Cooking is Fun Momma...

We Are trying to go beyond Spaghetti for a   Italian Meal for Patience.

For when she grows up I never want her to say “ when I was younger my parents put me

On a diet” and it was awful. Teaching her while she is young to enjoy

The beauty of cooking is so important. Food should  be something she enjoys.

It is always fun to try new veggies and fruit . And I love hearing her say hey Mom Can we get a Eggplant today..LOL

This week from the library we checked out “ There’s A Chef In My World” By Emeril Lagasse.

I plan to let her make her own recipe box to store her recipes in. The book has many easy lost cost recipes, very kid friendly.  I like the book because it tells the origin and history of the recipe. (It makes it more appealing to kids when you teach them something) Rather than saying “ Hey let’s eat this because its good for you”

Swiss Muesli

3 cups of Old fashion rolled oats

1 cup of silvered almonds

1 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts

½ cup of honey ( or agave nectar)

½ cup of dried apples

½ cup of dried apricots

This Granola- like cereal was invented by a Swiss doctor and makes a healthy breakfast. You can eat plain or spoon over yogurt or fresh fruit and drizzle with honey if you like.

1. Preheat over to 300

2. On a large baking sheet combine, oats, almonds, and walnuts and bake for 30 minutes stirring once after 15 minutes.

3. Using oven mitts remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the cereal

Hollandise Sauce...From Emeril's cookbook for kids

Patience loves steamed Broccoli and she also loves Egg’s Benedict.

So when I seen the recipe for Hollandaise sauce I had to add it to her recipe box

Hollandaise is a classic  French Sauce. Patience enjoys learning about little things like that.

Hollandaise Sauce

3 egg yolks

1 and ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon of salt Pinch of cayenne

½ cup of salted butter.

Combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne in a blender and blend on high speed for 20 seconds, until the mixture  is completely smooth.

Place the butter in a small saucepan and melt over me heat until bubbly. Do not allow to brown

With the blender running at high speed add melted butter in a thin steady stream . It is important to add slowly. It should take about 30 seconds to add all of butter. Turn off.

Transfer the sauce to small serving bowl. If the sauce has gotten to thick you can thin by adding a teaspoon of lukewarm water. Serve Immediately. Very good with eggs, fish, steamed veggies, or roasted asparagus..

We do not add tons of this because it is made with butter. But alittle over veggies and fish is nice.

Ala ( I love ) Peanut Butter.

Patience for lunch usually has turkey or grilled chicken sandwich. (having her breads at lunch) if not at breakfast or dinner. with a  piece of fruit. We serve her breads at one meal daily. Trying to focus on veggies, protien, fruit.

So i thought she would have a peanut butter Banana sandwich. Whole wheat of course.

I think right now Patience is chickened and turkey, tuna, out. She could have very well had carrots or any veggies with this. Today the sandwich was more than enough. All natural of course, almond butter is nice too.

When I made this simple lunch I thought of Sesame Street. :) If you were born in the 70s or 80s you know what i mean.

Dance Praise

I found a great, excellent deal...On another outlet the girls can use for P.e. in the Home school. A DVD collection of exercise Called "Dance Praise" The DVD usually range from 30- 50 dollars.

Never opened 10 DVDs for $10.00 with the mat.  So I'm happy we plan on using the DVDs on days it just way to cold for a walk. Patience loves it. I like it because the music is faith based. And its something we can all do together to stay active.

What does she eat... We are not so different

When we had first begun our Healthy journey at Patience girl scout troop As i stated in the past there were a few looks of sympathy for Patience. Of course those moms did not have daughter's with a insulin problem that could gain weight easily. So they looked at it as if i was being a rigid mean mom. ( i guess) Going by the comments and sad faces.
The snacks were supposed to be healthy, so dont get me started...

Anyway... Now her friends that she has went to the troop with for a few years now are gaining weight. One mom had said what size does Patience wear now. I told her. And then she said well...my daughter is the same size. And then asked what Patience eats...
Patience is still considered overweight but not obesse anymore. It will level out evenutally as she grows taller.
I felt alittle flattered she asked.  But sad the little girl has gained. It goes to show what you eat can catch up to you. I am so so glad we found help. The gift we received i hope will carry Patience for a lifetime. I dare not call it weight loss or diet.

Cheezy Popcorn ;)

Cheesy Popcorn ( almost)


½ cup of popcorn

1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast



Cook popcorn in air popper , transfer to large bowl and sprinkle with the yeast.


Red Star nutritional yeast is a excellent source of  vitamin B- 12. It lends a cheesy salty taste without either. Nutritional yeast is not the same as Brewers or Bakers yeast, so don’t substitute.

Found in Eat Healthy Go Vegan.

Sweet Potato And Cauliflower chowder

I found this in the Healthy Vegan Cookbook...

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Chowder

3 ¼ cups of veggie broth

4 large shallots minced

½ cup of chopped celery

6 cups of cauliflower (1 medium head)

1 cup of chopped red pepper

1 medium sweet potato peeled and cut into cubes

(about 1 and ½ cups)

1 bay leaf

1 cup of unsweetened soy milk

Salt and pepper to taste

. Heat ¼ cup of broth in a large saucepan over medium heat add shallots, celery and sauté for 5 minutes Add remaining cup of broth and 1 cup of water bring to a boil. Add cauliflower, Bell pepper, sweet potato and bay leaf. And bring to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.

3. Add Soy milk and salt and pepper to taste.

This could be eaten year round soup is refreshing with a nice salad for lunch in the winter. On the days Patience isn’t interested in a sandwich for lunch I would give her a cup of soup with salad with grapes or apple.