Savory Zucchini Corn Muffins

I've been in a baking funk lately.  Maybe because it's getting hot here and I don't want to turn on my oven.  However, today I felt like putting together something with corn and dairy.  My Dad dropped off his first zucchini of the season this morning and it was enormous!  Just the inspiration I needed! 

Do you see the size of that thing? 

Zucchini Corn Muffins

½ Cup millet flour
½ Cup corn flour
1 Cup corn meal
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
¾ Cup buttermilk
2 eggs
¼ Cup canola oil
2 Tbsp water
1 Cup shredded zucchini
¾ Cup whole kernel corn
2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
½ Cup grated parmesan cheese
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Preheat oven to 400 F.  Prepare muffin tins with paper muffins cups or lightly grease.  In large mixing bowl whisk together millet flour, corn flour, corn meal, baking powder and sea salt.  In separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil and water.  Gently stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until moistened.  Fold in zucchini, corn, basil and parmesan.  Spoon mixture into muffin tins.  Sprinkle extra parmesan on top if you like.  (I like!) Bake mini-muffins 15-20 minutes, or medium muffins 20-25 minutes until tops are golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  

Almond Butter Yogurt Dip

While on my dairy binge - which is going OK - this has become my go-to snack.  It's great paired with apples, carrots, celery, pears... you name it.  And when you have nothing else to dip in it, it's great eating with a spoon, licked off your fingers... licked off your plate.  Just kidding.  Maybe.

A plus... if Jake does end up passing dairy sometime soon, and possibly almonds (I think this may be a trial soon for us, as well), this is an easy to whip up healthy dip for any kid.

Almond Butter Yogurt Dip

¼ cup greek yogurt (regular plain yogurt could be used, I just like the creaminess of greek)

2 Tbsp Almond Butter (or whatever seed/nut butter you like)

1 tsp 100% pure maple syrup

¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)

Combine ingredients above, serve with fruit, veggies and/or crackers.  This is a very versatile dip!  Also a yummy snack all on its own!_________________________________________________________________

As for the dairy binge... Jake's been a little cranky the past few days.  However, he has a runny nose and molars pushing their way through. 

Dairy or dental? 

 I'm pushing on with my dairy binge.  Hopefully the teething subsides soon.

Shepherd's Pie (S-Pie)

Tonight I made dinner.  No big deal, right?  But tonight I made dinner that EVERYONE could eat.  And guess what?  EVERYONE loved it.  My big kids practically licked their plates.  Jake devoured it!  I've never seen him eat so much in his short little, food eating, life. 

Three basic ingredients.  No seasoning.  Nothing.  And you know what?  It was pretty good.  I tried my very hardest to get an appetizing picture of our Shepherd's S-Pie.  It was impossible.

So I think the following picture summed it up the best...

Hubs is out of town. That means this was devoured by myself and three small children.  I topped the big kids' servings with some shredded sharp cheese.  Yum!  There were some full bellies at bedtime tonight!

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Shepherd’s Pie (S-Pie)

1 ½ lbs ground turkey (or any ground meat… beef, lamb, mutton)

1 ½ cups carrots (or mixed safe veggies of your choice… peas, corn, onions?)

1 Tbsp Safe oil, I used canola  (Optional)

6 small russet potatoes

½ cup water
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Peel , quarter and boil potatoes. 

While potatoes are boiling, heat oil in large skillet.  Add veggies, coat in oil and cook until color turns vibrant.  Add ground turkey and brown.  Turn heat to low, add water, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

When potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, discard water, reserving about one cup.  Mash potatoes with reserved water until desired smoothness.  If you can have dairy… add a little milk and/or butter to the potatoes for extra creaminess.   

Add turkey/veggie mixture to 9 X 13 glass baking dish.  Spoon mashed potatoes over the top.  Spread evenly.  Next, use a fork to create some peaks.  This will allow the potatoes to brown a bit on the peaks. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  If desired, broil the dish for the remaining 5 minutes to give the potato peaks a nice brown finish. 

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First Birthday Mango Sorbet

Jake's first birthday did not pass by without a birthday treat...

Mango Sorbet! 

Only Regret.. I wish I would have made the blueberry, it would have turned out much better in the pictures!  The mango blended in with his yellow shirt and fair skin.  Oh well!

The irony?  He liked the mango, but he preferred his potatoes.  Good old reliable.  I could have stuck a birthday candle in his sweet potatoes and he would have been just as happy. 

Simple Mango Sorbet

2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 fresh, ripe mangoes (or about 3-4 cups frozen mangoes, thawed)

Prepare simple syrup with the water and sugar by combining in a medium pan over medium heat.  Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Peel and dice fresh mangoes. Combine mangoes and symple syrup in blender and blend until smooth.  Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours, or overnight.  Pour mixture into ice cream maker (I have this one and love it), and process as directed.  Mine took about 20 minutes, then needed a day in the freezer for desired consistency.  **No ice cream maker? See footnote!

I have made this same recipe using about 4 cups of fresh blueberries.  You could sub just about any fruit in this recipe!  I have some fresh strawberries I'm going to be trying next!

**If you don't have an ice cream maker... Baby B's FPIES Test Kitchen has a great recipe where the mixture is blended and re-frozen a few times.  You could take your mango sorbet mixture above and follow the directions of blending, freezing, blending and re-freezing!

Millet Granola!

It's been over 6 months since I've had any oats.  This means no granola in my diet.  Oh how I miss it.  This recipe was made for myself while I'm on the elimination diet for Jake.  However... I'm considering trialing coconut next week...

Maybe I'll make Jake his own version of granola!  (I will post it if I do!)

The great thing about this recipe is anything and almost everything can be subbed.  This is a starting point.  Want to use quinoa instead of millet?  Go for it!  Any dried fruit will work, no need to use raisins.  Leave out the nuts and seeds (I plan to for Jake).  However, you cannot sub the shredded coconut and coconut oil.  It makes the flavor of this yummy granola.

Next I need to figure out how to make granola bars... I need something to really "bind" it.

Millet Granola

1 cup raisins

½ cup walnuts

¼ cup raw sunflower seeds

¼ cup raw pepitas

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 Tbsp hulled millet

1 cup millet puffs

2-3 Tbsp virgin coconut oil

1 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Add all ingredients to food processor or blender.  Chop/Grind until fine chunks.  Spread mixture into a 9 X 13 baking pan.  Bake at 300 for 15-20 minutes.  Allow mixture to cool, then crumble and store in airtight container in fridge.  This is so yummy alone.  I love it sprinkled on top of my yogurt or over Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss Dark Chocolate dessert.

Warning:  Highly addictive.     

And here's the recipe in pictures. 

I can't help it.  I'm a visual person.

The hulled millet is hiding in a boring container behind the puffed millet. Oops!

Yummm puffed millet.  My 8 year old thinks it tastes like popcorn!

Reminds me of Sand Art at the fair.  Anyone?

WHHHEEEEEEEEEE! I get dizzy just watching it!

Too bad Smellivision never really took off.. the aroma is divine. 

My breakfast!

Millet Pancake Recipe

The first time I made these, they came out perfect.  Well, as perfect as a pancake can be with such limited ingredients.  I didn't write down the recipe.  I just winged it.  It has taken me a few tries to try to get something close to what I did the first time. 

Jake is a little tired of our magical millet muffins.  And I have to admit, I'm partial to these pancakes.  They don't crumble as easily, which means less mess.   They freeze great, too.  Every morning I pop one into the microwave and in 30 seconds he has a pancake to eat.  These little pancakes are our new staple. 

Millet Pancakes

1 cup millet flour

2 Tbsp raw organic sugar

1 tsp baking powder (corn free)

¼ tsp sea salt

2 Tbsp applesauce

3 Tbsp canola oil

½ cup of water (or more if needed for desired consistency)

Combine dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients, stir to combine.  Pour ¼ cup portions onto a hot griddle.  Flip after a few minutes when bottoms are golden brown.  Let flip side brown for a few minutes.  Serve alone or with some 100% pure maple syrup!  These pancakes freeze well. 

 

On a side note:  Jake passed turkey! 

Gobble, Gobble!

Magical Millet "Cookies"

I am so inspired by Baby B's Mommy, Amanda.  She is so creative and inventive to provide her little one "normal" type food with such a small menu.  So I ventured to create my own recipe for millet muffins and cookies. 

Millet is not easy to bake with.  I like it best as a breakfast cereal with lots of stuff added in to make it taste better.  Honey, pears. raisins, nuts, cinnamon...  to name a few. 

This is my breakfast most mornings.  Looks better with the millet blurred out a bit...

During the last few weeks I have made 562 batches of millet muffins and cookies, trying to find an edible combination with our limited ingredients.  That might be a slight exaggeration.  But I did a lot of baking of the SAME thing, slightly altered, over and over again. 

The result?  Magical Millet "Cookies"!! Cookies in parenthesis because they're really muffin tops.  But they look like cookies!  And they are very edible.  My 5 year old LOVES them.  Jake LOVES them.  I like them.  I prefer a good chocolate chip cookie, but these are definitely worthy of a freshly brewed cup of coffee served with them.  Or apple juice.

Magic Millet Cookies

1 cup millet flour

1 tsp baking powder (corn-free)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup water

2 Tbs applesauce

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix together dry ingredients.  Make a well.  Add wet ingredients fold in until just moistened.  Spoon batter into muffin top pan so it just covers the bottom.  Bake for 14-16 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack.  Enjoy!!

I never officially trialed sugar or canola oil.  We just flew by the seat of our pants here.  Jake had some sugar mixed with millet porridge a few times.  He's had some oil from french fries a few times, as well.  He's had quite a few of these muffins with no reactions!

Mini Millet Muffins - say that 10 times fast

Millet Muffin Tops ready to become Cookies!

COOKIES!!

MUFFINS!!

OH MY!!!!

Enjoy!!  Please leave me a comment if you make these and let me know what you think!

Mulling over Millet, Pondering Spelt, and now Mama's gone green

First things first... broccoli!  I think we may have a pass.  Today will be day seven, and we've had no issues.  Jake's had one bad diaper, but I'm going to chalk that up to a crumb of some sort.  The rest of the week went well. 

With this recent run of passes, I'm really considering trialing millet this week.  I've been eating it once or twice a day for a few weeks now and it doesn't bother him through my milk.  I have millet puffs in my pantry just waiting to be presented on his tray.  The thing is... we have a busy week.  AND The hubs is out of town.  What to do?  The last time hubs was out of town, I trialed ascorbic acid.  It was our last fail. 

Spelt is a new grain option I've come across.  (I have been learning way too much about food lately)  Spelt can replace wheat in almost any baking.  Spelt has more protein than wheat, yet the protein is supposed to be easier to digest.  If I soaked the grains, it should make the proteins even easier to digest. I may start introducing spelt into my diet and see if Jake reacts.  Maybe after a millet trial pass.  Nothing wrong with some positive thinking, right?

 Food for thought. 

In the meantime, I've found a way to make millet tortillas/flatbread out of just millet flour and water.  They are not quite as good as a corn or flour tortilla, but they serve the purpose well.  I've used them to hold some beef fajitas, scrambled eggs and even slathered a little butter, sugar and cinnamon on them for a treat.  It's been satisfying my need for a "bread" while I'm eliminating wheat.  I found the recipe on the Book Of Yum blog.  Sea shares some really great gluten-free, vegetarian, and TED recipes.   Click here for the recipe.

Another new food item in my elimination diet... Green Smoothies.  I may be addicted.  Here is one I made this morning:

Creamsicle Green Smoothie
1 cup low fat plain kefir
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 handfuls fresh spinach
2 small clementines, peeled
1/2 cup frozen mangoes (to ice it up a bit)
1 Tbsp Flax Oil
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar

Combine in a blender until smooth.  It was almost as good as a creamsicle!  I was so full and satisfied after, too.  The great thing about these green smoothies are a.) you can't taste the "green" and b.) you can use any fruit, frozen or fresh, and get a great result. 

I think this elimination diet might be turning me into a health nut. 

First Trial - Carrots

Day one of carrots today!  Jake gobbled up the first little teaspoon I gave him.  He was super happy today.  I found some really yummy soft pears and cut them up in very tiny pieces today.  He occupied himself while I made dinner.  A few actually made it into his mouth and he was so excited!  I pulled him out of his high chair later and found tons of pear bits in his chair. He may not have ate a lot of the pears, but he got some good practice with his pinchers. 

I love to cook and take pictures, but I'm not a great chef or photographer.  However, I thought it would be fun to put up a little tutorial of how I make my baby food.  I had fun making it for Big Bro Z and Big Sis N, I naturally planned on making it for Jake.  I feel better knowing EXACTLY what he is eating now, especially with his FPIES.  The store bought food can have lots of extra ingredients added. 

1. I picked out some pretty organic carrots from our grocery store

2. I peeled the outer layer off.  Lovely aren't they?  Bright, orange, smooth.

3. I roughly chopped the carrots and put them in my handy dandy Pampered Chef steamer.  Oh how I love this thing.  I use it almost daily.  I have a bigger one I found at a garage sale for $2.00.  I jumped up and down screamed and felt guilty for taking change from my $5 bill.  I ran the heck out of there.  I felt like I was stealing.  If you are not as lucky to have a $2 Pampered Chef steamer from a garage sale, any microwave safe bowl and lid will work.

4.  I put about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom, put the lid on and put it in the microwave.

5.  I pressed this button.  If your microwave doesn't have this button, microwave about 5 minutes on high (maybe a little more if your carrots are a little chunky like mine are).

6.  Once the carrots are tender and easy to pierce with a fork, place them into a blender or food processor along with the water.  I used this cheapy food processor that has two settings, Lo and Hi.  I chose Hi.  I have no patience.

7.  After a few seconds on Hi, it looks like this. Yum!  Orange!  Puree!

8.  Next spoon the yummy orange carrot puree into an ice cube tray. There is no way to make this look pretty.  No matter how good the lighting is!

9.  After a few hours, the carrot cubes are frozen.  Twist and turn your tray and pop out your carrot pops.  I've found they equal about a tablespoon each.  Place the carrot pops into a labeled freezer bag.  Next time you want to serve up some carrots, pop them in the microwave for 45 seconds.  Your baby will thank you!