Thanksgiving is definitely my Aunt's domain. She consistently puts out an amazing spread for an unthinkable amount of people. So I considered it a bit of a rite of passage when I was asked to make the creamed corn. She gave me an amazing and rich recipe full of cream, whole milk, butter, and even some sugar, so naturally I had to try my hand at cleaning it up. Any fruit/veggie recipe that calls for sugar is simply asking for the season's peak crop, so buy selectively and taste before sweetening. I use frozen baby sweet corn (yellow and white) and just a touch of honey. I sub in EVOO for the butter and instead of cream, I use evaporated milk. Although this year, I will be trying a vegan version using coconut milk. The Parmesan on top is must, there is no substitute, but if you can't do cheese, I would suggest trying breadcrumbs or finely chopped walnuts.
2 packages frozen corn (approx. 20 oz)
8 oz. whole milk
1 can (12 oz) low fat evaporated milk
1 t. salt
3 T honey (or to taste)
dash of white pepper
2T EVOO
2T whole wheat flour
2T freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Combine all but last 3 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a low boil. Simmer 5-10 minutes or until thickened. In a separate pan mix oil and flour over a low flame until smooth and no lumps. Add to corn mixture. Mix well over low heat until even more thickened. Pour contents into a heatproof baking dish. (It will continue to thicken as it sits). Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Place in a broiler for a few minutes until the top is golden brown.
Note on transporting corn: If you are traveling with this dish, I suggest waiting to add cheese until you arrive, if possible. It has a tendency to slide around in the pan (at the least the way I drive) and the cheese can disappear. It only takes a few minutes to brown the top, but make sure your corn comes to the top of your pan so it can get nice and close to the heat.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Clean Eating With Kids- ICNS Speaker Handout
Clean Eating with Kids
What is Clean Eating? Eating food at its most natural state or as close to it as possible
10 Commandments of Clean Eating
- Balance your meals/snack: fruit, veggie, protein, & complex carbohydrate (like a whole grain or starchy vegetable)
- Eat regularly, 4-6 meals a day within portion sizes.
- Buy Organic: making meat, dairy, eggs & Dirty Dozen priorities (ewg.org/foodnews)
- celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, domestic blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale and collard greens, cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, lettuce (leafy green veggies)
- Get label savvy.* Look for less than 3 ingredients. (On the 4-5 digit bar code on fruits and veggies 3 or 4= conventionally grown, 9= organic, 8=GMO)
- Avoid processed, fried & refined foods by sticking to whole grains.
- Drink plenty of water in reusable canteen. Limit red wine (juice) to 1 glass a day.
- Eat healthy fats (walnuts, avocados, flax).
- Eat local and humane.
- Slow down.
- Do it as a family.
Make a Health Goal:____________________________________________________________
Predict Obstacles: Strategies for Success:
1.__________________________________ 1.________________________________
2.__________________________________ 2.________________________________
3.__________________________________ 3.________________________________
“Kids expect to grow up with their eating the same as with every other activity… You can’t really make hard and fast rules about what do do with kids eating, because there are always ex- ceptions. Instead...pay attention to your child and keep track of what works and what doesn’t. ” -Ellyn Satter
“You are in charge of what your child’s food education”- Karen Le Billon
Strategies to Encourage Good Eating Habits
1-Build trust. Honor your child’s tastes, but don’t cater to them.
- Teach how to politely express opinions.
- Allow to taste and take it out.
- Involve kids in meal planning (Eat a rainbow challenge)
2 -Plan snacks like meals at regular times (no handouts, eating while standing at the fridge)
4-Don’t reward with food. It teaches kids to value the food.
5- Adventure together. (“You don’t have to eat, but come to the table and keep us company.”)
Use positive reinforcement, praise and demonstration of family taste preference.
Eat the diet you want for your child-only permit healthy food in your home.
3- Understand your child’s development and set up for success by building in support.
You decide what your child eats, they decide how much.
Serve small portions & let your child ask for more.
(AHA) limit added sugar to 12-16g (for 4-5, & 3 yr. olds respectively)
Treat eating as the social skill it is. No nagging, bribing, or hovering.
Don’t call your child picky, fussy or difficult in regards to eating. And don’t compare!
Strategies to Get It Done!
- Getting the family on board: Make simple swaps. (Label Game) There are no bad foods, just less nutritious. Allow for repeated exposure. Ensure success. Remove competition.
- No time- Use precooked grains, prechopped veggies, flavored vinegars .
- Eating Out- Sustainable Responsible Restaurants; Order off Menu; Talk to the waiter. Don’t order kids meals-they make it easy to eat unhealthfully.
- The Table is a classroom-Model, Model, Model! Foster positive food associations-no nagging! Use resources away from the table.
- Parties- Pre Eat the Healthy Stuff; Offer to bring a veggie/fruit tray
- Dessert: Mostly fruit (switch it up with dark chocolate, yogurt or cereal)
- Get Kids involved: Eat (Drink) A Rainbow, check at store, Individual sized treats, Meal Planning
- 90-10 rule- Remember this is a process, expect to have ups and downs. Work on 1-2 goals over several weeks.
Handouts
Green Smoothie Chart: This is not the one I gave at the meeting, but I gave away my original;) (http://goodcleanhealth.com/blog/recipes/good_clean_health_superfood_green_smoothie_guide/
Resources for Kids
-SuperWhy video: Hansel and Gretel- A Healthy Adventure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwHXRim0UoE)
Red eats too much sugar and doesn’t have energy to play.
- Fizzy’s lunch lab- Games, videos, recipes, songs
-Eat Healthy, Feel Great by William Sears, MD.- Stop Light System to catagorize foods
-I Will Never Not Ever Eat A Tomato by Lauren Child- Charlie uses his imagination to get Lola to try some foods on her “never eat” list.
Resources for Parents
How to Get Your Kid to Eat...but not too much by Ellyn Satter
Disease Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Joel Fuhrman, MD.
Fearless Feeding by Jill Castle and Maryann Jacobsen
French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Healthy Fall
Fall is in the air! My body is already craving warm soups, roasted root veggies, and pie:) And although I'm eager to welcome a new season of eating, I was feeling a little anxiety about re-introducing these foods to the boys. In the past its taken a few weeks of extra patience as dinnertime is met with a barrage of refusals until they finally declare "Oh yeah! I remember, I love soup!" (Do you know it can take up to 15 tastes before a child likes a new food!) But after 3.5 yrs I feel like our routine is finally paying off. Visiting the farmers market together, tasting and hand picking goes along way to prepare the boys for when it gets to their plate. Eating healthy together takes as much effort, planning & diligence as character development. And I whole heartedly believe it is just as important. I recently read a book (Disease Proof Your Child by Joel Fuhrman) that claimed that eating healthy is most important between the ages of 5-10. Not just because the relationship children build with food will follow them throughout their life but because of the intense growth during this time, the food they ingest becomes the building material for everything from bones to brain cells. We are (very literally) what we eat. And on an immediate level it shapes their personality, how they experience and react to the world. I have a student this year who was having trouble with classroom behavior expectations. He would have regular meltdowns if he didn't get to do what he wanted, refused to follow directions and acted like we hated him when we asked him to change his behavior. We noticed this was worse after snack which we realized was a daily dose of chocolate pudding, granola bar and chocolate milk. We asked mom to go easy on the sugar and literally the next day he was a changed person. Snack is now just a granola bar and water and now he can function! And he is so much happier too. What power!
And to harness that power at this age mostly it's about how and what you offer. Positive, encouraging opportunities to try new foods at all meals through out the day. Don't get me wrong, its not a free for all. Mealtime is just as structured as bedtime. You would never tell your child, "hey there's the bed- use when you feel like it." We provide training (stay in your bed ALL night) and so too at dinnertime, (eat the other things on your plate before you have a second helping). And once they experience success, we slowly start adding independence at the table. I start by having 2 green veggies to choose from or letting them serve themselves a portion of the meal. So by building choice within the structure of a healthy balanced meal, you can start to train children to make healthy choices. At this age, they are having at least one snack/meal 2-3X a week out of our presence. We are not there to say yay or nay.
But while they are with us...we model and encourage and train. Two tips that have worked well for my family:
1-Encourage self monitoring with a chart (like you may have with potty training). And don't be afraid to eat before you go to a party. 2-We load up on healthy snacks (veggies and dips, fruit and nuts)- we call it pre-partying;)-right before we walk out the door, that way the kids will be too full for the junk or even if they eat it, we don't feel guilty because we know they got their nutritional quota for the day.
And to harness that power at this age mostly it's about how and what you offer. Positive, encouraging opportunities to try new foods at all meals through out the day. Don't get me wrong, its not a free for all. Mealtime is just as structured as bedtime. You would never tell your child, "hey there's the bed- use when you feel like it." We provide training (stay in your bed ALL night) and so too at dinnertime, (eat the other things on your plate before you have a second helping). And once they experience success, we slowly start adding independence at the table. I start by having 2 green veggies to choose from or letting them serve themselves a portion of the meal. So by building choice within the structure of a healthy balanced meal, you can start to train children to make healthy choices. At this age, they are having at least one snack/meal 2-3X a week out of our presence. We are not there to say yay or nay.
But while they are with us...we model and encourage and train. Two tips that have worked well for my family:
1-Encourage self monitoring with a chart (like you may have with potty training). And don't be afraid to eat before you go to a party. 2-We load up on healthy snacks (veggies and dips, fruit and nuts)- we call it pre-partying;)-right before we walk out the door, that way the kids will be too full for the junk or even if they eat it, we don't feel guilty because we know they got their nutritional quota for the day.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Honey vs. Maple Syrup
I read an interesting article on the benefits of these two natural sweeteners. First it may surprise people to know that there is not a huge caloric difference between these and granular sugar. But we all know that calories are NOT all equal. White refined sugar has been stripped of any vitamins and minerals and is nutritionally void, not to mention that it raises your blood sugar level much more sharply which besides being hard on your liver (as it tries to process all the insulin being made) leaves you wanting more...and more... and more. Maple syrup, according to Healthy Eating, is primarily sucrose, a complex sugar that is broken down by your body into glucose and fructose, simpler sugars. Honey is mostly fructose. Maple syrup also is 10 calories less per teaspoon, a bigger deal in cooking when your using a lot. Honey has vitamins (esp. B6) and Maple syrup has minerals. Both have antioxidants. So my conclusion... Use maple syrup in cooking and use honey to drizzle on breads or pancakes, that way you get the best of both worlds. But remember just because these are healthIER sugars doesn't make them healthy, enjoy in moderation;)
While I'm at it, just a reminder for how much is too much. There is a great article at Livestrong that states 25g for women, 37g for men, preschoolers 16g, but "Children ages 4 to 8 should consume less sugar—about 12.5 g per day, because they have greater nutritional needs and have fewer discretionary calories in their daily diets". Important to note this is about added sugars, NOT natural sugars in fruit.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Healthy Choices
from ICNS Nov 2012 newsletter...
We are celebrating Healthy Choices this week in my Kindergarten class (it’s the elementary version of Red Ribbon week) and I’m reminded that I am not alone in the nutrition battle, especially at dinner. There seems to be an evening mania where kids meltdown after a long day, everyone’s hungry, and you are racking your brain to answer what’s for dinner. And even if you plan ahead for those eventualities, there is the problem of getting the kids to eat what’s on their plate. My boys have always seemed particularly disinterested in DINNER. Lunch and snacks are no biggie, but dinner? I thought it was because at dinner there is the pressure to eat your veggies. So I experimented. I tried serving foods they usually scarf down at snack time, only to have them turn their noses up at it for dinner. (Ok well at least its not my cooking then.) And I realized, I’m putting way too much pressure on everyone, if dinner is the only opportunity to eat veggies. If I served vegetables throughout the day, I wouldn’t be so stressed about their nutrition. Now we have carrot sticks with our PBnJ and hummus and bell peppers for an afternoon snack.
So the pressure is off, but there is still the disinterest in dinner. The other night, I set Clark’s food in front of him and he said, “That’s NOT what I ordered mom.” As a cry for help, I continued looking for more revelations online, & I came across a few good tips/reminders at buildhealthykids.com. (Not that I would let the government dictate what’s healthy for you, but they’re on the right track). Here’s some of the gems.
-Serve small portions of veggies so that your child can feel success at finishing them. -Understand serving sizes for kids. 5 pieces of broccoli is a serving, but work your way up to it.
-Serve smaller portions of the rest of meal, so kids don’t fill up on carbs/meat first, then when the veggies have been eaten offer as much 2nds of the other foods as they want.
-Offer dessert only if veggies are eaten, but make it a fruit based dessert most nights. And don’t feel guilty about it.:) This is not a bribe, but teaching your child a healthy habit.
Thinking about about mealtimes as a chance to educate not just feed is empowering to me. There is great book called Eat Healthy, Feel Great that uses the stoplight system for judging what to eat. Red light foods (marshmellows, hotdogs) really stops your body from working well; green light foods (fruit & veggies) keeping your body going. When we grocery stop, Clark is allowed to choose one item, but we read the label together-mostly just to make sure there is not high fructose corn syrup in it. Using that one guideline will keep the worst items out of your cart. And showing restraint at the store is the best bet for limiting battles at home. They can’t ask (whine, complain, nag and haggle for) junk food, if its not in the cupboard. Which reminds me...if you are looking for a way to make your Halloween candy disappear, I have a bunch of coupons for a free kids meal at Wahoo’s if you bring in your candy. Look for it in Clark Wagner’s file:)
Errands are too much like Trick or Treating
from ICNS October 2013 newsletter...
Our flying rubber bats are hung. Pumpkins painted Angry Bird style. Costume dress rehearsals daily- we are ready for Halloween. But it surprised me the other day to find running errands was a lot like trick-or-treating. From samples at Costco, to the lollipop at the bank, & stickers at TJs...it seemed every where we went it was a barrage of sweets and treats. And I'll admit it made the errands easier to run, but it was a little lonely. How can you carry on a conversation with a sucker in your mouth, or get someone's attention when he's busy applying 20+stickers to your sweater? And don't get me started on the sugar high I had to contend with afterwards. Why do we feel the need to distract our children, instead of engage them, in order for them to behave? There are so many life lessons to be learned while running errands from socializing (prompting them to wish the cashier a nice day) to healthy habits (we are have one treat in the cart, another is too much) to actual math & language arts concepts (we need 3 pennies-help me count or does that say "organic":) All of this is missed if we just focus on our To Do list. Last year I read a book called French Kids Eat Everything and it offered a different perspective on snacks. Not only do French kids not snack, they never eat on the go, standing up or in the car. At the time the thought of piling the kids in the stroller without a yogurt or cereal bar was terrorizing to me. I used food as a life line to save me from incessant whining and fussing. But I could see the benefits of eating only around a table, a way to slow down, enjoy each other, enjoy the food. And once I broke myself of the habit, the kids quickly got on board & actually ate more of their meal (go figure!). So this month I encourage all of you to resist at least some of the handouts or bring them home and put them in a trick or treat bowl and save them for Oct. 31st.
Pumpkin Hummus
Our flying rubber bats are hung. Pumpkins painted Angry Bird style. Costume dress rehearsals daily- we are ready for Halloween. But it surprised me the other day to find running errands was a lot like trick-or-treating. From samples at Costco, to the lollipop at the bank, & stickers at TJs...it seemed every where we went it was a barrage of sweets and treats. And I'll admit it made the errands easier to run, but it was a little lonely. How can you carry on a conversation with a sucker in your mouth, or get someone's attention when he's busy applying 20+stickers to your sweater? And don't get me started on the sugar high I had to contend with afterwards. Why do we feel the need to distract our children, instead of engage them, in order for them to behave? There are so many life lessons to be learned while running errands from socializing (prompting them to wish the cashier a nice day) to healthy habits (we are have one treat in the cart, another is too much) to actual math & language arts concepts (we need 3 pennies-help me count or does that say "organic":) All of this is missed if we just focus on our To Do list. Last year I read a book called French Kids Eat Everything and it offered a different perspective on snacks. Not only do French kids not snack, they never eat on the go, standing up or in the car. At the time the thought of piling the kids in the stroller without a yogurt or cereal bar was terrorizing to me. I used food as a life line to save me from incessant whining and fussing. But I could see the benefits of eating only around a table, a way to slow down, enjoy each other, enjoy the food. And once I broke myself of the habit, the kids quickly got on board & actually ate more of their meal (go figure!). So this month I encourage all of you to resist at least some of the handouts or bring them home and put them in a trick or treat bowl and save them for Oct. 31st.
Pumpkin Hummus
2T Tahini (or any nut butter)
2T lemon juice
1t cumin
1/2t ea. Salt & Pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
15oz canned pumpkin
Blend in food processor. Tastes divine on cherry tomatoes.
Pumpkin Pie Dip
1/2 c. pumpkin (canned)
2T maple syrup
2 wedges lite laughing cow cheese
1/2t ea cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice
Beat together. Dip apple slices in this and its close to a caramel apple taste.
Would also be great spread on bread or mixed into oatmeal! Enjoy!
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