Beating Lunchtime Boredom

It's been a long school year and now the kids are either heading back home for the summer or perhaps slowing down the homeschooling pace a bit. Now is a great time to rethink what you will serve them for lunch over the next few months. Put away the peanut butter and consider these fun and appetizing ideas.

Cracker Lunch:

Our children always enjoyed this departure from traditional sandwich fare. Cut sliced cheese and deli meats into 2-inch squares and give each child a dollop of tuna or chicken salad. They may then build their own hors d'oeuvres with whole-grain crackers served on the side. With a bowl of broth soup and a piece of fruit, this makes a delightful, hands-on lunch meal.

Free-For-All Tacos:

This is a good idea for the day you clean out the refrigerator. Tacos made with simple fillings of any leftover meat, shredded cheese, and vegetables can be mixed and matched for variety. Try chicken breast seasoned with taco seasoning and paired with shredded green cabbage. Serve with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, black olives, or any other sides you prefer. With younger children, I would suggest using the smaller tortillas for easier handling.

Roll Ups:

Tortillas are also good for making rolled sandwiches. These may also be varied depending on whatever is available on hand. After filling and rolling, cut the sandwiches into 2-inch pinwheels and secure with toothpick skewers. Kids love these colorful finger foods. A favorite from my mother's kitchen is Ham Roll-ups. Smear soft tortillas with cream cheese. Lay a large, rectangular piece of deli ham (dried with a paper towel) across the prepared tortilla. Lay a dill pickle spear (dried with a paper towel) at one end of the ham slice and begin rolling it up in the tortilla to the other side. Cut and secure as mentioned above. Try beef, cheddar, and horseradish; lettuce, turkey, and tomato with mayo.; a hot dog, mustard, relish, and onion; scrambled eggs, cheese, and salsa warmed up. Use your imagination and make them colorful.

Bon appétit!

How The Dutch Treat Themselves to Good Health

This week is the Tulip Time Festival in our little town of Holland, MI. In honor of our dear Dutch neighbors, I thought it would be a good time to reprint this article first published on my (now deleted) Fat Little Secrets blog. These folks really know how to EAT! And it really is a treat.

I have an adorable little cookbook entitled The Art of Dutch Cooking: Or How the Dutch Treat. In the preface, the author wishes to make one thing clear, "With this little book I hope to introduce to you 'how the Dutch treat' in the best sense of this so often ill used expression."[1]

The Dutch do indeed know how to eat regardless of whether they treat you or not.  My little cookbook, written and compiled in 1961, gives a short history of Dutch food along with a sample menu:

8:00 a.m. Breakfast:

• "Endless" cups of strong tea (with sugar and a little milk)
• Children eat porridge (pap) with white or brown sugar
• All different kinds of bread with cheese
• A slice of cold meat
• Boiled or fried eggs
• Jam and plenty of butter

10:30 a.m. Coffee Break:

• Coffee with sugar and hot milk
• Cookies (koekjes) or various biscuits

12:30 p.m. Lunch (Hollandse Koffietafel):

• Various kinds of bread
• Sliced sausages
• Cheese
• "One little warm dish" (made from leftovers)
• Fresh fruit
• "Endless" cups of coffee

4:00 p.m. Tea Time:

• Tea
• Cakes and biscuits

6:00 p.m. Pick-me-up

• apéritif or a shot of Dutch gin (Genever)

6:30 p.m. Dinner:

• Soup (made with meat and vegetables)
• Fish or meat
• Potatoes with lots of gravy or sauce
• Dessert (either pudding or a sweet made with stale bread, macaroni, or very thin pancakes called Flensjes)
• Beer or water (wine only on special occasions)

The author adds there is a favorite "fast food" (uitsmijter) picked up on the go at any time day or night from restaurants and snack bars consisting of buttered white bread filled with boiled ham or roast beef and two fried eggs. Oh, and don't forget the dill pickle on the side. [2]

Boerenkool Stamppot (Kale Hash)
Recipe here
Picture taken by Tavallai

Now, you may be thinking the Dutch people must struggle with their weight, but that is rarely the case. For one thing, though there is a variety of rich foods in their diet, they are eaten at intervals throughout the day in small portions. Moderation is the key. Gluttony and drunkenness are avoided not only for religious reasons, but for health's sake as well.

It is also important to note they are notorious for their cleanliness and industry, also taught from an infant from their pious heritage. This is best demonstrated annually at our local Tulip Festival parade which begins with a sweeping of the streets by performers in traditional Dutch costumes. They take pride in clean homes and well trimmed yards, and gardening is often a competitive sport among the elderly.

Street sweepers in Holland, MI
Photo taken by Daniel Morrison

Yet, even in their leisure hours, our Dutch neighbors are not idle. The City of Holland is constantly building new bicycle routes, and many acres of woods and meadows are reserved for hiking. All hours of the day and night you will find folks of all ages out walking and jogging around the neighborhoods. 

Winter may be a time of hibernation for some, but the coldest, snowiest times of the year are only an excuse for the Dutch to get out and enjoy every winter sport imaginable: skiing, ice skating, snowboarding, ice hockey, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sledding, snowball fights, and even building snowmen. 

If there happens to be a lull in the snowfall, there are many facilities open year round where one may continually be active, including a full-range aquatic facility, an indoor soccer arena, skating rinks, bowling alleys, and a myriad of gyms available with facilities and activities geared for every age, gender, and level of ability. 

You may notice many activities are enjoyed together as families and often include extended family. The Dutch are very family centered. They work together, play together, and worship together. In fact, their Reformed heritage plays an important role in their health and longevity. It is the teachings of their churches and reinforced in their homes which has helped to perpetuate the healthy virtues among them of temperance, cleanliness, industry, purity, even temper, and, most importantly, a clear conscience before God through faith in Jesus Christ.

I can't say for sure the folks in our area still eat this way, but one thing I do know. Wholesome eating in the form of fresh, natural foods, paired with year-round physical activity and a life of faith, keeps the Dutch in relatively good health, many of whom live well into their 80's and 90's. We would do well to treat ourselves to their Dutch way of life.

[1] C. Countess van Limburg Stirum, The Art of Dutch Cooking: Or How the Dutch Treat(Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961), p. 9.

[2] Ibid., pp. 13-15.

A Simple Spring Cleaning Strategy

Image source: stock.xchng

After a long, cold winter, don't you just love to open all the windows and doors and do a deep cleaning of the old home place? When our kids were home, we would usually take a few days off from our homeschooling to tackle the spring cleaning in a flurry of activity, each of the six of us doing our part. However, there were also times, because of our hectic schedules, I chose to only take one room/area each day and work on it until noon. That way, we didn't keep putting it off and had a definite stopping time. This plan worked very well for our family.

Below, you will find some tips and tricks which helped us streamline this annual chore:

Step 1: Inventory cleaning tools and supplies

• If you have a designated area or closet for cleaning tools and supplies, lay everything out where you can see them and figure out what you really need. Discard or give away any extras. 
• If you've decided to go green with your cleaners, you can either use up what you have now or give them away to someone who will use them. Disposing of them only adds a burden to the environment and defeats the purpose of "going green." 
• Only put back the things you are keeping. Move the rest to a designated area for giveaways.

Step 2: Tackle decorations and window treatments  

• Wipe frames with a soft cloth. Spray glass cleaner on a soft, lint-free cloth before wiping the glass of framed photos and artwork. Do not spray the glass; doing so may cause the cleaner to leach behind the glass and destroy your photos/artwork. 
• Wet wipe any washable knick-knacks or other collectibles and dust shelves where they are displayed before replacing them. 
• Launder washable fabric curtains and valances. You may either line dry or hang them back up to dry. If cotton fabrics are too wrinkled, you may want to iron them. Have lined draperies professionally cleaned. 
• Mini blinds may be soaked in the tub with warm water and 1/2 cup ammonia. After soaking, lift them up and down out of the water to remove dirt. Any stubborn dirt may be wiped off by hand with a cloth or soft brush. Drain the tub and fill it with clean water to rinse. Again, lift the blinds in and out of the water. Drain the tub and lift the blinds to let the excess water run off. Place the wet blinds in a laundry basket and take outdoors to dry. Keep them out of the sun to avoid discoloration. They do not have to be thoroughly dry to be hung again, just not dripping wet. (Note: If you hate this chore as much as I do and you can afford the cheapo blinds at Wal-Mart, then you may skip this step and just get new ones.)

Step 3: Use a dust mop -- or broom with a soft cloth tied around it -- to get the cob webs from the corners.

Step 4: If the walls are washable, use warm water and a mild soap. Using a sponge or soft cloth, wring out the soap and begin at the top of the wall working your way down in small sections. If desired, rinse with another bucket of plain water with a clean cloth or sponge. Make sure the cloth/sponge is not dripping or it may leave trails down the wall surface.

Step 5: Using a soft cloth and dusting spray or "green" alternative, dust all hard surfaces.

Step 6: Pull all furniture away from walls and sweep/mop or vacuum. Let mopped areas dry before replacing furniture. Place any stray items found under furniture and around the room into a box for putting away later.

Step 7: If you haven't already, replace window treatments, hang framed prints, and put knick-knacks and collectibles back on shelves.

Step 8: Collect trash and put away stray items.

Voila! You're done.

Special use rooms such as the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room will require the cleaning of appliances, sinks, and tubs/showers, but the strategy for deep cleaning mentioned above is a basic way to thoroughly clean any room in your house.