Wikis tagged with peggys-kitchen

      Nutrition Guide (brought to you by Carlson Labs)   Eating Naturally on an Unnatural Budget Five simple solutions for providing healthy foods without breaking the bank   Learning While We Cook: How Preparing Meals Educates Children As they snip, read and converse with us, our kids are learning physical, mental and social skills. Here's how cooking can be educational for them.   Breakfast Nutrition: Simple Solutions for a Wholesome Start Dig into these tasty recipes that will make morning routines more manageable.    After School Snacks: Five Fun Recipes the Kids...

I admit that I am very lucky.  My toddler will eat pretty much anything that we are eating.  Don’t hate me.  It’s just luck.  And it might not last.  Here are a few of our favorite meals for now.  They are all vegetarian, since eating low on the food pyramid is good for your carbon footprint.  They also all avoid the oven, since it’s the biggest energy hog in the kitchen, other than an old refrigerator. #1 Loaded potato salad:  I microwave the potatoes to save energy and time.  For six potatoes, poke three or four fork holes per potato and microwave ~six medium potatoes for 10...

Gluten is a protein that is found in many grains including wheat,kamut, barley, spelt, and triticale.  There are also many food additives that contain gluten.  Wheat free does not mean something is gluten free.   Casein is a protein found in any type of bovine milk, including goat's milk.  So cheese, yogurt, milk, cream, milk chocolate, creamed soup, whey, etc are full of casein.  Do not confuse something that is lactose free with something that is casein free.  Lactose can be removed from some dairy products, but the casein can be left behind.  Dairy free does indicate casein free, but...

Thank you to Gina Norman from the Kaia Yoga Complete Wellness Centers for this guest post. “Mommy I love you” are definitely words that will tug at any mom’s heart, but, every time my 3 and 1/2 year-old daughter Kaia utters, “Mom, can I have a green juice?” I am the proudest mom around. Our bodies are made from the foods we eat. So, the food we eat has an effect on the body, the body affects the mind, and the mind in turn influences the body. As moms, we definitely notice how high-fructose sugar affects your children’s mind and body, revving up their nervous system and making it...

One of our Cookus Interruptus viewers  wrote us a note and asked “why someone would eat gluten free other than to relieve celiac sprue?”  She asked if I might address this on our blog.   For me, this could be a trick question, with a tricky answer.  There seems to be some benefit to eating less flour and I’ve always been a fan of rotating grains (not just eating wheat and corn).  There’s no doubt in my mind that some individuals feel better with less carbohydrates in their diet while others gain energy keeping protein (particularly animal protein) to a minimum.  No one-size-fits-all...

Whenever I visit Los Angeles, I eat at Plate. Love the place. A few weeks ago, the waiter recommended their special: a raw kale salad. “Um, oookay,” I said. I wasn’t too sure I’d like it. But as with everything on their menu I’ve tried, it was delicious. In fact, I loved it so much that I replicated it (to the best of my memory) at home tonight. Wash and drain kale, then rip it into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl; Sprinkle with dried cranberries, walnuts, and chopped apple; Add chicken breast (cut up); Drizzle with orange vinaigrette (I used this recipe). Yum. Can’t wait to...

From “EWG’S 2011 Shopper’s Guide Helps Cut Consumer Pesticide Exposure,” released June 13, 2011. Environmental Working Group has released the seventh edition of its Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce with updated information on 53 fruits and vegetables and their total pesticide loads. EWG highlights the worst offenders with its “Dirty Dozen” list and the cleanest conventional produce with its “Clean 15” list. Analysts at EWG synthesized data collected from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration from 2000 to 2009. Produce is ranked based on a...

Thank you to James Kim from Food on the Table for this guest post. Eating local aids the environment by preserving farmland and minimizing air pollution while also providing you with more nutritious and fresher eats. So how can you go local in your meal planning? Here are some ways to get started. Farmers’ Markets Plain and simple: shop at a farmers’ market. Here, you can ask the person who has nurtured, grown, and harvested your food anything you want to know. You can ask about fertilizers, pesticides (if any), and farming techniques (do they use an “organic system plan?”). Find...

Thank you to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and Lisa Barthuly for this guest post. What preschooler doesn’t love to get “hands-on”? Enjoy these fun and frugal recipes together for some old-fashioned learning! Homemade Play Doh 1/2 cup flour 1/4 cup salt 1/2 cup water 1/2 tablespoon oil 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar A few drops of food coloring to get the colors/shades you want Mix all but the last ingredient in a small saucepan. Cook over very low heat until it turns into a dough (it’ll take just a few minutes). Knead the dough on a floured surface until cool enough for...

Thank you to Be Food Smart for sharing this fun chart with us. [Source: Be Food Smart] About Melanie Mayo-Laakso is the Content Manager for Mothering.com. Mothering is the birthplace of natural family living and attachment parenting. We celebrate the experience of parenthood as worthy of one's best efforts and are at once fierce advocates for children and gentle supporters of parents.   Posted by: Melanie Mayo-Laakso

Lunch Rock Welcome to Part VI in the Feeding Your Children Series. Here are some “trouble shooting” tips: If you are knee-deep in habits that you regret, ease yourself out little by little. Understand that it may take time to transform your pantry and your eating habits. Use the language of impermanence around food. If your child proclaims she “hates broccoli” you can answer with “I understand that you don’t care for it today.” This leaves the future wide open; taste buds can change on a dime, especially for young folk. Continue to offer vegetables, spicy food, and “different”...

On Sat, May 7th, Mothering Publisher and Editor Peggy O’Mara will be a guest on An Organic Conversation, a radio show airing online and on Green 960am Progressive Talk Radio. The topic is Baby Food: Making Every Bite Count. Listen at 10am PT. About Melanie Mayo-Laakso is the Content Manager for Mothering.com. Mothering is the birthplace of natural family living and attachment parenting. We celebrate the experience of parenthood as worthy of one's best efforts and are at once fierce advocates for children and gentle supporters of parents.   Posted by: Melanie Mayo-Laakso

Lighten up the stuffing of the belly by including a dish made from green leafy vegetables on your Thanksgiving table! TOP FIVE GREENS DISHES FOR THANKSGIVING ONE  Massaged Kale Salad with Apples and Gorgonzola This is a BIG cookus favorite (or so google analytics tells us).  If you haven’t tried it, Thanksgiving is the perfect time. TWO Braised Greens Doesn’t sound crazy good from the title but when I make them, everyone loves loves.  The splash of vinegar rocks them. THREE  Luscious Beet Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Gorgeous colors, fresh and uplifting.    Also nice with...

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An outbreak of salmonella in 18 states has prompted a recall of peanut butter and other products from a number of popular natural brands. Find the full list of potentially contaminated foods here. Sunland, Inc. today announced a voluntary recall of its Almond Butter and Peanut Butter, which it has now expanded to include its Cashew Butter, Tahini and Roasted Blanched Peanut Products. This recall is limited to products manufactured between May 1, 2012 and September 24, 2012. The products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The voluntary recall was initiated after learning that...

Do any of you have children that play on sports teams?  Do you want to provide good nutrition to help them play well? My daughter played soccer from age 6 to 21. I was often disheartened by the snacks that I saw parents bring to games and give to young, tired players.  Often what I saw were big boxes of pre-packaged junk food from Costco.  At a time when their bodies crave replenishment, parents were giving out the worst food possible.  Arg.  That propelled me into wanting to learn more and write on the subject.  The result was the book Feeding the Young Athlete and I am super excited...

You’ve got to love Mayim Bialik’s passion for speaking up about what she believes in. Whether she’s setting the record straight regarding attachment parenting or responding to one of the largest beef recalls in history, she does it in style. Check out her recent campaign for PETA in response to the E. coli found in large amounts of Canadian beef distributed across the US. What do you think? Does the beef recall make you want to go vegan or vegetarian? About Melanie Mayo-Laakso is the Content Manager for Mothering.com. Mothering is the birthplace of natural family living...

For the Jan-Feb Peggy’s Kitchen shoot, I knew I wanted a sunny kitchen—with a cheery view of winter out the window. Asking friends and staff for location suggestions, I came up blank. Everybody’s got dark kitchens, it seems. So this morning, Mel (staff photographer Melyssa Holik) came over to my house and we set up the shoot in my son’s bedroom. Which cracks me up. Not exactly studio material, I mean. And definitely NOT a kitchen. But believe it or not, I think it actually worked. By the time Mel arrived, I had swiped some cinderblocks from my neighbor’s back yard (hoping he...

So, the other day, Mel (staff photographer Melyssa Holik) and I were just hanging around, shooting the breeze, sprawled out on the bouncy balls we use for desk chairs and stretching breaks, staring up at the ceiling and asking each other those age old questions: “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know. . . . what do you want to do?” “I don’t know; what do you want to do?” . . . Not really, of course. We’re still working on the March-April issue, so we’re not exactly at a loss for entertainment. But, lately when we’re avoiding work (and not playing Nerf basketball or using our...

What are your top go-to pantry meals? (A pantry meal is something you make up out of what’s sitting around in your pantry, freezer, fridge–when you are about due to go food shopping but want to put it off for one more day–or you’re broke (me, today, actually)–or you just want to USE the food that you already have. Kind of a “love the one you’re with” philosophy, applied to food. I asked around…and here are some great leads. I hope they inspire. I always want more inspiration, so please share YOUR favorite pantry meals in a comment below. Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom blog said:...