Jell-o (Vegan)

Jell-o seems like a childhood novelty.  I have fond memories of those brightly colored jello jigglers at almost every holiday, just in different bright, radiant colors . BUT now I would rather my girls not be ingesting the gelatin and food dyes found in most of those tasty little treats geared to kids.  I have played around with homemade jello for the last couple of years.  My girls have usually liked it but recently I nailed it. It's so easy and quick and I feel way better about serving this to the little ones in my life.

This recipe uses Agar Agar, which is plant based and derived from sea vegetables. Over the past year I have learned so much more about good quality gelatin and it's health benefits that I would actually like to try that as well. Either way it's creating a snack with a quality ingredient that doesn't have all the extra dyes, chemicals, and preservatives.

The recipe I used had 3 ingredients.  Below is the base or skeleton of the recipe. Start there and play around.  Adjust the flavors.  Get creative.

It would work to combine different juices, fruit purees, or even add fruit pieces (which I haven't tried but everything I have read online says it will work).  Sweetener could also be added.  I have been using 1 cup of elderberry tea  that I make from simmering whole elderberries with water.  Elderberries are  immune boosting so I will be making these this fall when the nasty colds and flu start rearing their ugly heads again.
I then add 1 cup of 100% Organic Grape Juice.  My girls seem to think it is sweet enough so we roll with it. I personally think the trick is what the jello is poured into to set.  I have been using little silicone molds I picked up at Ikea and Michaels, and my silicone muffin cups.  This has made a world of difference. Not to mention they turn out cute and are in fun little shapes.  Yep, move on over Jell-o Jigglers.
  If you come up with a favorite combination please do share.  This is becoming a staple at our house, and I would love to experiment with some different flavors and fruits we haven't used yet.

Jell-o 

2 cups of fruit juice

2 tsp Agar Agar powder

Heat juice on stove.  Before it boils add agar agar and stir constantly until it boils. Once it reaches boiling make sure agar agar has been dissolved and then allow the mixture to simmer on low for 5-10 minutes. Finish by pouring into molds.  Allow to cool on counter top and then serve.

*if using agar flakes you will need to add 2 TBS 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jello

Remember those bright red, green, and blue jello jigglers that decorated your plate as a child? Jello happened to be one of my favorite foods as a child.  I loved jello.  That is until as an adult I learned a truth of the jello making process that has forever changed my love affair with my dear jello.  Those yummy jello jigglers are held together by no other than gelatin.  No big deal, right? Well if you love jello and you don't want to be tainted forever please stop reading here. Close this post and walk away.  I had to add a warning for the jello lovers out there. 

This seemingly harmless gelatin is actually  derived from the bones and skin (hide) of pigs and cows.  The production of gelatin begins with boiling the bones, skins, and hides which releases collagen.  This collagen is then processed and dried and used in shampoos, cosmetics, coating on vitamins, on photographic film, and to thicken jello and puddings.   Take this gelatin and add some artificial sweeteners and food dyes and you have yourself some brightly colored jello.  Not exactly the mix I want my girls to be ingesting on a regular basis. 

I was excited last summer when I started discovering other alternatives to making jello.  Turns out there is this amazing little substance called Agar Agar that does the trick and no animal bones or hides are involved.  Agar Agar is a vegetarian gelatin substitute produced from a variety of seaweed vegetation.  Agar agar is actually a combination of various sea veggies and just like any other gelatin, it can be used to firm up jellies, pies and puddings. It simply dissolves in hot liquid and thickens at room temperature.  It is sold in health food stores, and comes in both flake and powder varieties.  It's not an inexpensive purchase so if at all available try purchasing it online or from a co-op.  This makes it much more cost effective.

This particular version of jello was based on one of my favorite spring time combos, strawberries and rhubarb.  It creates a bright, pretty color with no food dyes added.  A pan of this doensn't last long around our house.

I hope you enjoy a fun twist on the traditional jiggly jello!

Strawberry  Rhubarb Jello (veganized)

• 3 Rhubarb Stalks
• 2 cups Strawberry Puree***
• 1/2 cup water
• Honey or Pure Maple Syrup for sweetness
• 1 1/2  tsp Agar Agar powder

1.  First make a simple Rhubarb sauce.  Finely chop Rhubarb and add to a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water.  When fibrous stalks become stringy and mushy, it is done and you have yourself a tasty little rhubarb sauce.

2. Add the strawberry puree to the rhubarb sauce and heat up. 

3. Add the Agar powder and sweetner of choice.  Bring to boil.

4.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the Agar is dissolved. 

5. Poor into 8x8 pan and cool for several hours. 

6.  Cut and enjoy!

***I made strawberry puree by blending strawberries with a little bit of water.  The more water the thinner the puree and less dense the jello.  Use any leftover puree for smoothies.

 ***Another option is to use jam. I have done this as well and it makes a thicker jello which is quite tasty as well.

***Juice can be substituted to make other flavors.  I would recommend omitting the rhubarb in that case because it is just an extra in this recipe.  This leaves the door wide open for all sorts of interesting flavor combos.

Roasted Root Veggies with Lentils & Rice

I absolutely love meals that aren't a whole lot of fuss and that pack a good quality nutritional punch.  This is hands down a favorite fall and winter meal at the Byrne house.  In fact, this year our local farmers market has introduced a winter farmers market, and we've still been buying root veggies that were grown locally last fall.  I love the creative and very traditional methods for preserving root vegetables for the cold winter months.  I actually just roasted a couple winter squash the other day that came from my in-laws garden last fall. We've been storing them in our little basement cellar and I'm actually so surprised at how great they are.  I was sharing this with my mom who wasn't at all surprised.  She grew up on a farm and was one of 11 kids (crazy, I know!).  My grandmother was a very resourceful woman and made everything from scratch.  She also gardened and preserved heaps of food (I mean with that many mouths to feed of course you would!).  My mom remembers burying carrots from their garden in pots of soil to preserve them for use during the winter.  Fascinating.  I think most of us get so used to buying foods any time of the year from various locations around the world, without a second thought.  Grocery stores make that real easy.  It feels as though we've lost the connection to which foods are in season and even what grows locally in our area.
The last few years I've gotten really excited about trying to buy and eat as much local food as possible.  During the summer and fall in Michigan this is really no problem.  In fact, it's quite easy. The winter is where it becomes challenging.  I do some food preserving and each year I feel as though I learn and try something new.  But the reality is that I have two little girls at home and don't have endless amounts of time to set aside to this task.  I've been swinging into our little winter farmers market and getting as much as I can from there but there is only so much available which means off to the grocery store I go.   I tell you all that because I get really excited about this dinner.  It's a mostly locally grown meal, even in the heart of winter in Michigan.  The rice and lentils aren't local but at least the veggies are.  I will gather what I can find at the market and then supplement with what ever else I may have on hand.  So whether you find these root veggie treasures at a local winter market or a grocery store, it makes a delightful dinner on a cold winter night.

Rice & Lentils
3/4 cup dried lentils
3/4 cup brown rice
4 cup of vegetable broth
1 TBS Olive Oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
Ground pepper, to taste

Rinse lentils and rice.  Add all ingredients to a medium stockpot and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer until lentils and rice are tender, approximately 40 minutes.


Roasted Root Veggies
Select from a mixture of:
 
Parsnips
Carrots
Beets
Sweet Potatoes (or regular potatoes)
turnips
rutabaga
onions

Preheat oven to 350.
Chop a variety of root veggies up and spread onto a jellyroll pan.  (The list above is some of the common and easy to find root veggies, several of which I am still able to pick up at our local market from the fall harvest).  Use whatever is accessible or household favorites.
Drizzle with Olive oil and stir up veggies.  Roast in oven for approximately 45 minutes. 

 Great meal for toddlers too.  Cut veggies up in small bite size pieces that are appropriate for the kiddos age and it becomes an easy "finger food" dinner. 

  

 Serve the roasted veggies on top of the rice and lentils.

Pumpkin Cranberry Pancakes (GF)

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Last week the girls and I were having a lazy morning and I decided to play and create a new pancake recipe. So off to the kitchen we went. I had lots of pumpkin puree in my fridge and thought it sounded great in pancakes with some of the fresh cranberries I had picked up from the farmers market.

This is what I ("we"--I usually have at least 1 helper with me!)came up with. They are for sure a 'hearty' pancake.  My girls love pancake mornings! Why not get some veggies and extra nutrients in them? They gobble them up.  Leftover pancakes make a great snack too!

 Pumpkin Cranberry Pancakes

 Ingredients

    1 1/2 cups milk (coconut milk beverage)

    1 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)

    1 TBS ground chia seed mixed with 3 TBS water (or 1 egg)
   1 teaspoons vanilla

    2 tablespoons coconut oil (or oil of choice)

    2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

    2 cups all-purpose flour 

    (I used a mix of millet, sorghum, brown rice flour but whole wheat would great and hearty as well)

    2 tablespoons sucanat (or granular sugar of choice)

    2 teaspoons baking powder

    1 teaspoon baking soda

    2 teaspoon ground flaxseeds

    1 teaspoon ground allspice

    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    3/4 cup chopped walnuts

    3/4 cup chopped fresh cranberries

   

Directions

Mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, sucanat or sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground flax seeds, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine. Gently mix in walnuts and cranberries.

    Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot with butter or butter substitute and pure maple syrup. 

****I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure out the batter for pancakes. Makes smaller pancakes which is perfect for small people! And makes a great small pancake for a snack. 

Veggie Patties

I love cooking. I love being in the kitchen.  However, sometimes I just need a break and need something easy to put together for dinner.  Something that hasn't required much planning or prepping. Something that can travel well or that is easy for a sitter to feed the girls.  Easy.  Well this is one of my favorite "go to" meals for those days.

Now granted this recipe does require a bit of cooking and prepping one time, but then you can freeze them and have lots of easy meals stored away for those days when you need an easy meal for your kiddo.  We've chose to not buy boxed, processed food and instead focus on whole foods.  Well whole foods require some cooking, prepping, cutting, chopping, etc.  It's a little more work than just grabbing those easy boxed meals off the shelves at the stores, but it's so incredibly worth it.  You and your kiddos will be thankful for the work and time you've invested in your family's health!!  To start your kiddos off on a healthy path with whole foods right from the beginning is such an incredible gift for their long term health.  Not to mention that it keeps you as the parent healthy and well.  If as parents we feel well, we are more likely to have the energy to keep up with our kiddos and interact and play with them, which of course is priceless time.  I have found when I'm being intentional with caring for myself I am more present and patient with my girls.   I've also quickly realized the times when I'm not balanced because I tend to get frustrated quicker over smaller things, and I feel like I've lost all patience.  This is always a good reminder for me to check in and evaluate my self and what's happening.  So all that said please take time to check in today and ask yourself if your taking good care of you!

So now on to veggie patties...

I was inspired by our favorite local restaurant to create these. They have amazing black bean sweet potato burgers.  I figured I could experiment a bit and create something that would be wholesome and healthy for my kiddos and make a great meal with lots of hidden extras in it.  It works great for our family because I think my girls could live on raw veggies and fruits, which is fabulous but they need some other nutrients as well.  So I load these up and they make a great vegetarian dinner and/or finger food for a younger baby (just adapt recipe to foods baby has been introduced too).

I don't have a specific recipe for these, which is what makes them so great.  You can really use what you have on hand to make these.  They can also be adapted to be specific to what your kiddo enjoys.  Another great perk of these veggie patties is that you can add some extras into them that might be challenging to get into your kiddos food otherwise.  I'll share with you what I did for this batch but get creative and experiment. 

Veggie Patties

2 roasted sweet potatoes (so they are soft and easy to mix up)

1 cup cooked quinoa ( I started with 1/2 cup dry quinoa )

1 cup black beans

kale

shredded zucchini

parsley

rolled oats or rice flour (basically just something to help bind them)

ground nuts or seeds ( I like to use ground sunflower seeds)

(dried spices, Mrs. Braggs Soy Sauce, tomato paste are good options to give flavor as well, especially for adults!)

I just toss everything in my food processor and let it do the work of mixing it all together.  Keep an eye on the consistency and add enough of the oats or flour to make sure the mixture will start to thicken slightly.  You'll want to have it thick enough that it won't just fall apart when you begin cooking. 

Now this is where things get messy! I use wet hands and make little patties on a lightly oiled baking sheet or skillet. 

If baking I usually bake at 350 and check every 5 minutes.  Typically with in 10-15 minutes they are browned enough on the bottom that I can flip them over and finish cooking on the opposite side.  When flipping it's important to gently press them down so that the middle will cook as well.  Another 10-15 minutes usually finishes it up.  Cooking time will depend on what all you have in them.

I prefer to cook them on our skillet.  It takes a little longer because there are a few rounds but I can keep a closer eye  on them and make sure they don't get burnt.  They also don't tend to be as crumbly when I cook them on the skillet.

Eat plain or top with avocado, goat cheese, tomato, organic ketchup, or sprouts.  Serve with another side of veggies and you can be assured your kiddo has had a heaping amount of veggies in that meal!

The last batch I did made 20 burgers.  I tossed the extra ones in a ziploc baggie between layers of wax paper and froze. 

There you have it.  A whole foods veggie patty that you can serve your kiddos for a wholesome, easy meal! 

The Incredible Avocado

Seriously. I think this is nature's most AMAZING food. Avocados were both of my girls first foods. Doesn't get much easier than this. And let's be honest. When your a mama of little ones easy is the ideal choice.
I think we should probably buy stock in the avocado industry as much as we use them. My girls love them but I must admit, I love them equally as much. David Wolfe (raw food guru) deemed his nickname as avocado....not goji berry, or cacaco, or spirulina, or medicinal mushrooms (all said to be super foods and funny nicknames). Nope he labels himself as "Avocado". Which is funny to me but also reminds me that the guru of the Raw Food movement has a deep love and confidence in the benefits of the avocado. I mean you wouldn't want to pick a food nickname that was a fad, right??

Avocados were staples when my girls were first introduced to solid foods. I would just mash up a little avocado (in the beginning I added a little breast milk to give it a thinner consistency) and serve. I threw them in the diaper bag when we were out and about and needed an easy, quick meal. All that glorious good fat found in an avocado. Fat that is so amazing for a developing baby.

As baby got older I would toss avocado in purees for a creamier texture. When we got to finger foods, this was an easy to eat and familiar finger food.

Now we use them in our green smoothies. Oh the creaminess it adds to our smoothies. Dynamite! I also add them as a garnish to soups, tacos, salads....just about anything. Guacamole is always a hit in our house. I'll smear them on a cracker or rice cake with a little goat cheese for an easy lunch for the girls. The possibilities are endless. I don't believe there is such a thing as an avocado overdose! :)

A little trick with the avocado is to keep the pit (seed) in it if your only using part of the fruit. This will help it from browning quite as fast. With little eaters you may find you only use little bits at a time and this way you can keep your fruit fresher longer.

Have a favorite avocado use? Please post and share with us!