Over the past few weeks I have noticed how our little man started leaving bread crusts behind on his plate. At first I didn’t take much notice but after a while a realized that he does it on purpose (and not because he can’t bite it or isn’t hungry any more). It struck me as odd that he would this though since nobody in our house leaves bread crusts behind or cuts them off. Well – it took as a while to find out what was behind this new habit.

Call me a pedantic but for me there's something fundamentally wrong with not eating bread crusts (or even worse: cutting them off on purpose like some people do). It's like wasting food and the crust is a perfectly good part of the bread that can be eaten just like anything else. Especially when it's actually the healthiest part of a slice of bread (see research article here).

Do your eyes start to glaze over when you hear other parents and the media start talking about diets? Well The Gluten Free Diet is perhaps one you should get a little understanding of. The reason is that most kids (and adults) eat far too much wheat and wheat products, and you will be amazed which foods contain wheat that perhaps you never thought of. A gluten overload in children can lead to one or more of the following symptoms:

For young children
• abdominal bloating and pain
• chronic diarrhoea
• vomiting
• constipation
• foul-smelling stools
• weight loss

What is Gluten anyway?

My wife works as a hairdresser and so therefore we have very crazy eating habits, She might go all day without eating because she has been busy, and then she is straight into dinner then off to bed – especially as she has at least 2 late nights per week and they can have her finishing at up to 8.30pm/9pm.

Now on the days that Renee isn’t around I will cook for the household – including Pyper and she is relatively easy because it’s the same food different day, just a variation on the selection as such.

So this week because we are such budding chefs, I have been personally sick of the same boring food, and we wanted something a little different and healthy. Something that could be prepared in a smallish amount of time with minimal amount of ingredients. Well we managed to come up with a new system, and one that didn’t include chilli mince in either tortillas or taco shells. We seem to have a hundred weight watchers menu books or healthy menu books lying around gathering dust so we got them out and did what most smart people would do and read them looking for good recipes of which 95% of them are it was fantastic to see.

One of the greatest things about being a family is family meals, right? Unfortunately at times we tend to deprioritise cooking (or cooking the more fancy meals) because of all sorts of other things that are going on in our lives. How about remembering those cooking skills this Father's Day by dishing it up for the family!

Recently we've come across a website called "menumade.co.nz" - a great little site that provides meal planning and wholesome recipes for the whole family. It even tells you what to buy and you can specify any food likes / dislikes as well as dietary requirements or allergies. How Cool! In fact we liked it so much that we organised a Father's Day competition with them - check it out here.

Even before our children were born Al and I had always wanted to be equal as parents. We were lucky that both of us were home for the first few months of our first daughter's life. Even though I was very clear in my mind that I wanted both of us to be involved and equal - and we knew that I would have to go back to work and he would stay home with her - I found I had to bite my tongue when he did things differently from what I thought was the "right" way.

No, I’m not referring to the goo that comes in jars. I’m sure there will be time to experiment with that later. I’m talking about the food mom demands for the baby before the baby is even born. What she eats, she tells me, the baby eats.

It’s the closest thing I’ve received to a decree from the King.

“In the name of the baby,” she says, “I request Stuffed Eggplant for dinner.”

She even sent me a link this morning by email to the recipe she had in mind. I thought she was busy studying at the university library, but it turns out she was looking up stuffed eggplant recipes.

Two hours later, no exaggeration, and dinner is ready.

A banquet fit for a king.

- Posted with permission from Spain Dad

Here's a cool dad thing to do - cook some food for your kids! The following recipes will work for babies and toddlers form 6 months onwards.

Mince

1 small carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 kumara, peeled and grated
1 tsp of oil
100g lean beef or lamb mince
1/2 cup beef or vegetable stock
1 tbsp of tomato puree

Mircowave or boil carrot and kumara in a little water until soft. Heat oil in a frying pan, add mince and stir well breaking up with the back of a spoon as it cooks until it forms small pieces about the size of a pea. Add carrot, kumara and stock. Cover and simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender, about10 minutes.

We've recently come across a website called Plummelo which was started by busy dad Paul Jin who was tired of the age-old "what's for dinner" question. I guess he did what we all do when something bugs us - we start a website! The idea of Plummelo is to help overextended parents organise recipes and get their food lives in order. Members of the site can use a central, online recipe box to upload all personal recipes (and collect online recipes) and create automatic shopping lists based on the recipes they want to cook. Simple ... good.

Check it out

-Stef

The secret to receipes or how to decode recipes ... what those titles really mean

Recipes on the internet are big business these days, leading some unscrupulous recipe writers to disguise their stinkers with great sounding names. The unsuspecting Dad may not find out til its too late. You think you've got a real winner for the school potluck. Then you notice the principal signal the science teacher to come over for a look.

Here's eleven I've uncovered, and what the name really means.

Blue Ribbon Recipe - After fourteen recipe contest tries and fails, it's clear the judges are all getting paid off, because this is a sure winner.

Quick and Easy Recipe - Manufacturer paid big money to professional writers to creatively dress up 'open box, add water, microwave, and top with ketchup'.

Healthy, Whole Food Recipe - Didn't have meat or time, so just emptied the veggie bin straight into the pot.

It's morning, you're nosing through the laundry for lost socks, the kids are half missing tops or bottoms, you're juggling a gulped coffee, homework, and it's crunch time. Now, put that scene on pause a minute. Want a way to get well-fed smiles from the crew this and every AM, plus a big shiny kitchen hero badge besides? It'll take you just minutes, and you won't even get your hands dirty.

Modern science has gifted frustrated fathers with a little known lifesaving, happy making device, known as a bread maker. It's an unappreciated wonder. It will put out nutritious, tasty, heavenly smelling, belly filling eats at the push of a button, virtually no skill required. And you'll bask in their appreciation.