Sprouts 2.0

Food trends are a funny thing. It isn't like in clothing or technology, where something can be actually invented and created. There are no new foods items being invented (have you tried Smagbloff yet? It is the hottest new vegetable!) so it is so odd to me when a food becomes trendy and popular, when it has been there all along, people. Kale. Kale has been around since the beginning! Can't go to a restaurant without seeing kale on the menu. Truffles. Once just reserved for fancy French restaurants - now on the menus of every Yard House and Friday's near you (ok, probably not real truffles, but truffle flavored oil for sure)! Same goes for sweet potato fries, beets, goat cheese, Burrata, and my favorite brussel sprouts. Did you ever see any of these things on menus when you were younger?

Sprouts with a kick!

I never even put a brussel sprout in my mouth until I was in my mid-20s. Now they are on the family menu at least once a week. I cooked them for my parents a few years back, they hesitantly ate them, and now they are aboard the sprout train like everyone else. If you aren't eating sprouts, you don't know what you are missing.

Clean them, cute them in half, drizzle avocado oil (my oil of choice) over them, a little salt and pepper and roast them in the oven for 30 minutes (or until dark and crispy around the edges - the burned parts are the best!) on 400. Couldn't be simpler.

I decided to try and recreate a sprouts dish that I had at a local restaurant a few weeks back, where they had the roasted sprouts covered in a honey Sriracha sauce, and much to my surprise, was quite successful.

How do you make said Honey-Sricacha sauce? Get ready to write this down....

Put some Sriracha sauce into a bowl...and add honey.

I know! Rocket science.

Any Sriracha sauce will do, but I use raw honey because I like the taste better than regular honey (and it is better for you). It will depend on how spicy you like your food as to how much honey you add to sauce, but just start adding and start tasting! Then drizzle a small amount (it goes a long way) over your roasted sprouts and you have Sprouts 2.0!

Living Clean: Remastered Curry Chicken Salad

My mom is known for her chicken salad. Whenever friends would come over in high school they would ask for her chocolate chip cookies (that were just Nestle Tollhouse but for some reason were the best cookies ever) and her chicken salad. It is a pretty simple recipe, that I have made hundreds of times, and passed on to many a friend over the years: chicken, apples, raisins, walnuts, grapes, mayo, curry powder and salt and pepper.

The thing that makes it so delicious is the curry mayo, which is simply Hellman's Mayonnaise and curry powder. I could eat Hellman's mayo by the spoonful, and I have. I know some of you just threw up in your mouth, and the others are nodding in agreement at having eaten mayo like ice cream before (ok, not by the bowlful or anything - just a spoonful!).

When we started eating Paleo it was hard for me to give up the Hellmans - nothing you make at home compares. But I became accustom to my homemade mayo after I found the right mix of ingredients - one egg yolk, dash of salt, juice from half a lemon, a tablespoon of water (because I use one of those handheld immersion blenders) and one cup of walnut oil. I have tried using macadamia nut oil (most expensive and least flavorful), avocado oil (gave the mayo a green hue and tasted too much like avocados), almond (too nutty) and hazelnut oil (reminded me too much of coffee flavoring).

Now onto my remastered Curry Chicken Salad!

For the chicken I will either cook an entire free-range bird in the crockpot (sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook on low for 5 hours) or I will get the plain or brined rotisserie chickens from Whole Foods if I am lazy (which is most of the time). I decided to swap out walnuts for healthier almond slivers, and I added diced scallions for a delicious oniony crunch. And instead of raisins I used unsweetened dried cherries.

Let me just say, wow. This turned out even better than I had expected! I have also eaten it for breakfast and lunch the last two days it is so good. The scallions really add a new depth of flavor to an already simple but delicious salad (did that sound like a line out of Top Chef?)

Here is the crazy simple recipe (including the recipe for my mayo) for you to try yourself!:

Living Clean: Slow-Cooker Goodness

Just last week I was lubing up the girls and putting them in bathing suits so we could play in our various blow up pools on the back deck. Today I turned the heat on. And I love it! I am a sucker for all things fall: foliage, pumpkin anything, apple picking, wearing jeans, boots and coats and especially the start of the holidays. This cold front we are having in New England is making me excited for all of those things to come in the upcoming months, and has prompted me to dust off the slow cooker and try out some new recipes.

I recently discovered stupideasypaleo.com thanks to a guest post over at nomnompaleo.com, my go-to for Paleo recipes. I decided to try out her Kickin' BBQ Chicken recipe on Monday and loved it so much that I plugged my slow cooker back in and tried another one of her recipes! And damn! they did not disappoint.

And let me just say this...I will never ever buy another rotisserie chicken again. I cooked a whole chicken, as stupideasypaleo.com suggests, in the slow cooker and it was simply delicious. All you need to do is clean the bird, pat it dry, place in the slow cooker, cover with salt and pepper, put the lid on and cook it for 5 hours on low. Moist, tasty, tender bird. MMMMMM.

I have a few other Paleo/Clean slow cooker recipes that are really simple and fantastic so I figured I would share the links to all of them in this post! Click on the photo captions to go to the original recipe posts. All of the photos below are from the original posters websites.

Civilized Caveman's Crockpot Simple Short Ribs

Stupid Easy Paleo's Kickin' BBQ Chicken

Stupid Easy Paleo's Mocha-Rubbed Pot Roast

Nomnom Paleo's Slow Cooker Roast Chicken and Gravy

Nomnom Paleo's Slow Cooker Thai Yellow Curry With Grass Fed Beef

Recipe of the Week: Nomnompaleo Asian Chicken Thighs

I actually got my act together this week and made something for dinner other than a grilled piece of meat and some veg (which is what we are having tonight for dinner, but whatever). I decided to go to my favorite source for all things paleo, Nonompaleo.com. One of my readers told me to try out the Asian Chicken Thighs, so that is exactly what I did.

I will be honest - I am a chicken breast kind of girl. I don't mine picking apart a rotisserie chicken, but I am not partial to eating chicken meat off the bone. Now ribs, I can handle, but there is something about little tiny chicken bones in my mouth which kind of gives me the willies. But I have never been disappointed by a Nomnompaleo recipe, so I figured I would put my feelings about tiny bones in my mouth (insert male member joke here :) aside and start cooking.

I won't do a step by step on here, as Michelle of Nomnompaleo has ridiculous detailed (and beautifully photographed) step by step instructions on her website, so click here for the full recipe. 

I will say that if you don't eat a paleo diet, you will find that you have to but a lot of ingredients that you don't normally have in your pantry (toasted sesame oil, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, to name a few). Basically all you do is combine the ingredients in a food processer and pulse until they become a marinade. Put the chicken in a plastic bag, pour in the marinade, let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, and then cook. Very very simple.

And very very tasty.

Here are my only comments:
- I used only 3 pounds of thighs, and still felt like I didn't have enough marinade. Maybe when I marinate things I use more liquid than I need to though.
- I cooked the chicken for 40 minutes at 400 degrees and still didn't have that crispy skin like Michelle says you get in the recipe. I left it in there for 3 more minutes and a few got a little crispy, but I was looking for that fabulous crispy chicken skin you get on whole chickens. It is probably something to do with my oven though, which is fairly old and cooks thing pretty unevenly.
- The thighs are not as good the next day. As Michelle says in the recipe "eat immediately."
- There is definitely enough for 4-6 people in this recipe so if you are making it for only 2, I would half the amount of chicken, but use the same amount of marinade. As I said, the leftovers were good, but not great.

Overall I recommend giving this a try. I think it would be am amazing dish for a party, as they are really easy to eat with your hands (and not as messy as Michelle leads you to believe in the recipe).

Living Clean: The Dirty Month of July

For the first 6 months of this year my husband and I pretty much ate a 90% Paleo diet. We were sugar-, complex carb-, gluten- and dairy-free most of the week. We did cheat here and there, especially when we went out to dinner, but for the most part we were living a pretty strict Paleo lifestyle.

The results were amazing - I lost 25 pounds and two dress sizes. My husband is the thinnest he has been in 15 years (I don't even want to know how much he has lost because I will be totally jealous - damn men and their easy weight loss). We felt great: more energy, better sleep and neither of us got sick during those six months. Then July came...

...and we fell off the wagon - hard. Half of July we spent away from our house - our safe haven, where we always have a stocked fridge and pantry full of clean cooking condiments. We started off our vacations trying to be good (packing trail mix and other healthy snacks) but then we quickly found ourselves indulging in potato chips and Helluva Good dip (and it lives up to it's name friends). We were basically on an all-carb, all-sugar and all-processed food diet.

And I went from exercising 4 times a week to once or twice if I was lucky when I was at home and basically not at all while on vacation. The fact that I was recuperating from sinus surgery at the beginning of the month didn't help the situation either.

After a month of eating like we used to and lying around like slugs we felt like shit - fat, greasy, lazy, soft, jiggly shit. I can't believe that before January this was the way I used to eat! Whatever, whenever. Never reading labels, never caring about what I put in my mouth, and eating until I felt sick. No wonder I have always battled with my weight. You eat crap, you feel like crap, you look like crap. Simple enough.

So as of this week we are once again back on the wagon. The fridge is stocked with grass-fed meats and organic fruit and veg, and we are back to making (90%) of our meals ourselves. This week we have put the grill to work overtime -

- Veal chops with a dry rub of Chipotle pepper, minced garlic and dry mustard (with grilled zucchini)
- Shrimp with Old Bay seasoning (with tomato and onions sauteed in ghee)
- Grass-fed burgers with dry mustard, minced onion, dijon mustard, salt, pepper with grilled onions and baked sweet potato fries

And tonight is steak tips (pre-marinaded and purchased from Whole Foods - not paleo, but this is where we aren't being as strict as before) and grilled eggplant that I received from the Boston Organics delivery this week. I will let you know how that goes, as they are the skinny bright purple eggplants, and I am a little scared of them!!

My goal is to try a new recipe from Pinterest each week, and then report back to you all with my comments and photos of the results. So stay tuned for more updates and recipe info in the very near future!!

(Mostly) Paleo Chocolate Coconut Whipped Goodness

So this isn't the best photo of the deliciousness I made last night, but it was late and my camera needed to be charged, so this is the best I could do with my phone.

I have had this can of full-fat coconut milk in my fridge for a couple weeks and decided to put it to good use and try and make some whipped dessert goodness last night. I used an immersion blender and whipped it up the entire can of milk until it was pretty thick (next time I will whip it in actual mixer to make it a little stiffer). I then added a little less than 1/4 cup of unsweetened organic cocoa powder and blended it a little longer. While it was tasty, it wasn't very sweet so I went ahead and added in one packet of Truvia. This made it so much better!

It placed it in a tupperware container and popped it in the freezer for 15 minutes and it firmed up to almost a frozen yogurt consistency.

And it was delicious! And M enjoyed it immensely. We called it "healthy chocolate pudding."

I think it would work perfectly on top of berries for dessert.

So simple! Try it out.

Dinner Tonight: Salmon and Roasted Veg

I just made the simplest, most delicious dinner tonight and had to share for all you busy Mamas out there. Of course I thought about posting it after I ate it, so I didn't think to take a photo, but here is what I made...and M ate it all up!

For the veg (I say veg because Hubs loathes the word veggies :):
Two heads of broccoli
6 carrots, peeled and cut into "fry" shape (or sticks)
Avocado Oil
S&P

Put everything on a baking sheet, drizzle oil, add S&P and cook at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Check

In case you forgot what a piece of salmon looks like

it at the 20 minute mark, and give it a stir.

For the fish:
1 pound of wild Salmon (this was enough for me and M and to have a little leftover)
Avocado Oil
1 Lemon (1/2 sliced into somewhat thin pieces, 1/2 for squeezing)
Dill
S&P

Line a baking sheet with tin foil (enough foil so that you are able to wrap up the salmon like a present). Place salmon, skin down, on the foil. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with dill, salt and pepper. Squeeze half a lemon worth of juice over salmon. Place the sliced lemon on top of the salmon. Wrap up fish nice and tight in the tin foil so that it is totally covered and sealed.

At the 20 minute mark for your veg, place the salmon on the second rack in the oven and cook along with the veg for the remaining 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

And Voila! Everything is done at the same time...and is crazy delicious!!

Living Paleo: Be Prepared

My Paleo update: It's hard to believe that we are in our fourth month of living Paleo. I've lost 20 pounds total (hubs has lost more than that), but haven't lost anything for the last three weeks. My weight seems to be hovering around the same number, going up and down here and there by a pound, but not consistently down anymore. About 4 weeks ago I started going to Barre classes, and have noticed a crazy difference in my body (things are definitely tightening up) but the number on the scale remains the same. My nutritionist friend reminded me that metabolic and muscle memory are for real, and my body has probably gotten used to eating the same foods, of which I am totally guilty. This past weekend I pinned a whole bunch of new recipes that I am excited to try and review for you all on here, so hopefully with the new menu in combination with working out I will be shedding my last 15 pounds I want to lose in the next few months. Fingers crossed!!

In this post I wanted to talk about how to make living a Paleo lifestyle easier for yourself, as the main food preparer. My main complaint of eating this way will always be that it is time consuming. There is menu planning, multiple shopping trips to Whole Foods, lots of prep and lots of cleaning (this I leave to my husband most nights). Some days I just want to order a pizza and not have to dirty the stove but then I remember how great it feels to look in the mirror right now, and I heave my Lodge cast iron pan onto the stove and start cooking.

I try to keep my fridge and pantry stocked at all times, so that even if I don't feel like making a big to-do over dinner I can whip something up pretty quickly. There are certain things that I always have on hand:

- Grass-fed ground beef: Whenever Whole Foods has a sale on their grass-fed beef ground beef I buy enough to make one dinner that week plus enough to freeze for a future meal. I divide it up into portion sizes and freeze in ziploc bags.
- Organic chicken breasts from Costco: Good ole Costco sells a package of organic chicken breasts that contain 6 breasts, in 3 little packages. So easy to divide and freeze
- Bag of frozen wild-caught shrimp (from Costco)
- Bag of frozen Tilapia filets (Costco) - these aren't wild caught, but I don't care as they are so delicious fried up in some coconut oil
- Container of fresh crabmeat (Costco)
- Coconut Oil (unrefined) - Costco sells a giant container for $15
- Avocado & Macadamia Nut Oil (both I get on Amazon.com)
- Some sort of curry paste (read the ingredients and choose one that doesn't have sugar, and whose ingredients you are all familiar with)
- Coconut or Almond Flour - dip some chicken in a beaten egg, coat in flour and pan fry. Always a quick and easy dinner
- Canned Coconut Milk

My Boston Organics Delivery!

If you have all of those things in your freezer and your pantry, you can make dinner pretty easily. I always accompany my meat with a veg at dinner, and lately our veg has been courtesy of Boston Organics delivery service. Every Thursday morning a green crate arrives on our doorstep filled with locally grown organic produce. Thanks to Boston Organics I am now a lover of parsnips, celery root and bok choy - all things I had never had before signing up for the service. If you live in the Boston area I highly recommend signing up for Boston Organics delivery STAT!

My last bit of advice for being prepared is to always have the following kicking around:
- homemade trail mix (unsalted nuts and sugar free dried fruit - all found at Whole Foods)
- snack sticks (you can find these "slim jim" type snacks online on different paleo sites, but I cheat and get the turkey sticks they have at Whole Foods. They contain raw sugar but I don't eat them enough for it to matter - at least that is what I think :)
- Hard boiled eggs - Cover the eggs with water (about an inch above eggs), bring to boil, cover the pot, turn off the stove and put on a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes dump out the water and put them in an ice water bath. This way you don't have that ugly green ring around the yolk!
- Paleo Mayo - I found the best recipe for an immersion blender version on seriouseats.com. Click here and watch the video for 2 minute mayo further down the page.

If you have those you have instant breakfast (hard boiled eggs & snack stick), lunch (egg salad), or a quick snack you can grab and take with you - this is important if you are a busy mom like me and can barely find the time to make yourself something to eat between changing diapers and cleaning up after your kids.

I have some amazing new slow cooker recipes I tried that I want to share with you all but they will come in a separate post later this week!!

Caveman Chef: Shrimp Massaman Curry

I made an incredible dinner last night. I was so proud of myself for cooking something so delicious (that I am about to reheat for dinner tonight) that I had to share my creation with you all.

my shrimp curry creation

As I have mentioned in my Paleo posts, this eating lifestyle requires a lot of cooking and a lot of ingredients that I had never used (in some cases never heard of) before we started this in January. In my cupboard you find things like coconut oil, fish sauce, macadamia nut oil, ghee, almond flour, a variety of curry pastes, thai chili paste and other exotic (at least to me) cooking ingredients. Since I am cooking at almost every meal, I like to experiment with said ingredients and create my own concoctions every now and then. Some are not as successful as others (the salmon topped with the cilantro, lime and jalepeno was not my favorite) but every now and then I make magic that even I am shocked came from my kitchen.

So last night I didn't really have a dinner plan, but I had been waiting to use my Massaman Curry Paste, so I wanted to experiment with it. We always have some sort of protein kicking around, so I grabbed some frozen shrimp and started defrosting them by running cold water over them in the sink.

I then checked the veg drawer in the fridge and grabbed everything we had left: carrots, plum tomatoes, yellow pepper, scallions, sweet onion and garlic. I began my nightly chopping of a thousand veg (I seriously think I have tendonitis in my right arm because of all this chopping! Oh and carrying around a 17 pound baby all day.) The plum tomatoes I left whole, as I love the way they taste when they cook whole. Everything else I just chopped up as usual.

Since starting eating Paleo I have only used two pans in our kitchen: our 12" and 15" Lodge cast iron sautee pans. I use them at least once a day, most days at every meal, and don't even bother putting them away after I clean them. I fired them both up, and put a blob of coconut oil in each one.

In the 12 inch I put 4 minced cloves of garlic and all the shrimp.

In the 15 inch I put all the veg.

The shrimp cooked in about 5 minutes, so I transferred them to the veg pan, making sure I didn't bring any of that liquid that was in the pan. Because they were frozen shrimp they tend to leave a lot of liquid in the pan that is very unappetizing if you ask me!

Now comes the fun part - the experimenting with the ingredients.

I added an entire can of Coconut Milk (my go to liquid for anything I make these days), and about 3/4 of the can of curry paste. My husband and I love hot stuff, so I knew I wanted it spicy. If you don't want it too spicy, I recommend just adding a tablespoon. Then I sprinkled everything with fish sauce - I have no idea who much, but I would guesstimate about 2 tablespoons worth. I stirred it all up carefully, so that the curry paste mixed in, and the sauce turned a lovely orange color. I finished with generous salt and pepper, and then let everything cook for about 8 minutes more, until the veg was nice and soft.

So simple. So delicious. I could seriously eat this every night.

It took only about 30 minutes from start to finish, so this is definitely going to be a recurring dish in our house!

Here is the ingredient list again:

1 2 lb bag of frozen shrimp or fresh shrimp (your choice)
1 carton of cherry tomatoes (keep them whole)
1 sweet onion (chopped - i like to keep them in bigger pieces as I love onions
4 scallions (chopped)
1 yellow (or red or orange) pepper (chopped)
2 medium carrots (chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 can of Massaman Curry Paste (the amount is up to your desired level of spiciness)
2 T of Fish sauce
1 can of Coconut Milk
2 T of coconut oil
Salt & Pepper

Try it! You'll like it!

Living Paleo: Week Two Report

Today is day 18 of our 30 day Paleo challenge. 18 days of living dairy-, carb-, gluten- and sugar-free! I never thought I would make it past week one, but here I am on day 18 and I am able to fit into my pre-Val jeans! Now, pre-M jeans, that is another story, but hopefully I will get there soon.

I was fully prepared for week 2 to be hell (much like the second week on Biggest Loser). I heard rumors that you get really tired after a week of eating like this, and that your cravings come back in full-force and it gets even harder to eat a clean primal diet. And to those rumors I say pish posh!! Week two came and my husband and I kicked it's ass. I was able to get a little yoga in a few times and I am starting to feel like my old self again.

I had a couple of challenging moments this week. One being my first dinner out since starting this, but I was able to successfully eat a Paleo dinner - a huge accomplishment for me, the food lover. I passed on the bread (of course we went to an Italian restaurant in the North End) before dinner, and didn't even look twice at the dessert that was being shared by the rest of my girls at the table. It was the first night I was able to fit into my regular jeans, and I think I was so high on the fact that this shit is actually working I had no desire to fall back to my old ways.

I do have to complain (again) that this Paleo gig is pretty time consuming. Here I am at dinner and I have already cleaned the kitchen twice today - once for a big breakfast and once for my dynamite lunch of crabcakes, broiled squash and kale chips. The thought of dirtying up the kitchen a third time makes me want to puke (pukes a funny word - anyone actually get that reference besides my husband?)

Ok, enough about me, now on to the good stuff...the food! We have had some KILLER meals this week and I need to share the recipes with you, because they were so freaking easy to make. Again, I am obsessed with Nomnompaleo.com so most of the recipes come from her kick ass site.

- Crab Patties (holy shite these were delicious)

image courtesy of Nomnompaleo

- Slow Cooker Thai Yellow Curry beef

image courtesy of Nomnompaleo

- Slow Cooker Kalua Pig (which we made for the second time in two weeks)

image courtesy of Nomnompaleo

And on nights like tonight, where I don't feel like making a colossal mess I make my own stir-fry type dish. I cook chunks of chicken in coconut oil, use all my remaining veg in the kitchen (this time carrots, peppers, mushrooms and scallions) and fry that up in a skillet with coconut oil as well. I combine the chicken and veg, add coconut milk, a spoonful of roasted red chili paste, a couple splashes of fish sauce and lots of salt and pepper. Holy bejesus was it tasty. 

image courtesy of me and my mad
cooking skills 

Pick Parlee Farms

It's time for pick-your-own season.  The season that starts with robust, red strawberries that smell of the sun and end with pumpkins waiting patiently for a face.  This is an unabashed promotion of my favorite place, which I'm almost loathe to tell you about, as I don't want to spoil the uncrowded, not-in-Boston-anymore feel.

Bypass the farms close to the city and those that (gasp) make you pay to enter.  Go straight up to Parlee Farms in Tyngsborough.  It may take you a while, but it's well worth it.  Everything I pick there tastes better, not just better than the grocery, but better than every other pick-your-own place.  On Friday, my kids and I sat amongst the long-rows of knee-high plants and had a hard time choosing which berries we would pick.  Every one was a perfect, magazine-style berry, there are not enough metaphors to describe this fruit.  Evenly red, perfectly shaped, lovely green top.  But they tasted every better - warm and luscious.  My kids had berry-stained fingers and chins all day. 

In a few weeks, the blueberries will be ready.  The last time I went, people left the fields with buckets full of the nickel-sized fruit.  So juicy and sweet and so easy for little hands to pick.  Apple season is as picture-book as you can imagine with hay rides and hay mazes and long lines of pumpkins. 

There is also a small animal petting area to keep your kids busy - baby goats, bunnies, and chickens.  Bring some change for the feeding machines. 

In addition to the fruit, I'd drive all the way up Route 3 for the donuts.  Depending on what they're picking, the donut changes.  So right now, it's strawberry donuts.  Little golf-ball sized bites of melt-in-your mouth pleasure.  The batter is mixed with pureed strawberries and then the cooked nuggets are rolled in sugar.  Hot off the old-style, automated cooker (fun for kids to watch), these are probably one of the five best things I've ever tasted...and I eat a lot!  Although the strawberry shortcake from the farmstand is also a can't miss.  They use their own strawberries, a good biscuit, and top it with ice cream and whipped cream.  It's like everything you'd expect from a fresh, farm dessert.

Before you head to the farm, and you really must, check the site or their Facebook page for a status of the picking conditions.  They're good about preventing over-picking, which means sometimes the farm closes early.  It's best to go early in the morning when the fruit is still plentiful and before it gets too hot.  Strawberry season is winding down, so if you miss it, put blueberry season on your calendar.  I hope it becomes "the" place to pick for your family.

Not My Mother's Grocery List

Amazingly good roasted brussel sprouts
(recipe at end of post)

My mother is a wonderful cook. When we were little we ate very well, but like most households probably ate the same 8-10 meals that Mom had in her rotation. We ate a lot of chicken, a pork chop thrown in there every once in a while, spaghetti and meatballs, steak on special occasions and I remember a veal cutlet popping up once in a blue moon. My brother and I were not picky eaters by any means, and were lucky to eat the delicious meals my mom prepared for us every day.

But as I was just cleaning up from our dinner of grilled Veal chops, roasted fingerling potatoes with garlic and onions, and roasted beet and goat cheese salad, I was thinking about how there were so many things that I was not exposed to when I was young, because my parents didn't like them.

In the past 12 years or so I have become what I consider to be an amateur foodie. I love to eat out at new and exciting places, and try out of the box (I hate that term with a passion) dishes. There has never been a food that I would not try, and I love that my husband is the exact same way. And now I am trying to groom my daughter to have an extensive palate as well. In fact she just sat down with us (for her second dinner - the first was barely touched hours before) and enjoyed bites of veal, beets and goat cheese. We are now in the habit of doing this most nights, and so far there isn't much she won't eat.

I think about all the stuff that I make at home for my family that my parents would never think of serving to us as kids; lamb, brussel sprouts, beets, fancy cheeses from France, butternut squash...things with truffle oil, to name a few. And out to dinner I love to be adventurous, and if M is with us I am shoving things like foie gras, duck or sweetbreads in her mouth.

Get Crafy: Turkey Treats

Just a quick post for anyone looking for some fun treats for the kids on Thanksgiving!

Different versions of these oreo turkeys have been around for years (my MIL used to do them with malt ball bodies and raisinette heads). I saw these and thought they would be a fun treat for my daughter and nieces on Thanksgiving.

The link to Our Best Bites provides the detailed instructions. The picture above showed my quick test run the other night - they are very quick and easy to put together!

Happy Thanksgiving!

UPDATE: Get Bakey – Rice Pum’kin Treats

So we just moved into a new house and all of my time the past week has been spent trying to get our new home together, so I didn’t have much time for crafting. BUT, I had an idea that I could not get out of my head so I decided I had to execute – and I have to say, the results were adorable and delicious!

No More Chocolate Milk For My Kid

M had her first taste of the sweet devil's nectar, chocolate milk, on Easter Sunday. She drank it down like nobody's business and then looked at me with this wicked smile and said "mmmmmmmm." And within seconds it was like she was on crack. Now I have given her sweets before - a taste of birthday cake, a mini-cupcake here and there, and the odd cookie - but none of them had the affect that chocolate milk had on her. It was like she was wound up as tight as possible and was going full speed ahead. She was walking faster and giggling and screaming like never before. Then she didn't want to walk...or sit...then she wanted to walk...no sit...no carry me...it was a constant juggling act between my mom and I. See this video for evidence of the crazy laugh: meeting the easter bunny.

M's evil twin at Ikea today

At the time I thought it was just the excitement of the day, and meeting this crazy looking easter bunny, but after our trip to Ikea today I know that chocolate milk was to blame.

I thought I would treat her again today with a cup of chocolate milk during lunch, which goes so well with delicious Ikea meatballs with lingonberry sauce. I had to literally pry the sippy cup out of her hand as she was once again guzzling it down. She pointed and yelled for the rest of the milk, but I wouldn't give it to her until she ate some of her food. Three bites later (which is all she would eat) she was back guzzling the milk down in 2 seconds flat.

And then came the craziness. I put her back in her stroller and walked around and the crazy laugh started. She was cackling as we walked through the marketplace, at nothing in particular. She was kicking her feet up and down so that her stroller was bucking back and forth. She was taking her shoes off and throwing them.

The friendly child that she normally is, she was still saying "hi" to everyone that passed as usual, but this was louder and was "HI HI HI HI." My usually sweet child was replaced by this little hyper devil child, that I just wanted to remove the batteries from.

Now, some might say this is a sign of the terrible twos rearing it's ugly head, but I disagree. I know it will happen any day now for sure, but right now M is still a very low-key easy going kid, and I am very thankful for it. I totally blame chocolate milk for the madness, so for now, we are off the brown stuff and sticking to the pure white goodness of regular old milk.

Ladies who lunch

As a stay at home mom you have to be creative in thinking of ways to fill your days. I call my daily outings with M "adventures," whether it be to our weekly class, a museum, a friends house or even to our old standby Costco. About 3 times a week we have luncheon adventures...most of the time it is with other SAHMs and their kids but lately it has been just the two of us. We have become "ladies who lunch." And I love it!

We have some favorite places that we like to go that I wanted to share with you:

1. 40 Carrots @ Bloomingdales. This little luncheon spot is in the cosmetic section of the Chestnut Hill Bloomingdales (and most other Bloomies). It has a fabulous lunch menu filled with fancy salads and sandwiches as well as hot entree items. It is also a frozen yogurt spot, so dessert is a must have. While they do have a great, healthy children's menu, I am not a big fan children's menus in general so I tend to order M something off the regular menu, or have her just share what I am having. The last time we were there I had the chicken salad sandwich (to die for), which she shared with me, and I ordered her a smoothie to go along with it. It is generally pretty crowded (there is only seating for like 40-ish) on the weekends, so we go early at like 11 on weekdays and basically have the place to ourselves.

That's right, I am a Lady Who Lunches!

2. Cheesecake Factory. This is a fabulous place to take kids of all ages. They bring you, free of charge, a plate full of sliced bananas and bread for the kids to munch on right away. A great touch! And now that they have the wonderful "small plates" menu, there is no need to even look twice at the children's menu. Last week we got two small plates to split (hummus and pita (again, to die for) and crab cakes) and it was plenty of food. As you probably know it is a loud restaurant during crowded periods, so it is a good place to bring your kids if you think they too are going to be loud.

3. Le Bistro @ Nordstroms. Although I am not a huge fan of Nordstroms the store, I am in love with the restaurant housed within it's walls. Le Bistro (or The Bistro - I can't remember which and Le just sounded fancier :) has a menu similar to 40 Carrots, with fancy salads and sandwiches, which I end up sharing with M instead of ordering off the children's menu. They do have a great menu for children, but I try to stay away from her having fried food or mac n cheese every time we go out. They have been extremely accommodating when we have large parties of Mamas and babies as well. I highly recommend them for a lunch adventure!

4. The Yard House. I think the Yard House has the best traditional bar/pub food around. I know it is known for it's extensive beer collection, but we go there for the food. Since we live down the street from it, we are there once a week probably. They are super friendly to kids, and again there is a ton of stuff on the regular menu for a toddler to enjoy, but they do have your typical kids menu if you choose.

Other places we like to go in Boston area with M:
- Beehive (in the South End - best jazz brunch if you ask me! Great entertainment for the kiddies)
- Legal Seafoods (great kids menu)
- Rox Diner, West Roxbury (very small dining area, fabulous brunch)
- Met Bar (Legacy Place)
- West on Centre, West Roxbury (not the best food, but decent, and very accommodating to kids)
- Smokey Bones (fabulous BBQ in Davis Square)

What are your favorite kid-friendly spots?

The Laptop Lunchbox

I recently purchased the Laptop Lunchbox for Little C's daily lunch. The Laptop Lunchbox comes inside of a case which looks very much like, well, a laptop case, complete with a zippered front pocket and long shoulder strap. The case is insulated, which keeps lunch from spoiling when left at room temperature. The actual lunchbox pops open and contains four individual containers, sized appropriately for child-sized portions. Two of the boxes contain lids and are perfect for storing yogurt or soups. The other two containers do not have lids. I worried the food inside these boxes would spill, however the lid of the entire box fits tightly, so contents inside stay put. There is also a small container for dips, dressings, or spreads. The Laptop Lunchbox comes with a stainless steel knife and fork, as well as a 12 ounce water bottle.

The Laptop Lunchbox is reusable, recyclable, and dishwasher safe (top rack only). The containers are BPA and lead free. The Laptop Lunchbox kit, which contains the lunchbox, case, water bottle, and a user's guide, ranges in price from $36.99-$39.99. Although this is more expensive than other lunchboxes, the Laptop Lunchbox eventually pays for itself since it reduces the need for individually pre-packaged food, which is generally more expensive than buying in bulk. The reusable containers also eliminate the need for disposable plastic containers or plastic bags, thereby reducing waste that winds up in a landfill.

The small containers inside the lunchbox are also sold individually, which means we can replace the containers I will inevitably lose, without having to re-buy the entire lunchbox kit. My daughter is nineteen months old and the Laptop Lunchbox is perfect for packing her lunch and snacks for daycare. I really like the small containers because it helps determine an appropriate portion size for a child.

Should you purchase a Laptop Lunch kit, you will receive a user guide, which contains nutritional information, recipes, and tips for packing fun, creative lunchboxes. The user's guide is slightly sanctimonious in tone, preaching the importance of substituting tofu for ground beef and eating a plant-based diet. Despite the subtle self-righteous tone throughout the book, the user's guide does contain helpful information regarding child health and nutrition.

Thus far, I am pleased with my daughter's Laptop Lunchbox. I ordered the Pink Passion kit, which is adorable and makes packing lunch somewhat enjoyable. While washing the containers is certainly not my favorite daily task, I remind myself washing containers is better than creating lots of trash every day. The Laptop Lunchbox is available at http://www.laptoplunches.com/ and Amazon. If you pack a lunch for your little one every day, I recommend giving the Laptop Lunchbox a try!

Family Eating - Take Two

Here are some more ideas that you can hopefully add to your repertoire. At first glace, all these things may be a little bit "nursery," but I think we've found some ways to make them a little bit more interesting for the grown-ups as well.

• Mexican: I love tacos, but I just feel like they require way too much chopping and way too many bowls...yes, I'm the laziest person ever sometimes. So I've tried to simplify. To my ground beef (or chicken), I'll add a can of diced tomatoes, frozen corn, and some black beans. Everyone gets more veggies and I just have to open things! Since even kids will eat iceberg lettuce, I always serve that along side with a dressing made of thinned out sour cream, avocado, and a few spices (kind of like a green ranch...you can use the Good Season's packages for the dressing on lazy days - most days!). I drizzle the sour cream on the tacos too. My 10-month old just gets the meat and veggie mixture, plus the avocado.


• Soup: As I mentioned before, my kids won't eat soup, but will eat everything in it. And in the winter, I can easily make a pot on the weekends and then have it for later in the week. Minestrone is good with zucchini, white beans, and kale - make it with beef broth, pancetta, and red wine and it is especially hearty. Chicken broth plus noodles (or barley if it works for your kids), plus lots of carrots, peas, and celery is very kid friendly. They get the veggies, protein, and starches picked out of the soup. If it's a pureed soup, I'll pull some out for them before I blend. With some bread and a piece of cheese, it's a decent meal. Although my kids haven't fallen for the trick, a lot of kids will "drink" soup out of a cup or suck it with a straw as a "warm" smoothie.


• Pizza: We make a lot of homemade pizza these days, as it's always a crowd pleaser. I try and buy the whole wheat crust. My husband likes his with sausage and ricotta. I like yellow pepper rings. I typically slide a layer of spinach underneath the cheese. During the weekdays, you can make quick mini pizzas using naan or English muffins. On pizza night no one gets salad or extra veggies...I figure homemade pizza, that's virtuous enough.


• Macaroni and Cheese: Not from a box. I promise (although we do eat that often enough. I like to reserve the boxes for lunch. Even when I'm lazy, I feel obligated to cook for dinner). I'll typically make a mild cheese sauce myself and then mix with the small shells or any of the mini-pasta shapes...as those are the most similar to the ones in the box that the boys like. My husband I will crumble feta or blue cheese on top and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. It makes it surprisingly sophisticated. Last week we had it with peas (mixed in) and roasted purple cauliflower. It looked like a Dr. Seuss meal, but it was a hit.

One more day of tips (add yours to the comments!) and then some favorite recipes.

Family Eating - Take One

I know family-friendly eating tips are a dime-a-dozen these days, but I feel inclined to offer mine too. I can never seem to find tips and recipes that are quick enough for me and yet still well-rounded. I don't want to wash a bunch of pans...and I don't want to have to make a salad every night...I want the veggies in the meal too! I'm cooking for a 3-year old, who is a pretty adventurous eater (he likes seaweed salad), but won't eat potatoes or most meats. And I'm cooking for a 10-month old who has been on table foods for months...primarily because they're great entertainment for him and allow me 10 minutes to eat (although like most moms I can inhale a days worth of calories in 15 seconds standing in front of the fridge). I certainly don't want to be a short-order cook, but I can't expect kids with palates like the grown-ups. As much as I like macaroni and cheese, I want to enjoy more sophisticated food on occasion too. So here is how my family eats.

• Chili: I'm a big fan of vegetarian chili. In addition to beans, pureed pumpkin (a good thickener), peppers, and corn are all easy additions. But my 3-year old doesn't like soup. So I'll pull out the veggies and use them as "toppings" for some whole-grain baked tortilla chips (or some other type of relatively healthy chip). With a little cheese melted on top, he thinks he is getting a treat, but he is eating loads of veggies. The baby gets the same veggies, pulled out of the chili, and some sliced avocado. And my husband and I enjoy ours with sour cream, avocado, and a little extra chili powder sprinkled on top.
• Rotisserie or Roasted Chicken: A mom's best friend. You can roast your own or buy one in the store. I'm sure they're pumped full of all kids of stuff I don't want to know about, but I'm addicted to the rotisserie chickens at Coscto. I'll serve slices over a salad or serve with some roasted veggies. My oldest likes the legs (pretty much the only meat he'll eat) and the dark meat is soft enough it slides down the throat of my youngest. Leftovers get thrown into soup, tossed with barbecue sauce for sandwiches, or served over egg noodles with soft cooked carrots, peas, and celery.

Get Real.

Several years ago, before I even had a child, there was a diaper commercial that got fairly regular play. It goes something like this*:

It starts with the camera slowly zooming in on an infant lying on a blanket, everything is soft and glowing and calm and the voiceover says, “in the beginning, you want nothing but the best for your child and only put them in cloth diapers…”

Cut to a large family gathering in the yard – bright, colorful, loud, crowded chaos with a toddler wearing nothing but a diaper running around. Zoom in on the mom, who scoops the child up and says with a big smile: “and then you get real. And get Luvs.”

What I think makes this a great commercial (and something that I’ve remembered even years later) is how much it resonates with parents. Even if you choose cloth diapers, the core premise of the ad I think speaks so directly to the idea of having a baby and the reality of having a baby. When I imagined having my daughter everything was a slow-motion musical movie montage, set to some sweet tear-jerker song. I looked beautiful, my baby looked beautiful, and we were always gazing into each other’s eyes and smiling…

Needless to say, this is not exactly how having a newborn plays out.

What has made me think about this ad more recently, though, is my daughter’s ever evolving relationship with food. It was all so perfect in the beginning...

Imagine me (in soft focus), sitting in a glider and exclusively breastfeeding my infant…in the kitchen (still in soft focus), with pots boiling on the stove as I make and jar food for my baby…smiling with satisfaction (again, soft focus) as my toddler inhales all sorts of (100% organic) fruits and veggies, tries different types of meats, experiments with ethnic foods…

And then cut to the sharp, colorful and loudly screaming “no!” reality of having a 2 year old who refuses almost all food and whose weekly diet can be captured in a few bullet points:

· Oatmeal

· Yogurt

· Cheese (Baby Bella wheels, Pirate’s Booty, and Goldfish/Cheddar Bunnies)

· Hot Dogs

· Pasta (in almost all forms)

· Edamame

· Grapes

· Rice

That’s it. That is literally ALL that my daughter will eat. At least I have some comfort in the fact that all the food groups are represented. The hot dogs were a recent addition that only came about because, for some strange reason, hot dogs are sung about in every episode of my daughter’s favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I recently had an experience that put this issue into sharp focus. I met a friend at the mall a few weeks ago. We let our kids run around the play space and then headed to the food court. She immediately went to get her son a happy meal - really the only toddler option available. I stood debating for a couple of minutes. Like the TV issue, I don’t have strong feelings about fast food. And the truth is, we go out to eat a lot and in a restaurant setting I will readily order similar foods off a kid’s menu for her.

But this was McDonalds.

On the other hand, what was I going to do? Make her eat a bowl of brown rice from the vaguely Asian food stand while she watched her friend munch on McNuggets and fries – and then get a TOY at the end?!

So I got her the happy meal. And of course, my kid who has turned her back on all forms of nugget I have tried to give her in the past – veggie, meatless, white meat chicken – ate all 4 nuggets like they were (and maybe they were) the best thing she had ever had.

Fortunately, the world did not end, she did not immediately put on 10 pounds, and she hasn’t even asked for them again. And now I sort of feel like, “what’s the big deal?” It’s not every day. And honestly, I think it’s good to have a treat every once in a while. And now I have a new bribing tool. Win-win.

As parents, we want to do the best for our kids – we want everything to be as perfect as possible. But the truth is, most of the time it’s just a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, make-it-up-as-you-go-along, try-your-best mess. And that’s ok.

What about you mamas? Any experiences where you wound up doing something in real life that you didn’t think you’d ever do in your imagined baby mama life?

*Disclaimer: I only remember the gist of the commercial; I may have the voiceover and even the brand incorrect!