What do you do at midnight the night before you leave for a weekend away in Dubai? Attempt a new recipe so your little one has treats while you’re away, of course. That and create an activity bag for each day you’re away. ☺
Category Archives: from the kitchen
Baked Quinoa and Cheese With Veggies
I love making this meal. It’s filled with veggies, it’s got lots of protein despite not containing meat, and Miss G absolutely gobbles it up. Not to mention that it makes enough to feed us all both lunch and dinner for a few days… Yay for being able to take a little cooking break!
Orange Creamsicle GREEN Smoothie
Mmmm… Orange creamsicle green smoothie. My absolute favourite at the moment. So good I could drink one every morning and then again every afternoon as a little pick-me-up. And even though Grae seems to be not be all that into smoothies at the moment, she almost always slurps this one up until there’s nothing left.
Easy Sugar-Free Ice Cream With the Chill Factor Ice Cream Maker
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When I picked up a Chill Factor Ice Cream Maker for the ice cream kit we put together a couple of weekends ago, I secretly grabbed a second one to tuck away for Miss G. I didn’t know how it would work, but I was hoping that it would be a step up from the leaky, messy plastic baggie and ice method we’ve been using to date, and I’m happy to report that it is. A serious step up, in fact. Like we’re in love.
Broiled Grapefruit With Honey and Cinnamon
I had completely forgotten about this delicious broiled grapefruit until it donned on me last night as Grae and I were sharing a grapefruit for dessert. I’m not sure where I originally got the idea from, but when she was a tiny little thing, I’d simply broil hers with a little cinnamon on top, while mine would include a little bit of honey too. Now that she’s older and I don’t mind her having a little bit of honey here and there, this morning she got to try the real deal.
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
You know what I miss? Spending time cooking and baking with Miss G. Don’t get me wrong… We do still spend some time in the kitchen together, but definitely not as much as we used to. Back home in Canada we probably did a cooking or baking project once a day. So what’s changed? Well firstly, here in Kuwait, I tutor several afternoons/evenings a week which means dinner prep is often done while Miss G rests after lunch, but mostly, our kitchen here just isn’t very inviting. And when your kitchen is a dark converted bedroom way on the far end of the apartment, spending a lot of time in it just isn’t that high on the priority list. That being said, I’d really like to get back into it. Time to suck it up. Grae loves cooking, I love cooking, and with the weather getting hotter (it’s currently 38 degrees), spending a little more time indoors is starting to become a necessity.
Healthier Easter Treats: Dark Chocolate Dipped Rice Crispy Eggs
It’s hard to believe that it’s already almost Easter… {Ummmm, wasn’t it January just a couple of days ago?! I’m certain it was.} Either way, it’s about time Miss G and I get busy with some Easter fun, and we decided we’d start with baking up something delicious in the kitchen along with our friends from Hillary with two Ls {please} and Little Miss Mama. As usual, we started with a totally non-healthy recipe {this one for Rice Krispie Treat Speckled Eggs} and then worked our magic on it to make it sugar-free and more whole foods based. While we concocted a delicious healthier version of rice crispy treats over a year ago {and even formed them into rice crispy treat eggs last Easter}, this time I wanted to try something new.
Healthier Penne Alfredo
Each month my little sous chef and I team up with our good friends Tairalyn over at Little Miss Mama and Hillary over at Hillary with two Ls (please) for some friendly bake-off fun. Though I feel badly about it every round, Tairalyn takes on the recipes as we find them – full of butter, sugar, white grains, and processed ingredients {bless her heart}. Hillary, on the other hand, takes the original recipes and healthifies them somewhat, adding fruits, veggies, and her homemade touch where she can, while hanging onto just a little bit of the naughty deliciousness. And our task over here in the desert? Taking the ridiculously unhealthy recipes we find and full-on hipifying them {yup, hipifying… I said it}. That means we do our very best to use homemade / wholewheat / organic ingredients, we skip the sugar all together, and we add fresh produce and other nutrient-packed ingredients when possible. Fun, right?
Healthier Homemade Snack Mix
Okay… So truthfully, when the Patriots are no longer in the running to become Superbowl champs, football is done in our house. We don’t watch it, we don’t talk about it, and we certainly don’t do a big Superbowl celebration. {I know it’s sort of weird, but such is life with a hardcore football fan.} That being said, just because we’re not actually watching the Superbowl this year, doesn’t mean that we can’t make and eat delicious Superbowl goodies, right? Right!
Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Kids Can Make
There’s no doubt we have a thing for play doughs in this house. I absolutely love coming up with fun new dough recipes, and Miss G absolutely loves exploring and creating with them. I’m not sure where this crazy idea came from exactly, but one day I found myself wondering why we had yet to play with basic cooking doughs {like the ones used to make breads and pastas}. Miss G’s well out of the putting things in her mouth stage, so ingredients like raw eggs are not a concern, and how fun would it be to ‘play’ with the dough by shaping and cutting, and then cook it up into something delicious? Sounded like a plan to me {as long as very clean hands and a clean playing surface were involved, that is!}
Sun-Dried Tomato, Basil, & Artichoke Cheese Ball
Last month Miss G and I were challenged to healthify Paula Deen’s sugary sweet apple strudel by our very good friends over at Hillary with two Ls (please) and Little Miss Mama. Looking back, I think we did a not bad job, if I do say so myself. In addition to getting rid of the sugar altogether and replacing it with pure maple syrup and a wee bit of honey, we also traded store-bought phyllo dough in for from-scratch wholewheat pastry dough, exchanged the butter for coconut oil, and added an additional nutritional punch with some ground flax seeds sneakily hidden inside (see our recipe here). Not to shabby, right? ☺
A Christmas Tree Made of Fruit
With our complex’s kids Christmas party happening this afternoon, Miss G and I hit up Pinterest this morning for a little snack inspiration. I knew that there would be plenty of sweet treats (there always is) and with Gracen not eating sugar, we always try to bring something healthy, but fun. As soon as we began our search, Grae fell head over heels for this awesome upright fruit tree. I loved the look of it too, but I wasn’t thrilled about attaching food to a styrofoam cone, and knowing how much we had going on today, knew I wouldn’t have a ton of time to experiment with a healthier alternative. As we continued browsing, we came across this fun Christmas tree vegetable platter, which we both loved. Gracen thought about it for a minute and then asked if we could make a broccoli tree but with fruit. Sure thing, little lady. A broccoli tree, but with fruit it is.
Delicious Sugar Free Hot Cocoa
Today’s Christmas countdown calendar activity was something Miss G has been looking forward to for a while now… Making and drinking homemade hot cocoa! Of course it meant coming up with a recipe that was both yummy and sugar free, but it wasn’t all that hard with the help of one of my very favourite natural sweeteners and a loose idea of how I used to make regular hot chocolate when I was younger.
Creamy {chickpea} Tomato Basil Soup
Grae and I have had this soup for 3 out of our last 4 meals {not even joking}. We whipped it up for lunch yesterday, ate it for dinner last night, and then had it again today for lunch. The crazy part is that neither of us enjoys fresh tomatoes. But this soup is different – soooo yummy! And with our new bout of cold weather (13 degrees Celcisus – BRRRR!), it’s the perfect warm-your-insides meal. Plus, it packs a good protein punch which is great when you’re like us and don’t eat a lot of meat.
Wholewheat Sugarless Apple Strudel {a bake off}
There is no doubt that Miss G and I miss our Canadian mama and munchkin friends terribly despite being very happy here in the desert. Two of those pairs include Tairalyn of Little Miss Mama and her little lady, Sofia Marie, and Hillary of Hillary with two Ls (please) and her petit monsieur, Grady. Gracen sees both of her little friends via Instagram photos and videos, and I stalk both mamas via all of their social media outlets to make sure I don’t miss out on a single thing. Last month, when Tairalyn posted about a naughty recipe full of white flour, butter, Velveeta, and cream cheese, a crazy fun idea came together. You see, the three of us mamas all love to cook and bake. The only difference is that our approaches vary quite widely. Hillary loves to play with ingredients and try to find healthy(ish) alternatives to traditional ingredients, but despite her daily green juices and veggie-packed dinners, she’s a butter lover at heart. Tairalyn, on the other hand, unapologetically cooks up indulgent recipes in their full sugary, buttery glory, and spares nothing when it comes to taste.
…And then there’s me. Yes, lame-o ‘I bet I could make that sugar-free and wholewheat and butter-less, and, and, and…’ me. I once attempted to make a banana healthier. Enough said.