Food Adventure Friday Link Up- Now with Features!

It's been another week where I've been happy just to get food on the table, but our adventures were few and far between!

I have enjoyed living vicariously through your adventures, however, and am excited to feature a few of them that have inspired me!

Yummy Inspirations shared these red quinoa cookies which I can't wait to try! I especially loved the fact that although her son wouldn't even try the quinoa while they were making the cookies, he had no trouble eating it in the cookies! What a great way to teach him to try something new.

Dixie Delights shared her fun ideas for an April Fool's Meal and I CAN'T WAIT to do this with my family this year!!! I'm still trying to decide whether I should fool everyone or whether I should let my daughter help me with the surprise!

Do you have any special plans for April Fool's Day?

Vegetables SHOULD Taste Good

Tonight's dinner was an old favorite that I hadn't made in a while.  The vegetables are roasted and then tossed with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. I love these veggies and as I was making them, I sampled them and reveled in how good they were.

I was reminded of my picky eater tip, "Serve Vegetables that Taste Good." I started thinking that I should make this a series for the blog. I could post once a week about a vegetable dish that tastes really good. Excited about this idea, I took a picture (don't these veggies look beautiful?) and then sat down to eat with my family.

That's where everything went wrong. My daughter picked up one piece in put in her mouth and pulled a face. My son, the one who eats anything, finished everything on his place except the veggies and said, "I'm full, I don't really feel like eating these." Then my 3 year old announced, "I don't want to eat these."

I tasted them again and did have to admit that (maybe) I added too much vinegar. After tasting them the first time, I thought they could handle a little more. This was probably (definitely) a mistake. I also finished the veggies about 10 minutes before the rest of the dinner giving the vinegar more time to absorb.

These vegetables were supposed to taste good, but the truth was- they didn't.

Because each of my children are different, I treated this situation differently for each of them.

The son who eats anything asked for more chicken. I said that he could have it after he ate the rest of the vegetables- he ate them.

I encouraged my 3 year old by calling them "Yummy worms," and then asking him if he wanted to eat a red one, a green one, or an orange one. This would have worked if they actually tasted good, because he chose a green one, picked it up and brought it to his mouth. However, once he touched it to his tongue, he made a face and said, "I don't like it." I decided to leave it at that. The truth was, that they tasted like vinegar, not like vegetables. Pushing the situation would have left him with a bad experience with vegetables which would not have been helpful to my overall goal of teaching him to be a good eater.

My daughter, who likes to please and prides herself on not being picky, never said anything about eating them or not eating them. She even tried to encourage the 3 year old by calling them "Yummy," and putting a second bite in her mouth (and then cringing as she reacted to the strong vinegar flavor). She didn't finish her vegetables, and I didn't say anything about it.

At first, I felt like this meal was a bit of a failure and that I would have to abandon the post I was going to write.

However, I then realized that what did happen helped to convey an even more powerful message than the one I intended.

I encourage my kids to eat what's served even when it doesn't taste great and when it's not their favorite. I believe that kids should be taught that not every meal will be their favorite, but that doesn't mean they don't eat it. However, sometimes, I make something that really does NOT taste good, and I need to allow them to make the choice not to eat it- and that's ok.

I believe that the goal of teaching them that vegetables are good and vegetables taste good, is more important that making sure that they ingest vegetables during any particular meal.

Have you ever made anything that you had to admit was a failure? (It's not just me right?) :)

                                          Julie

Food Adventure Friday Link-up: This Years' Green Feast

This year, since St. Patrick's Day (and my son's 3rd birthday) was on a Saturday, my parents came out to visit us.

I planned on a feast similar to the one we had last year, however we all ventured out to Central Market to buy ingredients and ended up picking out a few extra items. We bought brussel sprouts and when we found some nitrate free turkey bacon, we decided to combine the two. We also decided to break from tradition a bit and had a few steaks (they were grass-fed and grass is green right??) My mom also talked me into adding some red (red- gasp!) pepper for dipping into the hummus.

While at the market, we ran into some neighbors and their kids were all drinking green smoothies. After seeing them, my kids NEEDED one too so we tracked down the Lancaster Juice Company and the kids had Shamrock smoothies- banana, peaches, fresh wheat grass (cut right in front of us!!) and orange juice. I guess they were good because my kids sucked them down so quickly that I didn't even get to try!

The feast was a huge success. I was a little concerned that with the addition of steak, the kids would eat fewer of the veggies. However, even though we only bought 3 small steaks for 4 adults and 3 steak loving kids, there was steak left-over after the meal!

Taco "Muffins"

Yum, yum, yum. This is one of the best recipes I have ever tried and my family has declared it a definite keeper!

A few weeks ago, I saw a recipe for Taco Cupcakes from Emily Bites on Pinterest (by the way she has a lot of other "cupcake" recipes that you should check out as well!) Quite often I pin a recipe and then forget about it, but I could not get this one out of my mind!

I made some changes to the recipe and since one of my friends has dubbed me the muffin lady (have you tried my Green Monster Muffins yet??), I have renamed my version "Taco Muffins."

Taco Muffins

Ingredients:

*24 wonton wrappers

1 lb. ground beef or turkey (or double the beans for a meat free version)

1 small onion chopped (approximately 1 cup)

1 ½  cups black beans

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 T homemade taco seasoning (I leave out the crushed red pepper and use only 1 t. of cumin)

salsa

shredded cheese- cheddar or Mexican

prepared guacamole or avocado slices

Preheat oven to 375°.

Cook the ground beef and onions in a large skillet. When beef is nearly cooked through, add the black beans, shredded zucchini and taco seasoning. Continue to cook until beef is no longer pink and zucchini has softened. Remove meat and bean mixture from the heat.

Spray the muffin tins with olive oil (I use and love the Misto Gourmet Olive Oil Sprayer.)  Then press one wonton wrapper into the bottom of each tin to form a little “cup.”

Spoon a generous tablespoon of the meat and bean mixture into the wonton “cup.” Add a spoonful of salsa and a sprinkling of cheese. Then layer a second wonton on top of the mixture and repeat the layering of meat and beans, salsa and cheese. *You may be able to make more than 12 “muffins.” I had some beef bean mixture remaining… keep reading to see how I decided to use it J

Bake for about 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and the tips of the wonton are brown. Top with guacamole or avocado slices.

I had some of the beef and bean mixture left over so I decided to create some "Make Your Own," taco muffin kits for my kids. I've had a great deal of success with make your own salad muffin tins and make your taco salad muffin tins, so I had a feeling that this would be a hit. 

Though my kids liked the "ready made" taco muffins, they said that they actually preferred the make your own versions. This did not surprise me. My kids always tend to prefer what they have made on their own. I think that the other advantage was that the shell was crispier. (To make the shells, I simply sprayed the muffin tin with olive oil, pressed a wrapper into the cup, sprayed the top with a bit more oil and baked for 5-10 minutes- watch them carefully, I burned the first batch!)

Food Adventure Friday- Green Monster Muffins

I want to start by thanking everyone who linked up to Food Adventure Friday last week! I had so much fun checking out all of the fun ways that you enjoyed food with your families last week.

My food adventure this week was inspired by two of your fun links!

Adventurez in Childrearing shared two great links about cooking with kids. It was a reminder that I need to do it more...  Be sure to check out their Tuesday link-up where you can share your adventures cooking with your kids!

A Little Nosh posted about making green cupcakes using spinach which inspired me to make my zucchini muffins a little more green!  It took three rounds of experimentation, but I think I finally perfected what I'm calling "Green Monster Muffins" - my tribute to all the Green Monster Smoothie recipes which have been floating around the blogosphere!

Green Monster Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups shredded zucchini

6 cups baby spinach

5 Tbs. melted butter

2 eggs

1 ½ cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 ½  tsp. baking soda

pinch salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

pepitas (pumpkin seeds without the shell) unsalted (raw are best but you can use roasted if they are unsalted).

Start by shredding the zucchini. Using a food processor is a great way to get kids excited about helping in the kitchen.

         (After shredding the zucchini, they wanted to try it…)

Next, put melted butter and 6 cups of spinach in the food processor (you will need to add the spinach a few cups at a time). Once blended, add the egg and process until combined.

Remove spinach mixture from the food processor and add the sugar and vanilla and then add the zucchini.

Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Then, mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Spoon into muffin tins (I prefer mini-muffins) and top with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds.

Bake at 350 in a preheated oven. @12-15 minutes for a mini muffin and 20-25 minutes for full size muffins.


In addition to the link-ups listed in the sidebar, this post is linked up to Muffin Monday.

"Green Week" Meal Plan

Green week

Dinner

Spinach Pesto on Chicken/ Fish with Quinoa
Spinach Enchiladas (recipe is in my Free E-book)
Green Pepper Soup (I add a chopped onion- cook with the meat- use only 1- 1/2 lb meat and I either use beef broth or increase the ratio of bullion to water )
Chili Lime Chicken, Rice, and Lemon Garlic Broccoli (Truly the best broccoli ever!)
Dinner Out
Green Feast!! 

Breakfast

Green Omelets (2 eggs blended in food processor with a small handful of spinach, fill with avocado and cheese)
Leprechaun Juice, Toast with cashew butter
Breakfast Casserole from a friend
Bean and Avocado Pizzas
Green Zucchini Muffins and Sausage
Fruit "Cereal"

Snacks

Green Hummus with Rainbow Peppers
Rainbow Fruit Salad
Ants on a Log
Green Hummus with Carrots
Apples


Linked up to Meal Plan Monday and Good Cheap Eats

Food Adventure Friday: "The Green Feast"

With a new baby in the house, getting dinner on the table and going grocery shopping have been "food adventures" in and of themselves! However, with Saint Patrick's Day right around the corning, we are planning one of our biggest food adventures of the year- The Green Feast!!

My 2 (almost 3!!) year old was born on St. Patrick's Day. When he turned one, we had a family birthday party for him a few days before his birthday. When the day of his actual birthday came around, I knew that my older kids would be looking for another celebration. I didn't want to do another cake, but did want to find a way to make the day special so we decided to have a green feast!

The Green Feast is a great way to make eating healthy foods fun!

If you decide to do a green feast, I would suggest getting your kids involved as much as possible. Take them grocery shopping and let them help pick out green foods, let them help with meal prep and decorations. Get them excited about eating green food!!

On last year's menu: Fruit salad with grapes, kiwi and honeydew, green peppers and cucumbers with guacamole and spinach hummus for dipping, sautéed zucchini with Fox Point seasoning, asparagus grilled with olive oil and garlic salt, spinach salad with avocado, yummy lemony garlic broccoli and spinach pesto pasta (recipe below!)

Spinach Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

2 packed cups of baby spinach

¼ cup fresh oregano

¼ cup dill

¼ cup light tasting olive oil

½ cup feta

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

3 T raw pine nuts

2 cloves garlic

1 box whole-wheat pasta shells

Combine all ingredients (except pasta) in a food processor and process until smooth.

Cook pasta and then toss with pesto mixture.