Photo: Darcy Kiefel
Food defines a family identity. And mothers set the pace for meals and nutrition. I worked for Heifer International, an international nonprofit committed to ending hunger by giving families gifts of livestock, and it was mothers who were responsible for family food security and health, and as you can imagine, most of the animal care. All over the world, mothers expressed their single universal desire to sustain their families with good, wholesome food - the ultimate gift of love.
For me, the last two weeks have been busy, but happy. Despite cries against green vegetables or dense, oat pancakes or the issue of my own seriously chapped dish-pan hands (remedied by new gloves), I feel like I'm doing the best I can for the kids and fulfilling a maternal promise. There's no judgment in doing this. I certainly didn't love the kids less when I served them Nutrigrain bars for breakfast and McNuggets for lunch. But food is about the present and the future. It's a gift of the moment, of nutrition and pleasure. And it's a foundation for their futures in health and habits. It's why moms are such a potent, tangible mix of meals and memory.
You bloggers are some healthy eaters! Processed food percentages are amazingly low. How about recipes for a family Sunday dinner? Any family favorites?
Menu
Breakfast: Yogurt, grapes, oranges and leftover pizza! With OJ and fish oil of course.
Breakfast: Yogurt, grapes, oranges and leftover pizza! With OJ and fish oil of course.
Lunch: Leftover chicken salad, pita, apples, carrots and milk. Aidan had is usual.
Dinner: Chicken, rice with wild mushrooms, berries and homemade whole wheat brownies.
Nugget o' the Day: "Did you put sugar on my apples?" - Patrick. The organic apples from the Kroger produce sale are so sweet and tasty, Patrick thinks I am adding sugar to them ...
5 comments:
This time of year, we make soup, chili, jambalaya. Ooh. Do you have a crock pot?
Mexicali Stew
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs. Round steak, trimmed of fat (or stew meat)
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
½-1 cup fresh cilantro (depending on your personal taste)
½ cup low sodium beef broth (swanson's makes an organic variety)
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
20 oz jar of salsa
15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cooked white rice
Directions:
1. Cut beef into pieces. Place in 5-6 qt slow cooker
2. Combine remaining ingredients (except cheese and rice) and pour over beef
3. Cover and cook on low 8-9 hours
4. Serve plain or over rice; sprinkle with cheese.
Make some good old fashioned chicken and dumplings. Saute some celery, onion, and carrots and toss in a few frozen green peas. Use your leftover chicken or boil or roast a new one and do extra for later in the week leftovers. Warm and filling and talk about love!! You could do the same with beef. Toss in some mushrooms and green beans and you have a great stew. Love seeing your boys. You're doing a great job. Cynthia
I've made Heather's Mexicali Stew before. It's WONDERFUL!
My latest Favorite is Chinese Chicken & Rice that I got from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook (p 162):
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skineless chicken breasts, cut into julienne strips (or tofu cut into cubes)
2 cups water
1 cup brown rice
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup broccoli florets
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts
1 cup penny-sliced carrots
1 cup green onions, sliced
Marinade:
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs minced ginger root
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce or gluten free tamari
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash hot pepper sauce
Preparation:
1. Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken in marinade and let stand for 1 hour in refrigerator. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a six-quart covered casserole dish with cooking spray. Add rice, water and salt and bake for 40 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet and gently saute garlic until just fragrant. Add sliced chicken and saute until no longer pink. Add chopped vegetables and cook until just soft. Remove from heat. Add the cooked vegetable mixture to the rice when it is finished baking. Serve piping hot for a delicious Clean-Eating meal.
6 servings, 35 minutes prep-time, 45 minutes cook-time
Nutritional Value per Serving:
Calories: 269, Calories from fat: 60, Protein: 21g, Carbs: 30g, Dietary Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 12g, Fat: 6g, Sodium 380mg
My kids love to eat this with chopsticks!
I have a question about your food choices (sorry if it's been addressed already and I missed it). Are you counting vitamins/minerals used to fortify products in the 5 ingredients or "unpronouncables"? I ask because nearly all grain products are required by law to be fortified with certain things, like folic acid. Most are still pretty easy to pronounce, at least, but it does make it next to impossible to find those products in the "under 5 ingredients" category.
s.n.o - We're eating processed food with five ingredients or less - definitely hard to find things like crackers and cookies that make that requirement. Really, the hardest part of that equation for us was white flour. In the beginning of "the potion," we agreed to use King Arthur flour to bake. And we're using a mix. There's their "White Whole Wheat" which we use a lot and the ingredients are, "100% hard white whole wheat flour." That's it. Which is good. We're also using their unbleached bread flour, which as you point out, tops out at six ingredients with the added folic acid and B vitamins. This was a hard choice if we were going to be hard and fast with the rules. So, in the beginning, we agreed in the methodology that,"Flour - even though it's white and processed, we'll stick with King Arthur brand b/c it's unbleached, all-natural." So it's six, but it was the best of the processed choices for us from the beginning. Any other ideas for a white flour would be welcomed. We'd like to trend toward mostly wheat, but that's going to take a little more baking mastery for me.
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