Breakfast Counts!

I've been reading a lot of articles on families eating together. Studies show that eating together has numerous benefits. Children consume healthier diets, more fruits and vegetables, more dairy. Eating together is also a time to talk, about the food, your day, and your nosy neighbor. (Admit it, not all table conversations are polite.)

We humans dine, while other animals eat. Food is more than a group of nutrients. It's talking, listening, passing down traditions, learning manners. Have you ever noticed that most famous TV shows always have a dining table?

Ok, the table is important, but dinner is just too hard for you right now. Rest easy. Breakfast is also a chance to get together. You may not sit at the table as in the old days. You may eat around the kitchen stove, over the sink. Whatever. Just try and share a few pleasant words with your family.

Here is a 'recipe' to get you started. It is based on a recipe from Bon Appetit, Ricotta Toast with Pears and Honey. It's simple and the ricotta mixture can be mixed the night before.

I made my version with cream cheese. It's a common ingredient in many American households.

Cream Cheese Toast with Fruit and Nuts

Serves 2 to 3.

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese
2 Tablespoons honey or jam
2 to 3 slices of whole wheat bread, toasted
fruit, apple, pear, peach, about ½ cup per person
¼ cup, nuts, toasted and chopped

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, stir together cream cheese and honey or jam.

2. Toast the bread. Spread  cream cheese mixture onto bread. Slice fruit and place on top of cheese. Top each piece of toast with about one tablespoon nuts.

'Fun with Healthy Food' Day

I was recently asked by the Lancaster County Extension office to help with their 'Fun with Healthy Food' Day.  I jumped at the chance.  Any time I have an opportunity to push food, I'm on it.  My colleague stated that she wanted them to cook and to have fun doing it.  The great thing about cooking and kids, they see cooking as fun.  They love getting in the kitchen and cooking. 

We started off the day with hand washing. Cleanliness is the first step to preparing food.  The kids got to use GloGerm to see how good they were at hand washing.  

Next on the list was pancakes.  We made whole wheat pancakes and the kids thought they were great.  Of course, we let the kids add bananas, chocolate chips and blueberries.  After all, no one said healthy had to be boring.

Lunch was vegetable pizza.  It took a little cajoling from the leaders to get a few more vegetables on some pizzas.  We started with a ready made crust, added purchased tomato sauce, and vegetables.

For dinner, we decided to make salads.  We started with a base of romaine and red leaf lettuces and let the kids add various toppings, like hard boiled eggs.  We even made our own salad dressing, Roasted Red Pepper Ranch Dip and a Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette.  Kids had a great time making the dressings and thought they were out of this world.

Crafting is also a part of this day.  We decided to craft a centerpiece.  Out of what else...you got it - fruit.  We made apple turkeys.  Or at least that is what we called them. 

Before you little ones head back to school, give some of these ideas a try.  Bet your kids will think these foods are great!

Enjoy the last few days of summer.

Whole Wheat Bread

For years I told my students that 100% whole wheat bread was extremely difficult if not impossible to make.  Well, one year, a student decided to challenge me.  One day after class, she brought up a slice of 100% homemade whole wheat bread that her family makes.  Needless to say, it was quite tasty with a very smooth texture.  I was impressed, but still not convinced.  Sometimes it takes a little more to get some of us to move, change, etc.

I had to make whole wheat bread for a 4-H project I was working on.  I was going to prove my student wrong!  I found the perfect recipe on King Arthur flour website (http://bit.ly/rqAR0U).  It used all whole wheat flour, no white flour, no eggs, no potato, just whole wheat.   I decided to give it a try.  What to my surprise, when the bread turned out just fine.  It raised and I got a beautiful loaf of bread. 

Before you think of me as a little old fashioned and stuck in my ways, I do have a valid scientific reason for believing that you could not make a good loaf of 100% whole wheat bread.  Whole wheat flour contains fiber, which we all need to consume more of.  Fiber is good, but it plays havoc with gluten.  Gluten is the protein that stretches and traps the air, thus allowing the bread to raise.  Fiber pokes holes in gluten, which makes a denser loaf of bread.  So imagine my surprise when I got a good loaf of bread.

My colleague and I decided that maybe the method for grinding whole wheat flour has improved allowing fiber to have less negative effect on the gluten.  I also tried to make this bread with graham flour and it did not work.  The bread was dense, did not raise very much, and the flavor was bad.  Graham flour is the same as whole wheat flour, but has a coarser texture.

For this posting, I made two breads.  One I made according to the recipe on King Arthur flour website.  For the second loaf, I substituted ½ cup of whole wheat flour with the same amount of all purpose flour. 

Give either one or both a try.  Let us know how they turn out.

Left to Right:  Whole Wheat Flour; All Purpose Flour; Graham Flour