Rice Balls

This is a new idea for me, but I love it. This post is done by a guest author, my talented sister Heidi. She wanted to make this recipe and I hadn't yet. So we figured it would be a great opportunity for her to guest-blog! Enjoy her wonderful recipe!

~ Julie

Like many moms of young children (mine are 18 months and *almost* 3) I often struggle with what to make for lunch. I find myself in the same rut: mac & cheese, pb&j, grilled cheese, and quesadillas. I like chicken nuggets (as do my kids) but after watching an episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution where he shows how chicken nuggets are made (ewwww) I can't ever do that to my children again. So I set out on a mission, to find easy but healthy food to feed my kids. Of course, the first thing I turn to is Mrs. Jerry Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious. I thought the Rice Balls looked easy and wondered if I made a double batch, would they freeze well. I called my baby sister Julie and discussed the possibilities. She invited me to try it and then do a guest post on her blog. And here I am.

The recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup short grain brown rice (or 1 cup leftover cooked rice) - I have come a long way in eating whole grains and whatnot, but when it comes to rice, I will never cross over to the dark side. It was long-grain, nutrient-lacking white rice for me, which was leftover from dinner a couple of nights before.
Nonstick cooking spray
3 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 pound chicken cutlets, rinsed and dried - I made boneless skinless chicken breasts for dinner the night before and just cooked up a couple of extra then.
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese - Frankly, I think reduced fat cheese is almost as much of an insult to all that is yummy as american cheese is. Yuck.
1/4 low fat buttermilk - I didn't have buttermilk so I used plain whole milk.
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup spinach or broccoli or butternut squash puree - I used butternut squash
1 1/2 cup whole wheat cracker crumbs or breadcrumbs
*Her recipe didn't call for flax seed meal, but most of her breaded recipes do so I threw in a couple of tablespoons just for good measure

Instructions:

1 - Place the rice in a small saucepan with 1 cup of water; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low and cook until the rice is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. You can also use your rice steamer.

2 - Meanwhile, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add 1 tsp oil. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and the pepper, and cook until no longer pink in the center, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

3 - Cut the chicken into chunks and place them in a food processor or blender. Add the sweet potato puree, cheese, 1 tsp salt, and the buttermilk, and blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the cooked rice.

Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place them on a sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil.

4 - In a shallow bowl, beat the egg and vegetable puree with a fork. Put the crumbs (and flax seed) in the bowl. One at a time, dip the rice balls in the egg mixture, then roll them in the crumbs to make sure it has an even coating.

**This is where I deviated from the recipe. I stuck them in the freezer on cookie sheets until they were frozen. then I put them in freezer safe bags and waited for a few days to see how they would work as a frozen food.

5 - Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Add the rice balls and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, turning occasionally and spraying with cooking spray until browned and crisp all over. Serve warm.

I found that they did very well going straight from freezer to pan. You just need to make sure that when you cook them, the pan isn't so hot that you burn the outside before the inside is warm.

Now, for the purposes of full disclosure, when I put this in front of the kids, my younger one dug right in. She even picked them over the strawberries. My older one, on the other hand, ate a few strawberries then took a bite of the rice balls and immediately declared them "icky". Of course, at that point, the little one heard that big brother had called them icky, so the little monkey-do had to call them icky too and now neither kid will eat them now. But I would comfortably say that your standard kid is really going to like them.

Italian Baking Powder Biscuits

This was a variation on baking powder biscuits, and wow! So amazing! You have to try these! They are seriously my new favorite.

Ingredients
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour - I'm all out of cake flour, so I used all regular flour

1/3 cup cake flour
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
½ cup vegetable shortening
¾ cup milk

Preheat oven to 425. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk all at once and stir just until dough forms a ball. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 12 times. Pat or roll ½ inch thick. Cut into rounds with 2 inch cutter. Bake on greased baking sheet for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and flaky.

So good! Really. Delicious! I was extremely pleased with this change to the recipe. Definitely a keeper!

Stress Tip

So, this may be kinda silly, and mostly funny, but it really worked for me and ultimately made a veggie packed dinner!

The other day I was having a rough day with the kids and had started snacking. I didn't do bad, but got frustrated since I've been working real hard lately to lose a few pounds. So I wanted to find something to do that wasn't snacking. So I decided we were having stir fry and started chopping vegetables.

First it was carrots, then celery, bell peppers, and garlic. By that point I was so into the veggies, that I started to add canned veggies and other things we had around the house. Needless to say, the stir fry was a little heavy on the vegetable side. But it was really good for us and better that than cookies or candy, right?

Snack Tip

I love this new snack/storage tip. It works awesome! We started saving plastic and glass containers for reusing in an effort to use less plastic bags. These empty peanut butter containers are awesome. They've got a really wide mouth and are clear so you can see what's inside. This not only reminds you what you have in there, but you know when you're getting low. They're super handy. I often grab the cheese or carrot sticks when running out on a playdate so we'll have a nice snack while we're gone.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Also known as "leftover Easter Ham".

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes - I think we only had 3, so ours might not have been as full as it calls for, and I'm pretty sure we didn't half the recipe. Although my husband started this and I finished it, so it's possible I'm just totally off base.
3 tbsp butter, separate, melted
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup potato water (saved)
1 cup milk or light cream - We used whole milk, thank you Emery!
2 cups ham cooked and cubed - Thank you Easter!
4 ounces cheddar cheese

Cook potatoes, pared and sliced in boiling, salted water for 10-15 minutes or til tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Place potatoes in 9x13 baking dish. Melt 1 tbsp butter, toss with bread crumbs, paprika and thyme. Set aside. Melt 2 tbsp butter in sauce pan, then blend in flour, mustard, salt and pepper. Add reserved potato liquid and milk. Cook and stir til thickened and bubbly. Stir in ham and cheese, one cup at a time. Cook til cheese is melted. Pour sauce over potatoes. Sprinkle with crumbs. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

We did the potatoes the night before, then I pre-chopped everything that afternoon. It was really easy to put together an hour before dinner.

Flaxseed Tip

I know I've mentioned a bit before how flaxseed is an easy addition to punch up the health of your meal. In last month's Reader's Digest, there was an article all about the great benefits of flaxseed and they had some suggestions for using it. I used one, and it was so easy. I thought I'd share it with you as well some reminders of nice and simple ways to add flaxseed in your meals and snacks.

Sprinkle it on your peanut butter when making a pb&j. I put mine together and then remembered to take a picture, so it's on both sides. But I originally just covered my peanut butter in it and then closed it to eat. I couldn't taste any difference.

Other great and easy ways to use flaxseed:

breadings (for fish or chicken)

any red sauce (chili, spaghetti)

sprinkle it in yogurt

blend in a smoothie

add to muffins

I'm sure there are a million other ways to use it? Are there any that you've used that I didn't list?

Sheila Salad

This salad is named for our good friend Sheila who used to make this for us all the time in Missoula. After living in Kalispell for a while, she came up here to visit her sister and we all had lunch together and she made her classic salad. We realized how much we missed it and started making it for our family too!

Ingredients
Lettuce - I like using spinach and a spring mix. But you can use Romaine, or even Iceberg if that's your thing.
Tomatoes, chopped - If I could, I'd always use cherry tomatoes, quartered.
Cucumbers, chopped
Bell peppers, chopped
Colby Jack Cheese, cubed
Carrots, chopped
Optional: bacon bits, green onions, croutons, cubed ham, hard boiled eggs, etc.

This is a real, make it how you like it salad. What we love most about it is the variety of things to put in it, and we make it quite chunky. This way the flavors are a lot stronger. We're also fans of the colby cubes. We just had this for a birthday dinner with a medium-sized group of family and had everything in separate containers so everyone could literally create their own salad with the fixings they like best. This salad's a big hit with our family, and we just love it.

Italian Chicken

This is another "spice up this recipe so dinner's not so boring" recipe. 

Ingredients
Chicken - I cut mine up into tenders
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp Alpine Touch (all-purpose seasoning with salt, pepper, onion, garlic)
2 tsp italian seasoning
sprinkle of paprika

Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what I put in this. I wanted something light, and it was. I recall being pleased so I took a picture. But this is the general idea.

Make your flour and seasoning mixture. Coat chicken in the mixture. Spray a pan with cooking spray and put over medium heat. When hot, add a tbsp of oil and toss in the chicken. Cook until done.

We just had a simple light dinner with some butter noodles, chicken and veggies. It's not really overly flavorful. (Although that would be easy enough to change.) But it was something I just put together, and I'm always pleased when something I make up actually tastes good. This breading was my inspiration.

Toasted Spiced Ham Drizzled in Honey

This Easter, I got excited about making some traditional foods. Mostly because I don't know much about the "traditional" foods. I'm not a real holiday food person, outside of candy canes, candy corn and jelly beans. So I found a recipe on foodnetwork.com for a traditional Easter ham, and this is what I found.

Ingredients

1 boneless country ham
2 cups honey, for glazing ham
2 tablespoons Toasted Spice Rub recipe below- The recipe makes 1 cup. DO NOT use the entire 1 cup. 
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped fine
6 celery stalks

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Place ham on an open brown paper bag for easy clean up. With the tip of a paring knife carefully score a 1-inch grid pattern around the outside of the ham. Brush the entire surface of the meat on all sides with some of the honey. Season the entire surface of the meat on all sides with the toasted spice rub and thyme. Add about a half cup of water to the base of the roaster. Place ham on several celery sticks in the roasting pan. Cook for 1 hour. Every 15 minutes, baste ham with juices that collect in the base of the roaster and the honey. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving as desired.

Toasted Spice Rub:
1/4 cup fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1/4 cup (1-ounce) pure California sweet chili powder*
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. (Toasting freshens spices, releases their oils, and makes them more fragrant, as well as adding a new dimension of flavor.) When the fennel turns light brown, work quickly. Turn on the exhaust fan; add the red pepper flakes, and toss, toss, toss, always under the fan. Immediately turn the spice mixture out onto a plate to cool. Put in a blender with the sweet chili powder, salt, and cinnamon and blend until the spices are evenly ground.
If you have a small spice mill blender or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, grind only the fennel, coriander, pepper, and chili flakes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Keep the spice mix in a glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.

*Chef's Tip: Taste your chili powder and, if spicy and hot, cut back the amount. California chiles are almost sweet, not hot.

So I forgot to take my camera to the dinner, and didn't take a picture until after we got home and my hubs rinsed it off. I realized, just now, that I used the entire 1 cup of seasoning mix instead of 2 tbsp. Our ham still tasted good, but there was a lot of seasoning on it. You can see a little bit on the stump there what the seasoning rub looks like. I know my ham is in a shape not really natural to the nature of ham, but it was the cheapest I could find, and that's what we could afford. Looking back, I think if I had read the recipe properly, this would've been an even greater success than it was. Because it was a success. Unless everyone was lying so as not to hurt my feelings. Anyway, it was good, and the ham was used in recipes to follow. So keep an eye out.

Chili Upgrade

So we were making our normal chili but really wanted to make it a bit tastier, give it a little upgrade. So we combined it with the recipe for our white chicken chili and came up with something pretty yummy. It was kind of an on the fly recipe change, so bear with me. But I can still remember the gist of how we changed it. I know we started out with the original recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef (or turkey)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green sweet pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (Can't go wrong with more garlic either)
1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (may use dried beans)
1 14 ½ oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2-3 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/2 cup flax seed

Then we added some bits from the white chicken chili.
1 can of kernel corn

1 (4oz) cans diced green chiles
1 tbs ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

I want to say that was most of the additions.

Brown meat, chop veggies, toss it all in a crockpot and cook on high for 4-5 hours. You can saute your veggies before hand if you want to, as well.

Bam chicken

This is another thing we make on the fly. It's so simple, but I couldn't help but share it because it really does turn out great.

Ingredients
Chicken - However much you have on hand that's thawed and ready to be cooked for dinner
Bam - Use as liberally as you'd like

You can leave the chicken as breasts, or whatever cut you have, or you can cut them up into tenders or smaller, chicken nugget-type bites. Sprinkle Bam on your chicken, coating both sides, then cook in a frying pan with a little oil. Voila.

Excuse the lovely photo. I think we were already done with dinner, when I thought to myself, "I should post our Bam chicken." and took a lovely photo of the chicken serving plate, completely with bam-colored oil and juices. It's so simple and is packed with flavor. A great chicken addition on the fly.

Lemon Broccoli

My sister gave this to me and I was too excited to try it. I love sharing good recipes. (Can you tell?)

Ingredients
1 large bunch broccoli cut into spears - Don't leave out the stems either. There's so much there, but if you only use the trees, you lose a ton. When you're taking bites of it, you can't tell if it's mixed in with stems, and then you get so much more broccoli taste.
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced - Mine was red, which you can see in the photo. I normally use yellow.
1 cup thinly sliced celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel - Don't forget about this lovely tip when it comes to lemon zest!
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Steam broccoli until crisp-tender. Rinse in cold waster; drain and set aside. In a large skillet, saute the onion, celery and garlic in butter for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Add the lemon peel and juice, salt, pepper and broccoli. Heat through. 

So please excuse my photo, aside from the blurriness, my broccoli is most obviously overcooked! It is the saddest shade of green. I had it steaming above my rice in the cooker and totally forgot about it. I was seriously in mourning over the sad color of this broccoli. But let me tell you that the broccoli tasted great. It was a wonderful side dish. I love good veggie dishes that I can eat with a plain rice, and just mix together. This was mixed with a little bam chicken, that I believe will be posted next. So stay tuned!

Sunrise Smoothie

I am very pleased with this, my very own creation. You have to try it. Delish!

Ingredients
1 cup orange juice - You can substitute other juices. I've tried apple and grape. Both worked fine, but orange is my favorite by far.
1 cup frozen strawberries - You can use fresh. I did, but found that the strawberry flavor was much stronger when they were frozen.
1 medium to large banana - This surprisingly adds a lot of the sweetness.
2 tbsp flaxseed. - This blends right in and is a great healthy boost for a morning drink.

Put orange juice in the blender.  You'll want to put your liquid in first, to help it blend smoothly.  Add other ingredients and blend until all chunks are gone.

I love this. My kids love this. I broke my blender a few weeks ago and have been dying ever since. I can't wait til the replacement part comes, because I want my smoothie!

Bacon Tip 2

Read this on the package of my bacon. Who knew the handy things they printed on there worked?  This was just an easier way to separate your bacon without pulling and stretching and ripping it in pieces. Stick your spatule between the pieces as you slowly pull them apart. It worked like a charm. I was left with fully intact, long strips of bacon.

Mashers

Otherwise known as mashed potatoes. Yes, a family staple, for most families anyway. I'm new to the potato band wagon. Outside of french fries, I didn't really eat potatoes growing up. This recipe is from Alton Brown (food genius) and his first book, chronicalling the first 80 episodes of his show Good Eats.

Ingredients

2 lbs russet potatoes (rinsed, peeled,m and cut into 1/2 inch chunks)

2 lbs red "boiling" potatoes (rinsed, unpeeled, cut into 1/2 inch chunks)

2 tsp kosher salt (which I actually have from his Thanksgiving Turkey recipe)

3/4 cup buttermilk (You can use the last 1/4 cup for a chicken biscuit bake.)

1/4 cup heavy cream (You can use the last 2 3/4 cups of that for alfredo sauce.)

6 cloves garlic (peeled and smashed) I use my garlic smasher for this, since it specifies smashed, not chopped or minced.

Place all spud hunks in a 4-quart saucepan and add just enough cold tap water to cover. (You can put the potatoes in the water and refrigerate them for up to 8 hourse before cooking.) Add 1 tsp of the salt to the pot, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. (This will take about 15 minutes.)

Meanwhile, combine the buttermilk, cream, and garlic in a 2 quart saucepan and bring to a bare simmer over low heat, watching to make sure the mixture doesn't boil over. Keep the mixture barely bubbling until the potatoes are done.

When the spud water boils, ditch the lid, drop the heat to a simmer, and cook until the spuds are easily crushed with tongs, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then return them to the pan and the heat. Toss and shake gently for 30 seconds or so to knock off any excess surface moisture. (The drier the spuds the better.)

Move the pan to a trivet (hot pad, towel) on the countertop and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp salt. Pour on about a quarter of the buttermilk mixture and start mashing.

As the spuds break down, add more of the buttermilk mixture until you're happy with the results. Remember, these are mashed potatoes, not whippe potatoes. If you over-mash them in an attempt to smooth ever piece you will inevitably rupture starch granules, which can and most likely will result in gummy potatoes.

Let me just say that I love the way Alton words things. He explains it in a way you can understand, and even adds a little science in there if you're following that part well enough. For the recipe, it was really great. Like I said, I'm new to the potato scene, but I really enjoyed these. They had a really nice, subtle flavor that made them not boring. I did half the recipe. I also took the time during naptime to cut my potatoes really small. (1/2 inch chunks is really quite small.) Then I stuck them in water in the fridge for a few hours. I felt like the small chopping really helped it cook faster. (Because that's not common knowledge, but still.) Overall, fab recipe. Expect more from Alton Brown's Good Eats in the future.

Playdoh!

Oh yes. Homemade playdoh. It is edible (though extremely salt) and yes, I ate it as a child. Still, a fun family favorite. And just for the sake of clarification, I am putting this on here for fun, not for a snack!

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
1 tbsp alum (in the seasonings section)
1 3/4 cup boiling water
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Mix flour, salt, and alum. Add food coloring to water if desired. (or you can knead it in later if you want to split it into multiple colors.) Add water and oil to flour mixture. Mix well. Store in an air tight container or zip lock bag in your fridge. This stuff can last for a really long time as long as it's air tight.

Decadent Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake

I stole this recipe from the Reader's Digest. It's pretty decadent. But not really sweet. In the end, we liked that about it. It took a while to grow on me, but by the end, I was scraping it out of the pan with Aaron. So a definite yummy dessert, without feeling overly sweet or sugary.

Ingredients
18 chocolate graham cracker squares, finely crushed (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
2 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 300. Combine crackers, melted butter, and 2 tbsp sugar. Press into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside. (I bought a crust. I enjoy making them, but it was a slight time issue. Although each time I use a pre-made crust, I completely overflow it, even though I'm following the directions. So I'm making my own crust next time.)

In bowl, beat 1 package cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in peanut butter and 1/4 cup sugar until combined. Fold in 1 lightly beaten egg; set aside. In saucepan stir chocolate over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cube remaining cream cheese; add to choclate. Stir to combine. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. Fold in 2 lightly beaten eggs. Spread half the chocolate mixture into pan. Carefully spread all the peanut butter mixture over layer. Evenly spread remaining chocolate mixture.

Bake 45 minutes or until top is set when lightly shaken. Outer 2 inches of top will be slightly puffed and dry-looking; center will look darker and wet. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Use small sharp knife to loosen crust from sides; cool 30 minutes. Remove sides of pan (if using springform, which I don't have anyway.); cool completely on rack. Cover; chill 4 hours. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with peanuts, if desired.

Like I said, at first I wasn't really into this (and the picture of mine isn't nearly as cool as the one from Reader's Digest.) but by the end, I was really enjoying it. That might be because I didn't chill it for 4 hours like it called for. I really liked it after we pulled it from the fridge. So I would recommend making sure you do that step. Overall, a really tasty treat that's not over sugary.

Black Bean and Sausage Soup

I thought for sure I'd done this already, but I hadn't. So good!

Ingredients

1 cup dry black beans (can use canned beans)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp salt
1/8 – ¼ tsp ground red pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. cooked, smoked turkey sausage or polish sausage, chopped
Dairy sour cream, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, fresh cilantro (optional)

Rinse beans. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven combine beans and 6 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans. Return beans to saucepan. Stir in 2 cups water, broth, onion, celery, coriander, salt, red pepper, and garlic. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1-1 ½ hours or until beans are tender.

If desired, mash beans slightly. Stir in sausage; heat through. IF desired, serve topped with sour cream and cilantro. -OR-

Prepare as above through step 1. In crock pot combine chicken broth, 2 cups water, onion, celery, coriander, salt, red pepper, and garlic. Stir in beans. Cover and cook on high heat for 5-6 hours. If desired, mash beans slightly. Stir in sausage. Cover and cook for 30 minutes more.

Or just used canned beans like we do. Then you only have to cook it for like 30 minutes and then add the sausage. Just cook long enough to get your veggies the way you like them.

In this one, we added some leftover rice just for fun. It added just a little extra. But this is a great recipe. I highly recommend using the optional ingredients. They're fun and tasty to add.

Sneaky Bon-Bons

What a nice treat for the kiddos. And packed full of really good stuff too! I will say, I didn't think these were too great, but Joseph loved them!

Ingredients
1/4 cup sweet potato baby food
1/4 cup carrot baby food
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (They say not to use the quick oats, but that's all I have and it worked fine as far as I could tell.)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional) I didn't use these, but if I had some really tiny chips, I would.
Topping options: cinnamon sugar, sprinkles

*Purees can be used interchangeably, as long as it totales 1/2 cup.

In a mixing bowl, combine baby food and peanut butter. Mix in whaet germ, oats, and chocolate chips, if using. Scoop up heaping teaspoon-size amounts of batter, and roll into balls with your hands. Roll balls into topping to coat completely. Wrap individually in plastic wrap to refrigerate or freeze.

Like I said, Joseph really liked these. I think if it had the chocolate, I would've enjoyed them more. These are not deceptively delicious, but I'm going to label it with them since it uses purees. Definitely a must try for your kiddos if you're looking for a snack alternative.

Stir Fry

Or, you can call it Hu-Hot if you want. This is our middle of the line version. We've done it more authentic, but this is a lot easier and simpler to make for a whole family.

Ingredients
chopped carrots
chopped celery
chopped garlic
chopped onion
chopped bell pepper
other options: olives, mushrooms, corn, black beans, broccoli (I highly recommend broccoli. So great in stir fry.)
Chicken, cut in 1-2 inch cubes
*You can really use whatever vegetables you want, and in the quantities you choose. That's the beauty of it.
Cooked rice
*optional: Cooked spaghetti noodles

Sauces: Hoison Sauce, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, General Tsao's, Black bean and Garlic sauce, hot chili and garlic, any sauce you find in your asian foods section at the store. (You can easily sprinkle flaxseed on your plate, or just add it to your sauces.)

Prepare vegetables and chicken (you can use whatever type of meat you want, or multiple types together.) In one pan, saute the vegetables. In another, begin cooking the meat. When mostly cooked, add your choices of sauce to your meat. It's meant to be saucy, so keep adding! Mix and match, or if you're not familiar with them, try them one at a time. (Meaning, for one meal, use one sauce to get familiar with it. Then when you're more confident, begin making combination sauces.) Let it heat through and combine the sauces if necessary. Then when the vegetables are sauteed to your liking, add it to the meat and sauces and combine thoroughly. I like to go heavy on the vegetables. The flavor is still great, so it's such an easy way to get your veggies. Serve on fresh rice, or with a combo rice and noodles. It's quite good if you've never tried it.

This has easily become a family favorite for us. It's different every time, you use the quantities you want and are comfortable with. You can feel good about it because it's packed full of veggies and it just tastes really good!