Tag: healthy toddler food

Vegetarian Crustless Quiche

Vegetarian Crustless Quiche
Vegetarian Crustless Quiche

Brunch is in. Especially with two small children, it is much easier time to get together with friends than dinner. So, when in need of a brunch item, here is a trusty quiche. I have done a post on quiche before if you want the ins and out, the dos and don’ts check it out. For this beauty I decided to do crustless for a few reasons. One: I didn’t have time to make a crust; two: we were going to be eating the quiche with lots of buttery pastries and I thought it would be best to cut simple carbs and added fat where it wasn’t needed. I do love a good crust, but for this instance it was unnecessary.

This is a rich, savory quiche, stuffed with vegetables and topped with a bit of cheese. It has an added bonus of being gluten free. It was super fast, one pan, and traveled perfectly to our friends where we were having brunch.

Crustless Quiche

 Ingredients

  • 2 TBL olive oil
  • 1 large yellow or white onion, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste
  • A few tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, or a few teaspoons dried herbs
  • 3 to 4 cups chopped vegetables (I used Kale, Mushrooms, and zucchini)
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (I used unsweetened plain almond milk)
  • 1 cup grated cheese (I used goat guda)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
  3. Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom and sides of the skillet.
  4. Add the onion slices and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over them. Cook the onions until they are golden-brown and starting to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
  5. Add the other vegetables and cook until liquid has been released and evaporated, 5 more minutes or so.
  6. Remove the pan from the heat and spread the vegetables evenly across the bottom of the skillet.
  7. In a bowl whisk the eggs and milk together until everything is uniformly yellow.
  8. Add remaining salt, pepper, and any herbs you are using and whisk to combine.
  9. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetable.
  10. Sprinkle with grated cheese in an even layer over the top.
  11. Transfer the quiche to the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once the surface is lightly brown all the way across and it is firm in the middle, it’s fully cooked.
  12. Let the quiche cool for about 20 minutes, then slice into wedges.
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Vegan Italian Tofuballs for Pasta-Toddler Approved

Vegan Italian Tofuballs
Vegan Italian Tofuballs

In need of some comfort food? I feel I am most of the time in the winter. I just want warm, filling, soul satisfying food. These delightful little nuggets fit the bill perfectly, especially when paired with whole wheat pasta and either your favorite sauce, or my favorite sauce.

Wolfie loved to help with these. She does everything from mashing the tofu to help form the balls. She also ate them! I mean, why wouldn’t you? They are a bit crisp on the outside, a bit salty, faintly “cheesy”, and heavy with Italian seasonings. These also freeze well if you feel like making a double batch.

Tofu Balls

 Ingredients

  • 1 lb water packed extra firm tofu
  • 1 TBL Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 cup grated zucchini (optional)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes to taste
  • 2 TBL nutritional yeast
  • 1/4-1/3 cup vegan bread crumbs
  • Neutral flavored oil for cooking

Instructions

  1. Mash tofu in a large bowl with your hands of a potato masher.
  2. Add Italian seasoning, salt, garlic, zucchini, pepper, red pepper, and nutritional yeast and stir together.
  3. Add bread crumbs a few tablespoons at a time stirring to combine. The mixture should start to stick together.
  4. Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings to taste.
  5. Heat about a 1/4″ of oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet to about 350 degrees. I never actually check this with a thermometer, but you should. It should be hot, but not smoking, and when you flick a few drops of water into the oil it should sizzle and pop.
  6. Form the tofu mixture into walnut sized balls with your hands. Pack them a bit, but don’t worry if they feel loose as long as they hold their shape in your hand. If they don’t add more breadcrumbs until they do.
  7. Carefully place the tofu balls in the hot oil, and cook until one side is golden brown (3-4minutes), flip them and cook on the other side another 3 minutes or so until golden brown.
  8. Unless you have a super huge skillet you will need to work in batches. You might need to add more oil between batches. If this happens don’t forget to reheat the oil before frying.
  9. Once cooked remove the tofu balls and place on a plate lined with paper towel to drain.
  10. Serve hot with pasta and sauce.
  11. You could also bake these on an oiled baking sheet at 375 for about 20 minutes. Still good, but not quite the same.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I have been in a pumpkin mood because, you know, fall. Also, it is a super easy ingredient to add to most anything and goes with my theme of veggies in everything! These pancakes are particularly good. My daughter loves them, and one of her friends calls them “cookies”. I always make a big batch and use leftovers for snacks. My daughter and her friend will sit on a park bench together eating these pancakes cold and going “mmhhmm”. It’s pretty rewarding, as you know, a toddler will never hide their feelings about food.

These pancakes are spiced for fall, light,  fluffy, and totally delicious. They could easily be made vegan with and egg substitute of your choice and non-dairy milk and yogurt.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1 small banana
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 2 eggs or egg substitute
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp each ginger and cloves
  • dash of nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt -nondairy is fine
  • 1/2 cup milk – nondairy is fine

Instructions

  1. Mash banana in a medium bowl with the pumpkin puree.
  2. Add eggs and vanilla whisking to combine.
  3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, yogurt, and milk and stir together. If mixture needs more liquid add it to your desired consistency. Thicker batter makes thicker pancakes, thinner batter makes thinner pancakes.
  4. Heat a large skillet, I use my biggest cast iron pan, over medium heat.
  5. Once pan is hot add a small amount of oil to prevent pancakes from sticking.
  6. Pour batter into the pan making sure to leave enough room between the pancakes to flip them!
  7. Cook on first side until bubbles that form on pancakes burst and edges start to dry out.
  8. Flip and cook until golden brown on second side.
  9. Serve hot.

Vegan and Sugar Free Glorious Morning Muffins

Vegan and Sugar Free Glorious Morning Muffins
Vegan and Sugar Free Glorious Morning Muffins

I’m on a muffin kick. After last week’s Lemon Blueberry Muffins I was inspired to post more yummy, toddler friendly muffins. These are also sweetened with dates, so no added sugar. They also boast a bunch of veggies and have tons of fragrant spices. You could also add nuts and dried fruit if you are into that sort of thing. You could also mix up the veggies and use only carrots, or only zucchini, or even sub in some sweet potato or summer squash. These are a perfect school snack for my daughter as they are pretty much allergen free in addition to being pretty nutritious.

Glorious Morning Muffins

 Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped, pitted, dates
  • 3/4 cup just boiled water
  • 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup chickpea flour or more whole wheat
  • 3 TBL chia seeds
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 cup grated zucchini
  • 1 cup grated carrot
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seed oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 TBL apple cider vinegar

Instructions

  1. Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or a light coating of oil and preheat oven to 375.
  2. Place the chopped dates in a heatproof bowl or measuring cup and pour the boiling water over the dates. Cover and set aside until soft, 10-20 minutes
  3. In a medium bowl combine the flours, chia seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir briefly.
  4. Add the zucchini and carrots stirring until the are coated in flour.
  5. When the dates are soft mash them with a fork until relatively smooth (no big pieces).
  6. Add the date mixture, oil, and vanilla and apple cider vinegar to the flour, vegetable mixture and stir until just combined.
  7. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups and bake for 20-23 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Remove from pan to cool as long as you can wait before eating.

Refined Sugar Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Refined sugar free vegan lemon blueberry muffins
Refined sugar free vegan lemon blueberry muffins

My daughter loves muffins, well, she loves glorious morning muffins, and I wanted blueberry muffins. I am refraining from giving her any refined sugar for as long as possible, so I needed to develop a recipe for blueberry muffins that would make everyone happy. Light and fluffy for me, and fairly healthy for her. These are a good balance. The dates give them plenty of sweetness, that combination of flours keep them light, with just enough whole wheat I didn’t feel too terrible. The lemon zest gives the muffins a hint of spring and they are bursting with blueberries. I highly recommend these for second breakfast on the go.

Refined Sugar Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Muffins

 Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups, pitted, chopped dates.
  • 3/4 cup boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • zest from one small lemon (about 1 tsp)
  • 1/2 cup sunflower oil
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
  • 1 TBL apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp pure almond extract
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries

Instructions

  1. Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or a light coating of oil and preheat oven to 375.
  2. Place the chopped dates in a heatproof bowl or measuring cup and pour the boiling water over the dates. Cover and set aside until soft, 10-20 minutes.
  3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl stirring briefly.
  4. When the dates are soft mash them with a fork until relatively smooth (no big pieces), then add them to the flour mixture.
  5. Add the lemon zest, sunflower oil, non-dairy milk, vinegar, vanilla, and almond stirring to combine.
  6. Add the blueberries and stir to distribute evenly throughout the batter.
  7. Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups and bake 20-24 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
  8. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before eating.

Toddler Superfood Oatmeal

Toddler Superfood Oatmea
Toddler Superfood Oatmeal

So my lovely little baby is a picky eater. How did this happen? The good thing is she is picky like me. It isn’t green foods, or vegetables she avoids, no, it is some sort of structure that only she know. It is starting to get better, but until then I just keep making this oatmeal in huge batches because it is all she wants to eat.  I shouldn’t complain since this is just about the healthiest thing I could get into her, but still.

You can mix and match what goes in here depending on what your toddler is into. Mine will only eat it if there are pieces of green that she can see. She turned up her nose and wouldn’t even try my apricot almond oatmeal the other. day. Whatever. I do try to mix it up a bit and add different grains, vegetables, and cheese on and off. I even put some chicken in one time and she ate that, as long as it was in the oatmeal. Not on it’s own, that just wouldn’t make sense.

If your little lovely doesn’t like vegetables you could hide them by using a white carrot and peeling the zucchini, just leave out the spinach. You could also make it sweet by swapping the broth for sweetener, maybe adding some cinnamon.

Good luck with your picky eater!

Toddler Superfood Oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and shredded
  • 1/2 small/medium zucchini, shredded
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 tsp mushroom broth powder or mushroom bullion
  • 1 TBL chia seeds
  • 1 TBL hemp seeds
  • 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
  • 1 TBL nutritional yeast
  • 1 TBL olive oil (optional)
  • 1/4 cup cottage cheese (optional)

Instructions

  1. Put water, carrot, and zucchini in a small saucepan and bring water to a boil.
  2. Once water is boiling stir in the oats.
  3. Add chia and hemp seed and stir briefly.
  4. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until water is almost absorbed, 3-5 minutes.
  5. Add spinach and nutritional yeas, stir and cook until the oatmeal is the consistency you prefer.
  6. Stir in olive oil and cottage cheese if using.