Making Muffins– Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Nut Muffins

I don’t bake very often. I like baking. In fact it used to be one of my favorite things to do when I was stressed. But I found that stress eating and stress baking were going hand in hand. So I decided that perhaps I should try different ways to manage my stress and bake a little less. It didn’t hurt that around the same time the oven at our rental unit was broken (I could use the stove and broil things, but not bake) so I couldn’t bake even if I wanted to.

Baking can be so great to do with kids though. You don’t tend to need much in the way of sharp implements and the heat is all at the end. I love ginger and I had some left over canned pumpkin from the holidays so when I found this recipe from the food blog Simply Recipes, I was sure I had found a winner.

Gordie loved them! I made them into mini-muffins because they are easier for little hands to hold.  The pumpkin provides some good nutrients, but I wanted to see if they’d still be good if I used whole wheat flour. They weren’t quite as light as the white flour ones (or as pretty) but they were good and Gordie loved them just as much.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Nut Mini-muffin Recipe

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin pure
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs beaten
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger (I like them roughly chopped but most kids will probably like them better if they’re pretty finely chopped).

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, spices) in a large bowl.
3. Beat eggs in a bowl and then add the wet ingredients (pumpkin, melted butter, water).
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a fork. (I love how recipes say “do not over-mix” without over explaining what that means. I try to stop right after there isn’t any visible dry flour).
5. Spoon into the mini-muffin cups (using my non-stick muffin tray I find it’s actually better not to grease the pan) and bake for 17-22 minutes. Test a muffin with a toothpick. If it does not come out clean, bake for a couple more minutes and retest.
6. Makes about 24 mini-muffins.

Wordless Wednesday–Spring

Eating Out for 400 Calories or Less–Wendy’s

We were picking up food at Wendy’s to eat in the car while we were plane watching. I was going to need to help my handicapped brother in the back seat eat while Gordie was on and off my lap, so I opted to try a wrap instead one of their salads (their new ‘half salad’ options are in the right ballpark calories wise).I love the Wendy’s spicy chicken so I thought I would try out the Spicy Chicken Bacon Wrap. It was really good – but really, it has bacon, cheese and crispy chicken cutlets, how could it not be?
Special Instructions:None
Substitutions: None
Additions: None









For 1 Spicy Chicken Bacon Wrap: Calories – 380, Carbs – 31g (2g sugar), Fat – 21g(Sat. 7, Trans 0.4), Protein 18, Fibre – 2, Sodium 950mg.
You would save:
70 calories by asking for no cheese
30 calories by asking for no bacon
45 calories by asking for no ranch sauce.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus

After making peanut butter hummus I started to wonder if you could make a sweet hummus dish instead of the traditional savory hummus. A peek around the internet proved that this was indeed possible so I decided to give it a try. Now some of the sites I visited suggested that this could be an actual dessert. I’m still not sold on that. What I made would not really be good as an ice cream topping for instance, and if I were to add enough sugar and fat to make it that way, I’d rather just go for broke and use caramel sauce.

Instead I would suggest using it as a Nutella alternative. Or as a way to try to get your kids to try beans. Sort of a gate way food for beans.  Overall, it wasn’t bad, people who tried it generally liked it, but I don’t think I’m going to have to make a new batch every week.

I’ve give a wide range for the maple syrup because it’s so easy to adjust to taste as you can just add more in and pulse the food processor for a few more seconds. We found that the cocoa came out more with less maple syrup, but it is definitely sweeter with more.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus Recipe
1 can (16 oz) Chickpeas ; rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I just used a big spoon – more if desired)
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2-8 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup Water (more if needed)


Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

• Measure and pour the ingredients
• Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor
• Run the food processor (with supervision)
  

Directions 1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. 2. Add all the ingredients to the food processor (you can use a blender, but it’s not really  not as effective. I have tried and don’t recommend it. I ended up buying a food processor so I could make hummus). 3. Run the food processor until the hummus starts to appear to bounce up and down (this won’t take a really long time) . Alternatively just check it every 10 seconds or so. You’ll want to scrape off the sides of the food processor because I find some chickpeas tend to stick to the sides and then give it another quick blend. If you are finding it’s not as well mixed or creamy as you would like just add another 1/4 cup of water.

Serving Ideas With apple slices, as a sandwich spread, sauce on a dessert pizza, on crackers, with pita

Lentils and Ground Beef–Tired Mom Meal

Today I had a truly terrible sleep. My special needs brother had insomnia in addition to being agitated and anxious. This is not a winning combination. He tossed and turned and complained all night waking me up along with him.

Despite this bad start I was still going to go ahead with my plans to make cranberry turkey burgers. All I’d have to do was a little chopping and I was basically good to go. But the turkey was still really frozen. I seriously considered getting my husband bring home take out. I was just done.

Then I remembered Lentils and Ground Beef. My mother-in-law made it for my husband while he was growing up, but I had never had it before he introduced me to it. Now I make it fairly frequently. If you have cooked ground beef in the freezer, it couldn’t be easier. It’s not the most attractive dish, but it’s simple, quick and high in fibre, protein and iron.

Lentils and Ground Beef Recipe
1 can lentils
.5-1 lb of cooked ground beef. (really any amount is fine)

Directions
1. Defrost the ground beef in the freezer (or cook and drain it in a pan).
2. Add the can of lentils with the liquid and the defrosted ground beef to a pan.
3. Cook on a low heat until there is no longer liquid in the bottom of the pan. If you need it quicker you can use a higher heat, but you’ll need to watch it and stir it more often.
4. When it’s done, put the heat down to the lowest setting and it will be ready when you are.

Serve it with a salad, in a wrap, with a side of bread or some onion rings. I usually just eat it out of a bowl by itself.

Per 1/4 of the lentils and ground beef (1 lb 80% lean ground beef): Calories – 368, Carbs – 29g, Fat – 14g, Protein 31, Fibre – 7.

You Never Know When You’ll Be Confronted with a Scary Cow

Although we have yet to find a monkey on our neighbourhood walks (despite frequently looking) we did have a run in with wildlife inside our own kitchen.

I know, it is possibly the cutest looking cow ever made. And it’s only about the size of my palm. Gordie loved this cow. It was one of the first things that he tried to get me to buy at the store when he was around a year. It’s been up on a shelf though so he hasn’t seen it in a while. The cow eventually found it way back to civilization and I thought Gordie might like to see how it can moo if you push it’s tummy. It seemed like this would be fun because he would be old enough to do it now.

Well, that did not go over well. After a lot of tears and snuggles, I told the cow to stop making noises and we reached a peace. I know Gordie is a little sensitive to noises, but the quiet moo of this cute little cow? Whoops.

Usborne First Cookbook - Review

I’ve now tested out 4 recipes from The Usborne First Cookbook: Cheese Souffle, Baked Egg Tomato Cups, Tasty Rice and Welsh Rarebit. Overall I had a good experience with the cookbook – everything turned out pretty well. I didn’t try out any of the dessert recipes (of which there are quite a few) but I think I still got a pretty good feel for the book.
This cookbook is aimed at kids old enough to use knives and heat. One of the things I really like is even though it’s aimed at kids, these are real recipes. There is nothing condescending or cutesy about them. These are recipes that anyone could be proud to make at any point in their lives.
They’re recipes inside are chosen more for their appeal to kids than their health benefits, but getting kids excited about cooking is definitely a start in the right direction regardless.
The recipes each have drawings that illustrate different steps. The drawings include tiny chefs that may be off putting to older chefs but otherwise do a good job of guiding you through the recipe.
I found the recipes to be pretty straight forward and easy to follow. My one complaint in this regard was with the cheese soufflé recipe when you make the white sauce it is a component of another recipe which could lead to potential problems. I don’t like it when cookbooks aimed at grown-ups do this so I was surprised to see it in a kids cookbook.
Bottom Line? I think it’s worth picking up for 8-12 year old to help them get interested in cooking and develop some cooking skills. This cookbook will teach them recipes that they could use for years, but do expect to be on hand to supervise your novice chef.

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes it’s all in the phrasing: Love, children and equality

Like most mother’s contemplating having a second child, I worry that it’s not possible for me to love my potential second child as much as my first. So when the article “Mom Confession: I think I love my son a little bit more” popped up, it really made me think.

Although I don’t doubt her sincerity that this is something she struggles with and wishes could improve, I do think that it was written in a intentionally provocative manner. If she were to say instead, I love both my kids, but with my son it is easy and I really struggle with my daughter, it would be hard to argue with wouldn’t it? Or even if she said that she finds herself favoring her son and being harder on her daughter it would be pretty easy to empathize with.

But instead, she decided to say that she actually love her son more than her daughter. This just rubs people the wrong way. I’ve heard many people point out that the daughter may read this one day and you can’t un-ring the bell. But even if her daughter manages to understand what her mother is going through and be able to deal with that, she may not be able to deal with the taunting of classmates who end up reading the article. Not to mention the possible implications for the son. It can be just as difficult for the son to read that his mother loved him best. It could make him full of himself or immensely guilty that his sister didn’t receive her fair share of his mother’s love and attention. And even more so because it’s out for the world to see.

But I will say one thing for this article – it did make me think. And I’ve realized that I may not love my kids all the same, I may love them differently and that’s okay. They will after all be different people with different personalities, strengths and challenges. but I know I’ll love them all just as much. And every child deserves to be told that.

Eating Out for 400 Calories or Less–South St. Burger Co.

For my eating out challenge this week while we were at CrossIron Mills we decided to eat at South St. Burger Co. For 359 calories I got a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun (not including toppings). So far this is the only fast food restaurant that I’ve found where I actually like eating a grilled chicken sandwich. They are usually so bland I want to cry. The great thing about South St. Burger Co. is you customize your own burger with a large variety of available toppings. So it is easy to have some extra veggies and a sauce that actually has some flavor.

They don’t have nutritional information available for the toppings so my calorie count won’t be perfect but my best internet estimate puts a tablespoon of mango chutney at 35 calories so I should be close.

Special Instructions:Whole Wheat Bun (but they usually ask)
Substitutions: None
Additions: I added pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and mango chutney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Per Chicken sandwich with a whole wheat bun and no toppings: Calories – 359, Carbs – 38g (3g sugar), Fat – 5.1g (8% daily value), Protein 34, Fibre – 4, Sodium 869mg (36% daily value),

Peanut Butter Hummus

It’s funny how much how something is presented can change your attitude towards it. I’ve seen recipes for hummus that suggested you could substitute tahini with peanut butter on multiple occasions and I always thought that was kind of lame. Okay if you lived somewhere that you really couldn’t find any tahini, fine but otherwise?
Then one day my mom sent me a recipe for peanut butter hummus. Peanut butter hummus? Brilliant! Now I realize that this is actually the same thing that I previously thought was lame, but somehow now it sounds interesting and different instead of a cop out.
It’s pretty good too. The peanut butter taste isn’t overpowering but if your kid is a little adverse to hummus, this may be enough to win them over.

Peanut Butter Hummus Recipe
1/4 teaspoon Garlic powder
1/4 cup Lemon juice
1/4 cup Water (more if needed)
1 can (16 oz) Chickpeas ; rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I just used a big spoon)
1 teaspoon Sea salt

Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

• Measure and pour the ingredients
  
• Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor
  
• Run the food processor (with supervision)

Directions
1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. 2. Add all the ingredients to the food processor (you can use a blender, but it’s not really  not as effective. I have tried and don’t recommend it. I ended up buying a food processor so I could make hummus). 3. Run the food processor until the hummus starts to appear to bounce up and down (this won’t take a really long time) . Alternatively just check it every 10 seconds or so. You’ll want to scrape off the sides of the food processor because I find some chickpeas tend to stick to the sides and then give it another quick blend. If you are finding it’s not as well mixed or creamy as you would like just add another 1/4 cup of water.

Per 1/8 of the hummus: Calories – 81, Carbs – 7g, Fat – 5g, Protein 4, Fibre – 2

Daylight Saving Time Sucks

It is 9:55pm. My son just fell asleep. This is destroying my will to live. I realize it is only a hour difference. But before the time change, this would only be 9pm. That I could handle. But 10?  I am so tired. I’m trying to go to bed at a reasonable hour and I’m not doing much better than Gordie. The first two nights I tried to go to bed at 11 and ended up not falling asleep until 2 in the morning.

I am cranky and grumpy and tired. I’m even too cranky and tired to write a good blog post. There are a lot of reasons why I think it is stupid aside from my personal crankiness but I’m honestly feeling too exhausted to even bother getting into it.

There is nothing that you can tell me about sunlight or energy savings that will make this worth it to me. I think we should just pick the time we like best and stick with it.

Salt and Pepper Popcorn

Air popped popcorn can be a great healthy snack, but a little… bland. I love salt and pepper potato chips so I decided to try to bring those flavors to the popcorn. It is super easy, delicious and really pretty healthy.

Directions
1. Pop your popcorn using your favorite method.
2. Spray or drizzle with oil or butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I really like using extra virgin olive oil in my misto sprayer and grinding pepper and sea salt over top. It’s best to spray and sprinkle, toss and then repeat a few times.

Eating Out for 400 Calories or Less–McDonalds

We eat out more than I could like – mostly on the weekends. I’m not particularly tall (5’4”) and I find it difficult to not overeat at fast food restaurants. So I’ve decided to challenge myself to try to find things to eat that I enjoy eating that are 400 calories or less. I’m not going to worry about how much fat, sugar, or salt they have just how many calories (although I will report the nutritional information). I’m also going to try to have things where I don’t have to eat 3/4 of a burger or something in order to make it work.

My first attempt worked out really well. For 360 calories I got a Spicy Thai Chicken Salad with warm grilled chicken. It was really good – spicy and sweet. I found it satisfying and would definitely order it again.

Special Instructions:Grilled Chicken (though they normally ask)
Substitutions: None
Additions: None

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Per Salad with all the dressing: Calories – 360, Carbs – 32g (29g sugar), Fat – 12g (18% daily value, 1g Sat. 0g Trans), Protein 25, Fibre – 5, Sodium 940mg (39% daily value), .

Meatless Monday–Curry Gnocchi

Gordie was helping me pick out ingredients from the pantry and figured we should have Gnocchi. And then decided that he wanted chickpeas too. I was a little thrown. I usually just serve Gnocchi with a tomato pasta sauce. So I poked around the internet and that that some people combined these two ingredients with canned tomatoes. That was definitely something I could work with. When I run out of canned tomatoes I sometimes feel like I’ve lost the ability to cook. I decided to add some chopped spinach I had in the freezer which reminded me of an Indian dish so I added some currry spices. Gordie is a little iffy on the spinach (and green food in general at the moment) but loved everything else. The dish I made was a pretty mild curry without too much heat but you could always add more if you were so inclined.
Curry Gnocchi Recipe
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 block of chopped frozen spinach
1 package of Gnocchi
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon Garam Masala (an indian spice mix, you can get it here in Calgary in Superstore in the Indian spice section – not the baking aisle)
If you can’t find or don’t want to buy Garam Masala just use twice the curry powder.

Directions
1. Heat some oil in a pan. Mix in the spices, tomatoes and chickpeas. You can basically cook this for as long as you want on a low simmer. I’d recommend at least 10-15 minutes.
2. When you are about 10 minutes from serving, put a pot of water on to boil. Add the Gnocchi to the boiling water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the floating gnocchi into a bowl (it would also be fine to put them directly into the pan with the tomatoes and chickpeas).
2. Defrost the spinach in the microwave. As soon as it has thawed, squeeze the water out of it. The spinach will look the best if you add it to the pan close to when you plan on serving it but it will still taste fine if it cooks for a while.
3. Cook the spinach, tomatoes and chickpeas until the spinach is heated.

Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

• Pour the cans into the pan
  
• Measure and pour the spices
  
• Stir the vegetables under close supervision

Per 1/4 of the Curry Gnocchi: Calories – 316, Carbs – 56g, Fat – 6g, Protein 12, Fibre – 7.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal–Slow Cooker Method

I got the inspiration for this dish from Oh She Glows (great vegan recipe ideas). I thought the concept would be perfect for the slow cooker and simplified it so it would be easier for me to throw together before bed.
I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I would definitely recommend adding a little maple syrup (or your favorite sugar like substance) on top because that really takes it from good oatmeal to carrot cake. My husband liked it even though he always complains whenever I use pecans or walnuts. Gordie seemed to like it too even though it often rejects carrots recently. They didn’t bother him at all in this. Bottom line - I will definitely be making it again because I loved it.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal Slow Cooker Method (Serves 4-6)
1 Cup Steel Cut Oats
2 Cups Water
2 1/2 Cups Milk (I’ve tried skim and soy – both good)
2 cups of carrots finely grated (2-3 good sized carrots, I have used a coarse grate and it was fine, just not as good)
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup walnuts/pecans (I always substitute pecans, I find them less bitter)
1/4 cup raisins
top with milk and maple syrup

I think a little cream cheese mixed in would be great, but I haven’t had a chance to try it.

Directions
1. Place the first 8 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine.
2. Cook the oatmeal on “warm” for 6-9 hours (If I put it on low overnight half of it sticks to the side of the crockpot, you may be able to put yours on low overnight if yours doesn’t run quite as hot as mine. If you don’t have a warm setting reduce the cooking time or just deal with it).
3. When you get up, pop in the raisins and walnuts.and turn the heat up to low. Cook for 20-30 more minutes and serve with milk and maple syrup.
Per 1/6 of the oatmeal with 1 Tbsp of maple syrup: Calories – 235, Carbs – 46g, Fat – 5g, Protein 8, Fibre – 5.
Photography Note: It is hard to take appealing pictures of goopy things. Toppings really help make it look more attractive.

Loving Leftovers: Pasta Frittata

One of the things that I’m trying to focus on lately is throwing out less leftovers. Often I find that I just can’t handle eating the same meal that I may have already had for supper and lunch again for the following supper. So I’m trying to find ways of mixing it up to make something that feels fresh but doesn’t involve a lot of additional work. One of my favourites is making a leftover pasta frittata. It works with any type of pasta and with or without meat. It’s best if you have a sauce with a bit of substance, but if all you have is plain pasta or a weak sauce like olive oil and parmesan you can still make it work. If this is the case, I’d recommend starting the frittata by sautéing an onion and some garlic to bump up the flavour or just add a few additional fresh items like fresh herbs (basil is nice), more tomatoes, or peppers and it’ll be great.

Leftover Pasta Frittata Recipe
About 1 cup of leftover pasta plus sauce
7-8 eggs
3/4 cup grape tomatoes halved
1 cup shredded cheese
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

• Beat the eggs
  
• Measure, pour and mix

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. 2. Beat the eggs and mix in the tomatoes, cheese, salt and pepper. 3. In a large oven proof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the pasta and sauce and heat for 1 minute. 4. Evenly distribute the pasta in the pan. 5. Pour the eggs over the pasta and coat as well as you can. 6. Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper. 7. Cook over medium heat for 4-6 minutes. The frittata should be mostly set but the top will still be runny. 8. Place the pan in the oven for 4-6 minutes until the eggs are set.
If you don't have an oven proof skillet, you can use a lid to set the top of the eggs or you can slide the frittata onto a plate and then flip back into the pan to cook the other side but you’ll have to cook it longer on the first side.

The nutritional information will vary widely depending on what kind of pasta and sauce you use.
I seem to always have more than a cup of leftover pasta and have trouble resisting adding the extra. This will still work, but it won’t be as ‘eggy’ and it may alter the cooking time.

My Favorite Basic Hummus Recipe

I’m going to try out a few different hummus variations in the next couple of weeks, so I thought I’d first share my go-to hummus recipe. There’s about a million different hummus recipes out there but I do really love this one. I prefer the powdered garlic to fresh garlic as it gives it a more mellow flavor. I also strongly recommend making it a day ahead. The flavors have a chance to mix and the bitterness of the tahini (which I am a little sensitive to) is gone after a night in the fridge.     

Hummus Recipe
1/4 teaspoon Garlic powder
1/4 cup Lemon juice
1/4 cup Water (more if needed)
1 can (16 oz) Chickpeas ; rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Tahini
1 teaspoon Sea salt

Cooking with the Kids
Gordie really enjoyed making this and I enjoyed making it with him. Because there’s no heat required he’s able to be there through the whole process. Your child wouldn’t have to be much older than Gordie (nearly 2) to be able to do this with a lot of independence. 
The kids can:

• Measure and pour the ingredients
• Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor
• Run the food processor (with supervision)

Directions

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
2. Add all the ingredients to the food processor (you can use a blender, but it’s not really  not as effective. I have tried and don’t recommend it. I ended up buying a food processor so I could make hummus).
3. Run the food processor until the hummus starts to appear to bounce up and down (this won’t take a really long time) . Alternatively just check it every 10 seconds or so. You’ll want to scrape off the sides of the food processor because I find some chickpeas tend to stick to the sides and then give it another quick blend. If you are finding it’s not as well mixed or creamy as you would like just add another 1/4 cup of water.

I find this makes quite a lot of hummus so I usually freeze half. It freezes really well.

Per 1/8 of the hummus: Calories – 103, Carbs – 10g, Fat – 6g, Protein 4, Fibre – 3.

Welsh Rarebit (Usbourne First Cookbook)

Welsh rarebit, is a dish made with a savoury sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients and served hot over toast. It’s also the last recipe that I’ll be testing for my review of The Usborne First Cookbook. (Overall review to come). This is another one that I figured Gordie would love, it combines two of his favorite things eggs and tomatoes, how could we go wrong?

I also tried Baked Egg Tomato Cups, Cheese Soufflé  and Tasty Rice make sure it check them out too.

Welsh Rarebit Recipe
3/4 cup grated cheese (I’d use a an sharp cheddar next time)
1 tsp mustard
1 egg, beaten
3 or 4 drop Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper
4 slices of bread
2 tomatoes sliced

Direction
1. Stir the cheese, mustard, egg, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
2. Put the slices of bread in the broiler (the toaster oven was great for this). Toast on on side.
3. Remove the toast from the broiler and spread the cheese mixture over the untoasted side of the bread. Lay a couple of slices of tomatoes on top depending on the size of tomato.
4. Put the toast back in the broiler until the cheese is bubbling and light brown.

So, Did They Eat It?
Gordie liked this, but not as much as I had expected. I made it for lunch so only the two of us were there to try it but that was probably for the best. At first I thought it was a little bit bland (it kind of is) but I kept going back for more! It was actually pretty yummy. I tried out two kids of bread a sourdough-like kind and a regular whole wheat. The Whole wheat actually turned out a lot better. I think the softer crust helped a lot. I’m not sure I’d bother making it again, but it would be a great recipe for young chefs. There is a lot they could do independently.

Per Welsh Rarebit: Calories – 183, Carbs – 17g, Fat – 9g, Protein 10, Fibre – 3.

Wordless Wednesday

   

 

    

A Critical Look at Research in the News: Parents Exaggerate Joys of Parenting

I am sick of articles written (largely) by people who do not have children talking about how children make parents unhappy and people who have kids are stupid/ridiculous/deluding themselves. (Yes, obviously I should stop reading them, but that’s beside the point.) There seems to be a segment of the population that delights in exclaiming that parents are foolish to have had kids when any piece of research comes out that appears to support that position.

I’m frequently dismayed when I read newspaper articles talking about research studies. They often overstate or misrepresent what the (usually single) study actually found. Particularly in the headline in order to get a catchy title.

This can serve to rile up or confuse people unnecessarily. So, I’ve decided to examine articles that I find interesting and try to explain what the study actually found and how this corresponds with what its portrayal in the newspaper.

The first article article I’ve chosen is, Kid Crazy: Why We Exaggerate the Joys of Parenthood. 

In their study reported on in this article, Eibach and Mock, tested how parents reacted to different types of information about parenting in two studies. In these two studies, parents were presented with either information about the costs of parenting or the costs and long term benefits. (It’s interesting to note that all the information presented to parents was of an economic nature. The benefits described were how children help you in your old age so you are more financially secure if you have children. This seems to be a rather limited presentation of the benefits of raising children.) The studies found that although parents feelings of emotional discomfort immediately after reading the negative material was higher than those who had read the positive and negative material, when tested after a delay, these negative feelings were gone. They also found that parents who read the negative material were more likely to say that they enjoyed spending time with their children and were planning on spending more leisure time with their kids.  (You can access the abstract to the original scientific journal article here.)

So, that’s what the research found. What did the article report? Here are a few direct quotes from the Time: Health article by John Cloud.

Now comes new research showing that having kids is not only financially foolish but that kids literally make parents delusional.

But a new paper shows that parents fool themselves into believing that having kids is more rewarding than it actually is. It turns out parents are in the grip of a giant illusion.

Instead, parents glorify their lives. They believe that the financial and emotional benefits of having children are significantly higher than they really are.

Does this mean you shouldn't have kids? Yes — but you won't. Our national fantasy about the joys of parenting permeates the culture.

Of course parents should be commended for one little thing they do: maintain the existence of humanity. I praise them for that, but I think they're both heroes and suckers.

These quotes show an obvious bias by John Cloud. But he is hardly alone in his interpretation of the results of this study. You can find article after article that contains the same basic idea: Parents are delusional and this study by Eibach and Mock demonstrates this to be true.

But in fact, the study did not find that at all. What this really says is that parents can be manipulated into exaggerating the joys of parenting, not that they actually do in their every day lives. Actually, being that parents tend to encounter both the various rewards as well as the costs of parenting, this study would seem to suggest, if anything, that parents do not do exaggerate the joys of parenting in their everyday lives. What it does suggest is that parents may do this when going through a particularly difficult period such as a child being sick, parents will increase their commitment to their children and exaggerate the benefits to help them through a stressful time. This seems like a good thing to me. But somehow it’s being painted as a negative.

Besides, the ‘delusion’ as they call it is nothing more than Cognitive Dissonance. This is a phenomenon can happen to anyone who is having to deal with two thoughts that contradict each other. Such as in this case, how happy you are to be a parent and the economic burden of raising a child (if you want to read more about cognitive dissonance, here is a great, easy to read article by psyblog). It’s really not surprising or noteworthy that this happens to parents.

Yes, parenting is difficult. Yes when you are cleaning up puke from 2 sick kids in a sleep deprived haze it is hard to remember why you thought this was a good idea. But there are not many parents who would choose to have a do-over.

 

Articles that I have used on this topic for this post:

http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/04/why-having-kids-is-foolish/

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/the-bottom-line-of-raising-kids-parents-rationalize-the-economic-cost-of-children-by-exaggerating-their-parental-joy.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Parents+exaggerate+parenting+justify+costs+study/4379335/story.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245495 (link to the academic journal article)

Avocado, Grapefruit and Spinach Salad

I threw this salad together from things I happened to have in the fridge. It turned out so well and looks so pretty I now pull it out when I want an impressive looking salad that’s quick to put together when I’m entertaining. Although most of the time I make it just for myself.

Avocado, Grapefruit and Spinach Salad Recipe
1 bag of baby spinach leaves
1 grapefruit segmented (or a grapefruit fruit cup which are awesome)
1 avocado
almonds (sliced for sprinkling)
1/8 cup grapefruit juice
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper (freshly ground is nice)

Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

• Scoop out the avocado
• Put the ingredients in the salad bowl
• Measure, mix and pour the dressing
• Toss the spinach with the dressing (this is fun with your fingers)

Directions

1. Whisk together the dressing ingredients: grapefruit juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
2. Cube the avocado (and slice the grapefruit if necessary).
3. Put the spinach in a large salad bowl and toss with the dressing. You will probably have made more than you need so go easy.
4. Top with the avocado, grapefruit and almonds and serve.

Per 1/4 salad with all of the dressing: Calories – 174, Carbs – 15g, Fat – 12g, Protein 3, Fibre – 4.