Strollerderby : food

Is Candy Medicine the New Candy Cigarette?

JeanneSager — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:06:00 GMT

Remember candy cigarettes? So much fun pretending to be so bad? I haven't seen them on store shelves for years, so I've got to assume marketers saw the danger of hooking kids with candy. But I wonder: is the new trend toward diguising kids medicines as gummy candies really any better?

The gelatinous blobs have sold like hotcakes to parents who have struggled to make their children swallow the traditional pediatrician-prescribed multi-vitamin. The fight to take your fiber pill becomes a non-entity when you're promising them, "you can have a gummy this morning!"

And here's where I'm going to play the grinch. I'm not going to argue they're easier to serve up, but should we really teach our kids that medicines are like candy?

Like those sweet slim ciggies before them, the gummy meds are parading something potentially dangerous in a candy form. Even "good for you" medicines like vitamins, which can reach toxic levels when overconsumed. Even those fiber treats, meant to keep your kids from getting blocked up, can cause the exact opposite when they get hold of the bottle of sweets and go to town.

So let's weigh this out - toxic possible overdose versus a morning fight. Which are you going to pick?

Image: MyCalorieCounter

10 Coolest Baby Shower Cakes

SunnyChanel — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:30:00 GMT

After discovering a very disturbing and totally creepy baby shower cake (which you can check out here), I started to think about the other side of the bakery aisle. The tasteful, stylish and pretty celebratory concoctions that have been presented at baby showers.

Here are ten of the coolest baby shower cakes floating around the internet, having their likeness saved for prosperity before they disappear into partygoer’s tummies.

Baby Shower Rubber Duck Cake (above)
Who doesn’t love a rubber ducky? This cake pays homage to everyone’s favorite bath toy in the form of a pair swimming through a sea of icing. And best of all, the ducks can be recycled and actually used for the baby, which isn’t the case of 90% of cake decorations out there. You can get the instructions on how to create your own right here.

Classy Cake
This is pert near the opposite of a tacky joke shower cake. This baby is all sugary sweet class. This is from Pink Cake Box here.

The Belly Cake
This fancy fondant cake is a tribute to the belly in all its pregnant glory. It’s cute, kinda sexy and highly entertaining. But cutting it open for serving only seems appropriate if the honoree is scheduled for a C-Section. You can check out that cake here.

The Twin Cake
For those expecting double the trouble, here’s a cake for the soon-to-be mom of twins. Two baby carriages, oodles of number twos and bottles and pacifiers galore decorate this towering cake. This cake is from the Sugar Loft Cake Shoppe in Osage Beach, MO right here.

The Photo Cake
The mom who is about to have a baby once was a baby herself. The photo cake is a reminder to all about the cycle of life (the happy part of the cycle that is). This cake was found right here and is one you can easily get done at a bakery near you.

Retro Style
This is one of my favorites of the bunch. Simple, stylish and totally retro. It looks like a cake that could have been featured in McCalls in 1972. Sparkle Cakes created this polka dot silhouette cake, you can check them out right here.

Baby Takes Over the Cake cake
Who’s baby shower is this? It’s all about the baby right? This cake puts the baby front and center as the focus point of the baby blue masterpiece. Yeah, it’s all about him. This was created by Pink Cake Box here.

Pink & Polka Dots
By the time I got to this cake, I realized that polka dots seems to be a strong theme and motif for baby shower cakes. Is it representing the mother’s egg, her womb, her belly? Or is it just that dots are cool? Yeah, I thought so. By Sublime Slice here

Baby Blocks
Why have one cake when you can have six? This series of square cakes are based on the basic baby blocks announcing the sex for all to see. The creator of this cake is here and boy must their arms be tired...that's a whole lot of sides to frost.

Rump Cake
I can’t figure out if this cake is cute or tacky. I’m totally on the fence. But I do know one thing…there are polka dots on it! People often say that baby's are cute enough to 'eat', this cake takes that pretty literally. This bottom was found here.

Let's Hear it for Cupcakes!
Yeah, I’m a sucker for a cupcake. These from the UK here.

Which one is your favorite?

6 Reasons Why it Sucks to Be a Kid Today

Cole Gamble — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Rebecca Kelly feels very sorry for today's youth. We had it better. According to her, "back in the good old days, being a kid was awesome, but now today's youth is choking on yuppified bulls*** like organic nonsense, parental controls, and more."

1) Food is No Fun

When we were kids we had lunches packed with Fruit By the Foot, Teddy Grahams, and Squeeze Its. Now kids get organic crap like fruit leathers, vegetable-flavored “chips” that have the texture of packing cellophane, and sugar-free, 100% juice. What ever happened to “3% juice” juice that you could squeeze out of a cartoon face? Sure, some kids nowadays still have gloriously unhealthy lunches, but yuppie parents regard these children as contagious chunksters who could pass the “fat” virus onto their precious kids via direct, sticky-handed contact.

2) Clothing Has Gotten Ridiculous

Young girls have belly-baring shirts, kid-sized halter tops, and rhinestones on everything, while young boys look like mini douche bags with their youth-sized rugby shirts and cargo shorts. Pre-teens are just as bad: girls are pairing leggings with everything and boys are popping every collar they can get their hands on. What happened to Osh Kosh overalls and cute crap like duckies and froggies on little kids' shirts? Why the hell would you want your 7-year-old to go to school wearing a t-shirt that says “spoiled brat” and hot pants that have the word “princess” emblazoned on the butt?

3) Parents are Too Paranoid

In the good ol' days, we could go exploring in the woods behind our house, climb the tallest tree in our yard, and sled down the stairs in our house using a blanket or a laundry basket. Our parents didn't care as long as we came for dinner when they shouted. Now everything in the house is childproof, kids are on leashes so they don't stroll more than two feet away from their parents, and parents go insane if their kid gets a single scratch or bump. Cuts and bruises gave us character, and they taught us valuable lessons that we were able to learn for ourselves (e.g., stoves are hot, roofs are high, table corners are pointy).

Now that I come to think of it, I don't know why I didn't perish as a kid in a roof-jumping off accident or from obsesity triggered juvinle diabetes. Man, we do parent our kids like wussies these days.

To read more of Rebecca's article, go here.

More Good Stuff:

8 "PG" Movies Way Too Scary for Kids

Disturbing Baby-Swinging PSA

Dumb Kiddy Product Makeovers

9 Steps to Keep Your Kid from Ruining a Wedding

Eating Your Baby's Placenta

10 Great Books For (Traumatizing) Children

Dad Gets 100 Years for Poisoning Campbell's Soup

JeanneSager — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:33:00 GMT

There is nothing Mmm, mmm, good about this Campbell's Soup story. Although, to be fair, it's not the soup company's fault.

A father decided he was so money hungry, he wanted to sue the Campbell's Soup Company. But instead of sticking a worm in his can of chicken noodle and crying foul, William Cunningham figured he'd go for the big kahuna.

He cooked up soup with prescription medicines and lighter fluid and fed it to his kids.

The good news? The children - eighteen months and three-years-old at the time - survived.

The just as good news? Cunningham's butt is headed to prison, NEVER to see the light of day. Convicted on multiple counts of cruelty to children and aggravated assault (he already pled guilty for trying to defraud Campbell's), the Georgia man will spend one hundred years (or at least as long as he lives) in prison. He's also lost his wife (go figure), and he won't be seeing the kids - who are likely to suffer lifelong respiratory problems despite their survival.

We all know people get desperate for cash, but is there ever a time when you'd put your child's life at risk to get it? Obviously, Cunningham went farther than a normal person. I'm not suggesting poison. But let's look at the parents who take their children along for the ride when they're off to sell drugs, rob a store . . . basically, the type of crime that someone slightly more sane (although still on a criminal bent, obviously!) might commit. They're affecting the child, risking the child's life but certainly not feeding their child a mix that could very likely kill them.

Some would even say that the Nadya Sulemans and Jon and Kate Gosselins of the world are doing something fairly similar. Not feeding their kids poison, but risking their emotional health for the sake of the cash.

What is it about these parents that allows them to treat the child as a pawn who they can do with what they please?

Image: Seattle PI

Kitchenista: Another Tip on Getting Kids to Eat Veggies

Madeline Holler — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:02:00 GMT

No magic formula in this video, but there are a few nice veggie recipes that might get your kids chomping on produce.

This video is subtle plug for Hidden Valley Ranch, a substance I go back and forth on with regard to veggie enticement. But these recipes don't require the high-calorie, super-processed sauce. (No judgment if your kids do ... whatever it takes, right?)

I know the studies and I'm interested in getting my kids to eat veggies, too. But sometimes I wonder if we're not a little too desperate to get them to eat veggies. I'm not about to puree sweet potatoes for mac 'n' cheese (lazy!) or offer ranch and melted cheese on just-picked farmer's market produce. But I also try to get good tasting stuff, fresh and I will sautee or steam or grill and drizzle with oil and a sprinkling of salt.

I'm mainly of the offer it over and over/no-thank-you bite/no special meals school. My second-grader seems to be coming out of a three-year veggie slump (just as my four-year-old enters it ... nice!). Not sure if it has anything to do with me, but I just thought I'd throw that out there in case you need some hope.

Anyway, what are your veggie secrets?

Hannah Montana's Gone Fruity

JeanneSager — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:16:00 GMT

I'm all for a brand using its sway with kids for good, but do we really need Hannah Montana bananas?

What about Mickey Mouse apples? High School Musical avocados?

Disney has gotten healthy to face the childhood obesity crisis head on, cutting ties with McDonald's (you'll notice there are no Disneyfied happy meals on your summer road trip this year) and slapping giant mouse ears on good, wholesome fare.

So, is it working? According to a look by the Washington Post, yes. When supermarket chain Winn-Dixie linked its bagged apples to High School Musical, sales spiked by forty-seven percent. The Disney Garden line is now appearing in eighteen of the top twenty mass and grocery retailers in the states, and sales grew seventy percent from 2007 to 2008.

I can admit I've fallen victim. My daughter needed a grab and go snack, and she saw Mickey apple slices on the shelves. She asked because they were Mickey. I bought because they were apples. With the same characters in a different aisle on sugar-packed "fruit" snacks, the real thing worked for me. We've also been known to pick up Princess soup because she begged for princesses, and my first introduction to Hannah Montana came in the supermarket when my daughter started shrieking about the pop star on her yogurt. Again, yogurt, much better than potato chips! Trust me - their branding is working on my impressionable three-year-old.

But I'm not sure how I feel about Disney selling health food to my kid. Is it better than peddling the junk? Sure. But does it have to be either or? I shy away from Sesame Street's organic pasta and breastfast offerings too, because as much as we all love Cookie Monster, he's not making me feel better about a processed box of waffles. And I'm not ready for the forecasted Mickey whole wheat chicken nuggets to replace the homemade version I make and freeze in my own kitchen.

Frankly, I'd prefer my kid make her food choices based on things like "amount of whole grains included" or "no trans-fats." I'd like to think she'd pick up an apple because we live in New York and have raised her on some of the nation's best apples, not because there's a cartoon character stamped on the flesh. Ditto avocados. They're fantastically flavorful and you can't have guacamole (yum) withouth them - so do we really need Zac Efron's mug to get them in my cart and on her plate?

Disney is such a powerful brand, I'm happy to see it inching back from the heart attack on a plate foodstuffs its traditionally backed. For parents who have had to measure just buying a requested item over the tantrum in the middle of the supermarket, it's definitely good news. Trust me, been there, heard the screeching. But I can't help wishing food would just go back to being food, no Hannah Montana, no Elmo, no Mickey. It's why I've fought the organic branding too.

Because in fifteen years, she won't be picking food because it has her favorite superhero printed on the front of the bag. She'll just have to go with her gut, and I'd like to think it's one filled with healthy choices.

Image: Washington Post

Hooray for Book Banners - No Really

Kids Put Pregnant Women's Food Cravings to Shame

Also on Babble:

Bad Parent: Organic Schmorganic

Where Apple, Moses and Your Kids Like to Eat

Madeline Holler — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:01:00 GMT

Eating out with kids isn't always easy, even when you're Gwyneth Paltrow (though, come on, it has to be easier, right?). Either the restaurant you like doesn't like your kids, or the menu doesn't have any realistic options for your picky offspring.

Paltrow addresses the matter of kid-friendly yet adult-palate-satisfying restaurants in this week's issue of her online newsletter "GOOP." (If you don't yet get GOOP, you should. It only costs you bandwidth and you sometimes get little gems, such as this one, where she discusses her once "frenemy" who we all know is Winona Ryder.)

GOOP consists of a lot of lists, and this week's is no exception. She put together a guide of kid-friendly/Gwyneth-approved restaurants in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago and London. What? You're nowhere near Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago or London? That's where you come in.

We've got readers from all over -- U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, etc., etc. Here's your chance to give a shout-out to the restaurant you really, really like and where you can also bring your kid without (1) being made to feel bad and (2) having the nightly food battle. In other words, some place they like too. Maybe you'll drum up extra biz and ensure you're favorite family dining spot won't go out of business. We're looking for non-national chain (if possible), delicious, maybe even healthful.

I'll start. I live in Long Beach, Calif., and while, technically, it's in the same county as Gwyneth's Los Angeles picks, I'm not hauling the kids to Santa Monica to go out to eat. But I'll keep her recommendations in mind if I'm ever tempted to do so.

In the meantime, we love going to La Parolaccia, which turns out is a mini-chain in the area. The food is delicious, they don't glare at you when you show up with kids and they even have a high-chair. Oh, and a bread basket with some kind of tapenade that must include heroin as a main ingredient because it's highly addictive and they keep refilling it even though they probably shouldn't. And for Mexican, we go to the Los Compadres on Anaheim St.. Not only is the food good and authentic, they send the waitresses over to take turns telling you how cute your baby is and then pass him around until everyone has had a chance to guess how much he weighs.

Your turn. Where do you take the kids in Minneapolis? Des Moines? Perth? Guelph? Arlington?

Happy Meals at Haughty Places?

Photo: GOOP.com

Cooking with Tamra Davis: Apple Cake

editors — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Tamra Davis, film and TV director, music-video maker, mother of two, Huffington Post blogger, and wife of the Beastie Boys’ Mike D. (their boys wander in and out of the kitchen during filming), has given Babble permission to post some recipes from her online cooking show. Today: Apple Cake!

Now go buy her book, Make Me Something Good to Eat, available on her TamraDavisCookingShow.com!

5 Best Cookbooks for Kids

SunnyChanel — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:19:00 GMT

Spending time in the kitchen, creating a delectable dish with your kids, is an exceptionally satisfying and enriching endeavor. Maybe you find joy just spending the time with your offspring or perhaps you’re just prepping them for the day when they can make you dinner for a change. Regardless, teaching our kids how to make a decent meal or two is one of our responsibilities as parents. Here are five of the best Kid’s Cookbook choices out there to help you lead them to culinary greatness.

Kitchen for Kids: 100 Amazing Recipes Your Children Can Really Make (above)
by Jennifer Low
One of the big pluses of this book is that this collection of recipes are made without the use of knives or stove top flames and are all created from scratch. Yup, safety first. The collection off 100 recipes includes items like a Paddy Thai Noodles, One-Potato-Two Bread and a Strawberry-Fudge Striped Cake. $16.57 here.

Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers & Up
By Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson
Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes was created by the author of the legendary Moosewood Cookbook - Mollie Katzen along with the educator Ann Henderson. This book includes two sets of instructions, one set in words for parents and one set is in easy to follow picture based recipes. All of them are healthy options and include goodies Hide and Seek Muffins, Green Spaghetti and Carrot Pennies. $12.21 here.

The Family Kitchen: Easy and Delicious Recipes for Parents and Kids to Make and Enjoy Together
by Debra Ponzek
The Family Kitchen makes the chore of cooking an educational and (hopefully) tasty playdate for the whole family. Each recipe includes a list of tasks that the kids can assist in. Kids learn kitchen safety, beginning cooking tips and techniques. The 125 recipes include items like Grilled Spicy Red Snapper Tacos, Garden Vegetable Soup and Double Hot Chocolate with Homemade Marshmallows. $16.50 here.

DK Children's Cookbook
by Katharine Ibbs
DK Books is known for the graphically strong and compellingly designed releases. The Children’s Cook Book – Quick and Tasty Recipes for Young Chefs includes easy to follow recipes along with oodles of full color photographs with basic cooking fundamentals like how to boil an egg and how to cut the tops of strawberries. The 50 recipes include such tempting choices like Sausage Popovers, Blueberry Pancakes, Chicken Curry. $12.23 here.

The Usborne First Cookbook
by Angela Wilkes
The Usborne First Cookbook is an introduction to the culinary arts including a primer on kitchen equipment, handy hints, and a glossary of kitchen terms. This cookbook includes a collection of simple easy to make recipes such as French Toast, Ice Cream Sundaes and Marmalade Gingerbread. $12.91 here

Cooking with Tamra Davis: Grilled Fish Sandwich

editors — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Now go buy her book, Make Me Something Good to Eat, available on her TamraDavisCookingShow.com!

Is it Cheaper to Bake It or Buy It?

KeriF — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:30:00 GMT

I consider myself rather handy in the kitchen, but there are certain things that I would sooner buy than bake: Bagels. Breakfast cereal. Yogurt. Cadbury cream eggs (really, why mess with perfection?).

But times are tight, and Jennifer Reese at Slate decided to find out if she could save any money by making the aforementioned pantry staples (but not the cream eggs) herself. Her results were surprising.

I have actually never made a bagel myself, though I did wear a horrendous pair of oversized chef pants with bagels on them at a kitchen job long ago. But according to Reese, "bagels are one of the quickest, easiest breads you can make." Her favorite recipe--"by far the best bagels I've ever eaten"--from Bernard Clayton's New Book of Breads, takes less than three hours from flour to table. And at just 23 cents per bagel, you can't beat the price.

Many friends have told me that I should make my own yogurt, but the science (and all that bacteria!) always seemed so complicated to me. Reese might just have persuaded me to try. She follows a recipe from Anne Mendelson's Milk, which is identical to one from Harold McGee in The New York Times. Click here for the directions, but know this: it sounds pretty friggin' easy. The result: "ambrosial yogurt" that costs about $1.75 per quart.

One caveat: Reese didn't put any value on her time, though she did factor in the cost of running her appliances. If you work full time and struggle to find enough hours in the day, it certainly won't be cost-effective for you to spend three hours making bagels when you can probably walk to the store and back in 15 minutes.

Though, apparently, it will be quite taste-effective.

What's For Dinner Dad Week 2 - Wednesday

Brett Singer — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:20:00 GMT

Well, it happened.

I just couldn't bring myself to cook tonight.

That sounds too dramatic. I was up too late last night and now I'm tired and feel sort of blah. (My new mantra: "You do not have swine flu. You do not have swine flu.") So I decided that it was time to order in.

The cuisine of choice: sushi.

When it comes to Japanese food, Thing 1 eats cucumber rolls, edamame, and tomago (sweet egg on rice, very tasty). Thing 2 is much more fickle but he'll usually eat edamame and teriyaki chicken. I love sushi, sashimi, dumplings, rolls, whatever. I think I could eat Japanese food almost every night. I ordered the cuke rolls, tomago, extra edamame, and a dinner box that included some shrimp gyoza, salmon sashimi and chicken teriyaki for Thing 2.

Thing 1 ate like he hadn't been fed in days. A lot of cucumber rolls, two pieces of tomago, a ton of edamame, and then a couple of cookies for desert. Then he was still hungry, so he added an apple and a small bowl of grapes.

Thing 2 was more of a pain. He ate some edamame and chicken, then demanded cookies. I said no, not until he ate more chicken. Eventually I agreed to feed it to him (I know, not a good idea, but I was tired and I caved), and he had a couple of cookies and an apple. So not a great night, but it could have been worse.

One of the problems with ordering out is that it makes me lazy. Meaning that tomorrow I may once again not feel like cooking. We'll see if I can resist the siren call of the Menu File.

Reminder: I'm tweeting about my cooking all week; follow me at twitter.com/brettsinger. For just the dinner related tweets, search for the hashtag #dinnerdad. Or just click the link. (You don't have to know what a hashtag is in order to read the tweets.)

What's For Dinner Dad Week 2 - Monday

What's For Dinner Dad - Thursday

Better Brains in a Juice Box

Madeline Holler — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:32:00 GMT

Nestle recently launched two new types of juices in their Juicy Juice brand, one intended to boost brain power and the other to boost immunities.

Juicy Juice Brain Development contains 16mg of DHA, the famous Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and essential for brain development in children under 2 years old. Juicy Juice Immunity contains prebiotic fiber, vitamin C and zinc.

Both juices are diluted with 30 percent water for, as the company press release says, "lower calories and sugar." This is a break from Juicy Juice's "100 Percent Juice for 100 Percent Kid," line.

Now, the question: does adding DHA that has been extracted from tuna fish oil to grape and apple drinks actually make your kid smarter?

Wellll, experts are skeptical. But then Nestle isn't claiming its juice will boost intelligence.

From the LA Times health blog:

"It's plausible that products like this could be useful in children that don't eat much fish," Innis says, though she wouldn't speculate on what the benefits might be. It's unlikely that juice alone could significantly improve a child's thinking or behavior, she says. That's because many factors help shape a child's brain development and thinking skills, and it's overly simplistic to think that one nutrient will make a dramatic difference.

Innis is Sheila Innis, the director of the nutrition research program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and author or co-author of more than 50 journal articles on DHA.

I've always been skeptical of the powers of juice, DHA fortified or otherwise. We go through orange juice phases, but I only buy apple juice when it's time to pitch in for drinks at the preschool. We drink water. And then I push whole fruit (with varying success) on my kids. We also try to navigate the rough waters of fish-eating (which ones have mercury? I can never remember ...) and while I certainly think it's important for one's diet, how much does one really need? Also, after two years old, is it too late to be pushing DHA? And before two, should kids be drinking all that much juice?

What do you think? Godsend? Or trendy additive for today's insecure parent?

Image: Nestle

Cooking with Tamra Davis: Red Velvet Cupcakes

editors — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Now go buy her book, Make Me Something Good to Eat, available on her TamraDavisCookingShow.com!

How to Raise a Foodie

KeriF — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:35:00 GMT

Step One: Lovingly hand-puree baby's first foods, taking care to use only organic vegetables and lots of herbs and spices so baby's palate develops.

Step Two: Continue to feed baby everything under the sun as she develops into an adventurous eater by the time she turns one, diving into plates of pad Thai and roasted mushroom risotto with abandon.

Step Three: Keep feeding your toddler everything under the sun, even when she literally spits it back in your face, on past her second birthday when she simply stops eating.

Step Four: Fingers crossed behind your back, tell all your friends she's a foodie.

My kids should have been foodies. They were born into it. Their parents are both chefs, and would sooner eat asparagus in February than eat processed food. And we did Steps One and Two with great success. Unfortunately, we also did Step Three. By that time, however, we didn't care that our oldest son wasn't a foodie. We just wanted him to eat.

My sister, with whom I share a communal household, found this quite funny, and even wrote about it for Babble. Now that my youngest daughter is nearly one and eating everything under the sun, I'm enjoying Step Two while I can, knowing that Step Three is just around the corner.

I'm not the only one to harbor not-so-secret hopes of raising an adventurous eater. Matthew Amster-Burton wrote a book about it, "Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009).

"I really didn't want to fall into something where I was cooking separate food for her," says Amster-Burton. "Luckily, pretty much from her first mouthful of solid food, Iris was way more interested in what we were eating anyway."

Sure, that's how it starts.

Now Iris is 5. Does she still eat sushi and Thai chicken salad?

Of course not.

Amster-Burton concedes that his daughter may be slightly less picky than other kids her age, but if so, "it's by a factor of like 5 percent."

But that's not the point, insists Amster-Burton.

"She has a vast interest in food beyond what she actually likes to eat," he said. "Someday, that's going to pay off."

That's what I keep telling myself.

Photo: The New York Times

What's For Dinner Dad Week 2 - Tuesday

Brett Singer — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:03:00 GMT

Not sure what the weather is where you are, but in New York today, it was hot. HOT. Fry an egg on the sidewalk hot.

OK, not that hot, but still. Hot. So I really didn't feel like cooking.

Thing is, I defrosted a nice package of lean organic ground beef. Very tasty. Grass-fed, if memory serves. The cows were treated to pedicures. Good stuff.

So I bit the bullet and made some burgers.

That's our George Foreman Grill, purchased during a period in our lives when we had no oven. (Long story, not very interesting.) It doesn't get much use, but for burgers it's great. The removable plates make cleanup a lot easier; I used to have one of the non-removable plate models and cleaning it was very annoying.

Going with my Monday meatloaf success, I mixed in some ketchup, a raw egg and a little matzo meal, along with salt, pepper, a tiny amount of basil and an even smaller amount of onion powder. That last item I thought could make the kids revolt, but to my surprise both ate without complaint. I myself had two burgers; I was hungry and they were good.

For a side, I made ravioli, these little shapes that both kids typically devour with almost frightening gusto. Not sure of the brand; I'll post it next time I cook 'em.

Menu for Tuesday:

- Hamburgers on potato rolls (not the healthiest bread around but, y'know, tastes good).

- Ravioli

- Raw carrots

Funny thing happened with the last item. Thing 2 said "no carrots." He metaphorically dug in his heels. He protested like the Ghandi without a cause that he sometimes is. So I went with the optometrist method of parenting (which is working less and less the older he gets): Do you want one carrot or a half a carrot? After some sleight of hand where I broke a couple of carrots in half, he informed me that he would eat TWO carrots, and then he did. Again, as far I'm concerned, I won that round.

What's For Dinner Dad - Thursday

Peeper Madness - Supeep Court

Parents Need To Eat, Too -- Right?

Kate Tuttle — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:31:00 GMT

So, we all know that once you have a new baby in the house everything falls apart -- your cleanliness standards, your ability to read grown-up books for more than a pages, your capacity to stay up past 10 pm (with the caveat that you're often up after midnight, attending to the wee one). But one of the saddest losses that can come along with new parenthood is your pre-baby passion for cooking good food. And for a lot of us, once the babe gets older it doesn't get much better: meals consist of mac-and-cheese and applesauce, no matter how many times we resolve to diversify.

Enter Debbie Koenig. A Brooklyn mom and freelance food writer, Koenig has started teaching mom-and-kid-friendly cooking classes in her own Williamsburg kitchen, and documenting the results (and advice) on her blog, Words to Eat By.

The cooking series, titled Parents Need to Eat Too, has included Hail Mary Pasta and Whaddya Got Fried Rice, both featuring free-form recipes based on, well, whatever you've got in your kitchen. Another early post laid out just what that ought to be, in an incredibly helpful tour of Koenig's own pantry and refrigerator staples.

Not all of us live in Brooklyn, of course (a sad realization I have every time I climb into a cab taking me to the shuttle home to Boston!), but even if you can't take her cooking class, blogs like this help remind us that we're not alone -- and that even the tiredest, most energy-deprived mom can climb back out of the culinary basement into a place more sunny, well-lit, and nourishing.

More by this author:

They Say: Bilingual Babies Learn Better

Why Are We So Shocked When Women Kill?

(Public) Breastfeeding Now Legal in Massachusetts

Cooking with Tamra Davis: Shrek Pesto

editors — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Now go buy her book, Make Me Something Good to Eat, available on her TamraDavisCookingShow.com!

Terrible Ideas, Cookbook Edition

Kate Tuttle — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:01:00 GMT

Okay, so we all know the economy's in the crapper. But no matter how bad things get, we'll be looking for better eats than this. Is there any excuse for a cookbook title this unappetizing?

I mean, I realize it's the lovable bear's name and all, but why not call it "Cooking With Winnie"? And no, this is a real book, unlike those lists of imaginary hilarious book titles (like "Bi-Curious George," and "What Is That Dog Doing To That Other Dog?").

It makes you wonder how many people -- writers, editors, designers, marketers, publicists -- saw this title and didn't notice anything wrong (in which case, ewww) or didn't say anything.

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What's For Dinner Dad Week 2 - Monday

Brett Singer — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:12:00 GMT

Tonight I managed to remember to defrost something -- a package of ground turkey.

Three choices:

- Turkey burgers, which the kids never seem to like and even I have to admit I do a poor job with.

- Meatballs, which I love and the kids tolerate, but they require more attention since I have to keep turning them in the pan, not to mention the time spent rolling the meat into balls.

- Meatloaf. Mix up, throw it in a pan, bake it, eat.

No contest. Meatloaf wins.

One of the things that I've learned since feeding the children at night became my job is that usually it's not a good idea to announce the menu for the evening, unless said menu contains the words "pizza" or "french fries." So this time I just put the plates out and figured I'd see what happened. Both children ate everything. No "this is no good", "take the skin off" (even though there is no skin), "why is the meat blue?" (That last one hasn't actually ever happened -- yet.) Plus, between my mother, my wife, myself and the kids, the meatloaf was almost completely eaten. This is, I believe, a first. I think the reason is that I made a good batch.

I'm not good with recipes, but I do try to learn from past culinary mistakes. This time I put the ground turkey in a bowl and added a generous amount of matzo meal and ketchup. Then basil, oregano, a little pepper and a teensy amount of salt. Then an egg, and finally -- more ketchup. It came out moister (is that a word?) than usual, so I think I found the correct matzo meal-ketchup-meat ratio. We'll see what happens next time.

So here's Monday's menu:

- Meatloaf

- Tri-color Rotini (a fancy way of saying "pasta")

- Carrots (never let it be said that I don't read the comments)

More tomorrow, because one of the other things I've learned is that these kids want to eat EVERY FRICKIN' DAY. I mean, sheesh.

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What's For Dinner Dad - Monday - UPDATED With Photos And Tweets

Cooking with Tamra Davis: Granola

editors — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Tamra Davis, film and TV director, music-video maker, mother of two, Huffington post blogger, and wife of the Beastie Boys’ Mike D. (their boys wander in and out of the kitchen during filming), has given Babble permission to post some recipes from her online cooking show. Every day this week, we’ll publish her tips for making a healthy, kid-friendly dish. Today: Granola!

Now go buy her book, Make Me Something Good To Eat, available on her TamraDavisCookingShow.com!

Skip The Cereal, Buy The Marshmallows

Brett Singer — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:45:00 GMT

When I was younger I had a strange dream. I had a job as an idea man at a cereal company. My big idea was to put raisins in everything. Raisin Corn Flakes. Raisin Rice Krispies. Raisin Froot Loops. Everyone at the company loved it. I was a big success.

That never happened, of course. Part of the reason is that anyone can put raisins into their cereal whenever they want to. But what about the marshmallows? Not real marshmallows, those don't hold up as well under a barrage of milk. I mean "marshmallows", the kind found in Lucky Charms. (Mmmm... Lucky Charms... OK, I'm back.) What if you want to put them on your oat bran?

Well -- if I may slip into announcer mode for a moment here -- now you can! Thanks to CerealMarshmallows.com!

Here is what the sellers of this product have to say about it (punctuation and capitalization errors left intact):

"Cereal Marshmallows are great tasting Marshmallows Comparable to the leading cereal with marshmallows, But this is 100% Marshmallows only, Give your cereal a great taste and when add them to regular oat bran or wheat bran cereal, They make it taste great and it's a great way to get kids (or adults) to enjoy eating healthier cereal."

It's a little bit like The Sneaky Chef, except that you are putting sweetness onto healthy food instead of the other way around.

My main reservation isn't the idea of putting a sugary substance onto something healthy. I put brown sugar on my oatmeal almost every morning. It's the fact that there are no ingredidents listed on the website. And that you order via PayPal. The possibility exists that some lunatic is simply buying Lucky Charms and pulling the marshmallows out of the box, throwing them in a bag and selling them to you. Which would be gross.

Other than that, you know. Great idea. Sure.

Would you buy these for your kids? Or, you know, for yourself?

Source: Buzzfeed

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What's For Dinner Dad - Wednesday

Finish Line - Cars, Baby Food, Panties

Brett Singer — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Wow, what a week. For reasons that I don't completely understand, this one was very draining. For me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Here's some of the excitement on the 'Derby the past few days:

Keri told us about a mom who actually went through with the threat we've all made -- "I'll stop this car and throw you right out!" Some people took her side, implying that this was just another example of "free-range kids." The only time my mother ever tossed me out of the car was when she was teaching me how to drive. But I was 17 at the time. (Of course, I still don't have my license. That's not her fault, though.)
One word: PANTIES! Thank you Madeline.
Amy wrote about homemade baby food, and judging by the comments, this is the next battle in the Mommy Wars. Note to self: if you want to get people going, use the phrase "get a grip." Seems to work wonders. (Which is fine, by the way.)
Kate wrote about some proposed new rules for corporal punishment, aka spanking. See, spanking the kids is one thing, but what about the more recrational forms of spanking? Will there be laws against that? (Don't answer that question, actually.)
Hannah tugged at our heartstrings (no pun intended) by telling us about a little boy named Tucker, with Parents Find Unique Way to Pay for Child's Heart Surgery.
Sunny wins the Headline of the Week award with Pregnant Woman Escapes Bear Attack - Gets Hit By Car. I have to agree with maeby, who questioned why a pregnant woman went for a hike in "bear heaven."
Jeanne told us that chewing gum is a GOOD thing, despite what your teachers told you. So there, Mrs. Morrison! Take that!
As for me, in honor of food week, I told you what I served my kids every day. I even tweeted it. No really. I did. There are pictures and everything.

More to come next week, I'm sure. Now go take a nap, will ya? Oh wait, I meant to say that to myself. Sorry.

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Kitchenista: Candy is Dandy (But Cheating is Quicker)

KeriF — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:06:00 GMT

I've always openly admired (but secretly hated) those moms who make handmade candies for their children's parties, artfully decorated homemade marshmallows or intricately crafted chocolate pops. Don't get me wrong, I love making homemade treats, and will shamefully use them to bribe the preschool director, but my treats always look homemade.

So when it comes to candy, I skip the tempering of the chocolate and the boiling of the sugar and the fancy molds and such, and I do what every smart mom does: I cheat.

Lately, I'm big on chocolate. Especially this coating chocolate made by Ghirardelli, which my brother-in-law picked up in a 5-pound block at Costco. Coating chocolate has other ingredients in it that make it shiny and allow it to dry super-duper fast. Here's what I've made with it in the last few weeks:

Fancy pretzels: Dip braided pretzel in melted coating chocolate so that about 3/4 of the pretzel is covered (enough room for your fingers to hold the pretzel while you dip it in the chocolate). Sprinkle pretzel with sprinkles (multi-colored non-pareils are good). Place on lined sheet tray to air dry. If you're feeling really fancy, stick a mini marshmallow on the chocolate tip of the pretzel before you sprinkle the sprinkles.

S'mores: Combine mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham cracker pieces. Add melted coating chocolate and stir to, well, coat. You want enough chocolate to just coat the ingredients. Scoop into little mounds on a lined baking sheet or fill mini- or regular-cupcake liners. Set aside to set at room temperature.

Chocolate-covered nuts and dried fruit: You need patience for this: dip individual salted nuts and pieces of dried fruit (the sweet/salty combo is divine) into the chocolate so that each nut is covered halfway. Set on a lined baking sheet to set. Some good combos: salted almonds and dried apricots; salted cashews and dried cherries; salted pistachios and "dried plums."

Mores S'mores: I made these with my niece for pajama day at her school and they were a big hit: dip large marshmallows in melted chocolate so that the chocolate covers them about halfway. Top chocolate end with a small piece of graham cracker, or dip in graham cracker crumbs. Leave at room temperature to set.

Of course, all of these will work just as well with melted chocolate (semi-sweet or milk) or chocolate chips; they will just take longer to set. If using real chocolate (rather than coating chocolate) I like to put it in the refrigerator for half and hour or so to set, then remove and keep at room temperature. (Real chocolate will set, eventually, at room temperature, but it will take over an hour.)

What are your favorite uses for melted chocolate? (Keep it clean, folks!)

Grow Baby, Grow!

JeanneSager — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:38:00 GMT

When pumpkins started sprouting out of my compost pile last year all of their own accord, I was probably even more excited than my daughter. I didn't have to figure out how to get those things to grow!

The top two things holding most parents back from growing their own food? Space and fear . . . fear that they don't have the money, the time, or the know-how.

Turns out you don't need much of any of the above.

A Georgia family made this video for Earth Day, but it's appropriate for all spring long - and for every family. Living in a city area, BreeAnne and Courtney (owners of one of my favorite clothing stores) show you don't need much land or much money to grow a few things. And their daughter has more fun than you can shake a worm at (no, really, watch!).

They're not growing much, but even just some tomatoes and peppers have the makings of some yummy tomato sauce (and if you've ever eaten a fresh-out-of-the-garden tomato, you have now lived long enough to die and go to some food heaven somewhere . . . seriously).

Inspired? Check out this great composting for kids how-to and this primer on gardening with kids and get eating.

Image: Kids Gardening