4 Cakes to Rule Them All

Baking is for detail oriented people, and I'm not that. I've tried bread, I've tried muffins, I've tried focaccia, and I've tried many a cake. My verdict always seems to be that I can buy one that is better or that home-baker's talents far outstrip mine. BUT, I have discovered 4 cakes that never fail me, and they have several things in common.

First of all, 3 of the 4 are Bundt cakes. A quick Google search gives me the impression that Experts aren't totally sure where the term "Bundt" comes from or what it means, but it's generally German and generally difficult to pronounce. I do have a theory as to why most of my favorite cakes are Bundts, though. A Bundt pan looks like a donut, with a hole in the middle of the pan and curved sides. What I love about these four recipes (besides being of the mix-and-dump variety) is that they're ultra moist. I thinkkkk that the Bundt shape has more surface area so there's no fear of the center of the cake not getting enough heat to cook through while the outer part dries out.

The other thing these 4 cakes have in common is a secret ingredient. Rather, a secret category of ingredients. Sour cream, cream cheese, and pudding mix (dry). Again, I think these components ensure moisture. But they're not for dieters. Sorry Not Sorry.

It's not an exaggeration to say this category of cakes - and these recipes in particular - turned me from a hater-of-baking into a proud cake presenter at parties. And dare I say that a friend or two has been known to call me in a cake crisis. As with all cooking, having a few home-runs under your belt really gives one the confidence to branch out with more difficult, potentially risky recipes too, because it's already been confirmed That You Can Bake. Even in my escapades beyond the world of Bundt, I must say that I come back to these recipes as the most successful, most loved, best tasting of all.

Without further ado...

Coconut Sour Cream Cake
This is probably the most beloved cake of the bunch. My favorite memory about this cake is that an elderly friend from a local organization I'm part of said it was "the best thing he'd eaten in years." Maybe he was just being kind, but it was a treasured compliment. He recently passed away at 96, and so I always think of him when I make this cake!
Notes: We do not add the icing to this cake in our family, as it is sweet and flavorful enough on its own. (Image from original recipe, linked in the title)

Cranberry Cream Cheese Cake
(Perfect during the holidays!)
Notes: Last time I made this, I used frozen cranberries and it was not as successful as using fresh. I think the frozen ones held too much extra moisture. I've also never made the glaze that is supposed to accompany this cake, it's plenty sweet as is. Without the glaze you can kind of talk yourself into eating it as breakfast, too.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cake (aka Mana's Bundt Cake)
This recipe comes from my grandma, who we call Mana. I am not sure where she got it!
It's very important that you stick to the Duncan Heinz brand for the cake mix, as it's truly the best for this cake. I also find that chocolate pudding mix doesn't come in exactly the sizes the recipe calls for sometimes, so I use a scale or eyeball it based on how big the package I'm starting with is.
I've also made this cake into a layer cake before, but typically it's done in a Bundt pan.
I have not done this in a while either, but I've made a Black Forest Cake variation on this recipe where I mix cherry pie filling and chocolate frosting to put as a layer between already-baked layers of chocolate cake. It gets a bit soggy if you're not careful, but it's worth it. If you want a less-sweet version, use Trader Joe's Morrello cherries (in a glass jar) instead of cherry pie filling, and drain off the liquid before mixing. Reserve the liquid for another use (I recommend pouring over vanilla ice cream).



Cinnamon Nut Crumble Coffee Cake, taken from the 1983 ed. of the Junior League Taste of Oregon cookbook.
This is the one recipe not made in a Bundt pan. But it is how I discovered the secret category of ingredients, so it had to make the list. Because of its presentation (and somewhat the crumble top) it is more of a coffee cake, but as you will see from the ingredients, it's cake in disguise.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them for you. Happy baking! 

6 Week Night Meals I Love

Several months ago, my mom instituted a new house rule in which every adult (and teenager) in our multi-generational household cooks 1-2 nights a week. She and I both have two nights a week, and my dad, my husband, and my little sister each have one night a week. It is amazing. It takes the stress of the unknown away (our nights of the week are set), it lightens the load that was mainly on my mom and me before, it gives other members of the family an opportunity to practice and branch out in their cooking (good and fun for them too, if I may be so bold), and it makes the nights that I do cook easy to turn into something more fancy or exciting or complicated than get-something-on-the-table-before-bed-time. I highly recommend some version of this system if at all possible in your household.

I have a giant collection of Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart, Food and Wine, etc. magazines and at the beginning of each month, I take out all the June issues, for example, and pick out some things that look good. Jonas and I are starting to think of saving for a down payment on a house or apartment or trailer and even though it's a really small step, we're trying to have our 3 meals for the week planned in advance so I can shop for everything we need in one trip. This ends up saving us at least a small chunk of money because I'm the more seasoned shopper, plus the less often we walk into a store, the less we buy.

Keeping a list of things that sound good, whether it's from a magazine, website, or just a craving, makes meal-prep less stressful. When everyone is hungry, it seems to hinder my ability to come up with food that's quick and good, but when I'm looking forward to something that sounds good, I'm more likely to plan ahead (and be able to incorporate what we already have at home). We've also been trying to host more often and not worry about making some extravagant 5 course meal, but instead sticking with the hits that we already know and love. I love to make new things, but it's really nice to cook recipes I'm comfortable with or can prep ahead of time so that I'm not exhausted by the time our guests arrive.

Anyway, those are some ways in which we've been focusing on eating well lately, but I still love a good one-pot, weeknight go-to recipe. Here are a few that I come back to over and over again.

Poke Bowls
My family LOVES poke bowls (click here for recipe), and they're not hard. We buy frozen tuna from Grocery Outlet, and I prefer to cut it when it's only barely thawed because otherwise it's kinda gooey and hard to handle. You'll have to let it marinate a bit longer so it can fully thaw though. You can get furiyake (a seasoning of small bits of nori, sesame seeds, and other things) at well-stocked Asian markets or even at Daiso (Japanese dollar store in major cities) or just cut up seaweed chips and toss with sesame seeds. We use white rice instead of the black rice this recipe calls for, and we customize the toppings to our liking. I usually add a fried egg for those who want it, and make a quick pickle or add kimchi. The marinating of the tuna doesn't take that long, but all the prep (especially if you have more rather than fewer toppings) can get a bit time consuming. You can do prep ahead of time or buy pre-cut veggies and toppings to save time if you want. I also like to take paper menus from poke restaurants to get more ideas of new toppings or combos. We like to add sriracha mayo on top!

Caesar Salad
Maybe this is boring to everyone else, but I have always loved Caesar salad. I buy croutons, but since this is a 2-ingredient salad, I indulge in a home-made dressing. This recipe is my go-to. To make this into a full meal, you can add shrimp or grilled chicken. If there's leftover dressing, I'll often use it in place of mayonnaise on sandwiches the next day.

Sausage Basil Mustard Pasta
Recipe here. I first started making this when a mom in an online group I'm part of said it was her go-to weeknight meal. It gets a bit spicy for my boys if I use spicy sausage and add the red pepper it calls for, but I love it. Ishmael really likes this pasta too, which is always a good reason to put something on heavier rotation. It does call for white wine and heavy cream which I don't always have on hand, but I often substitute heavy cream for half and half, and as long as I've bought a cheap bottle of wine in the past few months, there's usually some left over.

Tater Tot Chicken Pop Pie
I'm embarrassed that I rely on tater tots so much, but they're delicious and the thought of making pie crust is never a joyous one for me. I guess I could buy them, but then I feel guilty knowing I could actually make them fairly easily, plus my mother has probably never bought a pie crust in her life, and so I guess we just don't do that in our family. I do love a good store-bought puff pastry, but it's too expensive to buy for a weeknight. I don't stick to the original tater tot pot pie recipe exactly, I just dice whatever veggies we have (or use a bag of frozen), chop up chicken (cook before putting it in the oven), and throw those into a bechamel sauce with grated cheese (not in the original recipe). Then dump a bag of tater tots on top and bake until golden (30min?). If you're not in the habit of making bechamel sauces, it's actually way less snobby than it sounds. You can find easy recipes on Google, but basically you melt some butter in a pan (like several tablespoons), slowly whisk in a slightly lesser amount of flour (in small increments, so that it stays smooth and well blended) and then quickly whisk in milk until you reach the desired consistency. You will have to keep adding milk if you keep the sauce on the stove because it thickens as it continues to cook. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper and maybe garlic salt if you forgot to add garlic and sauteed onion to the veggie portion, like I always do...

White Lady Green Sauce Enchiladas
These are so far from Mexican food that I'm not even worried about cultural appropriation (though to be honest, culturally appropriating food seems like nonsense to me). This is my own "recipe", morphed from something my mom made growing up. I make a bechamel cheese sauce (described above) and then dump in a big can of green enchilada sauce. My family prefers flour tortillas, but of course you can do corn if you want. To assemble, put some cooked rice (we use white, but you get fancy with Mexican rice or brown rice), cooked chicken, and a small ladle full of sauce, fold the tortilla closed, and repeat until the pan is full. Add the rest of the sauce on top, top with grated cheese, and bake for 30-45 minutes. These are actually pretty mild, verging on bland at times, especially if the ratio of cheesy bechamel to green sauce goes too heavily on the bechamel side. We put hot sauce and salsa on the table and let everyone season to their liking. You can put olives on top or sour cream or whatever else you like to jazz it up.

Biryani

Several years ago, I visited a friend in Chicago, and stopped at a little Indian market. I got a packet of MTR Pulao Masala and it is the best. It's a mix, just like you would buy taco seasoning, but you end up with a nice and not-boring rice dish with nuts and veggies, and garnished with lemon juice. My boys especially like squeezing the lemon slices. You can get the packet on Amazon, or if you live in Santa Maria, FoodMaxx actually has a surprisingly good Indian section. I don't think it has this packet, but you could make a masala (spice mix) from scratch using what they have and then have enough for several recipes for future use. The first link to the product from the maker's website actually includes the recipe that's on the back of the package, so you can rip off the rest of the recipe even if you use your own mix. It has a handy ingredient list so you can make your mix as close as possible, too! It evens suggests you serve with raita (yogurt, cucumbers, mint) and naan (Trader Joe's has good options). All together, it's a very satisfying meatless meal.

Bonus: 5 more weeknight recipes from round 1!

My 5 Best Weeknight Meals

Have you ever seen those diagrams where you can only choose two between: cheap, fast, and well-made? It may be generally true of design, but I challenge that idea when it comes to cooking. I haven't been cooking nearly as adventurously as I used to because children are usually clawing at me around dinner time, but I hope to get back to fancy and time consuming cooking some day. In the mean time, I have a trusted arsenal of quick, cheap, delicious meals and I thought I would share 5 of them with you today.

In addition, these are one pot meals, made mostly from scratch. Cause that's how I rollllll...
I don't say that to shame anyone for not cooking from scratch, but truly, it's easier than you might think. Half the battle for me, especially when it's 4:45 and I realize I have no dinner plan, is figuring out what to make! I fall back on this kind of recipe time and time again.

1. Spicy Pork and Mustard Green Soup

Soups are a no-brainer for fulfilling the cheap-quick-yummy trifecta. Well, most soups are. This one is perfect, and it hits 3 major foodgroups in one pot, too!

2. Ssam Burritos

Serve this Korean-burrito hybrid to your hipster friends and it will blow their minds. Super simple fusion at its best. I buy already cooked pulled pork from Costco (because it's no cheaper or better tasting to do it yourself, at least with my level of experience cooking meat) and I use sriracha instead of pulverized kimchi because I prefer it (Jonas loves kimchi, though, and you can find it at most Asian food markets). For the fried garlic, I buy it pre-made from Asian groceries, but it's quite easy to make at home, too.

3. 1870s Mac N Cheese

I love this recipe because the cheese sauce is fluid instead of tacky, which is my main complaint with most home made mac n cheeses. Also, it's from 1870, duh! In order to keep this affordable, I just use whatever kinds of cheese I have on hand. Make sure you keep stirring the sauce until there are no cheese strings coming up when you pull the spoon out - that means everything is truly melted and makes for the smoothest sauce. Sometimes I grill chicken (season with Lowry's or however you like) and cut it up and put it on top of these noodles.

4. Thai Curry with Rice

You can find tubs of curry paste at most Asian markets. I always use the Mae Ploy brand, but more out of habit than anything else. I AM picky about which kind of coconut milk to use - Chaokoh is the best. The recipe for curry is right on the back of the tub. It measure ingredients in grams, but I just add in what looks like the right amount of veggies and meat, or whatever I happen to have. I also eyeball the amount of paste I put in - the more paste you use, the spicier your curry will be.

5. Baked Paremesan Tilapia

Tilapia is not the most glamorous of fishes, but it is cheap and you can make this recipe with frozen tilapia, which is especially cheap. Having a fillet of any kind of fish feels fancy to me, because I'm poor like that. I usually serve this over Rice R Roni because I didn't get to have Rice R Roni very much growing up and I'm still obsessing over it as an adult. This recipe also utilizes the broiler, which is a very undervalued part of the oven, if I may say so myself. I'm quite fond of it.

Two other general tricks I use to get dinner on the table quickly (or when my mother guilts me into a more "well rounded" meal - I'm really, really into one-pot meals) are rice cookers and microwave steaming. I don't want to see you buying any of that pre-cooked frozen Trader Joe's rice BS or trying to boil rice. No, no, no, no. First of all, TJ's IS charging you for the task of having already cooked the rice, and secondly, perfectly cooked rice could not be simpler to make yourself. What you need is a rice cooker. You can buy one for $17 at Target, or you can often find them at the thrift store. It will come with instructions if you get it from Target (as well as measurement lines right on the pot), but I'm basically a pro by now, and I can use my fingers to measure the right amount of water for the consistency of rice that I prefer.

As for steaming veggies in the microwave, it takes all of 3 minutes and it's really difficult to mess up. When I cook vegetables on the stove, I often end up under-cooking them because I'm so afraid to overcook them. I add butter and salt  to the steamed veggies and, viola! Plus, you can start with fresh vegetables, so you end up with a pretty healthy side (leave off the butter if you must). I love the Pampered Chef's microwave steamer, but you can put plastic wrap over a glass bowl, too.

What are you weeknight-dinner tricks and your favorite quick recipes? I'd love to know! 

My Permanent Grocery List

I can not emphasize enough how much I love summer, but at the risk of betraying my entire image, I must tell you that I almost, ALMOST, don't hate the idea of fall coming, because everyone ELSE gets excited and I enjoy that atmosphere. Also, food. Now that New Year's resolutions are completely obliterated and all the grilling and salads and light eating of summer is going to begin winding down, there will be a shift toward richer, warmer foods. Helloooo, butter! 

I'm not a die-hard seasonal eater, but I have noticed that there are certain items that I'm always reaching for based on the recipes I'm drawn to in warm weather or cooler weather. I don't know exactly what to call my style of cooking, but it is fun and interesting to notice patterns in the things that sound good (and to read about other people's!). There's this blog called Camille Styles that does a feature from time to time called "What's on Hand", where a food-personality is interviewed about some of the items that they always have in their pantry. The one I identified most with was Courtney McBroom's. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a cute watercolor of my kitchen and the items in it to go with this list, but I'm not a Pinterest wizard for nothing. (1, 2, 3)

During the summer, I love pasta salads, Mediterranean food, and Asian fusion. Here are the items that will find their way into multiple meals: 

• Plain yogurt - I use this for cucumber salad to pair with meat or falafel and pita or as a side. It also goes in smoothies, and other savory sauces. It even makes an appearance in dessert from time to time. 
• Fresh Herbs -  Basil, mint, parsley, cilantro, dill. These get chopped up and thrown into sauces, salads, cocktails, pickles, and sandwiches. I try and grow them in our yard during the summer because it's crazy to try and anticipate how much of each I'm going to need, and how often, for various recipes. 
• Limes and lemons - Limes garnish most Thai and Mexican dishes and I love lemons in desserts. 
• Orzo - I'm a pasta girl year round, but I like orzo in the summer because small pasta works well in salads and summer soups. 
• Green onions - Again, super easy to grow, and a topping for everything. They're used heavily in most Asian cuisines as well. I use a lot of red onion in the summer too because it's the most mild when eaten raw. 
• Vanilla ice cream - Now that I'm not pregnant, I crave ice cream less than I did last summer, but still, there are so many ways to jazz up vanilla ice cream instead of buying a bunch of more expensive specialty flavors. When I have a big tub of it in the freezer, I even use ice cream in my coffee or pancakes (though it makes them extremely dense!) if I run out of milk or cream. 

During the colder months (ahem, 50s and 60s in California), I imagine myself as a hibernating bear. I SHOULD be sleeping through all the gloom until next summer, but since I'm a human, I make due with being cozy, aka eat all the comfort foods. Here's what I cook with constantly: 

• Parmesan - Sometimes as a topping, but often just with butter on noodles for a quick meal. Again, it goes in many soups and pastas, but I find the flavor interesting enough to spice up something that may be bland, without it being too funky. 
• Heavy cream - Trying to explain all the things I use heavy cream for is overwhelming. It makes everything hearty and rich. I don't drink milk, and when I buy it I make sure it's whole milk so that it's the most flavor-boosting in recipes, but cream does that even better! Soups and pastas and coffee probably see the most of each carton. 
• Bacon - I rarely cook bacon to be eaten on its own (if I do, I want it floppy, with lots of fat), but I use it chopped up all the time and added to other meat, pasta, soup, roasted vegetables, and side dishes. Honestly, I'm not one to add bacon just for the hell of it, but it often ends up being in the recipes that look good to me, even if you can't see any in the photo, so I keep some in the freezer. I buy thick cuts or end pieces at Grocery Outlet, which are best for cutting up anyway. 
• Fettuccine - My go-to winter pasta, it's just so good swimming in cream and butter sauces. Somehow more satisfying than spaghetti, to me. 
• Onions - In the winter, I use brown, white, and yellow onions more. More often than not, caramelized (or at least sauteed) onions are the base of a hearty recipe. 
• Dark chocolate for cooking - Trader Joe's has 1lb bricks of it that I whittle down little by little for ganaches, dipping candied fruit, truffles, and many other holiday desserts. Even some cozy savory foods like a long-simmered mole call for some chocolate. 
• Chicken broth - Soups are ridiculously easy to make, so versatile, and what I constantly want to eat in the winter. I will slap you if you make soup with plain water. I also cook pasta in broth for extra flavor sometimes. 

The longer I think about this, the more items I realize I'm forgetting. Coconut cream, eggnog, frozen peas, fresh tomatoes, a baguette, chicken breasts.... 

The point is to always have your basic ingredients on hand so that you can improvise around them, or have a lot of options without buying too many more ingredients. I like to explain it in terms of Italian food - if you have garlic, basil, sausage, wine, pasta, you're half way there to most of the recipes in the Italian arsenal. The same goes for most other cuisines, or for your own blend of favorites. 

So now, the real question: what do YOU always have on hand? (And can I come over and eat it?) 

Dairy-Free Queen

I was imaging what my super hero name would be (like ya do), if I had one, and I thought "Dairy Queen" would be pretty fitting, if it weren't already trademarked. My weapon of choice would be a stick of butter. But right now, my little heart made of butter is melting into a pile of butter tears that I can't even spread on a bagel. Good analogy, huh? I know, that's why you all love me. [an illustration of me, in costume]

This is the deal: Ira had been vomiting violently during and after eating, and it was becoming noticeably painful for him. If it was just spit up, no big deal. Even if it was a bit more than spit up, I wouldn't diet - I mean, kids throw up, right? It's just a kid thing. But after a few days, it was no longer spit up or fresh milk throw up, but curdled vomit, which is kind of a problem.

After talking with Mrs. Sears (future-brother-in-law's mother), I decided to try a dairy-free diet, as lactose intolerance is the #1 reason that an infant might be vomiting. As I write this, it's been about a week that I've been used to this news, and I'm finally to the point where I don't get kind of weepy about the entire concept of being dairy-free. I can't think of anything less drastic than my offspring being in pain that would cause me to go on a diet. And yet, I think I might be dying. Yes. Yes, I am definitely having withdrawals leading to a miserable death. When I'm gone, please, just fill my casket with alfredo sauce.

I've been trying to put my finger on why this is so hard for me, but it turns out that I needed all ten fingers, because I hate it on so many levels. First of all (and this is by far the most selfless reason), it's rough to see your baby in discomfort, and sad to think that you - or a habit of yours - could be the cause of their pain. In conjunction with not wanting to believe that I was hurting my own son, I've always struggled believing people who go on about how what they eat affects them physically in any remotely drastic way.

Although I believe that it's probably true in some cases, I've always scoffed at the idea of "eating this makes my body do this". Plus, I'm really bad at making correlations in general, so it never occurs to me that some discomfort in my body could be related to an eating pattern, and I tend to roll my eyes when other people say things like that. I think a lot of people go on special diets because it makes their brains feel better - they think that being gluten free will help, and so they're happier being gluten free (and b*tching about how terrible their gluten-free life is), even if there's no scientific change in their body. Now all of a sudden, I'm that irritating person constantly whining about how much I wish I could eat dairy, but I can't.

I'm a picky eater in that there are a fair amount of things I don't like the taste of, but God forbid I be one of THOSE people with a trendy dietary restriction. Yet here I am, THAT person in the grocery store, asking the lady if the breaded chicken has any milk in it. Nooooooooooo!

I have never dieted in my life, except going sugar free for a Lent one year. I don't know if that even counts, because my parents decided we were doing that as a family, and I didn't really get a say. I thought it was going to be a breeze, since I definitely didn't have a sweet tooth at the time, but it was actually harder than I thought it would be. Going dairy-free is about 10 times harder. You would not believe how common dairy is in a regular diet - and I don't even drink milk!

It enrages me. It sounds so ridiculous, but this truly feels like one of the hardest parenting experiences I have yet to face. I take food very, very seriously. Crying over spilled milk? Pleaseeee. Try NO MILK PRODUCTS, EVER! That'll give you something to cry about. Apart from missing actual dairy products, this whole experience just messes with my groove. I hate that I'm confronted with "can't", rather than "want". Of course, I spend all my spare time torturing myself with the names and photos of all the things that are off limits to me right now. I obsess over how much whipped cream I'm going to eat in one sitting when I am eventually off this diet. I will stare at ice cream coming out of the machine and say in a soft whisper, "hello, lover...".

I'm not very good at being on a diet. I'm beginning to understand how people eat themselves into enormous proportions. I've developed a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with food I suspect might have butter or a trace of cheese or cream in it (ahem, molasses cookies. It's impossible for something so good not to have butter in it, I assume), because as long as I don't know they're off limits, I can't be accused of straying from the diet, right? It's like I'm a closet drunk, except, I'm a closet dairy queen...

Part of the reason that I find this so hard is because I'n surrounded by the opportunity to eat dairy products. I'll see a picture or read a recipe that sounds fantastic, and then there's this wretched realization 3 seconds later that it contains something that's forbidden. It's such a cruel cycle, and it plays out many times during the day. Like when I just oogled this photo in my Pinterest feed, only to realize this is the real meaning of "food porn." I can't look away, and sometimes I can't even resist taking a small taste. Today at lunch, Ishmael had macaroni and cheese. I love macaroni and cheese. I had a macaroni and cheese festival on my calendar, and I have a whole board on Pinterest that's just mac n cheese recipes. I think I ordered Ishmael's lunch for him because it sounded good to ME. He ended up not eating very much of it, so I finished it for him, telling myself it wasn't a very large amount, and it would be a test to see how it affected Ira. I realize my willingness to potentially cause my child discomfort make me a miserable person. Ira hasn't throw up yet, but he did seem a little extra fussy, I think?? But I'll tell ya, that macaroni and cheese was so good.

I'm kind of terrified that my own body will react to dairy when I stop breastfeeding if I don't keep little bits of it in my own diet here and there. So I have to cheat on my diet occasionally, right? And occasionally means like every other day, right?! In fact, in order to keep enough calcium in my diet, I'm supposed to eat dark greens (yah.........), almonds, and sardines. Hm. How ironic would it be if I lost so much body fat on this diet that I couldn't produce enough milk for Ira?! I would be livid...

I know I'm going about this all wrong, but just think of all the things that you couldn't eat if you couldn't have dairy products! If I were seriously hard-core about absolutely no dairy of any kind, it would be incredibly hard. This list freaked me out, and when I started reading a few labels (a first for me!) at Trader Joe's earlier this week, I was mortified at what things unexpectedly contained whey and other dairy products. Even healthy things, like yogurt in savory foods (one of my favorite cooking go-tos, recently) are now a no-no.

Just have an In-N-Out double-double without the cheese, you say? The cheese is the best part, dammit! In the spirit of actually trying to help myself not be tempted by dairy, I leave the room when Jonas is eating yogurt or has cheese on something, but inevitably, I still see the empty packages in the trash and it makes me shrivel up inside. I know I'm being really dramatic about this whole thing, but I think I'm genuinely mourning this little loss in my life.

At least when I have all this extra time not being taken up by eating dairy products, I have time to look this fabulous while nursing.

Just kidding. I have to tell people that come to the door to wait while I put some cloth on my body.
Honestly, it's pretty hard to find an upside to this whole thing. Except that Ira isn't vomiting. And supposedly all the baby weight will come off me faster. But I'd take dairy over that (losing weight) any day.

In an effort to rally myself, though, I'm trying to see this period of time as a challenge - almost like a game. Believe it or not, I used to hate cooking, but once I saw it as a sort of art project, with the plate as my canvas and an infinite amount of creativity wrapped up in combinations of ingredients, I began to enjoy it. If I can see a dairy-free diet as an excuse to make the BEST dairy-free food possible, I may just be able to bare it.

Although I believe in my Aunt Cathy's advice to not bother with substitutes too much, as they will only disappoint me, I have found a few things so far that may help me cope with a lack of butter or milk. For example, Duncan Heinz cake mixes (which happen to be my favorite anyway) are reportedly all dairy-free. Coconut cream, coconut milk, and coconut oil, as well as Trader Joe's dark chocoloate, mayonaise, avacado, ghee, sorbets, and most Asian foods are my friends. For the less-intense dieter, some aged cheeses are apparently lactose-free, though not free of the protein in milk that can be a stomach irritant. You can be sure that I used that as an excuse to put a few shavings of parmesan on top of my cauliflower the other night. (Here's my Pinterest board of dairy-free recipes to try)

Some substitutes I've been encouraged to try are Tofutti cream "cheeses", Miracle Tarts, Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss ice cream, and coconut yogurt from New Frontiers in SLO. Have you ever had any of these? Did you like them?

I still struggle with being selfless, even after having two kids. People say, "being a parent forces you to focus on people other than yourself," which is true to an extent, but I guess I thought I would literally be unable to be selfish once I had kids (hahaha). Instead, I'm fighting an urge to grill Ira about why he has chosen to punish me in this way. Doesn't he realize that if his mama is so strongly against dieting, that he should be too? Doesn't he trust me that dairy products are THE BEST? Then again, I'm pretty sure I've heard other parents say that if I am passionate about something, at least one of my children is bound to put all their energy into being completely different than me.

The things we do for love, right? As much energy as I've put into complaining about this, sacrificing my comfort is actually worth it to give my son comfort. But don't get me wrong, when this phase is over, you can find me on the floor in the corner of the kitchen, eating whipped cream out of a huge bowl with my bare hands.

P.S. In case you wanted to have this entire post summed up in a 4 minute video, this... You're welcome. 

Food Fight

I've imagined myself as a participant on a reality TV show before, but there's a new show out that has me blogging on this topic yet again. "Food Fight" pits home chefs against professional chefs in a series of 5 rounds - the home chef picks their 5 best recipes, and can stratagise about which recipe to use to compete against which professional chef. The professional chef for each round must make their own version of the home chef's recipe, and a panel of every-day (not professional) foodies judges whose version they prefer in a blind tasting. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the home chef can win up to $100,000 by beating the professional chefs. Better than a sharp stick in the eye.

I think this premise is delightful, though the actual show can be monotonous to watch. I would not want to be put upon to be so peppy as the home chefs appear to have been coached to be, and the host (Adam Richman of Man vs. Food) irritates me with his facial expressions and talking dumb. Of course I wouldn't actually do this, but I feel like I would want to tell him to get out of my face and space when he came in to talk to me about what I was cooking while I was trying to cook. I would be angry to waste any brain power answering his questions if I only had 15 minutes to cook a dish! The time constraints for some of the courses would clearly be a huge hurdle, though it looks like their allowed to have a lot of their ingredients pre-prepped.

I may or may not be able to beat any of the chefs at the level at which I can currently cook, but I like to think that I am working up to being able to! As some of you know, I've been selling products by the Pampered Chef for the past 6 months. I have a love-hate relationship with this job, but one thing I love is cooking for people, and helping other people get excited about cooking. I mentioned before that I'd like to move in the direction of becoming a private chef and/or teach some specialty cooking classes. As for being a personal chef, the Pampered Chef is the first  my job I've had with an aspect of customer service or sales, and that part is hard for me - sometimes people are difficult and don't know what's best for them (no, I will not cook kale for you!!!), and that's the part that I imagine would be frustrating about being a personal chef, too. My one experience with a personal chef was in Beijing, when some family friends invited my mom and I to their house where a private chef prepared dinner for a small party - if I recall correctly, the meal wasn't especially creative (some kind of beef steak, green beans, mashed potatoes, etc.), but it was especially delicious, and having a personal chef, even if it's just for a very special occasion, is such a luxurious and fun experience. [image]

I was telling my mama about the show "Food Fight" and asked her what recipes she'd choose to compete with. The two she said right away were her famous overnight bread (people, it will blow your minds) and her Indian samosa with chutney. She could whoop the best of the best with those recipes, I'm darn sure.

As far as what I'd cook, I'm still building my repertoire. As I thought about it, I realized how difficult the time constraint would be. Making dough from scratch, letting things marinate, letting things chill - many of my favorite recipes require time that I wouldn't have on the show. I'd also need to learn to use tools like a stand mixer, emulsion blender, vacuum chamber, etc., though those should help with the time constraints. I'm also not good at cooking from memory or without a recipe to at least reference, which could put me at a disadvantage. But, at least I could practice my bum off at home first. Can you tell I've seriously considered being on this show? I like to think I could stand up under the pressure, though. Have I mentioned that my parents threw a shower for Jonas and I before we got married based around the cooking competition show "Chopped"? Our team lost, but it was a really fun shower, and I also got my new-wife-kitchen launched with a bunch of Pampered Chef products as a result of that shower - the BEST! [this picture was an inspiration for my whole wedding design, before I called off the wedding and decided to get married at the courthouse, haha.]

So far (time constraints not accounted for), the recipes I'd consider competing with on Food Fighters might be my great grandma's gazpacho, my prawn and coconut milk ceviche, my dad's xinjiang pilao, this killer ancient mac-n-cheese (a truly amazing mac-n-cheese is rarer than you'd think), and guava-lemon mousse (which is so simple, and incredibly good, but only an accomplished dessert chef would know what to do, I think!). I have some other incredible recipes, like eggnog pancakes, a cheesy chicken pot pie, and a chicken salad in lettuce cups, but many of them are standard enough that I think a professional chef could make an impressive version of their own to rival mine. Although it's in it's extremely fledgling phase, I'm hoping to compile a cookbook of my best recipes in the next few years - it will give me a chance to test and perfect all the "keeper" recipes I've made in the past few years, and as a finished product, what a cool keepsake and easy and personal gift to give, right?!

What reality or competition shows do you think you would have a chance at competing on? And the REAL question, what recipes do you have that no one, not even the best, could beat? Do tell! 

Try This At Home: Coconut Milk Shrimp Ceviche

Jonas and I love the restaurant Luna Red in SLO for their unique menu choices and lovely atmosphere. On my first visit there, I got hooked on their shrimp ceviche. The menu mentions the main ingredients in the dish, but I decided to try my hand at recreating it at home, and meshed with this other ceviche recipe I found, here's what I came up with.

Time: 30 min prep, 30 min marinade
Servings: appetizer for 6 adults (or adventurous and ravenous toddlers)

What You'll Need:

• 1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 5 to 8 limes, depending on size and juiciness 
• 1/2 large cucumber, deseeded and diced
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 1/2 cup packed cilantro, chopped 
• 1/2 to 1 (depending on the desired heat) green jalapeno pepper , de-seeded and minced 
• 2/3 of a 14 oz. can of coconut cream (thicker than coconut milk)
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, depending on jalapeno heat)

Home made tortilla chips for serving 
Caviar limes (aka finger limes) for garnish (SB farmer's market has them) 

Directions:

1. Peel and clean the shrimp first, chopping them into bits about the size of your fingernail. Juice the limes and fully cover the shrimp with lime juice. Let the shrimp sit in the lime juice for 30 minutes in the fridge - the lime will "cure" the shrimp, turning them the pink-and-white opaque of cooked shrimp, super nifty! 

2. Next, chop the cucumbers and salt them in a sieve placed over a bowl - the salt will help the cucumbers release some of their liquid so you won't end up with runny ceviche, as well as salt flavor to the whole dish. The longer you let them sit, the more water they'll release, so get this step out of the way early on so they have time to do their thing. 

3. I threw the jalapeno, red onion, and cilantro in to my manual food processor and chopped them to a small dice in one quick step. 

[if you're making your own tortilla chips, you can use any time left waiting for the shrimp to finish to start on those]

4. When the shrimp is ready, pour off a little more than half of the lime juice (you can just toss it, you're not using it later) and combine with the cucumber (shake off excess liquid that may still be dripping) and minced veggies. Pour the coconut cream over everything and combine. You can use more or less cream depending on the consistency you want.

5. Add cayenne to adjust the heat, if desired. Squeeze caviar limes over individual portions for extra pretty presentation. 

Marisol at the Cliffs Review

I had so much fun and learned so much when I got to enjoy a 7-course dinner and food writing class at the restaurant Marisol at the Cliffs earlier in the month. Part of the deal was that I write a review of the meal and post it to Yelp and TripAdvisor. Naturally, Yelp can't handle my wordiness, so I'm posting my full review here and linking to the post in case Yelp readers want to see everything I have to say. 

I'm also going to include some pictures here (albeit, not very good ones) that I took during the meal and aren't available on Yelp. I noticed that this restaurant only has 3 stars on average on Yelp which seems crazy, because my meal was definitely not 3-stars, and no one is twisting my arm to say that. 

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy my thoughts on the meal, and that it inspires you to eat there sometime! If you follow Marisol at the Cliffs on Facebook, they keep their page very up to date and post lots of fun special menus - I was so tempted by the sake braised ribs and chocolate beignet with passion fruit on their Valentine's day weekend menu. 

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I arrived at Marisol by the Cliffs in Pismo beach about five minutes after dinner had started. Those in our class were the only people at the restaurant, though a few sat at the bar, and the sherbet sunset was coming through the picture windows aiding in my transportation from an evening as a a bedraggled young working mom of a toddler, cramming in study-time wherever possible, to a sophisticated, almost well-dressed young woman, sitting down to a be pampered by a relaxed, 8-course gourmet dinner, complete with impeccable wine pairings.

Well, almost. I was a wine critic for the evening only with my nose and eyes, as I am four months pregnant. As the evening unfolded and I learned about each wine – many of which were extremely expensive and rare – I wished many times that I both enjoyed wine and didn't have to waste the fine specimens before me, but I consoled myself with the idea that few others review food and wine pairings based on smell, and perhaps that almost gives me an edge, especially if you're also a social pariah on the Central Coast, like me, due to your dislike for wine. Thankfully, several other classmates offered to help me drink my wines once I had finished sniffing them.

The opening appetizer was already being served as I arrived and the other students/guests were mingling. I put down my bag, overflowing with diapers, and stared longingly at a smoke-infused Johnny Walker and coke reduction cocktail, garnished with in-house beef jerky. The level to which I am uninterested by wine can be rivaled only in the level at which I am enamored with fancy cocktails. Alas, I can speak only for the sweet meat - and full disclosure, beef jerky is a weakness of mine – which was delectable. The description of the cocktail and the experience of the sweet meat has had me dreaming of a seat at the Marisol bar several times this week.

I am generally a food scarfer, but the quality and pacing of this meal impressed upon me an involuntary limited-time-only desire to savor each bite slowly. I found almost every aspect of this meal was cooked to perfection, though if I had one over-all criticism, I think the creativity of the food pairings and flavors could be pushed to the next level.

Before I get into my reviews of the actual food, I must thank four special people. First, my dear best friend, Michelle, for gifting me this entire experience – I love you so much, and I hope everyone can find a friend like you in their life. Secondly, Chef Gregg Wangard, for his generosity, warmth, and talent in providing the meal. Thirdly, the extremely knowledgeable sommelier Jeff Chaney, who continued to pour me wine, despite probably noticing that I wasn't fully appreciating his carefully curated collection. Also, he looked like Ira Glass and wore yellow pants, and I have nothing but love in my heart for both of those things. Finally, I must thank the lovely Teri Bayus for her expert coaching on food writing, and her clear enthusiasm for her job.

1. Seared Foie Gras with reconstituted black mission figs and buttered white toast, garnished with sherry and honey glaze, coarse salt, and a sprout sprig. 

Controversy in a bite. For the last 18 months, foie gras has been illegal to sell in the United States, but fear not, the chef is not under arrest. It is still legal for foie gras to be “gifted” along side something paid for (hypothetically the sherry I “drank” with it). Furthermore, this was Hudson Valley duck liver, which is sustainably raised and naturally - not forcefully - grain fed. And for the record, it has been proven that ducks and geese will over-stuff themselves given the opportunity, without human intervention.

With that aside, this was the first time I'd eaten foie gras, and definitely my most delightful experience with liver thus far in my life. I have stayed far, far away from liver since taking a big bite out of a lamb liver as a child, assuming it was an especially luscious piece of dark meat. My mistake. This foie gras, however, did not taste gamy, and melted away in the mouth. It was decadent, layered with the multiple textures from the toast and chewy, candy figs. The seeds of the fig stuck in my teeth, leaving a lingering sweetness.

Wine pairing: NV Bodegas Dios Baco Amontillado Sherry, Jerez, Spain

This sherry was described as an oxidated one, made from Palamino grapes. It was the color of amber, with an ombre affect to colorless at the top of the liquid. The smell reminded me of Chinese Black Vinegar which is made from rice and described as “malty, woodsy and smoky” in flavor.

2. Three-Mushroom (shitake, button, and portabella) soup thickened with sourdough bread and mascarpone cheese, garnished with a drizzle of truffle oil.

This is the one exception I could (and a little bit did) make to my evening of slow paced dining, which may have had something to do with the fact that this was my favorite course. It was one of the simplest of the evening, but I would get down on my knees and beg if I thought that would get me this recipe. I would guzzle this soup to the point of being as engorged as a Hudson Valley duck liver myself, given the chance.

I could taste the celery in the soup, which was a homey and unexpected touch, and though not excessively strong in the mouth, the notes of garlic lingered. I am not usually a fan of truffle oil, but it was perfect with this soup.

Wine pairing: 2005 Louis Latour Nuits-Saint-Georges, Cote de Nuits, France

The color of this “old world” wine was described as “brick” red, but I thought it looked like the color that young Russian women in China prefer to dye their hair; a dead, deep, blood red mixed with purple. The flavor was described as an “earthy pinot noir, with savory clove and leaf notes”, perfect for drinking alongside food because the expected sweetness of fruit has dissipated with age. I smelled less of a bite in this specimen than other wines, and it reminded me faintly of the scent of nail polish remover.

3. Arugula Salad with medium poached pears, candied roasted pecans, blue cheese crumbles and thyme dressing.

Chef Gregg's trick to perfectly candied pecans is to cook them in powdered sugar and salt. You're welcome. The Paradise blue cheese, made with top cream, is something that I generally shy away from, but this variety was heady, spicy, quite salty, and perfect, despite hinting at the usual dirty notes of blue cheese. It was smooth as butter, compared to the harder more crumbly variety I am used to. The poached pears provided a soft, cidery crunch, and when everything was tossed with arugula – which I often find too biting for my taste – it was a scrumptious little salad.

Wine pairing: NV Roederer Estate Brut, Anderson Valley

Though cliché, the word that came to mind to describe the appearance of this champagne was “bridal”, complete with an excited veil of bubbles upon being poured that simmered down while resting in my glass. The flavor was described as bone dry, with lean, minerally, soapy, floral, citrusy, and bitter almonds notes. To me it smelled light, and of just barely souring fruits.

4. Farm raised salmon encrusted with potatoes on a bed of lemon infused jasmine rice, garnished with meyer lemon balsamic dressing and sprouts.

I may have had salmon flavored to rival this before in my life, but never have I tasted salmon, taken on its own, cooked to such perfection. It was fatty in the best possible way, as if the membranes between each flake of fish were made of butter. By the last few bites of the dish, the fish had cooled down enough to lose that heavenly quality. I thought the hair-thin potato slices that made up the salmon “crust” were decent, but perhaps not my favorite pairing. The strong, almost heartburn-inducing balsamic glaze garnishing the plate was the perfect acidic tang to tie together each bite of salmon and rice, as were the peppery green sprouts atop the salmon. The creamy bed of green rice had a rice wine jalapeno kick to it, which was a nice addition to the flavor pallet.

Wine pairing: 2009 Hirsch Vineyards San Andreas Fault Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

This selection was shinier, pinker, and clearer than the previous red (paired with course 2) with a color that I would describe as crisp magenta. A “new world” wine, it smelled of sweet vinegar that I would actually like to taste, and the smell left a tiny burn in my nose and throat.

5. Breast of duck with spaghetti squash on a parsnip puree.

Cooked in the sous-vide style (in a cryogen bag to assure it's evenly cooked), the duck was tender and not unpleasantly chewy. I don't recall it having a huge flavor presence of its own, but I very much enjoyed the addition of the crunch of the spaghetti squash flavored with red pepper, and the cool turnip puree with a hint of vanilla. Though not strong, the flavors lingered in my mouth and gave me the overall impression of comfort food.

Wine pairing: 2010 Sinor La Vallee Syrah, Les Galets Vineyard, Arroyo Grande Valley

Another deep fuchsia colored wine, reminding me of a sumptuous shade of lipstick. Described as “spice driven”, it definitely did smell spicy to me.

6. Crostini  with Brillat Savarin cheese wedge, quince paste and a castelveltrano olive.

Apparently I am not a very adventurous cheese eater, because I found this dish to be the only one I struggled to enjoy. The brie, around 83% milk fat (compared to butter's 84%), was described as “soft and ripened”. Even after cutting off the rind, which packs the most flavor, I found the cheese pungent. It smelled faintly sour, and tasted very salty and rich, almost exactly like a highly concentrated Kraft Mac n' Cheese. The olive was nutty and briny, and tasted the way wine smells. I did not find the quince paste to be spectacular either, though there was nothing wrong with it by any means. Not my cup of tea, but I know many who would have gobbled up this pairing.

No wine pairing

7. Banana foster with Doc Burnstein’s vanilla ice cream and mint leave, on a corn flake bed.

The thing I enjoyed most about this dish was incorporating the fresh spearmint leaves into each bite. The “crust” around the banana tasted of cinnamon, and was slightly gritty, sticking to the mouth. I did enjoy the additional crunch of the corn flake garnish. Again, not my favorite part of the meal, but I imagine my son would jump at the chance to eat it.

Wine Pairing: 2011 Tatomer Riesling Beerenauslese, Kick-on Ranch Vineyard, Santa Barbara County

Served ice cold, I thought this wine looked almost oily when poured. Described as a “noble rot, late harvest wine”, the main thing I smelled in it was raisins. 

8 [Non-Extreme] Ways to Feed Your Child Healthily

I have more or less rolled my eyes at the organic food movement since I became aware of it. I am a girl that believes in science and loves her real (salted) butter. I also eat cookies that I drop on the sidewalk. And I'm irritated by people who make eating this or that (or not eating this or that, more precisely) into a religiously dogmatic trend. 

In America, I think food can be an opiate of the masses. We are very privileged in the available range and cost of our food, but it can end up costing us more than our cash. Now that I have a child's body and future to care for, I suddenly care and think hi-fructose corn syrup is highly suspicious. I call the struggle to find "good" food to raise a family on "the Mamavore's Dilemma" (though that sounds like I only eat mamas, right?). Below I am going to run through why I finally think this is important and how not to suck at eating healthily. You may have heard most of it before, but I hope there's some gravity in hearing it from someone who isn't a health nut. I used to feel so defeated at the thought of how much energy it would take to comb over every box label, drive out into the fields to get groceries, etc. But if you're not coo-coo about it, it's actually not as hard as it sounds. And to me, any learning curve is worth it when I imagine Ishmael stricken with diseases caused by the unexamined foods I carelessly gave him as a child. 

1. Choose Organic. I don't want to scare you away with this being number one, so let me preface some later points by saying I'm far from adopting an entirely organic diet. However, I do think this is a fundamental issue that, if ignored, renders most of my other points useless. The growing consensus seems to be that the process of growing organic products is actually worse for the environment than conventionally grown products, but I think there is also growing evidence to suggest that the presence of GMOs in our food is a leading contributor to the escalating numbers of allergies and intolerances (gluten, anyone?). The more unnatural stuff we put in our bodies, the more we handicap our bodies from being able to function as they were made to. 

2. Shop Local. When you're closer to the source, there is less opportunity for your food to be messed with by the time it reaches us. Less freezing, less preserving, and perhaps more opportunity for you to observe the entire growing process and be aware of what factors influence your produce. Depending on where you live, it can be pretty hard to get food straight from the source. Here in Santa Maria, there aren't a lot of options for raw dairy or meat bred and butchered nearby. In fact, I heard that Santa Barbara county is in the top 1% of food producing areas in the U.S., but we export 98% of what we grow!  I'm delighted by the fact that fusion cuisine (which can be the ultimate example of non-local food) was invented in California and I can finally point to an "American" food, but it's a total luxury.

3. Cook In Season. As depressing as it can be to find the diversity we're used to on a local level, the Central Coast has a thriving farmer's market scene, which enables us to buy produce that's in season and often locally grown as well. Whatever is in season tends to taste the best too! Here is a list of farmer's markets on the Central Coast. The Santa Maria market is especially well priced. There are also community gardens and co-ops that I haven't looked into as much. Sometimes I want herbs that aren't in season, and at least in California, it's not too hard to grow them indoors, I don't think. Which leads us to the next point...

4. DIY. For some, growing your own food is an option. That's a step beyond where I'm at right now, but I think I will get there some day. One thing to be careful of, if you do decide to plant some stuff, is to get non-modified seeds! Another thing I haven't tried, but know is a possibility, is making your own yogurt from a starter. My parents used to make their own cheese as well. If you can find raw dairy to begin with, that could be a more healthy option than buying dairy products from the grocery store (because the animals that produce that dairy are most likely being fed GM foods, which alters what they produce). Some people even raise their own chickens, but chickens are repulsive to me, so if I ever end up doing that, it will have to be in a living situation in which I can put them far away from the house. One thing I do really like to do is make my own snacks (which handily avoids preservatives!) like lox, kimchi, and hopefully beef jerky, soon. The list is endless on this one - I'm thankful that I enjoy cooking. 

5. Substitute. It takes longer, but cooking from scratch tastes better and is better for you. I'm starting to look into what ingredients (even when cooking from scratch) I can switch out for healthier things that I don't use yet. We decided not to feed Ishmael rice cereal, for example, because it's seeming more and more likely that beginning processed foods at such a young age predispositions the palette for less healthy things later on, like white bread as opposed to whole grains, etc. I do like whole grain breads, but so far I can't bare to make all my smothered-in-fat pastas with whole-wheat noodles. And those green spinach noodles in the multi-colored pasta blends are deplorable. Again, I'm only just starting to research these things myself, but it seems like Agave nectar might be a more healthy sweetener than refined sugar (or even honey, since honey is made by bees who may be pollinated by GM plants). Have you used it? What did you think?

6. Be Informed. A quick Google search informed me that a 9 in front of produce sticker codes means the item is organic (no GMOs). Here is an explanation of what all the numbers mean. I was looking that up because I was so excited to find some miniature bananas for my miniature human at an outdoor Mexican market, but to my dismay, they were run-of-the-mill bananas. Which goes to show that not everything at a farmer's market or other less supermarket-y setting is different than the rest (I made them into a headdress for him instead, and Jonas and I ate them Thai-dessert style). Another easy step is to be aware of the most commonly modified foods, but this list makes me sad. I love my edemame, zucchini, and dairy products. 

7. Meal-Time Habits. At this point, my household doesn't have weight issues, but we do have to be intentional about limiting our sugar intake, for one thing. Forget about a sweet tooth, my husband has a sweet jaw! And somewhere between pregnancy cravings and the habit osmosis that happens in marriage, I too have acquired the need for a sugar fix after almost every meal. This is a problem, my kittens. I've talked before about not wanting to throw around the term "addiction", but when I find myself feeling as if I need sugar, for example, and can't focus on anything else until I have some, I think there's a problem with my habits. I know other people struggle with this when it comes to caffeine. For the record, I think energy drinks are of the devil and they aren't allowed in my home. 

Sugar intake is a self-control issue for both Jonas and I now that we buy our own groceries. I'm privileged to have come from a home where my mom cooked us healthy food from scratch 3 meals a day, but it does make one go crazy in the junk food isle later in life. Oh, how I used to pine over the marshmallows in Erica Jensen's lunchbox in second grade. Instead of marshmallows, my mother made me french onion soup and put it in a plastic canteen that never quite relinquished the smell.

Here are some habits that we have (or will try to) incorporate:

• Regular meal times; Jonas and I still have our teenage metabolisms, so sometimes we won't eat much for several days and then eat a TON all at once, but that's not very good for you and is definitely not a good practice to teach children. 
• Portion control; related to the above, it's better to eat several small meals throughout the day than over-eat at any one given time. 
• Don't reward with food; for both children and adults, food shouldn't be used as positive or negative reinforcement. Good eating habits should be maintained, regardless of other behavior. And just to clarify, rewarding does not equal indulging, which I whole-heartedly believe in on occasion. 
• Set quantifiable goals for "bad" foods; X amount of fast food, candy, soda, chips, etc. per X amount of time. 
• Don't add salt or sugar to baby food. 

8. Moderation. The key to healthy (and happy) eating is moderation. Healthy eating can become an obsession in its own right (at which point it's no longer healthy, obvs.). I mean, come one, who are we kidding that kale is always gonna do the trick when what you really want is pasta and shrimp swimming in cream sauce? Diets don't work well because you're denying your body something it actually needs, be it fat or sugar or what have you. You only get one life to live, and sometimes you've gotta just love the junk for it's delicious junkyness. And not to be a downer, but you probably can't get away from all "bad" food, even if you tried. 

Well, that's what I've determined thus far for my own family, but on a related note, this excellent discussion about obesity (worth 40 minutes of your time, especially to liven up a commute or some housework!) in the US gives some good insight and ideas about eating healthily in this glorious land of finger-lickin' goodness, too. 

Good luck, and don't eat all the butter without me.