I’ve been wanting to try this recipe I found on the Meal Makeover Mom’s blog for some time now. I don’t usually ”healthify” dessert but these sound so intriguing. I have to admit, my chocolate-loving husband was skeptical.

Me: Should I make black bean brownies?

Him: Do what you want, but I probably won’t eat them

Me: Will you at least try them?

Him: Yes

So I made them but of course was missing the right pan so I used my muffin pan. The dinner I was making tool longer than planned so I took a bite of one. Then my husband took a bite and he kept going back for more!

Everyone loved these, including Little D, who is taking after his Dad’s love of chocolate. These lasted less than 24 hours. They are not as rich as regular brownies but pretty darn good.

Anyone else make something like this?

Ingredients:
-15 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed well
-3 large eggs
-3 tablespoons canola oil
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, optional (I skipped)
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-Pinch salt
-1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (I added a bit more)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. Place the black beans in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, peppermint extract as desired, baking powder, and salt and process until smooth. Add ¼ cup of the chips and pulse a few times until the chips are incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (in the muffin pan it was 30 minutes). Cool in the pan before slicing into 2-inch squares.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 120 calories, 5g fat (1.5g saturated, 0.3g omega-3), 95mg sodium, 18g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 3g protein.

Thanks Meal Makeover Moms!

I thought it would be appropriate for my first post of the New Year to be a vegetable dish.  I’ve been wanting to try this one for awhile now after seeing it on one of my favorite food blogs — Weekly Bite. Estela is so creative with food ideas for kids.

This turned out great!  I offered it as a pre-dinner appetizer and Little D ate one and Big A nibbled (that is good for her!).  I doubled the recipe because I have found that half bags of anything in my freezer tend not to get used or thrown out. 

This makes a great finger food or as a snack or a side with dinner.  Anyone else making something like this?

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
-16 oz bag of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn, green beans, & lima beans)
-2 eggs
-1 cup panko bread crumbs
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-Juice of 1 small lemon
-2.5 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook veggies according to package directions and let cook. Place veggies in a food processor and pulse a few times with over-processing.

In a large bowl, combine veggies, bread crumbs, egg, salt, garlic powder, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix well using the back of your spoon to continue to mash the veggies.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and use a small scooper to make a small ball and then use your hands to form mixture into nugget size (I think mine were too big).  Line onto baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degree for 40 minutes – flip nuggets halfway through cooking (after 20 minutes).

I was gearing up to make chocolate chip cookies when it dawned on me that I could make granola bars instead.  My friend always makes them and she sent me this base recipe from All recipes.  So instead of chocolate chip cookies I made chocolate chip granola bars.

The nice thing about this recipe is you can try different variations.  Instead of chocolate chips you can add dried fruit or nuts.  You can throw in pumpkin or butternut squash.  I used less brown sugar than called for (advised from one of the reviewers) and they still came out good. Some people liked to replace the oil with applesauce — I might do half and half next time. The wheat germs adds a nice boost of vitamin E but you could also add some flax for omega-3s.

The possibilities are endless.

Big A liked them okay but Little D couldn’t get enough.  I ended up cutting the bigger portions shown the picture to a smaller, kid friendy size.

Do you make granola bars? And if you do, what is your perfect combination?

Ingredients:
-2 cups rolled oats
-1/3 cup packed brown sugar (recipe calls for up to 3/4)
-1/2 cup wheat germ
-3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
-3/4 cup chocolate chips or raisins (optional)
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 cup honey
-1 egg, beaten
-1/2 cup vegetable oil (can substitute apple sauce)
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, chocolate chips and salt. Then pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla and mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars. Make sure you don’t let the bars cool completely because they may become too hard to cut.

I admit to getting into lunch ruts with my kids as planning dinners seems to take the focus. So I looked around for lunch ideas and found this simple one from Weelicious — hummus pinwheels. So I brought the whole wheat lavish bread the recipe called for and what started as one new lunch idea, turned into three!

So here are three quick and healthy lunches you make with this bread, in 5 minutes or less.

1. Hummus Pinwheels: Take store bought or homemade hummus and simply lay a thin layer on the bread and roll up tightly. Cut into small pieces (wheels). This is great for school lunch or as a snack

2. Crispy pizzas: This bread is awesome for quick little pizzas because it turns out crispy after just a few minutes in the toaster oven. I first brush them with olive oil mixed with garlic powder, top with favorite pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese. Good for snack time too.

3. Turkey Pin Wheels: Big A had a fun time making these. She usually doesn’t eat turkey sandwiches “whole” but instead likes to eat the bread, cheese and turkey separately. But after helping me make these — and cutting them into pinwheels — she ate every bite (or at least it seemed that way as her lunch came back empty).

We made our Turkey Pin Wheels super simple but you might prefer to dress yours up. This recipe calls for garden-style cream cheese, turkey, lettuce and shredded carrots. Put in whatever your child likes — roll them up and cut into little wheels.

Well that’s it. Just some super simple lunch ideas that may not have occurred to you. Anyone use the lavish bread from TJ’s?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I’m always looking for ways to dress up veggies so when I saw this recipe in Real Simple Magazine I knew I had to try it.

Peas are one of those foods I discovered after having kids.  I don’t know why but I never made peas much.  It could have to do with the fact that my husband was forced to eat them as a kid. When his parents weren’t looking, he’d stuff them in the couch. Not a lot of good memories for him!

Peas have a sweet taste and are full of nutrition — vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, fiber and potassium to name a few.  They make the perfect finger food for toddlers.  Because they are not bitter like other green vegetables, they are a good starter vegetable for kids. 

How do you make peas at home?

Ingredients:
-16 ounce frozen peas
-1/2 cup grated Parmesan
-2 TBS fresh lemon juice
-2 TBS olive oil
-1/2 tsp kosher salt
-1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions: Cook the frozen peas according to package directions, then mix the rest of the ingredients: parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

In Monday’s weekly meal plan I mentioned how Big A is finally drinking smoothies — we’ve been having them all summer long.  So I wanted to step it up and add something green to the smoothie. 

A good way to introduce new foods to a kid, is to include it as part of a food they already accept (at least that’s what the research says). 

To keep the trust in feeding, something that’s very important to me, I don’t like sneaking in food hoping that my kids won’t notice.  I also think this sends the message that healthy foods taste so bad tasting you have to sneak them.

So I stay up front about anything new I add to a familiar food.  Here’s how it went with the smoothies:

Me: Let’s make smoothies for snack

Big A:  Yeah!  Smoothies!!

ME: I was thinking of adding some spinach to the smoothie

Big A: Will it taste the same?

Me: I’m not sure.  Maybe.  We’ll have to try it and see.

Big pause

Big A: Okay

Recipe:

1 cup frozen strawberries (if you use fresh add some ice)

1 banana

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (or any yogurt of choice)

1 cup tightly fit spinach

1 cup orange juice

I blended all the ingredients in the blender and the color was not really green, more like brown but as we kept drinking them they turned almost green.  This makes about 3 cups.  I gave the smoothie to Big A and after a sip she said: “It tastes the same!” and continued to drink it.

Of course I had to use this as a teachable moment and told her that “even if it didn’t taste the same, that would be okay.  It’s good to eat (or try) food that tastes different” (we talked a lot about this on our vacation where Big A kept asking if the food we were eating would “taste the same” as it does at home).

What green smoothies do you make at home?

Nutrition per serving:172 calories, 4g protein, 3g fiber and 26 g sugar (most naturally occurring expect from the vanilla yogurt).   126% DV for vitamin C, 22% vitamin A, 63% vitamin K, 15% potassium, 10% calcium and 5% iron.

Even though summer is winding down, frozen Popsicles are always popular with kids. I get weekly recipes sent to me from Cooking Light — and thought these Chocolate Pudding Pops would be a nice change from tradition Popsicles. They were easy to make and the kids (and I) loved it!

I used the smaller ring pops because that’s what Big A wanted. I ended up halving the recipe. Just a reminder that this is a treat food as it contains added sugar.

For more on how to make ice pops see this article from Cooking Light.

Happy end of summer to you all!

Ingredients
• 2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Dash of salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preparation
1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring well with a whisk. Cook for 8 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly.

2. Remove pan from heat. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and chocolate, stirring until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl; place bowl in an ice-filled bowl.

3. Cover surface of pudding directly with plastic wrap; cool completely. Spoon chocolate mixture evenly into 6 (4-ounce) ice-pop molds. Top with lid; insert craft sticks. Freeze 4 hours or until thoroughly frozen.

Every Sunday we gather for dinner at my mother-in-law’s. I make a point to read People magazine to catch up on my celebrity gossip. When I ran across the recipe for Caulifower “Mac ‘N’ Cheese” I knew I had to try it. It comes from MasterChef (reality show) winner Whitney Miller.

It turned out great. Little D and I really enjoyed it while my husband and Big A didn’t really partake (my husband is a mac and cheese purist). The recipe calls for heavy cream, which is an ingredient I never use — it’s the dietitian in me. But I worked up some courage and tried the recipe “as is.” Maybe I’ll get help from the Meal Makeover Moms to lighten it up a bit.

This inspired me to search for other cauliflower mac and cheese recipes that actually have macaroni in them. Here are a couple that look good: Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower from Real Simple and Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese from Shape Magazine.

Anyone else making something like this at home?

Ingredients:
-8 cups cauliflower florets (1 head)
-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-1/2 tsp Kosher salt
-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
-2 Tbsp butter
-2 Tbsp flour
-1.5 cups fat-free milk
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-1/4 tsp table salt
-1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (reduced fat optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Toss florets in oil (and garlic if using) on a baking sheet (I prefer to mix in a sealed bag first). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until fork-tender and lightly browned, 25 minutes. Remove pan from oven and reduce to 350.

2. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, 2 to 4 minutes. Whisk in cream and cook 5 minutes.

3. Remove pan from heat and stir in 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and all but 2 Tbsp cheese. Stir over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.

4. Place cauliflower in an 8X8-in glass baking dish. Pour cheese sauce on top and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. cheese. Bake until sauce is bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes.

It’s official. Cantaloupes are in season (May to October). But I have to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with the fruit.

Why I love them? They are sweet and tasty, my kids love them and they are packed with nutrition. One cup of melon provides over 100% the Daily Value of both vitamins A and C. So if your kid doesn’t eat his vitamin-A rich greens, this is the fruit for you!

What I hate about them? It’s hard to figure out if they are ripe or not. Nothing is worse then opening one up to find it is hard and tastes horrible. The same is true when you buy one that is mushy and overripe.

So for the past year I’ve been a student of cantaloupe. I’ve studied them, talked to the produce guy and think I have finally figured out to how to pick a good one. Here are 3 steps that are helpful:

1. Check the color: When choosing cantaloupe you first want to pick it up and look at the color. The lighter the color the better — a niece beige color is good. You want to avoid ones that look too green. This pup was perfect.

2. Check for softness on the blossom end: Check this side of the melon and press with your thumbs. It should have some give, but not too much.

3. Smell it! Ripe cantaloupes should smell sweet but if it is too smelly, it could be overripe. Check for a fragrant melon but it shouldn’t be overwhelming.

But then comes the moment of truth. Did I get it right? Will my kids be happy or sad? Open it up and you’ll know instantly.

This one is a keeper!

Does your family eat cantaloupe? What other melons do you enjoy?

We made these one night my husband was gone — and the recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks SOS! The Six O’clock Scramble to the Rescue. I usually top homemade pizza with veggies but Big A is always asking for pepperoni. I like to show her that her food preferences matter to me (without catering of course). And it helped that the recipe called for pepperoni. Instead of taco size tortillas we used large whole grain ones and only made two.

Big A helped me prepare these. The recipe suggests serving it with fruit smoothies. Our blender broke so I served it with fresh fruit and carrot sticks. A big hit and super easy. So the next time you want homemade pizza and don’t have time to make dough, consider making tortilla pizzas!

Serves: 8

Ingredients:
-2 TBS olive oil
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-8 small to medium (soft-taco-size) whole wheat or four tortillas
-1/2 cup tomato-basil flavored pasta sauce
-1.5 cups reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese, or to taste
-4 ounces sliced pepperoni (traditional, turkey, or veggie), or toppings of your choice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the oil and garlic powder. Using a pastry brush, coat each tortilla with a thin layer of garlic oil. Spread a thin layer about (1 TBS) of sauce on each tortilla, and sprinkle them with cheese. Top them with pepperoni (or a very thin layer of toppings of your choice).

For a crispy crust, carefully transfer the tortilla pizzas directly to the oven rack and cook them for 3 to 4 minutes. For a softer crust, cook them on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray for 4 to 6 minutes (Meanwhile make the smoothies.) Remove the pizzas from the oven when the tortillas start to brown on the edges — watch them carefully so they don’t burn!

Side dish suggestion: To make Strawberry-banana smoothie, in a blender puree 2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, 2 ripe bananas, 1 cup orange juice and 1 cup nonfat vanilla or plain yogurt.