Karen’s Healthy Cornbread

Tags

portable, Mexican, hidden veggies, vegetables, Karen

Karen makes a tasty cornbread using this recipe for buttery corn bread. But when she’s measuring out the milk, she also tosses in four cubes of frozen pureed chard & spinach, so that she keeps the same overall measurement of liquid while still sneaking some veggies in. She also uses wholemeal flour for half the flour that’s called for. And she tosses in some flax-seed. She’s clever that way. And, at our last potluck, the kids all devoured down this healthy chard-spinach-flax wonderment.

Katie’s Tamale Pie

Tags

Katie, Mexican, portable

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion
3 lg, or 6 sm, chicken or beef tamales (I get the xcellente tamales sold in the sandwich meat aisle)
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cans tomato sauce
1 cup grated cheese
1 can pitted olives

Directions:

1.  Brown meat and onions, pour off grease
2.  Cut tamales into chunks, add to meat
3.  Add sauce, corn and olives, mix well
4.  Put cheese on top
5.  Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes

Homemade Playdough

Tags

Elaine, toy food

Lately, everyone who comes over has been asking about my homemade play-dough. This play-dough is surprisingly moist, creatively colored, and has a nice smell, although I have to admit that it isn’t the classic smell of commercial play-dough.

My self-imposed rule for this blog is to only post recipes that at least one playgroup member has asked for from another playgroup member. This precludes a lot of the things that Sophie and I cook together, because we usually eat up our pancakes or homemade apple-sauce before getting a chance to share them. But folks have been requesting my play-dough recipe, because our playdough lasts long enough to share. So here it is, adapted fromthe King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, my go-to guide for anything involving flour.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt (a lot, I know. One reason is to discourage kids from eating the playdough. The other reason is that salt is hygroscopic, attracting water, keeping the dough moist)
• 1 T cream of tartar (optional, but helps preserve the play dough)
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 2 cups boiling water — or cold water if that’s all that’s available
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional, for the nice smell)
• food coloring — or, if you want a totally chemical-free playdough, use beet, spinach, carrot, or other vegetable juices

Mix everything together except for the food coloring. Knead for 7 minutes or so. Then divide the dough into balls and give each ball the color you want it to have.

There’s my daughter, after mixing in the food coloring. She likes to help count out the cups of flour, tip in the tablespoons of ingredients, and then sniff the various extracts in my cabinet (almond extract, peppermint extract, vanilla extract) because she gets to choose how each batch of playdough will smell. Then we knead & mix in the food coloring, and the whole process is gloriously fun.

The biggest challenge is finding enough containers to keep this in. Our homemade playdough lasts about 3 months, which is longer than the storebought stuff endures in our house.

This homemade kind is not only cheaper, more supple, and chemical-free, it’s also water-soluble, so it cleans up nicely off our various cookie-cutters and playdough-shapers.

UPDATE: Kristen pointed out that the other recipe every parent should have in their repertoire is slime gak. That link will take you to a recipe nicely written up as a science experiment.

App Ideas for Toddlers

Tags

apps

Okay, it’s not a recipe for food — but our playgroup has been sharing tips about what to download for your ipad or iphone or iwhatever, before any long trip.  And this is a list that we need to refer to as often as recipes.

I don’t like frenetic video games, and I’m opposed to excessive screen-time in general — but something like “puppetpals” feels just like paper dolls to me. Something like “sketchbook” is really finger-painting without the mess. I don’t need it to be explicitly educational, but “word wizard” has the patience to pronounce any word my four-year-old cares to write, which is more patience than I have — and it happens to be educational. And “magic puzzles” truly are magic, and free. Where else can a four-year-old find a puzzle of Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” that she’ll enjoy?

So these are the games we all like for kids aged about three- to six-years-old. These are non-frenetic, semi-educational, just plain creative fun. They’re also mostly free apps or at least low-cost apps. They’re a way to begin exploring the giant app store. I boldfaced the ones that are most popular in our household.

ART

• glitterdraw
• sketchbook express
• doodlebuddy
• art of glow
• photo booth

ART WITH MUSIC

• falling stars
• singing fingers

SPATIAL REASONING

• magic puzzles – especially castles, art, seven wonders of the world, and nature versions
• uconnect

MATH

• kindergarten math
• math puppy
• dots 4 tots
• plain calculator

MEMORY

• matchanimals
• amazing match
• memory train

LITERACY

• word wizard
• plain notepad

STORY-CREATION

• puppet pals
• wanderland

Any other suggestions, dear readers? Leave us some comments. I’m still hunting for some good low-cost music-for-toddlers apps, and I’d like suggestions about that or anything else.

Aimee’s Rice Torta

Tags

Aimee, Mexican, portable, vegetarian

This is another recipe that falls under the heading of “21st-century casseroles.” It’s the perfect thing to take to anyone who needs a meal dropped off.

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 bunch parsley, chopped

1 1/2 packages frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out

2 small zucchini, shredded

2 Tbsp. chopped garlic

4 Tbsp. olive oil

3 cups milk

1 cup water

1 cup white rice

1 cube butter

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese

6 eggs (you will add 5 at one point and 1 at the end)

 

Brink milk and water to a boil, add rice. Stir, turn down to low/simmer, and cover for 15 minutes. Take off heat and add butter. The rice will still be quite runny.

 

Meanwhile:

 

Saute onion, chopped parsley and garlic in olive oil until soft.  Add spinach, zucchini and salt.  Add 1 beaten egg at a time for a total of 5 eggs, and stir well.  Add parmesan cheese and stir.

 

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and pour into a buttered 9″ x 13″ pan.

 

Beat 1 remaining egg well and spread over mixture in pan.

 

Bake at 425 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Elaine’s Christmas Cookies

Tags

cookies, Elaine, holiday

Here is a walnut cookie recipe from my great-grandmother Victoria Lewinnek. It wasn’t until long after she passed away that it occurred to me to ask why my Jewish great-grandmother was making Christmas cookies at all — but regardless of what holiday it’s for, these cookies are yummy.  They’re a tasty almond-oil-and-walnut-flavored variation on basic refrigerator-cookies.

3 sticks butter, at almost-room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 pound of walnuts, chopped finely (I use the food processor to do this)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp almond extract
3 cups flour (best to place this in a 4-cup measuring-cup, then add the baking soda & salt in the cup measurement, then stir it up thoroughly before adding those dry ingredients all together into the wet stuff)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Let the butter come to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the butter and the sugars. Then beat in the eggs. Stir in everything else. This will make a very sticky dough that needs to be stored in the refrigerator overnight — or up to a week.

My grandmother placed it in old milk cartons with one side cut off. My mother placed it in wax paper. I didn’t have either this year, and I found that parchment paper worked fine. Whatever you use, shape the dough into two logs, wrapped up in something waxy. Place those logs in plastic bags in the refrigerator overnight. My mother found it necessary to hide these bags from my siblings, who were liable to eat up all the dough before it got cooked. My husband, fortunately, is scared of raw egg, so he doesn’t eat the dough.

When you’re ready to cook it, slice the dough into fairly-thin slices and place it on a cookie sheet. My grandmother brushed the tops with egg white and then dusted sugar on, along with more walnuts, but I think these taste better without that fussiness. I just bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Enjoy.

 

UPDATE: My mother has just told me that it was my OTHER great-grandmother, Marguerite Shtein Conway, who gave us this recipe. No wonder. I should have known that it would be the Christian great-grandmother who made the Christmas cookies, but sometimes it takes a blog to learn things.

Sarah’s Sweet Potatoes

Tags

holiday, Sarah, vegetables

“Divine,” says Karen.

“Loved it,” says Angelina.

I missed it, says I (your humble bloggess), but I can report that Sarah’s sweet potatoes were the hit of our pre-Thanksgiving potluck and — on everyone else’s testimony alone — I think I am going to add these sweet coconut-pecan yams to my Thanksgiving table this year.

Here’s Sarah’s recipe, in her own words.

We call it Scott’s Sweet Potatoes for my dad’s cousin Scott who introduced them to us.

Scott’s Sweet Potatoes

4 cups mashed sweet potatoes (these are really yams because the dish is orange)
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Mix all of the above.

Topping:

1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour

Mix and sprinkle on top of sweet potatoes.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

Bon Appetit!

 

UPDATE: I cooked them and they were divine, even though I used only one stick of butter and half the sugar. Mmmmmmmm. My friends keep asking for the recipe, too.

Angelina’s Peanut Sauce for Pasta, Chicken, and Vegetables

Tags

Angelina, Asian, entree, pasta, portable, quick, vegetarian

“I am NOT eating peanut noodles,” announced my toddler.

“That’s fine,” said my husband and I, almost simultaneously, because we know our lines. “All you have to eat is one bite. If you still don’t like it, then you get cereal or peanut-butter toast for dinner.” That’s our family rule. It eliminates a lot of strife.

Sophie tried one bite, then demanded her alternative dinner. But, while I was making her peanut-butter toast, she did take another bite of Angelina’s pasta with peanut suace. And then another.

Pretty soon, she asked for seconds. She even ate the bell pepper and scallions without blinking an eye. And then she requested that we save the rest of this “yummy pisghetti” for her lunchbox tomorrow. It’s that good.

Here’s Angelina’s recipe, in her own words.

Pasta with Peanut Sauce and Vegetables

This is a super yummy peanut sauce that you can put over grilled chicken or toss with pasta and julienned vegetables for a simple dinner.

 

This makes way more sauce than you need for a pound of pasta and will store well for about a week in an airtight container in the fridge.

 

Ingredients

 

1 cup vegetable oil

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 Tablespoon honey

2 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon grated ginger

½ cup creamy peanut butter

Hot sauce to taste

Sesame seeds

 

1 lb cooked pasta (fettuccine or spaghetti are best)

Variety of julienned vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, red and yellow peppers – these should be raw or very lightly cooked so they are still crunchy

Cooked or grilled chicken, optional

 

Preparation

 

Whisk all ingredients together. Toss with pasta and julienned vegetables, add chicken if desired. Another option is to buy a precooked chicken and add some. Yum!

Spinach Pesto Lasagna

Tags

Eileen, freezable, portable, vegetables, vegetarian

Eileen made this for me just after my second child was born, and this was the recipe that prompted my husband to say, “Can we have a third baby, just so playgroup people will keep bringing us dinner?”

He also asked why we don’t have spinach pesto lasagna every week. This recipe is so easy, with no-cook noodles and pre-packaged pesto, that we might just start having it every week.

The spinach lasagna recipe is here. Eileen is the queen of internet links, and also the expert at modifying what she finds. Here’s her instructions:

I added a little more sauce when I made it for you. I was afraid it would be too dry with only a jar of sauce. And the recipe calls for an 8 oz package of pesto but I could only find a 7 oz one.  I think it came out fine with that. Also, I covered it with tin foil for most of the time it was cooking.  I took it off at the end to brown the top. All the other lasagna recipes I’ve used always say to cover when cooking it.

Good advice, because I can testify that Eileen’s lasagna looked better than the one at that website and had just enough pesto.

 

UPDATE: My supermarket ran out of lasagna noodles (apparently, there’s a nationwide shortage, this week), and so I modified this lasagna recipe into an even simpler version of TASTY WEEKNIGHT SPINACH SPAGHETTI

1 package spaghetti

1 container ricotta

1 container pesto

1 package frozen spinach

Boil some water, cook the spaghetti, and, when the spaghetti is done, throw in the frozen spinach to warm that spinach up. Drain this spinach-spaghetti and serve it in a bowl where you have combined the ricotta and pesto. It is that simple — and it gets my toddler to eat a lot of spinach. I think I’ll cook this before my husband’s next long bike-race.

Samara’s Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

Tags

portable, soup, vegetables, vegetarian

This soup was the hit of our playgroup’s potluck halloween party.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil (1 turn around the pan)

1 Tbsp butter (a couple pats)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

(I also love the flavor garlic adds and like to add a few finely chopped cloves)

1 can (14.5 oz.) chicken or vegetable broth

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes in juice

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree

1/2 cup heavy cream (3 turns around the pan)

1 1/2 tsp curry powder (1/2 palmful)

1 tsp ground cumin, a little less than curry

3 pinches cayenne pepper (1/4 tsp)

coarse salt, to taste

Directions

Heat a deep pot over medium heat.  Add oil and butter.  When butter melts, add onion and sauté, 5 minutes, til tender.  Add broth, tomatoes, black beans, and pumpkin.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and stir in cream, curry powder, cumin, cayenne, and a few pinches salt.  Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and serve.

(adapted from Rachel Ray’s Veggie Meals)