Banana Cauliflower Bread

Today's health creation was Banana Cauliflower Bread. I thought it was delicious. Brian thought it was good but needed honey spread on it to make it better. The kids wouldn't even try it. Fine by me I ate almost the entire loaf of it!

Kim wants to make the whole wheat macaroni and cheese recipe now complete with added squash or cauliflower. We're off to go see how that one turns out!

ETA: Again I loved it but I like homemade macaroni and cheese and my kids prefer it from a box. Kylie and Brad ate it, Kim said it was edible and Bryce gaged. Brian and Brett are off to a Priesthood meeting and missed out.

Deceptively Delicious - AKA - Cooking With Baby Food!

Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I actually love the concept behind this book. We try to eat healthy but I know none of us get enough fruits and vegetables. I've heard of adding extra vegetables to foods like spaghetti sauce and have tried that but now I have a lot more ideas of how to add vegetables to my recipes. I picked a dozen of her recipes to try and am going to experiment with adding vegetables to some of my recipes.

ETA: I spent 2 hours this afternoon making purees. I made the applesauce muffins tonight and I love them. I used whole wheat flour and used less sugar.

I really think they got the title of this book wrong. It should be called Cooking With Baby Food. As I'm sitting there in the kitchen running vegetable after vegetable through my food processor I realized I was just making homemade baby food.

My family is soon going to have all these things hidden in their foods. The purees are all made and ready to go!
zucchini
butternut squash
yellow squash
broccoli
green beans
cauliflower
yellow squash
sweet potatoes
carrots
pears
apples

Here is to healthy eating!

Unappetizing but Edible?

I came across this recipe and had all the ingredients on hand so I thought I'd try it. Here's the thing looking at it, it was so unappetizing. It just looks gross. However everyone ate it and no one complained so I guess it was a success. Definitely not a recipe to feed to company but a quick meal if your in a pinch.

Tater Tot Casserole
1 pound lean hamburger, uncooked
2 tbsp. dried onion
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Green beans
1 small package of Tater Tots
In 13x9 inch pan, spread and press hamburger. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and onion. Pour and spread the soup on top of the hamburger. Drain well the green beans and spread over the mushroom soup. Cover with Tator Tots. Bake 1 hour at 350 degree oven.

Just what are Aebleskivers?

Aebleskivers are a family favorite. They are a Danish Pancake that is round like a ball when it is done. We love them! But here's a hint... Don't by the pan that is $8.99 on amazon.com. It doesn't work well, spend the at least $25 and get a good pan!

Go buy a pan and try this recipe. They are so good!

Aebleskivers

1 1/4 C. Flour

2 1/4 t. Baking Powder

1/2 t. Salt

2 T. Sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 Egg

1 C. Milk

6 T. Melted Butter

Combined flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon. Add egg, milk and 2 T. of the butter and stir until smooth. Bake in an aebleskiver pan using the rest of the butter to grease the pan. Serve with homemade raspberry jam. Sprinkle with powder sugar if desired.

They are even good if you make them how I did this morning with whole wheat flour mixed with ground flax seed, no butter added and half the sugar.

Cooking with Food Storage

Since we are trying to be prepared I found a recipe to try that could use up some of our pinto beans we're storing and may have to eat someday. I really enjoyed this dinner. It fit very nicely into my no white refined, no added sugar diet. My kids tolerated it. They didn't love it. Brett and Bradley ate all of their and Kim and Bryce ate their mandatory 3 bites.

Chicken and Green Chile Slow Cooker Chili

1 and 1/2 cup dried pinto beans
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup chopped green chilies, or 1 (7 ounce) can
1 cup green salsa (Herdez brand is what I used) or green enchilada sauce
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried cumin
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken
if desired sour cream, chopped cilantro, tabasco for serving
Coat the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine beans, broth, flour, chilies, salsa, onion, and cumin. Place chicken on top. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 8-10 hours. Remove lid and reach in to the crock pot and shred chicken with fork. Stir into chili taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper if needed and serve.

Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 6 servings
Money Saving Tips: This one relies on dried pinto beans so it's budget friendly already, especially if you've got chicken and canned green chilies on hand. Green salsa is also called salsa verde, but you can also use canned green enchilada sauce.
http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/

Mission: Recipe Rescue Blueberry Pancakes

I'm on a health food kick. No white sugar, no white refined anything. That leaves what I can and will eat very limited. It's hard to find recipes that are whole grain with no added sugar so I've started experimenting....
Since we fasted yesterday I had plenty of calories to spare so I wanted a "treat". So I made whole wheat blueberry pancakes, modified of course.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1 Cup Milk
1 egg
200 Grams Blueberries
I left out the sugar & the oil and they still turned out delicious. I added up all the calories and then weighed the finished product to know how many calories I would be consuming (yes I've had the word fanatic applied to me before).
One batch of this batter has approximately 700 calories in it. So if you make 6 large pancakes out of it then they are 120 calories each. I thoroughly enjoyed the 3 pancakes I ate last night. No butter, no syrup, just pick them up and eat them! The blueberries make them naturally sweet. What a treat!