Family Food for Moms Podcast I Inspiration for Family Cooking and Dining I How to Enjoy Special Meals Together

#72 Food Ideas for Toddlers and Young Children - Breakfast, Lunch, Snack and Dinner!

Hi friends!
I'll just be doing one episode this week - I'll be back with the regular two per week from next week. 
Today we are going to talk a little bit about toddler food, up to maybe age six or seven, some ideas and principles that you can use when you are thinking about what to make for your little ones for lunch and even breakfast and dinner, and what'll help you in that pursuit. 
I love the years with little ones. Sadly, I don't have one under 10 anymore. Our five are all 10. Well, 11 and over, but those were such special years. I must say though, the teenage years are wonderful and special in a different way too. Very much so. But those little years are such fun. I remember often we would have outside lunch during homeschool, so they would have a little divided plate with a yogurt and a piece of cheese and some kind of bread, or a bread roll and a little bit of meat.

#71 What We Do for Lunches: Our Plan and Ideas for You!

Hi friends!
I'm going to be taking two weeks off from the PODCAST - for some that's a summer break, and for other's its winter. I'll be back as usual on Monday 7th July! I hope you have a wonderful summer, or are not too cold during your winter!
Today we're going to talk about what we do for lunch, and hopefully give you a little bit of inspiration if you're struggling to figure out lunches. I'll talk about what I do for lunch for myself as well. Sometimes I'll eat the same as the family, and sometimes not. 
We are a homeschool family of seven - we have five children. Two of them are young adults and are working, though mostly from home, so they're still here for the meals. Our younger three are still in homeschool, two of them in high school. I do have more time available than I had when they were all young in homeschool, but I do have two businesses that I run, and a lot of things going on. We also do cooking for church on a regular basis as part of the Mercy Ministry, so there's a lot happening. I'll often do the online shopping or get something cooking every day in the mornings, so we need lunch that’s simple and easy. I want to tell you our general plan for lunch, and what we end up eating most of the time.

#70 Let’s Talk about Globe Artichokes!

Today we're going to talk about one of my favorite foods in the world. Whenever people ask me what's the food that I could eat over and over, if I could just choose one food, that would be artichokes; fresh, whole, steamed artichokes with a feta dip. 
I love to take the whole green artichoke, cut off the top of the leaves where it's spiky, cut off a little bit of the stem, and then put them with the stem down in my steamer. They steam for about 45 minutes, and then they're beautifully soft. Then you pull off each leaf, scrape it on your teeth, and eat the inside of it. Then you start to slice off the little pieces of the heart to eat. The flavor is just incredible - there's nothing like it. Artichokes are a unique vegetable. They're beautiful, they're fresh, and they just taste so good. 
I've always loved artichokes, ever since we lived in California and I was introduced to them. Sometimes we dip them in garlic butter, but just the flavor of the artichoke leaf is amazing. If you've never tried an artichoke, I encourage you to try them. You can steam them in a pot with a bit of water and the lid on, and there are many pre-cooked and canned ones you can buy. You can buy jars of artichokes in oil or sometimes in brine, and then you just drain them. Inside, you'll usually find the heart, and you can just chop that up and add it to things like salads and pizza.
So, we're going to talk about the benefits of artichokes, what you can use them in, and all of those things. The globe artichoke is actually a thistle. It comes from the Mediterranean region, and it's cultivated for its edible flower - the bud of the flower; it's harvested before the flowers bloom. What we eat is the fleshy base of the leaves and the tender heart.

#69 Practical Plating - How to Plate Specific Foods and Courses at Home

 Today we’re gonna be continuing our chat about plating techniques and how to make your dishes at home look a little elegant when you want them to.
Episode 66 was about doing a chef's tasting menu for fun at home in a simple, delicious way that’s totally possible. You definitely don't want it to be overwhelming. 
Just to bring a bit of balance and reality, let me say that I'm always inspired by doing fancy meals at home, but most of the time I’ll cook something very simple and then sometimes make it look fancy.

#68 Plating Techniques That You Can Easily Apply at Home To Make your Food Look Elegant and Fancy!

Today we’re going to talk about plating techniques made easy for cooks at home, and I’ll give you some different ideas for dishes - you can serve your courses on unusual things. I’ll tell you how to make it look extra special without a huge amount of hassle, how to elevate your fancy meal or your tasting menu meal if you're having one. I think it's a lot of fun to try elegant plating. You don't have to do it every time, but it's certainly fun to do it some of the time. 
Starting with a plan is very important. Before placing any food on whatever dish you're using, think about what's the star; what's the main ingredient you want to highlight? Think about the balance of colors. Do you have some greens - some bright vegetables, or some sauces for contrasting color to lift it, so that it's not all brown? Also think about portion sizes. Usually less is more - less than we’re accustomed to doing. Leave some empty space on the plate. It adds to the elegance, and somehow it makes it more appetizing, and it doesn't feel overwhelming to the person eating it. 
 

#67 Inspired by South Korea - in Cooking and Dining

Today we’re going to talk about what we can learn from South Korea about cooking and eating. Their cuisine is fascinating and delicious. First, I’m going to mention what they generally eat in a day, and then I’ll talk about things that we can learn from the South Korean people to apply to our own cooking and eating at home.
In traditional Korean cuisine they’ll eat a lot of seasonal produce. They eat with a lot of variety and balance.
Here’s an example of what they may eat for breakfast - seaweed soup with rice and banchan, which are small side dishes served along with cooked rice. For example, maybe these could be soybean sprouts, spicy cucumber salad, pickled garlic, stir fried zucchini, sweet and salty soybeans, stir fried anchovies, noodles, et cetera.
This is light, hydrating, and it's rich in iodine and minerals. They may also have kimchi for probiotics, as well grilled tofu, pan fried egg, steamed spinach with sesame oil, et cetera. Often they'll drink something like barley tea, which has no caffeine, and it's gentle on the stomach 

#66 Chef’s Tasting Menus: Simple and Delicious Ways to Do this at Home. Yes, it's Possible and Tons of Fun!!

Today we’re going to be talking about Chef’s Tasting Menus; how they work, how they’re structured, and how we can try it at home! We don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, but it is such fun to have a fancier meal at home.
Picture a special meal with your husband and children, where they've helped to prepare different courses that are elegant and delicious, but simple, and able to be made in a relatively short amount of time.
The ingredients of the meal are not too fancy, but the meal feels special and elevated. You have time to linger over the meal and enjoy the different flavors, which are tied together by some theme, whether it's a country inspired dish like Italian, or whether it's seafood, or whatever works together well. 
I'm going to give you some suggestions of things you can make to have a tasting menu meal at home - just for fun!

#65 What We Can Learn from Australia about Food, Cooking and Dining

Today we’re going to be talking about what we can learn from Australia about food, cooking and dining! Hopefully it'll inspire something new in our kitchens. So, quite a few of their food traditions originally came from the indigenous or native Australians, often called the Aborigines. Later on there was a large British influence, as it was a British colony. Australia is now a constitutional monarchy with the King of England as its head of state, and it's a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, so you'll find that a lot of the things that are for sale in Australia are similar to what's available in the UK. I'll talk about things like vegemite and marmite - good old British things. If you haven't heard of those, I'm sure it'll be interesting. 
Traditional foods and techniques from the Aborigines are things like using fire pits and earth ovens, smoking food, and eating bush foods like wattle seed, finger lime, kangaroo, of course, and the kakadu plum. These are very powerful flavors, and very recognizable in Australian cuisine.
Being a British colony, colonists brought with them ingredients and food traditions from the UK like flour, sugar, tea, potatoes, and dairy. There's obviously a lot of sheep in Australia - there's sheep farming, so beef and lamb are popular. They have classic British dishes like meat pies, roasts like roast beef and roast chicken, stews, puddings like Christmas pudding, and fish and chips. These are common in Australian households, and the British tradition of tea drinking also remains popular today. 

#64 Let's Talk about Haloumi Cheese

 Today we're going to talk about Haloumi Cheese. Some people have heard of this, and some haven’t. You either know it and use it often because it's delicious, or you haven't really heard about it and are hesitant to try it because it's an unusual cheese. It’s one of the only cheeses that's usually eaten cooked brown on the outside. So, let's talk about haloumi cheese. 
Haloumi has a rich history that goes back several centuries. It’s from the Eastern Mediterranean region - traditionally associated with Cyprus from the Mediterranean, but both Greek and Turkish people claim haloumi as a key part of their culinary heritage. There are early written references from the medieval period to a cheese that sounds similar to it. Some people say haloumi dates back to the 10th century in the Byzantine Empire. 
The name “haloumi” is said to be derived from the Coptic Egyptian word “halom”, meaning “cheese”, so it might even have older connections to Egypt. During the Ottoman Rule of Cyprus in the 1500s to the 1800s, haloumi became widespread throughout the Middle East, and then spread into North Africa.
Traditionally, it's made from goats and sheep's milk combined, but sometimes more modern recipes use cow's milk. It's unique in that it's un-ripened and it's semi hard. It has a very high melting point, so it can be grilled or fried, and it doesn't lose its shape like other cheese does. It's also brined, giving it a salty flavor, and a longer shelf life, which is important in the Mediterranean, especially before refrigeration, as it's very hot there.

#63 Let's Talk about a Fabulous Ingredient - Mozzarella

 Today we're going to be talking about mozzarella as part of our series on amazing ingredients, ones with a rich history and amazing uses in the kitchen. Mozzarella is a unique cheese - it's very different from other cheeses.
Of course, we all love pizza. What would pizza be without mozzarella? When I was growing up, we didn't have mozzarella in our country, and so the pizza was made with yellow cheeses like cheddar, and it wasn't nearly as good. Mozzarella has the amazing properties of being gooey, melty, and stretchy, like a slice of pizza where all the cheese stretches from the middle.
So, mozzarella obviously originated in Italy - in the southern region of Campania, around Naples. It actually came into existence during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century. The legend of mozzarella says that it was an accidental discovery. During the Middle Ages, cheese makers could have dropped curd into hot water, either during the cheese making process or by accident, and then noticed that it began to stretch and form those elastic strands which are the unique characteristic of mozzarella.