Blueberry French Toast Bake

Happy Daylight Savings!
If you celebrated like we did, then you were up too early, and you had nothing to do to fill up those many hours before the rest of the world woke up.
So WE made breakfast! By we, I mean that I hosted a cooking show while my kiddo sat near by rearranging my kitchen drawer.s But we both did eat it - guilty!
Breakfast for us is usually eggs, or something quick. However, in the effort to kill some time and possibly eat breakfast at our normal time, we made a special breakfast.
This was simple, delicious, and well received by all.
*Bonus points for having left overs so you can just heat this up when your kiddo still insists on getting up at the crack of dawn for the remainder of the week.*

What you need:
6oz of your bread of choice (mine was 5 large pieces)
4 Eggs
2 TBSP Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Milk
2 TBSP Yogurt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Blueberries

Two separate bowls
Pie Pan

Let's Get Started:

- In your larger bowl get your bread slices, and cut them into even pieces.

- In your smaller bowl add in your eggs, milk, yogurt, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar, and stir to combine.

- Pour your mixture over the cut up bread and stir to coat the bread evenly. There will be residual mixture that collects at the bottom, and that is ok.

- Pre heat your oven to 350

- While the oven is preheating your bread will be soaking up the egg mixture. Make sure to give the mixture a few stirs while you are waiting. I let it soak for about 20 mins

- After your oven is preheated add in your blueberries. Mine we frozen so it turned my mixture purple, but it didn't change the color of the final outcome.

- Pour your mixture into a greased pie dish and pop it into the oven for 50-60 mins 

- You know your dish is done when the bread is firm and a tooth pick comes out clean 

- Enjoy with some syrup or like us with 2 TBSP peanut butter microwaved with 1 TBSP of honey! Delicious!!

                                                                              

Toddler Nachos

Recently, I've noticed that the kiddo has been turning his nose up at food that actually looks like food. So while he eats things like spinach pinwheels, he won't eat ricotta or spinach by itself.
My goal now is to get him to eat and accept more whole foods.
I've started by giving him mini versions of our dinner. We were having turkey burgers tonight, and this idea came to me. It's fun, kid sized, and EASY!

What you need:
4oz ground meat (I used a turkey/pork combo)
1/3 cup shredded zucchini
1oz cheese
12 corn chip cups (more or less deepening on how full you make your chips)
Olive oil (for cooking, or any other kind of spray)

Small sauté pan
Food Scale (not necessary)
Vegetable Grater

Let's Get Started:
- I used my food scale to measure out our turkey burgers and left the last 4oz for the nachos
- Shred the zucchini
- Add your zucchini to your ground meat and mix well

- Spice if you would like - I used a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder
- Heat up your sauté pan and add your olive oil (keep your heat to a medium heat if you are using olive oil, otherwise it will smoke and burn your food)
- Add your ground meat/zucchini mixture to the hot pan and sauté until the meat is browned

Raw meat pictures are gross.

- Pour off any excess liquid that is produced by your meat/zucchini
- Lower your cooking heat
- Mix in your cheese

- Once your cheese is incorporated remove your pan from the heat and start to fill your corn chips

- I was able to fill 12 corn chips with my mixture

The kiddo basically only ate corn chips for dinner, but a few pieces of meat made it into his mouth. Baby steps, or perhaps more accurately toddler steps...

But jokes on him, we will be seeing these again at lunch in the next few days because I doubt that they will keep well, or freeze.
I would recommend not filling all of your cups if you have a picky eater, because the chips will get soggy.
In the event that your toddler eats like mine, these could also be a great game time appetizer.
And in case you were wondering, yes they are delicious, my kiddo is crazy.

Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie Pockets

When one of my favorite instagrammers posted this recipe, I was sold. Pot pie is one of my favorite childhood meals, and I couldn't wait to share it with my kiddo! I had visions of making these all fall and winter, and passing on the love of pot pie...
He hates them. My heart hurts.
But the recipe is too good not to share.

What you need:

2 chicken breasts
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 small onion
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp corn starch
Fresh Pastry dough, or your favorite store bough variety
Milk to brush pies (or egg - see notes in recipe)

Small sauce pot
Pan to Saute
Baking sheet
Parchment Paper
Rolling Pin
Mason Jar top

Let's Bake!

- Start by putting your chicken breasts into your small sauce pot.
- Season your chicken how you want. I used salt, pepper, and some curry for some color.
- Cover with chicken stock and simmer for about 20 mins or until chicken is cooked through

- While the chicken is simmering, cut up your small onion
- Place cut up onion and butter into sauté pan

- Check your chicken for doneness, then shred it

- Add your chicken, and one cup of the stock (add more from your box if too much boiled off) to the onions

- Lower your heat to about medium and add in your sour cream and stir until everything incorporates

- Let the sauce thicken a bit while you are stirring, then add in your corn starch 

- The corn starch with really thicken the sauce. It with go from a loose soup to a more gravy like consistency that will be slow to come back together.
- Once you reach the gravy stage add in your frozen mixed vegetable and stir for 5 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through

- Take the sauce off of the heat and let it cool before you use it

- Pre-heat your oven to 350

- Get your baking sheet ready by covering it with parchment paper
- Start rolling out your pastry dough
- Using the top of a mason jar cut out two circles (top, bottom)

- Place the bottom on the baking sheet, spoon your cooled filling into the middle of the circle
- Place your second circle on top and using a fork seal the two circles together

- Brush the tops with milk* and pop in the oven for about 25 mins or until golden brown 

* I have to say I was curious to see how milk worked as opposed to an egg wash. I was not impressed. Since I won't be making these again, I can't try the egg, but I would recommend it. 

- Enjoy!

I hope your kiddo enjoys this childhood classic more than mine does!

Zucchini Bread Pancake

Breakfast is a great meal to sneak vegetables into. Our kiddo loves scrambled eggs, little does he know that they are packed with shredded zucchini or spinach. I wanted to spice up breakfast one weekend and I thought how can I sneak some veggies into a pancake? This is what I came up, I'm thinking of doing a carrot cake variety too!

What you need:

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 cup shredded zucchini
Unmelted butter for cooking

Skillet
Shredder

Let's bake:

- Start by mixing together your dry ingredients
- In a separate bowl mix together your wet ingredients
- Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients

- If your batter seems thick, make sure you added all the ingredients. My batter was really thick, and it was because I forgot to add the eggs

- Now shred your zucchini, I was aiming for a cup, but I was a little under, and add it to your batter 

- Butter your skillet and measure your batter onto the skillet

- You know they are ready to flip when they start to bubble

- Once they are cooled they are good to serve

Things to be aware of:

1. The cinnamon makes the pancakes have a "whole wheat" look, so if you have a picky eater, I would put less cinnamon into your pancakes. 

2. My kiddo doesn't seem to care that the pancakes have green flecks in them, but if you have a visual eater, I would recommend using a very fine shredder, and even peeling your zucchini prior to shredding to eliminate the green color showing. 

Enjoy!

Granola Bars

I love granola bars. The chewy one preferably. The crunchy ones are just one mistake away from being granola, and then I'm going to need yogurt or milk, and that is a whole thing. Especially for a kiddo. So soft and chewy granola bars are the way to go for us!

I do have to confess. The first time I made these I made the mistake of putting the oats in first, then my wet ingredients. And I over estimated the amount of oats that I needed, so I was stuck playing catch up with my wet ingredients, and I just ended up with a crunchy granola bar. While my kiddo could have cared less, and loved eating his granola bar, I had a huge mess on my hands. I needed to find a way to keep this snack intact - for my own sanity, and so more than a crumb got in my kiddos mouth at a time.

Here is my final recipe. I am much happier with it, and my kiddo can't get enough of them! They keep fantastic in a plastic bag, and freeze even better. My kiddo even eats them frozen (which gives me more than two seconds before he needs a second one!)

What you need:

Small sauce pan
Large Bowl
3 quart Corning ware baking pan (that's what the bottom says)
Parchment Paper
Pizza Cutter
2 cups Oats
1 cup Peanut butter
1/2 cup Date Paste (or honey if your kiddo is old enough)
2 TBSP water

Let's Bake

- Set oven to 350
- Into a large bowl measure out 1 cup of your oats and set aside.
- Scoop out your second cup of oats, but DO NOT add it to the bowl.
- In a small sauce pan, and your 1/2 cup of date paste and your cup of peanut butter and melt on medium heat.

- Constantly stir the mixture. You will be stirring for longer than you think necessary. This is when you add in your water slowly if you feel that they mixture is seizing. I added in one tablespoon at a time.

- You are looking for the two to combine, and then for the oils in your peanut butter to start to come out. Since we aren't using honey the texture is going to be a little thicker. I hope the picture helps

- When you have reached your desired consistency scoop it into your bowl with your one cup of oats

- Incorporate your mixture with the oats, then add more oats until your dough comes together completely*. 

*This means that all the oats stay in the mixture AND your dough stays together when you grasp it in your hand. 2 cups was enough when I did the recipe, but always be prepared for surprises. You can always add more oats - you can't take them out :(

- Once you have your dough, press it into a parchment lined dish - smaller dish for thicker granola bars

- I pressed raisins into mine, but they all fell out after. Maybe I will mix them in next time.

- You can go no bake with these and let them sit in the fridge before serving, but I cooked mine for about 20 mins to have them come together. 

- Let them cool, then pull the parchment paper out of the dish and cut with a pizza cutter!

- The finished product! I hope you enjoy them. My kiddo did! 

Cheese-It's (No added salt, no coloring!)

The other day I found myself finishing a box of cheese-it's. Every time I brought another handful to my mouth I was saying this is the last one. But it is never the last one, because, well, they are cheese-it's. Luckily I was snacking sans baby, but in retrospect, I probably would have eaten less because I wouldn't have enough time to snack. Anyway, after scanning the ingredient list, I figured I could do myself a favor and make my own cheese-it's.

The recipe is crazy simple, and baby friendly! I made sure to use white cheddar to avoid color additives, and grated my own cheese to nix those pesky anti-caking ingredients, like potato starch. Added bonus this recipe only has 4 ingredients. Four!

What you need:

Cheese Grater
Food Processor
Silicon Baking Sheet
Plastic Wrap
Flour for dusting your working surface
Rolling Pin
Cookie Cutter of your choosing (Smallest you have)

4oz Shredded Cheddar
2Tbsp Cold Butter
1/2 Cup Flour
1Tbsp Cold Water

Let's Bake:
- Grate your cheese
- In your food processor add your grated cheese, cold butter, and flour

- Pulse until you have a very fine dough

- Slowly add in your water until the dough comes together. I added in one tablespoon at a time

- The dough should stick together, and shouldn't fall apart when picked up

- Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let it chill in the refrigerator for about 20 mins

- After your dough has chilled, Set your oven to 350 degrees 

- Put some flour on your working surface and roll out the dough.

- The dough should be thin enough to see through. It you want to keep it thick, then your cheese-it's will come out puffier 

- Once your dough is rolled out to your desired thickness, use your cookie cutter to cut your cheese-it's out of the dough.
- I only had a piping bag tip on had so, that it what I used. But next time I'm thinking a pizza cutter might be a easier option. Especially since these don't look anything like cheese-it's, and I know that might make some kiddos say "no way!"

- Place your cheese-it's on your silicon tray, I used a tooth pick to add the center dot to make them more cheese-it authentic. 

- Put these bad boys in the oven for about 15 mins, they should crisp right up, so watch them if you have a temperamental oven. 

Don't these look great?! I had to remind myself on multiple occasions that these were for the kiddo, not me. I only made 3 dozen out of this, and froze the rest of the dough. I wanted to see if it froze well. It does. 

The second time I made them I didn't put the enter hole and I used a convection oven. I think the center hole kept them flatter and crispier, but I could be wrong. Either way my kiddo loves the crunch and the flavor. I store them in a plastic bag or tupperware in the fridge, and they retain their freshness, flavor, and crispiness!

Enjoy! 

Carrot Chips

Ever have that moment when you missed the mom newsletter a few weeks back, only to suddenly realize you've been happily doing a big "no, no"? Of course you haven't. There is no mom newsletter. This moment did happen to me the other day though, I found out that raw carrots are one of the "worst" things you can give to a baby. Well, my kiddo LOVES carrots. It was one of the first finger foods that we gave him (oops). He would just hold it and be so proud of himself! It was adorable. Now he shaves it down with his teeth until there is nothing left. Just a nub. What can we say - he enjoys it. Just goes to show you that all of us are incapable, right? Oh well...

It got me thinking that he would probable really enjoy a carrot in a softer form. So here it is - a carrot chip. Easy to hold and eat, and loved by all! He eats them warm or cold. So they are the perfect snack to have with us at all times. Bonus - simple ingredients! I'm not going to lie, they are a tad bit labor intensive. The first time I made them I kept saying to myself "he better like these," and "I'm not making these ever again, ... unless he likes them." Well, jokes on me. He can't get enough of them. So when I made them again I tried to stream-line the prep process. Hopefully, they are easy enough to make now, and you won't be cursing me under your breath when you make these.
I haven't experimented yet with adding more veggies or using just a different vegetable, but that is next. Maybe broccoli? Or brussel sprouts? Or cauliflower? And I bet that I can make them into more of a "cookie" by adding cinnamon!

What you need:

Vegetable Peeler
Food processor
Bowl
Cookie Scoop (optional)
Parchment Paper
Baking Sheet Pan

1 and 1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 12 oz)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup oat flour

Let's Bake:

- Set oven to 350
- Peel your carrots

- Using your food processor grind up 1/4 cup of oats into oat flour
- Pour your oat flour into a bowl
- Using your food processor pulverize your carrots. It should look like you are an expert chef and know how to dice up your carrots into perfectly diced pieces.

- Throw your carrots into the bowl with the oats
- Next grab your cheese, cube it, and throw it into your food processor. If your cheese is pre-shredded or you want to shred your own cheese just skip this step and put your shredded cheese into the bowl with the carrots and oats
- Add in your 2 eggs
- Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. They best way to work this dough is to get your hands in it!
- All the ingredients should come together easily, but not be too thick

**
- Now here is the labor intensive part. You take a cookie cutter and press a thin layer of your dough into it, then gently pull the cookie cutter away. This takes for-ev-er. Please feel free to do it this way.
**
- OR Using a cookie scoop (mine is pretty big) scoop some of your dough out, then split it into two balls and place on your cookie sheet with parchment paper

- Once that is done, go back through and press down each ball so it is more chip like

-Try to make all patties the same thickness, this way they will cook evenly
- Pro tip: when pressing your carrot balls down, start at the back of your tray, otherwise all of your chips will have an upward slop from where you tried to avoid hitting the unflattened ball behind it.

- Cook for 20-25 mins, or until the edges get a golden brown

Yum, golden deliciousness!
These freeze great, and I am very happy with my adjusted way of making them!

Enjoy!