Sorry. No digest this week (check out yesterday’s post for an explanation!). But fear not—I’ve got something for you. Some political action! C’mon ChowMamas and Papas, let’s rally! Need motivation? More than 31 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program (is your child one?). Many of these children consume as many as HALF of their daily calories at school. Helping schools serve real food may be the most promising way to end child obesity, but it simply can’t happen unless Congress invests in healthier food in the upcoming Child Nutrition Act.

I first posted about the Time for Lunch campaign by Slow Food USA in December. Though lots of progress has been made, more help is needed to help ensure that our kids get the school food they deserve. Don’t think you’ve got what it takes to help? USDA Secretary Vilsack thinks otherwise. He recently said that the most important thing citizens can do to get healthier food into their local schools is to urge Congress to pass a strong Child Nutrition Act. This issue has broad public support, he said, but it isn’t appearing in the news—so we need to make sure Congress gets the message.

Help send congress the message loud and clear. The Time for Lunch campaign is aiming to get 100,000 letters to Congress. Join the effort and send a letter. If you’ve already done that, there are other ways you can help, namely by spreading the word. So please post this on Facebook, Tweet it, send it around. Let’s show our fighting spirit!

I’ve met so many wonderful, thoughtful, food-loving parents since I’ve started blogging, many of whom I’ve come to know through Twitter. One of my lovely Twitter friends is Jenna of Food with Kid Appeal, a self-proclaimed recovering picky eater who inspires parents to grow good eaters. Her recipes are wholesome, fun and thoughtfully take into account limited time, energy and budgets.
Without further ado, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Jenna. If you don’t already, check out her blog, follow her on Twitter (and me, too, while you’re at it!) and enjoy this great post inspired by the book 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life. You know that I’m a huge proponent of spicing up food for even the youngest eaters (offering such adventurous foods was the inspiration behind ChowBaby foods!), so I LOVE this post. Enjoy!
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When I’m asked by friends to give them some pointers on getting baby started on baby food, or the transition to table food, one of the things I like to tell them are about some super foods they might not think of as being good for baby. Most parents know that fruits, veggies and whole grains should be on baby’s spoon, but are herbs and spices front and center in your menu as good eats for baby?
Read more …

I wanted to make something different for Valentine’s Day. Something chocolate, of course, but with more. With a twist. My burning desire for something new led me down a long road paved with failed experiments before coming up with these gems. I wandered (way) far afield before remembering that it’s little adjustments made to the familiar things we know and love that make for the most pleasant surprises.
These chewy chocolate chunk cookies, first discovered on Orangette, are a staple at our house. I hate to admit it, but the first thing that drew me to Molly’s recipe was its use of yogurt (she suggests full fat, but I use non- or low-fat Greek style which always works). There’s still some butter and a cup of sugar, so I’m not claiming that these are completely guilt free (c’mon people—if you’re going to make cookies, enjoy them!), but they aren’t gut bombs either. Which might be why it didn’t occur to me right away to adapt this recipe for our Valentine’s Day treats. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be sinful, right?
All weekend I churned out decadent treats that just weren’t right. Then, it occurred to me: Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be over the top. Instead, it can be mellow and warm. Familiar yet surprising. Quietly romantic. And that’s just what my new version of these cookies are.
Read more …

I recently had the honor of interviewing renowned “green” pediatrician Dr. Alan Green for Our365.  I was over the moon when asked to do the interview—I’ve been a fan of Dr. Greene for some time now. I first discovered him while researching advisors for my baby food venture, ChowBaby. Though we never got to the point of approaching him, I continued to follow Dr. Greene closely. Not only does he offer a comparable wealth of info on parenting and child rearing as Dr. Sears and the like (with a more modern twist, if you ask me), but he is also one of the only pediatricians dealing head on with issues related to non-toxic living. As part of that, he takes an unprecedented interest in how parents feed their children. So much so that he wrote a book about it, his latest, Feeding Baby Green.

Dr. Greene is widely recognized as a champion for organic eating (as much as you’re able and can afford), but I love him most for his progressive (and non-American) approach to healthy feeding. From his unconventional idea of when to start solids, to his emphasis on feeding even first time eaters whatever the rest of the family is eating, to his ahead-of-his-time attitude about food allergies, Dr. Greene encourages feeding our children in a way that excites the palate and lays the foundation for healthy eating habits for life.

My conversation with Dr. Greene was beyond validating. I was, literally, quivering with excitement as he put into words more eloquent than mine a family food philosophy that I try to live by and share with you every week. Read the interview for more. And, if you’re interested, read his new book, Feeding Baby. I was not asked to promote the book here. I just read it and loved it. I think you might too, especially if you’re pregnant or a first time mom with a wee little one.

6 Questions for Dr. Alan Greene, by Stacie Billis (via Our365)

Follow Dr. Greene on Twitter (And, hey, while you’re at it, follow me, too, if you don’t already!)

Become a fan of Our365 on Facebook!

Photo: Beverly Hsu, via Swiss Miss

Check out this week’s Food News, Things I Crave, Green Your Eats, Tips, Tools & Techniques, and Weekly Roundtable (a roundup of the most recent ChowMama posts). Plus, for a little while, I’ll follow the Weekly Roundtable with a quick update on my non-resolutions, you know, to keep me honest.
Read more …

Here’s the skinny (or not-so-skinny, as it were): Cascadian Farms is owned by General Mills who recently quietly reformulated Purely O’s adding THREE times the sugar, fillers including corn meal and sweeteners including tapioca syrup.

O’s cereals are one of THE most popular first finger foods. They are consumed by babies as young as 8-months-old and General Mills doesn’t have the moral clarity, or just plain business ethics, to tell us? They didn’t even have to advertise the details. How about just informing us to look at the nutrition panel for changes? We can—and should—take it from there.

I don’t know about you, but this enrages me. Makes me wonder what kind of society will live in that we can’t trust the companies that feed our children to keep things like unnecessary excess fat and sugar and endocrine disruptors (e.g., Bisphenol-A) out of our babies’ food and food containers. Or to at least tell us that they haven’t (remember the Sigg debacle?). I guess, as Marion Nestle points out, it’s just business as usual for these big companies.

What do you think? Am I overreacting? Will you keep buying Cascadian Farm O’s? If not, is it just because of the sugar, or also on principle?

If, like me, you plan on giving up O’s all together, consider these breakfast alternatives:

• oatmeal with your favorite add-in’s (we love this banana pecan oatmeal
• whole grain toast with slow cooker apple butter
• toast or whole grain bagel with pumpkin walnut cream cheese
• 10-minute blueberry almond morning polenta
• plain yogurt with my all purpose blueberry puree
• coco-banana date smoothies
• orange cardamom french toast
• sweet potato muffins with cream cheese filling (can be stored in the freezer and reheated in just minutes in the oven or seconds in the microwave for an on-the-go option)