"The pharmaceutical
industry effectively controls what doctors are told."
--Neal Barnard, MD, founder of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
I like
cake. But more on that later.
Every teenager needs to learn 10 basic recipes to get them started on the
path towards healthy cooking, healthy eating, and a life of great health
outcomes. When we are born, we don’t
automatically learn to taste and buy ingredients that are good for us. We don’t learn to avoid ingredients that make
may make us sick. We don’t automatically
learn how to read food labels and avoid ingredients that can cause cancer, high
blood pressure, focus issues, and obesity.
Developing our health literacy is something food manufacturers and fast
food companies like McDonald's don’t want to see happen. If you know what you are buying, then you won’t buy their
products. Educating patients about how
to prevent diseases like heart disease and cancer takes more of a doctor’s time
than writing a prescription for pills. They
write the prescription instead of talking with you about how eating cruciferous
vegetables every day helps prevent cancer. Please pass the broccoli.
What makes
the Growing Healthy Kids Project so rewarding is that kids are given tools and resources to make good choices about
foods to eat and the opportunity to practice cooking skills in a nonjudgmental
environment. Here are a few examples of
what kids learn:
- ·
the
difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon
- ·
how
to cut an onion and mince garlic
- ·
how
to look for dangerous food dyes used as ingredients, especially in foods
marketed to kids
- ·
how
to make guacamole
- · season
a soup with organic spices like oregano and basil instead of salt
- · having opportunities to taste new foods and flavors
Back to
cake. When people ask me about basic
recipes for kids, I always recommend a dessert as one of the 10 recipes. I want to share of my favorites, a delicious recipe that is
great for summertime, it tastes great, and is great for making with your kids and
grandkids (shredding, zesting, and juicing is involved). Especially those grandkids who live in the
Low Country. This recipe is for my good friend, Linda, and her granddaughter, Hazel, in the Low Country!
GROWING HEALTHY KIDS: Our Recipe Collection
Lemon Zucchini Cake
NOTE:
This recipe makes TWO loaves (one for you and one for a neighbor!). Using applesauce instead of oil makes this
heart healthy.
Ingredients:
·
3 cups all-purpose
flour (I prefer to use ½ flour and ½ almond flour)
·
1/2 teaspoon pink
Himalayan sea salt
·
1 teaspoon baking
soda
·
1 teaspoon baking
powder
·
1-1/2 cups
sugar
·
Zest of 2 large
lemons
·
3 large
eggs (1 prefer to use 3 flax eggs: mix 3 Tablespoons ground flax with 9 Tablespoons water and let sit 5
minutes before adding)
·
1 cup applesauce
·
1 Tablespoon fresh
lemon juice
·
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
extract
·
2 cups grated
zucchini (squeeze out excess water)
For the lemon glaze:
·
2 cups powdered
sugar
·
2-3 Tablespoons fresh
lemon juice
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and
flour two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour,
salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and lemon
zest. Add eggs (or flax eggs), applesauce, lemon juice, and vanilla. Whisk
until smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients until combined (the batter will be
thick). Stir in zucchini and pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans.
4. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until tester
inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Place loaves on cooling rack and cool for 15
minutes. Loosen the sides of the bread with a knife. Carefully remove the
loaves from the pans. Let cool completely on rack.
6. While cake is cooling, make lemon glaze. In a
small bowl, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth and there
are no lumps. Drizzle glaze over the cakes.
With love,
Nancy
Heinrich, MPH
Founder and
Wellness Architect
Growing
Healthy Kids, Inc.
