Monthly Archives: October 2015

Goes Down Smoothie

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Navigating the ins and outs of healthy eating with kids is tricky.  It’s hard to explain to a 7 year old exactly why some of the foodstuff she loves are totally ok: apples, grapes, tomatoes, salad, lentils etc. but others, like Coke, are total shit.  “But Moooooooom, it tastes SO good, and I feel FINE after I drink it.  Really, I don’t think it’s so bad for me, I don’t even feel sick!” 

To try and clarify which things are which,  we use two categories for things we like: “tastes good /good for you” and “tastes good /not so good for you”.  The latter category is reserved for treats and exceptions and the former is mostly open bar (sadly, the real bar beverages fall into the tastes good/not so good for you category, so no open bar at the real bar. Grrrrrrrrr.)

So.  Fruit juice.  An alternative to soda, more fun than water… many people categorize this as a tastes good/good for you option.  This would be seem to be a logical conclusion because it’s derived from fruit, a real, whole food.  I’m not convinced; here’s the low down.

Lots of fruit juice is loaded with extra sugar, and other additives to preserve its shelf life at the grocery store.  Often the extra sugar is added in the form of high fructose corn syrup.  And just to no that.  But even if it’s not the really evil kind of added sugar, any kind of refined sugar isn’t a good idea.

Suppose you buy 100% organic juice: totally safe, yes?  Hmmmmm, not so sure.  The 100% organic stuff is definitely better than the mega processed aforementioned kind, but it’s still processed.  While there are still some of the vitamins in the juice of the fruit, many of the other important nutrients found in the whole fruit are eliminated; fiber, for example.  And even if the sugar is naturally occurring so not technically a processed food, you can certainly drink lots more “sugar” in the juice shortcut than if you have to eat 10 oranges to get the equivalent quantity.

I don’t mean to say that juice is BAD.  But it’s not a replacement or an equivalent for whole fruits that have a natural nutrient/vitamin balance.  I don’t offer it to the kids on a regular basis. I guess I would put it in the good/not so good for you category.  That same category where I put my wine.  As much as I would like to, I can’t credibly convince myself that I’m drinking it for the grapes.

Wait, whaaaa?!  No more juice?  Little Jimmie loves juice!  He’s going to flip a lid if I cut back. 

I hear ‘ya.  Here’s a good alternative for a fruity beverage treat, because seriously, who doesn’t like a smoothie.  (Use the 2 banana version in the beginning, the extra sweetness is appreciated by the young-inz.)  And the added veggies are a bonus!  The whole Fam gets on board for this one.

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Going Down Smoothie

4 cups raw spinach leaves

1 cup other greens (I used kale)

Cold water (as needed)

1 apple washed and chopped into large chunks

1 pear washed and chopped into large chunks

I banana, peeled

Small bunch of cilantro

Juice from one lemon

Start by making the green base: put the spinach, kale and water in the blender.  If you have a serious blender like a Vitamix, I’m totally jealous and you should invite me over to use it.  Just kidding.  Serious blender owners won’t need much water.  The rest of us have to add water and push the greens down until the mixture “takes”.  This will vary.

After you’re set on the green base, put the blender on high, and add the fruit so it mixes in with your base.  If you want to up the sweetness factor, add another banana.

Last step: the herbs (cilantro in my case) and the lemon juice are added last.

Serve cold.  Preferably in fancy glasses.  All things taste better in fancy glasses.

You Can’t Stick a Fourchette in This One (obviously!), but You’re Done!

 

Crazy is as Crazy Does

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IMG_0297IMG_0293We started the kids’ swimming class on Wednesday night, and I’d forgotten that 20+ children in any space can totally be a crazy-inducing experience, but 20+ kids in a space with an echo and full of water, can only be described as fresh hell.  I was of course running late, thus became that person who parks in the no parking zone to get the kids inside and changed on time (I’ll come move the car as soon as they’re in their class, no evil eyes pleeeeeease!) only to realize I’d forgotten Mister Mister’s trunks, and had to run barefoot back outside to aforementioned badly parked car with naked Mister Mister in my arms to find his cotton underwear (he had a diaper on because he hasn’t quite mastered the potty yet) because once he’d seen the pool, getting dressed without getting in the pool was NOT an option.  The other parents and kids who had finished the previous class and were filtering out to the parking lot mostly stared at the hot mess that was Mister Mister and I screaming and running to the car, the contents of our bag strewn across the tiny changing room…  Sweet Yummy pretended she didn’t know us and calmly went to her class.  Then Mister Mister, suited up in his cotton underwear, ran out of my arms and jumps head first into the pool.  Everyone turned around to see who the owner of the crazy kid was, and it was me, looking totally the part with various pieces of clothing and towels in my hands, dirty (now muddied) feet from running barefoot through the dirt to the car, and hair matted to my sweaty forehead.  I checked my phone, and we been at the pool for a total of 7 minutes.  

Needless to say, by the time we arrived home an hour later, I could barely string together a coherent sentence. I had to remind myself why extracurricular actives are so important: they make the monsters tired so they go to bed early, leaving the evening free for a glass (or three) of wine and Orange is the New Black episodes.they develop and hone the physical and creative skills of our youth.

Dinner turned out to be a mix of two dishes I normally have on heavy rotation, one a pasta dish, the other a rice dish.  The mix was because I literally kept forgetting which one I was making and started mixing up the recipes.

So here it is.

Cray-Cray Something

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

1 knob fresh ginger chopped into small pieces

1 tbsp. turmeric

4 Tbsp. Tamari (additive free soy sauce – also gluten free)  I buy mine at the organic store.

250 ml (8.5 ounces) crushed or puréed tomatoes (JUST tomatoes, nothing else!  Also try organic store for this one if you have doubts)

100 ml coconut milk (careful on this one too, many brands sneak additives in to make the texture consistent.  Non-additive coconut milk has a thick layer on top and the water on the bottom.  That’s normal… equal parts of both translate nicely into the milk when you’re cooking.)

1 block fermented tofu (non GMO, and no unnecessary additives) chopped into cubes

I package Somen noodles

Bunch of cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a saucepan on medium heat and add the coconut oil. Once oil is hot, add the chopped onion, and a few minutes later the pressed garlic and the ginger.  Let cook for 10 minutes or so, until the onions are transparent.  Then add the chopped Tofu and cook long enough to brown the sides of the Tofu (5-10 min-ish).  Then add the turmeric.

One mixture is cooked to your liking, add the sauces (tomato and coconut) and 2 tbsp of Tamari.  Let simmer while you make the Somen noodles.  These are my FAVORITE quick dinner noodles because they take THREE minutes to cook.  Literally.  In this recipe it’s even faster because you want them to be a bit al dente.  I cooked about 2.5 min for this recipe.

Cook drain noodles and add them to your saucepan and mix everything together.

Taste and check the salt… if you still need add some more Tamari (2 tbsp) or so.  Mix together so the tastes mix.

Just before serving add pepper and chop the cilantro.

Stick a Fourchette in It, ‘Cause You’re Done!