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I’m Karen Le Billon, and this blog is where I write about France, food, and parenting. My latest book is French Kids Eat Everything: How our family moved to France, cured picky eating, banned snacking, and discovered 10 simple rules for raising happy, healthy eaters.

Here’s a sneak peek at the French Food Rules.

A bit of explanation about my blog posts: I’m not an advocate of ‘French parenting’, and I try to avoid generalizations about the way the French or Americans or Canadians (or anyone else, for that matter) eat–we’re just too diverse. Rather, the blog shares ideas, tips, and recipes (just as I do in the book), with the goal of sparking debate about key issues–like school lunches, snacking, and the food system.

There is no kids’ food in French school lunches. Don’t believe me? Check out the tasty, healthy, and decidedly grown-up sounding school lunch menus at my French Kids School Lunch Project. Cabbage salad and roast guinea fowl, or lentils and lettuce for preschoolers? And they do this for an average of $3 per meal (not much more than the average price of meals in the US National School Lunch Program).

This is intended to be food for thought. I’m not saying we should eat exactly like the French. But we could reflect on if any aspects of their approach to kids’ food might be useful in our communities. My opinion is that the French have a great approach to both what and how kids eat–one we could learn a lot from.

Underlying this blog is my belief that healthy food is a right, and that eating well is for everyone–not just for elites or foodies. I also believe that food insecurity and unhealthy eating habits are two expressions of food and education systems that need fixing, so I blog about food politics, and about the amazing people and organizations working for better food in North America. These continue to inspire me…and hopefully you too!

Welcome!

ps: Exciting news: French Kids Eat Everything is now on sale!

Yummy Yellow Cauliflower Puree

26 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in kid's food

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I’ve been so busy in the kitchen that I haven’t been keeping up with the blog lately.

But I’ve got a good excuse: I’m testing recipes and finalizing the manuscript for my new book (Getting to Yum — out this fall!)!

Lately I’ve been experimenting with colours and spices. This cauliflower puree has some turmeric in it! Turmeric is an ingredient in curry, but isn’t spicy on its own. It has a mild, nutty taste which offsets the cauliflower really nicely (who would have thought!).

Before babies reach the age of about 18 months (later for some, earlier for others), they’ll try just about anything. ‘Open mouth, open mind!’ It’s the perfect time to introduce them to interesting colors and flavors. So that’s one good reason to try spices like turmeric now. In fact, Dr Jatinder Bhatia (a member of the nutrition committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics) actually recommends feeding mild curry to babies, to develop their palates.

Plus, there’s another reason (as Dr Bhatia points out): curry spice are packed full of vitamins and minerals! Some medical research also suggests that turmeric (an important part of traditional India Ayurvedic medicine) has numerous other health benefits.

So, what do you think? Would you feed a puree containing turmeric to your baby?

ps If you do–watch out–I’ve never seen anything stain like turmeric. I recommend having a ‘rainbow bib’ (for food that stains) for baby, for all foods that stain…this one included!

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