Kids Cuisine

It’s no secret that kids adore French fries. In the United States, French fries are heralded as one of the first, easiest and tastiest finger foods in a toddler’s diet. But not every parent looks upon them as fondly as their child does, especially given the numerous and sometimes conflicting studies that have hit news […]

The Chicago Tribune published an article this past week titled “Why won’t Johnny eat broccoli?” It discussed how nurturing your child’s palate can encourage more healthful eating.
The article gave several tips on “how to get out of a chicken fingers-and-fries rut and raise an adventurous eater:”
1. Take Control - the parent needs to play an […]

I prefer to cook at home as much as possible every night (no kidding)… and from scratch using the freshest ingredients (if you’re going to cook, it might as well as good). But once in a while, when the workday happens to be super long, and my wife and I are just too tired to […]

There’s a new study out that explains why it can be so hard to get kids to eat healthy food. Researchers at Stanford followed preschoolers in a Head Start program in California. The kids were given samples of burgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, juice, milk, and carrots — one of each was unbranded, and one […]

This is Fair Food Part 2: Attack of the Grease!

On Tuesday, we talked about introducing your kids to produce and livestock at the fair. Today we tackle a more controversial subject, fair food — the greasy delights found along the midway at every fair.
Funnel cakes are a fair classic — cake batter drizzled into a […]

Once a week during the summer the kids and I find ourselves in the position of needing to eat lunch while out and about. I confess to not trying new things very often, but a few weeks ago I decided enough was enough. After a few lunches of the standard burgers, pizza, and […]

My little brother was and is a chocolate milk fiend. He won’t drink milk any other way — white milk just doesn’t cut it with him (OK, he’s 11). My mother long ago gave up trying to get him to drink milk straight. To be honest, I mostly agree with him. I only drink plain […]

OK, I confess. I’ve done it, more than once in fact. I’m not proud, but I’ve succumbed to the irresistible allure of the Happy Meal. It’s just so tempting: fast, easy, cheap, beloved by kids.
The downside is most children’s meal options at fast food restaurants are among the worst when it comes to nutrition with […]

I was all ready to get uppity about David Kamp’s piece in the NY Times May 30 about the ubiquity of the chicken finger on kids’ menus all over town. Surely, I thought, this would be another elitist rant about the dreadful way American children are eating.
And I was right. But I also was surprised […]

It is a rare occasion when we opt to call for Chinese take-out.  When we do, though, my children’s hands-down favorite is Sweet-and-Sour Chicken.   They love the lightly breaded chicken doused with a sweet and tangy sauce and served over rice.  As I watch them happily dig into their take-out order, I can’t help but […]