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What's in Your Cart?: Ann Follows Up to Dina's Last Post

Dina, Your last post is a lovely commentary on many levels, but you touched on one topic that is near and dear to my own heart - cultural biases about feeding children.

The whole thing about toddlers being picky eaters, hating veggies and spicy foods is totally made up by food-fearing Americans.

I remember a friend's reaction of horror that I was feeding my toddler a spicy Indian dish when she was 2. She was concerned that my daughter's "delicate" digestive system would be upset. (Mind you this kid also ate anchovies at age 2 because she had no preconceived notion that anchovies are considered "yucky" by many people including her mother.) I responded with, "Well, duh...what do you think Indians feed their kids?" I believe it's a completely made-up belief that kids do not like spices or vegetables. I believe that most parents foist their own food prejudices on unsuspecting kids.

Here's another thought about kids and food tastes. I have no scientific evidence for this, but I would guess that breast-fed babies tend to be more adventurous eaters than bottle fed babies. Why? Well, a mom's breast milk changes in taste, texture, color, and nutrients depending on what the mom has eaten and what her child needs. You see, nature just knows the right formula for babies! Formula-fed babies however, get the same thing all the time...how boring. I would guess that breast-fed babies learn at a very early age on a physical level about different tastes. New tastes and textures are not scary to them - they're just part of life. Some they find pleasant; some are not...but the bottom line is, these babies try many different experiences from an early age! I am convinced that Mother Nature knows best how to feed babies and adults. Taking our cues from nature and adding a bit of human whimsy and creativity, we can debunk many commonly-held beliefs about nutri tion and health and raise a new generation of children who embrace mental and physical health as a lifestyle, rather than with the drudgery I see all around me.

Now that my daughter is a teen, I see other food behaviors that she picks up from her friends creeping in, but she's still a good eater with no big food and body image hangups that often plague teenage girls. I compare her food tastes and body image behavior to that of my step-daughters and I see a HUGE difference. It makes me grateful that my daughter has grown up in foodie households.

The notion that children do not like vegetables and need to be tricked into eating them is total bunk. The notion that it's a difficult chore to eat healthily and to live a healthy, natural lifestyle full of variety and balance is total bunk.

Thanks for posting this. I'd love to see you turn it into an article for a parenting magazine. (And thanks for getting me all hot and bothered about one of my favorite topics on a snowy Saturday.)

Love,
Anniezee
Vermont Shortbread Company

What's in your cart?

You can tell a lot about a person simply by taking a gander at what's in their shopping cart. Me, I recently had a male cashier tell me, "Wow, you eat good," upon scanning and bagging my groceries. And yes, I do "eat good." I enjoy food of all kinds including many "healthy" things that sometimes get the upturned nose or wrinkle of disgust from more finicky eaters... but that's not what this story is about.

Yesterday at about 3: 30 p.m. I left the offices of Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing to run out for some soymilk and a few other assorted items. (You can do this when you work for yourself). While on the express checkout line, I encountered an unattended cart and a young woman off to the side, jouncing a baby about while attempting to soothe and shush it. Two pretty little dark haired girls weaved about the woman's kneecaps and the general area. I asked if the person whose cart it was would return soon - she said it was her cart, and after a few moments handed the baby to the woman in front of her. (I had thought they were together but they weren't.) This made sense - the baby, with its yellow-fuzz topped head and protruding ears, looked nothing like this woman, who had dark eyes and hair and olive skin, as did the two little pixies who evidently belonged to her. She said, "Oh, I offered to hold the baby because it was crying and didn't want to be in the carrier."

After the woman returned to her spot in line, I began to notice the items in her cart. A cluster of 3 or 4 purple beets with their deep green and red-tinged leafy tops. Bright orange carrots, and a knob of fresh ginger. A clump of flat-leafed parsley and a bundle of red swiss chard with its red, rhubarb-like stalks. A few other items, maybe spices, that indicated she, like me, was "a good eater."

So then I took note again, of this lady and her children. She wore no makeup, but her features were attractive and her eyes bright and alert. Her skin glowed and dark hair shined. When she smiled, her teeth lined up in her mouth the way that a set of good, healthy teeth should. Her jeans were baggy, but you could tell that she was trim and fit, and probably carried no extra belly bulk. Her girls had large, dark eyes fringed with long lashes, and Kewpie-doll faces. I started imagining all these wonderful leafy greens and whatever other good things she likely ate, working through the systems of this lady and her family, slightly in awe of our Good Earth and its beauty-and-life-giving properties.

So then I asked the woman, "Your girls eat their vegetables?" And she said, "Well, yes, I'm pretty strict about that." (Even as one of the kids had dropped to the ground onto her back, and was doing her best Human Floor Buffer impression for us. I noted a well-dressed woman glance at the child and make a face of disapproval as she swished by us... guess you can be "strict" about some things, but not others?). For a few moments I flashed back to all my friends with children, shaking their heads and saying things like, "I just can't get him to eat broccoli." "She only eats pasta if I serve it plain, with butter." "He refuses to eat potatoes now." And then I imagined how many children in war-ravaged Afghanistan push away their bowl of rice (answer: not many, I'll bet). And THEN I thought of Dr. Spock, who I recall dispensed the advice, "If your children refuse to eat their dinner, just take it away and tell them they will have to wait until the next meal until they get to eat again (and then break out the same plate of food) - or at least that's how I remember it, don't know, I read Dr. Spock when I was thirteen or so.

But anyway, back to my grocery store tale. If all this good food wasn't enough to impress me, the Au Naturale woman then procured three cloth sacks with handles from the depths of her handbag, and then proceeded to transfer her items into these bags, the leafy beet tops poking out for a last look around. Of course, I asked her about the bags too - and she said she had found a company online that sells reusable bags for grocery shopping, because she felt guilty about all the plastic and paper she had used up in the past. I thought it was a noble effort.

I don't really have anything else to add here. For some reason I was just really into people-watching yesterday at the supermarket. Since you're here, I'll tell you what was in my cart: Dannon La Creme Yogurt (vanilla), a bag of Mi-Del ginger snaps, a carton of unsweeted soymilk from Silk, a box of frozen Stouffer's French Bread Pizza with Extra Cheese, frozen samosas from Tandoori Chef, and a bag of organic oats from the bulk bin. It wasn't vegetable day for the Wordfeeder.

So what's in your cart?

Call for Recipes for Cookies, Breads, and Cakes Using Non-Wheat Flour

Here's a little-known Ann factoid. 

When I was a little girl, I had a wheat intolerance (not Celiac disease, which is far more serious and does not disappear with age).  Any product made with wheat flour was off limits to me.  You'd be surprised at how many products have some form of wheat in the list of ingredients.  Back in the 1960s and early 1970s, there weren't many alternatives for kids like me.  So, I'd traipse off to school with my peanut butter and jelly on arrowroot crackers or my mother's famous baloney and American cheese roll-ups (with a decorative toothpick) rather than the squishy white Sunbeam or Wonder bread sandwiches my friends had.  Oh, how I yearned to eat a sandwich on mooshy white bread!  As I grew older, I became able to gradually add wheat to my diet and by the time I was 10(ish), I was a fairly "normal" kid. 

Fast forward 34 years. 

I haven't given my wheat issue much thought as an adult since I eat just about everything and anything.  However, recently I've noticed some wheat sensitivity.  I'll leave the gory details of my symptoms out but my arthritis and psoriasis (I've had mild psoriasis my entire life) are worsening in the past few months and I've lost a little weight for no good reason.  These conditions are often found in people with wheat problems.  They are also auto-immune disorders. 

Soooooo...I've decided it's time to take drastic measures and learn to cook with non-wheat flour for myself.  There are so many options that are easily accessible today that this could actually be quite fun! 

I do not know anything about cooking with other types of flour.  Specifically, I am looking for bread and "treat" (cookies?) recipes.  I would be devastated if I had to say "no" to desserts and baked treats. 

If you have any great recipes for baked goods made with non-wheat flour, post them here!  I can't wait to play around with this new way of baking. 

**Please note: Vermont Shortbread is made with unbleached King Arthur wheat flour.  That's not going to change.   However, I will have to resign from my own research and development department and count on my faithful friends to taste test new recipes.  It's a "crummy" job, but someone's got to do it.  :-)

Just Add Veggies

Speed up your metabolism, cleanse your digestive system and clear your body of harmful, cancer-causing toxins with six servings of vegetables a day, preferably green leafy ones but certainly not limited to those. The secret to getting effortless veggie consumption on a daily basis? Once a week veggie prep. Here's what to do:

1. Purchase plenty of Tupperware containers of various sizes.
2. Make it a weekly ritual to stock up on veggies at a reasonably priced market or grocery store.
3. Wash and store your vegetables as soon as you get home - scrub root veggies, swish leafies and herbs, then pack away in plastic bags or containers with snap-on lids.
4. Sautee or grill green vegetables ahead of time, stash and serve small portions throughout the week.
5. Build-and-store a salad (avoid adding dressing until serving time or the greens will wilt), grab as a side dish for your meals when needed.
6. Train your body to look forward to veggie snacks. Used to munching chips at 3 pm? Opt for a tomato salad drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary, served in a salad bowl that was rubbed with raw garlic.

Got a fridge full of veggies but not quite sure what to do with them all? Here are a few recipe tips:

 

Great for single-vegetable garlic sautees:

cabbage
broccoli
spinach
kale
bok choy
swiss chard
beet greens (one of my faves!)
asparagus
fresh green beans
zucchini
yellow squash
eggplant

Boil first, then sautee with garlic, oil and spices:

collard greens
escarole
broccoli rabe
dandelion greens

Mix and match stir-fry:

carrots
bok choy
baby bok choy
scallions
mushrooms
snow peas
celery
napa cabbage
green peppers
red peppers
chilies
bean sprouts
garlic
onion
ginger

Add to your salads:

romaine lettuce
boston lettuce
field greens
baby spinach
arugula
shredded red cabbage
canned beets
celery
tomatoes
cucumbers
peppers
carrots
onion
shallots
endive
apple
pear
chick peas
kidney beans

Great on the grill, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with herbs:

eggplant
zucchini
yellow squash
whole mushrooms
cherry tomatoes
red onion

Turn cooked veggie leftovers into a vinaigrette!
Select any one of these leftover veggies...

asparagus
corn
green beans
beets

and try vinaigrette 1:

olive oil
red wine vinegar
capers
shallots
fresh parsley

or vinaigrette 2:

chopped sweet onion
chopped green pepper
diced tomato
splash vinegar
olive oil
lime juice
cilantro

for Asian veggies, try vinaigrette 3:

sesame oil
grated sweet onion
ginger
soy sauce
rice wine vinegar
sugar or honey
scallions

Got a cool veggie recipe of your own? Leave a comment!

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing