Adding more fish to our diet...

[Meatball Mommie]

OK, with my New Year's resolution to eat better and feed my family better (eliminating processed foods and HFCS, drinking more water, eating more veggies), I'd like to incorporate more seafood into our diet. It all started with my 5 yr olds last check-up when the dr asked the usual questions about eating/diet and how much fish my son eats, which is none...not even tuna from a can or fish sticks... That's not to say my kids have never had fish/shellfish, because they have, and they actually liked it (not picky eaters at all). I've cooked salmon 2x this past year and some fresh tuna that a friend caught 1x. Other than that, I honestly have a hard time remembering the last time they ate fish. Occasionally, I will eat tuna from a can, but that's pretty rare. None of this is from dislike of fish, I ususally order it when I eat out, but I just never cook it at home.

So, what I'm wondering is:
-How often do you prepare fish (any kind) at home?
-What type of fish do you usually eat and is it fresh or frozen?
-Do you cook shellfish or just fish?
-Do your kids like it? :)

I should add that my husband HATES frozen fish. He says he can "taste" it...I can't... Also, he doesn't like the smell of fish in the house (hence the reason I never prepare it at home) so that's a concern. Finally, we live near the ocean (so close that we can see it) and can buy fresh fish easily. This is another reason my husband doesn't like frozen - he says why buy frozen when you live right near the water? I didn't grow up near the ocean, so I know little about what kinds are native (besides cod - we live near the Cape) and how to cook it without breading/frying, which is how my mom made fish. ANY help would be much appreciated. I just went to TJs and got some frozen salmon to try (I love salmon and so do the kids, so I figured it was worth a shot).

[brittone2]

Sadly there aren't many fish that are all that great to eat anymore, between PCBS, dioxin, mercury, and other toxins :( Our local co-op only stocks sustainably caught seafood, which is another consideration.

We do fresh wild salmon (US/Alaskan only, not China) pretty often. We don't do any tuna. 1-2x a year shrimp or clams, 1-2 times a year crablegs. (we occasionally do wild salmon in a pouch vs. a can)

A lot of lobbying went into the current recommendations for fish consumption and how much is "safe" for kids and pregnant women. I take that into consideration.

Some of the farmed stuff is loaded w/ PCBs (from the fishfood), or has drastically out of proportion omega 3:6 ratios, which IMO doesn't make it at all as healthy as some would like us to believe. Go figure...if you feed them crappy low quality food, they aren't healthy for us to eat either!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708092228.htm

Small fish are thought to have fewer toxins (anchovies, sardines, etc.) but many of those come in cans with BPA linings (not that great either) :rolleye0014:

We do a good quality cod liver oil screened for toxins by an independent 3rd party. You could look into a good quality fsh oil if you don't want the A or D for your kids from the CLO (we use one that isn't super high in A, which can be a problem)

Dh is a chemist, and neither of accepts the whole "fish is healthy" thing a whole lot. In theory, yes, but in practice...it is hard to find fish that aren't filled with stuff that we think is undesirable.

eta: I haven't tried this because the salmon we get doesn't smell or taste exceptionally fishy to me, but I've read if you soak it in milk (in the fridge) for a bit it kills some of the fishiness. Maybe worth a try?

[brittone2]

oh, and we do use the TJs frozen salmon sometimes but I find it quite fishy smelling and tasting compared w/ fresh salmon, so something to keep in mind if that's a problem for your family.

We usually poach our salmon...some water in a pan (halfway up the salmon). Get it pretty hot, put salmon in, lid on...it is done when opaque all the way through and white stuff usually oozes out the top. A little flakey too.

Both kids love salmon, fwiw. Usually a favorite dinner around here actually.

eta: EWG site has some info, but again, mercury isn't the only concern...if you go w/ farmed they may be eating some nasty fishfood that makes it not so healthy. Some of the fish that aren't high in mercury do have other toxins. Sigh.
one list:
http://www.ewg.org/safefishlist

lot of other info in the margins too...

[Tondi G]

My husband doesn't really care for fish so I rarely cook it at home. We do eat canned tuna.... my uncle likes to fish and caught a ton one year and my mom canned it all at home. It was fantastic. I miss it... keep crossing our fingers he'll have a good haul again maybe this year?!

I do love Salmon and my 3 year old does too. I like it on the BBQ or in the oven. There is a restaurant here that serves salmon with YUMMY BBQ sauce on top ... I need to try to make that at home one night! We have another restaurant that serves the best fish n chips.... even my family from England who had it said it was delicious!

My kids will eat frozen battered fish from Trader Joes... haven't bought it in a while but I should. I think it's the Cod maybe or the Halibut!

So yeah... I wish we ate more but now reading some of the info above maybe I shouldn't be worried about it. I DO want to get some fish oils for my family to take.... haven't found the right one that my kids will actually take yet!

[Meatball Mommie]

AARGH...just when you think you're doing something right for your family...oh well, I guess I shouldn't be so concerned with eating more fish given the toxins in most of it. I did buy some at TJ but I read the gov't recs regarding consumption and I'll just space the meals out. What I want to know is: Why don't you hear about more people - globally esp. - getting sick from eating fish??? Other parts of the world eat way more seafood than people in the US yet you don't hear stuff about them on the news. I think we as a family are better off eating beef considering that my FIL raises them and we know exactly what they are fed.

[alexsmommy]

We eat wild caught salmon 1x week. I just take a fillet, cover it with about 2 tbls of olive oil, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and baby dill. Bake until done. Easy peasy and we all love it.
I also make tilapia various ways - but imo tilapia doesn't really have a flavor of it's own so the preparation determines the flavor.

Funny aside. Every year I do some type of tilapia dish (in addition to another meat) for Christmas Eve dinner. Every year my father asks me what type of fish it is. He likes it so much I think he has it in his mind that he can get my mom to buy that type of fish and have that same flavor at their house. My mom is an excellent cook, but she just isn't great with fish. In fact I didn't think I liked fish until I started ordering it in restaurants. It's not her favorite food so it makes sense. Every year I just laugh and say, "Dad, it's the same old tilapia. Just let me know when you want some and I'll make this dish for you."

We like swordfish but between price and mercury, we probably only have it 2-3 times in summer on the grill.

We all love shellfish and I rotate shrimp scampi (Barefoot Contessa recipe) into the monthly meals about 6x year. I've also done blackened scallops a few times.

We all love seafood but live nowhere near the ocean so choices are somewhat limited and can be expensive.

[misshollygolightly]

We do fresh salmon every other week. Put it in a Pyrex dish, sprinkle w/ lemon juice, pepper, dill, and teensy bit of sea salt. Bake in oven or partially cover w/ saran wrap and pop in microwave until done (maybe 4-5 minutes?). Serve w/ whole grain couscous, salad, and fruit for a fast healthy meal.

[SASM]

DH & my kids love salmon so I make it often. Buy or make some basil pesto and spread it on and then bake. VERY yummy...and I do NOT love salmon. If you do not have nut allergies in your family, you can do the walnut pestos which will give you some added Omega 3's. ;) Otherwise, pignoli or nutless pestos also work.

My kids LOVE shellfish (any kind) but we try to limit it. We do a lot of tilapia, cod, and other white fillet fish due to their milder flavor, for when DCs decide to be picky. ;) Good luck.

ETA: I've also read the tip about soaking the salmon is milk to take away the fishiness. I hear you about your DH tasting the diff betw fresh and frozen. It is really expensive to buy fresh here so frozen is the way to go for us. I just try to use fresh FLAVORFUL ingredients (garlic, fresh lemon/lime/zest, fresh herbs, etc) & spices along with the fish to make the flavors complex enough to mask the frozen-ness. Sometimes there's just no avoiding it though b/c of texture. :( Good luck!

[zoestargrove]

It makes me so sad that fish are so polluted and unhealthy.

My sons love canned tuna, but sadly I limit our consumption. I find that the wild salmon in a pouch is an acceptable substitute (which they like as much as tuna sandwiches) and also to make salmon cakes.

We usually eat salmon a 1 or 2x a month. I like it coated with cajun spices and grilled and another easy way to prepare it is to brush a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and grill it on the george foreman.

A few times a year, we'll make a big batch of clam chowder and several times a year I'll bake cod. I mix mayo, lemon juice, garlic and parsley. Brush on the fish and coat with ritz crackers.

[MontrealMum]

We eat fish around 2-3x a week here on average because we love it. I do try and limit tuna because of so many concerns, and we are very careful about the salmon that we buy (we mostly eat salmon). We also do various types of shellfish (scallops are DH's favorite) and white fish. Ivy posted a link in another thread earlier this week about fish and levels of contamination. http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=2284216#post2284216 I hope that link works, I've never done that before.

For salmon, we often poach it in a pyrex with a little water, white wine and lemon juice (or sometimes lime to mix it up!) and fresh dill.

For white fish you can bread it and do it baked in the oven rather than pan-fried. Instead of using eggs or mayo to make the breading stick, try plain yoghurt. Also, I make my own bread crumbs (whole wheat) and add spices, parmesan, and crushed nuts. Mustard is a nice zesty flavor to add to the yoghurt too.

I often do pasta with a white sauce and will throw in leftover cooked salmon, smoked salmon pieces, shrimp or scallops.

Because of where we live I have access to amazing smoked salmon (lox) and we have it alot with goat cheese on dark rye in the summer, or just plain with lemon juice.

I am one of those odd people that likes anchovies on pizza or salad, and will also eat herring and Ikea fish in a tube (probably not the most healthy way to eat it, but DS likes it so I'm encouraging it right now to get him to try new things).

We used to order sushi 1x a week, but are cutting back financially so that is a rare treat these days. You can also do a salmon pot pie, which is the same as chicken, but with salmon.