Healthy Meal with Kid Appeal Award: Mommy’s Kitchen’s Blueberry Banana Smoothie

A few weeks ago, my daughter Carolyn had all four of her wisdom teeth removed (just the thought of it makes me cringe). Around that time, our friend Tina from Mommy’s Kitchen sent us her Blueberry Banana Smoothie recipe.  It looked delicious, so I decided to make it for Carolyn as she sat crumpled on the couch recuperating from her ordeal.  As the blender was whirring, Courtney, Carolyn’s godmother, stopped by for a visit. After a few sips, both declared the smoothie a winner.

Carolyn, hidden on the left (hey, no one looks good after having four teeth pulled), and Courtney enjoying their smoothies!

Even though Carolyn is 17 years old and about to enter college (yikes!), it still breaks my heart to see her in pain. Tina’s cool, refreshing smoothie made her feel a little bit better … and I felt better too because Tina’s smoothie is packed with great nutrition thanks to the blueberries, bananas, yogurt, and milk. Given all this recipe has to offer, we are pleased to announce that Mommy’s Kitchen is the recipient of this month’s Healthy Meal with Kid Appeal Award!

Tina’s photo of her yummy Blueberry Banana Smoothie.

Testing the smoothie in The Meal Makeover Moms’ test kitchen.

Blueberry Banana Smoothie
Makes about 3 Servings

  • 1 1/2 cups ice cubes
  • 1/2 to 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 1  cup low fat milk, plain or vanilla soy milk, or almond milk
  • 1  cup blueberry or vanilla yogurt
  • 1 to 2  ripe bananas

1. Add the ice cubes, blueberries and milk to the blender. Blend on ice breaker or icy drink to break up the ice a bit. Add yogurt and bananas and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and enjoy.

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When Leah got home from school, she tried the smoothie and gave it two thumbs up!

Tina’s little friend Gracie drinks her smoothie in a sippy cup!

What I like about the recipe if that it’s flexible. For example, you can add 1 to 2 bananas depending on what’s on hand and you can use soy milk, almond milk or cow’s milk. The kids don’t have to know that it is chock full of great nutrition — bone-building calcium and vitamin D from the milk and yogurt, vitamin C and antioxidants from the blueberries, and potassium from the bananas. Thanks Tina for sharing your recipe!  For more great recipes, head on over to Mommy’s Kitchen blog.

May 3, 2010 | Filed Under Awards, Fruits, PickyEaters, Snacks | 1 Comment 

Healthy Meal with Kid Appeal Award: Treats and Feasts’ Carrot Cake Cookies

There’s nothing unusual about a recipe for carrot cake or for that matter, carrot cupcakes. But carrot cookies? Last month, Facebook fan Leah S., a mom of two and a fellow registered dietitian and food blogger (her blog is called Treats and Feasts), shared her recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies. The original recipe came from her sister-in-law, but Leah tweaked it a bit by replacing the butter with canola oil, swapping out some of the white flour for whole wheat, and tossing in some ground flaxseed for good measure. Needless to say, The Meal Makeover Moms were intrigued!

Leah’s children peel carrots and help mom make one of their favorite treats.

This cookie “overhaul” has everything we love:  Big-time kid appeal (Liz’s boys, Josh and Simon, couldn’t believe there were actually carrots in the cookies and that they actually liked them!), ease of preparation, and great nutrition. Given all this recipe has to offer, we are pleased to award Leah with our Healthy Meal with Kid Appeal Award.

Carrot Cake Cookies

Makes About 3 Dozen (adapted from Treats and Feasts)

  • 1/2 cup canola oil (original was butter)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (original was 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (original was 2 cups white)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (or you can use 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour)
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed (added from original)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice (original was nutmeg)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/3 cup oats
  • 1 cup grated or finely chopped carrots (about 8 ounces)
  • 1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1. Whisk together the oil and sugars until well combined. Whisk in the eggs until well combined.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, and cinnamon. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.  Stir in the oats, carrots, and nuts.

2. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 12 minutes until golden on the bottoms. Repeat with remaining batter.

Optional: For the icing, mix together about 1/2 cup powdered sugar with milk (add 1 teaspoon at a time) and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth. Not too thick, not too thin. You want it to hold its shape when piped onto cookies. You can use an icing piping bag or cut the end off a sandwich bag just big enough to let the icing pipe out onto cookies.

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 cookie without icing): 90 calories, 6g fat (0.5g saturated, 2.5g monounsaturated), 8g carbohydrate, 1.5g fiber, 2g protein, 20% vitamin A

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Here are some additional notes from the Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen:

> For the carrots, you can grate them on the fine holes of your box grater or buy pre-shredded carrots and chop them into tiny bits.

> We didn’t top our cookies with icing, and the kids still loved them. They came out a bit more rounded than Leah’s … and kind of reminded us of little muffin tops.

> We made the cookies with nutmeg, so feel free to use either nutmeg or allspice.

> We used quick-cooking oats, and we chopped the walnuts until they were pretty fine.

We’d like to thank Leah for a super easy, kid-friendly (and mom friendly) recipe. This is a cookie you can feel good about serving and one your kids will surely gobble up.

April 12, 2010 | Filed Under Awards, Desserts, Snacks, Vegetables | 7 Comments 

Healthy Meal with Kid Appeal Award: Steamy Kitchen’s Chinese Beef Broccoli

I used to spend a lot of time reading food magazines, but thanks to the explosion of thousands of amazing food blogs, my attention has turned to the web. A few months back, Diana from Dianasaur Dishes was running a giveaway on her blog for The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight’s Dinner, written by fellow food blogger and social media diva, Jaden Hair (Jaden just launched a new website called Food Blog Forum, so be sure to check it out). Lucky for me, I won the giveaway! This past weekend it rained nonstop in the Boston area (a la Noah’s Ark), so I finally had time to sit down and read through the book.

The recipe I decided to make was for Chinese Beef Broccoli. It was easy to prepare, called for ingredients I had on hand, and was packed with lots of broccoli. Best of all, it went over BIG with Simon (Josh and Tim were out at a Boston University hockey game eating heaven knows what, so they missed out on our feast). Since Jaden has two boys of her own, I figured this recipe would be a winner … and I was right.

Given all the great things this recipe has to offer and the fact that Simon ate every last bite of broccoli on his plate, Janice and I are honoring  Jaden from Steamy Kitchen with our Healthy Meal with Kid Appeal Award! Read on for the recipe …

Chinese Beef Broccoli

From The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook (with a few tiny tweaks)

Here’s how Jaden describes this dish: “I can’t remember the last time I went to a restaurant and ordered Broccoli Beef. Love the dish, but there’s nothing I detest more than goopy brown sauce that normally drags this dish down. I want my broccoli to be tender-crisp and taste like broccoli, not just covered in thick sauce. My tip is to steam the broccoli separate and to use a minimal amount of cornstarch (it’s only in the steak marinade).”

  • 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce (I used lite soy sauce)
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon cooking oil (I used canola oil)
  • Freshly ground black pepper to season the beef
  • 1 pound top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced across the grain into 1/8th-inch-thick strips
  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce (I used an MSG-free oyster sauce)
  • 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
  • 2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
  • 1 ½ pounds broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
  • 1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil (I used canola oil)
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

1. In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, cornstarch, cooking oil, and pepper for the beef marinade. Add the beef and let marinade for 10 minutes at room temperature.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the oyster sauce, rice wine, and vinegar for the stir-fry sauce.

3. In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender, and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain and set aside.

4. Discard the water in the pan and dry the pan well. Set the pan over high heat and when hot, add the high-heat cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side.

5. Pour in the stir-fry sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well.  Jaden recommends serving over steamed Jasmine rice.

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Here are a few additional cooking notes from MY steamy kitchen:

> Jaden suggested replacing the meat with “meaty” shitake mushrooms for a vegetarian option. I decided to make the dish with 3/4 pound flank steak and 1/4 pound quartered shitake mushrooms, and I steamed the mushrooms with the broccoli.
> I served the stir-fry with brown rice, and I cheated by using the frozen Trader Joe’s variety!
> This recipe can serve a family of four comfortably. I think it would be great with some sliced pears or orange slices on the side.
> I couldn’t find Chinese rice vinegar or Chinese rice wine, so I used the alternative ingredients Jaden called for in the recipe.

I liked this recipe so much that I definitely plan to make it again. Thanks Jaden!

March 15, 2010 | Filed Under Awards, Beef, Dinner, Vegetables | 7 Comments 

The Biggest Losers

Last Saturday, the “Biggest Losers” was definitely the overarching theme of our day.

For starters, we had the pleasure of meeting our friend, Cheryl Forberg, for lunch in Napa, CA. Cheryl is the official dietitian for NBCs The Biggest Loser and the author of the newly released book, The Biggest Loser Simple Swaps. We’ll tell you more about our lunch with Cheryl in a bit.

Later that day, the “loser” theme popped up again at the first annual Foodbuzz Dinner & Award Ceremony in San Francisco, which we attended. Here’s the back story: Last month, we were nominated by Foodbuzz for Best Family Blog. We were humbled and honored to say the least. Coincidentally, we were scheduled to speak in Napa at the Manic Mommies Escape the same weekend as the Foodbuzz Festival, so we were thrilled that we’d be able to stop by the dinner to collect our award (LOL).

Okay, okay. We lost. But we were up against some pretty stiff competition: La Fuji Mama, Pioneer Woman, Savor the Thyme and A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa. The Pioneer Woman — horseback riding food and lifestyle blogger living in Oklahoma who takes the prettiest darn pictures you’ve ever seen — took home the Golden Fork, and we salute her (and thank everyone who voted)! Hey, there’s always next year.

Phew! Now that we’ve spilled our guts about losing, we thought you might like to hear a bit about the food blogger dinner. But before we share the details, in the spirit of full disclosure, on the drive back to Napa, The Meal Makeover Moms were pulled over while driving across the Bay Bridge.

police-car

It seems Liz was driving too SLOW in the right lane! That’s right. You can actually get pulled over for that (in her defense, it was a dark and stormy night, the Bay Bridge had just reopened after repairs, and it was kind of scary). The police officer was mighty handsome and quickly realized that the women driving the rented Toyota Corolla were just two sweet, innocent , and yes, loser dietitians with no bad intent. So off into the night we went without so much as a warning (but then again, what could he say?).

So, the dinner. The event was held at the GreenLeaf Produce Market in San Francisco (did we mention we arrived 45 minutes late because our GPS got us lost?!) and prepared by Outstanding in the Field which brings together local farmers, food artisans, chefs and winemakers to explore the connection between the earth and the food on your plate. There were a couple hundred food bloggers in the room (did we mention it was as cold as a walk-in refrigerator?) including Biggie from the blog Lunch in a Box, Elise from Simply Recipes, and Diana from Dianasaur Dishes who sat across from us at the end of the long, meandering table (did we mention we were in the overflow section?).

There was no shortage of delicious food at the feast including Mushroom Risotto with Koshihikari Rice and Crispy Maitake Mushrooms, Soy Braised Beef Cheeks and Oxtails, Baby Carrots and Fingerling Potatoes, OB Beer and Denjang Demi, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Ponzu Fried Garlic, Guanciale, and Bonito Flakes (our favorite). Despite the various trials and tribulations we encountered on our journey to the dinner and back, the night was a huge success.

Now, for our other Biggest Loser story: Earlier that day, we had lunch with dietitian pal, Cheryl Forberg. Now in her 8th season as nutritionist for The Biggest Loser, we think she has one of the coolest jobs on the planet. Cheryl suggested we meet at Ubuntu, a vegetarian restaurant and yoga studio in downtown Napa.

We wanted to eat a light lunch so we shared three lunch entrees and one tiny dessert.

Liz chose the Salt-Roasted Hudson Ranch Beets, Crushed Avocado, Red Quinoa, ‘Ruju’ Persimmon, Hazelnut “Soil.” The dish reminded us that we really need to come up with a recipe using quinoa (and no, we have no idea what “hazelnut soil” is).

From there, we dug into Cheryl’s pick: a steamy bowl of Rancho Gordo Yellow Eye Bean Stew with Rosemary, Torn Bread, Chili, and Braised Black Kale.

And finally, Janice chose the Organic Grits with a Soft Farm Egg, Goat’s Milk Whey, Green Tomato Marmalade, and Trumpet Bacon.

The Mini Vegan Carrot Cucapes with ‘Cream Cheese’ Frosting and Tiny Purple Haze Carrots on top was a sweet ending to a fabulous meal.

We’d go back to Ubuntu in a heartbeat. The ambiance, decor, service, and food were all top notch, and it was great to hear some of Cheryl’s behind-the-scene stories from the show.

On a final note, stay tuned for our Cooking with the Moms podcast next week when we share all of our adventures — including the Manic Mommies Escape — out in California.

PS: For more photos from the Foodbuzz dinner and the Ubuntu lunch, visit our Flickr page.

November 13, 2009 | Filed Under Awards | 11 Comments 

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