Mixing Bowl Kids

W is for Wastefree Lunches

                          

photo credit http://www.tvdsb.ca/

These tips came home from my boys' school yesterday, and I thought they were worth sharing with you, lovely readers.  While this isn't a recipe, I do feel litterless lunches are an important element of the school lunch-box, and I'm happy to showcase it here in this A to Z feature. 

Here are some of the ideas:

~ Get the children to help pack their lunches with healthy food.
~ Use a reusable lunch bag for carrying a lunch.
~ Use refillable bottles for drink - it's more economical and drinks can be saved for later.
~ Put bread products in "tupperware" style containers to avoid using plastic wrap.
~ Avoid pre-packaged single-serving portions of snacks and drinks.
~ Prepare extra food at dinner time and use the leftovers for lunches.
~ Place reusable cutlery and cloth napkins in your child's lunch.
~ Include fresh fruits and veggies - no packaging!
~ Use waxed paper instead of plastic wrap to package foods for the lunchbox.

What are your Wastefree lunch tips?  Please do share your ideas in the comments section as I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Have a wonderful day friends!

V is for Vegetable Pancakes

Last Friday, I made my weekly trip to the Farmer's Market with a friend of mine.  We walked around and around the stalls in wonder at the colour, smells and selection we had before us.  Apples were available in abundance, peppers were sold by the half-bushell and the tomatoes, unfortunately speckled with small black marks as a result of this past summer's substantial rainfall, were begging for someone to take them home.  All were appealing to me, but none as much so as the butternut squash. 

 Butternut squash is my favourite vegetable (although it is technically a fruit) of the Fall season, and this weeks obscenely large squashes had finally made their appearance at my weekly market.  And for just two dollars - yes, that's right, two dollars - I brought home a squash large enough to feed my family twice.  How wonderful is that?

So, with my butternut squash peeled and ready for use, I set out to make a savoury pancake after hearing all about them last week on this show.  With the exception of blinis and latkes, I don't have much experience with this type of quick-bread.  My pancakes are usually glistening with some maple syrup or honey, fresh fruit and nuts.  But this version used two kinds of vegetables, spices and sour cream - and I think I now prefer them to the former variety I loved.  

Delicious when served warm, with a topping of sour cream or plain yogurt, these little flapjacks also make for a great addition to the school lunchbox.  Use whatever vegetables you have on hand, or the ones I've used in this recipe, and I don't think your little chefs will be disappointed. Encourage them to help you with this one by allowing them to grate their veggies.  My guys love using the box grater - it seems to make everything more fun.  To protect their little fingers, try piercing your veggies with a fork and move the veg along the blades that way so fingers don't get caught on the surface.

I might suggest making these other market goodies, while they're still in season and available.  How about zucchini and carrots or sweet potato and red onion?  Maybe even Yukon gold potatoes and celeriac or squash and apple?  I think all of these combinations would work nicely as well. Do you enjoy savoury pancakes?  How about your children?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and wish you all a great day!

**For the winner of the book giveaway please scroll down to yesterday's post!

Vegetable Pancakes, adapted from this Paula Deen Recipe

1 cup grated butternut squash

1/2 cup grated white onion

2 tbsp butter

1/2 whole wheat or all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

oil for the pan

~ Melt the butter in a saucepan set over medium high heat.  Add the squash and onion and cook until golden, approx. 10 minutes.
~ While the veggies are cooking, combine the flour, baking powder, garam masala and salt in small mixing bowl.  Combine the egg and milk in a glass measuring cup and blend well.  Set aside.
~ When the veggies are finished cooking, add them and the egg mixture to the dry ingredients.  Combine well.
~ Drizzle a small amount of oil into the pan the veggies were cooking in.  Add large spoonfuls of the pancake mixture to the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side.  Serve with sour cream or yogurt.
~ Enjoy!
 
 

A Monday Giveaway

***Congratulations to LizInScotland - you've won the book!  Please email me at mixingbowlkids@gmail.com with your mailing address and I'll get it out to you right away.

Don't worry, friends.  We haven't finished the A to Z feature yet, but I thought it might be more fun to do a giveaway today instead.  Not for any particular reason, but just because it's Monday and it seems like a great day to do a giveaway.  What a fun way to start the week, don't you think?

So, a  few weeks ago I received a copy of Hungry Monkey, by Matthew Amster-Burton.  The book was for me to review, and I finally had the chance to read through it over the past week and let me tell you,  I loved it.  Loved. It.  It was laugh-out-loud funny and an easy, great read.  

Amster-Burton, a Seattle food writer, is witty and charming, humorous and smart and completely and utterly devoted to his daughter Iris, the true charmer of this story.  I love my children more than anything, but I would love to have an Iris, too.  Any little girl who enjoys only one certain brand of bacon (which she knows by name) and who once-upon-a-time played with packages of chili peppers as a toddler, is my kind of girl.  

The story is a tale of "A food-loving Father's quest to raise an adventurous eater", and boy, did he succeed.  Filled with great recipes (I have many, many dog-eared pages in my copy of the book that I hope to try) and tips on how to have and create family meals, this story will not disappoint.  Even if you don't have young children, I'm sure you'll want some by the time you finishing reading this book, if only to feed them some of the incredible food that Iris eats.  Not to worry though..older children and adults will enjoy the recipes just as much a Mom's trying to put dinner together for their families.

So, now that I've got you wanting to read this book, I'm going to give away a copy today.  Just leave a comment, any comment and I'll announce the winner tomorrow am.

Have a great day!

U is for Ugly Duckling Cake

I love anything vintage...clothes, books, furniture, dishes, cookware, bakeware, paper and maps.  Oh, how I love vintage maps.  Lately, I've also found myself increasingly interested in vintage recipes and foods.  The things I have come across are an equal mix of fascinating and revolting (sometime I'll tell you about coronation salad) and I'm so intrigued by how homecooks used to, well, cook.

This week, while struggling to find a recipe for the letter "U" (no easy task I might add), I came across several recipes for something known as Ugly Duckling Cake. A very popular cake, served at dinner parties in the 1960's, this cake was the cake to make, back then.  It was aptly named as such because it was far tastier than it looked. Comprised of yellow cake mix, pudding, fruit cocktail and other interesting foods, the reviews I read about this cake were incredible.  Everyone loved it!

                              

While I wasn't too keen on making exactly what I read about it, I thought it might be fun to recreate something similar...a more modern version of the Ugly Duckling Cake.  Slightly more healthy (though not much more), kids will love this cake simply for the name.  And, how great would it be to read Hans Christensen's story of the same name and then march into the kitchen with your young ones and work on this treat.  In fact, I love the idea of pairing books and food together and think I may try to put together a "books and cooks" series.

Has anyone out there made the Ugly Duckling cake before?  Was it as good as I've read it was?  This version is very sweet for me, and I've reduced all the sweetness by half from the original recipe so I can't even imagine how sugary that was.  

Happy weekending friends!

Ugly Duckling Cake, my recipe

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 milk

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup preserves (I used apricot)

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 chopped pecans

Topping:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup coconut

~ Pre-heat oven to 350 and lightly oil a 9" springform pan.

~ Combine the oil and butter and mix well.

~ Add the egg and vanilla and once combined, add the flour and baking powder.  Stir until the flour is incorporated into the wet mixture.

~ Add the milk, coconut and jam and stir until evenly mixed.

~Pour into the oiled pan and lightly sprinkle the top with the brown sugar and pecans.

~ Bake for 35 minutes and remove from oven.

~ While the cake is cooling, make the topping.  Combine the butter, sugar, coconut and evaporated milk in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 1 minute.  Remove from the stove top and spoon over the cake, distributing the topping evenly.

~ Enjoy! 

T is for Tarte Tatin

This lovely apple cake got it's name from a hotel in France, where it was created by accident when the cook left an apple, butter and sugar mixture on the stove for too long and thought it had burnt.  She quickly topped the mixture with some pastry and popped it into the oven to finish cooking.  The hotel guests devoured the dessert and Tarte Tatin was created.

My version, a quick and easy one, is made with a store-bought puff pastry. Much simpler for my boys to work with and so worth my time and effort.  For those of you who have made your own puff pastry, you know it's not always an easy task.  This version allows you to make this impressive dessert with only five ingredients and provides your family with a simple seasonal treat.

Take note though...if sugar and butter are not your thing, than neither is Tarte Tatin, as it's loaded with both ingredients.  This dessert doesn't enter our home often, but I actually made this for a friend and didn't want to skimp on the rich ingredients

If your sous-chefs decide to offer you some assistance, cutting the apples offers a wonderful opportunity to chat about fractions.  Each apple, once peeled and cored, needs to be cut into halves, then quarters and finally eights.  I love when I can incorporate learning into our cooking.

I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful day....

Easy Tarte Tatin

6 apples, peeled cored and sliced into eight pieces

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 sheet frozen puff pastry

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees and remove puff pastry sheet from the freezer.

~ Melt the butter in an oven-safe pan.  Add the sugar and lemon juice and combine well.  Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes or until slightly golden in colour.

~ Arrange your apples in a circle around the pan, filling the entire bottom.

~Cook the apples for approx 10 - 15 minutes or until they become cooked and the sugar/butter mixture has caramelized.

~ Remove from the stove top and all to cool for five minutes.

~ Cover the apple mixture with a sheet of puff pastry.  Tuck any excess pastry under and be sure to have all of the mixture covered.

~ Bake for 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven, allow to cool and then invert onto a plate.  Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

~ Enjoy!

~ 

S is for Soup Love

Truly one of life's most comforting foods, soup is the quintessential Fall meal.

Whether used to cure the common cold, provide warmth for small, chilled hands or solace a weakened soul, this practically perfect food is wonderful for family gatherings, weeknight dinners and school lunches. 

We eat all sorts of soups, both vegetarian and meat based, and have consumed three different types in the past six days.  Little kitchen helpers can easily assist you with your soup making, which makes it even more enjoyable to eat, knowing the preparation has been a family affair.  It's a wonderful activity on a cool Sunday afternoon, and whether they chop the vegetables or add their own secret spice blend (see note below) to the pot, they will be eager to lap it up when their hands have assisted with the creation of your soupy goodness.

Here are some recipes I've added to my "soup recipe" queue:

• Hearty Mushroom Soup
• Apple Cheddar Soup with Sage Croutons
• White Bean and Pasta Soup

And, my most favourite soups to cook and eat - both are pure perfection really:

• Julia Child's French Onion Soup
• MIchael Smith's Beef Stew

What soups are your family enjoying right now?  Please do share and if you have any recipes worth sharing send them my way as well.  Happy First Day of Fall!

(Note: Give your children the spices you have that will complement the soup you are making.  Allow them to create their own "secret spice blend", using their own quantities of the spices you've provided. They will love this, I promise you).

R is for Raisin Bread

We've been enjoying raisins in our home lately.  Not that we haven't before, but it seems as though they were consumed in mass quantities of mini-boxes when the boys were younger and, after a few years hiatus, they are back in the rotation of favourite foods.  At least for my eldest son.   

When chatting this past week about our return-to-raisins, my husband mentioned raisin bread and fondly remembers eating loaves of it as a child.  His mother would toast it and spread a thin layer of butter over the bread, which would melt into the raisins.  I had that a few times as child myself, and while I'm not incredibly fond of raisins I do remember loving that bread.  It was a great snack, especially after school on a cool Fall or Winter day.

Of course, all this reminiscing led me into the kitchen this weekend to try and create some good old-fashioned raisin bread. Easily put together with both little and big hands, I slightly adapted a recipe which called for the combining of some simple ingredients and a lot of time to allow the bread to rise. We were able to get everything mixed and then carried on with our day while the yeast worked it's magic.  I can say this was very well received by the family, even if the youngest member removed his raisins before munching away.

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  We experienced some perfectly sunny, cool days which made the Apple Festival we attended just perfect.  Don't forget to leave comments with your "R" foods for the lunch-box.  This feature will be completed next week and I'll draw some names for a fun food prize pack. Enjoy the day, friends....

Cinnamon Raisin Bread, adapted from The River Cottage Cookbook

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup warm water

1 egg

3 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp honey

3/4 cups raisins

~ Place the raisins in a small mixing bowl and cover with the orange juice. Set aside.

~ Place the flours, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Set aside.

~ In a glass measuring cup, combine the water and warm milk. Add the egg and beat well.  Add the raisins in juice and the honey and stir.  Add to the flour mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon.

~ Pour the mixture onto a floured surface and knead for approx. 10 minutes until soft and smooth.

~ Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rise for 2 hours at room temperature in a space free of drafts.

~ When finished rising, punch down and pull dough out of the bowl.  Press into a circle on a floured work surface and roll the dough into a log.  Place the log in an oiled or buttered loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise an additional 30 minutes.  While the dough is rising, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

~ When the dough is ready, remove the plastic wrap and bake for 12 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.  

~ Allow to cool and serve warm with butter.

~ Enjoy!

Q is for Quesadillas for Fall

I love making quesadillas for the boys for lunch, and sometimes even dinner.  They're simple to put together and can be stuffed full of hearty good-for-you-foods.  I thought it might be nice to compile a list of quesadillas for the Fall season.  Ones that can be made up of seasonal leftovers you may have lying around your fridge or pantry.  

The great thing about this list is you can encourage your older chefs to make some of these up for themselves.  Paste the list to your fridge door, or family bulletin board and let them go to work. Depending on the age of your children, they can make them on the stovetop or in a panini press, or they can leave them on the counter for you, full assembled, and you can cook them quickly the night before or morning of the school day.

The quesadilla pictured above is a pear, goat cheese, honey and black pepper one.  I know that my boys wouldn't be too fond of that combination, but I have to tell you, I loved it.  Here are some ideas I think they may like:

• Leftover roasted butternut squash, grate apple, walnuts and parmesan cheese
• Black beans, mashed sweet potato, roasted garlic and cheddar cheese
• Turkey, cranberries, spinach and brie
• Pesto, prosciutto and roasted red peppers
• Roast beef, red peppers and provolone cheese
• Chicken, pears, mozzarella and arugula
• Peanut butter, honey, banana and pecans
• Tuna, cheddar and tomato
• Chicken, dried apricots, apple and  brie
• Roasted squash, red pepper and Monterrey Jack cheese
• Scambled eggs, pepperoni, pizza sauce and cheddar cheese

Can you think of something I may have missed?  Please feel free to leave your suggestions....and have a great day!

P is for Purple Potato Hash

A few nights ago I made roasted purple potatoes with red pepper and onions for dinner.  The leftovers found their way to the refrigerator, and the next morning they became a purple potato hash for breakfast.

To begin with I sliced some purple potatoes and placed them on a baking sheet with some diced red pepper and red onion sliced into rings.  I tossed them all with a quick drizzle of olive oil, fresh thyme and some sea salt and roasted for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.  It was really yummy!

Pictured above are the leftovers and to them I added two beaten eggs.  

It was all cooked together in a pan, set over medium high heat and when served with a slice of bread, this makes for a delicious breakfast, lunch or dinner for you and your kiddies.  What "P" foods are you packing for lunch these days?

Have a great day, friends!

O is for Orange-Glazed Yogurt Cake

I love to bake.  It's one of my very favourite things to do, and if I could spend my days running a small bakery filled with rustic sweets and homemade treats, I would be one very happy gal.  Since life has choosen a different path for me, and one I'm very happy to be traveling along, I bake recreationally and spend more hours that I care to admit with my nose in a cookbook, learning all of the baking techniques I possibly can.  

In recent months, I have stepped away from this beloved hobby of mine as we have tried not to keep too many baked goods on hand and in the home.  I've made do by creating healthy and nutritious cookies, muffins etc. which have allowed me to bake, and have been better for my family.  It's not true baking though and I've realized that I just can't do it without it anymore...I need to bake!  I need to make pies and cakes, cookies and cobblers.  I need to experiment and create and immerse myself in batters and doughs.  Oh, and don't even get me started on my baking utensils....I miss my whisk and my spatula, and my darling rolling pin.  I really miss my rolling pin!

So, imagine my delight when my nine-year-old sat down this weekend to spend some of his TV time watching the cooking channel.  He wasn't interested in any old show..nope, he was into the one with the incredible cakes.  My sports loving, ball tossing, hockey playing little boy was into baking...and my heart was singing.  

While watching the show he put together a grand plan for what we're going to make next weekend and has been inquiring about the art of baking, and cake making, ever since.  I decided then, that if my nine year old wants to bake, he will bake.  We are going to bake, and bake the way we like to and are meant to.  I haven't quite reconcilled how I'm going to do this while still eating and offering mostly healthy foods to my children, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution.  Perhaps we can give our goods away...or even freeze half our wares once we've all had a serving.  Moderation is key and we need some moderate baking in this home!

All of this has led me to this delicious cake...a French yogurt cake with an orange glaze. So simple to make and the perfect starter recipe for your sous chefs should you decide that now is the time to introduce them to good old-fashioned baking.  For this recipe, we usually have one child work on the wet ingredients, one on the dry and then I take care of combining and spooning into the pan.  Not too sweet, this is a the perfect playdate treat, a lovely surprise for the lunch-box and even a wonderful birthday cake for the child who isn't into the traditional, round, icing covered celebratory delight.

Expect to see a little more baking around these parts soon...perhaps once a week we'll try to get something really yummy going in the oven.  Do you enjoy baking?  Do you bake with your children?  How and when did you learn to bake?  

Have a great day, friends!

Orange-Glazed Yogurt Cake, adapted from Dorie Greenspan, Baking, From my Home to Yours

1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsps baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 1 orange

1/2 cup plain yogurt

3 large eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

Juice of 1 orange

2 tbsp icing sugar

~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

~ Grease a loaf pan and place the pan on a baking sheet.

~ Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

~Mix together the sugar and the zest.  Add the yogurt and eggs and whisk together vigorously until the mixture is well blended.

~ Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk together.  Fold in the oil using a spatula, to create a thick, shiny batter.

~ Scrape the batter into the pan, place on a baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

~ Once baked, allow to cool (approx. 15 minutes) and then remove from pan.  While the cake is cooling, combine the juice and icing sugar in a saucepan set over medium high heat and allow to reduce slightly.

~ Brush cooled cake will orange juice mixture and allow to set.

~ Enjoy!

~