Eggs Over Barley

In conjunction with Penny Pinching Parent, we're trying out a new series on Itty Bitty Bistro: Itty Bitty Budget! I'm working up some recipes that are kid-friendly and achieve maximum nutrition on minimum budget. Check out the post at Penny Pinching Parent to see the pricing breakdown!

Eggs are a great, cheap protein - and my favorite way to stretch any protein is by combining it with a whole grain. For kids who like rice, barley is a nice change of pace - and it provides a good source of fiber, B-vitamins, and minerals. The onion is too often overlooked as a veggie - it's full of antioxidants, fiber, folate, and even vitamin C!

Eggs Over Barley

(sigh... that really doesn't photograph well!)

1 cup pearled barley, rinsed
4 cups water
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper
6 eggs

In a medium pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Stir in the barley and bring back to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes - until barley is tender. Drain excess water.

While the barley is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to low-medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until onions are soft and slightly caramelized. Whisk eggs in a small bowl; add to hot skillet. Cook, stirring to scramble, until eggs are cooked, about 5 minutes.

Serve barley topped with the eggs, accompanied by a crisp green salad.

If you like the combination of eggs and caramelized onion, try Cheese, Egg, and Caramelized Onion Quesadillas - they have become one of our go-to quick and easy dinners!

Maple Banana Oat Muffins

Life as MOM has launched a new blog: Good (& Cheap) Eats. When she posted these Maple Banana Oat Muffins the other day, I knew I had to try them. For one, I am a sucker for streusel topping. For another, I'm a sucker for muffins - they are my favorite snack to have on hand for the girls. They're portable, they hide fruit (or veggies) easily, and the girls never turn them down. I had one very ripe banana, so I only made a half batch - but these are delicious!

Maple Banana Oat Muffins

The maple flavoring combines with something, I'm not sure what, but they have this wonderful buttery flavor, and frankly taste like I'm eating a pancake loaded with butter and syrup. And that is a very good thing!

Apricot-Strawberry Cobbler

I have just spent the last two weeks gorging myself on cake for Lizzy's various birthday parties... I am practically bleeding buttercream frosting. Now it's time for me to start making some real food and blogging about it again! Celeste is on vacation for a few weeks, so bear with me as I fly solo!

After an onslaught of naughty desserts, it's time for us to have some healthier treats in the house again. I'm digging apricots right now, so I made up these little cobblers!

Apricot-Strawberry Cobblers

Filling:
8 apricots, pitted and chopped
1-2 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped
1/4 cup pomegranate juice (or, water)
2 Tbsp agave nectar
2 tsp corn starch

Topping:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp demerera sugar (like Sugar in the Raw)
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup plain fat-free (or low-fat) yogurt (tip: the yogurt part of a fruit on the bottom yogurt cup should be just about 1/3 cup!)
2 egg whites


Preheat oven to 400F. In a large saucepan, whisk together the pom juice, agave nectar, and cornstarch. Add the fruit, stirring to coat. Cook over low-medium heat for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and bubbly and the fruit is softened. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flours, baking powder, sugar, and flax meal. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. Stir in the yogurt and egg whites until just moistened.

Divide the hot fruit between 6 ramekins. Divide the topping between the 6 ramekins. Bake on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit topping comes out clean. Best served with a scoop of ice cream!

Frozen Prosciutto Pizza

Last week I had some leftovers from the Toddler Gourmet dinner date so I decided to put them to good use for another toddler creation.

Frozen Prosciutto Pizza
(makes 4 pizzas)

Ingredients:
Super Easy Pizza Dough
1 large tomato, diced
1-1/2c. fresh broccoli, steamed and chopped
3 slices prosciutto, fried to crispy and chopped
1c. shredded mozzarella
1/2c. shredded parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Shape dough into toddler sized individual pizza crusts.
3. Parbake the crusts for 5 minutes on a cookie sheet. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
4. Top each crust evenly with the remaining ingredients.
5. Wrap each pizza in plastic wrap and then put in a freezer safe bag or wrap in aluminum foil. Freeze until ready to use.

To reheat: Unwrap pizza and place directly on oven rack or on pizza stone. Bake at 500 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

"Catching a Rainbow" Dinner Date

Back when the 5-a-Day program was still in vogue, one of its themes was to "Catch a Rainbow Every Day". So cute! A few weeks ago, I bought an erasable whiteboard and a rainbow of dry erase markers, and now every day Abby and I draw our fruits and vegetables as we eat them. I tell Abby that we want to try to eat a rainbow every day to help us be big and strong. The motivation to draw works really well, and Abby has eaten a rainbow most days since!

Now, I'm not too picky about having both a blue and a purple, and I'll let yellow slide if we have plenty of orange, but we always aim for a red, an orange, a green, a blue or purple, and a white. Here's how the board looks at the end of a typical day (clearly, I let Abby draw her own foods on this!) (and if you're laughing at my random red-green blob... it's supposed to be a mango.)

I found some other cute ideas on encouraging children to "eat a rainbow" at Preschoolrock.com. They have a lot of other fun stuff in their nutrition section, so poke around! And of course, the 5-a-Day program is outdated now, but the Fruits and Veggies Matter site has some useful information and tips, too.

Hidden Rainbow Pizza

(this is probably the worst "food" picture I've ever taken. It tasted way better than this looks)

Super-Easy Pizza Dough (I made a double batch and then froze half of the pizzas for future yum!)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup baby carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
oregano, salt, and pepper
1-2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 jar of your favorite marinara (or 2-3 cups of homemade marinara)
Cheddar cheese

Prepare the pizza dough. Prepare the sauce during the second rise (when the dough balls are resting for 30 minutes):

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add all vegetables and garlic to the pan. Season with dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes - until the carrots and onions are tender, but before the zucchini and yellow squash get too squishy. Remove from heat and stir in the baby spinach.


Dump vegetables into a blender. Add about 2 cups of marinara sauce and blend until smooth, adding more marinara as needed to achieve a smooth texture.

Preheat oven to 450F. Form the dough balls into pizza rounds. Top each round with some sauce and ample cheddar cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the pizza crust is golden and the cheese is melted.


This pizza is all about the hidden vegetables - I am a fan of hiding vegetables for a picky eater, but alongside the pizza, we also served some cut-up, colorful, raw veggies. Abby only ate the carrots, and Neko stuck to just the carrots and tomatoes, but at least the veggies were offered!

Fruity Brownie Pizza

I could eat this entire thing by myself. And I almost did.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 oz white chocolate
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 banana
1/2 packet of acai pulp (available in the freezer section - leave it out if you can't find it, but I wanted a purple!)
a rainbow of chopped up fruit (we used cherries, strawberries, mango, and blueberries - I wish I had bought some kiwi or green grapes!)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously coat a 9-inch round cake pan with non-stick spray.

In a small bowl, combine butter and white chocolate. Microwave in 30 second intervals, whisking well in between, until melted. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Whisk in the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate-butter mixture. With a spoon, stir in the flour until just combined.

Smooth the batter into the cake pan. Bake for about 25 minutes, until set in the center. Let cool.

When cool, mash the banana well with a fork. Stir in the acai pulp (only as much as you need to make it smooth and not too runny). Spread the banana-acai mixture on as the "sauce". Top with chopped fruit. If you're feeling nice, serve it to your family. Otherwise, go hide in a closet with a fork and the brownie cake!

Here's the board for the girls' dinners - a whole rainbow, tucked in their tummies!


... and I have no idea what an acai berry looks like.

Toddler Gourmet Dinner Date!!

After my MomDonalds flop my ego needed a dinner that was CERTAIN to produce "Mmmms" and "Yummy!'s" I decided to take some classic toddler favorites-mac and cheese, peas and jello and fancy them up a bit. Everything DID go over well but honestly I got the same sort of "Mmmms" and "Yummy!'s" than mac and cheese normally produce so...whatever... ;o)

4 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese Cupcakes
(serves many...honestly maybe 10...great leftovers though!)

Ingredients:
1 package whole wheat elbow macaroni
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2c. milk
1c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2c. mozzarella, shredded
1/2c. gruyere, shredded
1c. italian bread crumbs
3/4 c. parmesan cheese, shredded
cupcake liners (I only had Halloween ones)

Instructions:
1. Prepare macaroni according to package directions. Rinse and drain.
2. In a large saute pan melt the butter over med. heat.
3. When melted, add flour, stirring constantly for about 1 minute creating a roux.
4. Whisk in milk, cook for 3 minutes (stirring constantly).
5. Add the cheeses and stir until smooth.
6. Add the macaroni and gently stir until the pasta is well coated with the cheese.
7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
8. Line a muffin pan with the cupcake liners. Spray the liners with a non-stick cooking spray.
9. Fill each liner 3/4 full with macaroni and cheese.
10. In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs and pamesan cheese.
11. Top each "cupcake" with the bread crumb/cheese mixture.
12. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Serve!

Prosciutto Peas
(serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 package frozen peas
2 slices prosciutto

Instructions:
1. Prepare peas according to package directions.
2. In a med. saute pan cook the prosciutto over med-high heat until crispy.
3. Remove the prosciutto from the pan and cut into small pieces.
4. Return the prosciutto to the pan (leave the drippings in) and add the peas. Gently toss to get the prosciutto goodness all over the peas. Serve! Mmmm.

Juice Box Jello
(serves 4)

I only called this "juice box" jello because I didn't but enough juice to make it and had to use juice box juice instead!

Ingredients:
2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
1/2c. room temperature fruit juice

3c. hot fruit juice (I used Acai berry and apple/pear)
1c. diced fruit (I used bananas, strawberries and blueberries)
1/2c. mini marshmallows (Whole Foods sells a non-HFC variety and they are GOOD)

Instructions:
1. In a medium sized mixing bowl sprinkle the gelatin over the room temperature juice. Let rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add the hot fruit juice and stir until the gelatin crystals are well dissolved.
3. Refridgerate for 45 minutes and then add the fruit and marshmallows.
4. Refridgerate for an additional hour and a half. Serve!

Homemade Food Dyes

In two weeks, my baby will turn one year old (sniff!). We already have three (maybe four) different little parties planned for her - meaning three (maybe four) different cakes for me to make. This presents a small problem for me: my aesthetic desire to make cute cakes for my daughter is bumping against my vehement refusal to use any artificial dyes.

We cut artificial dyes out of our diet a few months ago, to see if it would help with Abby's behavior. The difference has been dramatic - she still has her moods and her tantrums (she is 3 1/2, after all!), but the tantrums are not endless, she can find her way out of them, and she engages more with other people. Frankly, I even notice a difference in myself - the last time I had something with dye in it, I was so irritable and crabby the rest of the day and could not get out of my funk. It took me until that night to make the connection - I threw out the rest of the dyed stuff in the house that day.

So with two weeks to go, I decided to try out some natural alternatives today. I've bought the India Tree dyes, but dang, they are expensive - $19 for three small bottles of dye! Sometimes they will be necessary, but I wanted to try a home-brewed alternative. I was fairly pleased with the result:


Clockwise from the top, the food I used to dye was: turmeric + beet juice, turmeric, pomegranate juice, paprika, blueberry juice, beet juice, and avocado in the middle.

I made a big batch of my favorite buttercream frosting (the Cook's Illustrated recipe - 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, 2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, 2 Tbsp of heavy cream, a splash of vanilla, and a pinch of salt) and added some dyes. My thoughts:

The spices (turmeric, paprika) added the most easily, but leave a hint of their flavor behind. Not as badly as I thought they would, and I would definitely not hesitate to make yellow or light orange this way.

The juices (blueberry juice, beet juice, pomegranate juice) yield the best tasting frosting, but their sheer liquidity is a problem. I had to stir in a lot of extra sugar to compensate for the liquid, and they are still separating a little. For a "real" cake, I would probably try my hand blender to really emulsify the liquid in.

The avocado actually works well, but tastes avocado-y. I should have pureed the avocado better before adding it in. It is a nice green, and I would probably just stick to using it for accents, like flower petals, rather than trying a whole green cake/cupcake.

No blue - I thought the blueberry juice would be closer to blue or purple, but it's really just magenta. I Googled and found some people use red cabbage or onion skins, but... ew. I can't imagine frosting my cake with water that cabbage was boiled in. If I'm desperate to make something blue, I'll use my India Tree dye.

Forewarned is forearmed, and now I have some better ideas for cakes for Lizzy - clearly, nothing bright red is going to happen, but I think some beautiful sunflowers (piped around chocolate cookies) may be in our future.

(Interested in the controversy around red dye #40? Red Dye Free has a great list of links along the side bar. If you suspect your child may react to dye, try cutting it out. It's made a big difference for us.)

Summer Favorites Dinner Date

Why yes, I am still alive! Lizzy had a raging virus for most of the last week, which put a complete damper on my cooking. But I pulled it back together for dinner date last night! The original theme was going to be more centered on grilling, so naturally, it was 50 degrees and raining yesterday. Summertime in New England!

I worked with two of my favorite things to have in the summer - burgers and lemon squares. I've been making my own hamburger buns for a while now, on nights when I have the time to plan ahead, and they are such a treat - it's hard to go back to store-bought burger buns! If you have a bread machine, you have to try these. (If you don't have a bread machine, you need one!) I love lemon squares, but Abby hates how gooey and messy they are, and my traditional recipe is loaded with sugar. So I made lemon blondies - lower sugar, less messy, but still with a nice lemon flavor.

I simply must give a shout-out to LaDue & Crew's Pomegranate Sangria. Drooooool. I made a batch for the mommies last night and it was fabulous. I subbed in 2 cups of Diet Sprite for the white semi-sparkling wine both to cut down on calories and alcohol content. Celeste and I thoroughly enjoyed it - if you like sangria even a little try it out!

Zesty Turkey Burgers on Homemade Burger Buns

Zesty Turkey Burgers

I've been making these for years - there's nothing easier, and they're full of flavor

1 lb ground turkey
1-2 Tbsp prepared horseradish
1-2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Mush the turkey, horseradish, and mustard together. Form into patties and grill. Easy!

Homemade Burger Buns

1 1/4 cups water
1 egg
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp instant potato flakes
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
2 Tbsp wheat bran
1 Tbsp gluten
2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast (or rapid rise yeast)

Place ingredients in the pan according to your bread machine's instructions. Program for the Dough cycle.

When the cycle is complete, turn the dough onto a clean work surface. For normal-size burger or hot dog buns, divide the dough into 12 equal portions (you can subdivide some of those portions to make little slider buns for kids). Flatten a portion out into a rough circle:

(dividing and flattening)

Next, pinch the edges of the circle into the center, like so:


It will end up like this:


Place the roll pinched-seams side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with all of the dough balls. You can also make hot dog rolls - make your dough ball into a long oval and tightly roll from a long end, like this:


Cover the buns with clean tea towels and let rest for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375F; bake the buns for 15-20 minutes, until golden and lightly browned.

These buns freeze really well and are delicious with butter and jelly for breakfast, too! Mine never ever ever turn out really pretty and perfect (especially my hot dog buns, they always look uneven), but that's the charm of homemade buns :-)

Lemon Blondies

(the big girls were a little excited for dessert...)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
zest from 2 lemons
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8" square pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, and salt.

Melt the butter in a large glass bowl - set aside to cool slightly. In a food processor, process the sugar and lemon zest together until the zest is well-chopped and the sugar smells lemony. Stir the sugar-zest into the melted butter until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the lemon juice and the egg. Stir the flour mixture in until just combined.

Spread batter in the prepared pan. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the blondies are set in the center.

"MomDonalds" Dinner Date

So tonight I decided to try a fake-them-out "MomDonald's" Happy Meal. I even made up some bags to serve them it--toy prize and all! They liked the idea of it (and loved the toys) but were not going to be fooled by the food. Well darn them! It was fun to try anyway. ;o) I also used this dinner date to showcase our food of the week-berries!

(at least they had fun)

Blueberry Fontina Sliders
(serves 2 adults and 2 toddlers)

Ingredients:
1 lb. 94/6 (or 80/20) ground beef
1/2 pint of fresh blueberries
1/2 tsp. herbs de provence
3 slices of fontina cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Slider buns (Pepperidge Farms just came out with some that are HFC free!)
olive oil

1. In a blender, puree the blueberries until smooth
2. In a medium bowl combine the beef, berries, herbs de provence, salt and pepper
3. Using your hands, form slider sized patties.
4. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the burgers to the pan and cook on both sides until desired doneness (ours were med-well).
5. In the last minute of cooking top each slider with a small piece of the fontina cheese
6. Serve on the slider buns. (I also wrapped them up in parchment paper fast food style.)

These were really good. The girls weren't impressed honestly but I think that had more to do with overall disappointment at it not actually being from the 'real' golden arches. Kara and I thought they were really good. The blueberries made what could have been drier/less flavorful burgers (due to the 94/6 ground beef) juicy and flavorful. I served them with carrot and zucchini sticks cut to french fry size with some ranch dressing for dipping. Again...non-plussed.

Blackberry Mango Smoothies
(serves 2)

Ingredients:
8oz. Ceres mango juice
4oz. vanilla soymilk
1/2 pint fresh blackberries
1/2 c. frozen mango

1. Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Serve!

Here's a little video to show the reaction to this meal. You can see the initial excitement shortly followed by disappointment. Be sure to watch Abby's reaction to the smoothie and her realization that her french fries were swapped out for veggies. Priceless.

Maple Sour Cream Strawberry Pies
(serves 6)

Ingredients:
2 frozen or refrigerated pie crusts
1 pint fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 egg white

1. Roll out the crusts and cut into rectangles
2. In a small bowl, combine the strawberries, sour cream and maple syrup
3. Top one half of each rectangle with a scoop of the strawberry mixture.
4. Brush egg white along the outside edge of the rectangle. Fold it in half and pinch the sides closed with a fork. Cut a couple slits in the top.
5. Brush the tops of the individual pies with more egg whites
6. Bake on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve!

These were the all around hit of the night. So easy, good ingredients and oh so yummy.

Just for fun...the toy prizes in action...

I hope you all have a nice Memorial Day!

Baked Berry Pancake

My idea was to do a healthier, berry version of a Dutch Baby pancake... didn't quite work out. This is tasty and Abby and I liked it, but it doesn't have the puff and delicacy of a Dutch Baby - instead it has whole wheat flour and flax and juicy berries. A good enough trade for me for a weekday breakfast!

Baked Berry Pancake

1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced (or 1 lb any berry!)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp ground flax meal
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (I used vanilla soy milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425F. In a large oven-proof skillet, toss strawberries until the begin to soften and let out their juice. Meanwhile, whisk together the flours, flax, sugar and salt in one large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until no lumps remain.

When the oven is ready, pour the batter all around the berries. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, until pancake is puffed and golden. Invert onto a serving plate and slice to serve (Abby thought this was a strawberry pancake, which made her even happier!).