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Marcela Rojas has been a reporter for The Journal News since 2003 and has covered numerous communities in Westchester and Putnam, including Ossining, Peekskill and Brewster. She writes often about immigration and diversity topics that span the region, along with examining national and state policies as they affect local communities.
E-mail Marcela Rojas at mrojas@lohud.com
In the last month or so, Zyla, my 16-month-old, has developed a habit for drinking water or “gwa-gwa” as she puts it (she’s used to hearing agua not water). I usually just fill up her sippy cup and off she goes to quench her thirst. She’s even pretty adept at taking a water bottle and [...]
If you happened to be on a Brooklyn-bound A train in the city today, you may have noticed a group of breastfeeding mothers and supporters, collectively known as the New York City Breastfeeding Promotion Leadership Committee, riding the rails educating the public on the benefits of mothers milk and on womens’ rights to breastfeed.
The annual [...]
So my 16-month-old daughter Zyla is really beginning to exercise her walking skills—she’s a late bloomer who just two weeks ago started ambling without putting her hands in the air and darting toward the nearest support, namely me or her father.
The other day we went out for lunch at a low key place and while [...]
I admit there are times I will buy my 15-month-old daughter frozen meals. They are easy, come with a veggie, protein and carb and she tends to eat it all up.
I do however only get her organic frozen meals, including ones made by Earth’s Best and Amy’s Kitchen. They have meals especially made for kids, [...]
So I was surprised to see that the other night when Zyla ate some cannoli cake, she became cranky, whiny and downright annoying. I always thought sugar highs made children run around in circles and get punchy and rambunctuous. But she just turned ornery and sleepy and just wanted me to hold her tight.
I found [...]
We are hoping to go cherry-picking the weekend of June 28 at Prospect Hill Orchard in Milton, NY. I’ve been on a cherry kick this season, especially after reading this from Dr. Mao somewhere on the Internet.
Cherries contain these beneficial anthocyanin compounds, which stimulate your pancreas to produce insulin. In fact, Chinese researchers have observed [...]
If any of your kids are like mine, then they love bread. If there is bread in the room, Zyla will stand for nothing else, especially if it’s a crusty baguette.
Over the weekend, we went to Port Chester and visited Kneaded Bread, a very cool bakery on North Main Street that has some tasty, if [...]
Not too long ago I read an article in The Financial Times about a 6-year-old foodie who eats, if memory serves, oysters, foie gras and foods that most children wouldn’t even go near.
Today in the New York Times there is a similar article, “Down with Picky Eating — A Parent’s Tale from Beijing.” It’s a [...]
We had a scare yesterday. While I was at work and my mother was watching my daughter, she somehow got a hold of a piece of what I would call a hunk of cast iron (I’m really not sure what kind of metal it was). It was about the size of a Jolly Rancher and [...]
I shared some frozen yogurt with my daughter last night—vanilla topped with blueberries and strawberries. She loved it so much she was licking the spoon in search of more.
I gave in and accidentally a big heap on the spoon all fell into her mouth. I was waiting for the brain freeze to take hold followed [...]
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As most parents soon discover, feeding a family is rarely that easy, whether its nursing a fussy newborn or trying to get a hot meal into a squirming toddler (or attempting both at the same time.) And that's not even the days when work runs late, the main course burns, or your adventurous little sushi eater announces from now on she will only eat food that is pink. As parents ourselves, we've been there, done that, even learned a few tricks along the way. And we're pretty sure so have you. Maybe together we can make eating together as a family -- gulp! -- fun again.     Hema Easley has been a reporter for The Journal News since July 2002, first covering municipal government and then nonprofit agencies, women's issues and the South Asian and Muslim community in the Lower Hudson Valley. In her previous job, Hema was a correspondent for the Associated Press in South Asia. She lives with her husband and two sons in Orange County. Katie Ryan O'Connor, a Journal News editor and 35-year-old mother of three, never quite appreciated the work that went into feeding kids until she had to do it herself as a mother. If she had a food-and-kids philosophy it would be something like this: try your best to offer as much healthy food as possible, but sometimes fruits just have to be counted as vegetables and there are far worse things than chicken and spaghetti. Again. Tracey Princiotta, a 37-year-old mother of one, loves to cook, bake and eat, and is relieved that her son appears to be equally willing to chow down -- even if it's baby food and formula right now. Despite her husband's intense aversion to vegetables, she has high hopes of nurturing a true chowhound who will try everything at least once. And if all else fails, she's not above sneaking veggies into other foods. Marcela Rojas has been a municipal reporter with The Journal News since January 2003. She is a native of Putnam County and grew up eating Peruvian food. She didn't realize until she was 13 that rice did not come with everyone's meal. After several years of living in Los Angeles -- where she grew a fondness for Thai food -- she returned to Putnam County where she now lives with her husband and daughter. Zyla (rhymes with Lilah) just turned 1 in March and, so far (her mother is pleased to note), loves to eat everything. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, a Journal News reporter, started her career as a journalist in 1999 after graduating with a master's degree from New York University. Before joining the paper in 2006, Swapna worked as a municipal reporter for the Home News Tribune in New Jersey, and took a baby sabbatical to care for her two children, now ages 7 and 5. She has currently outsourced feeding her children and husband to her mother, who is visiting from India. Her friend and colleague Katie O'Connor, informs Swapna that she wouldn't mind being fed Indian food by her mother, too.
 Amy Vernon, a 39-year-old mother of two was fortunate that she, her husband and sons lived with her mother-in-law for the formative years of the little guys' lives. Now, even though she has her own home, she instilled a love of oatmeal in the boys. And whenever she's in town, she helps make sure the guys are well-fed. Randi Weiner has been a reporter with The Journal News since 1989, having covered police, government and schools in Westchester and in Rockland. An Ohio native and 1976 graduate of Bowling Green State University, she worked for daily newspapers in Ohio and Michigan before moving east. She has tended bar and danced in a beledi troup and sat on the boards of two community theaters. She plays mandolin with the Shamrogues, ConnecticutÕs largest Irish band. Randi lives in Connecticut with her husband and has three children. |
Copyright ©2007 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties in New York.
