The Denim Diaries by Kami Gray

My Dad’s birthday party is tomorrow night. We’re celebrating by making all his favorite foods…Lasagna (whole wheat noodles, chicken sausage, part-skim mozzarella, and Italian Parmesan cheese in a tomato sauce), lemon cake (with whole wheat pastry flour and agave nectar), and a big Caesar salad. After dinner, we’ll do a white elephant gift exchange. My Dad loves these and gets in a complete frenzy if he doesn’t get the one item he really wants. So this time, we’re only exchanging things we know he’ll want…we want to get him really worked up! Gifts will include anything University of Oregon-related (key chains, bumper stickers, hats, T-shirts) and a box of my sister Kelly’s whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. We’ll throw in some pairs of socks. For some reason, my Dad goes after socks with a vengeance!

Our pastry chef will be my nine year-old niece and her father, my brother Jeffrey. In our family, we let the kids in the kitchen. This is a way to involve them in the process and teach them about healthy eating. When they get to be a part of it, they are way more likely to try something different (and healthy). Check out my blog post titled, Feeding Your Kids: Common Mistakes for more great ideas on how to get your kids to eat healthier.

I highly recommend checking out a cookbook called, Kids Fun and Healthy Cookbook. It’s filled with wonderful recipes and beautiful pictures. Let the kids make dinner tonight!

Need to take the chill off? I made a pot of my sister’s turkey soup recipe and ate it for a week. Spinach adds a wallop of healthy goodness to this hale and hearty, but easy to make soup. Rosemary, the secret ingredient, contributes its own special fragrance. Serve with a crusty whole wheat baguette and a garden salad. As always, don’t forget to use wholesome, organic ingredients, locally grown if possible. This recipe is in my book, The Denim Diet, along with thirty other great recipes that are healthy, filling, and perfect for your weight-reducing efforts.

Makes 8 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups chopped carrots

8 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 (15-ounce cans) white beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup cooked barley (optional)

3 cups diced cooked turkey breast

1 bunch spinach, stemmed and rinsed, or

1 (10-ounce) package thawed frozen chopped spinach

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic, and carrots until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, herbs, salt, pepper, beans, cooked barley (optional) and turkey. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach until wilted.

A woman I met at a barbecue yesterday and I struck up a conversation about nutrition and kids.  She told me her five year-old son had just started kindergarten that week. I asked her son if they had snack time at school. He said yes, but that they had to bring their own snack. Apparently, one of the other kids brought Pop Tarts®. Her son had never heard of such a thing. He’s been raised on healthy, home-made, “real” foods his entire life. Rather than rant on about how unhealthy, fake, and toxic Pop Tarts® are (which is what I would have done), his Mom said, “Oh yeah. Pop Tarts®. I’ll make you some.” So she did and she went on to explain to her curious son that hers were a healthier, more nutritious, and even more delicious version.

Now he knows what a Pop Tart is and more importantly, knows his Mom is willing to not just tell him, but take the time to show him and let him experience first-hand what things he’ll be exposed to out there in the world of packaged, processed Pop Tarts® and a million other not-so-good-for-you things so he can learn the difference and make his own decisions.

Way to go Mom!

She used a recipe from Super Baby Foods by Ruth Yaron which I don’t have a copy of so I modified a recipe from Chowhound.com.

Whole Wheat Pop Tarts

(not just for kids)

1 c. organic whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 Tablespoon refined, organic, almond oil

3 Tablespoons refined, organic canola oil

2 Teaspoons agave nectar

2-3 tbsp. water, cold

Low-sugar, organic fruit spread (any variety)

Stir salt into pastry flour with fork. Mix water, agave nectar, and oils together with fork and pour into flour. Form dough into ball. Let rest in fridge for 1 hour. Roll out, make into rectangular shapes (slightly larger than your average pop tart). Place one Tablespoon fruit spread between two layers and pinch together or use fork to seal.

Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.