Gingered Carrot Millet Muffins

Gingered Carrot Millet Muffins  Rating: 8

These were good and also did good in the freezer.  I really enjoy the crunch the millet offers.  The batter is really thick but the muffins come out fine.  Enjoy!

Purple Fantastic Tofu Pops

Purple Fantastic Tofu Pops  Rating: 8

This recipe came from Anni Daulter's Ice Pop Joy and we could not find a like recipe online to link to so see if your local library has her book.  Ours did!

It is a blend of fresh and dried fruit, soft or silken tofu, and natural sweetener.  I used canned pears instead of steaming fresh ones and I used honey in place of the other called for sweetener and reduced it by a tablespoon.  It was still plenty sweet and made beautiful purple pops.  They were sort of icy and sort of creamy and it didn't taste odd at all.  Kids and adults ate these up happily.  I will certainly try silken/soft tofu in pops again and am looking forward to using soft tofu in other recipes.

I have talked about practicing nutritional stealth before to get goodness into kids but I really like what Anni Daulter had to say about that.  She suggests getting kids involved with the cooking/creating process and telling them exactly what is in the food that is being made. 

I feel she is right on this point.  When the kids know that nutrition is important to the family and have good and tasty experiences with different foods it is more likely to have a better, or long term impact on healthier eating.  I still will slip a variety of healthy foods into my kids food (that isn't easy to pick apart) to get them used to different tastes but we will talk about what is in there.  I've actually seen my 5-year-old become more open to onions as we use them often and tell her they are in there, so I know it will work on other food as well.

Cherry Almond Meal Muffins

Cherry Almond Meal Muffins  Rating: 7

We decided to welcome summer with these muffins since the cherries are of perfect ripeness right now. 

This was my first time with almond meal and I heard I could make my own so I did.  It was not too hard and done with a blender.  I did have a few little nuggets of almond here and there and decided that I was fine with that.  It would a nice little crunch. 

This recipe is so simple and the flavors of the muffin are too.  Although I used the lowest recommended time, my muffins came out slightly overbaked.  Surprisingly, they were not dry but still moist and tender.  It made 7 nice standard muffins.


This recipe made a nice, simple muffin.  I'm glad I had the new experience with almond meal and will likely use it again in baking some day.

Savory Pumpkin and Feta Muffins

Savory Pumpkin and Feta Muffins  Rating: 6

I made Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal for breakfast earlier in the week and had left over pumpkin puree that needed to be used up.  I was inspired by Heidi Swanson's Pumpkin and Feta Muffins at 101 Cookbooks but used a puree friendly recipe I found at The Little Foodie.

I substituted yogurt for the sour cream, omitted the honey, and used whole wheat flour.  I added a slight 1/2 cup of feta for the cheese and a large, overflowing handful of fresh spinach that I then chopped fine.  I did use some black pepper.

The muffins were a bit dry and I feel that they were a touch too salty when I came upon the bits of feta. I won't make these again but they are okay.  Maybe I'll get gutsy come autumn and try Heidi's recipe.

Beet Hummus Wrap

Can you tell we bought beets at our farmer market and are trying to use them up?  They are a nutritious vegetable and I am glad we are finding different ways to use them.

Beet Hummus Wrap  Rating: 8

We created this wrap using beet hummus, spinach, grated carrot, cucumber slices, red bell pepper, and I can't believe I forgot the feta!  We wrapped it all up in whole wheat tortillas.  Seriously pretty!  Talk about eating a rainbow.

Very fun and satisfying.  I know it would get a higher rating with feta and/or chopped kalmata olives mixed in the bunch because we lean toward those flavors.  It's a wrap so it's pretty flexible.

Beet Hummus  Rating: 8

Easy to make and striking in appearance.  I tasted as I went and started with less lemon and cumin than called for based on comments that were left.  I ended up using about 2 1/2 Tbsp. tahini (a sort of ground sesame paste), 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon ground cumin.  Worked for me.  It's a bit different than the typical chickpea hummus, besides the obvious pop of color.  But mixed with a bunch of awesome veggies made it easy to try.  I liked it for just dipping veggies too.

I think kids would enjoy this as a dip because of the vibrant color.  But if your kids are messy eaters this may not be the day to wear a new, white shirt.  Beet stains are a bummer.

Power Me Up Pumpkin Sesame Cookies

Power Me Up Pumpkin Sesame Cookies  Rating: 9

I really like these cookies and have made them before.  It's pretty much a pumpkin spice cookie.  They are packed with nutrition and one holds me up for a good while.  I can't say that about any other cookie.  They are not low calorie.  The recipe uses unrefined sweeteners and are just sweet enough.  And they come out pretty.  Black sesame seeds would also be pretty but a little more pricey.  My kids love them and we call them Sesame Sprinkle Cookies to keep it fun and simple. Keep these refridgerated. 

Apple and Kale Spice Muffins

Apple and Kale Spice Muffins  Rating: 8

These muffins run approximately 200 calories each and they are not overly heavy but they are filling.

I have made these a few different times.  Sometimes with apple, sometimes with carrot, sometimes with apple and carrot, but always with kale.  They are tasty.  There is a ton of veggie goodness in there but they are sweet because of the carrots or apple (keep those peels on!) and the honey and dried fruit (I just use raisins).  Yep, no refined sugars.  Whole grain goodness too.  I go heavy on the cinnamon and nutmeg. 

This is a good on catch-all, mix-things-up recipe.  Yogurt instead of milk, all a pinch of cloves if you want, spinach instead of kale, zucchini if you want, cranberries instead of raisins, add ground flax, add nuts or not.  Whatever!  Get funky!

Just look at the obscene amount of kale that got shoved into 12 muffins!  I added the apple in this photo for scale.  I just finely chop that kale in my food processor so there's no "chunkage" or leafy issues in the finished product.  Can you believe you and your child is going to get that many greens in them.  Believe it!

Now add a packed cup and a half of grated carrot on top of that!  You are a super star!

Some finely chopped nuts for protein and omega 3s.  Raisins for sweetness, not to mention fiber.

Tah-dah! With some fruit and some cheese, you have a lunch or breakfast that is quick, yummy, and nutritious.  I love getting veggies before I even leave the house.  The muffins are a nice snack as well.

Check out 365 Days of Kale.  She is a kale maniac!  I love what she ends up doing with it and we have plenty of it growing in our garden to try.

Roasted Edamame and Cranberries

Roasted Edamame and Cranberries  Rating: 8

Easy, yummy, healthy snack!  I've seen it in magazines and online but it pretty much goes as follows: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Take a cup or so of frozen, shelled edamame and thaw it.  Drizzle a bit of olive, grapeseed, or coconut oil and salt to taste.  Toss it on a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes, tossing them about a few times.  You want them crisp and golden.  Let them cool and then add in 1/4 cup or so of dried cranberries.  Store in an airtight container.

This is a nice salty, sweet, nutty snack that has a protein punch.  It is very filling.  A 1/4 cup or so does the trick.

Ginger Chicken with Coconut and Kale Chips

Ginger Chicken with Coconut  Rating: 7

This recipe came from Tyler Florence's Start Fresh: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating and it was pretty good but nothing overly special.  It felt like comfort food because the coconut milk used.  We used veggie stock in place of chicken stock.

The big hit of this meal was the kale chips.  The whole family could not get enough of them.  A great side or snack for us and our kids since we grow it in our backyard. 

Kale Chips  Rating: 10

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Put a large bunch of kale, stemmed, and torn into chip size pieces in a bowl, drizzle with a bit of oil (we used garlic infused grapeseed oil) and toss until lightly coated. Spread out on baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with kosher salt.  Put them in the oven and after 5 minutes toss them around on the baking sheet a bit.  Once back in oven check every few minutes.  They get crispy and you don't want too much browning at all.  You are just trying to dry them out not brown them. 

Seriously Healthy Ice Cream

Just one ingredient needed.  Don't bother pulling out the ice cream maker.

So creamy, satisfying, and easy!  On rare occasion bananas in our house actually reach that brown spotted stage when they are super ripe and getting almost mushy soft.  That, my friends, is when I contrive to gain my family's adoration by peeling the banana, dividing it into 6ths (so they are easy to process and so I know how much banana I am using), and storing them in a quart size freezer bag in our freezer. 

Then I say, "Do you want ice cream tonight?" --sweet treats being only occasional in our home.  Then they laud me tremendously!  That Bible verse, Proverbs 31:28, "Her children arise up, and call her blessed." --yeah, it's because of this ice cream.

Seriously Healthy Ice Cream  Rating: 10

I sometimes make this with just the banana and love it.  Her idea for adding nut butter (I use peanut butter) is great!  Depending on what I've eaten that day and where my calorie count lies, I will add or subtract extra ingredients.  I really like it with peanut butter, dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts best.  You can have fun with this but the calories add up quickly so do behave.  All you need is your food processor!

I love giving my family healthy foods that feel decedent.  I mean who wouldn't hand their kid a banana?!  It's fruit! Win-Win!

Waste Not, Want Not -- Roasting Squash Seeds

As you may have observed we eat a plentiful amount a squash around here.  We try to use as much as the produce as we can so we like to roast our squash seeds for a healthy, crunchy snack.  People seem to do this with their jack-o-lantern seeds during Halloween but we do it as long as we have squash to be eaten. 

We used seeds from butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash.  We even mix them up when we are eating a lot of squash in one week.  We just store them in the fridge until we have enough or until we think they can't be stored much longer.

I find it easier to pinch the seeds out of the lovely, slimy strands while it is all still attached to the squash.  I don't have to deal with as much muck that way and then when they are all out, I scrape the strands out of the squash. As I said, we store the seeds in a air tight container in the fridge until we have enough to make ourselves happy. 

To roast approximately 1 cup of seeds, I add 1 Tbsp. of melted butter and whatever seasoning or spice blend we want and give it a stir to coat.  Then we spread them out on a baking sheet.

 Slide them in to the oven, preheated to 350 degrees F and roast them 10-14 minutes, checking them until they are crunchy and browned.

Seasoning blends we enjoy here are creole and a cinnamon/sugar blend.  Garlic is always a welcomed choice in our home as well.

Apple Nachos

February is National Snack Food Month and I'd like to counter all the junk food options with a quick, easy, and fun snack that is a treat to eat.

Apple Nachos  Rating: 10

I make single servings with one apple sliced in 16ths and drizzle it with 1 Tbsp. of microwaved creamy natural peanut butter.  Then I sprinkle on the goodness but sparingly, as the calories can add up quick.  These apple nachos really don't need much to make my tastebuds happy.  I usually add 2-3 toppings on top of the peanut butter drizzle.

Topping options I usually add in 1-1 1/2 Tbsps. are:
chopped walnuts, almonds, or peanuts
shredded unsweetened coconut
raisins
dried cranberries
granola
dark chocolate chips (it really doesn't take much)
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon

Have fun creating your favorite combo.

Quinoa Granola Bars

Quinoa Granola Bars  Rating: 7

Calories for 1/12 of a recipe = 134.

I have made granola bars from this website that I thought were a flop.  They were bland and spongy and bordered on soggy.  I am happy to report that these were much better.

These Quinoa Bars had a nice pops of crunch because of the grain and they were sweet enough because of the ripened banana.  I truly love the hard crunch of Nature's Valley granola bars and these are not them, to be sure.  But they are pretty good on their own.  I used mixed raw nuts that had Brazil, walnut, hazelnut, almond, etc.

I loved her idea of molding them into cookie cutters.  It was easy, fun, and a great way to keep the kids interested in a healthy food option.

Gingerbread Smoothie

I had this for breakfast but it would be an awesome, filling snack as well. 

Gingerbread Smoothie   Rating: 8

I nixed the protein powder and cereal.  Used whole milk in place of soy milk, and full fat Greek yogurt instead of nonfat.  If you're thinking "Beans! Ew!" you are missing out.  It doesn't taste funny and I really give it a whiz so the smoothie is oh-so-creamy. 

The major health benefit of beans is their rich source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. In addition to lowering cholesterol, the high fiber content of beans prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal.  It also has significant amounts of antioxidants, folic acid, vitamin B6, and magnesium.  Intake of common beans is also protective against cancer. Eating beans or lentils two or more times per week was associated with a 24% reduced risk of breast cancer, which I am a survivor of. (Bean info source: here).