Vegetarian Pyramid Series - Corn

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Person1 : I am planning to buy some polenta today..
Person2: Buy? Why go for ready made stuff? You can make it so easily at home….?
Person1: Make? How am I going to make some wholegrain at home??
Person2: ????

As if the idiosyncrasies of the English language was not enough (quoting my German professor!), we have similar terminologies to mean different things in the Food dictionary too! It can sure be quite confusing at times. The word “Polenta” is used to mean a dish made with cornmeal as well as the cornmeal itself. When it comes to cornmeal, the variety available in the markets now days is simply mind boggling to say the least. Let’s take a quick look at corn shall we?

Corn is a wholegrain which falls under the category of cereal grasses. If you walk down your food aisle in the market, you will come across yellow corn (otherwise known as maize) and other corns colored red, blue and black. I recently happened to see multicolored varieties too. There are many corn products too.It is a staple in many countries around the world with having prominence in U.S.A, Italy and the Caribbean. (White cornmeal - image courtesy -ansonmills.com)


The most commonly available forms of corn are –

Cornmeal

The minute ‘cornmeal’ is mentioned, the first thing that probably comes to an American’s mind is the classic cornbread. For the Italians, its ‘Polenta’.

Polenta has a golden, thick-porridge like consistency and is flavored with butter and cheese. They make an excellent alternative to Mashed Potatoes. It is also used to make dumplings and puddings in the Caribbean.

Masa Harina
Masa Harina also known as Maize meal is made from the cooked wholegrain where it is ground into flour. This flour is mostly used to make Mexican flatbread called as Tortillas. (Yellow cornmeal - image courtesey - ansonmills.com)

Cornstarch
This is a fine white powder mostly used as a thickening agent for stews, soups, casseroles etc. Sometimes it is also used in baked goods and in making desserts. (cornstarch -image courtesy -Bonappetit.com)

Hominy or Grits?
There is big confusion regarding these two where they are sometimes used interchangeably.

Hominy are the husked whole grains of corn. To use them, they have to be first softened by cooking them in hot boiling water and then used in other dishes like soups, stews or in any baked goods.

Grits are in fact coarsely ground dried yellow or white corn. They can be used in baking and also for pancakes.

There is wonderful article which throws more light about Hominy grits and corn grits with humorous analogies at mrbreakfast.com. Also a discussion regarding the finer differences between corn products can be seen here at Chowhound.com.

Popcorn
We all love popcorns don’t we? This is a completely separate strain of corn which is grown specifically for this purpose. The kernels can be store bought and the popcorns can be easily made at home with any type of seasoning added as per taste.

Corn syrup
This artificial sweetener is a staple in many households now. Though the name suggests it, it is not made by directly pulping the corn. Instead it is made from cornstarch which is actually the pulpy middle layer of the corn where it is separated from its outer husk and its inner germ layers. Storage of these in giant vats helps it to produce glucose when natural enzymes are added to it. This glucose is heated and made into corn syrup. It’s used in candy making and also in baked goods.

Few recipes with Corn based Products

1. Skillet Polenta Pizza
2. Iron skillet Jalapeno and Cheddar cornbread
3. Corn Muffins
4. Corn Tortillas
5. Blue cornmeal pancakes
   

Health benefits
Corn plays an important role in American folk medicine where its famed to be a diuretic and a mild stimulant. Few studies have shown that it even helps to prevent colon cancer and lowers the risks of heart disease. Corn is one of the few grains (or probably the only one) that contains vitamin A as well as Vitamin B and iron. It has about 18.4% of daily recommendation of fiber. Since its high on fiber, it helps to lower levels of cholesterol in the body along with blood sugars proving beneficial to diabetics.

This post was written by Dhivya

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LIFE AND DEATH AND THE ROAD WE TRAVEL TOGETHER

How do we deal with the death of a loved one? You wipe away your tears as you walk away from the funeral, join the family back at the house for a cool lunch, cold cuts and fresh fruit and more tears but mostly laughter, enjoying this time together no matter how bittersweet, recounting family stories, pulling up memories from some deep spot in your heart. And then, what happens next? You pack your suitcases and fly back home where husband and kids await, the laundry pile has mysteriously grown all out of proportion, the dog dances around you, nosing into your bags as soon as they hit the floor, everyone clamoring for your attention.

Michael and I 1962

You try and get back into the swing of things, “real life”, as quickly as possible, partly because there are those who need you, who depend upon you, but more likely because it is the easiest way to block out the thoughts, the loss.

Almost two months has past since I was standing in the burning Florida sun trying not to look in the direction of the wooden box stretched out serenely in front of us, saying good-bye to my beloved brother. Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to describe it. As we get older we begin to expect, to understand that one by one we will lose our loved ones, grandparents, parents, and we try and brace ourselves for the eventuality. Yet when another older generation passes away, someone in their 70s or 80s or 90s, we can comfort ourselves with the thought that they lived a good, long life, accomplished what they wanted to accomplish and hopefully didn’t suffer too much on the way out. It is the way of life, one generation at a time, life then death.

Sue and Michael 1960

Yet when the unexpected happens, friends or family of our own generation or, heaven forbid, a child, go, whether illness or accident, incomprehension intertwines with the pain: We look at their life and think of all they had yet to accomplish, the years and road ahead of them, and we wonder if the tears are for them or for ourselves. Their death brings us closer to our own destiny and, truth be told, we just aren’t ready, we have such a long time ahead of us, there is still so much to do, so how is this possible? The loss is so close, too close, and it is as if we have lost a limb or part of ourselves. And now we return to our family our home our job and must move ahead. How?

Michael and I 1972

I have been keeping busy. Blogging, writing, cooking, baking. Laundry, shopping, evenings out or in with the family. No time to think about the loss. Afraid to look at it in the face, scared and simply not understanding the unfairness of it all. And then I wonder if we, the survivors, cry for them and such life cut off in its prime, everything left undone, or are the tears for ourselves, left alone like orphans, no more birthday calls or silly cards, no more long catch-up phone calls or brotherly advice, no more visits or cooking together or laughing over stories of when we were kids. Or maybe this unexpected death forces us to look our own destiny, our own eventual death, in the face. And what happens afterwards? Heaven? Reincarnation? Nothing? And all too often, we close our eyes and refuse to look.

A dear friend of mine reminded me of the importance of grieving: “The death of a loved one is something that we all experience at some point in our lives and I think it is important to talk about it instead of tidily brushing it under the carpet. When my grandfather died, I was so unprepared and had no idea how to deal with my emotions.” We tend to skip around the issue, avoiding it as if it were taboo. Yet somehow it is comforting when people ask how the funeral went, how we are doing and open the door to discussion. Why are we so nervous bringing it up to someone who has just lost a loved one? We should talk about it, even if we stumble around searching for just the right words. Even no words, the “I don’t know what to say”, helps break down the invisible barrier and allows us to share feelings and fears, hopes and dreams, memories and ideas about where we go when it all ends. Another friend of mine sent me a fascinating book about reincarnation. Her philosophy? Spirits are all around us but aren’t there to do harm but rather to watch over us, help us understand what we don’t understand and we should simply give a friendly Hello from time to time and let them know we appreciate the visit and the care. Talking with her is so comforting, no black thoughts, no fear of the unknown, rather the joy of life, the dream of an afterlife and never losing touch with those who have passed on.

Michael with our mom and my boys @1995

And what about the kids? Children may not feel the death of a loved one as strongly, but may need to talk about it even more than we do. My 19-year-old son said “I didn’t see Uncle Michael often enough to really feel the loss, not like you do what with your history together.” Yet several weeks later, as we were strolling down the street, he burst forth with “I just can’t believe Uncle Michael is gone. It is so strange to think about!” The door to discussion needs to remain open for them as well as for us, for the strangeness of it all, the scariness of an illness or death, should be talked about. If we don’t talk about that then how can we spend the time talking about his life and all that fun that we shared together? It all blends into one.

So it is perfectly fine to broach the subject, don’t be afraid. There is comfort in allowing us to talk, to share the stories that we all have, to hear yours as well. This is the only way we can grieve, by telling the tale, sharing the stories, crying and laughing together. Not only does this draw us, the living, closer together, but it allows us to face our own fears of “what happens next” and realize that we are all in it, this crazy thing called life, together.

The family in Florida 2008

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This post was written by JAMIE

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Foods You Thought You Knew

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So I think I’m probably going to be known as the baby-lady around here, but as many of you know, it does take over your life doesn’t it... but in a very good way.
Today we are going to talk about carrots. That’s right, you heard--err, read me correctly, carrots. Why are we going to talk about carrots? Because I use them a lot in my baby’s food and because they’re quite interesting in more ways than you’d think.

I guess there could have been many other vegetables I could have written about for this post but I picked carrots because -WARNING: I’m about to admit something I probably shouldn’t here so get ready- I only just discovered- NO not carrots silly, of course I’ve known carrots forever, who hasn’t- rainbow carrots. I’ve only just discovered rainbow carrots. I didn’t actually know there were other colors of carrots than orange, (did you?) so imagine my surprise when my husband brought home these beautiful carrots in shades of purple and greenish-yellow and told me there even were red carrots out there somewhere.
Upon doing a little bit of research I discovered that carrots, in fact, were not orange to begin with. That seems odd doesn’t it? It seems like no actually they always were orange and then some guy with too much time and a lot of carrot seeds laying around started making hybrids and coming up with cool funkedelic colors, but it just seems that way, that’s not really what happened.
In reality, it’s not exactly clear what the chronology of the modern carrot is other than, from evidence found in archaeological digs, some form of carrot, as in plants from the carrot family, existed back in the Eocene period (55 to 34 million years ago). After that, there is no actual written record of their use either for food or medicinal purposes until the Greeks and Romans, although the domesticated version of carrots (oh yes, I’ll tell you about that in a minute) are believed to date back to approximately 5000 B.C. in Afghanistan.
So, to the issue of wild vs. domesticated carrots. When I first read that there were wild carrots and that the carrots we take for granted as simply being carrots are the hybridized and domesticated descendants of "wild" ones, I imagined a Mr. Potato Head version of a carrot wearing a loincloth and carrying a sharpened stalk of celery for a spear. It turns out that you probably know wild carrots by another name; they are commonly known as Queen Anne's Lace and are mostly considered to be a weed, albeit a pretty one; the root is tough, pale (most often white), bitter and quite small. Presumably, over thousands of years and many combinations, the modern, domesticated carrot evolved partially from the wild carrot, but attempts to create domesticated edible carrots -such as we know them- purely from wild carrots have failed, so the belief that domesticated carrots come entirely from wild ones is inaccurate.
The first domesticated carrots that I mentioned above were purple and sometimes yellow. Through time and cross-cultivation, other colors appeared, first red, then white, then orange which became the most common form of carrot particularly in the West. They were brought to Europe by the Arabs in the 10th century, at which time the orange version did not yet exist, and it is thought that Western Europeans eventually developed the common orange-colored carrot some time around the 16th century.

Now to the nutritive properties of carrots, which is really why you might still be reading this post:
Carrots are phenomenally nutritious. They contain the most beta-carotene (unsurprisingly and that which gives carrots their orange color) of any fruit or vegetable which is converted to vitamin A by the body. They also are a source of vitamins B6 and C, and a pectin fibre known as calcium pectate which may have the ability to lower cholesterol. Carrots are loaded with potassium, thiamin, folic acid, and magnesium and when cooked also contain copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus and sulphur. The lesson here being that an apple a day is all well and good, but maybe you should consider eating some more of those carrots you have laying around. It's as easy as washing and peeling one. If you happen to get a bunch of carrots with their greens, those contain vitamin K which is not present in carrots themselves, so you might want to use those as well. It's all good.

I used to hate cooked carrots when I was little, but realized in retrospect that that was only because my mother didn't cook them and the only cooked ones I had were often boiled to death and lacking any flavor. I've always loved them raw however, and now like them cooked as well. I've been making all of the carrots pictured above for my little noodle and she loves them, no matter the color or the manner in which they are cooked. It is thanks to her that I've discovered all of these things about carrots, and that I continue to discover things every day about foods I eat.
Have you learned anything about foods you thought you knew from your children?



This post was written by Hilda


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Tiffin Tuesday - The Grain-Free Bento

Whenever I read (quite useful) instructions on packing bentos, I stumble upon tipps like this one:

Plan your meal. Bento lunches traditionally consist of 4 parts rice, 3 parts protein, 2 parts vegetables and 1 part dessert or pickles. Even easier-- mentally divide the box in half. Half for rice, then 1/3 of the other half for protein, 1/3 for veggies and the final 1/3 for condiments and dessert.

While this is great advice, I sometimes feel at a loss. What are people on special diets supposed to do? E.g. my body doesn't respond too well to grains, to put it mildly - rice is one of the few things I can digest in small amounts, and I'd rather keep that portion for other occasions. If you are on a low-carb diet, or suffer from type 2 diabetes, having to control carbs, or are restricted in your food choices for one reason or another, especially when it comes to carbohydrates, you'll have to find alternatives.

On the other hand, this is one reason for me - and I bet many of you - to pack my own lunches, aside from better value for money: being able to control what is in my foods, catering for the needs of allergic children or spouses.

Still, rice, or noodles, bread, potatoes, are the obvious fillers in a bento - so we are in need of fresh ideas.




Here I packed feta cheese cubes, with a sprinkling of pepper, and halved grape tomatoes (actually the pepper came in a small paper sachet I had saved on an airplane trip last year, and waited under the lid until lunch time), cucumber pieces, an egg, and a tuna dipp.

In the spirit of getting back into the habit of packing bentos, here are just a few ideas for (not only) grain-free bentos:

• grilled chicken pieces
• leftover grilled steak, sliced
• tiny brochettes (saté) with shrimp or meats or fish
• paneer cubes
• mini cheeses
• cubed feta
• eggs (think quail eggs!)
• tamagoyaki, of course
• omelette
• konnyaku noodles (shirataki)
• cooked chickpeas
• tiny amounts of curry (any kind) to be eaten with torn romaine leaves
• chicken or tuna salad, in muffin cups, or in cucumber cups or tomato halves
• dips - guacamole, tuna dip, herbed quark or cream cheese, tsatsiki, hummus, Mexican bean dip, blue cheese dip, peanut dip, salsa
• cooked beans
• edamame
• green beans
• cherry tomatoes
• kohlrabi sticks
• celery sticks
• carrot sticks
• cucumbers
• radishes
• bell pepper strips
• pickles
• mini salamis
• nuts
• dried fruit
• steamed cauliflower or broccoli
• olives
• yogurt (any type)
• berries
• mango pieces, to name just some fruit (because some are rather evil on the glycemic load)

To replace flour, instead of using gluten-free mixes, you might coat chicken pieces with sesame before frying them - the sesame adds great nutrients, too!

If your diet allows them, potatoes and sweet potatoes make great fillers, from potato salad to braised sweet potato, as do jerusalem artichokes - I like to eat these raw, they have a great crunch and nutty taste.


Do you have allergies you need to consider when packing lunches? Please feel free to share your ideas for special diet bentos - we'd love to hear / read from you.

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This post was written by Petra

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Roasted Potatoes and my trip to Aleppo

note: I want to apologize to everyone for being late with this post. I am going out of town in a few days and have been running around like a crazy person trying to get everything in order before my trip.

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A couple weeks ago, I finally bought my plane ticket to go to Aleppo. My grandmother is there now, visiting her sister, and I will get to join them in just a few days. Middle Eastern food, like most of the food from around the Mediterranean, is extremely fresh and healthy. I promise to be back with lots of pictures and recipes that I will share on the Daily Tiffin.

In the mean time, I've been strategically trying to use up all my produce and perishables for the past couple of weeks. Today I chose to write about roasted potatoes because they're a healthy alternative to fried potatoes, but are still popular with the kids. They're great in lunch boxes or afternoon snacks, and easy enough to make in large batches. There are a few steps, however, to ensuring a perfect roast with an extra crispy exterior and ultra creamy inside.



Preparation is simple. It makes a big difference to scout out good potatoes for this dish: small, firm and tight skin. I prefer reds simply because they have a higher sugar content, so they tend to caramelize better than other potatoes in the oven.



Since potatoes grow underground, you'll want to give them a quick rinse before you roast them. Make sure to pat them dry so that the outsides crisp up.



It's also important not to crowd the potatoes in a pan, otherwise they will still steam, regardless of how well you've patted them dry.



Although I usually use Spanish paprika, or pimentón, it's a lot easier to find the Hungarian variety at my local grocery store. My inspiration for using paprika in my roasted potatoes came from patatas bravas -- a classic tapas made from fried tomatoes covered in a spicy pimentón-base sauce. If you can't find Spanish paprika near where you live, Amazon is where I usually buy from.



Once they come out of the oven, they can be eaten hot or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Click here for the recipe.

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This post was written by Antonio Tahhan

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Vegetarian Pyramid Series - Seitan

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It sounds like ‘Shaitan’ and probably looks like one to most of us! But sometimes good things come in ugly packages and Seitan follows that literally. The first time I saw it, I made up a face similar to its looks but then after reading considerably about it, I thought why not. I am so glad I did cos not only it is an excellent meat replacement, is a super duper source of protein for vegetarians like me. Come to think of it, it doesn't taste bad either.

Image source from wikimedia

So what exactly is Seitan?

It is made from gluten, the protein part of wheat. It is popularly known as ‘vegetarian meat’. It is also known by other names in different places – wheat meat, gluten or simply gluten meat. It has a very chewy and firm texture.Instead of reaching out for imitation meat in your local stores, which by the way has loads of additives, it would be a great idea to use seitan instead. It is immensely nutritious and without any artificial flavors. Seitan does not have any flavor of its own and hence it benefits from a marinade. Mostly you will find the precooked variety of seitan, hence simply adding it at the very end is enough. You can chop it or slice it and it goes extremely well in stir fries or stews of any kind.

Availability

Mostly available in health stores and in Asian specialty markets. Next time you visit one, don’t forget to look out for Seitan.

Benefits of Seitan

The protein content is humongous - About 85gms of Seitan consists of 18gms of Protein! It is also filled with essential amino acids and if cooked in soy sauce based broth then it would enhance the amount of vitamins and minerals. A four-ounce serving of seitan supplies between 6 and 10 percent of the U.S Reference Daily Intake of vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron.

To kick start your cooking with seitan, here are some sample recipes with Wheat gluten.

I have one simple and amazing recipe with Seitan. Its Vegan sloppy Joes. You know how some kids have problems eating any vegetables? ( or should I say anything healthy?!!). A friend of mine recently brought her son, who is die hard carnivore, to my place. Being a vegetarian, I thought why not make something which looks like a non-vegetarian and also has nutrition. I made these sloppy joes with couple of vegetables, beans and seitan and they were gladly gobbled up by him!


Other interesting recipes from the net

1. Southern Fried Vegetarian 'Chicken'
2. Mexican "Seitan" Fajitas
3. Spicy "Seitan" Buffalo wings

This post was written by Dhivya

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‘Earth to Table in the Shortest Time’… The locavores have arrived!

Locavore … a term coined on World Environment Day, 2005, to promote the buying /eating of produce grown within the 100 mile (160Km) radius.

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The issue being addressed in 2005 was the alarming trend of produce being transported half way across the globe to feed a ‘global appetite for exotic fare'. What was satiating the palate was no different in calories, but meant hugely in terms of miles it travelled, the cost of shipping … in other words, the significant carbon footprint it left stamped on a burdened Earth.

I am a firm supporter of the 100 mile diet. My Indian lamb chops taste as good as any I have had. New Zealand lamb chops may still be the best, but I am ‘palate happy'. I cringed when I heard of a new butter chicken launched in a city in India, advertised as “Anaarkali, the classiest Butter Chicken on earth is about more than just exotic ingredients & years of research.” A dish that serves 2 is for Rs 6000/- (USD 136/-), counts as its ingredients fresh tomatoes and Hunt’s Tomato Paste, Danish Lurpak Unsalted Butter, Fillipo Berio Olive Oil and Evian Natural Spring Water. It might well be the best butter chicken on the face of this Earth, and the entrepreneurs mean well as they are donating part of the proceeds to charity, yet, wouldn’t ‘eating off the land’ have been better for Earth?

This is not about food snobbery. It’s all a matter of perspective, and it’s heartening to see foodie bloggers playing a hugely responsible role in following a locavore diet. It’s wonderful to see them following seasons, blogs glowing orange with anything from persimmons to pumpkins announcing fall. Even better to see folk roasting their own pumpkins for puree! It’s imperative to begin counting ‘Food Miles’, or the distance food travels from where it is grown. The words ring loud… the closer the food, the better the taste! Andrea Meyers leads with her Grow Your Own event, a twice-a-month blogging event that celebrates the foods we grow or raise ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products.
In September this year, the Obama administration launched a 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative to connect consumers with local producers. The idea is not to limit choice, but to expand consciences, and encourage healthy seasonal eating. 2 recent cookbooks that sing the locavore anthem of ‘Earth to table in the shortest time’ are worth a mention. In their book, Earth to Table, renowned chefs Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann remind us of the relationship between local eating and taste, and demonstrate how you can reduce your carbon footprint without diminishing your enjoyment of food. Bringing together stories of the passage of seasons on the farm; how-to sections; stunning photographs; and, of course, creative and delectable recipes that will leave anyone wondering why they ever considered eating a tomato in February. In Cooking for Friends, award-winning chef, world-renowned restaurateur, bestselling author, and Hell’s Kitchen star Gordon Ramsey offers us more than 100 exceptional recipes from his own family table. The way Gordon cooks here embodies his strongly held views: use in-season, fresh ingredients at their peak; support local producers and farmers' markets whenever possible; and celebrate the food culture and its many influences.

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This post was written by Deeba

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Tiffin Tuesday - Getting Back Into The Habit

It's been a long time since I've posted a bento here - or on my blog. It is not that I don't pack lunches any more, but... most days I just grab some leftovers, and an apple or banana, and a cereal bar, and I'm done.

Although it is not quite 2010 right now, I think it is time to start over and make 'New Year's resolutions', to set up new goals, and get back to packing lunches which are not only nutritious, but also fun to look at. Even if you don't pack meals for a child but for an adult, enjoying your lunch visually is a great part of the food with love theme, I think.

And it doesn't have to be elaborated, fancy food, or decorating stunning anime images on a rice bed (which I could never do, anyway):



Here I packed tiny tomato halves with a tuna salad stuffing, tiny cucumber and carrot bites for crunch and color, a slice of buttered wholegrain bread (wrapped in cling film to prevent it from turning soggy), 3 mini chocolate muffins, dried mango, banana chips, the last of the plum harvest, and an apple. Basically a pantry raid, but looks so much better than just a sandwich or a box with noodle salad :-)

So, when do you get back in the habit?

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This post was written by Petra

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Nursing: A Journey to a Destination

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Any men out there who start to read this, gag and want to skip this article, if there is a woman in your life who might get pregnant and deliver a child she intends to nurse, I'd try to at least get halfway through it. I promise I won't get graphic.

Disclaimer: This post is meant in no way to make a statement about the merits of nursing over formula or vice-versa. I don't see anything wrong with feeding your baby formula, I was a formula-fed baby and I turned out ok (I think anyway).

The last time we saw our pediatrician at the 6-month appointment, he took one look at my baby and said "she looks perfect, she could be an advertisement for breastfeeding." I think it would be hard to describe the sense of relief I felt when he said that. I didn't originally think that I would be writing about breastfeeding/nursing here, but when I told K.'s Godmother what the doctor had said, she immediately insisted I had to write about it for my next DT post, if only to let other soon-to-be mothers know that as hard as it may be in the beginning, it can end up being perfectly fine. You see, it was very difficult for a while. 

In England, midwives are the bulk of the maternity unit staff, rather than nurses, and because they are the main baby birthers in the public system (a doctor is called in to supervise if there is an issue of some sort but otherwise midwives often deliver babies themselves), many also consider themselves to be the authority on everything pregnancy and baby-related; this results in, over a post-birth period of 48hrs, receiving the advice of at least four different midwives on the proper nursing positions, times, frequency, etc... and they all have different ideas about every part of the process, all in contradiction with each other. The day I left the hospital, I had a breakdown on the phone with my sister because my baby seemed a bit jaundiced and had needed hardly any diaper changes that day, so she couldn't possibly be well; surely I was doing something wrong. The midwives weighed her, checked her bilirubin level (for jaundice), reassured me that she was fine, and off we went with a stash of painkillers for me.
The timeline from then on went basically like this:

Day 4 - Morning: Community midwife comes to the house as part of the National Health Service. First helpful with tips to improve latching position and keep baby awake during a feed, but also thinks baby looks very jaundiced and even though the hospital pediatrician has declared her to be fine, I become extremely anxious.
Day 4 - Afternoon: Our pediatrician checks baby over thoroughly and plots out her bilirubin level on a special hospital jaundice chart so we can see that she's fine. He declares her to be in very good health. Says to put her in sunlight for the jaundice.

I'd been told that it would take 6 weeks to establish the nursing completely, but I'd also been told that I seemed to be a natural at it and that I had the latching down properly somehow from the beginning, the main issue was that I had this baby who just couldn't last more than a few minutes into a feed without falling asleep and I was having a great deal of difficulty keeping her awake long enough to eat.

Day 6: Baby has slept entirely way too long at night and I haven't been able to feed her at regular intervals. Am worried about my milk coming in and the supply being sufficient with a baby that doesn't create a demand (it's a demand-supply system). Midwife visits and weighs her, declares she is not putting on enough weight. We should supplement feeds with formula.
Day 8: I've developed an infection and must urgently return to the hospital, nursing baby in tow.
Day 9: I have an operation under general anesthesia which makes me drowsy and sick to my stomach. I am exhausted and have a hard time waking regularly to feed a baby I can't wake to eat and who won't stay awake through a 45mn feed. Am convinced my supply is not going to get established and my fatigue only augurs bad things when I'll get home. Am hysterical on the phone to my sister about the baby not putting on enough weight and my supply dwindling. Am sent home with more painkillers and antibiotics.
Day 11: Midwife visit, I am advised to really supplement more with formula as she is not gaining enough weight, and by then am a complete mess. Tired, in pain, with an adorable baby who seems fine and alert when awake but who is asleep when the midwife visits and isn't gaining weight quickly enough. Try to pump to increase my low supply.  I supplement grudgingly, feeling excessive guilt even though I know very well that it would be fine if I ended up not nursing and giving her formula, after all I was a formula-fed baby. No matter how much coaxing we do or what we try, she takes almost no supplemental formula.

Day 16: Midwife visits, the baby is an ounce shy of her birth weight and a few days away from being declared as"failure to thrive". Am about ready for the loony bin. Make my husband buy a medical scale most often used for weighing babies so I can weigh her every or every other day.
Day 17: The health visitor, a person who basically checks in on the family from a child's birth until he/she is 5, comes by and I see my first glimpse of hope. She says that though she has no empirical evidence to support her thoughts, her experience is that in cases such as mine, as soon as the new mother stops taking the painkillers, the milk supply increases dramatically and the baby gains weight very well. I'd taken my last pill that morning and wait to see what might happen over the next couple of days.
Day 19: Even though I can't measure it, I know my supply has increased and baby is starting to wake up to the world, clearly the painkillers were not helping in this whole debacle.

Over the next few weeks, I had to sort through a number of other hiccups in the process (biting, soreness until I thought I couldn't possibly get through one more feed) until by about 6-8 weeks in, just as predicted, and in spite of everyone saying it would take me less time because I seemed to be doing well the first couple of days in the hospital (even though I wasn't), I'd figured out 95% of the problems and was nursing her fairly comfortably. I'm still nursing her now as she discovers solid foods.
I often thought about just giving up, especially since we'd found a brand of formula that she actually seemed to like when we first had to supplement her, the point being that it was only perseverance and the will to nurse her that got me through. During those first three weeks in particular, and still fairly often until she was about 2 months old, I never thought I'd make it this long or that the pediatrician would ever say that she looked wonderful and could be an advertisement for nursing.
I know this has been a long post, but I wanted to share that, just in case one would-be mom reads it and it makes a difference. Experiences like nursing that are very personal can make one feel very guilty or inadequate when they don't go well and it becomes hard to share, so if this helps even one woman out there, it's worth putting the rest of you to sleep.


This post was written by Hilda



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FEEDING THE FINICKY

MEET MR. PERSNICKETY

Oh, happy the parent who has children who eat everything. Happy eaters are a joy to behold, watching as they merrily lick beaters and agree to taste test all cooking adventures. Pure pleasure is the child who digs the serving spoon into the bowl and piles it high on his/her plate, no matter that he/she has never eaten it before. Garlic, eggplant, carrots, mascarpone cream, preserved lemons or pumpkin desserts don’t lead to wrinkled brows, turned up noses and groans of disgust, but rather interest, excitement and licked lips.

The persnickety child's dream!

Clement was – and is – this kind of child. Maybe he was influenced by my diet when I was pregnant, a diet consisting of the savory and the spicy, couscous and tagines, stews and seafood creoles, the intense flavor seeping through my body to him, a baby growing into my adventurous tastebuds. Or maybe it is due to the fact that from the moment he could open his tiny mouth we would offer him tastes of everything soft and smooth, from fresh goat cheese to chocolate pudding, just a tad on the tip of our pinkie finger, enough to get a reaction. And the reaction was always one of pure pleasure. By the time he could sit in a high chair, he loved sucking on lemon slices or biting into cloves of garlic, he would suck down baby spoonfuls of everything that we cooked or baked for ourselves, a foodie in the making.

And he always loved everything, cheeses, from the mild to the strong, exotic food from any culture, vegetables one and all, desserts both child-oriented and adult.

And then came Simon. Ah, what do the experts say about this? This second pregnancy was punctuated by American fast food cravings and plates piled high with brownies. The tiny taste tests were mostly abandoned when he was a tot. And one day, out of the blue, he pressed his lovely pink lips together, crossed his baby arms and refused what was on the end of the fork. And life was never the same. Here was a child, adorable, sweet and mild-tempered, a child who simply said “no” to food, no to anything flavorful, anything out of the ordinary, his version of ordinary. Years followed, years of eating pasta in bianco or white rice, plain grilled fish drizzled with the smallest amount of olive oil, plain chocolate cake with a smattering of powdered sugar, simple, tiny cheese ravioli in brodo, chicken broth. Fruit he loved, almost all fruit, so mealtimes usually found Clem with a plateful of vegetables in front of him and Simon with a bowl of sliced strawberries and banana, grapes and cubes of apples or pears, anything to get the maximum mix of vitamins.

As he’s grown, Mr. Persnickety, as I call him, has continued to eat simply, from pasta with red sauce to plates of white rice or unadorned couscous grains, spurning the fragrant, delicious veal blanquette or the lamb tagine that are served as the main course alongside these simple grains. He is wary of meat, dissecting it so minutely that it would make a forensic scientist proud, slicing off even the tiniest hint of fat. Vegetables get the old heave ho and most of what I cook is insulted with a “Oh, not that! Disgusting!” Fried foods and pizza, peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers and fries all pass with a thumbs up and desserts are limited to brownies and chocolate chip cookies, the most simple of chocolate cake or coffee cake with streusel. Simon was never so simple.

Feeding your child can't always be a hold up!

So how do we, the parent of the picky eater, how do we get our little darlings to eat anything healthy, anything vegetable, anything new? It becomes a game, a test: how to we package eggplant or spinach, fish or pumpkin in such a way that will actually have them eating it? Do we cook and serve them a separate meal or do we let them go hungry if they turn up their nose at what we have placed on the table? Or do we try and imagine dishes that may please, dishes that blend the loved with the hated in such a way that the persnickety child will finally put a forkful in his/her mouth and taste and maybe, just maybe, give a gentle shrug of the shoulders and say “it’s not bad”? And clean their plate. And make the foodie parent happy for one more meal. This is an ongoing project for me and I hope to be able, over the course of time and through my posts, I hope to be able to share some of these tasty dishes, successful meals, and there are indeed a few, with you.

Have them eat better... and healthier than this!

Greek-Inspired Spinach and Feta Triangles are easy to put together, if just a tad bit time consuming because of the phyllo/filo dough, and something that even my spinach-hating son, my finicky eater, will eat with pleasure (although he would never admit to the pleasure). I have made this at one time or another in one large baking dish, the filling sandwiched in between layers of filo dough, but wrapped in individual triangles makes it more fun to eat. Crunchy, buttery and delicious, chock full of feta cheese, add pine nuts or even chopped walnuts if you dare, this is a treat that everyone loves. It can be made in advance and stored in the fridge covered well with plastic wrap, just baking before serving.


GREEK-STYLE SPINACH-FETA TRIANGLES

1 1/2 lbs (800 g) fresh spinach, well-cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups (235 g - one package) feta cheese, drained and crumbled
1/2 cup (60 g) grated parmesan cheese, fresh when possible
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (if you make this in pie form, use 4 eggs)
2 Tbs chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
freshly ground pepper and a dash of salt to taste
1/2 lb (250 g, about 20 sheets) filo dough, thawed if frozen - if you make these 6 large triangles, you will need 12 sheets
Melted butter for the filo


Wash the spinach leaves, shake off excess water and put into a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Steam the spinach until wilted, then pour into a colander to drain. Allow to cool until easy to handle. Press out all the excess water you can with your hands, then gather up the cooked spinach and place in the center of a clean but old cloth dishtowel. Wrap or roll up the spinach in the towel and squeeze for all you are worth, squeezing out as much water as possible. Place the spinach on a cutting board and chop.

Put the chopped spinach in a mixing bowl, add the crumbled feta and parmesan cheeses, the chopped mint, nutmeg and salt and a good grinding of pepper (when adding salt, do so sparingly; remember that the feta is salty). Blend well. Now beat the eggs until well blended and stir them into the spinach-cheese mixture.


Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Now - the filo triangles. As you use each sheet of filo, keep the rest of the sheets covered with a just-damp towel so they don't dry out.

Melt the butter and allow to cool a bit.

Lay out the first sheet of filo with the wider length side to side, left to right. Brush the sheet quickly with butter. Lay a second sheet on top of the first and brush with butter. Repeat with a third sheet. With a very sharp knife, carefully slice from top to bottom into three equal strips. This will make the first three triangles.

Divide the spinach mixture into 6 (like I did here) or more parts depending on whether you want to make more or less triangles.* Scoop up one quantity and place it on the edge of the first strip of filo closest to you. Now, to form a triangle, lift up the bottom edge and bring the right bottom corner up towards the left edge (side), lining up the bottom and side edges to form a triangle. Holding this in place, use your free fingers to push the spinach mixture so it fills the triangle shape. Lift this up and fold upwards and continue folding until you have only about an inch of filo dough at the top. Brush this with butter to moisten, fold it over and seal your triangle "package". Place the triangle on a parchment-lined or buttered baking sheet, sealed side down.


Continue until you have made three triangles with the first three sheets of buttered filo. Repeat the process with three more buttered sheets and the rest of the spinach mixture. You now have 6 large triangles on your baking sheet. The triangles can be made ahead up to this point. Cover them well with plastic wrap and put into the fridge until ready to bake.

Brush the surface of each of the triangles with more melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.


* You can make this as one large pie, layering 8 - 10 of the buttered filo sheets in a buttered baking dish (the size of the dish depends on how thick you like the filling to be), spreading the spinach mixture evenly, then layering and buttering 8 - 10 more filo sheets on top. Bake until golden. Or you can make many more smaller triangles by cutting the filo dough either width- or length-wise into narrower strips.

Serve large triangles for lunch or dinner with a salad or smaller triangles as finger food.

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This post was written by JAMIE

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Quick Parenting Tip: Consequences

I recently joined a book group organized by the Parent Engagement Network of our local school district where we are reading Please Stop the Rollercoaster by Sue Blaney. It is different from most other book groups as we are going to read just this one book, chapter by chapter. Book groups for this particular book have morphed into parent support groups, as we struggle to deal with the world of our growing teens and tweens. I am looking forward to sharing some of the nuggets I come away with here on The Daily Tiffin, the first of which is:

Consequences
Raising our children to be independent responsible adults is a common goal that all parents share. Consequence is a lesson they need to learn early in life so that they are able to make better choices for themselves as they grow. We were talking about simple things that result in an extra chore for Mom or Dad to do like:

• not waking up in time and missing the bus
• forgetting to take homework or books to school
• forgetting to bring their books home from school
• forgetting their lunchbox at home
• and so on.

All the above result in either Mom or Dad having to drop what they are doing and drive an additional amount to bail their kids out. Some kids need this kind of support on a daily basis - almost. That is where consequences comes in. One parent says she has an understanding with her kids where she allows them one rescue per month, or she charges them $1 per event from their allowance. This seems to work very well for them but it did not appeal to me as the underlying message is that you can buy yourself out of trouble.

Another suggestion that was put forth resonated well with me: the child takes on additional chores for the amount of time that her parent had to take out of his/her day to bail the kid out. My time for your time and the exchange must take place on the day that the support was required. This reinforces the value of time and also ensures that parental support is not taken for granted.

Do you have any tips that work well for you in such scenarios?

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This post was written by Manisha


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Rebel without a cause….

Went to drop the daughter to school this morning for the annual camping trip. They’re off for 3 days to an adventure camp in the lap of the Himalayas. A camp filled with much excitement for the 13 year olds…with promises of body surfing, night hiking, river crossing, rappelling, fish catching techniques, rowing & much more.

It's 3.30 am, time to get moving, and the argument begins once again…
1. You aren’t going to wear flip-flops & board the train?
Of course I am! We ALL are!

(Pre-decided...hmmmmm)
But, I argue, lamelessly, the platforms here are filthy.
Don’t I know? We do this every year. It’s OK. We’re ALL wearing these!
I rest my case! Peer pressure, mob mentality… whatever!
2. For heaven’s sake, does each toe nail HAVE to be a different colour?

(Fuchsia pink, sunshine yellow, lime green, orange & turquoise)
Yeah, they’re matching the flip-flops. That’s why I bought them!

‘Them’ refers to new Converse flip flops, & also to a dazzling array of nail paints.
3. Hurry we’re getting late.
Wait. I still have to paint my nails!
WHAT?
Change of plans over last minute telephone conversations. Multi coloured is off; black is being lavished on the pretty toes. I am about to explode….

We reach school, thankfully well in time, as we are known to be punctual folk. Meet up with a bunch of my friends, parents from the school community, and 4am seems the perfect time to air our woes. Our drift is the same, and we begin exchanging notes. The kids who’ve studied together since they were 4 years old are all thick pals. Everything is obviously decided because one look around, and you can see black painted toe nails & flip flops all across the gym.

A harried father of one of her girlfriends joins our animated conversation. “Why black, why is everything black? My daughter is a rebel. A rebel without a cause,” he says. He hit the nail on the head! Mine is too, only until this morning I didn’t have a coined phrase for her. ‘REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE’ - It does feel better putting her into a category of sorts! (Am I being mean?)

The harried man goes on to add. (They are Bengalis from Eastern India, and this is the most auspicious month for them. They gather at a community fair at this time every year to offer obeisance to their goddess). "We went to the prayer service and fair yesterday and she went dressed like ‘that’." He points to his daughter dressed in shorts, sneakers & a black tee. In India, at fairs like these, you would find people dressed, or rather overdressed, in traditional attire. He continues…"Then when we went to offer flowers to the deity, she stood far from us, refusing to join us, asking what we expected to achieve by doing 'all this'. What do you think you'll ‘get’?" He was pretty alarmed by the sign of times to come as she said she didn’t believe in ‘stuff like this’!

I got back and related this to the hub, who is on the quieter side, and pretty much reserved about his thoughts in public! He had but one comment to make, and with a smile of amused relief. "Thankfully we aren’t religious, so at least we have one less thing to argue over!"

That said, it’s not easy bringing up teens. The daughter has marked her ‘rebel’ path, and the son is beginning to show similar signs too, like an infectious disease! To those who have ‘been there, done that’, when does it get better? And to those that have yet to get ‘there’, good luck to you! This saga never ends!

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This post was written by Deeba

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