Pistachio Encrusted Cod and Tyra Bank’s Lousy Info?

Hi everyone and please click on the title of this post to read more. First off, I would like to announce that our final Parents Who Rock fundraiser for little Kid’s Rock is happening April 4th in Montclair and details are at www.parentswhorock.com (yours truly will be performing).

Now that that is out of the way,I’ll tell you about my morning. I usually listen to my ipod at the gym, but I forgot it at home today. Instead, I sunk low and plugged my earphones into the treadmill’s TV which had the Tyra Banks Show on. She was facilitating a discussion between 5 hugely obese teenagers , one who was even younger, 12, who could not even complete a 9 minute stress test. It was tragic and all these girls’ mothers had tears streaming down their faces as they watched their kids learn that they were 100 lbs overweight or more.

There was the “Belly Fat Cure” guru on who was teaching them to eat a bunch of expensive products like diet soda made with Stevia and specialty ice creams that were fewer calories than most ice creams. I could not help but think that what these families truly needed were intense cooking seminars as well as supportive discussion groups to get them to change their unhealthy ways. Most of the Moms were very much overweight but there was no mention of involving the mothers or other family members in this process (although I didn’t get to finish watching since my 1/2 hour on the treadmill was up).

Having an overweight child or one that is leaning towards being overweight can be very stressful and painful. None of us want our children to be unhealthy, potentially ridiculed and face the challenges of a lifetime of struggles with weight.

We as parents must be able to recognize what is within our control to help our kids and it begins with looking at our own eating habits and our cooking habits. Do our kids watch us making healthy choices, whether we are overweight or not? Do they see us cooking and eating vegetables and fruits instead of processed foods? No one is perfect and we all indulge, but is the mainstay of our own diet foods that are not nutrient rich ? Do we make cooking wholesome meals a priority or do we order in for ease sake?

It is so easy in our culture to fall into these patterns but it is worth the effort for our kids’ sake to make cooking the norm, not the exception to the rule, and involve the kids in the process so that they do not grow up believing that food comes out of a packaged chips bag or lunchables.

Sorry to stand on my soapbox and I know I am mostly preaching to the converted but I was very disturbed by the lack of valuable and reasonable info on the Tyra Bank’s show!

Here’s a recipe to keep us and our kids healthy and sated. My family LOVED it! (well, some of them)…

Pistachio Encrusted Fish:

2 6-8 oz. cod fillets
1/2 half cup whole weat bread crumbs
1 /2 cup pistachios
1 small clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten
1-2 TBS olive oil

In a food processor, grind the bread crumbs and pistachios until they are a coarse meal. Add the garlic and grind again. Place mixture in a shallow bowl. Dip each fillet in egg and then coat with mixture. Place on a plate covered in wax paper if you have it.

In a med. sized cast iron skillet or frying pan, heat up oil. When it is hot, gently place the fillets in the skillet and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Check after 3 minutes to make sure it is not burning by lifting up the corner of the fillets with a spatula. Remove from pan, salt and pepper the fillets and serve with rice, Israeli couscous or anything else you like topped with my honey balsamic dressing and a nice green vegetable (we had roasted brussel sprouts). MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!