How to Make Children Want To Eat Vegetables?

Vegetables are an important food to eat. Children must also be willing to consume these foods. However, because the taste is bland, it's hard to ask the child to consume. What can you do to make your child want to eat? According to the researchers is fairly easy; smile while eating.
Quoted by Reuters, a group of French scientists doing research on the reactions of adults and children in perceiving the image of people who were eating. The results said that the way adults with young children assess the object of people who are eating differently.
Adults assess the proportion of food through the body of the eater. If existing models in the photo has a large body, the respondents would reject if given the same food as the one in the photo. Conversely, if the slender model, respondents tend to be interested. While the kids how to judge a photo contains a person eats has a more complex reaction.
If food is in the picture and offered to children who were complicit in these respondents, such as chocolate, no matter their body size of the model, they would be willing to accept the food. If food is in the photo is not their preferred food, the size of the body of the model was influential, they will increasingly reject if the fat-bodied model.
Not only that, it was an expression of people who are taking food also affects the child's curiosity to try a food. Photos of people who eat with happy expressions and not contrived to make children interested in trying the food, body shape does not matter who eat. Conversely, photos of people who eat with the expression of disgust with the same foods will make children reluctant to try.
That is, for adults, body size eaters have influence in the sense of adults want to consume. As for the children, need of expression and the type of food they like to persuade the child willing to try certain foods, and body size factors of which he sees only a little effect.
According to Sylvie Rousset, representatives of these scientists say, the results of this research outside of their expectations, because there is no study that says an expression of others affect the children's curiosity. From these results, according to Rousset, parents can take advantage, that while eating healthy foods, try taking it with an expression of happy and liked the food.
"Although a person's eating habits are quite complex, but such studies can reveal differences in psychosocial factors that shape attitudes of children towards food and eating habits of their long-term,"said Rousset.

Have You Ever Ate Delicious Loh Mee?

Loh Mee is literally translated as “Stewed / Braised Noodles”. Whilst it is not stewed as long as say, a meat dish, nevertheless the cooking time is longer for this type of noodle compared to other types. Oh, by the way, Loh Mee is in the hokkien dialect. There are two known types of stewed noodles here in Malaysia, the other being Lam Mee. The gravy is slightly different.
Our family recipe for Loh Mee is southern-styled, meaning from Pontian, Johor. It is quite similar to the one from Ulu Yam. Lam Mee has a slightly different taste ot the gravy compared to Loh Mee. The highlight of this dish for me is the use of black vinegar which gives this noodle a slightly sour, but appetising taste. We used to have this often during Chinese New Year.

Thick yellow noodles are used for this recipe. It is not as thick as udon or even hokkien mee but definitely thicker than wan ton noodles or even mee goreng noodles. Because it is thicker and has a “tougher” texture, it requires a longer time to cook it. Hence, it is stewed in the gravy for at least 5 minutes, covered.
This is our family recipe for Loh Mee
Ingredients

• 500 grammes of thick yellow noodles
• 5 pieces of pre-soaked chinese dried mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
• 50 grammes of pork tenderloin (sliced thinly)
• 2 large eggs
• Choy sum / Sawi / Chinese Mustard Leaves (amount up to you, cut into 6cm lengths)
• 5 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
• 1 litre warm water or chicken stock or water previously used to soak mushrooms
• Potato / Corn starch (mix 1 tablespoon of potato / corn flour with 100 ml water)
• 5 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil preferred)
• Marinade (for pork tenderloin)
• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 to 2 tablespoon dark soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soya sauce
• Salt and white pepper powder to taste

Method
Marinade pork tenderloin for at least 30 minutes.
Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till brown. Remove shallots and set aside. Remove oil and place in a suitable container leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil behind.
In a heated wok, add mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute. Add pork slices and continue to stir fry till pork turns colour (add some of the oil previously used to fry shallots if wok is drying up). Add 500 ml warm water and bring to boil.
Once water starts boiling, add noodles and seasoning. Stir well and add more water to ensure that the water covers the upper layer of noodles. Cover with lid and stew for 5 minutes on medium to high heat whilst stirring once a while to ensure even cooking. Add more water if drying up.
I usually chew the noodles to see if it is cooked which should be slightly soft by then. Add choy sum and stir it well. Next, break eggs over the noodles and stir it into the noodles, allowing it to break.
The noodles are to be served slightly wet, but not soaking in gravy. If it is too wet, add a little potato / corn starch to thicken the gravy.
Dish out and sprinkle fried shallots over the noodles. When serving on individual bowls, add black vinegar (to taste) to the noodles.

How to Make Onion Pinwheels in Several Methods

Kid-friendly kitchen fun
Ham rolls, or pinwheels as most people call them, are a steadfast tradition for many families. They are a quintessential dish at family reunions, holiday gatherings and other special occasions. And they are made even more special if kids are involved in the pinwheel making.
Pinwheels are simple to make and have hundreds of variations! If you haven't made them before, just grab a piece of ham and start rolling. Once you get the technique down, have fun teaching your kids how to do the same.
Basic Ham and Onion Pinwheels
Ingredients:
Rectangle shaped deli-sliced ham
Softened cream cheese-room temperature
Green onions with long stalks
Directions:
Spread the softened cream cheese on one side of a ham slice. Place one of the onions vertically at one end of the ham slice. Roll the ham slice and the onion together lengthwise. Chill the rolls in the refrigerator until the cream cheese becomes firm again. Before serving, slice the rolls crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Place on a platter with extra green onions for garnish.
Ranch Ham and Tortilla Pinwheels
Ingredients:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (.4-ounce) package Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
2 green onions, minced
4 (12-inch) flour tortillas
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles or 2 fresh jalapenos, minced
1 (2.25-ounce) can sliced black olives (optional)
Directions:
Mix cream cheese, dressing mix and green onions. Spread on tortillas. Drain chiles and olives thoroughly. Sprinkle equal amounts of either or both on top of cream cheese. Roll tortillas tightly. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Cut rolls crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Makes three dozen rolls.

Delicious Popiah

Popiah or Popia is a dish which my mum usually cook during Ching Ming Festival (April). I have yet to learn this dish because it is labourous and demanding. I must say that I am quite biased (and with good reasons) with Popiahs because to me, only mum’s Popiah is the best (and many others say so too). Her Popiah is unlike what is sold commercially as it contains more than 10 ingredients and the vegetables are painstakingly cut into fine slivers (just slightly thicker than a toothpick) rather than going through a shredding tool. It is no wonder then that relatives would “book” a few (or quite a lot) rolls of Popiah whenever they hear that she is making some.
When I asked mum for the recipe for this Popiah, I was stuck actually because mum does not use a measuring type of recipe. Rather, just like how cooking is like second nature, the ingredients and seasoning are a matter of estimates or what we Malaysians call “agak-agak”. Hence, I had to help her to make a rough estimate of the ingredients used to make this delicious dish of Popiah. If you are game for a cooking challenge, try this Popiah recipe especially if you can get your hands on the exact ingredients available. You won’t be disappointed.
This is mum’s recipe for Popiah
Ingredients
Filling (A)
1 bowl belly pork (3 layer pork) (boiled for 5 minutes, cooled and shredded finely)
1 bowl shelled prawns (cut into small pieces)
1 bowl turnip (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1 bowl french beans (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1 bowl carrot (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1/2 bowl cabbage (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1 bowl firm bean curd (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick and deep fried)
1 bowl bamboo shoot (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1/2 bowl shallots (cut finely)
1/4 bowl garlic (cut finely)
5 tablespoons oil
Seasoning (B)
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
4 tablespoons light soya sauce
2 tablespoons brandy
4 large eggs (beaten, fried thinly omelette-style in non-stick pan and cut into thin shreds)
1 cup bean sprouts (tailed and blanched)
1 cup finely shredded cucumber
1 cup pork loin (boiled till cooked, allow to cool and shred finely using fingers)
Lettuce and chinese celery
1 cup peanut sugar (toast peanut in wok till brown, remove peanut skin, ground it till almost fine and mix with sugar on 1 peanut:1/2 sugar ratio)
Sweet flour sauce
Chilli spread (optional. Blend red chilli with garlic)
Popiah skin
Method
Separate the following into 5 equal portions:- pork belly, prawns, shallots, garlic and cooking oil.
Heat 1st portion of oil in wok and fry 1st portion of shallots and garlic till aromatic. Add pork belly and prawns and stir well for 2 minutes. Add turnips and stir till turnips slightly limp. Remove from wok and place in a big pot.
Cook the rest of the ingredients (french beans, carrot, cabbage and bamboo shoots) one by one just like how the turnips were cooked above and layer them in the pot.
After the 5 main ingredients were cooked and layered in the pot, heat up the pot and add the fried bean curd. Add seasoning and mix the ingredients thoroughly. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the ingredients warm till required.
To serve the Popiah, place a piece of Popiah skin on a flat round plate. Spread a teaspoon of sweet flour sauce (and chilli spread if desired) in the centre of the skin and sprinkle some peanut sugar on the sauce. Tear a piece of lettuce and place over the peanut sugar. Using a tablespoon and fork, place 2 to 3 spoonfuls of filling ingredients (A) on top of the lettuce after squeezing out excess gravy. Arrange the ingredients like a sausage / roll. Top with a little fried egg, bean sprouts, cucumber, pork loin and chinese celery. Fold the sides, tuck in firmly then roll up tightly.

Cranberry Applesauce Muffins Recipe

We closed on our house in Iowa this week! We are no longer homeowners. It is nice to officially have that done with and move on with life in Colorado. We are working on plans for the house we are going to build, and we found a lot we want. I am excited to see the plans come together. Can’t wait to have my double ovens, and a giant cook top! In the meantime though I will make yummy treats in my little kitchen here.
I told you back when I made this Cranberry Bread that cranberries were new to me, but I thought I liked them. After making these muffins, I am back on the fence. I think the recipe is a good one, I think it is the tartness of the cranberries that might be too much for me. My 6 year old told me to make a sign for this post that said DO NOT MAKE! I think that is a little much. I think if I had sprinkled some sugar on the cranberries, and let them sit, that would have sweetened them up quite a bit. I will keep trying cranberries, I really do want to like them!
Cranberry Muffins
Adapted from Allrecipes
1 1/4 cups applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
2 Tbls sugar (optional)
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I did not use)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 12 muffin cups. Combine chopped berries with 2 Tbls sugar. Set aside.
Combine applesauce, oil, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl. In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add applesauce mixture, and stir until just combined. Fold in the cranberries and nuts.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before removing from pan.

Fried Chicken

It was my birthday over the weekend, and instead of some good beef or other food splurge, I made some fried chicken as the anchor dish for my birthday dinner. A weird choice, I know, but I was just in a fried chicken kind of mood. Not a highly battered KFC style chicken (or its wannabe McDonald’s, Jollibee and other fastfood versions), but an Asian style fried chicken with color, flavor and verve. At its simplest, it would be the marinated chicken parts (in soy sauce, of course) simply fried in (usually) used vegetable oil that we used to eat as kids when there weren’t many fast food chains yet. It would be deeply tanned compared to the paler commercial versions. It would be decidedly Asian fried chicken.
A few months ago, while testing recipes for the restaurant, one of our cooks made a wonderful version that I really liked. But I think I was vetoed by the rest of the panel who opted for the heavily battered version, deep-fried in lard. The latter was okay, but it wasn’t a slam dunk, and judging by customer reactions, I think we should have gone with (MY) gut instinct and opted for the more pinoy one, closer to our own roots and vibe. I will fix that in the weeks ahead and revise the fried chicken recipe. So I have been on the hunt for a suitable version, and while this particular one of David Chang takes it a bit North Asian to Japan, I really liked the early test results we did last week (photos here from trial one) at home. It isn’t a complicated method at all, and the flavors of the sauce are everything I really like. But the recipe will be tweaked to take into account local chickens, flavor profiles, etc.The recipe of Mr. Chang starts of by brining the chicken parts in a sugar and salt water bath for a couple of hours. I have always liked the results of brining poultry and shrimp so I am totally on board on this step. Next the chicken parts are steamed to ensure that they are cooked all the way through and remain rather moist. Timing is a bit tricky here, under steam it and you have uncooked chicken, oversteam it and it gets harder and drier. The chicken is then chilled for several hours before using. Essentially, the last step is to dry the surface areas and to let juices settle back inside the pieces. No rocket science so far — season and juice up the meat, steam to keep it moist. The latter step is whispered as being the same thing that Max’s Fried Chicken does prior to frying as well.
Next the chicken pieces are deep-fried in vegetable oil, we would use our wonderful homemade leaf lard, until golden brown and really appetizing looking. The skin gets blistered and crisp in just 5-7 minutes, but the chicken meat is meant to stay rather moist (though on trial one it was a tad dry). The nice color is apparently partially a result of the sugar that was in the brine and has settled on the meat’s surface, only to transform and caramelize once it hits the hot lard.Drain the fried chicken pieces on paper towels and let them rest for a couple of minutes. Then slice into smaller pieces and douse liberally with what Mr. Change refers to as “octo-vin” or octopus vinaigrette, a mixture of ginger, garlic, chilies, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and seasonings. It’s very Japanese, and similar to what is served with bite-sized pieces of fried chicken in many Japanese restaurants. It’s good. And perfect to dunk crisp pieces of chicken into or to add to one’s steaming hot rice.

Chocolate-Glazed Mocha Shortbread

It's only just the end of October, so you might be wondering why this photo looks like it's all gussied up for Christmas. I usually don't start my holiday baking until the beginning of December, but I am submitting this recipe to Jeanine over at The Baking Beauties for a gluten free e-book of holiday recipes that she is compiling. This is a low carb, gluten free makeover of one of my all-time favourites and I am really excited to share it with you.
Back in our pre-marriage, child-free days in Arizona, my husband and I used to host an annual Christmas dessert/cocktail party. It became bigger and more elaborate every year, with increasing numbers of friends and coworkers in attendance, and me baking far more cookies, bars and cakes than anyone could possibly eat. Each year I tried out different recipes, but the Chocolate-Glazed Mocha Fans from Bon Appetit, December 1999, were always on the table, and they were always a hit. When thinking about holiday cookies that I might tackle for a low carb makeover, these were at the top of my list. If I could be successful in recreating these, I would have a very merry Christmas indeed!
My biggest challenge with this recipe was getting the texture right. Traditional shortbread has a rather dry, crumbly texture, a result of the unique interplay between the flour, fat and sugar. Since I have to remove the flour and the sugar from the equation, I wasn't sure I could pull this off. Fortunately, one of the things that makes shortbread so crumbly is that the large amount of butter inhibits the formation of long gluten strands. Mine wasn't going to have any gluten in it to begin with, so that was one thing going for me!
The Results: I honestly did not expect these to turn out as well as they did. At first, they seemed rather soft and cakey, so I pulled out a trick gleened from a Cook's Illustrated shortbread recipe and continued to dry it out in a low heat oven. It worked like a charm! The flavour is much as I remember from the original recipe, a nice chocolately cookie with hint of coffee. I am sure in a blind taste test, I would probably be able to tell the flour and sugar-filled version from these gluten free ones, but it be a challenge to say which one is better. If anything, mine are a little less sweet, but I think that allows the mocha flavour to shine through a bit more. I am delighted with the results, and happy to know that I can have at least one of my favourite cookies this Christmas.
I will confess that my first attempt at the chocolate glaze was an utter failure. I am not quite sure why, but my chocolate siezed and I couldn't recover it, no matter how hard I tried. I scrapped it altogether and started over with a different technique (no cream, just butter), and got a much better result.
Chocolate-Glazed Mocha Shortbread
Note: I recognize that many people who need or choose to go gluten free do not need to be low carb, so I am including instructions on using sugar instead of alternative sweeteners.
Shortbread:
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/4 cocoa powder
1/4 cup erythritol (or 3/4 cup white sugar)
2 tsp instant coffee granules
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cups butter, softened
1 egg
16 drops stevia extract (omit if using sugar)
Chocolate Glaze:
1 tbsp coconut oil or butter
2.5 oz unsweetened chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate), chopped
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp powdered erythritol (omit if using semi-sweet chocolate)
1/2 tsp vanilla
8 drops stevia extract (omit if using semi-sweet chocolate)
For the shortbread, preheat oven to 325F and spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond meal, cocoa, erythritol or sugar, coffee, xanthan gum and cream of tartar.
In another bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and stevia extract until smooth. Beat in half of almond meal mixture until combined. Beat in remaining almond meal mixture until the dough begins to clump together.Using a rubber spatula, spread dough in prepared pan. It will be very sticky and difficult to spread, so try to just get it to the edges of the pan. Then take a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap to cover the surface and press more evenly into pan using fingertips.
Bake until firm around edges and slightly soft and puffy in the center, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Gently remove pan sides. With a large sharp knife, cut into 16 wedges.
Gently remove wedges to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Reduce oven temperature to 200F and continue to bake shortbread wedges for another 25 minutes. Turn off oven and let shortbread continue to dry out for 1 hour. Do not open oven door, you do not want the heat to escape.
Remove from oven and let cool completely on pan.
For the glaze, melt coconut oil or butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in cocoa powder and erythritol until no clumps remain. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and stevia extract. Let cool until thickened but still pourable (I hurried this up by placing the pan in the refrigerator). Drizzle over cool shortbread on pan. Chill shortbread until chocolate is firm, about 20-30 minutes.

British And Irish Cuisine

Savoury dumplings made from balls of dough are part of traditional British and Irish cuisine. Dumplings are made from twice the weight of self raising flour to suet, bound together by cold water to form a dough and seasoned with salt and pepper. Balls of this dough are dropped into a bubbling pot of stew or soup, or into a casserole. They sit, partly submerged in the stew, and expand as they are half-boiled half-steamed for ten minutes or so. The cooked dumplings are airy on the inside and moist on the outside. The dough may be flavoured with herbs, or it may have cheese pressed into its centre. The Norfolk dumpling is not made with fat, but from flour and a raising agent. Cotswold dumplings call for the addition of breadcrumbs and cheese, and the balls of dough may be rolled in breadcrumbs and fried, rather than cooked in a soup or stew.
These sour-dough dumplings, when sweetened and made with dried fruit and spices, can be boiled in water to make a dessert. In Scotland, this is called a clootie dumpling, after the cloth. In Dorset, dumplings are often called doughboys, perhaps in reference to the buoys that are used to mark lobster pots around the coast locally.
Italian cuisine
Ravioli and tortellini fit the basic definition of a dumpling: these are pockets of pasta enclosing various fillings (cheese, mushrooms, spinach, seafood, or meat). Instead of being made from a ball of dough, the dough is rolled flat, cut into a shape, filled with other ingredients, and then the dough is closed around the filling. Gnocchi (Spanish: ñoquis, widely adopted in Argentina, Portuguese: nhoque, Slovene: Njoki) is a different kind of Italian dumpling. The word gnocchi literally means "lumps", and they are rolled and shaped from a mixture of egg with potato, semolina, flour, or ricotta cheese (with or without spinach). The lumps are boiled in water and served with melted butter, grated cheese, or other pasta sauces.
Scandinavian cuisine
In Norway, dumplings have a vast variety of names, as the dialects differ substantially. Names include potetball, klubb, kløbb, raspeball, komle, kumle, kompe, kumpe, kodla, kudle, klot, kams, ball, baill, komperdøse, kumperdøse, kompadøs, ruter, ruta, raskekako, risk, klotremat, krumme and kromme. They are usually made from potatoes and various types of flour, and then boiled. Occasionally they contain pork meat, such as bacon, in the middle. In some areas it is common to serve the dumplings with syrup.
In Sweden, potato dumplings mainly have two names. In the northern parts they are usually called Palt, or Pitepalt, and are filled with salted pork and eaten with melted butter and lingonberry jam. In southern Sweden, and Öland, the potato dumpling is called Kroppkaka, and is usually filled with smoked pork, raw onions and coarsely ground pepper, usually served with cream and lingonberry jam. On Öland, the south-eastern coast and in the north the dumplings are made mainly from raw potatoes, whereas in the southern mainland boiled potatoes are mainly in use. Flour dumplings for use in soup are called Klimp.