Family Chow Hall

I’m one-hundred-percent positive that I am not the only mother on this planet who has a hard time getting their children to eat and love vegetables. No matter if it’s salad, spinach, green beans, peas, lima beans, etc. — someone at my table is not going to be happy about it.

My reaction? I just smile and tell them they have to eat it. Or go see if we have some carrots in the fridge. You see, those high-fiber, nutrient-rich vegetables are so important for them, I don’t budge. They have to eat some. Every day.

Now, I try to make their veggies just as appealing as I possibly can. I make cheese sauce for their broccoli. I let them dip their carrots in Ranch Dressing. Depending on the vegetable, I might add cream sauce, butter, salt, pepper, bacon, or brown sugar.

I invite you to send me your “Hey!-my-kids-eat-this!” vegetable recipes. I’d like to gather more vegetable recipes for myself and also post them for my readers. From soups to salads, send me your kids’ favorites. Submit recipes to my email box: cheryl@familychowhall.com. Thanks!

Last night we were planning to have meatballs for supper. I decided to add some finely chopped veggies to the sauce in order to add a few extra vitamins and some bonus fiber. This is the recipe that I came up with:

Garden Meatballs
serves 8 / prep. time: 30 minutes / cook. time: 45 minutes

Meatballs:
2 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1 stale heel of bread
salt and pepper

Combine all and form into balls. Fry in a large skillet with a little olive oil. Gently turn as they brown. When well browned on all sides, move to a casserole dish.

Sauce:
2 cans tomato sauce
1 large carrot or 4 baby carrots
2 stalks celery
1/2 onion
1/2 zucchini
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. basil
1 t. parsley
salt and pepper
1 T. sugar

Finely chop the carrots, celery, onion, and zucchini. In a large skillet or saucepan, saute the vegetables in oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and the other ingredients. Simmer for another 10 minutes - this will allow the flavors to blend nicely. Pour over the meatballs, cover with a lid or foil, and bake in a 375 oven for 30 minutes or more.

I served this with some whole-wheat spaghetti and grated parmesan cheese, but it is just as yummy when served in a bun with some mozzarella — a meatball sub.

Eat Well to Live Better

Overeating is a major problem of mine, and I’m guessing I’m not alone in this.

I think the more a person eats at restaurants, the more likely he or she is to be confused about what a normal portion should look like. Everything, from the “value” meals at fast food joints, to a nice dinner at an upscale eatery, is over-sized. I can rarely finish what I am served when we eat out. Once, my hubby and I shared an appetizer platter (that was it, we had nothing else) and left completely satisfied. If we’d each had a dinner as well, we probably would have consumed more calories than we needed for the entire day.

So, what should a portion look like? From what I have read and heard, there are some differing opinions, but most come close to this:

Meat should be lean and about the size of your fist or 1/4 of your plate.
Vegetables or fruit should cover 1/2 to 2/3 of your plate.
Whole-grain starch, such as brown rice, wheat pasta, or wheat bread should cover no more than 1/4 of your plate.
Oils should be of good quality and kept to a minimum.

In the category of portion sizes, I am most jealous of my five-year-old son. He eats when he’s hungry, not before. Jacob eats good foods, a good variety of fruits, meats, and whole grains. He never overeats, unless I make him - Jacob can happily walk away from the table the moment he has had enough. It’s not unusual for him to have an apple and a piece of cheese for lunch. He just seems to know just what and how much fuel he needs.

I’ve also noticed that it’s particularly easy to overdo it on those foods we shouldn’t be eating at all. For example, when I make Macaroni & Cheese casserole, I could happily sit at the table and keep consuming mac and cheese until the pan is empty. There’s this stupid tendency to store it up. The same is true with potato chips. How easy is it to sit down (in front of the TV) with an open bag of chips and munch all the way to the bottom? People, we’ve got to serve ourselves a reasonable amount and then stop.

However, if I make a nice grilled steak or salmon, I’m satisfied with a normal sized portion. I can eat a relatively small amount, feel good about it, and leave the table without stuffing myself. It seems as though my body wants to store up as many of those bad calories, starches, and fats as it is able — but when I’m eating high-quality, good-for-me foods, my body says, “Thanks, but that’s enough.” AAaaarrrgghhh!

I just watched a bit of the Oprah show yesterday (NOT a customary habit of mine) and am anxious to look at the book “You: The Owner’s Manual” by Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Shouldn’t we all have an owner’s manual? Carry it around in our pocket or purse? We practice preventative maintenance on our homes and automobiles, why not even more so for our bodies?

Eat Well to Live Better

My daughter loves pancakes. It is becoming her Saturday morning ritual to make a large batch of pancakes and when the rest of the family doesn’t eat them, she freezes them. Then, later in the week, she will take a couple of them out of the freezer, pop them in the toaster, and have almost-as-good-as-new pancakes.

Occasionally, when I am in a good Saturday morning mood, I might make a fruit syrup to go with them. Below the pancake recipe you will find directions for blueberry syrup.

In the last couple of years, we have been trying to convert to more whole grains in our diet, so she has adjusted the ingredients to her pancake recipe to incorporate healthier starches.

The result is actually tastier than the original recipe. The nutty, grainy taste goes particularly well with maple syrup. The basic, small batch recipe is below. The same batter makes excellent waffles, if that’s your cup of tea. Simply double or triple it for larger amounts or larger families:

Whole Grain Pancakes
makes 10-12 / prep. time: 5 minutes / cook time: 5-10 minutes

1 large egg
1/4 c. white flour
1/4 c. wheat flour
1/4 c. oats
1/4 c. cornmeal
2 T. wheat germ
3/4 c. milk
1 T. sugar
2 T. light cooking oil
3 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Heat a large skillet or griddle to medium heat. Coat with cooking spray or oil. Pour batter by large spoonfuls once the skillet is hot. Flip when they start to bubble. It only takes a few minutes and you have a delicious, nutritious breakfast!

Blueberry Syrup

1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. water

Combine all ingredients except the water in a saucepan before turning on the heat. Add the water and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir and cook until you have a slightly thick syrup. Pour onto your pancakes or waffles while warm.

Eat Well to Live Better