On Eating Vegetables

Recently, I was inspired by Pamela Druckerman's Bringing Up Bébé to modify how we eat here at Chez Wheel.

Our typical dinnertime has involved me setting pots and pans on the table in the midst of a few plates and not-the-right silverware, forgetting to serve drinks, and hopping up to get napkins midway through the meal. Despite my adherence to Ellyn Satter's Division of Responsibility (I decide when, where, and what; my kids decide whether and how much), I find myself prompting my almost-5 and almost-7 year olds to try their vegetables, vaguely hoping that some day they'll stop grossing out about them and that my investment in an organic farmbox every week will be worth the cost and cooking effort.

Druckerman's snapshot of French eating with kids is enticing. Small children sitting down to a three- or four-course meal, trying a variety of foods, and enjoying a richly varied diet sounds idyllic. Druckerman does uncover a strategy for how to do this: teach kids how to eat.

Here are some changes we've made:

1) serve the meal in courses: vegetables first, then main, then a fruit dessert.

Result: My kids will try vegetables on their own when it's the only thing in front of them. We've had wins with artichokes and asparagus so far.

Another benefit of serving in courses is that I don't often serve family-style. Everyone gets a portion, and while anyone can ask for seconds, the adults in the family (who probably don't need seconds that often) are protected from grazing.

2) make the food look pretty(ish).

Result: Adding a pretty plate, or a sprig of parsley on a breakfast plate is relatively simple and makes eating a special activity. Since we're moving from "rarely setting the table ahead of time" to "pretty," I'm taking baby steps and giving myself a lot of grace. The kids do want to help with setting up for "fancy" dinner, and this change might help me move them into having regular chores.

3) talk about the food.

Result: Just asking whether the kids will think the food will be sweet, salty, spicy, sour, etc. helps them think about taste and makes them more willing to try a variety of foods. We end up comparing flavors and enjoying the food a whole lot more.

4) finish up with fruit.

Result: Oh my word, my kids are gaga over the concept of fruit for dessert. I have a nagging guilt for not serving more fruits and vegetables (we're nowhere near 5 servings a day), and this is an easy fix. (I'm sure they're bragging to all their friends that they get dessert every night now.) The fruit even leaves me more satisfied and keeps me from craving sugary desserts after the kids go to bed.

The only downside to this plan is that I have to think ahead. I have to plan the meal more than 30 minutes in advance, I have to have fresh fruit on hand, and I have to have enough clean plates to serve three separate courses. But these are all things that I should do anyway, and they're becoming less of a hassle as I adjust to the new plan. So far, the benefits are great enough that I think this will be a permanent change, but I reserve the right to order pizza as often as I need to.

Resolution of the Month: Posture

Report on FARM (February Album Recording Month): we've got four songs in progress, and we're still recording! We're hoping to have most of the songs completed by June. I'm hoping to make time to write more songs--maybe I'll have another music month in the summer or fall. In the meantime, I've been practicing piano and learning to play the pennywhistle (my chops are gone from all that flute playing in 4-6 grade).

And March is posture month.

I've been hoping to take a posture class for a few years now. I read this book (8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale) after watching the Authors@Google talk below (it's 50 minutes, but worth the time if you're wanting to get some great posture tips). I don't have any serious back issues (yet), and I'd like to avoid them as I age. And I'd love to have my kids retain some of their good posture into adulthood. So I finally signed up for a 6-week class at the Esther Gokhale Wellness Center in Palo Alto, and I get to start mid-March. In the meantime, I should probably sit up a little straighter.

Here's Esther at Google, if you want a sense of what she does:

Resolution of the Month: Music

Since last month's resolution was a big fat fail*, we're moving on.

February is music month around our house. We** joined in on FAWM (February Album Writing Month) in its second year of existence, and though we've only completed the challenge once (14 songs in 28 days--we were proud to finish in a leap year with our 14 1/2 songs in 29 days), we attempt to make more music than usual in February.***

So. This year we're doing a modified version of FAWM called FARM (February Album Recording Month), which should really be modified again to This February We're Really Going to Start Recording that Album or EP or Whatever It Ends Up Being That We've Been Talking About For the Last Umpteen Years. But that acronym would be ridiculous.

We've scheduled recording sessions with some musical friends once a week this month. There's no way we'll finish an album or an EP or whatever, but we might get something started, and we might get some musical momentum, and we might keep making music together, and we might keep recording songs, and in doing so we might have fun, and learn some stuff, and get better at what we already do.**** And someone might want to listen to it. At least my mom will.

*and by "big fat fail" I mean that I've gone to bed consistently at 11:30pm every night for the month. Except once, and I was sick that night.

**The "we" here is in no way royal. It's my husband and me, and we've been making music together since the day we first spoke to each other. I also have to credit him with writing that last half a song on that last day in our finish year.

***let me point you in the direction of a friend I've never met in person--we inhabited the same space at different times--who manages to finish the challenge EVERY YEAR! Music is her job, but I'm still impressed.

****and here's where I credit the erudite and inspirational Ginger over at Weiner Dog Tricks for this post that has pushed me to do in music what she does in sewing (and has done in music too. It's good. You should give it a listen).

Resolution of the Month: Sleep

I'm generally one for February Resolutions rather than New Year's Resolutions. I'm always too worn out from the holidays to think about improving myself much come January. But this year, I've come down with a mild case of Ben Franklin. Instead of daily lists of improvements to check off hourly (or anything remotely moral or virtuous), I'm aiming for one priority resolution a month. (I suppose I'm also unconsciously channeling FlyLady and her monthly housecleaning habits.)

This month: sleep.

In December, between a book chapter deadline, regular family life, and the holidays, there wasn't much sleep happening here. And after 5 years of interrupted sleep (read: kids waking me up all the time), I have no illusion that I will actually catch up on sleep. I long for the "awakeness" that sleep study participants have when they get into the rhythm of sleeping two stretches with a quiet wakeful period between. (See this TEDTalk for more on sleep studies.) But for now I'm attempting the good old 8 hours a night. 10pm bedtime, 10:30pm sleeptime (one has to read before sleeping), 6:30am wake time.

And since I've been at this four days already, here's my progress report: not so great.

I have plenty of excuses: it's hard to get to sleep at an earlier time (I've been getting to sleep around midnight lately); I got caught up in my book; my son has a fever and needs attention at 11pm; I need to stay up and celebrate my husband's last day of Christmas vacation by watching a movie. Some reasonable, some not. But the month has just begun.

Here's to 27 nights of good sleep. Speaking of which, it's 9:53.

Summer Reading Update

I've updated my reading list a bit:

Already read:
1. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. How to Knit a Love Song by Rachael Herron
3. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

4. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

In the middle of:
5. Willful Creatures (short stories) by Aimee Bender
6. To Kill a Mockingbird (which I haven't read since freshman year of high school. After half a chapter, I'm convinced it's a book wasted on 14 year olds.)

To read:

7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

8. Wuthering Heights (in reading solidarity with GEW; another book I haven't read since my youth)

Right this moment I've got Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations in my non-typing hand. No so much reading for pleasure, but intro writers Wayne Booth and friends are reminding me what writing an argument is all about. And later I can take a break from my reading to, er, read.

Summer Reading

I'm too scared of failing to formally join in our local library's summer reading challenge. With all the academic books I have to read, reading eight books for pleasure seems like a lot in two months. Still, I'm secretly attempting the challenge, and here's where I am so far:

Already read:

1. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro

2. How to Knit a Love Song by Rachael Herron

3. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

In the middle of:

4. Willful Creatures (short stories) by Aimee Bender

5. Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor (I am seriously considering sending this one back to the library unfinished.)

Any suggestions for books 6-8? I'm trying to stick to fiction, but I'm open to other genres.

Bread Revision

I've been tinkering with this bread recipe for a while now. Here's my latest version. It's easy, relatively quick, and totally tasty.

Quick(ish) and Easy Whole Wheat Bread

First:

2 c. warm water (around 100 degrees, so the water feels temperature-less on your wrist)

2 pkgs. yeast (I prefer Rapid Rise or Perfect Rise for this recipe)

6 T honey (I do 1/4 c. plus half again; you could also use sugar)

Stir together and set aside for about 5 min.

Next:

8 c. whole wheat flour (I've been using Trader Joe's White Whole Wheat)

4 t. salt

Mix in a bowl.

Then:

Mix yeast water into flour. Add another 1-2 c. of warm water and stir together. Dough should hold together well, but not be sticky.

Knead a little bit on a board or just in the bowl.

Set the dough to rise in a warm place covered with a dishtowel to keep off drafts.

Let rise for about an hour.

Cut dough in half.

Knead each one a few times.

On the last knead, roll into a loaf and pinch together at seam.

Spray canola oil (or other oil) into 2 loaf pans.

Press loaf seam-side up into loaf pan until the pan is filled to the corners.

Flip loaf out and over.

Press gently into pan with seam-side down.

Repeat for second loaf.

Set loaves to rise for 30-60 min (top of loaf should be even with lip of pan)

Bake at 350 for 40ish minutes, until loaf gives a hollow sound when you thump it. I find this bread is best if it's slightly undercooked.

Cool. Make sure to eat a heel when it's still warm from the oven!

Stores well at room temperature for 4-5 days.