Make-A-Meal Mondays: President’s Day Special

Posted on February 21, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Every four years, the citizens of the United States have the opportunity to choose a new president who will hopefully lead the country on an upward path of economic and social reform, while staying within the budget.

Every day, three times each day, moms (and sometimes dads) have the opportunity to choose a new dish to serve to their families that will hopefully provide good nutrition and good taste, while staying within the budget.

Hmmm…have you also seen the similarity between running the country and running a household? 🙂

It is true, though, that the responsibility of putting high quality, highly nutritious¸ good-tasting, affordable meals on the table is a heavy one. I thought that since today is President’s Day, I should offer up a recipe that includes CHERRIES as one of the ingredients.

Why cherries you might ask?

I’m sure most of you know the story of our first president, George Washington, and the incident with the cherry tree. As it was told when I was in school, young George went out into the garden with a new hatchet and chopped down a young cherry tree. When questioned by his father as to whether or not he did it, George replied, “I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree.” His father, impressed with his young son’s honesty, did not punish him, but praised him for telling the truth.

Of course, the moral of the little tale is that we should always tell the truth…no matter what we have done or what the consequences of our actions might be. I know this is what we teach our children…and this week I’ll be examining the topic of honesty in many of my posts. And, if you are looking for any information or resources about President’s Day, hop over to Mirth and Motivation. The author of that blog is the consummate researcher…a great writer and funny to boot! And she is having a Mega-Blog Hop…if you join, you will meet a bunch of awesome bloggers!

But for now, I’d like to provide you with a recipe for lovely child-friendly fruit crisp…full of super foods…and with the option of using cherries (sometimes they are available only in season and can be quite expensive) or substituting other fruits.

CHILD-FRIENDLY COLORFUL FRUIT CRISP

You will need: 5 cups mixed fruit, washed and then sliced if necessary (peaches, plums, apricots, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, apples), ¼ cup white sugar, ¼ cup orange juice, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 Tb flour (for the fruit), ¼ cup flour (for the topping), 2 cups rolled oats, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ cup healthy margarine softened, a greased 9×13 inch pan, and 2 large bowls.

1. In a large bowl, gently toss fruit with white sugar, orange juice and lemon juice.

2. Sprinkle with 3 Tb flour, toss gently again and spread in the greased pan.

3. In another bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and the remaining flour.

4. Add the margarine and mix till crumbly.

5. Sprinkle crumbly mixture over fruit.

6. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

8. Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge.

9. Serves about 12.

This recipe has so many super foods: oats, orange juice, lemon juice, cinnamon and all of the fruits…even though it is a dessert, you can rest easy giving it to your family because it is so high in nutrition and fiber while being fairly low in added sugar and fat. Plus, it is really simple to prepare…your young children will love to help with the measuring and mixing. It’s only one of the 100 easy-to-make child-friendly healthful recipes you’ll find in my new parenting book, on sale now for a limited time on my website for half price! Check it out…I think you’ll be glad you did…it takes the hassle out of planning activities with preschoolers.

I hope you’ll stop by tomorrow for Quotable Timeless Tuesdays…for an honest look at honesty.

MAKE-A-MEAL MONDAYS

Posted on February 7, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Do you notice how lots of people who blog have catchy titles for different days.

Mailbox Monday

Wordless Wednesday

Follow Me Fridays

So, from now on, I’m going to be doing Make-A-Meal Mondays.

Every Monday, I’ll post a recipe that is a favorite of ours…and one that your child can help you prepare…I’m a big fan of kids in the kitchen! Encouraging your child to participate with meal planning and preparation is important because:

Children master skills and tasks when helping in the kitchen…which builds their self-esteem.
Fussy eaters are more likely to eat meals they have helped prepare.
Children learn about where food comes from when they help shop for ingredients and use those ingredients in making the final product.
The time you spend participating positively with your child helps create a life-long parent-child bond.
You can utilize the shopping experience to develop pre-literacy skills…make the list with your child and draw a picture of each item next to each word…then let your child hold the list and check off each item as he or she helps you put it in the shopping cart.

The last few weeks, most of the country has been hit with severe weather…icy rains, blizzards and freezing cold temperatures. I think a cup of hot soup would be a welcome addition to any meal this week, so here is a favorite of ours and one of the recipes that appears in SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING.

The soup commercial on television says it all…eager smiling children sitting around the table in the cozy kitchen, mother wearing an apron, stirring a big pot on the stove. The only thing missing is the delicious aroma of homemade soup. With this recipe, you and your child can make that happen in your home.

ALPHABET CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP

You will need: 1 quart chicken broth, 2 Tb diced onion, ¼ cup dry alphabet noodles, 1 cup diced cooked chicken, ½ cup sliced carrots, ½ cup cut green beans, ¼ cup corn kernels, parsley (optional), and a large pot with a cover.

1. In a large pot, mix the broth, onions and noodles and bring to a boil.

2. Lower heat to simmer and add chicken, carrots, beans and corn.

3. Simmer on low with the cover on for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Garnish each serving with parsley, if desired.

5. Makes about 4-5 cups of soup. You can refrigerate or freeze the leftovers.

6. TIP: You can substitute other vegetables if you like…peas, lima beans, zucchini…use your imagination…or whatever you have available. J

7. You can season with salt and pepper if you wish…but go easy…as a nation, we tend to use too much salt which has been shown to create all kinds of health problems.

And just to remind you…this is the last day of the SHARE THE LOVE BOOK BOGO EVENT going on right now on my website

You can grab a copy of the book that contains 100 EASY CHILD-FRIENDLY HEALTHFUL COOKING ACTIVITIES AND 100 SIMPLE ECO-FRIENDLY CRAFT PROJECTS at the regular cover price and you will RECEIVE ANOTHER COPY FREE!

Head on over to my website to get all the details…but please hurry…this SHARE THE LOVE BOGO BOOK EVENT goes away at 11:59pm on Monday night.

Please stop by tomorrow for TIMELESS TUESDAYS…I’ll be sharing some of my favorite quotations.

The Grandma Chronicles: Many Peach Trees Grow in Brooklyn

Posted on January 29, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, Ohio Ce...

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Do you know the story of Johnny Appleseed? Born in 1774, he was a true American hero who planted apple seeds and then sold the seedling trees for pennies so that early settlers could grow apples. I guess we could call him one of America’s first nurserymen.

I don’t know all the details about that long-ago gardener, but I do know why there are so many peach trees growing on a particular street in Brooklyn.

As young parents, my grandmother and her husband bought a one-family home on a tree-lined street in Brooklyn. It was a two story house with a small garden plot in the back. And I know that the patch of dirt in the backyard of that house was a very special place for my grandmother. For her, it was an escape when the frustrations of motherhood were overwhelming and a haven when the toils of housework called for a respite.

My grandmother told me that one day she had bought several pounds of peaches at the market. After preparing them to use as filling for a peach pie, she held the pits in her hand, imaging the peach trees they might become. Making up her mind, she put them in a paper bag, grabbed a small shovel and went outside to her backyard. My grandmother proceeded to plant several peach pits in the rich earth. Hurrying to the small plot of dirt next door, she planted a few pits there. Her mission for that afternoon: find a home for each peach pit…and she continued planting pits in every backyard on the street.

I don’t know how many pits grew into peach trees…I do know that I picked many peaches from the tree behind my grandmother’s house…most of them wormy because she didn’t use any insecticides. The next-door neighbor and my best friend who lived across the street also had peach trees in their backyards…probably equally as wormy. 🙂

As a child, I spent many blissful hours on my knees in that dirt, helping my grandmother plant and weed…learning much more than just how deep to plant a daisy seed or which weeds to pull up. I learned to:

Care about and respect nature
Care about and respect others
Care about and respect myself

Another valuable lesson I learned from my grandmother was a love of cooking. From my parenting book, SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTTEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING, AND COOKING, here’s a lovely child-friendly recipe for a healthy fruit-laden cake that calls for apples, but you could substitute peaches if they are in season.

CHILD-FRIENDLY APPLE CAKE

The wonderful aroma of apples and cinnamon baking in the oven…ahhhhh!

You will need: 2 cups all purpose flour, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 cup sugar, ¾ cup canola oil, 2 eggs beaten, 2½ cups apples (peeled and sliced thinly), ½ cup applesauce, ½ cup raisins, a large bowl, a 9×13 inch greased baking pan and a spatula.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ¾ cup sugar.
Make a well in the center of the flour and add the oil and eggs and mix well
Add the apples and raisins and stir until well distributed
Spread the batter in the greased pan. Smooth with a spatula and sprinkle with ¼ cup sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.
Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake…the cake is done if it comes out clean.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 12…refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container.