Cooking up a healthy storm: Wholesome meals don’t have to take a whole lot of time

Written & Photographed by Liz Skalka

Thursday, 16 September 2010

Every busy mom knows that time is of the essence. And never is this adage more true than when it comes to time spent cooking.

But busy, health-saavy moms — and even non-experts who want to create more wholesome meals — might have a bigger challenge to face: How does one create a healthy meal without the luxury of time? Moreover, will your kids eat it?

(The My Kids Really Eat This Mom) is proof that healthful meals don’t have to take plentiful time to make and, yes, your kids will eat them — in fact, they might even learn to enjoy them.

Vanessa while multi-tasking around her kitchen one weekday night, explained that on average it takes her roughly 30 to 40 minutes to create something balanced and wholesome for her three children, ages three, six and eight. That night’s menu included fresh salmon grilled over charcoal, steamed zucchini and broccoli, homemade coleslaw, bread baked in her oven and Israeli couscous.

Though one would assume this meal required hours of preparation, it fell well within Vanessa’s allotted cooking time.

“Time is my biggest issue,” (The My Kids Really Eat This Mom) said. “You have to choose. My kids are not going to be worse off if the laundry is not put away the same day, but I do believe they would be worse off if they weren’t getting good food.”

Besides being a mother to three young boys, Vanessa is an investment adviser who works from home. Many nights she’s on her own cooking while her husband, Steven, works long hours as a chef at a Norwalk restaurant. Though he did teach her many things about navigating the kitchen, she said she picked up a lot growing up and later working in the restaurant industry.

When the day’s cooking is done, and the children are asleep, Vanessa works on a blog centering on what she feeds her family. Since creating it in May, she already has more than 1,000 followers.

But the giant question still looms — do her kids really eat what she makes?

“I’m upfront with them,” said Vanessa, who tells her children, “These are your vegetables, they’re good for you and delicious.”

With each dinner, Vanessa tries to make two or three vegetable sides, and cooks some with a tiny bit of butter to make them slightly more pleasing to one’s tastebuds.

“We don’t need to feed kids chicken nuggets every day. They will eat vegetables,” she said.

Her children — 3,6, and 8 years old — also like fish, she said. They eat salmon, snapper and different varieties of sushi, but Vanessa makes sure to limit their consumption of fish containing high levels of mercury.

Vanessa admitted that sometimes it’s difficult getting them to try new foods, and “if they’re really not interested, I’m not going to force them. I don’t want them to have that pressure,” she said. She added, however, that she’s “not just going to make them food that they like” and sometimes tries out new vegetables she hasn’t previously cooked.

Thinking ahead

Besides fish, Vanessa also prepares lamb and chicken with different types of sauces. Certain days she will plan out more elaborate meals, or her husband will cook. But when she’s on a time crunch, preparation is key. And a big part of preparation is knowing where to get your ingredients.

Vanessa strives to cook as organically as possible, and patronizes local farm stands. Her family is also a member of New Pond Farm’s Shared Harvest program. Each week, she receives a box of produce grown at New Pond Farm. She also buys certain products from Caraluzzi’s or Trader Joe’s, but tries to stay away from products containing pesticides or preservatives.

Though Vanessa generally sticks to meals with shorter prep times, some of her menus require more foresight. For example, the dough for the bread she made to go with her salmon had to be prepared the night before. But the next day, the dough needed only to be baked a short time in a Dutch oven inside her conventional oven to produce a crusty artisan-like bread.

Vanessa also makes her kids’ lunches. Egg salad, turkey breast, peanut butter and jelly are just some of the options, with cheese, fruit and pretzels as sides.

“It’s a fairly balanced diet. They’re allowed junk food, but it’s very rarely,” she said, usually when they’re visiting friends or at parties.

And soda? Vanessa said she usually doesn’t keep soda in the house — especially not diet soda containing artificial sweeteners.

Learning

Vanessa said her goal is to show people that it’s possible for a busy mom to make healthy choices for her kids. It requires “getting into a routine,” she said.

“I’m trying to show that if I can do it, you can do it, too,” she said.

Vanessa’s said she’s always practiced healthy eating but recently started doing more reading on the subject, including Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food and seeing Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution. “What I read disturbed me about diets in the United States,” she said.

She has always had a flair for cooking, and used to cook elaborate Indian meals. Now she focuses on less complicated foods for her children. “Kids tend to like chicken nuggets because they like the simpler stuff,” she said.

Giving her children new and different foods, Vanessa said, will also help to broaden their horizons as they get older. “I want my children to travel and be open to new foods,” she said.

In terms of dollars and cents, eating purer and healthier can cost slightly more, she said, but you’ll end up saving on pre-packaged food in the long run. “I’d rather spend more and save my children’s health,” she said.

To show the world that it is possible for kids to eat vegetables, fish and other healthy foods, Vanessa started her blog, mykidsreallyeatthis.com.

She updates it (almost) every day with news about what her kids eat, recipes and photos of them chowing down on various entrees, as well as the dishes themselves and their preparation.

Vanessa’s topical posts and sharp, colorful photos have drawn in many who comment and ask for advice and opinions.

Here’s a simple recipe Vanessa posted on her blog for coleslaw:

• Cut a third to a half of a cabbage into four-inch long thin strips.

• Put the cabbage in a bowl along with two shredded carrots.

• In a separate bowl, mix four heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise, one-and-one-half tablespoons cider vinegar, one teaspoon sugar, three-quarters of a teaspoon celery salt (a flavored salt) and pepper to taste.

• Pour over cabbage/carrots and toss.

• Chill, if possible, or simply serve. (A shredded apple or minced red bell peppers also work in this coleslaw).

Vanessa said, in general, her biggest tip for families is to eat together at the dinner table. “Food is such an integral part of what brings people together,” she said.

For more information and recipes, visit mykidsreallyeatthis.com.

Healthy bread recipe

Here is a healthy bread recipe Vanessa uses to make a crusty, artisan-style bread:

You’ll need:

• Two cups of all purpose flour.

• Three-quarters cup of spelt flour.

• One-quarter cup of ground flax seed

• Half a teaspoon dry yeast.

• One-and-one-half teaspoons salt.

• One-and-one-half cups water.

• A Dutch oven (a special cast iron pot with a lid).

How to make it:

• Mix ingredients until well blended.

• Put the mixture into a stainless steel or ceramic bowl coated with olive oil (so it doesn’t stick).

• Cover with it plastic wrap and let it rise overnight or for at least 12 hours.

• Take out and pull/fold several times and form a ball.

• Place on well-floured parchment paper or silicone mat.

• Cover with floured tea towel, and let sit for two hours to rise.

• With a half an hour left, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees and place the Dutch oven inside for 30 minutes so it can heat.

• When ready, take the Dutch oven out and carefully place the dough inside.

• Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

• Uncover and bake for 10 to 20 more minutes.