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!