Life's a peach...

I just love this picture. A perfect peach, accompanied by some organic dates dusted with oat flour. The girls would eat this for an afternoon snack any day. And why wouldn't they? 

Last night at dinner, Uncle endured umpteen rounds of Elise's rendition of "Happy Birthday", which included "happy birthday to you, rice and beans" and "happy birthday to you, salad". I fear the girls got my love of singing, accompanied by my total lack of ability. Abby counted to 12, flawlessly. Then when Gran suggested a different song, Abby informed her that it was "no good song". Translation from baby caveman talk to English: "Not a good song".  Life certainly is a peach. A peach followed by s'mores for dessert. Perfection.

Toddler snack... take 2!

My previous "toddler snack" post was a wheat germ ball, that requires baking. This little doozy is a no-bake ball of y-u-m-m-y! And the best part - no measuring required! Just take the ingredients, mix, and roll together. Add a little more of this or that if it's too dry or mushy.

• Organic peanut butter
• Local honey
• Organic puffed millet cereal
• Shredded organic carrots
• Organic raisins
• Handful of granola
• Mix, squish, roll, chill in fridge
• EAT!!!

You put the chicken in the coconut...

Grocery shopping without a list, without the girls, and in an unfamiliar store naturally leads to impromptu buys. I wander. I get distracted. I buy random things. This week, it was coconut milk. So last night, it was coconut chicken.

• Local free-range chicken breasts cut into chunks
• Coconut milk
• Bread crumbs
• 1 Egg
• Unsweetened shredded coconut
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• Pierce raw chicken breast with fork; marinate in coconut milk in fridge (1-2 hours)
• Dredge chicken in egg, followed by bread crumb/shredded coconut/salt/pepper mixture
• Pour a bit of coconut milk into bottom of greased pan (I used an organic olive oil cooking spray)
• Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes
• Once chicken is done, turn on the broiler for a few minutes to give the coconut crust a nice browned color and taste

We ate this with a simple veggie pasta, made with steamed broccoli, sauteed carrots and onions, wilted spinach, and a sauce of white wine, milk, mozzarella cheese, salt, and pepper, topped with a few fresh cherry tomatoes.

Dessert is ALWAYS a killer reinforcer for eating a good dinner; the girls chowed on the chicken! Abby isn't typically a fan of pasta (I can relate), but she ate up this tasty whole wheat mini-bowtie pasta - will buy again. Oh, back to dessert... homemade raspberry frozen yogurt. Yes, the counter-top is now jam-packed because the juicer was added to the mix, right beside the ice cream maker, which has earned its spot atop the counter! 

Carrot cube craze!!!

Just in case you're wondering, the frozen carrot juice is GREAT! We've been adding the cubes to smoothies (froze it in ice cube trays), and between the carrot cubes and fresh spinach, our smoothies' veggie quotient is increasing by leaps and bounds! As a side note, Sara (one of my dearest and oldest friends), mentioned that carrots are one of the few veggies that nutritionally provide more when eaten cooked; most fruits/veggies are best for you raw. Carrots are a fibrous vegetable, which in their raw form, are harder for your body to extract the nutrients from than when those fibers are cooked/softened. After some research (thanks for the prompt, Sara), I discovered that carrot juice is the exception to this rule. Carrots are best for you either boiled/steamed or juiced! Yahoo! 

This morning, it wasn't really a smoothie, since we were mostly out of frozen fruit. It was just more of a blended juice. Into the blender Elise helped add:

• 1 banana
• 6 carrot juice cubes
• handful of fresh spinach
• 2 big spoonfuls of plain yogurt
• orange juice
• blueberry juice

Color wasn't so great, but taste was all that mattered on this one!

Fresh juice

30 carrots = 32 ounces of carrot juice.  That's what I learned today on my first juicing-quest. I bought a 5-pound bag of organic carrots.  I borrowed Uncle T's fine juicing machine.

And I FINALLY disposed of 5 remaining vials of breastmilk in the freezer. WHAT?!?!? Yes, I had 5 containers, 15 ounces, of pumped breastmilk that I just. could. not. get. rid. of.

Liquid gold...

I am pretty hardcore when it comes to breastfeeding - when I decided to become a mother, I made a commitment to provide my child (errr... children) with the very best that I possibly could. And, without a doubt, that belief is why I spent naptime today juicing carrots. I STILL feel that it is my responsibility to provide the girls with the richest nutrients that I can. I pumped and froze breastmilk... I steamed, blended, and froze baby food... and today I juiced and froze fresh carrot juice. Smoothies. That's what I want carrot juice cubes for - to add to our smoothies for some extra veggies and goodness. And yes, a tear or two were shed over the boob-milk. Some of you understand, right??? 

Isn't it so pretty???

After the girls woke up, they were excited to see the carrot juice that I'd really talked up before they went to sleep.  The color was amazing and the taste was so fresh.  It was a perfect addition to our afternoon smoothie snack:

• Fresh spinach leaves
• Frozen mango
• Frozen blackberries
• Orange juice
• Fresh carrot juice

And it gave everyone plenty of energy for a walk and outing to the park!

Which was much needed, since the girls were up and dressed by 6:30 this morning! Nothing beats new boots and freedom of fashion expression!

From breastmilk to carrot juice, 

the quest continues to keep our family happy and healthy!

Store bought goodness!

A plain and simple fact of life is that food must be had. People must eat. Even on busy days, when it's hot and humid and you'd rather be collecting fallen acorns on the sidewalk, dinner has to be prepped.

Last night, due to the above-mentioned reasons, our meal was simple and store-bought! As pictured to the right, I found some organic spinach and cheese ravioli at The Merc as well as some tasty (and surprisingly low-salt) basil pesto. Voila! Boil the ravioli, toss with the pesto, and serve it up.

As a side, I made a nice little spinach salad:

• fresh organic spinach
• sliced organic strawberries
• shredded organic carrots
• thinly sliced organic plum

I wanted to toss our salad with a little dressing that would appeal to the girls so I whisked together:

- Plain organic yogurt

- Balsamic vinegar

- Fresh lemon juice

- Kosher salt/pepper

It was perfect! Abby and Elise aren't too keen yet on the fresh spinach leaves (which is why you'll find them regularly blended into smoothies here), but they did devour the rest!

Happy feasters, I'd say!

Snuggle buddies

How did we get from here:

To here:

So fast????

Easy toddler snack

The girls woke up from naps one day last week and we decided a little baking was in order. I'm always looking for healthy, fun, homemade snacks that leave room for a lot of variety. Once you discover those basic recipes, much like a good muffin recipe, it opens the door to endless snack options based on the morsels found in the pantry on any given day. On this day, it was dates and wheat germ!

In a bowl, the girls mixed:

• 1 cup organic whole what flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 T. organic creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup chopped organic dates

I then added:

• 1 egg (this allowed the little ladies to taste along the way without a worry in the world, and did they ever taste!!!)

Form into balls, roll in extra wheat germ, and bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ideas for future add-ins: chopped nuts, various other dried fruits, coconut, flaxseed, granola.