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What We Ate: Mishmash Kids’ Lunch

27 Nov

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You must know me by now. Or at least you know that I like to give our children healthy food options. I hope that they grow to have not-so-picky palettes & they enjoy all foods. It took me around 25 years to get rid of my pickiness.

For lunch yesterday, we had what I would call typical fare around here. A mishmash of sorts. Sharp cheddar cheese, orange pepper slices, guacamole (I used Wholly Guacamole but sometimes we make our own avocado dip), blue chips, kiwi, & pear slices.

People always ask, “Do your kids eat the food you give them?”. To answer that question: Our 2 year-old still won’t eat peppers, but everything else was gone. As for our 4 year-old, she actually ate 2 pepper slices (!) and most everything else. I strongly feel that kids will eat what you give them, if not right away, eventually. Of course they may not like some foods, we all have aversions.

My advice is to keep at it & they will come around. If you always have healthy, whole foods at the ready, that is all they will know. Until they go to Grandmother’s house ;) .

What We Ate: My (Not-So) Secret Dressing

17 Jul

In the summer, one of my least favorite thing to do is cook indoors. Although we love using fresh, local ingredients in our meals, it just plain sucks to cook in the heat. Instead, we grill out a lot and eat salads. Problem solved.

When I was a little girly girl, I loved to eat salad. My grandmother made the best homemade salad dressing composed simply of red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt (lots of salt) and pepper. I’ve tweaked that recipe a bit but still use that one from time to time. Here’s my favorite dressing. We save a lot of money making our own, surely, and preparing our own fresh salads right at home.

    Honey Balsamic Dressing

Equal parts extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar (try 2 tbsp of each for a family-sized side salad)

Honey, around 1 tbsp, more or less to taste

Honey mustard or any mustard…about 2 tsps, more or less to taste

Salt pinch

Pepper pinch

Shake well & pour over salad. Yes, it’s that easy.

I have a plethora of vinegar varieties in my pantry. Red wine, balsamic, white balsamic, white peach balsamic, seasoned rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar…and always willing to try more! They all work fine. Also, I prefer tupelo honey or raw, organic honey for it’s health benefits but any honey will do, of course. :) Occasionally, I add fresh herbs, like cilantro or dill weed, or even dried herbs such as Herbes De Provence. Anything thrown in will be delectable.

Not-so secret, right?! Let me know how you like it. I can’t bring myself to ever have anything else. This dressing hits the spot every time.

Enjoy! And salúte!

Flashback Friday: 06•16•11 :: 07•06•12

6 Jul

Here’s an old favorite. Also one of my most popular reads, this “What We Ate” post is popular among all family members.

What We Ate

You may enjoy this: If you’re on Facebook, search for the group ‘Dinner Tonight’ and request to be a member. Lots of good food, great recipes, & great people there.

What We Ate: Monkey Snacks

19 Jun

Before the outdoor temperatures started approaching one hundred degrees, we went on many, many picnics.  Our oldest, three and a half, was constantly requesting picnics throughout the winter days.  We did sneak a few in there during the milder temps.  Now that summer is juuuuust about here, picnics are a must-do on our summer list.

Here is a version of our very popular-among-all-kids banana/peanut butter/honey wraps.  Normally, we’d put these ingredients inside a whole-wheat tortilla & call them “Aah Aah Wraps” (name given by our then eighteen month-old), also known as “Monkey Wraps”.  Instead, to make things picnic/snack/OCDparent -friendly, I made these into a popable treat.  Okay, so they’re not the healthiest, but they are not terrible, especially if you make your own peanut butter & use fresh bananas & local honey.  :)

This “recipe” couldn’t be more simple.  Peanut butter (we use crunchy organic, but I’d like to make my own someday), banana slices (red bananas are tasty!), & honey (again, organic/raw/local, if possible).  I smeared each cracker round with all three ingredients.  Guaranteed to be devoured by everyone in the household!

My apologies for the blurry photos;  gotta get me one of dem tripod thingies ;)

What We Ate: Yogurt Parfaits

1 May

Yogurt, fruit, & granola parfaits.

Easy.  So easy.

They make a good breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack.

Our kids love them & so do we.

I simply layer fruit, granola, & yogurt, over & over again.  We prefer Stonyfield Farms’ Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt for it’s probiotics & other nutritional elements.  I find Post’s cereal Just Bunches Cinnamon flavor tastes really yummy with this medley, but I realize it’s not the healthiest option, so plain granola will do.  As far as fruit, I use organic blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, kiwi, grapes…you name it!  We can’t wait for summertime when we can have all these fruits fresh & local.  YUM!

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