I love fresh food. It’s unbelievable the difference the taste is. In our culture that over sweetens and oversalts EVERYTHING, fresh foods are becoming extinct. Sadly, most children’s tongues become so accustomed to sodium and sugar that they are turned off by the tastes of fresh mint, the sweetness of basil, the earthy stains of cumin powder.
Which is why I’m so motivated to give Isaiah fresh stuff. By effort, but mostly by sheer luck, he doesn’t really have a sweet tooth. He pushes aside cookies, cake, and anything overly sweet. He prefers corn Chex cereal over chocolate. He loves grapes, mangoes, apples, pears, and bananas. He could watermelon for days if I let him.
But when it comes to sodium, that’s a different story. The kid’s addicted to anything that resembles a c-h-i-p-s. And I have to spell it because once I even begin to say CH- he comes running out of nowhere and his brown eyes are looking frantically for an oily 4 inch piece of heaven. You crinkle the bag once and that kid wakes up from a nap. C-h-i-p-s are his downfall. So I stopped buying them and instead make him homemade tortilla chips. This way, I at least know what’s in them: olive oil, fresh spices, very lightly salted. And he doesn’t go nuts over them.
There are few gifts that I believe are worth the effort to give children: 1) the time to read to them. Read to them as often and as much as they want. and 2) Give them fresh foods. Foods that will die within a week because they’re not loaded with preservatives and crap in a can. Give them things that smell wonderful and do great things for their bones, blood, and brain.
The more I read about what the American diet is doing to our children, the more I am convinced that Fresh is becoming more than just a preference, but a radical act of self-care and nutrition.
Remember, Operation: Fridge Cleanse means using up as much of the baker’s wrack, seasonings, and herbs as much as possible. If you copy, remember that this is what I HAVE to use, not a recipe that I’d recommend. Although, I must say, everything I’ve done thus far is pretty darn tasty. 
Day 1: 3 Bean and Meat Chili
– 96/4 ground beef, black beans, red kidney beans, spicy chili beans
– cumin, cinnamon, cocoa powder
-serve over jasmine rice (optional)
– sprinkled parsley on top for a little taste perk
Result: A family friendly and quick pot of chili that sticks to your ribs. Rice makes the pot last a bit longer.
Day 2: Using up non-meat chicken sandwich patties with a bagel and greens for a sammich
-in lieu of cheese, use a flavored cream cheese with some leafy greens and your sammich goes from nice to awesome in 3 seconds
Day 3: Tortillas! Tortillas!
To use up a fresh package of corn tortillas, I cut them up and used 1/2 to make cinnamon chips:
– toss lightly in light butter
– sprinkler brown sugar
– generous helping of cinnamon
– bake at 300 for a while (keep testing); about 20 minutes
For regular tortilla chips, use extra virgin olive oil, garlic salt and black pepper
Fresh Salsa:
using up an anaheim pepper, green pepper, ancient red pepper with 4 cups frozen (cooked from a bag) corn
– salt and pepper with fresh parsley and cilantro, juice from 1/2 lemon
Cauliflower and Broccoli Mash
– steam 1 head of cauliflower and broccoli; split and mash with fork
– mix in lowfat whipped cream cheese, light butter
– fresh garlic, rosemary, and parsley
-parmesean cheese
– salt and pepper
Day 4:
Fresh juice: kale, carrots, apple