Bad Crackers

Well, I wanted the kids to eat less crackers.  Some days it felt like the only thing my middle son consumed was crackers.  And on his steady diet of Goldfish and graham crackers, you'd think he might be wasting away by now.  But fortunately the occasional fruit and vegetable must be doing their job because he isn't languishing.
Way back when, at a time where I was on the healthy eating bandwagon, before I fell off and got back on again, I was very successful at shopping the perimeter of the store.  Getting my produce, meat, and dairy, only venturing down the aisles for a few items.  And during that time I remember thinking that if I could just make my own graham crackers I would feel perfectly happy about the other aisle items I was buying.

Now that the number of cracker eating children has increased and the variety of crackers they have come to subsist on has also increased, the desire for making my own has returned.

I know that the crackers I could make would not necessarily be a health food, but they would be more healthy than their store-bought counterparts, even if only for the lack of unpronounceable ingredients.

So I set off on my cracker making adventure. 

I found many recipes for graham crackers.  There were lots of variations so I picked a couple that had some positive feedback and looked like they might be the kind I was after.


                                          
My first and only attempt thus far is, meh.  2 out of the 3 kids will eat them.  Only the baby really liked them.  They were too thick and soft for my liking.  The next recipe I want to try requires a food processor larger than the one I have.  Though why it is entering my mind only this instant that I could possibly half the recipe is beyond me.  I'll have to work on that.

Next up was cheese crackers.  In all of my searching, I found the recipes were nearly the same.  The only variations seemed to be an added spice here, or a different cooking temperature there.

                                   

   
                                                 

These crackers were alright.  Not even close to what I was shooting for, but edible.  The taste was good but the texture not really. I'll be trying some different tricks for those in the future. 

 My 5 year old daughter is now so skeptical of anything I make, she looks at me like the poison apple witch in Snow White every time I hand her something I've made and tell her to try it. 

Needless to say, I have been successful in getting my kids to eat less crackers, just not in the ways I had been aiming for. I'm not buying crackers much anymore and the ones I make are not very good, therefore their consumption in general has declined.

I've got to step up my game or these kids are going to be the ones who try to eat all the Twinkies they can handle when they go to their friends house.


On a positive note, I have been participating in a produce co-op these past two weeks.  The first week I just got  a regular basket and this week I went with the organic. You get a lot for your money and it's a fun surprise to see what you'll get.  This week I got 5 mangoes.  I'm thinking it's mango salsa time!

At this point in time

 I could throw up here a few recipes that you wouldn't want to make. But I'm not going to.

As I leaf through some of the books I've come across and see some of the ingredients and pictures, I really start to second guess what it is I have committed myself to. We're not ready for sea vegetables.

Right now I am focusing on taking the food and meals and snacks that we eat on a regular basis and either making them myself instead of buying it, or giving the recipes I already make a facelift.  But who knew how many yucky cookie recipes are out there?  And who knew how discriminatory my 5 year old's palette is (I should have!)?

Along the way I am trying to add in more grains, and I have been putting out a lot more vegetable options at our family meals.

I have a running list of things I am trying to do differently.  And I didn't anticipate how much trial and error might be involved in that process.  I just want something to be nutritious and taste pretty decent too. I know that's not impossible but I have to find what works for us. 

I did successfully make bread this week, with the help of my friend.  I am getting closer to decent granola and cookies. Waiting impatiently in the wings are: graham crackers and yogurt. I've got the recipes lined up and ready to go, just have to fit them in. I have been really enjoying my afternoons in the kitchen and it will be even better when I am making things that I know will taste good!

Since this post contained nothing of relative value, I will end with a consolation prize.

One of my favorite lunches for years has been variations on the following.  It is quick, easy, tastes good, and is fairly good for you too. These are only rough measurements, just go with your preference-more or less of whatever you like. Sometimes I make a bunch and leave it in the fridge to eat for a few days (though I omit the avocado because I don't like how it turns brown and mushy over time). And if I am eating it from the fridge I do heat it in the microwave first to take the chill off.

In a bowl combine:
1-2 chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 -3/4 can beans (I usually use black or garbanzo)
avocado
sprinkle of salt
squeeze of lemon juice

Then I cook a tortilla, sprinkle it with cheese, add in the veggies, wrap it up, and enjoy!

In the morning, I'm makin' WAFFLES!

My children, especially my big darling middle boy, love to eat frozen waffles.  As in, he can eat 4 in one sitting on the right day.  And he's three.

So after running through a miniature scientific method session, I deduced that the only reason my son is eating these waffles is because they are convenient.  That is all.  One of the ways I am approaching things right now is, that if there is a more nutritious version of things my kids already eat that doesn't taste like cardboard, that they are not getting simply because I am not making it, I will make it.  That seems like an easy baby step.

And so was born the new population of waffles living in our freezer, ready for consumption by quadruples, if necessary.  And I feel a lot better about 4 of these than 4 Eggos.

Addressing the syrup issue is now on my list.

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com. Next time I am going to substitute applesauce for the oil entirely.  I think it would work out.  Let me know if you try it and it does. I didn't use the flax seed meal or the wheat germ, because I was fresh out. :) Next time.

Whole Grain Waffles

2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup wheat germ
4 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt


1. Whisk eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla together.  Beat in both flours, flax seed meal, wheat germ, baking powder, sugar, and salt until batter is smooth.

2.  Preheat waffle iron and coat with cooking spray. 

3.  Cook waffles until golden brown and delicious!



I placed the leftover waffles on baking sheets, stuck them in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then placed them in freezer bags, so they are ready to go anytime.

On the Agenda

My daddy, he's a food scientist.  A Phd in Food Science, that's what he's got.  I can see the skepticism in his eyes when this subject comes up.  He just doesn't want me to be "had", and neither do I.  That's one of the things I have realized, is that my ideas don't necessary fit into any of the molds out there.

I picture myself departing from here, The Average American Diet and heading towards Granola but how far I'm walking is still up in the air.  I hope to feel my way through, find a comfortable spot, and set up camp. 

I just have to figure out which pieces of  information are really relevant to me.  This adventure is not a one size fits all.  When I made this decision I kept wishing to find a book that would spell out how I should go about making some changes, but I don't think it exists.  So while this thing feels like a personal endeavor, I am putting it all out there in case somebody else finds anything here relevant to their own situation. And because I would be writing it all down anyway.

One of the frustrating things I've found is that as I search for information, it is nearly impossible to find an unbiased source.  It's either black or white, organic is the only way, or organic is a sham.  Regular milk is fine, regular milk will make 3 year olds grow chest hair.  It seems like everyone has an agenda.  So I am setting about the sifting process, picking out the things that feel right for us.  And in that way a Whole Food Diet may be the incorrect term, but it's the closest I can think of for what I imagine.

I can tell you some of the things not on my agenda.  I do not aim to make any social statements with our diet.  I will not be choosing the type of sugar we use based on the working conditions of the people who harvest it.  I am not making a statement about sustainable products.  I don't use disposable grocery sacks, the term "going green" makes me want to throw litter out my car window, and I think Global Warming is a joke.  Hopefully my honesty will overshadow my black heart.

I'm not making any statements, what I am doing is simply because I want to have serve up better nutrition for those I love. 

And frankly, I think this may be the method that a higher power is using to get me back in my kitchen and excited to be there.

P.S. I don't litter.  In fact I chased down a wrapper that fell out my van door just the other day!  I love the earth!

Baby Steps

When I let my mind wander and my imagination run wild, I often find myself in the same place.

Living with my husband and children on the farm my parents own in Michigan.  We grow our own food.  We have our own animals.  We live our life in a beautiful, natural, serene setting, where the kids can come and go as they please, where we gather eggs from warm nests, where we work and play together, where our toes splash through cold streams, and our bodies float on innertubes on the pond.  Where we have less to do with the neighboring city and more to do with the fields and the barn. Where the food on our table is food.  Food that grew.  From a plant, from an animal, from the concoctions of my hands, in my kitchen.  Not from a box or a factory.

And then I come back to myself and remember that I live in the suburbs, shop at Kroger and Walmart, and that the only water my toes splash in, is in the shower and the neighborhood pool.  That life I imagine for us is not possible, at least right now. But as far as lives go, ours is pretty darn great.  I really could not ask for more, even though I often do.  I'm working on it.

We may not be moving to the country anytime soon, but I have decided that no matter where I live, I can and should feed my family in the way that I would if my dream was reality.  This past week I have really accepted that the ideas, feelings, and promptings that I have been having over the last 3 years keep coming back to me for a reason. I may have put it off for so long because of fear of the unknown, the fact that I don't know where to begin, the overwhwelming-ness of the idea, the suspicion that there may be significant push back from my little people, and that fact that this type of change will require large amounts of work. But despite all of that, I know this is what I need to do.

I may not know exactly how quite yet.   But I know I need to feed my family in a different way.  I need to more consciously choose what we put into our bodies.  I need to provide food that is as close to it's natural state as possible.  I'm not going to buy just anything because it says "organic".  But I will buy things that are wholesome and good, and I will make the rest. At least that's what I'm shooting for.

I may be still be in my house in the burbs, but there is no time like the present to make changes.  And I keep saying to myself:

Baby steps.  Baby steps.

I don't have to do it all right now.  I don't have to know everything right now.  I just know that I need to move forward with this idea.

And that is what I plan to do.