Sweet Potato - Turmeric - Turkey Muffins

Like I said... I am addicted to my mini cupcake pan. These bit size morsels are great for serving and toddlers!

These are nice and moist, packed with flavor!

2 med-small sweet potatoes finely grated (1 1/2 cups)
1 small onion finely grate
2-4  gloves of garlic pressed or grated
1-2 tsp of salt
Turmeric finely grate (same volume as garlic)

A handful of chopped Organic Cilantro
1 tbs of Ground Cumin

1 organic large egg
1 lb of ground Turkey/Chicken

Mix well with hands! 

Bake on 375 for 15-25 minutes until firm. 

I served it on baby greens, avocado, and cucumber/beet salad. 

This was my toddler's plate! 

Turkey Falafel Muffins

I am loving my mini cupcake pan... so much I practically use it every other day, but not for cupcakes...for dinner!

This is a take on tradition falafel balls. Falafel balls are just chickpeas with spices, these contain ground turkey (ground chicken would work also). All you need is a good food processor. Also these tend to be on the dryer side...I served it with baba ganoush, cucumber salad and sauteed squash. You can use tzatziki sauce or even a nice tahini sauce.

1 can of organic chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1-4 Cloves of garlic (personal preference +/-)
1 -3 tsp of salt (personal preference +/-)

Pulse it up!

A handful of fresh Organic Flat Leafed Parsley.

Pulse it up!

1 lb of Ground turkey (or chicken, dark or white)
1 tbsp of Ground Cumin

Pulse it up!

Put in greased (with olive oil) muffin tins and bake for 375 for 15-25 minutes.
They should be firm to the touch and slightly bronzed.

Veggie Loaded Meatloaf Muffins

This is a great way to get a bunch of nutrient dense veggies into your child's diet. Use this recipe as a guide and be creative. As long as you have 1:1 ratio of veggies to meat (can be off a little), you should be fine! You will need a muffin/cupcake pan large or minis. Minis are great for toddlers.

Ingredients (What I used):

1 lb Ground Turkey Breast (hormone/antibiotic free)
1 small(er) onion
2-3 stalks of celery
1 small sweet potato
1 small yellow beet
4-5 cloves of garlic
3-4 carrots
1 pepper
1/2 cup of fresh herbs ( I used parsley and cilantro)
1/4 to 1/2 inch turmeric root
1/4 to 1/2 ginger root
1 tspn/tbsp salt/pepper
1 tspn cumin and paprika


Directions are in picture captions.

I have a mandolin with a very fine (makes mush) attachment.
 A typical 4 sided grater will work too.
Use the side that gives you the finest product even if it is pure mush.

Here are most of the ingredients I used.

Grating away...

More grating...

I use the microplane for the garlic, turmeric and ginger.

Herbs chopped finely.

I don't have any more pictures because my camera died. However the last steps are the following.
Add the meat with spices and mix well until it is incorporated. It should be wet but holds together. Then scoop into greased up muffin tin. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until firm. You can ice them with mashed potatoes if you want them to look like cupcakes.

Reggie's First Birthday Party and the Recipes.

We celebrated (a little early) Reggie's first birthday. Reggie is Oliver's good friend. Since they were going to be out of town for his official birthday this was his pre-birthday celebration with local friends. We had a great time at Eppleman Park.

Here are the mommies with babies.

Here are the daddies with babies. 

So here are the recipes for the food....

                             

Tahini Dressing:                                           1/2 cup of Tahini, 3 tbsp Soy Sauce, 3 tbsp lemon juice,  3 tbsp vinegar, 2 garlic gloves, handful of parsley, 2 tbsp agave syrup, salt to taste, 1/4 cup olive oil, and water to thin. Blend everything and serve with various vegetables. 

                                                                                         Fruit Skewers: Slice various fruits and use cookie cutter to make assorted shapes.

Open Face Sandwich #1: Typical Czech Style Spread: Cream cheese, minced Gouda (left over from making heart shapes), paprika, garlic powder, dried mustard, salt and pepper. Whip in standing mixer.                                        Top with salami, hard boiled egg, dill pickle, and garnish with parsley

Open Face Sandwich #2: Turkey/Guacamole Spread: 2 avocados, stick of butter (room temp), minced garlic, mince onion, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Whip in standing mixer.                                        Top with cheese, turkey breast, barbecue sauce, and garnish with cilantro

 Open Face Sandwich #3: Smoked Salmon Spread: Cream cheese, minced dill, minced capers, dijon mustard and salt/pepper. Whip in standing mixer.                                        

Top with smoke salmon and cucumber, garnish with dill. 

These were made with the left over cucumber, salmon, egg and dill spread. 

These were made with the left over salami, cheese and guacamole spread.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Beets! (No Food coloring!)

Ingredients

• FOR THE CUPCAKES:
• 1 whole Large Raw Beet
• 2-½ cups Cake Flour Plus 5 Tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Cream Of Tartar
• 2 sticks Butter, Softened
• 2 cups Sugar
• 4 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Vinegar (white Or Apple Cider)
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• FOR THE FROSTING:
• 1 stick Butter
• 4 ounces, weight Plus 1 Tablespoon, Cream Cheese, Softened,
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2. It’s beet time. Note: this will stain your hands, clothes and anything it touches. You can hold the beet with a paper towel, get some food safe gloves, or just have light pink hands for a day. Be sure to wash your beet well, they’re pretty muddy. Peel the beet and then grate it (using the really small holes on your box grater) until you have about a cup. Then add the grated beet into a food processor and blend a bit longer until ground into even smaller pieces. The beet will add coloring and you’ll see specks in the batter, but you don’t really want the taste. Set aside.

3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and cream of tartar in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

4. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix. Now add the beets, vinegar, and buttermilk. At this point mine looked like a curdled mess, ignore your urge to throw it all out and keep going!

5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring after each addition. Be sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl.

6. Put your cupcake liners in a 12-count muffin pan and fill the batter to the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 2 minutes and then remove cupcakes from pan and let them cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting:

Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl. It helps to soften the cream cheese a bit with the butter. You can either set it out beforehand or pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.

Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well on high.

Scoop frosting into a piping bag, using whatever tip design you like and ice those cupcakes!

Get Greens into your Toddler

I find it difficult to get greens into Oliver's diet... not because he is picky but because I typically eat my greens plain and that just doesn't appeal to Oliver. So I have become pretty creative with getting greens into his diet. He loves eggs... Egg yolks were his first solid food and to this day he loves his eggs in the morning. So here is how I make Green Eggs and Ham...lol (No ham in this recipe...)

Ingredients:

• 3 organic eggs
• handful of organic cilantro and parsley
• fistful of organic super greens
• organic butter
• 1 organic garlic clove
• Pinch of salt

Melt some butter in your pan. I can not make eggs without butter it is sacrilegious in my family to use anything else.

Chop up your herbs very finely you could even use a food processor or blender.

Grab a fistful of greens...

And chop up those bad boys too...pretty finely.

Toss all greens and herbs into the hot butter.

Press or finely grate the garlic in with a pinch of salt.

Add in your eggs. I buy super eggs at the farmers market and they are always twins.

Scramble them up...

Keep scrambling...

And there you have it green eggs.

No complaints here...

Why I Make My Own Baby Wipes...

So the story begins with me trying to conceive...I had some issues and decided to change my diet and remove dangerous chemicals from my products. One of the culprit chemicals that attacks your reproductive system are from the Paraben family. Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives by cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The family of Parabens include Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Heptylparaben, Methylparaben, and Propylparaben. Read more about the dangers of Parabens HERE. So what does this have to do with making baby wipes... Well most baby wipes contain them and I had no idea...

I received a case of Pamper's baby wipes for my baby shower. The case contains three bags of wipes inside that are unmarked and unlabeled. So when baby Oliver was born I asked my husband to get me some baby wipes and he brought me one of the bags. Since I was exhausted I did not think to investigate the ingredients in the wipes and since the bag had nothing on it I just ignored it. When I got myself together after the birth and started getting back into daily routine, I went to the room where all the baby stuff was. I picked up the case of baby wipes and the word Paraben jumped out and slapped me in the face. Here I am trying to protect my baby from these crappy chemicals and I have been washing his genitals with them for some time. I immediately threw them out....

I realized baby wipes are a new invention for convinced so I went online to see if anyone else made their own baby wipes. I found out a lot of people do. Some to save money, others to save the planet from waste, and some to save our babies from horrible chemicals. 

So I found some online recipes and was quite happy with the results. Since I cloth diapered washing the wipes wasn't a big deal I just washed them with the diapers.

Here are some good ones:
http://wellnessmama.com/1459/homemade-baby-wipes-recipe/

http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/mama-resources/expert-panel/diba-tillery-rn-bsn/making-homemade-baby-wipes

http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2012/05/10/cloth-wipes-diy-free-or-fancy/

http://simplehomemade.net/how-to-make-and-use-cloth-wipes/

Since then, Oliver and I started venturing out more and I found it easier to carry a small spray bottle of diluted solution and dry wipes. I just spray him , wipe and then throw the wipes in our wet bag with the soiled diapers. 

At home since Oliver started squirming around during diaper changes I found it much easier and much more hygienic to walk his tush and other parts in the tub after pooping...so I don't even use wipes at home. I just hold his tushy under the running water and soap him up. 

Ladies I would highly recommended that you carefully read all your products as well as your baby's products to make sure these bad ingredients aren't in there. They are in almost EVERYTHING! What is crazy to me is that face creams I use to spend tons of money on contained them too. So just because something is pricey doesn't mean it is good.  Don't be ignorant do research and protect yourselves from the poisons that these money making companies are trying to expose you to. I am not willing to be a guinea pig for no one especially when I am paying for the products. I hope I spread some awareness. Remember a good rule of thumb is if you would feel safe putting it in your mouth you shouldn't put it on your body. Your skin is a living organ, it absorbs everything you put on it...