Yogurt Smoothie Pops

My son just loves eating my homemade ice pops (sometimes for dinner), so I found some other healthy ingredients to add to them.

Ingredients:
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup strawberries (use frozen if making a smoothie instead of the pops)
1 banana
1/2 cup swiss chard, green or rainbow
1 Tbsp flax seed meal (omega 3)
1 Tbsp light olive oil (omega 3)

Blend all the ingredients together. If making the pops, pour right into the pop molds and freeze. These are soooooo delicious. The kids want to eat them every night!

Meatless Crockpot Chili

As I've already mentioned, it's a struggle to get my kids to eat much protein. They don't eat any form of meat, besides chicken in chicken soup (don't know why); not even McDonald's chicken nuggets! Once in a while, they'll eat an occasional bean or two. I tried this meatless chili last night. It was soooo easy and very tasty. My husband and I loved it! I combined a few recipes, and ingredients I already had in the house.
Ingredients:
2 cans black beans
1 can chili beans (can also use white/canellini beans or pinto beans)
1 can (14 oz. diced tomatoes)
1 cup or 1 small can chicken broth (vegetable broth if you are vegetarian)
frozen corn (I used 2 raw ears of corn I had in the fridge/ cut into thirds)
1 tsp curry
1 tsp cumin
Shredded Mexican cheese

Toppings:
Cilantro
Soft Tortillas

Throw all these (except cheese and cilantro) into the slow cooker/Crock Pot for 3-4 hours.
Serve with cheese and cilantro sprinkled over top and tortillas on the side.

My daughter wound up eating about 10 or so beans. We made a game for her using a toothpick to pick up the beans. My son wouldn't eat any of it, although he does like beans, most times.

Beet "Pink" Pancakes

Well, I thought I'd try something ultra-healthy for dinner tonight... since my daughter loves pancakes and pink things, why not try this recipe for Pink Pancakes, right out of Jessica Seinfeld's, "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook, despite its controversy.
Here is the recipe right out of the cookbook... I own it.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup beet puree (oven-roasted at 400 for 1 hr, then pureed with water in blender)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup pancake mix (store-bought)
1/4 grated apple (I used apple sauce- easier)
Nonstick cooking spray
1 tablespoon canola or vege oil
Maple syrup or fruit for serving

1. In a blender or food processor, combine water, ricotta cheese, beet puree, vanilla, and cinnamon and blend. Dump the mixture into a medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix- the batter will be a little lumpy.
2. Coat a griddle or nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil. Spoon the batter onto the griddle or skillet, using about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook the pancakes until bubbles form on top and the batter is set, 1-2 min. Then flip the pancakes with a spatula and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm, with syrup or fruit.

After this entire time-consuming project, and pink splattered everywhere from the kids "helping" stir, this recipe failed to entice the kids to eat. My daughter at least ate 2 bites covered with syrup, but didn't want to eat anymore. I was very frustrated after trying so hard... until I tried them. I am not a huge beet lover or hater, but these pancakes were hard to eat, even drowning in syrup. They left a strong beet aftertaste for hours afterward. I think I will try something less healthy today.

Strawberry Pizza

I recently saw a kids healthy sandwich idea, using cream cheese and strawberries on whole wheat bread. Strawberries are so plentiful right now, so I was trying to think of a way to incorporate these ingredients. My kids don't eat sandwiches yet so I thought to try in a pizza form. The kids had so much fun putting their pizzas together.
I used a whole wheat pita for the crust, cream cheese for the topping, topped with sliced strawberries. You can mix strawberry jelly with the cream cheese to sweeten it up before spreading it on the pita, but it's not necessary. Use the pizza cutter to cut into small, easy to handle pieces.
After the excitement of creating their masterpiece, both of my kids picked off a few of the strawberries, but refused to eat their pizzas. I, on the other hand, loved it! : )

Chicken Nuggets with tomato and radish salad

It's so hard to find the time to bread and fry when you have a toddler attached to your leg 24/7, but sometimes you get lucky and daddy comes home a few minutes early. This sounds like it took a long time to prep and cook, but it all took less than a half hour.
I unfroze a few chicken breasts from the freezer, in the microwave. I had a few pieces of whole wheat bread ends that I wanted to get rid of, so I quickly pulsed them in the cuisinart and mixed them with some already prepared breadcrumbs. I dipped the chicken pieces (I precut the chicken into small bite sizes for the kids) in egg batter, then in the breadcrumbs, then right onto the pan with olive oil. A few minutes on each side and done. As that was frying, I cut up tomatoes and radishes (thin), for a little salad. For my husband and myself, I made a traditional salad with chicken on top. Only drawback is that there were lots of dishes, plates to wash. The worst!
So, my daughter did not eat anything but the tomatoes... and my son ate a few bites of the chicken and the tomatoes. FRUSTRATING!!!

Nonna's Penne Vodka

Wednesdays are pasta night for us. I had a batch of frozen vodka sauce that my mom had made (a family recipe) when she visited a few weeks ago for last night's dinner. The kids LOVE any pasta, and I'm sure you'll love this sauce! It's a great idea to make a few batches and freeze for a day when you don't feel like cooking.
Ingredients for sauce:
1/2 cup vodka (yes, the real stuff)
1/2 tsp red pepper seeds or flakes (use less if you want it less spicy)
1 cup light cream
5 tsp butter (healthy stuff works)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup frozen peas

Simmer vodka and hot pepper on low, for about 5 minutes. Add remainder of ingredients and simmer for about 20 more minutes.
Meanwhile, cook up penne pasta or another favorite pasta.
Pour sauce over pasta and serve. Enjoy!

Swim Tuna Swim

For the passed four days it's been close to 100 degrees here in Southern Cali, so who wants to turn on the oven? Today for lunch I made the kids tuna fish, with a little creativity in presentation, which is sometimes key in getting them to try it. The tuna recipe itself is nothing new, except that I add frozen peas, along with mayo (lowfat or full fat). Here I cut the whole wheat bread (with flax seeds) into a fish shape, served with peeled and sliced apples on the side.
My daughter actually loves tuna, go figure... yet won't eat hamburgers or chicken nuggets! I can't complain I guess. Although the other day she said, "Mommy it's not a fish"! I said, "Of course it's not a fish"! : )
My son wouldn't eat the tuna, but picked on a few peas. I've heard it takes close to 20 exposures of a new food for kids to dig in... so maybe we need a few more tries?
Have a great Earth Day! More creative recipes to come...

Tortilla Men

My kids seem to do best with a variety of food in front of them. I trialed this idea for lunch yesterday. They loved creating the men, but did not want to eat them afterward! I guess it wasn't a total waste of time, because they did eat the remainder of the fixins.
For these Tortilla Men, I used whole wheat tortillas, and shaped them using a handy dandy cookie cutter (utilize any shape you have on hand). The kids love using knives (plastic play ones), so they enjoyed spreading the hummus onto the men. They enjoy it because they know that this is usally something they are not allowed to do.
To decorate, we used:
avocado
black beans
sliced carrots
shredded cheese
Have fun using anything your kids enjoy eating.
Although we ate this for lunch, I have done something similar for dinner when my husband and I eat tacos (because the kids don't eat this meat). Again, I don't like making two meals! : )

Green Pizza

Growing up in NJ, there were no shortage of great Italian restaurants and pizzerias. However, in Temecula, California, good Italian food is hard to come by. There is one place, Spuntino's, down the street actually, that serves woodfired pizza- the best. Worth the $20!
Anyway, We usually make pizza one weekend night per week in our house. We have a pizza stone, but note that pizza takes a little longer to cook than on a cooking sheet.
I received a healthy recipe from a member of our farm, called CSA Pizza, which we trialed this weekend.

CSA Pizza

1 pizza crust or dough (we prefer whole wheat)
1-2 ripe avocadoes
3-4 cups of greens (any and all)
asparagus, baby beets, onions, garlic (potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant eventually), mushrooms, sausage - or any toppings you like!
mozzarella cheese (sprinkle with gorgonzola or goat cheese also if desired)

If using dough, form into a pizza crust and bake first for 5-8 minutes until lightly browned. Mash avocado in a bowl and spread over crust as the "sauce". Cover with several cups of washed and chopped greens. Don't worry that it looks like a lot - they will cook down to almost nothing. Add other toppings and cover with cheese. Cook for about 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Okay, so I posted this recipe but want to leave a little feedback. We didn't like it at all! The kids wouldn't even touch it. I can't blame them because hot avocado is just gross to begin with... but I wanted to give it a try since it received rave reviews. Thankfully I made a traditional pizza as well. In the future, I would put the greens (fresh spinach), and cover with ricotta cheese, like a "white pizza" that I'm familiar with. If you like warm avocado, give it a try!

I Heart Eggs Toast

I don't know why, but my daughter stopped eating eggs a few months ago. Until then, she would eat such a great breakfast which included an egg, almost every morning. We are trying to figure out ways to reintroduce the egg nowadays. Here is a special weekend treat.
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare cookie sheet with cooking spray or butter. Also butter a piece of bread, on one side.
2. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter (or any other cookie cutter), cut out center of piece of bread. Place both bread and cutout butter-up on cookie sheet.
3. Break an egg onto a saucer and then carefully slide the egg into the hole you have cut out in the bread.
4. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes on the top rack of oven.
So it looked beautiful, but no takers. It didn't go to waste because my husband and I enjoyed it. Maybe next time I'll scramble the egg before pouring it into the bread?

kale smoothie?

Really, you can't taste it! A delicious way to utilize this green or any other bitter green. My daughter loved helping to throw all the ingredients in the blender. She told me, "It is very hard work". After making this smoothie, we poured some into ice-pop molds to freeze for an after dinner treat. If I was only using it for a smoothie, using frozen fruit would have thickened the mixture up a bit.
Here we used:
2 bananas
1 cup strawberries
2 handfuls kale, chopped
1 cup fresh squeezed OJ
1 cup cold water
Handful of ice

Success! My daughter ate two ice pops after dinner!! And my son, well, half the pop was his dinner. :(

tinker fairy chicken soup

My kids both devoured their bowls of soup tonight. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about the bright green color (thanks to the pureed spinach), but decided to give this chicken soup a catchy name in case I received any objections. And we didn't forget to add the fairy dust (thyme) for a little extra something!
To save time on cooking chicken soup during the week, I buy chicken breasts (with skin) so there is less time spent deboning the chicken. Boil the chicken in large stockpot, skimming out foam residue. After cooked, take skin off chicken breasts and discard, and break up chicken into bite sized pieces. In addition to the chicken breasts, add:
1 box low-sodium chicken broth,
1 cup chopped carrots,
1 cup thinly sliced celery,
1/2 cup chopped onions,
1/2 cup pureed spinach (steamed and pureed earlier).
As you can see from the pics, I let the kids help whenever possible, even if it's simply throwing the ingredients in the pot. When all vegetables are soft, add desired amount of pasta (little stars/stellette) directly into stockpot. Season with salt, pepper, thyme and fresh cilantro (optional), & parmesian cheese to taste. Just a sidenote, I let kids add their own cheese. I've found they're more likely to dig in when they do it themselves
Tonight, everyone received dessert for finishing their dinner!

rainbow salad

Adding more vegetables to my kids' diet is my goal, so we came up with this rainbow salad, using anything we have available in the house. Both my kids get involved in creating their own dishes, and by the end, they are usually very excited to dig in. Here we used tomatoes, cooked sweet potatoes, cheese, avacado and purple cabbage. Needless to say, all the purple bits were left on their plates! My husband and I had lettuce with all these fixins on top, with my homemade salad dressing. Here is the recipe for my famous homemade salad dressing:
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp graded ginger.
Our daughter actually likes to have the dressing on the side for dipping.