Real Food for Healthy Kids: 200+ Easy, Wholesome Recipes [Hardcover]

Tanya Wenman Steel (Author), Tracey Seaman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

Parent-tested and kid-approved, a comprehensive, practical resource for wholesome, healthful meals children of all ages will eat—and love

In an era of McDiets, packed schedules, and stressful jobs, it's harder than ever to incorporate nutritious food into our children's daily lives. But you no longer have to rely on microwaved hot dogs and frozen pizza. In this essential cookbook, food—and parenting—experts Tracey Seaman and Tanya Wenman Steel offer help and hope, whether you're experienced in the kitchen or more inclined to head to the drive-through.

Real Food for Healthy Kids features more than 200 easy-to-make recipes for school days and weekends, including breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, and even parties. Each recipe has been taste-tested by children and analyzed by a nutritionist.

• A power breakfast might feature Carrot Cake Oatmeal, Green Eggs-in-Ham Quiche Cups, or Hole-y Eggs!
• Keep kids energized with a Real Food lunch, such as Hail Caesar, Jr. Salad, Turkey Pinwheels, or Egg Salad Double-Decker Sandwiches.
• Seaman and Steel's snacks include Zucchini Tempura with Horseradish Dunk, Chewy Granola Bars, Happy Apple Toddies, and much more.
• Serve a mouthwatering family dinner: Peachy Keen Chicken, Super Steak Fajitas, or Princess and the Pea Risotto.
• Enjoy a scrumptious dessert: Cheery Cherry Plank, Brown Mouse, or Chocolate-Covered Strawberries.

Seaman and Steel have spent the last four years developing and testing recipes to create nourishing dishes that kids of all ages, from babies to grad students, and even finicky eaters, vegetarians, and kids with food sensitivities will enjoy. Whatever recipes you choose, this indispensable cookbook is sure to become the resource you turn to every day for years to come. Equal parts cookbook, nutrition guide, daily menus, party planner, and parenting guide, Real Food for Healthy Kids will get your kids engaged in eating, happily and healthfully for a lifetime.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The book is not about health food with a capital H, but simply wholesome nutritious food that kids will eat.” (Winston-Salem Journal )

“Steel, editor in chief of Epicurious.com, and Seaman cover plenty of nutrition basics, then put them into practice with appealing, kid-friendly recipes. Offerings cover cookie-jar treats (usually spiked with whole-wheat flour) and everything from breakfast to dessert.” (Columbus Dispatch )

“Like a modern, family-oriented version of The Joy of Cooking.” (Austin American-Statesman )

“As mothers and food professionals, their expertise shows up in advice on everything from the best foods to stock in the pantry to put together a quick meal, to what foods kids should be eating, and why.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution )

“This is a family cookbook, with food for everyone, not just young kids—and many of the recipes are suitable for children to make or help make.” (Super Chef )

“Seaman and Steel created their recipes with the premise that tasty food, well prepared from fresh, simple ingredients does not need to be dressed up and ties with a bow for children to eat it.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel )

“With Real Food for Healthy Kids, a new cookbook by Tracey Seaman and Tanya Wenman Steel, wholesome meals may find their way onto the table on more regular basis.” (San Francisco Chronicle )

“Here’s a book that will help parents help their kids.” (Sacramento Bee )

“A primer on helping kids eat right and eat well.” (Associated Press )

“Healthy meals your kids will eat up.” (New York Daily News )

“Provides recipes and strategies for every facet of feeding children, from breakfast to birthday cakes.” (Cookie magazine )

“As mothers and food professionals, their expertise shows up in advice on everything from the best foods to stock in the pantry to put together a quick meal, to what foods kids should be eating, and why.” (Orlando Sentinel )

“We knew she’d (Tracey Seaman) have no problem working her culinary magic in her new cookbook.” (Everyday with Rachael Ray )

About the Author

Tanya Wenman Steel is editor in chief of the award-winning food website Epicurious.com. The winner of a prestigious James Beard Foundation Journalism Award, she is a regular guest on Today, has written extensively for the New York Times, and been an editor at Bon Appetit and Food & Wine magazines. She lives in New York with her husband and twin sons.

Tracey Seaman, a single mom of two adolescents, is test kitchen director of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine and has been a food editor, stylist, and recipe developer, whose credits include Food & Wine, Gourmet, Vegetarian Times, Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Kids, and other national magazines and cookbooks. She lives with her family in New Jersey.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060857919
• ISBN-13: 978-0060857912
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to explain...unimpressed, September 6, 2009

By 

New Englander - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Real Food for Healthy Kids: 200+ Easy, Wholesome Recipes (Hardcover)

I ignored the few negative reviews for this recipe book, and bought it anyway...especially since it had so many glowing reviews. And the authors seemed exceptionally accomplished. But it isn't the recipe book for me.

Unfortunately, it's hard to describe exactly what's wrong with the book or exactly why I don't like it. No one thing is a killer, but, as a whole, I found the book disappointing. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. No pictures at all. None. Zip. And I just don't like recipe books that don't include photos.
2. The organization is kind of trying. The onion dip recipe is listed in the "snack attack" section. Sesame sauce is under "lunch," and Teriyaki Vinaigrette is under "dinner." It would have been easier for me if those had been listed as "sauces" or listed as part of a recipe for a full-blown dish.
3. You could find better versions of most of these recipes in adult cook books. I already have a recipe for Caesar salad, for example. And this book doesn't offer a new take on the salad at all, except to title it with a snazzy kid name: Hail Caesar, Jr.
4. The snazzy kid names are annoying to me, especially since they don't end up being very descriptive. "Squish Squash," for example, is just a simple mashed butternut squash. It's a fine name once you know what the dish is, but you have to read through the ingredients to figure out what the dish is going to be like. With more complicated recipes that is a bit of a task because, as I mentioned before...no photos.
5. They spend a lot of time on drink and dessert recipes.
6. They spend very little time on side dishes or vegetables, and most of the vegetable sides they offer are either potato heavy or extremely basic, such as roasted asparagus, which is...(wait for it)...roasted asparagus, in olive oil with salt and pepper. I don't need a recipe book for things like that. I can come up with salt and pepper on my own.
7. They don't offer much in the way of serving suggestions. They'll give you the recipe for pineapple pork, but they won't give you any ideas of what to serve it with, which makes the lack of veggie recipes more painful.

The recipes themselves seem OK. I like roasted asparagus, and mashed butternut squash...and Caesar salad. So it's fine. But overall I found this book to aimed at someone other than me. If you're already into food at all, this probably isn't the book for you. I didn't find anything very original or insightful in this book, and I found many things kind of confusing (why is canned pumpkin is a necessity for a well-stocked pantry? I only use pumpkin a few times a year, and I usually just use real pumpkin--or I buy a can for the specific recipe. I don't know).

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Spinach in the Brownies, September 3, 2008

By 

Deborah Marton (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Food for Healthy Kids: 200+ Easy, Wholesome Recipes (Hardcover)

"Real Food" is a rare example of a book related to child-rearing that manages to be warm and personal without being ingratiating or dishonest. You won't find any spinach hiding in the brownies here -- just delicious recipes that that will encourage your kids to enjoy authentic, healthy food. I highly recommend it.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy and delicious, August 19, 2008

By 

Jules "Jaroo" (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Food for Healthy Kids: 200+ Easy, Wholesome Recipes (Hardcover)

My kids and I love this cookbook. the recipes are delicious and easy to make. Kids do NOT need to only eat pasta and PB & J's. if you expose them to healthy flavorful foods early on they'll have a sophisticated pallet for life. My mother always cooked us whatever she liked and we loved it too. the recipes in this book are good for everyone in the family. This way everyone can eat together - as they should!!!