Friday, January 29, 2010

Bake Sale to benefit people of Haiti!

Tomorrow Saturday January 30th starting at 10am, friends of mine are having a bake sale and donating the money raised to help the people of Haiti.

They have 4 kids and it was the kids idea to bake everything to help out. How cute is that?!

EVERYONE needs to go and buy some yummy baked goods!!! It will be held in the entrance of Circle G Ranches on Warner Road just west of the 101 in Tempe at 10am.

SEE YOU THERE!!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Organic No Sugar, no egg cake for Baby!

The first birthday cake smashing is a tradition that is too great to miss. But giving your baby a cake with tons of sugar in one sitting usually does not end well and it is recommended to not give your baby egg yolks until 1 year and egg whites until 18 months...
So what is a mom to do??

After months, yes months, of searching for a good recipe, I found TWO! Plus a great no sugar frosting recipe. I recommend buying as many of the products as you can organic and try and make the recipe before the big day because it is not your normal cake and is kind of weird (in a good way, but if you bake, you will find the batter strange).

Also feel free to half the recipes...the final product is good, but for the adults who are used to sugar-filled cakes, these cakes will be really bland and not sweet enough. I made normal cupcakes for the rest of my guests but everyone tried the healthy versions and were surprised how good they were.

Thanks to my friend, and amazing pastry chef Alison Terry, she helped me come up with the first recipe:

Pumpkin Spice Cake

2 cups pumpkin
8 oz banana puree

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ginger
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Mix wet ingredients (pumpkin, banana, applesauce). Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a nonstick 8 x 8-inch baking pan or one sprayed with a non-stick spray, in a 350° F for 30 to 45 minutes (check often), until it tests done.

Courtesy of Wholesome Baby Food:

Apple Spice Cake

As with any "non traditional" cake, the batter for this cake will not seem "right".
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-3/4 cup flour
1 tsp ginger
Mix the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a nonstick 8 x 8-inch baking pan or one sprayed with a non-stick spray, in a 350° F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it tests done.
**The batter may be a bit dry and you may need to add more applesauce or a bit
of
water. Try adding 1/4 cup of applesauce first then gradually add a bit of water by tablespoon**

Sugar-Free Cream Cheese Frosting:

½ cup apple juice concentrate 1 pound light cream cheese 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 ½ tsp unflavored gelatin
1. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the juice concentrate.

2. Process the remaining juice concentrate, the cream cheese, and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl. 3. Stir the gelatin into the 2 tablespoons juice concentrate in a small saucepan; let stand 1 minute to soften. Heat to boiling and stir to dissolve gelatin. 4. Beat the gelatin mixture into the cream cheese mixture until well blended. Refrigerate just until the frosting begins to set, about 30-60 minutes. Frost the cake

Here are some pictures of my son eating his cake. He was pretty tame with the smashing, but enjoyed it!


Friday, January 22, 2010

Hope for Haiti

Even when things are rough- they could always be worse. I am so thankful for everything I have and really hope everyone joins me and takes a moment to be grateful and help those in Haiti who need it most right now.

donate online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org

call: 1-877-994-2484

or text: GIVE to 50555

Thursday, January 21, 2010

One of my favorite sites


When wanting to learn more about making baby food- I found this great website with lots of useful information.

http://wholesomebabyfood.com/



The site is not as user friendly as I would like, but if you spend some time clicking around, you can find almost any answer to any question you have. They talk about introducing foods, allergenic foods, storage, recipes with many different ingredients and even a chart showing how much you can save by making your own food.

(Click on the topics above and visit the links for GREAT info- even if you have already started solids or even if this is not your first baby.)

I still use it as a primary resource when wanting to know more about baby/toddler nutrition and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!


Click here to visit Wholesome Baby Food!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Beaba Baby Cook


Today, on Arizona Midday, I had a wonderful time talking about making homemade baby food!

To make your own baby food, you do not need any fancy gadgets, but if you want to make the investment...the Beaba Baby Cook is the most amazing invention!

It is a steamer, reheater, defroster and food processor in one machine. It is incredibly easy to use and makes clean up simple. You can put the parts in the dishwasher and since it is all-in-one, you don't dirty several different dishes.

It is pricey, but you will get more than your money's worth and you can actually use it for other things. (Now that my son eats normal food, I use it as a food processor)

You can get it from Williams Sonoma, Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us and online at several different retailers. It is about $150

Click here to visit the Beaba website!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Watch me on Arizona Midday!

I am super excited because on Wednesday January 13th (tomorrow), I am going to be on Arizona Midday to demonstrate how to make homemade baby food!

Tune in to channel 12 between 1-2pm and check it out!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Great Healthy Eating Resource

So, I am into healthy eating- but I also love things that aren't the best for me. Before having kids, I could just eat what I wanted and go work out like crazy to stay fit. Well...now I don't have the time and I don't want to give my kid something just because I have a weakness for something yummy.

Then I found this great website that helps make your favorite recipes healthier and offers information and money saving coupons for your healthy favorites...it's called Eat Better America.

You can sign up for their newsletter for free and find great "Healthified" recipes like this:

Strawberry Cream Pie (old recipe, 450 calories, Healthified recipe only 250 calories)

Chicken Tortilla Casserole (Save 100 calories with the new version)

Potato Salad (430 calories before, 200 calories after)

and SO MANY MORE!

Spinach Artichoke Dip













Turtle Ice Cream Cake












Crispy Chicken













I highly recommend the Eat Better America website.

Find your favorites, and some new ideas and get your kids and your whole family to eat healthier today!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

My Favorite Easy Breakfast

I am not a morning person- and somehow my son was born with a love of waking before the sun comes up. He is always in a happy mood, so that does help, but it is always hard for me to get going. So I LOVE when breakfast is not a big ordeal. Of course, I always focus on health, but easiness is always a plus.

My favorite breakfast is organic instant oatmeal with organic no sugar added applesauce.













You can buy a box of organic instant oatmeal at a place like Whole Foods, but they even have it at my local grocery store. (I always buy it at Fry's. It is cheap and goes on sale and is certified organic).

Now, most people like oatmeal with brown sugar mixed in, or at least the fruit already in the package. This is not the best if you are trying to stay away from sugar. Read the label- too much sugar!! So I buy the plain one and mix in my own fruit (or leave it plain).

I used to buy whatever organic fruit was in season, plums, peaches, pears...anything works. BUT you have to chop, puree, clean...which is not so hard, but that is a lot of work when you are not a morning person. So my favorite is to mix in some organic, no sugar added applesauce. It lasts forever and is really inexpensive.

Here is a great cost saving tip: If you have a baby or toddler who does not eat a whole packet of oatmeal yet, ignore the directions and just put a little bit of water in a mug, heat it up in the microwave for about 1 minute 30 seconds and pour in the oatmeal until it is the desired consistency. Put the rest of the oatmeal from that packet into a ziplock bag and save it for another day. My son (who eats a ton) usually has about 3 bowls from one packet.

Easy, nutritious, and cost effective! Enjoy!!