The Japanese Diet and Paradox

I just love Japanese food. I'm in the process of teaching myself how to cook it, although, maybe it will take a class or two to get me on the right track. Japanese cuisine is just as intricate and difficult as French cuisine. I think I'll try to master the more rustic foods first.

Anyway, a recent health issue has gotten me thinking about a healthy diet. I found this article about the Japanese diet and health concerns. Not surprisingly, they have a very healthy diet, but not for all the reasons that you may think.

What I read into this and what I have felt all along is that it points to homemade/artisanal and non-processed foods are the best for overall health. Also, their diet high in fatty fish and pickled foods. What I found most interesting is that it's not necessarily a diet high in animal fat (sometimes considered the enemy in our western diet), but ones that are high in processed oils (the hydrogenated ones) that are the most dangerous and should be cut out of the diet entirely.

I also found their postpartum diet (the first days after birth) for the mother to be really interesting...carp soup!

Now - off to find a cookbook with a focus on healthy Japanese eating. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be very interested in knowing what they are! (Respond below).

xo

Lis

This all makes me very happy

House calls???

(image courtesy KidsHouseCalls.com)

I feel like a star struck teenager...last night, we had our first encounter with, wait for it...a pediatrician who makes house calls!!!!
For some reason, this is the winter that we seem to catch every fly, flu and cold that comes our way. This time I gave Dane my cold and we thought it was just that, a cold, until his fever spiked to 102.5 for 2 days.

Yesterday, sick myself, I was dreading the long trek across town in the freezing cold to take Dane to the pediatrician's office, when I remembered, "didn't I read about a pediatrician who makes house calls?". Yes! oh yes.

I called Dr. Kulich from Kidshousecalls.com and scheduled a 4pm appointment. We wouldn't have to go anywhere. He would be here in the afternoon.

His service is both forward thinking and old-fashioned at the same time. The philosophy is that no child should have to wait for medical care, and that care is best handled in the comfort of their own home - just like they did years ago. The typical doctor bag is a bit larger these days, however. He can do all sorts of services, like flu shots, H1N1 vaccinations, strep tests, urinalysis, and just about any office or urgent care center can do. Dr. Kulich's bedside manner is wonderful, and my son instantly felt comfortable with him. Dane watched videos while the examination went on and the doctor's attention was fully on my son and me - very rarely experienced in a physician's office environment.

It turns out that Dane had a double ear infection, that needed antibiotics - which the doctor mixed and gave to us right before he left! It was included in the service fee - and I didn't even need to go to the pharmacy! It was so wonderful!!!!

There is an upfront flat fee for his service, but if you have health insurance, he will mail you the proper forms so you can submit and get your corresponding refund. We found that with a co-payment, cost of medicine, and time/travel, his fees were very reasonable! There is a membership option which makes a lot of sense if you have more than one child (he'll treat all children in the household for the same price). They take appointments 24/7, which in NYC is a godsend (we have no urgent care centers), as our only alternative is the emergency room or wait until business hours.



Most important, is that Dr. Kulich is a caring, super-qualified, experienced pediatrician who is taking the health care debacle in his own hands. I love his entrepreneurial spirit and we will be calling him again very soon.

Now if I can find someone who does this for adults, we would be all set!

For more information, check out their website at : www.kidshousecalls.com.
Right now, he's only servicing the NYC area. Maybe his example will cause more docs to break into this type of practice. :)

New Baby Lasagna!

Whenever a friend of mine has a baby, I go immediately to the kitchen and whip up a turkey lasagna! It all goes back to when I had my first baby and a good friend of mine brought over a lasagna and it was completely devoured all week by my husband and I. It's a perfect new baby meal because it can be heated up whenever and it lasts and lasts. My friend Becky just had a baby and so I thought I'd share the process of my "New Baby Lasagna" as I make one for her. Whenever my husband sees me cooking this lasagna his face lights up and he says "Who had a baby?!!" I hope you and your new mommy friends enjoy this recipe too. It was adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe and is absolute SCRUMPTIOUS!

Ingredients:

2 Tbls Olive Oil

1 Onion, chopped

1 Garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 .5 oz tube parsley herb paste (or 1/2 cup chopped parsley)

1 .5oz tube basil herb paste (or 1/2 cup chopped basil)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 lb lasagna noodles

15 oz ricotta cheese

3 oz goat cheese

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 lb fresh mozzarella

Preheat over to 400 degrees

Heat olive oil in large skillet and add chopped onions. Cook until soft and add garlic and cook for 3 more minutes.

Take the sausage out of its casings by cutting lengthwise into the sausage, putting your finger under the casing and removing it. Throw away casings.

Add the sausage to the skillet and mash up with fork. Cook until brown all the way through.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste 1/2 the parsley and the basil, salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 20 minutes.

Place lasagna noodles in large bowl and pour boiling water to cover them. Set aside for 20 minutes.

In another large bowl combine ricotta, goat cheese and parmesan cheeses (keep a few tablespoons of the parmesan out to sprinkle on top at the end), the egg, the other half of the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce onto the

bottom of a lasagna pan, spreading it evenly. Add 1/2 of the noodles (I need to cut some with a scissor to fit properly). Thinly slice the mozarella and add 1/2 of it to the pan as the next layer. Then add 1/2 the cheese mixture, spreading evenly. Add another 1/3 of the sauce, the rest of the noodles, mozzarella then cheese mixture. Finish with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle the set aside parmesan cheese on top.

At this point just put foil on top with the words "Cook at 400 degrees for 45 mins to 1 hour" on the foil with a sharpie and deliver!

If this is for you just pop in the over and cook until it's bubbly. ENJOY!!!

xo,

Christine

Kelly's Corner - Fall and Winter's Bounty!

Late harvest and early winter time is a wonderful time for eating. The food is fresh, colorful, generally locally grown, gorgeous to look at, and full of nutrients as well. What more could you want out of something you put in your body? These foods are also great to serve to kids.

Here are some examples.
Apples: slice for older kids, coarsely grate into pulpy tubes for younger eaters.
Pears: As apples, slice or grate.
Avocado: wait until avocado is very ripe and cut into small cubes.
Winter squash: Microwave or bake until very soft. Add cinnamon and cut into small squares. Sweet potatoes: Follow directions for winter squash, above.
Broccoli and cauliflower: Steam or microwave until soft.
Older kids can eat the florets as “trees.” They can dip into a cheese sauce, white sauce, or ranch dressing if they like. Puree the broccoli for younger eaters.
Cabbage: Coarsely grate the cabbage. Sauté until brown and soft with a little olive oil. Pomegranate: Kids love these puzzle like fruits. (Avoid giving the seeds to younger kids, as they could be hard to swallow.)

Kelly's Corner is brought to you by Kelly Aronica, Petite Palate Nutritionist

Happy Chanukah!

(Photo courtesy of http://www.inspirational-motivational-quotes.com/latke.html)

This is the first day of Chanukah! How exciting - the story of how a little oil lasted for 8 days is truly a miracle and it's such a fun holiday to celebrate.

I found some really cute kid-friendly food ideas at the following site:

http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/holeday_themes/jewish/hanukkah_snacks.html

I'm going to make some latkes tonight - I'll post my results!

Lis

Personalized Message from the North Pole!

Click on this link to have make a free customized message to your little one from Santa!
Dane just loved his!!!

xo

Jaming out for the Holidays!

This year, like many, our families are on strict budgets for the holidays.

My family decided to keep adult presents to a minimum, with a limit of $15 each. We can buy fun gifts for the kids, but what can we get adults for under $15?

Dane and I decided to make our gifts! Yesterday we made JAM! Sounds old-fashioned, but really - who wouldn't like dreamy sweet homemade strawberry jam on their toast or croissant in the morning?

I bought a bunch of strawberries and blackberries from Costco, some jam jars online (Amazon.com) for cheap and one box of pectin. With my sugar from the cabinet, the entire production cost $25.00. I didn't get any special canning equipment: we just used my larger pots and my regular kitchen thongs. We had to be extra careful of the boiling water, but Dane helped mix the berries and the sugar.

I used a recipe that I found and adapted to use with my brand of pectin. Some brands include recipes right in their box. Some of the recipes with pectin use no sugar, and some with sugar don't need any pectin (I learned it really depends on what you are preserving - some fruits naturally have a high pectin level).

All this made 8 full jars of delicious strawberry-blackberry jam. At 1 jar per person, that's 3.16 per person! We still have money left over for some iTunes credits or Amazon gift cards.

Give it a try, I promise, your loved ones will be impressed!

xoxo
Lis