Cooking With Kids

On Tuesday, I shared a list of my favorite cookbooks. Then, on Wednesday, when I was at my kids' Pediatrician's office, I was reminded of another cooking resource I wanted to share with you:  ChopChop: The Fun Cooking Magazine for Families that is distributed free through Pediatrician's offices in our area.

From their magazine:

"ChopChop's mission is to inspire and teach kids to cook and eat real food with their families."

"We believe that cooking and eating together as a family is a vital step in resolving the obesity and hunger epidemics."

If cooking as a family is new to you, you won't find a better resource than this quarterly magazine. The recipes are kid-friendly and kid-tested. Every step is explained in language accessible to kids (and adults who may not be comfortable in the kitchen). Beautiful photographs show a variety of kids cooking together and enjoying what they cooked.  Kids can complete some of the recipes alone while others require adult assistance. All clearly indicate when adult supervision is needed. The magazine also provides fun activities related to cooking and healthy living. For example, the fall issue includes as an article written by a teenager about beekeeping and directions for sprouting celery on a kitchen windowsill.

One unspoken part of the magazine that I also love is the children who are shown in the photographs. Children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds are shown engaged in cooking and having fun in the kitchen. The fall cover shows a variety of children including a girl who may be Muslim since she's wearing what appears to be a head scarf. I'm happy to see a magazine that portrays all kinds of kids doing the everyday job of cooking. (If only there were more children's books that did the same!)

ChopChop is a non-profit organization. Readers can pick up the magazine in Pediatrician's offices or subscribe. A Pay-It-Forward Subscription, which costs $14.95, gets a subscription for you plus a family or community in need. There are also many other ways you can donate to help bring this resource to families or communities in need.  Communities in need can contact ChopChop through their website. They offer bulk rates to Doctor's offices, community health centers, teachers, etc.

If you haven't seen ChopChop, I hope you'll check it out. You can also visit their website through the links I've provided in this post. Even if you can't access the magazine, the website includes tons of great recipes.

Does your family Read ChopChop? Do you know of other resources that may be helpful to readers?

A few of my favorite fall recipes:

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Delicata Squash and Sweet Potato Fries

Egytpian Lentil Soup

Saag Paneer (Cheese in Spinach Sauce)

Wordless Wednesday: Driftwood on Black Brook

Photo taken 17 September 2012

Travel Tuesdays: Cookbooks

By now you realize how much I enjoy cooking. I especially enjoy cooking foods from other cultures. Today, I'll share my favorite cookbooks that will take your palates on a little vacation.

Note: Try checking them out of your local library and taking them for a test drive before you buy them. That's what I did with many of these.

1. Hands down, my favorite, go-to cookbook is Where Flavor Was Born by Andreas Viestad, photographs by Mette Randem. Part geography book, part history lesson, part photo book, it also has amazing recipes. I haven't cooked every recipe, yet, but all of the ones I've made (and that's many, if not most of them) have been awesome. Last week we made "Cumin Toasted Chicken Drumsticks with Honey" for a dinner party. Our 9 year old guest said, "This chicken in heavenly!"

2. The Essential Asian Cookbook by Wendy Stephens. Noticing a pattern? I love cookbooks with lots of photos. Especially when I'm cooking something I've never seen, never mind eaten. How else am I supposed to know what it looks like?

3. Rice and Risotto by Christine Ingram. Can you say wild mushroom and Parmesan risotto? Mmmmm. Many other delicious recipes, too!

4. The Vegetarian Table: North Africa by Kitty Morse. North Africans are not typically vegetarians, but this cookbook captures the flavors of the Maghreb. One of my favorite recipes is "Couscous T'Faya" (Couscous with Caramelized Onions and Raisins). I made it before our trip to Morocco and was pleasantly surprised to have this exact dish when we were there.

5. The Iraqi Cookbook by Lamees Ibrahim. I've already shared the recipes for Timman Queemah and Timman Jazar from this cookbook. It offers a wonderful look into the culture of a country many people only associate with war. 

6. My favorite cookbook for those just venturing into cooking from other cultures is Global Feast Cookbook: Recipes from Around the World by Mystic Seaport Museum. It was my first cookbook of this sort and it eased me in. Many of the recipes have been altered slightly to accommodate American ingredients and cooking styles. It's a good place to start. Two drawbacks: 1. no photographs, 2. it's out of print. (Amazon offer used ones for sale).

7. The Usborne Internet-Linked Children's World Cookbook by Angela Wilkes and Fiona Watt. My kids have been cooking with me for long enough that they love to use my "adult" cookbooks. For budding chefs, however, this offers a nice, easy way to start. (Usborne also offers other cooking titles).

There you have it: my favorite cook books. What are yours?

Stress Free Birthday Parties

I've noticed a trend in the birthday parties my daughter has been invited to lately... scaled back parties with lots of free play. One was held at a local school playground. Kids played and then had some cake and ice cream. Another was an informal gathering at the beach. If you've read this blog for a while, you know I love this shift. All kids want to do, after all, is have fun playing with their friends. Doing that outside, whenever possible, is even better.

Here's a quick recap of the party we recently hosted:

1. My daughter invited 5 friends. (4 were able to attend).
2. Invitations asked them to bring their bikes and helmets if it was sunny and dress-up clothes if it was raining. The day started rainy but clearer skies were predicted, so most of the girls came prepared for both. 
3. They started out playing dress-up. 
4. They had a light lunch of quesadillas, fruit salad, and veggie sticks.
5. They played more dress up. 
6. They had cake and ice cream and opened presents.
7. They combined their two activities and rode bikes while dressed up.

Doesn't everyone ride bikes in a tu-tu?

Because this party was small- my daughter only invited her closest friends- it was a stress-free party for me to run. The girls arrived and just stated playing. All I had to do was provide lunch and cake and ice cream. Of course, lunch wasn't even necessary- we could have planned this party for after the lunch hour. We just happen to like to cook, so serving lunch was fun for us. If you hate cooking, skip it!

If you like this idea but still aren't convinced, read these earlier posts for suggestions.

Free Play and Birthday Parties Describes a party for a 10 year old boy.
Loose Parts Play, Part 2 Includes my "Top Ten List" for planning this kind of party.
Loose Parts Play, Part 3 Offers specific suggestions for families who don't have a yard or live in a small apartment.

What do you think? Will you embrace this idea? Are there other hurdles you can think of that I didn't address in this or earlier posts?

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday: Protective Eyewear

Does chopping onions bother your eyes? No problem!

Travel Tuesdays: Take a Break from the Internet

He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.

                                                                                  ~Chinese Proverb

You've heard it all before...we're too connected all the time. We need a mental break. Stop checking Facebook, email, twitter, etc. Stop posting your status.

Of course, I agree this is a good idea for our mental health as well as our relationships. But when traveling, there is an additional benefit. Staying off the internet means you get to really be in the place you're visiting. Think about it. If you're constantly posting status updates, you're not really living in the same place as your body- you're somehow trapped back home-telling all of your friends what you're doing.

When I was an exchange student to the Philippines, email didn't exist. The only way I could communicate with my family and friends was through very expensive phone calls or through snail mail. And boy was it snail mail... letters took 10 days to get there. Packages took 3 months! Now I'm not extolling the virtues of the "good ole days" like some old geezer. But in some ways, I had it easier back then. I had to be present in the place where I was living because I had no choice. If I were a teen exchange student now, I don't know how well I'd do. I'd like to think I'd manage, but the draw of social media is strong. And a year is a long time.

But here's the thing. For most travelers, time away does not last nearly that long. Many of us are lucky if we get two weeks off a year. And all of it isn't usually spent traveling. So when you do get a break-whether your traveling to some far off destination or hanging around your home town relaxing, take a real break. Turn off the computer. Ignore Facebook. Set an "out of office message" on your email.

I'm as much a member of the digital world as the next person, but that's what I did when I was lucky enough to be in Italy for three weeks this past summer. I had scheduled my usual "Wordless Wednesday" posts, plus one guest post for my blog before I left, but other than that I was internet silent. No blogging. No Twitter. No Facebook or Pinterest. I checked email a few of times in the entire three weeks, just in case there was something urgent, but I didn't respond to one email until I returned.

And guess what happened? Nothing. And everything. The world continued on without me and I got to really live in the place my body occupied. I  got to experience all Salina, and Sicilia, and Roma had to offer me uninterrupted by the chatter of life back home. I got to play games with my kids, swim in the Mediterranean, and forge friendships with people I met. I had literally no idea what was happening in the the rest of the world for three full weeks. But my world was rich indeed.

He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.

But that can only happen if you really do leave it all behind when you go.

Take a break. Be there, not here. See what happens.

Have you tried disconnecting while traveling? Now did it go? What was the result?

Travel Tuesdays: Keep A Journal
Travel Tuesdays: The Philippines "Growing Up"
Travel Tuesdays: Exchange Students

Timman Jazar: Rice With Carrots

 by Lamees Ibrahim

I love cooking and eating dishes from other places. Eating foods from other cultures doesn't mean you suddenly have insight to that culture or understand it in some deep way. But food is central to culture. People express themselves through the foods they cook and bond during meals all over the world.

I remember when we returned from India people asked, "What did your kids eat?" My answer was always, "The food." That's not to say they loved everything they ate or never wanted a break from the spiciness, but the flavors were not foreign to them because they had eaten Indian dishes at home and in restaurants.

I know many kids have very real food aversions. I feel for parents who need to work with difficult food needs. This post probably isn't for you. But most children don't have special or medical needs that prevent them from trying new foods. Why not have them try this super easy one pot dish? Even non- cooks will find this easy. If you can chop carrots and onions and brown some ground meat you've got this one covered!

Timman Jazar from The Iraqi Cookbook
serves 8 to 10
Total time to prepare: 40 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups rice (traditionally white but we use brown basmati)
1 pound ground meat (lamb, beef, or turkey can be used)
2 pounds carrots
One large onion
1 tablespoon mixed spices (Use garam masala- found in the international/Asian aisle or the "Natural Food" aisle)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and black pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for cooking

Procedure

1. Wash the rice in cold water. Drain.
2. Chop the onion and carrots into small cubes and set aside.
3. Cook the ground meat with the mixed spices until slightly brown.
4. Add the chopped onion, salt, and black pepper. Continue cooking for 5 to 10 min.
5. Add the chopped carrots and cinnamon. Cook for about 2 min. to soften the carrots slightly. Add about 1/2 cup of water to keep it soft.
6. Put the rice in the pot and add enough water to cook the rice (about three and half cups). Cover and simmer until rice is ready.

Enjoy it with a little plain yogurt and a salad on the side.

Variation: For a vegetarian version, leave out the meat and use vegetable broth to cook the rice instead of water.

What's your family's favorite food from another culture? If you try this recipe, please come back and let us know what you thought.

Looking for other recipes? Try these:

Timman Queemah: Ground Meat with Chickpeas and Rice (Another Iraqi dish- a staple in our house).

Curried Pumpkin Soup (A "must have" at out Thanksgiving table).

Delicata Squash (Delicata are in season now!)

Shurit Ads: Egyptian Lentil Soup (A bit more involved than some soups- stick blender makes it easy!)