Feeding our families

Healthy party food

I have party food on the brain right now as Ari's 8th birthday party is coming up and I need to get a plan for food! We always are trying to strike a balance at parties and gatherings  between keeping the kids eating as healthy as possible and letting them enjoy treats now and then. When we host parties we try and keep the food wholesome, but fun. While we were on the GAPS diet we had a few events to plan for, and found that we could find lots of food that everyone could enjoy that still fit our dietary requirements. It can get interesting when different families have very different food limitations- one gathering I remember from that time had vegan friends, us GAPS folks and friends that keep kosher. I think the only things we could all eat in common was the veggie tray and the coconut creme dessert topping! Now we eat most real foods, but members of the family still avoid cow milk and wheat (to avoid sore bellies!) so that is reflected in the kinds of food we choose for parties.


Some healthy party foods we enjoy:
- fruit kabobs 
- organic popcorn (we like it with butter and nutritional yeast)
- goat cheese and grain-free or rice crackers
- dips such as hummus, or olive tapanade
- local, grass-fed salami or sausage
- veggie tray with homemade yogurt/mayo dip
- chicken skewers
- olives and pickles
- watermelon
- punch made with juice and bubbly water and berries
- grain or gluten-free cupcakes or cake
- homemade goat milk or coconut icecream

for treats for goodie bags and such we usually stick with dark chocolate and the odd health-food store treat like maple candies or organic jelly beans. Sometimes we just buy a few nice bars of dark chocolate and some fancy foil wrappers from the kitchen store and wrap the squares up individually to make them go farther and seem more like a treat. We have made our own candies too, though for parties we tend to purchase things so the to-do list doesn't get out of hand.

 Ari has requested chocolate cake for his party (and we made him a chocolate cake on his real birthday too- lucky boy!) and I am going to use this delicious recipe for gluten free quinoa chocolate cake that I got from a friend who brings it to gatherings (much to my children's delight as they are used to having to forgo most cakes and party treats because of the wheat.) It is moist and rich and delicious and doesn't taste like quinoa at all. Just plain chocolate goodness. It makes great cupcakes too.

Chocolate Quinoa Birthday Cake

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa (cooled)

1/3 cup milk 

4 whole eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup butter (melted and cooled)

1 cup date sugar or rapura

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt 

 In a blender, mix eggs, milk and vanilla and blend to combine.

Add the quinoa and the melted butter and then blend until smooth. 

Mix cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together until well-combined.

Divide the batter between two greased pans and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool. 

frost and enjoy!

Enjoy a visit to the kitchen's of the other mamas in this blog series: 

Melanie from Our Ash Grove

Renee, from Heirloom Seasons
 
Melody, from Bespoke
 
Jules, from A Little Crafty Nest
 

 Sarah, from Our Island Home
 
Tonya, from Joyful Living

 
Heather, from Shivaya Naturals
 

Oh hello there! Somehow another month has past us by- these days have been going by so quickly, full of activity and spring. Willa has started crawling in earnest now, and things got a little busier around here with all that she is able to get into and explore- though it is great fun to have a busy little one crawling around our feet again! The snow is gone and we've had days of sun and of rain, but we are all so thrilled to be outside much of the days again. Today we did a big yard clean up and Ari took his homeschool work to the picnic table and Willa crawled on the grass and ripped up dandelions and watched the birds and Dori cooked down some imaginary maple sap into imaginary syrup in the playhouse and we soaked up the sun. Ah spring, how we love you!

Feeding our Families~ April


 
























End of winter cooking-
I have been having a hard time thinking of what to write for this series, as I often find the act of feeding my family to be a little less inspired at this time of year. Of course I do it, and we are all eating well enough, but late winter is just a hard time to be in the kitchen for me. The root cellar veggies are dwindling (and wrinkling!) and we are all a little tired of rutabagas and potatoes. We've eaten the favorite cuts of meats from the freezer and many of our standard winter meals are feeling rather less exciting than they were in the glowing days of autumn. And as the light changes, I find I want to be spending less time in the kitchen and more time in other pursuits- or at least in dreaming about the other pursuits that I will get to once the snow melts!

But still, there are little bellies to fill, and somehow meals need to be made, and I do manage to cook them, and not to mind too much. So I thought I would write about this then- how to feed our families when we don't have much energy and inspiration to feed our families! So here are a few thoughts on how to make sure everyone gets fed during the less-than-inspiring-wrinkly-veggie season.

 Plan (a little,)

I have to admit, my meal planning follows the same curve as my kitchen inspiration- meaning that it doesn't happen  much when I'm not it the cooking mood. But I do have a sort of master plan that helps guide me in my less inspired moments and that helps even if I don't manage to sit down and plan the week of meals as I always intend to do. This is just a sort of guideline of meals- types of meals for different days of the week. For a long time I only planned out breakfasts and dinners this way, but I've recently added in lunches and afternoon snacks to this plan. I am amazed at how much freer my head space feels when I don't have to be worrying what the next meal will be, or scouring the fridge for ideas while a hungry child tugs at my sweater sleeve. I also find having a basic meal plan posted on the wall really helps avoids arguments from my kids about what we will be having. My picky eater seems particularly reassured to know what is coming for the day. Our basic dinner plan is this:

Monday- eggs

Tuesday- red meat

Wednesday- beans

Thursday- fish

Friday -chicken

Saturday-leftovers

Sunday- pizza or burgers or soup or whatever

and then when I am really organized I actually plan out what exactly we will be having in each category and what veggies and side dishes we will have with each. This happens maybe half the time these days.

 Get Help-

My kids are big enough now to be of some real help in the kitchen, and Ari is especially interested in cooking these days and I am often amazed how much he can do when I think to ask him. I am hoping to hand over more and more kitchen duties to the kiddos, but for now, getting them to help in the ways that they are able lightens the load a bit, and it's fun too. (was Dori ever that teeny?)

Cook Big

I have been getting into the habit of doubling or tripling recipes lately whenever I am making something that freezes well, and then popping it in the freezer for another day. I am always so happy to bring out that container of soup or pan of quiche or casserole on those days that I have not been able to pull together a meal. I also try and cook big batches of chicken broth, beef broth, and beans to have on hand for other quick meals.

 

Simplify

When I am feeling uninspired in the kitchen I find I need to keep things really simple. At other times I enjoy long, experimental cooking sessions and trying lots of new and exciting recipes, but at times like this I know I need to keep it simple. I have a list of quick meals that are easy to prepare and that my family likes, and stick mostly to those. Some of these are:

Farmer Supper- a name I made up to try and convince my little farm boys to enjoy a quick bowl of greens and sausages, and it seems to have worked as this is one of their favorite meals. Local grass-fed sausages sliced up and cooked with a heap of kale makes a good supper- especially with some sauerkraut on the side.

Dahl and rice- we use a recipe I found in an old mothering magazine, and my kids always enjoy it.

Eggs- my kids love having eggs for supper and they are perfect for the days I just can't manage much else. Frittata, scrambled eggs with raw veggies, poached eggs over veggies or migas are all hits and super fast and easy.

bean bowl- I found this idea during our GAPS days and it has become a standby. All I need to do is thaw out a jar of cooked beans and chop up a few toppings and we have a meal. I also keep sprouted corn tortillas in the freezer for quick fajita, taco, quesadilla, type suppers with eggs or fish or leftover meat.

picnic supper- I actually had forgotten about this one until I found the picture above- make some crackers or bread and boil some eggs and just pull out a bunch of stuff from the fridge and cupboard- raw veggies and fruit, cheese, pickles, olives, canned salmon, or salami or whatever else I can find. Eating it on a blanket in the living room makes it taste extra yummy.

And now that it seems spring might be here, perhaps some of my cooking-love will return. In the meantime, we will likely keep eating lots of eggs!

Come and check out what these other great mama's are cookin'!

Melanie from Our Ash Grove

http://ourashgrove.blogspot.com

Jules from A Little Crafty Nest

http://alittlecraftynest.typepad.com

Melody from Bespoke

http://www.littlehomeblessings.com

Sarah from Our Island Home

http://sarah-ourislandhome.blogspot.com

Tonya from Joyful Living

http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com

Heather from Shivaya Naturals

http://www.shivayanaturals.com

Renee from Heirloom Seasons

http://heirloomseasons.blogspot.com

We had a little taste of spring there for a bit, but winter is still holding court around here. Ari has been going out for a morning ski every day (saying- "this might be my last chance!") and he is just whipping along with his new skate-skiing skills on that firm ice crust out there. Admittedly, I have not been getting the rest of us out as much as I should- the same paths we tromped all winter are feeling a little old these days, and my energy for getting baby and kids bundled and out the door has dwindled. But we are keeping busy with lots of projects and creations and book reading and playing together. Some days the kids even get dressed! (I'm realizing that almost all the pictures I've posted of my kids lately they are wearing their pjs. To my credit, they do get dressed (almost) every day, but since I tend to get the camera out more in the mornings when the light is nicer, there are a disproportionate number of pj shots. That's my story anyway. Though it is true that it is sometimes well into the day before the kiddos bother to get dressed or I bother to encourage them. We'll call it a homeschool perk.)

We did a big spring clean/baby proof/ furniture shift last week, and it is amazing what a little refreshing can do for the head-space. The kids are loving the new space, and the new toys that have been cycled from the packed-away boxes (and I am loving a brief hiatus from the teeny plastic bits that all got packed away this time,) and lots of fun creative play has emerged. And cycling out old books for ones that haven't been seen in awhile has made for lots of quiet reading moments. We also have a new nature table space and a new homeschool corner, and an area for Willa to play with all the baby-friendly toys and books. She is getting into stuff now, and she's a busy little girl- though she hasn't started a full crawl yet. The bum-scootch is serving her just fine for now it seems.

And oh, her sweetness. Her sweet, sweet, sweetness. I can hardly stand it sometimes. Last night I was rocking her to sleep, singing to her, holding her sweet little self in my arms, her soft soft hair and warm little head against my face, her body calming at the sound of my voice and I just had this urge to simultaneously stop time right then and there- forever rocking my sweet girl- and also to go downstairs and scoop my other babies out of their beds so I could rock all three of them in my arms together. Of course this is hardly practical, considering the long gangly limbs and big squirmy bodies of my boys, not to mention they would probably balk at being rocked to sleep. But still, there was this deep sense of realizing how fleeting this is, how precious it is, and how each one of them is growing up even in this very moment of holding them tight. Growing up. Growing out of my arms and into themselves. What beauty and joy and heartbreaking wonder it is.

 around here::

 ::lots and lots of hot tea to get through the cold snap.

 

:: dreaming about far off places.

 :: celebrating my love (aka the world's best Papa,)

 :: starting a new cultural block with stories of baby Krishna's antics.

 :: loving this boy's creativity and spunky self. and his homemade bakers hat.

 :: a first sourdough spelt bread success. Yum.

 :: outside the sun shines and the winter marches on. Lots of skiing and shoveling and sledding.

 :: baby in a sunbeam.

These days are feeling full to brimming lately. Sometimes I look around at the house- the piles of laundry and toys and books and the kitchen filled with half-finished projects and the homeschool books to read and the lists and lists I keep making, and the sweet baby who is generally rather uninterested in naps, and the two busy busy cabin-fevered boys and I think- this is craaazy! And it is. It's crazy. But I wouldn't change it for anything, you know? (but I do daydream now and then about being in a coffee shop or the window seat of a train with only my knitting and a good book for company- just for an hour or two!- ok. a weekend. I would take a weekend.)

We are getting through this end of winter hump with lots of reading of books and drawing of pictures and cooking and baking and listening to audiobooks and dancing in the kitchen. The boys came in from a town trip with their Papa so excited, they had seen the great grey owl again and this time saw it swoop down and "catch a mouse dinner"! They were thrilled. Today they had their last ski class- they have been loving their ski lessons so much, they will miss them. 

We are reading a stack of new books now- flying through them quickly these days. Trumpet of the Swans with Ari, My Father's Dragon with Dori and Half Magic with the both of them. I just finished pre-reading Swallows and Amazons which will be a fun read with Ari soon, and have still have not settled on a book to read with Perry in the evenings- we used to read to each other a lot, but will have to work hard to carve out the time these days- but the idea of snuggling with my love by the fire and reading a book together sounds pretty divine, so we'd better just choose one and make it happen! I finished The Snow Child after hearing lots of good things about it, and I love love loved it. I need to take breaks between my own fiction reading  though- I can get so absorbed that I almost forget I have children when the plot gets good. Best not to do that all the time! The boys have been listening to some of the older Junkyard Tales Sparkle Stories this week. They really are so terrific. Dori and I have been reading The Black Geese from the Enki kindy collection this week. Baba Yaga is a beloved villain in this house!

We started a new cultural block this week- so good to visit our beloved India for awhile and pull out some of our traditional Indian music and the Indian cookbooks from our travels and learn some dances and songs. The boys are loving the Krishna trickster tales (Dori soaks it all up during Ari's recall even if he isn't actually listening to the first telling, and loves them, being quite the little trickster himself!) and they have been playing Krishna and stealing butter from the kitchen. My big box of grade 3 Enki materials also arrived and I have been sneaking peeks at it whenever I get the chance- it really is incredible- such thorough, deeply envisioned, beautiful material. Grade 3 is the first year with full cultural immersion units and they look so amazing- I am really excited for our year next year to be so deeply immersed in the cultures we study together. I am still trying to sort out how to combine things with the boys so they are able to share the experience, yet both be met academically and developmentally. It is a lot to think about for this sleep deprived mama!  

and I joke about dreaming about a weekend away, but this morning Perry took Willa for a couple hours while I caught up on some sleep (thanks love!) and when I came downstairs I just had to scoop her up and dance her around the kitchen singing a made up songs about the cutest baby in the world and covering her sweet self with kisses- I missed her so! So no. I wont be taking the train anywhere on my own anytime soon! But a mama can dream, right?

feeding our families:: food for baby

I have been thinking a lot about how to feed this wee babe of mine lately. I felt uncertain about how to feed my other babies- opting to forgo the rice cereal, but not totally sure what to replace it with. My first babies ate a variety of fruits and veggies and bits of what we were eating, but I never felt really confident I was on the right path with the best foods to give my wee ones. One of my kiddos loved everything we gave him and my other really would have been happiest on a strict diet of bread and cookies! Later on, we discovered various food sensitivities and issues with food and gut health and I though back a lot to the early foods they had been eating, wondering if a more conscious, nourishing diet might have helped to avoid some of these issues. They hadn't been eating junk certainly, but I just had a feeling that we could have done better during those early months and years of feeding those little bellies.

So during this pregnancy I was just a wee bit preoccupied with thinking about nourishment and food. I didn't read a single book about pregnancy or birth this time around, but I did real lots about food! After our family's journey with the GAPS diet, and the healing we had with it, and with our focus still being on real, local, nourishing foods, I knew that was where we would start with this baby once she started joining us at the table. 

But after lots of reading I came to the conclusion that there is no one right way to feed a baby! Babies first food's around the world vary hugely (soups, seaweeds, fruit, fish, eggs, legumes, butter, grain porriges, all kinds of different veggies and meaty bits and bobs!) and reflect local traditions, climates and tastes. All sorts of different foods are good for babies! And yet I also knew from our time on GAPS that having a healthy gut is so integral to good health, and that some foods are especially good at promoting digestive health. Plus, it seems obvious that since these little people are growing so darned fast, they need lots of good nutrients to grow on! So I decided to focus on food that was easily digestible and as nutrient dense as possible.

Thankfully wee Willa is happy to eat it all! Her very first food was homemade chicken broth and she approved! Since then she has tried all sorts of things, but usually broth is a componant- since it is so good for the tummy and such an all-round healthy food. And it is such an easy transition food from breast milk for little taste buds- no new textures to adjust to right away! Now many (but not all) of  her meals start with bone broth -which the rest of the family is often eating as well- but with various veggies and/or meats mixed in and mashed up a bit with some healthy fats (coconut oil, butter ghee...) and a little probiotic food like whey from our homemade goat yogurt or some fermented veggies. So far some of her favorites are carrots, squash, leeks rutabagas, onions, meats- including liver (I wish the rest of us could learn to love it like she does!) fish, plain goat yogurt, avocado, banana, fresh carrot-celery juice, cooked apple (and gnawing on a raw one,) banana. She also adores our lacto-fermented pickles of all sorts- which is awesome as they are such a healthy probiotic food- and a great teething toy to boot! Lots of sources suggest egg yolk as a good first food, but they don't agree with Willa's tummy yet so we'll wait and try again later on those. 

I am finding now as I am offering her a greater variety of things that usually she can be eating from the foods we are eating and there is getting to be less prep work to feed her. I make a lot of soup for our family, so I can just scoop out some veggies or meat and some broth and then add in other ingredients for the rest of the family. If I am making something just for her I try to make extra and freeze small portions, but already I am needing to do this less and less. She will be eating most of what we are eating fairly soon I think, though we will hold off on any grains for awhile. She seems pretty happy and healthy, so, hopefully we are on the right track.

My favorite resource has been Super Nutrition for Babies which has lots of great information and some excellent recipes- lots of great grain-free ones that our whole family has enjoyed. There is a chapter on baby feeding in the GAPS book which I have kept an eye on too.  I also read French Kids Eat Everything when I was pregnanct and really enjoyed it (and it has finally helped me get my big boys to  stop snacking insistently and my picky eater to start eating more real food which is something to celebrate!) It isn't specifially about feeding babies, but I was insprired by the variety and approach to feeding little ones that she talked about. Along the same lines is this beautiful website by a french mama- she posts her baby's weekly menu too, which is fun to read and glean ideas from! I also read Real Food for Mother and Baby while I was pregnant and it laid things out in a way that helped me feel calm and sure that feeding and nourishing mamas and little people is totally doable.  

I am loving being part of the Feeding our Families discussion with other mama bloggers. Please check out the other posts, and join in on the comments too! 

 

Melanie from Our Ash Grove

http://ourashgrove.blogspot.com

Jules from A Little Crafty Nest

http://alittlecraftynest.typepad.com

Melody from Bespoke

http://www.littlehomeblessings.com

Sarah from Our Island Home

http://sarah-ourislandhome.blogspot.com

Tonya from Joyful Living

http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com

Heather from Shivaya Naturals

http://www.shivayanaturals.com

Renee from Heirloom Seasons

http://heirloomseasons.blogspot.com