Healthy Chex Mix (whole wheat and beans and seeds)

I am trying to buy less snacks from the grocery store.  Surely this is a poor choice.  I ran out of snacks for lunchbox.

In my pantry I found a box of whole wheat waffle cereal and TJs seed & bean medley.

Chex mix immediately came to mind.  I used the orignal chex mix recipe but used half of the butter (3 tablespoons total).

 

ingredients:

• 3 wheat waffle cereal (or whatever you have on hand)
• 1 bag TJs seed & bean medley
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons organic Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

method

Heat oven to 300.  I was in a rush and melted the butter in the microwave and added all of the spices including Wocertershire sauce.  Mixed up cereal and seed & bean medley in a big bowl.  I added extra pumpkin seeds.  Drizzled the hot buttery spice mixture and mixed with tongs.

Pour mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 45 minutes, making sure to stir the mixture every 15 minutes.

Kids went nuts for this stuff.  I ate quite a bit myself!

tahini free hummus (nut and seed free)

My son doesn’t do well with sesame seeds and becomes an itchy mess.  I’m hoping he grows out of this allergy!  It kills me that I can’t send hummus, veggies and delicious homemade fluffy whole grain bread in the kids lunchbox.  I have yet to see a nut and seed free hummus at the grocery store.  I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely possible to make a delicious nut and seed free hummus.

I used local garbanozo beans from the famers market (Kandarian Organic Farms) and cooked the beans in my pressure cooker with baking soda and salt.  I totally overcooked my beans.  Ooops.

I’m way too lazy to remove the skin off of my chickpeas.  Luckily you don’t have to if you have a high speed blender like a vitamix.   The power of the vitamix converts even chickpea skins into a velvety and creamy hummus.

 

ingredients

• 1 pound of dried chickpeas soaked overnight and then cooked
• at least 1/2-1 cup of the water leftover from cooking chickpeas
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1-2 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• juice and lemon of 1 meyer lemon

method

Vitamix everything.  Scrape out the hummus into a giant bowl and make sure that your hummus isn’t too thick because then it’s just a chickpea paste and not a delicious spread/dip.  Keep adding chickpea liquid until the hummus is the right consistency.  Add lots of lemon.  I’m sure yogurt would be a great addition.

I stored the hummus in a glass dish, drizzled with oil oil and sprinkled with extra cumin.

Kids loved it.  Now we have a shit ton of hummus.  There will veggie sandwiches with hummus this week and a roasted garlicy cauliflower soup with hummus.

p.s.  cauliflower hummus soups is delicious!!!

Leftover sardine, rice and spinach gratin (perfect for kids and tots)

I love a super healthy dish that is packed with flavor, easy to make and devoured by the children.  I was inspired by this NYT recipe!  My kids asked for seconds.  I used up 1 bunch of chard and a bag of spinach.

The NYT recipe didn’t have enough zip in flavor and used too many pots.  My version is more lemony and easier.

Packed with nutrition and flavor, yet so cheap for being organic!!  Why can’t this be served at school lunch (National School Lunch Program)?  I would totally opt into school lunch if lunches were made on site at the school and not delivered in plastic by a food service management company (FSMC).  I used to work for USDA many moons ago, specifically in the school lunch program!  School lunch and feeding children is my jam.

ingredients:

• 2 cans boneless, skinless and boneless sardines packed in olive oil (I used TJs wild caught sardines)
• 2 BIG bunches of greens chopped up(I used a leftover bunch of chard and bag of TJ’s organic spinach) — go hog wild and use 3 or 4 bunches of greens if you want!
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced or smashed
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1-2 cups cooked rice (I used 2 cups of leftover basmati rice)
• 1/4 cup fresh or dry bread crumbs
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 – 1 meyer lemon juiced
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, grated

method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Saute onions in olive oil.  When onions are golden, add the garlic and stir for a minute.  Then add the chopped up greens and saute until greens are cooked.  Add rice, milk, flour and salt+pepper to taste.  Turn off the stove once the milk is incorporated into the rice mixture.  Stir in the lemon zest.

Grease up a 2 quart casserole dish with butter or olive oil.  Add half of the rice and greens mixture to the casserole dish.  Layer on top one can of sardines and the olive oil in the sardines (I chopped up the sardines to evenly add a layer).  Drizzle lemon juice.  Repeat with the remaining rice and greens mixture and the second can of sardines.  Finally, sprinkle with bread crumbs and parmesan.  Crispy onions would be a great addition!

Bake for 15 minutes.  This fed 4 children with zero leftovers for me.  They all had second helpings.

5 Minute Probiotic Vegetarian Soup — Kid Tested

This is by the far the quickest and healthiest dinner that I have made for the kids.  My soup was done in 5 minutes. I’m sure you can make this soup if you live outside of Los Angeles, but the key ingredient (vegetable broth) is purchased from Dave’s Gourmet Korean Food at the farmers market — this may not be a 5 minute soup if you live outside of Los Angeles.  I usually pick up my vegetable broth at the Plummer Park farmers market on Monday afternoons or the Mar Vista farmers market on Sunday mornings.  The homemade vegetable broth is delicious (incredible depth of flavor) and has lots of good bugs for your belly.  Dave is a former acupuncturist and all of his products are vegan and msg-free.  We are lucky Angelenos!!

All of my kids slurped this up, even the 2 year old.  Major hit.  SCORE.  5 minutes!!!  This one is a keeper

ingredients

• 4 cups store bought or homemade veggie broth (not Dave’s!!)
• 4 ounces somen (the noodles are quite tender and delicate  – melt in your mouth)
• 4 eggs beaten well
• 4-6 cups of Dave’s veg broth

method

We use 2 different broths because I don’t want to bring Dave’s veg broth to a boil since it is full of goodness!!

Once 4 cups of standard vegetable broth comes to boil, add somen and boil for 2 minutes.  At the 2 minute mark, stir the broth clockwise and add the eggs in a slow stream.  The eggs should set in a minute.  Turn off the stove.  Add Dave’s veg broth, straight out of the fridge, and into the pot of soup that is now off the burner.  Scallions would be an excellent garnish!

Delicious on a cold winter’s day, even though it was over 75 degrees.  You can make this soup gluten free or whole grain by adding quinoa or brown rice.  But I love somen.

Oil of Oregano for Kids

While my children are fully vaccinated, I do not have much confidence in the flu vaccine.  Of course you should consult your health care professional!

We have been able to avoid the flu and major colds by taking homemade elderberry syrup (super easy and mad cheap), probiotics, vitmain c, multivitamins and bone broth as needed this flu season.  However, lots of folks have mentioned the magic of oil of oregano.  They also mentioned that it tastes nasty.  I was hesitant about giving my kids something that tastes so nasty.  But I also said fuck it and gave them a drop of oil of oregano in shot glass filled with delicious lemonade.

The children’s response, “this isn’t nasty — you have given us many nasty things — this tastes very herbal!”  SCORE!  It kinda reminds me of lavender lemonade but a little more spicy.  But then again, I do give my kids tons of nasty shit in the name of health.  Oil of oregano is a keeper!

 

I Refuse To Do Kid School Projects

In my day, kids did school projects on their own.  My brilliant twin girls are absolutely panicked about creating an animal artifact for science.  There is so much fear about messing up.  The fear is paralyzing and crippling.  Obsession with perfection is tangible. They keep looking to me for guidance.  They want me to provide detailed steps on exactly what they should do in order to create a perfect project.

Nope!

I refuse to do a 3rd grade project, that teaches them nothing.  I was part of the latch key generation where my parents were busting their ass to provide for us.  No one proofed my papers or helped me do a project.  When I was a kid, I would walk over to Westown Pharmacy with spare change to buy supplies.  My parents were immigrants and their mastery of the English language wasn’t good enough to proof schoolwork.  Plus, they had more important worries like making money to buy food.  A lot of responsibility was put on me, I was filling out immgration visa forms at age 7.  I learned perseverance and grit, lifelong skills.

I adore my children.  It is a privilege to be a homemaker and fully immerse myself into mothering my 4 children ages 8 and under with the financial resources to take a break from my career with zero worries.  It’s a fucking dream.  Grateful.  But mama isn’t gonna raise any sissies.

Any new project can inflict stress and anxiety onto a child or adult.  You gotta pull up your britches, breathe, get organized and start the doing.  Mistakes are ok — it is where the learning happens.  After multiple trips to the library, I brought the girls to Michael’s  and spent a small fortune on any materials they wanted.  Still they want hands on guidance in a step by step fashion.  That’s not how life works kids — there ain’t no manual!

One kid is  currently crying.  I get it, the anxiety is real when you do a project.  So I’m offering advice:

1. Breathe and get calm, practice meditation;
2. Reread the instructions provided from the teacher — this is the road map for the assignment;
3. Get organized and make a list of what you want to include in your project;
4. If you get stuck then do more research on your topic ;
5. Take risks and make mistakes;
6. Always believe in yourself; and
7. Never give up.

Shit, my parents said crazy things to me like “you won’t have a place to live if you ever bring home anything less than an A”!!!  I don’t say crazy shit like that.  They don’t even know easy they have it (I used old rice as glue because we were resourceful and funds were tight).  Please child, understand now, I will never call your future professor or boss.

Learn perseverance and grit.  No matter what life throws at you, get your ass up and keep trying.  Now let’s start with this school project.  Go forwards and create.  Tough love.   Next step, change the world.

Sunchokes and Kale Nests

Mom goals:  kids eat veggie filled nourishing meals.

Mom dreams:  minimum amount of clean up.

I adore one dish meals.  Adore.

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ingredients:

• 1 bag sunchokes (TJs) sliced 1/4 inch
• 2 shallots diced
• 2 bunches kale chopped
• 4 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan (optional)

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method:

Line a sheet pan or pyrex with parchment paper or rub down with olive oil to prevent sticking.  Place sliced sunchokes with olive oil, salt and pepper in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until sunchokes are tender.

While sunchokes roast, saute shallots and then add kale.  Season.

Take out sunchokes from oven and add wilted kale.  Make nests.  Pour one raw cracked egg into each nest.  Sprinkle with some parm.  Bake at 350 until whites set and yolk is runny.

Serve with toasted sprouted bread.  I slather my bread with delicious grassfed butter.

 

where’s my milk from?

I am milk obsessed.  The baby is still nursing but my older 3 love milk and drink loads of it. I started doing research and it seems like goat milk is best and raw cow’s milk is second best.  Both are pretty pricey.  Goat milk was costing me around $17/gallon and raw milk was costing around $14/gallon.   If you know of better priced options in Los Angeles, drop me a line.

So I decided to go with regular ole organic milk.  But I read that some organic milks are ultra pasteurized which basically means it’s dead milk and you can’t even make yogurt from it.  That’s messed up — dead organic milk???  So I called up Trader Joe’s and asked them where their organic milk is sourced from and they had no idea.   Then I called up Whole Foods and they had no idea.

Are you kidding me?  How do you not know where your milk is sourced from?  SHAME.

I then went to my trusty google and figured it out — guess what, it’s easy to find out where your milk is from!

First, go to this website and insert the dairy code that is on each and every container of milk.  Sometimes the milk is directly from a farm and other times its from a processing plant.  The dairy code should be easy to find… otherwise, I’d be a wee bit suspicious.

Second, you can go to this website to get a rating and review of the dairy farm/processing plant.

I finally settled on Strauss Family Creamery for my family (used to be the cream top whole milk at Trader Joe’s) or Organic Valley.  I called Strauss and the cows are 80% grass-fed and the other 20% is non-gmo organic feed (could be higher grass depending on the weather).

Now staff at TJs and WFs, please get informed so you in turn can inform your customers!!!  This ain’t rocket science… but it’s obviously a pain in the ass to figure out where your milk is sourced from.  Maybe there is an app….

DIY Lice Prevention Spray Recipe

Unfortunately, preschool and public school means your kid is at risk for head lice.  Notices frequently go out in backpacks regarding the dreaded lice outbreak. I can’t imagine nitpicking lice out of the hair of 4 children!!!  Most of the natural preventive sprays cost $10-$15.  But since I spray the kids daily, I find it easier and cost effective to make at home.

ingredients:

• spray bottle (I used an old face toner misting bottle)
• 1 eye dropper full tea tree oil
• 1 eye dropper full lavender oil
• 1 eye dropper full rosemary oil
• 4-5 ounces rose water* (can use regular water)

method:

Mix up all the ingredients in a spray bottle.  It smells great!!!

Gigantes Plaki (Gigantic Beans in Slow Cooker)

Tuesdays are hectic for me.  All of the kids have yoga and swimming and we don’t get home until 6:15.  At least they are showered.  The slow cooker/crock pot is a life saver on hectic school days.  I received gigantic beans from a recent lobster festival and thought it would be a delicious meal.  We are also doing more lentils/legumes and almost no meat because my son is on an Ayurvedic diet to remedy his eczema.  His dosha is kapha and this dish suits kapha balancing.

I modified this recipe.  My version requires 2 steps — soak beans and then dump everything in the crock pot and slow cook for 8-10 hours.  I am a big believer in soaking because it makes the beans more digestible.  None of us had gassy issues after eating the gigantic beans.

I highly recommend this recipe.   The kids and I loved it!!  We ate it for dinner and then it went into lunchboxes (thermos) the next day.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough leftover for me.  I should have doubled the recipe.  It’s loaded with flavor!!  I didn’t need to use chicken stock.  LOVE!

ingredients:

• 8 ounces dried beans (gigantes or large lima beans)
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 6-10 cloves garlic minced (I used all 10 cloves)
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp crushed, dried oregano
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup safflower oil (can use olive oil, but safflower is bettter for Kapha)
• large can of San Marazano tomatoes (28 ounces) which I crushed by hand
• 2 cups of water
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon & salt (add after beans have slow cooked for 8-10 hours)

Method:

Soak the beans in a large glass or ceramic dish covered with water for 24 hours.  Rinse and drain beans.

Add beans and rest of the ingredients (except salt & cinnamon) into slow cooker/crock pot.  Cook on slow for at least 8 hours.  I turned mine off at 9 hours, but it could have gone for 10 hours.

Huge fave with the kids.  I served with a green salad tossed with a Lebanese garlicky dressing (used 1/4 cup of safflower oil instead of 1/2 cup olive oil).  If we weren’t adhering to the Kapha dietary restrictions, crusty bread would make a nice addition.