Cooking for Kids

When my daughter became old enough for solid foods I began making my own baby food. I followed the guide for introducing different foods in Mommy Made--and Daddy too: Home Cooking for a Healthy Baby and Toddler -- I made purees of various vegetables and froze them in ice cubes -- taking them out for different meals and to bring into day care. It was a wonderful guide to what to introduce when and provided interesting textures and flavors. I used the book up.

When she became old enough to eat more regular fare she had established herself as being picky -- she did not like a lot of things and was pretty low on the weight chart so we tried to find things that she would eat. It was a struggle and I fell into the trap of separate meals for her and for us. It was exhausting and I was taking it all very personally. Finally I had enough and just adapted recipes for all of us to eat. I cut back on the spicing in recipes I usually made. She didn't much like cheese so I cut down on that substantially in most recipes (and still do).

My second child was diagnosed as milk & soy protein intolerant when he was about 2 months old. For that I had to cut out all milk & soy from my diet as I was breastfeeding (or spend a lot on very expensive formula). The Milk Soy Protein Intolerance Cookbook by a local nurse, Tamara Field was invaluable. It showed me how to adapt recipes so I could eat them without causing my son problems -- and some of the recipes are pretty tasty -- I still make the Cinnamon Coffee Cake and I consult the book out when my lactose-intolerant mother-in-law comes to visit.

With two young children I still found that I needed some more kid-friendly recipes than my vegetarian heavy cookbook shelf had. I found Annabel Karmel's First Meals to have good recipes that are divided by age -- again she introduces flavors, tastes and textures. Karmel is British and it shows in the recipes and some language but most thing are available here. Family favorites include Sticky Salmon, Paella, Sloppy Joe Sauce, Fish & Oven-Baked Chips. The book is full of photos -- Karmel does nice things with making the food fun and attractive looking to kids. The index is very good and it is full of nutritional information. It is a book that has served me well.

Another family cooking book I rely on heavily now is The Six O'Clock Scramble by Aviva Goldfarb. It is arranged by season with 5 recipes a week. They are generally quick to fix recipes ranging from taking maybe 20 minutes to over an hour. The recipes are definitely kid-friendly and rely on a certain amount of convenience products (frozen tortellini and vegetables, canned soups and sauces). Nutritional information is included for each recipe -- be careful some recipes make as many as for 8 and some are for as few as 2. But there is a wide variety of flavors, cuisines and a good mix of meat & vegetarian (and often ways to substitute protein as you need), and lots of fish recipes. There are no photos, a decent index, some tips scattered throughout. No desserts but some side dishes are included at the end. I have never followed the recipes for a week (way too conscripting for me) but I generally stay within the season and really like the seasonality of the book.

Some of our family favorites are: Cranberry Chicken, Baked Turkey Chimichangas, Creamy Ravioli and Spinach Bake (all from Autumn), Black-eyed Pea Tacos, Tomato and Wild Rice Soup, Easy Bake Ziti (all from Winter), Chicken Tikka, Cuban Black Beans and Rice, Sweet & Crunchy Chinese Salad, Chili con Barley (all from Spring), Japanese Eggplant and Green Beans in Garlic Sauce, Indian Spinach Curry, Baked Apricot Chicken and Peanut Beef (all from Summer).

Vegetarian Epicure

I've been a vegetarian on and off since I was a teenager when I objected to eating rabbit. My father argued that if I wouldn't eat a cute, fluffy rabbit then I shouldn't eat chickens, lambs, cows and so on. So my family became vegetarian and I continued that way until my daughter was born 7 years ago. She was a picky eater (something I vowed I would never have but that is for another post) and meat was one thing she ate so we introduced meat into our diet.

Lately, now that my children are older, we have been going back to vegetarian food. I love going back to my favorite recipes and cookbooks. The Vegetarian Epicure I, II and the New Vegetarian Epicure have been well used in my house. Anna Thomas's recipes are generally straightforward and use few meat substitutes. They celebrate the flavors of food, especially fresh vegetables.

Her Carbonara from The Vegetarian Epicure II has been one of my husband's favorites for many years -- and it is simple enough to make on a busy weeknight -- it takes about as long to make as it does to boil the pot for the spaghetti. I have also made Eggplant Parmesan (and even made up a varient using tofu) from The Vegetarian Epicure I -- it takes a little longer but I can pull it together with a baked rice pilaf in under an hour. There are two many favorites from these cookbooks for me to list but her breads, both yeasted and quick, soups, curries, pastas, and through to the desserts are wonderful.

The New Vegetarian Epicure is arranged in menus by season. I have long loved her Caesar Salad and only recently discovered the Pistachio Cream Cheese pasta but have made the Ruby Chard & Goat Cheese pasta for years. These are books I dip into frequently, to find old friend or something I have overlooked.

The drawback with Thomas's recipes is they generally aren't very healthy in terms of fat and calories and her books contain only line drawings. Sometimes her instructions are sparse and leave you wondering what you should be doing. But they are favorites of mine and I will continue cooking from them for years to come. It is often easy to reduce the amount of butter or oil in a recipe or try a different cooking technique. Her invitation to enjoy food and not miss the meat at all is clear and make the books well worthwhile.