Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog Site

All you students out there – you really want to do a good job in school this year, I’m sure. Everyone wants to do their best and have a great year.

Can you believe that food will help you have a better year? There are some foods that help boost your brain power and promote good health. When you feel good you can do better work. Those are the kinds of food that should form the basis of your meal plans.

What are these brain foods, you ask?

For starters, here are a number of them:

fish, especially salmon and other cold water fish that have fins
turkey and chicken
eggs
vegetables, especially dark green and red
fruits rich in vitamin A and C such as oranges, pineapple, melons, and peaches
whole grains, such as oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat breads and pastas
plain non-sweetened yogurts

What are some foods that will drain your brain?

Colas and other soft, sweet drinks
artificial foods such as sweeteners, whipped creams, etc.
frostings
food colorings
high-fructose corn syrup
corn syrup
refined white flours
hydrogenated fats
white pasta
white rice

Eating more nutritious foods helps a person feel better. That way they can learn better, perform better, and grow. You can look for words on food packaging that indicate it is not the best food for you. Some of these words include: artificial flavorings and food colorings, hydrogenated fats, refined, high-fructose corn syrup.

It’s in your brain’s best interest to choose the good over the poor.

This is the season for tasting those plump, juicy, succulent fruits of Mother Nature – tomatoes. Can you think of a better way to eat them than in a BLT? Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches are a household staple about this time of year. Crisp fried bacon and toasted wheat bread loaded with lettuce and tomatoes and a dab of mayonnaise are what we wait for. I like to add a slice of onions, too. How much better can late summer eating get?

Another favorite of the chef’s is marinated tomatoes. You can even make this ahead of mealtime and let the tomatoes get an extra kick from the herbs and dressing. Here it is and hope you enjoy it:

Marinated Tomatoes

4 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
3 thinly sliced green onions
1/3 cup canola or olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, snipped, or
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Wash tomatoes well, cut out the stem and cut into wedges. Place in shallow dish. Slice green onions over tomatoes. Combine rest of ingredients in a bowl and pour over tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Makes 6 servings.

Keep those fresh picked tomatoes at room temperature. I like to keep them in a basket on the counter. They continue to ripen after they are picked and you have to check them often for any soft spots or over-ripening.

Refrigeration, which extends the life of certain fruits and vegetables, actually damages others. Ripe tomatoes sometimes develop off flavors when they are refrigerated.

Enjoy tomatoes at the height of their season and flavor.

Snacking between meals is ok provided you snack on the right foods. Opening a bag of chips or cookies is so easy. Instead of these foods that are high in empty calories and saturated fat, try pretzels or plain popcorn. Instead of ice cream and candy, try some fresh fruit, yogurt, raisins, English muffins with spreadable fruit or real juice. Many persons like to keep little carrot sticks, celery, and other sliced vegetables in a special snack spot in the refrigerator. Snacking between meals actually helps to reduce the tendency to overeat at meals.

Now that school has started, or is about ready to start, have some good after-school snacking ideas. In the snacking portion of your refrigerator have foods ready to eat. Perhaps there are apples sliced, orange and melon slices, berries, and veggies such as celery cut up, maybe with peanut butter or cheese spreads all ready for you.

These are foods you can prepare yourself and have ready. Sometimes we have to think ahead and have in mind what foods to eat that are good for us. If we don’t have a plan we may come home from school, run to the kitchen and devour the whole bag of chips or cookies.

I can’t believe school has started for some students already! The temperature here in the midwest is still in the 90′s – almost 100. I really feel sorry for students and teachers who are in non-air conditioned rooms.

As I drive past the university I see the football players in uniform practicing out on the football field. They want to be ready for their first game next week. The marching band students have been outside practicing, too.

School with all its activities is in the air but I can’t feel the fall season in the air yet.

Since school has started for some, it’s time to think about getting into another routine, especially with our eating habits. You’ve all heard the saying that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, I’m sure. Your body hasn’t had food for about 12 hours so it needs nutritious foods to get you going.

Here is a recipe for a Breakfast granola cereal from Amy Houts’ book, Cooking Around the Calendar with Kids: Holiday and Seasonal Food and Fun. It is packed with fiber and nutrients from the nuts, seeds, and grain.

Breakfast Granola Cereal

4 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
1 cup soy flour
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup hulled sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Measure oats, honey, and oil together in a large bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread mixture evenly on a large, greased cookie sheet. Bake 1 hour.

After cooling, crumble, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Serve with milk.

Makes about 10 cups

Note: honey, nuts, and seeds are not recommended for young children. Brown sugar can be substituted for hone, and extra oats for nuts and seeds.

This will make a very good after-school snack, too.

Have a great school year!

What a wonderful week-end I spent in Phoenix, Arizona. I have never been to that part of the country. It was quite a sight to see mountains bumping out of the earth and a landscape filled with sand and cacti. Coming from the midwest where we see lots of trees and acres of corn, hay, grass, and other vegetation, this created a totally different picture.

What kind of food do you think would be popular in the Southwest? Remember that Arizona borders Mexico, so you can imagine that there will be an influence of Mexican cooking. Perhaps dishes such as tacos, chili, salsa, and burritos come to mind when you think of Southwest foods.

Early Spanish cultures used tomatoes, several types of beans and chili peppers that grew in the area, avocados, and papayas, among others. With the European influence then came sheep, chickens, beef, rice, wheat, nuts, wines, oils, and spices.

The American Indians as well as the Mexicans combined the food, methods of cooking, and flavors to suit their own tastes. Now you will still find a wide variety of tortillas, tacos, rice, beans, potatoes, squash and onions.

What kind of food did the chef eat while visiting the Southwest? I had a wonderful steak with mushroom sauce and a colorful assortment of vegetables at one meal. Another time I had a shrimp salad served over crisp veggies. The nutty breads served with dipping herb oils were really good. At another meal I had manicotti, which is a large tube like pasta, stuffed with ricotta cheese. Very tasty!

I didn’t eat foods typical of the Southwest, did I?  As with most large cities, the range of different foods makes it hard to decide where to eat and what to eat.