When I tell people my kids only eat dry cereal once a week, if at all, they look at me with a blank stare. What do you feed them? Well, I feed my kids a variety of wholesome breakfasts that will give them the best start to their day. That means whole, unrefined foods. It means foods that are full of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and protein. Here are some of the things we have been eating:

1) Good quality yogurt (farm fresh, traditionally prepared) plain or with sweetened with maple syrup and homemade granola

2) Hard boiled high quality  eggs (from the farm, cage-free, antibiotic free)

3) Grain-free Pancakes from the blog – www.simplybeingwell.com . The recipe on the blog calls for 3 eggs, 2 tbsp. of nut butter and one banana. I have found we like to swap the numbers to 3 tbsp. nut butter (sunflower, almond, cashew), 2 eggs and 1 banana. Loaded with protein! Great for snacks too, or the lunchbox.

4) Gluten-free pancakes from the blog www.cookusinterruptus.com . These are amazing. You just need to soak at night. We do it on Friday to have pancakes every Saturday. The yogurt and oats make these so nutritious.

5) Pecans (done the way from Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing traditions. Soak over-night with some salt. Then dry in oven on warm for 8-12 hours. The taste is amazing.) We always have on hand and some in the freezer. Serve with some fruit or yogurt and/or toast.

6) Toast with coconut oil on it. Whole grain or sourdough bread. Can use gluten-free if needed. We have been using the chocolate spread lately —  full of antioxidants! Serve with a piece of fruit.
7) Scrambled eggs. (again, a high quality egg)

 8.)  Apples (organic or farmed with minimal pesticides. Hard to find local apples that are organic) with peanut butter or other nut-butter on them. I have cut in half scooped out core, and filled with nut-butter. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with homemade granola.

9) Oatmeal with highquality butter and maple syrup. We use steel cut gluten-free oats. Somtimes we soak the oats over-night with a tbsp. of yogurt and water to add nutrients and beneficial enzymes. (but not neccessary!)

10) Quiche- left over from dinner before or out of the freezer. You can make any variety- but here is one I posted: quiche

11) Healthy muffins of “cookies”. I do not recommend refined grain product often, especially for breakfast. But everyonce in a while it is a nice treat! I try to pair with a protien to balance out the lack of nutrients in a refined grain, and the crash that can come with it. I also add things to the actual baked good to up the nutritional ante. Here are some examples: GF/Egg free oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, oatmeal carrot cookie, oatmeal cookie, GF zuchinni muffins, GF sweet potato muffins, pumkin muffins.

Yes, we do occasionally serve a high quality cereal (whole grain, low sugar) , a frozen waffle (fewer than 5 ingredients, whole grain, no sugar), or a granola bar (could make your own homemade granola bars. But for the most part it is what is listed above.

**You can pair fresh fruit and/or smoothie with any meal. We often do green smoothies, but have also done yogurt/kefir smoothies with nut-butter and banana on days we need protein (ie toast day?) We also have a good quality bacon or sausage from time to time.

Have fun! There are a ton of foods to feed your kids in the morning that will give them a better shot at getting through the day healthy and happy! These are just a few suggestions.

I finally did it. I am brewing my own kombucha! I met another mom in the local organic grocery store, and we were both buying Kombucha. She was telling me she rarely buys it, as they brew it at home. I decided this was my time. I asked for her contact info, if I could come get the mother, scoby, mushroom – whatever you want to call it, and actually followed up. I went to her house, brought that odd, organ-like living thing home with me.  I followed her advice and watched this:

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2010/03/video-thursday-how-to-make-kombucha/

I  followed the video exactly. At first as it was brewing, I thought I had developed mold. I was nervous about ruining a batch, or making my family sick. My new friend came over, checked it, and it was fine. My first batch brewed for 8 days. I bottled it and my husband LOVED it. My second batch was even stronger. I knew my family would be drinking a lot of this, so the next time  I doubled the recipe. The blog listed above has another way of making in bulk,  but I have found one that works for us.

There are many opinions on how to make Kombucha.  I have found what is easiest for me and always take advice from others. I am starting to notice the nuances between the brews, and what taste we like. The brew takes a different amount of days depending on many variables, so we go by taste. I am so glad to have added this to my kitchen repertoire.

Everyone has a version of chili. Mine tends to vary and evolve, and recently, a few teachers I cooked for asked for the recipe. This is hard to do as it is ever-changing, but I am making it now, so thought I would snap a few photos and give it a shot!

Beans (I start with dried beans. Soaked overnight and cooked in a rice cooker. I usually eye the amount, but probably about 2 cups dried, cover with water, soak, rinse, add to pot or rice cooker with a piece of Kombu, cover with water about an inch above beans and cook until tender. The rice cooker is amazing as it just shuts off when done. I use all sorts for my chili- adzuki are the ones in this recipe, but have used northern, black, pinto, etc and sometimes mix. I use 1/2 of the beans cooked for another recipe during the week, usually beans and rice)

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef (optional could keep veggie, or do ground turkey, buffalo or even diced chicken would be delicious)
4 carrots peeled and chopped
1 large onion largely diced
1 red pepper diced
Left over cauliflower (You can use ANY vegetable, I have added broccoli, diced kale, already cooked, edamame, peas, anything that I have left in the fridge. In fact, as I was writing this I decided to add a bag of organic frozen peas and carrots!)
1 large can organic diced tomatoes (with juice, could need two cans depending on how many veggies/meat and your own preference)
4 cloves garlic, chopped (amount up to you)
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro (optional, I had on hand. I try to add some sort of fresh herb if I have. Usually more in the summer than the winter. I chop almost the whole stem with leaves. Saves time. Stem is edible!)

I toss the meat into a slow cooker. Then layer the rest. Top with herbs and seasoning. I use organic chili powder and cumin most of the time. Cook on high for 5 or 6 hours, or low on 8 or so. Sometimes I will leave on high while home, and switch to low for the rest of the day while I am out running around. If you do not have a slow cooker, brown meat, if using, first, then add all things together in large pot and cook on med/low for an hour or two. Check to see what flavors and textures of vegetables you like. I like putting the veggies in raw (except if I use kale, or anything left over of course) because they stay crunchy and add texture.

This chili can be your own. The cauliflower is new today for me and last time I added left over quinoa, which folks seemed to love. Today we have left over brown rice. I usually serve chili over this, but because of the taste of the quinoa mixed in last time, I may just add it right to it.

When cooking the beans I always use some for another recipe. Cook once, eat twice. If you make the chili and the other recipe in a few days of one another, you can freeze 1/2 of the chili (as long as meat was on frozen). The beans I used today were frozen from another week that I was unable to use them, so I will not be able to freeze. We will have this twice this week and also for lunches at school and husband’s work

For more on beans click here

These muffins are adapted from “the edible perspective”. They are vegan as well. If you substitute the almond flour they could even be nut free!!! A lot of ingredients, but worth it.

Preheat oven to 350 grease muffin pans or use paper (I used coconut oil spray)

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used “gluten-free pantry”)
1/4 cup almond meal
3 T. flax meal
4 T. sucanant
1 tsp. ground dried ginger
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 T. sunflower oil
8 T. almond milk
6 T. brown rice syrup
3 t. vanilla
1 1/4 cup zucchini (I chopped in cuisinart)

Mix dry. Mix wet in separate bowl. Add zucchini to wet. Mix everything and pour into pan.

*If you have zucchini left over, add to a pasta, pasta sauce, eggs, or Quiche.

I read a recipe in a magazine awhile back that was for tempeh taco filling. I tried to remember some of it and recreate. Tacos are so fun for the kids and these were delicious!

1 package tempeh
1/2 onion diced
cumin to taste
2 Tbsp. tomato sauce (could use paste, or even ketchup probably) OPTIONAL

Crumble tempeh and saute in olive oil with onion. Add seasoning.

I served on soft corn tortillas. The fun add-ins were shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, pinto beans and cilantro. This was served with sautéed asparagus.

2 cups of white beans
4 baby eggplant (diced)
1/2 cup fresh basil (chopped)
1 bunch of swiss chard, chopped (I used a green I had never heard of that I bought at the farmer’s market and I cannot remember its name!)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 large tomatoes, diced

Saute eggplant for 5 minutes or so, add remaining ingredients and let simmer until eggplant is cooked. These measurements, as always, are approximate as I usually come up with this stuff when I have left overs! Add or subtract as you wish. Delicious on its own or over brown rice or pasta.

check out other recipes with white beans:

white beans with ground beef
white bean and kale salad

Ok, it is not as simple as just steaming it, which is how I usually do it. My husband actually prefers it that way. However, I went out to Rustico for dinner a while back (when asparagus was beginning its season here in VA) and they served it sliced up with lots of butter and some salt. My kids ate 2 orders. I thought that even though they love it plain, it would be fun to change it up every now and again! I used olive oil and sea salt.

Sweet potato muffins are usually something I reserve for the fall, however, being Jasper’s favorite food, we have them on hand often. I needed to use them up, so this is what we did with them. It is modified from the Gluten Free Bistro Blog.

1 cups GF flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup almond pulp (left over from homemade almond milk, could use other flour or 2 cups GF flour)
2/3 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup hemp milk (could use any kind)
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 Tbs unsulphered molasses
2 eggs
2 tbsp.  pure vanilla extract
1 1/2- 2 cups sweet potatoes

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine dry ingredients. In cuisinart, combine liquid. Add together and fill muffin pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

**I used raw sugar, but you could certainly experiment with healthier alternatives. I know I plan too! I will keep you posted.

I had a magazine on the table yesterday, and on the cover were stuffed tomatoes. Jasper (my 6-year-old) thought they were beautiful and wanted to know if I could make them. Well, yes, in fact I could! We were having left over lentils and rice (which I cooked simply with garlic and cumin) for dinner and happened to have 4 tomatoes on the counter from the market. I scooped out the middles and chopped them with the tops (minus the liquid) and sautéed in butter to add a bit of richness. Then added lentils and rice to the pan, and heated together for a few minutes. I stuffed the tomatoes and popped in an oven at 425 for 20 minutes and served with steamed fresh broccoli. It was beautiful. Thanks Jasper for the inspiration!

With the heat where I live, I am always trying to keep the kids hydrated. Watermelon is a great snack for this on its own for this. However, putting it in a blender with lots of lime makes this go-to summer snack something spectacular! You don’t need to add any water, as the juice from the fruit is enough. You can drink as is out of the blender, add ice to the blender to make a slushie-type drink or add at the end to cool it off.  We like to put in popsicle molds for a refreshing snack. For an adult only variation use your imagination!
Bring this on your next picnic and it will surely be a hit.