Ode to the Humble Pea

Most folks with kids come to appreciate the humble pea as it's an easy food to cook (from frozen) and most kids enjoy this cute, round finger food. Personally I hated peas until I moved out on my own because I'd only encountered them in their canned incarnation. Like most moms in the 70s, my mom only served vegetables that came from a can, so I thought that all peas were mushy and a sickly, grey-green colour.

But at our house, we love our peas which are fresh from the pod in the summer and fresh from the freezer the rest of the year. Frozen foods have come a long way in recent years and they're generally picked at the peak of ripeness and flash-frozen which preserves most of their vitamins and minerals. And because peas are so often "right there" in the freezer, just 3 minutes and a pot of boiling water away from being ready-to-eat, they make their way into lots of dishes.

I encourage you to consider adding peas to your meals, for an extra dab of fibre, protein and vitamins. If you've already got a main with a starch, a protein and a veggie side, you could add in peas to bump up the veggie factor. Here are some ways to incorporate peas into your meals:

- add to green salads

- add to pasta salad (try rotini, chicken, grape tomatoes and peas)

- add to creamy pasta dishes (e.g. shells, baby shrimp and peas)

- adding green peas to boxed macaroni and cheees bumps up the veggie quotient but still serve another vegetable on the side

- add to stews (in the last 5 minutes)

- add to soups (even canned veggie, chicken noodle)

This last suggestion we do frequently, and I love the way peas add colour and thickness to pureed soups. Go to your favourite recipe site, such as recipezaar.com or epicurious.com, and type in 'peas' and you won't believe how many interesting recipes pop up. Eat your peas today!

Dish of the Day: My Green Soup Rocks the House

Okay, so that's a small exaggeration. But the kale that made it green IS such an amazing vegetable and I want to shout it from the rooftops. It's easy to cook with, delicious and nutritious. And you can do it too.

Yesterday I made us all green soup. We were travelling in the US a few days ago and we really needed a burst of fresh vegetables, to combat all that rich, takeout food. I took a pile of leftover vegetables from the fridge, chopped them up, threw them in a pot and covered them with water. Boiled for 10 minutes then cooled them, blended them and reheated and served. Delish!

Here's the recipe, of sorts:

- chop up garlic and onions and add to pot

- chop your vegetables into dice-sized pieces (I used zucchini, kale, carrots, potatoes)

- just cover with water (you want a 1:1 ratio of water to vegetables)

- boil for 10 minutes maximum

- remove from stove and add 1 or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes

- let cool for 10 - 15 minutes

- puree in blender until mixture is completely blended

--> if you use a leafy green your soup will be a vibrant green!

- put pot back on the stove and reheat

- add in 1 or 2 Tbsp of virgin olive oil

- if soup is too watery, simmer for 10 minutes to evaporate extra water

- if soup is too thick, add water or milk or yogurt to make it more creamy

- serve with fresh ground pepper or herbs from the garden

Make yourselves some green soup today and get healthy. I think you'll find this is a quick and easy way to get your vitamins and minerals.

Dish of the Day: Rhubarb Compote

Spring has sprung for sure when rhubarb makes its poky appearance in the grocery's produce department. My husband loves rhubarb so I had to bring some home. We boiled it in a small pot with a bit of water until it fell apart, then added a bit of SomerSweet and put it in the fridge to chill.

After dinner last night we served it warm over vanilla ice cream and I cut some fresh mint on top of mine. Yum!

Dish of the Day: Lamb for the Whole Fam

For Mother's Day my wonderful husband cooked us a delicious lamb dinner, thanks to a great lamb chop recipe from Epicurious. I couldn't remember if the kids liked lamb or not since we often eat it out at restaurants, and don't often cook it at home. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the photo of the Bug with chop in hand above should give you a pretty good idea of her appreciation. Let's just say it was hard to separate the bone from my little carnivore's hand. My 7-year-old was heard to comment "I could eat this every day of the week!"

The other pic shows Bug's plate before it was attacked by toddler hands and a toddler fork. Our local Safeway has recently been offering organic broccolini , that yummy hybrid, and we're eating it three times a week now. And good old garlic-infused rice on the side.

We're a garlicky bunch this evening. But what a pleasure, to be able to enjoy a special grown-up meal and not have to cook something extra for the little ones. Eating foods in a natural way - without heavy sauces, without overly processing them - is a great way to win over kids' taste buds. Children are often skeptical of foods they cannot recognise, and many have problems with sauces that may contain ingredients they don't like. Also, many kids don't like foods touching or being combined with other foods, which is why stews and casseroles tend to elicit a "yuck!" But fresh foods, cooked plainly and served with maybe a bit of butter, are often a real hit. Try it and see what your family thinks!

My Omega 3 Baby

I used to be the only one in this family who appreciates sardines but now the Bug is on my side. Thanks to my Dad's Italian background, I acquired a taste for sardines on toast. Today I decided to give some to the Bug to see if she'd like them and true to her carnivorous nature, she gobbled them down.

I served them to her on bits of dry whole wheat toast. If you'd like to get your kids to try this omega 3-rich fish, you may want to serve them on their own, or on toast, or you may want to add something to enliven their strong flavour a bit. Try making a toasted sandwich with mayonnaise and relish or mustard and putting some mashed sardines inside. I don't recommend ketchup - ever - as I believe it really smothers any food it contacts, whereas other condiments tend to add and enhance flavour.

Not every child is going to like sardines but it's definitely worth trying if only to broaden their palate with a variety of different tastes. And if someone else in the house (i.e. an adult) doesn't appreciate these lovely small fish, make sure to ask him or her to remove themselves from the table or remain poker-faced during any tasting. That way they won't negatively influence a young eater's experience.

Dish of the Day: Butternut Squash Surprise

The surprise here is that the squash is for breakfast. I do love a warm, savoury sweet meal for my first meal of the day during the cool months. This is a great way to use leftover squash from last night's dinner in a new delicious way.

Fill a saucepan with about 2/3 cup of squash and add 1/2 cup of whole milk. Also add in your spices: 1/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom are good choices, and raisins. Warm on the stove (or use a microwave to do this in the bowl if you are so inclined) and place in your bowl when it's the desired temperature.

I like to add in pumpkin seeds or a nut at this stage too. Drizzle with honey for the perfect sweet finish.

For babies under one year, you mustn't use honey and you probably will not want to add in milk. You can warm the squash and then add in breast milk to the baby's bowl. Also, no raisin or nuts due to choking hazard or possible allergies.

Dish of the Day: Omelettes

Omelettes are a great way to have a quick and easy meal as long as you don't have a problem with eggs. I'll remind readers that I'm of the opinion that natural foods (i.e. unprocessed, in their natural state) are good for you and I don't avoid eggs, whole cheeses, milk and yogurt or meat products. These are rich foods, however, so we don't eat them all the time.

If you enjoy eggs, why not whisk up two or three with 1/3 of a cup of milk and throw them in a frying or saute pan? All you need next is some yummy fillings. We had leftovers from our veggie tray from the party so I chose broccoli, tomatoes and green peppers. I prefer some flavour to my vegetables before adding them to the egg mixture so I put a little olive oil in the pan and then threw in chopped garlic and the diced peppers and broccoli to saute for a few minutes. Then I removed them and put the egg mixture in the pan. When the egg was mostly cooked, I added in the cooked vegetables, diced tomatoes, some aged cheddar and fresh basil. I folded half the egg over and put a lid on the pan for almost one minute. Then it was time to plate.

What a way to take leftovers and quickly turn them into a warm delicious meal!

I forgot to take a photo of the dish and so the image above is of this bizarre item I bought at a novelty store. You crack the head open on this egg-shaped fellow and fill his head with water and place him in the sun. He will grow a small plant with words printed on his leaves. Kind of a Sea Monkeys for the New Millennium.

Healthy Birthday Parties for Kids

Our Bug turned one this week and we threw her a birthday party today. Or rather, we had a bunch of friends and family over for lunch and we sang songs for and gave presents to her. I'm not sure she realised it was in her honour. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all.

I put a lot of thought into a cake recipe that would be tasty for adults and not too sugary for the babes. I decided to go with an old family standard for banana cake with some modifications. I doubled the recipe to make it a double layer cake and substituted orange juice concentrate for sugar. I also used spelt flour in place of white. See the recipe below.

We were also challenged by what to put in the pinata I bought. I stuffed with a few Organic Baby Mum-Mums (thank you Jen, yes they are a better option!) But then I couldn't put in lollipops or mini chocolate bars since there was no way I'd allow babies to eat that. I put in a couple of granola bars for my 6-year-old. I added in a couple of toys but it was a pretty empty pinata. Well, it was a nostalgic choice at best. And we didn't destroy it so we'll try again next year!

Recipe for Baby Banana Cake *see asterisk for modifications

- Oven to 350 F
- Cream 1/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup sugar* -->use 1/4 c whole cane sugar or Rapadura and 1/2 c orange juice concentrate)
- Add in 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup banana (is generally two), 1 tsp. orange rind
- In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda
- Add to wet, alternating with 1/2 cup buttermilk or yogurt* -->use regular, not low-fat sour cream to keep moisture levels low when substituting juice concentrate for sugar
- Bake in 9" greased pan for 30 - 40 minutes

NOTE: whole egg and milk products not recommended for children under 1

Vegetarianism for Babies?

As a nutritionist, I've worked with all kinds of clients and worked with some very specific dietary needs. Some of my vegetarian clients have asked me about how to fulfill their babies' needs while adhering to a strict vegetarian diet. This sets up a conflict because most parents want to give their babies the best possible start nutritionally, but don't want to compromise their own dietary beliefs. At this point, I suggest that they plan to stick to their ideals when it comes to their choice of diet, but to hold off on asking their child to do the same until he or she is 3 years or older.

Why? Because being a vegetarian is a very personal choice, as well as an ethical one. Children are not capable of letting their parents know their feelings about such a complex topic until they are at least able to understand where their food comes from, to exhibit empathy and to modulate their own emotions (otherwise known as being able to "hold back" when they really want to do something).

Also, you have to consider that babies and toddlers traditionally get most of their nutrition from mother's milk for the first couple of years of life, and this was the norm until formula started being commercially produced in the 1960s. Mother's milk is the perfect nutrition for a baby and it is an animal by-product. A growing toddler needs a steady diet of fat and protein as well as the many vitamins and minerals available in fruits and vegetables. It's possible to get protein, as well as iron, calcium, and even zinc from plant food sources, but it requires a lot of cooking and balancing of food types (e.g. beans with rice) to ensure they are present in the diet each day. It's also impossible to get Vitamin D or B12 from a vegan diet without supplementation.

Unless their religion mandates it, most vegetarians choose this noble path because it feels right for them. Different people have different bodies which require different foods. I believe that some folks need a small amount of heavier, animal-sourced protein in their diets for their bodies to function well. There are many omnivores who are horrified by the ethical issues surrounding the modern treatment of livestock, but still feel compelled to eat animal products occasionally because they feel their bodies require it. Fortunately for these folks, the SPCA and others can show them which companies treat their livestock fairly resulting in kinder and healthier egg production and poultry, for example.

On the other side, in addition to the emotional effects of eating meat, many vegetarians simply find themselves feeling better, lighter, healthier on a meat-free in diet. To those vegetarian parents, I say "give your son or daughter the chance to make the same choice." Our children are their own persons and just as we should not impose our own dislikes and likes upon them, we should not dictate what they should eat, especially while still very young. I'm not suggesting that parents hold back on sharing their beliefs and the hard facts about how animals are treated in modern farming practices, but only when the children are able to truly understand and cope with these harsh realities.

I was very excited when my 6 year-old stepdaughter took an interest in vegetarianism, helped perhaps in part, by her vegan babysitter. We had several discussions about the sad way that animals are treated so that we can buy plastic-wrapped portions of meat at our grocery stores. I encouraged her to think about this and said that at any time if she wanted to stop eating meat we'd find her lots of yummy foods that were animal by-product-free. However, she realised that this meant giving up a lot of her favourite foods and decided that this wasn't her path right now. I sure wish that vegetarian product manufacturers made more kid-friendly foods (i.e. can we tone down the spices please?!) but that's a topic for another post altogether. And I'm already afraid my baby is a full-blown carnivore. Whenever we have meat at dinner it's the first thing she gobbles off her plate and grunts for more. But like the rest of the family, I can appease her with vegetarian alternatives each week. When it's time, she too will learn where her food comes from and she'll be encouraged to make up her own mind about what she puts on her plate.

Dish of the Day: Miso-based Soups

Brrrr!!!! It is unseasonably frigid here and that calls for warm hearty soups. Lazy chefs celebrate miso paste for its ease of use and delicious flavour. Miso is a Japanese fermented food and is usually made by fermenting rice and soybeans. It's important to not destroy the natural enzymes and bacteria by boiling the miso paste and this is why a tablespoon of the paste must be added to a large serving bowl of whatever broth you choose. You don't put miso in a pot and boil it or you will kill off the beneficial bacteria that are a part of the fermentation process.

Miso soup base is a great foundation for a quick and healthy soup that can include tofu, egg or fish, noodles or rice and a large variety of vegetables. You can put whatever is in your fridge into your miso soup.

The miso paste I'm using currently is brown rice and soybeans. I added 1 large Tbsp to a bowl of the water in which I boiled my kale. This was before I discovered there was a worm in the water as well, so I had extra protein in my soup :0(
I then added a soft-boiled egg, some soft tofu, a large pile of chopped, boiled kale and some spicy bamboo shoots.
Some other good miso soup combos are:
- salmon and kale/bok choy with a teaspoon each of soy sauce and maple syrup
- ramen noodles, chicken and broccoli
- tofu, baby corn, green onions
- egg, bean sprouts and sliced, boiled cabbage

For added flavour you can also add gomasio and soya or tamari sauce. However, almost all miso pastes are quite salty so watch it when adding any additional salty items.

Making Store-Bought Soup Baby-Friendly

In the winter I used to make a lot of soup but now that I have 2 small mouths to feed (one of which is very picky) I will often buy soups in a box. Or Amy's canned soups. As I've discussed before, many soups are very high in sodium. This is a real problem because our collective taste buds are being trained to equate salty with flavourful. There are a number of ways to cut back on the sodium: watering down the soups, cooking them with slices of potato which will absorb the salt, adding in extra vegetables. But when the baby and I are sharing a bowl for lunch, I find the quickest way of cutting the sodium is to add plain yogurt. The soup becomes creamier and less salty all at once. Those who know me know that I abhor low-fat anything, so I am talking about regular plain yogurt, at leas 3%, but 5% and up is even better.

Dish of the Day: Potato Cauliflower Mash

Tonight I was planning on making baked salmon, mashed potatoes and cauliflower with butter for some of us, and with dip for the Picky Eater. Out of a desire to keep dirty pots to a minimum, I decided to boil the cauli with the potatoes, just putting it in 7 minutes behind the taters. When it was time to drain the vegetables and do different things with each of them I thought "what the heck, let's mash it all together!"

So our mash was made with:
- boiled Yukon Gold potatoes with a few skins left in
- half a head from a large cauliflower
- 2 large cloves garlic boiled with the veggies
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup or more of the potato water (reserved)

I whipped it up with the hand-held mixer and left things a bit chunky. It called out for fresh chives, parsley or basil but with none in the kitchen I settled on ground pepper.

Dish of the Day: Fresh Papaya

What's better than a fully-ripe exotic fruit? Not much. I've been able to find some very fresh organic papayas recently in a few places. Not very locavorous of me I know, but I blame it on the Bug, and my search for healthy foods for her that she can eat with minimal supervision and not choke. Papaya is one of those soft fruits that are simply packed with vitamins and minerals and she loves it. Me too!

When the Bug's daddy and I went to the Cook Islands on our honeymoon we tasted papaya (pau-pau) that was freshly picked each morning. It made us realise how much is lost when exotic fruits are shipped over to North America. And naturally, it demonstrates the benefits of eating fresh, local food, like our own summer peaches. But when you can get your hands of a little piece of tropical heaven: a Hawaiian pineapple, for example, or a mango from the Philippines, it's a wonderful treat. Like a mini vacation in your mouth. The Bug sure agrees.

Dish of the Day: Sweet Potato Fries

Everybody loves fries, right? But nobody wants trans fats, so homemade oven fries are a good way to have your fries and eat them too. I only seem to make them with yams or sweet potatoes and this time of year I make them fairly often.

One large yam is enough to make side dishes for three people.
- Clean the yam with soap and water
- Using a large chef's knife, cut the yam into pinky-finger sized slices, leaving the skin on
- Generously brush your baking sheet with olive oil and throw the fries on
- Shake on your favourite spices: paprika, onion powder, rosemary, ground sage, salt, pepper
- Bake at 375F for about 12 minutes then flip over (when browned)
- 10 more minutes on the other side should do it

Seasoned properly, there's no need for sugary ketchup, as these yam fries will be very savoury and yummy. If you're giving the fries to babies, watch the salt, and cut off the skin or any crunchy parts as they may present a choking hazard. They make a great finger food for kids of all ages.

Dish of the Day: Cauliflower Soup

Nothing says "Mmm mmm...cool fall weather" like a hearty homemade soup. Because I am a super lazy cook, I love to whip up cauliflower soup because it's fast, easy, creamy and good. This is also a great way to introduce members of your family who do not like cauliflower, to its subtle yumminess. As a teen, I ate cauliflower soup at home several times before I caught on that I'd been sneakily served a vegetable I despised! I soon became a convert.

- In a large saucepan, saute onions and garlic (lots of you like 'em, a handful if you're not so keen) in an olive oil/butter combo until translucent (5 minutes or more)
- Chop a whole cauliflower into 2 inch florets and place in pot
- Add milk to just cover florets
- Add in bay leaf, salt and pepper
- Cook at a low boil for 25 minutes until florets are very tender
- Remove bay leaf, then puree in blender putting in florets first and then liquid to ensure your soup has the right consistency
- Adjust seasonings to taste. I usually put in 2 more tablespoons of butter before serving. You can also add sage, cumin, thyme if you like more, or different, flavour.

Everybody in our family loves this soup, and you will too!

Dish of the Day: French Toast

Some weekends we like to have a special breakfast and this morning it was french toast. Of course, I wanted the baby to be able to partake so I made her a version which included soaking whole wheat bread in egg yolk and a bit of breast milk. Then I pan-fried it in butter, just like I did with our own. I also had some frozen blueberries I wanted to use up so I boiled them for 15 minutes on the stove to make them more digestible for baby's tummy. The Bug has had no problems with berries, although some babies can find them a lot to digest.

She enjoyed her french toast and didn't even know she was missing out on maple syrup. More for us!

Dish of the Day: Yogen Fruz

Even though the weather has turned cooler, we still love frozen yogurt. It's a treat that feels a bit forbidden and yet isn't such a bad thing after all. And throw in some fruit and it's got some nutrition to boot. In Canada we don't have Pinkberry or its imitators, but we have the original frozen yogurt purveyor of the 1980s, the very Canadian Yogen Fruz. They revamped their menu this year to try and compete with the Pinkberry franchise, perhaps in case they had designs on expanding into lil' ole Canada.

We went there yesterday and I got the Top It option which is fat free and has no Splenda. Children should not eat sugar substitutes, so I had to make do with a little sugar. I topped it with fresh mango. The Bug was very excited but in the end it was not to her liking. A bit too cold, although she has enjoyed fro-yo in the past. In the summer, the yogurt melts faster and I gave her the warmer, soupy parts. Maybe the fact that she just sat - terrifyingly - on Santa's knee made her feel a bit chilled. But mommy sure enjoyed her share.

Dish of the Day: Sweet Potato Risotto

What's in a name? Po-TAY-to, po-TA-to.....yam? I'm talking about Ipomoea batatas not that other sweet potato as we call the long, dry yellow potatoes here in Canada. Of course here in Canada we call "Ipomoea" a "yam", but in fact a yam is something else altogether.

Anyway, those orange sweet things, as in my photo above, are yummy treats this time of year. I decided to try out a recipe from Real Simple mag that was a traditional risotto recipe involving good old wine and cheese. This was very easy to follow and had great results. Note to parents: risotto is not a quick dish to make. You must stand at the stove and stir and stir and stir. Try it out when children are away, or sleeping, or have left home to go to college and the house is nice and quiet.

Of course, the baby made me give her most of mine. With the alcohol burned off during the cooking process, all she gets is the sweet flavour of the dry wine, without the effects. I guess we're teaching her about drinking responsibly from an early age.

Do As I Do

Now that my Bug is getting to the toddler stage, she can eat more than just mush. So the good news is that she wants to eat what I'm eating. Right off my plate. Yay! I don't have to concoct special meals for her! But also: Boo! I have to share my food. The most important thing to me, though, is ensuring she's getting very high quality food and this has caused me to take a good look at what I'm putting on my fork each night.

On the weekend we went to Whole Foods and I lazily bought some prepared food. Sesame Tofu was good but a bit too chewy for her. I had to cut off the outside bits. And hey....was it cooked in oil? Hmm. I thought I always read the ingredients on foods I purchased but I am a serious label-reader now. Also I had Broccoli Bites on our lunch menu. These are breaded broccoli and cheese nuggets. I had to admit they're a bit processed after all. And finally, my favourite Amy's Soups which I've now discovered contain tons of salt. I just thought they were naturally yummy, but before doling some out to Bug, I noticed the too-high sodium levels on the label and added water and some plain veggie puree to hers. Thankfully, today I discovered that Amy's offers low-sodium versions of some of their soups.

Having and raising a baby has forced me to be even healthier than usual but now that we are eating together I'm really challenged to walk the talk. It's a bit more work but I'm thankful for this excuse and happy to know I'm giving my little one the best foundation from which to grow. And I've resolved to eat my cheat foods in the closet, out of sight!

Baby Loves Beets!

I learned a lesson today about not passing your own food issues on to your child. I hate beets but a good friend gave me a beautiful, fresh golden one from the market this weekend, so I decided to bake it up. Why waste good food? And perhaps this time I'd like them.

I peeled it, chopped it and poured a balsamic vinaigrette over the pieces. At lunch I warmed up the beets and as I began to add some herbed goat cheese to the bowl, my Baby Bug noticed what I was doing and went ga-ga over them. I had to give her some as she was kicking up a storm. Although I've been feeding her off my plate for weeks no, I never planned to offer her beets. I find they taste like dirt so why on earth would she like them? She adored them and couldn't get enough. And why not? Baked beets are sweet and have a lovely texture.

You can tell she's loving them! From now on I'll just let her try anything that's baby-appropriate without considering first how I feel about the food.