Jax Attacks The Vegetables: Food Prep (Part 2)

It's 5 am right now and I'm in no mood for introductions, so let's cut right to the chase. This post is the second in my family food prep series. In my last post, I talked about how I streamline my cooking in one or two sessions so that my family eats homemade meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today I'll share the vegetable-based recipes my family likes that are easy to streamline and are healthy! Be forewarned: there is a lot of chopping!

The secret to food prep is good tools. Just like you need a good education and training to be successful in your career, you need good kitchen tools to make your food. Consider getting the tools I use on here, and please feel free to comment with tools you think I should look into!

Remember, I make everything to serve troops. So my quantities are for large portions, and you may need more or less.

Let's start with soups. Soups are one of the easiest ways to incorporate lots of vegetables into your diet and enjoy a comforting, savory food. I also like them because semi-toothless babies can eat soups. We are having an issue getting our 3-year-old to try soup at this time. Oddly enough, he ate these recipes without complaining until 6 months ago, but now demands roasted vegetables. So as of now he's the only one not eating any of this.

"Creamy" Broccoli Spinach Soup

slightly adapted from Martha Stewart - I never make the toast

Makes ~10 servings (I usually make this in double batches, in two pots, it freezes extremely well)

Ingredients

3 leeks, washed and sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

18 cups of barely chopped broccoli (you can buy bags of broccoli at Costco, 3/4 of the bag should cover this), and truth be told, I don't measure, I just fill up the pot

18 cups spinach (again, large bag at Costco, or just one entire bag of Fresh Express Spinach)

2 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup Tahini (ground sesame seeds)

Salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot under medium heat, then add the garlic. Cook it for about 1 minute, then add the leeks. Stir to combine with the garlic and turn up the heat to medium-high. Continue to let the leeks cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Let them brown slightly. Add the broccoli and the chicken broth, and immediately cover the pot. Once the broccoli begins to brighten in color, stir it to mix it thoroughly with the broth and leeks. Continue to cook it until it's just bright - don't cook it too long or else it will get soggy and brown. Turn down the heat to medium-low, add the spinach, cover, and let the spinach wilt. Once it's soft enough, turn off the heat and stir it in with the other vegetables until it's completely soft. Grab your hand blender - you need this - and begin pureeing the soup. Once it's basically pureed, add the tahini and salt, and puree it again to get it really soft and "creamy". If you would like, add a bit of parmesan cheese for more flavor in lieu of salt. Heath, our 16-month-old, DEVOURS this soup. He actually drinks it because the spoon takes him too long. If you're looking for a way to get loads of green into your kids diets, this soup is great.

"Creamy" Tomato Soup

Adapted from my Creamy Tomato Bisque - this is a much healthier version

Serves 16, and freezes very well, takes 10 minutes to make this

Ingredients

10-12 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 head of garlic, peeled. Chopping unnecessary (how easy is that?!)

12-14 celery stalks, or about one head of celery, not including the gross middle stalks, coarsely chopped

2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped

2-28oz cans of whole tomatoes, drained

1 Tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup tahini (ground Sesame seeds)

chopped fresh basil, for garnish and flavor

Put everything but the tahini in the crock pot on high for 5 hours. When the vegetables are soft, use your hand blender to puree the soup, then add the tahini and puree it more until it's thick and creamy. Garnish with freshly chopped basil.

Amazeballs Ratatouille

I don't know where I got this recipe; at some point I added it to my recipe lists on AnyList, and then found it accidentally. This is for TWO batches. Cut it in half if you only want to make one to start.

Makes 2 batches, each which make about 12 generous servings. I make this two times without washing the crock pot between, and freeze the second batch. Then I only have to make it twice a month. 

Ingredients

6 medium/large zucchini halved length wise and sliced
4 red bell, peppers, chopped

1 medium-large eggplant, chopped
4 large tomatoes, chopped
4 yellow onions, chopped
12 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 can tomato paste
Salt, dried basil, dried oregano (or use fresh if you have it!), pepper
4 chicken bouillon cubes (no water)

Put half of everything in the crock pot on either high for 6 hours. Stir. Remove from crock pot, repeat process.

I feel like I should keep typing, but actually that's it.

Almond Slaw

From Les Mills 21 Grit Nutrition PlanMakes 16 servings. This is AMAZING. The ingredients look crazy- but people love this. It's great for a party salad as well as extremely healthy.

Ingredients

1 large head of cabbage, coarsely chopped into stripes

1 large onion, sliced (we use white or yellow, anything will work though)

4 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup almond butter (Make your own! So easy and the jarred stuff is loaded with sugar)

1/3 cup Tamari or soy sauce (the original recipe calls for Tamari sauce. I don't eat enough soy to worry about a bit here and there in my diet)salt and pepper to taste.

Mix cabbage and onion in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients until it comes together as a dressing. Pour it over the cabbage and onions, and stir until evenly incorporated.

"Grilled" Vegetable Kabobs

1 Red Pepper, cut into medium pieces
1 Green pepper, cut into medium pieces
1 eggplant, cut into medium pieces
1 yellow onion, cut into large pieces
2 cups mushrooms, cut in half
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning

Pre-heat the broiler to high. Put the vegetables in a large bowl, drizzle the olive oil, salt, and Italian seasoning over them. Stir to combine, You can either thread the vegetables on skewers and broil them on high for about 5 minutes each side, or you can just lay them on a baking pan lined with foil, broil them on high for 5-7 minutes, then toss them around a bit and repeat the broiling time.

I don't have any pictures of my food, so I'll leave you with a picture of my kids playing near the harbor. In Part 3, I'll talk to you about the proteins we make in our house! Until then... :)

Jax Attacks 64 Meals in Three Hours (Part 1)

This post is either going to leave you thanking me, or thinking that I'm insane. Today I'm going to tell you how I manage to cook 99% of everything my family eats. I make everyone's breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. We go out to eat 1-2 times per month and the most processed food in our fridge is Greek yogurt. Nearly everything is made from scratch. I don't have lots of time on my hands - like any other mom I'm busy. I hope to give you an idea of how I do it without confusing or overwhelming you. Truthfully, I never read anything on how to do this and just figured it out as my husband and I started our family. Hopefully I'm able to put down in sensical words just how I get it done.

First, I should say that cooking and meal planning require discipline and commitment. Meaning, it takes little bits of daily decisions which lead up to an efficient day (or two) of meal prep. My streamlined approach may not work for every family. I pretty much cook everything on weekends. I never come home and say "What should I make my family for dinner?". There's always something already made.

Here is what my fridge looks like on a Sunday night, before the work week. Twelve servings of breakfast, 18 salads for lunches, 6 second lunches of soup and some sort of protein, 28 dinners of which include vegetables and a protein, 14 days worth of snacks for my boys. And breast milk, of course :) I don't make breakfast for more than 3 days at a time because it doesn't taste as good and it's easy to make.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I use a free app called AnyList. I highly recommend this app. It allows you to create recipes and directly populate ingredients into shopping lists from the recipes. It also allows for user sharing which means if my husband stops somewhere and sees we need something on a list, he can grab it and cross it off of mine. I add all of my meals - even salads - to my recipe lists, no matter how simple, so that I can easily add items to the grocery list. As we run out of things throughout the week, we both add things to the list. Before I go to the store, I make a list of the things I plan on making for the week and complete my grocery list based on my menu plan. Bam! Meal planning is complete!

Getting to the grocery store is one of the most difficult parts to meal planning. I do most of my food prep during baby sleep times, which leaves me with the challenge of finding time to get groceries while juggling my 3-year-old's extremely busy social life. I'm going to start taking advantage of the service where the store shops for you and you just pick it up. It's only $5, which is worth the time it takes me to squeeze it in between work appointments.

So here are the rest of my "tricks":

• I make meals in a mix and match format. Usually four options for a protein and vegetables. For example, egg and kale scramble for breakfast can be mixed with roasted veggies, almond slaw, or some sort of vegetable soup. We don't eat starches for the most part, and snacks are usually fruit, nuts, yogurt and for the kids my zucchini carrot oat muffins.
• I make everything in enormous batches. This makes it annoying but overall more efficient. I have a recipe I cook in a crock pot (which I will post in part 2) that I will make in two large batches without even washing the crock pot in between. I will then freeze the second batch and make it just twice a month. 
• When cooking in huge batches, it's very important to be efficient with time management. To begin making salads for our lunches, I lay down 18-20 containers ahead of time. I pull out all of the ingredients from the fridge at once. I wash and chop each vegetable and put that particular vegetable in a bowl, then add it to the container. I keep a large bowl near me at all times to discard trash, instead of walking to the trash can. Here's what it looks like on my dining room table when I'm making salads.

• I pack lunches for everyone at least 3 days in advance. When I make soup, I will set aside portions for everyone. This is so good - we rarely have to pack lunches the night before. This is not only great for convenience but for health and weight management. Whether or not I workout at 6 am or I'm teaching at 6 pm, I have to fuel my body appropriately for the intense workouts in which I participate. I simply cannot eat a heavily carb-loaded food for lunch and expect to have energy needed to get through Body Attack. 
• I use the crock pot. A lot. So much in fact, I'm probably going to buy myself another one sometime soon. Today I roasted a 7.5 pound pig. I slow cooked it for 20 hours, and it is so delicious and tender, yet I spent more time opening the package than I did actually doing anything special to it. I highly recommend getting a crock pot and learning how to use it.
• Going back to time management, don't bother to clean what you don't need to clean while you're in cook-mode. Just get as much prepped as possible. I clean things when I need more space in my small kitchen or if a tool needs to be washed. Like I mentioned, I'll recycle the crock pot.
• Set aside time to do this. Two-three hours at least. It doesn't need to be all at once. I make everyone breakfast usually on Sundays and make a large enough batch to get through a few days. While two or three hours seems like a lot, it's significantly more efficient than trying to make everyone's individual dinners and lunches the night before.
• I don't make anything overly complicated and I get to know my recipes very well. Yes, I have some complex recipes on this blog, but I don't take the time to make most of those during my weekly food prep. Also, anything I wrote during my pregnancy isn't an accurate reflection of how I eat or cook, because I indulge much more while I'm growing a person :)

So those are some of the basics to time management and cooking as much as I do. Yes, it's a lot of work. For those that know me, now maybe you have some insight as to why I'm so against giving my kids junk food on a regular basis, especially between meals. I make it a huge priority to feed my family healthy, home cooked meals. So I want them eat the food I take the time to make for them.

In Part 2, I'll post what my weekly food plan looks like, including recipes, to help you and your family eat healthier and more conveniently!

Spaghetti Squash Pizza (Crust) !!!

You know it's been awhile since you've written a blog post when you have to google the address to go to get into the blog. I am looking at my last post, initially thinking I wrote it two months ago. January?! Whoops.

People keep asking me to post my recipes and methods for how I manage to do everything I do with regards to having homemade breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks packed for everyone all of the time. I will eventually write a post on it, because I have it down to a science. Until then, I will just give a few pointers. I work a lot, so it's not during the week (although I stayed home for a year and found it to be impossible to get anything accomplished as well). I use serious time management, and a free app called AnyList, which allows me to import my recipes and then populate ingredients directly from the recipe to a shopping list. It also allows for multiple user-sharing, so if my husband stops by the store to grab diapers and sees that we need olive oil, he can just grab it and cross it off our lists. I also divide up my washing of vegetables, chopping, cooking and cleaning so it's as efficient as possible. I don't bother to clean up after making one meal when I'm about to make another mess for the next meal. I also make everything in 3-5 times the amount of any recipe, so that we have it for the week (or to freeze) and I make things that taste good after a few days. Soups, stews, grilled meats, etc. The only exception to that are scrambled eggs, quiche or frittatas which just don't taste good after 3 days. 

That information is nice, but I'm sure that's not why you clicked this link. More on that in another post, hopefully before Christmas 2014.

So, onto pizza! Everyone knows that pizza can be the easiest way to incorporate vegetables into your kids diet by adding them to pizza. But when you're serving it to them on crust, it kind of takes away from the awesomeness, because it's really just vegetables on bread, with lots of cheese. Not a big deal for a party, but if you want to serve your babies a healthier (and easier) pizza, I have finally found the answer. Spaghetti squash! This is twenty times easier to make than making pizza crust from scratch, but definitely more work that purchasing a frozen pizza. It is cheaper than pre-made crust though, if that helps!

I know about the popular cauliflower pizza crust, and I've done that too, but it's very time consuming. It is extremely delicious, I just don't have that kind of time to make a pizza. I find this to be just as tasty and doesn't require much commitment or special equipment (like WTF is a tea towel?).



The only negative thing is that I can't quite figure out how to keep this crust from sticking to the aluminum foil after baking it. I haven't tried a pizza pan or parchment paper, and I've been asked a few times to post this, so please experiment and let me know what works best for you! Perhaps baking spray?

And for an added pinch of vegetables and flavor, I threw in a cup of chopped spinach mixed with 1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese.

My boys annihilated this after I made it, and didn't question a thing. The "baby" (he's almost 16 months old) eats absolutely anything so that means nothing. The 3-year-old is a tougher critic.

If you're looking for an update, we are doing well. We went through a very difficult season in our family last year. Trying to keep our kids separated because they simply couldn't be left to play together safely, coupled with one stomach flu after another, and other very serious adult problems, 2013 was hard. Now that our boys are both toddlers, and it's summer - everyone is healthy and happy!

Please enjoy this healthy pizza and let me know how your kids like it!

Spaghetti Squash Pizza (Crust) !!!

Ingredients:
(for crust)
1 Medium Spaghetti Squash (yields about 4 cups of cooked spaghetti squash)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flax seed
1 teaspoon salt

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Split the squash in half with a large knife and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Lay the halves in the oven, husk down and cook them for about 70 minutes. Let them cool completely and scoop the spaghetti into a bowl. Make sure the squash is pulled apart without clumps. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium-to-large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, flax seed and salt until evenly combined. Add the spaghetti squash and fold it together with a wooden spoon until it's evenly mixed.

Line a baking pan with something other than aluminum foil - because that hasn't worked for me. I would try parchment paper next time. If you try the foil, spray it down with baking spray. Non stick doesn't do it. Press the squash into the pan until it's flat and evenly distributed. Bake it for about 45 minutes or until slightly browned. It shouldn't feel wet when you press down on it.

To turn this into a pizza, take it out of the oven and turn the broiler on low. Put as much sauce as you want on top of the pizza and add your cheese and toppings. Don't forget it you want to chop up some fresh spinach to mix in with the cheese! Broil the pizza on low for 4-5 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Browned Butter Zucchini Carrot Muffins

I want to start this post by saying I don't in any way believe in "hiding" vegetables in food for kids who refuse to eat them. I am not going to give you advice as to how to get your kids to eat vegetables if that is the only way you can get them to do so, I am just starting this post by saying it's not my style to hide vegetables. With that said this is a great way to incorporate vegetables into a food most young kids will eat without a battle: MUFFINS!

I like to tell my boys what they're eating. So I say something like, "Would you like a zucchini and carrot muffin?". That way, they understand you can make delicious things with vegetables. We are lucky that both of our kids eat a pretty large quantity of vegetables without too much trouble, but we work hard at it.

These aren't typical sweet and fluffy muffins. If you want sweeter muffins you can always add more sugar, but I felt it defeated the purpose of a healthy muffin. I am not even sure if I make these again if I'm going to add any sugar, because they were a hit and barely sweet at all. They're strong in spice and have lots of other flavors to make up for lack of sweetness. They're dense because they're made with oat flour. You can choose to use all-purpose flour, but know it won't have the same nutritional value. Instead of buying oat flour, pulse regular oatmeal (not instant) in your food processor until it's a fine flour.

Want to hear something crazy?! I now have a 3-year-old and an 11.5-month-old. Valentine's Day we will officially have two toddlers. The baby has been mobile for so long now I feel like we've had a toddler for awhile. He's really into climbing and this is a challenge we didn't experience with our oldest. I keep "finding" him halfway up the stairs, in the toilet or trying to climb out of his crib. Cutest trouble maker ever!

Browned butter Zucchini Carrot Muffins

loosely adapted from Southern Food's Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients
3 cups finely grated zucchini (about 3 medium zucchinis; I used a fine cheese grater)
1 cup finely grated or finely chopped carrots (you can use a food processor, just don't accidentally puree the carrots)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into medium cubes
1 cup milk (I used whole, skim or 2% may work but I can't make promises)
4 eggs
3.5 cups oat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (any kind, I used coconut sugar)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Start by browning butter. I do this by cutting it into cubes, then melting it over medium heat, slowly whisking it. It will start to foam, then bubble some more, then settle down, and finally you will see small brown bits forming on the bottom of the pan. Then, remove it from heat, and keep whisking it for another minute or so. Set it aside to cool down.

Combine the zucchini, carrots, milk, and eggs in to a large bowl. Stir with a large spoon until totally mixed.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Whisk them until they're completely mixed. You can also sift the dry ingredients; I didn't bother to do that but it's not a bad idea. Remember, you can opt to use no sugar, or more if you prefer sweeter muffins.

Add the browned butter to the wet ingredients, making sure to get all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir it completely, then add the dry ingredients to the wet. Stir together with a wooden spoon until a thick batter has formed.

Using two 12 muffin trays, spray the insides of the muffin holders with baking spray. I have done this with paper muffin holders and found it didn't work that well. Spraying works best. Fill each muffin tray to the top with muffin batter. These are very dense and won't rise very much, so don't be shy. Even a top off will be ok! Bake them 19-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean. Let them cool in the tins and then take them out when you can handle them.

Use muffins to bribe small children.

Oh wait, that's not part of the directions...

Healthy and AMAZEBALLS Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

I have the most awesome recipe to share with y'all but I don't have a picture of it. Let's use our imaginations.

Nutty spaghetti squash, creamy sauce, thick bacon, savory (and healthy) kale and loads of garlic. Check check check check! Also it's 90 calories per cup, low carb, probably low sugar.

Ha, I actually have no idea how many calories it is because I am way too lazy  extremely busy to figure that out. But it's a far healthier choice than traditional spaghetti carbonara.

The cream sauce is all over the internet; you've probably heard of the amazing cauliflower alfredo sauce, originally blogged here at Pinch of Yum.

I simplified her method because it was taking me too long (shocking).

Since I don't have any pictures of food, I will leave you with some cute ones of recent weeks.

Baby boo and me

Playing with the tornado at the science center

Heath's first snow

Baby and cat doing what appears to be yoga

Also, a question for my audience (do I have one?). Does anyone like unsweetened chocolate? I am a baker but have never really liked chocolate very much, except during pregnancy. Then I accidentally tried unsweetened chocolate and for goodness sakes, I can't stop eating it. Most people I speak to think this is gross. There has to be someone else. If not, help me because I'm horribly addicted now.

OH! One more thing. Get the hand blender (you know, the one I should be making commission on) for this recipe. I could never imagine taking the time to use a food processor for something this simple.

Healthy Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients:
1 medium/spaghetti squash, cut in half, seeds scooped out
4-5 strips thick sliced bacon, cooked to desired crispiness, chopped
3 cups of raw kale, chopped
1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2-1 cup milk (We like whole milk, I really don't think this will work with almond or coconut)
2-4 tablespoons EVOO
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded pecorino ramano or parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, put squash halves on a baking sheet and roast them for about 70 minutes. I like mine really soft because I like to scoop out the spaghetti as fast as I can. Once the halves are done cooking, set them aside to cool until you can handle them.

Place the cauliflower in a large pot or dutch oven, and cover it with water, then add the kosher salt. Cover and let it simmer until it's tender, about 10 minutes.

While it's cooking, melt the butter in a medium pan over medium heat and add the garlic. Lower the heat to medium low and cook it for 5 minutes until it's very soft, but not burned.

Once the cauliflower is tender, drain the water and put it back in the large pot.

Place the kale in the pan in which you cooked the garlic. Toss it over medium heat until it's slightly wilted.

In the large pot with the drained cauliflower, add the garlic, butter, a half cup of milk, and a tablespoon or two of EVOO. Using a hand blender or food processor, puree it until there are no chunks and the cauliflower is smooth.

If your sauce is still thick, add a bit more milk and EVOO, continuing to puree until you get your desired sauce texture. Fold in the parmesan cheese, chopped bacon, and kale. Then, scoop out the spaghetti using a fork into the sauce and gently fold it all together. To serve, sprinkle it with more cheese. And eat up! It's good for you :)

GF Almond Quinoa Cookies

Cookies!



Let's get personal today.

In our house, we generally eat gluten free. We never committed to a gluten-free diet, as many have. However, eating gluten-free is the result of the kind of diet (or lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it) we have. Yes, I know I've posted some very sugary and sweet recipes, and also pizza dough, but truthfully, I rarely eat that stuff. Since I do eat it on occasion, I don't consider myself gluten-free.

For meals, we eat always have some sort of protein and tons vegetables. We snack on things like raw nuts, fresh fruit, and sliced peppers or carrots. For this reason, it irks me when people say that eating or cooking healthy takes a lot of skill. Although I do spend my Saturday nights doing food prep for our very busy weeks, most of the work involved is slicing or chopping. I don't really cook at all during the week. I cook everything on Saturday and Sunday, package it all up into containers for lunches, and generally spend more time cleaning up the mess than I did actually cooking.

I've been wanting to introduce the baby to some sort of "bready" food, as he is totally obsessed with cat food. He fights the cat for it, by crawling over to his food bowl, throwing the bowl at the cat's head, and then eating the pieces of food off of the floor. I was hoping to wait until he was closer to a year to introduce grains since toddlers are obsessed with crackers and similar-like crap. I guess it could be worse.

Yea, that's concrete. Right now my battle is sleeping past 5 am, so this will be fought later if necessary.

I came up with this recipe before I realized it was GF, as I said before, most of my cooking is just by the way we eat. It is truly delicious, and can easily be made to accommodate a baby as well as a kid. I made a few cookies for baby by simply removing the honey, cranberries and almonds (because he doesn't have teeth, and honey is dangerous for babies under 12 months due to botulism). Although I don't think he liked it as much as he enjoys cat food, he did eat it. And the toddler devoured them! I really think they taste amazing, so I hope you enjoy them too!

You can easily swap out eggs for some other kind of binder like applesauce, pumpkin, and I'd bet a nut butter would work too. We've been giving our baby eggs for awhile now, as he decided to try them (and peanut butter) at only 7-months old right from his brother's hands (hey, better than concrete, right?!). #Secondchild #NoOnePaysAttention #CanYouHashTagABlog?

GF Almond Quinoa Cookies

Yields approximately 15-17 2.5" cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked quinoa, cooled (1 cup of dry quinoa cooked in one cup of water)

1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil, melted

3 eggs

1/4-1/2 cup almond flour (play around with desired moistness)

2-3 tablespoons honey (to desired sweetness, we were happy with two)

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup dried craisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or slipmat.

Mix the quinoa with the melted coconut oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of the almond flour, honey and extracts. The batter will be wet but you should be able to press it into a patty without it totally falling apart. If it doesn't hold together, add more almond flour. Fold in the coconut, almonds and craisins. Take the batter in your hands and form a ball, then a patty, and put it on the parchment paper. They won't spread so don't worry about the spacing.

Bake for 20 minutes, then take them out and flip each cookie, and bake them for another 7-10. They should be slightly golden but not hard or tough. 

Tedious Tasks and Healthy-ish Pumpkin Pudding

Every year, I go to the pumpkin patch, pick out pumpkins, roast them and make homemade pumpkin puree, divide it up and freeze it to use throughout the year. Every single year it is something I say I will never do again. It is beyond tedious and annoying. Why do I continue to do it, do you wonder? Well, it turns out, homemade pumpkin puree is like worlds better than the canned stuff. The canned stuff you can't eat on a spoon, because it quite frankly tastes like metal. So every year, I do this, and then I say it sucks ass and it's not worth it. Except the puree lasts the entire year, and for sure through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and is so versatile for cooking and baking, that I end up being so glad I stuck it out another year.

So as annoying as this stuff is to make, it is so delicious that you could quite literally eat it plain the way you would any roasted vegetable. As my little Heath did today while we did this "together".

Method for roasting and pureeing the pumpkin: You will need an oven (obviously) preheated to 350 degrees, a sharp knife, baking pans lined with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray and either a food processor or a hand blender/immersion blender. I highly recommend forking over $40 for one of these puppies if you spend any time at all cooking anything because it is a life changer. I love my food processor but making things like soups and purees can be super messy and annoying with it. The hand blender has only one part to clean up, and takes up little space in a cabinet.

Here's the arm workout and super annoying part! Using a large knife, lop off the top of the pumpkin around the stem, then cut it into fourths. Then cut the pumpkin up into large triangle pieces, and place them on the baking pans with the insides touching the foil. They can be on their sides so you can put more of them on the pan, it doesn't matter. Put them in the oven for about 45 minutes, then take them out and turn them onto another side and put them back in for another 15-20, or until they're really tender. Let them cool completely (about an hour) so you don't get burned!

Most bloggers will tell you that the skin of the pumpkin should easily be pulled off at this point. I'm calling their bluff and telling you the really tedious part is here, where you must scoop the pumpkin out of it's peel, and get pumpkin all over your kitchen and hands. Taste it though ... it's delicious, right? At this point you're likely doing what I do and saying you're not sure if it's worth the time and you'll probably never do this again. Anyways, scoop it out and put it in a big bowl.

After all the pumpkin in scooped out, take your hand blender and stick it in there to puree it. If you're using a food processor, you may have to add in some water to get it pureed evenly, and that may take away from a bit of the flavor. But it will still be OK... just even more tedious. When it's all finished it should be a nice lumpy looking puree. 

Now for the tedious part (wait... did I already go over the annoying parts of this process? It must be that the entire thing makes you want to never do this again): Scooping out pumpkin to save and freeze. I like to do one-cup portions because most recipes call for about that much. Look how messy and tedious this is. I am totally not doing this ever again. EVER.

Except I know by Thanksgiving I'll be glad I spent a few hours on this because I can just pull out my awesome pumpkin and whip up some delightfully autumn-inspired food. Which leads me to my recipe! Healthy pumpkin pudding, tried and tested by my now 33-month-old son Colton. This stuff looks a bit gross, so I'm surprised he eats it, but he does and I feel good about it. The addition of honey or sweetener of your choice kind of subtracts from the healthiness factor, but I can't give him something called pudding and then not sweeten it a little bit.

By the way, if you're wondering who my kids look like and what happened, don't feel bad. Now that I'm not pregnant anymore I am once again getting the "Whose kids are those?! They are so cute! Are they twins?". Even though one is grunting like a gorilla and the other is yelling in full sentences, I get this question a lot.

Enjoy!

Healthy-ish Pumpkin Pudding

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raw chia seeds (I bought these last time)

3/4 cup homemade pumpin puree

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or coconut milk, or cows milk if you prefer)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2-4 tablespoons raw honey or brown sugar/agave nectar if you don't have honey

cloves, nutmeg and ginger to taste

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (optional)

Whisk the pumpkin puree, almond milk and flavorings in a medium sized bowl. Add the chia seeds and mix until it starts to thicken. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for four hours or overnight. Enjoy for breakfast or as a healthy-ish snack! For a bit of a treat, whisk some heavy cream in a cold bowl and top the pudding with it!

I Love To Write

FACT: I love writing. I love blogging. I love exercise, food, cooking and baking.

FACT: I have almost no time to get on my computer anymore. All email, Facebook or any other correspondence is done on my phone. When I am on my computer it's generally to get up to speed on my latest Body Attack or Step release.

FACT: Two kids is more than twice the work of one kid. Especially when you have two boys. It's basically 24 hour/day murder-suicide watch. People warned me about this when I was pregnant and I didn't understand what they meant. OK, I get it now. When does it get better?

In conclusion, I don't want to stop blogging. Please don't confuse my absence for not caring about the blog. I do love the above mentioned items.

Last "FACT": I love my life. My kids are awesome! They are just so little and needy, but they are so sweet and loving. And different! And yet also similar. They look like twins. But that's where any similarities end. My oldest was such a social and interactive baby. He could care less about mobiles and toys. He never crawled, and was extremely trepidatious about being on his belly and in new places. He would cry if I wasn't holding him at only 10 days old, but loved the swing, car seat and stroller. He loved his damn pacifier and ended up almost exclusively drinking from a bottle the first 7 months of his life. I pumped all of his milk and was constantly frustrated by this. He said his first words at 7.5 months old and by one year was staring to talk in 2-word sentences. He's got very blonde hair, hazel-green eyes, and I get asked frequently whose child I am watching.

My younger son wouldn't let anyone put him down for the first 10 weeks of his life. It didn't matter who was holding him, only that he was being held. The swing, car seat, bouncy seat, all of that has gone virtually unused as he had some strange issue with being held. He still screams when first put in those contraptions. He's interactive, but obsessed with things that dangle and laughs at the walls. He'll get annoyed if you try and get in his face and interrupt his interaction with the wall. He rolls around on his belly to grab toys and tries to crawl. He gets bored easily. You have to walk around to different places while holding him. He refused to take a pacifier until he was 2.5 months, then finally agreed to it for moments here and there, until I finally gave up on it all together. He under no circumstances will take a bottle. He's starved himself for 9 hours and then spent 48 straight hours nursing to make up for not eating. It sounds bad but it's actually not that stressful. I never pump; I have no idea how much milk he needs or gets and I just nurse him when he wants and I don't think about it at all. It's a bit annoying when I have to get somewhere for a doctor's appointment or for work, but I trust him and my body to do what it needs to do and that seems to be working well for us.

The two of them are BFF. At times, my older son finds his younger brother a bit boring, but I can see how this is going to eventually develop into something awesome. My 5.5 month old swiped broccoli from his brother's hand the other day and the next thing I know, they were fighting over who got to eat broccoli. A mama's dream come true :)

I have more I want to write. But I think I'm going to go to bed now... Thank you for reading and catching up with me!

Ooey-Gooey Cake Batter Bars

Confession time! I don't really like chocolate. Except when I'm pregnant. I don't think it tastes bad, but it's kind of, I don't know... Blah. My husband is the opposite. There is never enough chocolate in any dessert, ever. There could always be more. All chocolate desserts need improvement with the addition of more chocolate.

But let me tell you I do love cake batter anything. By cake batter I mean buttery yellow or white cake that is quite sweet. I love the way boxed cake mix smells but it tastes horrible! I'm also not a huge fan of the texture of actual cake. It's not dense enough. I don't like its fluff.  I've wanted to create a dense, moist and intense dessert that would satisfy my crazy love for cake batter for close to six months now. I've tried making it in cookie fashion and have come close but it still wasn't moist enough for me.

I finally sat down, wrote out my idea, and made it by slowly adding ingredients to get the flavor I was looking for. When it was finished I was very impressed with myself... BAM!

This is the kind of thing we eat after my kids go to bed and they will never know about until they're tall enough to reach the top shelf in the fridge (which will be soon, some of you may know that I'm married to a giant). So indulgent.

But... my husband wasn't a fan of what he described as an aftertaste of either salt or some other ingredient. A few nights ago, I made a few different batches of these bars and we concluded that the taste he was talking about was baking powder. Baking powder is a leavening agent but it also adds flavor to baked goods when there is an excess of it in proportion to the flour and liquid ingredients. When I created a few different batches, we tried it with less baking powder and more. I like both versions but you may not. I suggest adding the smallest amount and then if you're feeling brave slowly adding a bit more.

I don't eat a lot of dessert or processed food at all, but I have an addiction to baking and making something great is as much fun - if not more - for me as actually eating it!

I hope you like it as much as we do!

Ooey-Gooey Cake Batter Bars

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1-2 teaspoons baking powder (start with 1)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter - softened but not melted
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter extract
4 oz well-chopped white baking chocolate: no white chocolate chips!
1/4 cup sprinkles


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Line an 8x8 or 9x9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil and spray generously with non-stick baking spray.

In a small bowl, mix together the first three dry ingredients and whisk together. Start with only one teaspoon of baking powder!

I softened the butter in the microwave by first cutting it up into chunks and then heating it on power level 2 for two minutes in a large, microwavable-safe bowl. I then added the sugars and mixed it with a wooden spoon. You can also use a mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat it until the butter is creamy, then add the egg and beat it in. Add the extracts and continue to beat until mixed. Taste the batter! Can you handle more baking powder? If so, try 1/2 teaspoon extra.

Stir in the chopped white chocolate (do not even attempt this recipe with white chocolate chips because they won't melt and don't add any gooeiness to anything!) and sprinkles. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake it for approximately 20 minutes. It will be very soft. Let it cool to room temperature (about an hour) and then put it in the fridge to finish setting. It should be ready in a few hours.

Hide from children. :-D

Happy Cinco de Mayo... it's May already? And Mexican Portabella Mushrooms with Spicy Creme Fraiche

Hi world. I've been in a tunnel. It's the surviving-with-no-sleep-and-living-with-only-babies tunnel. I just downloaded all of the pictures off of my iPhone since late Feburary and I had over 1,000. Many of them were this.

and this

My 27-month-old takes pictures of himself. A lot of them.

My 11-week-old is really big now. Yay for growing! Boo for growing too fast.

 He's a really easy baby. He cries when he's tired or hungry, usually just tired though. He likes to sleep a lot right now. He also laughs a lot. I love them so much it hurts! My older one is adjusting sort of. He seems to like the role of older brother.

Anyways, I made something tonight for Cinco de Mayo which is Mexican Independance Day. I have no attachment personally to this day. I'm Jewish and my husband is a mutt of English, Irish and German, but we both like Mexican food a lot. Especially my husband. I would say he likes Mexican the way I like wine and cheese. Always up for it, breakfast, lunch and dinner! It was inspired by this burger I had at the Abbey Burger Bistro right here in Baltimore. It was also so easy that I have to share. And somewhat healthy.

Do you love all of the crap in the background of the burgers? A size 1 diaper, a glass of wine, the Mac which I finally brought upstairs, a stack of Body Attack stuff and a toy. My life, in a picture.

Happy Independence Day, Mexico!

Mexican Portabella Mushrooms with Spicy Creme Fraiche

Ingredients
4 large Portabella Mushroom Caps
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 1/4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
4 oz creme fraiche

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush mushrooms with olive oil and sprinkle kosher salt and pepper on both sides. Turn them over, add half of the cheddar cheese, then a layer of chopped spinach, then another layer of cheese. Top them with the chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Bake them for 6 minutes. Then broil them on high for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese is browning a bit.

While they're broiling, add salt, pepper, and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the creme fraiche. Drizzle the creme onto the mushrooms, and serve hot.

Miss everyone! I hope this post makes sense!

Roasted Eggplant Bites with Asparagus, Sopressata and Goat Cheese

I miss blogging! And the world. Life is a blur right now as we adjust to two kids. I'm getting almost no sleep because my now 6-week-old is still in the wrong time zone and screams daily from 1-6 am, and then my 2-year-old is awake around 7:15. When the older one was this age he had his witching hours from 7 pm to 2 am.

At the very least my younger son decided the day we brought him home from the hospital his bedtime would be 7:30 pm and no later - which is when we would have made it since older bro's is at 8 o'clock. This leaves my husband and I almost nightly with a chance for date night! Mostly we scramble to clean up our house and get ready for what the kids will need the next day - but we have also decided "screw responsibilities" a few nights a week, and cracked open a bottle of red wine and cooked dinner. So really I bring you this amazing little concoction of mine thanks to my little baby and his desire to go to bed early. And also thanks to my husband who managed to get him to finally settle down to sleep at 6:15 am this morning; so instead of trying to pump breast milk while holding a wiggly, crying baby, I have a quiet dark room and free hands to type out this post on my phone.

I don't know where I came up with this. I may have ran across some recipes and parts stayed with me but I don't recall when or where so I have no one to credit. Hopefully I won't get sued for claiming I made it up. Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant Bites with Asparagus, Sopressata and Goat Cheese

Ingredients
2 medium-sized purple eggplants
Olive oil to drizzle
Kosher salt for sprinkle
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
One bunch (approximately 1 pound) asparagus, cut into one-inch pieces
1/2 cup pine nuts
10 oz (preferably pre-cut) sopressata
4 oz goat cheese, lightly crumbled

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Lower the temperature to medium low and add the onion. Stir it around and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then stir again and continue to let it sit and caramelize.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the eggplant into 1-inch thick rounds and place them on a rimmed baking pan lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Drizzle both sides of the eggplant with olive oil - not a lot because you don't want it soggy. Then sprinkle it with kosher salt. Put it in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.

While its cooking add the garlic, asparagus and pine nuts to the skillet. Toss and turn it every few minutes. Make sure the onions aren't burning but are slightly browning which will give them a sweet flavor.

When the eggplant is done, remove it from the oven and set your broiler to high. Place 1-3 slices of sopressata on each piece of eggplant, then scoop out some of the asparagus mixture and place it on top. Top it with a bit of crumbled goat cheese. When all the eggplant is covered, place it on the high rack below the broiler for 3-5 minutes to toast the goat cheese.

Although I haven't tried it, I'm sure this would taste great grilled instead of broiled. If we ever see spring or summer hopefully we will be able to grill this year!

Coconut Chocolate-Chip Breakfast Quinoa

I need to make a huge complaint.

Nestlé chocolate chips: what the eff is wrong with those things? When I bake with them and want them to melt, they never do but they turn rubbery. I figured they would be perfect, then, for the recipe I created this morning, and then they went and melted! I use more expensive brands of chocolate for baking but this project doesn't call for anything special.

So I'm left with showing you what looks to be a disgusting bowl of processed mush, when actually it was delicious. Meet coconut chocolate-chip breakfast quinoa. Oh and I didn't edit my pictures because I am writing this from my phone.



Not that I ate more than 3 teaspoons. Trying to be all low-sugar low-carb now that I don't have pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever I want anymore and I wanna get back in fighting shape ASAP. I made it specifically for my 2-year-old who was throwing up yesterday. Prior to me knowing he wasn't feeling well I was irritated about him not eating lunch. I can't tell the difference right now between him testing us to get attention and him not feeling well, especially when he's so energetic he's climbing on everything. Here he is on the cat tree.

I felt bad about yesterday and decided breakfast needed to be fun this morning.

Well, after just a few bites (maybe smaller than mine) he demanded some fruit. He has a history of doing that. He sure does love fruit. More than chocolate.

I love fruit, maybe not more than dessert, except in the glorious fermented form known as wine. My husband and I love us some wine and cheese (and veggies). The night we went out to dinner a few weekends ago, my son promptly ordered his "own red wine" when our server came to take our order! Hilarious. Our family likes what we like!

Evidentially that's not always sweet, rich goods.

Whatever - this is good stuff, and my husband agrees! It's dessert for breakfast; don't let the quinoa fool you into thinking its remotely healthy.

When I get back to the gym I can't wait to treat myself to a little more than a few teaspoons. Hope you like it too!

Coconut Chocolate-Chip Breakfast Quinoa

Proud to call this a Jax-Original Recipe

Ingredients:
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 tablespoon salted butter or coconut oil
1.5 cups canned coconut milk (I guess you could do lite)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt the butter or oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the quinoa. Stir it around to mix and let it sit about two minutes to toast. Add the coconut milk, bring it to a light boil, cover it with a lid, lower the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 13 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed. Stir it occasionally to keep the quinoa from burning. Once it's finished, turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate. Let it cool a little more before adding the chocolate (or not, if you want your dish to look anything like mine).

If your chips stay in chip form, let me know how you did that.

Please don't let me know how good it is. That's just mean.