Text Box: Meal Planning Solutions for Your Busy Family · Simple, Delicious, Nutritious 30-Minute Dinners · Weekly Dinner Menus, Recipes & Shopping Lists Right to Your INBOX! · What's 4 Dinner?Text Box: Meal Planning Solutions for Your Busy Family · Simple, Delicious, Nutritious 30-Minute Dinners · Weekly Dinner Menus, Recipes & Shopping Lists Right to Your INBOX! · Text Box: Dear TaMara, My kids whine every night that they don’t like what I’ve cooked, which of course dampens my enthusiasm for cooking. Any suggestions? - Discouraged Dad Dear Discouraged, The first thing I would try would be to engage my kids in dinner preparation. This may mean a little extra time for preparing dinner, but could save lots of tears during dinner. Age doesn’t really matter, even kids as young at 3 can “help.” Put them to work with simple tasks, like washing vegetables. What kid doesn’t like playing in water! Use a kid-safe stool and let them stand next to you by a sink filled with a little bit of water and vegetables (baby carrots, pre-cut celery, cherry tomatoes). Let them “wash” while you make other preparations. Make sure they’re NOT near any sharp utensils or the stove. Older kids can offer even more help. Give them one task, such as mixing, stirring or getting a list of items for your recipe and placing them on the counter. Again this will take more supervision than if they quietly watch SpongeBob while you make dinner, but you’re more likely to get them to try what you’ve prepared if they can say, “I helped!” Also you can let them help prepare menus for the week. Before you go shopping, show them the week’s menus and let them pick and choose a couple of items they may want or don’t want (limit their choices to one or two meals, maybe Friday night’s kid meal). Just because one of our menus calls for broccoli doesn’t mean that’s what you have to serve! Especially if no one likes broccoli. Offer raw fruits & vegetables with dips, whenever possible, that kids feel they have control over. Foods kids can put together themselves at the dinner table, like tacos or salad ingredients so they can create a custom serving, can also engage them in their food choices. Hope that helps! -TaMara Text Box: HOME Text Box: Dear TaMara, I want to impress my girlfriend by cooking her dinner. I don’t have much experience, so it needs to be something fool-proof. Any suggestions? - Joe Joe - First, keep it simple. Avoid gourmet recipes that include dozens of ingredients. Fewer ingredients don’t mean less flavor, but it does mean fewer chances to mess up. I’d go for a grilled chicken or steak, well seasoned or marinated. Then a simple side dish like rice or potatoes, that you’ve added a kick to with butter and spices and a fresh vegetable, cut pretty to add a decorative touch to the table. Suggestions include steamed carrots, julienne cut or fresh spaghetti squash, steamed with butter (always pretty), or french-cut green beans with sliced almonds. Add a good wine, gourmet coffee and a chocolate dessert and you’re set to impress. Don’t bake? Do what the best restaurants do, buy your dessert from a good bakery. Below you’ll find a sample menu and recipes that would work for a romantic dinner. - TaMara MENU: Fruit Juice Marinated Chicken, Grilled Potatoes, Tossed Salad, Chocolate Torte Fruit Juice Marinated Chicken Breasts: 2 chicken boneless breasts ½ cup grape or cranberry juice ½ cup soy sauce ½ cup wine (non-alcoholic is ok) 1 tsp crushed garlic zip lock bag Add all ingredients into zip-lock bag and thoroughly coat & let marinate overnight. Grill (or broil in the oven). 15 minutes each side. When grilling, to avoid drying chicken out, sear for 5 minutes each side, cook additional 10 minutes, then move away from high heat for rest of cooking time. Grilled Potatoes 2 large potatoes 1/2 medium onion, sliced 1/2 tsp crushed garlic 2 to 4 tbsp butter parsley or chives salt & pepper 2 long pieces of foil Thinly slice each potato, layer one on each piece of foil, then layer sliced onion and parsley or chives. Melt butter and add garlic, drizzle equally over each potato. Wrap and seal foil. Grill or roast at 375° turning halfway through (about 15 minutes each side). Cook until potatoes are tender and onions crispy. Text Box: Dear TaMara, Our family likes the recipes from What’s 4 Dinner Solutions but occasionally my husband and I find them a bit bland, can you help? - Linda M. Dear Linda, We developed What’s 4 Dinner Solutions to address the needs of busy parents. One of the results is that most menus use a minimum of spices, since children’s taste buds are more sensitive (lucky ducks) and flavors are more intense. We were trying to cut down on the “I don’t like that” syndrome. We talked with other parents and found their strategies for more flavorful food include: putting additional spices, such as chili pepper flakes, garlic, ginger & basil at the table to sprinkle over adult servings, as well as setting aside children’s portions, before adding additional spices to remaining servings and let simmer while the children’s portions cool enough for the kids to eat. If you want more spice as you cook, you can add equal amounts of additional spices to maintain the original integrity of the recipe. So if a recipe calls for 1 tsp of basil, 2 tsp of crushed garlic and ½ tsp of oregano, and you decide to add an additional ½ tsp of basil, you’d add an additional 1 tsp of garlic and ¼ tsp of oregano to maintain the original proportion of spices. - TaMara Text Box: Dear TaMara, Some of the recipes I have used I had to buy some funky ingredient that I only needed to use 1/4 teaspoon of a 5 ounce container and then have the rest of that ingredient that I may never use again and also paid way more than what I needed.  Do a lot of What’s 4 Dinner’s recipes use ingredients like this? - Heather Dear Heather, Such a good question! Often I try to make exotic ingredients optional...but things like toasted sesame oil, fish sauce, and certain spices (Chinese 5 spice, Caribbean jerk), we try to use again over time.  So you may buy a small bottle of white wine vinegar, but I'll try and incorporate it in several recipes over several months.  Same with food ingredients, I try very hard to make sure if I have you buy an ingredient (especially produce) that comes only in one size, I try to incorporate that ingredient in more than one meal that month.  It's not a perfect system...but we are aware of the issue. This is also why in the shopping lists, we began listing not only package sizes, but also the amount you would use of ingredient, so you’d have a sense of proportions. I don't want anyone to feel like anything is going to waste, and at anytime you wonder if you should go to the trouble to buy something on the shopping lists, email me and I can let you know how important to a recipe it is (probably not very) and if there's a less expensive substitution (usually). Funny story, a friend gave me a large bottle cardamom pods, which after using very little in a recipe she had no idea what to do with the rest. She assumed I could create a recipe or two with them. I came up blank, it’s a very intense spice, and can be overpowering. I ended up using it as potpourri. It smells great. And it didn’t go to waste! - TaMara

Dear TaMara,

     My biggest mealtime dilemma is how to serve a family of 4 healthy/fresh, home-cooked meals during the week.  I work 2 jobs AND am home for my boys when they return from school.  Between 2:30pm-6pm I juggle work calls, homework questions, carpools, and dinner preparations.  Half the time, my husband will arrive home at 6 pm asking "what's for dinner?".  My answer to him:  "I have no idea!". 

     I would love to know how to be able to get all this done and have an easy, delicious dinner plan that I can implement each night.  Maybe that's too much to ask?!? - Kim L.

 

Dear Kim,

     Tall order, but not impossible.  The key is preparation.  Mapping out your weekday dinner menus and shopping lists ahead of time is a great beginning.  If time is more of an issue than money, buy fresh pre-cut fruits and vegetables whenever possible, or frozen when available. 

    Purchase the best cooking tools you can afford that will help reduce preparation time.  These include a slow cooker, mandolin, pressure cooker, wok, and a food processor or blender. Also, make sure you have two sets of measuring cups & spoons so you don’t have to worry about washing any during preparations. 

     Read through your menus on Saturday and Sunday and decide what you can prepare ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate.  Go for simple, basic foods with great flavors.  You could stir-fry chicken or beef every night of the week and create a different taste sensation each night by using different marinades and spices.  And most stir-fry meals can be prepared, cooked and served in less than a 1/2 hour.  You can also make double batches of things that freeze well, such as pasta sauces and soups. 

     Before you begin cooking, set everything you need out on the counter and put it away as you use it.  This helps in two ways, less cleanup and if you get sidetracked by something (like a child’s blood curdling scream, you’re sure is life-threatening but turns out to be the dog has stolen her cookie), you’ll know exactly where you left off, since you very smartly put the garlic away, you don’t accidentally add double the recipe amount.     -TaMara

 

Dear TaMara,

What are some easy ways to reduce fats, sugar and salt from my cooking?  - Fran M.

 

Dear Fran,

     Really what you want to know is how to reduce without losing flavor.  First of all, try to use fresh foods whenever possible.  If you begin to read labels you’ll see many packaged foods contain extra fat, salt & sugar that you wouldn’t add if you prepared it fresh. 

     In everything but baking, it’s easy to reduce fat by choosing low-fat or no-fat options to replace higher fats in foods like cheeses, dressing, mayonnaise, etc.  By switching to olive oil for cooking, you’re choosing a very healthy alternative to butter, margarine or other oils.  And you don’t need much to brown foods, 1 tbsp olive oil should be enough to brown 4 chicken breasts.  Low-fat yogurt makes a great substitute in dressings and sauces.  Chicken, beef & vegetable broths are great for adding flavor without adding fat.  Flour can add substance to stews, gravies and sauces to replace additional fats. 

    Sugars and salts are a bit trickier.  You need to become a label sleuth.  Many foods have added sugar and salt.  Usually unnecessarily. Canned tomatoes often have added salt even though tomatoes are naturally salty, and when you use flavored tomatoes (those with spices & vegetables added) you’ll often find there’s not only added salt, but added sugar as well.  So read your labels, opt for foods with no salt or sugar added and add your own.  That way you can control how much you add.  

     Once you’ve reduced your salts and sugars, what do you do to add flavor?  For salt, try wine vinegars (especially on potatoes and meats), lemon juice (great for fish, vegetables and chicken) different spices, including peppers, garlic, basil, rosemary, celery seeds, dill...go wild, try something new, you might surprise yourself.  Sweetness can be added with cinnamon, honey,  vanilla and fruits.  It’s much better to buy a plain yogurt and add your own fruit, you avoid all the added sugars.  Same with cereal, try for whole grain, low in sugar and add a bit of honey and fresh fruit.   Reducing your fats, sugars and salt doesn’t have to  mean losing out on flavors.    -TaMara
Text Box: Dear TaMara, I’d like to try different types of rice, but I am unsure which rice compliments which foods. Can you tell me the differences between rice styles and how best to serve them? - Pat K. Dear Pat, Great question. I did a bit of research and this is the consensus. Which rice for which dish? Jasmine works best for Asian dishes. Arborio for Mediterranean, especially risotto, it absorbs lots of flavor. Basmati for Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. This is how each rice breaks down in flavor & texture: Jasmine—A long grain white rice, delicately fragrant, soft, moist and slightly sticky, compliments any Asian dish. Arborio -A medium grain white rice, with a chalky white appearance. It is this chalky area that makes this grain unique, allowing the grains to absorb unusually large amounts of liquid and hence flavor during cooking. This is also what makes it especially suited to risottos, paellas, dolmades and other Mediterranean dishes. Basmati— An aromatic long grain rice that has the unusual characteristic of doubling in length but not width during cooking. This dry, separating grain is especially suited to Indian and Middle Eastern dishes, such as curries, pilafs. Thanks for the question, I learned something new today myself. TaMara To see more on rice dishes go here. Text Box: Dear TaMara, It’s summer, the kids are bored. Any suggestions? - Paula Dear Paula, Aaah, the zoo? Tried that already, huh? How about a recipe for Giant Bubbles? It’s a bit messy, but guaranteed fun for younger kids. You’ll need the following: Giant Bubbles 32 oz bottle Dawn® or Joy® liquid dishwashing detergent 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon of water (start with less, add more as needed, you don’t want it too thin or the bubbles won’t be strong enough) 16 oz bottle glycerin (pharmacies carry it) Large bucket Small plastic wading pool Hula hope Broom handle Duct tape Assorted bubble wands In the bucket gently mix together liquids, do not stir or shake, you don’t want to create white foam for this inhibits bubble making. Gently pour mixture into pool. Tape broom handle to hula hoop to make a giant wand. Put the hula hoop in the center of the pool Have a child stand in the middle of the hula hoop (this can be slippery, so be very careful) and VERY SLOWLY lift the hula hoop over the child to create a bubble around them. Use the other wands to make lots and lots of very sturdy bubbles. The glycerin creates a strong bubble, so you can lift it over the child and little bubbles that will float forever. When you’re done, hose everyone off with the garden hose and save the bubble liquid in a sealed container (5 gal pickle buckets work really well) to use again. - TaMara Text Box: Dear Readers, Monday, September 26 is National Family Day and sitting down to dinner with your kids is the perfect way to celebrate and it may benefit more than their appetites. According to a 2005 survey conducted by Columbia University, kids who eat with their families at least five times a week are more likely to get better grades in school and much less likely to have substance abuse problems. It found teens having family dinners five or more times a week were 42 percent less likely to drink alcohol, 59 percent less likely to smoke cigarettes, and 66 percent less likely to try marijuana. The survey also found that frequent family dinners were associated with better school performance, with teens 40 percent more likely to get A's and B's. The problem? For busy families, finding time to prepare and serve a nutritious dinner can be a challenge. To meet that challenge we now have a list titled “Making Dinner Easier” at the bottom of this page of tips to help you get dinner on the table, at least a few nights a week. Hopefully it will help - TaMara Survey Source: Columbia University http://66.135.34.236/absolutenm/templates/PressReleases.asp?articleid=405&zoneid=56

Dear  TaMara,

My biggest dilemma is that one of my children is a vegetarian and a second is lactose intolerant.  I could eat pizza everyday, but they would appreciate a little variety.  Also, I have been making my husband's lunch for 15 years and I need new ideas.  I have "turned him against" many meals because I have sent them one too many times. - Thanks, Molly

 

Dear Molly,

This is a tall order.  Many vegetarian recipes rely heavily on cheese and milk (unless of course we’re talking vegan), which then makes it difficult for your lactose intolerant child.  The good news is soy is a good substitute.  I've used some very good soy-based cheese products, though they are usually more pricey than milk-based cheeses, the flavor and texture in cooking is comparable.  So the lactose issue maybe easily solved.  Tofu can be substituted in stir-fry recipes and soups and stews. 

 

To give a lift to vegetable courses, try marinades or tossing with Italian, Caesar or Vinaigrette dressings.  One of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants serves an amazing vegetable bread bowl.  They stir-fry a variety of vegetables in a light oil & soy sauce mixture until vegetables are still crisp and then serve them in a bread bowl.  Very good and very filling.  Add some tofu or nuts for protein and you have a fairly balanced meal.  I found a good resource for vegetarian recipes here:

http://vegweb.com/recipes/

 

As far as variety goes, I try not to use this column to tout our services, but we do offer 480 new recipes a year.  Also, Food Network has a very workable website, you can type in any ingredient and find recipes for it.  They are also rated for ease of preparation and by chef: www.foodnetwork.com

 

- TaMara
Text Box: Dear TaMara: Well, I have one you may have already heard. I work as a PA and in Orthopedics and trying to do a Master's degree at the same time.   Time is precious.   I don't know when I'll get home, often a last minute surgery, or an admit from the ER.   I live by myself, hate fast food, often make a pot of curry and eat from it many days of the week. Tired of the same things, but what do you cook, when it's just you. Lately just 1/2 sandwich 2 x day and may or not have a dinner. Good Luck. - Janei Dear Janei: You make me look like a slouch!  I have some suggestions beyond the menus, being a long time single girl before I was married, now single again, and like you hating fast food, I developed some coping mechanisms.  First of all, cooked rice will keep for a week in the refrigerator, as will any type of cooked potato (mashed, steamed or scalloped), if you make 4 servings when you cook, you can store the rest in the frig for future meals.  Now how to keep it from getting boring?  One simple solution is to marinate chicken, beef, pork or tofu in various marinades (store bought, or your own creations) in single servings in ziplock bags.  Toss in the freezer (they'll last several months).  Take one out in the morning, refrigerate until you finally get home, slice it up and quickly stir-fry with some fresh vegetables (with your schedule I'd buy the pre-cut or even frozen veggies) and serve with rice you've warmed in the microwave. Each marinade will add a great flavor and give you variety.  Chicken or beef marinated in a wine or fruit juice marinade will cook in about 5-15 minutes in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil and can be served with potatoes and some fresh fruit, or tortillas and cheese.  Or buy pre-cut lettuces and toss with chicken or beef, tomatoes, onions and favorite dressing for a nice full-meal salad. In 15-minutes you can have a fresh, home cooked meal that's healthy, easy on calories and hopefully makes dinner fun again.  If you double-up on the servings, you can have a nice microwave lunch for the next day, or a quick dinner. As the weather cools in the fall, make a big batch of soup or stew and freeze in individual containers, they last for a month or more, so you don't have to have soup every night after you make a batch.  Again, keep it simple, crock-pot, cut up some chicken or beef, add pre-cut veggies and potatoes and spices and you're set to go.  Stay away from noodles, they get mushy when frozen and no rice, it gets chewy when frozen, but the rest should be fine.  Other things that freeze well: tortillas, spaghetti sauce (I'm Italian, homemade is so much better and just as easy as jarred), cookie dough (I bake two at a time...not so great on my energy bill, but keeps me from eating too many at one time). With any of this, you really don't even need to know what you're going to make, you just have plan ahead enough to stock up the freezer with veggies, marinated meats, soups and stews and you can pull from that in the morning and have something different every night without too much fuss.  One day a month is all you should need to keep you in choices. If you can afford it, buy a small bread maker that makes small loaves (usually less than a pound), with very little effort (as long as it takes to measure flour, yeast and water) you can have bread when you get home, or wake up to in the morning.  Great with soups and stews.  A pressure cooker is quite an investment, but it cuts soups, stews, potatoes, and rice cooking times in half or more (soups and stews cooked for 20 minutes taste like they were cooked all day). Hope some of this helps. - TaMara

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Text Box: Dear TaMara, I have two boys  ages 5 and 8.  One is a very picky eater the other one will try anything.  It's really hard to please both with one meal.  Thanks for the help. - Mona Dear Mona, The good news is the consensus among experts is that tastes can change dramatically as we age, so the things your son won’t even try now may in time become favorites. Until then try and engage him in menu selection and preparation. He may be more open to trying something new if he has a vested interest in it. And try not to give in to the temptation to cook him a separate meal of his favorites which could lessen your chances of getting him to try something new. Confession time, I am a finicky eater and learning to cook is actually how I became engaged in trying new tastes. I started at an early age (about 9, when I received my first cookbook from my godmother), and I quickly learned that my limited tastes also limited what I was able to cook for others. Soon I was making dishes that I would have sworn to you I’d never try, with ingredients that were on my ‘never eat’ list, because I wanted to ‘impress’ family and friends with my abilities. I’m still a finicky eater. For me it’s texture. There are certain ingredients, while I like the flavor, I cannot get past the texture or the combination of textures. Case in point, I was at lunch with a friend last week and she laughed as she watched me take the pickles off my fast food burger. She asked me why I didn’t just get it without pickles. “I like the taste of pickles, I just hate crunchy stuff on my burger,” was my reply. Go figure J - TaMara Text Box: Dear TaMara, School’s been back for a week and already I’ve run out of lunch ideas. Can you help? - Betsy Dear Betsy, In my opinion fresh foods are best. Many prepared lunch products contain preservatives, unnecessary fat, sugar and salt. And fresh doesn’t necessarily mean difficult. Kids often eat lots of the same meal, as long as it’s balanced, don’t worry too much about variety…and remember if they won’t eat it at home, they probably won’t eat it in their lunchbox, so ask for their input. Involve them in the preparation – whether menu planning (try to do a whole week) or actually making the lunch. It helps if you can make them the night before and refrigerate, to avoid the morning rush. Set aside a shelf in the pantry and an area in the refrigerator for lunch foods and let them pick and choose from them for their lunches. Extra servings (try and avoid calling them leftovers!) make great meals the next day: Extra chicken breasts can be sliced into strips and served with dipping sauces Send pasta dishes, hot or cold, like mac’n’cheese, pasta salads, spaghetti & sauces Stews Soups Use a wide mouth thermos, fill with hot water for 5 minutes, empty and then add hot entrée. Make your own “lunch-ables” it’s cheaper and you can control the ingredients: add crackers, low fat deli meats like chicken and turkey breast and lean beefs, cheese slices or cubes (or string cheese) and raw vegetables. Finger foods work well – there are lots of things you can cut into “finger food”: raw vegetables; fruit; cheese; deli meats; and add dips like yogurt, peanut butter, salsa, or dressings. Pack homemade trail mix (cereal+nuts+m&m’s) instead of sweets. Tortillas - everything can be wrap up in tortillas – layer meat, cheeses, spreads and roll up. How about peanut butter and jelly or cream cheese and fruit. Breads – experiment with different flavors of bread and rolls. Peanut butter is good for many things– use it as a dip, try it with different additions like marshmallow fluff, sliced bananas, honey, chopped apples or raisins TaMara Text Box: Ask TaMara - Previous Columns Text Box: More Columns Text Box: More Columns Text Box: HOME