I’m really excited to have Richard ‘RJ’ Jaramillo on my blog today. I met RJ at a blogger conference a few years back, and I was so fascinated with his story as a blogger. He created CookLikeADad.com in 2008 as part of the SingleDad Media Network. RJ’s passion for parenting and running a household with three children for the past 12 years inspired him to develop CookLikeADad. Jaramillo, (pronounced, Hada-me-yo) is a Latino Cooking Blogger, born and raised in Southern California. RJ has a unique way of blending his Hispanic cooking roots into his every day, family meals.
I sat down with RJ to ask him a few questions about cooking with kids.
Can you tell us a bit about your journey for helping kids and men to better nutrition?
As an owner of two websites, SingleDad.com / CooklikeaDad.com, I am in touch with a lot of divorced dads who are taking charge of their household during their custody schedule. You would be surprised by the amount of fathers who have a genuine interest in making healthy snacks and meals for their children. Organic, GMO vs. Non GMO are talking points in a lot of my emails to my members and I think it is a positive trend in the right direction. Most of my members will post questions to me about grocery shopping and managing a food budget with children. I always emphasize the importance of not compromising food quality. Giving them tips on how to stretch their shopping budget and getting less food with greater quality can be done with proper discipline.
Why is it hard to get children—and guys—to eat their veggies?
The new dads are the “Millennials”, who are more in touch and socially aware of the importance of good nutrition. They are not “tree huggers” and “granola guys“… they are every day men who have noticed the decline in mass produced foods and processed foods and are making a difference in food quality. It’s really not that hard getting kids to eat more veggies IF the dad is a leader by example. For example, I was able to show a father how to make a perfect, light, fluffy mashed potato recipe using cauliflower and half russet potatoes. We even threw in a sweet potato and his kids loved it!
What are some of your favorite tips to get families more powered up on vegetables and fruits?
I like to start every meal with a seasonal fruit that is organic. I also like to prepare my meals, especially dinner with my kids, “unplugged” with the kids in the kitchen with me preparing the meal. The family that cooks together, stays together. Get the kids involved with making a side dish. Having ownership in the preparation of the meal is critical because you get buy-in when they make it.
Can relying on all types of produce—frozen, canned, dried—help? How?
Time is important and I can relate to making some items with a combination of canned or frozen food. One of my best spaghetti sauces uses canned tomatoes because of the flavor I get. I also like to use frozen fruit with some of my morning smoothies I make with my kids. I sneak kale in the smoothies and nobody has noticed at all this year! Using all types of produce can still help make the meal healthy; it all depends on their use.
What are five plant foods that you keep in your kitchen at all times?
My kitchen always has:
Garlic
Basil
Green onions
Cilantro
Red Leaf Lettuce
Roma Tomatoes
I love fresh garlic and I have it in my herb garden along with basil. I grow my own Roma tomatoes, red leaf lettuce, kale, and green onions. My year-round fresh herbs are: rosemary, sage, basil and I just started cilantro this year. I live in San Diego which makes year-round gardening easy because of the mild climate.
RJ shared one of his favorite kid-friendly recipes using bananas.
Take a banana and slice it down the middle, leaving the peel intact. When holding banana, cut the fruit in the belly, making the banana look like a hammock. This helps keep all of your ingredients in the hammock.
Add a handful of Chocolate Chips in the banana’s belly and repeat steps with the butterscotch chips. Next, take a couple Graham Crackers and crumble them in the palm of your hand. Take these crumbles and pack them into the belly of your banana. Add a handful of Mini- Marshmallows to the top of the Banana and place the entire Banana on a sheet of Aluminum Foil.
You will want to shape the foil around the Banana like a “boat”. Close the boat of foil around the banana and place in a toaster oven on a low/medium setting, (or until you see the marshmallow melt when you open the foil).
