Tyler Florence

If any of you were friends with me on Myspace (remember that?), you might remember my "about me" section. Somewhere in there I mentioned that I'd like to meet Tyler Florence, the chef. There was a time in my life when I was a Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, and TLC junkie. I could watch these channels for hours. We no longer have these channels since we just have basic cable, so I don't know who the "in people" are now. But I was am a fan of Tyler Florence. Back then, it was because of his good looks and I thought his recipes were good. As a matter of fact, my Thanksgiving turkey recipe which I use every year, and happens to get tons of great reviews, comes from him.... along with my cranberry sauce and green bean recipes.

Anyway, today, I am a fan because of his newest book, Start Fresh. It's about getting kids to eat healthy right from the start, by feeding them fresh foods from your very own kitchen and avoiding the jarred stuff. If I have one regret in parenting, it's that I used the jarred stuff and didn't experiment in the kitchen when preparing Elan's meals. That could be a whole other post. Anyway, after a long battle with pickiness, Elan now eats well and he gets a good variety of foods. I'm happy to say, he's never been a "chicken nugget, grilled cheese, macacroni- eating" kid. He eats what we eat (finally) and we stay away from the kids menu at restaurants because it's usually all junk and it almost never resembles what the rest of the adult menu looks like.

Well, yesterday, I got to meet Tyler Florence at Whole Foods. He was there for a book signing, promoting his new book. So, even though I'm not one to be star struck, nor do I chase around celebrities, I had to go to this. I'm a fan and I completely agree with everything in his book and what he is trying to promote. What I love most about this book, is that once your child is old enough, he/she eats what you eat. The recipes are for you, and then you put the child portion in the food processor to get it to whatever consistency your child can eat (depending on their age).

For Elan, we can skip the single ingredient purees and pretty much all of the things listed in the first few months of the book. And of course, there is no food processing for us either. Thank goodness, we can cook and serve as is. Even though Elan is a pretty healthy eater, I'm always looking ways to make things better and expose Elan to new things, since I am a picky eater and can still be that "chicken nugget, grilled cheese, and macaroni" eating kid sometimes. I will say, I have become a better, healthier eater since having Elan. If I want him to eat his veggies, I have to, too.

So, we have already started using the recipes and if I'm lucky enough, I'll get my chance to start the book from the very beginning one day with baby #2 (if we ever have a #2). We shall see.

Not the greatest picture, but it's the only one I have, so I just had to post it. :)

P.S. Elan is not completely deprived. He gets his share of desserts and not-so-healthy foods sometimes. It's just not an everyday thing.