More things that I love

So, this is like a true "ah-hah" moment as Oprah would say!

These cheese wrapping papers allow for amazing freshness when storing cheese blocks, even cheap supermarket cheese!

If you buy cheese, buy these!!!

http://www.formaticum.com/products/cheese-paper

Quinoa frittata - YUMMMMMMY

Well, it's been quite a while since my last posting and I apologize.

Today I made something delicious (by all accounts) and I wanted to share!

Quinoa frittata!

YUMMMMMY!

Ingredients:
Crust -
1 cup of dry quinoa (cooked in accordance to directions)
Some grated gruyer cheese (I didn't measure, but if I guess, I think it was about 1/3 cup of grated cheese)
Some salt and pepper

Filling -
8 eggs lightly beaten
Sautéed veggies (I chose about 3/4 cup of diced zucchini, 1/2 cup diced onion and 1/2 cup of diced mushrooms)

4 ounces of goat cheese
Herbs ( I used fresh basil from the garden and some fresh tyme from the garden)

Instructions -
Cook quinoa as instructed
Grate cheese
Mix cooked quinoa and cheese with some salt and pepper (go with your gut - don't measure!)
Press the mixture into a pie crust until it is crust - shaped

Bake in an oven that was preheated to 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until just slightly brown (SLIGHTLY!)

Remove from the oven.

Mix eggs, satueed veggies and herbs together and pour into the baked crust.

I then put the goat cheese - kind of flaked it onto the egg mixture with a fork.
For decorate purposes I placed some purple basil leaves onto the top and baked it until the egg seemed set.  I think this took about 25 minutes, but honestly I lost track of time...

Eat while warm.
Yummy - really yummy!  Crispy healthy quinoa crust and delicious, healthy filling!

Enjoy!!!

Things I Love - MV Sea Salt

I love Martha's Vineyard.  I was born on the island, thanks to my parents owning a gallery there for 3 summers. 

This has always been a source of great pride and joy for my brother (who was born on the island 2 summers after I was) and me. 

This summer our family will be vacationing there in June which is a departure from our August vacations of recent summers. 

Recently I was listening to The Splendid Table and there was a caller who is the owner of the new Martha's Vineyard Sea Salt: http://mvseasalt.com/.  She sounded like a lovely person, plus she was asking about the pairing of salt and wine - PERFECT! 

While I don't totally understand all the details of harvesting water from the Atlantic Ocean and turning it into gourmet seat salts, I love the idea and I completely support a local MV company! 

I look forward to seeing the MV Sea Salt stand at the West Tisbury Farmer's Market and/or the Oak Bluffs Open Market!!!

New segment: Things I Love

I am taking the opportunity today for a rare "me day".  Of course, this doesn't mean that I am not thinking about my kids, and family, simply that I am doing that without interruption on the train to NYC :)

I am taking the opportunity to crack open the spring 2013 copy of ChopChop magazine.  I used to read this magazine, but the craziness of life is such that I fell off of that particular wagon a while back. I was reminded about it this past weekend and then found a FREE copy sitting in the workroom of my clinic yesterday.  What are the chances?

This magazine is amazing.  It highlights the importance of healthy food, but even more importantly it reminds us how important it is to involve our kids in the cooking process!  By getting our kids into the kitchen they learn to understand nutrition, but also learn to respect the effort it takes to pull together all the meals that we parents prepare on a daily basis!

My six year old always says "food tastes better when I make it myself". Well, I couldn't agree more!!!

In addition, ChopChop magazine is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics :)

Go to chopchopmag.org to subscribe for $14.95 for four issues.  You and your kids will be happy you did!!!

Snack time - the intersection of Real and Realistic

A few mornings ago I saw a great post from 100 Days of Real Food. As you loyal followers of my blog know, I'm more about realistic than real, but sometimes the two can meet in a happy place!!

I struggle a little with what I send for snack for my six year old. The little one gets snacks provided at daycare, which I think are mostly carbs and real snacky stuff, but I don't ask too many questions about that...I take it as a gift - one less thing I have to do!

For my six year old, I have to either send both morning snack and lunch or just morning snack and she buys lunch.
On days when the older one is buying lunch, I feel a little more pressure to send a healthy snack, in case lunch is made of crap!

Examples of snacks that I send:
Yoplait Greek yogurt with granola
Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and fruit salad
Fruit salad and a Stonyfield yogurt smoothie

So, back to the post that I saw on the 100 Days of Real Food Facebook page. 

What a great idea!  Warm, delicious, made-from-scratch oatmeal in a well constructed thermos that will keep it warm. 

Here is the recipe:

Oatmeal

Serves: 1

 

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup milk (any variety will do but we use whole milk at our house)
• ½ cup plain rolled oats (I get ours out of the bulk bins at Earth Fare)
• Big dash of cinnamon
• Drizzle of honey
• Small splash of pure vanilla extract
• As many raisins as your heart desires …also, good with nuts on top

Instructions

1. In a small pot over high heat warm up the milk.
2. As soon as the milk starts to bubble drop in the oats, stir once, and turn the heat down to low.
3. Let the oats simmer for 2 – 3 minutes. You can stir it a couple times if you’d like.
4. Once the oats have soaked up most of the milk add the vanilla, honey, cinnamon, raisins, and mix everything together. Take off the heat and serve or store for later in a Thermos.
   Tip: My daughters like their oatmeal a little “soupy” so I usually try to catch it before all of the milk has been absorbed by the oats. You could also add a little extra cold milk at the end, which will help cool it down for little ones as well.

Of course, you could also use a nice organic instant oatmeal packets if you don't have time for the steps above.  Can always add some fresh fruit on top!

Here's another idea for oatmeal, thanks to Pinterest (I LOVE PINTEREST!!!):

Gluten-Free (Or Regular) Baked Oatmeal Casserole
Total Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 cups gluten-free rolled oats (of course, you could use regular rolled oats if no gluten issues)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnut pieces
1 cup raspberries {any berries work}
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
2 cups milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices

Make this on Sunday and use it all week long for breakfasts and snacks!

YUMMY!!!

 

And, for the thermos...
Our friends at 100 Days of Real Food performed an analysis of thermoses. 
You can read their full blog post here:
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/11/26/how-to-use-thermos-food-jars/

I just ordered 2 insulated food jars from amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Funtainer-10-Ounce-Hello-Kitty/dp/B0017IJSSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368040335&sr=8-1&keywords=hello+kitty+thermos

So, I think that once these Thermos food containers arrive I am going to send warmed up mac and cheese, soup, oatmeal...or on a really REALISTIC day: good ol' fashioned spaghettios!!!

Bon appetit!

Easy Monday Night Dinner

Monday is my long day.  This means that I drive an hour to and from work to a satellite location of my clinic and hubby picks up the kids (unless I get out early).  Not only is it a long day, but it always gets longer the minute I walk in the door and start getting the "mommy, mommy, mommy" demands that come with my arrival!

Last night I walked in the door at 6.  The kids were already snacking because they always come home from school STARVING despite the fact that they are well fed all day!
They asked for dinner immediately so I turned on the oven to cook some dinosaur-shaped all white meat chicken nuggets and threw a sweet potato in the microwave.

I opened the fridge...what to make, what to make?

I gathered the following ingredients:
organic mesclun mix
2 persian mini cucumbers
bacon
gorgonzola cheese
eggs

also pulled together: craisins, croutons.

Hard boiled 5 eggs and cooked 4 pieces of turkey bacon.
This is what resulted:

Quick Cobb Salad!

Voila!

As an aside, I threw croutons and some light Caesar dressing on top.

By the way, if I had thought ahead, I could have hard boiled the eggs the day before which would have saved me 20 minutes in food prep.  Next time...

Bon appetit!

On another note

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-women-should-embrace-a-good-enough-life/2013/04/18/4b2b086c-a5db-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html

This article is floating around Facebook land today.

This isn't strictly a matter of Realistic Food, but more like realistic living!
This has been a "tirade" of mine for a while now.  Each of us trying to be the best, most organized, healthiest, most Lululemon wearing mom in the PTA, while holding down a full time job associated with an advanced degree...WE CAN'T DO IT ALL!  YOU CAN'T HAVE IT ALL. 
You absolutely CAN'T be the best mom, wife, in my case - doctor, in the world.  You can do each thing really well on any given day, usually at the cost of the other(s).

Once youb accept that you CAN'T do it all, you will be able to do each thing better, or at least with less guilt associated with each thing getting done at about 80% (or less).

Take a breath, have a glass (or three) of wine and just do your best!  These high powered multi-millionaire CEO women who think they can preach to regular people about how we should all strive to be at the top of a corporation...well, I could tell you what I think they should do, but it isn't appropriate!  Their advice doesn't apply to 99.9% of us.  I won't even feed into the nonsense by buying/downloading their books.  They are just there to further make the rest of us feel badly about waht we do well!

Every day, strive to be your best. In the spirit of this blog, be realistic - in food, in life, in relationships.  Accept what you can't do and do everything else as best you can.

Goodnight :)
p.s. excuse the many grammatical errors in this post.  Tirades just have to roll, no editing!

School lunch services

Well, people, I kept you waiting quite a long time in between posts and am trying to get better!

In addition to a new post, I am changing fonts.  I just thought maybe a new font would spice things up a bit!

Many people grapple with the school lunch challenge - balancing time, money and nutrition.

"Hey, sweet graphic", you are thinking, right?

So, on any given day, the balance of these factors shifts.
One day, you might have very little time, and nutritional status of the lunch might suffer because of that.  Or, you try to make a very nutritionally-sound lunch, which increases both time and money in some instances.

And then there's the old adage..."time is money".  This is also true.  We are so busy these days with two working parents and kids running off to 8 billion activities, time truly is money. 
So, in any case, here are some more thoughts on school lunches and some creative ways that people have developed to handle the challenging balance of time, money and nutrition.

There have been sweeping changes in school lunch rules in recent years.  While most of these federally mandated changes technically apply only to the free and reduced breakfast and lunch program, it has brought to the forefront a focus on increasing the nutritional value of the food that our kids eat at school.

One interesting way that people have chosen to deal with the challenge of balancing time, money and nutrition are with school lunch delivery services.

These exist mostly in the big (read: HIP) cities in the U.S.  Let's just say, New Haven doesn't have one!

Let's take a look at what these services offer:
Smart Lunches: http://www.smartlunches.com/
This Boston-based service offers delivery to students and teachers in Greater Boston, North Shore, South Shore and Western Massachusetts. 
This service allows you to order healthy lunches that will be delivered directly to your child's school. 
From their website:
"Depending on category, size, and whether sides are included, main menu items range in price from $4.00 to $7.50. Healthy drinks and snacks are available as add-ons at most schools. "
Their website seems really easy to use and their FAQ page is totally complete and helpful!

So, yeah, this may cost more per lunch than what you would pay if you made the lunch at home (do some quick math here, one week's worth of bread plus sandwich makings plus fruit plus yogurt/applesauce/etc divided by a five day week...maybe comes to $2.00 per day?)
However, in the schematic above, this money does buy you TIME and guaranteed NUTRITION!

Something to think about...

In other cities:
Seattle: The Midnight Kitchen
http://www.themidnightkitchen.com/lunch.html
I love the name of this company because it makes me think of the reason why I make lunches while making dinner each night - I simply don't want to be up until midnight making the lunches for the next day!
I like that this company states that they use BPA/phthalate-free lunch boxes from www.easylunchboxes.com and utensils by Light My Fire that are sanitized daily...that's the west coast for ya!
I can't quite tell what the daily cost is for these lunches on their website.

Los Angeles: Fresh Lunches
http://www.freshlunches.com/
While their website font is WAY too small and difficult to read, I do like this little graphic!

I also can't tell what these lunches cost, but they do state that the cost is comparable to home-made lunches.
They seem to have easy online ordering.

Portland: Smarter Sprout
http://www.smartersprout.com/
Again, the west coast devoted to healthy eating for our kids!  I can't tell what the daily cost is, but they also offer easy online ordering.  Easy, large-font website.
Like some of the other services, they address the important issue of food allergies.

So, this phenomenon seems to have gone from west to east coast, as evidenced by the ease with which I found west coast services.  I bet there are a gazillion in NYC, but typical of The City, the information isn't easily accessible to an outsider!

Like I said before, we don't have such a service in New Haven, CT.  If we did, I would seriously consider using it.  Over the past several months I have made it my mission to become familiar with my own nutritional needs, in addition to those of family.  I haven't purchased a Lunchable in ages, and instead make "homemade Lunchables" for my 6 year old and other vegetarian options for the little one. 

Time is money.  Money is time.  Time is nutrition...and so forth!

You decide.  Are these services worth it?

Bon Appetit!

 

Another lunch box I found

http://m.easylunchboxes.com/

A very cute lunchbox - ZULILY

This is a shameless plug for Zulily. 

You can follow the link below to buy, and yes, I will get credit for you joining and buying from zulily, but that is not why I am sharing this! 

Super cute, BPA-free, phthalate-free lunch box!  A little pricey, but seems like a good deal overall.

http://www.zulily.com/invite/rfortune511/p/orange-lunchbox-deluxe--43253-626865.html?tid=social_email_ref_shareviaicon_na_modal_3c952476a6da24b215d62fa12a4a1c3c&pid=626865
Excuse me, while I go buy two of these for my kids!

Have a great day!

What we pack our lunches in...and other confusing questions

Hi Everyone

Sorry for the hiatus!  I mean, really, who starts a blog and then disappears without completing the promised topics?  ME!  That's who.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, I haven't been able to continue the discussion on school lunch, but here I am, back as promised.

I have spent a lot of time reading and thinking about BPA, phthalates and all the other yucky stuff that is reportedly present in the products in which we store our food.  It's really gross when you think about it.  But, the information changes so rapidly that it is hard to follow and know what to react to.

So, here's the deal, as I see it.

The studies on BPA are new, and not totally conclusive.  Some people think that BPA is just an environmental risk and others are totally scared by the studies showing traces of plastics found in our blood (eeew).

BPA is a chemical used in the production of plastics to make hard plastics (think old Nalgene water bottles).  BPA is also used to line the inside of many canned food containers to prevent acids in the foods from damaging the aluminum.  So, by logical extension of this information, unless you eat NO canned foods and use NO plastics, you will likely have some BPA in your blood (again, a gross idea). 
BPA has been linked to metabolic derangements and cancer.

So, how do you know if your plastics contain BPA?  Well, as with these two examples below, many things now say "No BPA" if that is the case.

If you have found a random piece of plastic in your cabinet and don't have a clue if it contains BPA, you can look at the bottom and figure out if it contains BPA.  The plastics that contain BPA are #7:

When plastics are heated, the harmful chemical can leach into food that is stored within that plastic.

It is best to not microwave the BPA-containing plastics!  Also, even washing these plastics on the top rack could be dangerous - plastics should be handwashed!

If you want to send your kids' lunches in plastics, that is ok.  Just use something that doesn't contain BPA, for sure!

Recently, my mom bought these containers for my kids:

They are very cute with owls on the top - and BPA/phthalate free...

And, that brings us to phthalates.  Yet another nasty thing in plastics!  yuck! 

So, in short - # 7 plastics are bad.  If you have them, don't microwave them.  If you have them, hand wash them.  Also, for other # plastics...just don't microwave them!

Next post...phthalates!  Woohoo!

School lunches: what to send and what to send it IN!

This is a huge topic.  As I was driving to work today I was thinking about it and I am not sure what I can get this all done in one sitting, but let's see how far we get..

So, we all know that it is important to send a good nutritious lunch to school with the kids.  The real question is, how to get it done every day!  I am often cooking dinner with one hand and making the next day's lunches with the other hand (while my third hand washes the containers that I sent today's lunches in).

Here's where "realistic" comes in.  For me, it means allowing my 6 year old to choose 2 days per week (sometimes 1, sometimes 3) where she buys lunch.  At her school she can buy the "featured lunch of the day", aka what is on the menu, OR have a hotdog or soup or something else that is on the menu everyday.  I think that she only buys lunch when she wants the featured item, but maybe once or twice she got a hot dog. 
Anyway, I can't control the healthiness of the school lunches.  However, for me, the nutritional content is somewhat outweighed by the life lesson that she is learning by going through the lunch line, punching in her code (that she dutifully memorized on the first day of school) and walking into the crazy lunch room, carrying her tray and sitting down with some friends.  She is SIX!  I definitely didn't do that when I was six.  In fact, I am not sure I ever did it with as much confidence as she has!
In addition, now with the food allergies and such, the peanut-allergic kids have to sit at their own table and the only kids who can sit with them are the kids who buy lunch, so my daughter can eat with the allergic kids if she buys.

Anyway, getting back to the days when I send lunch.
My kids are a bit picky.  Well, maybe not picky, but particular. 
My 6 year old doesn't really eat sandwiches - doesn't care for deli meat and doesn't eat condiments.  Occasionally this results in a turkey and cheese sandwich on whole grain with ketchup!  (eeew). 
The typical lunch that I have been able to get her to eat these days is: a bagel with cream cheese, or cheese, crackers and pepperoni, with fruit and veggies on the side and a yogurt.

My 2 year old attends a Jewish day care and is required to take vegetarian lunch to keep with the Kosher rules.  I send cold mac and cheese, which she sometimes eats or a bagel with cream cheese which she doesn't really eat or cold cheeze pizza which she definitely eats and fruits and veggies on the side.  Some other successes I have had are: cheese tortellini that I boil the night before and of course, PB&J.

I am always looking for new and interesting approaches to the school lunch.  I like to send something that says "I love you" when they open it up.  I want them to know that I spent time putting it together and that is because I care about them even though I am at work and not with them.

And, of course, what says "I love you" more than a couple of Oreo cookies, right?  That's reality!

Please share your photos and ideas for healthy, practical, preferably easy to make school lunches!

The next topic will be, what we send our lunches IN!  Of cousre, this is the BPA versus glass/metal/etc debate.  i am still formulating my thoughts on this, so will leave this post as-is for now and get cracking on my new thoughts.

Bon appetit!

Last night's dinner

This is my new favorite dinner. Hubby doesn't quite feel the same way, but he didn't hate it.

The kids got too hungry before it was ready so they had turkey hot dogs and previously frozen organic veggie medley (peas, carrots and corn). 

The adult dinner was low fat sesame noodles and sesame crusted tofu.  DELICIOUS!
Recipes are below the pictures - while I did not invent either of these recipes, I have placed my own spin on them and highly recommend this dinner (fresh and reheated)!

Sesame Noodles (adapted from Weight Watchers):

Ingredients:

1)  Fresh veggies - sauteed in a pan with a little olive oil and some garlic (I use the little prefrozen garlic "pellets" from Trader Joe's).  I typically use onions or shallots, portabella mushrooms, carrots, red or yellow or orange peppers; I also frequently add 1/2 bag of frozen edamame to the dish and let it defrost and cook in the sautee pan with the other veggies.  I make a ton of veggies to add to the bulk of this dish and reduce the overall calorie and fat that I consume from this meal!

After veggies are cooked, set aside.

2) 1/2 pound of whole wheat spaghetti or udon noodles

3) 1/2 cup of uncooked scallions, green parts only, chopping on the bias

4) 3 Tbsp rice vinegar

5) 3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

6) 2 Tbsp hoison sauce

7) 1 Tbsp dark sesame oil

8) 2 tsp chili sauce

9) 1 1/2 tsp honey

10) 2 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

• Cook noodles according to package directions; drain and rinse.
• In a cup, combine vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oil, chili sauce and honey; stir well.
• Pour vinegar mixture over noodles; toss gently but well to coat noodles. Add the noodles to the already cooked veggies and mix again.  Sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds; serve.
• Variations - could add 1/2 pound of skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into strips or chunks if you don't care for tofu as the protein source in this meal.  The original recipe also called for cilantro, which I personally don't love, so I didn't use it.  I think that another variation, which I haven't tried would be to add a little bit of peanut butter to the oil/vinegar mixture to make sesame-peanut noodles.  Maybe next time!

The raw cut scallions sprinkled over top of the warm noodles and the crunch of the sesame seeds is what makes this a fun dish to eat.  AND, it's super colorful!

Sesame Crusted Tofu:

So, this is my first attempt at making tofu, and I have done it a couple of times.  I must say, I think it is fabulous!

I bought firm tofu (mostly because I didn't know what I was doing and I couldn't decide between soft and extra firm)! 

I brought the tofu home and opened the package.  I placed the tofu in a collander, in the sink, with the tofu container placed on top of the tofu and a soup can in the tofu container to weigh down the tofu and encourage drainage. 

After about an hour, I took the tofu out and cut the block into 7 slices, each about 1/4-1/3 inch in thickness.

I used one egg, beaten (could probably use just yolk if you are concerned about your cholesterol) and dipped each piece of tofu in the egg wash, then into a a mixture of sesame seeds and panko: 3 tablespoons of each.  I also added a small amount of kosher salt to the panko/sesame mixture, but in the future I will add more.  Honestly, tofu is awesome, but it only tastes like what you marinate it in and coat it with.  So, add salt!

After the pieces are coated with the tofu and sesame, place in a large nonstick frying pan with olive oil.  Brown about 5-6 minutes on each side.

The original recipe for this recommended serving it with Nuoc Charm (original source The Asian Grill

http://www.amazon.com/Asian-Grill-Corrine-Trang/dp/0811846318)

Nuoc Cham

yield
Note: this adaptation makes 1/2 the original recipe
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 to 3 garlic cloves, sliced or minced
2 red Thai chilies, halved lengthwise, seeded or not, and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or thai chilis or serrano peppers, depending on the amount of HEAT you want

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the garlic and chilies and crushed red pepper flakes if you are using. Let stand for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust flavors if necessary. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week (or longer, I would guess.)

So, this is my thought after making the tofu twice and not making the Nuoc Cham either time. 
I would think about making the Nuoc Cham, or some variation of it, and actually using it as a marinade after draining the tofu.  Again, tofu will taste like whatever is put in, on or around it.

So, that's all I got for now. 
I truly think this is delicious, and if you are familiar with making tofu and not intimated by it, this is actually a pretty quick dish.

Oh, also, the first time I made it I cut up a 1/3 of a ripe avocado on the side and ate it along with the above.  DELICIOUS!

The following day I took it for lunch at work.  I didn't reheat it, but microwaved it for about 25 seconds just to take the chill out - AGAIN DELICIOUS!

Bon appetit.

Saturday...where have you been all my week?

Saturday morning.
No alarm set (except for the 3 am wakeup call from two year old trying to get used to her big girl bed).  After a quick relocation to another bed in the house where I could snuggle her and get her back to sleep, we all slept in until a luxurious 7:30!  Aaaah.

With no time contraints (except the looming 10:30 am music class and the noon time taekwondo white belt test for the six year old), I decided to make pancakes.  Daddy headed off to work and we got down to some work of our own!

I love pancakes with Greek yogurt!  What a great way to get that fluffy taste that we love in pancakes, while adding some protein to a traditionally carb-heavy breakfast!

I got this particular recipe from another food blogger: "I Wash...You Dry:

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup Strawberry Greek Yogurt, stirred
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp milk
• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• Syrup
• 2 tbsp butter, divided

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; whisk together.
2. In a separate bowl combine Greek yogurt, sugar, vanilla, eggs and milk; whisk together until smooth.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine, do not over mix the batter (it should be slightly lumpy).
4. Heat 1/2 tbsp of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once skillet is hot and butter is melted scoop 1/4 cup of batter into the pan, spreading slightly into a circle. Once the pancake starts to bubble slightly, carefully flip it over and cook for an additional minute. Repeat with remaining batter.
5. Top pancakes with sliced strawberries and syrup. Enjoy!

Delicious! 

The kids loved them!

BUT, before we get to crazy nominating me for mom of the year...

Note the kids standing on stools way too close to the counter where there is a large knife resting on the cutting board - oops! 

AND, the nice plastic plates that probably have BPA in them, despite the ban on BPA-containing products. 

Oh well!  At least the kids got a yummy, wholesome, well balanced breakfast to start the day.

And, a surprise visit from the grandparents - Gaga and Pa popped in to see us.

The day is off to a great start.

Bon Appetit!

School lunches

The age old question...cold lunch or hot lunch?

My older daughter typically goes through the calendar one month at a time and decides which days she will buy and which days she will bring. Her school lunch menu isn't as bad as some I have heard about.

What do you think? Do your kids buy or bring? Or does it just depend on how tired mom and dad are???

Tonight's dinner

It's Friday night. I raced home from work while my hubby picked up the kids.

The kids come running in the house at 5:45. The two year old states "I want bagel bites for dinner". The six year old states "I want cereal"! Doh!

I cave in. I'm tired. I make bagel bites, with organic strawberries on the side with an unsweetened applesauce chaser, which the 2 year old grazes on for an hour.

The six year old scarfs a bowl of Cheerios with organic milk and strawberries.

While hubby takes the girls up for a bath, I get to work on our dinner. A huge helping of sautéed veggies (onions, baby bellas, carrots and peppers), turkey burgers without buns and a small helping of baked French fries (most of which the girls take off of our plates).

We eat by the fire, while the girls watch a movie, with the shabbat candles burning nearby.

Once again, not a perfect nutritional night, but it is our reality.

Did I mentioned. The red wine for my heart health? Always :)

Bon appetit!

Food for Kids 101

http://www.buildhealthykids.com/servingsizes.html

Welcome to The Realistic Food Movement

You try your best.  Or maybe you don't.  But, if you are one of those people who really is trying to eat healthfully, but can't seem to get it together 100% of the time, then join me here in THE REALISTIC FOOD MOVEMENT.

While I respect and appreciate the REAL FOOD movement, this alternate approach is for the busy people; the working parents; the practical person who buys organic as often as possible, but can't always afford to; the person who sends whole grain bread for their kids' lunches every day, but allows McDonald's on Tuesday nights JUST BECAUSE.

Join me here.  Share your ideas and your thoughts.  Send me some recipes, or other food ideas, that allow you to serve "AS REAL AS POSSIBLE" food as much of the time as possible. 
Also, share your stories of failure!  Until we admit what we CAN'T do, we can't do anything well!

Welcome, to The Realist Food Movement!

Enjoy :)