Few things remind me of spring as much as fresh chives do. Whether sprinkled on salads, soups or even bread, chives are the perfect bright green accompaniment to any dish. And because they grow in just about any environment, you can grow them yourself, easily. Chives need little attention, are proliferate, and are a great starter plant for your children to tend. Try it at your house. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Take a Chance on Chives”
Author: Kathrin
Why We Do It!
A week and a half ago my mother, Anita, arrived in Tiburon for her annual visit. I look forward to these trips not only because she is my mother, but also because she is the best cook I know, she thinks riding a bike to your destination is always better than driving, and at 71 she can still out climb me (as she did this past weekend in Yosemite). What’s more, she is the quintessential native Italian woman, as she does not suffer fools when it comes to food. While sitting in a local diner in the Yosemite area she turned to me and said, “With the way food is made here in the US, no wonder you put so much emphasis on cooking your own meals.” Luckily she didn’t say it in English, but if I were to be completely honest I’d say she’s right. While we have multiple different convenient ways to feed ourselves, we can very rarely find well-prepared, wholesome, healthy store-bought or restaurant food. So, read on to hear our top reasons why you should make home cooking a priority (besides that you’ll make Anita happy). Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Why We Do It!”
Not Too Sweet!
We’ve all been there before: you (or your kids) are hungry and dinner won’t be for another few hours. You grab something quick, and “healthful”, like a blueberry muffin, a granola bar, a fruit roll-up, or even a flavored yogurt. The snack satisfies the hunger, and even feels healthy, but before you know it, you (or your kids) have consumed a decent share of your daily caloric intake through added (hidden) sugars. So, why is this bad? Continue reading “Not Too Sweet!”
Eat Early and Often!
In a recent article in the New York Times entitled “Calories Are Everywhere, Yet Hard to Track” Jane Brody addresses the question of calories we consume every day. Brody’s main point is that in the US we consume too many calories. In conversation about this, however, Jessica and I struggle with what to advise readers to do. Limit your calories? Portion control? Is that really the issue? The irony of it is, here in the United States, we may be consuming too many calories in cookies, cakes and sodas but we are not consuming enough food. So rather than limit your calories, we recommend you eat as many calories as you need through whole healthy food. In this week’s post, we champions the idea of eating early and often. Make it your goal to consume three to five whole healthy filling meals a day because chances are if you’re not eating well, your hungry body will take the calories from wherever it can. Continue reading “Eat Early and Often!”
A Word from One of Our Wise Readers
Two weeks ago, we received a comment from one of our readers in response to our post on feeding children healthily. In the post the reader, who has worked with children for the last 20 years, gave two specific recommendations for helping kids learn to love healthy food. We loved what she had to say, and her suggestions are easily implementable; scroll to the bottom of this post to see the comment. One point that hit home for us is “to make sure you are always offering a variety of foods prepared differently to offer a range of tastes, sounds, temperature, and oral motor work”. You’ve heard us say it again and again: prepare, serve and eat a rainbow; similarly, focusing on variety on how food tastes and feels is a key rule when feeding yourself and your family, no matter the age. Continue reading “A Word from One of Our Wise Readers”
Come and Cook with Us 