Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Kids who’d have ‘em? Feeding time at the zoo, getting kids to eat what you want can often be quite traumatic and requires lots of perseverance as their tastes ebb and flow like the seasons. Once a lover of green olives, my niece is no longer a fan of these nutritional powerhouses. She’ll be happy to run around at home with a raw carrot in her hand but try and give her a carrot stick when she’s in her high chair – not on your nelly.

‘More’ is her favourite word, so no matter if you’ve got piping hot porridge, such as this morning, which even Goldilocks would turn her nose up at, if she sees food, she wants it. She is a contrary thing, refuses chicken breast, but loves homemade chicken nuggets made from thighs. But the great thing is that she will try anything. My mum brought my sister and I up in the same way. We used to be fed raw veg as she prepared dinner and ate whatever her and Dad ate, which has given us both an incredibly wide diet. Sister is not a fan of carrots, but she’ll eat them. I’m not a fan of milk, but I’ll not refuse it if there is no choice.

Last night we fed the neice with an array of raw veg while she was waiting for her food to warm up – carrots, swede, pumpkin, red pepper – and she loved them. Crunchy finger food of vegetables which are quite sweet, it gives her the chance to taste different things without overpowering her taste buds or putting her off her food for life.

I’m no expert of feeding kids, but I hope that she’ll grow to love everything as much as our family does. Selfishly it makes things so much easier at dinnertime, but it also will give her more opportunity in the future to try anything and be bold with her food choices. I’m sure by the time she reaches teenage years, all she’ll want to eat is crisps, chocolate and chips – but I believe if the grounding is there from an early age, she’ll be in good stead to revert to eating well as the foundations will be instilled within her.

I was one of the fast-food generation for a few years, when I didn’t know what food did and saw it as fuel but after the rebellion ended I saw the light. I didn’t realise how important these foundations were until I met many people who didn’t like certain foods and could not be convinced otherwise. My hypothesis is that  if you have not had continual exposure to new textures and tastes when you are young then it is much harder to re-train your brain and convince yourself that they are nice. It takes multiple goes to make a foreign food taste ‘normal’ just as a habit takes a while to instill.

In my experience, so many people turn their noses up at foods even if they haven’t tried them. My challenge is, how do you know if you like something unless you try it? What’s the worst that can happen? If you’re not sure, try smiling while you eat it. I use this tactic on the KidsCo children who take part in my weekly cookery workshops. It makes things taste different as this action increases the chances of physiological acceptance within the brain by opening up the senses rather than closing them down. Think about how satisfying a meal is when you are happy in comparison to eating something when you are upset or angry. Strange but true!

Images by lucianvenutian

Roast-a-licious

Hands up who likes the cold wintery days as an excuse to dive into the typical British fare of roasts and puddings?? I had a fabulous Sunday roast cooked for me last night and shared with some of my nearest and dearest, the perfect end to a great week. We were discussing the pros and cons of a roast dinner so

I thought it would be a perfect blog post for all those who view the roast as a treat rather than a healthy option.

Roasts: The Low-Down

Roasts per se are not actually that unhealthy. It is the amount of food, the origins of the meat and the way some of the foods have been cooked that are the issues around the concept – and are issues not dissimilar to any other meal that you may be preparing.

1. Meat: Preferably from animals who haven’t been kept in a dark shed with a million of it’s brothers and sisters, fed on a diet of animal feed, antibiotics and excrement is the most important ingredient. If you can’t afford to buy organic or don’t have access to a butcher such as Northfield Farm who sell meat that is organic in spirit but not certified due to specific slaughtering rules then the best choice of meat is Lamb. Sheep can not be reared inside so are naturally free range. Any chicken you buy should be free range, at least – and yes, chickens are expensive, but you can do so much with them they are worth their weight in gold.
2. Potatoes: these very addictive bundles of starch are very high in carbohydrates and apart from containing some chromium, th ey are not exactly the healthiest vegetable on the block. Especially if you peel them which removes 90& of their fibre and roast them in tons of fat. Swop for sweet potatoes or ration yourself to two only.
3. Roast parsnips: these beauties are also very high in starch and soak up oil very easily. The burnt bit, however tasty is the least nutritious part of the vegetable. Burning food produces chemicals called acrylamides which have been linked to an increased cancer risk.
4. Green veg: Brussel sprouts and cabbage, the mainstay of a british roast are possibly the antidote to the burnt ends of parsnips. They contain high levels of anti-oxidants which are crucial for keeping our bodies healthy. Ideally not dripping in butter, of course, but the more greens you have on your plate, the better.
5. Portion size: As with any meal, be aware of portion control. If we have eyes that are too big for our belly (aka yours truly), try using a smaller sized plate, having two slices of meat rather than four, and fill up half of your plate with vegetables, of the colourful variety, not the starchy ones.

Pudding

I have to admit, I am the first to go weak at the knees when there is a crumble on offer, however, this time it was me who made it. I’d had some plums in the freezer for a couple of months, just waiting for the opportunity to make them into a crumble, one of my signature desserts, and childhood comfort foods.

Not having made a plum crumble before, as I’m usually a traditional apple, raisins and cinnamon girl, I had to resort to our www best friend Google to throw up a selection of recipes to choose from. My personal food hero, Nigel Slater, sorry, Sir Nigel, popped up as the first entry and of course I made a beeline for his recipe ignoring all others. And my, what a crumble it was.

Fruit crumbles, as with fruit pies always ask for lots of sugar, butter and flour, not exactly ‘nutritious fayre’; however, Nige scored some real brownie points with me as he includes both ground almonds (protein) and oats (fibre) in his crumble topping to slightly recompense the high carbohydrate and sugar content.

Nigel Slater’s Oat Plum Crumble

I swapped the ordinary flour for spelt flour and accidentally added a few more almonds and oats to the crumble than strictly necessary, but even the biggest nutritional nay-sayer in the group was wowed by my efforts.

plums or damsons -  750g
golden caster sugar – 4 tablespoons
a large knob of butter

for the crust:
flour – 150g
butter – 100g
ground almonds – 50g
golden caster sugar -70g
rolled oats – 50g

Set the oven at 190˚/Gas 5.

Stone the fruit, though you will probably want to avoid stoning damsons. Put them into a deep pan with the butter and sugar and leave them to soften slightly. This will ensure they are meltingly soft and squishy.

Meanwhile, make the oat crust by rubbing the butter into the flour till it resembles fresh breadcrumbs. Stir in the ground almonds, the demerara sugar and the oats.

Pile the fruit into a baking dish, the tip the oat and almond topping onto the fruit and bake for 30-35 minutes till the crust is crisp and golden, the fruit soft and tender.

Serve hot, with cream, ice cream or custard.

See Nigel Slater’s website for more delicious recipes.