Triumphs

I feel good when the kids do something that lets me know I'm effecting them in a positive way.  I felt a bit of triumph yesterday when Jr.'s only complaint about summer camp is that the food is not as healthy as she would like (they served hamburgers one day, grilled cheese the next).  When I dropped her off in the morning, for her afternoon snack she chose a real fruit strawberry popsicle over frozen cookie dough, push-ups, frosty, or an ice cream stick.  Yeah!

But, when I picked her up she was eating an ice cream stick and really enjoying it.  She said they brought her the wrong one.  I give her kudos for her initial choice.

You have any triumphs?

Nasturtiums

I can read Jr.'s mind here, "all you can eat buffet."

I see low lying flowering plants perfect for dogs to pee on.  I'm not sure whether her Dad let her eat these or not.  We usually only let her when they are up and out of the way of dogs. Not sure how far off the trail these were.

Nasturtiums are edible in their entirety; flowers, leaves and nectar.

tomato thief!

We were waiting for one last tomato to ripen before our first harvest. I could already taste them drizzled with balsamic vinegar and accompanied by little balls of mozzarella cheese.  Then today, to my horror one is missing.  Squirrel? Neighbor?  So we harvested a few asap before the thief returned.

Here is the empty sepal (upper left just above tomato). At least that is what I think they call the leafy green structure that is (or once was in this case) connected to the fruit.

This tomato plant came to us as a volunteer.  Volunteer, I sound like I know something about tomatoes.   I don't.  I learned the term from my father-in-law who patiently listened to me tell a story of how after our neighbor who had a raised bed of organic tomatoes moved,  tomato plants miraculously began growing from the ground where the box use to be.  Actually, considering the soil around our building it is pretty miraculous.  "Oh yes" he said, "you have volunteers." They grow on their own from the fallen fruit. We transplanted this one into a pot and it's doing well enough. We've relocated a few caterpillars who were eating our leaves and some leaves are looking pretty saggy, but we have tomatoes.

A good stir fry starts with a trip to the farmer's market.

With recipe list in hand we search for bok choy, carrot, green onion, and yellow peppers.

With a little help from Jr. Jr. we have everything from our list.  (we bought two bunches of carrots and learned quickly that they need to go into the fridge.  The one bunch we didn't stir fry was limp by morning)

To make a simple stir fry with rice noodles:

Make sure you have bok choy, carrot, a yellow pepper, green onions, rice noodles, soy sauce, vegetable oil, shrimp (we used 1/2 pound uncooked wild caught). Set out three bowls for Jr. to put veggies in (one for onion, one for carrot & pepper, one for bok choy)

Wash everything first.  Pull the bok choy apart first so you can get all the dirt off
Let Jr:
Snip green onions with scissors (keep rubber band on to hold together, encourage even snips)
Chop carrots (this needs a sharp knife, so you may need to do this if your child isn't ready)
Snip or cut bok choy (Jr. snips the leaves with scissors then cuts the harder parts)
Slice pepper into chunks.

Meanwhile Mom or Dad can remove tails from shrimp and put rice noodles into a pan of hot water to soak for 8 minutes.

Once everything is prepped it's time to heat up the wok and add 2 tbs vegetable oil.

Add green onion and shrimp. Let cook until shrimp turns pink.  Remove from wok and set aside.

Add 2 tbs vegetable oil and carrot and yellow pepper.  Cook for  a few minutes, until peppers soften a little.  Drain and add noodles and soy sauce.  Toss noodles with vegetables until soy sauce covers evenly.  Add bok choy, shrimp and onions.  Cook for a minute or two so bok choy just starts to wilt a bit.

Serve and enjoy.

house rules

I feel compelled to have rules. Don't know why.
Here they are. (Truth be told they are really just encouragements.)

For the kids:

1. If you need to spit it out put it on your plate, not mine.

2. You must try a taste. No mouse bites. Licks don't count.

3. Don't say "yucky." Say "I don't care for it."
No one likes everything so it's okay to say it when you don't. This rule is
important if you have more than one kid. "Yucky" can hurt some one's feelings
or more a sibling feel self conscience if they like it. For little kids, one "yucky" from a big brother or sister and you'll never get them to try it!

For Parents:

1. Let them experiment with ingredients. My barometer: If I raise an eyebrow
at the suggestion I say "yes." If my stomach turns I say "no." I'm not encouraging
a raw egg and ketchup mish mosh, but diced apples in your udon will be a learning
experience. (Remember to always take a taste. It's okay to say you don't care for it.)

2. Embrace the fact that the kids are with you in the kitchen. Embrace the fact that
everything will go a lot slower and you'll need a lot of extra patience. But, don't beat yourself
up if it's six o'clock and your just getting started on dinner and everyone is moments from
melting down. Just explain what's going on and tell your child they can help another night.

a world of food

We all love our comfort foods, especially kids. A food with a strange smell, an unfamiliar look and and equally strange name will most likely get a locked jaw or emphatic "no" from your average child. But we are trying not to be average here, right?

I'm looking for ways beyond bribery to get my girls to try new things. My plan is to make an adventure out of it. Once a month we are going to go on an outing to an ethnic market or specialty shop to taste something we have never had before. Something strange, something a little scary. Maybe even something seemingly a little gross.

I hope you'll try this too and let me know how it goes.