The Tofu Switcheroo (And He Only Gagged Once)

I've been married for almost 9 years to a confirmed carnivore.  When we met, I was an ovo-lacto-vegetarian (i.e., I ate eggs and dairy but no meat/poultry/fish).  Within a year, I was back to meat.

I've never really been comfortable eating meat, fish and poultry.  No way would I buy non-organic versions given all of the growth hormones and antibiotics in them, organic meat and poultry isn't sold everywhere, and organic fish is, well, I don't really know what that is.  But I do my best serving my family nutritious and almost-always organic food.

Last week, I got on the scale and noticed that without realizing it, I'd gained five pounds.  I could blame it on the shipment of girl scout cookies, or on my broken toe making it hard to exercise.  Whatever.  The bottom line was, those pounds had to go.  I mentioned this to my husband and he voiced interest in eating a bit healthier.  So I resolved to exercise more and spruce up our diet a bit - get back to basics.  Less sugar, less butter, less starch, more vegetables, more protein.

We started consuming a lot more baby spinach salads with walnuts or almonds, more stir fry with bok choy and brown rice, more grilled lean meats, more fruit, etc.  We also eliminated dessert, reduced our bread and pasta intake and agreed not to eat after 8pm.  I'm happy to say that it's working!

My husband even let me take some liberties with serving a few vegetarian meals.  Last night, however, I tried to pull a fast one.  I bought a lovely roasted chicken and some firm tofu and hatched a plan.  I was sure he'd resist the tofu if he knew it was in the dinner, so I tried to pull a switcheroo.  I allowed the aroma of the roasted chicken to waft through the house but then diced the tofu and put THAT into the stir fry instead.  My kids were tough customers (which they are even with chicken) but both of them ate it (with the promise of some ZenSoy pudding to follow).

My husband took one look and was not fooled.  But like the man that he is, he ate the whole thing and only gagged once.  When I asked him this morning if he'd be home for dinner, he smiled and told me he would call first and ask me what I was making.

Catching You Up...

The past month has been a busy one chez EcoMeg, which accounts for the sparse posts here on the blog.  Here's what I've been up to...

In mid-January, I started potty training my toddler.  This turned out to be remarkably easy.  He got the hang of it within 3 days and we were done.  Within three weeks, he no longer wanted to wear diapers at night, either, so we are officially completely done with diapers.

Around that same time, my toddler and I battled sinus infections.  Mine didn't respond to the first antibiotic, so I had to go on a double dose of amoxicillin.  Big, elephant pills.  Unpleasant all the way around.

I had a visit from my Dad in late January, which was super.  I wish he lived closer.  My kids ask about him every day.  He is their favorite person!

My toddler started Montessori the first week of February, 3 mornings a week.  He lasted one week before sinking into a huge case of separation anxiety - despite being in the same class as my older son, who adores his teacher.  He also started swim classes and gymnastics classes, which, given the aforementioned separation anxiety, have not been as fun as they should be.  But we are taking it slowly and I'm not pushing the Montessori.  I know if I take a gentle approach he'll come back around to the idea.  He really enjoyed the first week and attending there was his motivation for potty training.

My older son is thriving at school, in gymnastics and has a renewed interest in reading and writing.  He is 5 and a half and we've been plowing through the Beast Quest series.  Great books for a boy his age!  He also started faith education this past Sunday afternoon, which of course means we actually have to go to church every Sunday - something we've avoided since the toddler just runs wild through the service.  But the little guy needs to learn to sit nicely, so we're committed now to attending each Sunday.

Meanwhile, I've been planning springtime for my garden:

For my organic lawn, I've sprayed all of the existing weeds with 20% vinegar to eliminate them (kills them dead in 4 hours - be careful where you spray because it will kill whatever vegetation it touches!).  Then I bought bags of corn meal gluten (to prevent future weeds) and dry molasses (encourages beneficial microbes), which I'll distribute with my spreader once we get past the precipitation later this week.  I'll water them in to make sure they get into the soil.  Then, I'm done with that for a little while.  Once the Bermuda grass emerges from hibernation in a month or two, I'll put down some organic fertilizer.

I've been mulling an organic vegetable container garden for some time and I'll launch seedlings indoors in the next two weeks.  I plan to grow zucchini, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, onion and peppers.  My boys are very excited about this (I'm hoping this excitement translates into more veggie consumption!).  I'll keep you posted on how I go about it.  I decided to go with a container garden since my neighbors use chemicals on their lawns and I don't want my veggies contaminated by runoff, despite my own efforts in maintaining an organic yard.

As for fruits, I will plant two different apple trees and a pear tree up on a slope that will minimize neighbors' runoff.  I would love to try growing bananas since we consume so many of them.  We will grow strawberries indoors in a pretty planter.

To support all of this activity, I'll start composting in the next two weeks.  More on that later!

So that's what we've been up to lately.  When things calm down around here and I get some more quiet time, I'll post more often.

Stay warm!

Another Way to Get Your Kids to Eat Veggies: Juicing!

I am constantly trying new ways to get my kids to eat their vegetables (I've written a few posts on the subject: see here).  My older son is pretty good about it but my younger son is one tough customer.  Among other methods, I've tried:

• pureeing cooked carrots, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and squash and hiding them in marinara (not all of them at once), mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches or hamburgers
  
• adding spinach to fruit smoothies
• making cute faces with them (green bean as mouth, carrot as nose, zucchini slice as eyes)
• bribery (I'm not proud).  

But until recently, I hadn't tried juicing.  Juicing has many health benefits - I encourage you to read more about them here.  I was astonished at what I'd been missing by not incorporating this "delivery mode" into my diet.

So here is how it unfolded: I picked my older son up from school and told him about the exciting activity I had planned: he could make his own juice!  We could try all sorts of vegetables and fruits!  We could combine them and see how they tasted together!  (I used a lot of exclamation points in my pitch.)  He was very excited by the time we got home.  My two sons and I made our own fresh apple, pineapple, mandarin orange, carrot, spinach/carrot, and apple/orange juices.  It was really fun.  I had made fresh squeezed orange juice before but had no idea how great other fresh juices can taste.  Tonight, before dinner, my younger son asked for carrot juice.  Now that is success!

The juicer I bought is powerful, quiet and easy to clean.  It does not do as good a job with green leafies as a really high-end juicer, but it serves my needs quite well.  It's the Jack Lalanne PJP Power Juicer Pro Stainless-Steel Electric Juicer.

If Your Child Won't Knowingly Eat Broccoli or Spinach, Try This

My toddler refuses to eat his green vegetables.  I always put them on his meal tray so has an opportunity to eat them plain and he knows they are a regular part of our diet, but I also cook, puree and hide them in his pasta sauce, grilled cheese sandwich, mac & cheese, under the cheese on his pizza, in muffins (see my carrot, pumpkin and zucchini muffin recipes), etc.  Tonight I thought I'd try another way.  I'd never tried hiding them in a yogurt fruit smoothie before.

I steamed a 1/2 cup of frozen broccoli in the microwave, then ran cold water over it, grabbed a small handful of baby spinach, and threw these into the food processor with the ingredients for a "regular" smoothie (1 cup whole milk organic vanilla yogurt, 1 cup fruit juice, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 banana, 4 ice cubes - blend until smooth).

Success!  I tasted it and could not detect the vegetables.  The color was not even that far off.  Sure enough, my toddler loved it.  Give it a try!

25 Healthy Snacks for Kids

Each family in my 5-year-old's Montessori class is asked to assume morning snack duty for a few weeks during the school year.  The school has a few ground rules: no nuts, no sweets, and all natural whenever possible.

My philosophy is that snacks are an opportunity to get some additional "good stuff" into kids -- fruits, vegetables, fiber, protein and/or calcium.  Snack should also be tasty, filling and all natural.   This is really not as hard as it sounds.

Our snack duty starts this Monday, so I compiled the below list of the snacks I typically make and created my menu from this list (I chose the ones that fit the ground rules and travel best).  I ran it by my 5-year-old and got the thumbs-up.  Can you tell we love muffins?

(** = my kids' absolute favorites)

1. hummus and baby carrots **
   
2. organic drinkable yogurts and grapes or half bananas (peel on - kids like removing peels) **
   
3. big, beautiful strawberries
4. organic cheddar or meunster cheese and multigrain crackers
5. blueberry mini muffins **
   
6. banana mini muffins (skip the nuts for school!) **
   
7. turkey and spinach pinwheels (take an all natural soft tortilla, add a bit of organic mayonnaise, one slice of organic turkey and a few leaves of organic baby spinach, then roll and slice in 1/2 inch pinwheels -- it's a very flexible concept - you could do it with ham, cheese, cream cheese, chicken...)
   
8. carrot mini muffins
   
9. cantaloupe cubes **
   
10. hummus and multigrain crackers **
    
11. carrot or zucchini silver dollar-sized pancakes (I use Arrowhead Mills Multigrain Pancake mix, add an egg and some finely grated peeled carrot or zucchini)
    
12. zucchini mini muffins **
    
13. pumpkin mini muffins **
    
14. chunky, mild guacamole and all natural tortilla chips **
    
15. Health Valley organic cereal bars ** (my kids devour these)
    
16. raisins and organic "cheesie bunnies" as my toddler calls them (Annie's Cheddar Bunnies)
17. watermelon cubes (only when in season - out of season watermelon just doesn't cut it) **
    
18. peeled organic, sweet, crisp apple slices (toss them in lemon juice to prevent browning if you're preparing in advance) and organic unsalted popcorn **
    
19. fruit salad (apples, bananas, kiwi, pears, cantaloupe, grapes - whatever fruit is in-season, in a flavor combination you think the kids will like; toss in some lemon juice to keep things from browning)
20. raisins and unsalted peanuts (not for school!) **
    
21. peanut butter and jelly mini sandwiches (not for school!: we enjoy Oroweat Double Fiber bread, Arrowhead Mills organic crunchy peanut butter and organic, fruit-sweetened strawberry preserves) **
    
22. unsalted trail mix (not for school!; mixed nuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, granola chunks) **
    
23. fruit smoothies (doesn't travel well to school :); can hide a multitude of goodies such as probiotic powder, pureed baby spinach, etc.)
    
24. kefir smoothies (doesn't travel well to school :); slightly tart taste, so the kids really need to love yogurt to enjoy this - my toddler loves these)
    
25. cream cheese toast ** (doesn't travel well to school :); my toddler asks for this every day - I use all natural cinnamon raisin bread and Organic Valley cream cheese -- it's the best cream cheese we've ever tasted)

Hummus - One of Our Favorite Snacks

I was first introduced to the delicious dish called hummus in college, when I dated an Iranian who often took me to Middle Eastern restaurants.  It quickly became a favorite.  Years later, I introduced my children to it and they absolutely love it.  And I mean L-O-V-E it.  We use it as a dip with carrots or pepper strips (orange, red, yellow or green!) -- really, any raw veg, with pita wedges, crackers or even tortilla chips.  My husband loves it, too.

I frequently buy it, but it's certainly cheaper and just as delicious to make it at home.  I found a great recipe on YouTube, believe it or not (great resource, people!).  To see the author make it, click here.

Hummus

Ingredients:

primary ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), rinsed (cans are typically 15 oz. or so)
• the juice of one lemon
• 1/4-1/2 cup of tahini (sesame seed paste) -- don't forget to stir it up before you measure it out!  Start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste
• 2 cloves garlic (mashed in a mortar with 1/2 tsp salt)
• 1/4-1/2 cup plain yogurt (improves the texture, so it's not lumpy - start w/ 1/4 cup then add more as needed)
• 3-4 leaves fresh mint (gives a subtle taste)

garnishes:

• 2 tbsp minced parsley (if you like it - we don't)
• ground paprika
• extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Combine all primary ingredients in a food processor.  Blend for 2 minutes.  If the texture is stiff and lumpy, add another 1/4 cup of plain yogurt.  Blend again until smooth.  Taste.  Does it need more lemon?  More salt?  Adjust to taste.  Spread in a dish and sprinkle with parsley (if you like it) and paprika.  Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil.  Serve.

Yummy!

Zucchini Muffins

My kids LOVE muffins.  Particularly mini muffins, so I make a wide variety.  I use them as a tasty opportunity to get fruits and vegetables into them.  My mother-in-law gave me this recipe for zucchini bread, and my kids love it.

Zucchini Bread (or muffins!)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups peeled, grated zucchini
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups all purpose flour (you could do 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flour)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream together eggs, brown sugar and oil.  While mixing, add vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and baking powder.  Add grated zucchini and blend.  Mix in the flour.  Fold in nuts (optional). 
Pour into well greased 9x5x3 loaf pan, 4 mini pans, or paper-lined muffin tins. 
Bake until toothpick comes out clean.  (50-60 min for large loaf, maybe 25 min for mini loaves, 15 min for mini muffins -- check frequently and don't overcook!)