Posts in “Cooking” Category

I remember when I worked in a newsroom, I'd try to pack a healthy lunch everyday. I wasn't always successful and ended up buying takeout.  Try making enticing lunches for a preschooler who may or may not eat what you've packed.

This school year I've taken a new approach to lunches. I'm making them fun and unexpected. Yes, it's going to require more work that making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but it will be worth it. That's what I keep telling myself. It WILL be worth it!

We have colorful bento boxes. We have sandwich molds and sushi rice molds in different shapes. I've been reading up on making creative bento meals for kids. Yes, it's a bit of a gimmick but if my son will open up his lunch and get excited about a vegetable, then it's worth the extra time and preparation.

How do you prepare fun, healthy lunches? If you have to prepare more than one lunch, please share your tips in the comments.

Many fruits signal the summer season, from stone fruits to strawberries, but if I had to pick a favorite I'd have to go with watermelon. I recently found an old food magazine that highlighted the world's love affair with watermelon and also provided some unexpected recipes.

Watermelon is 92% water so it's obviously a refreshing and tasty way to cool off on a hot day, but it also contains nutrients like lycopene and Vitamin A and C. There are several varieties, including a yellow flesh watermelon, that are available year round but I like the good old-fashioned oblong watermelons with the seeds. It reminds me of seed spitting contests between my brother and me during the summer.

I've been making watermelon salad all week after finding a recipe that includes mint, feta cheese, lime juice, and olive oil. The sweet, tart, and salty tastes are absolutely delicious when combined. The next recipe I'm going to try is watermelon salsa.

Do you have a favorite summer food?

One very encouraging change in Kellan lately is that he's more willing to try new foods. He's not always cooperative, but he's definitely opened up to some foods that I was sure he wouldn't take a bite of a few months ago. I'm taking full advantage by preparing more green vegetables. Not only are they good for the kids, even parents could benefit from an extra serving of greens.

Kale has been my go-to side dish lately. It is packed with vitamins and fiber, and is super easy to cook. I like to sauté kale in olive oil with plenty of garlic and a dash of red wine vinegar. It also works well in soups, like white bean or minestrone. My babysitter told me it tastes great in stir-fries so I'm going to try that next.

Another recent favorite is broccoli rabe, also known as rapini. It's a vitamin packed veggie related to broccoli that's easy to cook and quite tasty. When I sauté broccoli rabe with our favorite teriyaki sauce, my husband and son eat it up. Kellan only likes the stems but that's fine by me.

Cabbage often gets a bad rap, which is too bad because it really can be delicious as well as nutritious. You don't even have to cook it. I combine shredded green and red cabbage with julienne carrots and cilantro. I whisk fresh lime juice and mayonnaise in a separate bowl then combine. The proportions depend on how much cabbage I'm using but I try to go light on the mayo about half a cup for two cups of cabbage - for a low fat slaw that goes well with spicy fish or chicken dishes. If you make this an hour or two before your meal, the lime juice and a bit of salt helps soften the cabbage.

Does your family have a favorite green dish? Please share in the comments.

As much as I like to cook, there are nights when I just don't feel like doing it. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches can sometimes pass for a meal, but I don't want to serve that every time I feel uninspired.

What has really saved me lately is cooking eggs. Omelets or scrambles can pass as a delicious hot meal on nights when you just need to whip something up quickly. Most of us keep eggs in the fridge so all you have to do is get creative with the other ingredients.

Here are a few of my favorite combinations: 

1.             Bacon, cheddar, and broccoli
2.             Potatoes, leeks, and Gruyère cheese (you can substitute Swiss)
3.             Swiss chard, garlic, and Monterrey jack cheese
4.             Spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese
5.             Green onions, sweet red or yellow peppers, and avocado 

What I love about making eggs for dinner is that I get to throw in whatever ingredients I have. I try to keep my refrigerator stocked with fresh vegetables and good cheese, and bacon (it makes everything delicious!). But even if I have to rely on one ingredient, it's still better than a half-hearted attempt at dinner (the aforementioned PB & J) or a takeout pizza.

In the interest of full disclosure, Kellan is not crazy about omelets or egg scrambles, but he does like fried eggs so I can make him one separately and serve cut up veggies as a side dish and toasted bread with his favorite spreads, which lately is cream cheese.

What are your suggestions for fast and nutritious dinners in a pinch?

Now that we have an extra hour of sunlight, I'm more than ready for spring. To get into the spirit of the season, I'm looking forward to making green milkshakes in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Any excuse for ice cream, right?

I had heard about McDonald's Shamrock shakes but I had no idea it had such a cult following. Being a proud do-it-yourself kind of gal, I have concocted my own version at home. Kellan can barely contain himself when I take out the blender. It usually means smoothies or milk shakes and that's very good reason to get excited!

I personally like using Haagen Daz mint ice cream and 2% milk for my homemade shakes. The ice cream isn't green, but it's easily fixed with a couple of drops of food dye. Another twist on the Shamrock shake is to use pistachio gelato. It is really tasty with little bits of shaved chocolate on top.

If you really want something closer to the original, you can blend your favorite vanilla ice cream, milk, green food coloring, and mint extract. It's a fun activity with your kids and the results are delicious.  Be sure to check out this delicious Lucky Smoothie recipe as well.

Some people think bacon makes everything taste better - bacon in dessert is just one example - but I am going to make a case for breadcrumbs. If your kid isn't into vegetables or won't try something new, breadcrumbs might convince him otherwise.

I especially like Panko, Japanese style breadcrumbs, because of the crispy texture. Panko absorbs less oil than traditional breadcrumbs so you may find your dishes less greasy. Coat veggies such as sweet potatoes, sweet onions, or green beans and fry them in a heavy pan. Absorb the extra oil on paper towels and serve them hot - or warm for the little ones. It's a deliciously different way to serve the same old vegetables. Fish may be the best candidate for Panko breadcrumbs. Kellan will pretty much reject any fish, but he will try it if it's breaded and crisp. I even season the breadcrumbs with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley to add flavor. You don't even have to fry foods to use breadcrumbs. Dishes like baked macaroni and cheese or steamed asparagus can be healthy and low fat.

If there's one sure way to make it a happy afternoon at our house, it's making chocolate chip cookies. Kellan calls the chips "bettersweet" chocolate. I should probably correct him, but hey, he won't be three forever!

For a recent cooking activity at preschool, Kellan's class made chocolate chip cookies. Everyone has a small task and each child gets to spoon some dough onto the cookie sheet. When it was Kellan's turn, he spooned a big helping of dough in his mouth instead of the sheet. Then he spit it back out in the bowl. Thankfully, the teacher had a good sense of humor about it and there was plenty of dough ready to bake.  Whew! I'd hate to be the kid who ruined cookie day.

What's especially amusing is that Kellan told his teacher that he gets to eat cookie dough at home. That's a head-scratcher because I don't remember letting him eat raw cookie dough. Not only because of the risk of salmonella, but because I'm not a fan of uncooked dough. I do let Kellan lick homemade frosting off spoons so maybe he got mixed up.

Do you ever get a "great idea" and then realize perhaps it wasn't all that? It happens to me all the time, but not as comically as a recent dinner. In my ongoing effort to encourage Kellan try new foods, I thought a fun presentation would be worth trying.

Well, my bright idea was to serve pumpkin soup in a hollowed out pumpkin. There's a recipe in one of my cookbooks and it suggests serving it that way for an extra flourish. The problem is, even if your pumpkin isn't nearly as big as the jack o' lantern you carved for Halloween, it's still hard work. As I was scraping the inside of a sugar pie pumpkin I thought to myself, I really despise scraping pumpkins!