Father Christmas Cookies….

Vanilla & Butter Cookies (Father Christmas Cookies)

Christmas to me has become all about the so many things I can do with my children (and should be doing more of)…because I am often rushing around and not taking as much time as I could do at other times. 

I have a singular point of view when it comes to my kids as well – I want them to grow up knowing things….how to do things, make things, create the life, food, home and work they would most like to do.

How to follow their dreams and listen to their hearts as they walk through a better world we have worked so hard to create on their behalf. Because, well, I have long felt as if I was misinformed (or uninformed) and certainly ill prepared with life as I have come to know it.

With this in mind (nothing small around here!!! LOL), I wanted to bake some treats together with them this week for our Solstice and Christmas celebrations (I know, it’s a big cookie to bite off!).

We decided on some sort of butter cookie….well, it had butter in it (lol) and flour, almonds and then the greatest flavour of the season – homemade vanilla extract. I make mine in a large bottle of bourbon – using 8 or 10 vanilla bean pods as well as some scraped out vanilla beans.

These sit for several weeks and then months until you can’t walk by the bottle without smelling wafts of vanilla perfuming the air (available in the market stall on occasion)….lovely!

So, these are butter and vanilla cookies, right? 

Back to the story or recipe….which is really a tale of how to create something magical from ingredients that seem rather ordinary on their own.

To make these cookies we used:

500 g flour (whole wheat/strong white ½ and ½)

250 g raw cane sugar

380 g butter (soft)

125 g ground almonds

 2 – 3 tablespoons  Bourbon vanilla

¼ teaspoon sea salt

dark chocolate (melted in double boiler)

imagination!

Blend the butter and then slowly add the sugar, almonds, flour, salt and finally vanilla – keep mixing until soft and crumbly. Add extra vanilla if this seems too dry. You should be able to squeeze the mixture together into a soft dough.

Onto a floured board or baking paper, knead some of the dough  and then roll it flat…let the children take over with cookie cutters, shapes and fingers to make the cookies into whatever shape they need to create.

At this time of the year we all like stars, ginger bread men, hearts and trees. Once you have enough shapes to cover a large baking sheet – place them onto parchment paper and into an oven set at 180C or so for 10 to 12 minutes.

Watch them closely because they will brown quickly. 

Once done and out of the oven, cool slightly then remove with a palette knife onto a cooking rack. When completely cool, dip in the melted chocolate and decorate with some coloured bits from the organic shop….

They taste as good as they look! We like to make different sized star shapes and stick them together using dark chocolate in the centre….we refer to these as Father Christmas cookies here, because these are the ones we leave out for him on Christmas Eve.

Happy Holidays!

April

Father Christmas Cookies

Feeding the Children Part 2

I have learned quite a few things from my years spent in the food industry, raising children and talking to absolutely everyone about everything to do with eating, nutrition, packaging, labeling and food. 

So I wanted to say something more on children and eating because everyone keeps asking me to comment far more on this issue. But also because I feel that so many of us have every good intention and then fall back on the ways we ourselves were ‘made’ to eat. 

Of course some of these methods work – but not all of it. Perhaps it is best to pick apart what hasn’t been working and start with the basics. Children should be easy to feed – they are not complicated little humans with emotional/stress eating or at least shouldn’t be.

With a simple approach in mind – the food, eating, mealtime, the table, the setting, the menu plans and anything to do with dinner should be low key, loose and gentle.

However, one important aspect is often overlooked – many children don’t need to eat a lot, and we start the overfeeding process far too early. Not only overfeeding, but worse – offering the wrong types of foods (low nutrition) required to grow strong bodies and minds.

The meals should be kid friendly but that doesn’t mean junk, such as fish fingers and fries smothered in sugary ketchup. These items are not simple eating, this is pure rubbish – immature guts need easy to digest foods. 

Children are often slow eaters – my son used to linger over his breakfast for over an hour when he was younger. I often thought thankfully, he was not rushed off anywhere because he would never have finished his breakfast. 

That is one of the lovely things about homeschool and being at home with the children (working from home etc.). No one needs to be rushed with their meals, slow cooked, savored and enjoyed – with the children eating at their own pace.

I have also learned from my own years spent fasting, detoxing and cleansing to wait until they ask for food. In the morning my daughter usually doesn’t want to eat right away. She prefers to have a cup of herbal tea first (quite the little lady) and this gives her digestion a head start.

Of course not every day is an ideal situation and we have days where we have to rush off for dance classes and what not – so I organize their snacks ahead of time… Last week I made simple goat’s cheese and onion muffins from spelt and oat flour (organic whole grain of course).

These are filling, simple and tasty – yet cover carbohydrates, protein and fat – to give them the energy for the day. Together with an apple, some figs and a few nuts – everyone was well nourished and had their main meal when they got home. 

Another thing I have noticed when it comes to children is they often get overlooked when it comes to water. Don’t give them juice, they don’t need the sugar or sweetness. Save the juice (sugar free, natural) for a treat day such as birthdays, special occasions and what not.

Water is essential for proper digestion, not to mention every other function of the human body. We are water operated machines – provide the best water you can find for your growing little ones. 

As a general rule, children do not need;

Sugar

Caffeine

Additives

Chemicals/toxins

Processed food

Advertising!

Marketing geared towards children is probably the most damaging influence to push it’s unruly way into your home. Banish it as much as possible, talk about it and educate them about how they are being manipulated into wanting something that their bodies do not require.

When it comes to each of us and our food, get back to basics. Start with increasing vegetables, rice, beans, lentils, some fruits, a little fish and meat. Then take it from there. You will find when a child eats his dinner he most often doesn’t want or need anything more…

April 

Purple daze...

Cooking For Children - Getting Them to Eat

To be honest this article should really be called – 'getting Parents to Pay attention to what they are feeding their children and sticking with a healthy plan'. Because at the end of it all – what children eat and won’t eat has everything to do with who is in charge.

To be honest years ago when my eldest was small and our diets were good, but not great – we had trouble with him as well. Mostly because there were always options – he knew there was something else that could be eaten eventually. And we would cave in.

The other thing was that I had others from outside my own home breathing down my neck saying – oh, come on, give him the sweets or the junk. It’s just this once. Or some other such nonsense. There were still other influences coming into our home and in his life as well – such as the television, crèche and little friends.

What I was seeing was that even though he ate well most of the time – his preference would be for something sweet or not so good for him. And this was not how we had started off in his life. So where did things go wrong?

It turns out, it was with me. I had gone wrong and as long as I did so, I was the primary influence in his life and certainly with his eating and food habits. It was therefore up to me to make the changes necessary to improve the situation.

I had to begin and then move steadily towards the direction I wanted him to go – but as parents we had to lead by example. At that time he was around 4 years old and had already had more then his share of infections, antibiotics and whatnot – completely against my better judgment.

I knew it was the food that had to change. Each week during the course of a year (there are other factors here too for another time) we removed one thing that was processed or junk.

I started with the cereal – anything that was in a box ready to eat was taken away and replaced with meals that would be cooked – such as porridge. Children like simple meals, they appreciate routine and they have a clean palate that does not require several overwhelming tastes and flavours.

Their digestion is also very much in the development phase and this needs to be nurtured, worked with as well as understood as they grow. Our breakfasts over these ensuing years have became mainly porridge or muesli, whole grain spelt bread, jam and perhaps cheese.

While some mornings we would have fish or eggs, a full meal such as soup or stew, on special occasions we have baked sweet potato with nuts, maple syrup, tahini, or French toast or pancakes. But these are reserved for feast times and special times.

I find that children will generally choose the same things again and again falling into their own preferences and likes. You do not have to give the same meal each and every day, but even with porridge various things can be added to it to provide different nutrients.

For porridge I start out with oats, water, pinch of salt, a pat of butter and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg. But then I can add in some homemade apple sauce or a fresh apple. Sometimes I chop up some banana or add a handful of fresh berries (these can be cooked into it as well). Once it is cooked you might also add some ground seeds or nut butter.

A different dish or meal can be had each time! Over the years of working with my own family and many others, I have found a few general approaches and ideas that work best. Keep things simple, don’t cater to anyone – you are not running a restaurant and you are the parent – you know what is best.

If you think you don’t know what is best for your family to eat, find out. Basically, the majority of your food should be from plants (that means vegetables, rice, beans, lentils, grains, some fruit). Then fill in the blanks with a little fish, meat, eggs, milk and cheese.

No one on this planet requires sugar, chocolate, sweets, rubbish or junk foods, processed and ready-made meals or caffeine – and these things are detrimental to children because of their high nutrition needs as well as sensitive guts.

In general;

Children eat what they see everyone else eating
Prepare food that is age appropriate (porridge, soups, stews)
Make it fun and make things small (cut up toast into sections, small servings)
Blend, blend, blend…. Soups and stews can have an abundance of goodies!
Cook/Serve for the entire family – don’t cook 2 meals
Balance out sour tastes with sweet (add sweet potato or pumpkin to broccoli)

To improve your children’s diets – it is best to start with yourself. Make significant changes to your own lifestyle and then these naturally spill over to them. In my house the meal is the meal – that’s it, that’s all – and everyone eats it. Because every effort has been made to provide organic, fresh food and a meal has been cooked with care.

Personally I would find food issues too draining – there are so many other things to be doing in life, I don’t want time wasted trying to get kids to eat what is good for them. They will eat it, if you do.

April

Turmeric Rice with stir-fry veggies

Sugar Free Samhain

Today has been a busy day with running around for classes with the kids - I love Saturdays for that reason and I get a lot done out and about. One thing caught my eye today however and it never dawned on me before now -

It's Halloween in a couple of weeks and we don't do anything processed! Not that I have given out sugar treats in the past 10 years or so, however, I would buy healthy snacky things to have on hand. This year with our nothing processed rule, is going to be interesting indeed.

This was our topic of discussion as we were coming home earlier today - what on earth to do about Halloween. First of all, let me clarify things here - this is Ireland and usually we would not get anyone at all come to the door trick or treating. But the odd time it does happen.

The other point to be made is in years past my own children would get to eat the snacks and we would have our own little celebration of Samhain. However, this year we are all geared up for some great homemade treats such as cookies, halva, flapjacks and so forth.

As of right now I have quite a line up of delicious foods to make over the coming holiday (love long weekends) and our house will once again go into party mode. My own children don't eat sugar and never have - they are quite happy to indulge in our own homemade treats.

Other people's kids I am not so certain about! LOL It was decided today that should someone show up looking for a treat, we would invite them in for home pressed apple juice and sugar free cookies and cake. 

I'll have to let you know if there are any takers!! 

April

Nut butter cookies