Real Food for Healthy Kids: Seaman & Steel

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It school time again – that means for some of us, it's time to figure out how to make a good, wholesome meal after work, after school activities, and homework. It's also time to make filling breakfasts, lunch, and snacks. It's time to recommit ourselves to feeding our kids right. Tracey Seaman and Tanya Wenman Steel's Real Food for Healthy Kids (Morrow 2008) aims to give parents easy, good-for-you recipes that kids like. Both the authors are moms and food writers/editors with enough experience and conviction to tackle kid's food. This is a family cookbook, with food for everyone, not just young kids – and many of the recipes are suitable for children to make or help make. Real Food starts with a helpful chapter about nutrition and feeding kids. There is a great section on Table Etiquette, Cooking and Eating (p. 15) with pointers for both adults and kids like: "Don't feed kids something you wouldn't eat yourself" and Start everyone of with a little 'appetizer' of raw veggies – sugar snap peas, edamame, carrots, or snow peas. At breakfast time, start them off with fresh fruit." (p. 15) There is more about stocking the kitchen and making a kid-friendly kitchen. The Breakfast chapter is full of protein-rich recipes to get kids off to a health start. There are quick dishes from Microwave Pizza Frittata (p. 30) with sauce and mozzarella to Strongman's Oatmeal (p. 34) fortified with an egg, toasted wheat germ, and honey. Other dishes are more involved from Protein Power Pancakes (p. 47) with added ricotta and baked goods like Ba-Ba Banana Bread (p. 52). These aren't exotic recipes, just familiar, homey ones that kids will like – with added nutrition. They are reminders to readers that it isn't hard to go beyond a bowl of cold cereal or a frozen waffle. – to make something truly delicious and healthy in the morning, at lunch or for dinner. They note prep time, cooking time and total recipe time (mpr). There are over 200 recipes in Real Food, but no photographs. Will you miss them? Probably not. The point is to make home cooking more accessible and kid-friendly as well as healthier – not to make readers intimidated by stunning photos. At the end of the book, beyond all the desserts and cookie recipes, are two additional chapters for parents: An Introduction to Food Sensitivities: Gluten-Casein-Soy-Free Recipes. The chapter goes over how to recognize allergies in young children who cannot express themselves, to figuring out what to substitute for different ingredients. The recipes for baked goods include Gluten-Free Flapjacks (p. 291) with rice flower and tapioca starch, to Tropical Fruit Coconut Macaroons (p. 299) that would be fine holiday gift. The last chapter covers First Foods: Great Recipes for Six to Thirty-Six Months Old. The recipes are organized alphabetically: A is for Applesauce (p. 307) to Z is for Zucchini (p. 322) with some clever recipes like J is for Jellied Fruit (p. 316) and W is for Whole-Wheat Teething Biscuits (p. 329). The alphabetical recipes may not make for easy organization, but they are fun. Real Food For Healthy Kids is full of uncomplicated comfort recipes that will gently expand a harried home cook's repertoire and keep meals from getting boring. Get it for a new mom, who can use it for years. Previous articles: [Children's Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef