Quick, Easy, Comforting Chili

We have been bombarded by Mother Nature. Our hearts go out to those who have been displaced and affected by Sandy.

New York City is still reeling from Sandy and today has brought a nor'easter. Ugh. We have family bunking at our house tonight and this morning I decided that the best thing to do would be to make a giant pot of chili for our dinner tonight.

Chili is filling, nutritious and delicious. It feeds many, it can be made inexpensively and is something that can be made as a team effort with little helpers. It can be meaty or meatless. It's one of those comforting, one pot dishes that you can whip up and bring to others in need of a hot meal.

On that note, if you would like to volunteer, make hot meals or donate other needed items for those affected by Sandy, here's a good resource to find relief efforts.

Here's the recipe for the chili I made with my little guy this morning:

1 TB olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 red onion
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1 can of chick peas
1 can of black beans
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
2 TB fresh chopped oregano (can use dried instead)
2 TB chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste

Directions: 

Heat the pot to medium high and add olive oil. Add onions, peppers, carrots, celery and garlic and saute for about 3-5 minutes or until slightly browned. Add raw turkey and turn heat down to medium. Stir occasionally for a few minutes and add chili powder, cumin, salt and oregano. After about 5 minutes, add both cans of beans, including liquid, the raw bulgur wheat and the sweet potato. Stir until everything is combined. Simmer for at least an hour until the flavors have all melted nicely together.

Book Review: Feeding Eden

Before having kids, I used to say to my husband that if our children had food allergies like mine, I'd be that much more prepared to deal with it, having been through it myself. But in all honesty, I'm not so sure how confident I really am about it all. I recently read Feeding Eden​ by Susan Weissman and it brought all of the issues of allergies and parenting to light. I absolutely loved this book. Hats off to Susan Weissman. Seriously. The book is not only beautifully written, it also tells a compelling story of hope and and the tremendous efforts, emotions and rollercoasters that parents endure when dealing with children and their allergies (and the issues that affect their non-allergic children as well). 

The newest limb on my family tree is just three weeks old as I write this. Because of my own anaphylaxis, my kids are statistically more susceptible to food allergies too. It's my third time around the newborn block and while I feel incredibly lucky that my other two kids have no food allergies (that I have discovered as of yet), I worry about this little gal.  

Having allergies is a huge part of who I am. As a kid, it made me feel vulnerable and afraid at times, and it made me stick out like a sore thumb sometimes. As an adult, though, I feel stronger and capable of taking care of myself.  I know how to read labels carefully and ask questions in great detail. I know how to use my epi-pen in an emergency and that makes me feel empowered and in control of my own health. I've given decades of thought to how having life-threatening allergies makes me feel. But frankly, reading Feeding Eden​ enabled me to see a perspective that I hadn't given nearly enough consideration to before: what it's like to be the parent of a child who could die just by eating the wrong thing. I have a whole new view and respect for those who care for and try their best to protect food-allergic people. Kudos to you. And deep thanks to Susan Weissman for having the courage to tell others about her family's struggles and triumphs.​ 

First Foods, Real Foods and the White Out Movement

I recently received an email from someone who will be using LaLa Lunchbox to plan for her infant's foods. She hasn't yet given her baby solids and wrote "I just got a baby food maker and don't know where to start... it would be really helpful to share some of your ideas on the blog."

I'm absolutely delighted to hear about out-of-the-box thinking with LaLa Lunchbox and happy to oblige. And with a newborn myself, it won't be long before I, too, am making my own baby food again. So Maggie, this one's for you: 

​image courtesy of drgreene.com

Six years ago, almost to the date, I started feeding my daughter solid foods. Her first food was avocado. Her second food was pear. Whereas once upon a time, parents were told to start their infants on cereals (rice or barley being most common), these days the emphasis is on pureed fruits and vegetables.  My pediatrician wrote a book called The New Basics and inside he writes, "Cereals are high in starch, which is a slow sugar. I’ve observed that an early emphasis on starch contributes to both a predilection for white foods (rice, potatoes, etc.) and the acquisition of a sweet tooth later on."  I agree with this philosophy and have actively chosen to feed my kids produce (seasonal and organic whenever possible) instead of cereals for their first foods. One of the great voices for pediatric wellness and healthy eating habits is Dr. Alan Greene.  He and his wife, Cheryl Greene, created a campaign called The WhiteOut Movement and their goal is to encourage parents to feed their infants whole grains and real foods, and make feeding white rice cereal to babies obsolete. Dr. Greene says "It's no wonder that America’s kids are hooked on junk food. For the past 50 years the majority of babies in the United States have been given white rice cereal for their very first bite of solid food. Metabolically, it's similar to eating sugar." 

So what can you feed your baby?  Making your own baby food will save you money  and it's a whole lot of fun. When choosing first foods, it's a good idea to think about what can be prepared with little or no preparation. Foods in their most natural form that are excellent first foods for babies include avocados, pears and bananas. Find a ripe one, peel, mash and serve. Just keep in mind that your baby has never used his mouth and tongue for swallowing anything other than breast milk or formula. Bear with him as he learns to get the hang of the whole spoon/solids thing. 

Other popular foods that can be easily prepared and served include: apple, squash, sweet potato​, honeydew, cantaloupe and zucchini.  Bake, boil, steam or roast until soft, and then mash and serve. You can use your food mill to puree the foods into a uniform texture for baby. If you prepare foods in bulk, you can freeze them in an ice cube tray and defrost as needed. That's a good time-saving strategy for a working mom.

October is perfect for apples so here's what I would do to prepare that: 

Pureed apple (baby's first applesauce) 

• ​Peel and core two apples (my preference is organic).
• Cut into one inch chunks (approximately, but don't sweat it if they're bigger). ​
• Place chunks into a pot with about 1/8 c of water and put on medium heat. ​
• Let the apples cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft. ​
• Mash completely​ until the texture is smooth. You can use your food mill if you've got one but it's not absolutely necessary for apples. 
• Take about 1-2 tablespoons out and place in a bowl for baby's first feeding. Store the rest in an air-tight container in your fridge. ​

Good luck! And please keep me posted on how things go! ​

Banana Pancake Kebabs: A Breakfast Breakthrough!

I set out to make the age-old lunch struggle easier. So far, things are chugging along nicely in my house with lunch. ​But alas! I've now run into a breakfast problem. Never a dull moment, eh? In the 0.3 seconds that we have in the morning before everyone needs to be out the door, a hiccup in breakfast (and the subsequent meltdowns, etc) can wreak havoc on the morning. 

My daughter is going through a picky phase with breakfast. She'll want the same thing for days and then it's like a crime to even suggest it. I'm not a short order cook and I don't long to be, so this kind of struggle is a bad one for our house. I've reread Maryann Jacobsen's 10 Things You Should Never Say To Your Child About Food many times lately because I find myself worried that my daughter isn't eating enough breakfast before running off to school.  I have found myself saying things like "you haven't eaten enough. Eat two more bites or you'll be hungry at school" even though I know that she is the best judge of her own hunger. I am a work in progress. Ugh. 

Anyway, we have been in a pancake-loving phase. Pancake batter is easy enough to make in advance (at night) and it keeps in the fridge for a few days. Truth be told, I'm a buttermilk pancake fan too so they're a win-win.  When I make pancakes, I make them silver dollar size. It's how my mom made them when I was a kid. But my husband likes them big, and that's how he served the kids this morning.  

Unfortunately, the pancakes were not greeted so warmly so we staged an intervention. My husband sliced the pancakes in strips and I placed sliced bananas on top, rolled them up and speared with a kebab. Tada! They tasted great, breakfast wasn't wasted, and the stick was convenient for carrying in the mad dash to school. Instead of telling my daughter what she had to eat, I reminded her that the next meal wasn't for a few hours, so she might want to take the pancake kebabs with her. It worked. 

Place sliced bananas on top of pancake strips​

​Got other handy breakfast recipes to share? I'd love to hear them... 

Banana Pancake Kebabs​

Spear rolled up banana pancakes with kebab stick​

• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 1 c buttermilk​
• 1 tsp baking powder​
• 1/2 tsp baking soda​
• 1/4 tsp salt​
• 1 large egg​
• 2 TB vegetable oil​
• 1 banana, sliced thinly the long way​

Enjoy!​

Mix all ingredients together. Pour desired pancake size into a hot, buttered pan. Flip pancakes when tiny bubbles appear on top. This recipe makes pancakes for my kids for three mornings and I keep it in an airtight container in my refrigerator so it's easy to just pour in a hot pan. ​

Cut cooked pancakes into strips and place sliced bananas on top. Roll up and spear with a kebab stick. Yum!​

Fave DIY Meals with Kids?

I've come across so many fantastic ​suggestions for do-it-yourself meals with kids. Some I've tried and some I've tried to remember, but have forgotten. Maybe it's the haze of having a one week old baby in the house. But I'm looking for hands on meal projects to do in the coming weeks with my 6 year old and my 2 year old and the ideas are simply not flowing. Help! 

We just had a 'make your own pasta pouch' dinner... a mild success. Both kids had great fun making the pouches (and I don't dare call them ravioli because those are despised in my house for some reason). But my two year old ​doesn't like cheese - so the whole adventure for him was in the prep, not the result. He had scrambled eggs when all was said and done. 

Some folks have responded to my question - what are some fun DIY meals with kids? - and for that I am grateful. Many of the responses have mentioned these: 

• pizza (cheese-less for the little guy)​
• perogies (onion/potato, ground meat, potato/pea, etc,)
• burritos (doesn't have to be mexican style)
• stuff your own pitas (falafel and add your own toppings)
• fritatas (pick your own veggies to throw in)
• smoothies
• salads​
• pancakes (breakfast or savory) ​

I am on the hunt for more ideas - please send them my way! Here's the caveat... my son doesn't eat cheese, my daughter doesn't like cumin and I'm allergic to fish. ​

As for the pasta pouches, heres the recipe I used - perhaps it can be a fun meal adventure in your house? ​

• 1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
• 1 TB fresh sage, chopped​
• 2 TB  grated parmesan cheese​
• fresh ground pepper​
• optional: roasted sweet potato or butternut squash
• fresh lasagne noodles, boiled as directed and ready for folding​

Mix the cheeses, sage and pepper (and squash/sweet potato, if adding) in one bowl. ​Place cooked lasagne sheets on a plate and have them ready to assemble.