Snack Time with a Young Visitor

When Anna came over for a sleepover last weekend, she ate what we ate. I always get a little nervous when other kids come to our house because every house has different food. I worry that they won't like my food and go home hungry and never want to come back. Anna seemed to love all our food. She climbed up the two-step ladder to see all the clear glass jars filled with food. For snack, she dug up this delicious mélange:

Nate bar
Almonds
Frozen banana
Date
Rice milk (She calls it strawberry milk)

After snack we hunted for snap peas and blackberries in the backyard. We pulled a carrot out of the dirt and rinsed it off under the hose and she ate the whole thing.

Yes, I still live in San Francisco :)

Nate Bars: My Granola Bars Sold at Rainbow Grocery

Starting Wednesday morning (6/11/08), my granola bars will be sold at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco. I am calling them Nate Bars. They are great for kids and adults. Our whole family gobbles these up. If you're looking for a granola bar with ingredients that you recognize, these bars are for you. They will be sold in the bulk bins so no packaging, no waste. They are made with high quality organic ingredients. The nuts and oats are soaked and then dried for better digestion and more nutrients like Vitamin C. Read more about soaking grains and nuts here, here, and here.

Read Amy Graff's post about the Nate Bars on the San Francisco Chronicle's Mommy Files, here.

Support your local San Francisco mom and grab some bars this week! Mikey is so excited to share his bars with everyone.

Here's a list of the ingredients:

Rolled Oats Soaked and Dried
Almonds Soaked and Dried
Sunflower Seeds Soaked and Dried
Flax Seed
Toasted Raw Wheat Germ
Spelt Flour whole grain
Apricots
Raisins
Dates
Dry Whole Milk
Coconut
Agave Nectar
Maple Syrup
Eggs
Cinnamon
Vanilla

Carrot Soup

Soups are the best way for me to feed Mikey vegetables. I like to try and make soup once a week. It normally takes us just about a week to eat one batch of soup. Mikey loves soup and he likes it cold with a straw. That makes it a super fast snack. I just pull it out of the fridge and pour it into his glass. He devours a whole glass if I give it to him when he wakes up from his nap. Or, whenever he is most hungry. I love to have soup in the refrigerator. It's a great lunch if a friend stops by or an appetizer if dinner is a little light. Soups are a great way to use up all those leafy greens I get from my Community Supported Agriculture box (CSA). Best of all soups are really easy to make. There's a basic way to make soup that lends itself to whatever kind of soup that I want to make. The picture shows my carrot soup. Here's how I made it.

Based on The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters:
1/2 stick butter (use olive oil for the green leafy soups)
1 onion
1 thyme sprig or any fresh herb that you have on the counter (optional)
6 cups carrots or whatever you have on hand
salt
6 cups broth
Creme fraiche

In the largest pot that you own, melt the butter. Coarsely chop the onion. Let cook for about seven minutes or until transparent. Add the thyme sprig or some dry thyme from the pantry. Peel and chop the carrots. Make them the same thickness so that they cook at the same rate. Add them to the pot. Salt. Add enough broth to just cover all the ingredients. Cook until carrots are soft (about a half an hour). I like to use a hand blender to puree my soups but I could also use a blender. I add the creme fraiche to the soup that I plan to serve immediately. I don't like to put the creme fraiche in and then store it. I add it right before I serve the soup about a tablespoon per serving. Milk is also good if you don't have creme fraiche. Soups are very forgiving and an excellent snack.

Strawberries and Artichokes are Locally Fresh in May

Local strawberries and artichokes are in season now. I buy a basket of strawberries every time that I am in a store and see them organic and local. I clean them and put them in a bowl. They're gone in a couple hours. Strawberries are a gorgeous snack food.

The artichokes in the picture are very small and can be eaten whole. They're so beautiful that I use them as a center piece before cooking them. Cut the stem and the top of the artichoke 1/3 of the way down. The idea is to only cook the tender parts so I can pop the whole thing in my mouth. Tear off the top two layers of hard pedals. Cut into quarters and cook in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper and serve as a side or in a salad.

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Easy Granola Bars II

Store bought granola bars are one of those foods that have a ton of unknown ingredients. I make my own so that I know what's in them. Not only is it common sense that processed foods are harmful to our health, it's been scientifically proven since the start of industrialized food (around the 1930s.) I just made a batch of these for a family airplane trip. I was happy to give Mikey something homemade while traveling.

1 cup rolled oats (soaked and dried)

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

1/4 cup spelt flour

1 cup almonds (soaked and dried)

1 1/2 cups dried fruit (apricots, dates, and raisins)

1 tablespoon flax seed

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Homemade granola bars are surprisingly easy to make.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I butter two 2.75 quart baking dishes because that's what I own, but one larger baking dish would be less washing afterward. I want the mixture to be about an inch thick.

Toast wheat germ in a frying pan until golden brown. While that is toasting, put all the ingredients except the syrup, vanilla, and eggs into a food processor. I use whatever dried fruit that I have on hand. I normally always have apricots, dates, and raisins. I also use whatever nuts that I have on hand. I just soaked and dried a ton of almonds so I used almonds in this recipe. Add the wheat germ and pulse the food processor until the ingredients are corsly crumbled.

Then add the syrup, vanilla, and eggs. Pulse a few more times until incorporated into the mix. Pour into the baking dish(es) and spread evenly. Cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the bars are hard and bounce back when poked with a finger. Cut the bars into squares or rectangles and store in the refrigerator. No need to double this recipe, it makes 12 to 16 bars depending on how I cut them.

Soaking and Drying Oats

I soak and then dry my rolled oats for making granola bars like these here and granola breakfast cereal. Read here for more info on why I like to soak my oats.

I don't have a dehydrator so I use my oven. I can't do huge batches because to dry the oats they have to be spread on one layer like the picture. I sometimes do two or three cookie sheets but I learned the hard way never to over populate the cookie sheet. Here is the process.

1 cup oats
2 tablespoons yogurt or lemon juice
2 cups water
butter for cookie sheet
salt to taste

Pour the oats, yogurt (or lemon juice), and water in a bowl. Cover and let sit on the countertop overnight. Lightly butter a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Drain the oats in a colander and run water over them. I mix them around with my fingers to rinse off the yogurt. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and lightly salt. Put in the oven for an hour or until the oats are dry. Mix them around and fold them over halfway through the drying time. Now they're ready for bars or granola cereal.

Frozen Bananas

When the bananas in the fruit bowl go past their prime, I don't compost them. I peel them, cut them, and stick them in the freezer on a piece of parchment paper. I usually use them that day or the next. If storing in the freezer for a longer period of time, I stick them in an air tight bag or container. Frozen bananas are fabulous in smoothies. With frozen bananas, smoothies turn out frothy and cold. Yum!

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.

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.

Mini Corn Bread Muffins

Mini anything is perfect for Mikey's little hands and mouth. I love to make these for snacks or as a side to pasta to fill up the adults at the table. My husband, Zack, was brought up eating corn bread. I think that's why Mikey loves it so much. Corn is gluten free so it's good to mix it into the family bread diet. Eating corn gives our stomaches a little rest from the hard work of digesting gluten even if we aren't allergic to it. I made these muffins in about a half an hour during Mikey's nap time.

Thank you to the Bay Areas very own Alice Waters for this delicious recipe. She is doing great things with her foundation to help public schools incorporate healthy food into the curriculum.

From The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters. A lovely Christmas gift from my mother-in-law.

Makes one mini muffin tin, but I recommend doubling the recipe; these go fast!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix together:
1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon refined white sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Pour into a 2-cup measuring cup:
1 1/4 buttermilk

Whisk in:
1 egg

Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and add:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted (optional)

I start by preheating the oven then I get my dry and wet ingredients poured. I put a small knob of butter at the bottom of each muffin hole in the tin and stick the muffin tin in the oven until the butter melts. I don't want the butter to burn. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and then add the 1/2 stick of optional butter. I forgot the butter one time and didn't even notice. So, I mark it as optional. Take the muffin tin out of the oven and pour the batter into each muffin hole.

If you don't have buttermilk on hand use any milk that you have but use 1 cup instead 1 1/4 cups. And, instead of 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, use only 1 tablespoon baking powder.

I have also made these with polenta. Polenta is corn that isn't ground as fine as cornmeal. So, the corn bread was more grainy but still good. In fact, Zack prefers them made with polenta over cornmeal. I like the cornmeal ones better. I think Mikey likes the cornmeal ones better too. Waters uses white flour which I try to avoid and also refined white sugar. I am going to start experimenting with a more healthy version, but until then, enjoy this recipe!

Easy Granola Bars

These bars use no refined white sugar and no white flour. The most important part about making any homemade granola bar is that you know what is in them. Granola bars are also a great way to feed kids nuts. Mikey can easily eat half of the picture above in one day. He loves these things! We've even nicknamed them, "Mikey Bars." I would never let him eat that many packaged granola bars.

I have made this recipe with and without soaking the oats and nuts and it's good either way. Read how to soak oats here and nuts here. If I use the nuts within three days, I don't dry them, but if I am drying the oats, I'll throw the nuts on the cookie pan too. Again, you can skip this step, it makes little difference to the taste but is much healthier for the body.

1 cup rolled oats (soaking is optional)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) melted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts any combination of almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, or walnuts (soaking is optional)
1/3 cup milk or water (only use when soaking and drying oats, do not double)

If I soaked the oats and nuts overnight, I dry them in a 300 degree oven for about an hour or until the oats are crisp again. If I soak and dry a lot of oats it can take a lot longer. Some people use a dehydrator. I flip the oats and crumble them with my fingers a couple times during the process. I always turn off the oven when I leave the house. It doesn't hurt them to dry them some and then let them sit for a bit. I have also made this recipe with the soaked but not dried oats and nuts. It made for a more moist bar and I definitely don't use the 1/3 cup milk.

Mix with oats, 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1/4 cup finely chopped mixed nuts or processed in a food processor for a very fine chop, 3 tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup melted butter, and 1/3 cup milk if I soaked and dried my oats.

Butter an 8x8 square baking dish or something similar.

Pour mixture evenly into the dish and spread flat.

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until the sides turn golden brown and pull away from the edges of the baking dish.

Let cool on the counter before cutting bars.

These bars help us avoid processed snack food. Enjoy!

Try my Easy Granola Bars II recipe here.

Soaking and Drying Raw Nuts and Seeds

Without processed snack food in the house, we eat nuts and seeds quite often, maybe every day. I make granola bars with them for Mikey. I soak our nuts and seeds overnight before eating them.

Here are two reasons to soak your nuts and seeds:
1) Unsoaked raw nuts and seeds have enzyme inhibitors, our bodies need enzymes, so we don't want to eat enzyme inhibitors.
2) Unsoaked raw nuts and seeds contain phytic acid which is indigestible and bonds with minerals in the digestive tract, leeching them out of the body and possibly causing mineral deficiencies.

The drying part of the process is to preserve the nuts and seeds and make them taste good. Drying the nuts and seeds preserves them for about four months. When I use them in a recipe within three days of soaking, I skip the drying.

1 cup raw nuts and seeds (ex. almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Cover the nuts and seeds with water and stir in salt. This is how to partially sprout seeds before eating, which decreases the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid. Soak for a minimum of 7 hours. Drain and rinse in a colander. Spread on a baking pan and put in a 150 degree oven or a dehydrator for 12 to 24 hours.

Read more about soaking nuts and seeds:

http://www.avenaoriginals.com/library/recipe_display.asp?a=Soaking_Nuts_and_Seeds
http://anniecrawford.com/2006/03/22/404/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_%28fruit%29

Radishes and Ricotta Cheese

Nutrients are abundant in uncooked vegetables. I like to put raw vegis out in a bowl for Mikey to snack on between meals. Radishes with ricotta cheese is a colorful and crunchy snack for the whole family. The pink color is enticing. The crunch and creamy taste of the cheese make it a great kid food! I love the spicy taste of the radish and pepper seasoning mixed in the ricotta cheese. Don't be afraid of salt with this recipe.

I learned this recipe from Molly Watson of Sunset Magazine. She demonstrated it in her recipe writing workshop.

12 radishes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Wash radishes. Cut off the green stems with a knife but leave a little green for a handle. Cut off the root from the other end. Make your cut straight and the radish will sit flat on a plate. Mix the ricotta cheese, salt, and pepper. Serve cold and raw. Yum!

Polenta-Pine Nut Cookies: another healthy snack option

Having a good snack option for the week is vital because when Mikey says, "Yum! Yum!" I better have something fast to give him. Without processed or packaged foods, snacks are sometimes a challenge. This "cookie" recipe makes about 21. I always have pine nuts on hand because I still make pesto sauce once a week for quick pasta dinners or Friday night pizzas. This recipe also includes polenta - since I don't cook much with polenta, I am happy to have a good recipe where I can use it.

I made these during Mikey's nap time. It took me about 25 minutes.

Here's my variation of Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe Polenta-Pine Nut Cookies:

You need two bowls: one for the wet ingredients and one for the dry.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1) Wet ingredients: mix all of these into one bowl.

2 eggs
Dash of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
Splash of vanilla

2) Dry ingredients: mix all of these into a different bowl.

1 1/3 cups spelt flour
2/3 cup polenta
3/4 cup pine nuts (I might grind these up next time I make this recipe)
Lemon zest from an entire lemon (peal with a vegetable peeler and chop shavings; try not to get the white bitter part of the lemon peal)

3) Mix dry ingredients gradually into wet ingredients.
4) Scoop using a tablespoon measure and flatten cookies.
5) Sprinkle a little refined white sugar on the tops! Shhh! I never use refined white sugar, but I couldn't think of a good replacement. Let me know if you can think of one. Would honey work the same?

6) Bake for 15 minutes or until cookies turn golden brown around the edges and on the bottoms.

Mikey ate three of these cookies. I thought he'd spoil his dinner. Nope, "Yum! Yum!" - three bowls of pesto and rice pasta later. But even if he had ruined his dinner at least he had a nutritious snack. I can feel good about that.

Other snack posts:
Bran muffins
Yogurt snack
Leftover snack
Dried fruit snack
Fruit snack

Easy Oat Bran Muffins: they make super snacks!

Finding a healthful snack can be tough. For me, giving my child white cheddar corn puffs, Goldfish, and Graham Crackers is out of the question. Fresh fruit, dried fruit, slices of bread and cheese are quick and easy snacks, but what if I want to give Mikey something more substantial? These oat bran muffins are the perfect answer.

These muffins are a great "on the go" snack too. I can even eat one while pushing the stroller! Just recently, Mikey and I were taking a walk - he munching on a muffin in the stroller, and me munching on a muffin while pushing him. A man passed us on the sidewalk and said, "Hmmm! That muffin looks good!"

(P.S. I am a huge advocate of eating while stationary. It's only infrequently that I feed Mikey a snack while pushing the stroller.)

These muffins have no refined white sugar. For sweetener, they contain 1/2 cup of all natural honey and 1/3 cup of molasses. I can't believe how easy they are to make and how moist and yummy they turned out!

I used spelt flour in this recipe instead of whole wheat flour. Spelt has twice as much protein and fiber as whole wheat and is the only grain that contains an immune system stimulate called mucopolysaccharides. Read more about why I am trying to balance out my family's wheat consumption here and here.

This recipe is a variation of Ruth Yaron's Easy Bran Muffins (p.327):

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix these dry ingredients in a large bowl:

2 cups spelt flour
1 cup oat bran
2 tablespoons baking powder
Dash of salt

In a separate bowl, beat together these wet ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix in a handful of raisins. Pour into 8 greased or lined muffin tins until 3/4 full and bake 15 minutes, until nicely browned.

What is blackstrap molasses? It's a sweetener that's actually good for you! Read more about it here.

I used to blindly follow recipes without knowing what each ingredient is doing for my body or the recipe. In this recipe, what is the role of the baking powder? It makes these muffins rise without yeast. To learn more about how baking powder works, read here.

Dried Fruit: a great snack

It's hard to get away from packaged food when it comes to snacks. When I am looking in my pantry for a quick snack, dried fruit is an excellent and tasty choice. I have dates, figs, apricots, and raisins on hand all the time. Mikey loves them because they're so sweet. What makes them sweet is the unprocessed natural sugar in them. Sugar from these real foods has a long list of vitamins and minerals that processed white sugar doesn't give us. Of course, it's all still sugar and so dried fruit should be a treat and eaten in small quantities.

Leftovers: they make great baby snacks

I remember prebaby when I’d throw away the little pile of pasta and three broccoli trees left on my plate after dinner. Not any more! I save everything. I now wrap up leftovers and put them in the fridge. If they don’t get eaten in a couple days, I’ll compost them. I save so much time this way. I store those unwanted nibbles in the same container—then when it’s snack time, I just open the container and let Mikey pick and choose. Some of the most common leftovers are cubed cheese, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, pasta, broccoli trees, sweet potato cubes, and half-eaten almond butter sandwiches.

If the fruit looks too brown to serve again, I blend it up in a fruit smoothie.

Keep it simple, eat healthy!

Buy lots of fruit. Go crazy!

San Francisco is full of all sorts of grocery stores. We’ve got everything from Safeway to Whole Foods. My favorite store isn’t even a chain: Rainbow Grocery is a unique co-op with an organic orientation. It’s an especially great place to shop for fruit. I find more local, organic fruit here and the prices are cheaper than Whole Foods. I just got back from Rainbow today and here’s a list of my fruity purchases and how I like to use them:

Bananas—last the entire week; Michael eats at least one a day.
Strawberries—Michael will finish a basket in one sitting; I can’t chop these fast enough.
Corn—side dish for dinner; baby loves to eat corn on the cob!
Eggplant—toss into an adult stir-fry or use in an eggplant Parmesan recipe for baby.
Grapes—snack food or lunch side dish.
Basil—put in a food processor to make homemade pesto in a snap.
Arugula—lunch for baby and me: smoked salmon sandwiches with goat cheese and arugula.
Melons—great cubed snack; cut melon lasts a couple days in the refrigerator.
Watermelons—Messy, messy, but a yummy cubed snack; cut melon lasts a couple of days in the refrigerator; eat in the high chair if possible; I had to mop after this afternoon’s watermelon snack.
Nectarines and peaches—snack or lunch side dish.
Pineapple—snack or lunch side dish.
Blueberries— snack, lunch side dish, or dessert for mommy.

Look for local fruit or at least produce grown in the state in which you live. I try to stick to California fruit—because I figure the kiwis grown in my state are going to taste fresher than those from Chile. Rainbow Grocery identifies the source of its produce with labels and more and more groceries—even Safeway—are adopting this practice. What’s more, buying locally is an easy way to tell what’s in season. If you buy in-season fruit, it will taste so much better. Also in-season fruit is cheaper. These days I’m buying so much fruit that I’ve gotten to know the prices. In general, I never buy anything over $3.60 a pound. mangoes can jump from $1.50 a pound to $6 a pound, and so I always look at the price before I toss the mangoes into the cart.
I don't restrict myself to only California fruit (yet!) because fruit like mangoes are just too good to pass up. Mangoes reduce the risk of cancer more than any other fruit or vegetable.

I buy organic for my baby because he is fresh and new and I don’t want to spoil him with pesticides and hormones. I don’t want his body jeopardized on my watch. My new habit saves me money because I don’t buy anything that I don’t know. If there’s an ingredient that is unrecognizable, I don’t buy it. This simple rule eliminates a lot, you'd be surprised. Even orange juice isn't so easy to buy. I just want to buy orange juice that says, "Ingredients: orange juice." I really should be using a juicer and juicing my loose oranges but I haven't crossed over there yet. I only do it every once in awhile.

Now, my kitchen is stocked with snack food for the week. I give my baby as much fruit as he wants. I don’t consider it dessert like ice cream. I figure, the more fruit he eats, the healthier he’ll be. Forget the goldfish crackers; instead cut up a juicy cantaloupe—loaded with beta-carotene and vitamin C and A—for your love bunny. If it isn’t substantial enough, cube some whole wheat bread to go with it. How easy is that? Forgive me if I’m starting to sound like Rachel Ray.

Rainbow has an amazing assortment of bulk foods. I especially love the bulk fig bars. For one, they are bulk, which means no packaging waste. Two, they are made with healthy ingredients and still taste as good as the Fig Newtons that I grew up eating. Now, I would never buy that kind because . . . well just read the ingredients. And so, sometimes, I cube the bulk fig cookies for Michael and pack a couple for me too.

Important lesson: Spend your money on unpackaged fresh fruit rather than highly processed kid snacks packaged in boxes. No need to waste time making a grocery list: Just go and buy produce that’s locally grown, well-priced, and fresh and tasty looking.

A Quick Yogurt Snack for Baby

Mikey's nanny made this yogurt mix and I was impressed. I couldn't shovel it into his mouth fast enough. If I paused for a moment he would talk with that angry tone and point at the spoon. When the cup was scraped clean, he took it in both hands and put his eye straight into the cup to make sure that I wasn't lying to him. I finally taught him how to drink it. Now he picks it up and drinks it like a thick smoothie. Here's the recipe (approximately):

1 cup whole milk yogurt (I use Strauss)
2 tablespoons apple sauce
1 teaspoon wheat germ
Dash of honey.

About wheat germ from whfoods:

The germ is the vitamin and mineral rich embryo of the wheat kernel that is removed during the refining of whole wheat grains to white flour. Packed with important B vitamins, such as folate, thiamin, and vitamin B6, and the minerals zinc, magnesium, and manganese, wheat germ is a top-notch food that can be easily incorporated into casseroles, muffins, and pancakes or sprinkled over cereal or yogurt.