Day 12 ~ Make a Food Bryce Can Try

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
Day 12 was 'Make a Food Bryce Can Try' and it happened to be fajita night at my sister's house. I'm a big fan of waiting until about 6 months to feed your child solid foods, but I am also a fan of encouraging children to explore. When we eat, Bryce basically attacks me to try to get at my food. He is so determined to try everything, that I have to put my plate practically on the other side of the table so he can't grab it. He is so interested in food!

So, I decided at 5 1/2 months, I'd let him try some super-mushy ripe avocado. I cubed it and put it on a plate, and let him mush it with his hands. If he wanted to play with it, he could. If he wanted to taste it, he could. I'm definitely not ready to feed him meals, but I don't mind him exploring the world around him, using all of his senses. Even when it's time to start eating 'meals,' I plan to just put soft finger foods on a surface for him to explore and taste. His main source of nutrients for the first year will be breastmilk, but I like that he has an interest in food. Definitely mommy's little guy!

Day 11 ~ Try a New Cooking Technique

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
'Try a new cooking technique' was not initially a part of my cooking challenge, but I decided to add it in as Day 11. I'm always open to trying new techniques ~ and this time I went with using my oven as a food dehydrator. We had so many strawberries (probably around 3 or 4 pounds) that I decided to make some fruit leather.

First I sliced the strawberries. I looked at some other recipes that said to add water, lemon juice, and sugar. I added a bit of each, but honestly, these were so ripe and juicy, I probably should've just stuck with strawberries only. 

Each time I sliced a berry, I think Lydia ate half of it (see her guilty full cheeks??)

Then I simmered the mixture for about a half hour.

I pureed it in a small food processor. If you want to remove the seeds, you can pour it through a sieve, but I liked the natural texture that the seeds give it.

Then I spread the mixture onto a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap. I set my oven to 170 degrees, and cooked the mixture 2-3 hours, until it was chewy (not sticky, but not brittle either).

Here's what the entire sheet looked like when I pulled it off the pan. 

The two random spots are where I poked my finger to see if it was still gooey.

I placed the fruit leather in the freezer for a few minutes to cool and firm. Lydia loved it! 

Day 10 ~ Make a Recipe w/Food We Picked

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
This past weekend, we visited Bedner's Farm again to pick fresh strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers. We even went with some friends this time!

Our food challenge for Day 12 was to create a meal with something we grew or picked. I decided to challenge myself to create a homemade ravioli with sauce from our fresh tomatoes.

The pasta itself is made by combining 2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, two eggs, a tablespoon of olive oil, and about a half a cup blanched & pureed fresh spinach (squeezed to remove most of the liquid). I combined it using a mixer with dough hook attachment. I cut it into circles using a cookie cutter. They are filled with a mixture of chicken sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, sauteed onions & garlic, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese, placed in a food processor to chop finely. 

The sauce was really simple - sauteed garlic, onion, olive oil, tomatoes, and some Italian seasoning. The pasta, however, was a lot of work!  That part alone probably took me 2 hours. The good part is....it was quite tasty! The texture of the pasta was perfect and the flavor was delicious.

Day 9 ~ Go out for Ice Cream

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
'Go out for ice cream' turned into lunch and ice cream with my sister and mom ~ Pasquale's Pizza & Cold Stone Creamery. Lydia and I shared the sweet cream ice cream with brownies and graham cracker crumbs. I put her portion in a cone, and I ate the rest of the cup. Yummy!

Can't I eat my ice cream in peace?

Please! No more pictures, Mommy!

Fine, I'll pose for just one more!

Day 8 ~ Bake Cookies

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
This was an awesome challenge! I got ty try out a recipe I had thought about trying, and when I shared the idea on Facebook, I think I inspired three other mommies to make some. I decided to do homemade Oreo cookies. While I like things that are cookies n' cream flavored, there's something about store-bought Oreos that I don't like. They have a bit of a cardboard texture/flavor that just makes them taste processed. Well...the solution is to make your own! You can click the link above for the recipe, so I'll just share my series of photos. I used King Arthur Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa for a really rich, deep flavor.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Lydia loves cooking with me!

You can laugh about what this dough looks like. I did a bit...but it was yummy!

I made my cookies pretty small - I wanted them to be the size of store-bought Oreos.

Here are the cookies straight out of the oven.

I put the filling in a zipper bag and cut the tip to "pipe" the filling into the cookies.

Day 7 ~ Barbecue!

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
Our food challenge for Day 7 just said BBQ. Well, I went our for brunch that day with my childhood best friend, and Richard decided to do the BBQ with Lydia for lunch. He wrote it all out for me:

Half rack of Bourbon Babyback Ribs

Marinade:
2 t smoked paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 oz bourbon
salt
pepper

Glaze:
1 1/2 oz bourbon
1 T honey
1 T brown sugar
1 t dijon mustard
1 t molasses
1 t Worcestershire sauce
pinch of chili powder
salt
pepper

Directions: Marinate in a large zipper bag overnight. Place on a charcoal grill. Brush glaze on periodically while both sides of meat cook to completion.

Polish Sausage

Ingredients:
Kielbasa
a bottle of beer
1t caraway seeds
1 medium onion, sliced

Directions: First, cook on a charcoal grill until grill marks appear. Then,  cook in a bath of beer, caraway seeds, sliced onions.

Looks like Lydia enjoyed!

Day 6 ~ Make a Vegan Meal

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.

I lost a few days in my food challenge because I had to get all 4 wisdom teeth removed, but I'm back! Today's challenge was to create a vegan meal. Now, I may have been a vegetarian/pescatarian for several years, but the vegan thing is a true challenge! I decided to go with a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern flavor.

Here are most of the ingredients that I used

And here was the outcome

I made vegetable kebabs that I brushed with a lemon-garlic-dijon vinaigrette and grilled. I brushed some flat bread with olive oil, added Italian seasoning, and grilled that, too. I made a salad of garbanzo beans, read onion, celery, salt, pepper, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. I served this with some hummus and a decent-quality pre-packaged mix of whole grains (brown rice, bulghur wheat, and a few others). It was pretty delicious! Although one thing I will say, because this contained absolutely no animal products, it also contained absolutely no animal fat. This means that in order to get nice grill marks (which means flavor), I had to use a lot of olive oil. The nice thing about meat products, dairy, etc. is that they naturally contain fat, so you do not have to use as much additional oil. I think I forgot about this as I moved toward eating a more well-balanced diet.

Day 4 ~ Try a New Food Store

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.


With two kids, I've found a lot of the everyday activities I used to engage in somewhat of a challenge. One of these is grocery shopping...and going out in general sometimes. I have to worry about my recently toilet-trained daughter having access to a toilet, changing my son's diapers, having snacks for her, breastfeeding him, etc, etc, etc. So many things to think about! A lot of times I feel more comfortable going out on a weekday with a companion, like my sister or my mom. Yesterday I went over my sister's house, we went out for lunch, and then just decided to take a drive. It gave the kids a chance to sleep and us a chance to bond. It also gave me a chance to try a new food store. I saw a small "sausage" shop on US-1 near Ft. Lauderdale Beach.

Not only was this store new to me, it actually just re-opened about a week ago. They had a great selection of sausages, bacon, and other cured/smoked meats. I got some andouille sausage, bierwurst (never tried that before), and double-smoked bacon. I also got a free hot dog!

The bacon was freshly-sliced and very yummy. 

Here's some of it cooking. Yes, I did eat bacon for dinner last night.

Day 3 ~ Food Artwork

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.


Our Day 3 food challenge was to paint with fruits & veggies. This isn't exactly a cooking challenge, obviously, but it makes us rethink the beauty of food. I recently saw an awesome pin on Pinterest using okra to paint. Unfortunately, the only packages of okra they had at the store that day were huge, and I didn't want to make the investment, but I'd definitely like to try that one day. We used heart and start-shaped potato stamps, an apple, and broccoli to paint. Since it was Valentine's Day, we used pink paper and pink & red paint. Next time, I think we'll use food as our medium (perhaps some pudding, cool whipped, gelatin, etc.).

Day 2 ~ Create a Meal w/3 Animals

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.


So today's challenge was to make a meal containing products from 3 animals. As I began to create this dish, I decided I could actually easily incorporate five. As a pescetarian, I ate a vegetarian diet + seafood. I did this for many years after a trip to Gainesville where I had a Hardee's sausage biscuit. It was so completely inedible that all I could think about was how an animal died to make something that tasted so disgusting. It changed my whole philosophy about food. During my first pregnancy, I remained a pescetarian, but about a year ago, I decided to incorporate meat back into my diet. I decided that since the animals were going to be killed for meat anyway, I would prepare them in a way that was respectful and delicious! I also try to use animals that are humanely treated, like grass-fed beef and free-roaming chickens, or wild, like shrimp and fish. So here was tonight's delicious meal. It contained products from fish (cod filet), pig (chorizo sausage), cow (milk & butter), chicken (broth), and goat (cheese).  It was...phenomenal.

Chorizo & Cod Stew with Goat Cheese Polenta

For the stew:

2 chorizo sausages (uncooked)

1 cod filet (about 3/4 lb), cut into 2" squares

2 plum tomatoes, diced

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 t pimenton (smoked paprika)

salt & pepper to taste

For the polenta:

1 cup coarsely-ground cornmeal

2 cups milk 

2 cups chicken broth

2 oz. goat cheese

1 T butter

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brown the chorizo on medium heat in a nonstick pan that can go in the oven.

2. While sausage is browning, pour one cup of broth and one cup of milk into a large pot. When it begins to simmer, add cornmeal. Continually stir for 20 - 25 minutes, adding the other cup of each liquid as it begins to thicken.

3. When the sausage is browned, slice the sausage into about 1/2" thick pieces. Leave about a tablespoon of fat in the pan and discard the rest. Add the diced tomatoes, sliced garlic, sliced sausage, fish, pimenton, and 1 cup of chicken broth to the pan. Place the pan in the oven for 15 - 20 mins, until the fish is cooked through.

4. While the sausage and fish stew is cooking in the oven (during the last 2 - 3 mins of cooking), complete the polenta by adding the goat cheese and butter. Adjust seasoning as needed.

5. Remove pan from the oven. Serve stew over a mound of polenta on a plate.

Makes 2 servings.


Day 3 ~ Make food artwork.

Day 1 ~ Make a Comfort Food

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.

Inspired by a similar idea on a friend's blog, I decided I would do a 30-Day Food Challenge. I love to experiment with food. I've eaten a vegetarian diet, a pescetarian diet, a dairy-free diet, a low-carb diet, a low-fat diet, etc. Each temporary modification challenges me to think about food differently - I learn more about different flavor combinations, cultures, products on the market, and my own food likes/dislikes. To complete this food challenge, I came up with 30 different ideas and put them in a container. We'll take turns drawing ideas from the container each day (for the next day) and follow what it says.

Food Challenge Day 1 ~ Make a comfort food.

Richard quickly suggested Chicken & Dumplings, something I believe I have made maybe once, so I quickly found a recipe and modified it based on the ingredients we had in the fridge/freezer/pantry.

Chicken & Dumplings

For the chicken stew:
1 whole chicken, broken down
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 quart chicken stock
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 t fresh thyme
salt & pepper to taste

For the dumplings: 
2 cups unbleached flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
2 T butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup minced fresh chives

Directions: 
1. Heat the chicken stock to a gentle simmer in a medium pot.

2. In a separate, large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Pat the chicken pieces dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken pieces, placing the pieces skin-side down first. This will render out fat you will use to build the stew later.

3. Once the chicken pieces are browned on both sides, remove them from the large pot, and turn off the heat. Remove and discard the skin from the chicken pieces and put the chicken pieces into the pot of simmering stock. Poach the chicken in the stock until cooked through, about 20 minutes or so. Remove the chicken pieces and set on a tray to cool for a few minutes. When the chicken pieces are cool to touch, pull the meat off the bones and shred. Set aside.

4. Take the rendered chicken fat, pass it through a strainer to remove bits, and place in the large pot.  Return the heat to medium-high. When it is hot, add the onion, celery, carrot and thyme and sauté until soft, but not browned, about 4-5 minutes. Add the flour and mix well. The flour will absorb all the fat in the pot and will stick a little to the bottom. Turn the heat to medium-low and stir this constantly for 2-3 minutes.

5 Get a ladle ready and have the pot of simmering chicken stock nearby. Add one ladle of hot chicken stock at a time, stirring well between each addition to make a gravy. Add the reserved chicken meat. Simmer.

6. Make the dumpling batter by sifting together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add chopped fresh chives. Add melted butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Use your hands to combine until mixture just comes together.

7. Drop dumpling batter into the simmering stew by heaping teaspoonfuls, over the surface of the stew. Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

This recipe was 100% child-approved! Lydia loved it!

Food Challenge Day 2: Make a meal with products from 3 different animals.

Know Your Menu Options

We decided to do dinner Saturday night for Father's Day. We met up with my brother-in-law, his two daughters, and my parents (my sister is out of town for school). For budgetary and convenience purposes, we chose a popular, affordable chain restaurant. Prior to visiting the restaurant, I checked out their online menu. I wanted to find something that I could order and share with Lydia. I'm slightly determined to lose a few pounds this summer (although I already weigh less than my pre-pregnancy weight - yay!). To begin any weight loss, I usually need to start by monitoring what I eat, then I add in more exercise. So anyway, the menu. After looking through the menu items, I clicked on the nutrition facts. I figured they had to have some healthy choices, especially since they have a 'lighter fare' portion of their menu. Yeah...no. There were only two dishes on the menu that were under 500 calories each - a pasta dish and a chicken dish. I chose the pasta, my husband chose the chicken.  Let me share with you some of the other menu items and how many calories they are:

• Chicken parm - 1090 calories
• Steak with gorgonzola sauce - 1310 calories
• Grilled chicken caesar - 850 calories
• Artichoke-spinach dip - 650 calories
• Fettucine Alfredo - 1220 calories

There were many other choices, but as I said, only two that were under 500 calories. Now, here's the really bad part. Here are some of the choices on the children's menu:

• Pizza - 470 calories
• Milkshake - 500 - 530 calories (depending on flavor)
• Grilled chicken w/fries - 400 calories
• Fettucine Alfredo - 800 calories

So imagine your child orders the fettucine alfredo and a shake - that's over 1300 calories for one meal for a child!! I did some quick research on WebMD and found this information: a moderately active child between the ages of 4 - 8 should consume 1400 - 1600 calories a day. So in one meal at a popular restaurant, your child could potentially consume all the calories that he/she should eat in an entire day.

I like the idea of Lydia eating lots of different foods. She already eats whatever we are having for dinner (perhaps with a few modifications to the texture and flavor). I would never want to tell control her food as I believe food is meant to be enjoyed (as we gain important nutrients), but knowing that well-established restaurants create menus that do very little to promote healthy-eating in young children is scary. No wonder we have such a horrible obesity epidemic in this country! From what I heard on a show on the Food Network, our generation will be the first to have a longer life span than the offspring's generation. Much of that is because of the sedentary lifestyles so many children experience and the horrible food choices that people make for their children.

So what can we do to promote healthy, active lifestyles and choices for our children? Here's what I plan to do:
1. Practice what I preach. If I tell my child that watermelon is a good snack and I sit on the couch eating a bag of chips, how do I get her to buy in to what I am saying?
2. Model healthy activities. Swimming, taking walks, playing on the beach. There's no reason to spend a weekend sitting at home playing video games.
3. Show your children where food comes from. I think I stated it in a previous post, but I want Lydia to know where her food comes from, that people and animals work hard to get fresh food to the grocery store. Children will learn that cheese and chicken nuggets don't just come in pretty shapes like dinosaurs and stars.
4. Cook with your children. I always loved cooking. As a child, I would watch The Frugal Gourmet on PBS. I was amazed at all of the delicious-looking food Jeff Smith was able to prepare. I started writing little recipes in a notebook when I was probably no more than 7 or 8 years old. I remember that I asked my mom to make mashed potatoes and cover them with vegetables, like carrots, peas, and green beans, then bake it to get some sort of crust on top.
5. Keep healthy food in your house. I know this one is pretty obvious, but if you keep crap in your house, your kids will eat crap. If you keep healthy stuff in the house, your children will snack on healthy stuff.
6. Indulge! Children should know that you can eat ice cream and brownies and cookies and nachos - SOMETIMES. These are yummy treats that are meant to be shared and enjoyed. Treats like these aren't so special if you eat them everyday.

Anything special you do to keep your family healthy? How do you tackle the issue of your child ordering unhealthy food in a restaurant? Do you know of any good resources that grow with your child?

Tomorrow night, I am visiting a local store that is doing a presentation on healthy eating. Perhaps I can comment to my own blog post after that :-)