A Practical Guide To Healthy Living

For a while now I’ve been telling you guys to avoid canned foods because of BPA.  And I know that many of you rely on beans as a source of quick and healthy fiber and protein in your diets.  And I also know that Eden Organic brand is, right now, the only brand of canned beans that doesn’t use BPA in the liner.  So . . . how ’bout avoiding the issue altogether, while saving time and money?  Cook your own!?  I think that home-cooked beans taste worlds better than canned.

But I can hear you now . . . it takes time to cook beans yourself!  You’re here reading Semi-Sweet ’cause you don’t have loads of time.  I understand – most beans will take 1 to 1 1/2 hours to cook until tender.  But maybe this handy-dandy primer will help?  I’m also including instructions on how to freeze your own beans – so you could do up a big batch on, say, a weekend or weeknight when you’re hanging around the house (the cook time is largely unattended time) so you can eat some that week and freeze some for the future.  Do this a few weeks in a row, varying your bean selection, and voila!  You have a store of beans in your freezer that’ll rival anything you’ve had in your larder.   [Read more →]

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Happy Monday, friends – hope you all had a great weekend!  We’re busy busy busy over here at Chez Semi-Sweet.  The perfect storm of school events, Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, writing deadlines, oh yeah, and D. out of town, again = mama is over-freakin’-loaded.  It’s all I can do to keep everyone in clean undies, let alone develop ravishing recipes.

So, we’re hangin’ in with some old stand-bys and some non-recipes.  What’s a non-recipe?  Fage 0% with dried sweet cherries, sunflower seeds and Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter.  That’s a non-recipe.  Or cottage cheese with cracked pepper mixed in and an orange on the side.  Or a packet of flaked salmon with a little light mayo, curry powder and a sprinkle of salt and a grapefruit.  You get the drift.

But Friday, D. came home and I wanted a cooked meal.  You remember this frittata from a week or so ago?  It was good, but I wanted to amp it up.  This version, also with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes but with the cheese switched up and the addition of onions has been judged by D. to be “the best one ever” – I hope you’ll agree!

Two Cheese Spinach & Sun-dried Tomato Frittata  

Preheat the broiler to medium-high.

Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and cover them with boiling water – let stand for 10 minutes to soften, drain, and chop coarsely.

Fill a microwave-safe bowl with as much spinach as you can, cover (preferably with a glass lid and not plastic wrap!) and microwave for 1-2 minutes ’til the spinach is wilted.  Repeat with another batch of spinach.  Squeeze excess water out of the spinach, chop it coarsely, and set aside.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat and add approximately 2 T. of olive oil.  Add the the onion and saute until soft and translucent.  Remove the cooked onions from the pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg substitute/eggs, a dollop of milk, the Parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper.  Add the sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and onions and stir. 

Heat another tablespoon of oil in your skillet over medium heat.  Add the egg mixture and cook, gently lifting the edges so that the runny egg on top can make it to the bottom and cook.  When the egg is fairly well set, but still damp on the top, crumble the goat cheese evenly over the top.  Place the pan under the broiler and broil until puffed, brown and bubbly and set – approximately 5 minutes or fewer.  Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, slice and eat!

Serves 2 heartily, 4 smaller portions, or 1 with leftovers for lunch the next day.  Would be nice with a tossed salad (more veggies, more veggies!) and a crusty loaf of bread on the side.

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Forget the “war on terror” for a minute.  Is your kitchen table a combat zone?  If your answer is yes, even sometimes, read on.  Elizabeth Ward, a registered dietitian and mom, weighs in on one of the most vexing issues for parents everywhere . . . how to deal with a picky eater. 

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Your toddler’s on a two-month run of wanting only peanut butter and jelly on white bread with the crusts cut-off – for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Perhaps your five year-old refuses to try any new food. Or, your child barely touches his food at mealtimes, much to your chagrin.

While selective (a.k.a. picky) eating and a poor appetite are more common among the younger set, preschoolers and younger school children are not immune. Question is, how should you deal with a child who turns up his nose at novel foods, demands the same foods at every meal, or who eats like a bird, without getting completely aggravated?

First of all, don’t take a child’s behavior personally. Rejecting new foods, or the balanced, well-planned meals you make, has nothing to do with you or your parenting skills.  Hard to believe when you’re in the middle of a “food fight,” but true.

Here are some other strategies that may help you better handle erratic eating in your youngster.    

• Banish grazing.  As much as possible, schedule meals and snacks for your child to better regulate his appetite. I don’t recommending complete rigidity, but children need to know that eating occurs at about the same time every day. When your child doesn’t finish his meal, save the rest for later; rest assured, he’ll be hungry in an hour or two. Don’t allow your son or daughter to graze on so-called snack foods (Goldfish, anyone?) between meals, and don’t let him or her cruise around all day with a sippy cup of water, milk, or juice within arm’s reach. 

• Let kids make (healthy) choices. Allowing kids to make choices increases their interest in eating. Let them choose between a banana or an apple; whole wheat bread or whole grain cereal; or green beans and carrots. They may pick the same foods over and over, but that will eventually stop, hopefully before you’ve been driven completely crazy. 

• Understand their resistance to new foods. Children spend their days learning and mastering new skills like walking, running, climbing, and talking, and are so consumed by novel experiences and sensations that they often don’t want any surprises on their plates. That may be why a child latches on to favorite foods to the exclusion of new ones.  Don’t worry. It won’t last forever.

• Serve new foods early in the day.  Children get tired as the day wears on, and being confronted with a new food may be the last straw for a worn-out toddler or preschooler.  Serve children something new at breakfast or lunch or just after a nap, when they are well-rested, and hungrier. 

•Keep trying new foods.  Always serve a small amount of a new food alongside your child’s favorites. Expect to serve that food at least 15 times before your child accepts it, or even acknowledges it.  Encourage them to try it, but don’t go overboard.

• Put on your best Poker Face.  Kids crave attention, even when it’s negative. When you get upset when your child rejects a food or won’t eat and you’re tempted to show your emotions, don’t.  Older toddlers in particular are fast learners. They remember that refusing to eat what you put on their plate, or demanding the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner pushes mommy’s buttons! And they’ll push those buttons, over and over.

Elizabeth Ward is a registered dietitian, mother of three, and author of Expect the Best, Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler.  Visit her at: www.expectthebestpregnancy.com.

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I’m not sick of soup yet, and I hope you aren’t either.  While D. did request a “solid meal” when he returns end of week, even he’s been digging the soup lately.  And who wouldn’t?  They’re hearty, healthy, flavorful, warm, cheap and easy.  D. gets dinner made for him, most nights, but easy on me is easy on him.  ‘Cause as we say in our house, “if mama ain’t happy, no one’s happy.” 

This soup takes a bit longer to prep than the Slow Cooker Taco Soup I made the other day – but not too long.  It’s about 40 minutes of your time, total – that includes rolling up the little meatballs, which are so cute, and so tasty, you’ll be glad you made the effort.

Slow Cooker Escarole Soup With Turkey Meatballs

 In a large (mine is 6-qt.) slow cooker, combine the carrots, escarole and chicken broth.  Cook on low for 4 hours, making sure your escarole gets submerged in the chicken broth.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the turkey, 1/3 c. cheese, breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, eggs and some salt & pepper (best way to do this is with your hands).  Rinse your hands and fashion the turkey mixture into 1-inch meatballs.  Place on a plate or cookie sheet and cover.  Keep in the refrigerator until it’s time to place the meatballs in the soup.  After your veggies have cooked for 4 hours, carefully put the meatballs in the soup, recover the slow cooker, and cook on high for another 3 hours, until the meatballs are cooked through.  Stir and taste for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper as needed.  Serve topped with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.

Serves 6.  You could add some small cooked pasta to this just before serving if you like.  Good with a crusty loaf of bread, and if you’re L., slather that with LOTS of butter.  Mmmmmmm.

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Meringues! 

It’s February, one month closer to fewer clothes and lighter loads . . . I won’t lie to you guys, I have a killer sweet tooth.  It’s nearly impossible for me to give up sugar entirely (and then I have the whole “forbidden fruit” thing going on that makes me want it more).  So when I want to indulge, I need to do it strategically.  Sometimes you need the whole enchilada – a brownie, a cookie made with butter, a piece of cake with frosting.  But sometimes you just need a sweet.  Enter the meringue.  They’re made of egg whites, sugar and maybe some cream of tartar.  Nothin’ else.  A pure, naturally fat-free hit of sugar.  You can crunch ‘em, or you can let them melt in your mouth . . . your choice, it’s all good.

The ones I’ve been eating lately are Spaan’s brand, which I picked up at Whole Foods. They’re small meringues, and you can have 14 of them for just 100 calories.  If you’re into quantity, these are for you.  Plus, they come in interesting flavors like lemon and dulce de leche – move over, chocolate and vanilla . . . . swimsuit season, here we come!

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I am, once again, faced with the issue of what to eat when the hubs is out of town.  I’m cooking for one, because as most of you know, my darling daughter does not eat most of what I prepare and blog about here.  Yes, a travesty, but also proof that it’s not necessarily modeling and exposure that gets a kid to strike out into new food frontiers.  Sometimes your kid is just a nuggets/pasta/plain tofu/pb&j homebody and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.  That’s where I’m at.

So anyway.  Hubs gone, don’t want yogurt and cereal for dinner every night, so what to do?  Enter my buddy, the frittata.  You remember, I love the frittata, right?  It is one of those pull it out of your you-know-what moves that makes you look like a culinary superstar, even though you had NO earthly notion what you were making 30 minutes prior.  It’s genius. 

Wednesday night’s was delicious, and made entirely from stuff lolling around in my fridge and pantry.  Sort of a deconstructed lasagna frittata, only I didn’t add any leftover noodles, which you could do, if you had some and you were feelin’ extra fancy.  Though I’m not sure how I feel about pasta in my frittata.  I leave that to your discretion.

This is great cold or warmed up the next day for lunch, which is what I did with the second half.  And as always, if you’re not an Eggbeater/Nulaid/pasteurized egg white kinda person, by all means, use real, whole eggs in this.  It’ll be that much more luscious.

Deconstructed Lasagna Frittata

Preheat the broiler to medium-high.

Put the sundried tomatoes in a bowl and cover them with boiling water – let stand for 10 minutes to soften, drain, and chop coarsely.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add approximately 2 T. of olive oil.  Add the spinach in batches, tossing it to wilt as you go.  Meanwhile, add the garlic to the pan too, and toss it in with the spinach.  When the spinach is wilted, remove it from the pan.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg substitute/eggs, a dollop of milk, the ricotta and some salt and pepper.  Add the sundried tomatoes and the spinach and stir. 

Heat another tablespoon of oil in your skillet over medium heat (maybe less, depending on how your pan looks).  Add the egg mixture and cook, gently lifting the edges so that the runny egg on top can make it to the bottom and cook.  When the egg is fairly well set, but still damp on the top, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and grind more pepper all over the top.  Place the pan under the broiler and broil until brown and bubbly and set – 5 minutes or fewer.  Remove from the oven, slice and eat!

Serves 2 heartily, 4 smaller portions, or 1 with leftovers for lunch the next day.  Would be nice with a tossed salad (more veggies, more veggies!) and a crusty loaf of bread on the side.

And if you’re interested in more egg-based meal ideas, here’s a recent thread from Chowhound, jam-packed with ideas and inspiration.

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Great article on Fooducate today about Whole Foods new nutrition rating system:

Just when we thought we had covered all the nutrition rating systems out there, here’s a new system being implemented at Whole Foods Market stores nationwide. ANDI, short for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, is the brainchild of author, MD, and founder of Eat Right America, Dr. Joel Fuhrman.fooducate.com, Whole Foods Market Adopts “ANDI” Nutrition Rating System | Fooducate, Jan 2010

You should read the whole article!

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Happy Thursday, folks!  As most of you know, I bought into a great winter CSA this year – the Shared Harvest CSA.  I’ve also already bought a share in the Picadilly Farm CSA for this summer.  It’ll be my first year with them, but I’ve heard great things and the produce they contributed to the Shared Harvest haul was outstanding.  If you’re interested in joining a CSA for the upcoming season, now’s the time to sign up.  Shares are going fast. 

But what’s that you say?  You don’t know where to go?  I have two resources for you.  One’s for anyone, anywhere – LocalHarvestprovides a searchable database so you can locate a CSA that’s near you (most have weekly pickup, so location is essential . . . don’t wanna schlep too far for those veggies, do we?).  The second is geared toward folks in the Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge and Lexington, MA zone -  a CSA Share Fair that’s taking place next month in Arlington – organized by the intrepid Gretta Anderson, the brains and brawn behind the Shared Harvest CSA.  See details below, and here’s to dreamin’ ‘bout all those “above-ground” veggies coming our way in just a few months!

What:  A CSA Farm Share Fair in Arlington!  CSA farmers will be on hand to tell you how their CSA works, what they are growing this year and how you can get a share of their harvest.

When:  Thursday, February 25, 6:00 PM

Where:  50 Paul Revere Road, Arlington, MA at the Park Avenue Congregational Church in Arlington Heights, the Parish Hall.

Who:  Farms that distribute CSA shares in Arlington, N. Cambridge, Lexington, Belmont, and nearby towns have been invited to participate, as have several local community farms.

Why:  If you haven’t lined up your CSA share yet, the Farm Share Fair is a great place to learn about what’s available. You will be able to sign up for summer and winter CSA shares at the Fair. For those of you who have already purchased your 2010 CSA share, this is a great opportunity to say hello to your farmer. We are also inviting farmers to bring and sell their produce to the Fair, so you may want to bring your shopping bags!

Want to help? Gretta’s looking for volunteers who want to help make this Fair a success. Contact her directly if you’d like to help in any way:  GrettaAnderson@earthlink.net, or 781.507.6602.

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