Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal

Summer is finally here and we are loving it!  For the past few weeks my garden has really gotten going, so I've had lots of fun as Mini Muffin has enthusiastically observed our seeds sprouting and growing into every bigger plants.  Not only are the veggies coming along nicely, but my rhubarb is up and producing like mad!  It's a good thing because I certainly do enjoy rhubarb!

While searching for ways (other than delicious pie) to use rhubarb, I came across the idea of rhubarb oatmeal on eatingwell.com and just had to give it a try.  So this morning, we broke from our usual mid-week breakfast routine and tried something new - Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal.  Yum!

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal

1 1/2c 2% milk
1/2c orange juice
1c old fashioned rolled oats
1c chopped rhubarb
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1c chopped strawberries
1tbsp maple syrup

1.  Chop rhubarb into ~1cm pieces (or finer if making for baby).
2.  In a medium saucepan, combine milk, orange juice, oats, rhubarb, cinnamon and salt.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3.  Reduce heat until gently bubbling and cook, stirring often, for three minutes.
4.  Add chopped strawberries and cook an additional two minutes or until most liquid has absorbed.
5.  Cover and let rest for five minutes.
6.  Stir in maple syrup, adding additional to taste if desired.

Makes ~3 cups

Little Smiling Man and I both enjoyed having oatmeal with a sweet/tart twist for breakfast.  Since strawberry rhubarb is a common combination the taste was familiar, but somehow completely new being in oatmeal form.  It definitely made for a delicious and unique dish!

The oats held their shape very well, so after having some from a spoon, Little Smiling Man decided to turn it into a messy finger food and enjoyed feeding himself.  For younger babies, I would consider puréeing the final product, but for older babies ready to explore texture this is a great dish! 

I also took some to work for my afternoon snack.  It wasn't quite as satisfying for my sweet/tart cravings as rhubarb pie, but it was definitely a better choice and kept my energy levels steady through until dinner. 

With more rhubarb ready for harvest, I suspect there'll be some more recipe experimentation this weekend.  Stay tuned for more rhubarb goodness!

Zucchini Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

What a fantastic long weekend we had!  Having spent it working and playing outside, as well as getting a few things done inside, I came out of the weekend on an absolute high.  We had so much good quality family time, were active all weekend, and got so much done!

One of my less fun indoor tasks for the weekend was cleaning out the cabinet I use to store serving dishes, wine glasses and recipe books.  As I was going through my clutter of assorted recipe books and cooking magazines, I realized how nice it is that my focus in cooking hasn't changed much over the years.  I'm as much about tasty, simple and healthy food today as I was ten years ago.  This makes it really interesting to go through all of my recipes, as I tend to find forgotten, delicious gems.

The recipe I'm sharing today literally fell into my lap.  As in I was sitting on the floor, pulling down recipe books, and a recipe that I'd printed out years ago but never tried fell from the stack and landed in my lap.  When I read it and realized that it incorporated zucchini and a very ripe banana (of which I had one of each that needed to be used up) as well as quinoa (which I love), I knew it was meant to be.

Thanks to the footer on my print out, I was able to trace where it came from.  The Healthy Foodie created this recipe, and when I browse around their website they seem to have created many more tasty creations in the years since! 

Naturally, I put my own tweaks to it, and the result is perfect for little ones.  I find these muffins hearty and moist, and both lightly sweetened and spiced.  Best of all, they have no added sugar, lots of veg, and all the goodness of quinoa.  Quinoa is a grain that I'd really like my kids to eat more of, but I haven't had much luck at incorporating it into finger foods until now.  No matter how well formed and sturdy my efforts seemed to be, they end up disintegrating into a mess of individual grains as soon as little fingers grasp them.  Happily this recipe bucked that trend so I know it's possible.  If you have an awesome recipe for quinoa based finger foods, comment below please!  I'm interested!

In terms of sweetness, I kept my batch plain and found the flavours to be subtle but pleasant.  If you like your muffins a little sweeter or your flavor profiles more complex, consider adding a bit of maple syrup, raisins or both to your batter. 

Zucchini Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

Zucchini Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins - fresh out of the oven

2c whole wheat flour
1 tsp gluten flour (optional)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg 
1c zucchini, grated (about 1 medium zucchini)
1c pumpkin purée
1c cooked quinoa
1 large, very ripe banana
2 eggs
2/3c 2% milk

Optional:
1/3c raisins and/or 2tbsp maple syrup

1.  Preheat oven to 425F and line muffin tins.
2.  Blend first seven ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.
3.  Grate zucchini, and squeeze away excess water.*
4.  Combine zucchini, pumpkin and quinoa well.  Then, add well mashed banana, eggs and milk.  Include maple syrup in wet ingredients if desired.
5.  Pour zucchini mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Add raisins if desired.
6.  Divide among muffin tins, and bake for five minutes at 425F.  Then, decrease temperature to 375F and bake another 17-20 minutes until lightly browned and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7.  Enjoy warm or cooled, they're lovely both ways!

Makes 16-18 muffins

* I've only recently come to appreciate the difference in final texture that squeezing moisture out of zucchini lends to my baked goods.  I simply transferred my grated zucchini to a clean tea towel, and squeezed it out over the sink.  It's amazing how much liquid a zucchini contains!

Little Smiling Man had one with dinner and his narrative was along the lines of "Harum, mum mum mum mum!", which I think means "Mmmm, mmm, mmmm"! 

Celebratory Sweet Potato Waffles

Today is Mini Muffin's third birthday!  Everyone says it, but while the days can be long, the years truly are short.  Suddenly my little first born baby has grown into a little girl who is more preschooler than toddler, and is absolutely beautiful both inside and out.  She makes me laugh every day and makes me want to be the best mom I can be.  She's full of love, energy, joy and wonder, and I hope those characteristics only grow stronger with age.

This morning she woke up with a big smile on her face; she's been asking if it's almost her "Happy Day" since July, so it's been a long time coming.  After I finished singing Happy Birthday, her first question was "Where's my cake?".  Luckily I'd thought ahead, and had a great alternative available for her... waffles for breakfast!

My husband makes waffles almost every weekend, usually with Mini Muffin as his helper.  His version involves stiff peaked egg whites to make them light and fluffy and oh so delicious.  While I love them, I don't love the effort and extra dishes their preparation entails.  So last night I set about making my own waffle recipe and included sweet potato.  I will admit that with my husband out of town and my mom (who was staying with us to help) having gone home yesterday, I felt like a superstar when I got the kids to bed, did all my cleaning/straightening while the sweet potato was steaming, prepped the wet and dry ingredients (so all I'd have to do was combine them and cook in the morning), and still got to bed in good time.  This morning, I got up 15 minutes early to make sure I had time to get both myself and the waffles organised before my early rising Little Smiling Man got up for the day.  It all came together perfectly, Little Smiling Man "slept in" and I managed to take the last waffle out of the iron just as Mini Muffin woke up.  Hooray!

My sweet potato waffles are quite dense and slightly sweet, and as such I found them very satisfying.  I even took a left over waffle with me to have as a snack at work - it was tasty even unheated and without toppings!  As an added bonus, the texture of these waffles stands up really well to little hands so they make a great finger food.

Sweet Potato Waffles

Staying warm in the oven until the Birthday Girl awakes!

1c mashed sweet potato
1c 2% milk
1 egg
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp melted butter (optional)
1 1/2c all purpose flour*
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch salt

1.  Peel, chop and steam sweet potato until soft.  Mash well, minimising lumps.
2.  Combine sweet potato, milk, egg, maple syrup and butter**.
3.   Blend remaining dry ingredients.
4.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and combine to form a thick batter.
5.  Grease waffle iron and cook.  I found a lower heat setting to give fully cooked and lightly browned waffles - setting 2 of 6 on my iron.
6.  Enjoy with butter and syrup, fruit and whipped cream, fruit sauce, or on their own!

Makes 6 waffles

* Whole wheat flour and a small amount of gluten flour could be substituted for white flour; I chose white flour because the sweet potato makes these waffles pretty dense as is.
** In my bleary eyed state this morning I completely forgot to add the butter I'd planned to include - the waffles turned out well without!

Mini Muffin was thrilled at surprise week day waffles!  After I topped them with butter and little bit of maple syrup, she tucked in and I held my breath hoping she wouldn't notice that they weren't "normal" waffles.  Her first response was "Mmmm... mmmm...."; music to my ears! And about four bites in she added:

Mini Muffin: "Did you put cinnamon?"
Mommy: "Yes, I did."
Mini Muffin: "Does Mommy's waffle have cinnamon?"
Mommy: "Yes, it does."
Mini Muffin: "We like cinnamon!" (smiles)

Birthday Breakfast in Progress!

Sweet success to start my Friday morning.  I am one happy momma, and aptly so since as Mini Muffin says, a birthday is a "Happy Day".

Shrek Juice

Today we practiced what seems to have become a weekly ritual.  Today was our official try-to-sneak-green-food-into-your-strong-willed-and-picky-toddler day.  So far I've been having the most success with putting greens into beverage form, and have previously posted about some of our favourites (Shamrock Mock-shake and "Chocolate" Thick Shake).  This time, I decided to revisit a favourite of Mini Muffin's that I haven't made for a few months; Shrek Juice.

Gloriously Green - Shrek Juice!

The recipe for Shrek Juice came from Homemade Smoothies for Mother and Baby by Kristine Miles, that my husband picked up for me on a whim at the grocery store about a year ago.  It's been the source of a couple of good ideas for kid friendly smoothies, a few good mama smoothies and, well, a few flops along the way.  From those we've tried, Shrek Juice is a definite gem!

So, without further delay -

Shrek Juice

1 1/2 c coconut water
Large handful of baby spinach
2 dates
1/2 avocado
1 ripe banana
Ice

1.  Soak dates to soften.  I like soaking them overnight to get them as soft as possible.
2.  Add spinach, then dates, then coconut water to blender.  Blend well (no chunks should remain).
3.  Add banana and avocado, blending until smooth.
4.  Add ice, blend and enjoy!

I find this smoothie to be very well suited to the toddler/preschooler pallet.  The banana and avocado make it creamy, the banana and dates make it naturally sweet, and the banana flavour does a great job at hiding the taste of all the other ingredients.  And of course it's a wonderful shade of green that could only be favoured by ogres!  I also like that it gives Mini Muffin healthy fats from the avocado, electrolytes from the coconut water and of course a good helping of spinach! 

Since it's been a while since I've made it, today was Little Smiling Man's first Shrek Juice experience.  He's not as tough a customer to please as his sister, but he greeted it pretty enthusiastically and screeched for some of mine as well.  Mini Muffin eyed it up, then she eyed me up, then conceded to try a sip.  Happily, that sip turned into her drinking her cup.  I think Shrek Juice is officially back in my rotation!

Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins - A Hit!

A couple of months ago I started cleaning my fridge out every Friday.  It's made a huge difference; reducing fridge clutter and food waste simultaneously.  It gives me a good view of what I have, what I need, and what I need to use up in the very near future.

This past week, I realised that a jar of unsweetened applesauce had been open for a while, and needed to be consumed quickly.  Instead of trying to feed my kids a lot more applesauce than normal, I thought I'd turn it into muffins.  My quick recipe search was uninspiring; oatmeal applesauce muffins galore.  Then, I found a fantastic recipe for whole wheat carrot muffins at 100 Days of Real Food.  Now this was a recipe I could work with!

So, after a few tweaks to meet my family's tastes, here's my version:

Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins

Still warm and ready to be enjoyed!

1 1/2c whole wheat flour
1 tsp gluten flour (optional)*
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
pinch of salt
1/2 c butter, melted
1/3 c honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c unsweetened applesauce
1 c grated carrots


1.  Preheat oven to 350F and prepare muffin tin (grease or use muffin cup papers).
2.  Combine whole wheat flour, gluten flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Mix well.
3.  Add grated carrots and mix until carrots are coated.  Create a well to receive wet ingredients.
4.  In a small bowl, combine butter, honey, egg, vanilla and applesauce.
5.  Add wet mixture to the well in the dry ingredients.  Stir until just combined.
6.  Divide among muffin cups and bake 22 - 24 minutes.

Yields 12 muffins

* Gluten flour is an optional ingredient and was not included in the original recipe.  I find adding a bit of gluten flour to whole wheat baked goods results in a more tender texture.  Essentially you get all the goodness of the whole wheat flour without the toughness it sometimes yields.  Gluten flour is available in bulk stores, as well as in the health food section of many grocery stores.

I am so pleased with how these muffins turned out - I will absolutely be making them again!  They're moist, lightly sweet, and have quite a delicate crumb.  Mini Muffin ate an entire one with gusto for her "sert" (aka dessert) last night.  And while each muffin only contains just over a tablespoon of grated carrot, I'm in full support of any extra little bit of veggies that my kids can eat - and enjoy!

Easy Win - Three Food Group Oatmeal Breakfast for Baby

After a difficult February, including the devastating first trimester loss of Little Smiling Man's precious little sibling, March has arrived with all of us on a more even keel.

Yesterday, I spent some time in my favourite baby cookbook - "Better Baby Food" by Kalnins and Saab, looking for inspiration to help dig Little Smiling Man out of his toast-with-Laughing-Cow-cheese-for-breakfast-food-rut.  I did find inspiration and made it my own, and so I'm happy to share with you my easy, healthy, three food group oatmeal breakfast for baby!  I love slipping veggies in unexpected places like breakfast or dessert, so this breakfast features veggies, dairy and grains.

Three Food Group Oatmeal Baby Breakfast

1/4 c quick cook oats
1/2 c 2% or homo milk
1/4 - 1/3 c roasted butternut squash, mashed

1.  Combine oats and milk in a small saucepan.
2.  Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, reduce heat to simmer.
3.  Cook until thickened, about three minutes.
4.  Add well mashed squash.
5.  Allow oatmeal to cool to baby temperature, and serve.

Makes 2-3 baby servings.  Appropriate for babies 8 months and older.  To reheat, add a little more milk to maintain texture.

Three Food Group Oatmeal Baby Breakfast

That's it!  Super easy, and a healthy way to start the day, or finish off dinner.  Little Smiling Man is a fan, and I'm a fan of getting a head start on our daily veggie quota.  In future we'll try mixing it up, maybe trying sweet potatoes or carrots.  But for now, aside from having to deal with clean up of a little boy with oatmeal plastered in his hair, I'd say this low effort meal is an easy win!

Simply Delicious - Fruity Oatmeal Bites

Little Smiling Man has seriously been enjoying raspberries this week.  It's the first time in a couple of months that we've had them on hand, and he will truly eat as many as I give him.  He just can't seem to get enough!

This morning, I decided to make a quick and easy breakfast I haven't made in ages and that Little Smiling Man has actually never had before (and would give him that raspberry taste he loves so much)!  I originally came across this recipe on an online forum focused on babies, as an idea for baby finger foods, and have made it many times since.  It's a fun way for babies and toddlers to enjoy their oatmeal, and makes a nice change from the usual cereal, bowl of oatmeal or toast.  It also makes an easy breakfast or snack on the go since it's a non-sticky finger food.  Enjoy!

Fruity Oatmeal Bites

Cooked bites, after being transferred from plate.

1/2 banana
5 raspberries (approx.)
1/4 cup quick cook oats

1.  Thoroughly mash banana and raspberries.  The banana should be mashed until the point that it's pretty much smooth.
2.  Mix in oats, making sure that they're thoroughly coated with banana.
3.  Transfer to a plate, forming the mixture into a square.
4.  Microwave on high, for approximately three minutes.  You're looking for the oatmeal to be held together enough to lift off the plate as a square, but still soft enough for little ones to enjoy.  If it's undercooked it will be too soft to transfer off the plate, and if it's over cooked it gets very chewy/hard as it cools.  It may take a few times to find the right time for your microwave.
5.  Cut into bite sized pieces and serve once cool enough.

Ready for little fingers!

The final verdict?  Little Smiling Man thought it was fantastic and gobbled the whole thing up.  I suppose it's not really surprising since bananas and raspberries are two of his favourite things!  I suspect that I'll be making this one for him many times in the future.  We may also start experimenting with a few variations, like adding some nut butter for protein, or using different berries.  So many possibilities.... 
     

Pepper and Feta Mini Quiches

I recently tried a recipe from a fun baby food site I came across - Baby FoodE (http://www.babyfoode.com). I expected to find a nice easy recipe for Little Smiling Man. Instead, I found a nice easy recipe for the whole family!

Pepper and Feta Mini Quiches 

Pepper and Feta Mini Quiches

1/4 c each diced red, yellow and green peppers
4 eggs
1/4 c plain yogurt
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp crumbled feta

1. Preheat oven to 350F, and grease muffin tin (or mini muffin tin)
2. Whisk first five ingredients together.
3. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full.
4. Sprinkle with feta.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes until set and browned around edges.

(The original recipe is here.)

I wanted to share this recipe as I've made it twice in as many weeks! Little Smiling Man enjoys them, Mini Muffin doesn't know what she's missing since she refuses to taste them, and my mom asked me for the recipe after we all enjoyed them for our Boxing Day breakfast. Not a bad wrap sheet!

A few notes -

1. I have used both regular and mini muffin tins for this recipe. It made 18 mini muffins or 8 regular sized muffins. We all agreed that the texture was much nicer for the regular muffin size, so while convenient for Little Smiling Man, I will stick with my regular muffin tin from here on.
2. I love the texture that the yogurt gives these quiches, and it couldn't be easier to add a creamy component. Why did I not think of this?
3. These quiches are super quick and easy. The longest part (aside from baking) was chopping the peppers. Easy peasy!
4. I really enjoy these warm, or even straight out of the fridge. When I'm chasing a toddler and a very active baby who loves to explore, they make a great snack to keep me going. They also transport well for an on the go finger food for littles.

And there you have it. I hope you enjoy these tasty gems; we certainly do!

Overnight Pumpkin Oats

While I was pregnant with LSM, I had a pretty big appetite and found myself wanting to snack most of my work morning.  After many attempts at satisfying snacks, I found an overnight oats recipe that fit the bill.  It was healthy, filling, and big enough that I could snack on it all morning long!  Even better, they're super simple to make at night, and oh so quick to grab in the morning.  Now that I'm a mom of two and busy running around the house, I split it in two.  The first half I had while Mini Muffin had her breakfast, and the second half I finished off while she had her morning snack. 

The recipe is from Iowa Girl Eats (here: http://iowagirleats.com/2010/02/03/a-day-in-the-life-of-ige/).  This recipe would also be appropriate for toddlers and older babies (without the almonds).  I hope you enjoy them!

Pumpkin Overnight Oats

1/3 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c pumpkin purée
1/2 c vanilla yogurt
cinnamon to taste
1 banana
Handful almonds (optional)

1.  Mix first four ingredients into a bowl, jar or container.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2.  Serve with sliced banana and almonds.


Really, that's it.  So simple, and so delicious!