How to Cook Healthy Food for Kids : When Life Gives You Potatoes, Make Colcannon!

Sometimes life gives you lemons.  But that's not necessarily a bad thing.  As an amateur chef, I have found lemons to be a vital flavor enhancer.  That's why when life gives me lemons, I make delicious food!

I'm always trying to think of innovative ways to substitute healthy ingredients for unhealthy ones.  In my last post, I substituted white beans for white potatoes.  The result was a pureed bean dish that looked and tasted like mashed potatoes, but was much lower in glycemic index.

But sometimes it simply isn't convenient to substitute ingredients.  Perhaps all you have in your cupboard are potatoes.  Perhaps you are having one of those days where the kids are screaming specifically for mashed potatoes.  We've all been there.  So, when life gives you potatoes, I say, "Make colcannon!"

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish consisting of mashed potatoes and greens.  Because dark leafy greens are nutrition powerhouses, they can really amplify the nutritional value of your meals.  In the following video, I show you how to make colcannon using kale and leeks:

http://youtu.be/E2Y_O5BPHLA

Here is the link to the recipe I used to make the colcannon dish featured in the video above:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chef-Johns-Colcannon/Detail.aspx

How to Cook Healthy Food For Kids : White Bean Starch for White Potato Starch, A Battle of Wits

Do you ever feel like you are in an epic battle of wits with your kid?  And do you feel like somehow you are constantly on the losing end of that battle?  It never ceases to amaze me that I am able to be outwitted by a three-year-old.  Like a trained pharmaceutical representative, Colin has somehow mastered the art of getting me to verbally commit to something and then holding me up to that commitment at a later date.  "Remember how you said you would take me to the playground on Thursday?  Well, today is Thursday."  Sometimes I'll gloss over a few words while reading Colin a bedtime story.  But, when I turn the page, my son will turn the page back and point out that I skipped some words.  At the end of the day, I put away his toys.  But, the next morning Colin will go to the exact spot where he had left his toys and ask me where his toys went.  The kid has a memory like a steel trap.  I blame his mom.  

Of course, some of the most epic battle of wits come at the dinner table.  Some battles are not worth fighting.  Some battles really put me at my wit's end.  Still other battles are worth fighting, but as a parent, you need to know how to fight the good fight.  You've got to stay one step ahead of kids, anticipate their complaints, and give them food that satisfies your own sensibilities of healthiness while also satisfying their taste buds.  For instance, instead of mashed white potatoes, try a healthier white starch like pureed white beans.  Beans are a resistant starch that are much lower in glycemic index than are white potatoes.  Check out my epic battle of wits with Colin in this week's video, an homage to a scene from the movie, The Princess Bride. 

http://youtu.be/gC_6XvVfl_s

America's Healthiest Heroes - Playing it Cool

I wish I could say I play it cool when it comes to celebrities.  I often have trouble recognizing them.  When I'm watching a movie, at some point, I'll lean over and whisper to Cassie, "Where have a seen this guy before?"  Then, Cassie has to interrupt her movie-going experience to go over an actor's resume with me.  I'm even worse with celebrity sightings.  For instance, when I ran into Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Manhattan, the best I could do was blurt out, "Hey, it's you!"

So when I found myself in a YouTube video with Ian Ziering, I'd like to say that I played it cool.  But in reality, my reaction was, "Whoa!  I'm in a video with the guy from 90210!"  Yes, yours truly was fortunate enough to be featured in a YouTube series called, "America's Healthiest Heroes", hosted by Ian Ziering.

The premise of this series is to feature parents that are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to help kids adopt healthy habits.  Apparently, the series is intent on highlighting the parents since poor Cailya and Colin didn't make the final cut.

One of the things that I really enjoy about YouTube is the ability to reach a larger audience.  Trying to get a message out to others is infinitely more challenging than writing the message itself.  I am proud to take part in a larger campaign like "America's Healthiest Heroes" because celebrities like Ian Ziering have a wider sphere of influence.  Just like his character on 90210, Ian Ziering has the power of cool and the ability to make healthy eating cool.

Whether you are speaking to a YouTube audience of a few or a few thousand, or you are speaking to an audience of one or two in your own home, you can use the power of cool to make eating healthy the cool thing to do.  I encourage you to be your own kid's healthiest hero!

How to Cook Healthy Food For Kids : Cauliflower Mac N' Cheese

I was speaking to a friend of mine, Josh Coleman the other day.  He lamented, "All my kid eats is mac n' cheese!"  Macaroni and cheese is a common favorite food item of many kids.  There is indeed something comforting and disarming about macaroni and cheese.

The problem is that many of the white starches like bread, potatoes, rice, cereal, and some noodles are high in glycemic index and unhealthy.  Given this predicament, I decided to dedicate this post to Josh Coleman and attempt to come up with a solution to a very common problem.

It's time for cauliflower to rear its pretty little head once again!  Cauliflower is a great substitute for white starch.  It can be transformed in a multitude of ways to resemble mashed potatoes, rice, and even mac n' cheese!   Take a look as Sean Ko-nnery takes cauliflower undercover in this week's feature video, "Golden Cauliflower"

http://youtu.be/2mDUcIZ8gKk?list=UUOpV1RhtMV5h9QLKBVf_XFg

How to Cook Healthy Food for Kids : Make a Healthy Savory Popcorn With Nutritional Yeast

 

I am pleased to announce that my book, The Ping Pong Diet, is now available for sale at Amazon.com.  The Ping Pong Diet is a comprehensive dietary guide for adults seeking to lose weight, keep it off, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  You can read more about my thoughts on weight management at http://www.mythicalweightloss.com. 

Ping pong was my main sport growing up.  While other kids were playing catch in their backyard with their old man, I was paddling ping pong balls in the basement with my dad.  

Although I didn't play catch with my dad as a child, I decided to play some catch up and go to my first father-son baseball game.  

We arrived at the Nationals Park stadium and joined a very lively and packed crowd, ready to cheer on the first place Nats.  As we walked towards our seats, I couldn't help but notice that one American pastime had been drowned out by another American past time…eating.  The concession stands featured a dizzying array of snacks and drinks.  I couldn't help but ask myself, "Was this a sporting event with food or a food event with sports?"

The problem was that there weren't many healthy food options.  Take for instance, the Cracker Jack.  Otherwise wholesome whole grains and nuts were steeped in butter and caramelized to a candied finish.  

As we sang "Take me out to the ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch, I wondered to myself, "Could I make a healthier popcorn snack?"

http://youtu.be/tjE6h1naloA?list=UUOpV1RhtMV5h9QLKBVf_XFg

Incidentally, if you make popcorn for your kids, be sure to have them gargle afterwards so they don't get any retained kernels of corn stuck in their teeth.

At our first baseball game, the Nats put on an offensive clinic and obliterated the Phillies 11-0.  We enjoyed some munchies during the game, but most importantly, my dad and I shared a truly memorable experience together.

How to make healthy chia seed pudding for kids : A Healthy Transformation

 

One of the cool things about cooking is taking an ingredient and transforming it into an unexpected culinary experience.  One thing you have to be careful about, however, is avoiding unhealthy transformations.  For instance, grinding up grains into a fine flour, or blending fruit into a smoothie are examples of unhealthy transformations.

Last week, I introduced life changing crackers.  While these crackers didn't actually change my life, they were a great example of how you can change an ingredient like seeds into something more palatable to kids, like a cracker.

Another seed that you may consider incorporating into your diet is the chia seed.  Chia seeds are nutritional powerhouses.  You can read about the nutritional profile of chia seeds in my previous post:
http://doctorchrisko.blogspot.com/2013/11/cooking-for-your-kids-chh-chh-chh-chia.html
One great way you can transform your chia seeds into an unexpectedly tasty and healthy dessert is by making chia pudding.

I show you how easy it is to make this simple and delicious dessert in the following video:
http://youtu.be/7fBL6waa0eo

My Experience With Life Changing Crackers

 

I've been following a blog called My New Roots by Sarah Britton.  She features novel plant-based recipes with gorgeous photography.  She recently posted a recipe for "Life Changing Crackers".

With a name like that, I just had to try them.  Unlike most store-bought crackers that are high in glycemic index, these crackers are completely flour-free and gluten-free.   They also contain a healthy dose of seeds like sunflower and sesame seeds.

I tried these out on my wife.  I asked her if these crackers changed her life.  She replied, "Needs more salt".  I served them up to my mother-in-law and asked her how her life was changed.  She retorted, "Healthy".

Maybe these crackers aren't truly life-changing, but they are a significantly healthier alternative to the traditional store-bought cracker.  And most importantly, I tried them out on Colin and he actually liked them.  I hope by introducing healthy eating habits to him and Cailya at a young age, I will have truly changed their lives for the better.  And that's my experience with life changing crackers.

http://youtu.be/xt9VekTSJj4