Socialmoms.com recently asked its members for blogging topics and they chose mine! To see the other blogger responses in response to this question, go here.
"What is your favorite recipe, cookbook, or celebrity chef of the moment?
For Christmas, a great friend of mine, Jen of Skipper Photography and fellow mom blogger, gave me Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious. Its stated purpose is "simple secrets to get your kids eating good food." Basically, it tells you how to hide vegetable purees in everyday food that kids (and adults) already like. She also offers tips from a dietitian and strategies to get your kids to voluntarily eat vegetables.
I have cooked my way through some of the recipes and thought I'd share. They are in order of "best" to "least best".
1 - French toast with 2 tablespoons carrot puree and flaxseed meal (optional)
It's basically your regular french toast recipe with the added carrot puree. I didn't use the flaxseed meal. I loved it! It made the french toast sweeter without being sugary.
2 - Mozzarella Sticks withe 1/2 cup cauliflower puree
I really wanted this recipe to work. J loves cheese and mozzarella sticks (who doesn't?). But, I had some technical errors on my side. First, you roll the cheese and cauliflower puree in breadcrumbs to coat. You can't use the store-bought bread crumbs, because they are too fine. Next time, I'll use bread slices and zap 'em in the food processor. The key is to fully encase your cheese so that it doesn't ooze out in the cooking process ending up with what I had - mozzarella globs. They were good, but they were globs. Confession: I didn't have any cauliflower puree so I used 1/2 cup of cream of chicken. Sounds kind of gross and not really supporting the "more vegetables" goal. But, you couldn't taste the chicken at all.
3 - Macaroni and Cheese 1 - This is the featured recipe on Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook website right now if you want to try it. This features basic mac and cheese with 1/2 cup squash (I used carrot puree). My baby and I really liked this, but I would not recommend eating it after it's been refrigerated. It's best right out of the pan.
4 - Coffee cake with 1 cup squash (I used carrot and only 1/4 cup). I LOVE coffee cake. It's my absolute favorite thing to order at Starbucks. So, I was disappointed that this recipe doesn't come close to being the best coffee cake I've ever had. But, it's okay. I still managed to eat half the pan. The main flaw of this dish is the visual of the layer of vegetable in the middle of your pastry. I can't imagine that squash could hide that much better than carrot, but it's kind of gross seeing this layer of nuclear orange stuff in your pastry. Kudos to professional food photographers who made this look fabulous in the book.
Note: Do not make this for a starving husband who has a pre-existing hatred for healthy food and anything "weird". It will end badly and you will have to make him conciliatory chocolate cupcakes.
5 - Chocolate peanut butter dip with 1/4 cup carrot puree- I really wanted to like this, but I sabotaged this recipe too. It calls for chocolate syrup but I used baker's chocolate instead. That either did it in or the cheap cream cheese I used. It did not have a dip consistency, but rather a very, very hard mousse. Most of it got tossed.
Other:
Jen made the Brownies with 1/2 cup spinach puree. These turned out great! I could not taste the spinach at all. The key is to not add the water, because the spinach has enough and to let them cool completely before eating.
I also threw in some carrot puree into my beef taco seasoning and couldn't taste it.
Overall, this book opened my eyes to the many ways we can get our daily dose of vegetables without overhauling our go-to meals. Added bonuses include finally being able to use a two pound bag of carrots (I hate waste!) and getting to use another Christmas present - my hand blender. It was requested after multiple liquid explosions in my kitchen trying to make butternut squash soup.
Let me know if anyone wants to borrow the book!
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Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Year I became a Cheerleader
When I think back on the past year, it has been full of record setting emotional highs and lows. Even with my professional life at a complete standstill for most of the year, 2010 was life changing for me in a way that few other years can compete.
As a self-proclaimed jock mom, I haven't exactly been in tune with certain emotional corners of my "feminine mystique". Don't get me wrong, I cry, okay, sob, during some romantic comedies. I have a considerable amount of empathy for others and a strong desire to help people. While I recognize that I possess many of these so-called feminine traits, I would like to also point out that these qualities can be found in some very good men.
The point I'm trying to make is that some females are born with a fully developed female mothering gene. These girls play with dolls as toddlers, have toy kitchen sets and take home economics classes by choice in high school. Other females, like myself, preferred gender neutral toys like stuffed animals to dolls, played outside and lived for sports during high school. That so called mothering gene laid dormant in our tomboy bodies for quite some time.
One of my strongest memories from childhood is my consistent desire to have been born a boy. In my young mind, boys had it easy. If I'd been born a boy, I would have enjoyed more acceptance playing sports, more freedom to do as I pleased, and, just as importantly, less annoyance from dealing with girly things like trying to fix my hair, applying makeup, complicated female friendships, bodily changes, fashion decisions, etc. I held a grudge against God for for several summers for not making me a boy.
Then came puberty and boyfriends and my grudge slowly faded into an unconscious acceptance and eventual happiness with my feminine existence. While I continued to avoid hair styling and makeup, I made considerable advancements in many other feminine traits which leads us back to the mothering gene.
It is my opinion that girls with the full-blown mothering gene are disproportionately attracted to the activity of cheerleading. Even while there have been considerable male advancements, let's admit that there are few activities quite as "feminine" as cheerleading. In movies, cheerleaders are always portrayed as the prettiest and most popular girls in school that every other girl dreamed of being. Let me tell you, I NEVER wanted to be a cheerleader, ever. At the time, the thought of sitting on the sidelines and watching other people perform was about as stupid to me as standing at a bus stop with no intention of getting on. I could not see what was in it for them.
Looking at it now, those girls were a part of something even if they were on the sidelines of the main event. They were there to watch, support and cheer us on, even if they could do nothing to affect the outcome of the game. They decorated our lockers and held pep rallies. They suffered when we suffered and celebrated our victories for us.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned since becoming a mother is the satisfaction that can come from selfless giving. Starting with pregnancy, you turn over your body for the development of another. If he needs room to stretch his legs, you put up with going to the bathroom four times at night. When he is born, you sacrifice your sleep, sanity and cognitive ability so that he's fed when he's hungry, held when he's lonely and changed when he's dirty. As he grows, you are on constant watch for what he'll need, anticipating the diaper change, the favorite toy and desired snack. Sitting on the sidelines is no easy job! Looking in the mirror, I see pom poms, and I smile. I cheer because I mother.
As a self-proclaimed jock mom, I haven't exactly been in tune with certain emotional corners of my "feminine mystique". Don't get me wrong, I cry, okay, sob, during some romantic comedies. I have a considerable amount of empathy for others and a strong desire to help people. While I recognize that I possess many of these so-called feminine traits, I would like to also point out that these qualities can be found in some very good men.
The point I'm trying to make is that some females are born with a fully developed female mothering gene. These girls play with dolls as toddlers, have toy kitchen sets and take home economics classes by choice in high school. Other females, like myself, preferred gender neutral toys like stuffed animals to dolls, played outside and lived for sports during high school. That so called mothering gene laid dormant in our tomboy bodies for quite some time.
One of my strongest memories from childhood is my consistent desire to have been born a boy. In my young mind, boys had it easy. If I'd been born a boy, I would have enjoyed more acceptance playing sports, more freedom to do as I pleased, and, just as importantly, less annoyance from dealing with girly things like trying to fix my hair, applying makeup, complicated female friendships, bodily changes, fashion decisions, etc. I held a grudge against God for for several summers for not making me a boy.
Then came puberty and boyfriends and my grudge slowly faded into an unconscious acceptance and eventual happiness with my feminine existence. While I continued to avoid hair styling and makeup, I made considerable advancements in many other feminine traits which leads us back to the mothering gene.
It is my opinion that girls with the full-blown mothering gene are disproportionately attracted to the activity of cheerleading. Even while there have been considerable male advancements, let's admit that there are few activities quite as "feminine" as cheerleading. In movies, cheerleaders are always portrayed as the prettiest and most popular girls in school that every other girl dreamed of being. Let me tell you, I NEVER wanted to be a cheerleader, ever. At the time, the thought of sitting on the sidelines and watching other people perform was about as stupid to me as standing at a bus stop with no intention of getting on. I could not see what was in it for them.
Looking at it now, those girls were a part of something even if they were on the sidelines of the main event. They were there to watch, support and cheer us on, even if they could do nothing to affect the outcome of the game. They decorated our lockers and held pep rallies. They suffered when we suffered and celebrated our victories for us.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned since becoming a mother is the satisfaction that can come from selfless giving. Starting with pregnancy, you turn over your body for the development of another. If he needs room to stretch his legs, you put up with going to the bathroom four times at night. When he is born, you sacrifice your sleep, sanity and cognitive ability so that he's fed when he's hungry, held when he's lonely and changed when he's dirty. As he grows, you are on constant watch for what he'll need, anticipating the diaper change, the favorite toy and desired snack. Sitting on the sidelines is no easy job! Looking in the mirror, I see pom poms, and I smile. I cheer because I mother.
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