May 30, 2012

Keeping it simple this week. I saw tons of snap peas this weekend at the farmers market so I thought that the kids should try them steamed.

Menu:
Brown rice with basil
Steamed veggies (snap peas and broccoli)
Basil butter *so the kids can put a dab on top of the veggies and watch it melt
Carrot sticks
Apples
 &
**Borscht (beets, cabbage, carrots, onion soup with a little vinegar)  I am just sending a little of this so that everyone can have a taste.  I have been getting so many yummy beets and I have tons of cabbage so I made this soup dish that can be served cold or hot.  We eat this a lot in Pennsylvania where there is a large Eastern European community.  It is full of vitamins, helps with your digestive tract, and is a beautiful bright red. I wasn't sure though that the kids would like it so I thought that they could try it out a little at this meal :)

Steamed veggies.  They should only be steamed for a few minutes.  The green color should be bright and vibrant.

Beets, cabbage, and carrots...BORSCHT

May 23, 2012

Menu:
Curried Egg Salad
Whole grain/whole wheat bread
Roasted Cauliflower
Carrot Sticks
Clementines

May 16, 2012

Menu:
Beet greens pasta (whole wheat)
Carrot sticks
Strawberry rhubarb oatmeal squares

Don't throw away those greens, cook them up and serve them to the kids!  Beet greens are often overlooked and full of vitamins (especially vitamin A and C).  I saute them and serve them with pasta, on pizza crust, on rice, or as a side dish.

Beet greens pasta
-2 tbs olive oil
-one onion, sliced or diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-beet greens, stalk included, cut into small pieces (put the beets aside and use them in another recipe)
-1/2 c veggie broth
-salt to taste
-1 c tomatoes (fresh or out of a carton)
-2 tbs cream, half&half, or greek yogurt
-fresh grated parmesan cheese
-whole grain pasta, cooked al dente according to directions

Heat olive oil in saute pan.  Saute the onions and garlic until soft.  Add the beet greens.  Stir.  Add the veggie broth, tomatoes, and salt.  Cook on medium for about 10-15 minutes until the stalks are soft.  Add cream and cheese.  Add the pasta into the saute pan to mix.

We returned from a visit to Fallon's grandmother's house with 2 pounds of home grown rhubarb that Fallon helped pick.  So, I am trying to make it in all kinds of ways.  It's healthy, it's free, and it's yummy mixed with strawberries.  I generally do jams and stuff with it, but we already have a resident jam master, so I decided to try a really healthy oatmeal bar instead.  This is the first time that I have made this and I am sure that it could use some tweaking but I do think that it turned out very well.  I am sure that it would be tastier with more sweetener; however, I am trying to only provide foods that have maple syrup or honey to the kids when I am cooking.  This recipe is just like the muffins that I made the other week but there is an added egg and I baked them in bars.  So, I guess that it isn't too experimental!

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Bars *Experimental Baking
-1 lb fresh strawberries, stems removed and quartered
-4 stalks rhubarb, cut into small pieces
-half a fresh lemon, squeezed
-2 tbs maple syrup
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 c oatmeal
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 c ground flax seed
-2 eggs, mixed
-1/2 c coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 400.  I heated the strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice, maple syrup, and vanilla together in a small saucepan over medium heat to soften them up.  I cooked them on medium low for about 10-15 minutes.  In a bowl, I combined all the dry ingredients and mixed them.  I then added the eggs and the milk.  Finally I mixed in the fruit.  I put this mixture into a buttered baking dish and baked for about 25 minutes (until the top was light brown and a toothpick came out dry).  I cut them into little bars for the kids and kept refrigerated until time to eat.


*I think that next time I will add a 1/2 c of some flour...rice, coconut, almond, etc. And bake for an additional 5-10 min.

May 9, 2012

Wow.  What a beautiful week.  This week, we are having more asparagus.  Right now, asparagus is so good and I just got a big bag of the small spears so I am roasting them again for the kids.  This tends to be the yummiest and I think that the little spears look so much like green french fries!

Menu:
Roasted mini asparagus spears
Roasted sweet potatoes
#Banana Oatmeal muffins w/ raisins (and ground flax seed for protein)
Fresh carrot spears
Pears (local and perfectly ripe)
*Hibiscus Iced Tea

Roasted veggies
I did these the same as always.  Preheated the oven to 425.  Tossed the veggies in olive oil.  Sprinkled them with sea salt.  The asparagus took about 15 minutes because the spears were really little and the sweet potatoes took about 25 minutes.

#This morning I woke up and noticed that we had 5 ripe bananas so I decided to bake up some super healthy muffins for the kids.  I make these muffins all the time because they are very easy and a great way to use up any ripe bananas.  This recipe can be tweaked to suit the tastes of any family.  I often add walnuts in addition to raisins or cranberries.  I think that chocolate chips would pair nicely as well.  This recipe also works well with pumpkin puree instead of bananas.  It's versatile...so tailor it to your family's tastes.
Banana Oatmeal muffins
-4 to 5 ripe bananas, mashed well (or 2-3 c pumpkin puree) (The more bananas or puree you use, the moister the muffins)
-2 tbsp real maple syrup
-1 tsp real vanilla
-1/2 c ground flax seed
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon
-one egg, beaten
-3 c oats (I use Bob's GF Rolled Oats. I have also used quick cooking rolled oats but I like the regular oats better because the muffins taste and feel heartier)
-1/2 c raisins

Preheat oven to 425.  Prepare muffin tins.  I don't use PAM or anything.  I feel as if butter or coconut oil is healthier so I just wrap a paper town around one hand and put some butter or coconut oil on the paper towel in order to "grease" the pan by wiping it around in any spot that the muffin mixture will touch.  I make sure that it is just a thin coating to keep the muffins from sticking.
Mix all the ingredients together.  I add them in the order that I listed them.  I use an ice cream scoop to scoop the mixture into the tins.  Put in the oven and bake 15-25 minutes.  Just keep looking at the muffins and they will begin to lightly brown on the tops and brown on the sides.  This recipe makes about 48 mini muffins or 16 large muffins.

*I decided to make Iced tea for the kids this week because 1) it is really nice out and fruity tea is so refreshing and 2) Hibiscus tea is full of Vitamin C.  This tea is easy to make, refreshing, and healthy.
-One pot of water, boiling
-add a few scoops of hibiscus leaves to a tea basket and place in the water (I buy these in the bulk herbs section at the grocery store.  Always get organic because there has been some great research showing that organic herbs have more health benefits than non-organic.)
-steep the leaves in the water for 10-15 minutes
-add 2-3 tbsp raw local organic honey (again, make sure that the honey that you use is local and raw.  When honey is processed, the processing removes the great benefits of honey.  We live in a fabulous place that has many many bee farmers whom we can support by visiting local farmer's markets, New Seasons, or food co-ops such as Food Front.)
-After steeping, pour the water over some ice.

**I also make this when it's sunny by just placing a jar of water with a tea basket full of hibiscus leaves in the sun.  This is a really fun project to do with kids because as the water warms up, you can see the water flow through the tea leaves and come out a beautiful red color.

**If you have belly problems, add some mint leaves (also easily purchased in the loose herb section of a grocery store such as New Seasons)

May 2, 2012

Menu:
Broccoli/ Cauliflower Rice Casserole
Carrot Sticks
Pears and Apples

*I just wanted to note that when I use cheese, it always comes from a brick (I generally use Tillamook) and then shred it myself.  Often, pre-shredded cheese has added ingredients to keep it from sticking together in clumps.  These added ingredients are often chemicals or even a wood derivative.
*I also will not ever use any pre-made soups or cream bases.  I find that these things (ex. cream of mushroom soup) are often easy to make, much healthier when homemade, and certainly much tastier.  And it doesn't take that much more time to make them.

Broccoli & Cauliflower Rice Casserole
-half a head of cauliflower, cut into small pieces *
-one head of broccoli, cut into small pieces *
-2 tbs butter
-one onion, diced
-three celery stalks, diced
-1 tbs GF all purpose flour
-1/4 c ground flax seed
-1 1/4 c 2% milk
-3 tbs half&half (I normally would use cream but didn't have it)
-2 c cheddar cheese (any cheese would do but Fallon really likes Cheddar)
-3 to 4 c cooked brown rice
-2 to 3 c chopped spinach
-salt & pepper to taste

Steam the broccoli and cauliflower for a few minutes until tender.  The broccoli should be bright green.  I like the vegetables to remain a little crunchy.  I also leave the vegetables in semi large pieces; however, it would work with tiny pieces as well which are easier to hide in the food.  I generally keep the veggies larger because I want the kids to know what they are eating.  Set the veggies aside.
In a pan, melt butter on medium.  Saute onions and celery for a few minutes until tender.  Turn the heat down to medium low.  Add the flour and combine.  Then add milk and cream.  Slowly stir in the cheese.  Do not allow the mixture to boil and stir slowly to completely melt the cheese.  Add in the veggies, the rice, and the spinach.  Mix together well.  Put the mixture into a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.