A Journal of Cookery

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Brussel Sprouts

My kids love brussel sprouts. It is the go-to vegetable in our house, when all else fails (nutrition-wise). So I am happy they are in season! I normally just cut them in half, brown them with a bit of butter and finished them with a bit of stock till softened in a skillet (s&p, of course). But I happened upon this recipe and liked the idea of beans and brussel sprouts together. Adapted from an old Bon Appetit magazine (brussel sprouts from Farmer's Daughter http://farmersdaughter.farmvisit.com/):

Brussel Sprouts with Cannellini Beans

3/4 cup dry cannellini beans (or 1 can of cannellini)

1 cup vegetable stock

2 lbs brussel sprouts

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tbsp butter (plus an additional tbsp for finishing)

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan

Salt and pepper

Soak beans overnight...drain, rinse and cover with cold water (about 2 inches higher than the beans). Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer 1 hour (add a couple cloves of garlic for flavor...salt when there is about 15 minutes left to go). (Skip this step, if using canned.) Melt 2 tbsp butter and toss w/brussel sprouts...roast in oven at 450 for 15 minutes. In a skillet, saute garlic in remaining butter and then add stock and brussel sprouts for 5 minutes...then beans, salt, and pepper. Place in serving dish and add cheese.

(Am going to use this opportunity to plug my favorite beans,

Rancho Gordo, www.ranchogordo.com)

*Sidenote...I ended up cutting the brussel sprouts in half at the end, and would recommend cutting them in half before roasting in the oven.

Catherine McCord of Weelicious contributes recipes Littlest Tumor Foundation

Coconut Rice

If I allowed them to, my kids could probably eat brown rice for three meals a day. It’s one of those foods the both of them have loved since they first started eating solids and, lucky for me, it’s as nutritious as it is tasty. But as easy as plain old steamed rice is to make, I wanted to try making something a little bit different that’s still simple to prepare.

I’ve used coconut milk before as an ingredient in my kids’ baby food purees like Sweet Potato Coconut Puree, but I never thought of adding it to rice until recently. The milk gives it a subtle coconut flavor and an almost creamy consistency that totally livens up the every day rice that we’re used to.

And if you find that you have some left over from dinner, you can try what I did with mine. Just add some vanilla rice milk and a touch of cinnamon and you’ve got a unique breakfast treat or a special spin on rice pudding for dessert! My guys ate it as both! When a recipe is as easy to make as this one is AND everyone is happy eating it no matter when I serve it, I realize that I better keep it stocked in the fridge at all times!

Coconut Rice (Serves 4)

1 14 oz Can Coconut Milk, unsweetened (low fat or regular)
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Brown Jasmine Rice

1. Place the coconut milk, water and salt in a medium size pot and bring to a boil.
2. Add the rice, stir until combine, bring back to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer.
3. Cook for 30 minutes, turn heat off and let sit covered for 10 minutes.
4. Serve.

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Carrot, Broccoli & Cheese Orzo

A dear friend of ours who is an amazing dad to twins (and a really good cook to boot) turned me on to the idea of this recipe. He’s always looking for new and interesting recipes to feed his kids and encourages them to be balanced eaters through the variety of food he exposes them to. He uses a lot of orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, which I’ve rediscovered my love for.

As much as I love to cook, being in the kitchen for more then 30 minutes isn’t always desirable or a possibility, so it’s essential for me to come up with quick and easy recipes that I can count on to satisfy my family. For this dish, I just toss the veggies in my food processor and pulse them into tiny pieces (which cuts down on the prep time having to chop everything) and then cook all the ingredients until the orzo and veggie mixture is soft and has a rich cheesy flavor.

My friend’s kids love his version of this dish and I was so happy to see Kenya and Chloe felt the same way about mine.

Carrot, Broccoli & Cheese Orzo (serves 4)

1 Small Garlic Clove
1 Small Shallot
1 Cup Baby Carrots
1 Cup Broccoli Florets
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter or Olive Oil
1 Cup White or Whole Wheat Orzo
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1. Place shallot and garlic in food processor and pulse to chop.
2. Add baby carrots and broccoli florets to the food processor and pulse, scraping down the sides half way until finely chopped.
3. In a large stock pot, heat 2 tbsp of butter or olive oil and sauté the chopped vegetables, raw orzo and salt for 4 minutes stirring continuously.
4. Add the water and broth to the pot and cook over medium heat for 10
minutes uncovered, or until the liquid starts to evaporate and the mixture thickens.
5. Add the Parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
6. Serve.

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Greatest Soup Ever!!!

Okay I am going to give up one of the greatest soup recipes of all time. My sister-in-law Connie gave this one to me so I cannot take credit. This with some cornbread on a cold winter day is so fantastic. You should make extra to pop in the freezer.

Sami’s Spicy Squash Soup

1 Butternut Squash 2 Cloves Garlic

1 Carrot 1 Cup Spicy Tomato Juice

1 Onion 2 TBLP Olive Oil

1 Celery stalk 1 Tsp Chili Powder

1 Red Pepper Salt & Pepper

1 Yellow Pepper 2 cups vegetable stock

1/2 Green Pepper Feta or Goat cheese or a vegan variety.

Preheat oven 350. Cut squash in half, scrape seeds, and brush with olive oil season and bake for 45-60 minutes until fork goes in smoothly. Chop up all veggies and onion saute medium until soft. Add tomato juice and simmer for 3 minutes. Let everything cool a bit throw squash (taken out of skin) and all veggies into food processor or Vita Mixer. Transfer to soup pot and add 2 cups vegetable stock and warm-up. Serve and add cheese on top.

Juli Novotny --- Pure Mamas blogger--Smoothies and Popsicles.

Nutrition can be a very sticky subject when it comes to children and babies. They are some of the pickiest of eaters yet the most active {constantly learning new things, playing, running, swimming, jumping, falling, etc.}, and frustrated. Therefore proper nutrition is crucial for them.

Multiply the above by 10 and you have handicapped or ill child. These children are even more in need of nutrition and also that much pickier and more difficult to get to eat healthy food.

A really great way to pack in nutrition is with a blender and/or a popsicle stick. Fresh homemade smoothies are great because you can customize what goes into them. For instance you can add all kinds of local and organic fruits from the farmer's markets. You can make them really cold, really thick or not at all. You can also add very important supplements like Omega 3 oils, probiotics, even green powders and protein powders in small amounts so that the children won't even know it's in there.

If you child likes milk, add it. If your child is allergic or doesn't drink milk {mine don't} then add almond milk, lemonade or fresh squeezed orange juice and water as a base. You can also then add sweeteners or not, depending on your child's taste buds.

There are so many different kinds of things you can do with a blender that will amaze you AND your children. If you find a drink you and your child enjoys, then freeze it in a popsicle mold and eat it later while sitting in the sun.

I'm not going to go into which supplements are good for children with tumors or any other specific illness or disease because I'm not a doctor. But once you get the go-ahead for probiotics or algae or whatnot, ADD SOME DROPS OR TEASPOONS IT TO A SMOOTHIE.

MANGO PROTEIN RECIPE

- 2 cups Almond Milk

- 1 cup Frozen Mangos or any other fruit you enjoy.

- 1 Ripe Banana

- 1/2 c Green Juice {or greens powder}

- 1 Tbls Agave Nectar {optional}

- Rice Protein Powder {1/2 scoop}

- ADD PROBIOTICS OR FLAX OIL IF YOU'D LIKE

Mix in a blend until smooth. It should be REALLY creamy

tip: leave out the agave if you are giving it to little kids.

CANTALOUPE / WATERMELON FROZEN JUICE RECIPE

1 Cantaloupe {or watermelon}, ripe organic & in season

7 Ice cubes

1 Tbls agave nectar {optional}

Cut open the cantaloupe, remove the seeds and scoop out the fruit. Blend it on high for like 20 seconds. Then I put remained of ingredients in a blender and blended until it was smooth {with only a few ice chunks left}!

MY SON got mad at me and threw a tantrum when I told him to try it!!!! I said "just try it once and you'll be done" he tried it and then gulped the rest of it down. It was THAT good.

GREEN DRINK RECIPE

1 large slice (about 5 chunks) frozen pineapple
1/3c parsley or spinach
1/4 cucumber, peeled
1 juice of a lemon

1 sliver/chunk ginger root
1c fresh orange juice
1/2 dropper of liquid stevia OR 2 Tbls agave nectar

* any supplements you may need to add like say a protein powder?

BLEND TOGETHER IN BLENDER ON HIGH UNTIL REALLY SMOOTH WITHOUT CHUNKS.

If you can get your child to drink a small bit of this everyday you won't have to worry too much about "veggies" and eating their "green" foods. But of course it's always good to encourage eating vegetables and to get them used to eating "real" green foods.

POPSICLE RECIPE

2 large lemons
1/4 cucumber, peeled
3 Tbls agave nectar

1/4c water

BLEND TOGETHER IN BLENDER ON HIGH UNTIL REALLY SMOOTH WITHOUT ANY CHUNKS. Then add to popsicle mold and freeze. You can also do this with homemade fresh squeezed orange juice as well.

Have fun and remember to use fruits, vegetables and sweetners and liquids that your children already like to ensure they will drink it. You can easily add any greens like spinach or parsley or cilantro to a drink and mask it with the other dominate fruits or sweeteners or liquids.

Also remember to try new types of fruits. You never know, kids often don't like things the first time but then LOVE things the second or even third time around.

Good Luck!

Please check out Juli's blog at www.puremamas.com and her company at www.kookiekarma.com