Green Wrappers

Green Wrappers

As part of my microbiome-friendly New Year’s resolution, I’m continuing to try to get our family eating more whole “real” foods that are easy to make and family kid friendly. Just saw this interesting recipe for Collard Green Wraps on Fresh Tastes, the PBS Food blog. While I’m not totally sure that the girls will be thrilled about using collard greens as a wrapper – I know they love avocados, carrots, and hummus. So, I’m thinking that we’ll have a wrap taste test party this weekend. We’ll get a few different kinds of “green wraps”: kale, collard greens, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, cabbage, and leafy green or red lettuce. We’ll see what they and Daddy bring home from the grocery store. Then we’ll put out slivered veggies, beans (they will always eat beans!), and a hummus and see how different green wrappers influence the taste of the same inside ingredients. I’ll let you know how it goes. Also love the idea of sprouts. I’ve never really grown sprouts, but it would be a fun, healthy something to get established in the kitchen this winter. We actually saw snowflakes the other day in Maryland, guess winter has decided to join us.

Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

  The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year is a new evidence-based book by Dr. Alice Callahan that uses science to common questions new parents ask in the first year of an infant’s life. I reviewed the first portion of this book last month for Science and Sensibility. I greatly enjoyed Dr. Callahan’s no-nonsense approach and reliance on scientific consensus when discussing different issues, especially vaccinations. Additionally, she identifies gaps in the data and specifically discusses how proper study design may help resolve remaining issues. Given Dr. Callahan’s background in nutrition and fetal physiology, I was particularly interested in reading her comments on beginning solid foods. Some of the recommendations were surprising to me, such as the benefits of feeding meat, especially liver, to babies. She also does an excellent job discussing the current literature on food allergies and timing of food introduction. Overall, I found the honest, open, and un-judgmental tone throughout the book refreshing in the collection of parenting books. Below is an interview I did with Dr. Callahan about the impetus behind her new book, how she defines scientific consensus, how she chose her  book content, her future projects, and how science and parenting intertwine in