Easiest Overnight Oats & Blueberry Nice-Cream

This is my easiest overnight oats recipe and the boys love it! Just 4 ingredients pack in fiber, whole grains, protein, and calcium. Layer with fruit and/or 5 minute blueberry nice-cream and you have a beautiful breakfast to-go! The twins love to help "design" their own jars in the mornings. 

Ingredients

Oatmeal: 

1 banana

1 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup milk of choice

2 Tbs almond butter

Nice-Cream:

1 banana

1 cup blueberries

1-4 Tbs milk of choice

1/2 cup spinach leaves (optional)
                                                                                                         

Before Bed

1. Peel and freeze 1 banana and 1 cup of blueberries.

2. In a medium bowl, mash another banana with almond (or another nut) butter. 

3. Add 1 cup oats and 1 cup milk. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.

In the Morning

1. Remove oatmeal from fridge and stir.

2. Slice frozen banana and place in blender with frozen blueberries.

NOTE: You can also add in 1/2 cup of torn spinach leaves to add a veggie!

3. Begin blending and add 1-4 Tbs milk as needed. Mixture will be grainy at first. Keep blending as it will eventually turn creamy and smooth!

4. Layer oatmeal, nice cream, and fresh fruit as desired. Breakfast in minutes!

5 Ingredient Sweet Potato Fries & Yogurt Dipping Sauce

Some days are just crazy.

Like "why are my keys in the fridge" and "who put the firefighter helmet on the baby" CRAZY.

These are the days that I could really care less about what my kids eat so long as they are full. The days when I would really love to just throw a box of microwaveable mac-n-cheese at them and call it lunch. Please tell me I'm not the only mom who has these kind of days! And by these kind of days I kind of mean... all the time.

There. I said it. Every day is crazy at our house. Maybe it has something to do with having three kids in three years (thank you, twins). But, regardless, I have to have something quick and nutritious in my reporatoire that will not be met with a toddler eating strike if I'm going to survive this phase of parenthood. Soo...

French fries! Everyone likes french fries. Even my super-picky-I-liked-carrots-yesterday-but-not-today-todders. These are sweet potato fries (so more nutritious) and baked (so not as many fats). Did you know: a serving of sweet potatoes contain 400% of your daily Vitamin A? The yogurt dipping sauce is also a better alternative to traditional fry condiments. It has the sweetness of ketchup and the creaminess of mayo without the same fat content and refined sugars. When in doubt, my twins will usually eat sweeter foods over savory ones. Plus, in my experience, toddlers will eat anything that has a dipping sauce! 

5 Ingredient Sweet Potato Fries & Yogurt Dipping Sauce

1 sweet potato

1/4 cup plain yogurt*

1 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

salt

**optional olive oil**

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Peel and slice your sweet potato into fries. Keep baking time in mind when you decide the size. Thinner fries will bake up quicker than thick ones. You can also do this the night before, but you will want to toss with a drizzle of oil before sealing and refrigerating them if so.

3. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread out fries on it. You can choose to bake plain or drizzle with oil (about 2 tsps) for a crispier texture. I always opt to bake with olive oil because a) I prefer the texture, b) kids especially need good fats, and c) there's some research that beta carotene (Vitamin A) is absorbed better when eaten with fat.

4. Bake for 15 minutes and then check. The thinner the fry, the faster the cook time.

5. Meanwhile, mix yogurt with maple syrup, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. (If your yogurt is sweetened, omit the maple syrup).

6. Remove fries from oven, sprinkle with salt, and cool. Enjoy!

*Greek yogurt has a nice texture for dipping. Coconut yogurt has a good flavor as well if you are going paleo/vegan. Shy away from soy-based yogurts as they have too strong a flavor to work well here. 

Apple Pizzas

Apple pizzas are a fun hands-on snack for little chefs and they are totally toddler-approved. As a retired early education teacher, I also love the fine motor skills involved here for all the busy little fingers!

This is an extremely simple "recipe", but it is versatile and easy to whip up on a busy day. A deeply ingrained love of clean-eating starts in childhood; so tactile exploration of whole foods is very important for the toddler years.

Apple Pizzas

1. Have an adult slice an apple through the midsection to create circular disks. This is a great time to point out the star in the center of the apple, the seeds, and even to discuss plant life cycles if you're feel ambitious.

2. Supply almond (or another nut) butter, plastic knives, and a variety of "pizza toppings" for decorating. 

3. Show child(ren) how to spread the nut butter "sauce" on their apple crust and then either (a) discuss and model patterns (raisin, banana, raisin, banana, etc) and have them create their own, or (b) let them go free-for-all decorating on their own.

Ingredients:

Large organic* apple

Natural nut butter of choice

Topping Ideas:

raisins
craisins

dark chocolate chips

chia seeds

cheerios

diced banana

sunflower seeds
pepitas
cinnamon

*We can't always afford organic produce, but apples are a great fruit to buy organic when you can as they are on the "Dirty Dozen" list of produce with the highest levels of chemicals. See the entire Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen 2016 list here.

Superhero Fuel

Today E tried his hand at naming a smoothie! I asked him what he thought our almond butter and jelly smoothie tasted like. He leaned back his head and closed his eyes for another gulp. He thoughtfully licked his lips. He cocked his head slowly to the side and said: "A superhero". And that's how Superhero Fuel got its moniker!

This is our classic nut-butter and jelly smoothie with a few modifications to boost the protein up to about 9 grams per serving. Little boys superheroes are constantly busy running around the yard when duty calls - today they "rescued" an earthworm in distress - and so the extra protein boost does their growing muscles good!

Unfortunately, this smoothie requires a little prep-ahead, but it's not too bad. Prep can be done the night before or, at a minimum, 1 hour before serving.

Superhero Fuel

1/4 cup old fashioned oats

2 Tbs buckwheat seeds

1 Tbs chia seeds

1 1/2 cups almond or walnut milk

1 frozen banana

2 Tbs almond butter

1 Tbs almond flour

1 cup frozen berries (or cherries work well too!)

1. At least one hour before serving, Pour oats, buckwheat, chia seeds, and milk into the blender and place in the fridge. Break the banana into chunks and put it in the freezer.

2. Add frozen (or cold) banana to the blender along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend on high about 3 minutes or until smooth.

Key Lime Easy Oats (with shh! spinach)

Today is the much anticipated LIBRAY DAY at our little house. The boys are eagerly gathering up our pile of books as I type, so this post will be short and sweet. We eat overnight oats at least four breakfasts a week, so I've been looking for a way to sneak in vegetables without ruining the flavor (or  the toddler enthusiasm). I finally found it! And - just because I hardly believe it myself - here they are. Eating spinach for breakfast.

After weeks of brainstorming, I finally got smart and took a hint from smoothie successes. The key to this recipe resides in these three little tips that I've shared before.

• Color Match - if the oatmeal is going to be green, I'd better have a darn good excuse. Flavoring the oats with lime juice and zest gives a plausible (if you're three-years-old) reasons for them to be green.
• Add Acid - again, the lime comes in handy. Citrus is adept at masking any subtle earthy flavor from greens. 
• Blend, Baby, Blend - hell hath no fury like a toddler who just detected a noticeable piece of spinach in their "sweet" breakfast (or smoothie). Run the blender on high for at least three minutes.

Without further ado - the recipe:

Key Lime Easy Oats (with shhh! spinach)

4 cups spinach

3 1/2 cups almond milk

3 cups old fashioned oats

1/4 cup vanilla protein powder (optional)*

Zest of 1 lime
3 Tbs lime juice (optional)**

3 Tbs chia seeds
3 Tbs maple syrup (or other sweetener)

Fruit for topping (pineapple, strawberries, and mango all go well)

Toasted coconut (optional)
Extra maple syrup for drizzling

1. In a blender, combine milk and spinach on high until spinach is not visible to the discerning child's eye.

2. Combine with all the other ingredients except toppings. Cover and refridergate overnight.

3. In the morning, portion oats out and layer or top with fruit of choice. Add a sprinkle of unsweetened coconut and drizzle of maple syrup if desired. Enjoy!

Serves 6

*If the idea of tart oats bothers you, I tasted the oatmeal after adding just the lime zest alone and was pleased. My kids have always like sour things though and enjoyed the added lime juice.
**We use a protein powder sweetened with stevia. If omitting, decrease liquid by 1/4 cup and add 1 tsp vanilla and 1-2 Tbs sweetener of choice. 

The "Naughty Monkey" Smoothie

Around our house, smoothies are part of the daily routine. Around 3 o'clock every afternoon, the kids come wandering into the kitchen passionately declaring how hungry they are and looking to see what's going into the blender this time.

Seriously, my kids eat like hobbits. So after serving breakfast, baby breakfast, mid-morning snack, brunch, lunch for the baby, lunch part II, and  with dinner looming just around the corner, I've had it up to my ears with making people plates and wiping the table after them. Enter the:

Here-Kid-Drink-This-Concotion-In-A-Cup-And-It-Better-Fill-You-Up-Smoothie

But seriously, the smoothie is the perfect vehicle for cramming extra nutrients and calories into perpetually "starving" toddlers with little to no mess and in little to no time. They're even portable for those ambitious days I try to accomplish All-The-Errands in the meager two hours between baby's nap and dinner.

Normally, I give our smoothies cool names like "Green Monster Truck" or "Carrot Crusher" to try to get our three-year-olds to drink them with gusto. But it didn't dawn on me until today that I should try letting them name the drinks. I guess sometimes I get a little caught up in "running the house" and slip into "running the show" instead. It's my loss. It turns out, toddlers are pretty awesome at naming things.

Today I was dreaming of chocolate covered cherries while dumping frozen fruit and cocoa in the blender and admiring the pretty fuchsia color it was making. Of course the minions came running as soon as they heard the tell-tale "whir" start up. "What you makin', Mommy. I'm darrrrrving." E even fell on the floor in mock weakness to emphasize the point. "Well, I've got bananas, cherries, chocolate..." (Eruption of little boy giggles.) "I want to call dat a Naughty Monkey!"O announced.

And so the Naught Monkey (Cherry Garcia) Smoothie was born! And, my, is it good! O kind of has a point with the "naughty" part because there are no veggies in this sweet treat. But (and that's a big but), it IS worlds healthier than the doughnuts I actually was craving this afternoon. Here are the ingredients! Simply blend until smooth. Maybe one day I will update this with a little beet juice or a purple carrot to nutrient-it-up a little. Maybe. Probably not :)

Naughty Monkey Smoothie

1 frozen banana

1 1/2 cups frozen cherries

1 cup almond milk

3 Tbs vanilla protein powder*

1 1/2 Tbs cocoa powder

1 Tbs plain almond butter

*Our protein powder is sweetened a little with stevia so -if omitting- you may want to add a dash of your own sweetener to get the full dessert-like effect.

Pineapple - Almond Thai Noodle Bowl

As the weather gets nicer and the children and I spend more time outdoors, I start to lose track of time in the afternoons. (Darn you, Daylight Savings.) My internal clock is thrown off by the lingering sunshine and -more often than not- I find myself glancing at the clock in panic realizing that the witching hour is nearly upon us and dinner isn't even started. For those of you who are unaware -

Witching Hour: (n) 1. An unspecified hour in the late afternoon when every child in the universe decides they are instantaneously hungry, not hungry, tired, not tired, annoyed, incontinent, going to play with all their toys and unbearably bored ... and announce it in no uncertain terms. (2) The same time your spouse usually walks in the door also tired and hungry.

^^This is why I need a plan for a well-balanced dinner can be thrown together in a heartbeat. Crockpot meals are a fantastic solution to the "no time to make dinner" problem, but after a while we start to get tired of the slow cooker texture and long for the more al dente CRUNCH of meal based on fresh produce. Enter the ever-versatile Noodle Bowl! The issues with the traditional stir-fry dinners I grew up on were that they a) required a protein to be prepared and properly cooked, and b) often had us standing around ravenously waiting for the rice to finally finish cooking.

Side Rant - Have you ever cleaned up rice of the table floor, chairs, windowsills, and blinds after two toddlers made a meal of it? No. Thank. You. 

Solution A) An all veggie stir-fry enhanced by a protein-rich nut butter sauce
Solution B) Brown rice noodles, which can be cooked in 3-5 minutes, to replace regular brown rice.

And that is how the Pineapple-Almond Thai Noodle Bowl was born.

Step 1: Start your vegetables of choice in a pan on medium heat with a drizzle of olive, coconut, or sesame oil. You can prep veggies in the morning or even buy pre-cut vegetables to keep thinks extra simple. Stir-fry until al dente*. I use:

• 2 small heads of broccoli
• 2 good handfuls of shredded carrots (about 2 cups)
• 2 good handfuls of snow peas (about 4 oz)

*TIP: I set aside a few vegetables to steam instead of saute. This goes over much better with the twins who are still cutting back molars.

Step 2: While vegetables are sautéing, chop cilantro for garnish and put sauce ingredients in the blender and puree until smooth. This makes about 2 generous cups of sauce.

• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup natural almond butter (no salt or sugar added)
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 2 Tbs rice vinegar
• 2 Tbs water
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

Step 3: After sauce is pureed, set aside and bowl about 6 cups of water. (I use an electric water kettle to speed the process). Pour over oz of brown rice noodles. We love Annie Chun's brand. Allow noodles to rest 2-5 minutes and then strain. Quickly hand toss with a little oil. Rice noodles clump together quickly!

Step 4: Assemble bowls with noodles, vegetables, and sauce.* Garnish with cilantro if desired! Enjoy :)

TIP: You can toss everything together at once, but I have found it does not keep and reheat well this way. The noodles get very "globby" in the refrigerator when coated with the sauce.

Simple Summer Salad with Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette

The thermometer may have maxed out at 50 degrees yesterday, but the cool weather hasn't stopped me (if you read my latest post) from longing for summer. Right now, I'd give anything to trade our blustery spring week for a few days like these:

However, while I may not be able to conjure up warmer days for my family, I can create a little sunshine in the kitchen at least!

Last night's dinner was Portobello Steak Fajitas from The Oh She Glows Cookbook - brightly marinated mushroom slices with all our favorite fajita toppings! I substituted a 1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder for the 3/4 tsp of regular chili powder. It brought up the heat just enough to please the adults (although the tiny food critics made it known that they preferred the original version).

We served the vegan fajitas with a large side of my mom's Simple Summer Salad dressed with Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette. I adored this salad growing up. It's like July in a bowl :) And the great thing is that it's totally versatile. Yesterday's version was true to my mom's recipe: 

• 1/2 English cucumber, diced
• corn off 2 ears*
• 1/4 cup cilantro, packed
•  and about a dozen grape tomatoes, sliced

But I've been known to toss in diced bell pepper, jalepenos, black beans, avocado, and even mango! Top salad with a good sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.

*Note: You can cook corn in the microwave in a pinch. Microwave still in the husks, 3 minutes per ear.

The Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette is just a simple!

• 1 oz apple cider vinegar (Bragg's is our favorite!)
• 1/2 oz olive oil
• 1/2 oz maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• a good pinch of salt

Happy Summer (if only in your kitchen)!

A Lighter New England Dinner

Spring has finally blown into Middle Tennessee. The grass is finally green with the little, golden dandelions blooms in droves mimicking the warm, round sun above. The sunshine is toasty but the constant breeze is still brisk which has a way of reminding me of all the late summers I spent on the coast of New England as a child. It's bare feet and fleece weather. Dinner on the deck weather. Reminiscing weather.

Nantucket Harbor as seen from Henry Street Beach

If I lean back in my adirondack chair and close my eyes, listening to the tolling of our buoy bell, I can almost imagine myself back on the patio in Kennebunkport, Maine or sunbathing in the dingy on Nantucket Harbor. I hope our family will get to visit again this year. I would love hear the pitter-patter of my own children's  feet on Henry Street Beach where I learned to walk; or listen to the kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk of their little beach treasures being tossed into the tide pools on Timber Island. Perhaps we can visit this year. Perhaps not. A twenty-two hour drive with three small children is daunting.

Cape Porpoise, Main

But all this weather and remembering makes me impatient for one one of the best parts of New England - the food! Whether it's a clambake when winds off the sea call for sweaters zipped all the way up, fried haddock and chips on the unassuming Cape Porpoise pier, or Steamboat Clam Chowder during a blustery crossing of the Nantucket Sound - nothing says "New England Dinner" to me like seafood and potatoes! Full disclosure, I could inhale an embarrassing number of fried fish and potato baskets right now. It's my dream to move back to the coast, where I would single-handedly keep a local clam shack in business. But... healthy choices. Fried fish. Healthy choices. Fried fish... Okay. Let's just settle for better choices on a day like today.

The breaded and baked fish below is every ounce as good as the fried fillets I've had on vacation! I chose cod because it's a classic New England staple. But also because it is extremely mild in flavor (appealing to the twin toddlers) and it's one of the few things I can find fresh this far inland. If you wanted to go paleo or even lighter, you could just bake with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Or you could experiment with breading the cod in almond flour. (I've coated baked chicken successfully this way, but never tried fish). But as I said, today is a day for just making healthier choices! I'm on imaginary vacation :)

1/2 cup (or more as needed) whole wheat flour

1 egg (or just egg white) beaten

1 cup (or more as needed) seasoned panko*

1 lbs fresh cod fillets**
olive oil

Preheat over to 450 degrees. Bread whole fillets of cod by dipping first in the flour, then the egg wash, and lastly in the panko. Set on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes.

NOTES:

*I use an Italian panko mix because the seasonings agree with my little guys. If you aren't adverse to a little heat, though, try a lemon pepper seasoned panko. It's delicious! Or bread with almond flour. Or omit breading entirely and squeeze a little lemon juice over fish before serving.

**You can also cut cod fillets into 1x2 inch strips (use kitchen shears) and bread to make fish sticks. It's more work, but I do it on occasion for the twins.

Stuck on my "fish and chips" craving, I served the baked cod with a vegan potato and asparagus salad from The Oh She Glows Cookbook minus the green onions. It's an amazing version of the original comfort food that replaces mayo with avocado. I highly recommend you purchase her cookbook. There are, however, similar versions available from other food bloggers online. They just don't beat the authentic simplicity of Angela's.

Overall, dinner was a huge success! Adults and toddler alike cleaned their plates in record time. It did not, though, cure my hankering for some sand between my toes. Looks like I need to start researching some toddler-approved healthy snacks for our next road trip!

A Better PB&J Two Ways

My love affair with the convenient, affordable, totally-packable PB&J ended abruptly two years ago when we discovered one of our twins - O - had a severe peanut allergy. I was eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch to try to keep up with the caloric toll of nursing two 5 month-olds. Without washing my hands, I bent down to pick up O (who was shirtless at the time.) Huge, angry welts in the shape of handprints instantly swelled where I had touched his bare tummy and back. Hello, peanut allergy! Seven months later at his one-year appointment, it was confirmed. Severe -very sever- peanut allergy. There was nothing I had done "wrong" (although strangers still like to inform me that I either overexposed or underexposed him to peanuts in utero and as an infant). Two babies had grown in exactly the same environment and one twin had peanut antibodies off the charts (literally off the charts - they stop measuring at 100) and the other had 0.03 reaction.

We immediately stripped the house of everything peanut and after that, it was on like Goldilocks and the Three Bears trying to find a nut butter replacement. Nothing suited.

• Name brand almond butter - too pricey.
• Store brands - nonexistent 
• Sunbutter - cheap, but too salty. 
• Cashew butter - too fattening. 
• Justin's Almond Butter - delicious! But processed with peanuts. 
• Jiff alternative nut butters - surprisingly not processed with peanuts, but full of additives. 

Sigh.

We didn't even have a health food store in town to help us out.

Then - all hail Kroger - their Simple Truth brand came out with an affordable almond butter. Nothing could match the economy of peanut butter, but as a store brand this fell within the realm of "reasonable". It was smooth and creamy with just a little mixing (not rock solid on the bottom and all oil on the top). And the ingredients? One: "Dry roasted almonds". We fell in love. We now use this brand in all our thai dishes, oatmeals, smoothies and ... sandwiches. Because, let's face it, when you're a busy mom the PB&J (or AB&J in our case) is just too convenient to give up. How else are you supposed to one-hand lunch while nursing a baby with two hungry toddlers wailing in the background and only ten bucks left in your grocery budget?

But I ramble. Besides containing deadly poison PEANUTS, the other looming problem with the traditional PB&J is its sugar content. Read the labels on your jelly, nut butter, and bread. The average peanut butter and jelly sandwich can contain nearly 20 grams of sugar. That's an awful lot for a little tyke's lunch. So here are my three suggestions. They are extremely simple. But, then again, so is the humble PB&J.

1. Go for a natural, one-ingredient nut butter. If your child is used to regular nut butter, this can be a slow transition because the all one-ingredient brands lack the sweetness they've come to expect. But if you find one in your price range with a good creamy consistency and mash it with banana (about 1/4 a banana per Tbs of nut butter), with a little patience you can overcome!

1. Ditch the jelly. Jelly is really where all the added sugar is at. Try fresh berries instead. You lose the sugar and gain antioxidants. My kids love arranging their own berries on sandwiches and wraps. 

1. Use whole wheat. Whether it's bread or a wrap, don't be fooled by the sneaky "whole grain" label. This is NOT the loaf you are looking for. Look for "100% Whole Wheat" and carefully check the nutrition label for sugars and syrups. (Note: If you've ever baked you know that some sugar is required to start the yeast.)

The simplest way to better your PB&J is just to mash 1/2 a banana with 2 tablespoons of natural nut butter, spread on whole wheat bread of your choosing, and top with fresh berries. But, I'm the first to admit, it's a little messy.

The second (and better IMO) option is to make "banana dogs" loaded with "strawberry ketchup" and "blueberry relish"! Not only are they whimsical and fun to make, but they are neater and wrap up tidily for picnics or lunches on run. Simply spread your nut butter on a whole wheat wrap, top with half a banana (sliced lengthwise), and add lightly mashed strawberries or blackberries* and whole blueberries if desired. This has the added bonus of being a "recipe" that even a toddler can feel very grown-up following.

*Strawberries and blackberries are rather big for a wrap. They have the tendency to "pop" out when my kids try to bite them leading to an empty tortillas, berries all over the table, and MELT. DOWNS. Simple crushing the berries a little first with a fork saves all the sanity! Plus, mashing things is fun when you're two.

**Coming soon for my paleo friends will be the the PB&J non-sandwich option ;)** 

Hidden Veggie Spaghetti Sauce

I still remember the day when, as a newlywed, I first read the nutrition label on the back of a can of spaghetti sauce:

Ten grams of sugar in 1/2 a cup!

And, let's be honest. Rarely did I eat just half a cup. I am a drown-your-noodle-spaghetti-sauce-soup, kind of girl. There were some pricey, sophisticated sauce options with lower sugar contents, but I was trying to budget for a move and a house and future children so I barely gave them a glance.

Ten ... errrr, 20 ... grams of sugar for me it was.

Fast forward a few years. Now that we have kids, I just can't justify putting that much sugar on their dinner plates and we still can't afford the pricier brands. Solution? Make my own spaghetti sauce! I set out to come up with a good red sauce recipe with three thoughts in mind:

1. It would need to be mild in taste because garlic wards off toddlers almost as well as it fends off vampires.
2. It should incorporate several vegetables because - again - "O" and his whole "no carrots" deal.
3. Also, could it pack in at least a little protein? Don't get me wrong! Some nights, when the banshees small children have worn me down to a skeleton of who I was 12 hours earlier, "noodles + tomatoes" sounds like a well-balanced meal. But, I could probably give at least a polite nod to protein with this sauce.

Here is the end result! It is thick and creamy with a color resembling vodka sauce. There is a good note of sweetness from carrots, easy on the garlic and pepper, and a few lentils tossed in for good measure. The marjoram is a softer, sweeter alternative to oregano (which some children find to sharp in flavor). And if you needed one more bonus for this awesome sauce - it freezes GREAT!

1/2 onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup grape tomatoes

1 approx. 14 oz can of diced tomatoes and juices

1/4 cup lentils

1 1/4 cups broth
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp tarragon

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp majoram

1/4 tsp fennel

1/8 - 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Sweat the onion, garlic, and carrots with a drizzle of olive oil + 1/4 teaspoon salt. Once the onions become translucent, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low - the longer the better! I like to make this during nap time when I know we will not be going anywhere while the baby sleeps. When baby is tired, everyone is tired. I simmer for 2 hours then set aside to reheat for dinner.

Makes enough for 1 box of spaghetti.

AB&J Overnight Oats

  I just discovered my favorite to-go breakfast - AB&J Overnight Oats! With three children 3 and under, if I don't make my breakfast ahead of time I invariably end up skipping it altogether. I have been experimenting with several combinations of "cold oatmeal" (as my toddler calls it) and stumbled upon this idea. I love it because it keeps me full until lunch -even when breastfeeding! And with 14 grams of protein per serving, tons of Omega 3's, fiber, a gajillion antioxidants, and a shelf life of 5 days what's not to love?? 

4 cups almond milk

1/4 cup plain almond butter (no sweetener, oil, etc.)

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup vanilla protein powder

1/4 cup + 2 Tbs chia seeds

2 Tbs maple syrup

1/4 cup orange juice

a good pinch of salt

3 cups berries

     In a blender, combine the wet ingredients (including almond butter) until smooth. Meanwhile, mix all the dry ingredients except berries in a large bowl. Pour milk-mixture over dry ingredients and stir well. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour but preferably overnight. After oats have set, stir in berries and divide into 5 pint jars. Monday - Friday breakfast done!

(Makes 5 approx. 1 1/2 cup servings.)

**Many substitutions could be made here! Peanut butter for almond butter, another sweetener for the maple syrup, coconut for almond milk.… The only substitution I would NOT make is regular milk for plant-based milk because the combination of dairy + citrus may not keep well in the fridge for several days.**

The Carrot Crusher! (Smoothie)

     One of my twins, we'll call him "O", most decidedly does NOT like carrots. Not the "crunchy" kind. Not the "soft" kind. He is very clear. Not in a box. Not with a fox. You get the picture.

     However he most decidedly DOES like monster trucks. Therefore, I was able to sneak a whole 1/3 of a cup of grated carrots in him by pairing them with mango and giving them a cool "arena name". Letting him drive his truck over a pile of carrots while I worked didn't hurt either!

2 generous cups frozen mango chunks

1 cup shredded carrot

1 can lite coconut milk
a dozen red grapes for sweetness

1/4 tsp ginger powder

Serves 3

Note: This is a very mild-tasting smoothie that my kids really enjoy. For me -someone who likes exciting food- it's a little bland. Try adding 1/2 a banana for sweetness and/or the juice of half a lime for brightness :)

Green "Monster Truck" Smoothie

     One of the keys to a kid-friendly green monster is CITRUS! Citrus flavor covers a multitude of sins ... or vegetables in this case. This recipe is banana free for those people who just can't warm up to the banana flavor is most smoothies. Half an avocado gives it its silky texture as well. And, as always, be sure to blend on high for at least 3 minutes to avoid a somethings-stuck-in-my-straw toddler meltdown!

2 mandarin oranges, peeled

2 kale leaves, stems removed

1 heaping cup frozen pineapple

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

1/2 avocado, pitted and peeled

1 cup almond milk

1/2 cup orange juice (fresh is best)

Serves 3

5 Tips to Get Your Kids Drinking Their Veggies

     If you think passing a Kale and Cucumber Smoothie off on a non-veggie-loving adult is hard, it can be even MORE challenging to make appealing to a non-veggie-loving TODDLER! Here are my 5 Tips to get your toddlers drinking their veggies.

1. Go Slow

It's unlikely that a two or three-year-old will just love a green monster the first time it's presented. In fact, it takes multiple exposures for young children to decide conclusively if they like any new food. Make a smoothie you love and offer a little bit to your child. If they don't like it, don't sweat! Offer it again another day, and another... and another.

2. Name It

Again, the word "Kale" is probably going to send my twin toddlers running! Currently, however, they are BIG into monster trucks and so our smoothies have more suceessful names like "Carrot Crusher", "Nut Butter Mudder", and "Green Monster-Truck".

3. Color Match

Toddlers have a keen, discerning eye for veggie deception. Hide carrots in a mango smoothie, kale in "limeade", and - when in doubt - add blueberries. Blueberries dye anything purple!

4. Blend, baby. Blend

Dare I leave one small carrot nib in a smoothie, my texture-sensitive kid will passionately declare (with drama only a toddler can muster): "I can't drink like this!!" And then there's the lump-stuck-in-my-straw meltdown that must be avoided at all cost. Blend toddler smoothies FOR.E.VER (or at least on high for 3 minutes.)

5. Involve Them

Once my little guys got used to drinking smoothies with hidden veggies, I started involving them in the process. Helping chop, add, or blend produce made them more open to trying new things!