What I hadn’t expected, however, was how hungry I would be — I’m talking bottomless pit, black hole, just-ran-a-marathon hungry. I was not hungry for salads and grilled fish, either; I wanted sweets, carbs, and lots of gooey fat. This can happen when you’re hungover (so I’m told), but when I found myself seriously debating a third slice of cake at a school luncheon (and this was after I’d eaten not one but two lunches because I was so tired I’d completely forgotten about the lunch at school until I’d made and eaten a giant grilled cheese sandwich), I decided to do a little research on the relationship between sleep (or lack thereof) and eating.

More and more experts now believe that how much you sleep has a direct affect on your appetite. Which doesn’t seem like a huge deal in a country where food is plentiful and cheap — unless of course you’re trying to lose weight, interested in staying healthy and fit, or care about your diet in any way. Sure, eating chocolate chip waffles, grilled cheese sandwiches, and extra slices of cake every once in a while probably isn’t going to cause irreparable damage, but when you start to think about all the nights when you don’t get enough sleep (that’s at least 6-8 hours a night), then it seems like a more serious issue.

Sleep research has recently shown that hormones, specifically the hormones linked to feelings of hunger and fullness, are affected by sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep, it drives down levels of leptin, the hormone that tells your brain you’re full. Also, lack of sleep can cause levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates your appetite, to rise. The result of both is that you want more food, even feel like you need more food. So…you get one of the worst effects of a hangover without enjoying even one glass of wine.

Alas, we all have trouble sleeping sometimes. But guess what? Eating also has an affect on how well you sleep. I’ve always heard that it’s unhealthy to eat right before bed — that those foods will be stored as fat, cause indigestion, and can lead to sleep apnea, etc. Apparently, however, that’s not exactly true. While it’s probably not a good idea to have a FourthMeal at Taco Bell at 10 p.m. (or any time, for that matter…sorry, friends), it turns out a bedtime snack is more than just a kids’ stalling technique. I realized that I had skipped dinner on that fateful sleepless night (long story involving pistachios and a large bowl of kettle corn) plus — the horror — I’d had a coffee at 3 p.m. Even though I felt a little hungry at bedtime, I didn’t eat anything. Apparently I broke several key get-more-sleep rules.

According to many nutritionists, it’s best to eat a light snack within an hour of bedtime. A combination of healthy carbs and a little protein will help release seratonin, your brain’s feel-good-and-mellow hormone, which helps you relax and fall asleep. The amino acid tryptophan (you know, the stuff you always moan about after Thanksgiving dinner) can be converted to seratonin, so it’s not a bad idea to eat foods that supply it, such as poultry (not just turkey, BTW), cheese, nuts, and eggs.

Here are some good Bedtime Snack Ideas: 1/2 egg-salad sandwich, 1/2 turkey sandwich, banana, PB&J, peanut butter-banana quesadilla, feftover chicken quesadilla, oatmeal with walnuts, yogurt with sliced almonds, granola with milk, etc. You get the idea. Not too big, not too spicy. Even a glass of milk would have been better than the big nothing I had.

I read the Mayo Clinic’s list of sleep tips, and it says to “pay attention to what you eat and drink.” More specifically, here are a few food-related suggestions for getting a better night’s sleep.

1) Eat a large breakfast and a moderate dinner. Large meals tend to raise your body temperature and heart rate, which can interfere with sleep. So, eat your largest meal of the day early in the day.

2) Finish dinner at least two hours before bedtime.

3) If you ate dinner early or feel even slightly hungry, eat a healthy snack within an hour of bedtime (see above).

4) Avoid MSG (monosodium glutamate), which has been shown to provoke insomnia (among other health concerns).

5) Limit alcohol. I’m not here to tell anyone not to drink, but even though it makes you feel drowsy, alcohol disrupts sleep. And the older you are, the worse the effect (or so I’ve heard). Just sayin’…

6) Cut caffeine. And don’t have any after 2 p.m. This includes coffee, tea, cocoa, etc.

If all else fails and you had a rough, sleepless night, don’t fret. It really does only make it worse. And if you’re starving for something delicious and cakey the next day, may I suggest Melissa Clark’s Lemony Olive Oil Banana Bread? It’s on the healthy side (-ish) and it’s incredible. See photo above.

Night, night!

Wow, it’s a snack bonanza this week here on Real Life Delicious. Today’s guest post is from my good friend Helen Olsson. Helen’s awesome blog, Mad Dog Mom, chronicles her adventures in parenthood, which have included taking her three kids backcountry skiing, llama trekking, and on multi-day camping trips before they could walk. Her new book, The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids (Roost Books, April 2012), is a fun read as well as a super helpful guide to everything you need to know before braving the backwoods with your offspring. Of course, I was especially interested in the chapter on Camp Grub, which is packed with useful tips (even gourmet camp chefs with mack-daddy mess kits will learn something, trust me) and delicious camp-food recipes.

I made Helen’s Chocolate Almond Coconut Balls over the weekend, and I can attest that they are incredible. My kids oohed and awed over them, and they strongly protested when I suggested bringing them to a Cub Scout potluck at school because they wanted them all for themselves. I did bring a batch, and the Scouts loved them too. The only change I made to Helen’s recipe, which follows her post, is I substituted maple syrup for the agave nectar. Enjoy!

Ever since my kids were old enough for solid food, I’ve rarely left the house without a small cooler or a canvas bag filled with snacks and drinks. And if I ever do forget to bring the nibblies, I swear some alarm goes off in my kids’ brains the moment we’re a mile and a half from the pantry. That’s when they cry out that they are starving. Starving? How could they possibly be hungry? We finished lunch a half an hour ago. Well, their continual need for snacks really gets my goat. But there it is.

Of course, the grocery store aisles are conveniently packed with processed, packaged snacks filled with questionable ingredients. My oldest son has severe food allergies, including dairy, peanuts, and all the tree nuts except for almonds. That seriously limits my options in the snack aisle. To avoid buying granola or energy bars by the boxload — especially the ones that would send my little dumpling into anaphylactic shock — I made it my mission to come up with a few homemade, nutritious on-the-go snacks for the whole family.

My latest creation is a chocolate ball that tastes not unlike a truffle but is packed with healthy ingredients like dates and almonds. Mine are made with almonds and almond butter, but you could easily sub peanut butter and walnuts if you like. The balls are best served chilled. Last winter, they were the perfect energy blast to pop in the kids’ parka pockets (in a plastic baggie) when we went skiing.

My other inspiration for creating a tasty healthy snack was my new book. I wanted to include a few homemade bars in my “Camp Grub” chapter. As I was working on my manuscript last summer, I was constantly trying out different recipes. Eventually I made up my own, tinkering with the recipe in dozens of trials. Admittedly, I became a little obsessed. Over time, I got the consistency and ratio of dried fruit and nuts dialed. And get this, the kids actually like them.

Although the bars are great to take on a camping trip, if you decide to bring the balls, you’ll want to keep them in an airtight container in your cooler. They’d get pretty gooey in a backpack on a hike in 90 degree weather.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Balls

Ingredients
1 cup whole almonds, separated
½ cup pitted dates
¼ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
½ cup agave nectar
½ cup almond butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp sea salt
1¼ to ½ cup shredded (or shaved) unsweetened coconut

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Toast the almonds for 8 minutes, shaking the baking sheet once midway. Using a food processor, coarsely grind ½ cup of the almonds. Add the dates and process until combined. Add cocoa powder, agave nectar, almond butter, vanilla, and salt. Process until mixture is smooth. Add the coconut, pulsing only till it’s mixed in. Chop the remaining ½ cup of almonds and mix in (either by pulsing gently in the food processor, with a wooden spoon, or by hand).  You want some almond chunks in there. Form the batter into small balls with your hands. Freeze until hardened. Once hardened, the balls are perfect out of the fridge.

Fruit and Nut Bars (Makes 16 two-inch square bars)

Ingredients
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 cups almonds, coarsely chopped
¾ cup pitted dates, chopped
½ cup dried cherries, chopped
½ cup raisins
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips (these are available dairy free, but you’ll need to check the label)
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly oil an 8″ x 8″ square pan. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add sugar, nuts, fruit, and chocolate chips, and mix with your hands until the fruit is coated with flour. Separate any sticky bits. Beat egg and vanilla together and add to the nut-and-fruit mixture. Mix with your hands until everything is thinly coated with the egg mixture. Pour mixture into prepared pan and flatten it down with a spatula. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool in pan. Using a stiff spatula, loosen the entire square and lift it carefully out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares.

It’s amazing, though, how often I stare at the pantry — with my kids drooping into a near-comatose state from hunger — at a total loss for what to make for snack.

In preparing for my upcoming class on meals that don’t necessarily happen at the dinner table (more on this later!), I’ve come up with a few simple strategies for winning the snack battle:

1) Think about it ahead of time. This seems kind of obvious, but before you pick up the kids from school, think about your snack options based on what you have in the cupboard and formulate a bit of a plan. I’m not suggesting a daily snack meal plan, but a quick minute’s worth of thought can head off a meltdown caused by promising yogurt parfaits to starving children and then getting home and realizing you’re out of Stonyfield.

2) Prep. Just as this can help with weeknight meals, a little advance prep work can mean the difference between presenting your kids with a beautiful veggie-hummus-turkey smorgasbord or a bowl of Pirate’s Booty. Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with Pirate’s Booty, but if the veggies are already cleaned and cut or the edamame is already boiled, you’ll have many more options. Find a 10-minute time slot when the kids are doing homework or even on the weekend, and get the veggies and fruit ready to go.

2) Keep a snack list. During one of my lame bowls-of-Pirate’s Booty punts, I remember thinking, I wish I had a list of snack ideas. Well, here is a list of snack ideas. It’s in no way comprehensive, but these are some of our go-to snacks. All are pretty healthy (although definitely not balanced meals), easy and quick to make, and finicky-kid-approved. I suggest finding a place to keep a list of snack ideas. You can even let your kids add their ideas to the list; you can always veto the cupcakes and Oreos. I’d love it if you could add your family’s favorite snacks to the list; just write them in the “comments” section, thanks!

Snack Ideas for Angry Gremlins (I mean hungry kids):

Peanut butter on apples with granola
Whole wheat tortilla with thinly sliced apple, peanut butter, and a sprinkle of granola
Peanut butter and banana quesadilla (spread mashed banana and peanut butter on tortilla, warm in microwave for 30 seconds)
Yogurt parfait (layer cut fruit with organic yogurt and nuts or granola in a fancy glass)
Nachos (sprinkle grated cheese on corn chips and melt under the broiler for 3 minutes, add beans or leftover veggies if you have)
Corn tortillas with melted mozzarella (roll a string cheese stick inside a corn tortilla and microwave for 1 minute)
Chips & salsa
Homemade tortilla chips (I made these on “Colorado’s Best,” and they’re great with hummus, salsa, or marinara)
Cut veggies & dip (hummus, homemade ranch)
Roasted pears (Okay I lied; these aren’t that quick, but they’re a big hit. Slice the pears and cook them for 30 minutes in a 400-degree oven.)
Roasted nuts (blanch some raw almonds, then toss with olive oil and spices and roast at 350 for 15-20 minutes)
Trail mix
Kale chips
PB&Js (whole wheat bread, organic, sugar-free peanut butter & jelly)
Leftovers (last night’s chicken becomes a quesadilla, etc.)
Flour tortilla pizzas
Ham & Swiss quesadilla
Edamame
Relish tray (olives, cherry tomatoes, carrots, maybe some nuts)
Hummus with pita bread slices, carrots, cucumbers, etc.
Organic Soup Cups (my son loves Dr. McDougal’s)
Homemade granola bars (recipe below)

Granola Bars
When it comes to portable snacks, my kids love granola bars. This was easy before I learned about the whole arsenic-in-brown-rice-syrup scare and stopped buying Cascadian Farms Organic Granola Bars or Clif Z-Bars cold turkey — which has forced me to practice what I preach and start making my own granola bars more often. There are lots of granola bar recipes out there, and I’ve tried most of them. This improvised version is low in sugar, it’s wheat- and dairy-free, and it’s very easy to make. I only partially baked these, so they remained chewy in the fridge. The kids loved them, and so did I. They look a lot like cookies so can easily be passed off as treats, too.

Ingredients

1 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tbs. maple syrup
1/4 cup dried blueberries (or raisins, cherries, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse 1/2 cup of the almonds until finely ground. Add almond butter and process to combine. Add dates, remaining almonds, coconut, and maple syrup and chop until combined but still crunchy. Add in the berries or other fruit (you could also add mini chocolate chips) and mix to combine. My batter got pretty thick at this point so I kneaded it with my hands. Form into 2-inch balls and flatten to less than an inch thick. Bake for 10 minutes. Refrigerate on the baking tray until hardened, then transfer to an airtight container. Will keep for a week in the fridge.

One last addition to the snack-idea list is the delectable Chocolate Almond Coconut Balls that my guest blogger (and great friend) Helen Olsson will be sharing with us tomorrow. Yay!

You probably read or heard about this article in The New York Times Magazine or maybe you saw Dr. Robert Lustig’s YouTube Video or appearance on “60 Minutes.” If not, here’s a sampling of what he (along with and more and more medical professionals) believes about sugar:

If Lustig is right, then our excessive consumption of sugar is the primary reason that the numbers of obese and diabetic Americans have skyrocketed in the past 30 years. But his argument implies more than that. If Lustig is right, it would mean that sugar is also the likely dietary cause of several other chronic ailments widely considered to be diseases of Western lifestyles — heart disease, hypertension and many common cancers among them.

Suggesting that sugar might kill us is what zealots do. But Lustig, who has genuine expertise, has accumulated and synthesized a mass of evidence, which he finds compelling enough to convict sugar.

I had read and seen it all, and, weirdly, that wasn’t compelling enough to get me to take a hard look at my family’s sugar consumption — and my own, apparently wicked, sweet tooth — until I experienced firsthand just how addictive the stuff is. Heck, I had even planned an Easter-themed blog post about all the good news that’s been coming out about chocolate lately. But, seeing as how Americans consume about 130 pounds of sugar a year, it occurred to me that we don’t really need any reasons to eat more of it.

Even though I’ve come to believe that sugar, especially when consumed in gigantic quantities, is very bad for our health, maybe even toxic — I am not among the people who think sugar should be banned. (Taxed perhaps…) And far be it from me to suggest that the Easter bunny skips anyone’s house this year. But I do think we owe it to ourselves and our kids to start drastically reducing our sugar intake. The American Heart Association recommends adult women consume less than 5 teaspoons of added sugar per day (about 20 grams); kids less than 3 teaspoons. That’s less than half of a can of Coke. I imagine someone like Dr. Lustig would argue even that’s too much. But since the average person has 7-8 times that every day, it seems like a good place to start.

And the best way to do that, you guessed it, is to eat real food. Packaged processed foods and junk foods are the low-lying fruit when it comes to cutting sugar.  If you make yourself aware of these foods where sugar lurks, eat less of them, and work toward eliminating sugary junk (soda, candy, GoGurt, granola bars, Froot by the Foot…), you’ll be so far ahead of the game that the occasional cupcake, ice cream cone, or chocolate chick probably isn’t going to hurt — with heavy emphasis on occasional.

I know it’s hard to police kids all the time, and there is a lot of junk food and candy in the world, but we can control what they eat at home. Well, at least we can try, right? My strategies include avoiding taking the kids to the grocery store at all costs and dodging the Girl Scout cookie sellers on the playground. My greatest hope is that I can convince my kids (and — who am I kidding? — convince myself) that sweets are a treat. You know, for special occasions. I really believe that it would be an incredible gift for my children if they could grow up thinking this way. I know it sounds like something out of Charles Dickens, but maybe by having fewer sweet treats, they will appreciate what little sugar they do get even more. I’m going to get a chance to test this theory in a couple days: The kids gave up all sweets for Lent, too, and I suspect they are really going to appreciate their Easter baskets this year — even if E.B.’s bounty isn’t quite what it used to be.

Since my seven-year-old daughter is still kind of sauce-averse, I pulled a hunk of the fish out of the pan after the browning step. I finished her salmon in the oven while the rest was simmering in the sauce. And lastly, I wouldn’t be much of a “food evangelist” if I didn’t plea with you to consider buying wild Pacific salmon (instead of farmed). If you’re unsure about safe and sustainable seafood choices, check out the Monterrey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Recommendations. Also, I wrote a post on this very subject last year, in case you’re interested. I find the subject fascinating, by the way.

Salmon with Thai-Style Red Curry Sauce
Ingredients

1 large salmon fillet (1-2 lbs.)
1 tbs. olive oil
1 (14-oz.) can light coconut milk
1 stalk dried lemongrass
2 green onions, chopped
2 tbs. Thai red curry paste
Juice of 1/2 lime
Veggies (any combination of chopped red or yellow peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, or onions)
2 tbs. chopped cilantro leaves
Salt & pepper

Sprinkle salmon with salt. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add oil. When the pan is hot, add the fish (skin side up) and cook for 4 minutes until browned on the flesh side. Remove fish from the pan and set aside. Add scallions and saute for a minute, then stir in the coconut milk, lemongrass stalk, and curry paste. Place salmon back in the pan, skin side down this time, and simmer it in the sauce for about 10 minutes. Add vegetables and simmer until they’re cooked, another 10 minutes. At this point, the salmon should be cooked through, but if it’s still too rare for you, simmer another 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Remove lemongrass. Serve over sticky sushi rice or short-grain brown rice with a generous squeeze of Sriracha (totally optional but totally addictive).

In case you missed it, I posted a new class schedule for Spring 2012. Check out my NEW fun offerings!

If I were serving lunch to a couple girlfriends, this — along with a glass of white wine — would be a perfect light meal. But for a family dinner, it’s probably more workable as a side. I don’t know about you, but I tend to make the same vegetable side dishes over and over (broccoli with lemon and Parmesan, roasted eggplant, green beans with shallots, etc.), so it’s nice to be able to add a new one to the repertoire every now and then.

This is delicious served with chicken. I also served it with meatball sandwiches last night and no one complained.

Zucchini with Feta and Lemon
Ingredients

2 large zucchini (zucchini is cheap, splurge on organic)
1-2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. crumbled feta cheese (more or less)
1/2 lemon
Salt & pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Slice the zucchini into 1/4-inch-thick disks and add to pan in a single layer. Sprinkle lightly with salt and saute until slightly browned on one side (try not to crowd them too much; you might need to cook the squash in two batches). Flip slices over and slightly brown the other side. When zucchini is cooked, transfer to a bowl and toss with feta and juice of 1/2 lemon (try squeezing a little lemon first, then adding gradually to taste). Grind some black pepper over the top. Serves four people, more if they’re slightly zucchini-averse and fewer if they’re people like me.

Pollan talked about confronting our meat-eating, the ubiquity of high fructose corn syrup, and real-world costs of cheap, processed food. But what I found most compelling — and comforting — was his discussion of the value of cooking, especially when trying to instill in kids an appreciation for real and healthy food. He emphasized making time to cook and how enriching it is on so many levels. Plus, it was frankly great to hear that Michael Pollan’s son was a “challenging eater” and that the family had to bring the kid’s favorite brand of white pasta everywhere they went in order to mitigate tantrums. “All parents know that ‘mood management’ is an important part of child rearing,” Pollan said. Amen to that, right?

Pollan’s advice to parents:

1) Have a garden. As Pollan said, to kids the excitement of harvesting is like Christmas. It’s amazing what kids will eat when they grow it and pick it themselves. (Full disclosure: We currently don’t have a garden; we did, but our neighbors put up a new fence, blocking our little patch of sun. But we do grow chilies, tomatoes, strawberries, and herbs in pots.)

2) Involve kids in cooking. As with gardening, it’s amazing what a picky seven-year-old will eat when she helps to make it. Pollan explained that food can be scary to kids, whose taste buds are more sensitive than adults’. So the more they know about where their food comes from and how it’s prepared, the better. “Cooking is a really valuable thing to do,” Pollan said.”And the secret is, it’s really not that hard.” Hmmm, sounds familiar…

At the end of the program, when asked what he would choose if he could only eat one food for the rest of his life, he thought about it and said, “Roast chicken. Slooowly roasted chicken.” Now there’s a man after my own heart!

Since it sounds so incredibly good right now, here’s my favorite method for roasting a chicken.

Simple Roast Chicken
Ingredients
1 chicken (you’ll feel better about it if it’s organic and humanely raised; 3-4 lbs.)
1/2 garlic bulb
4-6 fresh thyme sprigs
1 lemon
1 medium onion, quartered
6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
6-8 small new potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs. butter
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Rub it  inside and out with salt & pepper. Slice the lemon and garlic bulb in half (don’t worry about peeling the garlic) and put one half of each plus a couple thyme sprigs inside the cavity and tie the legs together with kitchen string. Place the veggies in a large cast iron skillet (or roasting pan). Add about half the olive oil and some salt & pepper and mix to coat. Toss in the remaining thyme and (unpeeled) garlic cloves. Rub the chicken with the remaining oil and place on top of the veggies. Spread a little butter over the breasts and then roast in hot oven for about 25 minutes. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees and roast for another 45 minutes (until thigh reads 160 degrees or juices run clear, not red). Remove from oven, transfer chicken to a cutting board, and tent with foil to rest for about 15 minutes. If they need it, you can cook the vegetables a bit more or at least keep them warm in the oven. Stir them with the cooking juices before serving with the bird.

In case you’re in the “who is he?” camp (totally understandable), Michael Pollan is the author of the book that changed my life as well as In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, which was also a total revelation. His most recent book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, has been reissued with new illustrations. Like all of his books, it’s totally worth reading — and doing so is even quicker than roasting a chicken.