Yesterday Mikey announced he had created a recipe in his head that he would like to make for dinner and “I want you to take pictures of it and put it on your website, okay, mom?  Then I want you to tell me what the people say.”

So that’s exactly what we did.  This isn’t the first recipe Mikey’s come up with and not the first time he has expressed an interest in cooking.  Last week he developed a tomato and carrot salad that he instructed me to roast for exactly one minute.  I have to say, it tasted great! (But I did roast it for longer than one minute.)

Last night we ate pasta tossed with olive oil, sauteed mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, spinach, and carrots.  We added many seasonings and decided as a team to leave out the dried mustard and garlic chili powder.  It needed a little more flavor, so we ended up drizzling it all with balsamic vinegar.

It wasn’t until he was looking at the pictures I took (he printed one out for show and tell today) that it occurred to him you would be reviewing his work in the kitchen.  I could tell that he suddenly wasn’t so sure of his idea to share with everyone his creation.

“Are the people going to give me a grade, mama?”

“I’m sure they will just tell you that your recipe looks delicious.”

And it was.  I had the leftovers for lunch.

Golden Spice Pancakes from Fat Free Vegan

I’m not, but SHE is.  I’ve always loved her site.  It’s clean, gorgeous, and the pictures of her recipes are fantastic. If you haven’t tried her recipes or visited her site, I recommend you check both out.  Susan makes sure to detail the nutritional value of all her recipes, but lately she has also been including the Weight Watchers Point Value!  Yahoo!  I now have a new source for fantastic, healthy, and Weight Watcher friendly recipes, and you do, too.

I have been super excited to try Julie’s recipe for Sort-Of Apple Pie since she emailed it to me a couple of weeks ago. I finally organized my scattered brain enough to get most of the (3!) ingredients. The Mister is at the store right now getting the cottage cheese. What I like most about this recipe is the lean protein-fruit combo. I’m looking forward to a sweet treat that is actually filling! And while I am normally not a fan of plain cottage cheese, I am willing to give this one a try because I do like it occasionally with fruit. I calculated the recipe for point value, and it’s between 3-4 points, depending on whether you use a medium or large apple.

Oh, and another reason why I am trying this recipe? Julie’s kids love it. If that isn’t a indication of how tasty this sweet treat is, well then I don’t know what is.

Julie’s Sort-Of Apple Pie

1 Apple
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese [I use low fat for 2 points--ed.]
cinnamon and sweetener, to taste

• Peel, core & chop one apple
• In a small microwave-safe bowl, mix the apple with one packet of sweetener and a sprinkle of cinnamon (more cinnamon if you like it). [I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners, so I am going to try the recipe several times using various natural sweeteners, like Stevia. --ed.]
• Microwave for about 1-1 1/2 mins until the apples are cooked (not mushy though). Remove from microwave (this sucker is gonna be HOT - use oven mitts) and immediately stir in 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. Yup - cottage cheese.
• Mix it all together & eat - it tastes like apple pie. Seriously. If you can’t stomach the cottage cheese, try FF vanilla yogurt. You get a fruit & protein & dessert all in one.

Enjoy!
Julie

Please email me at jules [at] pancakesandfrenchfries [dot] com if you have a great diet/exercise tip, recipe, or product you want to share! If someone hasn’t already suggested it, I will post it on the blog, give you the credit, and link back to your site or blog.

I am slowly starting to feel better. I would have loved some homemade soup during the week while I was so sick, but unfortunately didn’t have the energy to make any. The Mister pulled through with Campbell’s Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese sandwiches during my misery, which was almost as good since I didn’t have to cook or clean a thing.

I try to roast chickens regularly. One chicken easily feeds our family of four, and more often than not provides leftovers I then toss in a big salad for the next night’s dinner. I save the carcass/bones to make chicken stock, which I store in the freezer for other meals. If you’ve never made chicken stock, I suggest you give it a whirl. It is very simple to make and takes almost no supervision while it sits on the stove for hours. Plus, it makes the house smell yummy.

You don’t have to roast your own chicken, either. You can use one of the pre-roasted chickens you can buy at store near the checkout counter if you come home too late to roast your own bird. Just be careful when selecting the flavor of a bird you will later use for stock. “Chipotle-Orange Roasted Chicken” may taste good off the bone, but it makes an odd flavored stock.

I never have the energy to make chicken stock after cooking dinner, but buy all means go for it if you are so inclined. I prefer to place the carcass is a freezer zip-bag and toss it in the big-chill until I’m ready. I had two waiting for me in the freezer today, so I decided today would be a fine day to teach Mikey how to make chicken stock.

You will need:

• Chicken, whole bird or whole bird carcass
• Carrots, 3-6 whole
• Celery, 3-6 with leaves
• Onions, 1-2 whole
• Garlic, 1 head
• Herbs (I use thyme, parsley, and bay leaves)
• Salt, 1-2 TB
• Peppercorns, 1-2 tsp.
• The biggest pot you have
• Water to cover

I recently made soup at my parents house, and must have left my bay leaves there. Chicken stock is flexible, though, so it’s not the end of the world. I also didn’t have fresh parsley or thyme, so I just used the dry version I had in the pantry.

Start off by tossing all your chicken bones in a big pot. Then roughly, and I do mean roughly, cut up all your vegetables.

Seriously, in half is fine. Don’t go crazy scrubbing them, and don’t peel them, either. Since they are root vegetables, they can be unwieldy for small hands to chop. For me, the easiest way to allow Mikey to participate was for him to rest his hands on mine. I did let him try on his own, but it just required too much force to get through the carrot. I felt this was the safest way for both of us to have a good time. Mikey was already removing his hands from mine when the Mister took the picture of us chopping celery. He had them higher up on me (and much farther from the knife blade) when we were actually chopping.

The same technique doesn’t work for the onions or garlic. Just let your little one watch while you slice through anything round and mobile. Mikey’s job was to pick it all up off the counter and dump it into the pot. Don’t bother removing the skin from your onions or garlic. They’ll get separated out later, and the onion skin contributes to the color of the stock.

At this point you can go ahead and add your salt and pepper. Be generous with the salt. Mikey likes to pinch and sprinkle like the chefs do on T.V., but his little fingers can’t pinch nearly enough to season the stock. I let him do that for a while, and then toss in a healthy tablespoon or two of salt while he is busy opening the peppercorn jar.

I fill his palm with peppercorns, which is about a couple of teaspoons, and let him toss it into the pot.

After that, I fill the pot with water to cover. I do this before I add my herbs because, for me, it makes it easier to judge if I have enough. I want the stock to look like stock from a restaurant, which is usually peppered with herbs through out. My stock pot is huge today because I have two chicken carcasses in there. I’ve been slow to make stock because the weather has been so warm.

At this point you can turn on the stove to medium-low (depending on your burner) and let it simmer for four hours or so. If y ou get what looks like foam, skim it off with a ladle and toss it. Other than that, you’re done. Send off any little ones who have helped you to play. The rest is boring, and transferring the hot stock to containers when it’s done isn’t safe for clumsy hands.

It will reduce quite a bit in the pot, and that’s fine. Usually it’s about an inch and hour. When it smells and looks good and rich (about 4 hours) take it off the heat and strain the stock into a new container. Because I made so much stock (12 cups!) I had to strain it into another large pot and then transfer it to canning jars. Normally, I would just strain it into a large glass bowl.

Allow it to come to room temperature on the counter, then refrigerate it overnight, and the next morning skim off all the fat and impurities on top. See how my stock looks a little murky? That’s because it’s right out of the pot. Tomorrow, after I skim the top, it will be nice and clear. Store the stock in freezer safe container in whatever unit of measure you prefer. I like 1-2 cups, which is about the amount I use for any recipe. The stock should keep in your freezer for about 3 months.

This week I plan on using this stock to make a family favorite around here–Chicken Tortilla Soup.

We all woke up late. I went to a party at Kara’s house, so the Mister fed the boys dinner, gave them bathes, and put them to bed. He swears it was lights out by 8:00pm, so I’m thinking he slipped them Valium at bedtime. Mikey didn’t wake up until 8:45, and Nicholas was in his crib stretching like a cat in the sun until 9:00am!

Since Mikey’s egg allergy diagnosis, breakfasts have been a challenge. Baked goods are out of the question, as are eggs, obviously. We’ve been giving him cereal and fruit, but it doesn’t keep him satisfied. I have also noticed he gets a bit hyper, and then crashes around 10:00am. It makes sense, really. Even the healthy cereal I give him is pretty empty in terms of nutritional content. He likes his cereal dry, no milk, so really what is he eating other than some puffed rice and fruit sugar?

This is where the green smoothies have been an unexpected bonus. Mikey loves them, and they are perfect breakfast material. Who knew? Maybe this was God stepping in, trying to give Mikey a better breakfast. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. I don’t really care! I’m thrilled that I now have something nutritious, filling, and [gasp] tasty for Mikey to have for breakfast.

Here’s what we drank this morning.

• 2 cups water
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 bag frozen pineapple
• 1 TB Agave
• 1 TB Coconut Butter
• 2 cups spinach

Add everything to the blender and blend until smooth.

Sunday is a good day for recipes. I don’t know how many people out there are interested in healthy kids snacks (that are tasty enough for adults!) but here is our family’s favorite smoothie. In the interest of full disclosure, it’s really the only smoothie I make because I love it so much. With good reason: the few times I’ve ventured out and tried a different fruit combination the results were less than spectacular.

I already know what some of you are thinking. What in the Hell is that?!

It’s a young coconut, also known as a Thai coconut. I buy mine at the store for about $1.50. You can find them for less than $1 at Asian markets, but I haven’t taken the time to find one in my area. They are incredibly good for you for several reasons, but are primarily known for the electrolyte and mineral rich water inside. I first got hooked on these last summer during the dog days of August. I live in the desert, and just one smoothie a day was instrumental in keeping this not-so-good-at-drinking-water-girl hydrated. As you can see, you need some heavy artillery to open them. Nothing expensive, I think that knife cost $5 at Target, because you definitely want to avoid ruining your good knives on one of these bad boys. Stick with something cheap and relatively disposable.

I wasn’t about to try and take pictures and open my coconut at the same time, so here is a good video to check out on proper technique (there are many different ways, but this is how I do it).

See how he/she puts the straw in to drink from the coconut? Not so much. Mikey hates the taste of coconut water, and so does The Mister. It has a nutty/sweet taste. I don’t mind it at all–in fact, I always taste a tablespoon or so to make sure the coconut is fresh. But as far as drinking it from a straw? Meh. I’m not there, yet. I just open up the coconut and pour all the water into the blender.

OK, so the main attraction to the young coconut is the texture. As you can see from the video, it’s very soft. A mature coconut, the kind we are all used to seeing, can be hard as a brick and impossible to process to a smooth texture in a smoothie.

You pretty much scoop out the coconut meat with a spoon and toss that into the blender with the water.

Then, you add two cups of frozen pineapple and 1 frozen banana. The banana doesn’t have to be frozen, but it makes a difference in texture (it’s thicker and creamier). Likewise with the pineapple. Plus, I like my smoothies ice cold.

Blend it all until thick and smooth. That’s all it takes to make the best smoothie ever.

You even get to sport a cute little “Got Milk” mustache!

Over the summer I went to a raw food party. I know, I know. It sounds weird and it’s probably a crunchy California thing, but I had a great time. It was the night before my endoscopy, and for the first time in months I was able to eat a meal that didn’t leave me doubled over in pain. I also had a weird, buzzy energy. When I later got my endoscopy results (9 ulcers, esophagitis, and erosions in various parts of my stomach) I really felt that eating raw was the perfect compliment to my Nexium. I got all excited and started reading more about it. I even ate raw, off and on, for most of the summer. There was just one little problem. I don’t have much in common with people who eat raw. Let’s just say a lot of the people look like this clown.

I’ll be nice and won’t share his name–but he is a well known “raw foodist.” He also has legions of fans, and I don’t want any of them to find me and poke my eyes out with incense sticks or beat me over the head with their Birkenstocks. This guy doesn’t use soap, shampoo or deodorant because he believes they are rife with toxic chemicals. He also wears medical I.D. tags stating he does not want any pharmaceuticals or IV medications because, again, they are toxic. Are you getting an idea of the people drawn to raw foods? My point exactly.

So, imagine my surprise when I opened Domino magazine today and saw this article on raw foods! The nutritional expert featured, Zoe Sakouitis of Blueprint Cleanse, looked [gasp] normal. A wee bit thin, but I’m a jealous harpy so my judgment may be clouded. It was a tiny blurb of an article, but she bathes, uses things like soap and toothpaste, and–wait for it–even eats cooked food every now and then! Her take on raw foods? Eat raw during the day and don’t stress about the burger you had for dinner with friends. Now, that’s a philosophy I can stand behind! Healthy eating (and the people who espouse it) can be, dare I say, balanced, normal, and hip. Who knew?

This article really came at a weird time, because since Sunday I’ve pretty much eaten only raw foods. There’s no real commitment on my part to continue, but for now it feels fine. I think the warm weather we had last week got me craving salads and fruit. I told The Mister that I wanted to eat raw until Friday and hopefully flush out all the crap I’ve been eating since November. After Friday? Who knows. I’ll just play it by ear and see how I feel, but I do like how Ms. Sakouitis’ does things.

One thing about raw: the desserts are amazing. Every night this week I have inhaled raw cheesecake. There’s no dairy (it’s made with nuts) but you would never know. It’s crazy, and you really have to taste it to believe it. Mikey and I also made some raw fudge today and Oh. My. God. it is so good. It doesn’t taste like fudge, though. (I actually hate fudge, so that’s a good thing.) It’s just chocolate-y chewy yumminess. I love how every now and then you get a taste of salt. The Mister tried some when he got home from work and said, “These are going to be trouble.” They are. I’ve already had 6 or 7 pieces. Here is the recipe, which comes from Raw Food Real World.

Chewy Chocolate Freezer Fudge

2 cups, or 1 16oz jar Raw Almond Butter
1/2 cup + 2 TBS Maple syrup
1/4 raw carob powder
1 TBS (heaping) raw coconut butter
1 tsp salt (I used kosher)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Put everything into your mixer and turn it on. Wait until it comes together.

That’s it! I’m not kidding! At this point, it’s like super rich, stiff frosting. Mikey couldn’t resist licking the spoon.

Then you just put it into a saran wrap lined 8×8 dish, smooth it out, and cover the top with more saran wrap. Kinda like your wrapping a present made of chocolate. Toss that puppy into the freezer.

After an hour, take it out of the freezer and remove it from the dish, unwrap it, and set it on a cutting board. Cut it into 1 inch squares and put back into the freezer in a freezer bag or tupperware–whatever, just put it in something freezer safe. You’ll want to store these in the freezer, otherwise the almond butter will just melt at room temperature.

Now you have an easy, healthy, and delicious sweet treat waiting for you!