10 Garden Books for Preschoolers

One of the obstacles to children eating whole food diets is that many live in a world where food just "appears" - and mostly in processed form. Do noodles grown on trees? Do apples come from the grocery store bin? These are the things my toddlers ask! In order to develop an early love of clean eating, children need to have tactile, sensory experiences with whole foods. I really believe this. They need to understand the gift of food - where it comes from, how it grows, and how it's prepared.

That's why I'm such a big fan of our kitchen garden. Let's not pretend we actually save any money growing our own food. (At least we don't - not after accounting for set up materials, extra seeds the twins "accidentally" sowed in their sandbox, and replacement plants for everything the birds and bunnies destroy...) Full Discloser: We are very bad gardeners. But what we do gain from gardening is invaluable, hands-on learning for our little ones.

Now not everyone has space or time for a kitchen garden, I know. We've been in that boat too. One year, instead of flowers, we put big pots of tomato plants on our tiny porch. Or it's all over Pinterest how you can regrow vegetables on your windowsill. BUT there are also books. Maybe you don't have a park nearby to travers on a "Seed Hunt". But you can read about seeds as your toddler marches his pudgy fingers across the pages, hunting for seeds in illustration form. The amazing thing about literature is that it can gift experiences to us that we would never have explored without it. AND you don't have to remember to water a literary garden! Speaking of which... (that whole thing about being bad gardeners)...

Here are ten our favorite preschool-appropriate books about gardens while I go grab the hose and hope it's not too late to save our strawberries:

Songs & Poems about Gardens

1. Jo MacDonald Had a Garden
Beautiful illustrations depict a garden through every season. Make up your own hand motions and sing along to the tune of "Old MacDonald".

2. Anna's Garden Songs
Children will benefit from the rhythm of poetry read aloud. Whimsical illustrations make this entertaining as well.









Silly Stories about Gardens

3. Frog and Toad Together: The Garden (Caldecott)
Toad wants to plant a garden and Frog gives him seeds but warns him it is hard work. This amusing tale is a good time to discuss what seeds really need in order to grow.

4. A Garden for Pig
Pig is tired of eating apples and wishes he had his own garden. Imagine his surprise when plants sprout from his droppings! Perfect for poop-obsessed toddlers. Pair with A Seed Is Sleepy.








Classic Fiction about Gardens

5. The Gardener (Newberry, Caldecott)
Maybe not a classic but the most rigid definition, but this book is certainly award and heart winning. It is told through letters. Try planting your own seeds in a garden or window pot and write a letter to someone telling them about it!

6. The Tale of Peter Rabbit 
People aren't the only ones who enjoy food from gardens! We picked this old favorite up again when rabbits starting munching away our hard work!









Informational Books about Gardens

7. From Seed to Plant
Gail Gibbons is my go-to author for elementary non-fiction. Some content may be to difficult for preschoolers but the illustrations are colorful and informative.

8. A Seed Is Sleepy
I simply cannot get over the illustrations in this text. I am in love with them. The text is divided into large print, repetitive, phrases ("A seed is...") and smaller print detailed information. Read one or both to differentiate learning.







Cross-curricular Books about Gardens

9. Planting a Rainbow (colors)
Not all gardens grow food! Learn about colors while exploring vivid illustrations of flower variety.

10. Eating the Alphabet (letters)
While not technically a book about gardens, Lois Ehlers brings her beautiful art again to list fruits and vegetables from A-Z. What letters are on your plate?

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. 

Baked Oatmeal: "Polynesian Wedding Cake" Style

Baked oatmeal is a lovely dish because it is a blank canvas that can support so many different flavor combinations! It also makes a wonderful brunch dish, in my opinion, because of its heartiness and ability to be completely prepped the night before.

Baked Oatmeal: "Polynesian Wedding Cake" Style

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbs chia seeds

2 cups coconut (or other plant-based) milk

1/2 cup orange juice

1 Tbs maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup diced pineapple

1/2 cup diced mango

1/2 mashed banana (about 1/4 cup)

2 Tbs chopped nuts

2 Tbs raisins

Coconut flakes for topping

Steam carrots with a little water in a medium saucepan until soft. (The bake time later will not be long enough to cook them otherwise.) Drain.

Back in the saucepan, combine carrots with chia, oats, and spices and stir. Add liquid ingredients and stir well to combine. Measure in fruit and nuts and then cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until thickened. (About 10 minutes).

Pour into a standard pie dish and either
1. Cover and refrigerate to bake in the morning, or
2. Preheat oven to 350 degree and bake for 20 minutes. 

If you refrigerate, you will need to set oatmeal out in the morning to come to room temperature or bake it an extra 10 minutes.

Top oatmeal with coconut flakes and broil, if desired, on low for 2 minutes to toast.
My toddlers do NOT like the coconut. It has the utter audacity to be cwunchy.

Peaches 'n' Cream Blackberry Cobbler Oats

Ever since we discovered that you can blend spinach into milk for overnight oats and not taste the difference, we have been all about "Emerald Oats" (as my husband coined them) around the DeMarco house! The magic ratio is:

1/2 cup packed spinach per 1 cup plant milk

So that said, even though the color of this insta-breakfast is green the flavor is that of a pleasantly toned-down cobbler. I grew up a Georgia girl so peaches were always ripe and succulent in the summer, tempting us in little farmer's stands along the back country roads. And then blackberries. Well, blackberries grew wild everywhere. Safe to say, I enjoyed my fair share of peach-blackberry pie with a brown sugar and oat streusel on top. It seemed the natural route to go with oatmeal as well!

3 packed cups spinach

3 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups walnut (or other) milk

2 cups peach juice (or water but up the syrup)

6 Tbs chia seeds

3 Tbs (or to taste) maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 peaches, diced

1 cup black berries, halved

serves 5-6

1. Blend spinach in milk for 3 minutes on high.
2. combine all ingredients, cover, and set in fridge overnight.
3. For toppings you can go healthy and add buckwheat crips for texture ... or you can lean towards sweeter and top with a granola "streusel". A dollop of coconut whip cream wouldn't be a bad idea either!

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 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.