do you know the muffin girl?

It's never too early to start them cooking! Getting kids involved in the kitchen is not only fun and an important life skill, but they also seem to eat more of the food they help make.
Nora is very independent for her age (I think) and she is usually content to entertain herself while I'm cooking. She plays with her toys in the living room or her bedroom, and she also has a large drawer of kitchen stuff that she's allowed to throw around. But, she only lasts a certain amount of time and then starts asking to come 'up', which still sounds more like a grunt. I have learned to perform a lot of kitchen tasks with one arm, while keeping her hands and feet away from the counter, but some things will always require two hands.
Then, my only option if she wants to be up at my level, is to plunk her on our large counter and keep her focused and sitting in one spot. At this age (14 months), she's mostly entertained playing with the measuring spoons, the baking powder container, etc. But she's really starting to understand and wanting to participate in 'helping' mom and dad. So while making pumpkin muffins on a Sunday morning, Nora helped me by shaking in the cinnamon and pouring in the vanilla. She also loved licking the utensils, as you can see:)
I don't know if the theory is proved true by this experiment, but she loves these muffins! She ate 2 of them in one sitting, but now we are rationing them to the halves we send to daycare for her lunch (they freeze nicely, so make an easy grab).
They are packed with fibre and other great nutrients from the pumpkin, oats and ground flax seeds.
As she gets older, I plan on getting Nora more and more involved in the kitchen and hope to inspire a love of cooking that both her dad and I share. Kids really can do a lot if you find the patience to allow them to learn and likely make a mess in the process. Let them get their hands dirty mixing granola or dough or forming patties or balls. Nora already loves the lettuce spinner, but she's still having a hard time with many raw veggies. Eventually it would be great to put her in charge of the salad every night and she can choose the toppings (nuts, seeds, grains, cheese, egg, veggies, dressing, etc). It's key to come up with knife-less ways of doing things, like using an egg slicer or a cheese/carrot grater.
I remember cooking with my grandparents as a child...baking cinnamon rolls and oatmeal cookies with my grandmother and making soup with my grandfather. My whole family congregated at our cottage, so the batches were huge and filled up the chest freezer. My grandmother's mixing bowl was always big enough to bathe in, although Nora got to use the new kitchen sink for her first cottage bath last summer. I still make the recipes I learned with my grandparents, but I have had to 'healthy' them up over the years, subbing in whole grains and healthy fats for white flour and bacon.
Cooking together can change a chore into a life experience. You can make memories, delicious food and family traditions with kids in the kitchen.

Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 12

2 eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup canola or olive oil
3 tbsp molasses
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup oat bran or ground oats (or 1 cup wholewheat flour)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup flax seeds, ground
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (*optional)

Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium-sized bowl, beat eggs then whisk in remaining wet ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients then add wet ingredients and mix to just combine. Scoop into 12 greased or silicone muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry when tested in the middle of a muffin.
Cool on a wire rack.

Nutrient Information (per muffin, without pecans):
216 Calories
4 g Protein
11 g Fat
28 g Carbohydrate
3 g Fibre
80 mg Calcium
2.5 mg Iron

turn over a new leafy green

Leafy greens are another one of those superfoods. They are packed with fibre and nutrients and we should all aim for 1 serving a day. Infants and small children may have a harder time eating some of the coarser greens, as they can be a bit stringy, depending if they are raw or lightly cooked. But they are so good for them...and definitely keep things regular:)
Nora has had all kinds of greens by now...spinach, swiss chard, collard greens and kale...they are especially prevalent in Vancouver at this time of the year and we even grow chard in planter boxes on our porch. You can't get more local or more seasonal than that! She hasn't successfully managed raw greens yet, even lettuce is a little difficult. So we've been experimenting with different cooked greens. Any Italian food recipe can handle some greens thrown in (e.g. lasagna, risotto, polenta), but usually they call for milder ones like spinach or chard. These also work really well in crepes, if you steam the greens first then squeeze out all the moisture. Coarser greens need to be cooked a little longer, but do wonderfully mixed with beans (stay tuned for my post on wraps:) or in soups and stews, where they get to cook longer.
Tonight, I couldn't believe how well Nora ate this kale! Well, everything goes down easy when covered in mashed potatoes. But seriously, what a way to add colour and so many nutrients to potatoes. By freezing the kale first, it crumbles really easily and becomes less tough. This technique can be used for cooking kale in all kinds of recipes. It makes it almost an essential to add kale to any mashed potato dish.
This recipe is based on a dutch dish called Borenkool or Farmer's Kale. Using sausage makes it a big meal, substituting a fried egg makes it a little lighter for dinner or a casual brunch.



No Fail Kale
4 servings

1 bunch kale, washed & dried
1 lb potatoes, peeled & chopped
1 cup milk
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup cheese, grated
salt & pepper
4 eggs or 4 sausages(veg or meat), fried

Place kale in freezer for 20-30 minutes. Place potatoes in a medium-sized pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil then crumble frozen kale on top, removing stems. Simmer for 15 minutes or until tender, then drain excess water. Add milk, fat, cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Mash well. Divide into 4 bowls then top with a fried egg or sausage.

Nutrient Information(per serving):
*calculated with the fried egg; if using sausage, all macronutrient values increase
286 KCal
18 g Protein
20 g Fat
11 g Carbohydrate
2 g Fibre
2.5 mg Iron
400 mg Calcium
725 RAE Vitamin A

experi-lentil

Many children struggle with constipation...it can happen for lots of reasons, like starting solids or not getting enough fluids or fibre. Nora has had her bouts with mild constipation and I've learned it affects everything else in her life. She doesn't eat or sleep as well when she isn't regular, and those are two of the most important things in her life.
I've experimented with all kinds of high-fibre foods, most of which she eats routinely. She has pureed, stewed prunes almost every morning (and just recently I started adding raisins and dried cherries into the mix). She also has blueberries in a smoothie almost every day, leafy greens, barley, oats, brown rice, quinoa, etc.
However, the only food that is a sure fire remedy for regularity is legumes. Some may call me the 'bean queen' because I recommend legumes (meaning beans, peas and lentils) to pretty much every patient I see. They are high in fibre, low in fat, contain protein and lots of vitamins and minerals. They are essential for stabilizing cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar and help prevent diseases like colon cancer and other digestive tract troubles. With the majority of the North American population being deficient in fibre, a daily dose of legumes is a great way to up your intake. Replace red meat with legumes once a week to get started and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Some people do have increased intestinal gas production from eating beans...rinsing them well washes off the starch that causes the problem, not to mention the excess sodium in canned beans. Plus, the more beans you eat, the better you'll do!
Nora has tried lots of legumes by now (she started eating them around 9 months), but her absolute favourite is lentils. She especially likes them done up as dal, a staple in Indian cooking. I put them on in the slow cooker in the morning and they are perfect by dinner time. Of course, the whole family eats dal for dinner, we usually serve it with brown rice or quinoa and some other Indian dish like saag paneer or another leafy green dish. For babies just starting into spices, remove their portion before adding the salt and oil mixture.

Dal
Yield: 4 servings

1 cup lentils or mung beans
4 cups water
2 tbsps ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps canola oil
2 tsps cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp hot chiles, chopped or flaked
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine lentils and water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and add ginger and turmeric (this could also be done in a slow-cooker all day). Simmer with a lid slightly ajar for 1 hour or until lentils are soft and dal has reached desired consistency (some people like it soupier than others). Add the salt.
Heat a small frying pan on medium and add canola oil. Once hot, add cumin and mustard seeds and stir until they begin popping. Add garlic and other spices and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add tomato and cook until softened. Stir spice mixture and cilantro into lentils. Let sit 5-10 minutes to allow flavours to combine. Serve with rice and/or chapati.

Nutrient Information(per serving):
197 Kcal
14.5 g Protein
30 g Carbohydrate
6 g Fibre
3 g Fat
5 mg Iron
224 mg Folate
300 mg Sodium