My daughter will never let me forget the time I handed her a too-sharp knife at age four with which she promptly cut herself slicing cookie dough. After that, despite all efforts to engage my kids in cooking projects, I’ve still been over-protective about letting them handle sharp objects or touch a hot pot. We have an oven that releases a mascara-melting blast of heat every time you open a door, a wide variety of fun tools that can easily remove layers of skin without proper use, and a mixer that can create flour-storms at the lightest of touches. So it was with some trepidation that I …

At some point over the holidays you’ll be with family and friends and quite possibly at a nice restaurant (for me, that would be one that doesn’t have a children’s menu). Nestled in your comfy banquette seat, white napkin on your lap, you’ll peruse a list of what might seem at first to be impossible-to-choose-from options. But don’t think for a moment that the restaurant owners, chef and maitre‘d haven’t seen you coming and taken bets on what you’re likely to select from those choices. Understanding consumer behavior underlies the marketing of everything you buy, and restaurant menus are no …

Some of you may have seen this picture in your own homes following a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. At our house, the men would leave the table after several helpings from the buffet, lie on the floor and fall into a deep sleep. This wasn’t just a result of the tryptophan in the turkey. It was the body’s aggravated reaction to force feeding. Stepping over these snoring lumps was like navigating a minefield. I’ve got a healthy appetite, especially for holiday food, but this was a state I never wanted to attain. Nor, do I think, did they. But the tendency to overdo is the siren call of the …

Last August, I was at a farmer’s market in Scotland when I saw that the early Brussels sprouts had arrived. A whoo-hoo moment for me, to say the least. Brussels are one of my all-time favorite crucifers, despite the fact that I’ve had my share of poorly cooked ones. I imagine many of you have had those too, and wondered what the fuss was about. But I’m here to share that these little green gems are not only packed with nutrition you shouldn’t ignore, but flavor that can be coaxed out and enhanced for even the pickiest of palates. Brussels sprouts were mostly confined to their native Belgium …

On the last day of school this past June, we took our kids out for ice cream – it’s a first and last day of school tradition we’ve been keeping up since they started kindergarten. We ended up at the local shop of a national chain known for its really large frozen concoctions, which we normally eschew in favor of a single scoop. But on that night I was feeling reckless and ordered a small shake, thinking it would be an enhanced version of my single scoop – milk added, maybe some sauce. But after our server had lopped in four – yes four – scoops of ice cream, and then added sauce (did I mention…

Let me say right off the bat that I consider myself to be somewhat high maintenance, although I have those momentary lapses where I just don’t care if someone I don’t even know sees me at the post office without makeup. But several years ago when my husband suggested camping, I wondered if he remembered just who he married. Sleeping on hard ground? Relentless bugs? Outhouses? Was he kidding? I’ve mellowed a bit since then. The synergistic energy of twins will wear down your need to be a princess. But it was my kids’ Cub Scout and Brownie campouts that helped me turn the camping aversion …

I was thrilled by all the comments and emails I received after Part 1 of this article two weeks ago. I love hearing from parents, and even more, I love knowing that there is a huge interest in upgrading the variety and quality of foods you send to school with your kids. So this week I’m sharing advice, ideas and strategies that I’ve offered to many parents that have worked for me and I hope will inspire you. Let’s start with lunchboxes. Find a Lunch “System” that Works for You By the last day of school in June (well, really, a couple months before that), the lining of my kids’ thermal lunch …

Until the food in Fairfax County Public School cafeterias improves – and it’s got a long way to go – I will be packing my kid’s lunches. Yes, I have an agenda. Like you, my family’s health is a top priority. I want my kids to succeed in the classroom. Making sure they are well-fueled during the day enables them to make the most of their academic experience. Filling them with the artificial additives, preservatives, dyes, extra sugars and fats from processed pre-packaged foods does not. I take brown-bagging seriously, and so should you. Because, yes, you can buy a lot of convenient options …

It would be easy to plunk my kids into endless summer camps that offered the routine round of swimming, games and arts and crafts, but each year I try to seek out something that offers a more enriching experience, something they’ll talk about for years to come. Nature Camp at Tauxemont was one of those experiences when they were preschoolers. Arcadia Farm Camp is poised to become the next. Farm Camp is an outgrowth of the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture on the grounds of historic Woodlawn Plantation. Launched by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, parent company of Evening …

We’re all seeking that silver bullet – the quick and easy remedy to our health woes. And, if you wholly digest the now widely disseminated information about coconut oil, you may think you have found it. Coconut oil has been touted as a key factor in the treatment of everything from dry skin to diabetes. Just look at the list of disorders it’s meant to impact: cholesterol, blood pressure, weight loss, Alzheimer’s, stress, digestion, bone health, HIV and cancer. Dr. Mehmet Oz says coconut oil has superpowers. Dr. Joseph Mercola says the benefits are “near miraculous.” So what is this stuff? And…

I’d like to start a discussion. When I began my work in the field of nutrition, my mission was to de-mystify the complex messages surrounding food and health. By doing that, I hoped some of you will take away a nugget of information that inspires you to make a change in your lifestyle that leads to a greater level of wellness. I know I can’t reach and teach everyone, but I’m still astonished at the number of people that suffer needlessly when even simple changes can yield such large, positive results. The clients I work with come to me with myriad issues – unwanted weight, food sensitivities…

Food legislation and policy are often instituted as the result of a smoking gun –one that’s been smoking a really, really long time after the shot has been fired. So, not surprisingly, the Food and Drug Administration has indicated that although they have not issued a ban on BPAs – a compound found in the lining of many canned foods – they are continuing to assess the safety of this compound and determine whether further action is needed. An update is expected later this year. Here are a few of the findings that might influence their next move: A study of pregnant mothers with high levels of …

Food intolerance is on the rise. That is, awareness of food intolerance and its associated symptoms is growing. More than ever, we hear about celiac disease and the role of food additives in mental health. A number childhood health conditions can be traced to food intolerance and cracking that code is the first step on the road to recovery. A food intolerance is different from a food allergy. Allergies are a response by the immune system to an ingredient in a food that it considers harmful (usually a protein). There is typically nothing wrong with the food itself, just how an individual’s …

Just let me say from the start that I’m as guilty as every other parent out there when it comes to rewarding my kids’ good behavior with treats. Or, more accurately, allowing them the indulgence of dessert when they have finally finished a meal that has taken (them) for-ev-er to eat, has been replete with (my) exhaustive pleading and filled with (my) unveiled annoyance right down to the last broccoli floret. By the end of the meal I’m often ready to send them down to Baskin-Robbins with twenty bucks, just to be rid of them, but we settle for a half cup of vanilla ice cream at home. Maybe it …

Do we overeat because the reward center of our brain was misaligned from birth, or has our reward center become addicted to food? New research is exploring the link between dopamine receptors, the obesity epidemic and the growing addiction to foods. And what’s being discovered is as validating as it is surprising. Experts in food research have long theorized that certain foods, especially those manipulated by the food industry to enhance their desirability, can alter brain chemistry to such a degree that a biological dependency is created. Food addictions can be destructive, and while the …

Last week, when I talked about the importance of cooking and how my mother’s training in the simple processes helped me build essential kitchen skills, I mentioned her go-to cookbook, the 1943 edition of "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma Rombauer. My mom turned that book over to me when I was in my 30s. By then, she had replaced the well-worn spine (now used as a bookmark) with a wide piece of silver electrician’s tape (which holds up to this day). The pages are browned at the edges, and there are cooking and water stains throughout, but this sturdy book continues to be one of my cooking bibles. …

Sometime last spring over coffee, a friend of mine told me that her highly educated mother never taught her how to cook because she wanted her to be a liberated woman. I found this fascinating, because my friend and I had been discovering that our mothers had many similar traits, the quest for a liberated life not being the least of them. And yet my mother, who did not enjoy cooking (my sister says my mother never cooked anything with more than one ingredient, which is not far from the truth), made sure I knew the basics; both how to cook and how to shop for food. And I have always considered…

Two weeks ago I wrote about how sugary beverages are increasingly regarded as the reason our waistlines are expanding at alarming rates. I mentioned in that column how cases of insulin resistance are on the rise and touched briefly on the health consequences of this syndrome. Ladies, pay attention here. Although it’s estimated that 25 percent of Americans suffer from insulin resistance, us gals are far more likely to suffer than guys, especially if we’re peri-menopausal. And it can greatly increase our risk of heart disease, stroke and type II diabetes. It is, in fact, a pre-diabetic syndrome…

A few months ago when Hollin Meadows Elementary School was preparing for its seventh annual Earth Day event, I was asked by outdoor education instructor Jen Finnegan if I would do a cooking demonstration in one of the two solar ovens owned by the Hollin Meadows science lab. I jumped. Then cringed. What the heck did I know about solar ovens! I’m a dual-fuel gal, gas cooktop, electric oven, not exactly eco-friendly except that I’m a very efficient cook. But I had accepted, so it was game on. What looked like an open cardboard box with shiny surfaces on the inside sat on my coffee table for a …

When I was growing up, my dad bought two six-packs of soda a week. One was RC Cola (because my mom’s family owned stock in it) and the other was A&W Root Beer. Twelve 8-ounce bottles to be shared among five people over a week. And usually, there were some leftover. Because soda, in our house, although it was there for the taking, was really a huge treat, and we just didn’t overindulge. That was still the case for me as an adult. Despite a perpetual sweet tooth, I somehow could never buy into the added calories in cola, so I rarely drank it. Back then, the stuff was still made with real sugar…