Tips, Notes, and Suggestions

Suggestions: Feeding Children and Other Picky Eaters

Sometimes we have to accommodate and disguise to keep the picky eaters happy.  If you are fixing pasta salad for lunch, cook a little extra pasta, and then fix a cheesy white sauce to go with the extra pasta.  Since when does a kid turn down macaroni and cheese?

Puree the vegetables in the soup to keep junior happy.   Simply take the meat (if any) from junior's bowl, dump the rest of the bowl in the blender, and push the button.  Junior may not be ecstatic with lunch but he's more likely to eat it. 

We know a good mother that almost always purees the onions before adding it to whatever she is fixing.  If the kids can't see it, it's not so offensive. 

Recruit the kids into the conspiracy.  Get them to help prepare the salad or vegetables.  If they help fix it, they are more likely to eat it. 

Rename the vegetables.  Don't serve them broccoli; serve them trees.  Kids are more likely to eat golden potatoes than squash. 

Suggestion: Keep Your Flour Dry

In a humid kitchen, flour can absorb a surprising amount of moisture—more than enough to cause inconsistent baking results.   Buy flour in quantities that you can use rapidly and when you open a bag of flour, pour it into a canister with a tight-fitting lid.  In our operation, we try to use all flour within sixty days of the milling date—not the date that we receive it—and once opened, we store it in sealed containers.

Tip: Room Temperature Works Better

When you are baking cakes or muffins—anything that must rise—let the eggs come to nearly warm temperature.  You can warm an egg by placing it in a warm cup of water.  Cold eggs will make the batter a few degrees colder and cold batter has to work harder to rise.