Archive for October, 2009
Dinner In a Pumpkin
I was not planning on doing another post before Halloween, but I stumbled across a recipe that may be even Halloween-ier than the spooky purple cauliflower and knew that I had to share it.
I love those little spiral bound cookbooks that are published by churches and community groups and I have a pretty big collection of them from all over the country. At a church event recently I picked up one of these cookbooks that was put together by the Senior Network of North Baltimore. I love the old school appetizer recipes; I can imagine Betty Draper from Mad Men serving Cocktail Meatballs (involving 1 pound of grape jelly) and Shrimp Spread (canned shrimp and Worcestershire sauce in the ingredient list) to her guests. Then I came across something I had not seen before: Dinner In a Pumpkin.
I have not made this recipe, so cannot vouch for how it tastes. It looks yummy, though, and I plan to make it on Halloween. I think I’ll serve it with some Roasted Purple Cauliflower. It does not say in the cookbook how many servings the recipe makes, so I had to guess for the nutrition facts. Enjoy!
Add comment October 29, 2009
Spooky Veggies!
This week’s dinner solution is focusing on what, in my house at least, is usually an afterthought – the side dish. I stock up on frozen veggies over the weekend and then just steam whatever seems to go with what we’re having for dinner. If I’m feeling really fancy I might make glazed carrots or add a little fresh herbs to the peas. It’s not that I don’t like interesting side dishes but after coming up with a week’s worth of main dishes who has the time or energy to devote to jazzing up broccoli?
Just in time for Halloween, the veggie of honor this week is purple cauliflower. You may have seen this uniquely colored veggie at your grocery store or farmer’s market. But what do you do with it?
First of all, do not try to make cauliflower with cheese sauce with that purple cauliflower. The cheese sauce will turn a ghastly gray-purple color and no one will eat it. Trust me, I’ve tried this. If you serve it raw, however, it looks quite stunning. When put on a crudite tray, those little violet florets look gorgeous next to baby carrots and grape tomatoes. The trouble starts when you try to cook the cauliflower with other ingredients and everything takes on a bizarre shade. My daughter, whose favorite color is purple, decided that we needed a purple cauliflower and so I was left with the dilemma of what to do to it. I decided to roast it in the oven with olive oil and sea salt, just like I do with potatoes.
The roasted cauliflower was delicious, retained a gorgeous dark purple color and was ready in 20 minutes. So much better than frozen vegetables. Right now it is cauliflower season and they do keep well in the fridge. This recipe will also work with regular white cauliflower. Even if you don’t care for boiled cauliflower, give this a try – the flavor is slightly sweet and my entire family enjoyed the change of pace. And is there a spookier veggie than purple cauliflower?!
Add comment October 26, 2009
Meatless Mondays and Beyond
Did you know that the Baltimore City Public Schools have gone meatless in their cafeterias every Monday? What is happening in the city schools’ food service department is nothing short of a revolution. In recent months, I have read and heard so much good news about all that is going on there that I am constantly doing mental double-takes. So just what is it they are doing?
- The city schools, as part of the Meatless Monday initiative associated with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, are serving exclusively meat-free meals in their cafeterias every Monday. Baltimore City was one of the first school districts in the entire country to become a Meatless Monday school.
- Not only is the food meatless one day per week, but on that day it is all prepared freshly on site. This alone is a huge step forward from the usual frozen, convenience foods that are typically served in school cafeterias.
- Tony Geraci, the city school’s director of food and nutrition, has made it his mission to get kids invested in what they eat. He has brought Food For Life to the schools, a program that teaches kids about food through farming, cooking and nutrition education. His vision for how children should be taught about food and nutrition, according to an article in the City Paper: “…every school district running its own farm, growing vegetables in gardens next to the schools, cooking inside, kids helping along, despite the boiling water and oils, everything hands-on, immersive, all-sensory, delicious. Geraci envisions schools everywhere in which “it’s just as important to have a food and nutrition coordinator as a math teacher.”"
- Did you know that the city school system owns a working farm in Catonsville, Great Kids Farm, complete with greenhouses, goats and beehives? The farm produces tons of produce that is used by the schools and is a place where the school children can go for actual hands-on experience. How cool is that?!
The fact that all this has occurred in the same city that’s known for its high rates of poverty, crime and murder makes what is happening all the more amazing. Something to ponder as I send my kids off to chicken nugget day (fruit rollup or Doritos with those nuggets?) at their school in the county.
2 comments October 21, 2009
Let’s Walk To School!
As I was listening to the news in my car the other day, I heard a mention that this past week was Walk to School Week. I had no idea this event even existed, which is odd considering that I live in a neighborhood with an elementary and middle school that are within walking distance of every house in the neighborhood (although there is also a good contingent of children who ride the bus from other areas). As I have since discovered, it is not a week of walking to school, but an actual day and an international event. This year International Walk to School Day was October 7. Yes, I know I am a late to this party, but I think this is a really cool way to encourage people to try what can be an easy way to build more physical activity into the day. I went ahead and registered at the site so that I can make sure I can help bring this event to my daughters’ school next year.
My family is fortunate enough to live close enough to school to be able to walk to and from every day. According to Google Maps, we live 0.4 miles from the school. So a round trip would add almost a mile of walking per day. After a week of this, we have added 4 miles of walking by just going about our daily routines. That’s a pretty significant amount.
I admit, I will not walk when it is raining or below freezing. I don’t like being wet and cold. And if we have somewhere to be directly after school I will drive to pick up my girls. I wonder what other reasons people have for not walking their kids to school. Are the schools too far away? Are the neighborhoods too dangerous? No sidewalks? No extra time in the day? And how old do you think your children need to be before you let them walk to school by themselves or with friends? I remember when I was young only the kindergarteners got walked to school by their parents. Do your kids walk to school? If you don’t already walk to school, do you plan to give it a try? Share your thoughts!
1 comment October 18, 2009
Breakfast in a hurry!
Breakfast is a meal that I find can be very challenging for my clients. A good number of people regularly skip breakfast. For people who do eat breakfast, finding a variety of foods that can be made and consumed in a limited amount of time can be difficult. Dry cereal day after day certainly becomes monotonous, but who has time to make something spectacular when you are trying to get yourself ready for work, get the kids dressed, finish up last minute homework, walk the dog, make lunches, etc. etc.?! Actually, you may be surprised at the amount of different nutritious, delicious things you can put together to start your day with just a little planning.
This week, I will share some new oatmeal recipes I came up with for fall. “But why do I need a recipe for oatmeal,” you are asking, “when they make so many great flavors of instant oatmeal?” Don’t shortchange yourself! Buy a great big container of Quick Oats (not Old Fashioned) and keep it in your pantry. You do not need to cook oatmeal on the stove, just mix the oats and whatever else you are using in a big bowl, pop it in the microwave for 10 minutes and voila! You have oatmeal that is far tastier, no preservatives or chemical flavorings, likely less sodium and sugar and way fresher than anything instant. During that 10 minutes you don’t need to do anything to the oatmeal, so that gives you all sorts of time to do what you usually do like make those lunches or walk that dog. Or enjoy some quiet time with some coffee or tea and the newspaper if the rest of the family is still asleep!
I always use milk to make oatmeal because it tastes better than making it with water and the nutritional benefits are tremendous – lots of calcium, protein and vitamins. The Pumpkin Oatmeal I made to use up the rest of the giant can of pumpkin from the Pumpkin Roll and Pumpkin Pancakes (I promise I will cool it with all the pumpkin recipes now!). When I made it, I added ½ cup raisins. I thought this combo was just great, but my daughters, who loved the pumpkin oatmeal, thought it would be even better without the raisins. So the recipe I have posted is sans raisins, but feel free to add them, just remember that the oatmeal will have a bit more calories and carbohydrates, fiber and iron. Both recipes make 6 servings. If there are not 6 people in your family, just refrigerate the rest and heat it up in the microwave (add a little water) the next day.
The apple oatmeal is reminiscent of apple pie and thanks to using cider for part of the liquid has a ton of sweet apple flavor. Kids and grownups alike will appreciate this recipe. Enjoy a hot breakfast for a change – you will find it is easier than you may think!
1 comment October 14, 2009
NY Times Magazine – The Food Issue
I had a lovely post all written up for today about oatmeal, but then I opened up the New York Times this morning. I was delighted to see that the Times Magazine this week is the Food Issue – Putting America’s Diet on a Diet. I love reading about food and diet and different theories of what is the best way to help people become healthier, eat better and have a healthier relationship with food. The article about Jamie Oliver was fantastic. I love his approach to helping people eat better. Here’s a quote from the article: “Oliver cooks and eats all kinds of meat and feels free to use butter, cream and cheese, in sane amounts. He is not a diet cop; he’s about scratch cooking…learning pride of ownership, encouraging sparks of creativity and finding a reason to gather family and friends in one place.” Amen to that!
Have you read any of the articles or interviews? Share your thoughts!
Add comment October 11, 2009
Ench-ch-ch-iladas!
This year my family bought half a share in a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm. Each week we receive a variety of vegetables from whatever is being harvested and what we get is always a surprise. However, we do end up with chard just about every week. A lot of chard. This is a vegetable that I had never cooked before our involvement with CSA. This past week we got our chard and we also got a basket of beautiful little jalapenos. I have become quite adept at making sauteed chard with caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar but have never branched out. After weeks and weeks of this, I realized that I couldn’t face any more sauteed chard and I needed to find something different to do with it. I also wanted to use the jalapenos to make something Mexican and remembered hearing about using chard in enchiladas. My entire family loves my enchiladas, but does not so much love chard. I decided to conduct a chard/enchilada experiment.
I am not a fan of those recipes for children that hide pureed vegetables in other foods like brownies and sauces. I much prefer to present new and interesting vegetables in a way that is enticing to children (and grownups!) so that they will learn that vegetables are delicious and enjoyable, not something that need to be disguised and hidden in order to be choked down. Cheese sauces and ranch dip are great ways to build acceptance of new veggies. I figured that adding chard to cheese enchiladas could also be successful.
The filling is basically a bean dip with chard and corn in it. I usually use whole wheat tortillas for enchiladas, mainly because I dislike corn tortillas. The edges of the enchiladas that are not covered by sauce get nicely crisp. This recipe is pretty easy and only takes about 30-40 minutes start to finish.
So what was the reaction from my family? My husband and I thought they were delicious. My elder daughter ate all of hers but my younger daughter only ate half (at most). The girls’ main complaint was that they were too spicy. Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell how hot a jalapeno is before you taste it and I apparently had some very hot jalapenos. Next time I might just leave out the peppers entirely and serve them as a condiment at the table. The girls had no problem with the chard, though.
There was much dinner-table discussion about the name of these enchiladas. We finally decided on Ench-ch-ch-iladas, the extra “ch”s standing for chard and cheese. These would also work well with spinach or some other leafy green.
Add comment October 5, 2009
