Q: My kids won’t touch a green vegetable. What can I do to make veggies more appealing?

A: Make them taste better! For example, our children love baby spinach when it’s sautéed with garlic and olive oil and then sprinkled with kosher salt (Diamond Crystal salt, by the way, has half the sodium of regular table salt). We also kick up the flavor of steamed broccoli by drizzling extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt on top. Be a good role model by eating the vegetables yourself and remember to offer those veggies over and over again.

Q: My eldest son often says “yuck” when I serve him dinner. When he does that, his younger sister turns her nose up as well. Do you have any suggestions for putting a stop to his behavior?

A: We encourage parents to establish realistic and enforceable food rules at the dinner table. For example, tell your son that no negative comments are allowed during mealtime and that he’ll be excused from the table if he continues saying, “yuck.” He may break the rule one or two times but trust us, he’ll quickly learn that insulting Mom’s home cooking isn’t worth it.

February 2004

A Message From The Moms

Welcome to the first issue of our MealMakeoverMoms.com newsletter. We created this newsletter as a way to stay in touch with all of our Meal Makeover Moms’ Club members (and there are hundreds of you out there)! The past few weeks have been incredibly busy since the release of our new book, The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers. Feedback from readers as well as the media has been amazing. Thus far, we’ve been featured on CNN, Boston’s NBC television station, Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Accent Health, and have appeared in Newsweek, Boston Magazine, the Melrose Free Press, the Oregonian and more. To see us in TV action, check out the streaming video on: http://www.whdh.com/features/articles/morebangforyourbuck/A240/

Other exciting news to report … www.Mealtime.org launched a sweepstakes to celebrate the release of our book. They’re giving away 25 copies as well as a grand prize of a spa day for two and a Meal Makeover Mom cooking party in the home town of the winner (yes, Liz and Janice will fly to your town and cook with you and a dozen of your friends). Click the following link to enter the contest:
http://www.mealtime.org/contest/contest.aspx

We encourage you to keep in touch and to continue spreading the word about our website, book, and Moms’ Club. Happy Cooking!

	Chocolaty Pumpkin Bars Makes 30 bars Amber, a mother of two from Massachusetts, sent us a recipe for one of her children’s favorite afternoon treats. To give it a healthy makeover, we included some whole wheat flour for extra fiber, used a whole can of pumpkin versus one cup, and nixed the two sticks of butter for canola oil … an excellent source of health-enhancing omega-3 fats. 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup sugar 1 cup very finely chopped pecans 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 beaten eggs One 15-ounce can 100% pure pumpkin 1/2 cup canola oil 1/4 cup 1% lowfat milk 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat a 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking pan (jelly roll pan) with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Whisk together the flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, canola oil, and milk. Add to the dry mixture along with the chocolate chips and stir to combine. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Nutrition Information per Serving: 140 Calories, 8 grams Total Fat, 2 g Saturated Fat, 0.42 grams Omega-3 fat, 4.4 grams Monounsaturated fat, 16 grams Carbohydrate, 2 grams Fiber, 2 grams Protein, 95 milligrams Sodium * If you would like us to give one of your favorite recipes a healthy makeover, visit www.MealMakeoverMoms.com.

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