PUDDING, I’VE LEARNED, CAN MEAN MANY THINGS. Especially when you’re cooking low-sugar stuff for kids. Here are three recipes we’ve tried: one’s beloved, another so-so and one big ol’ miss.
homemade chicken nuggets
THIS ONE TIME, WHEN OUR KIDS WERE MISBEHAVING, we used a bribe to get them back on track. And these nuggets were part of it. A delicious part.
Double chocolate zucchini muffins, a Muffin Madness contender
THERE’S A MUFFIN BRACKET GOING ON. It’s between Easy Peasy Organic’s sweet potato muffins and these double chocolate zucchini muffins from Mom’s Kitchen Handbook. Since we’ve already started hearing from you about the sweet potato muffins, we tried baking the zucchini first. After patiently waiting driving me crazy while the muffins baked and cooled off,…
Linguine with mushroom bacon sauce, a pasta recipe from “American Grown” by Michelle Obama
WHEN THEY SERVE PASTA AT THE WHITE HOUSE, this is it. And also, I’d like to come come over next time they do. But for now I’ll have to settle for the most delicious sounding recipe for linguine that I’ve seen since we left Italy. In this excerpt from Michelle Obama’s book, “American Grown”, you’ll…
An easy pop of color, half way to eating the rainbow
THEY SAY YOU SHOULD EAT THE RAINBOW, and when I say “they” I mean everyone from Grover to Oprah and Michelle Obama, also the editors of Whole Living and you know, the US Cancer Society. OK, we’re listening. But also, we’re very busy and that sounds complicated. Like a lot of shopping and chopping and possibly quite…
Roasted whole carrots with maple glaze
JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER BUNNIES EVERYWHERE, we’ve got a fun take on carrots. The good news is, it’s super simple. The great news is, the kids like ’em too.
Little Bit o’Spinach Shortbread Cookies for St. Patrick’s Day
OUR KIDS HAVE BEEN MISBEHAVING. I’m sure this never happens at your house, but this has been one of those weeks. We’ve had a whining, crying, tantrum-throwing, Pull-Up-removing time of it for days now. But this morning when Paul and I mentioned working toward a picnic dinner at the playground tonight, as in, we only…
Sauteed cabbage
I’VE EATEN CABBAGE QUITE A FEW TIMES, BUT ENJOYED IT EXACTLY TWICE. The first delicious cabbage I ate was many years ago when a friend with Irish roots (and her own Grandma Curley, just like I had) spent a full Saturday making “Boiled Dinner” for St. Patrick’s Day. Despite my own fairly Irish roots, I’d…
Easy update: Add a little chopped spinach to your next pot of rice
WE USUALLY EAT BROWN RICE, BUT NOT THIS TIME. My husband Paul loves the fluffier texture of white rice, and I love him, so for this dinner we used organic basmati rice. But the compromise didn’t end there: I also add added a bit of frozen spinach to the pot while it cooked. Voila, a…
Lower-sugar, lower-fat golden yam brownies (An Allrecipes.com makeover)
THIS REQUEST CAME IN FROM ALASKA. Tricia, who is a mom to three boys living waaay up north, sent me a link via Facebook to these decadent treats with a healthy sounding name, Golden Yam Brownies on Allrecipes. She asked if I could do a healthier makeover. “My family LOVES it but it’s loaded with…
coconut milk and chia seed no-cook, no-sugar pudding
THEY LOVE THIS STUFF. I’m shocked and amazed myself, but our girls do. I’d been hearing about the health benefits of chia seeds for years–fiber, omega fatty acids, calcium, antioxidants and protein–but in Italy, if it ain’t the stuff that mama made, it ain’t available. At least not in my grocery store. (The Italians are…
How to roast beets
THESE WORK IN SO MANY WAYS. On salad, as salad, warm from the oven, pureed for baby food (or as a secret good-for-you ingredient for decadent brownies!). I’m a beet lover, Phoebe is hit or miss with these purple beauties and everyone else is still in the not-quite-sold stage. They’re so good though, and so…
Parmesan mashed potatoes with kale, yes kale (A 101 Cookbooks recipe makeover)
THIS IS THE LAST ONE. We’ve been cooking with Heidi Swanson’s recipes for the last few weeks (among others), from the jaw-droppingly beautiful website 101 cookbooks. Honestly, if all food were that gorgeous, who wouldn’t want to focus on healthy eating all the time? And with that in mind, I set out to amp up…
kid-friendly spinach salad with carrots and cucumber (a 101 cookbooks makeover)
NO, IT’S NOT A MISTAKE. This is indeed a spinach salad that I served it to our kids, ages 3 1/2 and 2 years. Did they try it? Yes. Did they devour it, no. Did the stars and flowers help? Absolutely. And we just might be onto something.
diy dark chocolate truffles
THESE WERE A DISASTER. A delicious disaster, but nonetheless. I decided to update Heidi Swanson’s No-Bake Chocolate Cake to give it a kid-friendly spin. It turns out that a recipe basically made of pure chocolate doesn’t actually need a spin. Except for the part where the debilitating sugar crash ends the activity in tears. See: disaster…
roasted sweet potatoes and chicken with quinoa in mustard sauce
WE’RE PASTA PEOPLE, and I’ll bet any family with small kids will say the same. But when it comes to other fluffy fillers, rice is always an easy sell around here. Barley is not. Millet has a so-so track record (good in muffins, not great as a dish). And that pretty much exhausts the options that were available to…
low sugar coconut cookies (a 101 cookbooks makeover)
WE KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO BE HEALTHY, because this cookie recipe was inspired by 101 Cookbooks. But we’re all pleasantly surprised to know they’re tasty too. (And when I say “we” I mean Phoebe and Estelle who keep hanging out by the little blue storage bin, longingly.) With a quarter of the sugar you’d usually…
when all else fails, make baby food: roasted sweet potato and apple baby food
“IT’S NOT GOING WELL”, says my tired old self. “Except that it is!” says the hopeful part of me, the one that remains rosy cheeked despite 2 sleepless nights with our little guy’s new cold. So it’s a bit of both, that’s how I’d sum up this move and here’s why: It’s a complicated process….
Kid-friendly turkey chili–plus 15 crowd pleasing toppings ideas
As our BFIM continues at its glacial pace, I am thrilled to present this guest post from a friend, fellow mom to kids under 4 and former colleague (one who used to run Food Network.com, ahem!), Marie Facini. Now if you need me, I’ll be desperately trying to find a big pot somewhere… GUEST POST…
Make-Ahead Breakfast Pockets with Egg, Cheese & Ham
For a delicious breakfast that comes together in a snap, you can’t beat these breakfast pockets full of eggs, ham and cheese. Plus the whole thing can be assembled ahead of time and baked when you’re good and ready. What you need to make breakfast pockets with eggs, ham & cheese 1 package of 8…