V is for...Vegetables!

   Oh yes, I have been saving this one.  It is every parent's concern..."I can't get my child to eat vegetables."   Well, how many grown-ups out there like to eat vegetables?  Really, I mean honestly...And if you like vegetables now, how many of you didn't as a kid?  As a kid (and an adult) we want to eat things that taste good.  Sweet and salty are always right at the top.  Sour?  Bitter?  Not so much.  And yet, vegetables are so important to our diet.  There are more nutrients in a serving of veggies than in a same size serving of fruit.  (Fruit contain a lot of water and sugar, while vegetables tend to be more dense and nutrient packed).
As a new parent, I can remember reading about feeding those first solids..."Offer the veggies first. Don't start with fruit."  Why?  Well, I guess there is some conditioning that goes on and if we can get them to like veggies first, then the fruit will be easy.  My son (who didn't really care for baby food, actually neither of my children liked the "strained baby food from a jar") loved yams and sweet potatoes as an infant.  Of course he did!  I would bake slices of yams in the oven with a bit of margarine on them.  Once they were cooked, I would mash them up in a bowl and he thought they were fantastic.  Of course, these days, he won't touch them (that is why I hide them in spaghetti sauce).  One time, I made plums for him.  Steamed them and then put them through the food mill.  They were a beautiful colour, a lovely purple.  He was eager to try them, but they were so sour!  I finally had to add maple syrup to them to get him to eat them.  Needless to say, I only made plums once.  Nowadays, he will eat three or four plums at one sitting when I buy them.  Who is to know?

The best advice I can come up with for getting children (and adults) to eat vegetables is this:  Get them to eat them when they are hungry!  When my children are milling around under my feet, looking for something to eat while I am making dinner, I always tell them they can have a whole carrot if they want but that is it.  (I can remember as a child being told I could have a piece of raw potato, and being hungry enough to eat it).  On really organized weeks, there will even be prepared veggies in the fridge they can snack on.  The plus to this kind of vegetable eating?  When they sit down at the table, any amount of vegetables they eat there becomes a bonus.  And because they have already had a serving of vegetables, you are not nagging them to "Eat your vegetables!"

Happy Packing!

R is for...Recipe!

   ...Because I don't want to wake up tomorrow and still be a day behind.  That and I promised a recipe for Hummus in a "later" post...So, here is the later post!

Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 can chickpeas (15 oz or 398ml), drained and rinsed

2 TBSP Tahini (sesame butter) or peanut butter (smooth, ideally natural or low salt)

juice from one lemon (as much juice as you can get out of it!)

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, ribs removed, and chopped fine (optional: my husband loves it this way, but the kids prefer it without)

1/2 cup roasted red pepper (I use the ones from the jar, as they are more readily available than roasting your own)

1/2 TSP Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce

1/4 cup water, set aside

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients except for water, in medium bowl.  Using a hand blender, blend until smooth (this may take a while, be prepared for at least 5 minutes if you have never made hummus before), if too thick, add water a few spoonfuls at a time until desired consistency is reached.

You could make this in your food processor and it will be a little bit creamier and you likely wouldn't need the water.  I am lazy and hate washing all the bits that go with the food processor, so I just use the hand blender.

Serve with pita (warmed in the oven is a nice treat), raw veggies like carrots and celery or pita chips!  Or your favourite dip carrier!  It is also delicious on a wrap with fresh veggies.

Enjoy!

Happy Packing!

J is for ...Jicama...

  My apologies for yesterday's post!  However, today, I am feeling slightly more (but still not fully) on track, and on time.  Until I remembered a few other things that I am still behind in.  So, I thought that I would make an effort to keep this one corner on track and on time, and then move through the list from there.

   Something that finds its regular place both on our supper table and in the fridge (for those young lunch packers in our house!) is a veggie tray.  In the winter time, it usually consists of carrots and celery and broccoli.  Round about now, it begins to see some additions to it...the local hot house cucumbers are out at the grocery stores as well as the cherry tomatoes from the same source (albeit not cheap, but they do make a nice treat).  Something I like to add occasionally is Jicama.  For those not familiar with one, they hail from Mexico or South America (at least the ones in our grocery stores do) and resemble the potato, only bigger and rounder.  They are slightly juicy and have an almost (hard) apple texture and flavour to them.  I like to peel them and cut them up into sticks, much like a carrot stick and add them to the veggie tray.  This, by the way, is a great way to introduce your children to something new.  By simply adding some, you are not putting them in the position of HAVING to eat some, but rather giving them the power to choose something new. 
   Another great way to serve them is in a "slaw".  I have an old coleslaw recipe that is my standby: Apple, Jicama and Bok Choy slaw.  A very simple recipe (and even more so if you go with your favourite coleslaw dressing from the grocery store).  Peel the jicama and cut into very thin sticks, place into large salad bowl.  Coarsely chop bok choy and add to salad bowl.  Choose either granny smith or royal gala apple (one large or two small).  Do not peel, but core and slice into thin even slices.  Add apple to salad bowl.  Top with 1/4 cup of your favourite coleslaw dressing (or serve this on the side if you have some slightly fussy eaters, but the slaw will be a bit dry) and toss.  Let sit for 15-20 minutes at room temperature before serving.  Store leftovers in refrigerator for up to 2 days.
The slaw is a great addition to chicken or ham in a wrap.

Happy Packing!

Another A to Z blogger to check out: Jim's Girl Family History Blog


Some more info about the Jicama from Sally's Place :
"...Also called the yam bean root, jicama ranges in weight from a few ounces to 6 pounds. Its crispy white flesh is hidden under a fibrous dust-brown skin, which must be completely stripped off. Like potatoes, jicamas can be steamed, baked, boiled, mashed or fried. Unlike potatoes, however, they can also be eaten raw. Sliced into wide sticks, jicama makes a crunchy carrier for guacamole and highly seasoned dips. Cut up into squares, it enhances fresh fruit salad, absorbing and reflecting surrounding flavors. It is equally versatile as a cooked vegetable -- sauteed with carrots or green beans, stir-fried with chicken or shrimp, or simmered in savory stews. Low in starch and calories, jicama is satisfying , flavorful and nowhere near as strange as it looks..."

Creating your lunch box pantry (Pantry renovation Part I)

   Spring Break started around our house this time last week.  And it continues until next Sunday at this time!  Yes, we are blessed (or so some would say) with two weeks of Spring vacation this year.  In light of the two week break, I opted to take one week off from Daycare as well.  So, my Spring Break has just started!

    One of the things that I try to do each time I have some down time is pick something around the house to organize, or de-clutter!  This time it is the Pantry.  My goal is that when we go back to making lunches next week, that things will be organized so that even my 9 year old son can get himself organized to make his own lunch.

   The first thing we did was sort out the lower cupboard where the granola bars and protein bars and what-not are stored.  This cupboard has a drawer that rolls out and is low enough for the kids to get into without help.  Using two vegetable bins (you can find them at Walmart or Zellers or Target), we created a space for bars (of all sorts) and a space for packages of crackers and rice cakes and individual fruit cups and apple sauces.  On this same shelf, there is room for a package of juice boxes and some larger unopened containers of mandarin oranges and applesauce as well as extra jars of peanut butter and honey and jam.  This way if the current jar ends up empty, we will have less of a chance of someone having to holler, "Is there anymore peanut butter?"  

   Next thing we did was move the containers of dried fruit (raisins and apricots, we left the dried cranberries in the baking cupboard) into the same cupboard with the granola bars and crackers and such.  Duncan also found a container for the cashews, and another one for the almonds, that were sitting on a shelf in plastic bags.  He put these containers in with the dried fruit.

   Typically, we keep a good selection of fruit in the fruit bowl and then more apples and oranges in the fridge.  Cut-up veggies are usually kept in small containers on the shelves in the fridge, but they end up anywhere once inside.  Duncan asked if we could use the same kind of containers as we had used for the granola bars in the cupboard, however he soon figured out that they didn't fit.  Those containers also did not have lids to keep the veggies from drying out.  He explained that he could never find the small containers of veggies when he wanted them.  So, instead, we found a bigger container that fit perfectly on the shelf above the fruit drawer.  We put a small container of celery inside the bigger one, and then filled up the empty space with carrot sticks.  Not everyone in our house likes celery sticks but they all like carrots.  Next, he found the container of dip and the container of vanilla yogurt and placed them on the same shelf with the box of veggies.  

   The third space we worked on was the big cutting board area that sits on the counter right beside the stove.  There is a basket there that holds the current loaf of bread or package of bagels.  Next to it, is where I keep the container or tin that holds whatever our baking is for that day or week.   Duncan went and found the spreader he likes and moved it into the knife block so it would be close to the bread.  He also moved the peanut butter, the nutella and the jar of honey from the big pantry into the spice cupboard, "Because that makes it close to the bread for sandwiches".  And it really doesn't matter to me if the peanut butter and such is hanging out with the vinegars, the Worcestershire sauce and the spice jars, as long as he likes it.  

   The final leg of our lunch box pantry Reno was the lunch bags, water bottles and assorted containers needed for the actual packing part.  I have the lunch bags stored in the cupboard right near the big cutting board, and he thought that was great, but the water bottles should be there too, he told me.  So we moved them.  Next, Duncan went downstairs and a few minutes later reappeared with a plastic basket in his hands.  He proceeded to remove a variety of lunch containers from the drawer where we keep those sorts of things (as well as all the other smaller Tupperware type stuff, and assorted plastic plates and cups and extra bits for water bottles, sippy cup lids etc) and put them into the plastic basket.  He then stored the basket on the shelf below the lunch bags and water bottles.  Very impressive.  I didn't bother to ask him where we should store the half bag of potatoes, two red onions and the butternut squash that he had taken out of the cupboard to make room for the basket.  I guess that is my part of the re-organizing project.

    "Hey, Mum...Do you think I could make lunch?  Well, it could be kinda like a 'practice' lunch, just to make sure that everything has a good spot.  Can I?"

"Sure. As long as you eat everything you make."

Tomorrow, I owe you all the recipe for the Ginger Molasses cookies!

Until then, happy packing!