High fiber breakfast: Crispy French Toast

I would like to share this yummy breakfast recipe we've been enjoying these days! Not only it tastes great, but it is also as healthy as it gets, full high fiber and protein. And if you add a fruit salad on a side, then it is even better!

The inspiration for this breakfast came from here. Only I gave it more fiber by changing the bread to a multi-grain toast, and using bran cereal instead of cornflakes.

I usually make 2 toasts, for myself and Santino (my husband is not a fan of French toasts, he is more eggs and bacon kind of guy).

• 2 multi-grain toast slices
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 1 tbs flour
• vanilla
• 1 cup of bran flakes

I warm up the oven to 400 F. I rub a baking dish with butter, so that it is covered, but not clumping too much.

I toast the bread slices. I usually set the toaster on 4, so that the would come out crispy, not just warm. Meanwhile, I beat up an egg with milk. I then beat in the flour and a few drops of vanilla and just a tiny bit of salt. I don't put any sugar.

I crush the bran flakes with my fingers and place them in a bowl. Take out the toast slices, cut in 4 pieces, soak a little bit in the egg mixture (not too long, so that they don't fall apart). Then dip the slices in the flakes and arrange in the baking dish.

Set the kitchen timer to 10 minutes, and bake on the middle rack. Then flip over and bake for 5 more minutes.

Serve with a few drops of maple syrup or honey with a fruit salad on a side.

Read More

Yummy Mummy Cookie Exchange Party at Connie's. Pizzelle Recipe

Connie organized a great event, a cookie exchange party for 10 baking-loving mums. Usually, I take a few days and bake hundreds of various cookies, which we pack nicely and give to our neighbors, relatives and friends. I kinda stick to the same recipes more or less, so I hope this party will help me with more variety without extra stress of trying (and failing) new recipes.

In addition to the cookies, we are supposed to bring 10 copies of our recipe to distribute along with the nicely packaged treats. Since the number of places were limited and not everybody who wanted to participate could join, I think it would be better to "distribute" my recipe right here, on our blog, so that all other moms, who aren't going to be there, could still take a small part.

My recipe is Pizzelle, Italian waffles with an intricate beautiful design, perfect for such a festive occasion as Christmas. You can eat them as cookies, just plain as they are, or spread Nutella or jam on one and cover with the other one, making a sort of a sweet sandwich. You probably saw them in the stores, but I'm sure if you make your own, they will taste much much better, in addition to being much more special.

Now, you do need the actual pizzelle maker to make them. I suggest, if you often bake/make your own treats for various occasions, like family gatherings of children parties, then do invest in this great little appliance. It costs around $50 new at Bed, Bath and Beyond, or I'm sure you can also find it in other stores.

The recipe itself is not very demanding in terms of the ingredients, easy to make, no mess, easy to clean up.

So, here's my Pizzelle:

3 large eggs (make sure the eggs are actually large, not the medium ones that call themselves "large")
1/2 cup - sugar
1/2 cup - vegetable oil
1 tsp - vanilla extract
1 tsp - baking powder
1 tbs of any 40% alcohol (makes the pizzelle crispy)
1 tsp - of anise seeds
2 cups - all purpose flour

Take a large bowl, break 3 eggs, add sugar and mix them up well. You can use a mixer, but there is no need, as you are not looking to make stiff peaks or anything like that. Add oil, then spices and alcohol. Take anise seeds and grind them to a fine powder in a coffee grinder or baby bullet. You would need to put more than a spoon of seeds, grind them and then save the rest in a small container for future baking.

Another option, just use Anisette instead. It will give the aroma you are looking for, and will give the crispiness to the waffles.

Add flour. Mix well with a spoon. The batter will be sticky, but that's ok. It shouldn't come out too stiff, as the waffles will be hard. The batter needs to be more on a loose side, that's why it is important to use large eggs, smaller eggs do not provide enough moisture and the batter becomes dry.

Warm up your pizzelle maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Take 2 teaspoons, pick batter with one, so that it would cover just half of the spoon, and help yourself with the other spoon to put the batter in the middle of the pizzelle form. Then do the same for the other one. Close it tightly, and set the kitchen timer to 80 second. After the timer runs out, open, take the waffles out and put on a flat plate to cool off. Keep the teaspoons you work with in a glass of a cold water. This will help the batter slide off the spoon easier onto the iron surface.

The proper color of pizzelle is dark yellow, so if you see that waffles are coming out brown, then decrease the number of seconds on the timer to 75 or 70 seconds.

That's it. Making them 2 at a time seems like a tedious task, but the time flies, I usually take these seconds to clean up the kitchen, and by the end of the batter I am standing in the clean room.

This recipe will make about 40 waffles.

Read More

Christmas No Baking! Rum balls.

Maybe rum balls are  more of an adult indulgence, but you wouldn't want your 2 year old eat too many cookies anyways, would you? After all, once the kiddos are all in bed, all cute and cuddly, parents are allowed a little something something made just for them. These rum balls also make a great part of the Christmas cookie basket that you would give to your neighbors and friends.

I am sharing the photo of the part of our last Christmas cookie collection. We made these rum balls with various alcohol, not only rum. We made our balls with cognac, Goldshlager, rum and even with Centerbe (this stuff)! The rest of the ingredients are also optional and open for interpretation and are only limited by your imagination.

Here is how we made them last year. Please note, the measurements are approximate, so please "play it by ear"; if the texture is too stiff, add more butter or alcohol (go easy on the alcohol, add by spoon), or if it is too soft, add more crumbs!

Graham cookie crumbs - 900 g
Butter (room temperature) - 200 g
Cocoa powder - 2-3 table spoons
Alcohol - 2-3 shots
(replace regular graham cookie crumbs with oreo crumbs, or other chocolate cookie crumbs and omit cocoa powder)
1 cup of toasted nuts (peanuts, walnuts, whatever other nuts you like) - toast them lightly in the 300F oven for a few minutes, then chop into small pieces.
Add raisins or dried cranberries, or candied fruit, mini chocolate chips of various colors, anything that can add to the texture and taste.

Then it is pretty simple, just put all ingredients together, mix well (by hand, it is the best way!) so that everything is mixed evenly. Form little balls, sprinkle with festive-looking red and green sprinkles, or just confectionery sugar. If you prefer, make other shapes, like cones, or little "snowmen". Place them on a flat cookie sheet and put in the fridge for an hour or so, so that they would cool off and hold the shape better.


Note, that you can make various kinds of these rum balls: make a batch with nuts, another batch with candied fruit, another batch with chocolate chips, etc.

Try not to eat them all at once!

Happy holidays!

Read More

Making Healthy Choices!

I thought I would share a couple of sample menu’s of what I am eating on a regular basis to keep the baby weight off. Everyday people are asking me what my diet includes. What really helps is if I plan out my meals ahead of time so I’m not opening my cupboards and fridge repeatedly looking for something quick to make. I will write a couple of options for each mealtime and include some recipes that I love as well.

Breakfast: Always eat breakfast, always.

-          Plain Greek Yogurt with berries, (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries

-          Special K Cereal with Milk and cut up banana

-           Egg wrap with light chedder cheese and spinach on a whole wheat tortilla and half grapefruit

Lunch: I mostly eat wraps for lunch so here’s a couple ideas for wraps using small whole wheat tortilla’s

-          Low Fat sliced turkey, light mayo, Dijon mustard, feta cheese, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, avocado. The good thing about wraps is that you can stuff as many veggies as you like in them.

-       Light Mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil (just a drizzle)

-          Tuna, chicken or egg salad mixed with light mayo and loaded with all the veggies you love

This is where an indoor grill comes in handy! If you want a gourmet feel then grill it up, or stick it in the oven on broil for a couple minutes!

One thing I like to have as a side with my lunch is my Quinoa salad. I’m sure you have heard of Quinoa as it seems to be popping up all over as a loved superfood! Known as a great source of protein it packs lots of nutrition, including being high in iron (also makes a great food for babies).  Here is how I make my Chickpea Quinoa Salad. I make a whole cup so that I can use it all week.

1 cup cooked Quinoa

1 can chickpeas

½ Cup of chopped Red Onions

1 cup of cherry tomatoes

Juice from 1 lemon

¼ cup of olive oil

Just mix it all together and put it in the fridge for a bit. Feel free to throw in any chopped veggies you may have. I have used red pepper, carrots, cucumber, and black beans and it has always been delicious. If you don’t have Quinoa I have also substituted whole wheat Couscous.

Dinner:

I find myself making a love of stir fry’s because I find I can maximize the use of vegetables in my dishes, which in our house is important because Jon doubles on at every meal and is a huge fan of anything cheesy 

and fried. Below is a couple of Weight Watchers recipes I make religiously that are delish!

Vegetable Stir Fry 

2 tsp's of peanut oil

2 cup of chopped onion

2 cups of chopped bok choy

2 cups of chopped carrots

1 med green pepper

1 med sweet red pepper

1 cup of chopped mushrooms

2 cups of brocolli florets

2 cups of asparagus

1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce

2 tsp of corn starch

1/4 cup chicken broth, low sodium

4 cups of brown rice

Heat oil in pan or wok, add vegetables still about 2 minutes, add soy sauce and cook untill veggies are crisp-tender. Whisk cornstarch into broth and add to pan. Simmer until sauce thinkens. Spoon stir fry onto rice and you can even sprinkle some peanuts on top for some more flavor. If you want to add chicken, shrimp or tofu for more protein, go for it! Don't worry if you don't have all the veggies it calls for, a lot of times I just throw in whatever I have in the fridge! That's the great thing about stir fry's, anything goes!

Cheese and Spinach Frittata

4 large eggs

2 large egg whites

1 cup of fresh chopped spinach

2 tsp of scallion, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup of low fat chedder cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F, beat together eggs and egg whites in a bowl, stir in spinach, scallions, salt and pepper. Coat a pan with non stick skillet with cooking spray, heat over med heat, pour egg mixture into skillet and let partially cook for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake untill cheese softens and eggs firm up. What's great about this is that you can again throw in anything you have, and kids and babies love it!

I tend to skip dessert and I try not to eat fruit at night because of the sugar content, but if I really can't fight my sweet tooth I will break out my stash of dark chocolate, melt it, and drip fruit in it (only if I must...). It really doesn't take a whole lot to feel gourmet!

So that's about a typical day for me. Somedays I might forget or have to skip lunch, although I do try hard to include all meals. When I snack I try my best to make it count. Like veggies dipped in hummus, or a granola bar. If I do have to eat on the run I keep my choices healthy, which is easy these days because almost every restaurant has the options for you to do so! Happy Eating!

Please visit my blog at http://newmumontheblog.wordpress.com 

Read More

Easy Peasy Sugar Lemon Scrub

I have always had this complex about germs, I won’t often ask for a sip of your drink, or a bite of your food. I’ve been surprised that over the last few months my ‘germaphobia’ has eased off especially after having a baby. But one thing I have always been very persistent about is hand washing. I probably wash my hands about 100 times in a day! Not to mention I have a bottle of hand sanitizer at every sink, in every purse, in the car,  the diaper bag...pretty much in every corner of my house. So if you are anything like me, then you probably suffer from extremely dry hands all the time- cracked knuckles, dry cuticles, rough palms. I came across a quick, super easy and cost-friendly solution that really leaves your hands (or anywhere on your body) feeling hydrated and rejuvenated.    

Sugar Lemon Scrub

Ingredients:

Sugar (The coarser the sugar the more exfoliating, I used fine white sugar

Lemon and zest

Oil (your choice)

Mason Jar for storage (dollar store)      

At Christmas time I decided that I wanted to make the majority of my gifts (because being on Maternity doesn’t really leave a lot of room for buying elaborate gifts, and because I was feeling ‘crafty’). I made a big batch and jarred it to give away. Since I was making a big batch of the scrub I used much larger measurements then if you were making it for yourself so I would suggest one part of oil to two parts of sugar and to start with the juice from half a lemon. I used olive oil as my choice and found that by adding lemon zest it didn’t leave you with much of the ‘olive oil’ scent.  Just mix it all together and pour into your mason jar for storage.

 I leave mine by the kitchen sink and when I’m done the dishes, scrub a spoonful onto my hands for at least a minute and rinse off with warm water. I’ve even caught Jon, my partner, using it daily on his hands after work!

 Feel free to use it anywhere that gets dry! Feet, hands, elbows, knees, really you can use it as a full body scrub...It exfoliates well from the sugar, locks in the moisture from the oil, and leaves you feeling fully invigorated from the lemon! Not to mention it smells like you just had a day at the spa! What busy mom doesn’t love that feeling?

Read More

Raspberries oatmeal breakfast

Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it not only needs to be nutritious, healthy, colorful and tasty, it also needs to somehow end up in the little tummy. Sometimes Santino doesn't want to have breakfast, more often than not he won't eat oatmeal or other porridge, and settles with just a cup of milk. Then we often go out, play in the park, and he gets hungry, snacking on apple slices or crackers.

So i try to come up with some healthy morning meals for him, something so yummy, that he wouldn't be able to resist.

I found, that Santino loves raspberry oatmeal. It is flavorful enough, healthy and easy to make in the morning!

1 cup of water, bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt, 1 tbs of sugar and about 1/2 cup of oat flakes. Cook for a few minutes in the boiling water, stirring often, so that it won't stick to the pan or spill on the stove. Add about 8-10 raspberries, stir, let it cook a little longer, apprx. 3-4 minutes on medium low heat. In the end, add about 1/4 cup of milk. Let it boil, and take off the heat.



It should be runny when hot, but it will stiffen up while it cools. If your toddler doesn't like his porridge too flaky, you can blend it in a small blender, to a smoother consistency.

Granted, raspberries can be replaced by apples and cinnamon, blueberries, or strawberries. Or whatever else you can think of, that has lots of flavor.

Enjoy with a great company!

Nataliya

Read More

Green borsch

When I was a child this was one of my favorite soups. It is easy to make, and it tastes great.

I am not going to give exact proportions, just guesstimate according to the number of people eating and how much they eat. When I make it for my son, I take about a 1 cup of broth, cut up one potato and one small carrot in small cubes and boil them in this broth until they are almost ready. Add small pieces of boiled chicken. Add 4-5 leaves of spinach, also cut up in small pieces. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Let it stand covered for a few minutes.

Cut up a hard boiled egg in a plate, add soup. Serve with a spoon of sour cream or Greek yogurt. Recently I've been replacing sour cream with Greek yogurt, as it is similar in consistency, but more healthy.

Read More

Breakfast crepes

I love breakfast! Its my favorite meal of the day, and I am always on the look out for yummy and easy things to make in the morning.

So here are crepes. I love them with jam, with ice cream, even with butter and salt. My husband likes them with nutella, my son will eat them rolled up with a banana inside and cut up into "coins".

Simple recipe:

2 eggs

1 cup of all purpose white flour

1 cup of cold water

1/2 cup of 2% milk

a pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients well, so that there are no clumps. Put the mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Warm up a frying pan well. It has to be really hot. Pour a few drops of vegetable oil, or a little scoop of butter. I usually wipe the pan quickly with a paper towel, that covers the whole pan with grease, and also removes the excess. 

Pour the mixture onto the pan, help it spread by tilting the pan in all directions. Make sure it spreads really thin. Fry for 1-2 min per side. Do not over fry it, so that it wouldn't dry out.

Read More

Toddler soup ideas

When I was growing up back in Ukraine, I was always told by teachers and parents and grandparents that soup is very healthy food and I should eat soup every day.

And I did. And I loved it. Chicken soup, red borshch (with beets and tomatoes), green borshch (with spinach), solyanka, meatball soup and all kinds of other soups. Soup was one of the first dishes I learned to make by myself. It is full of nutrients from the meat, the bones, and the vegetables that detoxify, nourish, boost immune system and help hydrating the body.

Soup is also great, because I don't have to go crazy every day coming up with various ideas "what to make for lunch for my toddler son". I know its always soup for lunch, he knows it, he expects it and he loves it.
Since I am a stay at home mom, my son doesn't go to daycare, so I am responsible for his morning activities, play at a park or going to play dates. When we come home, its lunch time, so his lunch needs to be ready to eat and fresh and nutritious. I had to come up with ideas how to be outside playing with my son in the park, and at home at the same time, preparing healthy lunch.

Soup is the answer!

We come home, and within 10-15 minutes a fresh soup is ready to be enjoyed before bedtime. I make different soups, too. Chicken noodle, vegetable and potatoes, tomatoes and bread, chickpeas soup, lentils soup, thick soups, clear soups, etc.

If I could do it, anybody can! Pre-cooking is the key. I make a big batch of chicken or vegetable broth, strain it, and keep in the mason jars in the fridge. If a hot broth is poured into a mason jar and immediately covered with the top, it seals tight and keeps the broth fresh. There are no preservatives in the homemade broth, so it needs to be kept in the fridge.

So I pour a little bit of broth in a small pot, add some pre-cooked veggies, like carrots, peas, beans (I often buy a bag of frozen pre-cooked veggies and keep it in the freezer, scoop one or two spoons ever day for a soup), broccoli or cauliflower. Add noodles, beat in an egg with some Parmesan cheese, and the soup is ready.

Santino, my 22 months old son, often likes drinking the broth first, scooping out the veggies and pasta after. Whatever the way, its all good, very healthy and a great way to keep a kid eating vegetables!

Check back for some easy soup recipes.

Originally posted here

Read More