Download the print magazine

Archives
Summer 2007
Winter 2007
Summer 2006
Winter 2006


Advertising Information
Rate card
Contract

(You need Adobe Reader for all three. Get it here.)

© Copyright 2008, Mountain Kids
Magazine, LLC

Summer 2008
Gunnison/Crested Butte Colorado Family
Activity Guide

Features

Eating With The Seasons — Colorful, Fun And Ever Changing
Roanne Rouse Houck, N.D. Naturopathic Doctor



Kids love to be involved in growing, buying and preparing meals. Including them in food preparation will hopefully set them on a path to a lifetime of good nutrition and health. Promoting variety in the kitchen keeps things interesting and eating seasonal is one way to do that.

Choose foods that are best grown that time of year rather than those that must travel great distances before reaching your table. Though our local growing season is short, that of our western and eastern neighbors is longer. With a little planning we can enjoy Colorado produce all year long.

Let’s start our journey through seasonal eating with spring. This is an excellent time of year to start the family garden. If you do not have the right conditions for a garden, use potted vegetable plants and put them on your deck, in a sunroom or any room that is bright and sunny.

Have your kids fill pots and buckets with garden soil and choose a few of their favorite vegetables to plant. Keep the soil moist but avoid over saturation and pooling water. Pots that drain from the bottom are best. Try tomatoes, chard, basil or parsley. Rainbow chard is colorful and highly nutritious.

Recipe Idea
Shredded Vegetable Wrap: Take a 100% whole wheat flour tortilla or flat bread that can be turned in to a wrap. Spread a thin layer of flaxseed oil (omega 3 essential fatty acid), add a sprinkle of wheat germ (vitamin E) and top with organic free range turkey, grated carrots, beets, broccoli, zucchini, or a mound of alfalfa sprouts. Add a few sprigs of the basil, parsley or diced, wilted chard that you’ve grown. Mustard, vinegar, salt or pepper may be added to taste. Roll it up and cut in half. These keep very well for a day or two in the refrigerator.

As spring rolls into summer the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables increases. Summer is the time to meander through your local farmers’ market. Encourage your kids to get excited about the variety of foods and show them some that are less familiar for fun. Give each of them a cloth bag and few dollars and turn them loose to pick two or three fruits or vegetables that are appealing. Recommend they choose foods that are different colors such as purple plums and red tomatoes. If a particular food is in season and the farmer has an abundance of it, buy extra and freeze some for winter.

For a delicious snack when you get home, try making a chopped fruit salad from those the kids have selected and top with yogurt and toasted almonds or granola. Or put out a bowl of cherry tomatoes for finger food.

Quick and easy tomato freezing: Ask a local grower when their tomatoes will be ready. Often they have more than they can sell and will have “seconds.” A box of these can be purchased and used for freezing. Have your children help to gently wash the tomatoes in a bucket of water. Lay them out on a towel to dry. Place several tomatoes into plastic bags that seal. Write the date, suck out the air, seal and stack in the freezer. There is no need to peel or boil. Use to make tomato sauces, soups or tomato juice all winter long.

Try a Carrot-Celery-Spinach Juice
When carrots, celery and spinach come into season, try this vitamin, mineral, antioxidant blast. Using a juicer, press several carrots to make fresh juice. If you do not have a juicer buy local carrot juice or use chopped carrots and water in the blender, this will make a thicker juice. Chop two stalks of celery and carefully wash 3-4 leaves of spinach. Place the carrot juice, chopped celery and spinach into a blender. Add about 25% more plain water to slightly dilute the carrot juice if you did not make from blended whole carrots. Turn on high for about 30 seconds, or until well pureed, then serve. You may also add fresh grated ginger, 100% apple juice, one chopped apple, or a scoop of plain yogurt with live cultures.

Toward the end of the summer and into the fall, root crops such as turnips, beets and potatoes, as well as a squash, are ready for harvest. Acorn, spaghetti and zucchini squash are fun to eat and can be prepared in a variety of ways. Try baking a spaghetti squash in the oven for about an hour, then top with olive oil or butter and grated Parmesan cheese, crumbled goat’s feta, tomato sauce or cottage cheese. As the farmers’ markets and home gardens wind down, plant a second round of lettuce, mixed baby greens or herbs such as basil or parsley in indoor pots.

Recipe Idea
Sweet Potato Pancakes: Pump up your immunity for winter. Use your usual pancake recipe with a few substitutions. I like to use a mixture of flour: rice, oat or corn flour, mixed with wheat flour plus 2-3 fresh farm eggs, 1/2 to 1 cup organic milk (cow’s, rice or soy), 1-2 tablespoons canola or olive oil, a capful of vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of iodized sea salt and 1/2 to 1 cup of pureed sweet potato. If desired, sweeten with applesauce, molasses, agave nectar, ripe banana, berries or dried fruit. Depending upon how many you are making you will need to adjust amounts.

I often make enough to have for breakfast two days in a row. Mix all ingredients together. The batter should be thin enough to pour, but thick enough to rise. If your pancakes are too thin add a little more flour; if too thick a little more milk. Heat a skillet over medium heat, lightly oil with canola oil, olive oil or 100% real organic butter and cook. Stainless steel or cast iron skillets are recommended.

Top your cakes with a smear of organic low fat or whole plain yogurt, a tablespoon of real maple syrup and some chopped nuts or berries. Cut into pancake “fingers” for dipping into whatever your child likes for something fun and different.

As winter approaches, start thinking more about slow-cooker meals, stews and casseroles. Especially around here, we like to have something hot on those cold winter nights. Using tomatoes, peas, corn or broccoli frozen in summer along with carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic or some greens, any old soup can be fixed up into a nutritious meal. Add alphabet noodles for your kids to enjoy and if you like meat, put your cut into the bottom of the pot and heap with all the vegetables you love. Add a bit of salt, cover with water and turn it on for a day or two. You’ll love what you spoon out!

I generally stay away from smoothies made with frozen fruit and/or ice and excess soy in the winter, as these are too cooling. Hot drinks and hot baths are more favorable around our house during this time of year. Raw vegetables in winter are fine but you may prefer to lightly sauté, steam or cook vegetables a little more often during the winter months. Use a variety of colored spices for warmth, immune support and flavor. Curry, cayenne, cumin, coriander, saffron and turmeric are a few of my favorite medicinal spices.

Eating with the seasons is a great way to teach your children about good nutrition and creative cooking. I suggest a diet comprised of at least 60% from the plant kingdom (vegetables, whole grains, fruit, nuts, seeds, etc) and about 40% from the animal kingdom (meat, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese, fish, chicken, pork, lamb, etc). Raw or toasted nuts, seeds, tempeh and cooked beans may be used in place of animal protein at some meals. These foods are high in fiber and offer significant nutritional value.

Essential fatty acid (EFA) intake can be increased at any meal by adding a teaspoon or two of ground flaxseeds, walnuts and sunflower seeds. To make a healthy EFA topping, add equal parts nuts and seeds, such as the ones named above, to a blender or food processor and grind to desired consistency. Sprinkle on toast, cereal, sandwiches, salads, soups or baked potatoes. EFA’s are important for skin, eyesight, cognitive function, allergy reduction/prevention and growth and development.

Finally, to compliment a day of good nutrition, have a nutritional sweet treat. Using your favorite cookie recipe, substitute 1/4 or 1/2 parts whole wheat flour for white, add a few chopped nuts or whole oats, and sweeten with honey, agave nectar, molasses, rice syrup or maple syrup, instead of white or brown sugar. It’s a a delicious treat you can feel good about.

Eat with the seasons, experiment with the different foods that each one has to offer, and enjoy those kids!

Roanne Rouse Houck, N.D. is a naturopathic doctor who lives in Gunnison and owns the Main Street Clinic. She is a graduate of the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, a four-year, residential naturopathic medical school located in Portland, Oregon. She is a native of Crested Butte and is married to stay-at-home-dad and city council member Jonathan Houck. Their 20-month and 4 year old children love to garden, cook and eat carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.

For more information about naturopathic medicine, questions about nutrition for kids or Acli-Mate® Mountain Sports Drink designed to counter altitude sickness and improve physical performance at elevation, formulated and distributed by Dr. Houck call (970) 641-5363 or 1-866-641-5361. Or visit www.COANP.org or www.Acli-Mate.com (COANP is the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Physicians).