• Moms Meet

  • Home Page
  • Featured Article
  • Talk About It
  • Cost-Saving Tips
  • Mom of the Month
  • Start a Mom's Group
  • What is Moms Meet?

• Your Family

  • What's New
  • Food
  • Fitness
  • Q&A
  • Environment
  • Fun

• Just for You

  • What's New
  • Health
  • Nourishment
  • Money
  • Life/Balance
  • Social Responsibility

The holiday season is a popular time for entertaining guests. This year, when family and friends come calling, add some sizzle to your celebration with our no-fuss Latin brunch. Start the day with refreshing papaya-blueberry smoothies, and treat hungry guests to a sunny buffet of shrimp ceviche, corn fritters, and chorizo, cheese and egg tacos. Creamy pumpkin-coconut flan paired with mugs of cinnamon-spice hot chocolate ends this south-of-the-border feast on a sweet note.

By Melynda Saldenais

Shrimp Ceviche

Ceviche, also called seviche or cebiche, is a popular Latin American seafood salad that’s made with white fish or a mixture of seafood that’s “cooked” by the acidity of citrus juice, which transforms the proteins without the use of heat. Using this recipe, you’ll see the shrimp turn from translucent to opaque in just a few hours. Read more

Encourage healthy eating habits with these wholesome recipes and grab-and-go ideas.

By Janice Newell Bissex and Liz Weiss

Kids love to snack. On average, they gobble up 850 between-meal nibbles every year. The quality of those snacks can make or break a child’s diet, especially since many kids tend to grab cookies, salty chips and other fat-laden foods when their stomachs growl. To improve the nutritional GPA of snack time, try these three super-healthy recipes and a month’s worth of lunch-box snack ideas, all of which add more fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains and calcium to kids’ diets. Read more

Take advantage of a lazy weekend and schedule a cooking activity that gets parents and children working in the kitchen. Everyone will take pride in enjoying the rewards from the afternoon’s work.

By Cricket Azima

Studies show that when children help choose and make meals, they’re more likely to consume the food. Here are some tips on how to successfully turn meal preparation into a family affair.

Before Cooking:

• Have a family conference so that everyone can help plan the menu.
• Take a group trip to the grocery store and turn the shopping into a scavenger hunt.
• Talk about seasonal and local foods and how they can be incorporated into family meals.
• Get kids interested in the ingredients and recipe. Discuss the origin of the recipe, as well as where and how the foods are grown, farmed, transported and sold.

While Cooking:

• Every child develops and matures at a different pace. Many children can assume responsibility for tasks earlier than others. Designate specific, age-appropriate responsibilities for each family member.
• Children two-and-a-half and older can wash produce and tear fresh herbs.
• Elementary-age children can assist with reading the recipe, washing and cutting produce, opening cans, stirring and measuring. Make sure to break down ingredients to a size that small hands can manage.
• Older kids (seven and older) can read the recipe, gather ingredients, time the preparation, discuss related nutritional information and (keeping safety in mind) prepare certain portions of the recipe independently.
• Teach your kids of all ages that cleaning up post-cooking is simply part of the process.
• Remember, cooking as a family is about group interaction, not implementing the “perfect” technique. Read more

From Africa to Australia, ginger crosses borders with its wide culinary range and variety of uses. Here, learn why you should stock this spice in your kitchen and medicine cabinet.

By Lorna Sass

Ginger’s history began in Asia thousands of years ago and spread across the world as both a spice and a health remedy. In the Middle Ages, kings enjoyed ground ginger in sweet and savory dishes. (Gingerbread originated at this time.) In colonial times, ginger was fermented into beer and consumed to quell nausea. Eventually it made its way into Western homes, where Americans quickly took to powdered ginger for gingerbread, cakes and pies. Today we have easy access to fresh ginger for both foods and cures.

Ginger has played an important healing role throughout history. It’s often referred to as the universal medicine in Indian Ayurvedic teachings, and it’s used in more than 50% of traditional Chinese herbal formulas. It contains essential fatty acids, phytochemicals, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, numerous B-vitamins and zinc. It’s no wonder that it has so many important healing properties, such as helping to regulate blood sugar, aid digestion and boost the body’s immune system.

Ginger is also recognized for its ability to settle upset stomachs—ginger ale has long been a folk remedy for curing a bellyache. Indeed, in numerous randomized trials, ginger has proved as efficacious as vitamin B6 in soothing morning sickness in pregnant women. Motion-sickness sufferers also find that taking a few ginger capsules prior to a plane ride can result in a more pleasant trip. If car, boat or plane rides make your kids queasy, try giving them a capsule or two about half an hour before departure (but check with your pediatrician if your child is under two). Ginger has eased upset stomachs for centuries and has no known side effects when used in moderation—no more than four grams a day for adults, and not for extended periods during pregnancy. (NOTE: Ginger is not recommended for anyone who has gallstones or is taking anticoagulants.) Read more

Feed your family gourmet-style without sacrificing nutrition, flavor-or your budget.

By Melynda Saldenais

These days everyone is looking to save some pennies without feeling too pinched. You can turn off the lights, walk instead of drive and rent movies in lieu of going to the theater, but how do you bring your budget to the table without resorting to PB&J?

KIWI has prepared two wallet- and family-friendly meals that cost less than $15 and will feed four people. Read more

Three world-renowned chefs show you how easy it is to introduce food to even the youngest family members.

By Jonathan Deutsch and Natalya Murakhver

In last summer’s flick No Reservations, sous chef Nick (played by Aaron Eckhart) transformed his boss’s picky young niece, the winsome Abigail Breslin, into an adventurous eater by teaching her how to cook. Sound like magic? Not according to the masters. We consulted Mario Batali, Corinne Trang and Jean-Georges Vongerichten to show you how to turn your own picky eaters into culinary explorers.

If They Can Play With Clay, They Can Play With Pizza Dough

Mario Batali, chef/owner of 13 restaurants and author of the new book Italian Grill, started cooking with his sons Benno, 11, and Leo, nine, as soon as they could sit at the counter. His boys have learned a lot from their father—“responsibility, safety, focus, art, everything!” —and have come a long way from the teddy-bear pancakes that inaugurated their cooking experiences. Now they love to make pizza margherita (their favorite), as well as flatbreads and a variety of fish and clams al cartoccio (baked in parchment paper to seal in steam) in the outdoor pizza oven at their Michigan vacation home.

Cooking with Chef Batali has given the boys some high standards. “They like everything fresh, and they’re not fond of bad fried food,” Batali says. And the great food opportunities continue even while Dad’s at work. The boys’ babysitter shows them how to make plates from her native Mexico. Her Thursday-night fish dinners are particularly popular with the family.

So where do you begin with your own kids? Batali recommends starting with breakfast. Breads, too, are “fun and easy,” and kids love to knead dough and shape it into creative designs. Read more

Teaching children to cook is about more than just giving them a life skill. It’s a way to enhance their education, expose them to new foods and improve their nutrition. It’s time to get your kids in the kitchen.

By Cricket Azima

How often do you witness kids begging for another serving of zucchini or for more cilantro to garnish their soup? Parents come to me, near tears, desperate to get their children to eat more vegetables—only to return at the end of my class and find them savoring a second serving of vegetable frittata. Such small miracles are what make my job worthwhile. I have taught cooking to elementary school students in New York City for nine years. I continue to believe that cooking with children is vital for their health and well-being.

Working with kids in the kitchen provides parents with an educational and entertaining way to occupy the hours before dinner. It also offers teachers a fresh approach to traditional classroom activities. While they are measuring, chopping, straining and sautéing, young chefs are simultaneously acquiring information and reinforcing skills they use every day. From history, social studies, geography and language arts to math, science and nutrition, they learn much more than basic techniques. And cooking doesn’t merely supplement the curriculum; it is educational in itself, producing sensory responses and rewards and enhancing the retention of learned materials.

Cooking classes also improve tactile and motor skills, foster self-confidence, socialization, teamwork and cultural understanding and teach cause-and-effect relationships as well as how to follow directions. Kids challenge their minds, get their hands dirty and fill their stomachs with fun and healthy foods. How many other activities boast so many beneficial natural, sensory rewards? Read more

Homemade foods can help soothe your baby’s new-tooth pain.

By Jonathan Deutsch

A teething child will chew on nearly anything to ease discomfort, including toys, clothing and plastic rings. “Pay special attention to things that go into the mouth,” warns Dr. Alan Greene, clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University. “Many soft plastic teethers contain phthalates while hard plastic teethers can have bisphenol A (BPA).” Phthalates and BPA are suspected of causing cancer and interfering with the healthy development of a child’s reproductive system. “A number of manufacturers are now eliminating those concerning chemicals, but we still don’t understand the health danger associated with the many other chemicals in plastics,” explains Greene. He recommends that parents look for alternatives such as organic cotton teethers or cold foods. “With safe, effective natural alternatives available, this is one place where I would skip the plastic.”

Additionally, some pediatricians warn against teething gels because they often contain benzocaine, a drug that numbs babies’ gums but could, in some instances, lead to an allergic reaction.

You can sidestep these risks by alleviating swollen gums the natural way. Try a frozen whole wheat mini-bagel, which a kid can slip over a finger and gnaw on; small frozen half-moons of banana (picking them up also helps with fine motor skills); or a real-fruit frozen treat. Some parents swear by a couple drops of homeopathic Chamomilla stirred into food or drinks. Read more

• Archives

  Select Month November 2009  (9) October 2009  (9) September 2009  (10) August 2009  (10) July 2009  (10) June 2009  (10) May 2009  (10) April 2009  (7) March 2009  (7)

• Past Features

  • Back to School
  • Dangers of Artificial Dyes
  • Personal Care
  • Potty Training
  • Sleeping
  • Some Like it Slow
• 
  
• 
  

• Admin

  • Log in