Ingredient of the Month - Red Kuri Squash!

More than a decorative gourd!

We're all familiar with the typical squash varieties showing up at our farmers markets and grocery stores this time of year. Acorn, butternut, pumpkin, delicata, etc. are each delicious and have their own merits. But we'd like to expand our squash repertoire to include a lesser known but equally deserving variety - the red kuri! The red kuri squash looks like ridge-less and redder-colored pumpkin. 

Also known as the orange hokkaido in Japan or the potimarron in France, this squash is most remarkable for it's flavor. The bright orange flesh is sweet and tender with an incredible nutty flavor unique to the red kuri. Both the French and Japanese names for this squash use the word for chestnuts - kuri in Japanese and marron in French - to name it. 

When purchased from a trusted farmer or with the organic label, the skin is edible as well, making it an easy squash to prepare at home. Simply open it up, scoop out the seeds and usual bits, and cut into any shape that works! No need to peel! 

There are a million ways to eat squash, and your family probably has a favorite recipe, but we love it roasted simply with olive oil and plenty of black pepper, or cooked down and pureed into a delightfully rich tasting soup. When cubed up and roasted, red kuri squash is easily tossed into a warm kale salad with toasted farro and a bit of parmesan, or into a savory morning oatmeal with a poached egg. 

However you like to eat it, it's undeniably good for you! Loaded with beta-carotene, fiber, and low in calories, it's also a great source of vitamin A and vitamin C!  

The "other" greens

"Finish all your Greens" demanded your Mom which is why you repeat it to your little ones.  "Greens" which usually makes us think of broccoli, spinach, kale and salad fixings are an essential part of a healthy diet.  But because we're Peas of Mind, we're here to shake things up and change the way you think of greens and help you incorporate some "other greens" into your families diet.

We're talking about FRESH HERBS! Now that it's spring, herbs are available at your local grocery store, your favorite farmer's market or hey, even your garden!  Not only are they loaded with nutrients they're packed with flavor and can add zest and pizazz to any meal. Yes, herbs are great to cook with but for an extra dash of flavor and nutrition, add freshly chopped herbs to your fully prepared meal. Uncooked-raw herbs are much more potent.

Our favorite herbs include basil, dill, thyme, rosemary, cilantro and parsley.  Fresh herbs like these contain a powerful antioxidant as well as an anti-bacterial that can help you fight a cold! Most herbs are extremely high in vitamin K and are a loaded with vitamin A and C, iron, magnesium and folate.

Now you can confidently serve your family their favorite meals: add extra parsley and basil to your favorite pesto recipe, a double sprinkle of cilantro on your famous enchiladas and put another sprig of rosemary in the lemon, garlic noodles that your kids love so much!  And with all these meals, you'll never have to say "FINISH all your greens" because they'll eat everything up and they'll never be the wiser!

Veggie Pickles

Here at Peas of Mind, we pride ourselves on getting kids to eat their veggies. Whether

we’re loading up pizza with hidden veggies or turning a broccoli floret into a tasty French fry, we’ve made it our mission to make it easy for you to get your kiddos to eat their daily dose of veggies. This month we’re taking a kid classic and reinventing it into a healthy, satisfy and crunchy afterschool snack.  This month’s recipea is the VEGGIE PICKLE and the perfect activity for you and your kiddos on a rainy spring day and  delicious side dish at a sunny picnic. 

The great thing about our reinvented pickles is that they’re easy to prepare and can last up to a month in your refrigerator (the longer they’re in your fridge, the better they’ll taste).

On your mark, get set, Pickle!

 Ingredients:

About 4 cups of your favorite vegetables, raw and chopped into large bite size pieces (carrots, cauliflower, green beans, onions and turnips are all delicious).

1 Tbsp dill seeds

1 Tbsp coriander

2 Tbsp mustard seeds

2 Tbsp black peppercorns

1 bayleaf

3 Tbsp kosher salt

2 Tbsp sugar

5 cloves of garlic

2 cups white vinegar

2 cups water

Method

Put garlic and bite size vegetables into a quart size jar (make sure to leave about 1 inch at the top of the jar) and set aside. In a medium saucepan combine vinegar and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium heat and add dill seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns, bay leaf, salt and sugar. Stir until dissolved.  Turn off heat and let cool until the brine is at room temperature.  Pour room temperature brine into the quart jar making sure that all of the vegetables are covered with the mixture and tightly twist on the lid. Shake everything together (this is a fun thing for your little ones to do) and leave in the refrigerator to “pickle” for at least 24 hours. Pickles will be PERFECT after about 5 days. 

Reinvented Fried Rice

Reinventing kid food is what we do best! We take pride in providing busy parents like you the Peas of Mind that comes with feeding your little ones all natural, veggie infused meals that take minutes to prepare.  This month we’re reinventing your family’s favorite take-out dinner: fried rice! 

 As usual we’re shaking things up by packing this dish with whole veggies while slashing the fat.  We’ve even replaced rice with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), which wows with 7 grams of COMPLETE protein per serving! Not only is this meal quick and easy to prepare, if the quinoa is cooked a head of time, it’s a one pot meal which makes clean up a cinch!

INGREDIENTS:

About 4 cups cooked quinoa, al dente

1/2 onion, small dice

1 large carrot, small dice

4 florets cauliflower, chopped

4 leaves kale (or cabbage or other leafy green), stems removed and shredded

1/2 cup frozen peas

about 1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tablespoon sesame oil

juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce, to taste (or substitute salt)

sesame seeds, for garnish 

METHOD

Cook quinoa according to directions. Bring to boil, then turn off heat and let sit covered while you begin stir-fry. It should be fully cooked but not soft or mushy.

Heat sesame oil over high heat. Add onion, carrot, cauliflower and ginger. Stir-fry about five minutes, until onion are translucent and cauliflower begins to turn golden brown. Add kale and cooked quinoa and stir-fry for two minutes to combine. Add frozen peas, lemon juice and tamari and stir to combine. Cover to steam about three to four minutes over low heat. Once peas are defrosted and bright green, taste for seasoning. Serve in bowls and garnish with sesame seeds (which are this month's food of the MONTH, find out why here).

Makes 4 servings

This recipea is not only packed with veggies and protein, it is unbelievably quick to make. In the time that you would call a take out restaurant and pick up the food, this reinvented fried rice will be ready to eat. So throw out those take out menus and breath a sigh of relief knowing that your kiddos are being nourished with this month's Recipea!

Colorful Nutrition

Nutrition can be an overwhelming, ever changing topic. How do you ensure that you and your family are eating properly and getting all of the important vitamins and minerals (not to mention what ARE the most important vitamins and minerals)?  Because we love providing a little Peas of Mind to busy parents, we’re here this week to make eating right as easy as saying ROY G BIV! If you’re not sure what that means, go ask your 2^nd grader.  She’ll excitedly tell you that it stands for the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.  Now is the perfect time to rely on the colors of the rainbow to get your nutrients as we still have the bounties of summer but are also starting to get the tastes of fall.  

We’re making an easy to follow color-coded guide that will help you fill up your plate (or your daughter’s lunch box) with nutrient packed produce.

RED: Strawberries, tomatoes, apples, beets, cherries, raspberries

ORANGE: Sweet potatoes, carrots (carrot fries), peaches, melon

YELLOW: Bananas, bell peppers, pineapples, asian pears

GREENS: Kale, spinach, broccoli (broccoli fries), apples, lettuce, kiwi

BLUE/VIOLET: blueberries, eggplant, blackberries, plums, grapes, figs

Each day eat AT LEAST one item from every color.  And keep in mind that it’s always a good idea to get your kids involved with healthy eating choices; let them help you pick out produce at the grocery store based on their favorite colors or have them pack their lunch keeping in mind, the more color the better.   What are you waiting for…it’s time to taste the rainbow!

We're celebrating Friday with A Dinner Story

Here at Peas of Mind, keeping kids healthy and happy is what we do best. We like to think that we celebrate kids every day by feeding them their favorite foods while (unbeknownst to them) filling them up with their daily dose of veggies.  As you know, we think the time has come to celebrate the grown-ups because at the end of the day, it's the hard working parents that (no matter how chaotic and crazy their schedule) bring the food to the table.  This week’s Dinner Story is celebrating Alyssa, a mid-western Mom of two young girls who prides herself on dining in SIX days a week and practicing “stealth health” with our veggie fries!

Where do you live and how many kids do you have?

"New Lenox, IL. I have two children, Alexandra 3 1/2, Addison 2."

What meal do you make that you know, no matter what, your family will devour?

"Well that’s a tricky question because I have 2 EXTREMELY picky eaters, so I usually have to make 2 separate meals, one for them, and one for my husband and me. But when it comes to the girls, nuggets and French fries are always a hit!"

What's your favorite Saturday morning breakfast to enjoy as a family?

"French toast!"

What's your favorite Peas of Mind Product?

"Veggie Wedgies! Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot fries! My girls have NO idea what amazing veggies are hidden inside each bite! When I bake them I sprinkle a small amount of olive oil and salt over them, toss until coated, and bake! Yum!"

How many times per week do you cook from scratch?

"We rarely eat out so I probably cook 6 days a week."

What's your go to "I'm feeling unhealthy and need a nutrient-power punch" meal?

"I make a salad. I recently discovered that Target sells Panera Bread salad dressings with their recipe on the side! The Fuji Apple Chicken Salad is my favorite! Romaine, red onion, fresh apple, tomatoes, avocado, raisins, gorgonzola and croutons!"

What kitchen tool could you never live without?

"A sharp knife! I am always chopping something :)"

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

"Chocolate :) Donuts, brownies, ice cream, you name it!"

The power of Elmo

Here at Peas of Mind, our mission is to get kids to eat their veggies (as well as give parents a little Peas of Mind about the food they are feeding their children).  We reinvent those unhealthy dishes kids love, like fries and pizza and infuse them with TONS of veggies, making nutritious versions of kid's favorites, the whole family will enjoy.  With that being said, we love hearing about great ways to get kids to eat their vegetables, which was why we were so intrigued by the Elmo Study.  The Elmo study was a study done that compared children’s choice of broccoli versus chocolate, “unsurprisingly, 78% of the kids chose the chocolate, and just 22% chose the broccoli. But when an Elmo sticker was placed on the broccoli and an image of a generic cartoon character was stuck on the chocolate, half of the children chose the broccoli. 

This got us wondering, do you have any tricks up your sleeves when it comes to enticing your children to choose broccoli over chocolate? We knew a mom who called all vegetables “sports candy” and her son just loved his “sports candy.”  He would gobble down, Brussels sprouts (his favorite variety of “sports candy”) because it made him strong, powerful and ready to play his favorite sport, soccer.   Share your stories with us and let other parents know how you get their kiddos to scarf down broccoli, brussel sprouts and beets. 

Find out more about the Elmo Study here:
http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/outreach/brand.html 

Sometimes Cooked Veggies are Better for You!

Cooked vegetables have been getting a bad rap lately. The raw food movement has made some of us fear that perhaps the only way to get all the nutrients out of our vegetables is to eat them o'natural... But let's face it, certain vegetables just taste better cooked, and cooked a certain way. For example beets, first of all, you have to cook them, and they are MUCH better roasted than boiled. And, it's a shame to think that we couldn't enjoy that delicious spinach in garlic side dish because it no longer has any nutritional value... OR DOES IT???

Check this article out: http://www.ift.org/cms/?pid=1001999

Turns out cooking doesn't always ruin nutrient content, in fact, in some cases it actually increases nutritional value. Here's the recap of the article and what you need to know:

• The highest antioxidant loss was observed in cauliflower after boiling and microwaving, peas after boiling, and zucchini after boiling and frying.
• Green beans, beets, and garlic were found to keep their antioxidant levels after most cooking treatments.
• The vegetables that increased their antioxidant levels after all cooking methods were green beans (except green beans after boiling), celery and carrots.
• Artichoke was the only vegetable that kept its high antioxidant level during all the cooking methods.

This was enlightening and exciting!! Looks like we can all enjoy our spinach side dishes and beet and goat cheese salad.

But all that said, when it comes down to it, if your family (especially the kids) like to eat their vegetables a certain way, listen to them, at least they'll eat um...