I’ve been making a point of putting more sprouts in my diet. They’re great in salads and with sandwiches. But this just in, beware of the alfalfa sprout!!!

There appears to be a salmonella outbreak in the alfalfa kingdom. Read more about it here.

It would be no exaggeration to say that all the major Hindu festivals of Kerala are more about feasting than anything else.

So it was fairly easy for my parents to make sure that my sister and I, second generation Malayalis (as people from Kerala are known) growing up in Mumbai, had an appreciation for Keralean culture.

My mom loves to cook, and the  three major holidays (Vishu, Onam and Tiruvadira) inevitably turn into cook-a-thons for her.

It would be no exaggeration to say that I would rather enjoy the fruits of the cook-a-thon than conduct one myself.

So in anticipation of the upcoming holiday of Vishu ( which was on April 14), we took our kids to an Indian restaurant in New Jersey last Sunday and  treated them to what I should have cooked at home.

My excuse:  Vishu was falling on a weekday and between waking up at 7:30 a.m, sending kids off to school and reporting to work at 9:30, I just don’t seem to have any time.

I let her go on Easter. All the chocolate and jelly beans she could shovel into her mouth. And you know what happened next—tongue-wagging runs around the room, circles and pirouettes, or some variation thereof. And finally, a free fall onto her face…well not quite. I caught her before her chubby cheeks hit the floor.

It was amazing to see what sugar can do to a tiny little body. She’ll eat dessert with us, small scoops of ice cream, bites of cake, but never straight-up chocolate bunnies, caramel-filled eggs and balls of sugar.

I now know what my two-year-old looks like high and it’s kinda scary. But funny, too.

Every time I cook American/Western food, I wonder why I don’t do it more often. It’s simple, no muss no fuss, and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.

The other day I made some split pea and ham soup, and let me tell you, it was one of the simpler meals I’ve made. It took me less than 25 minutes to prep: cut onions, carrots, celery, garlic and ham, saute briefly in olive oil, add split peas, throw in some bay leaves, chicken broth and a few pepper corns and put it to simmer. While I made a couple of phone calls, read a magazine and folded a few clothes, it simmered. About 90 minutes later I was ready to serve it with some salad and a loaf of fresh bread. Voila! dinner was ready.

Given my Indian upbringing, I tend to cook Indian food more often. Yesterday I cooked a full Indian meal and it took me three hours, all of it glued to the stove.

The longer I live in the United States, the more I’ve come to appreciate the pleasures and the relative simplicity of everyday Western cooking. I’ve learned to roast a chicken, a leg of lamb, and make different kinds of soups and pastas. I even considered making a chicken pot pie from scratch, but I’m not there yet. All this is pretty good for a cook who, until a few years ago, used the oven to store pots and pans.

My kids like my experiments with Western cooking. My husband, who is one of the easiest men to feed, likes anything I cook. I’m the one who has held out for so long, craving fiery curries and fragrant pullaos almost every day. But as time goes by, I’m seeking freedom from the stove, or at least less time in front of it.

That has led me to try my hand at Western cooking, and let me tell you I’m loving it!

There’s an awful lot of sugar in my house these days.

My mother-in-law sent her usual box of goodies for the holidays, including mini chocolate bars and peanutbutter chocolate cups; my trip to the grocery store these past weeks have yielded up sugared fruit slices, special cakes, cookies and coated marshmallows. Boxes of chocolates left over from Valentine’s Day sales still sit on my counter and our local ice cream parlor has been open for a month.

Thankfully, my chicks have always had access to sweets in moderation, so having all this sugar in the house is more a danger to my own health than that of my children. My kids can take or leave most of the chocolates and other sugary snacks. Why can’t I?

We have officially entered the “I want what you’re having” phase. JD could have cleaned his plate, but as soon as he sees either Dad or Mom chow down on something, he’s clamoring for a bite—or two or three. Ahhh…the joys of life with a 20-month-old.

So it was no surprise the other day when JD helped himself to a date from a package Dad left on the desk. What we weren’t prepared for was how much he like it. And how quickly he asked for “mo” while tapping his fingers together (his daycare teaches some sign language to toddlers to help with communication). He packed away 4 dates (the already pitted kind), and would have gladly eaten more if we hadn’t pulled the plug.

The next morning, while putting on his coat, he spied the container of dates—now living on the top shelf of the bookcase on the desk. He began pointing and jumping up and down. He immediately popped the first one in his mouth and began looking for another. This time we stopped at two in anticipation of breakfast in a half-hour.

JD has always liked his fruits and vegetables, but we were truly amazed at how completely he took to the dates. There was no hesitation, no “let me test this out” nibble. Guess I’ll be buying more of this Middle Eastern treat this weekend.

Mommies and blogging have hit the big time. Today on Oprah, the queen of media will be discussing mommy bloggers.

The show is called “The Secret Lives of Moms” and among the guests featured will be Heather Armstrong of Dooce, Mindy Roberts from The Mommy Blog and Heija Nunn from The Worst Mother in the World.

I guess mom blogs are today’s rage since Oprah’s tackling the topic. And why would they not be. We’re all always looking for information, camaraderie and ways to make our childrens’ lives (and ours) happier, healthier and more productive. Moms rock and every single one of us has a story to tell or a lesson to learn.

Blog on moms (and dads)!!!

One of my favorite dishes, growing up, was a side of sauteed spinach with shallots.
It’s a basic, no-frills recipe that tastes delicious.

All you do is pour two tablespoons of coconut oil (any vegetable oil will do, but coconut oil makes it swoon-worthy) into a heavy-bottomed pan, and when the oil heats up, add a teaspoon of mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add half a cup of finely chopped shallots, and two slit green chilies. Wait for the onions to become translucent, about three minutes. To this, add three cups of chopped spinach and cook it down till it looks to be (sadly) about 1/4 of its original quantity. Season with salt. It tastes great with white steamed rice.

I know I am not very scientific in my recipe telling. But I will provide you with the White House Chef Cristeta Comerford’s variation (as I like to call it) of this recipe, which the New York Times recently published. I tried it out last week, and although one is a sauteed dish and the other a soup, they taste curiously alike.

My 8-year-old daughter’s response was equally curious:
“It looks a little disgusting, but tastes good.”

The White House No Cream Creamed Spinach

2 pounds baby spinach, washed and cleaned
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper.

1. Blanch half a pound of spinach in salted, boiling water. Immediately, “shock” the blanched spinach in a bowl of iced water. Drain and squeeze out the excess water. Puree in a blender. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, sweat the shallots and garlic until translucent. Add the rest of the spinach leaves. Toss and saute until wilted. Fold in the spinach puree. Season with salt and pepper.

I recently finished reading “Food Matters,” by Mark Bittman. For those of you who don’t know it, it’s a part self-help, part cookbook whose premise is that if you eat less of certain foods, specifically animal products and refined carbs and more plant-based foods as close to their raw state as possible, you will not only lose weight and be healthy but you will also save the planet.

The earth-saving idea being that our food production, including our meat consumption (we Americans eat roughly 1-pound of meat per day while Africans eat an ounce a day) and our use of two big crops, corn and soy, used to make high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, etc…is polluting the environment with pesticides, hormones, methane gas and destroying the soil.

I found the book pretty fascinating and have been trying to eat less meat as a result. My niece who is 15 and an avid softball player has also switched to a largely vegetarian diet because she said meat slows you down.

As I’ve been digesting all this information, I came across this study released today that argues that adolescents who switch to vegetarianism may be hiding some eating disorders. While the article says it is recommended that young people stick to a vegetarian diet, it is when they suddenly become vegs that parents should find out why. Interesting stuff. Check it out here.