Fish for dinner and squirrel for brunch

First a news note: I finally bought some fish at the store today for the first time in weeks after reading this story. (A coalition of top scientists and health officials now recommends that pregnant and nursing moms eat at least 12 ounces of fish per week to ensure optimal brain development of their babies – they’re finally saying all the benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids outweigh the risks of mercury contamination.) Of course I know fish is good for you, but sometimes I need a kick in the pants – especially when I’m trying to serve it up to a husband and son who are by no means fish fans. If you’ve discovered a fish recipe that’s proved palatable to the non-fish-lovers in your family, please, PLEASE share.

Then on to less newsworthy stuff…

Highlight of our day yesterday: While Owen caught a morning nap in the stroller at the park, Will and I stood on the upper platform of the big kids’ playground and watched a red-tailed hawk make brunch of a squirrel. He was a methodical eater, glancing around and down toward us as he consumed his catch – bloody innards, bushy tail and all. It was the longest, closest view of a wild hawk I’d ever enjoyed. Mid-meal, a great blue heron swooped by, 15 feet from the hawk or less – both of them just 20 yards from us and almost at eye-level. So we ran to the other side of the platform to watch the heron fly away while the hawk continued with his meal (which lasted a good 25 minutes before we finally decided to leave).

Equally mesmerizing to Will was this scene as we left the park: Hard-helmeted tree service man gets lifted in the bucket end of a bucket truck from ground to tree top and begins pruning. As branches fall to the road, Will says “Mama, they might go to that other tree and trim down that hawk next.”

And to top it all off, on the ride home an early yellow-green maple leaf dropped from its tree, floated down into the double stroller and laid itself to rest on Owen’s sleeping chest. Finally, fall is arriving in Georgia.

Partially hydrogenated pantry

I know it’s old news that partially hydrogenated oils are bad news for good health. But I’ve been using margarine and buying certain packaged products without bothering to read labels much nonetheless. I get lazy and thrifty, and I’m really not quite the health nut that I sometimes like to pretend that I am.

But my cousin April is currently obsessed with nutrition and the September 11 post on her blog about the kinds of fats that are good for us and the dangers of hydrogenated oils got me rethinking they way I blindly purchase products like margarine and crackers without attending enough to the labels. So now I’m going to do some more research and consider a switch to real butter and whole milk – if I’m persuaded by what I read.

Two things I do look out for when I’m buying food for Will are artificial colors and flavors. A recent article in the British medical journal The Lancet provides some convincing evidence that this is a good practice. You can read the Lancet article here or the layman’s interpretation of it in this news article. Researchers found (in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study) that artificial colors or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-olds and 8/9-year-old children. Since Will is plenty hyperactive with his natural toddler energy I’ll continue avoiding those foods when possible.

A quick label-reading journey through the cupboards in my own kitchen revealed three problem products that Will often indulges in. One, Publix-brand graham crackers, contains both artificial flavor (hadn’t read the label to discover that one until now) and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Some Whole Wheat Ritz crackers (I use the “whole wheat” to pretend as if they’re acceptable for Will’s consumption) contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil. And some Publix brand pretzels (which I munch on plenty myself) contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil. I also found an unopened box of fruit roll-ups, complete with artificial flavors – a relic of our bribing-Will-to-pee-with-his-teachers-at-school potty training phase.

When I was pregnant my midwife advised me to shop around the edges of the store: Get your fruits, vegetables, dairies and meats and skip all that packaged stuff in the middle aisles, she said. Of course I’m an edge-shopper too, but I may finally try to take her advice to heart and cut out some of my boxed-up-in-the-heart-of-the-grocery-store purchases even if it means I need to become a little more creative and a little less lazy come snack time.

What healthy snack items do your kids devour? Or is life too short and time too precious for meticulous label reading in your house?

Eat your vegetables, kid

Here’s a link to my column in today’s Ledger-Enquirer about luring kids to eat their vegetables. Below are some recipes mentioned in the column. Happy healthy eating!

Sunshine soup (my cousin April’s recipe with lots of flexibility, no precise measurements and just a pinch of magic)

April says: ‘Sunshine soup could be any kind of stuff with lots of carrots added in to make it yellowish orange - and nothing added that would turn the orange brown - like greens. I just cook onions in a generous amount of oil or butter (I usually use coconut oil) and then add a whole head of cauliflower cut up small and several cups (maybe three or four?) of sliced carrots, and Herbamare (a salty seasoning), and cover the veggies up with water - you could use broth instead. I put the lid on the pot and cook until everything is soft enough to blend. Then blend the heck out of it. You could even add some grain to make it creamier and thicker and more filling - quinoa or rice or millet would be good - I suppose millet would be the sunniest. I frequently blend any soups that we make because Jasper tends to eat more if it is blended. And then I can also add a bit of raw or lightly cooked greens - kale, romaine or whatever.”

Zucchini brownies: (This was also posted on July 27 and includes notations by my friend Grace about how she altered the recipe – but in case you missed it…)

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup butter or margarine
softened 1 3/4 cup sugar (I used less - about 1 1/4 cup)
1 cup vegetable oil (I used less - about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla (I used more - about 1 1/2 tsp)
12 oz chocolate chips (I used less - just enough to cover top)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I omit since we don't use nuts in our house)

Combine first 4 ingredients in bowl, stir well. Combine zucchini and butter; add to flour mixture. Stir well. Combine sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla; add to mixture. Stir 2 minutes. Pour into greased 15 x 10 inch pan; top with chocolate chips (and nuts if you are using). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (I found it took longer to cook). Test center to see if "cake" like. Yield: 32 brownies.

You’ll find more kid-friendly vegetable recipes at this site and at "the veggietable.com."

If you have a vegetable recipe (or any recipe for that matter) that your kids gobble down without complaint, please share. Any favorite kid cookbooks or cooking-with-kids Web sites to recommend?