Festive Fruity Tangerine Ice Cubes

What do you do with a plentiful harvest of sour tangerines? We make fruity tangerine ice cubes. Mix up the juice with some pureed fruit (this year it was one mango and two peaches) and

It's very convenient that the tangerines are ready to harvest in late December turning our fruity ice cubes festive drinks for to welcome the new year. Hubby and I share with friends and family, making a fun cocktail by dropping a couple in the bottom of a glass of dry champagne. The boys will have them as a special drink with club soda or ginger ale. Little boo also likes it when I smash the cubes up and he eats the mush with a spoon.

So that's what we're up to today. Harvesting tangerines. Juicing them. Mixing juice with fruit puree and making fruity ice cubes.

We'll be getting plenty of vitamin C from the juice. I'm trying to think up something to do with the peels. They have nutrients in them I don't really want to toss. According to George Mateljan of World's Healthiest Foods:
"....the most important flavanone in oranges, herperidin has been shown to lower high blood pressure as well as cholesterol in animal studies, and to have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Importantly, most of this phytonutrient is found in the peel and inner white pulp of the orange, rather than in its liquid orange center..."

Those who follow me know I'm on an anti-inflammatory food kick, trying to get as much healing to big boo's lungs as possible. While his asthma isn't severe, he is on daily meds now and I'd like to try to wean him off those without having wheezing and coughing flare-ups. How much food with anti-inflammatory effects will help is still just an experiment.

I might puree the peel from a dozen or so and freeze as an experiment. If the peel puree survives the deep freeze, we'll have organic orange zest to add to muffins, pancakes etc. throughout the coming months.

See here for the juicy tangerine ice cube recipe I used last year. This year the peaches and mango were sweet enough that I didn't need the cherry syrup.

Anyone have any orange zest recipes to share with me? I'm kind of all candied out, but last year a friend suggested candied oranges. That's a possibility if any of this harvest survives the weekend.

I might make the whole orange cake recipe into a batch of muffins. Next year. Enough projects for this year.....

Happy 2010!

Foods We Won't Be Eating in 2010

So I just spent an hour reading articles on Dr Mercola's site. While I appreciate all the advice to avoid CT scans due to dangerously high levels of radiation and the list of seven foods to avoid in 2010 for a better health, I'm all in a tizzy now trying to figure out how to make all this "what's best for kids to eat" information sustainable and affordable. One article he wrote listed the 10 worst breakfast cereals for kids. While I'm adequately aware that most breakfast cereals are junk-even those with organic and whole grain labels-his suggested optimal breakfast for kids is just not sustainable and is cost prohibitive.

The two options mentioned were fresh juiced veggies (including the nutritious pulp), or a porridge including raw eggs, nuts, rice bran, hemp powder, coconut milk. Really? In case you're wondering, unless you farm your own hens, organic free range eggs run SIX dollars a dozen. At 2 per adult and 1 per kid that's 3 bucks just on the egg part of the porridge breakfast. In case you haven't priced organic raw nuts, coconut milk or hemp powder recently they aren't discount items either. Have you ever juiced fresh produce? It takes a couple pounds of produce to produce a six or eight ounce serving of juice. Organic produce runs $3-5 a pound, rarely $2 for some in season on-sale items. I'm estimating that his breakfast suggestions cost more than $5 per serving. Now that's just the money factor. Let's address the time factor. It takes me 2o minutes to put 5 ingredients together to prepare, cook and serve oatmeal from steel cut oats. I don't know many moms who have 2o minutes to get breakfast ready for kids, and even I can't manage it every morning.

Our family already spends more time and money procuring, preparing and consuming food than most families I know. We do this because I believe this improved nutritional diet will, in the long run, prevent health issues that will cost money and consume time to follow treatments. I'd rather spend extra money and time now cooking and eating the most nutritious food my family can afford, than submit to a life-style where we routinely spend money on co-pays, and prescriptions for magic pills that let us keep up our over-extended busy lifestyles without proper food, exercise and sleep. The trade off is that we have a daily family activity around preparing food and consuming food that allows us to spend time together putting meals together and eating them. I cherish the conversations and interactions I have with my kids and hubby in the kitchen and around the table. Eating healthy food is our hobby.

But it's not free. Buying organic plant and animal products makes our food costs high. Buying fresh vs packaged makes our food costs high. I rarely get to use coupons or buy what the markets have on sale because most of it is junk and I just won't feed it to my family even if it's easy and cheap. I don't really care if I get free soda when I buy a pack of hot dogs and buns. Ick.

Buying fresh and minimally processed food means I spend lots of time in the kitchen. This means I'm not spending lots of time taking the boys to play dates, and after school sports. It also means I'm not spending lots of time working outside the home, although the income I don't make would certainly help us procure more healthy food.

If I'm all uptight about how I'm going to realize these new eating goals I have for my family from a cost and time perspective, I know that most of America, including my readers who say budget and time are their biggest constraints, is even more poorly positioned than I am. That makes me mad. Really really mad. Mad that parents who want to feed their kids lovingly have so many obstacles to do so. It takes a lot of education, real learning about what's in a lot of the food in the grocery store. It takes education on the diet of the animal products we consume. It takes education on the way plant based foods are cultivated, grown, harvested, and brought to market. It takes time to find places that sell whole food. It takes time and budget to procure that food. It takes time to wash it, prepare it and consume it. All in a nation where nutrition is an after thought, and convenience is king.

So I'm still scratching my head on how to feed our families better. I know the solution has to be sustainable. And it has to be affordable. And it has to be available. Take eating healthy into the inner cities where many families don't own their own transportation, and there are few markets that have fresh produce, and were does a family with a very limited budget and no transportation even BUY something that isn't in a plastic or foil wrapper?

Michelle Obama, are you listening? I know one of your agenda items is child hood obesity. One very good place to start with that problem is the affordability of whole food that nurtures a growing body. Second would be parent and child education on the necessity of whole food as part of a life-style that supports the potential that our nations' kids will have if their bodies don't fall apart before they reach adolescence.

What food changes I'll make in 2010. Based off this list of 7 foods to avoid in 2010 for better health.

• Eliminate canned tomatoes. This one will hurt. We eat very few canned items in our house, but tomatoes are one of them. I don't even know of a source of diced or stewed tomatoes in jars, nor have I seen them in the freezer section. I could plan on putting up my own tomatoes this summer, but that wouldn't help me make soup and spaghetti between now and July.
  
• No more conventional potatoes or apples. I manage to find organic potatoes less than half the time I buy them, so I end up buying regular ones. Conventional potatoes have made more than one "worst foods" list. We'll just eat less potatoes if I can't find organic. I think Georgia's has organic potatoes now, which should make this goal more attainable.
• Reduce grain/corn fed animal products. While I'd love to do raw milk, I just don't see an affordable, or sustainable procurement option. I'm not willing to part with $10+ per gallon, nor does my schedule currently allow me to drive out to a farm to pick up milk weekly. I will take advantage of having "the lowest prices on natural meat in Houston" within walking distance of my house, and start buying grass fed ground beef instead of organic ground beef at Costco. It will cost a bit more, but not too much. They have organic whole turkeys and pork products too, which I'll experiment with. The cost per pound is high, but I've learned how to use bones to make stock squeezing every nutrient out of every penny spent. Plus hubby has acclimated to meatless meals (somewhat) and eating less meat due to higher costs is more sustainable now than it was a year ago. I'm not ready to cut out grain fed meat entirely, hubby and budget would protest.
  
• Organic animal products always when possible. We made the switch to organic milk and eggs a couple years ago, but now I'm convinced butter needs to always be organic too. I'm also going to buy free range eggs when budget allows, but $6 a dozen won't buy all the eggs we eat, so we'll either eat less eggs, or mix some organic grain fed eggs in the mix.
• Farmed Salmon?? This is something I'm going to explore more. Dr. Mercola says to avoid all fish due to high mercury levels, but I'm not sure eliminating all the nutrients in fish is the right way to go. I agree fish consumption should be limited, but how do you get enough omega 3s without popping pills if you don't eat fish? I'm on board with buying wild caught fish only, but I need to do more research before I walk away from fish completely.
  

Leftover-Veggie-Tray Minestrone Soup

If this was a professional blog and not a hobby blog I would have had the forethought and time to post all kinds of holiday recipes and uses for left overs before now. It is not, so you'll have to accept my untimely suggestions and keep them in mind for the next time you don't know what to do with all those left over veggies on the veggie tray. Don't. Throw. Them. Out.

Even a scant few veggie pieces will cook up into a nice omelet, or make a base for a tiny pot of soup. Surely you have a box of chicken stock, and some grain (pasta, rice, etc.) lying around you can bring together for a nice cup or bowl of soup. If nothing else, tuck them in the fridge, and in the morning get a pot of water boiling and add all left over veggies. Let simmer for 45 minutes, remove veggie chunks ( or strain) and put liquid in a freezer safe container(s). Stuff your home made veggie stock in a the freezer to use in your next pot of beans, to build sauces, to cook rice/pasta, or as a soup base. Consuming your veggie liquid will add flavor to a dish and put all those nutrients in your body vs. the trash can.

My Menu Plans for Left Over Veggies
I whipped up this soup yesterday stuffing half of it in the freezer to be eaten next week. Minestrone is a combo of beans, pasta and veggies. I subbed quinoa for pasta, green beans for cabbage and red beans for white. It used up all the left over green beans, carrots and celery from the veggie tray. I've still got entirely too much blanched broccoli which I plan on pureeing and freezing in water or broth. This I'll use to make green mac and cheese next week. I might not get to the cukes, which are probably already slimy. I did find a cold sour cream based soup that looks good, and I love tzatziki sauce, but we didn't need another soup or dip, especially a heavy, creamy one, so I might just have to toss the cukes.

Did you know that all super green veggies (edible pod beans included, sugar snap, green bean, etc.) are also "vitamin A" veggies? When I think of Vitamin A veggies I think of all the yellow/orange veggies, but anything green is as rich in vitamin A as a yellow veggie. This is good news for big boo since his lungs need all the beta-carotene they can get! For more deets on what green beans do for your body, see World's Healthiest Foods summary.

I hope you all had a great holiday and are getting back to a lighter and more nutritious diet. There are still abundant cookies, nuts, chocolates and candies in sight here still wreaking havoc with our appetites. I've had fruit, cookies and coffee for breakfast 2 days in a row, yeesh. It must be a holiday.

Minestrone Soup (Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Soups)
1 cup cooked beans (or one can)
2 TBS grape seed oil
1 yellow onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, sliced or crushed
5 cups stock (veggie, meat)
1 can tomatoes- 16 oz (crushed, whole, diced)
1 large carrot sliced
1 large zucchini sliced
1/4 head of cabbage shredded
1/2 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup dried pasta (I used quinoa)
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cooks Note: I subbed celery for zucchini, and green beans for cabbage. I cooked a pot of beans and used the bean liquid as stock. I tossed in leek and celery tops (which I saved from our Christmas morning quiche) to the beans as they cooked, removing the tops after 45 minutes.

Cook onion and garlic over medium heat in the oil until translucent. Add the stock, tomatoes, veggies, and spices. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add the pasta and cook uncovered until pasta is done (8-12 minutes, 15 for quinoa). Add drained beans and vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley, Parmesan or croutons.

Big boo is all about soup these days especially when beans are afloat. Little boo is warming up to the idea, but he nibbles and picks at tomato based broths. He like the turkey noodle soup I made with the Thanksgiving Turkey carcass, no tomatoes in there. What a difference a year makes. At the start of last year both protested loudly to soup night. They would gobble up cheesy toast side, then reluctantly eat a couple soup bites, face in a grimmace, in order to secure a second slice of cheesy toast.

Kid Appeal Tip Everything you serve for dinner does not have to be a favorite. Sometimes a meal is sustenance food. Enough food to take away hunger pangs, and provide enough fuel until the next meal. Feeding the family means that not every meal can be a favorite for each family member. This is not only a good "feeding the family" principal, but a good life lesson. Not every meal, turn, activity, outing, needs to be a favorite to be tolerated and even enjoyed by all. If the boys don't love something I make, I gush about how it's hubby's favorite and I can't wait to see his face when he tastes it. Then we can all look forward to a meal pleasing dad and enjoying his happiness even if our food experience is not evenly matched. While kids are busy observing other family members enjoying food, they will be on a journey first to tolerate a few bites, then eat a serving, and eventually enjoy a serving too. Some food favorites are love at first bite, others are acquired over time.

What did you do with your left over veggies??

Sandbakelser (Raspberry Sand Tarts)

So I guess by now you bakers out there have figured out my favorite cookies are variations on shortbread. True. I like the contrast between the crumbly buttery cookie and sweet topping. With only a few ingredients, the dough comes together fast, leaving plenty of time to ice and decorate. Fun for kids! Plus I tried making "real" shortbread once and it was a flop, so these pseudo shortbread cookies make their way into my oven and waistline every Christmas.

This recipe is not from my childhood. It's from the before-kids-salad-days when girlfriends and sisters would come over, tie on an apron and we'd drink wine and bake. There were always the tried and true recipes and each year I'd try a few new ones. This was a winner about a decade ago and I've been making it every year since. Before the kids were born I'd make 8 or more recipes each year and give cookies to friends. Now family time has increased, baking time has decreased and the recipients of cookies are those people who help our family, instead of my friends. I don't get to see my friends much during the holidays with all the family activities going on, so I cherish this activity that makes me remember them.

For the record I did use organic sugar for all recipes. I also used 1/2-1 cup of white wheat flour in most recipes. I did not reduce sugar in the shortbread recipes since they are already lower in sugar. All batches came out fine with the substitutions.

Sandbakelser (Raspberry Sand Tarts-The Best of Sunset Cookies)
3/4 c almonds ground into a meal (finely ground)
1/2 c sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup raspberry jam (for filling.)

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Stir in almond meal, then flour.

Tart Pans: fill tart pan with 1 1/2 tsp dough, then 1/4 tsp raspberry filling. Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins.
Cookie Sheets: Form dough balls with 1 1/2 tsp dough set 2 inches apart. Using the tip of finger press an indentation on top of dough ball and fill with 1/4 tsp raspberry jam. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on pans before transferring to brown paper or cooling racks. Do not grease cookie sheet.

Cooks Note: I've never made these with the almond meal or using tart pans. Thus mine don't come out perfectly round and tart-like, they spread when baked on a cookie sheet.

I didn't even remember they had almonds in them! I make this cookie well before I started eating nuts. Now that I've re-read the recipe I will certainly make them with the almond meal next time. I think the almonds will add a good flavor and cut the sweetness a bit. Santa, if you're reading, I'd like some tart pans, whatever those are. Oh, and some silpat sheets too while you're at it.

Kid Appeal Tip So, there's note a lot healthy (excepting almonds I omitted....) in a cookie. But you can use cookies to get kids to eat healthy. Some nutritionist suggest down playing the "appeal" of sweets by serving them in small portions right along with dinner. I don't concur. I don't think serving dessert with a meal disguises their appeal. They are still sweeter than anything in the meal, and thus are going to appeal more to the tongue of anyone who appreciates sweetness. And because the young child's appetite is often quite small, matched by their small stomach even a small portion of sweets may satiate them to the point of nibbling and picking at the rest of their food. My approach is to teach that sweets are a sometimes food, and for the very young who are still developing eating skills and impulse control to be allowed to eat them ONLY after they've eaten some grow food. Once your kiddo is able to eat grow food even after dulling the appetite a little with sweets it's fine to serve dessert first or during the meal. Until then, when dessert is available, the consumption of it is permissible after food containing nutrients is consumed. Let kiddos know there is a sweet treat waiting for them once they finish their meal. Finish is defined by "eating enough to sustain" not emptying a plate.

It's Cookie Time! Peppermint, Raspberry and Nutmeg

The day has arrived! I'm planning three recipes today. We'll see what tomorrow holds. We certainly don't need more 3 batches of cookies. I'm done with all my giving, so these are just for family gatherings. I know hubby's mom and grandma have been baking all week and have 5 or more cookie recipes too. Cookies galore! My plan right now is to gain 5 lbs from excessive cookie eating. I eat well all year right?? teeheehee.

I'll start with raspberry shortbread, which I don't have recipe posted for yet. If I have time tonight I'll come back with pix and recipe for ya.


Also on the list are nutmeg logs and peppermint shortbread. These are faves from childhood. All this baking will be bittersweet. I'll will be bliss to bake with the boys and sad about the distance between me and my mom. It's ironic how I miss her the most on holidays. She hasn't celebrated holidays in over a decade. OK enough moping.

I am looking forward to the boys help with the following: measuring ingredients, mixing, turning the blender on/off, forming the dough balls and logs, putting the raspberry jelly on the dough balls, bashing up the peppermints, icing the cookies, topping with nutmeg and peppermint and gobbling them up.

Hubby's off today. I hope he's planning on cooking meals today, ha! If I'm lucky he'll run up to Georgia's (formerly Sandy's) and get a tub of chicken salad, some mixed greens, fresh bread. If I'm even luckier he'll shoot new pix of the nutmeg logs and peppermint shortbread. My photos from last year do not showcase the amazingness of either one!

Now where'd my apron go?

Double Ginger Snap Cookies-Great Gifts of Love

It was sobering for me to look at the "baked goods" on the Cake Walk table at big boo's school carnival this year. On the table of goodies was one tray of home made cupcakes and a plethora of store bought cookies, cupcakes, and cakes with day-glow orange icing. The kids didn't seem to mind, but I felt sad. The winning cake walkers were missing out on lopsided iced cupcakes, giant brownies and Rice Krispie squares to pick from. Apparently baking for community functions is a dying art.

I still practice this dying art; baking as a gift is a labor of love. And I think it's important to keep it up. After all, teachers are guiding our kids through out the year. Sure, it's an opportunity cost of your time. If you spend time baking and you can't spend time doing something else. I make this choice during the busiest month every year, because I want to give a labor of love gift to the people that play a huge role in guiding my kids academic and social development.

Double Ginger Snaps are great cookies for giving. It doubles well and it's packed with flavor (and important antioxidants in the cinnamon and cloves). The dough doesn't have to be chilled, so you can pull the recipe together and get baking the same day. And kids can help roll the dough balls! The dough has play dough consistency, it's not too dry or sticky. It was a long day of baking, wrapping and labeling and made a tad more complicated with a 3 yo and 5 yo as helpers, but it was worth it. I taught the boys that it's important to give, to give a gift of time and craft from the heart, and personalize gifts to people who help them. These cookies are so tasty!!

I forgot to photograph the wrapped packages before giving, but what I did was stack them in towers of 1/2 dozen and wrapped first with wax paper, then again with wrapping paper. No tape needed for wrapping, just gather all the paper edges at the top of the tower and twist like a candy wrapper. We tied the "twist" of paper at the top of the tower with ribbon (and yes, 5 year olds can make ribbon curls!!).

I posted the original recipe here last year. This year I subbed 1/2 the oil for coconut oil and used fresh ground cloves (buzzed those up in the coffee mill I used to grind nuts and grains). The modified recipe is in this post below. Grinding spices at home allows retains more of their antioxidant qualities. A lot of the good stuff is in the oils, and the oil molecules are broken up during the grinding process. If you break down the oil closer to consumption more of the good stuff gets in your body. I'm trying to get fresh ground cloves in our diet more. Cloves are a natural source of magnesium and have anti-inflammatory effects, and are helpful in reducing harmful effects of asthma. So far I've added them to apple cider, oatmeal and ginger snap cookies.

I also found them to be very sweet. I might reduce sugar by 1/4 cup, and use 1/2 white wheat flour, 1/2 all purpose next time I make them for my family. The crystallized ginger makes these cookies special.

Double Ginger Snaps (based on Williams Sonoma recipe in "cookies" book)


2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp cloves, ground fresh from whole cloves
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 large whole egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup chopped crystallized ginger (note: I used 1 1/4 cup in the doubling and it was fine...)

Pre-heat oven to 325. Sift together dry ingredients and spices. Mix oils, sugar, molasses until combined. Beat in the egg. (I had to get my kitchen aid out to mix the oils, sugar and molasses, then the egg. Wooden spoon wasn't cutting it). Add the crystallized ginger and stir in. Form one inch balls and place on lightly greased (or parchment paper covered) cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes until set and crackled on top. Let stand for a few minutes before transferring them to rack or brown paper bag to cool.

Anyone else tying on their apron this week to bake? Starting Tuesday I'm in official bake mode. Peppermint Shortbread, Nutmeg logs and Raspberry Shortbread are on my must have list this year. I'd like to make time to try out a new recipe too. There's a spiced pistachio ice box cookie I have my eye on, but not sure they'll be time for a new recipe this year.... Click through to comment. I'd love to hear what's on your baking list.

Growing Good Eaters and Beautiful People

In my last post I inadvertently photographed a list of beautiful people qualities hanging on my fridge. A reader asked for more details so I thought I'd share with all of you. It's a good opportunity to talk about something else that happens at meal times besides growing healthy eaters. Family conversation. I share at least two meals a day with the boys and a big chunk of our daily dialog happens at the table. I can't imagine how well I could relate to them or understand what their little school lives are like without the meal time talk.

Kids who enjoy being at the table will enjoy eating. Make dining a pleasant and rewarding part of your day with kids. In reality not every meal will be a joy, but here's some ideas if you're in a rut.

Beautiful People Ugly People
The inspiration for the beautiful/ugly people dialog was a couple years in coming. I yell when I'm frustrated. Turns out nurturing and guiding two small similar yet enormously different humans is frustrating for me, so I yell too much. As a result the kids yell too much. I'm not proud of this and have been soul searching for years on ways to eliminate yelling from my vocabulary. I'm also a reforming complainer. I noticed my kids complaining a lot, and when you have three people yelling and complaining a lot and spending 12 waking hours together on a regular basis, there is little harmony. So what's a clueless mother to do?

I recalled a dialog I had on a parenting bulletin board when I was at my wits end with big boo, then just two, and the way he interacted with little boo, then a new baby brother. I would do time outs, I would scold, I would insist he comply with rules. We were not happy. Luckily he's young enough not to remember it, but I do and I don't want to go back to that sad frustrating place again. In desperation I posed my "what more can I do to get my toddler to comply with my requests to be nice, gentle, careful with his baby brother" question. One wise mother who'd surely been at the parenting gig longer than me with older kids said, "have you tried positive reinforcement? Modeling what you want him to do? Focus more on what he does well and develop those skills instead of reprimanding him all the time? It's probably hard for him to cope with all the negative feedback, without a good idea of what TO DO." Right. Like she said.

Fast forward through learning to share, playing together without hurting each other, transitioning between baby to table food, going back to work, toilet training and even with all that accomplished the lessons to teach seemed immense and the lessons learned seemed small. Harmony was still not the norm. Sure we were fine when there was no toy contention or differing wills but ya know. They're kids and I was an overextended stay at home working mama with a passion for getting it right, but not really knowing what right was.

About a year ago when I couldn't bear not enjoying my kids as much as they deserved to be enjoyed, I thought back to that post, when that wise mama reminded me to praise instead of scold, and show instead of tell. And I realized I got down off the wrong track with the boos again. It's funny how you forget things when you're on a steep how to parent learning curve, tired and overextended. So. I got out two poster boards and a sharpie and sat the boos down. We brainstormed about what beautiful people did and what ugly people did. I was trying to avoid good/bad labeling, not sure if beautiful/ugly is better. In reality I don't think people are beautiful or ugly, but rather people do beautiful and ugly things or make beautiful or ugly choices.

Beautiful

• Agreeable (don't complain, keep promises, mind the first time)
• Nice (talk nice, be nice)
• Sharing (take turns with toys)
  
• Inclusive (let your little brother play with you)
• Initiative (put your plate in the sink without being told)
• Responsible (clean up when you make a mess on accident)
• Helpful (offer assistance if a friend or family member needs help-opening a door, carrying something, help care for a sibling, help with a chore)
• Steward (pick up litter, throw your own litter away, recycle, reuse, etc.)
• Flexible (let a friend pick the game, etc.)
• Problem Solver (solve a problem or get help solving a problem don’t complain)
  

Ugly

• Irritating (voices, pestering, complaining)
• Rude (interrupting)
• Physical aggression (hitting)
• Verbal aggression (talking unkindly)
• Whining
• Disrespect (not minding the first time, making faces)
• Name-calling
• Disagreeable (not minding)
• Exclusive (not playing with others)
• Selfish (making a choice that negatively impacts others)
• Potty talk
• Breaking rules
• Fighting (hurting family, friends)
• Demanding (making unreasonable requests)
• Hindering ( not letting parents get work done, cooking, laundry, driving, etc.)

You could go so many directions with this and include different character qualities based on culture, religion, beliefs, etc.

After we wrote the lists I bought a bag of candy and got out three jars. Each boys name went on one jar, the other I left unlabeled. I split the candy between their two jars. When I caught them doing something beautiful, I called them over, praised them for their beautiful act, labeled their beautiful act from the list and gave them a candy from their jar. When I caught them doing something ugly I called them over, labeled their ugly act from the list, and asked them to pay one candy from their jar to the unlabeled jar. I kept this up for about a month until I could see that they understood what actions were beautiful and which were ugly.

For maintenance when I notice the harmony and peace getting unbalanced with frustration, yelling and complaining I bring the papers to the table at meal time and we talk about one beautiful thing we did that day, and one ugly thing. I think I've learned how to choose to be beautiful as much as they have. No doubt I still have a lot of practicing and growing to do just as they do, but we're on this becoming beautiful people journey together. I know it makes me more centered in my guidance and discipline and less reactive to rule breaking and sibling squabbles. I hope it gives them the interpersonal skills they'll need to be good friends, students, sibling, sons, and eventually employees and spouses. And it makes me yell less, hoorah. I hate yelling. Don't you?

There are so many moments when I observe how considerate and civilized my kids are when they don't know I'm looking. I am so fiercely proud of them. Sure they make ugly choices sometimes, but for the most part, they are indeed growing into beautiful people.

What to Talk About at Meal Times with Toddlers
If your kids are very young you may wonder what there is to talk about at meal times, or how you'd ever capture their attention. Here are some other things I've done over the years, starting when big boo was 2. Before two I suggest talking about the process of eating, the food that's being eaten, and what the food does for their body (protein= big brain, big muscles, carbohydrates= energy veggies/fruits = stay healthy, make good poop, fat = big brain for learning). You'll do most of the talking, but what you're doing is giving your child the vocabulary he'll need to become a good eater.

Happy Sad Game
I gave pre-cut circles to big boo when he was 2 and we practiced drawing happy and sad faces in the circles. I put these up on the window above the kitchen table and at times when I could tell he was restless and having a hard time sitting still to eat, we'd play the happy sad game. We took turns telling something happy that happened during the day, and something sad. Not only is this an engaging way to keep your young child at the table where he can nibble and pick at his food, but it's also a way to peer into the way he experienced his day. Young toddlers are often more verbal than you think, but pulling conversation out of them is difficult. With targeted questions and modeling responses from my day big boo quickly figured out how to participate in this dialog. The first couple weeks he rarely uttered a spontaneous answer without a lot of prompting, so stick with it if it doesn't work immediately.

News
Starting in the boos three year old preschool class once or twice a week the kids get to tell news to the teacher, the teacher wrote the news on a paper and hung the paper on the wall for parents to see. Following their lead, the first question I ask my kids when I pick them up is "what's the news at Sherwood Elementary/JCC?" If your kids ride the bus or are not talkative when they first get home, doing this at the table is a good time to share happenings of the day. When you start this, they won't know what "news" is, so you have to model for them. After a while they'll get the hang of it and get to the point where they are cataloging an event so they can tell you about it later. If you spend all day with your kids and suspect there is little news to share, brainstorm about what news they'd like to share with dad when he gets home, or grandma when she visits next.

Story Time
This started out as a ploy to get through soup night, which is once a week for us in Houston's cool months. Starting around 2 big boo would cry when he saw the bowl of soup in front of him. He got so bent out of shape about it (he ate soup well until two and then went on a soup strike for over a year, he's a soup lover now and eats every one I serve). When he was three one night around Christmas big boo saw a holiday candle holder and wanted to light some candles. He asked for it on the dinner table. I obliged. He was very engaged with the candlelight and wanted the lights off. I obliged. Then he got inspired to tell a story. Thus began the scary story candle lit soup night tradition at the House of Boos. We'd take turns telling stories. I'd go first and take breaks telling them that if they wanted to hear more they had to eat three bites first. By the time my story was done, they'd have eaten enough soup to declare a victory over dinner eaten, and they took turns telling stories. Little boo was just one when we stated this tradition. All of his stories went like something like this:

Little boo: one pona time. a little mouse. woosh bam voom voom voom woosh. (pregnant pause)
me: and then what happened?
Little boo: an eagle (pregnant pause)
me: and then what happened?
Little boo: (wildly gesticulating in circular motions) woosh bam voom bam voom voom woosh (pregnant pause)
me: oh! and then what happened?
little boo: the end.

How do you frame family conversation at your table? I'd love some new ideas! I'm especially interested in what parents with older kids are talking about at dinner. That will give my young family topics to grow into.

Acorn Squash, Candied and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Readers asked for more ideas to feed the family nutritious on a budget, so here's some ideas and recipes for something that's plentiful in the market right now- winter squash.

Pumpkin, acorn, butternut, spaghetti and other varieties of hard orange or yellow fleshed squash are in season now, are quite large veggies and stretch a ways to feed a family. Fresh hard squash was $.99/lb last time I snagged some at the market and I suspect they're even lower at times. They store well in a dry dark place for up to 30 days, so pick up a few if they're on sale.

In addition to being reasonably priced winter squash are super nutrient dense offering both fiber and important antioxidants. According to World's Healthiest Foods, pumpkin has been shown to prevent cell mutations ( as happens with cancer) , promote lung health, helps prevent cholesterol oxidation (heart health), and helps to prevent diabetic heart disease. Read George's pumpkin summary for more details. I'm digging deep into beta-carotene these days. Not only is it mentioned as an antioxidant that can reduce severity of asthma due to it's anti-inflammatory effects, it can also reduce chances of lung cancer. This antioxidant seems to play a large role in lung function something both big boo and hubby (former smoker) both need.

If you don't have time to cook from scratch, try buying cans of pumpkin puree year round and adding some affordable nutrients to your meals. Pumpkin is not just for the holidays! I read about the idea to use canned pumpkin year round last year and only managed to use it once between the holidays. This year I vow to do better on making pumpkin puree a part of our monthly meal plans.

Last week I had a parent meeting at big boo's school for his dual language program. The alphabet was split into three groups, appetizers, desserts and drinks. Our last name fell into the dessert category. I thought about breaking the rules and just bringing a veggie app, but decided to follow the rules and make my dessert contribution nutritious. I trolled for recipes all morning and found a pumpkin bread recipe using olive oil. As usual I couldn't decide what to make, candied acorn squash (my grandma's recipe) or pumpkin bread subbing pureed acorn squash for pumpkin puree. I decided to let little boo decide. He's as indecisive as me, and we ended up making both.

If you've never worked with whole winter squash, I'll warn you they can be a little time consuming. I find butternut are the easiest to hack up, but I grew up on acorn so I invest extra time when I want to remember my grandma or for special meals. One method I started doing to cut down on prep time was to buy organic, leave the skin on, slice and roast. This makes pretty flower shape finger pieces that are fun to eat, plus we don't miss out on the nutrients in the skin. Another tip is cut squash in half (don't attempt this unless you have good knives...), scrape out seeds, and nuke it for three minutes. Let it cool so you can handle it, then cube, peel, then cook using any method.

Winter Squash Preparations

• Roasted- slice or cube peeled squash. Drizzle with high heat safe oil (grapeseed) and spread on roasting pan. Roast until fork tender (20-40 mins depending on size of slices.) My current fave. A sweet chewy addition to any meal. The boos love this too. Hubby, not so much.
  
• Baked-Another time saver is to half, seed it, then bake it cut side down in a little water until fork tender then scoop out the flesh, fork mash, and add desired seasoning.
• Desserts-Add puree to custard, cookies, muffins, breads, pancake batter etc. Using canned pumpkin will speed it up, but if you ever have left over unseasoned squash you could bake it into a treat.
• Soups-There are plenty of roasted winter squash recipes, but don't be afraid to be cheap and easy by dumping a can of pumpkin in a hearty bean soup, pot of chili ,or tomato based veggie soup. It will thicken up your soup base and add some color. Good way to use up left over pumpkin puree.
  
• Baby Food-Roasted/baked chunks are great finger foods, purees are good on the spoon.

Acorn Squash Chocolate Chip Muffins (based on this Simply Recipes by Elise)

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup white wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup acorn squash puree (pumpkin, butternut, or other winter squash will work)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine the eggs, sugar, water, oil in another bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix by hand just until combined. Do not over mix. Stir nuts and chocolate chips. Bake in lined or unlined muffin tins at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
had to sneak in a few photos of the boos helping me. love love love having them in the kitchen with me. you'd think i framed the poster on the fridge, accidental inclusion i swear... that was a list of "beautiful people" qualities i wrote down a few months back, when i started my journey to teach the kids how to be, well, uh, beautiful people. it's there to remind me to praise them when i catch them being beautiful without direction. turns out, it's way more effective to talk about what you like that that kids are doing, than what you don't like. the poster is also a reminder to me on how to be a better me.

Candied Acorn Squash
I always thought this could double as pie filling. I very nearly rolled out some left over pie crust hanging out in my fridge and made little mini candied acorn squash tarts, but I ran out of time. Would. have. been. so. tasty. This is the dish I always requested my grandma make for me during childhood visits. It is a labor of love to peel an acorn squash, and I do it lovingly for my kids several times a year just like my grandma did for me. This is farming soul food, read: lots butter and sugar.

1 large/2 small sliced and peeled acorn squash
3 tbs butter, chopped in small pieces
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup sugar

Cut squash in half. Scoop out seeds and stringy stuff. Put in microwave on high for three minutes. When it's cool enough to handle, slice and peel. (my cutco peeler will peel raw acorn squash!!) Arrange squash slices in a baking dish, dot with butter, add spices and sugar. Stir to combine. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Take dish out and stir once during cooking.

I use less sugar sometimes, but on this occasion I was trying to pass it off as a dessert! I get this in the oven as we're about to sit down to dinner, then serve it after a meat and green veggie meal. I often have to take the dish off the table so the boos and I don't devour it before hubby gets his share.

Roasted Squash Seeds
If you're not short on time, clean the squash seeds, pat dry, put on roasting dish, drizzle on oil and salt and roast at 400 until browned. Great high protein, nutrient dense snack and stretches your economical buy even further.

Kid Appeal Tip Not sure your kid will eat a "healthy" muffin? Put semi-sweet chocolate chips in it. The chocolate will draw them in and overcome any aversions to the denser muffin that is the product of whole wheat flour. Semi-sweet chips have a higher cocoa content compared to milk chocolate and thus more antioxidants. The more organic/less processed version of chocolate chips the higher the antioxidant levels will be (and lower sugar content). But don't let price prevent you from using chocolate chips as a nutritious "hook" to reel kids into healthy muffins.

Why do I need Antioxidants?

I just stumbled on this video from Dr Mercola. He's talking about the high antioxidant content of tumeric, and in the beginning of his video he describes what an antioxidant is, and what benefit they have for health and optimal body function. I throw that word around a lot on this blog so I wanted to share his explanation with you.

He does caution that cooking spices diminishes the nutrients. This is true, but it also true with any raw food that is cooked. So unless you are a raw foodie, keep on cooking and be sure to include as many colorful plant based foods in your diet as possible. Sure, you won't get as many nutrients as if you picked the carrot out of the ground and munched on it, but it is cost and time prohibitive for most families to eat only raw, organic, locally grown food. Herbs and spices count too, as do the colors black and brown. Coffee beans, cocoa, black beans, cinnamon, cloves are some of the highest antioxidant containing foods.

The video is quite long, and goes into the harvest and manufacture of herbs. You only need to watch the first 2 minutes for the explanation of antioxidant. If you want the full deets on using tumeric as a supplement watch the whole thing. Check it out, link is above.

Kid Appeal Tip Try using herbs and spices as natural food coloring. I remember my mom adding food coloring to pancakes as a kid, that was always fun. It's possible to serve colorful food by using plant based food items. Add 1 tsp of tumeric to rice for yellow rice. Mix with sauteed onion and a can of diced tomatoes and you have mexican rice. Tumeric is used to give mustard it's yellow color. It's a vibrant orange spice that turns food yellow! Here's a link for green mac n cheese.