Together at the Table: A New Winter Snack

by Meredith Blanks Paterson

Today I want to tell you about my rather unholy obsession with... dun dun dun... kale. I love it. I used to hate it, but that was because I didn't know how to prepare it. It can be a finicky little green, but when it's treated well, it becomes so tasty, and I can feel it healing my body. I'm actually craving it daily now.

My latest trick-- you may be far ahead of me on this-- is kale chips. Kids will love helping out with these! There is a very special moment when the kale actually changes color in this recipe.

There are lots of great recipe variations out there. Experiment with different seasonings and let me know what you come up with.

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or less--to taste)

Supplies:
cookie sheet
parchment paper (optional)
large bowl
salad spinner (optional, but very helpful)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Kid-friendly: Wash the kale thoroughly. Separate the leaves from the tough stems.  Kids will love ripping the leaves off. I like to save the stems for juicing or to put in long-cooking soups when they'll have time to soften substantially.
3. Kid-friendly: Dry the leaves in a salad spinner and/or with towels. They need to be really dry. Kids are the perfect salad spinning assistants.
4. Kid-friendly: Put the dry leaves in a big bowl and take a picture (mental or with a camera). Pour in the olive oil and use your hands to mix the oil and leaves. Notice how the leaves turn a beautiful bright green when they've been massaged.
5. Kid-friendly: Spread the leaves out in a single layer on the cookie sheet. You may have two batches, depending on the size of your kale bunch.
6. Kid-friendly: Sprinkle with salt.
7. Place in the oven for 8-10 minutes. I suggest checking after 8 minutes. The aim is for crispy but not brown or burnt.
8. Let them cool and enjoy them with your favorite holiday movie! (Perfect popcorn replacement!)

(vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free, soy-free)

Together at the Table: National Food Day

by Meredith Paterson

Monday, October 24, 2011 marks the first National Food Day! 
How do you plan to celebrate?
Keep reading for links to recipes and resources below.

All across the country, friends and families will cook and eat together; farmers' markets and local food organizations will host parades, parties, gardening demonstrations, cooking classes, and more-- all in the service of raising awareness about access to healthy, affordable, sustainable food. And sustainable food is food that supports the earth, the growers, the harvesters, and the consumers.
Find food day events near you and as well as nationwide events.

The old saying is true. We ARE what we eat. The food we consume becomes the energy our bodies use to think, move, create, and love. So we need to start with clean, healthy fuel for our bodies. In Yogiños: Yoga for Youth® classes, we often discuss the effects of the food choices we make and how important the food we eat is to the health of our bodies, our families, and our earth. Let's work together to make sure that everyone has access to healthy food that sustains the planet.

"Food Day's goal is nothing less than to transform the American diet—to inspire a broad movement involving people from every corner of our land who want healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. In other words, we want America to eat real. We want to get Americans cooking real food for their families again. We want fewer people at drive-throughs and bigger crowds at farmers markets. We want to celebrate fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy whole grains—and to support the local farms and farmers that produce them. We want all Americans—regardless of their age or income or geographic location—to be able to select healthy diets and avoid obesity, heart disease, and other diet-related conditions. "

The Food Day website offers curriculum and other resources for teachers to use in their classrooms as well as resources for throwing your own event and talking with your family about the importance of the Food Day goals.

Free Food Day recipes from chefs like Kate Sherwood, Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Dan Barber, and Rick Bayless. Jaime Oliver 's Food Revolution is sponsoring Food Day events and posting recipes on its website.

Like Food Day on Facebook.

How will you celebrate Food Day? Comment below or let us know on Facebook.

Together at the Table: New Research on Eating Together

by Meredith Paterson

These Saturday Together at the Table blog posts are intended to start or sustain a family dialogue about food, cooking, and eating, and we'll be sharing recipes, food-related research, food events, and other fun food-related tidbits.

This week, I came across newly-published research about the benefits of eating together as a family. This research confirms that preparing and eating meals together nourishes us as people and families on so many levels. Mealtimes may be the only times carved out in our busy days where we actually get to focus on each other.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found the following correlations between infrequent family dinners and alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse among teenagers:

"Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are almost four times likelier to use tobacco; more than twice as likely to use alcohol; two-and-a-half times likelier to use marijuana; and almost four times likelier to say they expect to try drugs in the future, according to The Importance of Family Dinners VII, a new report from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA Columbia).

The CASA Columbia family dinners report revealed that teens who have infrequent family dinners are likelier to say they have ready access to alcohol, prescription drugs (without a prescription in order to get high) or marijuana. Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners, those who have infrequent family dinners are more likely to be able to get alcohol, prescription drugs or marijuana in an hour or less. In contrast, teens who have frequent family dinners are more likely to report having no access to such drugs.”

And the benefits of eating together go way beyond reduced substance abuse. Eating together can help improve vocabulary, it is a predictor of academic success, and it is a predictor of overall health and well-being.

The Mommy Dietitian has a wonderful list outlining the many many reasons we should take time to eat together along with some great mealtime tips and recipes.

I love this article and photo essay from the New York Times about family dinners and the art in each family's traditions and rituals. It's not about being fancy-- who has the time for fancy?-- it's just about being together.

How do you carve out time for meals together?

Creating Connections: BreatheCure Conference

Today, I want to bring your attention to a exciting opportunity that is happening right here in Texas this month. The BreatheCure (BTC) Conference will be held at Rice University on October 29, 2011.

The BreatheCure Conference will feature presentations and workshops from yoga teachers, medical professionals from many different fields, health and wellness professionals, authors, and more. 

"The BreatheCure Conference curriculum was chosen specifically to serve as prevention and complementary treatment of cancer and other illnesses and to offer alternative wellness techniques to professionals and the general public as integrative medicine emerges into mainstream treatment protocols.

BTC Conference supports the illness-to-wellness community using a platform of educational lectures and classes for professionals and the general public to use as a means of enrichment. Our nonprofit Breathe the Cure is dedicated to teaching that proper breathing is a complementary treatment to disease and a tool to transform mindbody.

We believe that change comes from a healthy mind, body and planet and support deep breathing techniques and mindfulness as a healthy lifestyle and a tool that alleviates many symptoms of disease."

The 2011 BreatheCure Conference is a collaboration between Breathe the Cure® founder, yoga professional and legislative yoga advocate Jennifer Buergermeister from Jennyoga/CuraYoga and the Texas Yoga Conference, who partnered with Amy Garratt and Julie Byrd, co-founders and Yoga Studies Directors of Balance Your Body Yoga as well as BYB Pink Ribbon Recuperative Yoga.

Presentations include

Angela Caughlin: Journaling Through: Unleashing the Power of the Authentic Self
Alejandro Chaoul Ph D – MDACC Integrative Medicine: Current research in cancer
Michael Brant DeMaria PhD, Sounds True: In the Flow: Caring for the Caregiver Through Movement, Laughter, Music and Relaxation
Feather Jones, Herbalist: Tea for Healthy Lives
Anita Kruse: Purple Songs Can Fly Project
Laura Kupperman: Yoga for Survivors™
Marije Miller, Heartmath Solutions: Reduce Stress & Feel Better with HeartMath®
Melissa Smith: Thai and Fly Yoga – Playtime to Wellness
Roger & Albina Rippy, YogaOne: Breathe Into You: Healing the Literal and Symbolic Heart Through Movement and Breath.
Lisa Ware: Creating Wellness through the Art of Energy Healing and Reiki Therapy

and many more






The keynote speaker at the conference will be investigative journalist Barry Estabrook, author of Tomatoland. I have heard several interviews with Estabrook about his new book, and his stories about our food system viewed through the lens of the tomato are eye-opening and bewildering.

Registration for the 2011 BreatheCure Conference is $175.00 for the general public and $150.00 for students, teachers, and seniors. BTC is donating twenty percent of all proceeds from the conference to Pink Ribbons Project, a Houston-based nonprofit that saves lives and improves the quality of life for those touched by breast cancer.

2011 BTC Conference Sponsors include: Breathe the Cure, Texas Yoga Association, Texas Yoga Conference, Balance Your Body Yoga, Jennyoga/CuraYoga, YogaOne Studios, Wisdom & Co., New Living, Luke’s Locker, OneYoga USA, Pink Ribbon Recuperative Yoga Training, 002 Magazine, Kingwood Yoga and Wellness Center, Yoga 4 Kids, Expedition Balance, Origin. Magazine, JCC Houston, Yogiños: Yoga for Youth, Ligmincha Texas Institute, Yoganonymous, Luna Bar, Body Dynamics, The Motherhood Center, Ekam Yoga, Mind Body & Soul, Sedona Tea Blends, Pure Rain, PerfectMind Yoga, Your Body Center and Aerobifit.

Together at the Table: Great Blogs for Cooking with Kids

by Meredith Paterson

©2011 Super Healthy Kids.
Amy Roskelley provides resources on feeding
your family healthy food.
Visit Super Healthy Kids for more ideas

I have recently found some OHMazing™ resources that I wanted to share with you. There are many days when I have no idea what to cook for dinner, and then the Google comes to my rescue. I enter the ingredients I have into the search box and 9 million recipes later, I am on to something. It's not entirely scientific, but it's always a fun experiment. Searching for a veggie lasagna recipe with zucchini the other day, I fell down a rabbit hole of blogs that cater to cooking and eating with children, and there are so many fun recipes and ideas that I can't wait to try. My hat is off to each of these bloggers for bringing families together for mindful meals.

 Here are some of the fun blogs I found with great kid-friendly recipes: 
http://blog.superhealthykids.com/ (see the flower tray crudité post connected to the adorable photo above)
http://www.raisehealthyeaters.com/
http://dinnertogether.blogspot.com/
http://whatscookingwithkids.com/

For those with food sensitivities and food allergies:
http://myaspergersgirl.blogspot.com/

Here is a kid-friendly, easy-to-prepare, healthy, veggie-full (Hallelujah!) lasagna recipe from Raise Healthy Eaters:

Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients:
-8-ounce package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
-15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
-2 large eggs
-¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
-1 teaspoon salt, divided
-1 cup carrots, shredded
-3 cups zucchini, shredded and firmly packed
-26-ounce jar roasted garlic marinara sauce
-8-10 regular lasagna noodles (not no-boil)

I made a version of the allergy-friendly lasagna
(mine had cheese but no meat, and I used brown rice,
no-boil noodles). Delicious!

 Recipe directions

For those with gluten, dairy, soy and/or corn sensitivities:
Lasagna (Gluten, Casein, Egg, Soy and Yeast Free)

What is your favorite dinner to make as a family? What resources do you use to find good recipes online?