Wow!  Our summer is almost over.  School starts on Monday again and I can’t wait for our life to settle back into a normal routine again.  Which might just mean I will get around to posting a little more often on here!  Hip, hip!

We’re gearing up for another year of home lunches at school.  Last year was by necessity since Big Sis’s charter school was brand new and didn’t really have a functioning kitchen yet.  This year it’s by choice.  Maybe all the health education I was dishing out last year how this food does this or that for your body started to sink in!

We’re thinking of doing a “cooking club” with some of her friends on the weekends who are also taking lunches this year to prep and prepare their lunches for the upcoming week.  I haven’t totally figured out all the details of how it will work yet, but I was thinking they would get together to wash their lettuce, dice the veggies, like carrots, that will last throughout the week etc, ahead of time to help make preparing their lunches easier.  Plus its more fun with a friend, right?  So far it would be 2 eighth graders + 1 seventh grader.  Or in different terms, 2 vegetarians + 1 non-vegetarian.  Could be fun!  I might start doing a feature of their planning and preps each week.

So check out this cute bento lunch!  Not sure ours will be this cute, but you never know what the girls will come up with in their “cooking club”!

Sorry if you have tried to leave me a comment over here, it has come to my attention that my comments aren’t working, so I’m trying to get that fixed as well as a few other things.  I hope you have a fabulous end to your summer!  I’ll be back to posting very soon!

{The Tod showing the Tovolo Green Shooting Star Pop Molds}

This summer has been anything but boring around here!  We have been to and fro all over the place!  In fact, I think we have only been home one weekend in the last six weeks or so.  So um, yeah, sorry there hasn’t been much posting going on around here as of late!

But I have decided to join the world of Twitter.  You can find me as @pickyeatermom and follow me to get the short little updates that go through my head concerning food that may or may not make it onto this blog {because let’s face it, I’m always thinking about food!  Whether it’s how to sneak something into The Tod’s diet, or what to make for dinner, or healthy foods in general~I’m thinking about it!}

One thing we have been doing a lot of lately is making our own POPSICLES!!!  They’re perfect for summer!  We’ve tried:

• Yogurt Pops {as pictured above} ~ vanilla or plain yogurt and fruit thrown in ~ These were a hit!
• Frozen Green Smoothies ~ not a hit at all! ~ The Tod didn’t like the texture
• Frozen Juice with Amazing Grass Berry Flavor ~ not a hit ~ we had texture problems again with the amazing grass not dissolving completely

I’m thinking I need to get a juicer to try sneaking in some more vegetables to avoid the texture problems the green smoothies seem to be causing.  Hmm.  Maybe once summer slows down a little.  Ha!  It will probably have to be this fall instead!  But popsicles in autumn?  I dunno…

I had heard rumors that The Tod would eat Mac n’ Cheese at other peoples houses, but he would never eat it at my house whenever I made it.  But lo, and behold, the other night while I was tending someone elses kids for the evening, they sent a few boxes of Mac n’ Cheese for me to cook up for them to eat, and HE ACTUALLY ATE IT!!!

I was shocked!  It was really true!

And ever since he has been requesting it
for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Now I’m not a huge Mac n’ Cheese fan.  Well, I guess I should clarify.  I’m not a huge fan of the processed kind sold pre-measured in a box with a packet of pretend cheesy stuff.

But I am a fan of the comforting cheesy homemade kind.  There’s just something about it!  And making your own cheese sauce isn’t that hard.  In fact, it can be just as fast and easy as dumping the orangish powdered stuff into the macaroni and stirring it around.

So this afternoon, that is what I did, and I crossed my fingers that he would still eat it because homemade mac n’ cheese doesn’t have the day-glo orange color to it like the processed kind does.  Luckily he didn’t seem to mind {or notice!}.

Homemade Mac n’ Cheese

1-2 cup elbow noodles
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour {I like freshly ground soft white wheat}
1 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese {I like to use sharp cheddar, but any kind will do}
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook elbow noodles according to package directions.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan then stir in the flour {this is a roux, btw}.  Stir constantly until thick and bubbly, then slowly add the milk.  Cook over medium-low heat until it begins to boil.  Remove from heat and add the cheese.  Stir until cheese melts.  Season to taste with salt and pepper then pour over your cooked elbow noodles and stir to combine.

Pretty easy!  And now that I know he will eat Mac n’ Cheese, I can start playing around with it and trying to sneak some more things in.   Maybe a little something to make it a little more orange, perhaps?   The Sneaky Chef uses a combination of either sweet potato+carrots, OR cauliflower+zucchini.  I think sweet potatoes and carrots would add more of the orange coloring it needs.   I think I will try that next time, and of course, I will let you know how it goes over with The Tod.

It’s funny, I was just going to post about The Tod’s love of hot dogs and the good compromise I thought I’d found with Hebrew National hot dogs.  I mean, they’re kosher and all!

But then I just read this.

And this.

And now I realized maybe they aren’t a great alternative after all.   Even though they are kosher and made with a certain quality of meat etc, maybe they’re still loaded up with nitrates and nitrites that have been documented to be carcinogenic and aren’t good for our bodies, not to mention being a processed meat that studies have shown increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Even though I’ve always considered myself a pretty healthy eater, I’ve been trying to learn more and more about food, nutrition, and food labels.  But it seems I still have a long way to go, and it appears I have some more investigating to do into the whole hot dog thing before the barbecue season gets in full swing for summer!

Apparently there is a vegan hot dog type option that I may look into for those in my family who aren’t quite ready to give these  sorts of things up yet, but maybe there really isn’t such a thing as a healthy hot dog after all.  And do I really want to feed my family a serving of heart disease, diabetes or cancer?

Hmmm.   Something to think about my friends, something to think about.

So what’s happening lately in the Picky household???

Not much.  The Tod has only been wanting to eat cheese rolls and chocolate chip pancakes lately.  No problem I guess {because I know exactly whats in them!}, but I’m itching to try some new things out.   My family pampered me with a new belgian waffle maker for Mother’s Day and my mind is working overtime thinking up yummy waffle recipes to sneak into The Tod like:

Pumpkin waffles with applesauce topping
Tutti Fruity waffles {using the Amazing Grass berry flavor}

Speaking of the Amazing Grass , I’ve also been trying to think up a way to make a berry flavored cupcake for The Tod too.  But I’m trying to find a decent tasting and healthy “white” cake recipe first to play with {as opposed to the chocolate kind}.  This recipe looks promising for the cake part.   I might pump the Amazing Grass into the frosting because that part always goes first before he gets to the cake part, {if he even gets to the cake part at all!}.

So there you go!  Hopefully some new reports from the Picky Homefront very, very soon!

My husband is a big meat and potatoes kind of guy.  I used to be a vegetarian.  Once upon a time he claimed I was trying to turn him into a vegetable.  All good natured of course, but I knew he wasn’t totally excited about the things I liked to eat.  It has been somewhat of a battle for us, trying to balance these two opposites.

The other day while standing in line at the grocery store,  my husband noticed the thin  purple-y skin under The Tod’s eyes and thought, “wow, he doesn’t look healthy.”   Exactly!  Here was my golden moment for the lead-in to why I need his support on giving him good food options.  I told him since he eats so little, that I have got to be sure that whatever foods he does get, that they are of top nutritional value!  That means no more bringing him corndogs, and other processed junk home that has no real nutritional value.    Because  if those things are around then those are the things he wants to eat and then I have zero chance of getting him to eat some of my healthier stuff.

I don’t mind if we have them occasionally, like potato chips or something {I guess}, like at our Mother’s Day barbecue, but once the occasion is over then they need to disappear because unfortunately that’s what The Tod wanted to eat for breakfast the next day. Potato chips?  For breakfast?  Yeah, that doesn’t exactly scream healthy does it?

The Tod’s  sickly looking eyes/skin were a good visual for my husband.  I think he is starting to come over to my side of thinking and will hopefully be a little more supportive with the types of foods he brings home from the store.  Either that or he won’t be allowed to go grocery shopping for me anymore which would be very sad for me!

This clip from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution shocked me.  But I shouldn’t be surprised.  The state of nutrition in this country is pretty sad lately.  And it is all too easy to eat junk foods without even realizing it.  But it makes me sad that these kids couldn’t even name some basic vegetables.

So we decided to test this out at our house too. Now I had some of these veggies at home already, but some I didn’t so I found the pictures online to use for those, then I decided to add a few of my own.  Here we go:

If for some reason the video doesn’t play, you can watch it over on YouTube.

So the other day I decided to break out more chocolate and make a chocolate cake!  Not sure why exactly!  Remember, how I don’t really like chocolate?  But I did.   I actually made a chocolate cake!  From scratch even!

I took it to a family gathering at my mom’s house over the weekend.  People seemed a little suspicious at first {hmm, I wonder why!}.  They wanted to know if it was real chocolate.  Of course it was!  And it was!  I just put in a little something else with the chocolate too!  And if you paid attention to the title of my post, you already know that I snuck in BEETS!  And not just a tiny amount either.  Nope!  A healthy dose of beets in fact!  So here is the recipe, and then we’ll talk about the reactions!

Chocolate Beet Cake with Chocolate Frosting

For the cake:
1 3/4 cups beet puree {canned is fine, or about 3-4 medium steamed fresh beets}
3 eggs
3/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unrefined cane sugar {sometimes found as Sucanat, though mine is called something different}
2 cups whole wheat flour {soft white wheat is best if you’re grinding your own}
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

For the frosting:
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered unrefined cane sugar (ground to a powder in blender)
1/2 cup cacao powder

For the cake: Puree beets through vanilla in blender.  Add rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Batter will be a nice dark pink color.  Pour into a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

For the frosting: Cream all ingredients together in a bowl.  Frost cake once it has cooled completely.

Eat and enjoy once it is completely cooled!  The beet taste will disappear once it is completely cooled.

Kid reaction: Well, The Tod informed me that he only wanted to eat “white chocolate cake!  For his birthday!”   I told him it wasn’t his birthday yet and reminded him that he likes chocolate!  He still didn’t want to eat it.  I wondered if I should have made these into cupcakes instead.  I may have to try that next time.  Big Sis however, really liked it!  She said she never would have guessed I made it from scratch or that it had a top secret ingredient in it {which she already knew about because I can tell her those sorts of things and she doesn’t mind~because she is a good eater, remember?}

Adult reaction: It received the thumbs up from everyone at the family gathering.  Even the Hubs liked it.  It was a nice, moist cake!  I think next time I might try it as a cupcake though.  And I wonder if I should try putting the Amazing Grass cocoa powder in to sneak even more healthy ingredients into it.  Hmm, maybe more chocolate cake is on the horizon!

So there you go!  I’d say this one was a winner!

By the way, I got the unrefined sugar cane from Walmart in the sugar section.  I get my cacao powder and coconut oil from  The Raw Food World. I like mail order on the hard to find ingredients because then they just magically appear on my doorstep!  What could be easier than that?

Wow! We had a successful recipe makeover with the chocolate pancakes! And it only took me one try!

When we went to IHOP the Tod luckily wanted to order the chocolate chip pancake so I didn’t have to. He really loved the decorated face with whip cream! In fact, I don’t think he really ate much of the pancake at all.   See the carnage?

Well, that was actually ok with me because it gave me more pancake to taste, dissect and learn from.  The pancake itself isn’t sweet like we thought it might be.  It was chocolatey but with an unsweetened cocoa with occasional sweetness from the chocolate chips.  The rest of the sweet sensation comes from the whip cream or syrup or whatever else you put on top.

This gave me the information I needed to tweak my own recipe and make it more like the IHOP version, but according to Big Sis she thinks my version ended up being even better!  YES!!! That’s huge because she was choking down the other version, remember?  So here is our recipe:

Healthy Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour***
1 3/4 cups oats (ground into flour in blender)
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao powder or Amazing Grass cocoa*
2 1/2 tbsp vanilla protein powder**
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips or carob chips

In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, cacao, protein powder, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Mix well.

Add the eggs, milk, water, oil and vanilla.  Whisk together until smooth and blended.  Using a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate chips.

Spray a griddle or large frying pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.  Drop batter into frying pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until done.

* I used Amazing Grass cacao because it has other healthiness hidden inside it like Wheat Grass and stuff that you don’t really taste.  If you don’t want to use the Amazing Grass, then use Cacao powder {yes, I didn’t misspell it, its different than cocoa powder} because it is the healthiest when it is in its raw stage before it gets heat processed into cocoa powder.  If cocoa powder is all you can find, then be sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder.

** I decided to throw in vanilla protein powder,  like I use in my post workout smoothies,  just to give The Tod a little bit more protein in his diet, plus it gives it a touch more of a vanilla sweetness to it.

So how did the family like them?

Kid reaction: Well, you already  know Big Sis liked them!  And luckily The Tod liked them too!  Phew!  In fact, he wants to eat the leftover pancakes for snacks!  No problem buddy!  Eat as many as you’d like!

Parent reaction: I have a confession to make.  I don’t really like chocolate that much.  I know, I’m weird.  But even I thought they were pretty tasty!  The Hubs  ended up being my official taste tester before I served them and declared them really good.  He is usually skeptical if he knows I’m trying to be sneaky, and he knew I was up to something, so getting his endorsement was AWESOME!

So you wanna make your own but can’t find Cacao or Amazing Grass?
Well, here is where I get mine from:

• I order my Cacao {and lots of other yummy things you will probably see me talk about around here, like Goji Berries etc.} from The Raw Food World.
• You can get the Amazing Grass products from the company by clicking on that link.

***EDITED TO ADD: The second time I made these pancakes I decided to try it a little healthier with freshly ground whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.  And it still tasted awesome!  I used the same amount but had to add more milk to make it the right consistency. You’ll have to play around with it if you try it this way because I didn’t really measure it!

Since it was recently pay day at our house I’ve decided we need to head on over to IHOP for dinner and a little research.  Yes, I’m going to go undercover.  I need to see how the chocolate pancakes taste because I tried making some the other day that just didn’t fly very well with the kids.

Big Sis said it was because they weren’t very sweet.  I argued that they are sweet once you put the syrup on but she kept making faces like it was the most disgusting thing ever as she was choking it down.  Maybe she is just getting sick of my experiments, but c’mon, it wasn’t that bad!  I’m determined to make them a tasty yet healthy chocolate pancake here!

So um, yeah.   No recipe to post yet since it is still in the tweaking stages.

We get our produce from a great little co-op called Bountiful Baskets which saves us a bundle! We absolutely love it!  I especially love it on pickup days because the fridge and my kitchen get filled up with yumminess!  It makes me happy just to look at it all!  So here is your sneak peek into my kitchen:

We always seem to have apples galore,
so a lot of them end up on this side table.

Because they’re within easy reach
they are easy to grab and munch on the go!

They also somehow tend to get dropped on the floor
or thrown like a ball around the house.
Such is the life with the Toddler!

I have three little baskets hung on a wall for other fun things.
This week we have:

Top ~ bananas, oranges and limes

Middle ~ more apples!

Bottom ~ tomatoes, avocadoes, and  tomatillos

My mom says these are like ever-changing art hung on the wall.
I have to agree!

I also have a plant stand turned produce basket near the kitchen sink.
This week it is holding:

Top ~ a pineapple, sweet potatoes and red potatoes
Bottom ~ onions, garlic and acorn squash.

And finally some produce in the fridge!

I don’t remember everything I have in there at the moment
but I know I’ve got:

Spinach, two heads of romaine, rainbow chard
Cauliflower, grey squash, yellow squash
Carrots, cilantro, blackberries and strawberries

So there you go!  Hope you enjoyed your brief produce tour of my kitchen!  Belonging to the produce co-op has made it very easy to always have fresh goodness around.  Sometimes we get things I never would have bought at the grocery store, so it encourages us to stretch and try new things.  I would encourage anyone to find one in your area and participate!

The other day on the way to Costco I stopped into my friends nutrition store to say hi because it is nearby.  I mentioned how I’m frustrated with The Tod and how worried I am that he isn’t getting very many vegetables and other healthy nutrients in his diet.  He showed me this new product for kids he is carrying called Kidz SuperFood from Amazing Grass.

He told me it was packed with good nutrition from clean sources.  I mean, check out what is in this thing!

Greens
Organic Wheat Grass, Organic Barley Grass, Organic Alfalfa, Asparagus, Lima Beans, Green Peas, Kale, Kiwi, Organic Spinach, Organic Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Green Beans, Zucchini

Oranges / Yellows
Apricots, Organic Carrots, Mangos, Pineapple, Sweet Potatoes, Tangerines, Yellow Squash

Reds
Organic Yumberry, Pomegranates, Raspberries, Guavas, Cranberries, Red Cabbage, Cherries, Tomatoes

Blues / Purples
Beets, Plums, Purple Grapes, Blueberries

I looked at my friend with wide eyes.  I was stunned.

“ALL of that is in there???  Are you kidding me?”

He just grinned at me and said, “Get him to drink this and you won’t have to worry if he is eating junk as much because you’ll know he is getting all the nutrition he needs for the day right there!”

I was sold.  It is a little pricey but if I can only get a small amount of food into him, then it better be top quality, power packed nutrition!  And you know he isn’t ever going to touch some of those ingredients by themselves if they were on his plate.

So what has The Tod thought of it?

He likes it!  It comes in a kid-pleasing container that he thinks is fun {always helpful in the psychological dept!} and it smells like kool-aid!  We mixed ours into apple juice which provides a nice sweetness to it and he has no idea that he is getting healthy stuff in his drink!

You could also easily mix it into yogurt, or if your child doesn’t like the texture of green smoothie popsicles, you could make a more kool-aid like popsicle out of this instead!  Or hey!  Even a yogurt pop!  Oh!  Or what about using it to flavor a fruity ice cream?  The possibilities are endless!

By the way,  the company also sells a chocolate version packed with healthy goodness too!

The verdict is in!  These are sooo worth the money!  And they are even yummy enough  for the kids at heart!

Want some for yourself? Then head on over to www.AmazingGrass.com, or click on any of the pictures which I think will take you directly there!

Lately The Tod thinks he is too good for his very own high fat milk which he still desperately needs.  He wants to drink what everyone else in our family drinks.

Big Sis came up with the idea to save one of our old empty milk containers and then pour his into that one when he isn’t looking so he has a jug of his own higher fat milk in a milk container that looks like one of ours instead.  We marked the top of the lid with his initials so that we will know which one is which.

My daughter is so smart!  Why didn’t I think of that?

The other day on the Food Network there was a show called French Food for Kids featuring “a kid-friendly menu of Homemade Crepes with Sweet Apple Filling, Yogurt Cake soaked in Orange Syrup, Creamy Vache Qui Rit Soup and a Velvety Green Pea Flan”.

I was unable to catch the show {which is a bummer because it sounded interesting!} but it was being discussed in an online group I belong to.   Commentaries poured in from “Can you imagine?  Kids!  Eating this???” to scalding commentary  about parenting styles and how a good palate is formed at a young age and not catered to with food especially for children, which made me reflect on some of my own old assumptions.

You see, when Big Sis was born, she was a perfect eater.  She would eat whatever we gave her.  She loved different colors, textures and flavors.  I could give her a beet off my salad and her eyes would light up at the sight of the bright red goodness!  Heck, she would actually eat a salad with us!   Yes!  A toddler!  Eating salad! I was such a good parent!

Meanwhile, my brother, who was having kids at about the same time we were, had the pickiest eaters EVER!  They wouldn’t eat anything!  I remember patting myself on the back for being “such a good mom” because my child was such a great eater, unlike theirs.  I honestly thought it was a parenting style.

I am so ashamed of my old attitude.

For us, the parenting style is still the same, yet the children are vastly different.  It’s hard to explain or understand if you’ve never had an extremely picky child, I mean, I didn’t even understand it until I had my own.  The Tod has been opinionated from day one.  And stubborn.  I’m convinced he came programmed this way,  just the same way each kid comes with their very own, different personalities.

Now despite whether or not you think kids would eat this food, I just wish there could be a little more compassion towards picky eaters AND towards the parents of picky eaters.  That’s what I’d say for my Miss America type answer.  Oh and world peace!

I realized the other day that fruits are very easy to sneak into foods.  But then again, because they’re naturally sweet, they are also not that hard to get The Tod to eat in general anyway.  What he definitely needs more of are vegetables.

This morning we had a nice springy snowstorm which tends to call for something nice, warm and comforting to eat for breakfast.  We decided upon the oatmeal recipe from the Deceptively Delicious book because it included either pumpkin or sweet potato.  I chose to put in a sweet potato.

This one ended up being one of the best oatmeals I think I have ever made.  Ever.  The kitchen was filled with the sweet comforting smells of a delicious pumpkin pie thanks to the pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, brown sugar and of course the sweet potato.  Oh my goodness it was yummy!  So you obviously know how well I liked it, but what did the kids think?

The Tod: No thanks.  {Too bad, he was seriously missing out!}
Big Sis: Mmmm!  She thought the smell was absolutely divine and wants me to make it again.  But!  She wants hers sweeter next time.   Well, the actual recipe calls for drizzling maple syrup over it if you want, so she can try it that way the next time we make it {which I have a feeling will be soon.  Very, very soon.}.

By now I hope you have heard about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Here is what Rachel Ray had to say about it in The Daily Telegraph:

“Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, ABC’s new reality show, has an educational agenda. But its British star isn’t a Professor Higgins who’s come to ridicule the way the locals speak in West Virginia, locale of the show’s premiere. Not at all. Jamie Oliver, English chef, cooking show star, and cookbook author, projects nothing if not sincerity in his mission to help American children want to eat healthy food to stave off an increasing epidemic of obesity and diabetes.”

Watching Jamie work with the school children is inspiring to me as I try to work with my own child at home.  Yes mine is extremely picky but I keep thinking if he can make a difference with children who haven’t had any exposure before to healthy foods that maybe, just maybe there is hope for my child who does at least get healthy food options presented to him even though he chooses to turn his nose up at them most of the time.

The show airs on Friday nights, which is unfortunate because if you’re like me you’re usually busy doing something else.  But the good news is you can catch it on Hulu, or remember to record it so you can watch it later.

Want more information? You can read Jamie’s Platform for Change here.  And be sure to click over to his website to sign the petition!

No, I didn’t get my picky little eater to actually eat those.   I can only keep hoping that he will learn to love the foods that I do.

But the good news is that my iphone is finally fixed again, so I at least have something to take pictures with again!  Hence, the picture of what I actually ate for breakfast this morning!  Goat cheese spread on a toasted baguette topped with spinach and tomatoes.  Mmmm!  Yummy!

Now I just need to get my real camera either fixed or replaced!

Thanks to my sister I have a picture of the Samoas finally!   So what started this whole Girl Scout cookie thing?  Well, the Hubs was longing for some more girl scout cookies.  Samoas in particular.  So I said,

“Hey!  I’ve got chocolate!  And I’ve got coconut.  And some nuts.  I bet I could find a recipe and make you some!“

All the while thinking in my head, “I will make you some that are actually healthy!  Wahaha!“  because I’m evil like that you know!

He said,  “If you can make me Samoas that actually taste like Samaos you will be my HERO!”

And I said, “I’m on it babe!  You can count on me!” because who wouldn’t want the official title of HERO anyway?!

So I set out to try and find a recipe.  I settled on a raw version of it because it seemed like a healthier way to go without all the refined sugars or flours, plus it seemed like an interesting challenge and the recipe picture it depicted looked pretty similar to a real Samoa cookie!  I even secured an empty Samoa box and tray from my sister-in-law who still had cookies left to help create the illusion!

So how did it go?  Well let’s  first look at the recipe, then the result!  You ready?

Raw Samoas

Cookie:
1 cup almond meal {created by blending almonds into a flour in the blender}
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, ground into a powder
2 Tbsp maple syrup {grade B if you can find it}
2 soft pitted dates
1/2 tsp vanilla
dash of sea salt

Topping:
1 1/2 cup soft pitted dates, briefly soaked in water to cover
soaking liquid from dates
1 Tbsp maple syrup {grade B if you can find it}
2 Tbsp raw almond butter {made by grinding your almonds into flour in the blender and then adding a tiny bit of olive oil and blending again til it creates a nut butter}
1 tsp vanilla
dash of sea salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, divided

Chocolate syrup:
Cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
Coconut oil, softened to a liquid
Agave nectar, to taste

Day 1:  The Cookie
Combine almond meal and coconut in food processor.  Add maple syrup, dates, vanilla and sea salt and process until it forms a ball of dough.

Flatten the dough and cut out cookie sized circles and place on dehydrator trays.  I found it very sticky to work with, but it seemed to work better if I lightly misted my hands with water and used a metal spatula to lift them onto the trays.  “Bake” on the dehydrator for 24 hours or until they become crisp, flip them over half way through.

Why are we “baking” these on the dehydrator?  Well, because in raw cooking, cooking below 115 degrees preserves the nutrients and digestive enzymes of the fresh food.

Day 2:  The Topping
Puree the dates in a food processor.  Add liquid from the soaking the dates, as needed, to create a paste.  Add the maple syrup, almond butter, vanilla and sea salt and process until smooth.  Add 1/2 cup coconut and process to combine.  Mix the other 1/2 cup coconut in by hand.

“Frost” the baked cookies with your date mixture and put them back in the dehydrator for an hour or so to set.

In a separate bowl, combine all the ingredients for your chocolate syrup.  The coconut oil will melt above 78 degrees, so gently warm it up until it becomes a liquid.  Sweeten with agave nectar to taste.    If your syrup is too runny, chill it in the refrigerator until it sets a little more.  Pipe three stripes across the top of each cookie when finished and enjoy.

So there you go!  There is the recipe.  It seems a little intimidating with all those ingredients, the dehydrator and the time it takes, but don’t let it stress you out ~ it really isn’t that hard to assemble.

So how did ours turn out?

Well . . .

Ours didn’t turn out quite like the picture.  The dough was so sticky I didn’t dare cut out a center to make it more authentic looking and my chocolate syrup was a little too runny and I didn’t have the patience to firm it up in the refrigerator.  To be honest, this took a few days and I was getting sick of dealing with them, and I had a crowd of people ready to try them.

Kid reaction: He wasn’t too interested in them.

Parent reaction: The Hubs liked them better plain before the topping went on them.  I liked them better with the topping on them, but without the chocolate.

Changes for next time? Well, if I ever decided to make this again, I think I would be sure to firm up the chocolate syrup more.  And I would try to have more patience with the time it takes.  Or I might just skip the topping all together and just eat the plain cookies because they really weren’t bad at all, and made for a great mid-afternoon snack!

So did I become my husbands Hero in the end?  Sadly, no.  But I’m going to keep trying!  Because I really want to be a HERO!!

Sorry, no photo of the Samoa’s yet. My cute little sister took some pictures of them for me and I’m waiting to get them from her. But in the meantime I  at least have a picture to show you of the treat we made tonight courtesy of the Hubs phone. Most of the time he is gone when I’m taking pictures of my food, but luckily he was here this time.

We made banana ice cream that was a soft-serve / thick milk shake consistency.  This is a super simple and super easy recipe.  In fact it is so simple that it really needs no ingredient amounts {you’ll see why}.    When my bananas start to get too ripe before we will be able to eat them I will peel them and throw them into the freezer in ziploc baggies.  They’re perfect to use in smoothies or for making this yummy banana ice cream.   I have a pretty tough blender but I think this will work in a regular blender as well, so give it a try!

Banana Ice Cream

Frozen Bananas {2-3 per person depending on how much ice cream you want}
Water or milk to create desired consistency
Fruit of choice such as strawberries and blueberries for the topping

Place frozen bananas in your blender and blend on high.  Add water or milk to help it achieve the desired consistency.  Top with fruit of choice.

Kid reaction: He loved the idea of making his own ice cream and thought it was fun.  Then he unfortunately got sick and threw up.  So he didn’t really get to try it.  Big Sis liked just the banana ice cream part and not the added fruit.

Parent reaction: The Hubs loved the banana ice cream too and said he would eat it just plain!  I also thought it was delicious just plain, but I loved it with fruit piled on too but apparently I was the only one who like it that way!

Changes for next time?: Well…I would really like to get more fruit {and antioxidant goodness} into them, so maybe the fruit topping would have gone over better if they were in a fruity syrup made by sprinkling a little bit of sugar over the top and letting them sit for a little while.  Or better yet, maybe you could just drizzle a little agave syrup over them for a while until they get nice and juicy and syrupy.

Enjoy!

Still having problems, folks!  Between a rude virus on my computer, and the Tod dropping my camera I haven’t been able to upload anything exciting around here~sorry!

But the fun hasn’t stopped in the kitchen!  This week is Girl Scout Cookie week at our house.  I only bought two boxes this year ~ and yes, they’re already gone!  The Hubs has been wanting more and so I’ve been on a mission to create healthier versions.

So stay tuned!  Our family favorite Samao’s are up next!

Man oh man!  We have been having some real computer issues at my house lately which is sad because I’ve got some things we have tried lately that I can’t wait to tell you about {including some of our SuperBowl treats!}

So while I try to get my computer back up and running properly I thought I would mention a cool new movie I watched recently.

It has been winning a lot of awards at movie festivals lately.  The movie goes into what hydrogenated oils are.  And I will tell you, it is eye opening and you will learn a lot.  You should order yourself a copy and watch it with your family.  I highly recommend it.

Hopefully I will be back soon, with more things we have tried, if my computer cooperates at least!

Have you ever seen the Arthur episode where DW is a picky eater?  You could watch this with your child and have some discussions along the way.  There is also a book on this one.   Could be a fun way to approach a discussion on  picky eating behaviors at least.

Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

The Tod will sometimes snack on nuts, so I thought he might go for some baked chickpeas.  It was something I had always wanted to try because I hear they are pretty nutritious, and they were small and snacky looking so I thought he might go for them too.  So here is the recipe we tried:

Flavored Chickpea Snacks

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 pinch pepper
1 dash crushed red pepper
15 ounce can of chickpeas

Whisk together everything but the chickpeas until blended.  Pour over the chickpeas and toss to coat.  Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes or so until browned and crispy.

Kid reaction: Not interested when I offered it straight from the oven. I even tried to tell him they were “nuts” but he wouldn’t go for that either.  Now I’m trying to see if he will eat them if I “package” them somehow.  And I’m still working on that, so stay tuned!

Parent reaction: I really don’t think this recipe tastes that remarkable from a taste standpoint BUT for some reason I just can’t stop eating them.  It is strangely addicting.  It has a nice crunch to the outside but has a softer inside if that makes sense.

Changes for next time? Well, if you don’t like these particular seasonings, it seems like it is a fairly adaptable sort of food. I’ve seen recipes for versions with sugar and cinnamon {which might go over better with the Tod}, or for ranch flavored chickpeas.  I’ve also seen it suggested as a salad type crouton.

When I lived in Brazil we used to eat these fabulous little balls of yummy cheese breads called Pao de Queijo.  The name literally means Bread of Cheese.  Now of course I love almost anything cheesy and I haven’t made these in years because the main ingredient, tapioca flour, disappeared from my local grocery store shelves but I recently found it locally again.  Hip, hip!

Tapioca flour is gluten-free.  And according to Bob’s Red Mill it is, “ a grain-free flour derived from cassava root. It is a starchy, slightly sweet, white flour.”

I figured these would be fun for The Tod because I could make them cute, round-ish and little.  All of which should appeal to a toddler, right?  Ok, so here we go, this is the recipe given to us from a Brazillian friend:

Pao de Queijo

1 cup milk
1 cup olive oil
2 eggs
3 cups tapioca flour
1 cup parmesan cheese
1-2 Tsp salt {I usually go for 2 tsp}

Combine the milk, oil, eggs and salt in a blender until smooth.  Add the tapioca flour and mix again for 4-5 minutes.  Add parmesan and mix again until blended.

Pour in ungreased muffin tins:  mini muffin tins for smaller bite size rolls, or regular sized tins for more dinner sized rolls.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden or crackled on top.

Optional:  You can also add tiny pieces of ham to the batter if you’d like which is tasty, though I’m not sure any of my Brazillian friends do this.

Kid reaction: He didn’t even want to try it.  What?!  It’s small and cute!!!  I even tried to pull the yummy cheesy card on him because I know he likes cheese, but sadly, no dice. 
Mom reaction: I have to say, I’m a little bummed here.  I thought for sure he would like this one but I guess it just means more for me!

I’ve mentioned before how the Hubs and Tod both really like to snack at night.  Well, the Tod would actually snack all day if I’d let him.  And this is one HUGE area I’m trying to improve on this year.  My daughter and I have a plan to cook up some healthy treats each week, but its also nice to have some pre-packaged goodies hanging around too.  So we ran over to Costco to pick up some healthier goodies.  Here is what we got:

Pretzels: They are seven grain and organic.  I feel a little better about this option than just a regular ol’ pretzel.

Veggie chips: These still have a little bit of potato in them, but they also have spinach powder, and carrot powder too.  And they’re baked, so you know they’re not getting dunked in a big ol’ vat of oil somewhere which is better.

Bora Bora granola bars: These are organic and  loaded up with nuts and fruits with NO REFINED SUGARS!

SunRype fruit bars: These give you 2 servings of fruit per bar plus fiber with no added sugars!  They’re like a giant fat fruit leather candy bar!  And some of them even have some carrots snuck into the bar.  And they taste super sweet!

Stretch Island Fruit Co. fruit leathers: No added sugars, sweetened only by fruits.  These are smaller and thinner than the SunRype fruit bars {obviously because these are fruit leathers!} and each of them have 1/2 serving of fruit in them.

Annies snack packs: Individual bags of bunny shaped crackers made from organic whole grain flours in a variety of flavors.  And they’re cuter than those fishy crackers!

Yes, these are more expensive to buy but good health is worth it to me.  It’s hard to see all the collective damage you are putting in your body over the years when you eat foods filled with hydrogenated oils, trans fats and corn syrup until one day it is too late.  And unfortunately these seem to be in ALL the fun, kid friendly, snacky, fast and easy foods these days.  I at least feel better that these are better choices.