How Hubbard, Muffett, the Pumpkin Eater and Dumpty Spin Kid Food

I must say that I love how many nursery rhymes make reference to food. It's never too early to introduce children to food via song, book, taste, touch, smell and feel.

I have a question for you. Have you ever really listened to the nursery rhymes you grew up singing or perhaps now sing to your own children? Several, I've found, are extremely violent, have sad endings and would otherwise give valid reason for lock up and/or a lifetime of therapy. Below are just a few examples. (note that all are not food related)


Three Blind Mice. See how they run...they all ran after the farmer's wife who cut off their tails with a carving knife...wouldn't that be consider terms for arrest? I was informed recently that some people now say that she cut of some cheese (which illicits giggles for some) with a carving knife instead. Much more kid friendly.

Humpty Dumpty. Sat on a wall and had a great fall? Couldn't put him back together again? Again, new versions, I'm told, allow for the kings horses and men to be able to indeed put him back together again. But seriously, he's an egg. How and why was he up on that wall anyway? Wasn't anyone watching him?

It's Raining, It's Pouring. Old man-snoring-went to bed and bumped his head and basically died? Terrifying for children whose parents are snorers!

Rock a Bye Baby. What is a cradle doing in a tree? Of course when the wind blows the cradle will rock and that cradle and the baby will come crashing down. How is that comforting?

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. Had a wife and couldn't keep her..put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well? She lived in a pumpkin shell? Isn't that like jailing your own wife? I supposed a pumpkin wouldn't be the worse place to be kept, but seriously-why couldn't Peter be the one in a gourd?

Old Mother Hubbard. Had a dog-went to get a bone-cupboard was bare-dog goes hungry because Mom Hubbard forgot to get dog food and bones at Petsmart when she was out today? The dog can't have people food for one day? Come on, Hubbard! This is an extreme situation.

Little Miss Muffet. Sat on a tuffet eating curds and whey. Great snack, right? Then the spider came down beside her and scared her to death! Let's try to teach our kids to be tolerant of all insects, people! Now she's never going to eat curds and whey again because of the association with spiders.

Sigh......I have to leave you with a recipe that ties in delightfully to this post-one that I learned at the Charleston Cooks Maverick Kitchen Store in Charleston, South Carolina.

Strawberry Mice

8 large strawberries
mini chocolate chips
almond slivers
shoestring potatoes
crackers
wedge of cheddar cheese

1. Cut a small slice on the bottom of each strawberry to create a flat bottom.
2. Press a mini chocolate chip on the tip for a nose. Press two chips above the nose as ears.
3. Press 2 almond slivers into the top to serve as ears
4. For the tail, push in a shoestring potato (an almond sliver can also be used)
5. Serve on top of crackers with a small wedge of cheese

A bit more on the Egg Story.....

Let me clarify a few things in that last post about my love of the hard boiled egg.

The American Heart Association revised their dietary guidelines in 2000 to emphasize an overall dietary pattern for good health. There is no longer a specific recommendation on the number of egg yolks a person may consume per week. However, the recommendation for healthy American adults does limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day. One large egg=220 mg cholesterol per day. You do the math.

Remember that eggs are one of the most perfect foods found in nature. Not only are their rich in protein, B vitamins, iron and other minerals, they have no carbohydrates, and no trans fats. And, they are inexpensive and are widely available to boot.

The take home message here? It's not your eggs that are causing your increased cholesterol levels. Take a look at the rest of your diet before you say no to the egg!

Eat Your Eggs!

I've Eaten More Hard Boiled Eggs in the Last Three Months....

than I can even keep track of these days.

My increased consumption stemmed from the need to eat more protein on a daily basis. In looking at my options, I decided that in addition to my daily almond consumption, my protein bites needed to be quick, portable and require little to no preparation. The weekly hard boiled egg party began.

Every Sunday afternoon, I take out one of the best gifts I've ever received-an egg cooker. This one appliance makes perfect hard boiled eggs-every single time. No wrestling with the peel, no disappointment with a half cooked yolk, no ripped or torn whites... just pure perfection.

I know, I know--you don't eat eggs because of the cholesterol, right? See the American Heart Association recommendations for eggs below.

One egg contains about 213 milligrams of dietary cholesterol. The daily recommended cholesterol limit is less than 300 milligrams for people with normal LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. An egg can fit within heart-healthy guidelines for those people only if cholesterol from other sources — such as meats, poultry and dairy products — is limited. For example, eating one egg for breakfast, drinking two cups of coffee with one tablespoon of half-and-half each, lunching on four ounces of lean turkey breast without skin and one tablespoon of mayonnaise, and having a 6-ounce serving of broiled, short loin porterhouse steak for dinner would account for about 510 mg of dietary cholesterol that day — nearly twice the recommended limit. If you’re going to eat an egg every morning, substitute vegetables for some of the meat, or drink your coffee without half-and-half in the example above. And remember that many other foods, especially baked goods, are prepared with eggs — and those eggs count toward your daily cholesterol limit. People with high LDL blood cholesterol levels or who are taking a blood cholesterol-lowering medication should eat less than 200 mg of cholesterol per day.

If your cholesterol is something you are concerned about (which, let's face it, we all need to be concerned about our cholesterol), please take a look at everything else in your diet-eggs are most likely not the culprit for an increased cholesterol level.


For more egg nutrition, egg safety, egg research, recipes and egg trivia, go to the Egg Nutrition Center or the American Egg Board.