UPDATE: My Son's Top Nine Foods

My sowilds 3 years old in early September. He's still a good eater.

1. Cheese, cheese and more cheese - definitely his favorite food. The sharper the cheddar, the better. He likes to eat it as is or in grilled cheese or in Stove Top Mac and Cheese.
2. Sweet potatoes
3. Bread
4. Dry oatmeal with brown sugar
5. Baked beans
6. Graham crackers
7. Steamed and raw carrots
8. Pureed parsnips
9. Potstickers

Some things have changed and others have stayed exactly the same.

Peach Oatmeal Cookie Bars

A friend of L's came over on Friday morning to play.  She and her Mom brought some raspberry oatmeal cookie bars made from a recipe at the following link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/delicious-raspberry-oatmeal-cookie-bars/detail.aspx.  She mentioned that they doubled the batch and replaced half the butter with oil but I forgot about her advice when I made them.  No worries, they turned out great.  I didn't have any any raspberry jam but I did have some fresh peaches.  I cooked them down to a jam like consistency (see bottom for more information).  In short, I had to stop L from eating them because he loved them so much. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup cooked peaches (see below) or other fruit you have in the fridge

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8 inch square pan, and line with greased foil.

Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Rub in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender to form a crumbly mixture. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

Cooked Peaches (or other fresh fruit)

Ingredients:

Peaches, peeled and cut into small pieces

A few tablespoons of sugar to taste

1 teaspoon corn starch (if you have a lot of fruit you may need to increase the amount)

Directions:

Cook over low heat until it is the consistency of jam.  I did not mash it but kept the pieces of fruit.  I think it gives a better texture to the oatmeal bar.

Planning Meals Week 18: Friday, 4/29 through Thursday, 5/5

Friday, 4/29 - Grilled chicken chorizo sausages on Portuguese buns, spiced grilled sweet potatoes
Verdict: The sausages are always good as they're made fresh at the Whole Foods.  The grilled sweet potatoes had to be broiled as MTH was late getting home.  They were pretty good but I think that cooking them on the grill would be better.  Also, I'm not sure I like the cinnamon in there with the other flavors.  I may leave it out next time.

Saturday, 4/30 - out to dinner at Boulevard Woodgrill

Sunday, 5/1 - homemade pizza and sauteed asparagus and garlic
Verdict: We used our new super peel from SM.  It's great.  It helps a lot with getting the pizza on and off the pizza stone. We were using the parchment paper method so now we're not wasting parchment paper!


Monday, 5/2 - leftovers

Tuesday, 5/3 - veggie stir fry with lo mein noodles

Wednesday, 5/4 - leftovers

Thursday, 5/5 - cheese quesadillas, veggie

Planning Meals Week 17: Friday, 4/22 through Thursday, 4/28

Friday, 4/22 - Broiled Salmon, Pureed Cauliflower and Bread

Saturday, 4/23 - Easter Cookout with Visiting Friends - Burgers, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Potatoes with Mustard Vinaigrette and Chips

Sunday, 4/24 - Grilled Chicken and Pureed Parsnips

Monday, 4/25 - Deviled Eggs and Pureed Parsnips

Tuesday, 4/26 - Out to Dinner

Wednesday, 4/27 - Grilled Cheese and Veggie

Thursday, 4/28 - TBD

Banana Nut (or without nuts) Mini-Muffins

We hosted a brunch back in March for St. Patrick's Day.  As part of the menu, I made mini-quiches and blueberry mini-muffins.  I borrowed several mini-muffin pans from a friend.  But, I was hooked so I bought my own pan soon after.  I have now made two different versions of banana mini-muffins two weekends in a row.  The second batch turned out much better so I will only share that recipe here.  This recipe is adapted from two different recipes - Banana Walnut Muffins from my Totally Muffins Cookbook by Helene Siegel and Karen Gillingham and Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce.  The muffin recipe is from the muffin cookbook but with part of the flour substituted by the multigrain flour mix from the Good to the Grain cookbook.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts) (optional)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup multi-grain flour mix
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease mini muffin tin.  If using, spread nuts on a tray and toast in oven for 8 to 10 minutes.  In a bowl, combine flours, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.  Note: I used a spoon for this step and it worked great - plus I didn't have to get out my mixer and then clean it up when I was done!  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add mashed bananas and beat until combined.  Stir dry ingredients into banana mixture just until flour disappears.  Lightly stir in nuts.  Spoon batter into muffin cups to the top.  Note: I use a mini ice cream scoop for spooning in the batter.  It is much easier than using two spoons.  Bake 15-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Meals Week 16: Friday, 4/15 through Thursday, 4/21

Friday, 4/15 - Tartines a la Le Pain Quotidien

Asparagus and Goat Cheese
Turkey and Cheddar with Cilantro Pesto

Saturday, 4/16 - Rice Balls with Sweet Potato or Carrot filling (made by Aunt SM and LTH)


Sunday, 4/17 - MMH and Aunt SM out to dinner; MTH and LTH will probably have pizza

Monday, 4/18 - Hashbrowns

Tuesday, 4/19 - Irish Skillet Dinner

Wednesday, 4/20 - Leftovers

Thursday, 4/7 - Potstickers

Meals Week 15: Friday, 4/8 through Thursday, 4/14

Friday, 4/8 - Grilled steak and vegetable

Saturday, 4/9 - Out to dinner with friends

Sunday, 4/10 - Take out sushi

Monday, 4/11 - Pan fried pork chops with onions and broccoli sauteed with garlic

Tuesday, 4/12 - Ground chicken tacos with tomatoes, avocado, grated cheese and cilantro and leftover broccoli

Wednesday, 4/13 - Leftover tacos and veggies

Thursday, 4/14 - Potstickers

Multigrain Flour Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
1 cup barley flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup rye flour

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just incorporated. I usually let the batter sit for a few minutes in order to let the flours absorb some of the moisture.  For the waffle iron, I only spray with a little oil before putting in the first waffle.  For me at least, I don't have any issues with sticking for the rest of that batch.