More to come....

Yes, I have some new recipes I'd like to post, but a baby on the way any day now has prevented me from getting myself organized enough to do so. So keep checking back, hopefully I'll have some new stuff up here soon.....

Fruit Sorbets

A really easy, really yummy recipe for a dessert that you can eat alot of and not feel guilty :)


Fruit Sorbets

2 medium bananas, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 cup sliced strawberries
3-4 T water
1 T lemon juice
drizzle of honey (optional)

1. Freeze strawberries in ziplock bag. Place banana chunks on cookie sheet lined with wax paper and cover. Freeze for about 2-3 hours.

2. Place fruit chunks in blender a little at a time and blend. Slowly add lemon juice, honey and water. Add enough water so that the sorbets are nice and creamy.

I really enjoyed this with a spoonful of cool whip on top, but that is definitely optional as well, as the sorbets were already plenty sweet enough by themselves! Really, really, tasty..... :)

Zucchini Garden Chowder and Cheese Straws

Here are the latest really yummy creations to come out of my kitchen. The kids really loved this meal, and gobbled it right down!



Zucchini Garden Chowder



2 T olive oil

2 medium zucchini, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 T fresh chopped parsley

3/4 t dried basil

1/3 cup flour

3/4 t salt (or less)

1/2 t pepper

3 cups water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 t lemon juice

1.5 cups evaporated milk

2 cups canned corn, drained



1. Saute veggies and herbs until crisp-tender

2. Add flour, salt and pepper. Stir in water to make smooth stock.

3. Add cubes and lemon juice. Bring to boil, reduce heat,cook two minutes while stirring

4. Add milk and corn, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 5 minutes.

5. Add one to two cups shredded cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, stir to melt.

Serve with these:

Cheese Straws

1 cup flour ( I used part white, part whole wheat and they were really good)

1.5 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 T soft butter

1/3 cup milk (I used skim)

paprika

1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until course crumbs form. Gently stir in cheese. Add milk, and still gently. If it seems too sticky, add a little bit more flour.
2. Roll into a 12 inch square. Cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half width-wise into 1/2 inch strips. Sprinkle with paprika.
3. Twist the strips and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 6-8 minutes, depending on how crispy you want them.

These were GREAT for dipping in the chowder!

We served this meal with some fresh watermelon, and I think it will reappear on my menu again soon... :)

Encouraging Creative Kids, Asking for Input!

I try to make each day meaningful with my children. There are some days when we're 'out and about', such as running errands, going to doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, whatever. But, the days when we are home greatly out-number the others. So, I try to think of creative ways to encourage my kids to spend their time. Yes, they are still really little, and yes, they do spend the majority of their time just 'playing'. But, I also know that their little minds are like sponges right now, and I want them to have many enjoyable, educational, soul-enriching things to do during the day. Following are some of my favorites:

• Reading books together, or by themselves
  
• Going to the library
  
• Helping Mommy bake or cook
  
• Coloring
  
• Doing 'school-work' (which at their age, is simply having educational fun at the kitchen table)
  
• Playing with play-dough
  
• Taking walks and trying to identify flowers
  
• Learning how to do new things, like set the table or shine the windows
  
• Listening to books on tape or CD
  

Even so, I still feel like I could use some more fun activities for them to do sometimes! They still manage to come to me with the frequent 'I'm bored!'. So, I'm curious.....What types of things do your toddlers like to do? What interesting activities have you come up with to keep them busy and happy? Leave me some comments and let me know...I'm seriously interested in your input on this! :)

A yummy dessert to make as a family...

The other night, after dinner, Joel and I cleared the table off and had fun with the kids making this dessert. It's just easy enough that they can help, but yummy enough that we loved it too! Enjoy :)

Banana S'mores

Take a ripe, yet still firm banana, and peel about 1/4 of the peeling off almost all the way, but not quite. Leave it hanging on by just a little bit. Then, use a spoon to scoop out a kind of trench in the banana (a hungry two year old will be helpful at this point for eating the extra banana :) Then, in the little trench that you made, sprinkle a generous helping of graham cracker crumbs, mini chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. Replace the peeling, and wrap the banana tightly in aluminum foil. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 9-10 minutes. The result is soooo good! Add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and some of those little canned cherries, and it makes it even better :)

The really good news is that I have some more bananas hanging in my kitchen..... ;)

Picky Eaters? Not in this house :)

I must admit, the thought of a picky eater drives me crazy. Before I even had kids, I vowed that mine would be 'well-rounded' when it came to the food category. There is nothing that makes me feel sorry for a child more than when they won't eat anything but hot-dogs and mac and cheese. (Okay, maybe there are a few things that would be worse than that, but you know what I mean) So far, I have been blessed with healthy, happy 'eaters' There is not much that my children don't like or won't eat. Maybe this is just a genetic type of thing, but I'd like to think that maybe Joel and I did some things right to help it along. So far, the only 'yuck' foods in our house are--

1. Brussel Sprouts. Neither child likes them--they're too strong tasting, I guess
2. Kiwi--Eli loves them, but Cosette doesn't. She says they sting her tongue.
3. Skin on potatoes. Cosette prefers to have it taken off.
4. Tomatoes--Eli can't stand them. But then again, I don't care for them much myself, so I don't really blame him.

Other than that, our kids pretty much eat whatever we sit in front of them. Here are some basic guidelines that I think may have helped this along.

1. I eat a wide variety of foods while I'm pregnant---this is supposed to help them adjust right from the start, right?
2. I don't really avoid many foods when I'm nursing, unless I see they're clearly bothering the baby. For instance, I once had some OutBack bloomin onion, and Cosette WOULD NOT nurse after that. So, no more onion :) But, in general, they're exposed to many different food tastes whle they're nursing.
3. Right from the start, we expect them to at least eat small amounts of any kind of food. If the baby doesn't like the mushed peas, fine, don't buy twenty jars of them, but do insist that he at least finish several spoonfuls of this jar. Next time you try them, he'll probably be able to eat more.
4. When they move on to regular table food, our kids eat whatever we're eating. For instance, if we're having stir-fry for dinner, I don't make an 'alternative' dinner like chicken nuggets for the kids. I simply serve them stir-fry, and they are expected to eat at least a little of it. This has seemed to work, as my kids never complain about the food we are having. Obviously, I try to stay away from anything too spicy or awful for their little tummies, but that's about it. They both have a wide variety of foods they like. Eli loves grilled salmon, salad, roast beef, hummus sandwiches, and my olive oil/vinegar dipping sauce. Cosette especially enjoys her daddy's fried egg sandwiches, orange slices, spaghetti and sauce, corn on the cob, and blueberry pancakes. So you see, even at two and three years old, they can quickly develop a taste for lots of different, healthy foods.
5. Also, I don't cater to their 'wants'. I know this sounds heartless, but food takes a long time to prepare! Cosette has, on occasion, sat down to lunch and said "But Mommy, I didn't want a tomato sandwich! I wanted a cheese sandwich!' Well, rather than make her happy, I simply explain that Mommy took time out of her day to fix that sandwich, and that is what's for lunch. If she'd prefer to skip it, she may get down, but there will be no more food until dinner. She has never once opted to skip lunch!
6. And lastly, We try to be reasonable with the amount of food they are expected to eat. For instance, any two year old will have problems if you are insisting he eat an entire bowl-ful of salad. Their taste buds quickly get tired and their tummies get full! But, when we give Eli just a smaller portion, and cut it up into bite-size pieces, he happily eats it and moves on to the next thing.


Well, I hope I didn't make this sound like we have the 'perfect eaters', because we do still have our battles every now and then. Cosette declared the other morning that ' I am never going to eat oatmeal again!' Well, I don't know about that, but I will be kind and leave it off of our morning menu planning for a little while, at least. Everybody's allowed to get tired of a food every now and then :)

I hope this has been helpful in giving you some ideas for helping your picky eaters. There's nothing nicer than to see a child happily spooning in mouth-fuls of healthy, yummy food!

Feta Salmon Salad

It has been way too long since I've posted anything here! Two toddlers have been keeping me busy and on my toes :) Anyway, here's a delicious salmon recipe I thought you all might enjoy having....

Feta Salmon Salad

1. Mix 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, ground ginger, and garlic salt.
2. Sprinkle over four 6 oz salmon fillets
3. Grill or Broil salmon until done and flaky (both ways turn out good, broiling is a little faster.
4. Serve salmon over a salad of green leaf lettuce, spinach, tomato, and feta cheese.
5. Use Red Wine Vinaigrette dressing---this is what really makes it good!

Add a baked potato, and you're all set with a really delicious meal.