Eat them veggies young man

Adding a tiny bit of coconut oil to veggies makes them super yummy.

He ate all his peas (gross), edamame (yum) and thinly sliced carrots with coconut oil. 

Puree'ing again?

Who would have thought that I would be Puree'ing again at 2 yo? Not me! But he's darn good with the utensils and LOVES Trader Joes crushers, I thought I would just make our own.

1 peeled organic apple
Handful of chopped carrots

Steamed. Then cooled.

Add a handful of chopped Watermelon, tsp of cinnamon.

Blender/puree.

Let's see if he likes it as much as TJs crushers.

Butternut Squash Soup -- So Easy -- So freakin' GOOD!

After it was all finished I literally stood in the kitchen and ate my bowl.
I wanted to eat it ALL but Rob will be home soon. Darn it.

Thank you Claire Robinson.

Ingredients

1 (3-pound) butternut squash
Extra-virgin olive oil, for roasting, plus 2 tablespoons
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 or 2 shallots, roughly chopped
1 quart low-sodium veggie stock (or chicken stock for the carnivors)
2 teaspoons curry powder (mild or spicy)
Creme fraiche

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Drizzle the open face side with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and put it, open face side down in a roasting pan or baking sheet. Roast until very soft, about 1 hour. Remove the squash from the oven, turn the halves over and let them stand until cool enough to handle. 

Scoop the squash from the shell into a bowl and discard the shell.  In a large saucepan or Dutch oven with a lid, heat the 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 6 minutes.  Add the squash, veggie stock, and curry powder and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the squash is broken down, about 20 minutes.  Be sure not to reduce too much!









Cool the squash mixture for about 5 minutes before adding it to a blender or use an emulsion blender. Blend the soup until smooth but should still be slightly thick. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and serve immediately.

I had mine with a dollop of creme fraiche. Wouldn't be the same without it!

DIY dishwasher detergent - no Borax

Update:  I've been making this D/W detergent for a long time now and it does the job so I won't be going back to store brands! Ever!

Let's give this a try. I made it pretty quickly and just as we are almost out of our usual Kirkland liquid from Costco. I like the stuff but this is cheaper.  It's powder so I'm not giving it a whole lot of hope but we'll see....fingers crossed.

Small batch:

1 1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing soda
1/2 cup kosher or sea salt (***I now use Sea Salt from Big Lots - $1 a box)
1/2 cup Baking soda
4 packets of crystal light lemon *(Update:  I now use Country Time from Big Lots.  Works better and Cheap! ) 1/2 Cup
1 teaspoon of whatever rice you have on hand.

Mix, shake, do a little dance.

I am using a snap-lid plastic container, the one that the lid snaps down on all 4 sides and has a vent in the lid.  I leave a scooper in the container.

Old: * You need citrus in the concoction. Top on the list is Lemi Shine (a dishwasher addictive) but I couldn't find it.  Food-grade citric acid also works or even unsweetened lemon kool-aid.  I opted for Crystal Light. Oh and Dishwasher Magic, while it's active ingredient is Citric Acid also has ingredients not consumable.  The stuff is to be used when the D/w is empty.

You can also use white vinegar right in the rinse agent dispenser instead of the blue stuff.

2 Tablespoons per load and you don't have to use the soap dispenser. You can simply add it to the inside of the door before closing.

p.s. Borax is rad for clothes but not for consumption so this is why I use this recipe.

p.s.s. It will start clumping so I have been adding a teaspoon of rice right into the mix which has helped a lot with clumping.

Zucchini bread

Our garden yielded some MASS size zucchini so what better recipe to start with?  Zucchini Bread of course!

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup applesauce (or vegetable oil)
2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup of palm sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in mixer set on medium.  Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture slowly and mix well. Add zucchini and nuts on slow speed until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Gettin' started

Yummy!!

Cloth Diaper Laundry Detergent

Now that King is about to be potty trained I find out how easy laundry supplies are to make.  Go figure.  Arm & Hammer Super Washing soda became a staple in our house when I read all the great things you can use it for from removing labels on jars (awesome, since I am a jar hoarder), musty smells from tubs and sinks, cleaning old pots and pans, and on and on.  So it was perfect when I discovered that it is one of the main ingredients in making your own laundry detergents.  Everything you need is right on the laundry detergent  aisle of the larger grocery stores.

 

For Cloth Diapers

Big batch:

• 3 Boxes Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (55 oz each)
• 2 Boxes 20 Mule Team Borax (76 oz each)
• 1 Large Tub OxiClean Free or “Baby” (96 oz)

Small batch (above image in jar with red 3):

• 1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• 1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
• 1/2 cup of OxiClean Free or “Baby”

I make the small batches since I have one kiddo in diapers.

I use a funnel and cute jar and pour each item in one at a time.  I also add 12 drops of an essential oil in the jar on top (this batch was sweet orange oil) and mix it all together with a chopstick. I cook a lot with heavy duty chopsticks and have a bag of bamboo sticks that are great!  I usually shake the jar too. :)

1 - 2 Tablespoons per load depending on how badly soiled or size of load.

=======================================

Hope this helps!

Talkin' Smoothies

I have not tried all of these but am collecting recipes to try.  King eats fruit like there's no tomorrow but veggies ... he's at that age ... or at least I keep telling myself that.  Smoothies can get those raw nutrients in him.  He seems to love the spinach smoothies.  Yaay for that!

Let's start with the fruities:

Mango

Cup of chopped ripe mange
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt *
1/2 cup of ice
Honey for taste.

Raspberry and Nut

1/4 cup low-fat milk
3/4 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 banana
1 Tbl. Almond butter
1 Tbl. Blue Agave or Raw Agave

Spiced Pumpkin

1 cup of ice
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup pure pumpkin puree (TJs has it in a can and is organic)
pinch of ground nutmeg

Strawberry Flax

1 cup frozen strawberries
3/4 cup plan low-fat yogurt *
1/2 cup fresh OJ **
1 Tbl. honey
1 Tbl. flax seed meal (or ground flax seeds)

OK. Veggies

Spinach, grape and coconut

1 cup seedless grapes
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup ice
1/4 cup coconut milk

Carrot,  Pineapple and Banana

1/4 cup fresh chopped pineapple
1/2 cup ice
1/3 cup fresh OJ **
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/2 banana

Kale, Apple

3/4 cup chopped kale (ribs and thick stems removed)
1/2 banana 
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup ice
1 Tbl. lemon juice

Spinach, Mint, Strawberries and Cherry Juice

5 - 6 small strawberries
1 frozen banana
1 handful spinach
3-4 mint leaves
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup cherry juice
1/2 cup water
Handful of ice cubes

More Spinach!

1/2  banana
1/2 apple, chopped into thin, tiny pieces. (I left the skin on)
3 or 4 strawberries chopped into quarters
1/2 cup of spinach
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of greek yogurt
Splash of fruit juice
Ice cubes

* We use full fat plain yogurt as well.
** Frozen works too if its quality with no sugar added.
Let me know what you learn or think!!

Great links:http://www.baby.co.uk/life_and_home/top-10-smoothies-for-babies-and-toddlers/

http://www.mamaandbabylove.com/2011/02/07/toddler-smoothie-recipe/

Never going to buy store Cesar Salad dressing again

So easy and seriously the best I've ever had.

1 chopped garlic clove
1 Tbl. Reduced fat Mayonnaise
2 Tbl. Dijon mustard
1/2 Tbl. Olive oil
Bunch of lemon juice squirts
S&P

Taste, taste, taste until you find what you like. Add, use less. You'll figure it out quick.

This should yield enough for two people.  It doesn't take much to coat  the Romaine Hearts.

For the Cesar I just add crotons and parm.  Yummy.

Sneaky Cheesy Broccoli Muffins

Mwahaha. Cheesy? What? Broccoli? Oops. :-)

Here you go:

Steam about 3 cups of broccoli for 6-7 minutes. I used 1/2 a head. Florets only. No stems.

When cooked add to a medium bowl and slightly chop them up. Add a tsp. of olive oil, s&p. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl mix the following:

4 whole eggs
1 cup egg whites
1/4 shredded cheese
1/4 Parmesan or Romano (something awesome)
S&P

Spray a muffin tin. Add the broccoli mix to the bottom of 9 tins. Spoon or laddle the egg mixture over the broccoli and fill about 3/4 of the way. Top with a bit of shredded cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Awesome for breakfast or snack!

PB Balls! Protein snack / 4 Ingredients

For Alice with love.

We keep these in the fridge pretty much at all times. Easy, filling and yummy.

1 cup dry nonfat milk
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup Peanut butter
1/2 cup honey

Mix together by hand then palm roll into meatball size. Cover with seran wrap and refrigerate. Voilà!

Yields about 20.

Here's a tip: If you use organic PB that is refrigerated, set it out to soften before mixing.

Palm sugar

I am really digging using Palm Sugar.  You can use it in place of brown sugar for baking.  Look it up. Tons of great properties.

I bought a hard block of it for around $1.25 (the cheapest in block) then broke it up with a chef's knife and pulsed it in the food processor.  Love the stuff!

Sssssshhhh Rosemary Bread

The yeast bubbled like champagne and the rosemary from containers on the deck are just right.  Now on to rise!

Cheese ravioli & Cherry tomatoes

When you just want a fast, tasty meal this one hits the mark.

I usually always have ready to go ravioli in the freezer or fridge purposely for those nights I don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. You can make your own and freeze them or pickup packaged from the market.

Tonight I used four cheese jumbo ravioli: Ricotta, Asiago, Parmesan and Romano we picked up from Trader Joes.

Boil the ravioli in salted water as usual.

While that is happening add about 2 Tbl. of olive oil to a large skillet.  When warm add chopped shallots until soft.

Then add a 1/2 pint of halfed cherry tomatoes and about a cup of dry white wine. Let everything simmer until the wine has reduced and the cherry tomatoes are soft. Add the strained ravioli,  salt and pepper to taste and herbs.

Top with Parmesan. Done!

Homemade granola bars

Rob and I LOVE granola bars and I wanted to make them using what I had in the pantry.

I took two recipes and combined them to make these awesome bars.

Here is what you need for the main part of the bar:

• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cups flax seed
• 1/4 cup sesame seed
• 1 cup chopped almonds or sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.  I used sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup pure honey
• 4 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (or palm sugar)
• 1 cup dried fruit

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.Combine the rolled oats, flax
seeds, sesame seed, coconut and almonds. Spread them evenly on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper or silicone sheet.

Toast for about 15-30 minutes until golden. Be sure to stir occasionally so it doesn't burn.




















In a small pan warm (or melt) the coconut oil then pour into bowl with the vanilla, honey, coconut oil and brown (or palm) sugar.

In a bowl, combine sea salt, cinnamon, and dried cranberries.

When the oat mixture is finished toasting, add everything together and mix by hand.

Line a 9" x 13" baking pan with waxed paper. Spread the mixture in the baking pan and press to create a smooth surface.

Now you need to make part 2 of the bars!

You will need:

• 1 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/3 cup coconut oil 
• 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt

Heat coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Once it melts add the remaining ingredients.  Pour this over the granola.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

When you take it out of the refrigerator it will look like this:

Now flip it over and see that all the chocolate layer is on the bottom!

 

Cut into 2 or 3 inch squares.  Wrap them individually in wax paper and store in the fridge.

They are yummy!! One bar is so filling and full of energy!

Sweet potato chips

Earlier I posted an easy way to make your own baked potato wedges for a fraction of the cost of frozen, processed fries.

Here's a simple way to make sweet potato chips for pennies.

I used 3 small sweet potatoes, peeled then sliced with a mandolin. I use the thing all the time. Makes lovely ribbon zucchini.  If you don't have one knife slices work just fine.

Toss the slices in a splash of olive oil and add a few pinches of kosher salt.

Preheat oven to 200° f.

Layer the chips in a single layer (doesn't have to be prefect).

Cook for 1.5 - 2 hours tossing every 1/2 hour.

They turned out crunchy, lightly browned, curly and yummy.

First Finger Food Ideas

We keep this list shared in Google Docs as well as printed out on the fridge.

Great starter list for first finger foods

First Finger Foods // Print List // Download List

• Whole Wheat toast with Almond Butter
• Green Beans
• Mashed cauliflower
• Sweet Potatoes, cubed and baked with butter for camalization
• Canned Peaches (organic)
• Blueberries (TJs frozen petite)
• Edamame
• Steamed carrots
• Avocado, sliced
• Peas (TJs frozen petite)
• Flat Noodles
• Seedless Grapes cut in half
• Capers
• Sweet pickles
• Black Olives
• Crumbly cheese (feta or goat)
• Yogurt drops
• Shredded cheese
• Mozzarella string cheese
• Berries
• Whoel wheat bagels
• Natural cheese bites (Swiss, Cheddar, Edam, Havarti)
• Ripe banana smashed with almond butter
• Very ripe pears
• Apricots (unsulphured)
• Cantaloupe
• Honeydew melon
• Mango
• Broccoli florrets
• Flaked or poached fish
• Soft Turkey Meatballs (cooked in soup or sauce)
• Whole wheat pasta (the more curly the better)
• Hard cooked yolk
• Whole wheat Pancakes
• Soft cooked French Toast (yolks only)
• Tofu (for smoothies too)
• Lentils (ready to go from TJs are a big hit here)
• Yogurt (he has it daily)
• Frozen vegetable mix

Easy! Butternut Squash and Apples

So simple.   Just add cut up butternut squash to a pan with butter to caramelize then add chopped apples!  I spice it up with cinnamon and nutmeg.   The house smells incredible right now.

To make this side even faster, I used frozen cut squash that thawed and sliced apples from Trader Joes.

Whole Wheat Torilla + Cheese + Tempeh

I was inspired to start making roll-ups that is a favorite of Stephanie Maples.  I used a small skillet and dropping in a tiny bit of butter, threw in the whole wheat tortilla and laid in some cheese.  Next time it will be vegan but we had some lovely Tillamook cheddar. 

I rolled up the tortilla on both ends and flipped it.  Then on the side of the pan I crumbled some plain tempeh and added cinnamon and Tamari to it.  Stirred that together for a few minutes then when the cheese was oozing out the ends of the tortilla I topped it with the tempeh.  Holy cow it was delicious and devoured.  Hence. no photo :)  Very cheesy and nutty layered flavors.  

Give it a try!

Jars a plenty

I am a jar saver.  I admit it.  They are one of those favorite things and I will recycle them if they begin to .... stack up.   I reuse them in lots of ways.

A little tip: To remove labels soak the jar in a container with a scoop of washing soda and hot water.  Fill the jar with plain water to weight it.   The label should peel off easily after an hour.

I am very lucky to have a walk-in pantry but there are lots of small items I add to King's food and the jars make it very easy to get my hands on it.  I keep these on a shelf near where I prepare food.  Here are some of those items that I recommend for using with your toddler's menu:

• Raisins
• Dried fruit (unsulphured apricots are our staple)
• Nuts (whole and ground)
• "O" cereal
• Wheat Germ
• Brewer's Yeast (aka Nutritional Yeast)
• Blackstrap Molasses
• Mini whole wheat crackers
• Kelp granules