Avocado Pudding

I adapted this one from Jezwyn over at Girl Gone Primal:

1 ripe avocado
1 T pure cocoa powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 T pure maple syrup or honey (to taste)

Mash the avocado in a bowl, then thoroughly mix in the spices and sweetener. I use my potato masher in a flat-bottomed bowl when I am in a hurry (hence the green bits). If you are inclined, throw it all in the food processor and whiz until smooth.

The texture and appearance is similar to chocolate pudding and I heartily market it as such.

I always serve this dip in a small dish for dipping with apple slices, pear or berries. My kids generally will not touch avocado, but they love this stuff! For little ones who cannot yet do apple pieces, I will spoon-feed this with a side of apple sauce or grated raw apple, or banana pieces.

I Love Tomatoes

If I were to choose one food that shines in its organic, locally grown form, the tomato would be it.  Real tomatoes – even the ones that ripen in the basement months after the first frost – mock the firm, tasteless versions available in big-box grocery stores for most of the year.

Cucumber Sandwiches

More easy to make and serve snacks for kids:  Cucumber Sandwiches

I used cucumber, cheese and ham because I had it, but think bacon-tomato-avocado, or egg slice-mayo-bacon, or pork-apple-cheese… What I like about these is that I can use any kind of roasted meat as filler.  Any slice-able leftovers from last night’s supper will work.  Cucumbers are excellent little platters for holding the good stuff.

Coconut Flour Bacon Biscuits

These are scrumptious served with hearty soup or saucy crock-pot dinner.  They taste like bacon and eggs – try adding mushrooms or peppers (spinach?) to the onion when you sauté… Decadent breakfast on the go.  Oh my.

Fish Cakes

Okay, I am done griping and back at the helm, even though I have no voice and Kleenex is still my best friend…

This was our lunch with a side of raw veggies. Super-healthy and tasty… even for those who will not eat fish in any other form! I prep the mixture early in the morning, then fry them up at lunchtime.

Almond Butter Makes It Better

Almond butter is tasty stuff, especially when combined with the sweet tang of fruit.  Though it is a less than perfect protein source (higher in Omega 6, for example), almond butter is far superior to peanut butter in that it is less toxic, allergenic and promotes a lower insulin response when eaten.  In moderate doses, I send it down tiny gullets with a clear conscience.

There are three super-simple ways I vary this item on our day home menu:

• Apple slices with a small cup of almond butter for dipping.
• Strawberry slices or blueberries atop a rice cracker spread with a generous smoosh of almond butter.  (The cracker is a bit of a nasty, but the wee ladies especially like these with a tea party.)
• A half banana, sliced lengthwise, then filled with a layer of almond butter or cinnamon and chopped nuts.

Not exactly rocket science, but all three are always incredibly popular and fairly quick and easy to prep!

If you are looking for more pack-and-go, check out over 70 lunchbox ideas for preschoolers over at Primal Kitchen.  Good stuff!

Ham Roll-ups

In the spirit of more ideas and less verbiage, I begin a short and sweet series of snacks that work:  Ham Roll-ups!

Roll slices of deli ham around a thin spread of avocado, red pepper strips and (optional) cheese.

You can soft-cook the red pepper for babies, or leave it out.  My toddlers can handle raw peeled cucumber quite well, so sometimes I substitute that or just make theirs with plain avocado.  These are popular with me because little participants like to help make them, they are healthy-ish and hand-held.

It occurred to me the other day that chicken, tuna or egg salad would include itself in these handy rolls quite nicely, as well.

Butterfly Cake

Long ago, when I only had one little girl, my friend Naomi and I made a birthday cake.  It was a pink and white choo-choo train with a smiling face, smokestack and different cars topped with flowers and sprinkles.  It took us about 400 man-hours.

The next year we did a pink castle with a moat, bridge and chocolate wrought-iron gates.  It had vines and turrets.  That one took about 4000 man-hours.

I now have three girls who have grand expectations about their hand-crafted super-mom cake.  

Primal Sloppy Joe

Begin with coconut bread, made in muffin form, sliced thin.

Add piles of savoury, saucy meat and veggie slop (being sure to omit legumes and conventional seasoning mixes).

Eat with utensils.  And napkins.

Overnight Soup

Overnight crock pot soup is pure genius.  Den Dad and daughter pack up a hot thermos for their lunches, I have dayhome’s lunch ready in the morning, and then we might even get supper out of it another night.  Best of all, the prep gets done in the quiet of the evening kitchen after the kids are in bed and not during some other chaotic part of the day.  I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me before… perhaps because I used to treat lunch as an afterthought, relying heavily on leftovers and snacky foods.  I can no longer get away with that.  It is now the focal point of my day and I can’t be a slouch.

The other night I tossed this into the crock pot: