Saturday, February 28, 2015

Scrumptious Saturdays: February

Baby Brother watering our baby apple trees
strawberries from  today's market trip to go with my 
local honey topped homemade coconut yogurt 
lunch after unpacking from farmer's market
plate of baked sweet potato wedges
Baby Brother crunching on a purple carrot 
Meyer lemons
gorgeous radishes, this one i'm loving



Tatsoi, a favorite green 




Sunday, February 22, 2015

New Food Introduction: Cooked Onions

coconut chicken stew with rice noodles
and sautéed tatsoi

We recently went to the allergist for skin testing.  We tested Baby Brother for avocado, banana, raw ginger, cooked garlic, cooked onion, raw onion, sesame, sunflower seeds and watermelon.  We got the go-ahead for raw and cooked onion, sesame and sunflower seeds.  Avocado and banana remained questionable. I have posted about sunflower seed introduction.  Soon I will post about sesame introduction.  As for onion, we have since introduced cooked scallions in chicken stir-fry and grilled salmon, and cooked onions in stews.  


Big Brother's bowl



Big Brother's t-shirt

And for me, topped with sauerkraut 


Lamb stew on cute, new mushroom plates
with tender broccoli and farinata
to soak up juices





Cowboy stew for Go Texan Day

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Muesli Bars


These muesli bars are a staple right now in our house.  Both boys love them and they keep asking for me to make them for after-school snack.  Baby Brother calls it "cake" and says: "outside, cake, eat".  The seeds in this recipe balance out the sweetness from the honey and dried fruit. Feel free to change up any of the ingredients. What I include in this recipe is based on safe ingredients for us. Hooray for hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seeds! What do you think about eating uncooked oats?  I am going to be getting these sprouted rolled oats from a gluten free facility. 

Make sure to check out the allergen-friendly boxed cereals from Freedom, an Australian company. You can find them for $3.99 at Central Market here in Houston or on Vitacost and Amazon.  

What you need:
95g GF rolled oats
110g coconut oil
110g honey
65g sprouted sunflower seeds
65g sprouted pumpkin seeds
80g desiccated, unsweetened coconut
160g dried fruit of choice.  I like these dried apricots mixed with raisins
50g rice crispies
20g sprouted flax powder
20g hemp seeds



What to do:

Line a square glass pyrex with baking paper

Toast rolled oats for about 5 minutes,  Varoma temperature, speed 1, reverse blade

Put toasted oats aside

Add honey and coconut oil to TM bowl.  Heat for 4-5 minutes, 37 degrees, speed 4. The idea here is to make liquid but not heat up the raw honey very much

Add back to TM bowl the toasted oats along with the rest of the ingredients

Mix20 seconds, speed 3

Place mixture in pyrex and let solidify in fridge

For original recipe click here
Big Brother coloring and snacking 


Baby Brother brought along to allergist 
appointment. Happy to have after a long morning








Saturday, February 14, 2015

Valentine's Day Creamy Coconut Rice Pudding

Big Brother couldn't be happier with his breakfast

This year for Valentine's Day we celebrated with a unanimous family favorite-creamy rice pudding. Big Brother and I talked about the treats we all most love and enjoy and we decided that our breakfast this morning should naturally be what makes us all happy eating together.  Big Brother would sprinkle with cinnamon on top and Baby Brother with a heaping amount of wild blueberries.  

We had our breakfast outside on the patio in the middle of February.  Isn' that awesome? And doesn't a bowl of rice pudding feel like a giant hug? 

Original recipe found here

What you need:
60g of rapadura, sucanat or coconut sugar
200g arborio rice
600g homemade coconut milk
400g water



What to do:
grind sugar to finer texture, speed 9 for 30-60 seconds

scrape down sides

add the rice, coconut milk and water to TM bowl.  Cook for 22 minutes at 90 degrees, reverse  blade, speed 1 1/2. 

let sit to thicken up.  

Enjoy hot the first time and cold from the fridge next time.  


Baby Brother always insists on eating the blueberries
right from his little pot
Baby Brother enjoying with a straw







Monday, February 9, 2015

New Food Introduction: Sunflower Seeds


We are moving forward with sunflower seeds.  Baby Brother is enjoying his new ingredient. Here is a glimpse at the two ways we introduced: spoonful of sunbutter topped with raisins and sprouted sunflower seeds. I will be posting a few treats I've been making with sunflower seed butter soon.