Maple Glazed Carrots and Turnips

Dec 21, 2009 by Anna Migeon

The maple glaze gives the vegetables a delicious, sweet flavor.  It was also delicious on the grilled fish I served with them both times I made it.  Not every body likes turnips but they were much softened by the glaze and I found their bitterness a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the carrots and the glaze. I’m sure other vegetables work also work well with this recipe: rutabagas, parsnips, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, onions…

4-5 turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice

8-10 or so carrots, peeled and cut into bite size chunks

2 T olive oil

2 T sherry vinegar

1 C broth

2 T pure maple syrup

2 T unsalted butter

Put the vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over them and toss well to coat. Spread them out in one layer and season with a little salt and pepper. Roast at 350 until lightly browned and tender, about 35-40…

The Secret Life of Kids: Are Picky Eaters Still Picky When No Grown-up’s Around to See?

Dec 18, 2009 by Anna Migeon

I sometimes suspect that kids may be like the white people in Eddie Murphy’s classic Saturday Night Live sketch, “White Like Me.”

Murphy goes undercover, disguising himself as white, and discovers the “truth” about how wonderfully white people treat each other when blacks aren’t around.

White shop keepers are not only suddenly warm and friendly once all blacks leave the premises, but they also give away their wares for free to other whites. A cozy party with champagne for all the whites on board breaks out on the city bus as soon as the last black person gets off.

If we parents could disguise ourselves as kids, might we witness a similarly drastic shift in our youngsters’ attitudes toward all those healthy foods some of them don’t want to eat?

My daughter recently reported that when she took a liver pâté sandwich to school, a group of her…

How to get kids to do what you want: Good deed its own reward

Dec 14, 2009 by Anna Migeon

I hope the kids of San Antonio don’t hear that they might win an award if they do something nice in the next 60 days.

The San Antonio Police Department with the sponsorship of Valero Energy are handing out the first of 5,000 coupons for free drinks at local Valero convenience stores to kids they catch doing a good deed.

These rewards will be less detrimental if they come as a surprise after the fact than if dangled in front of kids’ noses like a carrot on a string.

It’s a saving grace also that the pay off for a selfless act is so low. The bigger the carrot offered, the more…

The habit of paying attention (or not) and the role of eating in forming it (or not)

Dec 4, 2009 by Anna Migeon

Would you say your child is usually:

• Focused on what she is supposed to be doing at any given moment?

• Fully present or mind elsewhere?

• Interested in what you or teachers present to him?

• Bored and disengaged by school work or healthy meals?

• Easily distracted and has difficulty in paying attention?

• Ready to do what it’s time to do?

Maybe it’s not just those preservatives and food additives that are causing attention deficit in kids. Whether you child generally pays attention and is interested in what’s going on or whether instead he is habitually inattentive and bored can be largely a matter of training and habit. Functioning in a continual state of distraction instead of focus can be the result of conditioning.

It depends on a few simple differences in tactics, including at the dinner table.

In what ways are we building the habit of not paying attention in our children through…