Yodeling Mamas

Powered by Yahoo!

Archive for the ‘Food and dining’ Category

Discovering Okra the Delicious Way

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

If you’re a mom like me, you constantly worry about developing healthy eating habits for your kids. How do you get the little munchkins to eat their vegetables? (And I am not including french fries in this challenge.) Drop us a comment and share your tips, but first check out my story about okra and a new recipe I created. (My 9-month-old baby totally loves this!)

As a kid, much to the joy of my parents, I loved okra, the vegetable that’s high in fiber, calcium, and iron: fuzzy on the outside and mucilaginous on the inside!

Okraimageblog1

My introduction to okra was when I visited the exotic city of Ahvaz, Iran, in a stew called “koresh bamieh.” I next saw it in a less-exotic location — North Carolina — where I dined in a cafeteria called K+W, which served Southern-style fried okra. I remember the manager telling me “you gotta try those, honey; everyone around here loves them things. You ain’t a true Southerner if you don’t love Okra.” It actually took me a year or two to realize that okra and bamieh were the same vegetable! (more…)

A Pay-It-Forward Movement That Moved Me…and Hundreds of Others

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

How do you turn $93 into over 165,000 meals for hungry families? Well, my friend, Carolee Hazard, has done just that. And totally inspired me in the process.

1 at trader joes-1

Here’s how it happened. One day, back in August, Carolee was in line at Trader Joe’s. The woman in front of her had lost her wallet and was a bit panicked. Carolee generously—though not without wondering if she’d made the right move—paid the $207 tab and gave the woman her address so she could repay her. Later, on Facebook, Carolee posted that she was “vacillating between feeling really good and very, very stupid”. Friends reassured her that she had done the right thing and good karma was sure to follow. They were right. (more…)

My son is afraid of new food!

Monday, February 1st, 2010

To say that my 6-year-old son, Dylan, is a creature of habit is an understatement. He will happily eat the same food every day, go to sushi only on Fridays (because that’s what we did the first time we went), will watch the same movie 15 times over, and have the same book read to him every night for weeks. It takes a drawn out battle to get him to try something new. But the worst is the food.  He politely refuses just about every new food we present to him – even pizza!

chris kim photo

I am grateful that Dylan does eat from the 4 food groups but his range is very limited – pasta and couscous, green beans and sugar snap peas, cheese, tofu, almonds, and oranges – those are the staples. Ever so often Bill and I talk about instituting some tough love in the form of presenting him with the same food every meal until he tries it, but we never seem to be able to stick to it.  (more…)

Stuffed Mushrooms

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

The other day my 10-month-old decided to take a short evening nap leaving me with some free time. For a mother who loves to cook un-interrupted in the kitchen and do a little experimenting, this was a welcome nap! Since it was too early for dinner, I decided to make a snack.

raw_mushrooms

I checked the refrigerator, and saw mushrooms, cheese and spinach. It was time for stuffed mushrooms! (more…)

My Kids Eat Vegetables

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Looking for a quick, easy and kid friendly recipe? Do your kids typically scoff at the idea of eating their veggies? Well, do I have the recipe for you!

Egg_Veggies_Mini_Baskets_top_open

As a busy working mom, I need quick, healthy meal ideas and simply don’t have the time (or patience!) to battle with my kids about eating vegetables on a daily basis. Egg & Veggie Baskets are my go to item for making the kids and mom happy! (more…)

Not So Easy

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

The other day I thought it would be fun for my 3-year-old son to get in the holiday spirit with a new mother/son tradition: building a gingerbread house. When we went to buy the kit, the woman in the checkout line asked my son, “Are you going to help your mommy build this?” He looked alarmed and said, “No, we need to wait for my dad to get home. Mommy ruins things.”

gingerbread

He was right. I just can’t seem to do the simplest things when it comes to baking. (more…)

Meat Muffins

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Don’t you hate when you get in a rut with your dinners? You have the same old thing all the time because it is easy and brainless to make in the chaos of the evening…..spaghetti, burritos, tacos, taco salad, BBQ chicken, burgers, etc… Lately I have been tired of the same old dinners, so I have been trying some knew things. Last week it was Shredded BBQ sandwiches in the crock pot with coleslaw, pesto tomatoes and corn on the cob.

meat muffins

This week, it was meat muffins! (Please note that as a vegetarian, this disgusts me!). (more…)

What’s for dinner?

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

I am willing to bet a million dollars that you are not having what we are tonight for dinner.

We have some ground meat in the fridge that the big guy (my husband) got from a buddy. When the kids asked what type it was, we all had to guess.

(more…)

Easy cooking, week after week

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Do you ever think, “What am I going to make for dinner today?” Ever look in the refrigerator and draw a blank? As a working mom, I usually find that I am short on time to think of quick and easy, but nutritious and delicious things to make for the family.

IMG_0354

My sister-in-law started a blog almost a year ago to cater to this very need that moms face on a daily basis. It is called a Week of Menus. The site is full of her favorite recipes that are simple to make. Trust me when I tell you that the food is delicious, as I have tasted almost everything on the blog. (This is a perk of having her as my sister-in-law and within a 30-minute drive from home.) I even have an item named after me (well almost). See if you can find it!

IMG_2510

She is passionate about encouraging healthy eating habits in kids, and extending that habit into their school classrooms, so she has a lot of ideas for classroom celebration snacks instead of cakes and sugary, nutritionally void foods. She’s written about other ideas to use in the classroom that are equally exciting instead, like fruit mosaics, fruit kabobs, muffins, veggie sticks and dip.

(more…)



Community Guidelines | About Us | RSS Directory

Questions or Comments | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Copyright/IP Policy | Help

Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! All rights reserved.

Yodeling Mamas and the blogs, articles, comments and other features therein are for informational purposes only and provided "as is" without warranties, representations, or guarantees of any kind. Content on Yodeling Mamas should never be used as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional. Yahoo! shall not be liable for the accuracy, usefulness or availability of any Yodeling Mamas content, and you agree to hold Yahoo! harmless from any loss, harm, injury or damage resulting from or arising out of your use of or reliance on any Yodeling Mamas content. The views and opinions expressed in an article or column are the author's own and not necessarily those of Yahoo!.