With the winter months behind us, and the beautiful early spring leafy greens in full bloom in farms and gardens across the country, it is high time we praise a relatively new addition to modern healthy cooking, the braising greens. Found in produce sections across the country, and at farm stands near you, braising greens are a mix of the leaves and stems of several different plants, including chard, kale, dandelion, chicory, and collards. While it requires some dedication to have at multiple meals in a week, these greens are so versatile, healthy and abundant that it is worth the extra effort. To make it easier on you, we’ve included simple several recipes for braising greens for you to try. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Braising Greens”
Asparagus Has Sprung
One of the things I learned from my mother when I was a child is that if a fruit or vegetable has a relatively short growing season, the best thing I can do is eat as much of it as I can when it is fresh so that I can enjoy it before it’s gone. And so it is with asparagus. Spring is here and those beautiful green stalks have poked their heads out of the ground; join us in eating as much as we can for the short time that it is fresh. And so that you have enough recipes and reasons to inspire you, we’re sharing some of our favorite ways to prepare asparagus, and a few fun facts on how healthy this delicious vegetable is. Asparagus will only be available fresh and local for a short time, so get to a farm stand near you and buy them before they are gone. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Asparagus Has Sprung”
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”
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