March is National Nutrition Month

Nutrition From The Ground Up

I love this year’s theme for National Nutrition Month, Nutrition From The Ground Up. I take personal interest in this topic because one of my many philosophy’s is healthy moms + healthy babies = healthy children + healthier lives. I believe that good nutrition starts in the womb and continues throughout our little ones lifetime. We as parents can have a huge impact on how our children think and feel about food as well as their overall health. While I was pregnant with my son I was able to maintain my pescatarian diet, exercise and feel great (besides my swollen ankles). I believed that what I ate/drank affected my unborn child and I wanted to be extremely careful. Being a first time mom I read everything twice and watched when and what I introduced to my son. I had so much fun making homemade baby food and experimenting with fruits and vegetables to find out what he loved or didn’t love. I look forward to the chance to teach other women and parents how they can feed their children healthy foods without feeling like they don’t have the time. It’s worth it and we owe our children. Nutrition From The Ground Up is a charge to all of us to, if we haven’t already start paying attention to what our children are eating/snacking on. Let’s take control of our households and feed our families nutritious meals on a regular basis and not just once a week. Everyone will benefit and your kids will thank you later. You can learn more about this year’s theme at www.eatright.org/nnm

Here is a standard recipe in my house (my son LOVES this and can’t live without it)

ApplePearsauce

7 Apples (pick from the multitude of different apples such as golden delicious, figi, jazz, gala, braeburn, Honeycrisp, pink lady, Rome, McIntosh, etc. and feel free to mix them up)

5 Pears

Peel and cut apples into medium sized cubes (core may or may not be included), Bring 2 cups of water to a slight boil, just until slightly tender but please not mushy. Pour off excess water. Using a food processor ( I find it easier) puree apple/pear mixture and store in small containers.

You can scale this recipe down if you’d like or make more. Another way to do it if you don’t want to cook the fruits at all is to follow all instructions above except DO NOT ADD APPLES/PEARS to water and boil. Instead add fresh cut fruit right to the food processor, add ½ cup to ¾ cup fresh lemon juice and ¼ cup of boiled water. Blend and enjoy. I must tell you that if you prepare it without cooking the apples/pears it will turn slightly brown or medium brown. This isn’t a problem. You just probably shouldn’t make as much to keep the integrity of the fruit. My son loves both versions and I think if you make this without cooking it tastes sweeter.

At the top, my son Eli enjoying his very first Mango

Another Yummy Recipe

Are you a beginner in cooking? Then, this is one of the easiest recipes that you can follow to make an exciting meal for. What we are about to learn is cooking a trout.
A trout is almost a family of a salmon but well, it's different. It is considered to be an oily fish. It is one of the famous fishes in the world because it has a very tasty flesh. Where can you find trout? You can get it from either sea water or fresh water because it is one of the well-known fishes; there are many people who raise them in fish farms. So, it is not hard to find a trout after all.
Let us have the "Sizzling Trout with Salsa", it has a 5 minutes preparation time, 4 minutes cooking time which makes 6 servings according to this kind of measurement. Easy!
Things needed or ingredients:

6 ounce of trout fillets
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoon of olive oil
Lemon slices for the garnishing

Salsa:
4 chopped tomatoes
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
12 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons drained capers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

To make a salsa, stir all the ingredients in a bowl then cover and chill. Serve when it's ready.
Now, we are going to prepare the main recipe.

First, sprinkle the trout fillets with pepper and salt.
Next, cook 3 fillets in 2 tablespoon of hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes with a fork. Repeat with remaining fillets and oil. Top fish with salsa. Garnish, if desired, and serve immediately.

That is how easy it is, Best for beginners. Delicious and nutritious this is good for everybody.
To have more easy fish recipes, you can log in to this site: http://www.weloveseafood.com/FishRecipes.html and learn more dishes which would fit different levels of cooking abilities.
Enjoy!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ciara_Jones

I love Asparagus

Saint Patrick Day is just around the corner so why not take a healthful approach to what you serve with these easy vegan recipes for vegetable side dishes. Celebrating with holiday parties is fun and since there will be plenty of green beer to sip on make sure to include some fresh healthful food for your event.
It's easy and cool to offer shot glasses filled with celery or asparagus soup. Asparagus soup is one of the many easy vegan recipes that you can do the night before and then after work, simply take the soup out of the fridge, fill your shot glasses and serve on Saint Patrick Day.
How about green olive tapenade on a toasted sourdough baguette? For holiday parties on Saint Patrick Day this dip can be made a few days in advance and again, just pull it out of the fridge prior to guest arrival and serve either already topped on the baguette or as one of your vegetable side dishes. (Recipe for olive tapenade can be found on page 83 in Budget Bash.)
Other vegetable side dishes your friends would enjoy on Saint Patrick Day are a cucumber salad with balsamic vinaigrette, Waldorf salad, fennel and mint salad or a cucumber and seaweed salad.
Of course, keeping it vegan and real let's not forget a bowl of edaname either cold or warm with or without salt. All of these easy vegan recipes mentioned for your holiday parties won't take much time and some can be made well in advanced, refrigerated overnight and then quickly transferred into fun and simple serving dishes as vegetable side dishes.

Roasted Asparagus Soup Recipe

2 1/2 lbs. thin asparagus, trimmed & cut into 2" pieces 2 leaks, white & light green parts only, cleaned and finely chopped
2 T. Olive Oil salt & pepper to taste
2 1/2 C. vegetable broth
Chives for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a heavy roasting pan, combine asparagus, leeks, olive oil, slat and pepper. Mix to combine.

Roast, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 35 minutes or until leeks are golden brown & asparagus are tender.

Transfer the vegetables to a blender and add the broth. Process until completely pureed, taste to adjust seasonings.

Pour soup into shot glasses & garnish with chives if desired.

Waldorf Salad Recipe

3-4 Granny Smith Apples
2 Celery stalks, thinly sliced
4 oz. walnut pieces or pecans chopped Mixed greens if desired
French vinaigrette dressing
Cut a few slices of apple with the skin on for decoration and then peel and core the rest of the apple and cut into thin strips. Toss the apple slices in lemon juice to prevent apples from turning brown.
Add the chopped celery, apple slices, nuts and mixed greens and toss with French vinaigrette.

French Vinaigrette Dressing Recipe
2 tbs. Dijon mustard
2 tbs champagne vinegar
6 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Mix ingredients in a cruet and serve with salad.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrea_Wyn