Homemade Healthy Soft Pretzles

When I was growing up a winter snow storm always meant that it was time to bake bread. Grammie Flava's mother started this tradition and my brother and I always looked forward to the activity when we had a snow day. Here in Maryland snow never really seems to accumulate but a light dusting (or a threat of ice) is cause for school to be closed. So, yesterday, when that exact scenario occurred, I figured it was time to bake. Unfortunately, the day got away from us and by 4pm we hadn't started any bread so I decided to make a yeasty treat that was as fast as a batch of cookies -- soft pretzels. This is a recipe that is incredibly simple and a fun treat for everyone (and much healthier that Auntie Anns). Homemade pretzels are also a great food to bring to a party that will have a lot of kids!

Soft Pretzels
1 packet of yeast
1 1/2 cup of warm water
1 T sugar
2 tsp salt
2 cups regular white flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour (this is a great product for baking, it is much milder than regular whole wheat flour but it is still packed will all the same fiber and nutrition)

Toppings
1 egg
sugar and cinnamon
salt, poppy seeds, and garlic powder

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the yeast water and sugar. Add the white flour, salt, and whole wheat flour and mix until just combined. Dump dough out onto a floured surface and knead until soft. Cut the dough into golf ball sized pieces, roll into rope and twist into pretzel shape. Place pretzels on a cookie sheet, brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with your favorite toppings. Bake for 10-12 minutes until done. The pretzels are best fresh!

Do You Hate Wasting Food?

My husband and I often debate about whether or not to throw away food we discover in the back of the fridge that is slightly past it's prime. You know what I am talking about: small chunks of cheese, half a bunch of soft cilantro, zucchini that has turned slimy, one portion of scrambled eggs from last week, or pita that is hard as a rock. Certain items inevitably need to go right into the trash (i.e. slimy zucchini) but others are a valid subject for debate (i.e. small chunks of cheese or hard pita.) Much to my husband's chagrin, I would often emerge victorious from these spirited tete-a-tetes and end up tossing everything in the trash.

These days, on a tight budget and feeling conscious of our carbon footprint, we have made a large effort to cut down on our food waste. Each week I prepare a grocery list which is comprised of the items I will need to prepare each meal for the week. This includes breakfasts, lunches for Daddy Flava to take to work, food for BF, and approximately 5 dinners per week. For the other two dinners we usually do leftovers or something from the freezer. It has amazed me what this small effort has done to cut down on the amount of food we waste. I bring into the house only the things I intend to cook or prepare for that week rather than taking the approach of "let's go to the market to see what looks inspiring". Worst case scenario is that I end up needing something that I don't have in the fridge and we need to make an extra trip to the store.

Although preparation has drastically cut down on our food waste we are still inevitably faced with hard pieces of bread, small chunks of cheese, a stray leek or half an avocado that could be tossed in the trash. This is where it is fun to get creative! Left over whole wheat tortillas from turkey wraps become cheese and black bean quesedias. Some hard crusty bread that is too difficult to eat turns into bread pudding. Of course, we all know that a veggie box full of stray carrots, onions, and potatoes will make a great base for a soup. If you are willing to do a little extra work, there are a plethora of tasty things to do with leftover food items.

If you still need to be inspired and want to learn more about why cutting down on food waste is an important environmental issue check out this great website LOVE FOOD, hate waste. They are based in the UK but have tons of useful information about food storage, portioning, and some hard facts about the impact of food waste.

- Mama Flava

Would You Eat That?

While getting dressed this morning I saw a TV ad for Pasta Pickups. It's a small plastic container with mini ravioli for toddlers. I immediately thought: I wouldn't eat that. A quick call to Mama Flava and she tried them and Baby Flava ate them. MF said they were not great and the cost is, well frankly, ridiculous...even for the convenience. The question I have: would you eat that?

I don't buy frozen dinners, pasta in a can, soup in a cup or hundreds of the other options sitting on the shelf calling out: we're delicious, quick, easy, convenient...prepared foods.
I did purchase Amy's Organic pocket thingies as a sample to see if I could replicate them. Except for the first few I took out of the box to test and replicate...they remain in the freezer untouched.

When I am looking for a snack, I go to the freezer and look at the Amy's box and think...do I want to eat that? And the answer is no. I'd rather eat an apple, a handful of nuts or some dried fruit. They just are not good enough to bother eating.... so why would I...or if you feel the same way...why would you eat that, and then feed it to your kids?

When we are thinking food for our children and grandchildren there are many factors: ingredients, nutrition, FLAVOR, likes/dislikes, time and cost. Whether you work in the home or out of the home time is precious but so are all the rest. Baby Flava is all about those factors and expanding the palates of our kids.

If traveling these Pick-ups are shelf stable, supposedly have good ingredients, are nutritious and really convenient...you can eat them at room temperature...Yuk!
Would you open one and eat it for yourself? If you can answer yes to that question...have at it.

Alternatives...traveling without a cooler...cut up apples or pears yes they turn brown but they still taste good; Trader Joes sells these great freeze dried fruit pieces in mango, pineapple and they melt in your mouth; cut up dried fruit; cut up cheese; good old peanut butter and jelly made on whole wheat bread, with natural peanut butter and no added sugar jams and jellies. Of course if you have a small cooler bag...the possibilities are then endless.

And the pasta pickups:

1 bag or box of mini ravioli
1/2 cup broccoli florets cut into bite size pieces and steamed for 1 minute
Or
1/2 cup greens beans cut into bite size pieces and steamed for 1 minute
Or
1/2 cup zucchini sticks steamed for 1/2 minute
1/2 cup organic vegetable stock
1/4 cup Parmigiano cheese

Boil the ravioli until done, drain and toss in hot vegetable stock, add your vegetable of choice and sprinkle with cheese. Add more stock if needed. Serve!

If you'd like traditional pasta sauce I would use Muir Glen Organic Pasta Sauce or if you want to get fancy Rao's Pasta Sauce-the Vodka Sauce is awesome and you could serve this as an appetizer for adults as well.

I WOULD eat that!

Mama Flava's Morning Muffins

Here is a recipe I have adapted from the classic Morning Glory muffin (found in cafes and B&Bs.) These muffins are sweet, moist, packed with veggies, and full of some lovely whole grains. They are a real treat for Baby Flava and we love them as well. Make them in large muffin tins for a full meal or in mini muffin tins and pack them as a snack!

Mama Flava's Morning Muffins
3 large eggs
3/4 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c shredded apple
1/2 c crushed pineapple (drain the liquid if from a can)
1/2 c shredded zucchini
2 c shredded carrots
1/2 c dried cranberries
1 t vanilla extract
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c oat bran
1/4 c wheat germ
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 T cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper baking cups. In a large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together. Slowly add the vegetable oil until well combined. Add the coconut, apple, pineapple, zucchini, carrots, cranberries, vanilla extract and mix well. In a separate bowl combine the flours, oat bran, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until just combined.

Fill each muffin tin completely and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Let the muffins cool and eat immediately or store in an air tight container and enjoy for the next few days. These muffins also freeze very well.

Spinach, Beet, and Goat Cheese Salad (for baby!)

The other night I made one of my favorite salads: baby spinach, beets, peas, pine nuts, goat cheese, and a simple balsamic/Dijon vinaigrette. The list of ingredients is short (although they can vary) but it packs a ton of flavor. Obviously, salad is not appropriate for BF but that meal got me thinking. There had to be a way to combine these ingredients into something suitable for baby.

It didn't take much experimentation and as it turns out, making a salad for baby is much simpler and tastier that I expected. What follows is my recipe for a spinach, beet and goat cheese salad for baby. Serve this as is or use it as a base to experiment with your own version of a baby friendly salad. Let us know what you think!

Spinach, Beet, and Goat Cheese Salad (for baby!)
1 6oz bag of organic baby spinach
2 medium size beets
1 t olive oil
1 t balsamic vinegar
dash of salt
dash of pepper
crumbled goat cheese

Boil a large pot of water. Once boiling, add the entire bag of spinach to the water and cook until just soft. Immediately transfer spinach to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Clean and peal the beets. Roast them in the oven or boil them (whichever method you prefer) until they are fork tender. Once the vegetables are cool dice the beets and add them and the spinach to a food processor. Blend mixture until beets begin to break down. Add the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste and continue blending until smooth. Add crumbled goat cheese to the mixture right before serving it to baby.

Baby In The Kitchen

Since the first day of her life BF has spent a lot of time in the kitchen. At first she was underfoot in her bouncy seat just observing all of the hustle and bustle. Then she was sitting up or crawling on the floor trying to pull up on everything. In an effort to keep her safe and entertained (and to stem to tide of drool from teething) I started giving her rubber spatulas to play with.

Now that BF is a toddler, she runs in and out of the kitchen when I am working bringing me toys or plopping down on the floor to read a few books. She also still loves to play with the spatulas and some other assorted kitchen paraphernalia including all-clad pots and (of course) Tupperware bowls. For a while, a fun game for her would be to pretend to "mix-mix" in the bowls with the spatulas before putting the bowl on her head (she also thinks the bowls are "hats.) Recently however, she has expressed an interest in actually mixing the food I am cooking. So, I bring her up and she helps me sautee onions, mix pancake batter, or stir a sauce. Although the onions often end up on the floor or scattered across the range, I continue to let her help at every possible opportunity.

I never had a doubt that BF would grow up in the kitchen but I cannot express how much joy her new interest in cooking has brought to me. It is really never too early to get your kids involved in cooking. Even as a baby there are simple ways to get them to participate in your process and to share with them some basic kitchen skills such as mixing and pouring. What a truly special activity for any mother and child to share together!

Grammies Swiss Chard and Feta Snacks

Mamma Flava mentioned Amy's Snacks -feta and spinach. Small finger sized little packets of dough filled with a variety of things. I purchased a couple of boxes since MF asked me to figure out what the outside was made of and see if we could make our own. The Amy's Snacks were OK, not a lot of filling and covered with a short crust (a crust which does not contain any leavening so it does not puff up. usually made with half fat to flour ratio and used for pies and tartes.)

I pulled out my pie dough recipe and made a double batch of dough. I made Buffalo Sauce and Cheese Snacks and Swiss Chard and Feta Snacks; now baked and frozen ready for Baby Flava's next visit. That is if we can keep our hands off them...they are scrumptious. And the best part....for the cost of the chard and cheese....I made almost 70 snacks. Much better, cheaper and tastier than Amy's.

One hint: make them round into dumpling shapes instead of square like Amy's, its much easier.

Pie Crust
(makes a single pie crust for a double crust pie, double the am ounts)
1 cup organic unbleached all purpose flour (you may use 1/2 whole wheat)
2 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 T unsalted butter (I used smart balance)
2 T ice water and more as needed (I use 2 T of cold vodka to start-see below for why)

Mix flour, sugar and salt. Cut butter into cubes and add to flour mixture. You place this in your mixer or food processor. Mix/pulse the mixture until the butter and flour are incorporated and look like sesame seeds. I will sometimes finish the process by hand to get a better feel for the dough. Do this quickly so the fat does not melt.

Add 2 T of ice water and m ix. Then continue adding by the teaspoon until the mixture is moist and starts to clump together. Gather into a disc and either use immediately or refrigerate.

Roll your dough on a floured board until very thin. So thin that you can almost see the board through the dough. Cut out 3" circles Fill with a teaspoon of spinach and feta, swiss chard and feta (see recipe below), meatsauce and cheese...etc.. Fold in half over the filling and pinch edges well. You may place a bit of water around half the dough edges to ensure they stay sealed. Place on parchment or lightly sprayed sheet pan and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until golden. They puff up slightly (even though a short crust...if make right it puffs as in flaky!). Serve to kids or adults. These may be frozen and reheated for a short amount of time (3-5 minutes in the oven or 1 minute in the microwave). Perfect finger food.

Grammies Swiss Chard and Feta Snack Filling

1 bunch of Swiss Chard (red or green)
1/2 cup Feta Cheese
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Cut main rib and stalk out of each leaf. Cut each leaf in half and then in 4-5 pieces. Place in bowl of water and let sit about 5 minutes swishing every once and a while. Drain, rinse and spin dry. Place a teaspoon of water in a saute pan on medium heat. Add the clean swiss chard and cover. Let steam from water left on leaves until the leaves wilt.
Cool and chop. Chop the 1/2 cup of feta and add to swiss chard. Mix and use for filling.

This also make a fantastic filling for an omelete...as we found for breakfast this morning!!

You may cook most greens this simply except the tougher collards which need a longer time to soften.

Blueberries with Raspberries for Baby

Most of you who read this blog regularly will have seen my post from a few months back about Kiwi fruit in which I bemoaned the lack of fruit options in the winter. Well, once again, I feel like I have fallen into a winter fruit rut. BF loves oranges and kiwis and grapes but to be honest, how many weeks in a row can she eat the same fruit with out getting bored? So ... last night I decided to break us out of our fruit rut with a blueberry/raspberry puree.

In the freezer I had a bag of frozen organic blueberries from Trader Joes and a bag of frozen raspberries that we had picked ourselves last summer. Blueberries are one of those "super foods;" they pack tons of nutrients and antioxidants. Despite what you may think, frozen berries are usually picked, washed, and frozen right away so all of the berry nutrients are retained.

I put a small saucepan on the stove and added the entire bag of blueberries, 1/2 cup of the frozen raspberries, and 1/4 cup of water. I put the burner on low and cooked the berries slowly until they began to melt. Once there was a good amount of liquid in the saucepan I turned up the heat to medium/high and cooked the berries until they formed a thick sauce (about 20 minutes.) Once this mixture was cooled I put it in the blender for a few moments to be sure BF wouldn't have to try and "chew" berry skins or raspberry seeds.

This morning BF had some of the blueberry/raspberry puree with ricotta cheese ... it was a huge hit! I am thrilled that she had something new and interesting to eat that was jam packed with nutritious goodness. Plus, the puree also was fantastic on some multi-grain pancakes we made for ourselves!