KID-FRIENDLY SCHOOL LUNCHES

By Catharine L. Kaufman --- a.k.a. The Kitchen Shrink

Dear Kitchen Shrink:
Yiikes! I really need a refresher course on school lunches because last year I earned a D+. My son’s friends said his lunches sucked so bad the trash can wouldn’t even trade with him. Any advice for preparing healthy and fun lunches would be much appreciated.
Rhonda Rappoport

Dear Rhonda and Fellow Seekers for Child-Pleasing Recipes:

After years of collecting failing grades for the school lunches and snacks I was preparing for our two picky but otherwise delightful kids, I am now almost always able to anticipate the changes from “Yum!” to “Yuck” and back that their taste buds seem to be undergoing at warp-speed. While you don’t have to be a culinary genius to produce portable meals that won’t be trashed, traded or returned to sender, it helps to be creative and as cunning as a chess master.

Creativity is needed in assembling, skillfully combining and flavoring nutritious ingredients that provide a healthy and balanced diet to growing kids. But not even the most creative chef could ‘close the deal’ without a talent for deception. I’m talking about disguising healthy meals to look, taste and smell like your kids’ favorite foods de jour.

Don’t worry, it’s not rocket science. As a parent you already know that occasional truth spinning is essential to keeping the family and household sane. Fooling picky eaters with nutritious foods dressed up as… well, if not junk, at least less healthy fare, has been part of the parenting manual for generations.

The ABC of successful school lunches is as follows…
(A) Make sure that there is NO junk food in your home—only healthy treats that look, taste, smell and feel (i.e. crunch, slurp, etc.) delicious to young palates. Finding them in lunch boxes or at home after school is among the memories we cherish long after we’ve left the parental nest.
Just two examples:
Halvah, the fabulous sweet made of sesame seeds, packs nutrition, half-crunchy / half-melting mouth-pleasure, heart-healthy fat and a rich flavor. Choose organic halvah, of course. It comes in bars or sliced to order from large ‘logs’-- plain or flavored with chocolate, vanilla or berries. Its high calorie content makes it best savored infrequently and in small (but luckily, quite filling) bites.
Organic dark chocolate is another excellent treat that comes in assorted bars—plain, with almonds, hazelnuts, cherries, mint and other hidden delights. Although some foodies disagree, I believe that chocolate keeps and tastes best when stored in the fridge. Bars that contain 55 or more percent of cocoa, pack enough antioxidants to keep those pesky free radicals in check.

(B) Take your kid(s) shopping for a really cool lunchbox. Trust me, the changeups from Sponge Bob to Hello Kitty to Dora the Explorer and on, can be dizzying. There is no way you can keep up with what’s in or out In kid-world on your own.

(C) Put together a line of “Lunchables,” complete with organic ingredients and ideas about how to disguise the meals to fit each child’s preferences. (Yes, organics are more than well worth the tiny (if any) difference in prices—which are often offset by savings in medical bills and missed school days.) Create a little “School Lunch Cookbook” for yourself, with at least enough recipes and snack combos for 10 school days—and maybe even some family picnics. Add to these whatever new ideas pop into your mind or you come across in supermarkets and bookstores.

(D) Buy a set of lidded containers in various shapes and sizes, as well as assorted ice- packs that keep foods cold.

(E) Appoint your kid(s) sous chef(s) and have a brainstorming session about the nightly (after-homework) preparation of school lunches. Get commitments for the evening prep times and morning assembling-and-pack-time each person will dedicate to making these truly ‘gourmet meals.’

(F) Offer each child the freedom to fill one of the containers with his/her favorite (preferably healthy, or at least not too junky) munchies—but reserve the right to supervise, negotiate and if necessary, veto some choices. Just remember to pick your battles and don’t freak out if a kid insists on buying one or two junk snacks from the school vending machine “because all the kids have them.” But insist on no more than one such purchase a week.

(G) Allow kids to choose the recipes and snacks they want for any given day from your “School Lunch Cookbook.” (Be a little flexible about occasional additions, subtractions or changes.)

(H) Include in the lunchbox some wet wipes for their hands and faces (we can always hope). Optional: Depending upon each child’s tolerance for geekiness, you could also slip in a little note from time to time, with a joke, funny picture, short poem or not too gushy expression of appreciation for something well done.

(I) Now for the food itself—all organic is highly recommended:
• The first cardinal rule is to pack at least one fruit or veggie—and I do NOT mean a fruit roll-up or package of ketchup. Preferably something with vivid colors, such as blueberries, dark grapes, watermelon balls, carrots and/or strips of colorful (red, yellow, orange or green) peppers. Kids love crunchy foods, so try strips of Persian cucumbers, jicama, Daikon radish or a stalk or two of celery. Those with a sweet tooth will love sugar snap peas, cubed apples (organic and WITH their skin on), sliced peaches, nectarines, plums and bananas.

IMPORTANT to remember that since NON-organic apples have the most concentrated amounts of pesticides (second only to peaches), only the skin of organic apples should be consumed.

• Most youngsters love to season and dip. So pack a small covered container of savory (organic) vinaigrette or creamy homemade salad dressing alongside a bag containing strips of carrots, peppers, celery, radish and other veggies. (My kids like to concoct a blend of salt, garlic, cayenne and chili powder that they put into a mini shaker and sprinkle on their veggie sticks. This habit has so far kept them from becoming addicted to salty potato or corn chips.) For dessert, pour organic yogurt (a natural probiotic that promotes intestinal health) into another covered container. You may choose yogurt that is plain or sweetened with a few drops of vanilla or berry-flavored syrup. Pair it with a baggie of assorted fruit chunks—preferably locally grown and in season. A few teaspoons of dark (organic) chocolate syrup also makes a good dip for fruits.

• For variety, you may pack a Three-Bean-and-Lentil Salad with minced red onions and garlic, marinated overnight in a homemade vinaigrette. Nothing like legumes to fuel the human engine and provide a daily dose of fiber, protein, iron, magnesium and selenium. Or surprise them with sliced avocado—unless they prefer it to be mashed into savory guacamole. Either way, this green powerhouse fires up the student body and brain with lots of Vitamin C, potassium and carotene for the eyes.

• Eggs, a great source of protein and Vitamin B12, are irresistible to those who like them devilled, hard-boiled or prepared as a sandwich-ready salad.

• Nut butters are another family of healthy spreads. They are loaded with protein, fiber, Vitamin E, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids. Organic almond butter—smooth or chunky style--as well as its walnut and hazelnut counterparts, have been found to be safer and more nutritious than peanut butter. The latter seems to trigger allergic reactions in a growing number of people. This has caused it to be banned by some airlines, schools and other public places.

• Surprise young taste buds with ethnic foods. Plant a miniature Italian flag in your Monday foccacia pizza, accompanied by a green salad and home-baked biscotti (sans transfats). Fly a tiny blue-and-white Greek banner over Tuesday’s pita and hummus with a Greek salad and a baklava dessert. On Wednesday pin the Mexican flag on a fiesta of veggie quesadillas, guacamole and salsa. Satisfy your youngsters’ yen for Asian flavors on Thursday, with their self-made brown rice-avocado-and-smoked-salmon sushi (click on our FreeRangeClub video instructions for “Healthy Sushi” in the column to your left); or with a Chinese chicken salad accompanied by chocolate-dipped fortune cookies—decorated with the appropriate national colors. End your international week with a Yankee Doodle Friday featuring an almond butter and jam sandwich, baby carrots and an apple oatmeal bar.


• To score some brownie points with your young ones, include a yummy treat like apricot squares or banana bread in their lunch boxes. Mold them into funky shapes with the help of cookie-cutters. Williams-Sonoma has really cool ones. They come in shapes of sea critters, trains, planes, and some that please young fashionistas—such as stiletto-heeled shoes, designer sunglasses and even a tiara.

• Don’t forget that active kids need to be kept well hydrated. Choose healthy drinks by staying away from sodas, and keep them affordable by staying away from over-priced imported brands or flavored designer waters. Instead, keep tabs on, and pack the best quality, plain spring water you can find. Our research shows Whole Foods’ “365 Spring Water” as being one of the best choices—at this time. Make a refillable, leak-proof, GLASS bottle part of your kid’s lunchbox. Distilled H2O is fine, too, on condition that you doctor it with a knife-tip-worth sprinkling of organic electrolytes. Small, inexpensive packets of electrolyte powders in different fruit flavors are available at Whole Foods. For variety and snob appeal, infuse spring water with a splash of organic juice and let your status-conscious teenager have fun pretending it’s the designer favorite of a hot celebrity.

To help you think outside the lunchbox, here is a pizza salad with Italian vinaigrette. It gets an “A” in my cookbook.

Kid-Friendly Pizza Salad (preferably with organic ingredients)

1 Romaine heart, torn in bite-size pieces
1 Roma tomato, diced
Handful of black olives, pitted and sliced
Garlic whole-wheat croutons
2 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Italian sausage (chicken), cooked and sliced

Italian vinaigrette

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup of red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Salt and black pepper to taste

Whisk the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate in a covered container.

In a mixing bowl, toss the salad ingredients, except the croutons. Transfer to a lunchbox container. Put the croutons and dressing in separate containers. Add the dressing and croutons just before digging in.


If you’d like to chew the fat, talk turkey or beef about something, e-mail me directly to kitchenshrink@san.rr.com.

Your comments about this and other topics are, of course, always welcomed at dinatalk@gmail.com

HOW NOT TO BE A BUG BUFFET

By Catharine L. Kaufman --- a.k.a. The Kitchen Shrink

If you are mistaken for an all-you-can-eat buffet by every mosquito, gnat, flea, no-see-um or other flying, hopping, biting pest within a 100-yard radius, there is a good chance that something in your body chemistry tickles insects’ appetites.

As one who seems to be the bug world’s preferred vintage at its blood-tasting parties, I have long been the victim of itching and scratching, smelly lotions and toxic DEET-spiked insecticides.

Until the day I remembered something my Grandma used to say about ‘Nature’s bug-repellents,’ made me realize I had an entire arsenal of them right here in my kitchen. There they stood, lined up like soldiers on my crowded racks, shelves and counter-tops: scores of little jars and bottles filled with aromatic herbs and spices. I used them every day in the recipes I’ve been cooking up, testing and jotting down for my columns and books—recipes with which I’ve been taking my family, friends and readers on tasty culinary adventures.

What I had forgotten for a while was that each of my herbs and spices pulls multiple duties as nutritious food, medicinal folk-remedy, mouth-watering flavor-booster and, yes, powerful (yet toxin-free) insecticide. Ask any Grandma…

Take stock of the tasty weapons lurking in your kitchen and pantry. Use them as directed below and notice that the bloodthirsty menagerie of flying, hopping and crawling pests are staying away from body and home without the use of any polluting and poisonous insecticides. As you join the Battle of the Bites, you’ll soon get used to thinking of certain plants as external sentinels that send pests scurrying away from your doorstep and windows, and of others as edibles that change your body chemistry in subtle (or in the case of garlic, not so subtle) ways, and make you—forgive me—repulsive to bugs that have been sending you up the wall.

Let me start you off with the wondrous Basil. Grow a patch of this aromatic herb in a strip of well-prepared soil around your patio, window, door—or even in indoor planters positioned near those strategic points—to keep bugs out of your home. Both tasty and fragrant, basil is repulsive to mosquitoes, flies and ants. Rosemary is another hearty ally in the insect war. Plant a rosemary bush in your garden or throw some sprigs of it onto the grill at a cookout to keep flying pests away. Lavender, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme and Santolina growing in your garden or indoor pots will also be turn-offs to mosquitoes and gnats.

A pleasant way to infuse your body with an aromatic repellent is by brewing up a pot of mint and rosemary tea. Steep both leaves and stems in boiling water for several minutes and drink it hot or cool, but not iced or sweetened.

Coriander and Cilantro are distasteful to spider mites, while Mint will keep your picnics free of ants. Aphids don’t bite humans but kill flowers and other plants, unless you grow a protective circle of Catnip, Chives, Fennel, Garlic or Mustard herbs around them.

A potpourri blend of Vanilla beans, Bay leaves, Clove, Sassafras and Cedar shavings will keep pesky flyers out of your home. Place fist-sized cheesecloth bags filled with this mixture around windowsills and other vulnerable openings. Equally effective are baskets or bowls piled high with Eucalyptus leaves, when placed around the same strategic areas.

Have you noticed how attractive you are to mosquitoes after a good, sweaty workout? That’s because they just can’t resist your body’s carbon dioxide emission. Quick! Fake them out by lighting a candle nearby and watch them being lured away by the CO2-emitting flame.

Since the little buggers love lactic acid produced by the body after eating salty or potassium-rich foods, consume your pretzels, potato chips and bananas indoors, or during mid-day, when mosquitoes hide from the heat.

Protect your tender skin by taking daily doses of vitamin B-1 (Thiamine Hydrochloride), which secrets odors that are offensive to mosquitoes—though undetectable to humans and other animals (as far as we know). Since vitamin B-1 is water soluble, you cannot overdose on it, even as you systematically build it up in your body—something you should do purposefully before embarking on extended outdoor activities, such as hiking or camping.

Also, eat plenty of fresh garlic—a natural insect repellent—to ward off mosquitoes (not to mention vampires that might be lurking in the vicinity… or in your imagination). Substitute garlic capsules when close encounters of the romantic kind are on your agenda. Although the caps may not quite pack the insect repellent punch of fresh garlic, the tradeoff is that neither will it repel someone whose amorous intentions you would welcome.

By the way, garlic capsules are effectively used as blood-thinners and to lower blood pressure--both holistically, without any of the side effects their pharmaceutical counterparts have. Still, it is important to discuss such uses with your physician.

For topical repellents, splash apple cider vinegar on your skin, or rub it with crushed parsley or basil. Certain plant oils will also do the trick—Citronella, Lemon Eucalyptus, Cinnamon, Rosemary, Lemon Grass, Cedar, Peppermint, Clove and Tea Tree Oil are among the favorite skin-savers. In extreme situations (the Amazon jungle?), rubbing a few juicy cloves of garlic on all exposed body parts will send every creepy-crawly running for shelter.

While fragrant and endowed with calming and other healing attributes, oils extracted from lavender, pine, allspice and soybean plants seem to have only moderate effect on rendering people unappetizing to bugs. There is evidence, however, that rubbing one’s body with pure vanilla pods slit open to expose the beans, is a stronger alternative.
If you are looking for a unique fashion accessory that doubles as a bug repellent, wear a bandana rolled with crushed mint, basil or any herb combo tied around your neck or head.

As a “sweet-blooded bug-bait,’ I double-protect myself during mosquito season with both topical rubs and foods that chase the pests away. Here is one of my favorite anti-insect foods—a tomato, garlic, basil Bruschetta. You can also pile these toppings on garlic toast for a double dose of protection. It’s got quite a bite to it—not to mention a lethal breath. Not to panic: chewing a few sprigs of fresh parsley, or about 5-6 coffee beans will make your breath sweet again. If neither is available, look for the mint mouthwash. (No, chewing gum won’t do it.)

The Kitchen Shrink’s Killer Bruschetta
1 ½ cups of chopped ripe tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 fistful of fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

For the bread:
1 baguette (seeded or plain) sliced ¾ inch to 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Combine the topping ingredients in a medium glass bowl. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
In a fry pan on medium heat, sauté the garlic in the butter and oil. Brush the mixture on both sides of the bread and toast.
Arrange the hot toasted garlic rounds on a serving platter and top with the chilled tomato mixture. Serve immediately.