fried brown rice and favorite new kitchen addition

A confession- I didn't meal plan this week past Tuesday. I have been making brown rice more and I was inspired by a big bowl of leftovers, a bunch of asparagus and shrimp. (I even had to borrow an egg from a neighbor since I ran out this morning!)

Feeding tip: I couldn't remember the last time I had made fried rice so I winged it. I made the shrimp (I had 10) separately (which she likes) and added peas as a side (which she likes.) Remember, when introducing new foods try to have other foods that your child is likely to eat. It was awesome!

I cut and boiled the asparagus for about 8 minutes and cooked the rest while I boiled the water and waited.

Shrimp

melt a pat of butter and a swirl of olive oil in a pan until just bubbling. Add the shrimp (I peel and devein myself which saves about $4 a pound) and fry about 2 minutes. I add a little smear of the above garlic paste to each one with a butter knife, then flip it individually and fry another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with a tiny pinch of salt. Watch not to scorch the butter. Super fast and easy.

Rice: (I winged it after not finding a recipe quickly.)

leftover brown or white rice

olive oil

1 medium chopped onion

1/2 inch ribbon of garlic and ginger paste

1 egg (or 2 if enough left-over rice)

splash of sherry or rice wine

2 Tbspns soy sauce

Heat olive oil in a wok or deep pan. Cook onion until glassy (about 7-8 minutes) add garlic and ginger and stir about 1 minute. (I used two wooden spoons.) Add sherry and cook about 1 minute. Add rice and break up/heat through. Add cracked egg to it all and mix until thoroughly cooked (3-4 minutes?) Dump in drained asparagus (and shrimp if you're not accomodating a kid) and mix and serve!

M tried some, closed her eyes, and smiled that it was delicious. She ate some asparagus, but ate mostly the rice, shrimp and peas. (and a piece of home-made bread.)

I LOVE the herb pastes. They are from Target and other stores and save so much time. I wrote about it last year, and this new try for 2009 has passed muster.

simmer sauces make dinner quick

This is a really nice simmer sauce that is mild, but flavorful (meaning my 4 year old will eat it, and she has a pretty low spice threshold.)

Quick Tikka Masala dinner

one med onion

chicken breasts (or thigh) or left-over pulled chicken (cut up)

one jar simmer sauce

peas optional

olive oil

1 can 14 ounce tomato sauce

Sautee one chopped onion (usually over medium heat) and chicken breast (or thigh) until onions are soft and glistening and chicken is cooked almost through. Stir in the tomato sauce and Tikka simmer sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes, can stir in frozen peas and bring back to a simmer and serve.

sides:

brown or white rice (use a rice cooker if you have it) brown rice takes almost 2 hours in my rice cooker.

broccoli (microwave or steam in sauce pan)

We like lots of sauce which is why I stretch this dish with tomato sauce. You can also serve it with leftover pork or steak. Do you have a favorite simmer sauce?

new cooking mag for kids

Keep your eyes open for ChopChop magazine for kids. Website is under construction. I'll keep checking for when they put up recipes. Have you read it?

Casualties in the war on "childhood obesity"

Please read this poignant blog post by a "former obese child."

She covers eloquently, all the reasons why we have to be so careful with language and our public health campaigns and zeal to "help." I fear that this is going to get worse before it gets better.

Label a child as obese or overweight (whether or not that child is healthy or growing in a way that is right for him/her) and s/he will:

• feel flawed in every way
• feel less capable
• be more likely to diet (and gain weight,)
• be more likely to engage in disordered eating behaviors
• be less likely to engage in physical activity

And yet, there is a huge push to identify and label children. It doesn't help and often makes matters worse. (With the electronic medical record I fear a whole new layer of harassment and misdiagnoses.)

FYI, the little boy in the picture is "obese" according to current CDC guidelines via BMI...

Share your stories about you or your child being labeled and the consequences?

Here are a few lines from the post from Fatshionista:

"I never had any weight-related health issues...But I began to diet. I did! In elementary school... My pediatrician sent me to a dietician, who prescribed daily menus in strict portions.... As the years passed and I ventured into the numbers-obsessed indoctrination of Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, my standards become tighter and the “good” food list grew ever shorter... " (My note-this would be the "control model" of eating and dieting.)

"I was extremely hungry, you understand. All of the time... When I’d managed to eat so little as to feel tingling in my extremities and a racing feeling in my chest, I knew I was Doing Well On My Diet."

"Eventually I would surrender, devastated, heartbroken, and eat normal food again, and then the lost weight would return, plus more. And then, after that, I would marshal my forces and make a fresh attack on my fatness, one which would be doomed to failure like all the rest. I would return to exercise; but not the exercise of my younger days, playing games with friends, having fun. Exercise became a chore."

children are tiny, crazy irrational people: dinner theater

A reminder not to try to rationalize with the irrational, or why negotiating around food doesn't work and makes people crazy.

Scene: dinner. roast chicken on table, microwaved frozen peas, squash (roasted with the chicken with butter, brown sugar, salt) egg noodles with some reduction from the chicken...

Mom, Dad and 4 yo M are at the table. M, who has been home sick with little appetite for 5 days (who has been allowed to get away with all kinds of attitude to keep the peace) looks at squash (a former favorite)

M: Ew. It's gross, I hate squash.

Mom: You don't have to eat it or like it, but you need to be polite. Say, "No thank you." There are lots of other things.

Mom: (taking lots of peas) You guys don't want any peas, do you?

Dad: Yes, we do. Take a few scoops and pass them on please.

M: I'm hungry, there aren't enough peas! I hate squash!

Mom: We can make more peas. Dad, what was the best part of your day?

Mom is at end of rope, no longer engaging the explanation. M takes chicken, and more chicken. Asks where the eyes are, if the blood tastes good. Eats lots of peas, some noodles. Starts scooping squash onto her plate. Has clearly recovered her appetite. (Yay! Back to school tomorrow! thinks Mom)

M: singing, "I love squash, I love squash!"

spills water and cries, "You always make me clean this up!"

Dad: I will help you, please pick your fork up off the ground.

Mom: takes another swig of beer... and curtain falls

Imagine if I had tried to convince her that she loved squash and was being unreasonable. More or less fighting? Would she have eaten the squash or not?

Another example of the irrational games: Morning Star sausage patty this morning. M was having trouble cutting it, so Dad helped. She got upset because she wanted strips, not smaller pieces and pitched a mini-fit. We said we were trying our best. So half was in strips, half in pieces. Then she proceeded to cut the strips in half. Dad asks, "Why did you do that? You got upset when I cut it up?" M says, "It was too big for my mouth."

Remember, tiny crazy people, and they want to suck you into the insanity. Sometime the pull is so strong it's hard to resist, but the more you can stay neutral and out of the fray, the better you will do.

A note on feeding the sick child: We've been so out of our routine with M being sick. All bets are off. They can't tell if they are hungry or full. I try to follow her lead. I relax on the division of responsibility and ask her more what she wants to eat. I let her chose and I let her nibble and graze when she's under the weather. Her appetite returned and now we'll get back to the old ways. Structured meals and snacks, no grazing, and I chose what to serve, she choses if and how much to eat.

Just wanted to let you know it wasn't ALWAYS peace and joy at my family table :)

Any crazy theater you want to share?

"Saving your family's sanity at mealtimes" article

Here's an interview I did with Healthy and Fit magazine. It has some great bullet point reminders on the Division of Responsibility and getting the power struggles out of feeding.

local chef's path to good relationship with food

I recently reached out to Emily Noble after seeing comments she made about kids and eating in the Star Tribune. We had a wonderful chat! Her photos of food are gorgeous. Check out her new project on Leafy Reader for 28 dinners in 28 days. Set your DVR now and watch TV with your kids as she does cool science experiments on PBS Scigirls April 2. (Teaser: kids taste peaches with different things to see which tastes the "peachiest." Was it salt, sugar, vinegar? Tune in!)

Emily is a PhD candidate in nutrition (studying a compound related to appetite and reward,) a chef and blogger who describes her journey to a good relationship with food as a no-regrets “winding candyland path.” As my goal is to help people find that "good relationship" with food, I thought I'd ask Emily to share some of her experiences.

You mentioned you eat now without restriction but that was not always the case.

Emily:I’ve done low-fat, low-carb, no high fructose corn syrup, dairy, and wheat. I have been a strict vegan, vegetarian, and avoided anything "processed". Then I fell in love, which cured me, briefly, of my dietary restrictions. It's funny how dining with new love can turn ice cream into a totally reasonable breakfast item. Shortly after, my partner was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease (ended up being a wrong diagnosis). I worked at a co-op at the time, and heard that raw foods might help.

We lined our cabinets with nut butters, imported young coconuts, and dates. I bought a dehydrator, which sat in the center of our kitchen whining a dull whir, and our countertops disappeared under sprouted nuts and beans. At the coffee shop, we isolated ourselves with decaf teas and raw honey, while our friends enjoyed the animation that comes from a few cups of delicious coffee. They felt like strangers - part of a different world.

After about two months of raw foods, I made a simple salad. I took one bite and tears welled in my eyes. I called a friend and said, 'This salad it the most beautiful and delicious thing that I have ever eaten.

'"Um" she said, "you sound insane. Maybe we should stop raw foods."

In nutrition class, I had learned that the brain up-regulates certain reward pathways when the body is starving to try and encourage feeding. Thus, in a starving state, plain oatmeal (or…salad?) can be as rewarding as chocolate or ice cream. That was my experience with raw foods. We stopped the diet that day, and for the first time in my life I ate unrestricted. I am a lot less obsessed with food when I don't follow rules around it.

How do you think you got started restricting foods in the first place?

Emily: I grew up with an awareness of food as being a really important thing that caused my mother a lot of pain. She would say things like "I wish I didn't love food so much" and I would say "I love food too" "I am afraid that you inherited that from me" she would laugh. I think that I have felt ashamed about how much I loved food in the past.

The messages I received at home about how food is something powerful that needs to be controlled are the same messages from the world at large. As an adult I have come to feel that my love of food is an asset. I have even made a career out of it. My mother has been instrumental in encouraging me about my cooking and writing, which has empowered me to experience food in a whole new way.

Are you happy with how you eat now, and how did you get to that point?

Emily: My relationship with food is a good one these days. I am not mad at my dinner for making me too full or too fat, potentially encouraging some future disease, or isolating me from an exclusive subculture of high-minded eaters. I have no regrets. The different eating styles I have experimented with have strengthened my skills as a chef. I say this because I find it is easy for me to judge my past behavior, but I find it is more useful to acknowledge the gifts that have grown out of it. There really is no right or wrong way to eat, and what is right for me now might not be right for me in the future.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and cooking with kids...