Spinach As Finger Food



Spinach Thingies (shown cut into quarters)

 This recipe is based on Dr. Praeger's Spinach Littles, of which we're big fans. No fun shapes, but the toddler-friendly texture and flavor are similar. Any fun ideas on what to call these?

16 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and excess moisture squeezed out
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp canola oil
4 medium potatoes
1 red onion, cut into chunks
2 egg whites*
1 Tbsp arrowroot**
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp salt

1. Peel and slice potatoes into small chunks. Boil potatoes until tender.
2. In the meantime, place onion in food processor and pulse for a few seconds. Add spinach and pulse again for a few seconds.
3. Whip potatoes until smooth in a stand mixer or with hand mixer.
4. Make a slurry by mixing the arrowroot and water in a small bowl. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. In a saucepan, heat the canola oil and garlic until the garlic "speaks" (makes sizzling sound). Add the spinach/onion mixture. Then add the whipped potatoes.
6. Be sure that the bottom of the saucepan is covered with the mixture and add the egg whites (You want to avoid cooking the eggs on the bottom of the pot) and the arrowroot slurry. Stir until combined and remove from heat.
7. When the mixture has cooled enough to be handled, create patties (each about the amount that would fill an ice cream scoop) and arrange on a cookie sheet covered with cooking oil spray.
8. Bake the patties for 10 minutes (this will help the arrowroot to set).
9. To freeze, tuck the patties into aluminum foil pockets (to prevent the patties from sticking together). When they have cooled completely, place the foil pockets into a freezer bag and freeze.

On serving day, place the patties on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking oil spray and broil on each side for approximately 5 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning.

*For a vegan version, use egg replacer. I'll update when I've made the recipe again with an egg replacer.
**Arrowroot will likely be in the baking aisle of your grocery store.

Here's Linus enjoying his spinach after the plate idea was abandoned:

Mommy's Lunch

This is my very most favorite eat-in lunch. It's so easy to throw together, takes about 3 or 4 minutes to assemble (including the side of fruit), and it's super nutritious - perfect for moms!

The Sandwich:
Whole Wheat Bread
Your Favorite Hummus (I use Trader Joe's Cilantro-Jalapeno version)
Leafy Lettuce
English Cucumber Slices (length-wise for less fall-aparty-ness)
Sliced Tomato
Sliced Avocado
Dijon Mustard (If you're a mustard fan - it's also good without)

Slice up some fruit, and there you go. Ready in the time it takes to heat up a Lean Cuisine - and waaaay tastier, too!

Finger Foods By Aisle: The Freezer Section

Did you get a little excited when you saw the word freezer in the post title? The convenience of the freezer is one of my mommy obsessions, so it's with great enthusiasm that I bring you the next installment of Finger Foods By Aisle.

If you're just getting started with this post series, the idea is that I'm making lists of all of the minimal/no preparation finger foods just waiting to be picked up at your favorite grocery store. It would please me so to see any of your favorites that I didn't include in the comments section.

One thing - I didn't list things like fish sticks or chicken nuggets since we're laying off the meat these days. If you'd like share your favorites, though, please feel welcome!


Mangoes
Peaches
Blueberries
Lima Beans
Corn
Mixed Vegetables
Peas
Green Beans
Sweet Potato Fries
Cubed Butternut Squash
Dr. Praeger's Broccoli Littles
Dr. Praeger's Spinach Littles
HappyBaby VeggieTots

**For all freezer veggies, my cooking method is putting them in a microwave-safe bowl with some water and cooking for about 1:30 on high. Butternut squash and sweet potatoes are exceptions. I throw them on a cooking oil-coated piece of aluminum foil (easy clean-up) and bake.

I recently posted a recipe for Curried Vegetable Pancakes that can be stored in the freezer. That recipe came out first try - I only had to make a couple of tweaks to the draft I sketched out beforehand as I cooked. I've been trying to recreate Spinach Littles... that one isn't coming quite as easily. I've got some ideas about what's going wrong, and when I get it perfected, I'll post it. Why not just buy the Dr. Praeger's? Well, Dr. P doesn't use organic spinach, which is important since spinach is on the EW's Dirty Dozen list (most contaminated fruits and veggies). Also, like most prepared foods, it's much cheaper to just make it from scratch yourself.

March Challenge... or February...

... or January reflection??? When was the last time I wrote one of these posts?

Anyway, an update on the vegan/vegetarian thing.

Starting on the day we flew back home, I declared myself and the babies vegetarian. It's been about a month now, and I've missed eating meat exactly zero times. I'll admit that pre-switch, I was afraid I would miss cheeseburgers, which I came to love so very much when I was pregnant. As fate would have it, though, my hubby brought me a veggie burger from Ruby Tuesdays, and... wow... just wow. It was really, really good. I've also since discovered the Trader Joe's Vegetable Masala Burgers, which are soy-free, ridiculously easy to prepare, and yummy.

Complete veganism? Hasn't happened... yet. It's still my ultimate goal. Which brings me to my March Challenge. This month I'm going to eliminate all animal protein from our breakfast meal. Considering that I've already made the switch from cow's milk to almond milk in cereal, this shouldn't be too difficult. It does mean eliminating yogurt for the babies, though, which is one of their favorite foods. But let's be real - they probably dig it so much because of the added sugar. Have you tasted that stuff? It's like cake batter.

I picked up a copy of Veganist, and it's helping me remember why I started this whole switcheroo in the first place. If you're curious at all about Veganism, it's a great read.

Edited to correct the spelling of February in the title. *Blush*

Snapshots of Cute Stuff 3/5/11

I haven't been taking as many pictures as I should. There are flash and light meter issues with the DSLR, and I have zero patience with point and shoots. Seriously, the shutter delay thing - AAAAAAARGH! Nevertheless, here are a few of the shots I HAVE been taking on our adventures.

Twin check - you back there?

 Veda loves saying "Bwaaaaaaaaah!" and patting her mouth.

This is the face of someone who knows he's painfully handsome.

File Under: How I Do Stuff. This is how we go for a walk. Two babies in the jogging stroller and the small dog attached by leash to a Mommy Hook on the stroller. It's how we roll. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

Stairs are a big attraction these days. Here we are playing in the toddler room of a local museum.

Why have I not gotten an agent for these kids? (*cough* Lindsay Lohan) Anyway, here we are at a koi pond. I demonstrated feeding the fish bread. And yet, when I gave them bread to throw, Veda and Linus ate the bread. Eh, I guess it was time for a snack,

 Mr. Linus wants to be closer.

This has been Snapshots of Cute Stuff.

Read. This. Book.

MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths by Janet Penley

If we're being really honest, and I try my very best to be, we all have secret shames about ourselves as mothers - things that make us feel inadequate and guilty. Likewise, we all have things that we feel we're great at, and doing those things makes us feel on top of our game.

You've probably taken the Meyers-Brigg Assessment at some point. It's the one that gives you the result with the four letters (E or I, N or S, T or F, and J or P). All in all, there are sixteen personality types, and knowing which one yours is can help you capitalize on your parenting strengths and make peace with, even develop strategies to bridge your weaknesses.

What do I mean? I'm an INFJ. This means I'm Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging. What I perceive to be one of my greatest strengths as a parent is my drive to seek out information, to find the "best" way to do things, to have a vision of where we're going. This is thanks to my Intuitiveness. Then again, my flakiness? That's also part of being Intuitive. Another (confessional) example? My great shame as a mother is a function of my Introvertedness. I feel a lot of guilt about not being able to always be "on" for my little guys. Being the excited, bouncy, big-smiling playtime mom of young children is exhausting for me, and I'm envious of moms who seem to have endless energy for toddler play. But my Introvertedness also lends itself to the relaxed, comfortable demeanor I will admit to getting compliments on. As much as I feel guilty about not being the other kind of mother, I know that my serene presence will be a gift to my children in other ways. MotherStyles wisely suggests strategies to bridge my shortcomings. For example, Penley suggests enrolling in Mommy and Me-type classes both to provide my babies with a type of stimulation I'm not gifted at providing and to give myself a break.

I promise that if you read this book through, you'll be rewarded with numerous "Aha!" moments, and you'll probably also be more understanding of your spouse/partner after you learn more about why he/she does the things he/she does. Maybe best of all, you'll be a little more kind to yourself when you're evaluating the job you're doing as a mommy.

Bottom line: Yes, this is a parenting book that's about the parent. But taking a realistic appraisal of who you are and what you bring to the table of motherhood is well worth the time.

Toddler Foodie Curried Vegetable Pancakes

I've read on so many message boards that babies don't have the same tastes as older people, that their food needs to be bland. WRONG! Babies love tasty food, and it's actually good that they be introduced to spicy foods fairly early on to develop a palate for healthy foods. What's more, did you know that spices contain high levels of antioxidants? Check out this article that Kiwi ran a few months ago about slipping spices into your baby's diet.

Not only does this freezer-friendly pancake recipe introduce the yummy flavor of curry to your little one, it's also packed with veggies. Linus liked these so much that he did a little jig in his high chair. If your toddler foodie needs a little more motivation, try adding a small dollop of sour cream to the top of these veggie-packed pancakes.

My pitiful attempt at food photography. It's supposed to look like a cat. You can see it, right? Tilt your head to the right... yeah, like that. Now do you see it? 

My
You'll need:

2 Carrots, grated, excess moisture squeezed out
2 Zucchini, grated, excess moisture squeezed out
1/2 Cup frozen corn, thawed
1 Onion, diced - the smaller the dice, the better
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup flour
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Curry powder (mild)
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
Olive Oil

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients together except for olive oil.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet or griddle.
3. Drop ice cream scoop-sized dollops of the batter onto the skillet/griddle. Flatten each out to a pancake shape.
4. Turn when first side becomes golden brown.
5. Remove when the second side is golden brown and set on a paper towel-lined plate to soak up any excess oil. Either serve at this point, or continue with freezing in the next step.
6. After the pancakes have cooled, fold them into aluminum foil pockets and put into a freezer bag.

To Serve After Freezing:
1. Heat oven to 450 and bake for about five minutes on each side.