Milk Maker Cookies

It seems like all my friends are having babies right now. With three down, another one due next week and then two more before Christmas I am totally living vicariously through all the tiny toes and little bows (the first two have been girls). I was super excited to go visit my friend Deniz last night and finally get the chance to meet her delicious baby Alex for the first time.

My usual MO is to bring dinner for the family, but since Alex’s grandma is in the country for a month to help with his care, they already have dinner taken care of. Not being one to come empty handed, I knew I had to make some sort of tasty treat and since Deniz is breastfeeding, I figured I would try making mothers milk cookies for the first time. For those of you who don’t know about these cookies, they are basically a healthy cookie, full of all sorts of nutrient rich nuts and grains that help to increase milk supply. Don’t worry, they wont actually make you lactate on their own but many of the ingredients are items that are said to increase breast milk supply.The best part is that they really are delicious so daddy can also enjoy these special treats.

I was really excited at how mine turned out, just the slightest bit healthy tasting yet still super delicious so I couldn’t wait to deliver them. Well of course fate was not in my corner because I ended up not only forgetting the cookies but also my CAMERA!!! What kind of blogger am I?  Anyway, I have had several people test these out and they have all said they are delicious  so Deniz, I promise to make you more soon enough. For now, the cookies that are left will have to be eaten by all my playgroup mommies who are coming over for a play date tomorrow. 

This recipe was an adaptation from  Peaceful Parenting

1 C all purpose flour

½ C almond flour

1 tbs brewers yeast (I couldn't bring myself to use more)

½ C butter

2 eggs

¾ C PB

1/2 C oatmeal

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 C flax meal

1/3 C water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 C chocolate chips

1 C chopped nuts of choice

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine flours, oatmeal, yeast and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl combine softened butter, peanut butter, eggs, salt, flax meal and cinnamon and mix until completely blended. Slowly add dry ingredients to the mixture until they are incorporated. Add water and vanilla extract and then fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Bake for 12-15 min

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

I love butternut squash ravioli in a beautiful brown butter and sage but with all the stuff we have going on right now I am lucky to get food on table by dinner time so I wont be busting out the pasta maker anytime soon. So what do I do when I cant give into my cravings?? Improvise!

This butternut squash pasta sauce, when paired with cheese tortellini, almost makes me think that I have the real thing. Plus, the sauce freezes really well so it is perfect for those nights when you need dinner in no time flat. Bonus items, its totally kid friendly and doesn’t stain nearly as bad as red sauce!

This recipe is an adaptation of the Martha Stewart original.

1 butternut squash

½ C orange juice

2 tbs butter

2 tbs EVOO

1 head of garlic, pealed

½ tsp dried sage

S&P

½ C milk

½ C toasted walnuts

2 tbs fresh sage, chopped and pan fried

Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375. Prep squash for baking by cutting in half and scooping out the seeds. Rub the squash inside and out with EVOO and then sprinkle sage over the flesh. Put the squash in a baking pan, flesh side down, and then add butter and OJ to the pan. Sprinkle garlic around the pan and bake until tender (about 40 minutes).

Scoop squash out of the skin and place in a food processor or blender with garlic, leftover juices from the pan and the milk. Blend until smooth adding up to a cup of water if you would like to thin the sauce further. Season with salt and pepper and toss with pasta or freeze for later use.

Pan fry the chopped sage in EVOO until it becomes flavorful and crispy. Set aside for garnish.

Cook tortellini based on the package instructions. Drain pasta reserving a cup of the pasta water on the side. Toss pasta, nuts and sauce together. Add a small amount of pasta water at a time to thin the sauce. Sprinkle cheese and sage over the top of the bowl and serve!

Delicious Pot Roast Dinner

Katie here!  I just recently moved and for the last few months our meals have been take out or any sort of concoction I could throw together at the last minute.  I was so happy and relieved to reclaim my kitchen and start making delicious healthy family meals again.  This meal has been a staple in my family for well over 40 years.  My Dad claims it was the dish that made him want to marry my Mom.  My Parents have for many decades cooked recipes from the McCormick/Schilling's Spice Cookbook and the tradition has been passed down to their children.  This meal is really so easy and great for either a Sunday dinner or if you are home during the week, the type of meal you throw together during nap time and drool over until it is done.  Great for leftovers and sandwiches.  I increased the veggie portions from what the recipe originally called for.  And I also made the gravy, which is completely optional, as the roast can easily stand on its' own.

3lb boneless beef chuck roast
2 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 cup beef broth
1/2 tsp basil leaves
1/4 tsp oregano leaves
1/4 tsp thyme leaves
6 small potatoes, peeled and halved
6 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
All-purpose flour for thickening (optional) 2 tsp

Preheat oven to 350.  Place meat in a baking pan large enough to fit meat and veggies.  Sprinkle meat with steak seasoning.  Combine beef broth with basil, oregano, and thyme and add to pan.  Cover (I used aluminium foil) and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Uncover meat and add veggies to pan.  Cover and bake another 1 1/2 hours.  If you want to make the gravy, remove the veggies and beef from pan.  I poured the pan juices into a sauce pan, added flour and whisked over low heat for a minute or two until I got to the desired thickness for the gravy.

BBQ Base Lasagna

Comfort meals continue with this post so break out your elastic waist pants. Oh yes, I feel like a bear preparing for winter these days with the lbs I am packing on… too bad I canceled that gym membership, it looks like I could probably use it. Lasagna is one of those things that just takes time, boiling the noodles, browning the meat and then all that assembling and baking. I really like this one because I was able to do the prep work ahead of time and then just throw it in the oven before my guests came over for dinner. I really like the time saving no boil noodles but I will say that the top layer ends up a little crispy so if you don’t like your noodles Al dente I would suggest going with the old school noodles.

3 C of the BBQ base

1 jar of pasta sauce

2 C Ricotta cheese

1 egg

Chopped parsley

1 box frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

1 box of no boil noodles (I used Delallo Whole Wheat noodles)

1 bag of mozzarella cheese

1 C grated Parmesan cheese

S&P

Mix ricotta, egg, parsley and spinach together in a bowl. In a baking dish layer sauce, pasta, ricotta mixture, meat mixture and then mozzarella and Parmesan mixture. Repeat layers until the dish is filled to the top. Layer sauce and a thick layer of Parmesan across the top layer of noodles and either refrigerate, covered, until you are ready to bake or bake immediately at 450 for 40 minutes.

Spinach Cornbread & BBQ Chili

I had this amazing spinach cornbread casserole thing at my friend Brooke’s baby shower the other weekend. It was simply delicious and totally reminded me of corn casserole but “healthier” because it was chock full of spinach! Of course I now need to know how it is made so I started digging up some recipes on line. The one I ended up making was nothing like the original, more like a cornbread with spinach, instead of spinach with cornbread topping. However, it was quite tasty, so I decided to share it anyway. I ended up pairing it with my quick BBQ chili because really, what goes better together than cornbread and chili??

This recipe is an adaptation of one from Taste of Home and is part of a series that started with this post.

1 package of jiffy cornbread mix

½ C grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp garlic powder

2 eggs

½ C Greek yogurt

¼ C butter, melted

1 package (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

½ C shredded cheddar (plus more for topping)

½ C onion, diced

Combine the first three ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs and stir in yogurt and butter. Stir in dry ingredients and then fold spinach, cheddar and onion.  Grease pan of choice (I used a pie pan and cut triangle slices) pour mixture into the pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Pull from the oven and top with additional cheddar and bake for 3-5 more minutes or until the cheese begins to crisp up.

BBQ Chili

So my dear friend Dana just had a beautiful little girl named Lauren. In an effort to help her through this transition a few of us put together another one of those meal chains through TakeThemAMeal.com. For my meal, the mommy dearest had made the request for the BBQ boats that I posted about a couple of weeks ago. I knew I was going to be browning meat and vegetable mixture already but I also hate to eat the same thing back to back so I decided to try and do some creative meal planning using the meat mixture for three nights worth of dinner in different ways

Night One: BBQ Boats

Night Two:  BBQ Chili (from the same meat base) and a spinach cornbread

Night Three: BBQ Base Lasagna

It worked out really well and I was really excited that I was able to stretch out two lbs of meat across three dinners for multiple people without eating the same ol' leftovers for three nights in a row.

When I was making the meat mixture for the boats this time I  used 2 lbs of ground meat which gave me enough for 15 boats (an adult serving is probably 2 boats per person and 1 per kid), 1 pot of chili that served 3 (plus leftovers for lunch) and a full tray lasagna that was dinner for 4 adults and 2 toddlers.

I pre-cooked the meat and veggie mixture the first night which made dinner preparations for the next two evenings a snap. 

I used one basic meat base for all three of these meals which was made of the following:

2 lbs of ground meat (I used 1 lb of chicken and 1 lb of beef)

½ onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, diced

1 bag of frozen spinach, thawed and strained

1 whole pepper, diced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

S&P

I browned the meat, onions, garlic and spices in a pan until the meat was almost completely cooked through. Then I added the spinach and peppers and continued to cook until the peppers softened. I removed about 1/3 of the mixture from the skillet and placed it in an air tight container in the refrigerator for the lasagna. I added the remainder of the items used in the BBQ Boat sauce to the meat on the pan and continued to let it cook for another 5 minutes. After I had completed the boats I reserved the remainder of the bbq mixture (about 2-3 cups) in a container in the fridge for the chili.

I really enjoy a hint of sweetness in my chili which some people might think is weird. I find it complements the heat of the peppers and spices really well. My usual way to achieve sweetness (easily) in my chili is to add a small can of baked beans to the mix (seriously, its good) so I figured, how much different could it be to use bbq meat instead? This was a great way to achieve the same flavor profile in my chili while keeping me from eating the same old dreaded leftovers all week long. 

Since I have already shared my boats recipe here, Ill skip that portion and go right on to the chili.

I was short on time yesterday I made a really quick chili that wasn’t short on flavor since the already cooked meat was able to act as the base.

1 can kidney beans

1 C frozen corn

½ onion, diced

1 sweet pepper, diced

1 tbs chili powder

Remainder of the BBQ from the boats

Cook on medium for 20-30 minutes and serve. 

I garnish mine with Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream) and a bit of extra cheese! 

 

School Traditions

The first day of school is finally here!!! I still remember how excited I use to get every year on my first day and I want to instill that same excitement in my little guy. We have done all the “prep” work now, reading first day of school books, picking out a special outfit and even preparing his backpack for the first day! I am not going to lie, I thought a backpack was a bit ridiculous for a 2 year old but then my mom pulled out the LL Bean backpack that my sister, brother and I all used for preschool and I decided that B had to carry on the tradition. A little ribbon and stitch witchery later we a super cute personalized backpack that is just perfect for B’s extra diapers and clothes. I love that he is carrying on a tradition but also making it his own (since he got to pick out the dinosaur ribbon) so that got me thinking about other first day of school traditions and I thought I would put together a list of my top 5 favorites that I would consider incorporating into our family too.

11. The super cute first day pictures with a sign (they are on every parent’s Pinterest or Facebook wall)

2. Favorite meal- preparing a special meal (either breakfast or dinner) for your little ones first day. We did chicken nuggets and apples for lunch, B’s current favorites

33. Afternoon snack- Katie’s family is carrying on  her husband’s tradition of fresh baked cookies and milk at home after school

44. First day video- capturing what the first day of school was like from his own mouth.

5.  Special lunch treat- leaving a special surprise and note in his lunch box to help cheer him on.

We really did have an awesome first day of school and while I had a laundry list of things to accomplish on my “first day of freedom” I was super excited to be able to stick around and witness first hand all that he was experiencing. I was really excited to see that a lot of the songs and rhymes that his teacher used were the same ones that we have done in Music Together throughout the last two years. I really think it brought that level of familiarity to the experience for him and at one point he even said “Bee-anne sings that” (Breanne has been his Music Together teacher.)  I love that we got to create these memories together and I am super excited for what the next year has in store for us.

Coconut Curry Potato Crisps

We have been getting TONS of potatoes from our CSA the past few weeks so I have been on a potato frenzy. These coconut curry potato crisps were devised from my friend Sarah’s baked French fry recipe that I shared a few weeks back. I love how easy and versatile these are and that since they are sliced thinly they cook super quickly. I served these up with baked chicken one night and then with burgers the next and they complimented both meals perfectly. With another big bag of potatoes hitting our doorstep this week I have a feeling there will be plenty more of these in out future.

3-4 medium potatoes, sliced ½ inch or less thick

1 tbs coconut oil

Curry powder

Salt

Toss the sliced potatoes in coconut oil and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and curry powder and then bake at 400 for 20 minutes, flipping once. Serve!

Thai Curry Crock Pot

Months ago my dear friend Jason asked for a crock pot curry recipe and I began trying things out. It seems like it wouldn’t be that hard… a thick flavorful sauce, a protein and a mix of veggies to boot. The issue is that slow cooking can lead to overcooked meat and veggies which is just no good. I think I finally managed to get decent flavor and well cooked items by starting with frozen chicken which allows the long cooking time to also be used for defrosting, and by adding the veggies at the end to keep them crisp and tasty. 

So here we go…

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

3 tbs coconut oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

3 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp salt

2 tbs of brown sugar

2 tst Thai curry paste (red or green)

1 C coconut milk

½ C Peanut butter (optional)

1 stick of lemongrass

1 fresh chili, minced (optional- I used a Serrano)

1 lime, zested, juiced

3 C fresh veggies of choice (beans, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, squash)

1 C fresh cilantro, chopped

1 C fresh basil, chopped

1/2 C scallions, chopped

Add the first 11 ingredients to the crock pot and cook on low and cook for 8 hours (or high for 4). The only vegetables you should cook for the entire duration are potatoes because they will stand up to the heat. During the final ½ hour of cooking increase the heat to high and add the fresh veggies, chili pepper and lime stirring the curry so that the flavors will mix. I usually prep these ahead of time and store them in a plastic bag or container so I can dump them in when I come home right before dinner. While the veggies are cooking make a pot of rice to serve with the curry. Stir in fresh herbs right before serving and garnish with additional fresh lime wedges.