fawn&forest

I have been wanting to do this for awhile: homemade graham crackers. Havn't gotten around to it, but this little girl and her Mom did from Five Green Acres blog. Looks like they had a lot of fun + the recipe looks delicious!  I have included the recipe below, but be sure to check out Five Green Acres... a blog about city mice who move to the country!

Graham Crackers

1 c. sifted flour - graham or whole wheat
1 c. white flour (whole wheat pastry flour worked well for me)
1t. baking powder
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. milk + a little more to get the right consistency

 
Mix dry ingredients, work in butter with a pastry blender. Stir in honey and milk, then knead to form firm balls. Add a little bit of milk as necessary to get this consistency. Roll out to about 1/4″ thick. Cut into squares or use cookie cutters.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, or until brown.

I think it might be best to store these in a loosely-fitted container to maintain the crispiness of crackers. We didn’t, and our crackers were more like less-sweet cut-out cookies than crackers, so we’ll try that next time. Also, not having milk, we found that using half and half, which we did have on hand, worked well when diluted a bit. Not that I’d recommend the substitution unless you’re in a real pinch…

If you also have ABC cookie cutters, you’re in luck. The B and the X are especially delicious with this recipe.

 

Get your kids in the kitchen + make some homemade Graham Crackers! Images via Five Green Acres.

I can ruin 2 recipes in a flash: chocolate chip cookies and biscuits. Not quite sure what I do wrong? That aside, the classic "Toll House" chocolate chip cookie recipes treats me well most of the time. I want to be more sophisticated than that, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Eliot and I made some "chocolate chippers" this week. They've already been eaten (and it's only Wednesday?!). Here is the recipe:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE in preheated 375-degree [Fahrenheit] oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely...

.....or....eat them all up real quick and don't burn your tongue.

I did it. I made the Minty Pea Pops from Jennifer Carden's The Toddler Cafe (Chronicle Books 2008) and they are litterally flying out of the freezer.  Eliot is  a minty pea pop maniac!  He has eaten so many peas he can now literally open the freezer door all by himself. Impressive.

The recipe is so simple + one of those foundational recipes that is totally adaptable to what you have on hand. Corn? Pineapple? Kiwi? With a bit of tweaking you could get your kids to eat their veggies + fruit, even on a dreadful food strike. Food strike aside, what kid doesn't love a popsicle?

With the kind permission of Jennifer Carden, here is her recipe for the Minty Pea Pops:

ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup frozen petite green peas
scant 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/8 to a 1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
popsicle sticks

directions:
Place the cream cheese, peas and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 20-second intervals until the cheese is softened to room temperature.

Using a stick or standing blender, puree the ingredients into a smooth paste. Add the extract and mix again, scraping the bowl frequently. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Place the mixture in a large zip-top bag and cut about 1/2 inch off of the bottom corner. Squeeze into a clean ice cube tray or mini-muffin tin, place 1 popsicle stick in each and freeze until solid, about 1 hour. Depending on your freezer, you may have to let them freeze for up to 4 hours. For best results, make and freeze overnight.

Once the pops are frozen, remove them from the molds by twisting just like ice cubes and seal in an airtight container for up to 1 month.  Makes 6 cube-shaped pops.

It's that simple! I used a mini food processor with great results, although be sure to mix in the chocolate chips by hand and not with the blender as they'll disappear in the chop. Though this recipe says it will make 6 popsicles, I got about 14 popsicles out of the batch using a Fresh Baby food tray.

One of the best aspects of this recipe? Peas in a popsicle. The green color is real and not some weird chemical color experiment. Brilliant!

For the scoop on Jennifer Carden, be sure to check out her blog and the spotlight on her at 101 Cookbooks! 

So Eliot and I did end up making an extra chocolatety gooey cakey bit. I am still on the hunt for the perfect chocolate cake recipe, though. No complaints, we never seem to have any problem polishing off chocolate cake!

But then I saw these Lime Tart Cupcakes on the CupcakeBlog, which made me go into chocolate cake remorse! Ugh, the indecision! I'll have to make the cupcakes over the weekend. The Chockylit CupcakeBlog is one of my favorite food blogs, total bummer to hear she is splitting the scene for a bit of a hiatus.   

The recipe is a bit involved, always fun to do a load of dishes after making a batch of cupcakes! But why not? Lime Tart goodness in cupcake form. Yeah. Images above via CupcakeBlog.

Unless you have one of those toddlers that is a human trash compacter, it is quite true that these pint-size critters are rather randomly selective in the food department. I don't have a eat-everything toddler + have even found myself saying "popcorn for lunch? sure!" as at least it's something.

So enough with being uninspired + having my child eat random bits (popcorn) for substance (lunch). Granted, not everyday is wacky, but if there is one thing I've learned about being a mom: a plan + preparation = success. 

Another thing I've picked up on? Tasty flavors. The kid likes spice + flavor + complexity. And food has to be fun + with variety. 

That's where the majority of "toddler food" recipes + ideas fall short (oh dear, not another ants-on-a-log!) as they are dumbed down + oddly renamed versions of "adult food". So I was blessed to recently pick up the Toddler Cafe by Jennifer Carden and was so impressed by her fun ideas for feeding toddlers. Fresh, inventive and healthy recipes that look astonishingly fun to eat. I have yet to try any recipes (still in preparation mode) but the first one that I will try? Minty Pea Pops, a recipe that involves cream cheese, petite peas, mint + mini chocolate chips. Frozen + on a stick. I'll keep you posted. 

I was also inspired by the toddler/preschool "bento boxes" from Wendolonia blog (who provided the pictures above, left + right). Simple + look quite lunchy! Presentation is often the key, or perhaps it just makes us feel better about neurotically cutting cheese into mini-men? Not quite sure, but surely more adventurous for the kids to eat. 

And while I would not normally think to link to this store, the Kids section is actually quite fun + Gastrokid approved, so what the heck.  While I am at it, these watermelon icepops are looking delicious as well as this fresh fruit kiddie cocktail.

Fresh fruit galettes are right up my alley. No fuss. Free form. Dessert. And the kids can help and it'll still look tasty.

I first found this super simple apple galette recipe on this convenient recipe cheat sheet. You could really adapt this recipe to accommodate any fruit, but using apples is a simple start. My apples in the end could have used a little more love (or perhaps could of used a different sort of apple?) though the galette was scarfed in a quick minute. Read more on apple varieties, compliments of our local market. And I would argue organic is best.

You can read how to green-up your life or take an eco-anxiety quiz. But on most days, in addition to not using a million plastic bags or just letting the hose run, I'd rather spend quality time with my son in the kitchen, the old fashion way. Baking + making a mess. Perhaps not certified greenness, but seems more conscience than spacing out in front of the tv or accumulating endless amounts of brain numbing toys. Perhaps. 

I am 7 months pregnant + strangely could eat breakfast at anytime of the day. I recently + randomly checked out Bill Granger's bills open kitchen and could not resist making these buckwheat blueberry pancakes (shown above)..... for dinner, of course. With eggs and sloppy homemade blueberry syrup goodness. Oh ya.

Making dinner for your family makes for a happy + healthy bunch, but is also quite green. Feeding your family fresh, local + organic foods is not only reasonable but keeps all the partially hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrupy-whats out of their veins. Food preservatives + chemically altered foods are just wrong, right?

So here's the blueberry buckwheat recipe, adapted from Bill's recipe. They were delicious + I will have no problem polishing off the leftovers for breakfast.....

Mix together in one bowl:
1 1/4 cup organic buckwheat flour
1/2 cup organic unbleached flour
1 tps. baking powder
2 tps. organic sugar

Mix together in another bowl:
2 cups organic buttermilk
4 organic egg yolks 

Then mix the wet + dry ingredients together well, some lumps are ok.
Then beat those 4 egg whites until they're fluffy and no longer slimy. Gently fold 1/2 the beaten egg whites into the batter, then the other half. Proceed as you would make any pancakes. This recipe made about 12 moderately sized pancakes and don't forget to toss on those blueberries before you give the pancakes a good flip. You'll need about a heaping cup of blueberries for this. I used the tastiest frozen organic blueberries as it's not yet blueberry season. 

For the Blueberry syrupy goodness I threw a heaping cup of blueberry in a skillet with a bit of water + 3 slugs of agave. Simmer it down until it looks how you want it to. Juicy, but slightly thick. 

And for even more healthy "breakfast" goodness, do yourself a favor + visit 101cookbooks.com.

After my son plowed through a whole box of Fig + Raspberry Bars in 1 day (okay, I did eat a few myself....) I thought, Yes, I could make these! When time is busy it makes my day to make a mess in the kitchen with Eliot.  Give the kid a bit of flour, a few measuring spoons + a stack of cupcake liners and he is content for hours. Below is my own sloppy (but tasty) take on this recipe from Martha. This recipe does not make a cakey cookie, but rather more flaky + crisp-ish.

For the filling I did not use figs but rather cleaned out my pantry of severely dried up raisins + the last bit of raspberry jam, for good measure. Though you could really use any combo of dried fruit etc.  I also decided to half the recipe, making adjustments to the recipe accordingly and used white whole wheat flour.

The fun thing about making your own baby food is you can make dozens of fun (and funky) combinations. It can be made just for that meal or be frozen for later use. Once you get the hang of it, recipes offer general guidelines as the possibilites are endless. The following is a simple combination recipe, most suitable for babies who have already had single foods + are ready for texture.

Banana + Pear + Oats:

1 c. cooked organic oatmeal
1 ripe organic banana
1/4 cup pureed organic pear. 

Place oatmeal, banana and pear purée in the work bowl of a food processor. Process mixture for 30 seconds, scrape bowl and process until desired consistency is reached. Breast milk, formula or water can be added for an even smoother texture. Makes about 12 1-ounce servings. Recipe adapted from Cuisinart.

Generally all baby food recipes freeze well. I'd skip the breastmilk or formula as those have the chance of getting a little funky pre-mixed with the food. Best to leave a bit thick + thin it out according to your baby + with each serving. While they freeze ok, mushy bananas also tend to discolor a bit. Adding a fresh banana to a thawed oat+pear cube would also work.

Frozen Organic Baby food is becoming increasingly popular + is available at the grocery store. While convenient + fun, it can be a bit on the pricey side, especially if you have one of those picky-spit it out or refuse it all sorts of babies. I am however, inspired by the food combinations + ideas. HappyBaby and Plum Organics are 2 of my favorites. I am also intrigued by Pomme Bebe.  

For general guidelines on what to feed baby + when, click here.  For general information on baby food preperation (like how to make pureed pears) visit this site.

Hot Chocolate + Strawberry Cupcakes has Valentine's Day written all over it. Eliot + I made these Strawberry Cupcakes yesterday (and have already plowed through half of them!)... a Sprinkles recipe! And will be making the following hot chocolate recipe today, it's super. 

Hot Chocolate : 1/4 cup unsweetened organic cocoa powder, 1 quart organic milk, 1 cup organic semisweet chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract + a pinch of salt. | Put cocoa powder in saucepan. Stir in milk a bit at a time until cocoa liquefies; add remainder. Add chocolate chips; melt over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and pinch of salt. Ladle into mugs; top with whipped cream or frothy milk . Serves 4. Based on a recipe from Martha . Hot chocolate image complimentary of this flickr gal.