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Food

Our Sunday Menu – Toddler Victories & Failures

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There are some things in parenthood that do not make sense to me. The most recent in a long line of things that puzzle me is this, you have all heard me cry & whine over what a difficult eater our daughter is, then how do you explain this…

Mai's daily reports from daycare. As you can see the daycare provider has no problem getting our picky girl to eat.
Mai’s daily reports from daycare… As you can see the daycare provider has no problem getting our picky girl to eat.

If the daily battle with my daughter at mealtime wasn’t frustrating enough, I now find out that she is capable of eating at each meal, just not for us. Siiiiggh! There are a few foods that I can count on that she will eat, pancakes, French toast & spaghetti. As you can see she likes her carbs. When possible we try to sneak in meat and our fruits & veggies, but it does not always work. Today’s menu had a couple of wins and a definite loss.

Breakfast: Banana & Nutella Pancakes

I had a couple of over-ripened bananas that needed to be used, so pancakes were a great place to use them.

Smash the bananas with a fork in a small mixing bowl. Add the egg & beat together & set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl add 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 2 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup of milk & 2 tbsp vegetable oil & stir. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture & stir well. Stir in 1/3 cup of Nutella. Pour about 1/8 of a cup of batter into a griddle or in a frying pan set on medium heat. Cook until the pancake is bubbly & the edges are cooked. Flip the pancake & cook on the other side until cooked all the way through.

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Breakfast was a success. She ate 4 pancakes of her own & a few bites of mine too. Score one for mommy.

Lunch: Monte Cristo Roll Ups:

Preheat the oven to 375. Cut the crusts off of 6 slices of bread. With a rolling pin, roll out each slice off bread. Beat an egg in a medium sized bowl. Brush one side of each slice with the egg. Cut a slice of ham so that it fits inside the slice. Cut a slice of Swiss cheese so that it only covers half of the slice. Roll the bread started at the cheese end. Dip the whole roll into the egg mixture covering the entire roll-up. Place on a greased cookie sheet & dust with confectioner’s sugar. Bake for about 7-8 minutes until golden brown.

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While this was a big hit with mommy & daddy, Mai refused to try it. I tried bribery & pleading. “Just take one little bite.” Negative. This was a lunch time fail. The score now is 1-1.

Mexican Chicken Rice Bake

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked white rice

1 pound of chicken cut into strips

1 cup of water

1 cup of milk

1 can of regular tomato soup (10.75 oz)

1 can of corn drained (8.75 oz)

1/4 cup of diced red peppers

1/4 cup of diced orange peppers

1/4 cup of diced yellow peppers

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 cup of shredded Mexican cheese

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 375. Dice your vegetables & cut your chicken into strips & set aside in a casserole dish (I used a 9×12) add the rice, water & taco seasoning, stir well until seasoning is broken up & evenly distributed. Stir in the tomato soup & milk. Pour the corn & peppers over the top. Place the chicken strips over the top. Cover with foil & bake for about 45 minutes (cook times may vary). Remove foil, add the cheese & bake for 5 more minutes. Remove & let sit for a few minutes to cool. The top may appear slightly watery. The sauce will thicken upon standing. Scoop & serve.

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After a little coaxing and bribery, I finally got her to take a bite & guess what she liked it.

It was a pretty good eating day other than lunch, but you win some & you lose some.

Fruity Pebbles Pancakes

FruityPebblesPancakes.jpgMost mornings I have a hard time leaving the house to go to work. I love the mornings in our home, our daughter will wake up & I will hear her sweet little voice calling out to us. “Mama, Dada, I awake.” I will go into her room and see that sweet smiling face & my heart will just turn to putty. She will jump up & wrap her arms around my neck & if I have time we will spend a few minutes together before I have to run off to work. On the weekends, I am excited that I do not have to leave this lovely scene, I get to stay home & enjoy my time with my family. Today was a little different. I was hoping that it was still Friday & that it was time to go to work. No such luck. It was indeed Saturday & my daughter really was having an epic meltdown. We are not going to get into details that is for another day, but it was brutal. Things just did not seem to be going our little girl’s way & she did not quite know how to handle it. It took a bit to calm her down, but she finally started to slowly snap out of it. A meltdown like that required a little extra cheering up, so mommy made a special treat for Mai for breakfast in hopes that we would get to see our smiley girl again.

Fruity Pebbles Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 cup of crushed Fruity Pebbles

1 tbsp of brown sugar

2 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1 cup of milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions: Pour the Fruity Pebbles on a plate or a bowl & smash with a potato masher or spoon to make crumbs. Put aside. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk & vegetable oil and stir well. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg & add to the rest of the batter. Stir in your Fruity Pebbles crumbs until evenly distributed. In a frying pan or griddle set to medium heat, (Test with water, water drops should dance across the surface when added. Lower or higher temp if needed) pour about 1/8 of cup for small pancakes or 1/4 cup for regular sized. When pancakes bubble, flip and cook the other side until golden brown.

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It got Mai’s and Daddy’s stamp of approval & even put a smile back on my sad girl’s face. Two thumbs up, mama!

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Macaroni & Cheese Bites With Ham

MacNcheeseBites.jpgBeing a working mom, it is hard to be away from my daughter all day. It is a struggle for me to walk out that door every morning. If I am lucky I get to see her wake before I walk out the door. Most evenings I do not return home until almost 6 pm. When I get home from work, I am so excited to see my munchkin. The last thing I want to do is spend all my time worrying about dinner & then getting into our usual battle over her not eating it. It is exhausting. I try to opt for quick kid friendly food during the work week. It is difficult with my daughter’s picky diet. It is honestly a roll of the dice as to whether she will eat or not. Even her old standby foods sometimes fail us, but still I try. I am always trying to re-introduce foods even the ones she hates in hopes that she will learn to like them. One food that she has never liked & has often puzzled me is mac & cheese. What kid doesn’t like mac & cheese? Mine apparently.

My daughter like most toddlers loves bite sized foods. For some reason it is not simply enough to cut the food into small pieces, it must be formed this way from the get go. I am not complaining though, I find the little morsels to be fun to eat as well. Our last experiment was bite sized macaroni & cheese with ham. Would this fool my little food diva into eating it? Let’s find out.

This is a quick & easy one.

Ingredients:

1 box of Velveeta shells & cheese

1 6 oz ham steak thinly diced (about a cup – 1 1/4 cup)

1 egg

Pepper to taste

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400. Prepare the boxed mac & cheese. Mix in the diced ham, stir until ham is evenly distributed. Stir in the egg & add pepper to taste. Spoon the mixture into a greased mini muffin tin filling to the top. Bake for 15 minutes. Use a spoon to slide out the bites.

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Did my bite size treats impress my tough little food critic? Unfortunately this experiment failed me. She took a bite & said, “I don’t like cheese.” & then spit it out. The good news is they were a big hit with my husband. I did get Mai to eat at least an ear of corn on the cob. Back to the drawing board, but for those of you with mac & cheese lovers in your midst, they might enjoy these bites. The battle continues.

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Granola Balls

IMG_2747 I have a sweet tooth problem. Like most women I know, I love chocolate. I would eat it all the time if I could, but alas, not only am I not supposed to eat a lot of sweets, it is not exactly kind on the waistline. One thing that helps me get my chocolate fix & feeds my sweet tooth is granola. I love making it. I make bars, squares or just straight up granola with chocolate in it of course. It is easy to make & my daughter loves helping me too.

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But my favorite of all granola snacks that grace my lunch box are granola balls. There is just enough chocolate to keep me happy, but with no sugar added, I feel less guilty.

Ingredients:

3 cups of quick oats
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup of peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tbsp safflower oil
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup of dark chocolate

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix in honey, oil & vanilla, stirring well. With a fork cut in the peanut butter until mixed well. Add chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Scoop a spoonful of mixture & roll with your hand into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place on a greased cookie sheet & bake for 15 minutes.

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My Picky Toddler Woes & Baked Corn Dog Bites

Corn dog bite made out of cornbread mix & cut up hot dogs. Easy to make & fun to eat for my picky eater
I hate to sound like a broken record… I know you have heard me complain about this many times…BUT I have to say it again, my daughter is a picky eater. I can’t even imagine the amount of time & food I have wasted trying to get my child to eat a good meal. I have many sneaky ways & tricks that I use to help with the process, but that only works if she likes what she is eating.

She has a long list of gripes about her food:

“It’s too spicy.”
“It’s too cheesy”
“Not warm”
“Too hot”
“Noodles are disgusting”

You get the idea. Planning meals just plain stresses me out. At 2 1/2 years old our little girl still only weighs 25 pounds, so I will pretty much feed her anything that will get her to eat. Here lies the challenge. It is not uncommon for me to have several different meal options out at one time.

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After rejecting meal 1 & meal 2, we try for a 3rd option. It is very frustrating. People tell you, they will eat when they are hungry, but yet I have seen my girl goes days without barely taking a bite.

I try to make food as fun & easy to eat as possible. She has recently taken a liking to hot dogs, just the hot dog, no bun. Tonight’s menu, corn dog bites. These are fun & super easy.

Ingredients:

2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix (2/3 cup of milk & 2 eggs)

1 package of hot dogs

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp ground mustard

pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Slice hot dogs into chunks about 1 1/2″ long about 1/5 of the hotdog. Prepare the corn muffin mix according to directions. Mix in the parmesan cheese, ground mustard & pepper. Dunk the hot dog chunks in the mixture one at a time coating them well. Place on two greased baking sheet. Do not worry about them being covered perfectly. You can top off any bare spots my spooning mixture over the chunks once on the sheet. Leave plenty of space on the baking sheet between corn dog bites. Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool & serve with ketchup or mustard.

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Corn dog bite made out of cornbread mix & cut up hot dogs. Easy to make & fun to eat for my picky eater

 

It was a dinner time victory tonight. It even warranted a thumbs up from my finicky little girl. A sigh of relief & one more meal down. Until tomorrow….

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Macaroni & Cheese With Bacon Bread Crumbs

Bacon-breadedmacandcheese.jpgThey say “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” This could very well be true & the fastest way to get there is with a strip of bacon. I don’t know what is about guys & bacon, but I don’t think I have ever met a man yet that didn’t love it, My husband would literally put it on everything if he could. One of his favorite phrases that he mutters during dinner is “I bet this would be good with bacon on it.” Tonight’s meal is all about the hubby.

Ingredients:

1/2 of a package of bacon

1/2 cut of seasoned breadcrumbs

1 1 lb box of shells

2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar

1/2 cup of margarine or butter

2 cups of milk

1 tsp worcestershire

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

Bacon bread crumbs
Prepare bacon. Cook it on the crispy side. Drain well & blot to get the excess grease off. Cool and crumble into a food processor. Pulse until all of the bacon is in crumbs. Blot more if needed. Mix with the bread crumbs & set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions & drain. Pour drained pasta into a large pot.

Preheat oven to 400. In a saucepan over low heat melt the margarine or butter. Add the flour, salt, ground mustard & pepper. Stir well until smooth. Stir in the milk & add worcestershire sauce. Increase the heat and stir continuously until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Stir until smooth & then pour over the pasta. Mix well until shells are evenly coated & transfer to a baking dish. Top with your bread crumb mixture. I used about 3/4 of a cup. Use how ever little or a lot that you prefer. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Banana Rice Pudding

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Rice, rice, baby!! We love rice in our house. We love it so much that we own not one, but two rice cookers. When my mother was still alive, God rest her soul, she would buy me a fifty pound bag of rice every year along with my favorite soy sauce. When you have that much rice at your fingertips, you want to find different ways to cook it. I like it plain, fried, in risotto & it also makes a lovely rice pudding. For a smoother, creamier pudding use a smaller grain of rice. If you prefer your pudding with a bit more texture use a longer grain of rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked rice

2 ripe bananas

1 egg (beaten & at room temperature)

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 cups of water

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp margarine or butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine rice, water, margarine & salt. Bring to a boil. Cover & cook for 2o minutes. Do not stir! In a mixing bowl smash up the bananas with a fork. Add brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon & 1/2 cup of milk to the banana. Mix well. After rice is done cooking, pour the banana mixture over the rice & stir. Cover & simmer for an additional 20 minutes stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes remove from heat & beat in the egg. Beat for a minute & then add the other 1/2 cup of milk. Chill. Top with whipped cream & serve.

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Mai really liked the rice pudding. In between every bite, she kept telling me “Thank you, Mama.” You are welcome, sweetheart.

Dining Out With Your Toddler

Dining out with your toddler.jpgIt is Friday night. You are out to a romantic dinner with your main squeeze. You are sipping wine and gazing into each other’s eyes…then suddenly out of nowhere a small head pops up from the booth behind you and tries to hand you a half-eaten roll. Meet my daughter ladies and gentleman.
Dining out with a toddler can be difficult. If you are one of those mothers that was blessed with a child that can amuse him/herself for 2 hours with a sugar packet & a straw, you are one of the lucky ones. I am not so fortunate. My daughter is a ticking time bomb. The countdown starts as soon as we walk in the door. Let the countdown begin…

1-10 minutes: We are usually still in the safe zone. She is looking around and taking in the new faces, noises and atmosphere. We are still smiling and hopeful that we will have a good meal. I agonize over what to order her. What will she actually eat? I order the most fattening thing on the menu because it doesn’t matter, I won’t be able to eat it anyways.

10-20 minutes: The table is covered in salt & pepper & her pretty new dress has a lovely brown wet spot on it from her trying to drink her chocolate milk with a spoon. I am not ready to break into my bag of dinnertime entertainment yet. It is too soon. I beg the waitress to quickly bring out a fruit cocktail.

20-30 minutes: Dinner is served. As my daughter’s decibel level rises, so do the other diner’s heads. I am remembering being one of those glaring people before I had our daughter. I remember saying or thinking, “Why can’t they keep their child quiet?” Now as I eat my dinner, I also eat those words.
Perhaps during the dinner, Mai will make a statement such as “Poop is not good for supper. Jellybeans are good for supper.” The couple at the table next to us looks over at us. I assure them that I do not feed my daughter poop. I bribe my daughter with fruit snacks to take a bite of her food.

30-40 minutes: Where is our waitress? Did she go home? Mai starts sliding under the booth. I break out more fruit snacks & pull out some books from my bottomless purse.
Mommy: “Do you want to color?”
Mai: “No, not yet.”
Mommy: “Sit down & you can have more fruit snacks.”
Mai: “No fruit snacks anymore.” “What’s that?” “I go there.”

40-50 minutes: Seriously where is our waitress? The clock is ticking down. My two year old gets increasingly more agitated. She tries to wriggle past me to run after the fan she sees in the corner of the restaurant.
“Fan goes round! Fan goes round!”
No Mai, you have to stay here.
“NOOOOOOOOO!”
Uh oh! We are running out of time. Quick cut the blue wire or is it the red one?
“Mai, do you want to play with Mommy’s phone?”
“Yeeeeeeaaaah!”
Ahhhh. Disarmed….phew!

Always be prepared when you are dining out with your child. Pack snacks, a favorite cup, a change of clothes, crayons, toys, books and in a pinch a smart phone pre-loaded with child friendly apps and games can come in handy. Bon Appétit.

Maple Nut Granola Bars

1191I am going through a huge granola kick right now. I can not stop making it & eating it. I started making it as a healthy snack alternative & also for some added energy while I train for my 5K & now I am hooked. I just finished off my last batch & wanted to try something different. Tonight with the help of my trusty helper, we made a batch of Maple Nut Granola Bars.

Ingredients:

2 cups of quick oats

1/2 cup of Rice Krispies

1/4 cup of chopped pistachios

1/4 cup of chopped peanuts

1/3 cup of chopped almonds

1/3 cup of real maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp of vanilla

1/2 tsp of sea salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine oats, nuts, Krispies & salt. Mix in vanilla & honey. Stir until evenly coated. Add maple syrup and mix well. Scoop the mixture little by little into a 8X6 or 8X8 baking pan, packing it well with each spoonful added. Once all of the mixture is added, pack firmly one last time. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool before cutting into bars or squares.

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http://farmtotableclass.org/2014/05/17/smoked-salmon-pasta-lemon-butter-asparagus-and-ninas-gluten-free-granola/

http://hannahsglutenfreeadventure.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/small-batch-pumpkin-spice-granola/

http://crumbsandnibbles.com/2014/05/17/granola-bars/

Foam Play Food

109Like many children my daughter’s age, she loves being mommy’s little helper. This past week she has been very eager to help me in the kitchen. I let her measure out ingredients and stir. She plays with the food scraps & measuring spoons & loves every minute of it.
One of her favorite things to do is to make “soup”. She loves pouring liquid from container to container & she loves throwing things in the liquid as well. She has come up with some interesting combinations in some interesting places. Do not ever leave my daughter alone with her milk or juice. You never know where you might find it later.

After helping me make dinner tonight, she wanted to help with the dishes too. There were a lot of sharp items that needed washing, I needed her to stay occupied elsewhere. I gave her a few different sizes of plastic bowls, some measuring cups & spoons and some water to play with.

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As usual she told me she was making soup. She started grabbing at random objects on our island to throw in her bowls. Remember those capsules that grew into little foam creatures when they got wet? She grabbed a few of those & threw them in. They turned into different fish. “I make a fish soup, Mama. I mixing it.” This gave me an idea. I grabbed a few sheets of foam from our craft bin & cut out some little foam fish for her to add to her fish soup. This was fun. She was chasing the little fish with the tablespoon and fishing them out one by one.

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From there, Mai asked for tomatoes and potatoes. We ended up quickly making up a whole smorgasbord of foam food to throw in her soup; meatballs, spaghetti, broccoli, onion, etc. This added a whole new dimension to her water play. It was a quick and easy project that my daughter loved.

 

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This kept her occupied long enough that I actually got to do something I have not done in quite a while…clean my house. With Mai deeply immersed in cooking her foam food soup, I was able to clean up after dinner and straighten up our pit of a living room a little bit. Mommy of course had to taste test it. “Mama, eat it.” Mmmmm…foam soup is delicious. Good job cooking, my sweet girl.

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