FPT: blueberry banana pancakes

Since I forgot to make more bread last night, and since I've decided to do away with the Boy's sugary cereal bars, I had to come up with something quick for breakfast this morning and decided to take the opportunity to sneak some good fruits into the meal. Frozen blueberries are a must, in my book -- buy blueberries on sale, then freeze. You can use them in so many recipes and they freeze quite well. I also happened to have a couple bananas, so used one as the "sweetener" (my nutritionist friend says a banana counts as 2 servings of fruit due to its sugars). Here is the result...

Blueberry Banana Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey (optional)
1/2 cup blueberries (smushed)
1 banana (smushed)

Combine all ingredients. Pour 1/3 cup batter onto a hot griddle or frying pan. When the top is starting to bubble, flip.

The Boy said... yummies! (Note, however, the rejected pieces on the left. Those were the ones in which he found suspicious dark blue blobs.)

food for picky toddlers

When I was a child, I was a very picky eater. Heck, I'm still a picky eater some ahemmumblemumble years later, though I've learned to try and like more things over time. But this is the reason I believe it drives me CRAZY when my little boy refuses the food I give him. It has already passed through my picky food filter, so he should just trust me. Alas.

There was a brief, shining moment when the Boy would eat whatever crazy food we gave him. Then, he became choosy. As it has increased over the last year, I've slowly learned how to handle it and to not become overly stressed or worried or angry about his lack of eating. There are, at least, a few things he generally will eat, listed here in order of importance (to him)...
"dip" (all hail the mighty ketchup)
cereal bar
applesauce
hummus
gyro meat
pizza
pretzel sticks/chips/crackers
potato/sweet potato fries
chicken nuggets
waffles/pancakes
toast/pita
malai kofta
cheesy taquitos
PB&J (a recent addition, thanks to a new homemade bread recipe)

Notice the absence of chopped up fruits or veggies. If it's not pureed to all get out, he won't touch it. Even if it is pureed, he'll abandon it the moment he comes upon any small chunk that managed to avoid the blades. And as of late he won't try anything pureed unless it's the right color (beige).

My pediatrician says to feed the Boy whatever we eat, and that he'll eat eventually. I've also heard others say you don't want to become a short order cook, that it can take a dozen times before a child will accept a new food, that you have to look at their nutrition over the course of the week, etc. All of this is true to some extent. Of course he's going to eat eventually, because eventually we'll be at grammy's house and she'll feed him something he likes. In the meantime, I'm freaking out.

So, this is my current solution: I feed the Boy a modified version of whatever we are eating for dinner, if it is something he may conceivably eat (for example, if I'm making tacos, I'll make him a taquito). If he doesn't eat, he doesn't eat, but it's just one meal. If it's something I know he would never try, I make something else for him (preferably in advance and frozen). What I'm trying to improve upon is the addition of sneaky veggies into those dishes he likes, and to make everything homemade. One staple I often have frozen on hand: homemade chicken nuggets with spinach and tomato. I've also found success with roasted red pepper hummus (red pepper + chickpeas = nutritional power combo).

A new concern for me is sugar. I've always been very sensitive to the effects of sugar, and I suspect he is also. I almost never give him sweets, but sugar can creep in via certain fruits and prepared foods like his beloved cereal bars. Today, I experimented with restricting ALL sugars, and so far he's been calmer, more obedient, and less of a pain at naptime. We'll see if it holds.

All this to say: I'm going to start trying new recipes under the Food for Picky Toddlers banner (FPT) and will post my results.

Do you have a picky eater? What recipes work for you?

Canned Cherry Pie Filling

I meant to post this last month, when cherries were still on super-sale at the grocery store. But, if you happen to live someplace where cherries are still available or if you have a stock pile in your freezer, then give this recipe a try. I found it on Simple Bites, and it is quite delicious.

SPICED CHERRY PIE FILLING

4 cups cherries
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch*
1 cup water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Prep your water bath canner and jars.

Wash and pit the cherries. (We discovered this was quite easy to do by hand if using previously-frozen cherries, as they are slightly mushy.) Blanch the cherries for a minute in a pot of boiling water. Drain and move cherries to a separate bowl.

In the pot, mix together water, sugar and cornstarch. Add the spices and heat over medium-high, until everything is dissolved and bubbly. Add the lemon juice.

Remove pot from heat and add cherries with their juice. Pour filling into prepared jars and process for 30-40 minutes.

We had 3 bags of cherries, which allowed us to triple this recipe... I think. It's been awhile so I can't remember all the details. Suffice to say, it gave us 4-5 pints plus about 10 4-oz jars to use in making campfire pies (I hate wasting most of a large can of cherry pie filling just for a few campfire pies).

My buddy Jamie helped with this canning, and she made some yummy cherry turnovers with this pie filling. Though she made her pastry from scratch, you could easily use frozen puff pastry to make a quick toaster-strudel-esque treat.

*The original recipe called for Clear Jel,** which is recommended by the USDA. Since I do not have Clear Jel, I simply used organic cornstarch.

**Clear Jel is a modified corn starch available online. It is supposed to remain more stable during the heating/canning process, but I want to do more research before I use it. In particular, I want to know if it uses GMO corn, which, given the preponderance of GMO corn in commercial foods these days, I suspect it does.

21st century menu planning

Juggling schedules for 2 small kiddos and 2 adults has inspired me to find ways to organize and streamline my tasks and projects. Top of that list: menu planning. Cooking from scratch takes a lot of time and preparation, and it's no longer easy for me to run to the store at the last minute because oh-my-goodness-I-forgot-the-feta-cheese. Several months ago, I got tired of standing in front of the pantry at 5 pm wondering what to do, so I tried menu planning with a white board on the fridge. That didn't last long. Recently, I've given it a second try...

...enter Pepperplate.

The husband and I decided to enter the 21st century a few weeks ago and bought ourselves a Kindle Fire. Actually, it was just so we could keep the little boy quiet for 2 hours on an airplane with back-to-back episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. But, I also took the opportunity to test out some organizational apps. Pepperplate is a menu planning app. And it's pretty much fabulous.

Start by building up your recipe list. On the Pepperplate website, you can import recipes from dozens of different sites just by copying and pasting the URL - they even have a quick-add button you can put on your browser's toolbar. I imported my entire recipe box from allrecipes in a matter of minutes. You can also enter recipes manually, if necessary.

Then, plan your meals for the week. I like to create "themed" nights to help narrow down the choices and to keep me from making too many curries night after night.

Simply add the recipes you've chosen to the shopping list, and you'll never forget some random ingredient again. (Although, if you're like me, you may forget to actually include it in the recipe when cooking.)

The website has more functionality than the app, but you can still do the bulk of your planning and list-making with the app. If you have a Kindle, which uses fixed wireless networks, make sure you synch your app BEFORE you leave for the grocery store.

I apologize if this whole post sounds like one big Pepperplate ad. There is more I wish it would do - for example, include prices on the grocery list, like the Out of Milk app. However, it has been extremely helpful in keeping me on track with the menu planning. 

And that planning, in general, has saved me time and money. It most certainly has saved my sanity in the evening - that witching hour when my toddler transforms into a more energetic version of Voldemort. It usually takes me about 30 minutes or less to plan dinners for the week, and I do it on the weekend so I can shop without the kids. If I have enough time, I may even go a little wild and drive through the coffee hut before shopping so I don't have to share my drink with anyone named Little Hyper Voldemort.

Do you menu plan? If so, what techniques have worked best for you?

the garden of small fruits (and veggies)

It is now officially summer in the desert, and an excessive heat warning is already in effect. Temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-110s the next few days. Once glance at my garden and you can tell. 

I debated whether or not to plant a spring/summer garden this year - what with a new baby and all - but ultimately decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, I have been unable to harvest much due to the ridiculous heat and a ridiculous influx of GREEDY BIRDS. Nearly all my grapes and most of my tomatoes have been ravaged by these nasty creatures. What remains is curiously small. (I presume this is due to lack of nutrients? Heat? Way too much sunlight?)

For example...

Small tomato:

Small watermelon:

Small carrot:    

(Ironically, the carrots I pulled for this photo op were much bigger than the others I've harvested.)

I'm thinking it's about time to tear it all down and let the garden sit until fall. Who wants to be outside weeding in this heat, anyway? 

little distraction

Sorry for the long delay in my posting. I've been a bit distracted the last couple months by this little human who is nuzzling my hair...

 

an easy dinner recipe

Due to the impending arrival of baby #2, I've been trying to find some quick and easy dinner recipes. Although, to be entirely honest, I don't much like cooking, so I'm always trying to find quick and easy recipes that still allow me to prep a meal from scratch. (From-scratch meals are healthier, in my opinion.)

We have enjoyed this meal a couple times, but I recently was struck again at just how easy it is to prepare, so I thought I'd share it with you...

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (breasts, tenders, whatever is on sale or in your freezer)
1 can cream of chicken soup*
1 small onion, diced
1-2 each veggies, diced (carrots, celery, whatever you have on hand)
1-2 tsp each spices (cumin, parsley, poultry seasoning, pepper, whatever you have on hand)**
2 tbsp flour (optional - to thicken)

Instructions:

Throw everything in the slow cooker, cover with water*** and cook on high 5-6 hours.

It's just that easy.

*If you truly want to be fully "from scratch," you could make your own condensed soup. I use Pacific Foods organic condensed soups because they use recyclable aseptic containers (no BPA).
**I omitted salt because most condensed soups are loaded with it, but you may want to taste test when it's done.
***Or chicken broth, but - again - be conscious of the salt content.

And now for the best part: the biscuits. (Were you wondering what happened to the dumplings?)

You could certainly use refrigerated biscuit dough and add pieces of it to the slow cooker in the last half hour, but I prefer to avoid the trans fats that are often found in pre-made baked goods. I used to LOVE those Pillsbury frozen biscuits (booooooooo trans fats!). Once, I tried making my own biscuit dough and freezing the little circles, but they got icy pretty fast and just didn't taste right. Then, I came across this recipe on the Organic Valley website, and find it works much better...

Make-Ahead Buttermilk Mix

Ingredients:

1 cup Organic Valley Buttermilk Blend (dry buttermilk)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour*
5 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 cup baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt

*I only had white pastry flour, so used it and then substituted 2 cups whole wheat flour for 2 of the white flour. It seems to work fine.

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together until well combined and store in an airtight container.

Any time you want biscuits, just put 1 1/2 cups of this mix and 3 tbsp frozen butter in your food processor and pulse together. Slowly add 1/2 cup milk and pulse until the dough just comes together. Drop small balls of the dough onto a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 13-15 minutes.

It's just that easy.

For the purposes of this recipe, you could add your dough balls to the slow cooker for "real" dumplings, but I like to bake the biscuits separately so I have the option of either pouring the chicken stew over a biscuit OR smothering a fresh, warm biscuit with honey and butter and eating it alongside the chicken stew. I may even do both.

(I apologize for the lack of photos with this recipe, but we usually snarf down the contents before I remember my camera.)