crazedparent

Dispatch from the Test Kitchen: Sloooow cooking...

I use summer vacation as a time to think about how I can make our household run more efficiently over the next school year. Getting organized and simplifying our "stuff" is one key (perpetual) element. I firmly believe clutter breeds disorganization. Hence, the house purge.

When I think about the course of our day, dinner prep comes at a hectic time. The older version of The Witching Hour. One kid is ready to recap his school day. The other wants to read with mom. The dog wants to play fetch. Crazy making.

Slow cooking has been on my to-do list for the past year. I love spending time in the kitchen preparing meals. But the idea of making the main dish in the morning, having it slow cook all day so it's ready by dinner, and only having to work on the side dishes/salad/extras for a few minutes? It really appeals to me.

Since we're short on storage space, I'm trying to be smart about big kitchen items I bring into the house.  I borrowed my friend's slow cooker and am testing it for entire week of slow-cooked meals.

Today's menu: Chicken burritos, all veggies included, with garnishes and a side salad.

The slow cooker has been on for two hours and scent of tomatoes, oregano and cumin are wafting through the kitchen.

So far, thumbs up on this slow cooking thing.

Other dishes we're trying this week include slow-cooked mac n' cheese (no Velveeta!), BBQ pulled chicken with some interesting-looking sauces a I picked up at Whole Foods, lasagna, and a soup.

Any healthy favorites or must-try dishes you recommend?

Luna Loves: Raw ground beef (alt. title: Deciding to grind our own beef...)

"Should I make chili or a pasta casserole for dinner?" I asked the boys on Monday afternoon while the sat at the kitchen table drawing pictures.

"Chilli!" yelled Q.

Seven, however, had a concerned look on his face. "Mom? Chili is okay, but can you use  Kim's recipe?"

"I don't have any turkey," I answered. And I quickly realized he was thinking about a discussion we had on Sunday afternoon about ground beef.

Seven saw me reading a New York Times story, "E. Coli Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection." He wanted to know why the young woman on the front page of the newspaper was in bed. Why she was in a wheel chair. How hamburger meat could cause her to almost die. I thought about how to approach this topic with him, but he was reading the paper over my shoulder. I couldn't sugarcoat it. Nor did I want to.

And so we went on to have a lengthy chat about meat, processing plants, germs, and how they can hurt you. It was easy for him to understand; my husband and I suffered a bout of food poisoning in 2007 after spinach we ate was tainted with E. Coli.

Seven was struck by the fact that the young woman in the article would never walk again because she ate a hamburger that contained germs. He couldn't understand why companies "were selling beef without being safe." And the doozy question of the day: "Why did God create a bacteria that could kill people?" (I had to table that one.)

My husband and I were honest with Seven about this safety issue with ground beef. I also shared with him that while I didn't want to be a vegetarian -- I love red meat -- I was considering giving up burgers and using ground beef in cooking until I could learn more about how our butchers at Whole Foods ground their beef every day.

But I had a pound of ground beef sitting on the kitchen counter that I needed to use. I hate wasting food, and I felt okay with the batch that I had just purchased from Whole Foods. I also was trying to balance respecting my kid's concerns while not causing paranoia.

"If you don't want me to use meat in the chili, I won't. If you decide that don't want to eat meat, I will help you with that," I said."But not all ground beef is bad. Just remember that."

"Did you find out if they (Whole Foods) are safe?"

"Let me do a quick check online," I said. My search query was: "How does Whole Foods ground their beef?" The result? Pages and pages about the company's recall of ground beef one year ago.

"Honey, we're going to pass on using this meat," I answered. A seed of doubt was now in my head.

I returned the kitchen to get the meat. The wrapper was empty.  And there was our canine character, Luna Lovegood, standing below the counter licking her chops and savoring the last remnants of one whole pound of raw ground beef.

Back to the laptop I went, only this search query was: "Is it okay for dogs to eat raw ground beef?" The result? Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes! Not only is it okay for dogs to eat raw ground beef, it's good for them. Dog crisis averted.

As a person who loves to cook, I really can't imagine not using ground beef in recipes that not only call for it, but where ground beef makes or breaks the meal. So we came up with a solution. I have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and a simple food grinder attachment will allow us to ground our own beef. In the end, our grocery budget may go up a bit because of the cuts of meat we'll be buying. But it will make our family feel safe about what we put into our bodies.

When your kids love food, you do what you can to foster a love of healthy eating.

So no chili on Monday night. Pasta casserole won, even if by default. (And judging by the look of victory on Luna's muzzle, she felt like she hit a grand slam.)

4 steps to deal with a young, reluctant eater...

So you take your kid out to eat at a restaurant and you select something from the the menu -- kid's or main -- that you are certain will be a winner. The dish arrives at the table and your kid gives you the look that screams: "Don't even think I'm touching that."

The battle begins.

Or not.

What's the best way a parent can respond to a reluctant eater? Registered Dietitian and mom to three boys, Toni Bloom, says a laid-back approach is the way to go. Bloom is the founder of Funfoodle, which is a class for young kids and their parents to fun in food. Lessons in nutrition are incorporated, but it's more about exposing the kids to different types of food through various interactive exercises. And indirectly teaching parents how to get a grip on their kid's eating habits.

While FunFoodle doesn't address how to handle sticky food situations while dining out with the kids, Toni shared an approach parents can test out:

• Incorporate Funfoodle tip: Touch, smell, lick or taste the food in question. You’re successful if your kid touches an item on their plate and attempts to keep an open mind...even if, in the end, he/she doesn't eat the food. But ask questions in a casual way...what do they dislike? Texture? Smell? Appearance? Make them think about the food.
• Lighten up. "They said no, honor that," says Toni. She also recommends that parents forget the "clean plate club" and avoid punishing their kids for not eating their meal.  Once it's clear your kid isn't going to eat the food, drop it and go about your meal. (I know that while my younger son may resist something at first, he may eventually start eating his lunch or dinner after a few minutes have passed. Sometimes you just have to be patient, and it's more likely to happen the less you make of him not eating.)
• Wrap up what they ordered. Tell your kid, "We’ll save it for later and heat it up if you get hungry." End of discussion. When your child is hungry later on, offer the food. "You’ll find out if they’re hungry or not," says Toni. And if they don't eat it? Oh well. Toni adds, "No child will starve overnight." (At our house, we tell our kids the "kitchen is closed and the chef is gone for the day." They know we mean business.)
• Introduce a new breakfast the next morning..."because you know they will be super hungry."

These tips are clearly set up for a dinner meal, so you'd have to adjust accordingly based on your situation. And obviously, do what's right for your kid.

How do you handle your reluctant eater when your dining out? Does the fact that your kid IS a picky eater cause you to avoid eating in restaurants?

Eating out with kids: Know your kid's limits and use common sense...

The first time Seven asked if he could eat oysters when he was four years old, I knew I was blessed with an adventurous eater Example: His lunch today included  a Waldorf salad via the August issue of Sunset magazine, sans chicken but with blue cheese). Even now, as he approaches eight, he's willing to try foods that some adults won't even touch--even if it's just so he can decide it won't appear on his personal menu. Q., at four years old won't eat touch oysters. But he loves food. When your kids are grabbing at a Charcuterie plate before you can say "Wait! I need a picture!", you know you're lucky. And that's really as much as any parent can ask when it comes to their child's eating habits.

I love everything about bringing food and kids together. I love that my boys look at the kitchen as a place where fun things happen. That they enjoy perusing cook books as much as a copy of the latest release in The Magic Tree House series. That when asked where we should go when it's "family date night," they can vocalize exactly where they want to eat and why, from being in the mood for fresh tacos to wanting to visit a brew pub so that we can all catch the SF Giants on television.

Because our kids are good eaters, my husband and I, as parents, have rarely shied away from taking them to restaurants (save for a really wicked terrible two/early three stage with Q.).  And while we're never scared to take them to a restaurant, we do have boundaries. It's called using common sense. We want to take our kids out when we know it will be enjoyable for all of us--including anyone who might be sitting near us. We'd never think of taking them out to eat after an afternoon in the hot sun at the pool because it's just asking for a meltdown. We'd think three-times over if even one of them showed signs of an impending tantrum because a) it's late in the day; b) they had a rough day; or c) they're over tired.  Because it makes sense let the kids chill out at home rather than spend  90 minutes in a restaurant trying to get them to behave, all the while disturbing other people's meals. Plus? Everyone, including mom and dad, just ends up anxious, stressed out and pissed off.

That said, there are those unpredictable moments when your kid, who seemed happy before going out, has a fit because he's not getting his way. Or the tiredness decides to hit as soon as the waiter arrives at your table. And you just have to deal with it, whether it's taking your kid outside for a little pow wow about behavior and expectations or flat-out leaving the restaurant because you just know it won't go well if you stay.

Catching up on my blog reads, I came across a post over at Slash/Food about a waiter in England who left a rather choice sentence on the bill of a family with a toddler. It said, "Thankyoulittle F!*#&$".  (image here). The toddler's dad told a paper that his daughter was "a little grumbly" at dinner, but not such a mess that warranted such hostile response from the waitress.

The story itself was slightly entertaining and it was obviously uncool of the waitress to leave that message on the bill. But the comments on the post were telling. I continue to be amazed at the number of people who believe that parents should not take young children out to restaurants that are "nice." The thought is that if you have young kids, you should be relegated to a restaurant that is raging with kids, and where said kids are allowed to misbehave and be loud because hey, no one cares since it's a kid-focused eatery.

On the contrary, I think it's a parent's responsibility to take their kids to nice restaurants and cafes so they can learn how to behave while dining out. They can practice their manners and learn to appreciate good food. Not a four-star restaurant (yet), but a place that has cloth napkins, a pretty/funky atmosphere, a loud-ish vibe and a kid's menu that goes beyond chicken nuggets, glorified mac n' cheese, plain pasta and pizza where the mozzerella slides off after the first bite and the sauce is so steaming hot your kid burns his tongue right away.

Also? I think parents need to know that it's okay if your kids aren't perfectly behaved when you go out to eat. It happens. But parents also need to know that if their kids misbehave while eating out, they have to deal with it. And swiftly. 

And restaurants and patrons need to know that the little kid who is having a meltdown may not be a bad seed. Maybe the child has Asperger's syndrome or is autistic, and is learning how to deal with being out in public places. Read: Don't assume anything about a kid. A little compassion towards the parents and kid go a long, long way. 

Eating out with kids: It's all about common sense (and a little luck). You have to know your kids, and you have to know when it's best to just cut your loses instead of giving in to your need to get out.

Can you tell that I've got kids and food and restaurants on the brain? 

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing some neat tips about eating out with kids that I received from Toni Bloom, the founder of Funfoodle.com. And you might be surprised by what she has to say.

But first, a horror story. When Seven was three, we ate a nice restaurant and noticed he was starting to wilt. Within five minutes, he had thrown up all over me. Why? He overheated. The place had the heat cranked up. We got our meals to go and left a heft tip, but haven't returned since.

Your turn. Restaurant horror stories while dining out with your kids? Do tell.