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French Toast

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Prep: 3 minutes    *    Total: 10 minutes    *   Serves 4

Ingredients

4 large eggs
2 Tablespoons (30cc) of puree. Choose from banana, pineapple, sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash or pumpkin
4 slices of whole-wheat bread
Ground Cinnamon
Oil or non-stick cooking spray
2 teaspoons (10cc) of soft margarine

Directions:

Whisk the eggs, puree, and ground cinnamon to taste.
Add the bread slices and turn them over in the mixture to soak for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Spray or very lightly oil a griddle or skillet and set over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the soft margarine. When the margarine sizzles, add the soaked bread slices and cook until golden brown on the outside, 2-3 minutes per side.

Serve warm with syrup, confectioners’ sugar or fruit.

 

Vaccines and Autism

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Separating Fact from Fiction

I’ve heard that a preservative in some vaccines can cause autism – what’s going on?

This controversy has been raging for some time, with government and mainstream scientists on one side, and several small but vocal advocacy groups on the other. And many parents have been left feeling confused and frightened about their children’s health.

The advocacy groups say that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system and responsible for an alarming rise in rates of autism among children in the United States and around the world. Most scientists say there’s no credible scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism.

Over the last 15 years, a number of major medical institutions have reviewed the evidence from the United States and abroad, and all have concluded that there’s no link between autism and exposure to thimerosal. What’s more, the preservative has been removed from most childhood vaccines in the United States.

But some health activists continue to challenge the validity of the existing science and assert that the U.S. government has conspired with vaccine manufacturers to cover up the truth about thimerosal and autism.

Read the rest of the article from BabyCenter.com

Making Purees for Deceptively Delicious Recipes

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You begin by making purees, a few at a time. Divide each into potions and freeze them for use in the recipes.

For apples, berries, cantaloupe, cherries and pineapple, just wash, cut the fruit and puree in a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes. (Instead of fresh berries, cherries, or pineapple, you can use frozen or canned without syrup.)

For avocados and bananas, all that is necessary to make the purees is to mash them well until they are smooth and then puree in a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes.

For beets, leave them whole, wrap them in foil and roast at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour or until they can be pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Peel and puree in a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes.

Sweet potatoes can be prepared just like beets or steamed. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, bell peppers, spinach and zucchini and summer squash can all be steamed too. Prepare each of these veggies as listed below and steam them for the appropriate length of time. When cooked, puree them in a food processor or blender for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy (add a few teaspoons of water if necessary to get the right texture).

  • Cut broccoli in florets and steam for 6-7 minutes, only until bright green (olive green is over-cooked).
  • Cut cauliflower into florets and discard the core. Steam for 8-10 minutes.
  • Peel, trim, and cut carrots into 3 inch (7.5cm) chunks and steam for 10-12 minutes.
  • Just steam frozen peas for 2 minutes and only 1/2-1 minute for thawed peas.
  • Cut bell peppers in half, remove the stem, seeds, and white membrane. Steam for 10-12 minutes.
  • For baby spinach there is no preparation needed before steaming. For mature spinach, fold the leaves in half lengthwise with the stem outside. Then strip the stem off the leaf. Steam for 30-40 seconds, or cook in a skillet with 1 tablespoon (15 cc) of water for about 90 seconds, or just until wilted.
  • Zucchini and summer squash just need the ends trimmed off and cut into 1 inch (2.5cm) pieces. Steam for 6-8 minutes.

All of these veggies can be cooked in a microwave oven with a little water and covered loosely with microwave-safe plastic wrap or lid or waxed paper. Since every microwave is different, you will need to experiment with the length of time for cooking each vegetable.

Let the warm purees cool and package them in either 1/4 cup (60cc) or 1/2 cup (120cc) portions. These can be refrigerated in small sandwich bags to use within a few days or frozen in freezer bags for longer storage. Be sure to label each bag with the fruit or vegetable, the amount, and the date. Use the oldest first.

When ready to use, thaw frozen purees in a microwave or bowl of hot water until soft. Snip the corner of the bag and squeeze out this instant nutrition boost to any of these recipes or to store-bought sauces.

 

Deceptively Delicious Recipes

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Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld offers simple secrets to get kids eating good food.

Jessica starts her book with, “I had tried everything, and yet all my efforts to feed my family were being undermined by a powerful force: vegetables. Mealtimes were reduced to a constant pushing and pulling, with me forever begging my kids to eat their vegetables, and them protesting unhappily. Instead of laughing and having fun with my family, I was irritated and stressed as I labored to coerce them to eat food they found ‘disgusting.’ I couldn’t take it any more. I just wanted a little peace around the dinner table.”
If this sounds familiar to you, this method and some of the recipes in this book may restore peace to your dinner table too.

She goes on to say, “Then, one evening while I was cooking dinner, pureeing butternut squash for the baby and making mac and cheese for the rest of us, I had the crazy idea of stirring a little of the puree into the macaroni. And so I did. The colors matched–you couldn’t really see the squash in there–and the texture was perfect. So I stirred a little more, tasting to make sure the flavor of the squash didn’t overpower the cheese. Feeling only a little guilty that I was tricking my children, I stirred in enough of the squash to feel satisfied that I was giving them a respectable portion of vegetables.

“And then I held my breath.

“It worked! The kids, entirely innocent of my deceit, plowed happily through their dinners. I was beside myself with joy. I couldn’t stop smiling at the knowledge that my kids had eaten vegetables without a word from me. My husband, Jerry, was dying to know what all my smiling was about. It was the first meal in a very long time during which I hadn’t said, ‘Eat your vegetables,’ even once. And that was pure pleasure.”

From time to time I will be adding recipes that I think you will enjoy trying with your kids. The first step is making the purees that are the secret to adding nutrition to your kids favorite foods.

Directions for making these delicious Purees.

French Toast

Tortilla ‘Cigars’

Autism Anxiety in Pregnancy

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Anne’s daughter was less than an hour old when she asked:  “Do you think she’s autistic?” Her question didn’t surprise me. A lot of parents ask about autism these days as they face one of their biggest fears. This was Anne’s first baby and I told her what I know to be true: “She looks perfect to me. Odds are she’s a healthy, unique little girl.” Odds are, she won’t be autistic either, but you can’t tell right from the start.

Many parents, like Anne, are terrified that something they did or didn’t do could cause their children to be among the 0.4 to one percent of children who develop autism. Last week a new study in the Archives of General Psychiatry linked autism with antidepressants. Another study of twins revealed that most cases of autism are caused by environmental than genetic conditions, though genetics plays a part. We’ve been told autism is not caused by vaccinations, but might be caused by chemical toxins. A study published this year in the journal Pediatrics says babies born less than a year after their sibling are at greater risk for autism. Those born prematurely or with older parents are too. Then again, maybe they’re not. These studies are not conclusive. They just provide hints and for too many parents, something new to be frightened of. Bottom line: We don’t know what causes autism yet.

If only about one percent of children develop some degree of autism, that means 99 percent don’t. Of that one percent, studies say about two-thirds are high functioning. Autism is a spectrum disorder, which means the variety symptoms and behaviors associated with it range from slight to severe. Their symptoms impact how they experience the world, but may not slow them down. That’s what parents are really scared of: having a child with such severe symptoms that they’ll be disabled. They don’t hear enough about the brilliant children who have autism.

To read more: Autism Anxiety in Pregnancy