Pressure Cooker

By José Andrés MediaHealth & Fitness Nutrition Parenting Kids & Family

Pressure Cooker episodes

April 12, 2023In Praise of Kitchen Shortcuts
Is scratch cooking really all it’s cracked up to be? In this episode, Jane and Liz challenge the idea that society’s ills can be solved by each of us spending more time in the kitchen, sing the praises of convenience food, and talk to the authors of the 2019 book Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems, and What We Can Do About It. The hosts close out the show by sharing the dinner shortcuts they love.

As promised, here are Pressure Cooker’s picks for time-savers you can feel good about.

Heat and Eat
Talia Di Napoli Frozen Pizza: Crust that tastes like a wood-burning pizza joint and sauce that tastes like sunshine. Available retail and online; $13 to $15 per pizza.
Trader Joe’s Cheese and Green Chili Tamale: Made for the microwave and not too spicy for the kids. $3.79 for two.
Trader Joe’s Black Bean and Jack Cheese Burrito: The antithesis of the sad desk lunch burrito. Perfect from the toaster oven and big enough for two small kids. $3.99
Jaju Pierogis: The Polish know kids. Dough + potatoes and cheese is a hit. Add some raw veg and you’re done. $10 for 12.
Pasta Sauce
Rao’s Marinara Sauce: Yes, it’s cheaper to make your own but this is better and fast. Look for it at Costco or Aldi for a price break, from 5.99 for 24 ounces.
Good and Gather Organic Marinara Sauce, Target’s affordable no-sugar option, $2.79 for 24 ounces.
Dump & Stir
OmSom: Think of these packets as authentically spiced flavor bombs, allowing you to make restaurant-quality Asian dishes in 15 minutes, Available online or retail; three packets (six servings) for $12.
Maya Kaimal: There are a zillion simmer sauces but Maya Kaimal’s are the OG. Most kids will dig the mild creamy Butter Masala. $5.
Haven’s Kitchen: Great flavors in resealable squeezy pouches. We love the golden turmeric tahini and the chimichurri. $6.99 per 5-ounce pouch.
Rice, Noodles, Dumplings
Birdsye Frozen Rice: The fastest way to get a healthy grain on the table. $2.50 per 10-ounce bag.
Momofuku Ramen: An upgrade on the dorm-room fave with air-dried noodles and a tasty spice packet. 5-pack starting at $12.
MìLà (formerly Xio Chi Jie) Pork Soup Dumplings: As good as a restaurant. Seriously! And so fun for kids. $40 for 50 dumplings.
Trader Joe’s Pork and Ginger Soup Dumplings: Affordable and delicious is possible. $6 for $3.79.
What are your faves? Let us know @pressurecook_fm

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40 min
March 29, 2023 Nature or Nurture: How Much Control Do You Have Over What Your Kids Eat -- and Don’t?
Same house. Same parents. Same food. And yet kids have vastly different tastes and interest in food. Is it something you’re doing? Or do genes control what our children will eat? Liz and Jane speak with Dr. Alison Fildes, a British geneticist, to try to untangle what’s nature, what’s nurture and how science can liberate you at the dinner table.

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30 min
March 15, 2023 Burned Out On Being the Family Cook? Eve Rodsky Is Here to Help.
Since publishing her New York Times bestseller Fair Play in 2019, Eve Rodsky has become a leader in the movement to rebalance the domestic chore burden, which has historically fallen mostly to women. In this episode, Jane and Liz chat with Eve about her Fair Play system, how it came to be, and real strategies to help parents better work together to tackle the daily grind of feeding kids.

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44 min
March 02, 2023 Should You Stop Feeding Your Kids Boxed Mac and Cheese? (Part 2 of 2)
We know kids love it. But is boxed mac and cheese a healthy, and safe, meal for kids? In partnership with ParentData, Brown economist Emily Oster’s newsletter, Jane and Liz untangle the pros and cons of our kids’ beloved day-glo orange pasta.

Alert: Emily Oster fans! Until March 31, Emily is offering Pressure Cooker listeners 20% off subscriptions to ParentData. For more information, visit www.parentdata.com/pressurecooker

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31 min
February 15, 2023 How Boxed Mac and Cheese Became the Ultimate Kid Food (Part 1 of 2)
Kraft. Annie’s. Kids adore boxed mac and cheese. But how did this Depression Era “innovation” become America’s go-to kids food? Join Jane and Liz as they track the story from the days of Yankee Doodle and the 1893 World’s Fair to the modern Kraft juggernaut that sells more than 1 million boxes of day-glo orange cheesy pasta every day.

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35 min
February 01, 2023 Why dietetics is so white, and what to do about it
About 20 percent of American children are obese and the rates are disproportionately high among Black and Latino children. But parents seeking help for their children often have a hard time getting good advice. The dietetics industry is overwhelmingly white and industry education has, heretofore, focused on foods prized in European cultures. Deanna Bellany Lewis, co-founder of Diversify Dietetics, joins Jane and Liz to lay out the problem and potential solutions.

For interested parents, two resources Deanna recommends are:

Raising Healthy Eaters by Henry Legere

Body Kindness, a podcast from Rebecca Scritchfield

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35 min
January 18, 2023 Jamie Oliver on the ‘psychological warfare’ of feeding kids
Jamie Oliver is a global celebrity chef at the helm of a media empire. And yep, even he struggles to feed his five kids without complaints. On this episode, Jamie discusses how to maintain your confidence, NOT to be a short order cook and shares his no-fair kid-approved recipe. Check out his new (awesome) book, One: Simple One-Pan Wonders, which is designed specifically to minimize dishes. You won’t be sorry.

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31 min
January 04, 2023 Sugar: How much is just right?
Sugar is America’s number-one dietary villain. And kids…LOVE it. So how much sugar really is okay? Jane and Liz dive into the complicated question with Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine to find out how much you need to worry about snacks, birthday party binges, and how to sensibly manage your little ones’ sugar intake.

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37 min
December 14, 2022 The Truth about Cooking with Kids
Admit it. That vision that you have of baking with your children doesn’t always pan out. Instead of creating powerful memories, it’s often just a mess. So this week Jane and Liz are asking and answering whether the pros of cooking with kids really outweigh the cons–and how you can make cooking with your kids a pleasure this holiday season.

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43 min
November 30, 2022 Are hormones in our food fueling early puberty?
Get ready: This week, we’re talking about everybody’s favorite, totally NOT cringe-inducing or awkward topic: puberty. Because kids today--and girls, in particular--are going through it earlier than they used to. Why is it happening? And what, if anything, do the hormones in milk and meat have to do with it? On this episode, Jand and Liz talk with Dr. Louise Greenspan, who led one of the landmark studies about the timing of puberty in girls and co-authored a popular book about it called The New Puberty. The answer may surprise you.

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30 min

About Pressure Cooker

From the publisher's feed

Feeding a family is among the most basic of human responsibilities. So why do we so often feel like we’re failing at it? On Pressure Cooker, veteran journalists Jane Black and Liz Dunn dish out empathy and common-sense strategies for busy parents navigating manipulative marketing messages, impossible cultural expectations, and little people with big personalities as they try to set their children on a healthy path for life.