Pumpkin Spice Latte

Fall is in full force, which means it is officially pumpkin spice season! Here’s a simple recipe to make yourself at home.

Pumpkin Spice Latte (large batch)

Ingredients

• 1 can pumpkin
• 12 cups strong coffee (see directions)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Brew coffee – 1 cup of grounds for 12 cup water
2. Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl or crockpot. Using a hand blender, blend the pumpkin into the liquid to make a thicker, frothy consistency
3. Serve warm immediately
4. If you decide to store this for later, be sure to shake it well before serving as the spices and pumpkin will settle

 

Zucchini bread

I was searching my blog for a zucchini bread recipe and realized that in the last 10 years I’ve never once posted one! How is this possible?! I’ve been making zucchini bread for years and it’s such a staple for late summer produce. It turns out that every time I make a batch I just search for a new recipe. Well the buck stops here. I found a zucchini bread recipe that is tasty and easy. And relatively healthy.

Spiced Raisin Zucchini Bread

Modified from: butter with a side of bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour – I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup buckwheat and 1 cup all purpose
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 3 eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2+ cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350f and prepare two bread pans
2. Mix flours, salt, baking powder, soda, nutmeg and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat eggs, oil, yogurt, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth.
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until combined.
5. Add zucchini, nuts and raisins to the mixture until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Bake for 45 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. Enjoy!

 

Beet Pancakes

Recipe from: yummy kitchen

INGREDIENTS

•  1/2 medium beet, shredded with food processor
•  2/3 cup milk
•  1 large egg
•  1 tablespoon melted butter or coconut oil
•  1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  2/3 cup all purpose
•  1/3 cup quick oats
•  1 teaspoon baking powder
•  1 tablespoon white sugar
•  pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat a griddle to medium-low heat. Coat lightly with cooking spray or butter.
2. In a blender, puree beet with milk until no lumps remain. Add egg, oil, yogurt, and vanilla and blend just to combine.
3. Add flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, and salt on top. Pulse a few times or stir in with a spatula taking care not to over blend. Some lumps are good.
4. Spoon or pipe using a squeeze bottle onto griddle. When bubbles pop on the surface, flip and continue to cook until cooked through. Serve with butter, syrup, and berries. I like to eat my pancakes slathered with almond butter.

 

Homemade bread

We’ve been making homemade bread for years. Typically we would make it in the breadmaker, but since moving to Colorado we’ve noticed the  bread doesn’t turn out nearly as well since were baking at altitude. Jason searched for a number of bread recipes and after about half a dozen trials I think he’s come up with a winner.

Mile High Homemade Bread 

Makes 2 standard loaves

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 2 1/4 cup warm water (110-115F)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 1/4 cups bread flour 

Directions

1. Activate the yeast by adding it and the sugar to the warm water. Stir and let sit 5 minutes. 
2. Add the oil, salt and activated yeast to your stand mixer bowl with a dough blade. Add the flour and mix/knead  for 5 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can do this the old fashioned way in a bowl with your hands 🙂
3. Remove from bowl and place in a lightly oiled oil. Cover and place in a draft free location for 1 hr
4. Punch down and split in half. Place each half in a lightly oiled bread pan. 
5. Let rise 30-40 min until doubled in size. 
6. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

 

Fresh Asian Salad

Finally a short day! I have been on service for the past 8 weeks. That’s 560 hours of work in 8 weeks – basically what most people work in 16 weeks. Needless to say I wasn’t complaining when I got done at 3pm today. So, I figured I’d celebrate by hanging out with my little man Eli and make some fresh, delicious food. This salad was inspired by a recent post over at NaturallyElla.com.  Enjoy!

Fresh Asian Salad

(Inspired by Naturally Ella’s Carrot Spring Rolls)

 
Ingredients

• 1 small head of purple cabbage, shredded
• 6 medium carrots, shredded
• 1 small bunch of scallions, chopped
• 4 ounces rice noodles
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Tamari Soy Sauce
• 3 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup crushed cashews
• 1/8 cup sesame seeds

Directions

1. Shred the cabbage and carrots (I used a food processor and it took a whole 5 minutes). Add chopped scallions.
2. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Turn heat off and add 4 oz rice noodles. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Once finished, drain water and rinse with cold water. 
3. In a small bowl, add vinegar, oils, Tamari, garlic powder, and sugar. Whisk well. Pour over the vegetables and stir well. 
4. Add rice noodles, cashews, and sesame seeds to the vegetable mixture. Stir well. 
5. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve cooled. Enjoy!

 

Healthy Halloween Treats

It’s pretty hard to escape sugary treats for Halloween, but here are a few healthy and cute treats to try at home to balance your trick-or-treat indulgences:

Frankenstein Avocado Toast

Banana Ghost Pops

Deviled Eggs

Spooky Strawberries

Banana Monster Pops

Banana Ghosts and Clementine Pumpkins

Cheese Broomsticks

Clementine Jack-O-Lanterns

 

Creamy Fall Pasta with Squash, Onions, Kale, and Goat Cheese!

I know I’ve been MIA – per my usual routine of being really excited about blogging, followed by an overwhelming about of work to do, and ending with complete neglect. Well, I’m back. At least for this one post. I am on a lighter rotation right now and was able to make a more involved, delicious dinner last night that I’d felt I needed to share with the work. Eli agreed, this dinner was hands-down delicious! He was picky all day and wouldn’t eat anything but bananas (or nanas as he calls them now). I placed a bowl of this goodness in front of his screaming face and viola! he was silent. It was glorious.  The end result was one super happy (and messy) kid. I am looking forward to when he figures out how to effectively use his silverware; until then I’ll deal with the mess since that means he’s actually eating.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Onion, and Kale over Pasta with Spiced Goat Cheese White Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1/2 white onion
• 1 large bunch of curly kale
• 2 cups cooked pasta
• 2 cups 1% or skim milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp all spice
• 1/3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 4 ounces goat cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Peel butternut squash cut in 1/2 lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Cube squash and place in a sprayed cooking dish.
3. Dice the onion and kale. Add to the cooking dish.
4. Roast for 45 minutes, or until squash is fork-tender. Stir part-way through to prevent burning.
5. Create a slurry (white sauce) by adding 2 tbsp to 1 cup of milk. Whisk well to completely dissolve. Add the remaining flour and milk, whisking while adding. Pour into a sprayed frying pan (not heated yet!). Place the pan over medium heat and stir continuously with a rubber spatula to prevent sticking. Add spices while stirring. Continue to stir until the mixture just starts to bubble. Add the goat cheese and continue to stir until melted and fully incorporated.
6. Add pasta and roasted vegetable mixture to a pan. Pour white sauce over and stir completely. Enjoy!

 

Grown-Up Mac and Cheese

As a kid, J and I both loved macaroni and cheese. How were we to know that it wasn’t made with real cheese? Thankfully, we’ve come to see how much more amazing this childhood favorite can be. I’ve made a number of takes off macaroni and cheese before, but this is probably my favorite. We don’t plan to feed Eli the box mac and cheese, so we’re hoping something like this will be his favorite go-to childhood meal. Give it a try – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Grown-up Mac and Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1  medium red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups 1% or skim milk
• 5 ounces (1/2 package) of frozen spinach thawed or 1 bag of fresh spinach cooked down
• 8 ounces gruyere cheese
• 1.5 cups elbow macaroni (preferably whole grain)
• 1 pound cooked chicken, diced

Directions

1. Prepare pasta as directed on package; set aside to cool.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion, salt, and garlic. Cook down until soft. Add vinegar and cook for 1 more minute. Set aside.
3. Prepare the white sauce (slurry version)
   1. Pour 1/2 cup milk into a measuring cup. While whisking, slowly add flour, making sure none sticks to the bottom. Once fully incorporated, add remaining milk and whisk well.
   2. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and pour milk mixture into the room-temperature pan.
   3. Heat pan over medium-low heat, stirring continuously to prevent sticking.  Continue to heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Once slightly bubbling, allow to bubble while stirring for 3 minutes (this is the thickening stage) and then lower heat to low.
4. Add cheese to the white sauce and stir until fully melted. Add onion, chicken, spinach, and pasta; mix well until well incorporated.

 

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

It seems like one of the latest food makeovers is chocolate avocado pudding. I keep seeing it everyone I go online when I’m searching for recipes. Avocados have TONS of health benefits and they just happened to be on sale at Aldi’s this week for $0.68 each – basically a steal. I went early Sunday morning before the crowds, so I had a nice selection of ripe and unripe to choose from. I wasn’t sure how the pudding would turn out, but if it was tasty, we’d have a nice stockpile of avocados to choose from 🙂

I couldn’t find a recipe that was quite what I wanted, but made my own after looking at a few. The results – a.m.a.z.i.n.g. It doesn’t taste a thing like avocado (if you can say avocado really has a taste). Just like straight-up whole milk, dark chocolate pudding. It was so rich and creamy! Since there isn’t added sugar, I didn’t feel bad letting Eli lick the bowl with me. He was begging for more when we finished up.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup dates or dried fruit puree (I used sunsweet lighter bake)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup water (based on your desired consistency)
• Slivered almonds, crushed peanuts, or fresh berries for toppings

Directions

1. Peel avocados and remove pits. Place in food processor.
2. Add remaining ingredients to food processor, except water. Process until smooth (about 2 minutes)
3. Add water to thin to desired consistency. Remember it will thicken a bit when chilled.
4. Pour into a large glass bowl for storage or individual serving bowls. Chill for at least an hour.

 

Infant Iron Muffins

Eli enjoying his iron muffins with grapefruit (citrus increases iron absorption!)

As I’ve mentioned before, I started Eli on a hybrid of BLW. I have a little issue with messes, so baby cereal wasn’t really on my radar for a BLW item. While he was getting some red meat and spinach, his iron intake was pretty minimal. I am breastfeeding, so by 6 months he really needed an iron supplement. I did introduce some spoon-fed iron-fortified cereal, but there were so many other real foods I wanted to give him, that I decided to get him an iron supplement. Well, until he tried the supplement – and proceeded to vomit it everywhere (and stain his cute PJs). So, back to the iron cereal, right? Wrong. Turns out I can’t make it thick enough for him anymore – if it’s thin, he gets mad he can’t chew it and just plays with it in his mouth, spitting out most of it. And he’s started to grab the spoon to feed himself. Which works great when something solid is on the spoon, but not so great when it’s a runny mess. But then it hit me – make infant cereal muffins. I did a little search and there are a few people out there who have done it already, but none of them put iron supplement in theirs. I asked an RD friend who confirmed I could cook with the supplement, so I was set. The end result – nothing you’d buy in the store, but perfect for Eli. It was bland (which is what you want for infants) and had a strange greenish-brown color, but it didn’t taste much like iron and he loves them. I put them in mini muffin tins, so he is able to handle the whole muffin all by himself. Each one has about 75% of his daily iron needs, so I’m satisfied with not having to force feed him any other iron supplements. I kept 5 out for the week and froze the rest, with the plan of just taking them out when I need them.

 Baby Iron Muffins
Makes about 30 mini muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup baby cereal (I used happy bellies multigrain)
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 15oz-can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
• 15ml liquid iron supplement

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray
2. Mix cereal oats, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.
3. Cream butter and eggs in a large bowl. Mix in pumpkin, applesauce  and iron supplement together. Fold in dry ingredients.
4. Spoon batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges are pulling away.

Notes
– I noticed that these took awhile for the center to be completely done. Be sure the tooth pick comes out clean! If you used instant oats instead of old fashioned you might have better luck – let me know if you try this!

– Technically babies aren’t supposed to have eggs until 1 year – use at your own risk.