First meal planning session

Z's menu for Wednesday

Hey, kids. Let's read this: 10 tips to build a healthy meal, courtesy of our own U.S. Department of Agriculture! I really appreciate seeing our tax dollars at work, and the USDA nutrition programs are among those under utilized and under appreciated (IMHO). Granted, they haven't always been that great. I used mypyramid.gov about 10 years ago, and then found it useless once I became pregnant. I was relieved to see that the new choosemyplate.gov has a handy link for pregnant and breastfeeding women in addition to a lot of kid-friendly resources and guides for educators and parents (Thank you, Mrs. Obama!). But I digress...

The new "plate" model for healthy eating is so much more straightforward than the pyramid ever was. Children can easily visualize how much of each type of food they should be eating during a meal. Makes my job of trying to explain how to create a balanced meal a lot easier.

After pulling out a few cookbooks (and realizing that the only halfway decent children's cookbook I have is my 1980s BH&G Junior Cookbook, featured on Reading Rainbow), we set to work finding ideas that resonated with my cooking students. Z didn't need the cookbooks. He already had a good idea of what he wanted to prepare - starting with cauliflower, a vegetable he hasn't had much of but is convinced he will like because it isn't green. Then he went on to add his other favorites - sausage and macaroni and cheese. Not a bad place to start. Maybe next week, he'll be ready to branch out a bit.

C flipped through the entire BH&G Junior Cookbook without finding anything she liked, except a cake decorated with candies arranged to look like a hot air balloon ("That's what we'll make for my 6-year-old birthday!"). So we moved on to another cookbook with me reading the names of the recipes to her (she's not quite reading on her own yet). Her interest was piqued by a recipe for Vietnamese noodles found in a free cookbook we got when visiting the children's museum in St. Petersburg, FL several years ago. It was the sketch of a bowl of noodles that drew her attention. The recipe only had shredded carrots and onion in it, and she readily agreed to add some broccoli.

Next we headed out to my favorite neighborhood market, Fresh Farms. C picked out some lovely broccoli to go in her noodles, along with some boneless/skinless chicken thighs. I taught her how to tell if the broccoli was good or not. And she made the choice of thighs vs. breasts - a good one, I think, as the flavor of thighs always does better in a stir-fry.

Lucky for us, this afternoon was a sample-palooza at the market. The children really enjoy going around tasting all the different fruits, breads, cheeses and such. A representative from Greenridge Farms was offering samples of their smoked sausage, which Z eagerly agreed was exactly what he wanted for his meal (on sale, too!). The sample was not as greasy as the freshly smoked Polish kielbasa I had been purchasing from the deli counter, so that makes me happy. In finding the right head of cauliflower (I have never seen a kid so excited about cauliflower), we inspected several before finding one without any brown spots.

It was a good day at the market. The children are excited about cooking, and I hope that it lasts. To assist in meal planning next week, I picked up four children's cookbooks at the public library. Perhaps one of them will inspire my budding cooks to branch out and try new things. Maybe even try a meal without pasta or noodles?