Summertime is all about the fresh fruits and vegetables. Where we live, we are lucky to have some established fruit trees and bushes, so we can just go outside (with the kids, of course) and pick what we want to eat. If you don’t have such direct access to fresh produce, try the farmer’s market or other markets in your area that carry fresh, locally grown fruits and veggies – there really is a difference in taste.

Our favorite way to enjoy summertime fruit is in a quick and simple fruit sorbet. Fresh peaches, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, or a mixture are all delicious – just be sure to adjust the amount of sugar so that the sorbet isn’t too tart.

To make sorbet, you need:

• About 5 cups of chopped fruits or berries. (The juicier the better, such as various berries and stone fruits.)

• Wash and remove any peels

• Chop the fruit so that all are about an inch in diameter.

• Set aside about 1 cup of fruit from the batch, and scatter the other 4 cups onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

• Place the sheet in the freezer and the 1 cup of fruit in the fridge overnight.

When you are ready to make the sorbet, remove frozen fruits from the freezer and pulse them in a food processor until it looks like a smooth fruit puree. Add some sugar as needed to smooth out the fruit even more and sweeten the mixture – about half a cup should be enough, but be sure to add enough so that the sorbet is sweet and not too tart (raspberries, for example, need more sugar than peaches or strawberries). You can also add a little water to further smooth out the fruit. Add the fruit from the refrigerator and blend until smooth, then serve.

Now that our son has begun to eat solid foods, I’d like to start making baby food for him myself. Not only is it more nutritious to make your own baby foods at home – especially with fresh, in season and organic produce– but it can also be less expensive. In our neighborhood grocery store, jars of baby food are sold for just under a dollar each; I can buy a half pound of apples for that price and make enough applesauce to not only feed him, but to freeze or can some as well. What’s more, by making the food myself, I know exactly what is going into it, and thus going into his little body.

Applesauce is a great first food for baby – the smooth consistency is easy for him or her to eat, and the sweet fruit is easy to digest. It’s also quite simple to prepare.

To make your own applesauce:

• peel and core apples

• chop into chunks

• steam the apples over medium heat for about five minutes, or until they are soft. (Using a steamer basket over a sauce pan)

• Set the cooking water aside and carefully remove the apples from heat

• Puree apples in a blender or in a bowl using an immersion blender until smooth

• Add as little of the cooking water as needed to obtain the desired consistency (smooth and thin for young babies, and slightly chunky for older babies; use your judgment and remember that it’s easier to add water and thin the mixture than to make it thicker)

The applesauce can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or frozen for up to six months. Freeze the applesauce in ice cube trays, removing once they are frozen and placing in a zip top bag. Each cube measures out to be about one ounce.

If you like to celebrate the religious significance of Easter, try making Easter story cookies! A friend of mine gave me this recipe years ago to share with my now-12 year old son. More of a meringue than a cookie, this recipe is a fun and clever way to tell the Easter story with preschoolers. Make sure your kids are not too young because they may be a little frightened or frustrated! Use your best judgment.

You have to start them the night before and definitely need to read through the recipe before you begin. So grab your apron and a Bible, and have fun!

Easter Story Cookies

• 1cup whole pecans
• 1tsp vinegar
• 3 egg whites
• pinch salt
• cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Lay wax paper over a cookie sheet.
*Explain that while you make the goodies, you are going to learn about the story of Jesus. Use whatever words fit your beliefs. Begin with the fact that he was arrested.

Put the pecans in a ziplock bag and give your child a wooden spoon. Beat the pecans until they are crushed.
*Explain that after Jesus was arrested, he got beat up by Roman soldiers.  Read John 19:1-3.

Let your child dip a finger into the vinegar to taste it.  Put the 1 tsp vinegar into a mixing bowl.
*After Jesus got beat up, he was hung on a cross because the soldiers wanted to kill him. When Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.

Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar.
*Eggs represent life. Jesus gave his life to all the people of the world.  Read John 10:10-11.

Let your child dip a finger into the salt to taste it. Add a pinch of salt to the bowl.
*Tears are salty. When Jesus died, his followers were very sad becasue he was gone, but also because they had done bad things. Read Luke 23:27.

Ask your child if he wants to taste what is in the bowl. It isn’t very good. Add 1 cup sugar.
*The best–sweetest–part of the story of Jesus is that he died because he loves you. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat the meringue with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
*Ask your child what color the mixture is (white). If something is white, it is pure. God is pure. So are the people who choose to follow Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold the crushed nuts into the egg mixture. Drop teaspoons of the meringue onto the prepared cookie sheet.
*The little mounds looks like the rocky tomb where they put Jesus’ body.  Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give your child a piece of tape and let her seal it shut.
*The tomb where they put Jesus was sealed shut. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

Go to bed!
*Is your child sad or frustrated to leave the cookies overnight? The people who loved Jesus were probably sad and frustrated, too. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven. Give your child a cookie and point out that the surface is cracked. What does she notice when she takes a bite? The cookies are empty! Just like the tomb where they put Jesus. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

My toddler has a new obsession: baking. He loves making cookies, muffins, and baking cakes. Well, what he really loves is playing with the ingredients, eating the ingredients, and generally making a mess. And eating the final result is fun too.

Today we tried cupcakes, me, toddler, and daycare baby. Toddler stands on his little chair, daycare baby is one but she’s tiny so she can sit on the counter top. They poke the flour, taste the flour, spit the flour out. Both of them want to eat all the sugar and most of the butter before it gets mixed. Toddler loves to measure things and pour things into bowls. We’d have to add 47 teaspoons of baking powder if I let him have his way. I’m just trying to ignore the little fingers in the mouth and then back into the mixing bowls, and that they have both sneezed into the sugar, and all the other baby slime that is getting into the batter…

Both of them love eggs. Toddler likes to crack eggs. We need two, he wants to put the whole box in. Baby wants to eat the eggs whole. I’m one of those city types and while I could have sworn that cows are for making skinny grande mochaccinos, I do know which end of a chicken an egg comes from and that they are not especially hygienic. I try to stop baby sucking the egg. Baby wails and throws egg on the floor. I wish we had a dog. Meanwhile toddler has been trying to crack eggs, and another one goes on the floor.

Baby twigs that we are adding lots of things to one bowl, so helps by attempting to add random objects to the cake mix – all the spoons, cheerios, the baking powder packet, etc. Toddler is trying his best to spoon the cake mix into the cupcake pan. The recipe says that it makes 12 cupcakes. After spillage, we get 10. Not bad!  The mix is slightly unevenly distributed but I don’t want to hurt his feelings or seem unappreciative of his hard work so I don’t try to even it up and we bake them like that.

Cupcakes go in the oven for 20 minutes, I clean up the egg on the floor and the cake batter and flour and wash the bowls and spoons and change everyone’s clothes. Mine included.  There’s a reason they take 20 minutes to bake, it’s the same time that it takes to clean up two small children and one mom.

Cupcakes come out, there’s giant cupcakes and teeny ones. Toddler wants “dat big one!” Ah, so that was his plan. If you only get one cupcake at lunchtime, make it one GREAT BIG cupcake.

We decorate the cakes with a Valentine’s day theme – we squidge on white frosting, add pink-and-red sprinkles, and enjoy the results of our hard work. Yum!

With an active toddler and another baby on the way, it can be a challenge to find snacks or dessert items that are both healthy and fast. In addition, my daughter is becoming increasingly picky when it comes to food; her breakfast meal can be especially difficult. We like to get her day started with a somewhat nutritious meal as much as possible, preferably made at home with minimal ingredients, and have this fall discovered one food she just can‘t seem to get enough of: pumpkin.

My husband and I aren‘t terribly fond of pumpkin ourselves. Sure, we‘ll eat pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving or a slice of pumpkin bread here or there, but it’s not something we‘d seek out. However, since discovering just how much our daughter loves the taste of the orange stuff, we‘ve changed our habits to accommodate her - and have begun to eat healthier ourselves in the mean time.

The best and easiest pumpkin recipe I have found is for pumpkin cupcakes. These are simply made with a box of spice cake mix and a can of pureed pumpkin mixed together and baked. Can’t get much easier than that, can we - In fact, if your child is old enough, he or she can even help out with this one, by opening the box of cake mix, stirring the bowl or helping to fill the muffin tins.

To make, combine a box of spice cake mix with a 15 ounce can of pureed pumpkin in a large bowl. Stir until moistened, then use an electric mixer to beat for about 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour into a prepared cupcake tin and bake at 350 degrees for15-20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans on a wire racks for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Serve with cream cheese frosting, or plain. The cupcakes bake up to a somewhat dense, cake-like consistency, and are a great toddler breakfast or snack.

Planning meals can be a challenge at the best of times. Add picky eaters to the mix and it can sometimes become even more difficult.

Making a menu plan for the week can really help you become organized in the kitchen. Not only does it take the pressure off each day from deciding what you will serve, but it also helps you keep organized with grocery shopping and time management too.

If you decide to menu plan, you will find a groove that works best for you. I tend to plan on the weekend for the following week and do my groceries at the beginning of the week in order to have all of the ingredients in the house needed to cook each meal. I also do a 5 day plan instead of 7 days. I do this in order to maintain some flexibility in our schedule for leftovers, eating out and choosing weekend meals as a family (or to allow the opportunity for my husband to cook–lucky me!).

One idea to help picky eaters in your family is to dedicate one night each week for them to be in charge of the meal. Depending on their age, they can either choose the meal, assist in food preparation or take over all together. This will teach the children how to work in the kitchen, become more independent and give them life skills that are important later on. It will also allow them to have control of one meal and will in turn teach them about healthy eating (as you will guide them to include healthy choices in every meal).

Another suggestion to include children in meal planning and preparation is to allow children to make a healthy choice at the grocery store, perhaps in the fruits and vegetable section. When it comes time to prepare their choice, allow them to help either by washing it or giving them a butter knife or a small spreader knife to “cut” the food in preparation for a meal. Children love to help in the kitchen and when you give them control over a food item, it will often increase the changes of them consuming the food.

One website that I have found to be very helpful with regards to meal planning is Menus 4 Moms. You can sign up for their weekly newsletter where they will send you a meal plan for the following week along with recipes. If anything, it gives you some good meal ideas to add to your repertoire.

I admit it: I am a tightwad. Some of the cheapskate things I have always done, I do in secret, like? well, I don’t want to embarrass myself so I won’t say. In my own defense, I know some inexpensive things just aren’t worth it. For example, I’ve learned that most brands of bargain diapers are no bargain, at least not until we’re done with breastmilk poop. But here’s one place I’ve discovered a real bargain that I’m not ashamed of: I don’t buy baby wipes.

For one thing, when the diaper is just wet, which it is 5 out of 7 times, I wipe her with a washcloth. I have two packs of those really cheap washcloths that get misshapen easily and use them for wet butts. (I have washcloths with a border around them for bathtime, so as not to confuse them accidentally.) The added bonus is that I can run the cloth under warm water and that feels good.

But when there’s a mess, I turn to my homemade baby wipes. A friend of mine gave me this recipe years ago when my then-preschool aged son was learning to clean himself up in the bathroom. I haven’t figured out the cost per wipe, but I know they’re cheap! And they seem to last for weeks.

First you need to buy a suitable container. I use a Rubbermaid Servin’ Saver. (I had to buy a square container for a friend’s baby shower recently because I couldn’t find the round one.) Then you need:

1. sightly more than 1 cup of water
2. 2 Tablespoons of baby oil
3. 2 less than full Tablespoons of baby wash

1 giant roll of select-a-size paper towels, cut in half (I always used a bread knife to cut them until my husband said, ‘You know that would be easier with the miter saw?’)

Put the paper towels in the container. Mix the water, oil and wash in a jar then pour evenly over the paper towel. Seal it up. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then pull the cardboard out of the middle of the roll. That’s it! Pull them out from the middle.

They sound rough, but they are actually pretty soft on the skin, and depending what scent of oil or wash you use, they smell good, too.

Trust me, it was hard to fork out for the expensive paper towels, but you can believe I tried to use the discount kind at first. Don’t skimp! You need the giant roll, select-a-size. Smaller rolls tend to collapse in the container when you get near the end, cheaper brands separate into layers, and if you don’t use select a size you get strangely oblong wipes. Even with name-brand paper towels, these are still way cheaper than the $3.99 I handed over for a box of gentle baby wipes the day my daughter was born! (She was a little earlier than expected and I wasn’t prepared.)

So far, we haven’t had a real diaper rash, and I am a little happier knowing there’s no alcohol or anything that irritates her skin. You can use whatever brand of wash works for your baby’s skin and even buy unscented mineral oil if necessary (it’s with the laxatives).

Just pull out several and fill a ziplock (generic, of course) for the diaper bag. Off you go!

We buy bananas at the grocery store at almost every visit ? usually because they?re too old and brown to use by the time we get around to using them. Our daughter loves bananas, though, so off to the store again we go to replenish our supply!

Instead of throwing them into the compost bin or making yet another loaf of banana bread (which is delicious, but tiresome after a while), I found a new way to incorporate some of those over-ripe bananas into a healthy snack for the whole family ? banana smoothies.

To make smoothies, combine in a blender:

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 cup frozen or fresh berries or chopped fruit (either in season fruits or berries, or frozen berries)
• 1 cup yogurt ? plain or any flavor you have in the fridge
• ? cup milk
• Optional: add 2-3 tablespoons ground flaxseed or wheat germ for extra protein and fiber

Blend on high speed until smooth. Makes two to three servings.

Giving in to cravings is one of the most fun aspects of pregnancy. Revel in the joy of fulfilling your every culinary whim and desire while you can.

But if you find high-fat, empty-calorie foods are causing your weight to creep up faster than the recommended rate, look for healthier alternatives that will still satisfy your cravings.

I notice that my cravings are usually directly related to the lack of certain vitamins and nutrients in my system?most notably calcium, vitamin C and lycopene. For the first three months of my pregnancy, I wanted nothing but pizza and milkshakes. After keeping the local pizza shop and ice cream parlor in business for several months, I came up with some easy-to-prepare, at-home alternatives.

Old-Fashioned Egg Cream

If I?m craving dairy products, first I take two Tums calcium supplements and wait a half hour. If the craving persists, it?s time to break out the pint glasses and whip myself up an egg cream.

Pour eight ounces of non-fat milk into a 16 oz. glass. Add about a tablespoon of Hershey?s chocolate syrup (or vanilla or strawberry, if you prefer). Stir well. Top with club soda or seltzer for a tasty, calcium-rich treat with less calories than a milkshake. The bubbles in the soda also help eliminate gas pains, if you have one of those annoying burps that won?t come out.

Quick & Healthy Pizza

For a low-cost, healthy alternative to pizza (especially frozen pizza), make your own with this recipe.

Take 2 one ounce whole wheat pitas or a whole wheat / whole grain English muffin (split). Do not split the pita bread?keep it whole. Read labels carefully to make sure that whole, unbleached wheat flour is the first ingredient, and that the bread is not made with high-fructose corn syrup.

Cover the top with pasta sauce. I like Ragu Fresh & Simple Vegetable Sauce in a pouch.

Add spices to taste: oregano and basil, pizza seasoning or minced garlic tastes great!

Add about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons low-fat or nonfat shredded mozzarella cheese.

You can also get creative and add diced peppers, baby spinach, olives or other veggies.

Bake on baking sheet on middle rack at 450 degrees for about five minutes.

Broil an additional minute or two, until cheese melts completely. (Watch carefully so it doesn?t burn!)

Orange Juice

Orange juice, packed with Vitamin C, is a common pregnancy craving. (Or maybe it?s just memories of that scene in Baby Talk where Kirstie Alley pours gallons of the orange stuff down her throat.) Instead of drinking calorie-laden, sugar-filled store bought juice, squeeze your own. Leave lots of pulp for extra fiber. Just be sure to drink it immediately. Fresh-squeezed juice isn?t pasteurized or loaded with preservatives that will allow it to keep for weeks in your fridge.

Oatmeal Cookies

If you?re craving something sweet, these oatmeal cookies made with whole wheat flour and brown sugar are packed with 6 grams of fiber, making them a healthy indulgence.

Or try these 5-grain cereal cookies, which include loads of cranberries and raisins for a fruit-filled treat.

It?s more than okay to indulge your cravings with the real thing every so often. But nightly milkshakes and giant slices of New York pizza can empty your wallet and expand your waistline quicker than you can say ?baby fat.? Try these tasty treats for a change once in a while.

As the next step on my health campaign, I decided to start making sourdough bread. Sourdough is an alternative to the standard baker’s yeast that most bread is made from now. It is made from a wild yeast, rather than a cultured yeast and was traditionally used to make bread. This wild yeast contains lactobacillus, which is one of the active ingredients in yogurt.

It is thought that sourdough began with the ancient Egyptians in about 1500 BC. During the Middle Ages it was replaced by barm which is used in brewing and later by standard baker’s yeast. Sourdough is often used throughout Europe for their rye bread. It was popular in North California during the gold rush there and also in Alaska and Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush.

In order to start making sourdough bread you need a starter culture. I bought one on eBay for a couple of pounds which came complete with instructions. Once this is set up you just take some of the starter culture and mix it with the usual bread making ingredients, sugar, salt, water, margarine and flour and make your loaves. I find the whole thing incredibly easy and the children like the bread (I didn’t tell them the name until after they had tasted it in case that put them off).

Overall the bread takes much longer to make than normal yeasted bread. As a result of this it is more digestible and since many of us now have candida or yeast infections, it will help. Most anti-candida diets allow sourdough bread (except for the strictest) so it is a good replacement. For a long time now I have been making my own bread in a bread machine. However, I find this much easier because the timings are more flexible and therefore I don’t have to be there when the machine beeps. Also, I can do it in larger quantities. These days as the prices of bread and flour are increasing it also gives another option and enables us to be sure of exactly what goes into the bread. I use spelt flour with my bread which has a lower gluten level than standard wheat and therefore is less likely to cause an intolerance or allergic reaction. I also add linseeds or sesame seeds which the children eat quite happily in the bread, but would refuse if I gave them to them to eat on their own. Sourdough can be more effective than normal yeast when using flour with a lower gluten level. In addition the glycemic index is much lower and there are more nutrients.

Further Information

Sourdough and Health

Making a Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Recipes

It’s still winter here but it’s sunny somewhere, in the last few weeks summer fruits have been appearing in my local supermarket. Seeing mangos in Minnesota always makes me smile!

Mangos taste great, and are full of vitamins and anti-oxidants. They are a particularly good source of vitamin C, which is often hard to get into babies. What are the alternatives? Broccoli? And citrus fruits are usually too acidic-tasting for younger babies, as well as often causing rashes or allergic reactions in younger babies.

For babies starting out on solid food, puree ripe mango for a sweet desert. You can also mix the puree with yogurt, or other fruit purees like bananas, apples or apricots for slightly older babies.

Older babies can eat small cubes of mango as finger food, and usually love the soft texture and sweet taste.

Frozen mangos are good too, and make great smoothies. My son loves mango, banana, a couple of cherries, and yogurt blended together.

My son hated chicken, but loved chicken and mango pureed together. Actually, it does taste nice, but a bit strange to for an adult’s taste!

One thing that often puts people off mango, is how do you get into the thing? Here’s the easiest way, the “Hedgehog Method“. You’ll have to look at the photos to see what I mean!

One warning – the skin of mango contains a chemical that can irritate sensitive skin, so don’t let babies handle them and avoid touching the peel on the flesh. You should also wash your hands after handling them.
I’m making myself hungry now. See you later – I’m off to the supermarket!

When both my kids had colds recently, their symptoms seemed to linger- to start to get better after a few days, then worsen again. We ended up seeing our pediatrician, who recommended giving them honey to treat their sore throats and coughs.

I later found out that honey has been rated the best cough remedy by a Pennsylvania State University?s College of Medicine doctor, Ian Paul, M.D. It coats the throat, fights irritants, is rich in anti-oxidants and causes salivation, which prevents dry coughs. While not recommended for infants, honey can safely be given to kids aged 1 year and up.

Give ? teaspoon to kids who are 1-5 years old and one teaspoon to older kids, ages 6-11.

Other natural cold remedies include steam via a vaporizer or from a hot shower and elevating children?s heads while they sleep, by putting rolled up towels or stuffed animals under their mattresses. We all know to drink plenty of liquids for colds and other ailments. Frozen liquids, or frozen juice pops, help hydrate kids and feel good on sore throats. You can always make your own popsicles with an inexpensive plastic popsicle tray, juice or other beverage, and popsicle sticks.

For stomach aches and nausea, real ginger will help (vs. store-bought ginger-ale, which does not contain real ginger!). You can make your own ginger ale with real ginger, lemon rind, honey, boiling water and seltzer to taste. Slices of ginger may also be steeped in hot water to make ?ginger tea?.

Young children, including my own, often have toilet ?issues?, especially when potty-training. Mineral oil worked when my 2 ? year old son was painfully?umm?backed-up. Fresh fruit, particularly apricots, pears, peaches and dried fruit will likely bring relief to this problem. For young babies without teeth, boil a prune in water and then puree it.

Check with your doctor about recommended amounts of flax-seed to relieve constipation, but this can work well for kids ages 2 and up, sprinkled and mixed into foods like yogurt.

For teething pain, frozen foods are a great idea. A frozen stalk of celery or asparagus can reach to the back teeth. A frozen bagel works well for front teeth.

My computer sits by my window and I have a great view of the snow blowing down my neighbor?s driveway. Times like this take me back to when I was a child. It seems like it would snow more often in the winter back then. At least, to my blurry memory it did. Memories are like that, you know. When twenty years have passed it seems like only the very good and the very bad stick in your mind like clear photos taken the day before.

I remember so strongly the taste and smell of the snow cream my grandmother made. She would take a large bowl, go outside and gather as much clean snow as would fit into it. She would then mix in sugar, milk, and vanilla. I still make it now for my kids when the snow is fresh and ?sticky?.

Hey, I like it, too.

I think that everyone remembers the tastes and scents from childhood. That is the main reason we have such a popular line of comfort food cookbooks all over the world. For me, the warm scent of vanilla or anything with a spice smell gives me a moment of peace.

I thought I would offer an alternative way to make this treat for those of you who have never had it. This recipe is suitable for vegans, vegetarians, and most children who may have food allergies.

Maybe, some of you have had this, but do not remember how to make it.

Snow Cream

• 1 large mixing bowl brimming with clean, fresh snow
• 1 cup of vanilla soymilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup of sucralose

Mix all ingredients well. The snow will melt down as soon as the milk hits it, but keep stirring. Eventually it will clump, then become smooth. The texture you are looking for is thick and smooth, just a bit softer than real ice cream.

When you taste this, it should be slightly sweet with a real vanilla flavor. Feel free to play around with this recipe to get the flavor you prefer. I have also added in a touch of cocoa powder, but was not as pleased with the results. I am a vanilla fan!

If you do try this recipe, let me know how it works for you and please share your variations!

Oatmeal has been in the news a lot recently. You probably know all about it’s cholesterol reducing properties, it’s high-fiber and low fat, it’s digested slowly and makes you feel full for longer so it’s a great food for dieters. And it’s cheap – a big tub of instant oatmeal is under $2 in my local supermarket.

It’s also reputed to stimulate breastmilk production in nursing moms.

But it tastes so…. blah. Here’s some ideas to make fast, tasty, healthy, warming, cheap breakfasts for a mom and older baby or toddler with oatmeal – also known as porridge in Scotland (and our house).

Purple Porridge

Ingredients – Instant oatmeal, milk, applesauce, handful of frozen blueberries.

Benefits – Calcium, antioxidants, two servings of fruit, loads of vitamins.

Remove blueberries from freezer and rinse away frost with warm water.
Prepare oatmeal with packet instructions. Stir in a blob of applesauce, about a third to a half of a small pot, and the blueberries. Stir and let sit for a few minutes so the blueberries defrost in the hot oatmeal.

My 20-month-old son calls this spotty pod, purple pod, or boobie pod. Well, how do you pronounce blueberries when you can’t say L or R?

You can use fresh blueberries too, if they are available. Or try strawberries, blackberries, or cherries, halved or chopped.

Adaption for younger babies – substitute baby oatmeal, whatever milk or formula you use, smooth applesauce, and mashed or pureed berries.

Orange Porridge

Ingredients – Instant oatmeal, milk, applesauce, apricot jelly, chopped unsalted almonds (optional)

Benefits – Calcium, the good fats in nuts, protein, vitamin A

Prepare oatmeal, then stir in applesauce, jelly and almonds, if using. You can also use chopped, dried apricots instead of the jelly, added to the milk and oatmeal at the start of cooking.

Adaption for younger babies – substitute baby oatmeal, whatever milk or formula you use, smooth applesauce, puree the apricots or apricot jelly, or use apricot baby food, and omit the nuts.

My mother had the most creative names for my childhood meals … macaroni & cheese and tuna, malted milkshakes with raw egg, and my all-time favorite, eggs in a bowl with toast.

A breakfast comfort food I had long forgotten, I stumbled across this recipe about a year ago and have been making it semi-regularly ever since. It’s only a 50/50 hit with the kids in my house, but I like it, so I continue to make it.

For this recipe to be complete, tear up pieces of toasted & buttered bread and place in a bowl. Pour creamed eggs over toast, mix, and dig in.

Enjoy!

Do you want to feel like you are in a coffee shop? Do you have some little kids at home that make it impossible? Here are 2 easy recipes for coffee house-style milk and fantastic Chocolate Chip Cookies.

COFFEE HOUSE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 sticks (1/2 pound) mushy butter

3/4 cup white sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 bag of your favorite chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda & baking powder and whisk together. In a large bowl, combine the mushy butter, white sugar, packed brown sugar, eggs & vanilla extract until completely mixed. Add flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time until completely mixed in. Proceed to add the chocolate chips. Get a cookie sheet, LIGHTLY grease & put 1 tablespoon dough drops on cookie sheet. Bake for about 12-14 minutes, depending on how soft & chewy you want your cookies. Cool on cookie rack. Now on to the milk.

COFFEE HOUSE MILK

2% milk

coffee creamer of your choice

This is so easy. Pour a glass of milk for you and your little ones. Now put 1-2 tablespoons of the creamer. Our family likes the vanilla flavored creamer. Mix and enjoy. If you are not sure about the creamer, there is low-fat and no-sugar liquid creamers out there that are just as good.

Now, go sit at your favorite coffee house table ( your dining room table), dunk your coffee house cookies, and enjoy your yummy cookies.

Tea can be incorporated into many different recipes. I love to cook, but baking is my first passion in the kitchen. Right now, I am taste testing and reviewing teas for a gourmet company, this is one of the recipes I made for them. I hope you enjoy, please, let me know how your batch turns out!Tea Cookies

• 1 Cup butter (2 sticks)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• ? cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• Half a cup of your favorite tea, loose leaves. (You can open and empty flavored tea bags or purchase loose leaf)

Cream softened butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, milk, and the vanilla. When the mixture is light in color and fluffy, mix in the flour, baking powder, and tea with a large wooden spoon. Mix until all dry ingredients are incorporated well. Use a teaspoon to drop the batter onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Using the highest rack, bake until a golden brown at 350 degrees F. This usually takes around 10 minutes, but can be a bit shorter or longer depending on your oven. Makes 8 dozen cookies.

Substitutions:

• Molasses and honey can be used in place of sugar, cup for cup.
• Almond extract can substitute vanilla, ? teaspoon to each tsp of vanilla.
• Out of eggs? Vegan? Try a tablespoon of cornstarch for each egg missing.

Brewed tea can be used in place of milk. This will change the flavor, but the tea does not need to be strained.

Fun kids? breakfast

So if you?re like us and you watch the PBS Sprout channel with any regularity, you may have seen the commercial for the ?Pancake Puff? pan, which has six small wells into which you pour batter to make puffs of all styles: pancake, brownie, and even pizza. I?ll pass on the last two?we?re strictly an Ebleskiver family. Ebleskiver is a Danish pancake ball that we?ve been making in our family since I was a child. And these little drops of heaven are a great treat for kids. They?re different from ?normal? breakfast, which makes them fun, and they can be topped with any number of goodies: syrup, powdered sugar, jam, warm berry compote, whipped cream, and more. They?re also fairly easy to make:

INGREDIENTS

* 5 eggs
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 2 cups flour
* 2 cups milk
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 5 tablespoons melted butter

Separate the eggs. Combine the yolks and other ingredients, and blend with a beater at low speed. Whip the egg whites and then fold them into the batter. Pour the batter into the pan per manufacturer?s instructions, turning Ebleskivers over with a small fork as they set and turn golden brown.

My husband and I came up with this recipe during our first year of marriage. It’s super easy and our 2 year old loves it. It’s much better than ordering take-out when it comes to cost, taste, and health. Try it out on your family instead of ordering out next time!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice

Prepare white rice according to package directions and how many servings you need.

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
1 1/2 lbs cut up chicken breast or tenderloins
1 jar of sweet and sour sauce (we use La Choy)
Canola or vegetable oil for frying

1. Pour about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil in a deep skillet and heat on medium high heat. Beat eggs in a shallow bowl and place flour in another shallow bowl. Warm sweet and sour sauce in a saucepan on low heat.

2. Cut chicken breasts or tenderloins into bite size pieces and dip into the eggs first and then the flour. Place flour-coated chicken into oil carefully. Turn pieces so they cook evenly, about 4-5 minutes per side. Don’t crowd the skillet; otherwise the pieces will not cook as quickly or evenly. Remove chicken pieces and place on paper towel to absorb oil.

3. Serve completed chicken over white rice with sweet and sour sauce on top.

This recipe serves about 4 people.

We love this easy Chinese meal and usually add egg rolls from the freezer section to complete the meal. Dessert is fortune cookies, which, of course, is my son’s favorite part!

Do you have an easy meal that is an alternative to take-out? Share it in the comments section!