MenuBoom- What can we feed the kids?

If you want one cookbook to get you through infant, toddler and school years, this one could be it. Real Food for Healthy Kids, by Tracey Seaman and Tanya Wenman Steel (William Morrow), will get you through all the parties, last minute meals, holidays, hot and cold days, sick days, cooking together days, bake sales and snack days.

The recipes are healthy, have a great international mix (Asian, Indian, Latin, American, Italian and Middle Eastern), are simple when you want simple and more involved when you are feeling ambitious.

The authors are sensitive to current health issues for children, especially obesity, diabetes, food sensitivities and allergies. However, there are not too many vegetarian recipes, so if your family is 100% veggie, this is not your cookbook.

We all could use a reminder that breakfast should be more than reconstituted dry cereal, even on rushed mornings. Protein and complex carbs are what’s going to keep energy and minds balanced right from the start of the day. And those balanced days sure are nice. This book breaks the cereal habit and offers recipes every family member will be happy with.

Most of the baked goods have a blend of white and whole wheat flours and inconspicuously reduced amounts of refined sugar. But the white sugar and flour are still there, so those of us who love our traditional baked goods will still feel the comfort.

MenuBoom particularly appreciates the author’s encouragement to get the kids cooking and helping to clean up. And we love the tips on making a lot of food and freezing it for later, and tips on packing lunches. Anything to get more meals made and eaten with ease.

It’s easy to forget to offer fun drinks to the kids, and the drink chapter has some nice ideas, especially the Mango Lassi.

Here is a recipe MenuBoom tested and will use endlessly.

Ba-Ba Banana Bread – from Real Food for Healthy Kids, reprinted with permission from William Morrow.

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
4 very ripe bananas, coarsely mashed with a fork
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and reserve.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the bananas, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and mix at low speed until blended.
3. Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed just until blended. Stir in the nuts and then scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan on a rack, then turn out and let cool completely. Cut into twelve 2/3-inch-thick slices.

You can also view 20% more of the book at Harper Collins.