritious to eat while instilling a little bit of meal time confidence. Helping kids develop a positive relationship with healthy food, even if their repertoire is limited, is more important than getting them to taste new food. So go ahead and make your kids’ favorite healthy dish. Just keep trying the unfamiliar food without forcing the issue.

Growing Food

 Today I had a lunch date.  A 10:35am lunch date with my daughter and her kindergarten class in the school lunch room.  A cafeteria full of 5 – 7  year olds eating their lunch is certainly a sight to behold.  The organization and strategy needed to simply complete the task at hand is impressive.  I mostly sat there with my mouth open, taking in the scene, wondering if herding cats would be an easier operation.  The teachers who walk around the cafeteria making sure the little kids eat their lunches and behave nicely told the kids to eat their “growing food” first, and then dessert.  My daughter held up her sandwich and pointed to her cantaloupe and whispered to me, “this is my growing food, mommy.” 

Growing Food.  What a fantastic phrase.  It’s not good food or bad food, healthy food or unhealthy food, food that mommy wants you to eat or food that you really want to eat.  Instead, it’s about growing up.  I’m pretty sure that all kids think about growing up in some way, every day.  So to talk about nutritious food as food that will help you grow is just brilliant.  No one is saying that cookies are bad; instead they are saying that a sandwich will make you grow. 

This phrase allows the child the independence to think through the scenario himself.  “I want to grow up and be a big kid…I will eat my sandwich first….then I will eat my dessert.”  The phrase Growing Food teaches little kids WHY we want to eat nutritious food rather than just forcing nutritious food without an explanation. Thank you to the lunch teachers, for inspiring our little ones to eat their growing food.    

Box of Treats: Butternut Squash

The other day in the grocery store, I found myself looking at some organic grapes. They were expensive, but looked very good so I decided to splurge and buy them. A day later at home, I opened up the package and found the grapes to be covered with mold.

Ideally, I would like to buy locally produced organic fruits and vegetables for my family to eat, but in my hectic, non-stop busy world, I simply don’t always have the time to make an extra stop at a farmer’s market or specialty store. Sometimes I force myself to make the time but most weeks it simply gets in the way of soccer practice or ballet class schedules. I end up looking for organic produce at my regular grocery store which is often over priced and simply not that fresh. Fortunately, many organic farms are embracing the concept of selling a box of organic fruit and vegetables that are locally grown, once a week. I just signed up for a 15 week CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription through our local preschool for a weekly box of treats.

The concept is fantastic. I don’t have to go to a special market for organic produce and I don’t even have to decide what fruit and vegetables to purchase (the mix has been decided for me based on what is ripe). As I pick up my box for the week I am delighted by the surprise mix of organic fruits and vegetables. If I find myself with a vegetable that I don’t typically cook, I am forced to try new recipes and figure out new ways to incorporate the unfamiliar vegetable in to our meals and snacks. Some might find this stressful, but I see it is a fun challenge that will keep my whole family eating healthy and trying new things.

This week there were three large butternut squash in my box of treats. I love butternut squash when I can purchase it peeled and sliced into chunks ready for steaming or baking. But when I am shopping for vegetables and come across whole butternut squash, my lazy side kicks in and I typically keep walking. Sad, I know. But, here I was with three beautiful squash in my kitchen, already paid for. “How many ways can I cook this,” I thought.

The first one I peeled, sliced and steamed and then offered it to my kids for an afternoon snack. My kids are accustomed to eating sweet potato in this way so when my daughter asked what it was, I responded with “it is just like sweet potato.” Only after they had tasted the squash and determined that they liked it and asked for more did I tell them it was called butternut squash.

The second one I peeled, sliced and steamed but this time I pureed it into soup. My kids wouldn’t taste it (they are not big on soups), but my husband and I enjoyed it.

The third squash I decided to bake. I am more found of savory squash rather than sweet or with nutmeg so I baked it with butter and salt. I scraped out the baked squash, mashed it with butter and salt and served it as a side dish for dinner. My kids have a hard time with the mashed consistency so I didn’t get many takers.

Stay tuned for more recipes and ideas that come to mind as I open my weekly box of treats.

The Independent Kindergartener

When I think about getting my kids to eat nutritious food, in the back of my mind I know that one day my kids will grow up and be faced with making decisions about what to eat on their own. Right now I decide what’s for dinner, I let them know what the options are for breakfast each morning and I am the one who packs their lunch. I know that teaching my kids about what it means to eat nutritious food is just as important as getting them to consume it. One day I won’t be there, looking over my daughter’s shoulder, to guide her in her food choices. All of this I know will happen one day. I just didn’t realize that day was today.

“Sweetie how come you are not drinking any water from your thermos during lunch?” I ask my 5 year old after her first two weeks of kindergarten as I unpack her lunchbox at the end of the day.

“Oh I don’t need my thermos, Mom,” she replies with the attitude of a teenager. “I like to get chocolate milk instead.”

“You BUY chocolate milk every day?” I ask in amazement.

“Yes, its sooooo fun, mom,” she responds with a smile.

“But I don’t give you any money,” I wonder aloud, “so how are you buying milk without any money?”

“My teacher asks us if we want to get milk,” my daughter explains, “so I get in line and pick my milk.”

“And then what,” I coax her to tell me more.

“Then I stand in line and I give the lady my number, 40655, and then I go sit down and eat my lunch and drink my chocolate milk.”

There you have it. Just like that the chord of nutrition control had been severed the minute I enrolled my daughter into kindergarten and the teacher handed out student ID numbers for making purchases at lunch time to be billed to the parents at the end of the month. Now, it’s my daughter’s choice. Sure, I can still guide and advise her. But at the end of the day, or in the middle of the day, I should say, it is my 5-year-old, standing in the school lunch line, choosing what she wants to drink. All of a sudden it is no longer about only giving her healthy choices. She has met the school lunch line and now it is up to her to make healthy choices on her own. Of course, I can lobby to improve school lunches and do away with flavored milk. I plan to participate in the PTA committee for school wellness and bring about healthy changes in the years to come. But I also have to deal with the reality of today – my daughter purchasing high fructose corn syrup chocolate milk for lunch.

Just before bedtime that night I call my daughter over to me for a serious talk. We talk about drinking regular milk and how it is good for your body. We talk about chocolate milk that she has at home (in small portions and without the high fructose corn syrup) when she can brush her teeth right after so the chocolate doesn’t sit on her teeth all day and give her cavities. I tell her about how she eats many treats but ones that are approved by me and not necessarily consumed during school. We talk about how she needs healthy food to give her energy and keep her awake so she can learn and play at school. Most importantly, we talk about making healthy choices that are right for her, rather than just doing what everyone else does.

I have no idea how much of our talk got through to my daughter. And of course, drinking chocolate milk at lunch is not the end of the world. But it is the tip of an iceberg that is lurking beneath my feet. The tip of unhealthy habits may seem innocent and inconsequential, but I know better. My gut tells me that giving in to high fructose corn syrup drinks at lunch for a 5-year-old will only pave the way for more unhealthy habits to come. I know that if I stand my ground for nutrition over empty calories, she will feel better, have more energy and develop a taste for more healthy food down the road.