Cooking Plantains

A tasty snack that reminds me of vacationing in Mexico with every bite. Although these plantains are certainly not locally grown, I love to make a conscious decision to buy something deliciously tropical. These "bananas" make an affordable and healthy snack or dessert for Mikey and I. I love how easy it is to prepare them. All I need is one plantain and a little butter and the snack dilemma is solved.

What are plantains?

Read about them here.

1 plantain
1 tablespoon butter

Cut plantain into thin slices. The thinner the cut the crisper the plantain. Heat the butter in a sauce pan and drop the plantain slices into the hot butter. Cook for about two minutes each side or until they become golden like the picture. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Crepes

In France crepes are a dessert, but I love them for breakfast. Believe it or not, they are easier to make than pancakes. I have no problem eating these without any maple syrup. For whatever reason, I really need maple syrup with my pancakes. Contrary to the bread-like taste of pancakes, crepes are light and airy. I love to roll them up into a cylinder and eat them with my hands. And of course Mikey loves them. He uses the two handed shovel to get them into his mouth quickly.

(enough for two adults and one 22 month old; however we do fight over the last one)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour (spelt or whole wheat)

Butter a fry pan. A stainless steel one works best. I didn't like the results with a non-stick nor an iron skillet. Mix egg, milk and flour into a bowl. Pour batter into the fry pan and swish around to the edges. If the dough doesn't drip or move easily and the crepe is cooking more like a pancake, add a little more milk. After one or two minutes, flip the crepe. Cook for another minute until crisp and move to a 200 degree oven to keep warm while the others cook. Serve the crepes as is or with butter, jam, bananas, Nutella, honey, maple syrup, or anything else the strikes your fancy.

Homemade Popcorn

I knew things were still grim with my diet when I had to search Google for "how to make popcorn". My whole life I've only eaten microwave popcorn. When I eliminated processed foods from my diet, I just stopped eating popcorn. But I started craving popcorn recently. Talk about easy. Just like Bisquick, microwave popcorn seems a little absurd now that I learned how to make it from scratch.

I love to make a batch of popcorn for dessert or an afternoon snack. Mikey loves to munch on it as well. Popcorn is a simple food that is easy to make. I can buy it in bulk so there's one less plastic bag added to the landfill. It's amazing that microwave popcorn is so common. Remember to buy organic corn because 40% of US field corn is genetically engineered.

2 tablespoons oil (canola oil, coconut oil, butter, or any oil really. The chef at Sorensen's Resort told me that I could even cook popcorn without any oil, just heat!)
1/4 cup kernels of organic corn
Salt and/or sugar to taste on top
1 tablespoons butter drizzled on top

Coat the bottom of a big sauce pan with a lid with oil. I use the same amount of oil no matter how many kernels I use. The idea is to coat the bottom of the sauce pan.

Drop two or three kernels into the oil. Heat the oil with the lid off until the kernels pop and then add the rest of the kernels. Put the lid on and shake vigorously from side to side until the popping stops (3 minutes). Burning is the biggest risk when making homemade popcorn. But I can usually keep my concentration for 3 minutes even with a 22 month old running around.

Sprinkle with salt and a little butter. Or, use sugar in place of or in addition to salt like they do in movie theaters in France.

Baked Apples for Dessert

Dessert doesn't have to be cookies or cake. Try something fresh and healthy and enjoy a guilt-free dessert. Baked apples are easy and inexpensive to make. After each bite, Mikey made the sign language sign for "more, more." I was happy to oblige because these were harmless apples with only a tablespoon of honey. Best of all, Mikey and I enjoyed the pleasure of something sweet together. Since I don't feed him processed food loaded with sugar, it really is a special moment and I don't have to sacrifice my principles.

4 Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples
2 tablespoons lemon juice, or 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Cut apples into slivers and put in a mixing bowl. Squeeze in the juice from half of a lemon. Pour in honey and almost all the cinnamon, save a little for the top. Mix everything together well. Put the apple mixture into a pie dish. Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter on top. Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon over the butter and apples. Cover and put in the oven for 50 minutes or until apples are soft. Serve warm or at room temperature. These are sweet enough alone, but a small bit of warm maple syrup for dipping is good too!

Crunchy Pear Crisp: yummy in my tummy

It’s pear season and I’ve tried a new recipe to celebrate!

Every now and then, I don’t mind giving Mikey a little taste of heaven. Hey, we all like to bite into something sweet! But dessert doesn’t have to be filled with high fructose corn syrup. Instead, make your little one a crunchy pear or apple pie.

Ruth’s recipe on p. 344 is actually for a Crunchy Apple Crisp, but I made it with pears because big juicy ones are dripping off the trees here in Hood River, Ore., where we’re vacationing.

The recipe looks long but it calls for simple ingredients and the preparation goes by quickly. I didn’t regret my efforts. Initially, I was skeptical because I love to make pear pies the traditional way, but I think that I favor this healthier version. The oat crust adds flavor and texture that traditional pies lack.

Here’s my variation of the recipe:

Step #1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the following together in a big bowl:

4 to 5 pears, peeled, cored, and chopped into small pieces

3 tablespoons honey

3 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin spice

2 tablespoons cubed unsalted butter

Step #2

Pour the pear mixture into a buttered pie dish.

Step #3

In the same bowl that contained the pears, combine these ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour (I use pastry flour because I am making a dessert not bread.)

¼ cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin spice

Don’t dump it on the pears yet!

Step #4

Mix ¼ cup melted butter with 6 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup. (I used granulated sugar this time because I ran out of honey after Step #1.)

Mix into oat mixture and then pour over pears.

Press the oat mixture down into the pears with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Next time I make this delicious pie, I’ll try adding the walnuts that Ruth suggests. I just didn’t have them handy this time around.

I’d even make this for an adult dinner party if I ever have one of those again!

(This is the second dessert recipe that I’ve made from Super Baby Food. Read my post on the first dessert that I tried.)

Easy Carrot Cake: a healthy dessert

The first time I made this cake (page 347) was for Mikey’s first birthday. His birthday fell on the Thursday before his big party so I had to have something with a candle in it for the actual day. Of course, I didn’t want to make him one of those overly sugary creations that would cause his stomach to churn. So I tried this healthful version naturally sweetened with honey. The whole family enjoyed it. Even my husband, Zack, couldn’t believe it didn’t contain any sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (or whatever pan you have close to that size). In a large bowl, mix the following ingredients in this order:

2 beaten eggs
½ cup olive oil
½ cup honey
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ¼ cup grated carrots
½ cup ground nuts
1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

I like to brighten the cake up by brushing it with a simple mixture of fresh lemon juice and sugar (Shhh! Just a little bit).

The hardest part about making this recipe is mustering up the motivation to pull the heavy food processor down from the shelf. I like to grate the carrots and nuts separately in the food processor. I use caramelized walnuts because I have a sweet tooth. I have also baked this cake without any nuts and it turns out more moist. Next time I use nuts, I’ll add a little extra olive oil. Or, I wonder how orange juice would taste!?

I made only one alteration to Ruth’s recipe: I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of the recommended Super Flour. (I use whole wheat pastry flour in everything except breads and pizza dough. For breads and pizza dough, I use plain old whole wheat flour.) If I am feeling energetic, I’ll sprinkle soy flour and wheat germ into the mix. For more information about Super Flour, read page 289.

I love to enjoy a slice of this cake with my afternoon tea.