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.

Guys – if you are running out of ideas what to cook or buy for your pregnant partner, check out the following article submitted by Carolyn Friedman.

Most people are already very familiar with the foods that pregnant women must avoid – alcohol, excess caffeine, raw seafood, and the like – but few take pause to think about what they should consume. Experts generally recommend that pregnant women stick with the portions recommended by the USDA’s Food Pyramid guidelines, with specific boosts to certain nutrients such as iron, folic acid, fiber, Vitamin C, protein, calcium, Vitamin A, magnesium, and a few others.

The following is a practical list of foods that contain these nutrients and ought to find their way into a pregnancy diet, even if some of them must be ingested in moderation or within certain parameters: Iron Supplements, Kidney, Beans, Beef, Cereal, Dark Meat Turkey, Chicken, Salmon, Eggs, Peanuts / Peanut, Butter, Oranges, Spinach, Cheese, Yogurt, Milk, Asparagus, Great Northern Beans, Tofu, Bananas, Brown Rice, Almonds, Dried Apricots, Avocados, Whole Wheat, Lamb, Veal, Oysters, Pork, Soy Milk, Pomegranates, Tomatoes, Walnuts, Swiss Chard, Pasta, Apples, Carrots, Pears, Strawberries, Kale, Dried Cherries, Liver, Soybeans, Grapefruit, Broccoli, Oatmeal, Chickpeas, Okra, Sunflower Seeds, Lentils, Pineapple, Portobello Mushrooms.

See below for more information on each food. These are, of course, merely suggestions. The best way for a pregnant woman to figure out what dietary path is right for her always has been and always will be consultation with a healthcare professional. Doctors and nurses are far better equipped to dispense advice based on a woman’s age, possible food restrictions, and overall health, as pregnancies and those experiencing them differ from instance to instance.

Over the past few years there's been a growing controversy over the safety and health aspects of feeding bottles (see related article "Fed up with toxic baby bottles"). Fortunately someone has done something about it and developed a product that is made of lead free and BPA free plastic. Up until now the only alternative to conventional feeding bottles (which usually contain phthalates, bisphenol A, lead or PVC) was to use glass. Obviously glass bottles and babies / toddlers can be tricky combination (check out "Toddlers and a broken glass incident"). So having a plastic bottle without chemicals that are suspected of hormone disrupting effects sounds like a great option to conventional bottles.

They call it the “Arsenic Hour.” Who “They” are and why they call it Arsenic, I don’t know. According to the dictionary, Arsenic is a grayish-white element having a metallic lustre, vaporizing when heated, and forming poisonous compounds. We’re just talking about the time just before dinner where the kids are hungry. Mum and Dad are stressed and busy, and the kids either want to be right under the busiest feet or crying.

In our house, with a 2 ½ year old and a 1 year old, we’ve discovered a trick that can ease this pressure and I want to share it with you. It’s not television, nor sugary snacks, not locking them up the other end of the house, yelling or threatening time out. It’s not pleading with them to stop crying, sending them outside and locking the door or bathing them early even though all of these weapons have been considered, and used with varying degrees of effect by many of us in the past.