Oatmeal Pancakes

Whew...it has been a while since I have been able to post!  We had a third baby and my husband had to leave town for 8 weeks for work.  Translation:  Life has been crazy!  BUT...I am back and Epicutie Juliette will be reviewing recipes soon!

I am nursing so I am always on the prowl for recipes with oatmeal!  This recipe was inspired by a cooking light recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 ounces all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nonfat buttermilk (we use almond milk for dairy free)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (we use canola oil for dairy free)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• Cooking spray

Steps:
1.  Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.
2. Combine milk, butter/oil, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl.

3.  Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

4. Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon about 2 1/2 tablespoons batter per pancake onto griddle.

5.  Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles; cook until bottoms are lightly browned.

Serve:  serve warm with pure maple syrup and fresh berries. 

Difficulty:  1 out of 5; quick prep!

Tips:  combine dry ingredients the night before to save time in the morning. Another idea, double the recipe and freeze half for a last minute breakfast another day'

Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions)

Little Joy:  yummy in the tummy

Little Asher:  yummy in the tummy

Mommy and Daddy:  love this!  Healthy, quick and helped the milk supply too!

Dairy Free Mexican Pizza

I got my inspiration for this dairy free pizza from godairyfree.com. The original recipe called for olives and we DO NOT like olives but I liked the base recipe so away we went!

Ingredients:

Avocado Cream Sauce:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/3 to ½ cup Dairy Free Plain Greek Style Cultured Almond Milk (Yogurt)
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Mexican Pizza:

• 1 ball pre-made dairy-free pizza dough (I made mine in my bread machine)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced thin
• 3 green onions, diced
• ½ lb ground meat of choice, browned
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons non dairy Parmesan 
• ½ cup dairy-free Monzerella cheese 

Steps:

For the Avocado Cream Sauce:

1. Pit the avocado and scoop the flesh into a food processor.
2. Add all other ingredients and process until completely smooth.

For the Mexican Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Stretch the dough onto a pizza pan or cookie sheet and brush with olive oil.
3. Spread the avocado mixture onto the dough leaving about ½” border around the edge.
4. Evenly sprinkle on the remaining ingredients, adding cheese last. 
5. Bake the pizza until the crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
6. Cut into slices and serve with your favorite hot sauce or salsa

Difficulty: 3 out of 5; I only give it this high for difficulty because i homemade the dough. Store bought dough would give this a 2!

Yield: 6 people

Serve:  We served with salad and fruit to our 2 and 4 year old.

Tips/misc:  if you do not care about dairy free there's a few substitutions you can make....

• dairy free yogurt = sour cream
• dairy free mozzarella = mozzarella 
• dairy free Parmesan = grated Parmesan 

Another tip, chop and brown the meat earlier in the day when your kids are napping or occupied versus waiting for the dinner rush to do everything 

Timing:  12 months. It's pizza and there's lots of seasonings going on here. Chopped small I think 12 months is fine!

Epicutie Rating: 

• Little Joy: YUMMY IN THE TUMMY she's our adventerous eater. Give her a new food and she's all over it! She ate three small slices 
• Little Asher:  Somewhat Yummy he is the skeptic. He ate his slowly and liked it enough to eat it without too much encouragement. He pulled everything apart and ate it like that. 
• Mommy and Daddy: Oh man. I love this!  It wasn't heavy like traditional pizza but made me feel like I was eating regular pizza!  This is on my short list. 

Crust with sauce

Pre Baking

Post Baking

Fruit, salad and pizza

Little Joy

Little Joy Digging in!

Thumbs Up Approval!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

This recipe was inspired by a Parents Magazine recipe.  The original one had chunks of butternut squash whereas mine has puree; it saves me time just having purees already made vs having to cook the chunks of squash when I make this.  That is how this recipe was born....

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butternut squash puree (less if you want the squash taste less pronounced)
• 1/2 lb elbow noodles of your choice
• 2 tablespoons butter (we used butter alternative to decrease the dairy amount in here for dairy intolerant Little Asher)
• 2 tablespoon flour or tapioca flour
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk (or reduced fat milk or other milk alternative)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• dash of salt
• dash of white pepper
• 1 3/4 cups cheese (I used a mixture of part skim mozzarella and reduced fat cheddar--the high fat content is what bothers lactose intolerant folks; If I could do what I wanted I would use WHITE CHEDDAR)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a medium casserole dish.
3. Cook the elbow noodles 2 minutes less than the box says.  Drain and place in a large bowl.
4. Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat.
5. Whisk in flour and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Slowly whisk in milk.  Bring mixture to a boil, add nutmeg, salt and pepper, then simmer.  Cook for 3 minutes; stirring occasionally making sure the lumps mix out.
7. Add cheese and squash and stir until cheese is melted.
8. Stir cheese sauce into pasta and transfer to greased casserole dish.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

NOTE:  You can top this with turkey bacon crumbles or buttered crumbled wheat crackers or more cheese.  Get creative.  This time I tried buttered crumbed wheat crackers and it added a nice texture/

Difficulty:  2 out of 5; with the puree already made this was easy peasy!  I made it about an hour before I wanted to bake it, covered it in the oven and when it was almost time to eat I took the lid off and baked.  You could also make this during nap time or in the morning and refrigerate until ready to bake.  Increase the bake time if you refrigerate.

Timing:  I would give this to mine as early as 9 months depending on their chewing abilities.  Mine love finger foods so 9 months is good for mine---otherwise around 12 months is perfect!

Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions):

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the tummy!  She loved the crunch--she's my one with a bit of a mature pallete.  She likes lots of flavors like her mommy.
• Little Asher: Yummy in the tummy!  He does not have mac and cheese much because it is too much dairy but since there is not as much dairy to pasta with the squash in there, it is quite a treat!  He gobbled up two hardy helpings.

Step 6: Whisk in milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper with butter and flour

My Squash Puree

Noodles awaiting sauce

Shredded cheeses

Step 7:  Add cheese and squash to milk mixture

Before adding a topping

Topping added

YUMMMM

And its done!

Served with ham and steamed peas

Little Asher going in...

Hows it taste?

"MMMMM"

"Watch me mommy" says Little Joy

And all she says is CHEESE after it

Vegetable Fried Rice

This recipe is inspired by a skinnytaste.com recipe!  If your toddler or preschooler has not tried their hand at chop sitcks, grab some for the family to enjoy this meal.  My epicuties gobble this up and I think its partly because of the fun utencils!

Ingredients

• 3 cups leftover cooked brown rice (or any other rice or quinoa)
• 2 eggs, scrambled (or 2 egg whites, and 1 whole egg scrambled )
• 1 tbsp oil of your choice (coconut, olive, etc)
• 2 tsp splashes sesame oil (optional)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced 
• 5 scallions, chopped, whites and greens separated
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• cooking spray
• 1 cup ready-to-eat shelled edamame
• 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce, tamari for gluten free (or more to taste)
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Steps

1. Make your rice (I made mine in the rice cooker the morning we wanted to eat this and refrigerated it until I was ready to use it)
3. Whisk eggs season with salt and pepper. In a hot wok/large pan, spray a little oil and cook the eggs. When cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
4. On medium high heat. Add oils and cook onions, bell pepper, scallion whites, and garlic.  I cooked until soft to be more palatable for my little ones, but if you want extra crunch then cook 60 seconds on high heat
5. Add carrots and cook for an additional 2-4 minutes (again less if you want it extra crunchy).
6. Add brown rice/grain and stir well a few minutes to heat through.
7. Add cooked egg along with soy sauce, scallion greens and edamame, mixing well for about 3-4 minutes.  Add more soy sauce if you want
8. ENJOY!

Yield:  Approximately 6 one cup servings....we ate most of it.  It went down easy!

Difficulty:  2 out of 5; most of this could be prepped to cook when you littles are napping or occupied and then when it is time to eat it would be a breeze!\

Timing:  1 year; it would be a mess, but if I had made this when mine were younger I would have given it as young as one.  I would avoid the edamame or cut them in half for younger toddlers.  Babe three that is baking will have it sooner than my older two.

Allergies:  This has soy AND egg so be sure you watch this food if its one of the first time your littles has eaten these ingredients.

Epicutie Ratings:

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy-She scafed this down a long with a side of turkey sausage.  She looooves to use the chopsticks
• Little Asher:  Somewhat Yummy-He ate his whole bowl but you could tell he liked it but not LOVED it.  He was not as into the edamame this time as he was last time.

Overall, this was a hit...we will be making it more often!

With turkey sausage

Little Joy

He actually got good at it but we were in a hurry to finish dinner and head to Awanas so I could not keep stopping to record!

Kale Chips

 This recipe is so fun! And its cheap, quick and easy.  I spent approximately 98 cents on this huge bunch of kale. These are a pretty tasty way to get some green into your kids, and are a great replacement for potato chips.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale
• olive oil to taste (I used a generous 2 tablespoons)

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a little bit goes a long way but add more to taste

Steps:

1. Separate leaves from the thick kale stems and break into small pieces. I saved the stems for our compost pile (more on that later!).
2. Pour tablespoon of olive oil over kale and toss to coat.  Add oil 1 teaspoon at a time until you feel that it is properly coated. Sprinkle with salt to taste.
3. Spread leaves on a baking sheet.  You can line it with wax paper if you want to.
4. Bake at 350^oF for 10 minutes.  Remove baking sheet and flip kale.  Bake for an additional 10-12 minutes until leaves are crispy.
5. Serve and eat right away!

Timing: 1 year, if crispy, 18 months if they are not 100% crispy.  It might require more teeth and more chewing!
Difficulty: 1 out of 5, super easy, super quick!
Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions):

• Little Frances is not so sure she likes it… yet! Little Frances initially seemed very into these, especially when I told her they were chips, however I think that I over salted them.  Next time I am going to try them with less salt and maybe a few other seasonings. I think that they would be fun with a little bit of parmesan cheese too!  I thought that they were pretty tasty myself… I am going to work on a salt and vinegar version, yum yum.
• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy; she asked for a pile of them
• Little Asher: Confused; he tried very hard to like it but after four bites, he was done.  If at first you do not succeed, try again!

What flavors do you think would make for tasty kale chips?

Chicken Avocado Quesadilla

 Since avocados have been on sale, this has become a regular at my house lately--and no one is complaining! We eat this for lunch or dinner!

Ingredients

• 1 Cooked chicken breast (I throw a chicken breast in my steamer)
• 1 avocado, sliced thinly
• Shredded cheese (montery jack, monzerlla, Go Veggie! lactose free cheese--to make it dairy free)
• Butter (Earth Balance Lactose Free butter alternative to make it dairy free)
• Whole wheat tortillas
• Lime
• Salt
• Pepper

Steps

1. Preheat a griddle to 225-250 degrees.
2. Shred chicken.
3. Toss shredded chicken with a couple squeezes of lime, dash of pepper and dash of salt (optional).
4. On one half of the tortilla, place a few thinly sliced avocado pieces (I actually mash it up and spread it on the tortilla for Little Asher who is texture sensitive), some shredded chicken and a little shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla in half.
5. Put a thin layer of butter on the outside of both outside sides of the tortilla (I omit this on my quesadilla).
6. Cook on griddle until both sides are browned.
7. Allow to cool slightly and slice into triangles.

Miscellaneous: We usually eat this with crock pot vegetarian black beans (this recipe is next in the line up and I will link to it when available).

Tip:  Make the chicken ahead and put it in the fridge so that when it is time for dinner all you have to do is assemble and grill--easy!

Yield: Depends on how much chicken you use, but when we do one large chicken breast it feeds my family of four...which is about 6 quesadilla

Timing:  9-12 Months depending on your little ones ability to chew and grind and the number of teeth.  Little Asher was able to handle this cut up very small around 10 months and I would imagine Little Joy would have been around the same age had I tried it back then.

Difficulty: 2 out of 5; this is easy and can be partly made ahead.  Very few things get a 1 on difficulty from me; I reserve that for things I can do in my sleep!

Epicutie Rating (See left side of page for rating descriptions):
Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy; there is never a bit left of first helpings of this dish.  When she sees the griddle come out her exact words are "Is it pancakes or quesadilla??!  They are my favorite in the whole wide world!" LOL!
Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy; he usually finishes his before my husband and I finish ours!

Veggie Frittatas

 Easy, delicious and good for you!!!!

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray or preferably silicone cupcakes liners
• 4 eggs
• 3-4 tablespoons milk (eye ball it)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup your favorite cheese, shredded or cheese blend (I have done part skim mozzarella  cheddar, cheddar/Parmesan combo, colby, etc)
• 4 whole sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil and chopped
• 1/3 cup green pepper, chopped

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Spray muffin tin with spray or line with silicon liners
3. In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk and salt.
4. Optional:  Place bell peppers in a small bowl with water, cover and microwave for one minute to soften the peppers.  My Little Asher does not prefer the pepper crunch and I do not min accommodating.
5. Add peppers, tomatoes and cheese to egg mixture--stir to combine.
6. Distribute mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups.
7. Bake at 375 for 14 minutes.

ALLERGY ALERT:  EGGS

Timing:  One year due to eggs.

Storage:  In the fridge for 2 days.  Microwave well to reheat.

Difficulty: 1 out of 5; Honestly the hardest part is chopping and the chopping is minimal here.  This is fast breakfast or even a breakfast for dinner option! 

Nutrition:  (using part skim mozzarella, per frittata) 36 calories; 3 g protein; 2 g fat

Tip:  The silicone liners are a HUGE time savor.  They make clean up fast and serving them even easier.  If you do not have any, its a great kitchen "gadget" for not much money.

Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions):

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy;  She liked these even better the second time I made them--she ate three along with a pancake!
• Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy;  The first time we served this we only had the  frittatas and fruit and he ate like four of them.  The second time we served them we had pancakes with it since it was breakfast with dinner and he put up a fight because he wanted pancakes.  He is the strong willed one. He still loved it though, just wanted to let us know he wanted pancakes MORE--who doesnt?

Mixture

Before baking

Done!

Done!

YUMM!

WHAT IS THIS??

Pumpkin Ravioli

Pasta is always easy and fun for toddlers, so it's always on my short list. This recipe comes from Double Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. Since the cheese is cooked and part skim we decided to try it on Little Asher, no horrible reactions just some lower stomach issues.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz) can white kidney beans; drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup part skim ricotta
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3/4 garlic powder
• dash of salt
• 1 egg
• 72 wonton papers
• cornstarch
• Your favorite marinara sauce microwaved until warm

Steps:

1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Place beans, pumpkin, ricotta, Parmesan and garlic in a food processor and purée until smooth.
3. In a small bowl beat the egg with a tablespoon of water.
4. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornstarch.
5. Set wonton papers on a cutting board. Place one tablespoon of the pumpkin mixture into the center of the wrapper. Brush the edges with the egg wash. Top off with another wonton paper. Press firmly together.
6. Place the ravioli on the baking sheet. When all the ravioli is ready, carefully place them in the lightly boiling water using a slotted spoon.
7. As soon as the rise to the top of the pot, about five minutes, they are done. Divide among 6 bowls and top with marinara sauce. Serve immediately.

Tip: Next time I make these I will use ONE wonton paper and half the filling to make the ravioli smaller and easier for toddlers to pick up. I will fold the wonton paper in half vs using two papers per ravioli.

Storage: After cooking, 3-5 days in the fridge. I recommend refrigerating IN the sauce. I froze some uncooked ravioli a for quick meal in the future.

Timing: 10 months; super easy to chew!

Difficulty: 4 out of 5; It's only high on the difficulty scale because filling the ravioli is time consuming and once out start making this recipe you can't really stop for long.

Epicutie Rating: (see left side of page for descriptions)

• Little Asher: Yummy In The Tummy; holy gobble fest!!!!! After I cut I the ravioli he devoured three!
• Little Joy: Yummy In The Tummy; Little Joy quickly ate two ravioli without prompting. She even loved it left over. Little Asher wasn't as big a fan of the left over version :)
• Kelly: love it!!!!!!

Ready to serve

Cutting her first bit; this was a messy food---bib required this time!

Trying it!

"HMMM Mommy!"

I didnt get his first reaction but as soon as I took Little Joys picture---look how much he had eaten!

MORE!!!