I’ve had this muffin recipe on the brain for a few weeks, and finally got the chance to make them this morning, and they turned out great. Thanks to 101 Cookbooks for the delectable recipe. Just as Heidi said, they are not too sweet, but the delicious and delicate crumble on top adds just the right amt. of sweet. The insides were moist & you could taste the yogurt as well, and they were approved by the little man. I think next time I”ll add a bit of fruit puree for color and a little more sweet. Yum!
Category Archives: Food
Perfect Oatmeal Muffins
Posted in Food, Vegetarian
Add a little green into your day- Gotham Greens that is.
I’ll admit I’ve seen Gotham Greens on the shelf for a bit and ignored them. Just another lettuce produce I figured, not organic…move on. Then a few days ago the lovely packaging and vibrant basil caught my eye again. I had more time this day and decided to dig into the small print…I was happily introduced to an innovative & sustainable new product and business that I had to tell you guys about. Four months into harvesting, Gotham Greens is running an uber-cool business, harvesting greens on a Greenpoint, Brooklyn rooftop (yes you read that right- a ROOF TOP!). Their products are free of any harmful chemical pesticides, insecticides or herbicides–into my cart they went. It’s not often as the weather is getting cooler that I have the option to get lovely basil that’s LOCAL into my meals. I’m so impressed with the taste, look, and even more the overall business direction. If you want to support NYC local business, buy yourself some Greens! I snipped a load of the basil into a yummy tofu stirfry & loaded it up with fresh ginger and kale, yum!
Posted in Food, Green, Vegetarian
Breakfast No!
I’m not sure how many of you mom’s out there experience the same problem, but a mother of a toddler will relate…’No’ seems to be the first answer to everything, even when the little buggers mean ‘yes’, ‘maybe’, ‘not sure’, ‘I think so’ etc. For some reason in our house the morning is a particularly strong ‘no’ time of day. It goes something like this, “Do you want french toast for breakfast?’ answer: “No”, “Do you want cereal?” answer: “No”, and then I throw in my favorite, “Do you want Racoon na na’s” answer: “Yes” My husband thinks I’m crazy, but it always tells me to go with my gut & not listen to captain No! I’ve also gotten around the breakfast no, by personally inviting a lot of friends over to east (see pic above)– the more the merrier & you’d be surprised how much it helps us get every last bit eaten. We welcome the zoo at our table any time of day- it make meal time fun & successful (aka gets food into mr. picky)
Pick a winner
I had the most glorious day today. My husband, son & I planned to meet friends at an apple picking farm today, at the last minute I called just to confirm all was set & the farm told me NO more apples! They were done for the season. Quickly I scrambled to find another farm to go to and luckily not only did we find one, thanks to Mommy Poppins we found another one quick. While this one was farther, We went to Terhune Orchards in princeton, NJ and it was beyond a lovely place. They have a well run orchard and about 2 miles down the road a super family friendly farm. What was so great was it was authentic. The country felt like country, the featured fun elements (candied apples, pumpkin picking, hayrides, corn maize etc.) were just perfect- there was nothing too commercial, they had a great band, and farm animals to boot. Both boys (and grown-ups) had a blast & within minutes our little one sacked out in the car–truly a perfect day. We came home with enough apples to feed 6 families, so stay tuned for what I end up making. They only had granny smiths & Stayman Winesaps available, which I’;d never had before, but what a lovely apple- beyond crisp, and almost a hint of citrus- loved it! We also got a bunch of pumpkins for painting and gourds for me (: If you & your family are looking for a great adventure, get there! It’s a bit far, It was about 1.5 hours door to door from our apartment, but worth the trip..I believe they have a few more weekends of apple picking befoe the end of the season.
Ode to Juicing & the Juice Boy
As a long time juicer and lover of juice I must admit it is still hard to break the habit of not juicing a lot. I guess it’s the labor (which once you begin there really is very little) but mostly it’s dedicating time to yourself. I grew up juicing and have gone in and out of dedicating to it over the years. I have no organic juice shop in my neighborhood which bites, so I can really only do it at home, unless I’m at one of my favorite juice places, which at the moment seem to be, Candle Cafe, Peacefood cafe and Terri’s, who’s Perfect Pear is my favorite! This brings me to highlighting a die hard juicer, and dear friend of mine, The Juice Boy. I am uber-impressed with his knowledge of juicing, yummy juice recipes, and overall fun videos for the new juicer or seasoned juicer. Make sure to check him out! In honor of the juice boy I have juiced this a.m. and am proud to say he lit the juice fire under me! Thanks Juice boy!! Today’s yummy juice was a combo of carrots, spinach, strawberries & red grapes (all organic). My lovely little 13 month old loved it too! It was a tad sweet, but a perfect way to start the day. …p.s. the juice looked a little off color (the orange) – I shook the glass – a definite no no for looks. I am also looking to purchase a new juicer. I may try the juice boy’s suggestion and go with the Breville Juicer, and donate my Jack La Lane version, which I have not been happy with.
Posted in Food, Uncategorized, Vegetarian
Honeydew Ice
I believe I’ve mentioned before my insane love of ices. Well, i do not lie. I dig them! On a quick impulse I had some fresh honeydew melon in the house & threw it into the vitamix with some ice: presto: a honeydew ice drink! I need to do this more often. It’s such a great way to get a quick fruit-sugar pick- me-up in the middle of the day, in a healthy way, instead of some nonsense chocolate or chai craving. So when you have any nice fruit around do it, and enjoy.
Posted in Food, Vegetarian
And he turns 1!
So as many of you know I have been planing my little guy’s first birthday (which also happens to be my birthday) for quite some time. I wanted to share a re-cap, some pics and some of the truly great items i pulled together and just loved. For the table centerpiece, toothpics in the mini cupcakes and some of the wall decor I used Meri Meri’s Animal Parade and got it from the birthday section of diapers.com. Not sure how many of you use this or even knew they had a birthday section, but wow was it easy. I had it ordered & sent a few weeks before & saved myself loads of time rushing around store to store to find what I liked. I ordered my amazing invites from Night Owl Paper Goods and boy was I thrilled. I really wanted to have something forever from the birthday and night owl gave me the chance to have a beautiful wood invitation that I am going to frame and hang up in his room…what a treat. and by the way dealing with Megan and the team there was so super easy and smooth- for any celebratory events you must print on wood! I also used Hip Hooray’s awesome flag banners in rainbow. I felt i’d much rtaher buy banners (or garland) that I can re-use and keep. The material was quite durable and the color & style so very festive – i Loved it! I also can’t really talk about the lovely little soiree without discussing my most favorite item – the cake! I got the most yummy mini-cupcakes and cake from One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn and boy did they deliver the most scrumptious cake! It was vanilla cake with a dulce du leche caramel filling and a vanilla buttercreme – beyond! While the design was uber simple (I upped the look with little animal candles) for a first birthday I didn’t think we had to have anything too ‘kiddie’ since it was really for the adults. Speaking of adults I crazily made too much food: orzo salad with feta, 2 types of veggie sandwiches: tomato, mozzarella, basil & pesto, and a grilled veggie, artichoke and roasted mushroom sandwich, and had loads of sparkling pink lemonade and french berry soda from Lorina – I love that they are just natural, i think it’s fine to enjoy a little sweet when it’s not junky soda; plus it’s so lovely & festive for a party.
Posted in Baby, Design, Food, Paper, Vegetarian
More food – Farm Fresh Food to be exact!
we’ve been away. I’ve been enjoying a little time away with the boy before his first birthday, this Sunday. While away, I’ve been continuing to cook lots of farm fresh simple food. Salads galore and yummy pancakes. I am lucky to be close to a organic farm I’ve mentioned before, Green Thumb (my all time favorite farm!), and also Round Swamp Farm which is also a local favorite. I’ve been enjoying mixing yummy, fresh herbs into the salads like mint & dill and making delicious pancakes with fresh blueberry honey butter. Also in the mornings I give Mr. W. sheeps yogurt with fresh fruit pureee (whatever is fresh) and then sometimes I make myself an adult version, you can see here I made yogurt, fresh strawberry puree, nuts, banana & fresh blackberries…just delicious. I think the salads speak for themselves. I love being creative with food.
Posted in Food, Vegetarian
4th of July Food- YUMMY
I spend so much time thinking about food, eating food, cooking food….especially on the holidays. This weekend was no exception. I had so much fun making healthy food all weekend, and really enjoying the farm fresh, organic veg of summer. I have a load of pics to share, which I will over the next few days, but here are 2 super yummy meals that started off the eat-fest. 1. The first was a fresh soba salad with tofu. I used romaine as the base & mixed in torn basil and dill. Topped it off with spicy radishes, scallions, carrots and al dente soba noodles (tossed with a touch of tamari), tofu with sesame on top. I drizzled a lemon, soy dressing with a touch of agave. 2. The next lunch was a roasted zucchini wrap with fresh avocado and a spinach hummous in an organic whole wheat wrap that I lightly charred on the stovetop, and I paired it with a farm fresh organic salad: fennel, green beans, radish, red pepper, edamame and I lightly stove grilled some corn that I drizzled with lemon, rice wine vinegar and again touch of agave. This was scrumptous and fresh and refreshing.
Posted in Food, Vegetarian
Getting ready for the Birthday Bash
Well, I can’t even believe we are almost one month away from Mr. W’s first birthday. This has been the shortest year with the most amount of change in my entire life….and by far the best. I am enjoying thinking of fun ways to celebrate my boy’s birthday, and really the joy that he has brought into our lives. My husband and i were just saying last night how lucky we are to have so much fun with our little guy. Since he’s such a little guy, most of the details are really for me, so I am just having a ball at browsing & deciding what to choose. I have chosen a loose theme incorporating animals and circus, i don’t like everything matchy matchy, so I am just looking for fun and cute and kid-friendly. I ordered the invites from Night Owl Paper Goods. If you want some amazing wood cards or custom work done check them out. When they arrive I’ll post a pic. I am also looking at having Hello Super 8 shoot us a super cool film of the day- it’s the most expensive part of the day, but i think it’ll be worth it…AND since it’s also my birthday that day, it’s really a present to myself. Since last years gift (the baby) was the best gift I could EVER receive, I figured I’d try and come close. I am also looking at a few fun party items, not sure which I will choose: This super cute Animal centerpiece and the matching Meri Meri garland, dying for this adorable party hat to come back into stock, I may do mini-cupcakes and these are the perfect cupcake tapers. I may also have to take inspiration from the sweet master, Amy Atlas for set up ideas, and generally get creative with kid goodies and more. Stay tuned as I get it all together. p.s. do you think I could get my husband to work out these awesome balloon animals?
