Spinach Pierogi Soup

It has been a challenge lately to get Henry to eat any vegetables.  Right now, the only veggie I know he will eat on its own is corn.  This has been really hard for me - I just can't believe that there are entire days where Henry will not have a single veggie.  So, let the creativity begin!

At the end of last week, I bought a giant 2.5 pound bag of fresh spinach.  Seeing as Henry has done pretty well with stews lately, I decided to look for a spinach soup recipe.  Luckily, I came across The Pioneer Woman's Spinach Soup.  My only problem was that I knew I needed something enticing and hearty in the soup so that Henry would try to eat it - a pure liquid was not going to cut it.  And then I found the package of potato & cheddar cheese pierogies in my freezer that I had bought on sale a couple of weeks ago.  I never had pierogi in soup, but thought it could be interesting...

To start, I loved the soup.  My nanny also really enjoyed it, and even asked to take a container home with her.  My nephew (8), liked the spinach soup part, but freaked out over the pierogi (apparently he is not a potato fan). And Henry?  He started out happily eating the soup.  He ate bite after bite.  But then he remembered that he was thirsty for milk, and thus ended meal time.

Spinach Pierogi Soup (adapted from The Pioneer Woman's Spinach Soup with Gruyere)
1.5 tsp olive oil
10 ounces fresh spinach
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced small
2 Tbsp flour
4 cups 1% milk
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp salt
pinch cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp pastina
4 potato/cheddar pierogies (I used Mrs. T's brand)
black pepper, to taste

1.  In a large pot, saute spinach in oil until wilted.  Transfer spinach to blender and blend with a bit of warm water until pureed.  Set aside.

2.  In the same pot, melt butter, and saute garlic and onion until translucent.  Add flour and cook 1-2 minutes. Add milks and let simmer until the mixture begins to thicken.  Add salt, cayenne pepper, pastina, pierogies, and pepper.  Then add in pureed spinach.  Let simmer about 5 minutes.  With a spoon break the pierogies up a bit so that the inside can help thicken the soup.  Simmer a few minutes longer, and then enjoy!

Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!

The Great Porridge Debate

Last weekend a great debate started over how to pronounce "porridge".  I'm a firm believer that it's pah-rij, but apparently there are a number of people out there, including some dictionaries, that seem to feel paw-rij is the correct pronunciation.  After days of arguing (I will fight to the end), I finally questioned why we were talking about this fairly outdated word - I mean, the only time I've dealt with porridge is when Goldilocks visited the three bears. Turns out my friend's sister, Ariele, found an awesome recipe for Beef Porridge (click on recipe name for link) from the Quick and Kosher Cookbook and was recommending it to her brother.  I'm not sure what makes it "Porridge", but it was amazing.

I followed the recipe exactly, except instead of using whole baby carrots, I diced up all the veggies so that Henry would be more likely to eat it.  I also only used 1.25 pounds of flanken because that was all I had.  The debate over pah-rij versus paw-rij is still unresolved, but on Friday night, as we ALL ate our beef porridge (Henry ate 2 bowls!), a family torn apart over pronunciation, ate in peace and harmony...

How do you pronounce porridge?


Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!

My Sophisticated Son?

Today for lunch the plan was to try the Potato-Leek Soup again, but Henry would have none of that.  I'm not sure what it is about the soup, but he won't even taste it, and shakes his head "no" as soon as he sees me taking the soup pot out. 

I figured he could just have the plain noodles that I put in the soup, but then he saw me take out sushi*.  He tried sushi months ago at his cousin's house (sans fish at that point), and was not a fan.  The only thing he actually liked was the pickled ginger (so strange).  This time I think the look of the sushi box got him interested.  He immediately asked to see it, and quickly stuck his finger in the spicy tuna roll and ate some.  I wasn't trying to get him to eat sushi, but when Henry is actually interested in eating something, I don't want to stop him.  And then, to my surprise, he picked up the piece and started eating it.  I was floored.  After a couple of nibbles, however, he asked for the box back again and just started touching them all.  I knew the sushi was only for me (and possibly my husband), so I let him at it - I always find Henry is more likely to eat food if he gets to play with it.  And then he picked up a tuna avocado roll and started nibbling that one.  I was so proud - my son who can drive me crazy with not wanting to eat even pizza, was loving sushi!

But alas, the excitement was fleeting.  Within minutes, he discovered the ginger container and then only wanted to play with that.  He took one bite of the rice that I stuck in his mouth, but immediately spit out the tuna, and then spicy tuna, that I got in after.  Our sushi experiment was done, and so instead of eating even one whole piece of sushi, he went back to his trusty muenster cheese.  It was nice having a sophisticated son for a couple of minutes though...

Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!

*Talk to your doctor about when you can introduce sushi to your children.  Some recommend waiting until over age 5, as that's when the immune system is thought to be stronger.

Forget Dinner...

I have come to realize that Henry is a much better eater earlier in the day.  By dinnertime he has had enough - he's tired, has likely eaten plenty of snacks throughout the day, and has no desire to sit in his high chair.  Because of that, I now try to feed Henry his "big meal" at lunchtime.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.  Today he happily ate a bowl of leftover cholent from the weekend.  Therefore, I wasn't too surprised when Henry absolutely refused dinner tonight.  I made what I thought was a pretty good potato leek soup and even threw in some noodles to entice my "noo-noo" loving son.  No such luck - it was a firm no.

We'll see if he's more apt to try it for lunch tomorrow - only problem is that my nanny is the one giving him lunch tomorrow and she's more likely to give up way before I would.  One can always hope.  In the meantime, maybe someone else will enjoy the recipe...

Potato Leek Soup
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 leeks, sliced and rinsed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
6 cups "no-chicken" stock (vegetarian chicken stock)
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chickpeas (because I had some in the fridge)
salt and pepper to taste
7 ounces tofu
parmesan cheese (optional)
non-fat plain Greek Yogurt (optional)

1.  In a pot, heat oil.  Add leeks and garlic and saute 3-4 minutes.  Add thyme, stock, potatoes, salt, and pepper.  Bring to boil and then let simmer on low until potatoes are soft (at least 30 minutes).  Then add tofu. Blend with handblender until the whole soup is pureed.

2.  To serve either sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese or add a dollop of Greek yogurt (I had no plain Greek yogurt so I went with the parmesan - usually I prefer the Greek yogurt for the added creaminess).

Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!

Roasted Beets

Let me start by saying that though Henry used to eat beets, he has not eaten them the last few times I've made them.  That was true even this weekend.  However, I have found that each time I have made (and served) fresh beets recently, they have sparked lots of comments.  Based on my very small sample size, which includes my family and a handful of friends (very scientifically sound), it seems many people choose not to make fresh beets but really like them.  My message to all of you?  They're not hard at all to make...you throw them in the oven and let them roast for an hour.  Then peel them under running water to avoid dying your hands red, season them, and voila...tasty roasted beets!

A great recipe that I only slightly modified this weekend is the Roasted Beet Salad with Cumin and Cilantro on joyofkosher.com.  It seemed to be a hit with the adults that ate them, though I'm fairly certain that not a single child even touched them...

Roasted Beet Salad (adapted from www.joyofkosher.com)
5 small beets
2 Tbsp olive oil
zest of half a lemon
juice of half a lemon
zest of half a tangerine
juice of half a tangerine
1.5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
chopped cilantro

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Wash beets and wrap them in foil.  Roast them in the oven for about an hour.  Let cool slightly.

3.  Under cold running water, peel beets.  Dice them and place in bowl.  Add remaining ingredients, except cilantro.  Mix together.

4.  Before serving, mix cilantro into the salad.

Do you have any tasty beet recipes to share? I'm still trying to get Henry to eat them...

Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!

A Greek-themed Vegetarian Meal

Yesterday, I decided that I needed to use up a can of black-eyed peas that I bought a few months ago.  I've never had black-eyed peas before, so I did a search online for some vegetarian recipes.  My search brought me to a delicious sounding Greek Black-Eyed Peas Salad recipe on www.simplyrecipes.com.  (My only tweaks here were using canned black-eyed peas, omitting the green onion, and adding a quarter of an avocado).

                                 

It sounded so good that I immediately emailed it to my friend Laura, a fellow self-proclaimed foodie.  The next thing I knew, we were getting together for dinner (with our kids) for a Greek/Mediterranean themed meal.  I figured Henry would not eat the salad, so we decided to make a Greek-style Vegetarian Lasagna as well that I based off of a few different recipes that I read online.  Beware: This is not a low-calorie recipe by any means!

Initially it seemed that the lasagna was not a success.  My friend Laura's 3-year-old ate some of it, but was not too thrilled.  My other friend Emily's daughter, who is 2, did pretty well with it, but did not eat as much for dinner as usual.  And Henry? He tried a tiny bite and spit it right out.  The only kid who couldn't get enough was Laura's 9 month old!  All of us mommies thoroughly enjoyed it though - as well as the salad.  

And then, about 20 minutes before Henry was going to bed, my husband came home and made himself a plate of the lasagna.  Next thing I knew, Henry ate almost half of what my husband had on his plate.  I guess he just wasn't in the mood to eat beforehand!

Greek Veggie Lasagna

1 (13.75 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/3 cup green olives, chopped

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped

2 cups frozen spinach, thawed 

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

4 cups 1% milk

pinch salt

pinch nutmeg

12 no-bake lasagna noodles

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups jarred tomato sauce

1.  Preheat oven to 375.

2.  Combine artichokes, olives, sundried tomatoes, and spinach in a bowl.  Set aside.

3.  In a pot, melt butter.  Whisk in flour and let cook for 2 minutes.  Add in the milk, bring to low boil, and then simmer until thickened.  Add in salt and nutmeg.

4.  In a 9x13 baking dish, ladle a quarter of the white sauce.  Lay 4 lasagna noodles on top, then 1/4 of the white sauce, half the artichoke mixture, 1/3 of the feta, 1/3 of the mozzarella, and 1 cup of the tomato sauce.  Repeat layers.  To finish top with 4 lasagna noodles, and remaining feta and mozzarella. 

5.  Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand about 15-20 minutes.

Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!

Tiny Grains of Quinoa

I didn't really have any intention of cooking Monday night, but then I came across a tasty looking Quinoa "Mac and Cheese" with Spinach recipe on www.cuceesprouts.com.  Aside from looking delicious, it also looked pretty quick and easy - a must when I have about 20-30 minutes to throw dinner together when I get home from work.  I love quinoa since it's high in protein, and can make a balanced meal just by adding some veggies.

As per usual, I tweaked the recipe. Since I don't have grated goat Gouda cheese (and to be honest, I'm really not a fan of goat cheese), I opted for my trusty shredded mozzarella instead.  I also left the sunflower seeds out, partly because I didn't have them, but also because Henry is still not the best chewer, and I wasn't looking for a choking incident.

Turns out I really didn't need to worry about Henry choking.  He wouldn't even touch the stuff.  I then tried again today at lunch.  After a few minutes of refusing, he decided to be adventurous and take a bite.  Clearly he was not a fan because he immediately spit it out and then kept spitting to try and get the tiny grains of quinoa out of his mouth.  That then turned into him having a temper tantrum, which means anything in front of him got swiped to the floor in a matter of seconds.  Unfortunately, the bowl of quinoa was in front of him.  Even more unfortunate is that I had just had my house professionally cleaned for the first time in months right before lunchtime.  (It's really not fun to pick up individual grains of quinoa).

Just in case you were wondering, even though this dish was a no-go for Henry, it was a big hit with me.  If not for the fact that I am aware of proper portion sizes, I'm pretty sure I would have eaten the whole pot in one sitting.

Quinoa "Mac and Cheese" with Spinach (adapted from www.cuceesprouts.com)
1 cup quinoa (rinsed)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup frozen spinach
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2/3 cup shredded mozzarella

1.  In a pot, combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed.

2.  In a saute pan, heat olive oil, and saute garlic until soft.  Add spinach and allow to defrost and warm through.  Turn off heat.  Add cooked quinoa to saute pan and mix together.  Then add lemon zest and juice, as well as the mozzarella.  Stir to combine.

Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!