A Fun St. Patrick's Day Healthy Snack

This is a repost from last March that we thought you would like to see again.

Here's a really neat idea for a St. Patrick's Day (or any day) rainbow fruit platter that is not only fun to make, but also healthy!

From the March 2010 issue of Family Fun Magazine:

Anyone else have great snack ideas for all of the preschool/elementary classroom parties?

Random Recipes - Cherry-Almond Breakfast Bake

Here's a great recipe for an oatmeal bake that is not only delicious and good for you, but it will also keep your kids (and you) fueled all morning. An added bonus: you can cut the leftovers in squares and freeze for other breakfasts!

Cherry-Almond Breakfast Bake
(Recipe from August/September 2010 Kiwi Magazine)



Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats (I use multi grain cereal sometimes)
• 4 cups 1% milk
• 1 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup dried cherries (I've used many different types of dried fruit, it's all good)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (I've used vanilla extract when I was out of almond)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.


2. In a blender, combine the ground flaxseeds with water. Blend on high for 1 minute, until the mixture is frothy. Set aside.


3. In a large bowl, combine the oats, milk, almonds, cherries, maple syrup, cinnamon, almond extract, and salt. Stir in the flaxseed mixture.


4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.

Serve with additional milk and maple syrup, if desired.

The oatmeal bake will last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can microwave individual servings for 1 to 2 minutes to reheat, or heat in the oven until desired temperature.

You can also cut the left over oatmeal bake into squares (or scoops) and freeze for a later date. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and heat up in the morning for a great quick breakfast.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you would like to share? Please send us an email.

Amanda's Saving Money the Homemade Way - Sugar, Sugar and more Sugar!

I bet that title caught your eye, didn't it? Now that I have your attention, I would like you to picture the following scene. It shouldn't be hard- most of us have been there.

Your children have a Valentine's Day/ Christmas/ Halloween/ Whatever Party at school tomorrow. You decide to bring out the supermom within and make your world famous sugar cookies for their classrooms. You spent a lot of time preparing the dough and rolling out and baking them. It is now 9 pm. You have no icing, but you planned on making your yummy home-made icing recipe. You reach for your powdered sugar and find you have about half of what you need. Oh No!! You go next door to your neighbors house hoping she will have some, but she does not. What do you do?? Go to the store to get icing or powdered sugar? Send them un-iced? That would be fine except you know you like them better iced and so will the kids. You really really don't want to go to the store.... what do you do?

Yes- that was my scenario the night before my kids Valentine's day parties. As I pondered the situation, I thought I remembered reading something about how to make your own powdered sugar. Curiosity got the best of me and I researched it and found that it would be quite easy!!!

Powdered Sugar:
Here is how you do it. You need:

1 cup white sugar
2 TBSP Cornstarch

Place in a blender and blend until smooth! It will look like this:
I tried it in a blender and small food processor. It worked better in the blender. The taste was exactly the same as store bought powdered sugar and was so so close to the exact texture. I think it might have been the same texture exactly if the blade in my blender was a little newer/sharper. Some of the reviews I read stated that they used a coffee grinder (which I don't have) and it turned out exactly the same as store bought. Even though mine wasn't totally smooth (thought it was very very close), it worked great in the recipe!!!

The recipe above made about 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar:

Will this save money? Is it cheaper then just buying powdered sugar- quite possibly. Either way though, it definitely will save the time and expense of going to the store late at night when you are in a bind!

Sugar Cookies

So, I thought while I was writing, I would include my recipe for Sugar Cookies. Though I will admit, it isn't "my" recipe- it was passed on to me by a friend. I can say this honestly though: Throw away all your other sugar cookie recipes- this is BY FAR the BEST sugar cookie I have ever tried and it is so easy and does not use too many ingredients.

1 LB. butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
6 cups sifted flour**
1 tsp baking soda

**make sure to sift the flour before measuring- it keeps the dough light and soft- even after rolling and re-rolling! Also, I have used butter and stick margarine- butter is easier to roll out, but it does work with stick margarine too. Don't use tub margarine.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl, mix the sifted flour and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture one cup at a time. When mixed well, divide dough into two sections and wrap cookie dough in waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or over night. Roll out and cut shapes and place on cookie sheet. (If really firm, you can set out at room temp for 20 min or so to make easier to roll out.) Bake at 350 for 10 min. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. Ice as desired.

-note- this recipe can be halved- just use two eggs.

How about icing?? Here is a really yummy recipe perfect for these cookies:

Cream Cheese Icing:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick- NOT margarine)-softened
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese- softened
4 cups (or 1 LB) powdered sugar (store bought or homemade!)
1 TBSP milk
a few drops food coloring as desired

Beat together butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar. Add milk and beat to desired consistency. Beat in food coloring. Here is a pic:

My icing was a little softer than usual because I used light cream cheese instead of regular, but it still worked great and tasted great! So, if you want a softer icing, use light cream cheese, or for an icing that will stand up a little firmer, use regular.

ONE MORE THOUGHT:

Do you like to use those sugar sprinkles on your cookies? It is ridiculously expensive to buy those little bottles in the baking aisle. Make it yourself for virtually free! It literally takes just seconds! Simply put a little sugar in a sandwich bag, add a few drops of food coloring, close the bag and smush the sugar around with your fingers on the outside of the bag. In less then a minute, you will have this:


Sprinkle on your cookies and here is the finished product:

After finishing these, you can strap on that "Supermom" cape and wear it with pride! No one even needs to know that your kitchen is a disaster, you were up past midnight, your house is a mess, your husband feels neglected and that your hair sticking out all over your head makes you look a bit scary! All they need to know is you created something wonderful from the most basic cheep ingredients you had around the house and you came through for your kids who carry them proudly into school (hopefully not dropping them....) to share with their classmates.

~Amanda

Random Recipes - Oatmeal in the Crock Pot

With the temperatures taking a dive and the snow/ice falling again, it seems like a good time to post a recipe for a yummy, easy hot breakfast. I have made this many times over the last two months and the kids love it. The recipe I use is from the Weelicious website (though there are many other recipes out there).

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Here is the basic recipe (but I have some additions below it):

Oatmeal in the Crock Pot (Serves 4-6)

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats* (you cannot use rolled oats for this)
2 Cups Water
2 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Tsp Cinnamon

Desired accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, walnuts and or raisins

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine.
   
2. Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 6-9 hours (the amount of time can vary depending on your crock pot. Some crock pots that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others).
   
3. Stir in desired accompaniments and serve.

On the Weelicious website, there is also a video "how to" on making it - Oatmeal in the Crock Pot Program

*There are many different brands of steel cut oats, which are basically cut oats that are not yet rolled. They are more dense and therefore take longer to cook. You can find these at the grocery store in the oatmeal section. As well, I have seen some brands, like Bob's Red Mill, in the baking section. BTW, Bob's Red Mill also makes a gluten free variety.

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I alter the basic recipe a little by adding (or increasing):

1 Tbsp Cinnamon (I increase it to this - but we love cinnamon)
1 Tsp of vanilla
2 Tbsp of ground flax

The other additions I have added were apples and raisins. I peeled and chopped up two apples, which I mixed with about 1/2 cup of raisins. Before adding to the mixture, toss both in cinnamon (refer back to the "we love cinnamon") to coat. I have tried it both at the beginning of the cooking process and an hour or two before it is done. We like it better when the apples and raisins cook overnight. The apples are soft, the raisins are plump and the oatmeal takes on the apple and raisin taste. I also add nuts - chopped pecans, almonds or walnuts.

The best part (for the kids) is getting to pick their own mix-ins - which I do when I just make the basic recipe (and sometimes even with the cinnamon apple and raisin recipe). Along with a little milk, our favorite mix-ins are:

• Frozen blueberries - these are not only plump from the heat and taste wonderful, but they also act as little ice cubes to cool off the oatmeal. Definitely a HUGE favorite at our house.
  
• Other frozen fruit - chopped strawberries, mangos, peaches, raspberries, etc.
  
• Nuts - chopped pecans, almonds, walnuts, etc.
  
• Dried Fruit - raisins, cranberries, cherries, chopped figs, etc.
  
• Honey

Sometimes we even top it with a little pure maple syrup.

YUM!

Cooking: Like noted in the recipe, cooking times will vary. I'll be honest, I have cooked it for many different times, just based on when I went to bed the night before and when we ate it in the morning (and it always turns out fine). I don't think it is an exact science. You can try it and see. If you have a crock pot that you can program to go to warm after a certain amount of time, you might want to try that too.

Clean up: No doubt, unless you have a non-stick crock pot (which we do not), there will be some reside on the sides of your crock pot. I have found that it really isn't that hard to get off. On the Weelicious site in the comments of each of the above posts (recipe and program), you can see various mentions of this and remedies. Some say baking soda and hot water, some say a little oil (or non stick spray) before adding your ingredients, etc. Once we empty ours, we just soak it in hot soapy water for 1/2 hour or so, scrub a little and it's clean.

It's easy, it's healthy and it will keep you and your children fueled throughout the morning.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that you would like to share? Please send us an email.

Valentine's Day cards, crafts and recipes

The Family Fun website always has really neat ideas for all things holiday. If you are looking for ideas, here is a link to all their Valentine's Day ideas.

For Valentine Day's past, we have made the sweet shovel (we filled it with stickers, little raisin boxes and a couple chocolate kisses) and the sweet for the sweet - naturally for my oldest son's friends. Both were a huge success. These are just two, there are many more really cute Valentine card ideas on their site, click here to see them.

In addition to the card ideas, there are also a ton of fun recipes, games and party ideas, which are not only fun for doing at home but also provide great ideas for those room mothers out there who are planning their child's classroom party.

Do you have other great website resources for fun Valentine card, craft and recipe ideas? Please share by commenting below!

Fun Kid Thanksgiving Appetizers and Treats

Family Fun Magazine always has a ton of great kid holiday ideas, no matter the season. For Thanksgiving, I love their ideas for treats and appetizers. So far, over the years, we have done three Turkey treats/appetizers (photos from Family Fun):

The fruit gobbler:
This is really easy and fun! My oldest son, at four, helped me make the skewers (I cut off the sharp ends after we put the cheese and grapes on since we had younger children - they still went into the melon fine).


Gobble me up:

Seriously cute and all healthy too, my kids like laying out the apple and orange segments as feathers.

Sweet T.O.M. turkeys:

The candy corn and cookies are easy for younger kids to put in to help with this fun treat. We made these when my son was three and though they weren't picture perfect, he had a blast.

My kids and their cousins all really loved these. They are fun to make with your kids and add some festive fun to your gathering, not to mention they are all very yummy to eat! There are a lot more ideas on their website - check them out - appetizers and desserts/treats. (The names of each treat shown above are hot linked to the recipe.)

As far as standard recipes, I've also made the apple pie party dip with cinnamon chips many times (for whatever occasion) and it has been a HUGE hit... often requested by people (for me to make).

In addition to these things, they also have great crafts, activity sheets and games for Thanksgiving.

If you are looking for some fun Thanksgiving themed kid appetizers or desserts, as well as fun kid activities for many ages, check out the Family Fun Thanksgiving area.

Frozen Flower Pops

As nice as it's been out lately (loving the fall temps), there is always occasion for cool treats. Check out these super cute (and super easy) frozen fruity flowers! These fun little treats are great for play dates, parties, or just a special fun snack.

From Familyfun.com

Frozen Flower Pops

Ingredients:

• Fresh pineapple
• Watermelon
• Green apple
• Skewer

Instructions:

1. Make the petals by cutting notches in a 1/2-inch-thick fresh pineapple ring, then place a watermelon ball in the center.
2. For a leaf, skewer a slice of green apple, then push the skewer stem into the pineapple. Place the flower on a wax-paper-covered tray, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for about 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Weelicious: a kid friendly healthy recipe/food idea resource

Weelicious is a really great website for kid friendly healthy recipes. This mom of two and culinary school graduate, Catherine McCord, has packed this site full of tons of baby, toddler and really kid of any age (including us!) recipes and ideas. You can search the site in multiple ways to find specific recipes, whether it be a meal type, food group or gluten free. If you subscribe to the site, you will get an email when new recipes are posted - which is great!

In addition to the almost daily recipes, she also creates "programs" which are basically videos of a "how to" for different recipes. Catherine also came out with a great program recently which is called "School Lunch" in which she highlights many tips, tricks and ideas to get you thinking "outside" the box. For those of us that have problems thinking of new things to pack, that our kids would actually eat, this program is great!

On the Weelicious facebook page, there are also photos of creative, fun and healthy lunches (many that you wouldn't think to do). If you are a fan ("like" the page), you will get these and links to the recipes (if appropriate). Another great feature of the facebook page is that "fans" post questions often and Catherine, as well as others, answer them quickly. Fans also often post their favorite recipes (all of which can be found on the Weelicious website) too, which is great for ideas.

Lunch box photo: Pita, Sunflower Butter*, Weelicious Strawberr-Wee Preserves & Banana, Kale Chips, Papaya, Strawberries, cheddar cheese cubes & crackers. (BTW, kale chips are surprisingly good!) *great substitute if your child's school is nut free.

How about you? Do you subscribe to this site already and have a favorite recipe(s)? Or do you know of other great kid friendly healthy recipe/resource websites? Please share!

Terra's Living Seasonally - Bacon and Sweet Corn Pizza

When I have nothing planned for dinner, I have a few go-to options that work with pretty much any meat and veggie that’s in the house. These include fried rice, frittata and pizza. Pizza is especially great when you’re down to almost nothing in the pantry because it doesn’t demand a lot of toppings. A few sliced tomatoes, some cheese and basil and I’m happy. Here is a version that makes use of seasonal sweet corn and pantry staples (at least in our house!) of bacon and onions.

You can buy pre-made pizza dough (Trader Joe’s sells it for $.99 in the refrigerator case), a pre-made pizza crust like Boboli, or, if you have an extra hour, make your own. I use the recipe from Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything. This is our most frequently used reference book in the kitchen. I highly recommend it.

Mark Bittman’s Pizza Dough

• 1 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup water (plus more if needed)
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil

Combine yeast, flour and salt in a food processor. Turn on and add 1 cup water and 2 tbsp oil through the tube. Process about 30 seconds, adding a bit more water at a time if needed, until it forms a ball.

Turn onto floured work surface and knead by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round ball. Grease a bowl with the remaining teaspoon of oil and put the dough in it and cover with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm part of the kitchen until the dough doubles in size, about 1 to 2 hours.

When dough is ready, knead it lightly on a floured surface, form a ball and divide into two if you are making a small (10-inch) pizza and saving half in the fridge for later, or leave in a single ball for a family size pizza. Allow the dough to rise another 20 minutes on the work surface, covered with plastic wrap.


Making the Pizza

Form the dough into the shape you want. (If it was refrigerated, you need to let it come to room temperature first, about 20 minutes). I use my hands to form a round, but you can also use a rolling pin. Try to ensure it’s an even thickness everywhere – about ¼ inch - but the crust edges can be a little thicker.

The following should be enough for a family style pizza using the whole batch of dough. I’m roughly doubling how much I used to make a 10-inch pizza to share with my girls. That’s about all the three of us can eat, and I save the other half of the dough in the fridge for another day.

• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 3-4 ears corn, cut off of the cob
• 4-6 slices of bacon
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella
• ½ cup shredded swiss, gruyere or fontina, or some combination (or more mozz if that’s all you have). I use a packaged shredded swiss-gruyere mix from Trader Joe's

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the bacon down the middle lengthwise and then into ½ inch slices. Cook, stirring often, in a nonstick skillet until just cooked, don’t let it get crispy because it will cook more in the oven.

Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the bacon fat. Or pour it all off and add a tablespoon of olive oil if you want to be healthy and boring. Return the heat to medium and cook the onions a couple minutes until they start to soften. Add salt and pepper and the corn kernels to the onions, cooking for another 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and the corn is bright and sweet.

If you have some, sprinkle a little (less than a tsp) of cornmeal on the pizza pan, then lay the pizza dough round on top of it. If you don’t have cornmeal, skip it. It just helps give it some texture and prevent sticking.

Top with the shredded cheese, the onion and corn mixture, and the bacon. You could also add tomato slices, fresh basil and salt and pepper at this stage, but I didn’t.



Cook for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the bottom crust is done.

Enjoy!

Terra

Terra's Living Seasonally - Sweet Corn Fritters

It’s sweet corn season and in our house, we can’t get enough! Besides the obvious roasted corn on the cob, we like to use corn in cool salads, risotto, soups and stews, and even on pizza (try bacon, onion and corn together on a white pizza, it’s delicious, I'll post the recipe later this week). Here is a recipe that uses fresh corn that we started making last summer when the girls were just 12 months. Back then, everything they ate had to be a finger food, so the fact that these are bound with a little egg and flour works really well. They continue to be a favorite in our household because they’re easy, work as a side dish for mom and dad and a main dish for picky toddlers.

The recipe comes from Great Food Fast, a great cookbook from the Martha Stewart Empire. You can also find this recipe, along with a lot of other quick, easy and nutritious family friendly recipes, on Martha Stewart Food.

Sweet Corn Fritters (Serves 4 )

Ingredients

• 3 ears corn, husks and silk removed
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Sour cream (optional)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Remove kernels: Cut off tip of each cob; stand in a wide shallow bowl. With a sharp knife, slice downward to remove kernels. To bowl, add milk, egg, sugar, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; mix. Fold in cornmeal and flour.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Working in two batches, drop batter into pan by heaping tablespoons. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt; place in oven. Repeat. Keep warm in oven up to 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, if desired.

You might want to throw together a dipping sauce to go with them. Of course my kids love a combo of mayo, ketchup and season salt but I don’t think it’s the ideal flavor combo for the corn. My recommendation is a bunch of freshly chopped herbs (dill and parsley are perfect), garlic and salt stirred into mayo or sour cream.

Next up, homemade bacon, onion and corn white pizza! The girls love this as well! I'll post the recipe later this week.

If you have questions, requests or suggestions for my column, please let me know. I would love to hear from you! Either comment below or email me at columbusmultiples@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

Terra

New monthly column - Terra's Living Seasonally

We are very excited to announce that another regular monthly column has just been added to the blog - Terra's Living Seasonally. Her post will be centered around food, namely that which is in season here in Central, Ohio. She will talk about growing/harvesting it, picking it (where to pick it), cooking it (in a way even our children will love it) and preserving it (for the winter months).

Below is more information on Terra, as well as a great and easy recipe!

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Hi! My name is Terra G., mom to twin girls (Charlotte and Veronica, born July 2008) and married to Joe. We live in Clintonville with our two cats and small backyard garden. My husband and I are what you might call food hobbyists. You name the gift-giving holiday, and I can guarantee I got a blender, food processor, kitchen-aid mixer, Japanese chef’s knife or food dehydrator. To encourage his experimentation, I surprised him with an electric smoker for Christmas and now our backyard smells like hickory on weekends and we eat an unreasonable amount of homemade pulled pork and smoked salmon. Since moving to Columbus from Brooklyn, NY in 2006, we have played around with smoking, canning, freezing and drying our food. And I was so into making my own baby food that my twins never ate any food that came in a jar.

So, not surprisingly, my posts will be about food – growing it, harvesting it, cooking it and preserving it. And, ideally, with an eye toward getting toddlers to eat it. We’re calling it Living Seasonally*. The idea is to aspire to a goal of eating what’s in season and available locally so we aren’t getting flavorless tomatoes in the middle of winter that came on a boat from Argentina. We’re lucky to live so close to such great agricultural bounty. I plan to feature items during that magic few weeks a year when they are in their peak season and give you ideas for how to grow them, where to pick them, how to cook them so your kids will eat it, and how to preserve them to use in the dead of winter.

*Living Seasonally isn’t all that original. I have a personal blog of the same name (livingseasonally.blogspot.com) where I post about many of the same ideas. If you’re interested, check that site too because it’ll have original content that isn’t necessarily aimed at family friendly eating (pickled jalapenos and strawberry rhubarb margaritas, anyone?).

And now for the first official recipe of Terra's Living Seasonally column...

Fried Rice

Fried rice is a great quick meal that can get you out of a jam when you don’t have enough of anything to make a meal around. Maybe you have 2 carrots and a couple of mushrooms and a handful of cooked chicken in the fridge. Great – you have the makings of fried rice!

Ideally you should use leftover rice. Just don't cook rice and immediately make fried rice out of it. It isn’t as good, don’t ask me why. Instead, try microwavable frozen cooked rice (Trader Joes sells 3-pack boxes).

Below is the version I made for dinner tonight. It used snow peas from the Clintonville Farmers’ Market, shiitakes mushrooms from the North Market, and lovely spring onions from the Pearl Market. But really, any combination of veggies and/or protein will work. Generally, add items in order of what takes longest to cook. Carrots first, greens last. If you want to use meat, cook it first (or use leftovers) and set it aside until the end – stir in just to warm it through.

My 23 month old daughters were happy to devour this. Maybe it was because we all sat together and ate the exact same dinner, which is still sadly a bit rare for us. Who knows what it was, and I can’t promise your kids will eat it, but it’s a good way to use up some leftovers in the produce drawer.

Ingredients (all quantities totally approximate – use what you have):

2 cups leftover cooked rice (or microwaved frozen rice – prepared and cooled in fridge)

½ cup diced carrots

¼ cup chopped spring onions (or green onions)

½ cup chopped snow peas

2 beaten eggs

8-12 sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger (I use a kind that comes in a jar & stores in the fridge)

soy sauce

oil (canola, sesame or peanut)



If using frozen rice, microwave and put in bowl in fridge to cool. Chop all your veggies into similar size pieces to aid in even cooking. Mince garlic and ginger. Beat eggs in a bowl.

Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium high heat in a large, nonstick pan. You want it hot to cook quickly - don’t be shy! Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally 2-3 minutes until they start to brown, then add carrots and cook another 2-3 minutes until they start to get tender. Add green onions and peas and cook another 2 minutes.

When all vegetables are nearly done, add garlic and ginger, stir and cook for about 30 seconds until you start to smell them, but not too long or the garlic will burn. Add another 2 tbsp oil (at this point, I prefer a flavorful oil like peanut or sesame), then add the rice to the pan. Stir until all grains are coated. Cook another minute or two.

Add 3-4 tbsp soy sauce and stir. Push rice to the side of the pan, leaving a well in the middle. Add the beaten egg to the center, stir to scramble and allow to cook fully – about 1 minute. Once cooked, stir together with the rice and serve.

Look at that almost empty plate!

If you have questions, requests or suggestions for my column, please let me know. I would love to hear from you! Either comment below or email me at columbusmultiples@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

Terra

Popsicles that you can give them every night!

What child doesn't like popsicles? They go hand and hand with summer and being a child after all. However, they typically are not the healthiest thing to give them, even if it is a treat. Below is a recipe for homemade popsicles from CMOTC mom Wendy that are both yummy and healthy. You could even feel good about giving them to your children every day!

This is similar to a post I wrote last July, but it's so good it's worth talking about again!

I've always made homemade popsicles for my kids, which they have loved. They were made with fresh fruit or fresh fruit and yogurt. Last year, though, I stumbled upon a recipe that would add more nutrition to the popsicle and also answer the question: how am I going to get Oliver to eat a vegetable?! One of my twins, which is one of my three boys, would not eat a vegetable for anything. Sweet, savory, raw, cooked, seasoned, topped with cheese, it didn't matter, he will not eat it (though he gets it on his plate twice a day, every day regardless).

Sure I hid it in foods and as long as it was pureed and he liked the food, he would eat it. But I had never thought to hide a vegetable, like spinach or kale, in a popsicle... a much loved treat... it just never occurred to me! When I saw this, though, I was ALL over it. I think I made them the very next day (after running out for fresh spinach). And you know what? You cannot even taste it! What's more... they love them! Correction: they BEG me to have these popsicles for dessert every night.

In the post from last year, I have actual amounts of each item I used then, but typically I just throw whatever I have in and adjust until it tastes good. That means there is no messing it up!

We made our first batch of popicles last week after strawberry picking. Here's how I made them (I used all of everything shown in the photo, except where noted):

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Juice from two oranges
• Spinach
• Unsweetened 100% Pomegranate juice (optional) - I used about 1/2 or 2/3 cup

Put it all in a blender or food processor and puree. Sample it for tweaking and mix in whatever item(s) you think more is needed. Once it tastes right, pour into popsicle molds, freeze and enjoy! It's like eating frozen fruit, they are fresh tasting and refreshing.

Again, you can use whatever fruit or fruit combination you want and your kids like. Both spinach and kale have very little taste (kale has more than spinach I think, but I usually rotate between the two). There is a recipe in the post from last year for banana/pineapple/spinach that is pretty good too.

If your kids like sweeter popsicles, you can add flavored yogurt (I use Stonyfield strawberry, blueberry or vanilla) or Kefir (I typically use strawberry). This will sweeten it, but also add some nutritional benefit. Honey or raw agave nectar will work too. Or, if that doesn't do it, add a little raw (or refined) sugar... like Mary Poppin's always said: "A teaspoon of sugar..." Honestly, with that ingredient list, a little sugar isn't going to ruin it, if that is what works (in my opinion at least). You can always slowly decrease the amount you use over time. For my boys, they have never required me sweetening it with sugar, but my teenage stepdaughter is another story and that's when I subscribed to the Mary Poppins school of thought (for just hers)!

By the way, this recipe works well as a smoothie too. I use some frozen fruit for that, as well as one of the yogurt items I listed above, along with the kale or spinach (I've been known to throw in a carrot or too as well, if the mood strikes me). My vegetable hater, Oliver, calls it 'frozen juice' and ALWAYS wants seconds. Score one for mom! Actually, score two, because when all our neighborhood children are over, they ask me to make it for snack... and their moms love that!

A picture tells a thousand words... my happy popsicle eaters:

Above is my little non-vegetable eater... notice that his popsicle is almost gone and he has a big fruit/spinach mustache.

Give it a try and if you come up with a really great tasting combination, share it with us! Post it in a comment below or email us at columbusmultiples@gmail.com.

Favorite "Go To" Recipes of our Members!

The following recipes are some of our member's favorite "go to" recipes for the short notice entertaining we have all come up against. These recipes will help you pull together something quick and yummy, just in time!

Recipe #1

Chicken Dip:
1 can chicken breast
ranch dressing (as much as desired)

mash together with a fork, and serve with crackers. (ok, it may sound too easy, but this stuff is very good, and very addicting!!)

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Recipe #2

Vegetable Dip
There is a "Vegetable Dip" Knorr package that you can buy in the store that has a great spinach dip recipe on the back. I've made it many times, and it is ALWAYS a huge hit!!
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Recipe #4

Pasta Casserole
Ingredients:
Ground beef (or ground turkey)
2 cans of cream of mushroom
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 jar or less of Prego or some marinara sauce
1 box of penne, ziti or other pasta
Fresh tomatoes if you have them, sliced and diced (but not necessary)
spinach (frozen)

Brown the meat
Cook the pasta
Put it all in a casserole dish and cook for 30 minutes covered. Uncover and add cheese. Cook at 350 for another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Lately I've been putting it all in a skillet instead of the oven so as not to heat the house. Or you could even put it in bowls and stick in microwave if you want to make a small meal while putting the rest in the fridge or freezer. Easy meal. I bring this one when friends have babies etc. They always love it.

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Recipe #4

Fruit Pizza
You need sugar cookie mix, cool whip, and any kind of fruit.
Roll the dough out on a cookie sheet and bake as directed. Let cool, top with cool whip and then add the fruit.

It's sooooooo easy and it only takes 20 min or so. People actually get upset when I don't make it.
(Variation -- instead of cool whip use 1 pkg. of cream cheese, and add 1/2 cup sugar. Dee-lish!)

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Recipe #5

Grilled baked potatoes
peel a potato slice it thick but not all the way through stuff the slices with small onion slices
smother in your favorite salad dressing-we used creamy Italian. Wrap in foil grill for about an hour

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Recipe #6

Pasta Salad
Cook Rotini, Penne or your fave pasta
Let it chill.
Add sliced green onions, cherry tomatoes (or sliced), feta cheese, desired amount of olive oil and salt to taste.
It's an easy recipe and great for Summer Picnics!!!

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Do you have a favorite picnic recipe? Please add it to the comments below or email mailto:ccolumbusmultiples@gmail.com. Thanks!

A fun St. Patrick's Day healthy snack

Here's a really neat idea for a St. Patrick's Day (or any day) rainbow fruit platter that is not only fun to make, but also healthy!

From the March 2010 issue of Family Fun Magazine:

Anyone else have great snack ideas for all of the preschool/elementary classroom parties?

Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Coming to us courtesy of The Moores Six

Blueberry muffins:

I found this recipe in an issue of Wondertime a year ago. It has become the only muffin recipe I use – the kids love it. You can use different fruit too. I use blueberries and raspberries typically, but one of my friend uses only raspberries and yet another only blueberries. Best of all, they freeze great! So, after I make them, I divide them up in batches and freeze some for future use!

Makes 24

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)
2 tablespoons sugar

Heat oven to 375.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with muffin-cup liners. This recipe won't work without them. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with sour cream until thoroughly combined. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt together butter and brown sugar, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then beat this mixture into egg mixture. Stir in oats.

Fold in flour mixture and then — very gently — fold in berries. Fill muffin cups about three-quarters full. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar onto the top of each muffin.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until edges are medium brown and tops are firm.

Cool for 5 minutes, then remove muffins (in their papers) and finish cooling on rack.

I usually skip the sugar on top. Sometimes I lessen the brown sugar and use honey or agave nectar in it’s place – but I have no exact formula to share. I always use one cup of ultragrain flour and one cup of white whole wheat flour. And lastly, I always add flax meal. In case it isn’t obvious, I can’t stick to a recipe to save me! But my point is you can play with it and they still turn out wonderful!

Another Great Recipe - Healthy Mini Cupcakes

Healthy mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Here is a recipe I found for mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. If your kids know what cupcakes are, then I would call these muffins with frosting because they are definitely not cupcakes like most kids (or adults) would think of them.

I tried these twice, once in big muffin pans (because I didn’t have a mini pan) and once in (new) mini muffin pans. I would recommend the mini pans over the large pans (which is what the recipe calls for anyhow). The cupcakes are very dense and full of fiber. They are good, but not very sweet. I think the ratio of cream cheese frosting to hearty healthy cupcake is more balanced in the mini size. The frosting, by the way, is the BEST part (it is soooo good). The cupcakes also freeze well if you want to freeze some for later.

Mini cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups shredded/grated carrots
1/2 cup ground nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or whatever dried fruit you want – I’ve even used two kinds at once)
1 1/4 cup organic whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together. Full each mini cupcake in the tin to the fullest it can go. Cook at 350 for 15 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and top with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Combine all ingredients and mix well with an electric mixer:

1 1/2 cups organic softened cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 Tablespoons maple syrup

Enjoy!

Oreo Truffle Recipe

OREO TRUFFLES
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
Sanding Sugar (optional)


Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.


Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs or sanding sugar.


Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.


How to Easily Dip Truffles
To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Then use two forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove the truffles with forks and allow excess chocolate to drip back into bowl before placing truffles on prepared baking sheet.

Awesome Summer Recipe

This is from Wendy at http://www.themooressix.blogspot.com/

Popsicles with a little green secret…

My kids are all still very young (a four year old and almost 2 year old twins), so I try to keep all the food they eat very healthy (while I can still get away with it), all while trying to keep it kid friendly and fun. I have been making homemade fruit and yogurt popsicles for a couple years for my four year old who absolutely thinks they are the bomb. So, when I came across a new popsicle recipe with a twist…spinach… I was all over it. Oh yea, you heard me right, fresh spinach… in a popsicle! Here it is:

Berry popsicles

1 pint of blackberries
1 pint of raspberries
1 qt of strawberries
1 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice (I usually just squeeze two oranges but you can do it to your taste)
2-3 cups of fresh spinach (or other leafy greens – I use baby spinach)
1-2 tbsp of raw agave nectar (for natural sweetener – if you want)

Mix everything in a food processor or blender until smooth (I mix the berries first, then add spinach and mix – mostly due to space in my processor). Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

I have used blueberries in place of the blackberries. Really you can use any berries you want – even just one kind of berry - whatever you think your kids will like. You can also use as much or as little of any of these ingredients - it’s pretty fail proof. I mess with it all the time. I add yogurt sometimes for a creamier popsicle.

They turn out a really nice purple color and mask the little tiny pieces of spinach leaves well. You honestly cannot taste the spinach at all. They are fresh, cool and best of all a healthy treat!

Here is another recipe I tried. My kids did not like it as much, but they really like berries, so no surprise there.

Electric Green Popsicles

2 ripe bananas
1 medium pineapple
2-3 cups spinach (or other leafy green)
Water

Blend until smooth and pour into molds and freeze.
Note: since the fruit is lighter in color the little tiny pieces of spinach are more evident. If your kids are older, they may wonder what those are, thus not such a secret ingredient.

Tovolo makes really cool BPA free popsicle molds, in case you are concerned with that. They are a little on the large side, so I use the molds I bought at Kohl’s more often (which I verified with the company to be BPA free as well). Also, sometimes I make half popsicles which are easier for my not quite two year old to hold.

Enjoy! Our little secret though… okay??