How to Make Healthy Bircher Muesli Swiss Oatmeal for Kids

 

Happy New Years!  A new year is a great time to try new things and make a renewed commitment to cooking healthy food for your kids.  Many people consider oatmeal to be healthy.  Compared to other grains, oatmeal can be a healthy option.  Grains are generally high in glycemic index.  And while oats tend to be lower in glycemic index than wheat, the glycemic index of any grain will increase with more processing and more cooking.

Many people cook their oatmeal to the consistency of mush.  The more you overcook your oatmeal, the more unhealthy it becomes.  This New Year, why not try your oatmeal a new way?  Sometimes inspiration for new foods in your diet can come from old sources.  Muesli is a tasty breakfast dish developed around 1900 by the Swiss physician Maximillian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital.  It is also known as Bircher oatmeal or Swiss oatmeal.  It is comprised of raw oats, whole fruits, yogurt, and milk.

As the following video shows, Muesli is a great way to enjoy oats and is very easy to make:

http://youtu.be/9fKhYA6VtOQ

Best wishes to you and your family in the New Year!

References

Snow P & O'Dea K. Factors affecting the rate of hydrolysis of starch in food. Am J Clin Nutr 1981;34:2721-2727.

Atkinson FS et al. International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008. Diabetes Care 2008 Dec 31(12):2281-3.

Heaton KW et al. Particle size of wheat, maize, and oat test meals: effects on plasma glucose and insulin responses and on the rate of starch digestion in vitro. Am J Clin Nutr 1988;47:675-82.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muesli

How to Make Grain Free Gluten Free Pancakes for Kids on Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!  Christmas has always been my favorite holiday.  In the Ko household, Christmas wasn't about the presents and cheery music, though those did help.  For me, Christmas has always been about family.  

I have always enjoyed the tradition of putting up the Christmas tree...or putting together the Christmas tree, rather.  The Ko family Christmas tree comes out of a box...none of the real stuff for us.  I have such fond memories of assembling and decorating the Ko Christmas tree, that I moved that same dusty box over to my house so Colin and Cailya could carry on the tradition.

One thing I enjoy doing on Christmas morning besides opening up presents, is having breakfast together as a family.  It's a perfect opportunity to fire up the griddle and make some morning flapjacks.  In the following video, I put a healthy twist on traditional pancakes by using almond flour to make grain free fluffy little almond flour pancakes:

http://youtu.be/ldkmPP1qAyY

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your family!

References

http://www.uptodate.com/contents/image?imageKey=PC/71978&topicKey=ENDO%2F5374&source=outline_link&search=nurse%27s+health+study+glycemic+index+foods&utdPopup=true

How to Cook the Best Food of Taiwan : Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup for Kids

We recently came back from a trip to Taiwan.  It was Colin and Cailya's first visit to Taiwan, and the first time Cassie and I visited the island together.  I hadn't been back since 1997, when I participated in a summer program affectionately referred to as, "The Love Boat".  Taiwanese Americans refer to this summer program as the love boat because Taiwanese parents supposedly expect their American sons to come back from this study tour with a wife.  I happily took part in this program, but I didn't find love…or a boat.

On this recent trip back, in an attempt to expose my kids to their cultural heritage, I inadvertently gained a better understanding of my own cultural heritage and a more profound love for Taiwan.  I reflect about what it means to me to be Taiwanese American in the following featured article:

http://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2014/11/healthy-living-and-eating/

As a child, I remember many instances where I thought my parents were a bit idiosyncratic.  My dad cares little about brand name clothes and buys three sets of the same thing at a time.  My mom wears a sweater and jacket when it's 75 degrees outside, and she keeps all the original boxes and packaging from purchases stacked in her room.  But as I traveled around Taiwan, I began to notice how an entire population regularly does arm exercises in the park, wears their backpacks on their chest, and keeps their furniture hidden under protective shrink wrap.  Now I realize how idiosyncratic I must appear to my parents.

One culture's norms is another culture's idiosyncrasies.  The same can be said about food.  In Taiwan, pickled vegetables find their way onto breakfast tables, oysters find their way into pancakes, and beans find themselves featured in desserts.  Many people can be found doing their grocery shopping at local open air morning markets such as these:

Taiwan is also famous for its beef noodle soup and its vibrant night market scene, which I feature in the following video (I cut down on the saturated fat by using eye round beef instead of shank).

http://youtu.be/NmgxO1bLbUU

One prototypical Taiwanese dish found at night markets is "stinky tofu"(pictured above), so named because of its strong odor.  Walking down the streets of Taiwan's night markets, you can smell stinky tofu well before you see it or taste it.  The smell is a by-product of a natural process of fermentation.  The fermentation also confers a complex flavor to the tofu, which is why it is a treasured Taiwanese dish.

Although naturally fermented foods are not commonly eaten in America, they are historically common across many cultures (i.e. German sauerkraut, Korean kim-chi, and European sourdough bread).  In fact, before refrigeration, fermentation was the primary method of both flavoring and preserving beverages in the form of alcohol.  Fermented foods are healthy because they are full of healthy bacteria that delay the absorption of foods.

While stinky tofu may be the norm in Taiwan, it certainly would be an acquired smell in America.  But at least when I smell stinky tofu, I can recognize it as good food that is good for me.  I can't say the same about American made, odorless, processed food.  I hope that when my kids are old enough to appreciate the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of Taiwan, they will fully embrace the food culture of Taiwan, idiosyncrasies and all.

References

Pollan, Michael.  Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.  New York: Penguin Press. 2013. 

How to Cook a Healthy and Tender Beef Stew for Kids

Where's the beef?  If you've been following my blog, you probably have noticed that I haven't featured a lot of beef recipes.  Don't misunderstand.  I love beef.  However, some studies indicate that a higher consumption of red meat is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, and even death.  It isn't clear why red meat consumption is associated with higher mortality, but one study found that the association was moderately attenuated when adjusted for saturated fat and cholesterol.

Based on such studies, I prefer to limit the quantity of red meat that my kids eat and substitute red meat with other sources of protein such as fish, poultry, and plant based protein.  When I do serve my kids red meat, I prefer to select lean cuts of beef such as eye round steak.

You might think that lean beef is inevitably dry.  However, you can serve up deliciously tender and moist lean beef by cooking it the right way.  Stewing your meat in a liquid medium and cooking it low and slow by using a slow cooker, breaks down the protein and tenderizes the meat.  My kids were especially fond of the soft consistency of the beef stew featured in the following video:

References

Pan A. et al.  Red Meat Consumption and Mortality.  Arch Intern Med.  2012;172(7):555-563.

Pollan, Michael.  Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.  New York: Penguin Press.  2013.

How to Cook Healthy Corn For Thanksgiving Day

I recently watched a Thanksgiving themed episode of Top Chef.  The chefs had to cook a Thanksgiving meal using only food and equipment that was available at the time of the first Thanksgiving.  I was surprised to learn that turkey was not served at the first Thanksgiving.  I was equally surprised and impressed with how delicious and inventive their dishes were despite the obstacles thrown at them.   

The episode made me think of how different things are now compared to the first Thanksgiving.  We now have a wide assortment of food and gadgets at our disposal.  But while modern technology brings convenience, modern food bears very little resemblance to the food served at the first Thanksgiving.  

For instance, whole ears of corn were available at the first Thanksgiving.  Nowadays, we are much more likely to consume corn in the form of highly processed high fructose corn syrup than we are to eat it in its whole and natural form.  My kids love eating corn right off the cob.  One way you can keep the traditions of the first Thanksgiving while also enjoying corn in an innovative way is to grill corn and serve it with a chili mayo like I did in the following video:

http://youtu.be/EGOwa328ITU

Have a great Thanksgiving Day!

How to Cook Healthy Pumpkin Pie for Kids on Thanksgiving Day

 

This Thanksgiving will be one of the few Thanksgivings that I won't be spending with my parents.  They will be on a much deserved vacation to Australia.  At first I was saddened by the prospect of not spending the holidays with my parents.  And then I remembered how lucky I am to be spending the holidays with Cassie, Colin, and Cailya.  I almost forgot that this is only the second Thanksgiving that I will be spending with Cailya.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving desserts is pumpkin pie.  Pumpkin pie has a special place in my heart not only because it is a tasty treat, but because it evokes feelings of tradition, family, and togetherness.  A couple tips for making a healthier pumpkin pie include making your own pumpkin puree (which is less processed), and making your pie crust out of almond flour instead of wheat flour.  

Try making a healthier pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving and be thankful for those friends and family that you can spend your Thanksgiving with!

http://youtu.be/aeuowC7AHgk

How to Cook Healthy Food for Kids : Portable Granola Snacks

Eating in the modern era has its challenges.  We live in such a fast paced, agenda driven world, that we can sometimes forget to eat.  You might forget to prepare food for your kids, but your kids won't forget to get hungry.  Kids' stomaches are on a three hour alarm schedule.  And if you forget to feed them, you will most definitely regret it.

One thing we can all do is stop, sit down, and eat.  I know that I need to do a better job of slowing down, savoring the moment, and pausing for what is really important in life.

That being said, if you have travel plans, sometimes you do have to eat on the go.  The other day, we took an airplane trip with the kids and thankfully Cassie had the presence of mind to pack a healthy snack for the kids.  If it weren't for those healthy snacks, we would have had a set of irritable kids and passengers glaring at us.

Although most people consider granola bars to be healthy, many store bought granola bars are laden with refined sugars and sweeteners.  I have been on the lookout for a healthier homemade granola bar recipe and I recently found one.  This homemade granola bar is naturally sweetened with applesauce and maple syrup.  The applesauce and chia seeds also help to bind the granola into a fairly serviceable bar.

I'm glad we were able to add this healthy granola bar to our snack bag of tricks on our last trip.  It really helped to keep the kids satiated and our travels peaceful.

http://youtu.be/IKZglyFfBD4