Let's create our own FEBRUARY CL!

[KLynn]

Well, it is that time of the month when normally we would be discussing CL sightings. But, alas, since there is not February issue to look forward to, let's design our own...

I'll start...

I am loving the lunch box chronicles column that has been appearing lately. I would include an article about how to make easy lunch recipes the night before, maybe with cross-over ingredients from what you are making for dinner.

Your turn!

[Ohioan]

I'd like an expanded Inspired Vegetarian section, featuing beans and grains. (Bet you never thought I'd want anything about beans! :D:D)

Also, a section on low-sodium cooking.

Cheers,
Phoebe

[newcook]

I'd like an article about how to replace refined carbs with complex ones in existing recipes.

Daniele

[tamawrite]

I'd like to see something about flavorful, healthful cooking on a small budget. I can't afford $15/lb for elk steaks, no matter how good that wildness stew sounds!

Also, more hearty vegetarian entrees.

[kimberlyjean]

How about "Recipes Kids Love", with recipes tested on the pickiest eaters?

[Canice]

and no desserts!
<ducking>
OK - compromise? No desserts on the cover?

[beckms]

Originally posted by tamawrite
I'd like to see something about flavorful, healthful cooking on a small budget.

Ditto. Chicken breasts are upward of $5.99/lb here, so I've stopped buying them in favor of leg quarters or thighs or drumsticks, which are somewhat cheaper but don't always work in recipes that call for breasts.

[schuh]

Originally posted by kimberlyjean
How about "Recipes Kids Love", with recipes tested on the pickiest eaters?

Here, here! But it has to be real!
I don't know if you follow cooking contests but I guffawed at the most recent Southern Living cookoff. The "Kids Love It" winner was FISH TACOS! I know very few kids that would eat fish tacos!

[kimberlyjean]

I was wondering if anyone would chuckle at my idea! And, you're kidding, fish tacos? No way my kids would eat those!

[Grace]

Why not? Just about every kid eats fish sticks, and just about every kid eats tacos.... I guess I just don't see what's so wierd about it.

But in our family we all ate everything as kids, and there were no "wierd" foods, so maybe I'm not a good judge? I think it's all conditioning. I've watched my sister-in-law tell me (and her daughter) "oh, she won't like that", and that's AFTER I've already given her daughter a taste of something that she actually liked a lot - and it surprised my SIL. She assumes an awful lot about her kids' tastebuds...

[Beth]

Originally posted by kimberlyjean
How about "Recipes Kids Love", with recipes tested on the pickiest eaters?

I'll supply my kids for testing. :D

[elonalum]

Do you have kids Grace?

[Grace]

No, but I have a niece who has been in my household every week for her whole life (and she's 13), and she eats absolutely everything I make, including "green balls" (brussels sprouts!! :D ).

I'm also one of 4 kids. We ate liver and onions (I asked for it as my special birthday meal on my 16th birthday), squirrel, rabbit, turtle soup, herring, smelts, and all kinds of other "wierd" food as kids. Now there are a few things I just don't like (black licorice for example), but since we ate 99% of everything, my mom never made a big deal out of the one or two things we didn't like. But I can tell you she never assumed we wouldn't eat something just because we were young. That's a silly mindset if you ask me.

Kids in India eat curry and kids in Japan eat sushi and so on. Just being a kid with no other quantifying factor does not mean they will only eat chicken fingers and french fries.

[elonalum]

They eat curry and they eat sushu b/c it is what they are most exposed to it is not in any way exotic to them. Simply put, it is their mac and cheese or substitute any other common American kid-friendly food. I was always told to "wait until you have your own" when I spoke of my idealistic dietary hopes for my future children - and while it is soooo true that much more comes into play (like your children's friends and what they eat, just for starters) i am proud to say my 6 year old still loves edamame and any kind of beans (with the exception of green. But I had higher hopes for sure. now, I wouldn't TOUCH liver and anything with a 10 foot pole at any point in my life (and i'm an adventuresome eater).

[schuh]

Originally posted by elonalum
I was always told to "wait until you have your own" when I spoke of my idealistic dietary hopes for my future children - and while it is soooo true that much more comes into play (like your children's friends and what they eat, just for starters)

You said it. I knew there would be responses to my comment.

And I'm sure there's a psychological/developmental reason why kids generally are more apt to stick with familiar foods, and why adults seem to branch out more. I don't think it's as simple as "the parents indulge them too much/don't feed them certain foods."

When I was growing up, my parents belonged to two gourmet groups. My mom tested a lot of the recipes on us. I liked most of it. But if my brother had gone to a friend's house, you would think all he was fed was mac & cheese. He just didn't like the other stuff. It's not that he wasn't exposed to other foods, he just plain didn't like them. My grandfather was a butcher and my grandmother was a gardener and fabulous cook who made a wide range of foods. They still talk about the fact that for years my uncle would eat a total of three foods -- he took only rolls with jelly to school in his lunch for a couple of years straight. As adults, we can respect that individual adults don't like certain foods (thanks, but I'll pass on that whole list of foods that Grace rattled off) but somehow with kids it's poor parenting/a lack of a exposure that's immediately blamed. Sometimes that is the case, but many times it isn't!

Back to the contest ... I've had a lot of kids to my house for dinner. (Most of these kids are not your "only macaroni and cheese from a box" variety.) I know that kids generally don't like their food all jumbled together. I know that I'm better off serving kids chicken with rice on the side than both put together in a casserole. The kids would probably eat fish sticks by themselves, and some of the elements of the tacos. But if I made fish tacos and put them in front of a group of kids, most would not eat them.

That's why I thought the winner of the "Kids Love It" category was so funny. It probably was judged by a group of judges who discussed what kids SHOULD love (and probably don't have young kids of their own at home). I doubt highly that it was judged by kids.

Sorry for the hijack, KLynn. Back to the February issue...

[veschke]

Originally posted by tamawrite
I'd like to see something about flavorful, healthful cooking on a small budget.

I'll third that suggestion, and the idea of putting suggestions in for how to use the leftovers. Didn't BA once have a column with recipes sized for two portions? I really appreciated that.

While we're fantasizing, I hope this issue won't have any ads. :-)

[Kay Henderson]

I'd like to see discussion on the new federal guidelines.

[cherylopal]

Originally posted by newcook
I'd like an article about how to replace refined carbs with complex ones in existing recipes.

Daniele

ditto ditto ditto!

[granolagirl]

I'd like to see something about flavorful, healthful cooking on a small budget.
Ditto.

Also, some recipes that only contain 5 ingredients and some low sodium recipes.

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by Canice
and no desserts!
<ducking>
OK - compromise? No desserts on the cover?

I'm with you. ;)

[AvrilH]

I would love an article of assemble-at-the-table meals.
I cook for three children (who have childish tastes, but not as picky as pretty much all the other kids i know), my dh (who has a very broad palate, but is on a GI diet) and my MIL (who is sometimes pickier than the kids! ARGH!)
I love to put something on the table that leaves room for them all to customize, and I am sick of it being tacos!

[NewMrsG]

Originally posted by beckms


Ditto. Chicken breasts are upward of $5.99/lb here, so I've stopped buying them in favor of leg quarters or thighs or drumsticks, which are somewhat cheaper but don't always work in recipes that call for breasts.

Are you still in Natick? Do you have a car? We buy ours at BJ's now in bulk, but used to buy them at Price Chopper - there's one in Marlborough and in Shrewsbury - and if I recall correctly, they're usually advertised at around $2 a pound - significantly cheaper (as they are on alot of things). Might be too much of a hike, but thought I'd throw it out as a suggestion. I'd be lost without my b/s chicken breasts!

[KLynn]

This is fun. CL should read this for some great ideas!

I am with you on no desserts. Not that they don't all look great, but there just isn't room in my life right now for desserts, even if they are light. Plus, when I am making a dessert, it is usually for a party or company, and I usually want to go all out (which means full fat and lots of calories!).

I would also like an article on "americanized ethnic" recipes. I love thai, mexican, vietnamese, etc. - but am unlikely to go track down authentic ingredients. Simplified versions of classic ethnic dishes would be fun.

[jtoepfert100]

I ditto the cooking on a budget idea. I also would like to see some more lower calorie dishes. It seems that with each issue, CL ups the calorie count on their dishes. Many hardly seem light to me anymore. They look good, but not light.

[Beth H]

I'd like to see discussion on the new federal guidelines.

There actually was/is an interesting article on the NY Times website by William Grimes about his attempt to eat according to the federal guidelines. He thought it would be easy as he already had a fairly "balanced" diet (he thought), but he ended up finding it very difficult. So an article or series of articles about how to incorporate the guidelines into one's diet sounds like a good idea.

As for other potential CL stories - I also would like ideas about how to utilize leftovers and also ways to use food I have in my fridge better. It seems like sometimes I buy an ingredient for a recipe, use part of it, and then the rest of it molds in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

[beckms]

Originally posted by NewMrsG


Are you still in Natick? Do you have a car? We buy ours at BJ's now in bulk, but used to buy them at Price Chopper - there's one in Marlborough and in Shrewsbury - and if I recall correctly, they're usually advertised at around $2 a pound - significantly cheaper (as they are on alot of things). Might be too much of a hike, but thought I'd throw it out as a suggestion. I'd be lost without my b/s chicken breasts!

The problem is that ever since I read Fast Food Nation, I only want to buy my meat at places like Whole Foods.

Sigh.

I might have to swallow my morals, so to speak, and start looking for cheaper meat.

(Vegetarianism isn't an option in my house!:rolleyes: )

[MrsReber]

Originally posted by Beth


I'll supply my kids for testing. :D

I'll send mine along, too. I may have to send them with a supply of applesauce and apples because that's the only thing they consistently eat. My bet is that they didn't give them any breakfast and they sat all the kids down together as they seem to eat better in large groups. :D

I think I'd like to see more vegetarian stuff, too. We eat plenty of meat and I have plenty of meat recipes, but I can never come up with anything except pasta when I'm looking for a meatless main course. I need something that will satisfy my husband. He thinks vegetables are side dishes.

[colleency]

Originally posted by beckms


The problem is that ever since I read Fast Food Nation, I only want to buy my meat at places like Whole Foods.

Sigh.

I might have to swallow my morals, so to speak, and start looking for cheaper meat.

(Vegetarianism isn't an option in my house!:rolleyes: )

Do you think Trader Joe's meat is okay? I've been sticking with that since I read FFN, but I'm not even sure that's okay.

[JenB]

No one has even mentioned anything that's not food-related. I'm letting my subscription lapse this year because I usually don't start looking until halfway through the magazine where the recipes start.

I'd like to see an article on small servings, maybe a technique or focus on an ethnic cuisine.

And it is February so what about chocolate--

[tamawrite]

Originally posted by JenB
No one has even mentioned anything that's not food-related. I'm letting my subscription lapse this year because I usually don't start looking until halfway through the magazine where the recipes start.


I hear you. I always skip--or, at best, skim--the Great Moves, Fit House, travel, and workout-hobby-of-the-month sections. I'd much rather have another good article or two focused on a cooking method, ingredient, or the like.

[KLynn]

I like the letters to the Editor, and the "First Light" section always has something interesting, but then I pretty much plow through until I get to the recipes :p I do enjoy the Eating Smart column. I could skip the Beautywise forever and not miss it!

[Ohioan]

I, too, skip the Beauty sections. I suppose I can understand putting an exercise section into a magazine that calls itself "Cooking Light," since exercise might be considered part of the same fitness program as "light" cooking. But makeup? :confused: Lipstick ragout, perhaps? "Spray a pan lightly with hair spray"? Or what?

I'd much rather see more on nutrition and food news.

Speaking of which, I'd also like to see a little more attention paid to the sodium content of some of the recipes. There's no point keeping the fat level low if we're going to damage the heart by driving up the ol' blood pressure. :rolleyes:

Cheers,
Phoebe
The Old Curmudgeon