"One vegetarian who comes and goes, one "meat only", who eats literally no vegetables, one healthy eater, one teen boy who eats 2 dinners at least, wants carbs, one female athlete who eats 2 healthy meals, likes proteins, no tofu, but at odd hours...

"One vegetarian who comes and goes, one "meat only", who eats literally no vegetables, one healthy eater, one teen boy who eats 2 dinners at least, wants carbs, one female athlete who eats 2 healthy meals, likes proteins, no tofu, but at odd hours....ugh! "

This is what I heard from one mom yesterday. Sound familiar?

So what is a busy mom to do??

Check out this week's episode, where Karen Santana from One Family One Menu makes it her mission to make it easy for you to ...you guessed it...make one menu for your whole family.

Takeaways

Highlight the main ingredient when you cook, don’t be afraid to feature that

Never let your kids say ‘ew’ about food, teach your kids to use respectful language when talking about meals
Get away from making multiple dishes each meal, make sure there is at least one dish your child will eat at a meal. Their palate will grow if they are expected to eat the same foods you have

Serve foods with flavor at an early age, expect them to eat and they will

Respect everything in the kitchen

Be enthusiastic for the ingredients you are preparing

Karen was so generous and is providing several links for you:

Blog post how to organize your fridge and freezer

https://www.onefamilyonemenu.com/post/organizing-your-fridge-and-freezer

Bread pudding demonstration:

https://youtu.be/megTKfPL5aM

Transcript of this Episode

Andrea Heyman 00:01

Adventures in feeding my fam is a weekly podcast discussing the challenges and fun around feeding your family healthy meals. I'm Andrea Heyman and I've been a registered dietitian for over 25 years. So I know the importance of good nutrition. But I'm also a mom of three so I understand the challenges and tumor that comes along with trying to make this happen. In this podcast, I'll share my tips, tricks and menus, but also share the stories and food prep failures that come along the way to interview guests. We'll discuss family food traditions, how to strengthen bonds around the family table, as well as their favorite family recipes. There isn't one right way to feed your family. But there are countless stories, you can take bits and pieces and learn from all of them. Hello, friends, and welcome to another episode of adventures and feeding my fam. Today we've got Karen Santana on the show. She is a chef and a mom also. And she talks a lot about her one family one menu company where her philosophy is really that we should be feeding our kids the same foods as we feed ourselves. She has a lot of great stories and this ridiculously infectious enthusiasm for foods and certain ingredients that she loves, like the each individual ingredient that she puts in her foods she gets so excited about and I can't wait for you to listen because it's absolutely adorable.

First, I wanted to tell you that I've started to do some one on one nutrition and family meal prep coaching. Now, it's not really new to me to do this sort of work. However, this is a new setting. And I'm taking an approach that is a little unconventional. The reason why typical meal planning doesn't stick long term for people is that it's kind of one like a cookie cutter like one plan fits all. My approach is a little different in that we personalize it for each individual. But I'm giving you the skills to do the planning so that it doesn't get old. It's about empowering you to do it on your own while incorporating the needs of your family, your routines, and all the unique components that make you you. So if you guys want to hop on a discovery call a free discovery call so that we can talk about your goals and outline a plan for you to get there. Check out my website. I'll have the link in the show notes so that you guys can meet up with me. Now on to Karen. Karen Santana is a trained chef and mom who lives in Brooklyn, New York. She's originally from the Dominican Republic. And she models her philosophy of food in her own experiences. And she created one family one menu to focus on preparing one meal for the entire family to simplify our lives, eat better and enjoy quality time with our families. You're really going to love this episode.

Welcome, Karen. It's so good to have you here. I'm so glad you could make it for another episode of the show.

Thank you for having me. I'm very excited. I'm very honored to be here and I look forward to our conversation.

Andrea Heyman 03:28 I usually like to start out asking my guests about the house that they grew up in as it relates to food who did the meal prepping? and How were the responsibilities split up between everybody?

Karen S 03:40 So I grew up in the Dominican Republic, the capital city and I grew up with my mother. I was a single a single kid I my mom only had a one child and she was a single mom. So it was definitely difficult for her because as a single mom that worked. My mom was a dentist so she took me to school and she did her shift Public Service office that she had. And then she went to private practice in the afternoons where I went with her sometimes. So lunch was mostly in school but dinnertime calm, my mom would always cook I remember that and then what sometimes very rarely but not all, I mean not rarely but not most of the time either that she would get takeout and by that I mean we'd go somewhere and pick it up and but most of the responsibility of cooking and doing everything was hers. She definitely did cook and she did cook a lot of different variety of foods, which is sometimes rare to see because a lot of people just cook what is culturally what they have. But my mom used to cook pasta. She did a lot of different fish recipes. She did many other meats and definitely there was always salad on the table, which is why I learned to love salad and I love greens. Michael, my husband calls me he said you are I forget what they're called cows when you eat a lot of grass. grazing cow. Yes. And he's like you always eat grass. And I'm like, I love it. It's so delicious. I find it to be and I think that came from from growing up always eating salads with any meal that I had.

Andrea Heyman 05:13 And did your mom have any specialties that you still kind of think of today is really special meals.

Karen S 05:19 She made so many things. But there are definitely some family recipes and one family one menu. Some of them are they're like my grandmother's bread pudding, which my mom as well did. And now I do it. That's one of the things as a dessert. We also have during Easter, we make sweet beans, which are the regular pinto beans or red beans that could be as well made sweet instead of savory. And they're very, very delicious. My mom, my grandmother was a very good cook. And my mom learned how to cook with her so and I learned to cook for my mother. So before I became a chef, I already knew how to cook culinary school just gave me more techniques to to perfect my cooking, but she cooks so many things my grandmother's beans are like no beans I've ever had, and my mom knows how to make them very well. And I think I perfected my mom on that. With my grandmother's beans, you're talking about the sweet beans, no, just regular babies, any beans and her beans that I can taste them right now just talking about them because my grandmother's beans had like this, like the beans really came out. And that's one of the things I love about cooking to make the main ingredient, the main star, you know, it's a, it's a big deal for me. And I remember her beans being so delicious. And every time my grandmother make them, they came out the same way. I'm like, Oh my god, she's perfect. You told me once that you have a system in the kitchen, I do about that I have a system everywhere in the house, but let's just stay in the I have a system I I am an organization freakish. And is because I feel like when you don't organize yourself overall, like there's so much chaos, and I don't function very well with chaos. So I need like I can't have a fridge that is full of stuff and nobody knows what it's there and things that are older in the back. And like I can't have that. So in my in my fridge for instance. And there's a blog in one family one menu.com that people can access if they want to. in my fridge I have for example I store things the way restaurants would so in a restaurant kitchen, you would find that the newer items are in the back of the older items. So let's say if I bought a ketchup while ketchup I store outside but let's say I purchased anything else you I mean a yogurt, I have a yogurt on the front. The older ones are on the front, I make sure I look at the date and then the normals are in the back because that way you use what's older and what's opened. If it's an open container and I regularly clean my fridge every time we shop I have to make sure that before I put the things in I you know get rid of anything that needs to be taken out of fridge clean and swept the surfaces I have little fridge mats that help with that and you can take them out and just rinse those as opposed to having to go inside the fridge and containers and things like that that make it a little bit easier to manage. And I think that when you do that regularly, you don't have to do a very big clean all the time. You know you just clean a little bit here clean a little bit there and then overall you'll have a cohesive sort of thing and I do that with my pantry too. Andrea Heyman 08:33 I love the idea of having that refrigerator kind of spick and span all the time. It sounds like a really efficient system. So you do something very similar in the pantry too? Karen S 08:45 I do the same thing. Anything that is older comes towards the front and then like for instance if I have ketchup like I said earlier, my husband sometimes goes to the market and he's not very good at looking at things before he goes like he won't go into the pantry or into the fridge before he goes to the market. If he goes and needs something he'll go and just go and think oh we don't have mustard and I have mustard in my pantry but he never knew he'll go get mustard and I'm like we have so I have to put the bat the newest one that he got already behind the older one. So we make sure that you know the oldest one is us first and in New York apartments are very small. So this is good because I feel also that at least for me, you can manage better what it is that you have and you don't have and because I have several different places where I store certain things like I don't have a walk in pantry like you would have a big house I think you have to maintain you have to keep on top of stuff. Also like in the fridge when you're putting things from the freezer into the fridge so they can fall you have if it's meats you have to put them in the lower level of your fridge because if they fall or if it's meat and they start to you know drip or anything Always put a sheet tray or a bowl, and then make sure that you put on the lowest level so it doesn't drip on top of your other food. And then that damages the food and things like that. Andrea Heyman 10:09 So you've got food safety, you sound like definitely someone who has been to culinary school and worked in kitchens, because you have adopted a lot of food safety measures that are probably mandatory and in kitchens.

Andrea Heyman 10:25 Yeah. In in the traditional homes never thinks about that.

Karen S 10:29 No, a lot of people don't. And I just but if you go to a restaurant, you want to see those things. And I am thinking why wouldn't you want to see that in your house as well? Because you know, it's also going into your stomach. You know, it's true, me me rethink how I do things. Our whole purpose behind one family one menu is that whatever we are eating, kids eat as well. And it's great, because if we make a meal, and let's say he doesn't want the protein, but it's in a it's in a curry sauce. Well, he can eat that curry sauce with the rice that's there, or potatoes or whatnot. So it's perfect. It really is. Andrea Heyman 11:04 Yeah, I love that message that you bring with one family one menu, the name just really says it all. I think you told me once that you are you have a book idea what Karen S 11:15 Yes. Andrea Heyman 11:16 What's the premise behind the book? Karen S 11:17 Actually, I've been writing it since before Parker's birth. And he's eight now. But I think stuff happened throughout my life. And you know, I've had to stop and go back and stop and go back. And now I'm more focused on that. And obviously, you know, I have to work a lot on one family one menu website and social media, which takes a huge amount of time. But um, but yes, I have a book where I'm making, I'm telling people my technique of how to teach your children since they are born, or since they are infants and able to eat, how to give them flavors, so they understand food a little better, and are able to eat a lot of things as they grow. So they are so they become less picky, because I think that we as adults see children, not as necessarily as human. I mean, I'm not saying that, right, Ms. S, you know, like a rock over there. But we see them like these things that are babies, and they don't know what they want, or they don't know what they're doing. But they're human beings. And I don't know about you. But if you give me a mush of green beans with nothing, I probably would hate it. And I don't think that it's fair to give it to them. Because you know, you're teaching them all this is what green beans tastes like, Well, no, you don't have to cook it like that you can put a little bit of garlic and make it give it a little flavor. So now when you smell or taste something with garlic, and another meal, now that in your brain is making sense is connecting and you're like, Oh, this is the flavor that I had with those green beans. Let me see what this tastes like. Even though this is a different veggie, or a different whatever, with this, this tastes that I already know. And then you make those connections. You know, it's basically like, like, like elementary school, everything you teach is making a connection you're building from there. Right, exactly. And then I gave my son for the first time the same meal that I got for when I was an infant started eating solids, the same meal I got, which was a soup of chicken, spinach, garlic, cilantro, potatoes, and oregano as well. And then oh, onion, onion as well. And then I put it in I you know, My son, obviously I'm not a pediatrician, my son didn't have any allergies and he developed our allergies of the teeth, the from the milk or that the doctors could tell. So you know, you're always cautious and you say okay, well let me have my phone close by just in case you know, but we had that for dinner that soup and we gave it to him a blended, I had the baby bullet. So we blended it. So it's a blending system just like the magic bullet, but it was a blade, the baby bullet and you can use a regular blender, of course, and we blended it together and it was more of a velvety creamier soup, but it was the same elements. It's just that when he ate that, and then two hours we added salt and pepper and that's it and he loved it. And the next day I gave him green beans was nothing also made mixed with a little bit of water and he hated it. He said give me the good stuff right away.

Andrea Heyman 14:21 So that's interesting with my oldest child. When I first introduced foods, I was very much by book and my second child it was a little bit more liberal. My third child my daughter, literally her first meal was a soup like you're saying and it was so she had carrots, bok choy, little teeny tiny rice noodles and little shreds of chicken as her first meal. And she loved it.

Karen S 14:49 So of course, because she's like, wow, this is a good house they give exactly because kids kids learn and just like they do in school and they learn different things and you and they they tell you all about, you know, what is it that Parker talks to me about all the time this thing and technology and in these big phrases, and I'm like, Oh, well, the same thing happens with food they learn when you give it to them, and they're like, Oh my god, this is amazing. And they and they make those connections with the flavors. And that's so important because like, for instance, my son, I don't have any issues feeding my son, there were times and there are still times that he won't want to eat something, not because he doesn't like it. But also kids like to assert that independence. So that's one thing that parents need to know that a lot of times you feed your children something and the next day, they'll be like, Oh, I don't want that anymore. It's not that they don't like it anymore, is that they want to do what they want to do at their time. And that they're, you know that they want to be independent. So they try to push back or because he had it. My son loves to eat different foods every day. So he doesn't want to eat what he ate last night. He's like, Oh, I don't want to eat that I ate the last night. I'm like, fine, you know, but that's the thing that As parents, we need to know. And my son now he loves garlic. I mean, when I tell you that he takes a clove of garlic. I was peeling garlic the other day to make a garlic. I forget what it was that I was making a sauce or something. And I was peeling garlic and the cloves of garlic was just laying there. He came into the kitchen and stuck on in his mind like hey, this. Yes. And I mean, I love garlic. And I can never eat it like that. And he ate it. And he said, Mom, that's so delicious. I was like, I was like, Wow. Okay, that and he loves those flavors. He loves onions, cilantro, he'll take this lunch and eat it on his own to think it's ridiculous. And that's what you want. You want kids to be able to explore. They're not gonna love everything. No, they're not. And that's okay. Andrea Heyman 16:37 We don't love everything. I don't love everything either. Karen S 16:40 Exactly. But you want them to try things and not to be afraid because you don't want them to be afraid of food. Because there's also important that they are able to be anywhere in the world. They're able to survive with whatever is available. And that's also another thing about one family one menu, you know, and the last thing that I was gonna say is that parents sometimes we we are very fearful. We have that fear. Oh my god, what if I kill him? Oh my god, what if I choke it? Oh my god, what if? What if he doesn't like, I'm like, you're already in the hospital, according to you. And, and he's a deaf, you know, with with an IV on him? Like you, you can't you can't live like that you. Like I said, you know, the first time I gave my son fish and shrimp while he was little shrimp, not fish because fish was fine. But the shrimp I was like, Okay, let me keep the phone close by in case he blows up, you know, and your face is swelling. I don't have any issues. But let me see what. You know, and I gave it to him and you have to kind of the fear is going to be there, you kind of have to learn how to move that to the side a little bit and be able to help them do this. Because this is also going to help with making them more self sufficient in the long run in every aspect, not just food. Right?

Andrea Heyman 17:47 It's kind of a microcosm of bigger lessons in the world that you're trying to use that child.

Karen S 17:54 Yeah.

Andrea Heyman 17:55 So what would you I know that a lot of our listeners have picky kids or they say, Well, I want to eat healthier, but I don't feel like making a second meal for my kids. What would you suggest for parents who have maybe less adventurous older kids like maybe Parker's age? What would you suggest to those parents?

Karen S 18:16 Well, I think that when you're eating as a family, your main meal together, whatever it is lunch, or dinner, I'm sure most of the people most people eat dinner together, make a few things like, you know, you can try making grilled veggies, you can try making a protein in making a rice of some sort or just you know, with veggies or weight. And the goal is for them to eat at least one of those things, you know, and and tell them you know, I think it's important to go in it nicely, especially if the kid is older and say, Hey, if you don't know how it tastes, if you've never tried it, you can't know how it tastes. So it's very important to instill that in them. That's what I used to tell Parker, if you don't know, if you haven't tried it, you can't know. And another thing that I tell Parker and of course your kids are going to do it anyway. Sometimes never say Ill stop with that. That's First of all, it could be offensive to some cultures around people. And on top of that food is not hell, You don't like it? You can say I do not care for this if you try it, but don't say no, just look at it and say you know what? They're eating it. Okay, I don't care for this, or I don't want it or No, thank you. I think I think the other component is there that it's a respect thing, because somebody just worked really hard to prepare this to flat out kind of insulted like, let's say the back better to teach them more positive words to use instead of the Exactly. Yeah, I don't care for this. Or you know, there are cultures like for instance, Japanese culture were foodist and even the utensils you use to make the food they're like sacred to like the cutting board. You know, there was an instance where Bobby Flay caught his hand in a battle with another famous chef, a Japanese chef, Maki Maki moto. I think it was From the Iron Chef, this was years ago, and he continued cooking with his hand cut, they wrapped it and yay for Bobby Flay. But then at the end when he made it through, even though he didn't when he stood on top of the table, and on top of the board to be like this, and that was a big offense to McMorrow, because to them, these utensils are incredibly you know, important and precious. And you respect everything in the kitchen. And I feel like like I love that about the Japanese culture or you know, any culture because I think it's so important to respect the ingredients, respect the utensils, you know, it's like a for me cooking is like painting a canvas. And you take your your your brush, and you are making these lines, and you see where they go and like I'm talking about and I get like chills because I feel like Canvas in this plate is beautiful. And you just put this here like I made butternut squash soup the other day, it's on the My YouTube of one family one menu, and I kept telling people in the video, I was like, it's important to highlight the main ingredient like it's the main ingredient is the butternut squash, stop adding creams and this I mean, yes, butternut squash cream soup is delicious. But stop adding stuff. Like let's highlight this beautiful thing that I got from wild kale, which is the online farmers market. And I got it overnight from the farm. And it was it was taken that that day before from the ground. And to me I was like, Oh my god, this is the best butternut squash that I'll ever eat. And I wanted to be I want to highlight that I want it to come out and bite me because I want that butternut squash tastes like a you know, and it's important, I think it's really important to do that.

Andrea Heyman 21:43 You can really tell you are so passionate about cooking, but also your ingredients. And I have to tell an anecdote. So recently you're you can fill in the blanks if I'm not getting this right. But you were unboxing the shipment that you had received from one kale. Why?

Karen S 22:00 wild kale.

Andrea Heyman 22:01 Thank you. And you guys, if you have not seen Karen do this on her YouTube channel. It is the most adorable thing. she proceeded to pull up each ingredient and was just like a young child on Christmas with all the enthusiasm and wonder about it. And it was just the most adorable thing.

And I continue to think about every time I take one thing out, I'm like, Oh my god, I can do this. I can do that. And they send me this amazing a ruler that I am still like I feel like my mouth is watering right now. Because I don't know if you've taped. I mean, obviously, everybody most people have taped to the rule off from the supermarket. And it tastes good. Yes, it's not bad. But this removal came from the farmers who packed it and put it in the box and sent it to me the next day arrived to my house the next day. And this ruble that tasted like no other rule I have ever purchased in the supermarket. It was so spicy. And I even called my husband I was like maybe I'm imagining things because you know, placebo effect though something. And so I called my house. I was like, Can you taste this, please? And he's like, Oh my god, this is so good. And I said, right. It tastes like the produce that and it took me back to my childhood to the produce that I used to buy with my mom at the supermarket because of the Dr. Things are very fresh. And yeah, back then. I don't know now, but back then no, like chicken, nothing had hormones or any of that stuff. So it's a huge difference when I go down there and eat and things the way they taste. Then when I come here and I eat certain things in the market that have been on the shelf for like 10 days. So I ate that a ruler and I thought like, like everything moved in my body.

Andrea Heyman 23:39 Because it's so spicy. You have full experience.

Karen S 23:42 It was it was delicious. It was so good. It was so good. And it's it's it really is amazing. I think it's it's an experience of its own. And for me food. When I go to the produce section in the market, Michaels like okay, we've been here like an hour and a half. Because Because I go to each step of each quarter, I'm like, Okay, this and then I start looking. And he says, Do you have to smell all the peaches? And I'm like, I have to because if they don't smell right and sweet, then not good in the watery and not okay, like that's what I

Andrea Heyman 24:17 see what I mean, you are so passionate about your ingredients.

Karen S 24:21 I try to be I try to be I try to also show Parker how to pick his things, you know, on an effort that one day when he's independent. You know, he knows also how to do this on his own.

Andrea Heyman 24:32 Yeah, I know. I've seen in your videos that you get him involved in the kitchen, too.

Karen S 24:37 He loves it. He's he asked me the other day, the last video I had on the butternut squash. He said, Well, maybe I should be in this video. And I was like, Whoa, that was one we cut in a break. And I was like, Well, I'm almost done. And he's like, oh, man, well, let's make next video for us to like, let's do it together. And I was like, well plan something. Like if it weren't for him. He'd be in every single video and I'm like, Okay. I love that. I love it. He says cook He loves food. And he, um, what was it that he said the other day, he went somewhere, we went somewhere and he said, This is not good for me. And I was like, excuse. You have taught him? Well. I know. I was like, okay, and Michael looked at me, he's like, this is your kid. Andrea Heyman 25:16 And you you probably took that as a compliment. Karen S 25:19 Yes, I did. Because I was like, that's right. He knows this food. And he does. He'll taste something and be like, this is not good. And it's true. It's not good. So I'm very happy about that.

Andrea Heyman 25:29 Well, Karen, I have had so much fun talking to you. I love your stories. Can you tell the listeners where they can find you? If they want to see more of you?

Karen S Yes, I am. Everywhere. Literally, you turn around and I'm there. But in reality, I am at one family one menu.com. That's my website. You can also send me messages there. There's tons of recipes. I have my blog videos. Also, I'm doing now videos in Spanish. So who if you guys speak Spanish? I have a few videos of those. And I'm going to continue doing them. You can also find me on youtube but one family one menu is the the channel I'm also on Instagram, my hat. What is that called my handle your handle my handle? I'm getting I'm getting official, the millennial group, you know, my handle is at one family one menu. And on Twitter. I am at one family menu. I'm also on Facebook. I'm also on Facebook at one family one minute as well.

Andrea H Oh, fantastic. So you're basically everywhere, everywhere. And like you said, Everyone can find you.

Karen S26:36 There's no way you cannot find me, you will find me.

Andrea Heyman 26:40 Thank you so much for your stories and your perspective. I can't wait to try some of these recipes that you mentioned. I'm going to highlight some of them in the show notes for everybody.

Karen S 26:50 Thank you so much. I'm very, very, very happy to have been here to have a talk about my experiences. And I'm very excited to share everything with everyone. I want everyone to be able to have one family and one menu. Not one family five millennials like that's not you know, nobody can we live very busy lives. Unfortunately, we have very little downtime. And we need to make sure that when we are together and come together that it's quality, not just where they're sitting down and mom or dad or both have to be in another part of the house because this person didn't want to eat it. So now they have to make something else. And like we should all take this time and just take advantage of it and have quality time with each other.

Andrea Heyman 27:33 Isn't Karen the best. I loved talking to her. And actually that was our third time chatting. And every time I love her more and more. She's sharing some of her recipes. You can find those links in the show notes for her butternut squash soup. Also her blog on how to organize her fridge and pantry. And just a note after we did this episode, we discussed that we want to get together and do some live cooking together with one another. So she's going to teach me how to make her toast donatus in November, so keep your ears open. I'll let you guys know when we do that. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to my podcast that ensures that you don't miss a single episode. Also, I love all the amazing reviews that I've gotten. This is really good feedback for me and I would love it if you would leave a review as well. That is how the show gets known and more people hear about it and are able to listen and that's what I want because I want to help you the listeners feed your family because it really is an adventure and the more support we give each other the better and easier it becomes. Until next time. Take care. This is Andrea Heyman and I will see you soon