Valentine's Day treats for kids with allergies

Life is Good: chocolate is love

Thanks to my mom, one of my love languages is food. She learned it from her mom and so on. Every special occasion, since I an remember, has been marked by a cake that was decorated to look like a hamburger or a pizza or even the big bad wolf & the three pigs (and don't forget their houses of straw, sticks, and bricks). If it isn't a cake, it's cookies in the shape of ice cream cones or baseball bats & hats, or Ninja Turtles. Or it's homemade caramels or toffee or decadent chocolate fudge. Oh, it is a wonder we don't all weigh 500, 000 pounds!

So it isn't surprising that food is one of my love languages. And though I find Valentine's Day to be a bit silly, (Shouldn't we show our love for one another EVERY day?) I do like making it a wee bit special for our kiddos. Today, I marked chocolate-covered strawberries off of the list (for surprises in their lunch bags tomorrow) and a new, healthier version of a crunch bar heart.

In the past when I've made homemade crunch bars, I melt Enjoy Life chocolate chips and mix them with Rice Krispies cereal in some kind of shaped mold. Last week, I saw a great idea on Instagram from Well Plated. She puffed quinoa and used that as the "crunch". So this morning, I melted my Enjoy Life chocolate chips (from Target) and added puffed red quinoa. I haven't tried it out, but the puffed quinoa itself was AMAZINGGGGGG! Yummy! I am a sucker for quinoa in all forms!

I didn't measure the quinoa or the chocolate. If you want measurements, post a comment here or on Facebook. I poured the quinoa in my cast iron pan and put my heat on low so as not to scorch the quinoa. I knew it was done when I heard quiet "pops" like a super quieter version of popcorn popping. I tried this two ways...A layer of chocolate, a layer of quinoa, and a layer of chocolate over it and then secondly, mixing the quinoa in the melted chocolate and pouring it into the mold. I used cookie cutters and a sandwich cutter as my "molds". I will report back if either worked better.

Happy almost Valentine's Day!

Kombucha

Life is Good: even though I'm thirsty!

I'm all out of my favorite lemonade Kombucha. And so is the grocery store! What ever will I dooooooooo? 

But seriously, I am so obsessed and addicted to this tasty goodness! (And I'm pretty sure my gut is healthier because of it.)

#Boymom

Life is Good: I feel the love

You know it's going to be a good day when your five year old leaves you a love letter before he goes to school.

Eggless Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Egg Free Recipe

Life is Good: when you make time for pancakes!

Our kids would eat pancakes every morning if they could. I've taken to prepping the dry ingredients for my fluffy, eggless pancakes recipe and keeping it in the pantry to make pancake making quicker and easier and more spontaneous. I separate the dry mix into fourths and then I can mix up a quarter of the wet ingredients each time I make their breakfast. 

Every Saturday morning is ruled by The Big Kid's basketball practice. Today, we had a scheduled that allowed time for pancakes. And since our kiddos love anything lemon, I decided to try a new recipe--Lemon Ricotta.

I searched for a vegan recipe instead of substituting the eggs in a regular lemon ricotta recipe. I typically use baking powder & unsweetened applesauce to substitute, but I was afraid it might affect the tartness of the lemons.

I found this recipe through a google search. As it turns out, this blogger is in Minnesota, too! Fun! I adjusted her recipe slightly to fit our family's needs. It worked really well! Here is my version, which makes over three dozen half-dollar pancakes:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 t. baking powder

1 1/2 t. baking soda

3 cups milk (I used whole, organic)

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

zest of two lemons

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients and make "a well" in the center. 

2. Pour in the milk.

3. Add ricotta one large spoonful at a time , mixing gently and being careful not to over mix (which will make the batter tough when cooked). 

4. Spray your pan with Pam and make sure that your griddle or pan are good and warm (but not scorching hot) before you drop the batter onto the pan.

5. Use a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop to measure out the pancakes onto the pan. 

6. When bubbles appear on the uncooked (top) of each pancake, it's time to flip it over to the other side.

I served our lemon ricotta pancakes with a dusting of powdered sugar and whipped cream. Because...Saturdays!

Friday Funday

Life is Good: so laugh a little!

Because...Friday!

He's obsessed with this wig. He calls it a hat. And pronounces "hat" like he's British. ??? He even fell asleep wearing this the other day. I tried so hard to snap a good pic of it, but I woke him up in the process! He's just under 26 months old and excelling at being a two-year old! I don't know if it is his nature or if it is that he is the third child, but he truly believes there is nothing he cannot do. And he will do it all...wearing this "hat"!

Mondays are for Lasagna

Life is Good: dinner was great

Oh, man. Mondays are rough! Luckily, I had a lasagna in the freezer that I popped out to thaw this morning. I feel like end of days go best for us when I have prepped dinner at breakfasttime. I'm no morning person. Let me say that again. I. am. no. morning. person. However, that extra few minutes that I get up to prep dinner is always worth it. 

I got my beloved lasagna recipe from the dearly, departed Gourmet Magazine. I still have a couple of years of them in my kitchen cabinet. Oh, that was a great mag! Anyhoo... here's the recipe, adjusted because of our allergies to egg (you'll never miss it!).

And yes, our two-year old ate as much lasagna as his daddy did! If that isn't a great review, then what is?!

Gourmet Magazine's Sausage, Basil, and Cheese Lasagna

Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground pork (plain if you don't like spice or Italian spicy if you do)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (I leave this out when cooking for others because Minnesotans don't usually like spicy flavors.)
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with added puree
• 1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion (do not drain) (or plain diced tomatoes)

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves
• 1 15-ounce container plus 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups (packed) grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Assembly Ingredients:

• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles from one 8-ounce package
• 3 cups (packed) grated mozzarella cheese (about 12 ounces)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
• Nonstick olive oil spray

Directions:

Sauce:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausages, onion, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper and sauté until sausage is cooked through, mashing sausage into small pieces with back of fork, about 10 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with juices. Bring sauce to boil. 

Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled.) 

Filling:
Using on/off turns, chop fresh basil leaves finely in processor. Add ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg (we leave it out), 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Using on/off turns, process filling until just blended and texture is still chunky. 

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles on sauce. Drop 1 1/2 cups filling over noodles, then spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles, filling and cheeses 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles. Spoon remaining sauce atop noodles. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Spray large piece of foil with nonstick olive oil spray. Cover lasagna with foil, sprayed side down. 

Bake lasagna 40 minutes. Carefully uncover. Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Bake until noodles are tender, sauce bubbles thickly and edges of lasagna are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes. 

Transfer to work surface; let stand 15 minutes before serving to ensure your pieces cut neatly.

NOTE: Grant and our kiddos like a lot of sauce, so I usually double the sauce and add some extra on their plates. Any that is left over from that makes a great spaghetti sauce.

How to Be Happy

Life is Good: God's Got This

I was talking with a friend about how hard we are on ourselves--as mothers, as wives, as daughters. Some of us try to be everything to everyone and of course, we are setting ourselves up to fail. And if you're like me, the failure brings on such deep feelings of regret and guilt. I love this quote. It's a reminder that we are beautiful, imperfect souls created NOT to be everything to everyone. For me, this new year is about showing myself the love & understanding that I give so freely to others. I'm a work in progress...