Archive for January, 2011

Friday Food News Feed: Jan. 20

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Healthy food is all over the news this week, starting with yesterday’s announcement by Walmart executives (joined by First Lady Michelle Obama) that they are launching an effort to offer more healthful foods and push its suppliers to do the same. According to the Washington Post, Walmart will develop more healthful and affordable packaged food items by 2015, build more stores in underserved areas, and increase its charitable donations to nutrition programs.

Some groups like Share Our Strength are pleased because this effort will boost their Cooking Matters program to empower families at risk of hunger. Nevertheless, skeptics abound, like Melanie Warner of Food Fight, who argues that Walmart isn’t doing anything to address the real causes of obesity by making fresh fruits and vegetables as affordable as highly processed foods.

Food Revolution: Also this week, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver continues his campaign to get LAUSD to let him in the door. His most recent stunt was to pour 57 tons of “sugar” (sand, really) into an empty school bus to symbolize how much sugar L.A. students consume each week in the flavored milk they drink in school lunches. Is anyone out there at LAUSD listening?

‘Healthy’ Foods: In related news, a new study from the Prevention Institute finds that foods claiming to be ‘healthy’ for kids – surprise! – aren’t really all that healthy. As reported by the L.A. Times, of the 58 foods tested, only nine met up with the federal government’s dietary standards for “healthy” food.

Food Supplements: Fooducate has an outstanding guest post this week by pediatrician Robert A. Pretlow on how nutritional supplements like PediaSure are not only unnecessary for healthy kids, but can be a root cause of obesity as they get kids accustomed to sweet, creamy foods.

Eating Disorders: At the other end of the spectrum, Thrive Children’s Hospital Boston alerts us to a new report showing that males now account for 10 percent of the eating disorder population, and the disease is manifesting itself in younger and younger populations. Additionally, many overweight people who have severely disordered eating habits may not be recognized as having an eating disorder when they actually do.

Yummy Recipes: In better news, we stumbled across some great recipes this week. We think you’ll like this collection of fruit butters from VegTV, and also this extra-green guacamole from the Sneaky Chef (perfect for football-watching!).

Valentine’s Day Giveaway: Need something even more to cheer you up? Then check out Jolly Tomato’s Valentine’s Day tribute to Mom and Mom’s cooking. Leave a comment by January 31, and you can be entered to win 24 kids’ Valentines from Pear Tree Greetings.

Happy Friday to all!

Posted Under: Childhood Obesity, Government Regulations, Nutrition | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
This post was written by jollytomato on January 21st, 2011

Love from the Kitchen: This One’s For You, Mom

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Here in Jolly Tomato-land we consider ourselves fortunate to have a mom who is a great cook and who served us a full variety of healthy, tasty foods while we were growing up. Now that we have our own home and family, we’ve spent plenty of time calling Mom on the phone and asking for recipes or cooking instructions for any number of basic food items.

This Christmas, she surprised all of us with one of the best gifts of all time: She wrote up all of her favorite recipes (including the ones in my great-grandmother’s handwriting, the ones on yellowed newspaper clippings, and the ones that were just plain in her head) and had them printed up in a handy little cookbook. The cookbook is decorated with pictures of her in the kitchen, of all of our favorite dishes, and of each of the grandchildren cooking. And here’s the best part – She gave each of us siblings a copy for ourselves, plus extra copies to give to our kids when they are old enough to need their own cookbooks.

Just to give you a sample, here’s her recipe for purple cabbage - a German classic and a longtime holiday favorite. We usually eat it at Christmastime, alongside her classic sauerbraten.

Thanks to our mom, we equate cooking with love, and we love doing it for our family as well. This cookbook is definitely a gift that will inspire us for many years to come. So as Valentine’s Day approaches, we want to know: Who inspires you? Who helped you learn how to cook? Who will you dedicate your Valentine to this year? Let us know in the comments section (by January 31) and we’ll pick one reader to win 24 free Kids Valentine’s Day Cards from the lovely Pear Tree Greetings. There’s lots of cute new stuff in their collection, so check it out.

Oh, and thanks, Mom! We’re off to do some cooking now!

Posted Under: Just For Fun, Nutrition | Tags: , , ,
This post was written by jollytomato on January 20th, 2011

Fun Food Saturday: Potato Bar

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

Today’s fun food requires only two words without much of an explanation: Potato bar. We like having our own potato bar every now and then, and we think of it as a challenge each time to come up with yummy stuff to decorate a baked potato. It’s great fun for winter football-watching days. Even better, everyone can get involved.

To start, heat the oven to 375 and get your kids to help with scrubbing the potatoes. They can also help prick some holes in each potato (with a fork) before wrapping them up with foil. Bake the potatoes for about an hour, more or less depending on the size of the potato, until they are soft when poked with a knife.

While the potatoes are baking, you can get the toppings ready. For this potato bar, we offered (clockwise from upper left): grated cheddar cheese, cooked and crumbled bacon, chopped red onions, sauteed chopped yellow onions, diced ham, chopped green onions, steamed tri-color cauliflower (yellow, purple, and white)and broccoli, diced red and orange bell peppers, and in the center, a yogurt-sour cream mixture. The goal? To see who could build the most colorful potato.

We’ve found that presenting vegetables like this can get kids to open their minds a little more. If they have the sense that they don’t have to commit to a giant serving of any given vegetable, they might be more likely to try just a little bit. And if the vegetables are chopped in very small pieces, they seem somehow more approachable to finicky eaters.

Bonus tip: Once everyone’s had their fill of toppings from the potato bar, don’t throw away the leftover chopped toppings. Instead, combine them all in a single bowl and put them back in the refrigerator. The next night, saute them with some olive oil and then toss with cooked pasta for a little confetti-colored pasta dish. Easy – and nutritious.

Fun Food Saturday: Because food should be fun.

Posted Under: Just For Fun, Nutrition | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
This post was written by jollytomato on January 15th, 2011
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