Meal Makeover Moms Test Kitchen

This weekend the kids and I tested a recipe for a new cookbook from Meal Makover Moms.  I like their website -- it's attractive and easy to navigate, for one.  The two moms are registered dietitians so they're aiming for more healthful recipes -- but they seem to be pretty realistic, too.  Liz and Janice provide tools to help busy moms, including a shopping list and the 7-Day Meal Planner.

I love that their recipes are "mom tested, kid approved" -- and this weekend, the kids and I had the opportunity to test a recipe for their next cookbook!

Fruity Chicken Kebabs - A Lunchbox Recipe

Ingredients
8 ounces roasted deli chicken or turkey, sliced 3/4-inch thick
Eight 8-inch wooden skewers
16 green grapes
12 strawberries, cut in half lengthwise

Directions

1. Cut the chicken into 3/4-inch cubes. To make the kebabs, thread 3 pieces of cubed chicken, 2 grapes, and 3 strawberry halves on to each skewer in any order that you and your children choose. Be sure to leave enough space at the bottom so the kids can hold the skewers comfortably.
2. To wrap, lay 2 skewers on a sheet of aluminum foil and fold the foil loosely over the kebabs.

Tip: Pack with an all-natural fruit smoothie and a mini whole wheat bagel with light cream cheese to round out the lunch.

I purchased deli turkey, although I would prefer to cube chicken and saute in a light, sweet sauce to use instead -- deli meat is loaded with sodium and preservatives.  When I make this again, I might also use cubed cheese in the mix.  I've purchased some thin cocktail straws that will be more lunchbox friendly and will call my creations Lunch on a Lightsaber.  Eat it, you will.

Both kids loved making these -- I would have to agree, threading food onto sharp sticks is pretty fun!  Birdy ate more grapes than she skewered.  Here are some photos of our test:

Birdy ate the turkey and grapes, but chose not to eat strawberries for some reason.  Toad, of course, was hesitant about the whole process.  Eventually he ate a few pieces of meat and both grapes and strawberries and proclaimed that he liked it!  His favorite part was the whole-wheat mini-bagel on the side.  He agreed to taking two kebabs to school for lunch on Monday, and promised he would eat them.  Success?  I saved my celebration, knowing that Monday would be the true test.

Monday morning Toad protested.  He did not want to take the kebabs for lunch, but I stood my ground, snipped off the sharp tips of the skewers, and packed them in his lunchbox.  I told him that he needed to bring home what he didn't eat.

I was not surprised to learn that he had only eaten two pieces of turkey and one grape.  And the entire bagel, of course.

I wonder if the dude from Green Eggs and Ham lied to Sam-I-Am to get him off his back and, in the future, refused to eat them with a mouse, in a house, here or there, everywhere, et cetera.

Blueberry Bumplings!

Food is a big deal around our house right now as we try to give the kids the tools they need to make good choices.  Yesterday we looked through a few of our cookbooks and Toad requested Blueberry Bumplings from the Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook, which we've made in the past.  I made a few modifications and the kids and I whipped them up this morning.  Here's the recipe, with modifications:

Blueberry Bumplings
The Cat's bumplings are plump things surprisingly like blueberry scones, just right for breakfast or snacking.

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I substituted half whole wheat flour)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz. butter, softened and cut into small pieces (I used Earth's Balance Buttery Sticks)
1/2 fresh blueberries
1 large egg
3/4 cup half-and-half (I used skim milk)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. Add the butter and mix well with your fingertips until crumbly, then add the fresh blueberries.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the egg and the half-and-half, then quickly beat into the flour mixture.  Do not overwork.
4. Pat the dough out between sheets of wax paper until about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into 2-inch squares, circles, or triangles.  *I just used the large Pampered Chef scoop and put them in drops onto the baking sheet, then flattened them slightly.
5.Place the cutouts on a baking sheet, non-stick or lined with parchment paper, and bake until golden on top, about 10 minutes.  Serve hot.
Makes about 12 bumplings.

I'm not crazy about the whole stick of butter, but they're a big hit with the whole family.  Super tasty!

Three

Three used to be one of my favorite numbers.  Three -- it's the magic number.  Good things come in threes.   Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  Hat tricks.  I even dated a hockey player in high school whose jersey number was three.

Three is an adorable age.  Three is monumental.  Birdy, at age three, is smart and expressive and makes up songs and wants to discover everything about the world around her.  Everything is a miracle, a surprise.  She knows the months of the year, the days of the week, and she's working on learning the fifty states in order alphabetically.  She mispronounces words: forget becomes fromget.  She hugs me tightly around the neck and holds on.

This morning, as my darling three-year-old daughter asserted herself by crying, kicking, screaming, pushing her brother, yelling "No!" and throwing herself on the floor, I realized I no longer favor that innocent little number three.  The intense bout of grumpiness lasted from the moment I got her out of bed to the first soothing notes of "Love Me Do" as we backed out of the driveway -- one solid hour.

Her brother was the same way.  The twos weren't so terrible, although we had our moments, and so when we hit three with Toad, we breathed a sigh of relief.  We had no idea what we were in for.

Birdy seems to be traveling down the very same path.  It started a few weeks before her birthday, when she discovered her ability to shriek.  Anytime she doesn't get her own way, anytime she hears the word "No" or a variation thereof (and I believe in telling my children no, although I'm not going to lie, sometimes it's easier to say yes), she lets out a long, high-pitched shriek, sometimes accompanied by hitting or grunting or the aforementioned throwing herself on the floor.  At our recent Easter celebration, after one of Birdy's now-famous (or infamous) shrieks, one of her cousins questioned if he'd really heard it or if it was something only a dog could hear.

Here's an example of a common exchange:

Mama: Would you like to pour your oatmeal into the bowl?
Birdy (shakes head): No, you do it.
Mama: OK, I'm going to pour it.  Are you sure you don't want to do it yourself?
Birdy: No, you do it.
(Mama pours the oatmeal into the bowl).
Birdy: WAHHHHHH! I WANTED TO DO IT!

I try to to remain calm.  Sometimes I yell, I'll admit that.  I tell her that I've had enough.  And that doesn't work -- she just yells back, "Why are you being so loud?"  Most times I tell her that she is welcome to pitch a fit and when she's finished, I will be available to help her.  I tell her over and over that I love her but I don't love the way she's acting right now.  I try to be empathetic to her situation.  Firm but kind. Yes, it's hard to be three, just like it was hard to be two.  She's learning and developing at a rapid rate.  She's expressing herself, she's asserting herself.

I just wish she wouldn't assert herself so loudly.

No: Why Kids -- Of All Ages -- Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It by David Walsh

Fancy Nancy Birthday Extravaganza!

A couple of weekends ago we hosted a fun and fancy third birthday party for Birdy.  It should be said that I love to entertain.  I love the whole process, from the initial planning of the menu to the whoosh of the dishwasher after the event, when I can finally put my feet up.  It should also be said that I am not much of a baker. I am not a cake decorator.  But sometime between the birth of my son, almost seven years ago, and his first birthday, I got it into my head that I needed to make my children's birthday cakes.  And so I have, with one exception.

So for Birdy's third birthday, I chose a Fancy Nancy theme.  She and I both love the Fancy Nancy books -- the drama and the big words and Nancy's antics.  There's a lot of material to work with -- most of the books feature some sort of fancy food ("Sandwiches do taste better with frilly toothpicks!") and, of course, accessories!

I started planning this event quite some time ago, although it wasn't until that last week leading up to her party that I really kicked it into gear.  I googled "Fancy Nancy Cakes" and while I was initially disappointed, I did eventually find a couple of cakes in which I found inspiration.  After a last-minute trip to Michael's for supplies, and some help with the globes and pillars from my spatially-gifted engineer husband, I decorated the cake in two-and-a-half hours.  I found a lot of my accessories in the birthday party aisle at Target (necklaces, plumed pens, sequined mask, wands, the glittery number 3 candle).  I'd purchased the tiara a year ago in the Target dollar section.  The purse and purple sunglasses are actual Fancy Nancy dress-up products (also from Target).  The butterflies were purchased at Michael's, and the feather boa came from Joann, etc.

 

Tres Fancy!

We served a light luncheon, which included pbjs and cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches, served on bread in the shape of butterflies and flowers (I used the Wilton spring cookie cutter collection); a ham, turkey, and cheese tray with dollar buns; fruit wands (grapes, strawberries, and blueberries on skewers, served in a foil-wrapped grapefruit) with fruit dip (from Tea Parties); cocktail weinies wrapped in croissants (from Bonjour Butterfly); and a veggie tray with dip.  Of course we served parfaits with sprinkles along with the cake.

My sister Julie made Birdy a cute hot pink tutu with a lime green tie, which she wore (with a purple feather boa) for about two minutes.  Most of the party, Birdy wore a grungy white t-shirt and jeans.  She obviously needs a few more lessons in fancy!

Birdy hugs Cinderella while brother Toad looks on.