Cous Cous Cakes

Aug 2nd, 2010 // Recipes, Sides, Veggie Friendly

My kid and my husband both love cous cous. They are especially fond of Isreali cous cous which has larger grains and tastes like pasta. Trader Joe’s makes an excellent blend of Isreali cous cous, quinoa, orzo and dried chick peas called “Harvest Grains.” It tastes great on its own, but we decided to make something special out of it tonight. Note: this should work with any cous cous – you don’t have to buy the Harvest Grains.

At first my kid wasn’t so sure if he’d like these because of the amount of spinach we dumped into them, but after giving it a try he polished it right off and asked for seconds. My husband, the vegetarian, ate four. I’d say it’s a keeper ! Now for the recipe…

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Baked Egg Bruschetta

Aug 2nd, 2010 // Breakfast, Recipes, Veggie Friendly

My little sous chef loves to come to the cooking store with me – he’s especially partial to the baking section. Our latest trip had him begging for teeny tiny loaf pans. They were only $1 each so I bought four having no idea what we’d make in them. They’ve been in the cupboard for weeks now. Then, this morning I was dreaming of one of my favorite breakfasts in NYC… baked eggs from Caffe Falai. So, I decided it was time to use the loaf pans to bake up some eggs!

I don’t know if it was the teeny tiny pans or waking up on the right side of the bed, but my kid actually ate TWO of these baked eggs. In fairness, I baked his a little longer so it wasn’t as runny. He’s not so into the broken yolk, but liked the little egg loaves and even ate the bruschetta. Score! Now for the recipe… Read more after the jump…

Easy Yogurt Pops

Jul 31st, 2010 // Desserts, Recipes

No, that is not my kid, but isn’t she gorgeous? This is my friend Macki’s daughter, Sylvie. Macki is always cooking up something amazing for her precious family. She spontaneously sent me some pictures of her recent yogurt pop making session. I couldn’t resist posting.

When I showed these pictures to my kid he could not stop starring at them. Although I must admit that it was Sylvie, not the pops, that memorized him. He’s a little bit in love. Who could blame him? Since my kid doesn’t like to drink milk, I think this is going to be an excellent way to get some more calcium into his diet. Now for the recipe…

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Sugared Fruit Porridge

Jul 30th, 2010 // Breakfast, Recipes

I’m still visiting my parents in the beautiful Hudson River Valley. This morning my folks promised to take my kid to the local farm where our friend makes amazing artisianal cheeses. My kid loves it because he gets to meet and greet the dairy cows responsible for the fabulous cheese. My mom suggested we make quick cooking steel cut oatmeal before leaving for the farm. I had no idea this even existed even though her can of it was from my personal mecca – Trader Joe’s.

My kid and I both love basic oatmeal, but we couldn’t resist turning this into Sugared Fruit Porridge by adding some milk and baking up the ripe fruits of summer. The combination was just perfect. Creamy porridge under a pile of fresh, slightly sweet fruit bursting with flavor. I can hardly wait to buy my own container of steel cut oats! Now for the recipe…

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Snickerdoodle Sandwiches

Jul 29th, 2010 // Desserts, Kid-tastic, Recipes

When my mom suggested we make snickerdoodle cookies my kid started laughing like a maniac. He thought the name was sooooooo funny. He’s sort of right, it is a super silly name. So silly that I decided to do a little research on the origin. More about that later. In the meantime, this is the perfect kid recipe because it involves the electric mixer, making the cookies into balls AND rolling them in cinnamon sugar. Of course, my kid tried to “accidentally” knock as much cinnamon sugar off the plate as possible so that he claim it for his mouth!

I know you are just dying to hear the origin of the name snickerdoodle. Well, I found the following on Wikipedia. “The Joy of Cooking claims that snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln, which means snail noodles.” I have no idea how this relates to these cookies. They look nothing like snails and nothing like noodles. Right? Oh, and for the record, I do know that Wikipedia is not a “real” reference source. My mom – the history teacher – would fail me for using it. Now for the snail noodle recipe…

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