Fun, Food & the Pendulum

If you read my posts regularly, you know that much of the time my family gets homemade meals - not fancy, over the top stuff - simple, balanced, healthy, and often even yummy.

But sometimes? Sometimes toddlers are needy. And sometimes jobs are demanding. And sometimes the last thing you can fathom at the end of the day is even spending 15 minutes cooking. And sometimes this starts to look like the new normal.

And you know what? I'm okay with it. I'll take it.

When time in the evening feels extra short, I will take chips & salsa for dinner. Or hummus & crackers. Or - wait for it - a frozen family entree.

Do you know what I did while that Stauffer's Mac'n'Cheese cooked for 18 minutes in the microwave? I sat on the floor with my beautiful daughter (2 years & 8 months old) and worked on her princess puzzle. It was pure bliss.

As was the Mac'n'Cheese. Judge away, judgers.

By the way - she's getting really good at the puzzle. (Not this one, but you get the idea. Clearly, she's a genius.)

I'll tell you what allows me to still sleep at night. Aside from the aforementioned mommy&me bliss.

• Fresh or frozen veggie before or with the meal.
• Fruit or low-fat yogurt for dessert.
• It's still better than fast food ... right? ;P

So, 3 out of 5 nights this week, I went the above route.
Wednesday I made fish, green beans & sweet potato oven fries. It took all of 15-20 active minutes, but there was enough leg clinging to make it feel double that. (There was also sincere lip-smacking from the Tot, so there's that.)
Tonight we went to a family Christmas reception with my husband's company. Kiddo was pretty impressed with the huge tree's "light dance" to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra medley. She ate next to nothing due to over excitement. When we got home, we all snuggled in front of our very own, regular size tree - plus, grahamy grams & hot chocolate (milk for kiddo&hubben; apparently I'm the only one with sense!) ... and don't forget the lite rock station's Christmas songs! Again, bliss.


Trust me. I know all about the easy homemade meals I can make. Again, see some of my previous posts. They're just not working for me right now. I know I'll get back to them. I also know ... that I'll then proceed to go overboard. I'll start making more elaborate meals that take too long away the Munchkin. Then one day, I'll go - "this is silly! I want to spend more time with my family!" Then I'll go stock my freezer with Stauffer's Family Entrees. (This will probably coincide with a sale on them for $3.99. And the inner conflict between - "that's so cheap!" and "why is that so cheap?" -- well, that's a whole other post.)

Or maybe one day, the pendulum will stop swinging. And I'll just stay balanced perfectly at that sweet spot between healthy & home-cooked v. uncomplicated & FAST. Maybe this will be that time.

After all, a pendulum has to come to rest eventually, right? Simple physics.

Soy Delicious

Allergy friendly.
Lunches at my daughter's school have to be allergy friendly.
My daughter loves peanut butter. That is not allergy friendly.

I was telling my mom about some modifications I'd made to recipes recently to make them allergy friendly. She asked why I thought there were so many more allergies now than there used to be.
My answer? I have no clue. No clue.

Further, I have no clue why I can bring no nuts to school, but eggs, dairy, wheat, and all other common allergens are just dandy.

Deep thoughts for another day.

Bottom line: peanuts & all tree nuts are persona non grata.

Let's keep it light for today, and I'll just share some yummy recipes and their modifications. Actually, it's kind of a "big duh" modification. Soy nut butter.

The first one I bought was pretty yuck. It was chalky and a big fail for PBJ sandwiches. The second one (Soy Wonder) is better, but still no Peter Pan.

So, the main thing we're doing with these -- is baking. Soy-nut butter banana muffins have been a huge hit.

I found the original recipe via Pinterest. (Shock.) It's from Cooking Light.



The modifications I made were: 1. soy nut butter for the peanut butter (obviously). 2. 1 cup whole wheat flour for the white; I kept 1/2 cup white flour (for now). 3. vanilla yogurt for plain, because it's what I had. 4. I made them into muffins for easy school-day breakfast packing. It yields 16-18, takes 20-25 minutes at 350.

D.licious! Her teachers tell me how much she loves them, and I feel good about the protein punch, especially if I toss a soy-sage or hard-boiled egg in the bag!

The next frontier is this peanut butter granola, also found on Pinterest.



I might need a new jar of Soy Wonder real soon!

Catching up on Cooking

So. Forays into politics, spirituality & philosophy aside, I actually have still been cooking for my family all summer. Much of it healthy, fun, & easy - or some combination thereof.

For example, lunch yesterday. Have you seen those Flat-Out breads? If not, go look. They are such a great starter for easy meals - any time of day. My store keeps them with the pitas, by the hummus. They look like this:



I had a bunch of various leftovers in the fridge - BBQ chicken, black beans, grilled corn. I had some cheese. (Side bar: I thought I had shredded cheese, but only had a block -- did you know that's what your grater is for? I'd almost forgotten.) I threw it all on a flat, tossed it under the broiler, and voila!

Oh, but what's that on top? Just a little something I threw together. (I've also been overstocking produce this summer.) 

Avocado, mango, cilantro, S&P. Done. Yum.

Munchkin mostly ate the bread, but I loved the whole thing.

Later we did this.

Not a bad day.

We used the wraps for today's lunch too. Sliced chicken, Swiss cheese - broiler again. Done. Mustard for me. Green beans for both of us. Easy Peasy. Yum again.

We also baked banana muffins, splashed in rain puddles & had a long philosophical bedtime discussion regarding Cars. But those are topics for another day.

Resolving & Further Evolving

I was thinking about New Years Resolutions and about how passive that sounds. By contrast, resolving to do something sounds active and somehow more powerful. Therefore, I decided to resolve this New Year, rather than make resolutions.

I further noted the relationship between resolve and evolve. Resolve gives the impression of happening just once. Whereas, evolve communicates an ongoing process. To me, life is more like the latter. You go along, trying new things, keeping what works and what makes you happy. Sometimes there's that eureka moment, but mostly, it's a series of baby steps.


A couple months back I presented my health report card, along with some goals for improvement. Here's a review of my core principles for healthy living, with my scores then & now, and any related goals & notes:

Consume a Plant-Based Diet
Grade then - B; Grade now - A-

• GOAL: Increase meatless dinners to 3 weekly; Limit meaty lunches to 3 weekly.
• NOTES: I think I hit the 3 meatless dinners most weeks, if I give myself fish as meatless (which I decided to do shortly after the original post). I would like to see fewer of the meatless dinner involve pasta. I definitely limited my meaty lunches. Most weeks, having only 1 or 2. If I did go over, it was because I needed to clean up leftovers!

Choose Lean Meats & Low-fat Dairy
Grade then & now - A

Make at Least Half Your Grains Whole
Grade then - A-; Grade now - A

• GOAL: Use a non-rice, non-wheat whole grain once weekly.
• NOTES: Done. I am surprised in retrospect how modest a goal I set here. I am also unclear why I didn't allow for rice. I was not using much brown rice at the time & have certainly increased that. I've also served barley & bulgar a few times each. I've continued to lean heavily on whole wheat varieties, but I know I have expanded my variety!

Limit Discretionary Calories
Grade then & now - D

• NOTES: Thank goodness I didn't set a goal here. The holidays after all! I will say that I consumed less in the way of sweets & potent potables this year than in years past. I think we chalk this up to mommyhood!

Move More
Grade then & now - B-

• GOAL: Increase rower/stretch/tone workouts to 3 weekly.
• NOTES: The holidays, a minor illness & some time out-of-town were brutal on this goal the past month. I did okay the first month. The past few weeks, I've shifted my strategy to walking the dog instead, though I'd still like to use that rower more!

Write Down SMART Goals

Grade then - C; Grade now - B

• GOAL: Reassess in 2 months ... just in time for New Years Resolutions!

... and NOW ... for the resolving & further evolving!

• Plants -
• Continue to consume no more than 3 meaty lunches. Serve 3 meatless dinners per week, only 1 of which is pasta or pizza based!
• Choose organic off the "dirty dozen" produce list.
• Grains - 
• Continue to experiment with different grains, serve a non-traditional one at least 2 times monthly.
• Limit refined grains served in the home to 1 weekly. (We all have plenty outside the home, after all!)
• Moving - 
• Walk the dog briefly every night after toddler bedtime, unless truly extenuating circumstances.
• 3 times weekly, do additional activity after walking - rowing, lifting or stretching.
• SMART - 
• Reassess in June - why not for 6 months? --- because that's when I finish my masters! I'll be pleased if I can accomplish the goals. I highly doubt I'll have time to write about them while we're working on them!

I also resolve to make a few changes unrelated to my physical health. I resolve to address those in my next post - to be titled "Redirecting" ...

Till then, happy tween week! :)

The Quick & The Read - Recipe Schmecipe

I love to cook. I love to cook healthy for myself & my family.

I don't always have as much time as I'd like. (Okay, yes, I might have more if I interwebbed less, but whatevs.) There are plenty of great shortcuts that allow you to put a (semi-)homemade meal on the table & still have time to do fun stuff like this:

... and still get through the shower before bedtime!

Two recent success stories for us:

1. Spinach Tortellini with Peas & Pesto - That's right. Prepared tortelli (in this case, spinach pasta with ricotta filling), frozen peas, prepared pesto. We had it with Caesar salads, by which I mean - romaine lettuce from a bag + lite Caesar vinaigrette & Parmesan shavings. Munchkin's new thing is "more salad?" --- Enough to melt a dietitian mama's heart.
2. Beef Stir-fry - I chopped an onion, sauteed it in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes, then added lean "stew meat" (the stuff pre-cut for you) and cooked till it was mostly done. Then I added a bag of pre-chopped stri-fry veggies. I poured over all that a "sauce" I'd made while the onion cooked (approx: 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 2 big squeezes honey), but you could certainly use a marinade or salad dressing. I served it over 90 second Uncle Ben's whole grain medley. This I actually took a second to photograph: 

No one said it was a good photograph.

Another thing about my cooking? I tend to take recipes as suggestions or inspirations, rather than strict instructions. If I don't have this, that or the other, I improvise. Here are 2 recipes I recently took great liberties with, either by choice or necessity.

1. Roasted Butternut Squash over Farro by the Vintage Mixer - I saw the picture on Pinterest and thought it looked delicious. I read the title, decided I'd toss in some spinach & my own spice ideas. I further decided to use barley, because I had some & because I wanted to try ...
2. Slow-cooker Barley Risotto by Dietitian on a Mission - In this case, I started cooking and realized I didn't have a number of things I thought I did. I knew I didn't have a shallot and used a third of so of an onion. I thought I had far more chicken stock than I really did --- I used extra water with plenty of salt. 

I smashed them together & it turned out GREAT! My hubben liked the whole thing. The Munchkin actually said yummy over some spinach & squash before deciding all she wanted in the world was "rice." I did sneak a few chickpeas in her little face too.

Take home messages:

1. There are healthy short-cuts out there. Keep looking till you find ones that work for you. Then take variations on them to avoid "taste fatigue."
2. Don't be afraid to experiment. What's the worst that will happen? No one will like it? You & they will either suck it up & eat it. Or you'll make PBJs or have chips'n'salsa or somesuch.
3. Eating at least moderately well doesn't have to cost a fortune or exhaust you. It only requires a little thought on the front-end.
• I made the following analogy to a patient today: I have a basket of clean laundry waiting to be put away. If I took the 15 minutes one evening to just do it, it would save me the 5 minutes every morning looking for socks (by which I meant underwear).
• That basket is still waiting ....

Week in a Day, my Way

Rachel Ray has this show - Week in a Day. About a year ago, I watched it a few times. Great concept - spend a few hours cooking one day, have meals for the whole week. I quit watching the show though, because - well, for one thing, there's only so many - "then you put the leftovers into mac'n'cheese" that I can handle.

 

Still, it's a great concept. And one I've been meaning to incorporate into our routine. Well, last week, I finally did. It was so awesome, I did it again this week!

 

Here are last week's meals:

• Sunday: Stuffed Acorn Squash
• Monday: Pumpkin Chili + cornbread muffins (Jiffy)
• Tuesday: Hummus, Crudite & flatbread
• Wednesday: Pumpkin Chili + garlic toast (Pepperidge Farms)
• Thursday: Pasta Marinara (+ squash stuffing)
• Friday: (Okay, fine we ordered a pizza.)

 

Clearly, my Sunday cooking didn't quite feed us all week. We did snacks one night & delivery another, but the majority of our meals came from Sunday's efforts.

 

Here's how I put it together:

 

 

I halved & seeded the squash; olive oil + S&P - and put them in a 350 oven for about an hour. (A fork works much better for seeding than a spoon, btw.)

 

 

I started the chili while the squash baked. It looks gross now, but just wait. Essentially, you can take your favorite basic chili recipe & replace a can of tomatoes with a can of pack pumpkin. I like the look of black beans with the slight orange tint. Also, it was Halloween, so I felt like I should have black - the other beans are dark red kidneys, pretty close to purple!

 

While I was composing the chili, I was also cooking chicken. This was a compromise & a gamble. Although I'd purchased organic chicken breasts, I cooked them in a totally lame fashion - just a little EVOO + S&P -- and {gulp} in the microwave it went. It turned out fine! Really juicy even before it simmered with the chili for hours. I shredded it up & added it to the chili after I had the other ingredients mixed smoothly.

 

 

Once the chili was all mixed together, I made the filling for the stuffed squash. I pulled the squash out of the oven & stuffed it. I topped it with a little shaved parmesan, set it under the broiler for a few minutes & voila!

 

 

Recipes:

 

Stuffed Squash

I must credit Aggie's Kitchen. Please see the link.

My alterations: I use diced zucchini instead of mushrooms. I know that's quite different, but it tastes great, and mushrooms are not a hit with the hubben. I use fresh or frozen spinach instead of kale, as I just find it easier to work with. I use Italian breadcrumbs instead of panko, because I have it on hand. Finally, I omitted poultry seasoning & beef broth, because I forgot them!

 

I made this a couple weeks ago & positively adored it. Munchkin doesn't seem to care for winter squash but DIGS the stuffing. It is a HUGE amount of veggies too!

 

I used small "Golden Acorn" squash this time. I would recommend using the green ones. These were more bitter than the last time I made this recipe. 

 

Pumpkin Chili

1/2 large white or yellow onion, diced

1 large tomato, chopped

1/2 bunch green onions, diced

1 can pack pumpkin

1 (10-oz) can diced tomatoes with basil, oregano & garlic

1 (10-oz) can seasoned black beans (in their liquid)

1 (10-oz) can dark red kidney beans (drained & rinsed)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cooked & shredded

 

Saute the onions in a little olive oil. Add everything else. Simmer as long as you like. Serve it the next day for even more deliciousness!

 

I like chili with some shredded cheese. This one tasted just great with it. I preffered the corn muffins with it, but the garlic toast was fantastic too.

 

***

The whole process took me under 2 hours. It forced me to let my husband play with our Munchkin, whereas I usually hog her, but also allowed me to see them! Best of all, it nearly eliminated meal prep through the week. It was just lovely!

My best tips to do this yourself:

• Don't try 2 intensive recipes. Either pick 2 tried/true/easy or go with one sort of stretch + 1 go-to.
• Try to choose at least some overlap ingredients. This allows you to multipurpose as you prep ingredients.
• Find a day & time that work for you. It might be Wednesday night for all I know.
• If you find dinner prep stressful, give this a couple tries. It might take you once or twice to get the hang of it. 

Probably, like me, you sort of get the idea. However, like Rachel Ray, I'll be back with more menus in this vein. I hope you enjoy it! :)

 

 

Healthier Her, Healthier Me

You want your child to grow up healthy. You want to be healthier. Luckily, they go together like two peas in a pod, peanut butter & bananas ... or peanut butter & fingers!

For me, I had gotten a little lazy. I seem to have an unnaturally high metabolism. Add to that, pregnancy & breastfeeding - I was pretty much eating whatever I wanted. But in the past 6 months, I had to start making an effort.

Not because I started to gain weight back after breastfeeding was over. But because I didn't want to feed my daughter the crap I'd somehow ended up eating. Oh, I'm sure it still wasn't terrible relative to the SAD (standard American diet), but I wasn't proud of it, and I didn't want to model it for her.

So, slowly but surely, I made changes. It's like how kids start behaving better when Christmas approaches - someone's watching, and there will be consequences.

I'll admit I do still hit the frozen yogurt after she goes to bed (or - ahem - the clearance candy ... you can't see me while I'm writing this, right?) But even when she's not watching, I've started to actually crave fruits for snacks.

We also go for walks at least a few times a week, play catch in the back yard, run around the house playing hide&go-seek --- what we're modeling there? --- activity can be fun play, not a chore to dread. I've also started to internalize that. I look forward to my little work-outs & have fun planning them.

I think many parents get stuck trying for the own healthy habits because they think in terms of "kids' food" and "adult food." Kids ages 1-2 should drink whole milk instead of low-fat or non-fat --- that is the only thing different about healthy eating for them than for us. It's important to remember that their palettes are more sensitive so they may not like super spicy foods, but they don't have to eat chicken nuggets or mac'n'cheese all the time. You and they can eat the same healthy foods. Enjoy!

So, the short & sweet of it is just this --- if you want a healthy child, model it - you'll get a healthy you. If you want a healthy you, strive for a healthy child. 

Stop the Insanity! - A Simple Behavior Change Tip

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  - Albert Einstein

Have you ever heard that quote? I didn't know it was an Einstein quote until just now, and perhaps it doesn't mean quite what I thought it did. No matter. I think it fits very well to the challenges of changing behaviors.

Most of us know the behaviors we should change or want to change. We may know the behaviors we'd like to start in place or our old ones. It's the how to get from one to the other that causes such confusion. And insanity.

Too often I hear how often a patient, acquaintance, or friend has tried to develop healthier habits or to lose weight - to start exercising more or eating less of this, that or the other.

Very often a common theme emerges: insanity. In the Einstein way. They're trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about getting my daughter to eat different fruits & vegetables. I said "Try, try again." I went on to explain how I tried different foods, or the same foods but in different ways.

Occasionally, the same thing in the same way works on a different day. Sometimes not. If you've tried the same thing a few times and not succeeded, you're not a failure -- you need to try something new.

I think a few examples will better illustrate than further explanation:

• You drink regular sodas and want to cut them out. You try just drinking water. You miss soda, so you go back to drinking it. You try drinking diet soda but don't like how it tastes. How about trying the diet version of a soda you don't drink on a regular basis. I know a few people who couldn't switch from Coke to Diet Coke but could do Diet Dr. Pepper. Mountain Dew fans rarely like Diet Mountain Dew. Maybe you'd like Coke Zero?
• You want to start exercising. Running seems to be straightforward; lots of people are doing it; maybe you even liked it when you were younger. (Yes, this is me.) But you start, and you. just. don't. like it. So - try a different activity. You don't have to do it in the morning or right after work or over your lunch hour. Try different times, different things.
• You find out you have high blood pressure and need to cut back on sodium. You try not using the shaker at the table but everything tastes bland. You try the salt substitutes but the Mrs. Dash-types have the pizzazz you want, and the No Salt-types just doesn't taste right. Try using different herbs & spices in your cooking. Try different preparation techniques like roasting vegetables. Try something that's not trying to be salt - like balsamic vinegar or lemon juice.

"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." - Thomas Edison

I thought that quote was Einstein. Shows what I know. Maybe it doesn't mean what I thought either.

Bottom line: you don't have to be a genius to change your behavior. You just have to keep trying different things.

Eating Well On-the-Go (or at least better)

Part 1 - Just your every-week eating out


This is not a newsflash: as a general rule, we eat more when we eat out. So ... if you want to lose weight or avoid weight gain, it's a good idea to limit how often you eat out. Many of my posts deal with how to eat at home more often, more easily, more healthfully & more enjoyably.

Yet, I eat out 1-3 times per week. Every weekend, my husband & I take our daughter out once for lunch, usually breakfast on the other day, occasionally a dinner out on Friday. We all enjoy the experiences. My husband & I like being waited on & not having to do dishes. (There. I said it.) On a hot Florida day, it's nice to go into an overly air-conditioned restaurant and just sit. Our daughter loves to stare at new people and make the occasional friend.

Now, 1-3 times weekly is below average according to a recent LivingSocial survey. Still, given that I'm a working mom, it's a good quarter of the meals I share with my daughter. So it is very important to me that I still model and encourage healthy choices at our meals out.

Here are some tricks & tips that have worked for us:

• Plan ahead
• Even small chains have their menus online. Often they post nutrition information as well. If not, you likely can find information for a representative item on one of the many calorie counting websites or smart-phone apps.
• Sharing is caring
• Our daughter is only 18-months. It's kind of a no-brainer that she doesn't need a kids' meal at this point. Given most restaurant portions, I think it will be a few years before she really does. 
• At a local BBQ place, we recently ordered 2 dinners, which each came with 2 sides. We gave her a little of each our main dishes and a little of a couple sides. There were still leftovers! 
• At a local sports bar (watching our Cornhuskers!), I ordered a kids' meal + a cup of chili. She & I split the meal, and I had the chili. It was a perfect amount of food.
• Veggies first
• As a general rule at home, we offer our daughter her veggies before we bring out the meat & starch. We find that she eats her veggies much better this way. (It's not a bad idea for adults, by the way!) We've taken to doing the same out to eat. Yes, this requires you to ask the server to do something out of the ordinary. If they look at you funny, dock their tip. (Not really; I used to be a server.) At that local BBQ place? We ordered an extra side of green beans & asked that they come out first. She devoured them. ... So did we; I think they were boiled in butter + a ham hock, but still!

Part 2 - Vacation

There's the eating out we do every week ... then there's Vacation ...

As previously discussed, loved ones can inadvertently sabotage our best eating intentions. Family & friends often express love through food. I have been guilty of this myself. When you only see your extended family once or twice each year like I do, you may find yourself trying to make up for lost time and shove all food traditions into a few days! This does not have to spell disaster for your waistline or the habits you want your child to develop. 

A few simple strategies can help. I did just that on my trip last week with my daughter to visit my family in Nebraska. Actually, they are the same strategies I just gave above. We just need to apply them a little differently. So, here we go again:

• Plan ahead
• Think through what you'll be doing throughout the vacation. Decide what's most important to you. Most likely, you'll need to give a little on a thing or two. (Unless you want to drive yourself crazy, not to mention the people you're visiting.) In my case, I knew that our usual "schedule" (3 meals & 2 snacks without grazing in between) might not survive flights, lots of driving, and - oh, yeah - other toddlers. I decided the content mattered more to me. My mom (who arrived in Nebraska ahead of me) helped out by having some of our favorite healthy snacks on hand. I also knew there would be a couple of "party dinners," so on those days, we were especially careful to have healthier breakfasts, lunches & snacks.
• Sharing is caring
• In this case, I mean modeling. I will admit to hitting the candy drawer once or twice when my daughter was napping. But for the most part, I did as I preached. A nice side-effect - I ate less junk than I normally do when on vacation! 
• Veggies first
• And fruits! Whatever we were eating, I still gave my daughter her veggies first (or fruit at breakfast). Fruit was also often our dessert or our snacks. The one time I felt like a big fail in that department was on our flights back. On the flights out, I managed to have fresh fruit in my carry-on. Somehow that didn't happen on the way back. The 15-month-old across the aisle on our last plane had a Buddy Fruits squeezer-thingy. I just looked them up, and they look like a pretty good option. Sure you lose some fiber, but they are 100% fruit, and probably very unlikely to come out my backpack bruised & worthy only of being tossed in the trash. So ... next time!

Oh ... and did I mention that she also saw where some of her food comes from? :)

What are your strategies for eating well on the go?

A few of my favorite things (about family dinners)

The benefits of family dinner are well-documented. For a good article on a recent comprehensive support see Time at the Table. You can also download the full report.

Here are just a few of the many many things I personally love about our family meals.


Healthier her, healthier us*

Even though I've been a registered dietitian for 6 years, I never felt so strongly about the need to eat well before my daughter was born. ... at least when she's watching! My husband & I are her primary role models for healthy eating & healthy behavior in general. I have no business expecting her to grow up liking vegetables or wanting to be active if she doesn't see me doing likewise. So I make sure she see that!

Time to talk


As fellow parents can surely attest, a great deal of table time is spent talking to the child, talking the child into trying a bite of the veggies, talking the child out of painting with her milk or offering the dog the entire contents of her plate. We also ask her how her day was, what she likes best on the plate, what songs she likes, who her favorite friends at school are & why. She doesn't really answer yet. Unless we ask about which animal Old McDonald has on his farm. In which case, the answer is usually "um ... a pig." At this point, addressing her respectfully & with interest mainly lets her know that we respect her & are interested in her.
My husband & I also do engage in some adult conversation. Obviously, this is important for our own sanity. It is also, perhaps also obviously, important for our daughter to see. She sees parents who care about each others' days, who help each other with preparation & clean up, who say "please" & "thank you" to each other, etc & so forth. My husband typically compliments my cooking, followed by asking her "Mommy's a good cook, isn't she?" To which she responds, "Mmm-hmm!" She not only sees us expressing kind sentiments to each other and to her, she also hears us using correct language.

Quiet time


This is no news flash to anyone: it is easy to get over-stimulated out there. The world is full of sounds, images, and sensations. In the palms of our hands we have access to our emails & the days news. We also give others access to us - everywhere. In our house, the norm is cell phones stay away from the family table.
But the greatest source of peace at the table? There is no TV within view of the kitchen table or dining room table. Our kitchen, dining room & living room are all open to each other. We chose not to put a TV in our living room. I am thrilled with nearly every decision we made in building our home, but this might be the best one. Best intentions notwithstanding, it is all too easy to turn on the tube if there's one in view, and that's the end of conversation! The TV placement has worked its magic outside mealtime too. TV is not on all that much period in our house. Oh, certainly - she knows "Mickey" & "Oso" + "Elmo" & "Caillou" -- and we're getting quite familiar with "Gabba." My husband & I are also SciFi TV junkies, but I know we watch much less than when the TV was in the main living area. I cannot recommend it enough!
(In the photo, we're at the kitchen table; the dining room is behind the sink to the right; the living room to the left. And yes, there is an unmade bed directly behind my daughter's adorable face.)

What about you?


This is by no means a comprehensive list of the benefits of family meals. If you want to learn more, take a look at the links above. I also plan to do a more detailed post about how feeding my daughter has made me a healthier eater.

What do you love about family meals?

Defining & Defending Cheap Wine (and Moderation)

It occurs to me that I've been throwing around the term "cheap wine" frequently without defining it. Well, it's subjective. But - what it means to me is wine under $15, preferably $10. I don't really trust wine with a regular retail price under $5 ... or really much under $8.

BUT - I don't like drinking crap. In fact, I won't drink crap. If I buy a wine, and it's crap - it goes down the sink. This doesn't feel too bad because it wasn't a huge investment. So that's cheap wine buying tip #1 - No regrets. Obviously, you want to go by word of mouth & friendly recommendations as well. When flying blind, try familiar names, in particular - winemakers that make some good higher-priced wines typically also make some tasty cheap ones.

A couple examples - 

• R collection by Raymond Vineyards
• Earlier this summer, my Publix had these BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free). Regular retail for $13. Thus, perfection. A wine toward the upper-end of my cheap wine definition, but I get it for below my lower-end usual purchase price. I got the Chardonnay & the Red Field Blend. Both were great. I'd have been happy to get them for $13. I was ecstatic when they were back on BOGO last week!
• Penfolds Koonunga Hills Shiraz Cabernet
• This, along with Monkey's Bay Sauvignon Blanc, were our table wines at our wedding. For whatever reason, we seem to have more occasions to drink the Shiraz Cab - so much so, it's been dubbed our "house wine." The price has gone up the past few years, but this wine still retails for under $15. When it goes on sale, it's worth stocking up! (The Sauv-ey is also a tasty treat btw!)

And here's a wine-drinking tip ... Get thee a vaccum wine saver!

If you live alone or live with someone who can't always partake with you (and you don't want to drink a whole bottle!), this little gadget allows you to have a glass without wasting the rest. So simple, yet totally amazing - cost: $5 ... value: priceless. The longest I've ever stretched a bottle was about 5 days / 3 opens.

And now ... for the possibly bad news.

I also frequently talk about "moderation" - again, this is a subjective term that could stand for a little definition. This is not really subjective. Remember that "glass" I just mentioned? One (5 oz) glass of wine daily is considered moderate alcohol intake for women. Men get 2. Equivalents are 12 oz beer or 1.5 oz spirits. And, no - it doesn't work to average it out & have 7 drinks all on Friday night.

Full disclosure: I probably had 7-8 oz of wine tonight.

Here's to cheap wine, moderation & happy hunting! ... TGIF! :)

Simple Summer Suppers, Part 10 of 10 (Make-ahead Meatless Magic for a Monster Monday: Menu as Movie)

Teaser:

Here's why I love cooking dinner in advance: because when you have a tough day, dinner is waiting for you. Stick with me, kids -- more revolutionary insights await you!

Set-up:

Today was a tough day. As I have yet to develop cloning technology, I am still finding it difficult to be in two places at once in the mornings. Various & sundry other factors need not be mentioned here, but let it be known that in the middle of it, I remembered we had a late meeting with our financial planner.

Yikes! Enough to send you to the drive-thru, right?

Wrong.

Not when you took advantage of a nap-time Saturday to make ahead a delicious & wholesome meal. One that didn't even require reheating!

As with so many of my posts, this is more concept than recipe, and another "go-to" at that.

The Concept: 

Grain, veggies, nuts, beans, feta

Tonight's Star:

Barley

(Confession: I'd never cooked with barley before & only eaten it in beef barley soup. Spoiler: delicious! The hubben prefers to my usual - bulgar wheat & my back-up - quinoa.)

Today's below-the-title stars

Green onion

Zucchini

Supporting cast (who do not get pics during the opening credits)

Baby spinach (right out of the bag)

Black olives (small can of sliced, drained)

Chick peas (1 can, drained & rinsed)

Reduced-fat Feta cheese, crumbled (1 small container)

1/2 cup walnuts (broken up a bit & toasted lightly)

1/4 lite Caesar dressing (Publix brand)

The plot:

Follow directions to cook the barley. (1 dry cup makes 3 cooked.)

Meanwhile, toast the walnuts.

Add the spinach while barley still hot, so that it wilts slightly.

Add everything else.

Top with the dressing.

Stir it all together.

Store in trusty Gladware. 

The review:

So far, we're going on 2 nights. 2 meals so far, and I'd say we have another 2 easily. Drawback: not a great meal for a toddler. The chewy deliciousness of the barley was a hit with the adults but no easy task for one just getting her molars! (Luckily, there was still leftover pesto pasta for her!)

The morals:

We will certainly incorporate barley in future recipes. Although the cook time is a bit long on the front-end, it's simple & doesn't require your undivided attention.  I love to offer a variety of foods to the family, so adding new items to the repertoire is always exciting.

Take advantage of little breaks when you can. It just might spare you a headache or a tummy ache later in the week! (Or very early in the week.)

Simple Summer Suppers, part 9 of 10 (1 for 2, 2 for 1)

When I made dinner Sunday, I had two notions in mind.

1. "Cook once; eat twice." - I think that's a Rachael Ray-ism. I hope she doesn't have a copyright.
2. Use one prep technique and cook meats each family member would eat. - I love fish; my husband does not.

It didn't quite work out that way. But let me explain.

Sunday night, I did a repeat of the salmon I'd made for my munchkin & me while the Hubben was out of town. Since he despises cooked salmon, I did the same prep on chicken cutlets. My plot was to feed one to the Hubben and use the leftovers in a pesto pasta'n'veggie combo later in the week.

2 problems:

1. The chicken was overcooked.
2. The chicken was overly lemony.

So lessons learned:

1. Chicken cutlets cook more quickly than 1/2 lb of salmon fillet.
2. Chicken cutlets can't stand up to much lemon.

That brings us to tonight.

2 more lessons:

1. No summer supper is simple when you've decided to foster two kittens, and your toddler wants to chase them, play in the food, play in their litter box -- unless of course, she's going for the old stand-by of playing in the dogs' bowls.
2. Chopping veggies and boiling pasta is still cooking!

Nonetheless, it wasn't a bad turnout. 

The method:

1. Cook ~1/2 pound of whole wheat penne.
2. Meanwhile, quarter & dice 2 small zucchini.
3. Micro-steam the zucchini with a little S&P + garlic powder.
4. Drain the pasta.
5. Toss the pasta & zucchini + a ~1/2 cup or so of frozen peas/carrots + ~1/4 prepared pesto.

A little higher on the pasta & lighter on the pesto than I'd intended, and the veggies were a little more al dente than I'd have liked. On the plus side, plenty of leftovers for lunches the rest of the week. 

One downside to a one-pot-dish: it didn't allow me to feed the munchkin her veggies first, and yes -- she did pick all the penne out, took maybe a few peas but mostly left me with a pile of carrots & zucchini.

The Grass is always Simpler

I remember so well ... actually, I hardly remember at all! All the bottle & pump part sterilizing. The careful fanangling if I wanted a glass of wine. Not to mention the time spent pumping itself. I did it for nine months, from the time I went back to work, till just after my daughter's first birthday.

I never questioned it. It was completely worth it to me. I wholeheartedly believe "the breast is best." I was lucky to have a good supply and no complications. My work place was an incredibly supportive environment, with several devoted lactation rooms. I even made friends through the lactation rooms! I have a very flexible work schedule, so I was able to set aside 2 half-hour chunks everyday. They were simply off-limits on my Outlook Calendar.



I did occasionally long for the days after that milestone first birthday. As a food lover, I couldn't wait introduce my daughter to exciting & healthy foods. Drumroll, please ... it hasn't always worked out like I pictured it.

Family meals are a wonderful time for bonding. Unlike breastfeeding, they are a bonding time that my husband can actively take part in. But they aren't always harmonious or successful. Tonight was a big, fat case-in-point. Whether it was tiredness, teething, or who knows what, she was done before we'd even really started. It did not improve my feelings of self-efficacy to have to put underdone pork chops back in the grill pan!

Then there's the whole working-mom necessity of handing over feeding duties to others 3 or 4 times daily. How strictly can you expect them to follow your food philosophies? Is it skirting the issue if I simply note when she'll be given juice and try to pick her up early on those days? (Daycare gives juice all of once a week, and usually for the 5:30 snack, by which time she's nearly always home.)  I wish I could pack her lunch & snacks for the day. Or do I? Friends who have to do this tell me frequently how lucky I am!

It's all enough to have me longing for the breastfeeding days. No questions. No conflicts. Just me & my baby, just peace & quiet. Well - other than the times that it was just me & my pump, and that mechanical hum. Okay, maybe I remember it well after all!

Happy Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Definitely one of my top ten best decisions! :)

Jump Start v. Small Stuff

The other morning, my husband told me he was considering doing something like SlimFast just to get a "jump start." Even a few months ago, this would have triggered a lecture from me about how short cuts don't work, how the only way is small changes sustained over time. (And probably lots of eye-rolling from him.) This particular morning, I actually said, and I quote - "sure that seems like it might work."

When I started out in the nutrition field, I was incredibly gung-ho about gradual lifestyle changes being the path good health.
For myself, I still am. But without my noticing, I seemed to stop judging other people if something else worked for them.
I also still strongly support small changes as the best long-term plan. However, I've begun to allow that there may be room for short-term jump starts.



The dangers in jump starts are at least 2-fold ---

1. You quickly lose weight, but as soon as you stop, you gain the weight back.
2. You lose weight without teaching yourself principles on sustainable healthy eating.

But, I get it, the small changes can be boring. When you decide you want to be healthier, you're excited. You want results.

I suggest a compromise. Select a sensible jump-start plan; set a limited timeframe (say 2 weeks); and go for it. At the same time, make a plan for your long-term healthy eating plans - changes that you can sustain for the long haul.

So, what's a sensible jump-start? I took a look at SlimFast, and I was actually moderately impressed. For one thing, they market themselves as a short-term jump-start. Their plan tries to teach users about long-term healthy eating plans:

1. All snacks are fruit, nuts or one of their snack bars
2. There are recipes for balanced dinners, each with 500 calories. They even have a lovely picture of a plate that's half veggies. Sound familiar? (http://www.choosemyplate.gov)

So, take a look - http://www.slim-fast.com/. If you think it would work for you, give a two week try. (Two weeks, by the way is how many menus they give you.)

Let me point out though --- really any way you choose to eat 1200 calories daily will produce weight loss. SlimFast is a pretty good way. Personally, I'd probably want a little more variety.

My 1200 calories might look this:

• Breakfast - cereal bar (100-150 calories, be it SlimFast, Kashi, Nature's Valley), medium banana, 4-6 oz non-fat sugar-free yogurt.
• Lunch - Low-cal frozen entree (250-300 calories, be it Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Smart Ones), small apple or a couple handfuls of grapes.
• PM snack - low-fat string cheese
• Dinner - 500 calorie dinner 
• Bedtime snack - 100 calorie bag low-fat popcorn

I would not be able to keep that up for more than 2 weeks personally! THEN, I'd want to go back to smaller stuff.

Try Try Again

"Oh, no! My child is going to be that kid who will only eat mac'n'cheese and chicken nuggets!!"

Naturally, this has been my internal monologue every time my little one rejects a new food, especially a fruit or vegetable. On the outside, I calmly tell my husband that we'll just keep trying. We smile & clap when she eats the broccoli and try (mostly without success) not to laugh when she spits it out with great gusto.

Here's the thing though, sometimes she eats the food and other times she doesn't. I've tried & tried to analyze when/why/how. To no avail. Kids are enigmatic. End of story.

It's obvious that we need to set good eating examples for our kids, both by what we give them and by what we eat ourselves. But it doesn't do any good to get all freaked if she doesn't like this or that. What has worked for me (so far & sometimes) -- trying again & in different ways.

By different ways, I do not mean pureeing vegetables and putting them in spaghetti sauce etc. That's all fine & good, but I'm going to try not to go there myself. (Note: try.) I just mean different veggies & fruits and in different forms, with different flavors & settings. Also, just trying again in exactly the same way can sometimes do the trick. (Note: kids have more sensitive palates than adults, so take care not to over season.)

Daphne refused to eat the fresh fruit at school every morning, and pretty much still does. I despaired. I tried spoon-feeding applesauce & other baby foods at home. Then one day she got grabby with my apple core and chowed down on it. I tried the same technique with bananas, giving her a big enough chunk to hold on to - success!

For the most part, that's how she rolls. She wants to feed herself, she's not awesome with utensils yet, so she needs big pieces that are easy to grip. That's when it comes to fruit. Veggies are a different ball of wax; those can be tiny - peas are a favorite. My best guess is it's a texture thing. But hard to say - she still won't eat peaches, no matter what. Like I said, enigmatic.

The take home point is don't give up. If green bean casserole doesn't go over, try plain green beans. Serve them with a different main dish. Try them in a bowl, on the tray, with and without a fork. Go read "Green Eggs & Ham" if you need inspiration.

The picture is of her with her second watermelone slice in two days. She likes to share.

Response to MyPlate

Overall

This is a great improvement over the pyramid. Given the theme of this blog, you could probably guess I'd like the plate. Yes, some of us want to go beyond it & do even better. But a great many people see healthy nutrition as simply too complicated for them to manage. The new plate presents its message in a totally accessible way, and I am hopeful more people can benefit from it than ever did from the pyramid.

Following are responses to some specific aspects of the plate. For your reference, here's a link to the new icon: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/.

Yeahs

1. Simplified design - People eat off a plate, not a pyramid, so this is vastly more functional. 
2. Clear basic message - Most certainly, there are important nutrition concepts left out of the basic picture. However, if everyone in the US did only what was obvious from the picture, obesity would decline. Perhaps I'll devote a blog to an analysis of that, but the point is - this plate is a huge improvement over plates in front of most Americans. 
3. Good use of take home messages - My favorite is "make half your grains whole." It's a carry-over from the pyramid, and one I've used in my own life & with clients. I'm also glad to see them recommend low-fat & non-fat dairy.
4. Soy milk included in the dairy section - thank you, USDA, for recognizing vegan & lactose-intolerant people everywhere!

Nays

1. Includes starchy vegetables with non-starchy - hence, you can fill 1/2 your plate with mashed potatoes and be in compliance ... but how is that any different than 1/2 a plate of pasta? Pasta & potatoes are roughly the same when it comes to calorie density & fiber content. (1 cup enriched cooked spaghetti = 220 calories; 2.5 g fiber; 1 cup mashed potatoes made with whole milk & no butter = 174 calories, 3.1 g fiber).
2. Includes fruit juice with fruit - Juice is a pet peeve of mine, so I will try not to rant. 1 cup of orange juice gives you 112 calories and 0.5 g of fiber. Whereas, a cup of orange sections has 80 calories and 3 g fiber. Add to that the fact that most people drink more than a cup of juice in a sitting, and we begin to see how juice can be such a source of added calories in our diets --- especially, since most view it as good for them!

Neutral

1. Interactive website - you can click on the plate portions and learn more about each group. You also get to see pictures of what serving size of selected foods looks like. Unfortunately, not everyone has internet access. Since poverty & obesity are so entwined, many of those without access will also be the ones who could most benefit from the messages.
2. Lean meat recommendation takes too many clicks. I'm glad to see the recommendation for lean meats/protein sources, but I'd like to have seen it on the home page, right beside the low-fat dairy recommendation.

Don't try to boil the ocean

I got really excited in a LEAN management training yesterday. One of the trainers started talking about 5S. (Sidebar: If you know me & know what that is, you’ll know that 5S made me feel inadequate & guilty. It’s all about getting & staying organized. I started to make a list of the areas I should 5S, then realized I should just make a list of areas I don’t need to 5S, then realized there would be nothing on that list.) Anyway, then the guy said something I latched onto – “don’t try to boil the ocean.” He said we could start by 5S-ing a single drawer and go from there. He went on to talk about how once you’ve made the initial improvement, you can go back & find additional improvements to make. I was agape: my general life philosophy and specific diet/lifestyle mantra is also a management style. Yikes.

Speaking of the ocean, I mentioned in my last post that I’m trying to serve more fish at home. I want to elaborate. There seems to be some confusion about fish. Is one better than another? Can you eat too much?

I love fish the same but different.

Fatty fish, such as salmon, are particularly high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3’s are the ones that research shows to be good for your heart. However, it’s good to eat any type of fish is good for this very simple reason: you typically eat it in place of a fattier meat. This is lucky for my family, because my husband will not eat cooked salmon (he will eat sushi, oddly enough). Tilapia is the fish of choice in this house.

There are also concerns about mercury in fish. 3 3-oz servings (the amount recommended per Mediterranean diet guidelines) will not be excessive. (Here is a link I found useful when I was pregnant. If you’re very concerned, take a look - http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/fishmercury.htm.)

Another point about fish, shellfish gets a bad rap but deserves a place in a low-fat, heart-healthy diet, so crack away!

A final word on fish (for the day) – since the main benefit of eating fish is the fact that it is lower in fat the meat you would have eaten instead, guess what --- if you batter & fry it, you lose that benefit. Sorry, dad – popcorn shrimp is not health food. And here we come to my improvement upon my previous improvement. Any kind of cooked fish is not my husband’s favorite. It is best received with a bread-crumb & parmesan crust. When I first started back with fish, that crust was very heavy. I have been lightening up on the crust gradually and tonight served it with almost none. It is by no means his favorite meal, and he shared it with our 1-year old daughter, but he ate about 3 oz. Better yet, our daughter devoured her 3 oz!!!