Thinking Outside the Recipe!

my young vegetarian's dilemma

2010-04-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

This morning we made these Strawberry Shortcake cookies (Thanks Martha!). They were yummy, great with coffee (for me!) and easy for Zeal to get through the recipe (mostly) on his own. He especially loved using an ice cream scoop as the tool to drop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. But before we could get to the cookie creating Zeal first had to double check whether all of our ingredients were corn-free. Corn free? Yes, corn-free. It's all the topic of discussion the last few days.

Recently, Zeal and I started reading the youth versions of adult bestsellers together. We started with the youth version of Three Cups of Tea and we were both hooked (I actually liked it better than the original). We're just loving that these easier, more accessible, more age appropriate versions of popular non-fiction books are appearing on the shelves and in our home. The most current title we've been cracking is The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat by Michael Pollan. It seemed to me that the info in Omnivore's Dilemma was a bit old hat, until I started getting questions from Zeal, and I realized that just because we cook together, garden together, eat organic, etc. there is still a lot neither of us know about where food comes from. We eat very little processed food, but now I have a sneaking suspicion our diets will take on an even more gatherer-gardener approach now that he is armed with some hearty facts. For a boy who loves history AND food, this couldn't have been a better read!

Here's the synopsis from the publisher:

The New York Times bestseller that's changing America's diet is now perfect for younger readers

"What 's for dinner?" seemed like a simple question—until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes. From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young readers' adaptation of Pollan's famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implications of their food choices. In a smart, compelling format with updated facts, plenty of photos, graphs, and visuals, as well as a new afterword and backmatter, The Omnivore's Dilemma serves up a bold message to the generation that needs it most: It's time to take charge of our national eating habits—and it starts with you.

Funny how what started as an exploration of food for the sake of creative thinking and fun has evolved into a tween who reads labels and is thinking about not only where his food will end up once he's made it, but where it came from and the process by which it arrived in the pantry. Man, I love this kid!

pancake molds:: kitchen tool of the week!

2010-02-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

So, you know how much we love pancakes! And things shaped like hearts.

So we couldn't pass up another Saturday without making it a pancake morning, but this weekend, we dug out our pancake molds. Of course, they're heart shaped. But they also come shaped like dinosaurs, trucks, snowflakes, butterflies, gingerbread men, flowers, airplanes... you get the picture. You can find them in your grocery store.

We added Anjali's handprint cookie cutter to the mix too, but found that it really works better for cookie cutters with tiny spaces to just make the pancake first and then cut the shape out.

But they still taste the same. Yum, yum!

And guess what? Our heart shaped pancake mold? Well, they make wonderful butterflies...

Especially with that amazing blueberry syrup!

show your support and win a book!

2010-02-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,
As you may have heard, after some urging, I have created a Facebook Page for The Wonder Collection. Please go to the page and "Become a fan" and show your support.
And, to celebrate, this week I am giving away an autographed copy of Child of Wonder. I hope you'll get in on the drawing!

can you say "heart shaped sushi" ten times fast??

2010-02-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

As you may well know, we usually have pizza on Valentine's Day. This year, we had a unanimous coup of sorts that resulted in a chant of "heart shaped sushi! heart shaped sushi! heart shaped sushi!

until it became...

"heart shaped shushi...heart saped shusi... fart saped soupshi!" (it wasn't pretty, but it was fun!) wink, wink

And so Heart Shaped Sushi it was.

It was easy to make. We simply rolled our sushi the way we usually do and when it was cut formed a heart by pinching the end to make a point (the bottom of the heart) and pushing in to make the top of the heart.
It was perfectly heart shaped.
It was delicious.
It was a Happy Valentine's Day.

Here's some quick tips to get you started making sushi with your kids:

Making Sushi with Children
Sushi has an allure that, once familiar with it, kids just love. Sometimes it is considered exotic and can have the reputation for being difficult to make. In all actuality, it is one of the easiest things to put together, and even better, it is easy for kids to put together and enjoy.

Making the rice
Sushi rice is usually a pearled or short grain white rice, but you can make it with short grain brown rice just as well. Make the rice (1 part rice, 2 parts water) ahead of time so that it has enough time to cool. There is nothing more discouraging to a budding junior sushi chef than sticking their little hands into a hot pot of rice. Ouch!

Rolling Sushi
Once you have your rice made and cooled, you can begin putting your sushi rolls together. If you don’t have a bamboo mat commonly used to roll sushi, a tea towel or even a piece of aluminum foil will work. Nori (available in the “ethnic foods” aisle or in Asian markets, is the dehydrated, paper thin, pliable sheet of seaweed wrapped on the outside of a sushi roll, the piece that holds all that rice and goodies together. Depending on how the sushi is rolled, the nori can be on the inside or outside of the roll. When working with new sushi chefs, start with just having the rice on the inside of the nori. Spread the rice evenly across the nori and then you are ready for your insides!

Sushi Insides
Place any one or more of the following items across the middle of your rice covered nori and roll:
Sweet bell pepper
Fried tofu strips
Avocado
Cucumber
Julienned (sliced very thin) carrots, jicama, or any other root vegetable
Fresh spinach
Dates
Plums
Sesame seeds

Once you sushi is rolled together, you can either cut it into bite-sized pieces or keep it as a whole roll to just nibble upon.

Sushi Toppings
Many children are turned off by the spiciness of wasabi, the green horseradish paste usually served with sushi. While offering wasabi might not be your child’s forte, try just giving them a small serving of plain soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos to dip their sushi in. Sushi aficionados in training!

for the love of peas!

2010-02-14T00:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Here's a reminder that today is the day to plant your peas, a great little veggie for kids to plant, raise, and harvest all by themselves. Plant them in rows, scattered clumps (in a tomato cage), or as a tipi for a bit of summer shade and a nice little get away when the weather gets hot.

We've tried all those ways, so next on our agenda is planting mini tipis for the fairies in our life!

Do you need a little more guidance? Check out any of Sharon Lovejoy's books on gardening with kids, Sunflower Houses is a favorite, as well as Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots (our first book by Sharon that we bought in 2003. It's high time we replace it given that it is losing its pages from being so well Loved!) Thanks Sharon!

for the love of football, hearts, and chocolate!

2010-02-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

Oh, it has been rather busy around these parts.
We've been doing lots of writing, playing, working, And oh yeah, cooking and eating, And then the Super Bowl decided to happen, and even though we have been tv free for all of Zeal's life, and this is the first year he has seen any of the frenzy that is football, he has recently become of a football fan thanks be to his grandpa, a lifetime 49er junkie!

So Zeal decided we were going to have a Super Bowl party! We talked about where the game was happening, who was playing, learned about some of the players. After all that, he decided we were going to have a 49er party anyway, the good, loyal fan that he has become.

On the menu? Red Velvet cupcakes, with gold frosting and chocolate footballs. Take that Saints! You too Colts!

Here's a little peek at the process...

We started by melting some dark chocolate in a double boiler and putting it in a pastry bag which we used to draw our decorations. Zeal got really into this process and came up with all types of decorations. This is really the highlight of the post, because these little chocolate treats are really where it is at! They were quick, easy, and fun to make! They would make GREAT valentine treats!

Yes, that's little Anjali's hand, made by tracing this cookie cutter.

And since the cake recipe wasn't really worth repeating, I'll spare you those details. But here's the scene and story of the day:
when the kicker missed the ball and fell on his back! (poor guy)

But I will recommend these little tools and ingredients:

here's a great little tool for little bakers - the silicon baking cup. We have them in moons, stars, flowers, and now little cupcakes molds:

They're worth giving a try!

And don't forget to stock up on that Natural food coloring for moments like this when your kids ask to make RED cake! Yuck!

But, I sure am thankful for all that chocolate. I am going to need it! Did I tell you, the editing process has begun on my next book, which is none other than Thinking Outside the Recipe: Cooking Activities to Nurture and Nourish the Creative Child!

Discovering Our Souls in a Messy Kitchen

2010-02-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

I uncovered this piece in the dusty files as I was cleaning off my hard drive, and realized I'd never posted it here. So, in one sense, this is a walk down memory lane for me, but in another it could have very easily been written yesterday. Enjoy!

Flour Experiments

“I’m gonna n eed my chef’s hat for this, Mama!” my son excitedly claims as he sees me pile our ingredients on the counter. Our mission: to make twenty individual sized pizza crusts and an equal amount of balls of playdough, enough for all our party guests

We indeed did start out preparing for the pizza party we were going to have the next evening. Yet, standing on his stool, now waist high to the counter, my son became entranced by the yeast popping and dancing. I could see the wheels turning and he got ‘that look’ in his eyes when he asked, “Can you please get down a big bowl for me? I have some work to do.” So down came another large mixing bowl and the mission took a turn.

He stood on that stool for another four straight hours. From that very spot he mixed, and poured, and measured, and stirred, and truly explored. He went through an entire extra bag of flour and a fair amount of water as I allowed myself to take a deep breath, step back and just … watch! Smiling at that took an extra bit of courage from me, who normally takes very seriously the need not to waste our resources and has succumbed to the pressures of needing to keep a clean house.

With the way our lives go, it isn’t always that we have an extra four hours for this kind of exploration to happen.

Inquiry comes natural to babies; at that time in their lives, they are true scientists. Not so typical of older children. As children get older they begin to stop mimicking what scientists do. Their testing out of ideas begins to fade as they discover that many adults believe there is a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’, and As Dr. Mark Hertle, senior Program Officer for the Science Education Program at Howard Hughes Medical Institute says, “Inquiry can keep curiosity alive!”

Watered down flour spilled on the floor, dripped down the sides of the bowl and sputtered along the counter. Still, I held back the need to guide the mess or sponge it up and instead we broke out our air trombones and sang loud vibratos of “Sammy the Dog has learned to play trombone!” This was very serious work, you know.

As I scrubbed the counter, the nooks and crannies, the grout lines, the cupboard doors and the smirking drawer faces, my thoughts wandered. I thought of the day my neighbor stopped in unexpectedly and I apologized for the less than spotless house. She let me off the hook with, “Honey, if you have a clean house, you’re not spending enough time with your kids.” I reveled in the memory of her kind voice, but couldn’t really get the voice of my father out of my head.

Surely months from now I will come across bits of dried flour-water-love mixture, perhaps even with an extra bit of mold growing on them.

I’ve finally finished the counters and take a look at the floors. Grabbing the mop and then setting it aside, I decide to save that for tomorrow, because that is another party in and of itself and I know he will want to be invited! Besides our floor needs a good mopping. It is, after all that time of year.

mmm, Mmm, MESSES!

2010-01-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

There's no better place to get messy than in the kitchen (except maybe the bathtub!)

Stay tuned for a messy post next week...

Thanks to all of you who read and send me your oh so yummy comments. Happy Cooking!

cooking tools to help kids get creative

2010-01-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Cooking with a child is another wonderful way to connect: with each other, the world, and our unique creative selves. It allows us to explore natural materials, mimic real scientists, and learn ways to approach future problems. As children play with recipes and ingredients, they ask questions and make discoveries that will lead to a greater understanding of their world. So with an eye towards encouraging our kids to really get cookin', here are a few wonder-filled tools that help can us cook up some good old-fashioned curiosity and creative fun together.

Read the rest of this piece on The Savvy Source

Juicing fun

2010-01-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

Oh the joys of a trip to Central California, where winter means oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit. Yum!
We came home with TONS of them, picked from the grandparents' tree, where we know they were grown with much love!
And here's Zeal's new favorite kitchen gadget - the citrus juicer:

The one we used is a Braun, and was sooooo easy to use. It also strains out a lot of the pulp and all the seeds as it was juicing. A far cry from the old hand citrus juicer that has been a staple at our house for years. With the large quantity of citrus we were processing, we couldn't have done it with that old one. No way.

As for the juice, it didn't last long enough to take a picture of the final product. Mmmmmm. Nothing like fresh squeezed juice.

our favorite sippies

2010-01-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

Cheers to all the companies who are now making sippy cups that are safe for our toddlers to be drinking from!!!!

Here are our favorites:

The Foogo sippy, made by Thermos, (yes, this is how she carries it around).

and,

The Safe Sippy.

The best thing about both of these (as opposed to other stainless sippies out there, is that these don't leak and have that "must suck to get anything out of it" stopper. And oh yeah, they are chemical, plastic, and BPA free. Yippeeeee!

who gets the leftovers?

2010-01-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Oh my, this girl just LOVES her broccoli. It's like one of those standby foods we can always count on to keep her in her highchair.
But who does she give her leftovers to when she's aw-duh (all-done)????

Can you say "Doggie Bag?"

tortillas continued...

2010-01-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

So our special entree finally got made, even after that (oh so fortunate) snowflake incident.

This is one of Zeal's most favorite meals, and I just realized I haven't ever posted about it.

Tortilla Shells, a.k.a. "Zeal's Zesty Taco Salad"!

We fill our tortilla shells with our favorite guacamole recipe (Thank you dear Ina!). But here's the quick and yummy on how to make your own healthy taco salad bowls:

1. Set 2 empty food cans on a foil lined baking sheet.
2. Drape a foil square (made from a larger piece of foil folded in half two times) over the top of each can.
3. Quickly immerse a tortilla in water/oil mixture as in this recipe, then lift out and let drain.
4. Drape the damp tortilla over the foil on the empty food can and "sculpt" with fingers (if you place it slightly off-center the shell with have a dramatic higher flair to one edge).

5. Bake the taco salad shells in a preheated 450 degree F oven until they're lightly brown and firm enough to hold their shape, which will take about 4 to 5 minutes.
6. Using pot holders, carefully lift the shells off the cans and place them cup-side-up on the pan; the edges on larger tortillas might need support when the shells are inverted so loosely crumple some foil into 4-inch balls and push them against areas that sag.
7. Return the shells to the oven and bake until they're crisp, about 2 to 3 additional minutes.
8. When cooled, fill with whatever, as my grandma says, gets your "sufficiency so fanci-full"

sidetracked by snowflakes

2010-01-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

We've been spending a good deal of time Welcoming Winter here recently. But Zeal was sad that the recent rains had melted all the snow away and his daily treks to the "sled run" were becoming less, well, just "less".
So I dragged him into the kitchen to help make some tortilla bowls to hold our favorite guacamole salad for dinner. Well, it wasn't really dragging since he was quite pleased that that would be our dinner.

Instead, we got inspired to use our tortillas for a sweet afternoon treat, Snowflake Crisps (his name for them).

Here's what we did:
1. Soak 1 flour tortilla in a pan of warm water with 1/2 teaspoon of oil. Remove from water after about 10 seconds and blot dry.

2. Fold tortilla in half and half again, and then in half again one more time (three times).

3. Cut on the folds as you would a paper snowflake.

4. On a cookie sheet with parchment paper, bake for about 5-10 minutes in 400 degree oven, or until slightly crispy.

5. Remove from oven. While still warm, brush with butter...

6. And sprinkle with sifted powder sugar or a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Or both :)

Yummy yummy snowflakes! And Zeal just loved the snowflake pattern left on the parchment.:

We never did get around to our tortilla bowls and ended up warming up leftovers. Something for tomorrow's dinner, I guess.

Can you taste-test this for me? Pretty please....

2010-01-12T00:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, so truth be told, Zeal is getting a little (okay, a lot) sick of having oatmeal for breakfast. I just love it. I usually slow cook it (putting it on (with a dash of cinnamon while its cooking) as I wake and letting it sit on low for about an hour until everyone else starts to emerge from slumber). I then add some honey or agave, chop some walnuts and toss in some raisins and apple chunks. Finish with a dash of milk (and a cup of coffee), and to me it is the most perfect start to my day. Zeal? Not so much. I hear, "Oatmeal again!" and "Do I have to eat that for breakfast?" To which I usually respond, if you're still hungry afterwards you can make yourself something else. And being a growing boy, he usually is, and he usually does.

So here it is... I kind of feel bad for serving oatmeal 4-5 days a week (the other days he usually gets pancakes, waffles, or something else super fun so don't feel so bad for him, now). But like I said, the mama-guilt has started to settle in. But I do love my oatmeal. So... I tried to compromise.

Here was the result:

Moroccan Oat Surprise (my own little concoction)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3 cups boiling water
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 whole clove
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4-1/2 cup raisins
1/4-1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
chopped pecans
sweetener (honey or agave)
milk

Directions: Combine first 7 ingredients and cook on low for 10 minutes, or until water is absorbed and you get the oatmeal texture you desire. Add raisins and apricots and mix. Served with chopped pecans, honey and milk. Make 4 servings.

So here's my dilemma. It actually went over very well with Zeal, but got mixed reviews from others present. So, if you please, would you make this recipe for Moroccan Oats and post a comment or send me an email letting me know what you thought? Pretty, pretty please with honey and pecans on top.

Oh, thank you, thank you!

gingerbread fun

2010-01-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

Did you hear? The holidays were here! They came and went as fast as our annual batches of snowball cookies and cinnamon nuts!
I managed to snap a few shots of our never to be missed Gingerbread houses, only this year we had a collective effort with the cousins and made only one house, er, castle. That's right a Gingerbread castle. It was so fun, took three days to plan, bake, and decorate, and was COMPLETELY 100% kid made!

Here it is:

We used this recipe for the gingerbread. So yummy, even if you are using lots of it for walls that aren't being eaten. After all, it also doubles as a recipe that makes good, sturdy walls and such.
And did you hear that Jennifer McCann has a new book out. Check it out!

I swear I will attempt at getting up some of the photos and recipes we have been working on together sometime very soon. A new year's resolution of sorts. Thanks for being here, continuing to visit even in my brief absence.

What Holly Hobbie Taught Me: or, How to Make the Perfect Pancake on Saturday Morning

2009-10-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

In 1979, the year before my baby brother was born and life would change forever, Saturday mornings meant my Holly Hobbie pajama-shirt and a bowl of cereal on a tin TV tray perfectly placed in front of my thin blue and white Holly Hobbie sleeping bag. We’d stay there until the School House Rock videos rounded out the morning and segued into lunchtime. It was then that I’d pack my Holly Hobbie lunchbox with enough goodies to make it through the afternoon and climb onto my Holly Hobbie banana seat bicycle, Holly Hobbie basket and all, and leave the world behind for the rest of the day. You see, I was rather obsessed with her: the bonnet, the prairie dress, the wildflowers, the oh-so-pure little girl who I oh-so-identified with.

It was a simpler time, when it was normal (as opposed to trendy) to make all your own jam, gather fallen leaves and weave them into a crown, and sit in the sagebrush cave in the empty lot next to your house and talk story to your Holly Hobbie doll. But then brothers are born, and life becomes more complicated. Fortunately, someone in my life had the delicate insight to know that a little girl with a new baby brother would want (read “need”) to start doing some cooking for herself every now and again, and I was gloriously gifted Holly Hobbie’s Cookbook, the little book that changed my life. Up until this point in my life I don’t think I had done more than dipped an apple in peanut butter, or put a slice of raisin bread covered in cottage cheese and cinnamon in the toaster oven. But, I found myself suddenly inspired. I began flipping through the pages, marking recipes I wanted to try, and dreaming of time spent cooking with her, my hero, Holly Hobbie.

So the next Saturday morning, I awoke early, as we usually did on Saturday mornings. But instead of rushing for a bowl of cereal and cartoons, I snuck into the kitchen by myself, pulled on my handmade “Ginger” apron, and begin mixing batter with Holly.

Here’s what Holly Hobbie taught me about making the perfect pancake:

1. Your batter should be a little bit lumpy. To this day, I don’t why, but slightly lumpy batter makes pancakes better.

2. Test the griddle. Sprinkle drops of water on the pan. When the water “dances” then the griddle heat is just right. Do NOT attempt to pour your batter on the griddle until it is perfectly ready. It makes all the difference.

3. When the tops of your pancakes are full of bubbles, and only then, turn your pancakes over. Make sure you turn them before the bubbles break. I am not sure how many pancakes I had watched my mom make, but somehow this tip never really stuck with me until Holly said it.

4. Pancakes always taste better when eaten with people you love! Isn’t that the truth? Thanks to Holly and her pancakes, Saturday mornings mean pancakes. Thirty years later and life has become even more complicated. Two kids. A mortgage. The question of whether or not to spend my precious time “tweeting”. Where is my Holly Hobbie cookbook now that I really need it? Time to go digging.

Old-fashioned Buttermilk Pancakes(not exactly Holly’s, but with all the love)

Ingredients:
1 egg*
1 ½ cups buttermilk**
2 T. vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
*To make vegan, use Ener-G egg replacer for eggs
**To make vegan, substitute 1 cup soy milk and 1 T. vinegar

Directions:
Blend egg, milk and oil. Blend dry ingredients and add to liquids. Heat griddle. When water sizzles, your griddle is hot enough. Pour batter onto greased griddle from pitcher or tip of large spoon in pools slightly apart. Turn pancakes as soon as they are puffed and full of bubbles, but before bubbles break. Turn and brown on other side. Serve with pure maple syrup and butter. Makes ten 4” pancakes.

Broadway Café

2009-06-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

It's almost funny how much our lives revolve around our next meal. So much math, reading, science, and problem solving comes from our time in the kitchen together. And now, writing is happening a lot more in there too. Zeal has actually always written his own recipes (or typed them on the computer). And he's had a semi ongoing project with a friend that is a recipe scrapbook of sorts with photos and recipes they make together along with drawings and stickers and such. But now, our latest project takes our family's favorites and makes our kitchen our very own diner. Introducing the latest Zeal tidit to be produced in our sweet little kitchen...

The official Broadway Café menu...

This tri-fold menu includes all of Zeal's favorites: breakfasts, snacks, soups, salads, main courses, beverages/smoothie, and desserts. He worked on it for about a week- making lists, brainstorming, categorizing, naming favorites, and finally typing and formatting the menu the way he wanted it (I helped with the descriptions).

Now this is not to say that we will begin short order cooking, but this has been such a wonderful way to further document some of our favorite meals. And as we prepare to move from our house on Broadway to our new home in Hawaii, I get a little teary when I read his menu just thinking about the era in his life that is coming to an end. And then excited thinking how our life menu will continue to expand.

tools to kitchen creativity

2009-05-05T10:34:00.001-07:00

nests updated

2009-04-10T05:06:00.000-07:00

We had a few extra supplies and so revisited the crispy treat nest project yesterday. This time, we used a muffin tin (lightly oiled) when forming the nests. It worked wonderfully! It was much easier for the kids to get a nest shaped, and they were able to work on them while the mixture was still warm. Some of the kids used a spoon to get the nest shape and some used their fingers. Both methods worked well, and the nests quickly filled with many different "eggs" fit for snacking from in between the active play moments of the afternoon.

So if you're looking for a little cooking project for your holiday weekend, this one is for all the cool kids!

don't drown your food: or remembering retro

2009-04-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Remember those old Saturday morning cartoon PSA's? Today, I was on a few long walks down memory lane, one of them that included sharing those sweet memories with a few of my very favorite kids. It all began when we were in the middle of eating, a great time to tell old tales and share memories together. So we got to talking about dipping food and our favorite sauces, and this little piece emerged:

Come to find out, this wasn't remembered by several of the adults in attendance (which I still can't believe). For me, this (and all the other PSA choices you'll find that come up when this little video finishes) were such a part of my childhood, and I so remember them fondly. And to think, now they are considered retro. I just love sharing retro with my kid and his friends. So fun to give them a little piece of my childhood.

And doesn't this little bit of eating advice go over so much better when it is coming from Lewis the Lifeguard as opposed to Mama the Nag? I think so.

getting nesty!

2009-04-06T14:32:00.001-07:00

From the little golden nest that hangs from the living room reading lamp (the subject of the mythology of the living room buzzard), to the papîer-måché nests that live with the fairy houses, we've been really getting nesty these days. So why would our food be any exception?

In celebration of spring and all this lovely bird watching weather we have been having lately, we made some little nests fit for snacking. We used the time-honored crispy treat combination, but substituted Fiber One cereal to make it more stick and twig-like. We formed them into little nest shapes and added some locally made speckled chocolate eggs we found. Of course, jelly beans, jordan almonds, or any other egg shaped candy would work just as well.

Happy nesting!

dessert for breakfast - strawberry napoleons!

2009-03-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

I woke up one morning last week to a sign hanging in the entry to the kitchen that read:

Dear Mom,
Can you help me make strawberry napoleons when I wake up?
Love,
Zeal

It was so sweet; I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it before it got repurposed.

Well, as you might know, strawberry napoleons are a rather sweet dessert, NOT a breakfast item.

But, yes, I am usually up for the challenge of turning dessert into breakfast, so here is what we did:

1. Bake puff pastry sheets.
2. Split baked puff pastry sheets (top from bottom) and cut into appropriately sized individual pieces.
3. Whip some cream (we use our vitamix blender for a quick whip) - leave it unsweetened.
4. Add some Dr. Oetker's organic vanilla pudding and mix with the whipped cream.
5. Slice strawberries into a bowl.
6. Set up your assembly line (assembly line cooking is always a perfect way to involve the little ones in any project - sushi, sandwiches, desserts like this!):

7. Enjoy!

anjali's handprint cookies

2009-03-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

When I first learned I was pregnant, I ordered this cookie cutter kit from Chinaberry.

When Anjali was 4 weeks old, I was finally able to get her to spread her fingers long enough to get an outline of her hand so we could get her cookie cutter made. One the side, it is engraved with her full name and birthdate. So sweet.

We used a standard sugar cookie recipe (good Ol' Better Crocker), but substituted buckwheat flour (because that is what we had). Zeal thought that was a good attempt at her skin color, "except she doesn't have little specks on her skin." We also decorated some with frosting and sprinkles and shared them at a potluck. They didn't last very long, so we didn't manage to get a good picture of the batch. That will probably be what we do for her first birthday.

Anyway, here's her little fist (still not wanting to spread her fingers out for very long) next to her cookie (eaten via mama's milk):

It's a blurry little picture, a good metaphor for this time- she's growing so fast and here we are just trying to keep our senses and create a few keepsakes so we can remember her so small and sweet.

a great day for a tea party!

2009-03-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

The weather has been weird and typically pre-spring. Off and on rain. And nothing says tea party around here like a good sudden thunderstorm.

It's been a long while since we have had such a party, the kind that call for some stuffed friends and a dig in the costume box, er, I mean "costume closet" as the costumes seemed to have piled up way too far these days. It seems we need a thinning. Anyway, you get the picture... costumes are required at his kind of tea party.

Here's a few scenes from the kitchen as we got to work on our orange scones that were to be the main course at the party:

We used this recipe from Martha (one that came highly recommended) but veganized it by souring some hemp milk (a cup of the milk and 1 T. vinegar) instead of buttermilk and using earth balance instead of butter.
I might add here that scones are a great project for kids because they lend themselves so well to the cutting and shaping only little hands can provide.

They came out just beautifully...

And here we are getting the tea ready, selecting the herbs and flowers to make it just the perfect blend:

And finally, the table is set, the tea is served, and the scones are... devoured!

Just in time for the sun to come out again.

pizza pockets

2009-03-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

We're slowly making our way back into our schedule of cooking and eating. On this day last week we got together with friends and made pizza pockets.

Our recipe for the dough was the same one listed here, Party Pizza Dough.

And we used the same little pie molds we used for these.

For the filling, we used a spinach, onion, garlic, feta cheese combination based on Amy's Spinach Pizza Snacks, one of Zeal's favorite lunch munchies. We added some pizza sauce and gobble, gobble, gobble... They were a smashing success!

the way the cookies crumble

2009-01-27T16:49:00.001-08:00

Zeal and I took advantage of one of Anjali's many naps today to sneak into the kitchen to finish some "cookies" we began late yesterday once she was down for the night (I might add here that nights are going quite well; we're all actually sleeping!!)

So, back to the cookies. Last month, we tried our favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe (good ol' Better Crocker) using our favorite pancake mix (Azure Standard Buckwheat) instead of the flour, baking powder, etc. Remember the birth day cake? Yes, we are in a pattern with cutting corners with pancake mix. ;) Well, the cookies turned out great. Your best ever! A triumph, said Daddy.

So, in need of a late night snack we could all enjoy, Zeal and I thought about those cookies. Those cookies. And we were officially on a mission. The boys went to the store for a bit of brown sugar. And then we got to work.

Only problem: in our baby's-here, we're-running-the-cupboards-dry mode, we were also out of egg replacer, or anything that would work as a binder for these cookies.

We thought oil might do the trick, but nope, that didn't work.

Disappointed, but okay we'll live, we went to bed and planned to go to the store in the morning.

Well, morning led to afternoon and we never did get to the store. At one point, Zeal remembered the cookie project and long story short we decided not to go out.

Can I just have a bowl of it? he asked, and then ate a bit with a spoon.

And then, with a brightened, light bulby face...

Let's make it into granola!!! he announced.

Brilliant kid. It's so, so good!

That's just the way I like my cookies to crumble. Yum.

**And yes, that's a Darth Vader mask you see in the picture. Zeal says he's Darth Baker.

Birth Day cake

2009-01-18T12:26:00.000-08:00

For those of you who read my other blog, The Wondershop, you already know about the birth of our daughter Anjali.

She is three weeks old today, and I just can't believe how big she has already gotten and how fast the last three weeks have flown.

When we were planning her birth, one of the things Zeal had settled on was that he wanted to make her a birthday cake. We figured it was a wonderful activity for us to do together when I was in labor, before real active labor began. And so we did. Only we did it a few days early when we had what can only be called a "false start". We kept it for a few days and pulled it out when the time was right, when we could actually celebrate the eating of it with a baby. And as it turned out, it was a good thing we did make it a few days early, because her very quick arrival left very little time for cake making.

Here it is...

Our Birth Day Buckwheat Carrot Cake, a hearty, healthy sweet in honor of our little sweetie!

The recipe is as follows:

Buckwheat Carrot Cake
*Since we had used all of our baking products with our holiday cooking, we made this cake with buckwheat pancake mix instead of flour, baking soda, and powder. It worked out wonderfully! I highly recommend trying it sometime.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 cups buckwheat pancake mix*
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped nuts (we used pecans)
1 cup coconut
4 eggs (we used Ener-G egg replacer equivalent)
1 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
Mix together pancake mix, cinnamon, sugar, oil and eggs. Blend in thoroughly carrots, pineapple, nuts and coconut. Pour into a greased springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool. Frost with a mixture of cream cheese and agave nectar (sweetened to taste).

::

We have been so fortunate to have been showered with love and support and amazing food these last three weeks as we settled into our expanding family. So while we have been doing very little cooking lately, Zeal is anxious to get back into the kitchen. In the coming months, Zeal and I are sure to be much more regular here than we have been in the last few weeks, and as Anjali eventually begins her own experimenting with food, I'll probably also share some baby food making as well.

Thank you all for the love and welcoming of Anjali!!

predicting weather through cookies

2008-12-15T11:15:00.000-08:00

Last week, Zeal read the weather report in earnest. The weekend forecast was snow, snow, and more snow. I quote, "we will be more surprised if there isn't snow, than if there is." So when the weekend came and went with only a small dusting that left as quickly as it came, he was, shall we say, disappointed.

So, what do you do when there is no white, fluffy stuff falling outside? Make it in the kitchen, of course.

Snowball Cookies (aka Russian Tea Cakes)
makes: about 3 dozen (depending on the size of your cookies)

Ingredients:
1 c. softened butter
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. nuts, finely chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix butter, sugar, & vanilla. Add flour, salt, and nuts. Mix thoroughly.
Roll into 1-inch balls. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10 minutes. While still warm, roll in powdered sugar. Once cooled, roll in sugar again. Oh, so yummy!

Do I get points for this artery-clogging, completely non-nutritional treat being all organic?
Maybe not.
But it does work to bring on the real stuff.

Holidays are Delicious

2008-12-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

Looking for a bit of holiday inspiration? The Savvy Source has created a holiday guide covering all things holiday, including this little piece by me...

Holidays are Delicious: The Creative Family Kitchen During the Holiday Season

Holiday magic often begins in the kitchen. Creating traditions is yet another way to build creativity, and the holiday season is a particularly wondrous time to begin a new tradition or rediscover an old one. So as you step into your kitchen this month, involve your children, explore together, and have fun!

Click here to read the rest of this article and to check out the rest of the Savvy Holiday Guide.

our little soup factory

2008-12-11T00:25:00.000-08:00

In preparation for baby (who should be gracing us anytime now) we spent the day making these various soups, putting them all in freezer bags, and all ready and waiting to be plopped into our crock pot for those days when we will likely be up to our ears in diapers and out of food.

In our stash and now helping to fill our freezer are these various soups:

-Tuscan White Bean & Escarole Soup
-Two-Mushroom Barley Soup
-Moroccan Lentil and Chickpea Soup
-Pesto Potato Soup
-Winter Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
-Black Bean Soup

All of these soup recipes came from the wonderful Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker (200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals that are Ready When You Are) by Robin Robertson. I borrowed this book from a friend and have thoroughly enjoyed picking through it. So far, so great! There are many more things than just soups included in this little gem, such as breakfasts, grains, pastas, desserts and bread. Good thing winter brings out the slow cooker in me. :)

...and what to do with the leftover gingerbread?

2008-12-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

And after making that traditional little house, we used the leftover gingerbread to make a few little men to nibble on. We popped them in the freezer and have been pulling out one a day (or every other) to decorate.

For easy decorating, add a tablespoon of icing to the corner of a ziploc bag. Make sure the bag is closed tightly and cut a very tiny hole in the corner. Instant kid-friendly (an inexpensive) pastry bag!

He goes traditional on me...

2008-12-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

For the third year in a row, we have made our own gingerbread house from scratch. We've also done the kit kind in the past, but it is always much better when we make our own.

In years past, the houses were wild and exciting and I had high hopes for the creative magic I have come to expect from this boy, and what does he do but go traditional on me. :) Four straight walls, a slanted roof, one front door and 4 paned windows. Who knew?

Still, it was great fun to see his confidence in the process grow and watch him pretty much do the whole thing from cutting the pieces to putting it together to decorating all by himself. aaah, the sweet ginger-y taste of independence.

This year, we used this recipe and I highly recommend it for a sweet, but not too sweet, and not so gingery taste that the kids just loved.

Mama's Nuts

2008-12-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

What happens when said child is working intently on a science fair project and pregnant mama gets a hankerin' for the pecans waiting patiently for her in the kitchen...

Mama's Cinnamon Nuts (You must, must, must try these!)

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar (maple or cane)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups pecans or walnuts (NOT chopped)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 c. boiling water

Directions:
Mix sugar, cinnamon, cream of tartar and boiling water and boil (to 246 degrees, if you have a candy thermometer, or until mixture forms a "ball" if you drop a bit of it in cold water). Add nuts and remove from heat. Add vanilla and stir until mixture sugars on the nuts. Quickly turn on a flat surface and separate the nuts.

You will not regret giving these EASY little treats a try! I promise. But beware, they don't last long!

Straws! Fabulous Kitchen Tool of the Week

2008-11-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

I admit to being a slacker on posting a weekly tool lately. Here's one I couldn't let slip by without mention: straws!

Last week, while searching through the pantry Zeal ran across a half-used packet of disposable straws we bought way back when and used for a building project to make newspaper dowels (rolling a straw up in a sheet of newsprint makes a sturdy dowel to use in all sorts of construction). So this week, among other things, he has been testing how long he can get a straw and still be able to suck up the liquid. Amazing what joy a simple tool will bring!

a holiday drink for mommy

2008-11-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

So, I've been in the kitchen most of the day preparing for the holiday feast that will ensue around here come tomorrow about mid-day. Most of today's "cooking" consisted of drink making, the ones we usually have for the adults... drinks I won't be taking part in this year. But why should everyone else be without them? Still, I wanted something a little special, and non-alcoholic- for me (besides my usual-of-late "belly tea".

So, I decided to make a "Ginger-only" drink, featuring, what else, but....

ginger!

For a brief while I became enamored by this spice that is my namesake. We even went out of our way on a trip years back in Australia, to visit this place:

So here's todays creation, something I've never made before but always loved. Ginger-ale.

How to Make Homemade Gingerale
Ingredients
1/2 lb. fresh ginger, cut into 1/4 inch "coins"
2 cups tap water
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
pinch cayenne pepper
sparkling water

Directions:
Combine ginger, tap water, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Once boiling, turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cayenne. Let cool. Once cooled, strain syrup into a container/pitcher. When ready to serve, pour 1/4 cup of syrup and 1/2 cup of sparkling water over ice. Stir. Yum, yum!

And now, I don't think I'll ever go back to the store-bought stuff again. I have ended up sharing it with the rest of my family (I just couldn't keep it a secret - it was that good!) and they too agree, that it is definitely worth making at home!

bringing bread to life

2008-11-24T20:25:00.001-08:00

One of the wonders of this "soup weather" is the bread that comes along with it. Lately, I've been doing a lot of experimenting with different flours, teff being my favorite, but there's something I just cannot ignore about wheat. Zeal has been asking to grow the stuff for a few years, and then gave up asking when I was always skirting the issue (for some reason the prospect terrifies me). Well, now he has renewed energy.

A few weeks ago, we picked up this video Bread Comes to Life while at the library. It's been sitting in our library box this whole time not being watched, just forgotten about. Today after getting a reminder that it is now due at the library, we pulled it out for a go. We are so glad we did! This little gem of a video is intended for ages 4 and up and is a beautiful montage of music and imagery that really does bring bread to life. I was as mesmerized as Zeal as we were watching.

Here's the word from the people at Informed Democracy, the producers of the film:

This newly released 22 minute video (June,2003) narrated in verse by Lily Tomlin with music by George Winston, tells the story of bread from a garden of wheat to a loaf to eat. The program is for the early elementary curriculum, and its purpose is to inspire wonder and provide information about the food we eat as well as the process and the people who bring bread into the world. Whether it's buttering morning toast, pulling a sandwich out of lunchbox, or eating pizza for dinner, bread is a cornerstone of every child's diet. Yet many have never seen a field of wheat, mixed and kneaded a lump of dough, or tasted a loaf fresh out of the oven. Using live-action footage, time lapse-photography and animations, BREAD COMES TO LIFE shows the sowing, growing, reaping, threshing, milling, mixing, kneading, shaping rising, baking and breaking of bread in a garden and home setting as well as on a farm and in a large mill and a commercial bakery.

More information about the film, with companion activities, resources, information about the book and clips of the video can be found on the Bread Comes to Life website.

And guess what, it is based on a book, which we are now on the search for.

And so now I guess I will do it: plant a little patch of wheat, that is. And thanks to these people, we have a good start on what fun we can have with it. Here's looking forward to bringing our bread to life!

Taco Soup

2008-11-17T02:40:00.000-08:00

We're entering into soup-phase, that time of year when our cooking revolves around the many combinations of WARM we can come up with. And as in many years past, that includes one of our family favorites, Taco Soup.

Here's the recipe for this quick and yummy soup that has everybody smiling.

Taco Soup
Ingredients:
1 lb. tofu, cubed
1/2 onion chopped
taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 quarts of tomato juice (more, if you like our soup more soupy and less chunky)
1 cup salsa
tortilla chips
your favorite taco toppings (cheese, olives, avocado, etc)

Directions:
Sauté onion and tofu in a bit of olive oil until lightly browned.
Add taco seasoning mix (only half a packet if you want to cut the spice) and stir for one minute.
Add tomato juice and salsa and simmer until warmed through.
Ladel soup into bowls. Add tortilla chips around the edges of soup and top with your favorite taco toppings.

A little something for Daddy during this holiday season...

2008-11-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I know I normally just stick to posting ideas for family cooking projects, or things Zeal and I have made together, but I just can't resist giving you this one too, because Daddy just loved it so much (since the pregnancy began our house has become rather... "dry").

Here's what Daddy got for Halloween...

A Pumpkin Martini!

Sugar the rim of a martini glass with a mixture of fine sugar and pumpkin pie spice.

Shake equal parts vanilla vodka, pumpkin spice syrup (such as the kind coffee/lattés are flavored with), and half and half (Silk creamer to make it vegan). Pour into martini glass.

Top with a bit of nutmeg and serve.

reaching for a bit of "love grass"

2008-11-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

When I was in college, I used to head to Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California on the weekends for a bit of entertainment, book store browsing, and of course to frequent all the lovely food choices. Down one of the alleys there used to be (I don't think it exists anymore) a small family owned hole-in-wall Ethiopian restaurant. Being 18 and raised in a small town in Northern Nevada, I had never experienced the wonder of Ethiopian food. I quickly fell in love, especially with the spongy fermented bread called injera, made from teff flour. I've tried to make injera over the years, but never had the "secret recipe". I'm still experimenting with it the perfect injera recipe, but mostly am finding that teff works for us and our cooking in many other forms too.
(image: man sieving teff grain, from WaterAid International)

Lately we've been using it to make bread, pancakes, these pumpkin bars, and muffins like these:

We simply used this banana muffin recipe and substituted ivory teff flour for wheat flour.

We've been getting our teff in bulk through The Teff Company, but it is available in smaller doses in some grocery stores as well.

Here's a bit more about teff and its many nutritious properties, making it a wonderful grain choice in any healthy family's cooking experiences:

The grain has a high concentration of different nutrients, a very high calcium content, and high levels of phosphorus, iron, copper, aluminum, barium, and thiamin. A big advantage, the iron from teff is easily absorbed by the body. Teff is high in protein. It is considered to have an excellent amino acid composition (including all 8 essential amino acids for humans) and has lysine levels higher than wheat or barley. Because of this variety, it stimulates the flora of the large intestine. Teff is high in carbohydrates and fiber. It contains no gluten, so it is appropriate for those with gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

One of the many things I just adore about using teff, is that it takes its name from the Greek word for Love Grass. That just makes me smile. :)

How to Bake a Pumpkin & Pumpkin Pie Bars

2008-11-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

We've been having fun just slowing down, which means spending a bit of time with our pumpkins. Here's what we did with our sugar pie pumpkins.

How to Bake a Pumpkin

Quarter pumpkin.

Work with a friend to scoop out the seeds. (Of course, save a few of the seeds for planting next year and the rest for roasting.)

Place the quartered pumpkin in an oven proof bowl. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Pour about 3 cups of water over the pumpkin. Cover and bake for about an hour (or until soft) in a 350 degree oven.

Scoop out pumpkin and purée in a blender.

And then, make whatever pumpkin goodies your little hearts desire.
Here's our pumpkin pie bars. So yummy!

Here's our recipe (made up that very day):

Pumpkin Pie Bars
Ingredients:

Bars:
2 cups flour (we used 1 cup of teff flour and 1 cup buckwheat)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil (or whatever oil you like to bake with)
puréed pumpkin from one average-sized sugar pie pumpkin
3 eggs (we used Ener-G egg replacer)

Topping:
Mix a little powdered sugar with a bit of milk (we used soy)

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Drizzle topping and let cool. Cut into bars.

Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)

2008-11-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

For all of you readers of Wonderwise, you are well aware of our plans to make Bread of the Dead a few days ago.

Well, here's Zeal's loaf as he was about to cut into it. He began the process saying he was going to sculpt his into a skull.

When it came out of the oven, he decided it was not a skull at all, but rather Echidna, the Greek mythological "Mother of All Monsters". Oh, this child. :)

Here's the recipe we used (taken from the book Look What We've Brought You from Mexico). We veganized it by using soy milk, Earth Balance, and Ener-G egg replacer.

Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead)

Ingredients
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup (half a stick) margarine or butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup very warm water
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
1/2 teaspoon anise seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions: Bring milk to boil and remove from heat. Stir in margarine or butter, 1/4 cup sugar and salt.

In large bowl, mix yeast with warm water until dissolved and let stand 5 minutes. Add the milk mixture.

Separate the yolk and white of one egg. Add the yolk to the yeast mixture, but save the white for later. Now add flour to the yeast and egg. Blend well until dough ball is formed.

Flour a pastry board or work surface very well and place the dough in center. Knead until smooth. Return to large bowl and cover with dish towel. Let rise in warm place for 90 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Knead dough again on floured surface. Now divide the dough into fourths and set one fourth aside. Roll the remaining 3 pieces into "ropes."

On greased baking sheet, pinch 3 rope ends together and braid. Finish by pinching ends together on opposite side. Divide the remaining dough in half and form 2 "bones." Cross and lay them atop braided loaf.

Cover bread with dish towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix anise seed, cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar together. In another bowl, beat egg white lightly.

When 30 minutes are up, brush top of bread with egg white and sprinkle with sugar mixture, except on cross bones. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Sandwiches to Smile About: National Sandwich Day

2008-11-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Today, November 3rd, is the birthday of John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, the namesake of the sandwich, and thus it is National Sandwich Day. Yes, there is actually a National Sandwich Day.

Sandwiches to Smile About

Life is like a sandwich, the more you add to it the better it becomes.

Sandwiches say lunch in a way that almost no other entrée does. When children are encouraged to join in the building of them, sandwiches offer a wonderful outlet for developing independence and creative expression. They are easy for even very young children to pick up and feed themselves. Perhaps as they were originally intended, sandwiches are among the best of packables. However, it is very easy and common to get in a sandwich making rut. Offering as many types of sandwiches as possible will develop a child’s palate, getting them used to more ingredients and textures, and adding that extra spice to life. And as we turn from winter to spring, there is no better time to breathe new life into lunches that might be getting stale.

The Outsides
Bread is the most traditional sandwich outside. From pizza crust to pita bread to Indian naan, the options for using wheat sandwich outsides are plentiful. Sandwiches can be made sweet using cinnamon-raisin, pumpernickel, or challah breads. For a more savory experience, try using a light rye or seeded bread. If you are packing your sandwiches for later, toast or grill the bread to prevent them from getting too soggy. Additionally, pack dressing or sauces and pour them on just before eating to further prevent sogginess. But in a world where children are consuming more and more carbohydrates, a sandwich doesn’t have to just mean bread. Crackers, rice cakes, a piece of lettuce, “cheese” slices, or a crunchy piece of nori seaweed can be wonderful alternatives.

The Insides
Peanut butter and jelly have long been staples in houses where children dwell. With an increase in nut allergies and parents wishing more and more to add variety to their children’s sandwich repertoire, experimenting with the insides of your sandwich can be the answer. Try filling your sandwiches with hummus and chopped sweet peppers or tomatoes arranged in the shape of a star or flower. Pumpkin and apple butters make a great alternative to your usual jams. As well, any salad makes a wonderful filling in pocket bread. Remember to sprinkle in your favorite sand-wishes before you finish off your creation.

To Cook or Not to Cook?
Sandwiches are a wonderfully easy food item for kids to make on their own because generally they don’t need involvement from a heat source. That said, toasting or grilling your sandwich adds an extra bit of fun to your child’s experience. Served warm, even standard fallbacks like a pb&j are given new life.

Presenting…
As a sandwich creator, it is important to understand that the way a meal is received is directly connected to the visual experience. It is all about the presentation. Vary the way you serve sandwiches: rolled up inside bread, open faced, in pockets, or traditionally inside two pieces of bread. Use cookie cutters (any shape will do) or cut sandwiches into bite-sized pieces such as fingers or odd shaped corners. Anything you do that will add to your presentation of the sandwich will make it a more exciting and novel culinary experience for your children.

The Art of Sandwich Making
With some varied ingredients and a few toothpicks, sandwiches can become your child’s own personal canvas. Stack varied sizes of sliced items like cucumbers, radishes, carrots or small pieces of cheese for eyes, body pieces stacked together, noses, and ears. Corn makes great teeth or buttons for a robot. Olives and grapes easily become bulging eyes, bug body parts, headlights, or hooves. Lettuce, especially red leaf or other types of lettuce that have frilly edges, make beautiful dresses, Tomatoes and sweet bell peppers slice nicely into petal shapes. Add some parsley sprigs and your flower is complete.

Ironed Sandwich
This is a fun vegan variation of a classic grilled cheese sandwich. Try varying the ingredients for any type of grilled sandwich your little ones might prefer. Adult supervision required when making this sandwich.

Ingredients:
Two slices of bread
Almond cheese slices
Earth Balance soy margarine
1 piece of aluminum foil about the size of a legal-sized piece of paper
Iron and Ironing Board

Directions:
Evenly spread Earth Balance on both slices of bread.
Place cheese between bread, with the Earth Balance on the outside.
Fold aluminum foil in half and place sandwich inside of foil so that both slices of bread are covered.
Iron both sides of the foil until the cheese begins to melt and the bread and Earth Balance browns.

Smiling Apples
Here’s a sandwich that makes kids smile. This can be used as a snack or main sandwich in a lunch. For a smoother version, leave out the slivered almonds.

Ingredients:
1 large crunchy apple like a Granny Smith or Braeburn
Almond or Cashew butter
Slivered almonds
Cinnamon

Directions:
Slice an apple into rounds that are about a quarter inch thick.
Spread one apple round with almond butter.
Sprinkle with slivered almonds and cinnamon.
Place another apple round on top and enjoy!

Cucumber Caterpillar
My son loves a good old-fashioned cucumber and” cheese” sandwich. Here’s a fun way to add more veggies while cutting down on the bread.

Ingredients:
1 small cucumber, sliced thin
almond cheese slices, cut into small circles using a cookie cutter
two tiny pieces of bread, best are the heels of your French loaf
two raisins
1 bamboo skewer
1 toothpick

Directions:
Begin by sticking one heel of bread onto the end of the skewer (heel side out). Add the cucumbers and cheese slices in a pattern, and then the other bread heel, on the skewer. Finish your caterpillar by breaking a toothpick in half and use them to attach the raisins to the bread.

Sunflower Faces
This sandwich makes a great interactive breakfast, snack, or lunch experience. Sunflower butter is a nice alternative to peanut or other nut butters and is high in Vitamin E.

Ingredients:
1 slice of bread
sunflower butter
banana coins (1 banana sliced into coins)
shelled sunflower seeds
granola pieces
about 1 tsp. agave nectar (optional)

Directions:
Spread sunflower butter on bread. Drizzle agave nectar on top of sunflower butter, if extra sweetness is desired. Arrange other ingredients in the shape of a face, sunflower, or any desired pattern or design.

Pizza Sandwich
This recipe makes two small rounds of pizza dough, enough for one pizza sandwich.

Ingredients:
1 tsp. yeast
3 T. very warm water
1 tsp. oil
1 tsp. agave nectar
8 T. flour
Pizza or pasta sauce of your choice, such as: marinara, pesto, or blended tofu
Pizza toppings of your choice, such as: artichoke hearts, olives, shredded mozzarella cheese, pine nuts, mushrooms, or baby corn.

Directions:
Sprinkle yeast over the water. Stir. Let the yeast dissolve until it forms a bubble surface. Stir in the oil, agave, and flour. Knead the ingredients together on a lightly floured board. Cover dough with a cloth and let ruse for about 20 minutes. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Roll dough into circles. Place onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes at 450 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool. Add toppings onto one of the circles and top with the remaining circle. Place back into oven for a few minutes to melt cheese.

Tablespoon Pockets
This sandwich is a salad in a pocket. It makes a great picnic meal.

Ingredients:
1 Roma tomato sliced
1/4 cucumber, diced
1 T fresh basil, chopped
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 T vegan Parma “cheese”
1 T. olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
splash of lemon juice
Pita bread

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Scoop into a pita bread pocket just before serving.

Spinach Pinwheels
The spiral that appears when these sandwiches are cut is a great novelty that will have your kids eating their spinach. I like using pumpernickel bread (a dark bread made with molasses) for both the contrast in color and sweetness that it adds to the roll, but any leavened bread will work.

Ingredients:
1 slice of pumpernickel (or any favorite) bread, crusts removed if desired
Tofutti cream cheese (or your favorite soft, spreadable)
fresh spinach, washed with stems removed
herb salt

Directions:
Using a rolling pin to roll your slice of bread until it is cracker thin. Spread cream cheese all over the bread, leaving a half-inch around the edges. Cover cheese with spinach leaves and sprinkle with herb salt. Tightly roll and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour (or overnight). Remove from refrigerator and slice before serving.

Sandwich Timeline

1 century B.C. – The first sandwich, lamb and herbs inside of Matzo bread, is enjoyed by Jewish Rabbi Hillel.

The Middle Ages (between the 6th and 16th centuries) – The first open-faced sandwich appears. “Trenchers” (thick slices of hard bread) are used instead of plates to soak up the juices, grease, and sauce of the meal.

1760’s – The sandwich gets its name. John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, is said to have, while not wanting to take breaks from his work, repeatedly ordered his meat between two slices of bread.

1840 - The sandwich is introduced to America by cookbook author Elizabeth Leslie. She suggests ham sandwiches as a main dish.

Early 1900’s, Industrial Revolution – Bakeries begin selling pre-sliced bread. Sandwiches become a favorite lunch packable and went to the factories with workers and schools with children!

Jack-O-Lantern Stew

2008-11-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

We always host a potluck meal on Halloween night with friends, and I usually make stew in a pumpkin. This year, running short on time for my usually 7 hour recipe, we used one of these wonderful, tasty Cinderella pumpkins and did a simple pumpkin and black-eyed pea combination that I will have to work hard to recreate as it wasn't a recipe. Served with black wild rice, it was a definite hit!

Tomorrow, I head to the fourth and final potluck of the weekend, so I will try to recreate it for that and this time write down the measurements and ingredients. Until then, hope you had a fun-filled Halloween night!

Parantha fun!

2008-10-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Re-discovering a bit of India in the kitchen. Here's our favorite combination for making gobi parantha (flat bread stuffed with cauliflower), but it works just as well with potatoes, paneer, or any of your favorite combinations.

-Combine 1 cup of chapati flour with 1/3 cup water and a teaspoon of oil (optional) and knead until forms a soft ball.
-Roll dough out until flat and thin.
-Place a heaping tablespoon (or any desired amount) of a combination of grated cauliflower, garlic, salt, masala into the center of your dough.
-Fold the corners up over the stuffing and pinch the dough together to form a ball around the stuffing.
-Roll the ball out again until flat.
-Cook on an oiled griddle until brown.
Yum!

Happy Diwali everyone!

*Thanks Valerie for the photos!

Best Apple Crisp!

2008-10-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

If you buy one new gadget this year/season, let it be an apple-corer-peeler-slicer! We've been having fun lately with ours coupled with all the apples we're getting in our own backyard.

Here's our favorite recipe for apple crisp, which freezes wonderfully for a fabulous winter dessert!

Our Best Apple Crisp

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together:
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar

Stir in until crumbly, a mixture of:
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Arrange in a greased pan:
4-6 peeled and sliced apples.

Sprinkle with crumb topping.
Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown. Serve warm.

Super Sand Clay!

2008-10-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

(cross-posting from The Wondershop, because, well, it just seems appropriate :)

For a boy who has had a history of getting engrossed in sand play, has been forever fascinated by anyone who works with cement, sand or gravel, and has a most recent fascination with the art, science, and play of Ancient Egypt, working out a recipe that we could simulate stone blocks with has been a major coup!

Above is the recent game Zeal made with this sand clay, a coiled up snake waiting to be painted and played. (Rules yet to be determined)

Here's the recipe:

Super Sand Clay
3 cups sand
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 1/2 cups of hot water

Combine all ingredients in a wok or large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes thick and heavy (several minutes). remove from heat and turn onto cookie sheet. Once mixture is cool, it will be able to be modeled. (Don't try to use it before it is cooled or you'll just get a sticky mess on the hands - spoken from experience)

I so wish I had a picture of him making this dough and the mess that ensued when he decided he needed to sift the sand with our various-sized strainers and funnels in stock in our kitchen. Oh well -- I have the experience!

And here's the new favorite book with one of the Pyramids of Giza, which has a remarkable resemblance to the texture of real stone blocks!

He's so proud of this feat of ancient architecture!

Concocting Creative Minds

2008-10-01T04:19:00.000-07:00

Concocting Creative Minds: The Wonder of Potions and Other Experimental Mixtures

A perfectly mixed concoction conjures magic and intrigue. Developing an experimental mindset, the most important step in getting ready for creative thinking and problem solving, can be daunting. The task instantly becomes a bit easier when we step into the kitchen, onto the front porch, or in the bathtub for a bit of potion-making. Whether fizzy, smelly, gooey, tasty, or astonishing to witness, having the opportunity to mix, combine, and play with the reaction of a variety of materials is a wonder-filled way to concoct thinking, creativity, and fun...

Click here to read the rest of this piece as it is featured on VegFamily this month!

Are you vegan and pregnant (or plan to become pregnant)?

2008-09-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

If so, Karen Rae Ferreira is looking for you. I cannot participate myself because I have reintroduced dairy into my diet, but here's the message from Karen:

I am working on my masters thesis project to study 50 or more pregnant vegan women, in order to clarify for women, their
families, midwives & physicians, how well-nourished a pregnant woman and her baby can be on a 100% vegan, 70% or more raw, organic diet. I am sending this to a few others who I hope will be interested as well. I welcome any input or suggestions, and I would love for you to share this with others.

I feel honored & happy to provide this service for the sake of future generations of raw, vegan children. Before this study can become a reality, I will need at least 50 women who are pregnant presently, or plan to become pregnant in the next year and a half. Of course such plans do not always match up with the hoped-for time-frame; still I am happy to include on my email list those women who would like to participate. The actual data will be compiled on women who participate for at least 13 weeks during pregnancy & immediate postpartum.

Participation begins by filling out an application & questionnaire (currently in progress). Once accepted into the study, the only
requirements for continuing with the study are:

-Maintaining a predominantly organic, 100% vegan, 70% or more raw foods diet
-Lab results & clinical findings for perinatal visits, as ordered & assessed by the woman's midwife or physician, to be sent to me via fax or mail
-Maternal testing for DHA, vitamin B-12 & folic acid, and vitamin C, at
the beginning & end of pregnancy
-Newborn screening for vitamin B-12
-Supplemental vegan food-sourced DHA, vitamin B-12 & folic acid, and vitamin C is highly recommended

I will be submitting a brief article to various publications, magazines & internet groups during the next few weeks to give as many women as possible the chance to partake of this study. I would love to receive feedback on the process of conducting the study, and recommendations for places to submit the article would be greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to all of the connections that will be made during the next two years, and sharing the outcome with all of you & the childbirth & health professional communities.

Blessings!
Karen

Karen Rae Ferreira, CCH, RSHom
Registered & Certified Classical Homeopath
Services & Online Courses in Homeopathy; Homeopathic Childbirth
Assistance; Sustainable Living
Healing & Detox Coach - Utilizing Ayurvedic Raw Diet & Nutrition &
Western Herbs
foreverlovingraw@gmail.com

September 28th... A great day for PUMPKINS!

2008-09-28T18:43:00.001-07:00

Who says it needs to be October to start harvesting pumpkins?

Can you say, "anxious"? Thing is, there's no tellin' who is more anxious, me or him! Can't wait for pumpkin pies, bread, jack o'lanterns, the whole shabang!

October, here we come!

Lunch with Daddy - Tomato Tart Style!

2008-09-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

We don't often get Daddy at home in the middle of the day. But, lucky for us, yesterday he decided to work from home. He actually needed a bit of concentration time, so we took our play outside and found another bounty of tomatoes in the garden. Zeal picked a huge bowl of the cherry tomatoes, and then stayed outside to play while I went in and "did something with them."

Since we had a bunch of fresh dug garlic and these wonderful little tomatoes, I made this tomato tart. Since I had been making pie crusts lately, it was easy to whip out another. I think the Fontina cheese (and fresh organic tomatoes, of course) is what made this so good. I thought we could eat half for lunch and half for dinner, but alas, it got all eaten up with lunch.

I usually only share dishes Zeal makes with me here (or does on his own) but since he grew and harvested the main ingredient, I figure that is doing his part and it's okay to share.

This weekend, I will be going to a Harvest/Gratitude Women's Circle, and need to bring a dish representing the harvest. Since tomatoes and garlic are the only things I'm harvesting right now, this will be the perfect dish to bring.

Did I say, "Enough for ONE pie?"

2008-09-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

I meant 32!

Okay, it looked like we had picked blackberries enough for one whole pie, which we were actually pretty excited about.

Until... Zeal pulled out this old favorite kitchen tool - a pastry mold - and we decided to make a bunch of little snack pies instead. Now he's jumping up and down about it; he's so pleased!

So we ended up with 8 for us now (enough for dessert tonight and leftovers for lunches tomorrow)

and...

24 to stick in the freezer for yummy winter snacks:

And so begins our freezer journey... more to come, for sure.

Backyard Treasures

2008-09-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

So we're up in the morning, and getting things going around the house and decide to go throw the dog a ball for a bit before we leave for our day out.

We're busy admiring the growth in our backyard, amazed that things are flourishing the way they are even though we've done a less than stellar job of watering this summer. Thanks, I guess, to our unseasonably wet August.

Zeal ventures to the back corner of the yard, where we rarely travel, to "fetch" the ball when Bengali doesn't do her job as well as she normally does.

And lookie what he found? Just sitting back there in the corner, doing a beautiful job of ripening while we had no idea they were there. A treasure from the alley --- blackberries!!!

We had heard they were spraying the plants down by the river, so we lamented that we wouldn't have free blackberries this year. But here they are, in our very own yard --- and FREE!

Just enough for one pie!

But it will have to wait till tomorrow, for now we must head out for our day.

Lego Crispies! (and our little kitchen tool of the week)

2008-09-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

We got a new mold, in the form of Zeal's latest favorite past time, lego bricks!

We originally bought this to make lego cakes for a special party Zeal is planning, but they keep getting used as "trial runs". So fun!
Number one use for these molds - crispy revivals.

Here's a photo of the final product. You can't really see the circles on the top of the legos here. There's talk of painting the tops with melted chocolate next time. I like that idea!

Zeal is also aware that lego ice cube trays exist and is making plans for how he will use them (candy making plans, that is).

Molds are an especially fun (and easy) way to get kids excited about whatever it is you are cooking (biscuits, muffins, sidewalk chalk, etc. etc. etc.) We also have some other molds in the shape of: moon and stars, puzzle pieces, and lines (which we've made lemonade "stir sticks" out of. Do you have a favorite mold?

Tomato Love, continued...

2008-09-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

We have an obvious love for tomatoes around here.

That said, with all the travel we had planned for the summer, we decided to only plant four tomato plants in the garden this year (for fear we would be too overwhelmed when it came time to harvest). Now, I am lamenting that decision and wish we had a few more plants to pick from.

Still, Zeal is sooooo happy about his many ripe tomatoes that are just about ready to fall off their vines. We earnestly have been gathering and cooking up some sauce to enjoy right now. Too bad there won't be enough for some winter batches too. There's always next year, I suppose.

Easy Marinara sauce:
Drop tomatoes in Boiling water and blanch for about 30 seconds. Transfer to cold water and remove skins.

Sauté onions and garlic in an oiled pan. Add tomatoes, bring to a boil, and let simmer for a few hours, until reduced by about a third.

Makes a great dip or sauce that ALWAYS beats the stuff that comes in the jar!

Celery Snacks

2008-09-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

Celery (and the things we fill it with) is a super way to get kids to a) make their own snacks, b) get them to eat something healthy for a snack, and c) help them "think outside the recipe"!

As you begin to get a snack tray ready for the kids, try just putting out nut butter filled celery and bowls full of various goodies for them to create their own.

Try any of the following (and whatever else you have on hand):
-peanuts
-almonds
-blueberries (shown here)
-the old standby, raisins
-dried cherries
-dried cranberries
-trail mix
-sunflower seeds
-edible flowers/petals
-date pieces
-maple sugared nuts
-chocolate or carob chips
-sesame seeds

What do your kids like in their celery? Anybody try a different filling other than nut butters or cream cheese?

"A Great Day for Volcanoes!"

2008-09-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

I never do this, but I am cross posting this one from The Wondershop blog because it just seems so fitting that these wonderful kitchen supplies also be featured here. Happy top blowing!

Kitchen and science "experiments" around here often lead us back to our favorite two ingredients to just play with: baking soda and vinegar! It seems these are the kinds of things that often show up in science fairs and a few classrooms. Around here, they might as well be considered everyday objects.

The ways in which Zeal likes to play with these two wonderful ingredients are more varied than I can probably recall and write down here, but here's the short list of some favorites:

-use an eye dropper to dribble vinegar on a pile or line of baking soda
-tape two plastic cups together, create a hole in the top and get baking soda and vinegar to react and ooze out the top
-add baking soda and vinegar to a bottle, cork it, and count to see how long it takes for the cork to pop! Repeat, and repeat again, trying each time to get the cork to shoot higher!

Zeal worked on this latest and more resembling of a volcano than any of his other baking soda-vinegar forays for a week: first building it from a container, tape and newspaper, then papier-macheing it thoroughly (a few days' project), then painting it,

and finally letting it blow! (or ooze, if you prefer)

Today, he pulled it out again and said, "Today is a great day for Volcanoes! Let's go to the park!" So we grabbed the necessary supplies and walked the few steps from our front door to our neighborhood park where he made it a community event.

Here's our favorite easy recipe for papier-måché:

Mix 1 part glue and 1 part water.
Dip dryer lint, newspaper, or colored tissue paper strips into the glue mixture and gently lay them onto the object of your choice. Let your sculpture dry in a warm area for 2-3 days.

and our favorite combination of lava: baking soda, vinegar, red food coloring, and a touch of dishwashing soap (we keep Dawn around just for projects like this - it also makes the best bubbles!)

By the time they got past the initial eruptions, the kids got really into the "hands-on" experience and, eruption after eruption, the lava got redder and sudsier than ever. They had a wonder-full time!

I never thought I'd say this...

2008-08-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

But I am actually looking forward to cookie baking weather! That is, I am ready to get inside again, nest a little bit, and yes, bake some cookies!

Here's a photo I just ran across of me and my younger brother making cookies oh so long ago.

And now I am off on a search for that missing apron, one of my favorites from childhood, which has my absolute favorite recipe for mud pies on the front of it. After all, rainy season is nearly upon us here in Oregon and I think I am going to need that time-tested recipe.
Don't worry Alex, just because you are wearing it here doesn't at all mean I am blaming you for its mysterious disappearance from the apron drawer. At least not yet!

Play With Your Food, Part II

2008-08-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

Remember this great book? We've been continually inspired by it.

Tonight, after dinner, with a few strands of leftover noodles, Zeal went to town shaping the noodles to be various animals and telling stories with them.

Up for a Rorschach test?

Here's the hippo that also doubles as a frog with a few overhead flies. What do you see?

They all, one by one, ended up in his tummy (dessert of sorts), topping the whole thing off with a wink, a smile, and of course, a mustache.

A Pregnant Mama Eats Breakfast

2008-08-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

Just back from early morning yoga...

On the menu:
-seasoned potatoes and peppers on a bed of greens topped with a bit of smoked cheese
-fresh papaya
-spelt toast with strawberry jam
-raspberry keifer

Perfectly balanced or pickles-and-ice-cream weird?
No one else around here was as excited about my combination.

Onion Rings

2008-08-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Like many children, Zeal is NOT an onion eater.

HOWEVER, we just made these little beauties and now he has professed to like them.

The secret: buttermilk. I rarely cook with it, mostly because of my dairy sensitivity, but I heard it made a good onion ring and since we were loaded with onions last week, we went for it.

* A vegan alternative to buttermilk is soured soy or rice milk. For each cup of buttermilk, use 1 cup soymilk plus 1 tablespoon of vinegar.

Soak the onions in buttermilk for about a half an hour.

Dredge in flour and fry in just a bit of olive oil.

Good organic, sweet onions make these irresistible!

Roasting Corn

2008-08-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Just back from a weekend of camping, (and preparing for the next one) Zeal can't get enough of roasting corn over the fire. Luckily, he'll get some more chances to do so as we have a few more camping trips planned before summer is out.

Still, he's taking advantage of any corn and flame available.

Mmmm. Flame roasted sweet corn sure does have it's own special flavor.

Read about more camp cooking here.

Crispy Treats, Part II

2008-08-20T05:16:00.000-07:00

We decided to make some after dinner Rice Crispy Treats again. This time, Zeal was making them on his own (with his mom, of course, just no friends this time.)

Again, this is an easy-peasy recipe for him to get through all on his own (with a little verbal guidance) and he loves being able to work at the stove "like an adult".

This time, we used:
4 T. Earth Balance
1 container of Suzanne's Rice Mellow Cream
1/2 cup peanut butter
5 cups of Natural Directions Crispy Brown Rice

Here's the process from the first time we did this together.

Here's what came of the treats once cooled and cut: A Crispy Castle, that ended up turning into a train because of course it needed to drive right into his mouth.

Don't worry, he didn't eat them all at once; I managed to save most of them away for snacks for the week.

Very yummy, vegan, and gluten free!

Hey Friends!

2008-08-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hey all you Thinking Outside the Recipe readers~
I am revamping my other blog, The Wondershop. Please stop on by and take a look at the new layout and design and let me know what you think. I'm hoping to similarly update things around here in the coming weeks and would love to get your feedback.

Happy cooking and wondering!

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Melon Baller

2008-08-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

When hot weather hits (we're on the down slide now, whew!) watermelon is one of the best foods to help combat dehydration. And while it takes very little for kids to get excited about eating watermelon, they will also give a cheer for getting the watermelon ready to go if they can scoop out all that juicy sweetness with a Melon Baller.

Push the melon baller deep into the fruit and twist for perfectly round balls.

We also use a melon baller to scoop out the insides of zucchini when making one of Zeal's very favorite meals, zucchini boats or affectionally know as Zu-canoes! Luckily, we have lots of opportunity to be using it even now that the weather is cooling, because we're knee deep in zucchini.

And look what other fun a melon baller can bring:
Add some diluted food coloring to your melon baller (hold your finger over the hole until your ready) and use it for painting.

Candied flowers!

2008-08-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Zeal is quite the little gardener these days. All winter, he saved rain water in little pots, cups, and bowls because he read somewhere that rain water was much better for plants than tap water. With the nursing of his pet plants in the yard and the hot weather we've been having, he has officially ran out of the stuff. So it's a good thing that his nasturtiums came of age at just the right time.

Here's what he decided to do with them this year.

Rinse and make sure all the bugs are gone.

Separate the petals.

Paint the petals with a water/arrowroot mixture and dip in fine sugar.

Eat on top of salad!

Yum!

Great new snack plates!

2008-08-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have this “thing” for divided plates. We have a nice little (growing) collection of them (found from garage sales, flea markets, and occasionally stores) and we use them regularly for snacks, picnics, camping, and lunches. Well, here’s my new find, of which I am very excited about.

Here's Zeal's inaugural run on them, enjoying an odd combination of 1 yellow peach, some fresh figs, and a few cubes of baked tofu:

These great little plates (I bought 4, for our growing family) are our new picnic and camping plates. They are made by Zak! Designs from 100% recycled melamine. I found them deeply discounted while on vacation, but you can also find them for sale here.

Potato Yummers!

2008-08-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

Wow! Nothing like a fresh dug potato! These are Yukon Golds. I brought them to a potluck and they got rave reviews from adults and children alike. Zeal asked for more when we got home and since I was suggesting ice cream instead, I guess that makes them a true hit.

Here's what I did:
1.Bake potatoes for about 45 minutes in a 425 degree oven.
2.Slice in half and scoop out the insides.
3.Mash potatoes with a mixture of onions and garlic (I sautéed mine first). Add a combination of salt, pepper, basil, and cheese to taste.
4.Return mashed potato mixture to potato shells and bake until slightly browned (about 12-15 minutes).
5.Top with fresh tomatoes (I added salt, pepper, and more chopped basil to mine because frankly this pregnant mama is craving saltier foods. Still, the extra salt on the tomatoes was a nice balance with the starchy potato.)

Everyone agrees: Yummers!!

Oh my, he does like carrots!

2008-08-12T01:22:00.000-07:00

A new favorite snack, for a kid who has always turned his nose up at carrots.

Complete with this discovery of vegan and gluten-free ranch dressing. (If you know of other egg-free ranch dressings, please post it here as we are always on the lookout)

Amazing what a homemade plate fresh out of the kiln will do for even the simplest, most common snacks!

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Spoons

2008-08-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Make funny faces with them.
Play them.
Stick them on your nose.

The must-have kitchen tool of the century: the beloved spoon!

Swirl Cream

2008-08-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

We're on a homemade ice cream kick, and it is truly yummerific! Our latest foray was vanilla, with real vanilla beans (is there any other way when going homemade?) And we all had our way of wanting to eat it. While I was reaching for the organic chocolate syrup, Zeal got a stool and went searching in the highest cupboard, where he knows I keep the stuff we "never get to use" - sprinkles!

Here's his version of Swirl Cream, turning a lovely shade of grey as all those yucky colored sprinkles start to dissolve into the melting perfectly fresh, organic, vegan vanilla ice cream.

So much for trying.

Screaming for Ice Cream: Summertime Creativity Tastes so Good

2008-08-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

from the August edition of Wonderwise:

Screaming for Ice Cream: Summertime Creativity Tastes so Good

It’s that lovely time of year again, and the heat is on. What better way to cool down and give your kids a creative boost than with a few yummy frozen treats? Fortunately, there are lots of ways for children to get creative when ice cream is the medium. Here are a few ideas to get you going on your frozen adventures:

Ice Cream in a Can
There’s nothing quite like homemade ice cream. Crafting a batch of your own can really get your kids rolling in creative fun. To get started, you will need two clean metal cans (one smaller than the other) with lids. To the smaller can, add one cup of milk (and milk will do: coconut, whipping cream, or try soy creamer for a real treat), sugar (to taste- I prefer mine less sweet) and one tablespoon of vanilla. Place the smaller can inside the larger one and surround with ice and rock salt. Make sure the lids to your cans are sealed tightly and roll the can back and forth on the ground for about a half an hour. This is also a great time to get some pre-eating energy out and play “kick the can”. Pure yummy fun!

Ice Cream in a Bag
Don’t have the half hour it takes for the canned version of homemade ice cream? Try shaking up some summertime delight with ice cream-in-a-bag, which only takes about five minutes. Similar to making it in a can, you will need two plastic sealable bags (one pint sized and one gallon sized). In the small bag, put one cup of milk or half & half, two tablespoon of sugar, and ½ teaspoon of vanilla. Seal the bag tightly. Fill the larger bag half full of ice and add 6-7 tablespoons of rock salt. Place the smaller bag inside the larger one and seal carefully. Shake until the mixture becomes ice cream, about five minutes.

Juicer-style Ice Cream
Looking for an ice cream made from whole foods? Run your frozen fruits through your juicer to make a wonderfully healthy ice cream your kids will scream for. Frozen bananas make an incredible soft serve treat; you won’t believe it is only banana. We especially like using frozen mango pieces for a tropical sorbet. Top with some freshly picked berries and a spring of fresh mint, and ooh-la-la!

Sandwiches Your Way
Once you have your ice cream made, the possibilities open up for some more creation fun. Use your favorite pre- or homemade cookies to serve up some ice cream sandwiches. Our favorite way to make ice cream sandwiches is to make a pan of thin gingerbread. After baking, cut into squares or use cookie cutters to give your sandwiches even more personality. If you have large batches of cookies and ice cream, stock your freezer with sandwiches to last the rest of the summer.

Ice Cream Social Forays
Step back in time to the simple pleasures of a hot, summer afternoon. You and your children can have a great time, learn a lot, and make all your friends and neighbors very happy by creating your very own neighborhood ice cream truck.
Load up a wagon, wheel barrel, cart, or whatever you can find with your frozen yummy treats. Include ice cream, frozen banana slices (we dip ours in chocolate!), homemade popsicles (made from different fruit juices and poured into an ice tray or other small shape with a stick), and fruit smoothies. Don't forgot a cooler, ice, a sign with your options and prices, a box for collecting money that includes change, a towel, cups, bowls, cones, spoons, napkins and other necessities. Offer music as you travel through the neighborhood, letting everyone know the ice cream truck is in business!

Scoop up the last bit of summer with some treats that will have everybody smiling. You’ll be dripping with enough sticky creativity to last you through even the hottest days. Enjoy!

Mmm, Mmm, Strawberry Ice Cream...and it's vegan!

2008-08-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Yippeee for an August heat wave. Man, I love this stuff!
No better time to get going on some ice cream.
We're experimenting with a vegan variety with the strawberries that came in our CSA box.

Here's what we're working with:

ice, rock salt, 1 cup of soymilk, 1 pint vanilla soy creamer, strawberries (sliced), a bit of arrowroot, and 2/3 cup of sugar (forgot the rock salt in the photo) - Yes, that's Zeal hitting the ice with a hammer to move this process along just a little bit faster!

Here's what to do:
Blend everything together except the rock salt and ice and transfer to ice cream maker.

This is a hand-me-down ice cream maker from my childhood; still works fabulous! Thanks Mom!
Zeal was loving being the official "keep-your-eye-on-it-and-add-more-ice-and-rock-salt-guy"!

25 minutes later:

This is what you call "getting to lick the spoon!"

Yumm!!!!!

Zucchini Whistles

2008-08-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yet another reason to grow zucchini in your garden, or at least go raid your neighbors patch...Zucchini whistles!

Here's how:

1. Start by using a relatively sharp knife to cut off one stem of a zucchini plant from the very bottom (if you cut higher, the plant feels "stunted" and won't regrow the shoot).
2. Then, cut the stem to be about 12-14 inches long (or however long you want your zucchini whistle to be) - keep the top half with the leaf and compost the bottom part.
3. Cut the leaf off. Use the back side of your knife to scrape off all of the "pricklys" that might be growing on your shoot.
4. Just under the top (where the leaf was) cut a one inch long slit in your zucchini shoot.
5, Add 1-3 holes on the front of your whistles (leave the back hole off for easier playing). When cutting the holes, cut a small "v" shape rather than a semi-circle to prevent breakage.
6. Place your mouth over the entire 1-inch slit you've made on the top of your whistle and blow!

Now you have your own One Man Garden Band. Invite your friends for a real party!

Gazing at Morning Glories

2008-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Zeal’s favorite place for breakfast in Eugene (other than at home, which he usually prefers – but this mama just LOVES going out for breakfast) is the quaint little café called Morning Glory.
So he was truly delighted when, just as he was waking up from our early morning ride home, we stumbled upon this wonderful little gem of a restaurant in Ashland, Oregon.

Well, I am an oatmeal-for-breakfast kind of girl. I eat it most mornings with a predictable combination of flax seeds, walnuts, cinnamon, raisins, molasses, and a touch of agave. I love my little morning ritual of a breakfast, usually eaten in the dark, quiet, early morning hours before the world awakens or the newspaper even arrives. Still, I’ve been wanting to spice it up a bit and haven’t yet had the kick in the oats to do so. Well, I have found my inspiration.

On the menu at the Ashland Morning Glory is this little pot of gold: Moroccan Oatmeal.

Now, the waiter wouldn't dare to give up the recipe, but I am pretty sure it had some combination of the following: turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried apricots, walnuts, and cloves. I'll be working on my version n the coming weeks and will update you on my progress.

So we sat and talked and ate and laughed...
And enjoyed the wonderful, quirky, and artful atmosphere, together!

And I’m now inspired to somehow find room to paint this haiku (by one of Zeal's favorite poets, Basho) on my kitchen wall.

Tomato Love

2008-08-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

Aaahhh.... how we love tomatoes! Especially these freshly picked ones, the lovely organic ones we find in our CSA box each week, and the ones we fondle at the Farmer's Markets we're so lucky to have here several days a week.

When I was pregnant with Zeal, I ate (for the first time in my life) a good ton of tomatoes, and interestingly enough, they are now one of Zeal's favorite foods. Usually, we just chop them up and give him a fondue fork and a little cupful of his favorite salad dressing to dip them in for a snack. In his growth spurt moments, he's been known to go through five good-sized tomatoes in one sitting. Lately, I've been slicing the cherry, grape, and heirlooms we've been savoring and mix them all together with this little bit of marinade: 2 T. olive oil, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 garlic clove, minced, salt and pepper to taste. Add some chopped basil if you have it.

We're all in tomato heaven! With any luck, this next baby will like tomatoes as much as the rest of us.

Kitchen Tool of the Week: Pitter

2008-08-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'm generally kind of a "fingers" gal when cooking. Whether they be cherries, avocados, peaches, or plums, I prefer to just pick the pit out with my little nimble fingers than have to reach for a gadget somewhere to help. Well, no longer. After last week's experience making plum cake tartin , I'm a believer. While we all got to work on the recipe, my mom pulled out one of these little fellows (only hers was passed down from great grandma and looked much more antique and well-used), and of course, I gave her a hard time about it. "It really makes it easier," she said.

So it does, and now I'm hooked. And guess what? It's also a great little gadget for intriguing the kids to get involved - they love to carry the honored title of "official pitter".

Of Plums and Cousins

2008-08-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

While on our recent road trip to spend time with grandparents and cousins, we stopped at the home of our beloved friends who we see only a few times a year. Lucky for us, their plum tree was bearing more fruit than they could handle and they sent us on our way with a nice big bag of purple plums.

So we started eating them in earnest, but still didn’t seem to make a dent in our crop. We arrived at Grammy’s, and of course with her kitchen filled with books, we found a few possibilities for things to make with our stash of plums. We settled on a recipe from the cookbook Barefoot in Paris, a Plum Cake “Tatin”, an apparent take on the French classic usually made with apples.

A wonderful treat when you are fresh from waterfall play with cousins:

Here's all that remained after dessert that evening; it got promptly eaten with somebody's morning coffee.

So we made another one.
Here's the five star recipe:

Plum Cake “Tatin”
Serves 6

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
10-12 purple “prune” plums, cut in half and pitted
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
2 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.
Combine 1 cup of the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan, but don’t stir. Pour evenly over plums.
Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining ¾ cup of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined. Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums and bake for 30-40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in a design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Intuitive Cooking: Book Review

2008-07-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

We've been on the road, and I have A LOT of catch-up to share with you as we've been cooking together in lots of ways over the last few weeks. So, more on that very soon. For now, here's a great and inspiring look at this 215 page cooking school.

Intuitive Cooking by Joanne Saltzman

For everyone who ever wanted to attend cooking school, but for some reason couldn’t. For everyone who strives to make the perfectly balanced, healthy, mouthwatering, and impeccably seasoned meal. For everyone who ever wanted to explore the uniqueness your food offers and dance with its whole energy. Here it is: Intuitive Cooking, the new book from the amazing people at The Book Publishing Company. Written by Joanne Saltzman, founder and director of the Natural School of Cookery in Boulder Colorado, this book will bring you to new level of cooking and is a must-have for anyone wanting more than a conventional cookbook offers.

Intuitive Cooking is divided into three sections. The first, The Alphabet and Grammar of Cooking, covers just what the title tells us, the language of cooking and how it all fits together into the different elements that make up a good meal. Saltzman introduces us to her own cooking vocabulary developed over years of experimentation and improvisational cooking. She is one chef who is truly connected to the ingredients she uses. Following Saltzman’s lead, you will be too.

The second section, Cooking Methods, includes information about the various methods for cooking, as well as information about pretreatments and sauces. This section is both complete and well written. Studied, this is the section of the book that will transform the way you approach the food you have on hand.

The final section, Primary Elements and Recipe Sketches, the bulk of the book, is stuffed full of nearly 400 mouth watering combinations. Organized by vegetable family (root, onion, vine, pod/seed, sea vegetable, flower, fruit, stalk, mushroom, beans, gluten, soybeans) it includes information on first and second stage methods, as well as for selection and storage.

This is not a recipe book, but rather a book of combinations. Users of this book are given the necessary background and ideas for vegetables, proteins, herbs and spices, oils, liquids and salt form to use, but the intuition you bring to it is entirely your own. Fortunately, Saltzman gives both inspiration and techniques for developing it.

In addition to the main sections, there are many charts and tables. A total resource guide, this glossary will serve as welcome information to both the beginner and experienced cook.

If you can’t spend weeks, months, or even years devoting yourself to cooking school, Joanne Saltzman’s Intuitive Cooking is the next best thing. It is truly a gift of a resource sure to help you find your creative self in the kitchen. The result will be a dinner table boasting healthy, balanced, perfectly seasoned meals made with whole foods, intuition and love.

Camp Cooking: Thinking Outside the Recipe in the Great Outdoors

2008-07-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

From the July issue of Wonderwise:

It’s that time of year again; the magic of camping season is in the air. From the planning to the first spark of the evening flame, a camping trip and all that it means for fun and exploring the outdoors is the quintessential family bonding experience. For me, the quality of a camping trip is largely measured by the food. From the first mention of a camping trip, I start thinking about the meals, getting our menus ready and strategizing the various ways we can get the kids involved in the cooking.

Whether you are heading out to the backyard or into the deep woods, camp cooking can be a fun way to connect with nature and each other, all while providing your family an extra fun way to explore new ways to prepare nourishing foods together. And fortunately, the options for a family camp kitchen are exciting, fun to make, and taste great!

Dazzling Desserts
When our camp plans first get sparked, I usually start thinking about dessert first. Here's a few of our time-tested favorites:

Apple Pie on a Stick
A good roasted apple is a treat. Roasted over the campfire is even better. Start by using an apple cut into slices or bite sized chunks.. Add it to a skewer, and away you go! Once the apple is sufficiently roasted, remove from the heat and sprinkle on some apple pie spice, or just cinnamon or nutmeg. Finish it off by dipping in a bit of sweetener, if you like.

Banana Yumm!
This is a fantastically yummy dessert that is fun for kids to make mostly by themselves. Start with a ripe banana (but not too ripe). With a knife, cut two slits in the peel of the banana and peel it back, exposing the banana inside. Use a spoon to scoop out a section of the banana; in its place, sprinkle in a bit of your favorite trail mix. If you use chocolate, it melts wonderfully with the banana, making it an extra special treat. Replace the banana skin (covering the trail mix mixture), wrap the entire banana in tin foil, and place over the fire until heated through. When removed from the heat and cool enough to handle, unwrap the banana from the foil and scoop out the insides to enjoy a warm banana and choco-nutty treat!

Orange Cup Muffin-Cakes
This wonderful dessert is actually much easier than it sounds. Cut the tops nearly off of as many oranges as you want muffins or cupcakes, leaving it attached just enough to make a “flap”. Fill the oranges with your favorite muffin or cupcake batter. Place over the fire and let “bake” until muffins are done (when you poke them with a bamboo skewer and it comes clean). We have also tried wrapping these in foil and placing in the fire, but the result is more of a pudding than a cake. However you choose to bake them, you will surely enjoy these orange essence treats!

Camp Menu continued…
While it may be the desserts that top my planning list, of course the other items on the menu are not only an important part of your camping, but also a great way to involve your entire family in meal time. Here are a few meal ideas to get you cookin’:

Rainbow Skewers
Kabobs are a great family friendly way to make a camp meal. Kids love to make their own patterns and designs for what will go into their meal by placing them on a skewer to roast over the fire. try bringing a pan of already marinated tofu or tempeh and precut veggies to your campout and let the kids create their own patterns and rainbows. We like using zucchini coins, sweet peppers, and even a few sweet fruits that roast well, like mango and pineapple. Roast them until browned for a rather gourmet camping meal.

The Wonder of Foil
Foil cooking is a wonderful, easy way for kids to get in on the meal making while in the great outdoors. Set up an assembly line of sorts and let kids add any combination of the following to a square of foil: try precooked beans, rice or quinoa, thinly sliced potatoes and bits of rosemary, corn, broccoli, peas, fennel, or squash pieces. Wrap the foil tightly and place in the fire. Once warmed thoroughly, remove the wrapped foil from the fire, open (be careful of the escaping steam) and add your favorite fresh toppings, such as avocado, tomato, olives, “cheese”, cilantro, or a favorite dressing or sauce. For a snack, try wrapping some corn kernels and a drop of oil. Place atop a fire grate and make sure you have some long handled tongs so you can give them a continuous gentle shake. Voilá! Your very own mini popcorn treat.

Reinventing the Dog
Of course, hot dogs, kids, and campfires go hand in hand. And fortunately, there are many varieties of "dogs" that are NOT nitrate and other yucky stuff-filled. Of course, kids rarely need help in using their imaginations, but you can guide them in the many new ways they can eat their veggie dogs. Consider bringing your favorite biscuit batter (prepared before you leave the house is easiest) and help children wrap their dog up in a blanket for those cold camping nights. Or try cutting your dogs to resemble a spider or other insects you might encounter on your journey by slicing it lengthwise about halfway up from the bottom. Now that’s a not dog…one that will inspire creativity, laughter, and maybe even a few campfire stories.

So it has really happened, summer has officially arrived. Get in on the magic as you light up your fire. The fairies will surely dance around your wondrous campfire meals!

Quote of the day!

2008-07-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

Smack dab in the middle of this afternoon...

Zeal: Mom, I'm hungry.
Ginger: Ready for a snack?
Zeal: Yes, I'm ready to eat my snack the way the people in Pompei ate their food.
Ginger: And how did the people in Pompei eat their food?
Zeal: Laying on the couch and having someone feed them (he says with a snicker, a hand covering the mouth, and even a dash out of the room because he know's there just NO WAY!)

Just had to share. This crazy kid.

No Bake Cookies, Zeal-style!

2008-06-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

Cookies are a terrific way for kids to practice "Thinking Outside the Recipe", getting kids to wonder what goes into the perfect cookie, and then combining to get that perfect consistency. And just because its summer and mom says "no oven, no way", that is not gonna stop this kid from wanting to explore with a new cookie recipe.

So here's today's combination of goodies that happened to be Zeal's newest creation:
(measurements are approximate, but I think I took good enough note of each as he tossed them in)

No Bake Cookies, Zeal-style!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (he used Earth Balance - coconut butter/oil would work well too)
2 T. cocoa powder (he actually wanted carob powder, but we were all out)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk (he used soy)
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cups oats
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Directions:
Melt butter over medium heat. Mix in cocoa, sugar, and milk and bring to boil. Boil for 3 minutes and then immediately remove from heat. Add all of the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

The process was totally precious, but he begged me to wait and just take a picture of the final product. I think I need to install a "security" camera.

Verdict: "Wow! They're really yummy!" Did he just surprise himself?

Toe Tappin' Tapioca!

2008-06-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

When Zeal cooks, he often spends a lot of the time singing and tapping his little toes to whatever song he has made up about the food he is making. Late last night (you know those summer nights that just beg to be activity laden because it is late but the sun is still up) he decided he wanted to make some tapioca pudding.

The song went:
TAP TAP TAP--I-OOOOOOOOO-CA!
TAP TAP TAP--I-OOOOOOOOO-CA!

And this little jar sure made a great shaker to add to the song and dance:

Here's our tapioca recipe, vegan with a tropical flair:

Coconut Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients:
1 can lite coconut milk
1 cup soy milk
½ cup tapioca pearls
½ cup sugar
3 t. egg replacer
1 t. vanilla

Directions:
Soak tapioca pearls in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes. Add drained tapioca to coconut and soy milks and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar and egg replacer and whisk until thoroughly blended. Bring to boil again and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Add vanilla. Serve warm or cold.

We made a double batch, but this stuff just doesn't last very long.

Pie Passion! (and a Kitchen Tool of the Week)

2008-06-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

We're in a bit of a pie making frenzy. In years past, when this kind of pie passion takes over, I would bake 10-12 pies at a time and freeze them for winter nights, potlucks, dinner parties, or just an afternoon when we all needed some summer fruit reminders. I have a feeling this will be one of those years, and judging from the fruit coming on our backyard apple tree, it may just have to be an apple pie year.

For now, we eat strawberries. Here's the latest: a strawberry rhubarb pie that had us all licking our lips. For the crust, I usually use coconut oil and whole wheat flour, although this one was part spelt. Zeal and I enjoyed the tapping out the strawberry shaped vent holes. He's still learning the art of the crust pinch, but I say not too bad.

But here's the real fun when it comes to Zeal's pie making forays. He loves these little molds we picked up last year in one our bulk orders to Frontier. These are a great tool to have on hand for anyone wanting to get your kids involved in the kitchen more. They take very little dough (and will even work with a rolled out piece of bread) and are great fun to fill. Zeal usually gets them out when I have some kind of crust or dough in the works, and therefore fills them with whatever pie filling we have going, but he's also been know to use them for sandwich fillings (especially jam), sliced cucumbers and a bit of herb salt, or any number of styles of cooked veggies (the favorite has been Ethiopian style - we're still working on a teff recipe that we like).

Here's the nifty little mold just before being graced with some strawberries and rhubarb:

Snack Trays

2008-06-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

When Zeal was just a toddler, starting to really gain a repertoire of solid foods, we began using a "snack tray" in our house to serve a variety of functions:
-introduce him to new foods without a bunch of fanfare,
-monitor what and how much he was eating, and
-give him the opportunity to graze between meals (which incidentally really helps with any unexpected meltdowns that usually have something to do with low blood sugar)

The tradition continues. These days, our snack trays and grazing sites have less bite-sized little chunks of cucumbers and muffins pieces separated out into their own places in a muffin tin and are more elaborate spreads of fresh veggies and dips.

We made this one the other day with what we had on hand: olives, radishes, carrots, a bit of leftover fennel bulb, a few pieces of romaine and basil from the night before, and some pita bread we picked up on the way home. Zeal is a big fan of tomato chunks, so we also always have those lying around for him to snack on. He usually prefers his favorite Annie's Sesame and Shitake salad dressing as a dip, but this time the dip is a blended mixture of good olive oil and feta cheese and I highly recommend the combination.

What do you put out for your kids to graze on?

Chasing blueberries!

2008-06-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

To make room for the new fresh ones about to come on, we're working on clearing out our freezer of last season's berries. And we've finally reached the last bag of blueberries! Zeal is forever wanting to make "pie", which often means cobbler, especially when we don't get it together to make pie crust. Ever since he was a toddler, I've set him up with his own pie making stations. They usually consist of the fruit-of-the-day, a personal sized pie pan or other baking container of his choosing, and a few other essentials such as flour, cinnamon (or other spices), brown sugar or agave, and sometimes some oats and other items of his choosing.

This is a fantastic way to get kids experimenting with ingredients, and usually a real treat! Just put out the ingredients and let them go. Pop it in the oven, and see what happens. The more they do it, the more confidence they will have in the experience of putting ingredients together. It's lovely to see what uniquely emerges from the oven each time.

Unfortunately, I wasn't quite fast enough with the camera this time around, and the result got eaten before I got to it.

That must mean it was yummy!

And here's our favorite little read about blueberries, for anyone getting ready and excited for the coming of blueberry season!

"Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk go the blueberries into the pail of a little girl named Sal who--try as she might--just can't seem to pick as fast as she eats. Robert McCloskey's classic is a magical tale of the irrepressible curiosity--not to mention appetite--of youth. Sal and her mother set off in search of blueberries for the winter at the same time as a mother bear and her cub. A quiet comedy of errors ensues when the young ones wander off and absentmindedly trail the wrong mothers."

Okay, blueberries, we're officially ready for you. Until then, we'll try and do our part to help get those strawberry fields cleared out.

Welcome Summer! (arrival time: 5PM today!)

2008-06-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

What better way to celebrate the first moments of summer than a picnic in the park? Here's our quick and easy picnic dinner that seemed to satisfy everyone involved.

On the menu:
-artichoke skewers, breaded with a flax, bread crumb and herb crust, lightly fried, and served with lemon aioli sauce
-easy broccoli salad (broccoli, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and a bit of italian dressing)
-watermelon
-just picked strawberries!

I literally had all of 15 minutes to get this picnic dinner together and it turned out, well, rather gourmet. It was truly...a walk in the park. So easy, in fact, that Zeal did almost every step along side me. He especially loved rolling the artichoke hearts in the breading.

And I apologize for the brief absence, and lack of cooking that has been going on here. I do have a good excuse. Please meet the newest member of our family, exhibiting him or herself with my swelling belly as I lay against papa (those are his gentle, loving hands) on this beautiful first evening of summer. Now in the second trimester, I'm finally in the mood to cook (and eat) again!

And the sun is out so long and so glorious now, that we even had time (after biking around, playing basketball, and a fair bit of swinging) to gather the supplies and return for some good old-fashioned root beer floats. Hello summer! We're glad you're back.

Gross is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose

2008-06-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

So I walked into the kitchen this weekend to find this little scene:

Ginger: What are you working on? (she says eyeing the contents of the table and trying not to sound disgusted)
Zeal: I'm making a snack.
Ginger: Oh. What's your snack?
Zeal: It's a sandwich. I couldn't find any cucumbers, so it's just bread, bananas, jam, and cheese.
Ginger: Have you had a sandwich like that before somewhere?
Zeal: Nope.
Ginger: How did you get the idea for it?
Zeal: It just popped into my head.
Ginger: Now you're going to pop it into your mouth?
Zeal: Exactly!

He ate the whole thing!

And then came back to me:
Zeal: Can you make sure you get me some cucumbers for next time?
Ginger: Put it on the list.

Oh the sometimes surprising joy of letting kids "think outside" - the things they come up with.
Someday this kid is gonna stumble upon a combination that will truly wow us all.

Energy continued...

2008-05-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

We've been having a grand time making more little snack-sized sources of energy. This was a great activity for the kids to work through entirely on their own with a bit of verbal guidance and supervision. I did get in trouble for trying to get the nuts chopped and ready for them - which must be a sign that they were way into the project.

Here's the scene as it unfolded:

First, make a nice large mess of the tiny table we are working on. Don't forget to drip the mixture on the floor.

Pour the nuts and carob mixture together:

Add to a pan, refrigerate, cut into chunks, and devour them! (Good thing we made a double batch)

These got an enthusiastic thumbs up from everybody involved and they taste remarkably like the carob energy bars we get in the store.
"Only better!" says one reviewer.

Here's the actual recipe:
Carob Energy Nuggets
Ingredients:
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup powdered carob
1 tsp sea salt (only use if you are using unsalted nuts, otherwise leave it out)
1 T. vanilla
¾ cup cashews
¾ cup almonds  
½ cup pistachios
1 cup coconut

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together agave, carob, sea salt, and vanilla. Blend nuts until finely chopped. Add coconut and pulse until blended. Place in bowl and thoroughly blend in carob mixture. Spread mixture into a pan and refrigerate until firm. Then cut into small squares.

And here's the sweet little kicker to this one.
Later in the evening, Zeal was looking through some supplies for another project he was working on and came across a leftover package of candy foils we used last year when we were making candy skulls for Day of the Dead.
He shouted, "I have a great idea!" at the top of his lungs, and then pulled out what was left of the carob candies and wrapped them all individually. He was so excited about the foil, even the neighbors got to try some of them. They were a hit all around.

Zeal Balls! For anyone in need of a bit of energy!

2008-05-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

(This one's for you, Valerie. Sorry it took me so long to get this up)

Energy Balls (otherwise know as Zeal Balls!)

Kids are often described as balls of energy! They go so hard, so fast, so pure, all day. Snacks are intended to be pick-me-ups for them, just satisfying enough to get through till the next full meal. But snacks also need to provide the nutrients to help little bodies keep up with the big ideas they have in mind.

A power-packed little combination of both sweet and savory ingredients, Energy Balls are a quick, easy, and all around fun snack for kids to make themselves or together as a family. Because they combine many different ingredients filled with a variety of nutrients, they provide a quick, one-inch burst of energy that will have the staying power that growing, moving kids need.

A great “to-go” snack, Energy Balls are easy packables for picnics, car trips, and school lunches. They can be made days in advance, refrigerated, and pulled out during the melt-down emergencies many kids experience when they are running low on fuel.

For an added creative and sensory experience, use your hands to stir the ingredients together. Don’t worry too much about getting the “right” measurements – these little guys are forgiving.

Energy Balls
Ingredients:
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup granola
¼ cup grated carrots or zucchini
¼ cup oats
¼ cup sunflower seeds (or other nuts and seed of your choice such as flax or hemp)
¼ cup peanut butter or more if you feel the mixture is too dry to roll into balls.
1 T agave nectar or maple syrup (optional - we use pretty sweet granola from Golden Temple so we often don't add extra sweetener)
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and roll into twelve 1-inch balls.
Dust or roll in wheat germ, flax seeds, hemp seeds, or your choice of topping.

Strawberry Love!

2008-05-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

We are lucky enough to be in strawberry heaven, all because our CSA is about as passionate about strawberries as they come. They call them their "signature item". We've been getting our weekly box for six seasons now, and the strawberries are as good as ever. Here is where they grow:

As you can imagine, when these always ripe and sweet strawberries make it to our doorstep each week, they don't often last very long. Generally they are eaten right out of the tote. But Zeal feels, for some unknown reason this year, that we need to be "doing something" with all that garden goodness. He's taken to slicing them (all the strawberries in this bowl were sliced by him - very methodically - and then he talked me into making the sign for his bowl (those are really his words gracing it)!

So when our friends came over for a cooking adventure, it felt natural to do something "strawberry". We decided on strawberry shortcake. We started with a simple biscuit recipe made from a baking mix (you know the kind that comes in a box). We used a gluten free one, but any biscuit mix or scratch recipe will do (we just decided to simplify it for the kids ever-wanting-to-just-go-and-play attention spans). This was a super easy thing for the kids to quickly do by themselves.

Warm out of the oven, we split each biscuit in half and the kids had a great time layering the biscuit halves, strawberry slices, and whipped cream. We used this soy one as we were doing a vegan version of shortcake. With very few ingredients and a great taste, it was a nice alternative.

These shortcakes weren't so short, but rather tall with taste. They got an enthusiastic thumbs up from the kids. I thought the biscuits could have used some sweetener to make it more dessert-y, but since the kids loved them just the way they were I decided to keep that to myself.

Another reason I love my mom!

2008-05-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

I have this plan to someday write down all the reasons I so love this wonderful woman in my life, my mom!

She's the woman who taught me how to cook, but never forced it on me.
She's the woman who has always respected that there were just foods I wasn't wanting to eat, and never made me (knowing that my body knew what it needed and what it couldn't handle before the allergy doctors figured it out.)
And she's the woman who always saved these special little things from my childhood and pulls them out at various moments in my life when they seem most fitting.

Here's the homemade apron I wore as a very young child - wore everywhere, but had totally forgotten about!

This Mother's Day she brought it to me. It will never fit me again (it's too small even for Zeal), but it's hanging in a place of honor in our kitchen as a symbol of love, cooking together, and handing down memories to our children. Thanks Mom!

Awesome Family Cookbook!

2008-05-16T08:57:00.001-07:00

Cathe Olson, author of Simply Natural Baby Food is back! And, wow!

From shopping lists to sample menus to sound nutritional information for pregnancy and lactation, this book covers everything you want to know, and more! There are sections on how to supplement your diet to help with everything from cravings, constipation and heartburn to a colicky baby, lack of breastmilk and depression. But that's only the beginning.

There are over 300 recipes in this cookbook. When I first got this book, I started by writing little notes to myself in the margins: things like "Yumm!", "Quick and Easy" and "Great!" Pretty soon, I realized the whole book was being marked up and now I have little post-its sticking out all over to remind myself to "make that again!" Every recipe has been a hit!

Many of the recipes are vegan; those that aren't offer a vegan alternative. Each recipe offers nutritional information and key nutrients. Many of the recipes offer freezing directions and variation ideas. In addition to seemingly endless healthful recipes and unique ideas for everything from breakfasts to snacks, to stews, entrees and desserts the whole family will dive into, Olson offers a variety of teas and tonics to soothe pregnancy discomforts.

This book should be in every family's kitchen! It is truly the best `family' cookbook I have come across.

Breakfast in Bed: Celebrating Mamas, Wonder Kids, and Togetherness!

2008-05-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

(Excerpted from the May issue of Wonderwise)

Breakfast in Bed: Celebrating Mamas, Wonder Kids, and Togetherness!

The light peeks through the curtains and you hear the birds begin to sing just a half-second before the tiny cold feet you’d know at any time of day burrow into the small of your back. You’re a mama, so this is only the beginning of the surprises you have come to expect throughout your days.

There is something very special about kids and beds. Away from the barrage of other activities, household stimuli, and other distractions, the bed becomes a place for connection, one in which children open up, talk about their dreams (literal and figurative), tell stories, ask questions, and listen.

So before you peel yourself up from that wonderfully comfortable nook to go set the table for a morning meal, consider the alternative: breakfast in bed.

Breakfast in Bed Essentials
Breakfast in bed is perhaps the most special kind of meal. It can be simple or elaborate. It can be in celebration of a special day, like Mother’s or Father’s Day, or just be a time to stretch out those precious morning hours where you all meet in bed to connect before the day’s bustle begins.

On the Menu
In our house, the more we bring food into our bed, the simpler the menus seem to become. We might just go for some of our favorite granola bars we made the morning before or some apple slices while we’re reading. We do have a few standing rules now about the kinds of food that can even be carried through the door: nothing too sticky, nothing too crumbly, and drinks get lids. Whether simple or elaborate, the menu for a breakfast in bed can take many different roads. For the mama who plans ahead, less work, and to add a true being served feeling to your morning, use your slow cooker the night before and try a creamy rice pudding or trail mix oatmeal. On those special days, such as Mother’s Day, the menu might get spiced up a bit. For the rest of the month, right here on Thinking Outside the Recipe, I will be featuring some of our favorite Breakfast in Bed recipes, so stay tuned.

Presenting…
Navigating forks and knives, cups and saucers, and all the other little items you might include in your breakfast in bed, can take some real juggling, so make sure you have something you are serving your special meal on. While trays made especially for eating this way, commonly called TV trays, can be a wonderful addition, you can also improvise and serve meals on a cookie sheet. Or try serving it in an appropriately sized box lid, perhaps even decorated to make it extra special.

Serving Stories
An essential part of our breakfasts in bed includes all types of stories and language experiences. While you are eating, share a few fun poems. Bring some light reading in the form of comic books. Or read the next chapter from whatever your bedtime book might have been the night before. It’s also a great time to connect your kids with the newspaper. Plan the rest of your day together based on what the weather page says. Read the funnies, or look for interesting kid-friendly news stories together.

Theme Meals
Etched in my memory is one particular Mother’s Day when we brought Mom breakfast in bed. The foods we served her spelled out MOTHER. Milk for M. Orange juice for O. Toast for T. Hash browns for H. Scrambled eggs for E. And a bowlful of thawed raspberries from the freezer for R. She was delighted with the gift and we all enjoyed the morning cuddling together.

Even if you aren’t celebrating a particular day, consider giving your breakfast a theme, such as High Tea (wear crowns and serve little sandwiches), Rainy Day breakfast (read rain themed books and serve “clouds”, aka tapioca pudding), or try a Jungle Breakfast (bring a few fun noses from your costume collection and serve “Jungle Juice”, aka banana, pineapple, mango smoothie).

Breakfast from Afar
A few years ago, we couldn’t be there for Mother’s Day, and I felt at a loss for sharing that special morning and breakfast with my mom. We still wanted to send our Mother’s Day brunch wishes even though we couldn’t be there with her, so we packed up breakfast in bed and sent it snail mail. The box consisted of some homemade muffins, chocolates, and a ceramic champagne flute my son had painted at the local paint-your-own-pottery place. A simple package, but filled with love. And Mom still got her breakfast in bed.

Breakfast Anytime
It doesn’t need to be morning time for you to enjoy this special ritual. And it is usually a treat for kids to eat breakfast foods for dinner, so consider turning your eating rituals upside down. On a particularly cold or dreary day, take lunch or a snack into bed. Bring your stuffed animals along and let them share in the fun. Have breakfast for dinner in bed, and include the whole family.

As we celebrate family, togetherness, and just being “Mom”, give yourself permission and an invitation to stay in bed a bit longer this month. Begin a new ritual and climb back under those covers and warm yourselves from the inside out.

Sweet Potato Firefighter Guy

2008-05-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

Lately, we have been eating a lot of sweet potatoes in various forms for lunch. Not sure where it came from , but we have been calling sweet potato fries "Firefighter Fries" for ever now, maybe since Zeal could speak and announce his preference for them. In the last few weeks, he has been loving making them for lunch and adding a new twist to the process by using bamboo skewers to hold them together in the shape of Sweet Potato Firefighter Guy. Sometimes we are graced with an abstract figure; sometimes they take the form of a robotic transformer from Civilizania. Always, they are yummy.

Here's what we do for regular Firefighter Fries:

1. Peel a sweet potato/yam - it builds dexterity in the hands to have children use a vegetable peeler. Often, I peel them quickly with a knife if Zeal doesn't want to use a peeler.

2. Slice into "fries" or stick shapes. Sometimes we cut them into "coins" too. Any shape will do.

3. Spread sweet potatoes out evenly on a lightly oiled pan.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

5. Toss "fries" and return to oven for another 15 minutes.

6. When browned, remove from oven and salt to taste. Yummy!

Book Review: Simply Natural Baby Food

2008-05-05T08:09:00.001-07:00

Simply Natural Baby Food by Cathe Olson is a simply wonderful book. This little gem is a must-have for anyone wanting to give their baby or toddler the very best in whole, nutritious foods. Finally, here’s a great collection of baby food recipes and ideas that go beyond traditional jar food and provide our babies and toddlers with exactly what they need, when they need it.

Simply Natural Baby Food provides recipes for Starting Solids, Intermediate Foods, Older Baby Foods and Toddler Foods. There are many wonderful ideas for breakfast foods, snacks, soups, sandwiches, grains and vegetables, entrees and yummy sugar free desserts and beverages. Each section provides information about the nutritional needs of your growing baby with fun wholesome recipes.

This recipe book is not just “baby food” as the title suggests. With lots of yummy recipes for snacks and meals, this is a book you’ll continue to use well into childhood. Things like fig bars, zucchini cake, and carrot cake sprout cookies will please the whole family.

Go ahead. Think outside the jar!

CAUTION: Children at Work! Staying Safe in the Kitchen

2008-05-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

A few little things that need to be said:

CAUTION: Children at Work! Staying Safe in the Kitchen
Wash your hands! Make sure every child washes his/her hands before cooking -- and washes them again any time they sneeze, use the bathroom or cough. Don’t forget to cough or sneeze into your elbow to minimize the germs that touch your hands.

Demonstrate the proper use of utensils, especially knives. Teach children to always cut away from themselves. Save the intricate carving for yourself. Check out these scary fingers to guide children in proper knife use.

Remember that seemingly innocent utensils like plastic knives and toothpicks can become dangerous weapons in the hands of an unwary child. Always supervise closely and offer help when necessary to insure safety.

Don't sample uncooked products made with raw eggs. Yes, this means cookie dough! Raw eggs are a primary source of salmonella, a dangerous type of food poisoning. Although you may have eaten raw cookie dough your entire life, it doesn't mean it's a good idea to teach your children to do so. Instead, let them be your "official tasters" once the project is completed.

Totally Smoothie!

2008-05-02T07:48:00.001-07:00

As part of my presentation this coming Monday evening for the Eugene Veg Education Network, I will be demonstrating recipes including a few of our favorite snacks, a lunchtime treat, and our favorite SMOOTHIE, a cherry, spinach, banana mixture everyone will love! Here's a piece called Totally Smoothie I wrote for VegFamily years ago, that seems as timely as ever.

Totally Smoothie
by Ginger Carlson

Let's make it GREEN!" My son joyfully squeals while tossing a handful of fresh organic spinach atop bananas, rice milk, peaches and almond butter into the family blender. Liquefy. Stir. Chop. Pulse. "Green Smoothie!" he cries out in celebration jumping up and down on his stool. His delight is truly scrumptious, as is his breakfast.

Oh, the magic of the blender, the most forgiving tool in our busy lives and kitchens today. Getting our toddlers and young children to eat their share of whole fruits and veggies (or even any at all) can sometimes be a struggle. Spending some time getting to know smoothies may help your young child get those much needed nutrients, with the added bonus of being a way to connect with your kids and spark creative fun in the kitchen.

Smoothies offer a way to make your child's daily whole foods quota. Recent reports by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association show that toddler consumption of dark, green, leafy vegetables has become increasingly low and that fewer than 10% of all infants and toddlers consume ANY green leafies in a given day. Whole fruits and other vegetables are increasingly absent from the diet of young Americans as well. Smoothies can be our baby-step personal solution to this national problem.

Via the all-amazing smoothie, the kitchen has the great potential to become your very own investigational lab. Use a smoothie to explore ways to 'get them to eat their veggies' while providing an opportunity to problem solve ("It's too thick, what should we do?") and think outside the box, in this case, to think outside the recipe. Give ownership to the smoothie experience by allowing your child to get creative with what goes in it. She'll soon find out the joy of mixing colors and what it takes to make a purple, pink, green, orange, brown or white smoothie. As you experiment with your blender, you'll likely find that there really isn't a need for recipes and you can feel confident that there isn't a more ideal way to encourage inquiry and exploration in your young children. With a smoothie, it is nearly impossible to fail. And it's the trial and error, like all things we learn, that will help us, and our kids, to become more in tune with our creativity and become better problem solvers.

Smoothies are a wonderful way for your family to take advantage of the many benefits of raw foods. "We can expose more nutrients by blending, pureeing, and juicing. This keeps the vitamins intact, as well as the enzymes, and accomplishes the goal of steaming without any loss of food value," says David Wolfe, CEO of rawfood.com and author of Eating for Beauty. "Juicing, blending, and pureeing is a way of breaking up fiber without corrupting by heat the integrity of the fiber itself, the nutrients contained in the plant cell, and the quality of the water in the food." When you turn on the blender, you instantly win half the battle by eliminating the texture of a new raw food while enjoying a nutrient rich meal.

Even the savviest little palate will often have difficulty identifying all the nutritious ingredients in a smoothie. Because veggies and other ingredients blend so nicely, the only evidence of their presence in a smoothie will sometimes be the color. So it is easy to get added doses of protein by adding nut butters, avocados, soft tofu, soy milk or yogurt. Experiment with wheat germ, rice milk and flax seed for added grains. Sneak in kale, spinach or other leafy greens, peas, pumpkin, squash or tomato juice. Use soluble fibers such as oat bran, brown rice and your own variation of favorite fruits such as berries, grapefruit, oranges, melons, peaches, pears or pineapple. Add carrots, cucumber, cauliflower, or zucchini. Complete your meal with an alternative to refined sweeteners like molasses, honey, or maple syrup, but realize that the perfect smoothie need not be sweetened up any more than the natural sweetness that the fruit provides. Sometimes just adding a bit of fresh squeezed beet or carrot juice, or rice or vanilla soy milk can be enough to sweeten a smoothie to your child's liking. Of course, before blending, make sure your child is not allergic to those 'hidden' ingredients.

Smoothies are an all around perfect snack or meal for the young child. They are fast, convenient, affordable, satisfying, a tool to spark creativity, and let's not forget nutritious. So give it a whirl; energize your kids and yourself with a smoothie and devour those nutrients, along with the fun!

See it on VegFamily.

Food Freedom!

2008-04-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Arun from The Parenting Pit for permission to reprint this cartoon here. Your banana smoothie is forthcoming!

The Joyful Vegan Family

2008-04-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

You are joyfully invited to a presentation on Monday May 5, 2008, 7PM at the Eugene Veg Education Network. I will be speaking on the Joyful Vegan Family. The presentation will include:
-nourishing kids with a vegan diet (whether they be young children, teens, grandkids or the neighbor kids)
-resources for vegan/vegetarian families
-other issues related to raising vegan children such as: travel, packing snacks and lunches, family and community meals, and cooking with kids
-recipes the whole family will love

From the EVEN website:

EVEN is a non-sectarian, official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to educating the general public about the impact of their food choices... By our own choices, through the example of our own lives, all of us can make the world better or worse. Each day the choice is ours. What do we choose?