staybasic
sept/oct 2013 issue 04
Finding space for simplicity, family and food amidst the busyness of fall. a letter from mia We are still getting into the fall routine at my house — packing lunches, practicing instruments, going to bed earlier — all part of a bustling fall. This is the best time of year in New England for cooking and eating vegetables — I love it! In this issue, you will find ideas for school lunches and family dinners. And you will meet two women who have made businesses out of helping families plan nutritious meals and simplify all the shopping and cooking that goes with them. You will also meet two other amazing women who have insights into how we can make space in our lives for all the good food we want to feed our families and ourselves. As many of you know, all of the recipes at StayBasic are vegan and gluten-free. I believe that it is pretty easy to add things in — fish from the farmers market, or a treat from the bakery —but somehow in our busy world it has gotten increasingly harder to make simple, whole foods the go-to for meals and snacks. But the interesting thing is, as we truly get “back to basics” in my house, we have never eaten so much variety. Enjoy fall’s harvest and this issue of StayBasic!
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Questions or Comments? info@staybasic.com
Mia Moran Founder and Art Director
Article Submission Queries articles@staybasic.com
Kate Tirone Senior Writer and Editor CONTRIBUTORS Jennifer Goodman Simplicity Parenting Coach jen@simplicityparenting.com Laura Fuentes Chief MOM and CEO of MOMables www.momables.com Aviva Goldfarb Founder and CEO of the Six O’Clock Scramble www.thescramble.com Desha Peacock Author, Blogger, Coach www.thedeshashow.blogspot.com
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CONTENTS Beaches to Backpacks: Transitioning our families into autumn by Jennifer Goodman Look Forward to Lunch! with Laura Fuentes of MOMables All About Beans Family Dinners: Eating Better Together A conversation with Aviva Goldfarb of The Six O’Clock Scramble Roasting Veggies Your Sweet Spot Kitchen by Desha Peacock Happy Halloween Back to School Action Items for Mom
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Copyright Š Mia Moran, www.staybasic.com, 2013. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. If you are interested in highresolution versions of anything you see here, please contact mia(at)staybasic(dot)com.
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Beaches to Backpacks: Transitioning our families into autumn by Jennifer Goodman
It’s that time of year again – time to put away the beach gear and pick up the backpacks, trading the slow, long days of summer for a quicker pace. Some things we mourn, some we look forward to, but no doubt back-to-school is a big transition for both children and their support cast, us parents. As we gather our families together to begin the school year again, how can we hold onto the gems of summer while embracing the happy activity of autumn? The year has its rhythm, and even the animals outside our windows are moving faster, collecting nuts and seeds, building warm nests, and using the shortening days as efficiently as they can. And so it goes with us. Back to school, back to work, alarm clocks, homework, packing lunches, carpools, school supplies, parent meetings, and afterschool activities — all those moving parts! We, too, are compelled to gather speed and join the natural forces. But as we engage in our full lives, let’s make sure to save time for family and stay refreshed. Here are some ideas that may help the transition go a little more smoothly. staybasic sept/oct 2013
In the beginning, be a patient guide.
Make routines routine.
To make the shift to the fall schedule, be aware of the
Repetition can be freeing. When something has to be
intensity of all those transitions for children, and leave
done every day, think about it less, talk about it less,
extra time! Remember that faster doesn’t mean more
and just do it the same way every time. Train your
with kids, and you’ll often get into the car in less time
children to do things automatically. A great way to
if you slow down. Until they know what to expect at
achieve this is to tie what you want done, like a chore,
each step in the day, they rely on us to preview and be
to whatever repeatedly comes before it, like dishes
present. We are like their ambassadors in a new land.
after dinner, instrument practice after kitchen cleanup,
New teachers, new routines, new bedtimes, new class-
bedtime story and song after bath. This saves debate
mates, new expectations…. Wow! If they are resisting,
and precious brain activity, and leaves more time for
they are probably overwhelmed and need reassurance.
connection.
After a few weeks of out-the-door-in-the-morning, everyone will know what to expect, and the rough bumps will smooth over. But in the beginning, stay close and plan to do less.
Let the schedule breathe.
Save the summer gems.
Think “balance.” If you look at your electronic calendar
Pick one thing you loved to do with your kids over
and everything’s overlapping and there isn’t any white
the summer and work it into your week. You prob-
space, you’re in trouble. While the little white lines
ably won’t have as much time, but you can shoot for a
look like they’re waiting to be filled, please understand
scaled-down version of the things that meant the most
that if you let them guide you, eventually you will try
to you. Like if you really enjoyed those walks you took
to drive out of the garage forgetting to raise the garage
every night after dinner with the whole family, then
door, or end up feeding the family dry cereal and pick-
take a walk at least once a week. If you had a great
les for dinner. And if being crazy-busy does that to us
vegetable garden, then get the children involved in
parents, just imagine what it’s like to be an oversched-
planning the garden for next year, one package of
uled eight-year-old. After a long day at school with lots
seeds at a time. If you savored that time “just hanging”
of big people giving directions and homework still to
together, then put up a force field every so often and
come, ask yourself whether you’d really want to go to
just hang. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s
all of those afterschool activities? Even if an activity is
extravagant to spend time on the fun, little things that
fun in and of itself, do what your child’s brain is as yet
you enjoy together; it’s what makes your family your
incapable of, and think in terms of the whole picture
family.
of her day, her week, the activity level in her life, and figure out which activities are the most important focus. Seek to balance busy mornings with relaxed afternoons, stimulating days with quieter ones.
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Gather the family for dinner.
Let sports be fun.
We know it, everyone says family dinners work magic,
Not more work. Find a good balance of sports
and the cliché is true — they do. We are social
involvement in your house that lets everyone enjoy the
creatures, and sharing food together is our nature and
game rather than becoming another burden in the busy
our good fortune. This is a perfect time to be together
schedule. This might mean doing less or compromis-
as a family, without an agenda beyond nourishment
ing when your child comes up with a plan to play three
and pleasure, and the conversation that comes with
sports at once, and you know you can’t possibly drive
that is irreplaceable. How else will you get to hear
him everywhere without cloning yourself or hiring a
what Timmy said to your daughter when Alice tried to
driver. There’s enough work involved in their school and
throw a container of milk to James but James missed
your job, not to mention cleaning out the garage and
it and it exploded? Many gifts come of your children
doing laundry, without inviting more in the guise of a
knowing that you’re fully present, sharing their feel-
game. So make sure when your child’s out there on the
ings of satisfaction in a good meal, and that they can
playing field, there are smiles mixed in with the striving
count on the community of family at the end of the day.
– smiles that are reflected in you as well.
Get lots of sleep.
Celebrate successes!
Leave way more time for sleep than you are tempted
Notice what you’ve managed to create in your
to. Children need a solid 10-12 hours to feel good,
family life and don’t take it for granted. Have time in
perform well in school, be socially resilient, and grow.
the evening to play a game of cards with your son?
And yes, parents need sleep too. While it’s tempting to
Managed family dinner most nights in the week? Got
use those late-night hours when the rest of the house
out of the house on time with your children in the
is quiet to catch up on your to-do list, or just relax and
morning, laughing not yelling? Fit in a workout class
kick back, you know you’ll feel it in the morning when
for yourself and got a good night’s sleep? Nice going!
you’re responsible for the world again.
Find time to reflect on your choices and appreciate your heart-felt commitment and creativity. And remember, it’s not really about doing more or better; it’s about attuning your lives with what matters most and trusting in the nourishment that comes from that. Jennifer Goodman is a certified Waldorf Collaborative Counselor, Simplicity Parenting Coach, and Social Inclusion Coach. She works with children and families in the Boston Area, leading Simplicity Parenting Groups© and working with parents one-on-one to create sustainable change in their homes. Contact Jennifer for more information about her services.
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Look Forward to Lunch!
Advice from the founder of MOMables on how to solve the daily lunchbox challenge
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My Story Planning bagged lunches every day of the school year can get a bit tiring – and if you have picky eaters, it can at times feel overwhelming. Laura Fuentes, “Chief MOM and CEO” of MOMables, comes to the rescue with her easy, quick, low-cost menu plans and great tips for taking the work out of packing delicious, nutritious lunches. Are you wary of fake cheese and the questionable origins of pre-packaged lunchmeats? Are you worried that providing fresh, healthy lunches means you’ll be trapped in the kitchen? Put your mind to rest: the MOMables system provides hundreds of menu options, all fresh and healthy, designed to please even the pickiest little luncher – as well as prep tips, grocery lists, recipe cards, and weekly menus. Laura took time out of her busy schedule to tell us her story, share her thoughts on the importance of packing healthy school lunches, and offer helpful tips for moms as our kids begin another year of lunching – healthfully!
An insulated thermos with a wide mouth is easy for kids to eat out of and great for soups and leftovers!
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When you come to think about it, our kids eat at least one-third of their meals per day away from us. Depending on their age, that can include a midmorning snack, lunch and an afternoon snack. As a mom of three young kids (ages 7, 5, and 17 months), I worry about what goes in their lunch box. I want it to be nutritious, to serve as the fuel they need to stay focused, have the nutrition they need to grow healthy, and be easy to prepare – hey, I am a full time working mom who needs all the help she can get! Adding to the task, I have very picky eaters (and when I say picky, I mean really picky!); while my daughter would love to eat pizza for lunch, my son would opt for a cheese sandwich... every day! Of course, they need more variety than that, and I also want to make sure that they can eat a satisfying amount of food in their short lunch period. So much to think about! Making our daily meals used to feel overwhelming. I’ve always loved looking at recipes, but had rarely carried them through. When my oldest kids began school and I faced the dreaded task of packing lunches every single day, I realized it was my attitude that needed to change. I began seeing our meals for the possibilities that they could become, and I decided to sit down and create a plan. I immediately instituted “breakfast-for-dinner Thursdays” and “pizza-night Fridays.” Making food became fun – and because I wanted it to be enjoyable and efficient, I looked for ways to make it so. But that didn’t mean it was easy! It was a process, and an investment (that has paid off a hundredfold). I made a commitment to healthy meals for our family while also managing a busy household and working as a business professional. I used to think of all the stuff ahead on my schedule and wonder “how will I do it all?” But I did my research and taught myself how to make it easier along the way, learning a tip here and there, or developing my own techniques to make things simpler. Now, I not only enjoy a simple system for making healthy lunches, but I’m grateful I can share it with other families and know our kids are eating well and their moms are feeling good.
I am often asked, “How do you do it? How do you make your own bread, snacks, three meals per day that contain ‘real food’ and not from-the-box items, and yet are able to work full time, run a house and do all the extracurricular stuff with the kids?” The answer is: I prioritize. I make a plan and carry it out over the weekend. And if I can cook once and eat twice… that’s a win-win for me! When I make my own bread or baked goods, I don’t make just one batch – I make three or four. If I’m grilling chicken, I’m grilling for at least two or three lunches and dinners. If I’m making pancakes or waffles, I double or triple the batch to freeze so we have wholesome graband-go breakfasts available. It takes a little bit of planning and oftentimes creates a lot of dirty dishes, but it’s worth it for the time it frees up later. And I’m not always working alone! As young as my children are, they love to help – and I love to have their help, as I know they’re learning to enjoy making healthy food, and in their small but important way, helping to feed our family. Two years ago, I taught my seven year-old daughter how to use the waffle maker, and her job is to make sure they are cooked through (and don’t burn!); my five year-old son loves to man the pancake griddle.
Making Healthy School Lunches, Quickly and Easily Any successful routine depends on having a plan, and a successful plan depends on having the right tools to carry it out. The best tool you can use to create simple, healthy lunches is a plan. I can’t stress that enough – make a plan. When you purchase groceries, make sure everything on your list is allocated to a meal before you actually pay for it. I don’t purchase things because they are on sale (except trading apples for pears or peaches for grapes because they are in season).
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Another terrific tool is to have your own price list. I won’t drive across town to save fifty cents on a gallon of milk; instead, I divide my groceries into two or three stops and save a bundle. I know exactly what to purchase where and how much it will cost me. Another tool I use to streamline my time in the kitchen is to pack all of our lunches (for two adults and three kids) at night when my kitchen is at its messiest. Why make a mess in my kitchen in the morning while I am trying to get three kids dressed and ready to get out the door? The last thing I want to see when I get home from the office and picking up the kids from school is the mess from breakfast that no one was there to pick up! (Where are the cleanup elves when you need them?!) But I am human after all... so I absolutely dread packing lunches from time to time! There are many nights where my energy is just spent. Sitting on the sofa, reading a book to my kids, or going to bed early all seem a lot more appealing than packing lunches; but then I remind myself how I am not a morning person (at all!), and that packing five lunches in the morning when we all need to get out the door might not be the best idea. I basically give myself a little pep talk, and I’m always grateful the next morning that I followed through. Many moms ask me, “How do you deal with picky tastes? And how do you create enough variety if you’re packing lunch 365 days a year?” It’s simple: I save my kids’ “favorites” and the “emergency” turkey sandwich for those days that I don’t feel like packing, or if I’m traveling and dad needs easy lunches to throw in the lunch bags, or when I am low on groceries. The favorites and the go-to sandwich are the equivalent of an emergency fund, but for lunch! As far as variety, I’m fortunate that I don’t run out of ideas – I mean, I come up with recipes for a living! Getting around to implementing the ideas is what gets me in a rut sometimes, but I’ve found
The best tool you can have to create simple, healthy lunches is a plan. — Laura Fuentes, MOMables
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that following my own MOMables lunch plan gets me going every week. A simple tip to ensure some variety is to have a warm lunch once a week, like my “Thermos Thursdays.” A thermos is the single most useful lunchbox purchase you can make. Leftovers are no longer wasted and it also allows you to buy certain items in larger sizes (like broth or yogurt).
Start the Fall off Right! Many moms and dads find it challenging to transition from summer’s easy rhythm of eating according to how the day unfolds, to the start of the school year and packing a lunch everyday (among so many other changes to our schedules!). Or maybe you’re one of those parents who get into the spirit, packing lunches with joy in September, thinking up fun new ideas... then October comes, and the “back-to-school buzz” wears off! I have an easy fix: I pack lunches every day of the year. Yes, even during the summer. It keeps our routine consistent and my kitchen clean, and we all eat healthy meals. By doing that, I eliminate last minute out-to-eats and the drive-through – so it also saves us a lot of money. I always tell my friends to start packing lunches a week or two before everyone goes back to school. It’s a great way to get into the routine, try out new recipes, and test new lunchboxes (this is very important for little kids, so they know exactly how to open and close them at school).
Plan to Be Healthy – and Happy The last bit of advice I can give on keeping the family healthy (and keeping mom happy!) is to plan according to your values. Don’t settle for what’s easy (such as pre-packaged food) if it’s not what you want your kids to eat. If you want healthy meals and don’t want to be in the kitchen all day, know there is a way to do that, and commit to making it happen. The resources are out there for you, so take advantage of them. Like many parents these days, I have a very full (or sometimes overfull!) day – dropping the kids off at school or daycare before 8:00 a.m., working all day at the office, hitting the gym mid-day three to four times a week, picking up the kids, and making sure I’m present for my family when we’re all home. After the kids go to bed, it’s back to work (after packing our lunches of course!); I also work some weekends and travel each month from April through October – whew! It could all get to be a bit overwhelming, but having a plan, a routine, and teaching my kids what they should expect is what keeps me sane – and happy!
Laura Fuentes is the Founder/CEO of MOMables®, the first meal-planning service for healthy and fresh school lunches. Laura combined her passions for “family, good food, and a love-filled life” with her MBA-level business background to create her company for parents seeking healthier alternatives to packaged lunches. She has partnered with major brands to develop healthy recipes kids will actually eat, writes for numerous parenting sites, and writes a column for The Huffington Post called The School Lunch Project. Born in
We love EasyLunchboxes! Owner/Creator/Mom Kelly Lester has made a system of lunch tray and dipping containers that all fit into a very simple and functional lunchbox.
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Spain and raised on Tapas, she currently resides in what she calls “Southern Suburbia” along with her husband and three children.
A few steps you can take today to make homemade school lunches a happy reality
1 Do a waffle or pancake night for dinner and double the batch. Freeze and use for a quick breakfast or lunch during a busy week.
2 Make a larger-than-usual, family-sized meal during the week to yield leftovers for lunch. Warm up the leftovers in the morning and pack in a thermos.
3 Get creative with beans for dinner, cook an extra batch, and make quesadillas for lunch the next day! Assemble the quesadillas at night, but wait until the morning to grill them. After you grill (or toast in a toaster oven), let sit for five minutes to cool, then cut and pack into lunchboxes.
Leftover black beans with Daiya vegan cheese in a brown rice tortilla — served with grape tomatoes and kiwi.
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A sandwich alternative
MOMables Chickpea Tacos
We love MOMables Chickpea Tacos as an alternative to sandwiches! We followed the recipe here, but can also envision this shell as a great vessel for any leftover beans. Guacamole, salsa, cashew sour cream, Daiya vegan cheese, and shredded lettuce would also make great toppings. Depending on how long the lunch has to sit, you can pre-make the taco as pictured, or pack the shell and let the kids scoop up the toppings.
Ingredients
MOMtip: Sauté chickpeas at night and place in fridge. In the morning, quickly warm chickpeas, assemble tacos, and pack in lunch container. This is one taco that is delicious at room temperature!
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1 teaspoon Olive Oil 1 clove Garlic, minced (optional) 1 14oz can of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 ½ teaspoons of your favorite Taco Seasoning Mix 2 tablespoons Water 6 hard Taco Shells or medium-sized Tortillas ¼ cup shredded Cheddar Cheese 1/ cup Guacamole (1 Avocado mashed + 2 tablespoons Salsa) 3 Chopped Cilantro (optional)
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Directions In a small bowl, combine taco seasoning and water. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once simmering, add the garlic and brown 1-2 minutes (careful not to burn garlic). Pour in chickpeas and taco seasoning liquid, and stir to combine. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until chickpeas are heated through and some of the water is evaporated, 2-3 minutes. Assemble tacos, top with shredded cheddar, guacamole and chopped cilantro.
Dip for Lunch
MOMables White Bean Dip
Hummus or the MOMables White Bean Dip are great items to build lunch around. Here the white bean dip is paired with veggies, cheezy” kale chips and strawberries.
Ingredients 1 15oz can Cannelloni Beans, drained and rinsed 1 clove Garlic ¼ cup fresh Parsley, loosely packed 2 tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin ¼ teaspoon Salt ¼ teaspoon Pepper Veggies for dipping
Cucumbers, grape tomatoes, snap peas, and celery also make great dipping veggies. Sweet potato chips, brown rice crackers, or plantain chips would work in place of kale chips.
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Directions Place the beans, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Pulse a few more times until you achieve the puréed consistency you desire. Transfer to a small bowl.
A warming lunch
StayBasic Zucchini Muffins
Laura reminds us what a valuable tool the thermos is for leftovers! And sometimes a cool fall day just needs some soup. Squash Soup and Miso Veggie Soba Noodle Soup are two of our favorites at StayBasic. And soup also always feels like a good opportunity to include baked goods!
Ingredients
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½ cup Buckwheat Flour ½ cup Brown Rice Four ½ cup Amaranth Flour ½ teaspoon Baking Soda ½ teaspoon Salt ½ teaspoon Cinnamon ½ cup Maple Syrup ½ cup Apple Sauce 1 cup Zucchini, grated ½ cup Coconut Oil 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar 2 teaspoons Vanilla ½ cup Vegan Chocolate Chips
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Directions In a small mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Put zucchini between paper towels to dry In a large mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients, including zucchini. Coconut oil needs to be warmed to its liquid state. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips, and scoop into greased muffin tin or reusable silicone muffin cups lined up on cookie sheet.
I’ve passed this tip along for years now, so I have a firm confirmation that it works. If you want your child to try a new food (or food group), you need to have them try it at least eight times. We tend to give up too soon, setting up a detour around all forms and varieties of lettuce, say, or beans, after just one frowny-face reaction. What I’ve noticed is that you start with a small quantity (let’s use broccoli as an example) and offer it with butter and salt. You’ll want to offer it again — at least seven more times, however you want to prepare it — while decreasing and eliminating the salt. The flavor comes through as the salt decreases. The process is gradual enough to almost – almost – guarantee acceptance: eight tries and they have food for life. Kim John Payne, M.Ed., Simplicity Parenting staybasic sept/oct 2013
all about
beans rinse, soak, sprout
It’s really easy to reach for a can of beans, but it is just as easy to rinse, soak, sprout, cook and enjoy the benefits of fresh dried beans. It just takes a little planning.
All beans need to be rinsed and sorted to ensure you remove the few pebbles or bad beans missed in packaging. Just put the dry beans into a colander and run them under water, then gently run your fingers through them and remove anything that looks like a pebble or bad bean. Lentils do not need to be soaked unless you want to sprout them (making them easier to digest), in which case you may soak them for 20 minutes. All other beans need to be soaked overnight.
Once beans have been soaked, return them to a colander and let them sit for a few hours. When they sprout small tails, they are ready for cooking.
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cook
plan
If you are using dried beans instead of canned to make a dip, a salad, or even for an ingredient in cake, cook them in plain water. Two cups of cooked beans equals approximately one 14 oz. can.
Soaking and cooking beans on the weekend is a great way to ensure that you have something healthy and hearty on hand during the week. If you make them plain, you have the flexibility to add them to salads or soups, make a dip, or bake a cake during the week.
A simple and delicious way to make beans the main meal is to sauté an onion in olive oil; after five minutes add a diced tomato. Once this mixture is cooked (it will turn a deep orange color), add beans, water (or vegetable broth) to cover, cumin, and a pinch of salt. Lentils are very quick to cook; other beans can take up to two hours in a pot. Pressure cookers cook beans in about 12 minutes and use less water or broth than a pot.
Making beans may take some time, but you don’t have to stand over the pot, so you can read with your kids, make dinner, or check email while beans are cooking. In New Orleans, Red Beans and Rice is a Monday tradition because at one time that was wash day. If you plan your meals, you can also plan for a variety of beans.
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1. Heirloom Soldier Beans 2. Green Lentils 3. Kidney Beans 4. Black Beans 5. Chickpeas 6. French Lentils 7. Navy Beans 8. Yellow Lentils 9. Pinto Beans
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Family Dinners: Eating Better, Together A conversation with Aviva Goldfarb of The Six O’Clock Scramble
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Aviva Goldfarb is founder and CEO of the family dinner planning site, the Six O’Clock Scramble. Her latest cookbook, SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue: Earth Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Meals for Busy Families, was named one of the best cookbooks of 2010 by the Washington Post. As a Family Dinner Expert, Aviva is frequently featured in national parenting, lifestyle and health magazines, as well as on TV and radio shows, including the Today Show. Her foolproof meal planning system has helped tens of thousands of families eat healthier with less stress and waste. Aviva and I talked recently about the importance of family dinners, dealing with picky eaters, and how cooking at home saves time and money, even for the busiest moms. MIA: Lots of parents want to make dinner easier, healthier, just less hectic – you teach all of this through your website, The Six O’Clock Scramble, but your main focus is on bringing back the “family dinner.” What does that mean and why is it important? AVIVA: When I was growing up, dinner was the center point of our day. Looking back, a lot of my favorite memories took place around the dinner table. So I knew that when I started my own family, I wanted family dinners to be part of our life as well. I think that family dinners are one of the only times in my life growing up – and now in my life as a parent of teenagers – that we are all in the same place, disconnected from technology and connected with each other, making eye contact and having real, deeper conversations instead of just flying past each other in the course of the day. MIA: It’s obvious with the popularity of your website, your TV appearances, articles and interviews, parents out there want to bring the family dinner into their lives too. We know that it gives us one moment in our crazy schedules to just sit and connect with each other; what are some of the other benefits?
* see studies on the benefits of family dinners
AVIVA: Studies* show numerous and significant benefits: kids that eat dinner more often with their families do better in school, they are healthier physically and emotionally, they have better relationships with their parents, and they are less likely to get involved with risky behaviors at an early age. And it goes on... kids are less likely to be overweight, they eat more vegetables, and they report just being happier. What’s also interesting is that kids want more family dinners. This isn’t something we’re imposing on them. As they get older, they wish their family did it more often. MIA: I hear parents say that they find it hard to transition from summer into the school year, including getting everyone to sit down at the same time for an evening meal. Any advice? AVIVA: Well let me first say – even I fall out of my rhythm! As with summertime, sometimes it happens and it’s nice; the schedule is more casual, we’re eating more dinners by the community pool, or having picnics, or eating with friends more often... but then as it gets back to the hectic schedule of fall and school, suddenly it
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The most important thing is to plan ahead for a few meals before you shop, in conjunction with your calendar.
becomes chaos. To prepare for that, what I encourage and teach people how to do is to plan ahead. The most important thing is to plan ahead for a few meals before you shop, in conjunction with your calendar. If you can look at the upcoming week and see how many dinners you’ll be home for, then you’ll know how many to plan for. And I highly recommend keeping a grocery list for the store – one that you can also keep handy in your kitchen during the week so that anyone in the family can add to it when something needs to be replenished. That way you will save all those extra trips to the store; you can get everything in one big trip. Everyone has their schedules that work best for them, but if you’re a dual-working household it makes sense to get your big trip in on the weekend and have all the ingredients you need for at least a few meals during the week. And you might even want to double a couple of meals and freeze some for those nights in the future that are really hectic, or buy something that you know is somewhat healthy that your family will eat for those evenings that don’t go as planned. So that you just have things on hand, and you don’t have to end up ordering take out or going to the drive-through – you have enough in your refrigerator to get you through the week. Then by the end of the week, hopefully you’ve used up almost everything you bought because you shopped with a plan, and you’re ready to do it all again. Consequently, you’re wasting much less food, and much less time, and you’re not pulling your hair out every day trying to figure out what to make for dinner. For some families it totally works to just plan a couple of the same things every week – that’s what they buy and that’s what they eat, so they do bean and veggie tacos for Taco Tuesdays, make homemade pizzas on Fridays... I always tell people, if what you’re doing works for you and you feel good about it and everyone’s happy, then don’t change anything. But if you’re feeling cruddy about what you’re serving your family, or how this evening time is going, then there’s definitely a better way. MIA: So what’s the flip side of the “family dinner” – what are families who aren’t having sit-down dinners doing? Is it a lot of fast food or take-out? AVIVA: It really depends. A lot of it is haphazard – we’re just going to pull prepackaged stuff out of the freezer, we’re going to eat cereal, eggs – I mean we all have those nights, there’s nothing wrong with that. But what happens is they’re doing that, and then maybe they’re ordering a pizza one night and they’re stopping at a fast-food joint another night... It gets really expensive and you’re eating way too much sodium, unhealthy additives, and who knows what else when you do that. MIA: Well I feel pretty good about what I feed our family, but I have to admit, when I say “family dinners” out loud, I feel like a bit of a fraud! Our family has always sat down together for all our weekend meals, but during the week my husband’s work schedule often keeps him too late to join us for dinner most nights – although this year he made a commitment to join us for dinner at home at least once during the work week, no matter what.
staybasic sept/oct 2013
Crispy Tofu Triangles with Fried Rice printable recipe Âť
staybasic sept/oct 2013
AVIVA: That’s still family dinner, and doing that a few times a week is great. Of course work or other obligations can get in the way, but it’s more important that whoever is home is sitting down together. It’s about the rhythm – connecting, being present with each other, taking that time together each night. Many families fall into this pattern that the kids eat first because they’re hungry and can’t wait, and then the parents eat later, and then you don’t have that togetherness time. So I think there are adjustments we can make to ensure that we’re sitting down together more often. Because kids eat better when we do that, and we have that connection time. MIA: We know connecting over a meal enhances our connection to the food, too. I grew up with family dinners but not with cooking food myself, so being a chef has been a new journey for me in the past 10 years since the kids were born. Did you know how to cook going into this? AVIVA: I knew how to cook a little, not a lot. Sometimes you don’t know how to cook until it becomes a daily habit. I knew how to cook some things, but when I started making dinner for my family I didn’t realize how incredibly difficult it was going to be – all the challenges of getting dinner on the table: figuring out what to make, having it come out well, making something that my kids would actually eat and was healthy – my mom had made it look so simple! She was a calm person and had such a good system for making it all happen, so I was completely floored by how difficult it was. I’ve been making our family dinners for over 15 years now and I follow the principles I teach on my website, but I started at the beginning just like everyone else. MIA: Do your kids help with cooking dinner? AVIVA: They help with clean-up and they set the table, but generally at this age they have so much homework and so many activities that they don’t help cook on a normal day. But both my kids like to cook, although they like to do it more independently. Just yesterday my daughter invented an awesome new healthy dessert, Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pops, and my son made himself nachos. They are comfortable enough in the kitchen that they can do their own thing now; they don’t necessarily want to be my assistants unless I really need them. But kids don’t have to participate in making dinner to learn about food or cooking. I do know a family whose teenage children cook some meals during the week – in other families, the kids help pick the dinner, make the dinner, present the dinner to the family, tell everyone what it is, where it’s from. So you can really make a whole project – for example, focus on a different country one night each week; there’s a lot you can do to get your kids involved with dinner. But if you have little ones, or teens like mine who are really busy with school and activities, even just having them come and smell and taste what you’re making can engage them and be a teaching moment. If my kids are passing by I’ll always say, “Taste this, let me know if you think it needs anything,” or at dinner we’ll say, “What do you think is in this?” So it’s important to just get them involved in the process and the love of food, and also the shopping, gardening and anything else related to eating well, because these are all skills they’re going to need through their whole lives too.
staybasic sept/oct 2013
MIA: Yes – and when they learn about grocery shopping and cooking, they’re less likely to think mom just magically makes dinner appear on the table every night! Are there ever days when you dread making dinner? AVIVA: Oh yeah! Absolutely! Sometimes it’s just so exhausting. But then, when I really dread it is when I don’t have a plan. When I know I have a plan, then I know I can pull it off. And when I don’t have a plan, and I know I need to get home and see what we have, what we’re missing, and figure out what I can pull together – that’s really stressful. The other thing that works for a lot of people, and what works for me sometimes, is to use a slow-cooker so you can get all the prep done in the morning, then come home after a long carpooling night and it’s all basically done. So I use my own system, and when I don’t use my own system, I get really stressed out. MIA: You mentioned to me earlier that your kids were picky eaters. How did you balance giving them variety, but making sure they were eating nutritiously, when they refused to even eat certain things? I hear a lot of parents say, after battling with a stubborn eater, “we’ll just give them mac ‘n’ cheese.” AVIVA: It’s easy to do that in the short term, but it’s not so great in the long-term. I have talked to a lot of parents about how they deal with this, so I got a lot of good ideas from them that I put into practice in my home. What I said to my kids was, “Breakfast and lunch are your choice, within reason, and dinner is my choice – or you’re welcome to help me with those choices and help me plan the meals, but that’s something we’re going to eat together. And everybody will try what I’m making; it may not be your favorite food, but you can put in your request for next week.” If I try to make it everybody’s favorite every night then we’re not going to be able to eat anything, because we have wildly divergent tastes – my daughter’s a vegetarian and my son would love to eat burgers every day! So you have to find something that works for all of you. And maybe that means not everybody’s going to eat everything on the table, but I think we pigeonhole our kids when we say, “She only likes pasta and carrots but nothing green” – because if we keep feeding them those things, of course their taste buds aren’t going to expand.
Studies have shown that the more times kids are exposed to a food and try it, the more likely they are to accept it. So rather than saying “My kid doesn’t like X,” another way to approach it is to say, “Well you were brave to try it, taste buds mature as you get older, so maybe next time you’ll like it” – so you leave that window open for them for next time. If it’s really driving you crazy, make a list of all the healthy foods your kids will eat, because sometimes you feel like they’ll only eat five things. And every time they eat a new food without saying “yuck”, you make big fanfare about adding it to the list so you’ll see how things are progressing. MIA: Snacks are another big one in our house. My kids will eat anything for dinner if they haven’t been snacking.
staybasic sept/oct 2013
Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Toasted Cashews and Dried Cranberries printable recipe Âť
staybasic sept/oct 2013
AVIVA: That’s another thing. For a lot of families it works to cut off all snacking two hours before dinner so they’re actually hungry when they come to the table. MIA: Good tip for parents wondering why their kids aren’t as eager for dinner as for breakfast! You have a lot of great shopping and planning tips on your blog, too – what are some of the most important ones?
Plan your meals seasonally; things are going to be a lot more flavorful and less expensive.
AVIVA: The main tip, as I mentioned before, is to plan ahead. A couple others: When you’re planning meals for the week using The Six O’Clock Scramble or other resources, look first and see what you have in your fridge that needs to be finished up, and incorporate those items into your plans so you don’t end up wasting food. In this country we waste 20-50% of the food we produce, ship and buy – that’s money we’re just burning. It’s also not good for environmental resources. You’ll save money and waste a lot less food by incorporating what you already have into your plan, and by planning ahead every week – and planning only has to take 15-20 minutes each week. I also think it’s important when planning to think about how many nights you’ll actually be home for family dinner – you might plan for five meals, then look at your calendar and say, “Whoops! No one will be home two nights this week.” I also tell people to plan for one less meal than they’ll be home for, because we have those nights that don’t go as planned and we end up doing scrambled eggs for dinner, or it gives you a night to finish up odds and ends and leftovers that you can stretch out into one more meal.
Another tip is to plan your meals seasonally; things are going to be a lot more flavorful and less expensive. I do this for my readers on The Six O’Clock Scramble – for example, we have menus and recipes in the fall months that use sweet potatoes and apples. Sometimes it works really well if you’re at all creative and food-oriented to go to the farmers market and see what’s fresh and available and use that in your main dishes, side dishes and snacks. MIA: I’m a huge fan of the farmers market, but I’ve found there’s a perception out there that making meals from scratch using fresh produce and whole ingredients costs more. And along with that, many people seem to think making meals at home every night is expensive. But the reality is, making meals from scratch is not only healthier, it saves money. AVIVA: Well let’s start with what really costs you – the most expensive way to eat is to go out to dinner. You almost can’t make a gourmet meal at home that costs more than you’ll spend taking your family out to eat. Another expensive way to eat is to throw away a lot of food because you never got around to using it. Right there you could be deducting 20-30% from your food bill – because you’re just throwing that food away. I find when I do calculations for the recipes that I make for my family – and I’m not making coq au vin or duck a l’orange! – rarely does a meal cost more than $20 for the whole family, and usually it could easily be less than $10 for the whole family for a full meal. When you buy fresh, seasonal ingredients and use what you buy, you eat healthier and you save money. You can shop around your farmers markets to get the best prices, and even try different farmers markets if you have
staybasic sept/oct 2013
that luxury – and sure, sometimes it can be more expensive to shop at the farmers markets, but if you plan, and you don’t buy more than you need, it’s usually not. And besides benefiting your own family, you’re also supporting your local farms and farmers.
I think the more you can step back and look at the day and the week ahead, the more time you’ll save and the less chaos you’ll feel.
Cooking at home is a great way to save money. Especially a lot of the recipes that I use, because not only are they seasonal but a lot of them are also meatless – so if you’re making more meatless meals you’re definitely spending less money on food, even if you’re using lots of beautiful, fresh vegetables. I also think using frozen vegetables is a great alternative to save money and time. They’re absolutely as healthy as fresh because they’re picked at their peak of freshness, immediately frozen, and from everything I’ve read, the nutrition is completely intact. We eat a lot of beans in our family, and another great tip I learned recently was to make everything from chickpeas to pinto beans in a slow cooker. Huge money saver! And you can divide batches into can-size portions and freeze them. So there are ways to shave dollars off your food bill, but the best way to save money is to cook for your family, use less meat, and eat seasonally – and most importantly, plan your meals so you’re not wasting food. MIA: I agree that planning is key to saving money and time, and to keeping moms on track toward the end of each day. Tell us a little about your day as a working mom, balancing eating well yourself, feeding your family nutritious meals, and managing your busy schedule. AVIVA: I do find that the more I can have a plan, the less stressful and chaotic things get. I don’t like to have a lot of chaos around me, and I know a lot of people feel that way. If you make a plan then you can really spend more time on things that are important to you, like playing or reading with your kids, seeing your friends, reading, exercising, whatever it may be. I always have a plan of how things will go, and we keep a pretty tight calendar and to-do list, leaving a wiggle room for fun and spontaneity.
I have teenagers, so when my kids go to school, I exercise (which I combine with walking our dogs and seeing friends) in the morning, then I work pretty much all day while they’re in school, and I try to be available when they get home. They’ll come home and make themselves a healthy snack, and I’ll usually have a snack with them, then I’ll drive somebody’s carpool or do whatever needs to happen. Almost always at six o’clock on the dot I’m making dinner and listening to Marketplace on NPR! Sometimes I start a little later, but six o’clock is my time to turn my attention to family stuff and dinner. We eat dinner at 7:00 p.m. when my husband comes home, and we all eat together and talk about our day. Lately we’ve been doing SAT words, flashcards, at dinner – it sounds tedious but it’s actually really fun! Even my husband and I try to define the words and review them... so our vocabulary is expanding during dinner these days. And then the kids help us clean up after dinner, and then finish their homework or whatever they need to do, and my husband and I finish up our own work or do whatever is in our plan.
staybasic sept/oct 2013
Warm Garden Wraps with Corn and Sweet Potatoes printable recipe Âť
staybasic sept/oct 2013
That’s the general framework – but as we know, a lot of times things get much more chaotic than that! So it doesn’t always work out that way, but I think the key is being conscious of your calendar. If I know I’m not getting home until till 7:00 p.m., maybe driving my daughter’s soccer carpool, that’s a great day to use the slow-cooker and the bread machine or rice cooker. So I think the more you can step back and look at the day and the week ahead, the more time you’ll save and the less chaos you’ll feel. MIA: Bringing the family together over the evening meal is a good starting place for everyone to appreciate how food and family nourish us. Even if we didn’t grow up cooking dinner or even eating together, your website makes it really easy for busy parents to bring this wonderful ritual into their homes. Which is why I’m so excited about your September initiative! Tell us about the “Family Dinner Challenge.”
sign-up for the challenge now!
AVIVA: This summer marks the 10-year anniversary of The Six O’Clock Scramble, and to celebrate, I wanted to do something meaningful and big. My passion is getting families to make family dinner a priority, and to help make it less stressful for them so they can really enjoy that time connecting with each other. So to get more people involved in having family dinners, and make it easy and fun, we came up with this idea to do a Family Dinner Challenge. We are inviting 10,000 people to sign up by the end of September and commit to having dinner with their families at least three times a week for four weeks. We kept it simple and really easy and really doable for people: signing up is totally free, no obligation, and parents get everything they need – menus, recipes, grocery lists, lots of helpful tips – and they also get a simple chart to keep track of how many dinners they eat together. They start whenever they sign up, and anyone can sign up until September 30. When they complete the chart and send it to us, they’re eligible for amazing prizes, like a Vitamix, a Cuisinart, a Le Creuset Dutch Oven, a Zojirushi Rice Cooker, a set of Easy Lunch Boxes, or a membership to Fast Fitness to Go. Studies show that keeping engaged in an activity regularly over about a month encourages developing a habit that will really stick. And family dinners are a wonderful habit that nourishes everyone at the table. I’m really excited to see the sign-up list growing every day, knowing that means all those families are connecting over a few dinners at least a week. MIA: I love it. Aviva, thank you for taking time to meet and give us so much great information on how to bring “family dinners” into our homes. I’m excited to hear from StayBasic readers who sign up for your Challenge, whether they’re new to family dinners, or just making a commitment to enjoy more of them. My family signed up too!
Aviva shared some of her recipes with us that we are excited to share with you! We love Six O’Clock Scramble recipes because they are veggie-heavy and have gluten-free options. Please note, for the purpose of this publication we have removed some of the alternative ingredients, anecdotes, and nutritional information that you would receive with original Six O’Clock Scramble recipes. Jump to recipes »
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kids and teens who share family dinners three or more times per week: >
Are less likely to be overweight
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Are more likely to eat healthy food
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Perform better academically
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Are less likely to engage in risky behaviors (drugs, alcohol, sexual activity)
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Have better relationships with their parents
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
staybasic sept/oct 2013
The shared meal is no small thing. It is a foundation of family life, the place where our children learn the art of conversation and aquire the habits of civilization: sharing, listening, taking turns, navigating differences, arguing without offending. Michael Pollan, Cooked
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roasting veggies
staybasic sept/oct 2013
staybasic sept/oct 2013
roasting veggies keeps the house warm on a chilly day
can be prepared in advance chop in the morning, roast in the evening
wash and prep with children simply seasoned with salt, olive oil and herbs can be a variety of vegetables and combos
tomatoes with oregano sweet potato, beets, carrots and thyme sweet potatoes with just salt and olive oil white potato, onion, fennel, red pepper and basil
broccoli and cauliflower kale for a quick roasted snack
any root vegetable you are not sure what to do with fills the house with a sweet aroma while mom plays Candyland with the kids set the oven to 350 and check every 15 minutes til tender staybasic sept/oct 2013
Creating Your Sweet Spot Kitchen by Desha Peacock staybasic sept/oct 2013
I once asked my friend, chef Aida Robana of Om Sweet Mama, how she creates such amazing food. She’s the only person I know who can walk into my empty kitchen and create something fabulous and delicious in no time. She said while fresh ingredients help, the big secret is to infuse love into the process. This was a new concept for me; I grew up in a home where my mother was usually fatigued and exhausted by the time dinner hit the table, and I do believe I’ve followed suit. We are in the middle of remodeling our kitchen and it’s caused me to think more about what Aida said. I’ve realized that if home is where the heart is, the kitchen is where the soul is – and right now, the soul of our home is in limbo. We have plastic sheets hanging where the doors were, and our fridge is in the dining room along with our one little electric hot plate, a toaster oven and microwave. But to use one of those appliances, I have to unplug everything else from the power cord so the whole thing doesn’t go up in smoke (and we have a nasty history with smoke and fire – in fact, it’s the whole reason for the kitchen remodel!). Last night I thought I’d make a simple dinner of pasta and chicken. I could use the one hot plate to boil water for the pasta, drain it and then mix the sauce into the same pan. I thought I was being smart by using the grill for the chicken (less unplugging!) except for the minor detail that the grill was on the back porch and in order to get there, I had to go through my front door, around the perimeter of my home, through the back gate and finally to the grill on the back porch. People talk about arranging a kitchen in a triangle so you can quickly get from one appliance to another – kind of like a dance, twirling around from one to the other in a graceful fashion. But instead of a graceful dance, it felt more like a laborious hike through the Andes! And of course I’d get to one place or the other and realize I didn’t bring a spatula, or seasonings. On the race between my two stations, my husband stopped to ask if we’d have vegetables, to which I screamed, “are you INSANE, no WAY!” By the time I delivered the burnt chicken and soggy pasta to the table, I warned my family, “do not say ANYTHING, just eat.” But hubby didn’t quite pick up on the fury of my tone and had to ask, “What is this seasoned with?” At that moment I realized I wasn’t infusing love into my food, more like pure frustration. And it showed. The thing is, we are humans and need to eat, which means we are going to be in the kitchen several times a day at least – and so isn’t it worth it to try and make it a nice, pleasant experience? Even though my current circumstances are extreme with the kitchen remodel, I have to admit that the kitchen hasn’t always emitted sweet vibes for me (my hubby described walking into our kitchen as “chaotic”, even before the remodel). ...That’s not good! I’m currently writing a book on how to creatively express yourself and live in your Sweet Spot in the home, and although loving my time in the kitchen has been a challenge for me in the past, I have learned a lot from friends, and from my own research and experimentation, about how to make that time more organized, peaceful, and enjoyable.
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Here are my top five tips for creating your own Sweet Spot kitchen: Get organized. For example, are there things you are always looking for, such as your keys? Pick ONE spot in your home and ALWAYS put your keys there. Using the same practice in the kitchen really does reduce frustration. Try organizing “stations” by keeping your pots, pans, knives and cutting boards in one area. Baking supplies such as rolling pins, cookies cutters and wax paper can all go in a separate spot. Keep clutter to a minimum by only keeping supplies you use daily within reach. This will make it easier to spot what you need when you need it. What’s for dinner? Keeping a well-stocked pantry will avoid that crazy feeling you get when you are starving and can’t think straight. My go-to meal is tacos. They are easy, relatively healthy, and we all like them. So I always have tortillas, black refried beans, cheese, salsa and avocado on hand. I also keep a Menu Book that contains a weekly list of recipes. I can turn to Week 4, for example, and quickly make my grocery list. If it’s my husband’s turn to cook, I can tell him to pick something from Week 4 in the Menu Book knowing we have all the ingredients for any dish for that week. Use the right tools. Treat yourself to the proper tools such as good oldfashioned and hard-working cast iron pans, sharp knives and beautiful accessories such as linen hand towels or hot pads in a fabric that makes you smile. You can almost always find these in the sale bins at Anthropologie, or look for pretty, inexpensive linen vintage towels at your local thrift shop. Music makes everything better. Put on your favorite tunes or podcast, perhaps while the kids are napping or playing outside, so that instead of seeing your time in the kitchen as a stolen moment, you can enjoy being present and make it fun. Enjoy yourself! Don’t wait to have your dream kitchen to enjoy being in the space; make the most of what you’ve got. Before the remodel, my kitchen wasn’t functional but I made sure it was at least pretty. I painted it a cheery light color, added inexpensive floating shelves from Ikea to display my favorite teacups and dishes, and added a fun, vintage enamel table that doubled as a place to prep and eat. And don’t forget to add love into the mix, it really does make a difference! Local TV Show Host, Author & LifeStylist Desha Peacock is currently writing her first book, Sweet Spot Style: Creating the Style You Crave on a Budget You Can Afford. Look for it in June 2014.
staybasic sept/oct 2013
StayBasic’s Sweet Spot Kitchen Tools
The Vitamix has a permanent place on the counter. Every time I walk into my kitchen, I know that a delicious, healthy green smoothie is seconds away!
Silicone Baking Cups make baking double batches of cupcakes feel so much easier, and they take up virtually no space. They are also great for making compartments in lunchboxes!
Le Creuset cast iron pots make cooking soups and stews feel like a luxury. And the Kuhn Rikon Pressure Cooker saves so much time with beans and soups, it is almost unbelieveable.
Pyrex storage containers make cooking ahead and storing leftovers a breeze, and you can use them for roasting and baking too!
Grandma’s antique tea cups that are close to your heart are worth saving; junky plates that you have not used in four years are not. Don’t only switch out the new for the old, but become good at figuring out what you actually use and want vs. what you fear letting go.
A beautiful fruit bowl puts your fresh fruit right on your countertop for both you and your family to grab when you are feeling hungry... So much fresher than pulling snacks from the pantry!
staybasic sept/oct 2013
Celebrate Halloween homemade and sugar-free! Green Monster Smoothies Ghostly White Popcorn Chocolate Zucchini Muffins Homemade Fruit Leather
staybasic sept/oct 2013
staybasic sept/oct 2013
Fruit Leather can be made by making a simple fruit smoothie with water as the liquid —try blueberries and banana, peaches and apple, apricot and dates. Pour the smoothie on a dehydrator tray lined in Teflex and smooth with a rubber spatula. You should have a somewhat even surface that is about an 1/8” thick. Dehydrate at 110° over night. Cut in strips and decorate festively for halloween!
Homemade Chocolate Candy made of whole foods and without processed sugar Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Candied Nuts
Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Cashews and Dried Cranberries from The Six O’Clock Scramble ingredients for main dish
directions
1 cup Quinoa, preferably red 1/2 to 1 Lemon, juice only, 1/4 cup 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 6 oz Baby Spinach, about 6 cups, sliced into thin strips 1/3 cup Scallion, dark and light green parts, thinly sliced (about 4 scallions) 1/2 cup Fresh Mint Leaves, chopped 1/4 cup Fresh Dill, finely chopped, or use 1 tsp Dried Dill 1 cup Cashews, lightly toasted, coarsely chopped, or use toasted Pumpkin Seeds for a nut-free alternative 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
Cook the quinoa according to package directions (this can be done up to 2 days in advance). In a measuring cup or medium bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, and dried dill, if using it (if using fresh dill, add it with the remaining salad ingredients). In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, except the cheese. Stir in the cooked quinoa and the dressing. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Serve it immediately or refrigerate it for up to 3 days.
do ahead or delegate Prep + Cook: 25 minutes Number of Servings: 6
Cook the quinoa, prepare the dressing, slice the spinach and the scallions, toast and chop the cashews. Flavor Booster: Add 1 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar to the salad dressing. Tip: You can toast cashews in a toaster or conventional oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spread the cashews on a baking sheet. Bake them for 10-15 minutes or until they are golden brown, stirring occasionally. For a quicker method, use the stovetop. Just spread the nuts evenly in a skillet and heat them over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until golden and fragrant. Make sure to stir or shake the nuts while cooking them to keep them from burning.
staybasic sept/oct 2013
Warm Garden Wraps with Corn and Sweet Potatoes from The Six O’Clock Scramble ingredients for main dish 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 medium Sweet Potato, diced into 1/4-inch pieces (about 2 cups total) 1 small Yellow Onion (preferably a sweet Vidalia Onion), diced into 1/4-inch pieces 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1 cup total) 4 ears Corn, kernels cut off (1 1/2 to 2 cups total) or 15 oz unsweetened Corn Kernels 1 tsp ground Cumin 1/2 tsp Chili Powder 1/2 cup Vegetable Broth 15 oz Black or Pinto Beans 1/4 tsp Salt (optional) 8 Gluten-free Brown Rice wraps 1 cup Salsa, for serving (optional) 1 cup Cashew Sour Cream, for serving (optional)
staybasic’s cashew sour cream Soak 1 cup of cashews for 1 to 2 hours. Blend cashews with 1/4 cup water, a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of onion. Pour the yogurt-textured cream into a bowl, and mix in a handful of chopped chives.
Prep + Cook: 30 minutes Number of Servings: 8
staybasic sept/oct 2013
directions In a large heavy skillet, melt the butter or heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sweet potatoes and onions and brown them, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. Add the bell peppers, corn, cumin and chili powder and continue to cook it for about 5 minutes. If the mixture starts to dry out or stick to the pot, add the broth or water. Add the cooked beans and salt (optional) and cook, stirring gently, until it is heated through. (At this point you can refrigerate the filling for up to 24 hours or serve it immediately.) Put a scoop of the vegetable mixture onto the center of a wrap, and top it with salsa and/or sour cream, if desired. Fold one side of the wrap up about an inch to catch drips, and then roll it up burrito style. Slow Cooker Directions: Add the oil, sweet potatoes, onions, bell peppers, corn, beans, 1/4 cup broth and spices to the slow cooker and cook on low 6-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours, until the vegetables are tender. Use a slotted spoon to scoop into the center of the wraps and serve as directed.
do ahead or delegate Dice the sweet potato, onion and bell pepper, cut the corn off the kernels if needed, combine the cumin and the chili powder, or fully prepare and refrigerate the filling.
Crispy Tofu Triangles with Fried Rice from The Six O’Clock Scramble ingredients
directions
1-1/2 cups White or Brown Rice 16 oz extra-firm Tofu packed in water, drained 6 tbsp Tamari 2 tbsp pure Maple Syrup or Honey 1 tbsp Sesame Oil 2 tsp Rice Vinegar 1/4 tsp ground Ginger 5 Scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced 2 tbsp Grapeseed Oil 1 cup Frozen Peas, or use finely diced Carrots (optional) 1/4 to 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Cook the rice according to the package directions. Meanwhile, cut the tofu lengthwise from end to end (like cutting a deck of cards), making 3 even slices. Wrap those slices in a clean dishtowel to absorb any excess water.
do ahead or delegate Cook the rice, drain, slice and wrap the tofu, make the marinade and marinate the tofu, slice the scallions, dice the carrots if necessary.
Prep + Cook: 30 minutes Number of Servings: 6
Prepare the tofu: Combine 2 Tbsp. tamari, the maple syrup or honey, sesame oil, vinegar and ginger in the bottom of a flat baking dish large enough to hold the tofu in a single layer. Cut the tofu slices in half, then again diagonally into triangles. Add them to the dish with the marinade and flip them several times to coat with the sauce. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Transfer the tofu and marinade to the skillet. Cook it, flipping occasionally, until the tofu is nicely browned on both sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer it to a serving plate and sprinkle it with about 2 Tbsp. scallions. Prepare the fried rice: When the rice is 5 minutes from done, heat the grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining scallions, peas or carrots (optional) and stir-fry them for 1 minute. (Heat the additional peas now, if you are serving them.) Add 3 cups of cooked rice, 4 Tbsp. tamari and the pepper and toss it thoroughly. Serve it immediately with the tofu.
staybasic sept/oct 2013
back to school
action items for mom Figure out the calendaring system that works for you something that hangs in the kitchen, a pocket calendar that you carry in your bag, or an online planner (our favorite is Google Calendar)
schedule the the items on the next page in your calendar
take action this fall! 1 Choose a day once a week for menu planning and schedule it for one hour. In this time write down what you and your family will be eating for the week. Think three meals a day, snacks, and any events that might call for a bring-along dish. Take advantage of helpful online services that provide menu ideas, recipes, grocery lists, planning tips and more, such as The Six O’Clock Scramble for healthy and delicious dinners, or MOMables for easy, nutritous lunches kids will love. 2 Plan your grocery runs. Note in your calendar convenient times in your busy schedule to go to the grocery or farmers markets and map that to your meal plan. (Don’t forget you can delegate here!) 3 Schedule time in your calendar to prep food. If there are nights that you know you will be arriving home with hungry, tired children, make sure that night’s meal gets made in advance, or that you have meals in the freezer from doubling batches earlier in the week. 4 Schedule time in your calendar to take care of yourself — exercise, a pedicure, three breaths. Make sure to read Aviva’s and Laura’s articles for inspiration — two busy moms and businesswomen who make time for exercise in their packed schedules. 5 Look at whether all of the extra things your kids are doing are really serving them, and you; if they are not, talk about letting something go. Extracurriculars should feel manageable for everyone, not based on college admissions but on the balance in your life today. 6 Schedule a few “summer gems.” Get inspired by Jennifer’s tips and make sure to schedule downtime for the family. 7 Put a few family dinners on the calendar each week. Make sure everyone knows about family dinner nights. Sign up for the Family Dinner Challenge to make this real. 8 Start your own “Sweet Spot Kitchen” project. Schedule a night or two after the kids go to bed to tackle some of Desha’s suggestions — maybe organize a drawer in your kitchen, make a playlist for cooking, or order that pot you have always wanted (and make sure to get rid of the old ones!).
staybasic sept/oct 2013
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