I won a book through the Everything Mom website. The book is called Sprout Right by Lianne Phillipson-Webb. It is a good book. Lots of wholesome recipes. Often the recipes use ingredients you (most people, but maybe not you) wouldn't normally find in your home, such as agave syrup, xanthan gum and rice flour. Many of her recipes are vegetarian or gluten free.
I decided to make some wholesome muffins for my family. These "Sneaky Little Muffins" were certainly better received in my home than the "sugar-free" cookies. However, the muffins themselves are also sugar-free. My daughter likes these, and of course, my son really likes them.
I modified the recipe from the book because I didn't have some of the ingredients in my home. Her is my modified recipe, taken from Sprout Right, pg 263, Sneaky Little Muffins. I made the batter in a food processor. It was quite a bit runnier than other muffin batter, but the muffins turned out to have a good texture.
Sneaky Little Muffins (adapted) Makes about 36 mini muffins
Ingredients:
2 overripe bananas
2 eggs
1/2 cup (125 mL) grated carrots
1/4 cup (50 mL) agave syrup
1/4 cup (50 mL) honey
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
6 tbsp (90 mL) melted butter
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/3 cup (75 mL) ground flax seed
2 cups (500 mL) whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
1/2 cup (125 mL) chocolate chips, optional
Beat the bananas in a mixer. Beat in eggs. Add carrots, syrup, honey, milk, butter, zucchini, and flax seed; mix well and let sit for 5 minutes.
In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Mix in chocolate chips, if using. You can also put the chocolate chips in only part of the batter, or try raisins, cranberries or other cut up dried fruit.
Spoon into 36 greased or paper-lined mini muffin cups and bake in 325F (160C) oven for about 25 minutes or until muffins are golden and lightly spring back when touched.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Birthday Cakes
Both of my kids were born in August. They are almost two years apart; only nine days separates their birthdays. Now, my oldest is only three, and the youngest one, so I haven't had a lot of time with the two of them. So far, we have had a birthday party for each of them, instead of combining. One of the reasons this has happened is each set of grandparents live in different locations. Before my son was born, we had two first birthdays for my daughter because we celebrated with my parents first, and then with my inlaws.
This year, we celebrated my son's birthday at home with my inlaws. It was his birthday, but with a minor component being devoted to my daughter. When her birthday came around nine days later, we were visiting my parents, and we celebrated her birthday, with a minor component devoted to my son.
So, I made a birthday cake for each occasion.
For my son's first birthday party, I made Lego cakes.
This year, I opted for a cake mix, instead of making the cake from scratch. I made all of my daughter's previous birthday cakes and cupcakes from scratch, and they turned out well. I was just too busy this year. I used the President's Choice Organics chocolate cake mix. It turned out pretty good. The colours for the Lego blocks were not traditional because I only had a set of neon food colouring at home, hence the bright green, blue, "red" and orange.
I followed the idea and instructions from the Betty Crocker site, using marshmallows for the pegs. I even did a crumb coating before finishing off the icing. It turned out well.
For weeks prior to her birthday, my daughter wanted a Tinkerbell cake. I was going to modify a cake using an Esmerelda pan. Then, my daughter decided she wanted a Dora cake. I rented a pan from Bulk Barn for $2 (this is the daily rental). I made a cake, using the President's Choice Organics vanilla mix this time. I made the cake a few days in advance, and kept it in the fridge. The pan also came with decorating instructions, so I used these as a guideline for icing the cake.
The cake ended up looking really good. My husband had been doubtful, having seen the cake
undecorated. I guess he didn't think I could pull it off. The main issue was that I was short of star tips for the icing bags, and I didn't have couplers on the bags, which would have enabled me to quickly switch between different icing colours. I had to refill new bags, and use the same star tip with a new colour. The icing process took a few hours. If I had couplers on my icing bags, it probably would have cut the time in half.
My daughter loved the cake. She often refers to it as Dora's birthday instead of hers because we did have a cake with Dora on it.
If icing cakes is something you enjoy doing, I encourage you to try it for your next special birthday. As I mentioned, Bulk Barn rents pans for $2 a day. They usually come with the instructions on how to decorated the cake. Many of the supplies you would need are also available at Bulk Barn. I think Michaels probably has stuff too. Michaels actually offers cake decorating classes at their stores, if you are interested.
Oh, last year, for my daughter's second birthday, I made butterfly cupcakes. You cut off the tops of the cupcakes, cut them in half and flip them, rounded parts inward, to make wings. I decorated the wings with icing and use gummy worms and jujubes for the bodies. You can use string licorice for the antennae. Alternately, you can make ladybug cupcakes by not flipping the cut tops. Google to find pictures of examples. Some are pretty cute.
This year, we celebrated my son's birthday at home with my inlaws. It was his birthday, but with a minor component being devoted to my daughter. When her birthday came around nine days later, we were visiting my parents, and we celebrated her birthday, with a minor component devoted to my son.
So, I made a birthday cake for each occasion.
For my son's first birthday party, I made Lego cakes.
This year, I opted for a cake mix, instead of making the cake from scratch. I made all of my daughter's previous birthday cakes and cupcakes from scratch, and they turned out well. I was just too busy this year. I used the President's Choice Organics chocolate cake mix. It turned out pretty good. The colours for the Lego blocks were not traditional because I only had a set of neon food colouring at home, hence the bright green, blue, "red" and orange.I followed the idea and instructions from the Betty Crocker site, using marshmallows for the pegs. I even did a crumb coating before finishing off the icing. It turned out well.
For weeks prior to her birthday, my daughter wanted a Tinkerbell cake. I was going to modify a cake using an Esmerelda pan. Then, my daughter decided she wanted a Dora cake. I rented a pan from Bulk Barn for $2 (this is the daily rental). I made a cake, using the President's Choice Organics vanilla mix this time. I made the cake a few days in advance, and kept it in the fridge. The pan also came with decorating instructions, so I used these as a guideline for icing the cake.
The cake ended up looking really good. My husband had been doubtful, having seen the cake
undecorated. I guess he didn't think I could pull it off. The main issue was that I was short of star tips for the icing bags, and I didn't have couplers on the bags, which would have enabled me to quickly switch between different icing colours. I had to refill new bags, and use the same star tip with a new colour. The icing process took a few hours. If I had couplers on my icing bags, it probably would have cut the time in half.My daughter loved the cake. She often refers to it as Dora's birthday instead of hers because we did have a cake with Dora on it.
If icing cakes is something you enjoy doing, I encourage you to try it for your next special birthday. As I mentioned, Bulk Barn rents pans for $2 a day. They usually come with the instructions on how to decorated the cake. Many of the supplies you would need are also available at Bulk Barn. I think Michaels probably has stuff too. Michaels actually offers cake decorating classes at their stores, if you are interested.
Oh, last year, for my daughter's second birthday, I made butterfly cupcakes. You cut off the tops of the cupcakes, cut them in half and flip them, rounded parts inward, to make wings. I decorated the wings with icing and use gummy worms and jujubes for the bodies. You can use string licorice for the antennae. Alternately, you can make ladybug cupcakes by not flipping the cut tops. Google to find pictures of examples. Some are pretty cute.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Cooking with Kids at the Real Canadian Superstore
This Sunday, I tried one of the cooking classes at the Real Canadian Superstore on Lasalle. I went with my three-year old daughter to the Little Hands class. There were four other girls in the class with their moms. The age range for the Little Hands class is 3 to 5, and every child was within that age range. One girl was younger than my daughter, and the others were older.
The theme for this class was Fruit-filled Fun. We made Cheddar Apple Muffins, and fruit kebabs.
My favourite part of the class was the little chopper my daughter used to cut up her fruit. It is a small, hand-held chopper, consisting of a crinkle "blade" and a wooden handle. It looked like a paddle. It made cutting the apples for the muffin very easy for even the youngest of the girls. All the kids were able to use the chopper to cut the fruit for the kebab as well.
My major complaint was that there was a lot of sitting around, and waiting. Because it is for younger kids, the facilitator was making one batch of muffins for the class. Each child went up to the main counter, and added one or two ingredients to the bowl. The butter and sugar were already creamed together. The cheese was already grated. Once the batter was mixed, each child was given the opportunity to put some into a couple muffin cups.
The muffins had to bake for 18 minutes. During this time, our second "recipe" was to make fruit salad, or fruit kebabs on toothpicks. This didn't take 18 minutes. The fruits were grapes, strawberries and banana. We were given colouring pages to make up the rest of the time while we waited for the muffins. I think we could have done a little more hands on stuff. The kids could have grated some cheese, or creamed the butter with the sugar.
The class only cost $8.
The recipes are not tested before the class, so fortunately, the muffins turned out.
If your child is patient, and likes colouring, then this class is for you. Maybe the other classes are more interactive. If your child has to be doing stuff all the time, they might get bored and antsy in this class.
The Superstore is offering pumpkin carving times the week of Halloween. If you buy a pumpkin from the store, you can bring it upstairs and they will have all the tools and designs to carve your pumpkin there. No mess at home.
Dates: October 27 5 to 8pm, October 29 4 to 7, October 30 12 to 4.
Recipe:
Cheddar Apple Muffins (Makes 12 muffins)
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour (500 mL)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (7 mL)
1/2 tsp baking soda (2 mL)
1 tsp salt (5 mL)
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (175 mL)
1/2 cup butter (125 mL)
2/3 cup sugar (150 mL)
2 large eggs
1 cup apples, chopped
The theme for this class was Fruit-filled Fun. We made Cheddar Apple Muffins, and fruit kebabs.
My favourite part of the class was the little chopper my daughter used to cut up her fruit. It is a small, hand-held chopper, consisting of a crinkle "blade" and a wooden handle. It looked like a paddle. It made cutting the apples for the muffin very easy for even the youngest of the girls. All the kids were able to use the chopper to cut the fruit for the kebab as well.
My major complaint was that there was a lot of sitting around, and waiting. Because it is for younger kids, the facilitator was making one batch of muffins for the class. Each child went up to the main counter, and added one or two ingredients to the bowl. The butter and sugar were already creamed together. The cheese was already grated. Once the batter was mixed, each child was given the opportunity to put some into a couple muffin cups.
The muffins had to bake for 18 minutes. During this time, our second "recipe" was to make fruit salad, or fruit kebabs on toothpicks. This didn't take 18 minutes. The fruits were grapes, strawberries and banana. We were given colouring pages to make up the rest of the time while we waited for the muffins. I think we could have done a little more hands on stuff. The kids could have grated some cheese, or creamed the butter with the sugar.
The class only cost $8.
The recipes are not tested before the class, so fortunately, the muffins turned out.
If your child is patient, and likes colouring, then this class is for you. Maybe the other classes are more interactive. If your child has to be doing stuff all the time, they might get bored and antsy in this class.
The Superstore is offering pumpkin carving times the week of Halloween. If you buy a pumpkin from the store, you can bring it upstairs and they will have all the tools and designs to carve your pumpkin there. No mess at home.
Dates: October 27 5 to 8pm, October 29 4 to 7, October 30 12 to 4.
Recipe:
Cheddar Apple Muffins (Makes 12 muffins)
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour (500 mL)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (7 mL)
1/2 tsp baking soda (2 mL)
1 tsp salt (5 mL)
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (175 mL)
1/2 cup butter (125 mL)
2/3 cup sugar (150 mL)
2 large eggs
1 cup apples, chopped
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and spray muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners.
- Combine the first 4 ingredients of dry mixture together in a large bowl.
- Add grated cheese and blend.
- Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer, and add to dry ingredients.
- Add eggs, break into a separate bowl first, one at a time, and mix well.
- Add apples, and stir until just combined.
- Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes, test at 18 minutes for doneness.
Suger-Free Cookie Recipes actually tried. Here's the verdict.
I don't know about you, but when I first became a mom, I tried to shelter my daughter from all the evils in food. I bought her organic milk. I tried not to give her sugary cereals. I made my own baby food with simple, wholesome ingredients. Of course, she wasn't the greatest eater. I distinctly remember one day a friend had some Gerber puffs (they looked like Cheezies in toddler food packaging), and this was the one thing my daughter decided she liked to eat that day. My heart sank.
Of late we have noticed she doesn't like to eat many of the foods she adored as a younger child. She is three, and quite picky. Her younger brother, who is 14 months, will eat pretty much anything: most veggies and meat, bread, cheese, yoghurt, fruit. We are hoping this continues, and he doesn't follow in his sister's footsteps. However, I think it happens to most children. When they start to think for themselves, they get a little (or a lot) picky with their food choices.
I came across some recipes for sugar-free cookies in the Alive magazine my mother picked up at her health food store. The website, alive.com, has lots of other recipes, if you are interested in checking them out. I decided to make a couple of their sugar-free cookie recipes to see how they would turn out, and how they would go over with my kids.
"Sugar-free" in this case means you aren't using sugar in the recipe. The cookies are sweetened with dried apricot purée or dried date purée. You make the purées by boiling the dried fruit in enough water to cover them. You cook them until the water is almost all absorbed. Then you purée the mixture.
I tried two recipes:
Lemon Cookies with Cinnamon Date Topping
These elegant cookies consist of a lemony crust topped with a mixture of dates, pecans, almond butter, and cinnamon.
2/3 cup (160 mL) chopped Medjool dates
1/3 cup (80 mL) chopped pecans
1/3 cup (80 mL) date purée
2 Tbsp (30 mL) almond butter
3/4 tsp (4 mL) cinnamon
1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat pastry flour (try Bulk Barn)
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1 Tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
3/4 cup (180 mL) apricot purée
1/4 cup (60 mL) organic canola oil
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
In small mixing bowl, mix dates, pecans, date purée, almond butter, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In medium-sized mixing bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, zest, and cinnamon and incorporate apricot purée and oil.
Using a 1 oz (30 mL) cookie scoop, measure dough and form into balls, flatten with your palms, and place on oiled baking tray. Top each cookie with 1 Tbsp (15 mL) date mixture.
Bake in preheated oven, watching carefully, for about 14 minutes or until edges are browned. Let cool. Serve!
Makes 16 cookies.
Each serving contains: 133 calories; 2 g protein; 6 g total fat (1 g sat. fat); 19 g carbohydrates (12 g sugar); 3 g fibre; 112 mg sodium
Source: alive #335, September 2010
Chocolate Chip Mango Sesame Cookies
Mango, sesame, and chocolate—are these tasty
combined in a cookie? The resounding answer is yes.
1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat pastry flour (at Bulk Barn)
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground ginger
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
1 Tbsp (15 mL) sesame seeds
1/4 cup (60 mL) chocolate or carob chips
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped mango
3/4 cup (180 mL) apricot purée (see cookie makeover tips)
1 Tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil
3 Tbsp (45 mL) cashew butter
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
In medium-sized mixing bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, seeds, and chocolate chips. Stir in mango.
Incorporate apricot purée, sesame oil, and cashew butter into flour mixture. Using a 1 oz (30 mL) cookie scoop, measure dough and form into balls, flatten with your palms, and place on oiled baking tray.
Bake in preheated oven, watching carefully, about 17 minutes or until golden. Let cool. Serve.
Makes 16 cookies.
Each serving contains: 77 calories; 2 g protein; 3 g total fat (1 g sat. fat); 11 g carbohydrates (5 g sugar); 2 g fibre; 113 mg sodium
Source: alive #335, September 2010
Now, the lemon cookies didn't get a "lemony crust" in my case. I don't think I put the full tablespoon of lemon zest though, so this might be the reason. I found the lemon cookies much more time consuming to make because I didn't have date purée already made. I had some apricot purée leftover from my son's days of eating purées, and I had enough to make the mango chocolate chip cookies. All I had to do was defrost the cubes.
The lemon cookies themselves weren't super tasty, but the topping was awesome. I would just eat the topping, and leave the cookies. My daughter didn't like either the cookie, or the topping. My son ate them both, quite readily. My husband put some leftover chocolate icing from the fridge on the cookies, and said they were good that way. This is how he ate the mango chocolate chip cookies too.
The mango cookies, as I said, were much easier to make. I think I would put more of the spices in the mix to give it a bit more zip. The mango is an interesting addition, but makes for quite soft cookies. I was able to get 19 cookies from this recipe. (I only got 12 cookies for the lemon recipe). Again, my daughter didn't really like these. She tried to eat only the chocolate chips, but couldn't find enough, so gave up. My son loves these cookies. I think they taste okay. Certainly not super sweet.
Neither of these cookies look like traditional cookies. They are quite lumpy, and have the same texture of hermit cookies. They are soft, and small. I am not sure if the "benefits" of eating more wholesome cookies outweighs the effort of making the purées. However, odds are, your kids aren't really going to like these, unless they have been already raised on a wholesome, vegan-type diet.
If you are looking for these recipes (and a couple other sugar-free cookie recipes) online. Go to alive.com. Click on recipes, desserts. These recipes are towards the end of the 140+ recipes in this category.
Let us know if you have better success getting your children to eat them.
Of late we have noticed she doesn't like to eat many of the foods she adored as a younger child. She is three, and quite picky. Her younger brother, who is 14 months, will eat pretty much anything: most veggies and meat, bread, cheese, yoghurt, fruit. We are hoping this continues, and he doesn't follow in his sister's footsteps. However, I think it happens to most children. When they start to think for themselves, they get a little (or a lot) picky with their food choices.
I came across some recipes for sugar-free cookies in the Alive magazine my mother picked up at her health food store. The website, alive.com, has lots of other recipes, if you are interested in checking them out. I decided to make a couple of their sugar-free cookie recipes to see how they would turn out, and how they would go over with my kids.
"Sugar-free" in this case means you aren't using sugar in the recipe. The cookies are sweetened with dried apricot purée or dried date purée. You make the purées by boiling the dried fruit in enough water to cover them. You cook them until the water is almost all absorbed. Then you purée the mixture.
I tried two recipes:
Lemon Cookies with Cinnamon Date Topping
These elegant cookies consist of a lemony crust topped with a mixture of dates, pecans, almond butter, and cinnamon.
2/3 cup (160 mL) chopped Medjool dates
1/3 cup (80 mL) chopped pecans
1/3 cup (80 mL) date purée
2 Tbsp (30 mL) almond butter
3/4 tsp (4 mL) cinnamon
1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat pastry flour (try Bulk Barn)
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1 Tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
3/4 cup (180 mL) apricot purée
1/4 cup (60 mL) organic canola oil
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
In small mixing bowl, mix dates, pecans, date purée, almond butter, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In medium-sized mixing bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, zest, and cinnamon and incorporate apricot purée and oil.
Using a 1 oz (30 mL) cookie scoop, measure dough and form into balls, flatten with your palms, and place on oiled baking tray. Top each cookie with 1 Tbsp (15 mL) date mixture.
Bake in preheated oven, watching carefully, for about 14 minutes or until edges are browned. Let cool. Serve!
Makes 16 cookies.
Each serving contains: 133 calories; 2 g protein; 6 g total fat (1 g sat. fat); 19 g carbohydrates (12 g sugar); 3 g fibre; 112 mg sodium
Source: alive #335, September 2010
Chocolate Chip Mango Sesame Cookies
Mango, sesame, and chocolate—are these tasty
combined in a cookie? The resounding answer is yes.
1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat pastry flour (at Bulk Barn)
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground ginger
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
1 Tbsp (15 mL) sesame seeds
1/4 cup (60 mL) chocolate or carob chips
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped mango
3/4 cup (180 mL) apricot purée (see cookie makeover tips)
1 Tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil
3 Tbsp (45 mL) cashew butter
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
In medium-sized mixing bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, seeds, and chocolate chips. Stir in mango.
Incorporate apricot purée, sesame oil, and cashew butter into flour mixture. Using a 1 oz (30 mL) cookie scoop, measure dough and form into balls, flatten with your palms, and place on oiled baking tray.
Bake in preheated oven, watching carefully, about 17 minutes or until golden. Let cool. Serve.
Makes 16 cookies.
Each serving contains: 77 calories; 2 g protein; 3 g total fat (1 g sat. fat); 11 g carbohydrates (5 g sugar); 2 g fibre; 113 mg sodium
Source: alive #335, September 2010
Now, the lemon cookies didn't get a "lemony crust" in my case. I don't think I put the full tablespoon of lemon zest though, so this might be the reason. I found the lemon cookies much more time consuming to make because I didn't have date purée already made. I had some apricot purée leftover from my son's days of eating purées, and I had enough to make the mango chocolate chip cookies. All I had to do was defrost the cubes.
The lemon cookies themselves weren't super tasty, but the topping was awesome. I would just eat the topping, and leave the cookies. My daughter didn't like either the cookie, or the topping. My son ate them both, quite readily. My husband put some leftover chocolate icing from the fridge on the cookies, and said they were good that way. This is how he ate the mango chocolate chip cookies too.
The mango cookies, as I said, were much easier to make. I think I would put more of the spices in the mix to give it a bit more zip. The mango is an interesting addition, but makes for quite soft cookies. I was able to get 19 cookies from this recipe. (I only got 12 cookies for the lemon recipe). Again, my daughter didn't really like these. She tried to eat only the chocolate chips, but couldn't find enough, so gave up. My son loves these cookies. I think they taste okay. Certainly not super sweet.
Neither of these cookies look like traditional cookies. They are quite lumpy, and have the same texture of hermit cookies. They are soft, and small. I am not sure if the "benefits" of eating more wholesome cookies outweighs the effort of making the purées. However, odds are, your kids aren't really going to like these, unless they have been already raised on a wholesome, vegan-type diet.
If you are looking for these recipes (and a couple other sugar-free cookie recipes) online. Go to alive.com. Click on recipes, desserts. These recipes are towards the end of the 140+ recipes in this category.
Let us know if you have better success getting your children to eat them.
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