Spring ahead

Spring rolls tend to be a go-to snack in our house. They also help celebrate our pending spring, eating lighter and satisfying snacking cravings in a healthy way. Rice paper rounds are available in the international section of the grocery store. They're easy to use; I just wet each one with warm water as I'm getting ready to use it, fill it, and roll it.  A quick internet search can show you how to roll them if you're not sure. The finished rolls can get sticky if they're left out too long...but this usually isn't a problem for us :)

Our typical filling includes avocado and shredded carrot. Sometimes I add cabbage or kale, asparagus, herbs, or other veggies. Many people add noodles to theirs, and some add meat or shrimp. It depends on what you like and what you have on hand. With just cold veggies, it's a quick and nutritious snack...and gluten-free, too.

You can make your own dipping sauce or use a store-bought Asian salad dressing (like I often do). They're so fun to dip and surprisingly filling. Happy Spring!

Getting ready

So we're all back to work, and the baby is away from home and us full time for the first time. To try and make things easier, I'm getting into the habit of making food ahead of time. I have always been a fan of making lunches the night before and Sundays have often been my time to cook something big with leftovers in mind. Now, I'm cooking for three and need to be more mindful about nutrition than ever before. Things have to be yummy, simple and portable. This past week, I made a rice casserole with whole grain rice, broccoli, peas and white kidney beans. It was a little bland but did the trick. The baby didn't like it too much but she ate leftover beans the next day and I enjoyed the dish with salsa.

Today, I took about 20 minutes and made macaroni and cheese with peas, whole milk and squash. One pot is enough for a few adult lunches and several kid-sized portions - plus it will freeze well. I also chopped up a carrot and some broccoli, and boiled it until tender, which the baby will love as finger food. I'll also send along in baby's lunch bag some yogurt (baby's favorite!), chickpeas (soaking as I type), fruit (like applesauce, banana or avocado), and cereal. And that's a week of meals. Done.

I just hope I can keep this up because it's inspiring to be on the ball and ready to face the week with one less thing to worry about.

Fuel to be back at it

I am now officially a working mom since I returned to work last week. It's a busy time as my partner is splitting parental leave and staying home with our little gal. There are a lot of firsts - baby's, daddy's and mamma's. Thankfully, I have found an energy-filled recipe for homemade granola bars that works as a quick breakfast or snack. Granola mix is something we usually have on had in one form or another. Sometimes it has different seeds, chocolate chips, different nuts, raisins, oats, etc. I have tried making bars before but they never seem to hold together or be suitable for taking to work or on-the-go. This one inspired by a Today's Parent magazine "picky eaters" insert actually works! It suggests putting the granola mixture in the bottom of muffin tins for baking so you end up with granola coins. Plus, the recipe calls for an egg which helps bind it all together. Brilliant!

Here's the recipe (but feel free to substitute items you have on hand or love (like instead of dried cranberries, use raisins or another dried fruit). I had coconut in the cupboard so I used that this time and it was yummy!

Egg, fresh, 1 large
Maple Syrup, .25 cup
Canola Oil, 1 tbs
Oats (large flake), 1 cup
Sunflower Seeds, without salt, 2 tbs
Cranberries, dried, sweetened (craisins), 0.25 cup
Almonds, 2 tbs
Cooking spray or oil for pan

In a medium bowl, whisk egg with maple syrup and oil. Stir in all the other ingredients. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray (or oil the bottoms of each part of the tin). Spoon the granola mixture into the muffin tin, separating the mixture into 12 portions and patting it down with the back of a spoon.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 mins until golden around the edges. When done. let cool a few minutes then run a knife around the edge of each one to release them. Let the coins cool on a rack.

If you want to make granola, or want to cut out the oats or egg in this recipe, simply toss all the dry ingredients together in a baggie. Sealed, it should last a while or you can portion out 1/4 or 1/2 cup portions into containers or baggies for lunches and snacks.

Today's lunch was brought to you by the letters A & B

Today's lunch for baby was avocado and banana. She ate it up!

Guess the secret for now is raw food so mama doesn't have to cook :)

 The happy camper! (She's learned to pose for the camera)

And then Mom made lunch with the leftovers! Fresh spring rolls with avocado, cabbage, carrot and lettuce (from the garden). Just roll it all up in rice paper rolls and dip in some soy sauce. Like a salad all rolled up. Dessert was banana!

Sweet potato or bust

A face full of carrot and a dessert of peach in her net feeder.

Our little girl started solid foods two months ago and she's never looked back. She started with a few bites of avocado and now will eat an entire half fruit in one sitting. In the mornings, she usually has about a third a cup of cereal and sometimes a few tablespoons of applesauce. I don't think she's ever been full!

Her favorites also include apple, banana, carrot and oatmeal cereal. We have tried lots of fruits, vegetables and cereals and she's eaten all of them without much protest...except sweet potato. I first tried making the vegetable for her myself by roasting it and then pureeing it in the food processor. It was her first cooked (ie. not raw) food. She took one bite and actually gagged. I've since tried it boiled, in chunks and mixed with apple but no luck so far.

This has been a trend in our little girlie's solid food forays. I had thought I'd be making yummy food for her from scratch. I would spend one or two days a week making food so our freezer would be well stocked with homemade and healthy offerings. I wanted to use what we were eating to cut down on work and to encourage baby to eat like mom & dad in preparation for eating with us. Unfortunately, no matter the recipe or method I use she refuses to eat my food with as much gusto as store-bought baby food. That first sweet potato experiment has set a standard and I'm sad to say I've wasted some food in the name of experimentation.

I know we're lucky to have such a good eater. I consider myself to be a pretty good cook & have tried all sorts of methods. Believe me, though, the irony is not lost on me that my own kid hates my cooking!

I decided to buy jar and pouch food just to try. Then if there were no reactions (thankfully, none yet!) and she liked the food, then I would go ahead and make a batch of homemade food.This has backfired as she's a stubborn little girl. She's now eating a mix of homemade food and store bought. I'm not giving up, though. Everyone, including my doctor, tells me it takes up to fifteen tries before a child may like a food. So sweet potato is still on the menu...as is homemade carrots, peaches, green beans, etc. If baby likes it from a jar she might eventually like it from mom's freezer. I'm just going to keep trying! 

I'm also encouraging her to try finger foods in small bites and foods such as apples, peaches, watermelon and cantaloupe (all favorites!) in a handy net feeder (like this one) she likes to suck and bite on. Hopefully all the food trials will be helped by our little gummy-grinned little girl finally getting teeth. Her first one showed up yesterday!

                                                           

 

 Cantaloupe cut up for use in the net feeder.

Carrot cooked, pureed in a baby Wean Machine and ready for storage. 

The beginnings of a freezer full of baby food to try. Hey, it's all pretty yummy so if she won't, eat it we will!

Not so boring beans & rice

Zesty Rice & Bean casserole. This is a great (and cheap) recipe when you're not looking to work too hard and want something healthy and comforting. Basically, just take all the ingredients, stir them together and bake. I adapted it from this recipe and just added a bit more rice, corn, extra cumin, and diced jalapeno peppers. You could also substitute can tomatoes for salsa.

Saute in a skillet a chopped onion and some garlic. Add a chopped green pepper and as many chopped mushrooms as you'd like. Add 1/2 cup water and 1 cup rice and bring to a simmer. In a casserole dish, stir together 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can beans (kidney or black), and a can of corn (or frozen). I also added some chili powder and a ton of cumin plus salt and pepper. Stir this together and then dump in the rice mixture from the skillet and stir the works together with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (skim if you prefer). Top the whole thing off with up to another 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake 15-20 mins.

For variations, add other veggies (maybe peas?) chicken, salsa or another type of cheese.

It was great and made for awesome leftovers and served with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Quick Nutrition

We found a new favorite side dish tonight. Wary of yet another veggie and rice/pasta combo, a tin of chickpeas caught my eye in the pantry. I threw a spoonful of ginger and garlic into a large bowl and whisked it with 3 tbs olive oil, the juice of a lemon, salt & pepper, 2 tbs curry powder and about 1/4 onion and 2 carrots - both grated. I then chopped up some cauliflower and broccoli we happened to have in our crisper - and BAM. Side Dish done. It was as delish as it was easy to make. Plus it's pretty decent for you.

I entered the values into Spark People and for 1/2 cup serving of this salad, there are approx. 235 calories, 40g carbs, 6g fat and 7g protein. Plus you're getting good fiber from the chickpeas and veggies. You can also change it up by adding whatever veggies or other ingredients you have on hand.

I think I'll add some canned tuna to the leftovers for a great lunch tomorrow!

Practicing what I preach

I made a ton of Indian food tonight including rice, a potato curry and coconut chicken. Here are the leftovers ready for quick lunches this week.

Pizza...plain and simple

 Often the simplest foods are the best foods. This couldn't be more true of pizza. It often does take much less effort and definitely less cost to make a pizza from scratch than to buy or order one. And it's always healthier when you know what goes into your food. This time around, I made a whole wheat flour pizza dough (because that's all I had in my cupboard) with fresh ingredients.

For the dough, here's a good recipe which makes quite a bit of dough:
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used a slightly less amount of whole wheat flour)
3 cups warm water (77° to 81°F)
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 tsp salt

Let the yeast dissolve in the warm water for about 5 minutes.

Combine the flour and salt and dump the mixture onto a flat surface. Make a depression in the middle, pour the yeast and water into it, and combine the dry and wet ingredients until the dough starts to come together. Keep working the dough with the palms of your hands for 7 to 8 minutes, and then let it rest at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until it doubles in size. You can cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and leave it somewhere warm. Once risen, punch it down, squeezing out all the air bubbles. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and shape them into balls. Place them in the fridge for another 2 hours.

You can cut the rising time but your dough will make a thinner crust for your pizza. Once its ready, shape out your pizza crust with your hands and put it on a pizza stone or pan. Then top with whatever ingredients you like.

I used some olive oil, tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese. Bake the pizza at 400 C for about 20 minutes or until the crust is browned and firm, and the toppings are baked through. Plain and simple. And Delicious!

Half-homemade berry tarts

For a recent potluck I made these mini berry tarts. I hadn't cooked in forever and was rushing from work to prepare something before the party. And my stomach and heightened sense of smell wasn't letting me be very creative in what to make. So I used frozen pastry shells, jam I had in the house already, and fresh berries (in and on top of the jam mixture). Presto! Decent looking, bite-size desserts fit for sharing at a party. Sometimes a girl's gotta suck it up and just go with the flow. At least I didn't resort to just picking up ice this time. 

Use what you've got

 Some nights you just want supper plain and simple...and quick. Here's another go-to pasta dish that's mostly impromptu or experimental because it allows you to use what you have in your fridge or pantry. It's one part veggies, one part pasta base, and one part sauce. Saute the veggies (and garlic - always!), add tomatoes or pre-made tomato sauce, and throw it on some pasta. Done.

This time around, I had onion, garlic, mushrooms and some nice multi-coloured tomatoes. I started with the onion and cooked them in a small pan until translucent. Then I added garlic and some salt and pepper until aromatic. Then the mushrooms went in until they were cooked and soft. Finally, I added the tomatoes and let their moisture draw out and coat everything. I had some canned plain tomato sauce which I added until it was all heated through. If you want something extra, add meatballs, ground meat or some beans or chickpeas. And the whole point of this dish is you can use whatever veggies or items you have like fresh herbs, peppers, zucchini and different kinds of pasta. Don't be afraid!

 I had olives for the sauce but forgot to add them in. They made a nice after-dinner snack though! I'm still trying to enjoy olives more because I'm not a huge fan of them normally. But with rich food like tomato sauce and some wine, I'm coming around to them a little more every time I have them. Beautiful!

Stir fry: kinda like a warm salad

 I'm not a huge fan of stir fry, to tell the truth, but it's a good option when you need something quick and healthy for dinner. All you need is a big fry pan (or wok), some garlic, ginger, salt and pepper -- and whatever veggies and base you'd like. The main thing to remember is to cook everything in order. Start with your aromatics (eg. onion or garlic) and saute them for a little bit until they sweat. Then add meat and/or veggies starting with whatever will take the longest to cook first.

For this particular stir fry, for example, I added broccoli first and cooked that for a little bit. When it started to get darker green and softer, I added mushrooms and stirred everything around. Then I added green beans because they take the least amount of time to cook (especially if you like them a little crunchy like I do!).

 Then you add a dash of salt and pepper and serve on top of your base. You can use noodles, rice, add some beans or chickpeas, or have just the mixture on its own. I added some nuts on top and threw in some pre-cooked chicken and served the whole thing on top of rice.

 

So try this quick and easy dish next time you're in a rush. It's also way to make use of leftovers or odds and ends in your fridge you need to use up soon. Try experimenting with sauces, herbs and other flavouring...just be careful of sugar-heavy pre-made sauces out there. Add raisins, nuts, or sprouts. And if you keep your ingredients to real food you can adapt this recipe for many diets like low carb, diabetic, gluten free, vegan, etc. Essentially it's a warm salad that you can adapt however you'd like.

Throw it all together (in order of course!) and enjoy!

Chic-chic-chicken

Roasted whole chicken is food as simple as it gets. All you have to do is wash and dry the bird, rub it with some herbs and spices and roast in a 350 C degree oven until the meat in the thigh reaches 170-175 degrees. Then remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving.
Rubs can include tarragon, garlic, parsley, sage, savory, and/or chili flakes. For a 2 1/2 lb bird, cook it for about 1 1/2 hours (depending on oven) but the meat thermometer always works! Have chicken for dinner and use the rest for chicken salad or curry the next day. Remember not to waste leftovers and consider using the very last bits of the chicken to make chicken soup...just perfect for cold winter nights.

Saucy slow-cooked pork

I was gifted a large pork shoulder and had it hidden in the freezer for a while. Finally, I decided what to do with it: pulled pork! To make it easy on myself, I decided to combine the ingredients and pork into the slow cooker and let 'er rip. I threw it all in the in morning, turned it on 'low' and then 8 hours later, when I came home from work,I had a fulled cooked piece of meat.

The ingredients I put in with the pork shoulder were:
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tbs yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbs maple syrup
- salt and pepper


When the cover is lifted at the end of the slow-cooking process, the meat will be cooked and sauce simmering. What I did is to take the roast out of the pot and onto a cutting board to cool slightly. Then I poured the sauce into a pan on the stove. Once cool enough to touch, I shredded the meat with two forks and put all the meat into the sauce. I added a bit of store-bought BBQ sauce because I felt I needed more liquid to my homemade sweet & sour concoction. I then let the shredded pulled pork simmer on the stove for about 1/2 hour until I was ready for supper.

You can serve the pork on top of buns or alongside potatoes or other veggies. I had pulled pork sandwiches, with sweet potato fries and corn on the side. And there's lots left over for lunch the next day and even more for the freezer for a rainy day!

Cookie Me Christmas

To kick off the holiday baking season, I decided to start with a fool-proof stand-by recipe: the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie. This recipe makes a bunch of cookies (as in 40 or so) and is easy to make and bake. It's not diet, or gluten free or even dairy free but it is an old stand-by and I'm sure many of you out there are going to be looking for a great cookie recipe this season.

What you'll need:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I did sub half of the white flour with whole wheat and it worked out fine)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
34 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips + 1 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven 375 degrees F

Like many cookie recipes, you make this one in two stages: wet and dry. First combine the flour, baking soda and salt together in one bowl and stir with a whisk to get any lumps out. Second, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat together the soft butter, sugars and vanilla. Combining butter and sugar is called "creaming" and you'll know it's done combing when the mixture is lump-free and fluffy. Then you add one egg at a time, combining after each addition, to the wet mixture. Finally, combine the dry into the wet (in batches and slowly so you don't end up with a snow-storm of flour in your kitchen). Stir in the chocolate and nuts by hand with a spatula.

You then drop the cookie batter onto non-greased cookie sheets with a spoon. I use two spoons, one to drop and the other to pry off the dough hanging on to the original spoon. It's a technique that's good if you don't want to get your hands in a mess

Bake each cookie sheet 9-11 minutes until the cookies are just set in the middle and brown on the edges. You may have to rotate and/or turn your sheet in the oven depending on how hot your oven is, if it's convection, if it's old, etc. I recommend not putting more cookie dough on a hot, out-of-the-oven, sheet because it causes the dough to melt a little and screws up the baking time.

Let baked cookies cool on the sheets on top of the stove for a few minutes before transferring them to wire racks to complete cooling. Pour up a glass of milk and enjoy! Merry (early) Christmas!

Easy quiche x 2

Looking for an easy anytime-meal? The answer is quiche. You can have it for dinner, lunch, brunch, you name it! And you can add whatever you'd like to it for endless possibilities. This weekend, I made a ham, cheddar and green onion quiche. And the dish can be as complicated or simple as you want it.

This weekend's attempt was made with a pre-made frozen pie shell, six eggs (I find that a good ratio for a 12" pie dish), about 1/4 cup milk and your chopped up ingredients. You can up the ante by making your pie shell from scratch. Leave out the pie shell altogether and you'll reduce calories plus get to call your quiche a frittata.

If the ingredients are soft (like cheese, deli meat, tomato) you can add them right into the egg mixture. If they're harder (like leeks, onion, broccoli) you should cook them, and let them cool, before adding to the mixture. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake about 20 minutes until the egg is cooked in the middle and the top of the quiche is golden brown.

I had quiche and a salad for dinner with a salad; leftover quiche and sweet potato wedges for brunch the next day.

Mulligatawny Heaven

I've started a new hobby with a friend of mine who wants to start leaning how to cook better, healthier food for himself. We've begun getting together every so often and, while we catch up with each other, we try a new recipe together. It's socializing and cooking and eating...all of my favorite things! This time we tried mulligatawny soup which is a curry-flavoured soup with a lentil base. You can add chicken or shrimp if you'd like but we left it plain 'ol vegetarian. Here's what we used:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups (or one can) lentils
4 cups low-salt vegetable broth
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

First, take your onions and start them frying in the oil until translucent. Then add the garlic and start that going too. Then take each spice and add it one at a time to your onion/garlic mixture. Just wait a few minutes in between each addition. This will allow the spices to "bloom" and you'll layer the flavours while letting them build and intermingle with each other.

Then add your lentils and mix them into the mixture. Let them heat up with the spices and onions and garlic. Your kitchen will smell amazing! Then add in the stock and let the whole thing simmer 20 minutes. Then add the coconut milk and lemon juice. Here comes the fun part...then you blitz the whole thing with an hand-held blender or in batches in a regular blender.

And now you have soup! It's a hearty soup, even though it's blended smooth, and all those spices make it extremely aromatic and yummy. This should make enough for a couple meals and it can be frozen for lunches and future meals.