Salmon Fish

I'm not a huge salmon fan but since I had it in the house, I thought I'd try something a little different but familiar, especially for the kiddies.
I baked it as usual with a little olive oil brushed on both sides, on 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Before putting it in the oven, I also squeezed 1/2 grapefruit juice on the fish (citrus helps get the fishy-flavor out). After taking it out of the oven, I flaked it into a bowl and added mayonnaise and 1 cup frozen peas. I added lots of fresh cilantro and made up pita bread sandwiches for my husband and myself. The kids did not eat any of it. I really thought my daughter would, since she will eat canned tuna with mayo, with no problem (on a good day). I can't blame the kids though, because it wasn't my favorite thing to eat.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Nope, my kids don't eat peanut butter... not even with tons of jelly! I thought I'd try out these Peanut Butter and Jelly muffins, courtesy of Cooking Light,
I did modify the recipe based on what I had available, and added the flax seed meal, as always.
Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (use 1/2 whole wheat flour for extra fiber)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons butter or butter substitute, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon flax seed meal (omega 3)
1/4 cup strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and next 5 ingredients (through vanilla); add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups, coated with cooking spray (paper baking cups easier to use). Fill each cup half full with batter. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam into each cup. Spoon remaining batter on top to cover jam. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on a wire rack.

My daughter really enjoyed making and eating these, and ate two for lunch the next day. They are delicious... definitely worth the trouble... but very easy. Great to pack for school lunches. I'll have to remember this one!

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! : )

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.