Must Love Babies

The Pinterest Diaries: The Two Ingredient Cookie

We are trying to switch over to eating more "farm foods" (also known as whole foods) at our house. We are not a 'gung ho' family -- probably more because of the adults than the kids! -- so this will be a gradual process. I thought a good place to start would be the two ingredient cookie I saw floating through the boards of Pinterest.

The concept is a cookie whose base is only two all-natural ingredients -- bananas and oats -- thereby eliminating potentially harmful (and potentially GMO) processed oils, excess sugar and flour. We are fortunate to not have any food allergies in our household, so we don't have to worry about sensitivities to gluten or anything like that. But my kids do love a cookie and I love keeping them healthy so I thought if I could lighten a cookie up the natural way, we could all indulge and not have any negative consequences.

I also liked that you could add "mix-ins" of any type to the cookie to tailor it to your tastes. We chose raw chopped almonds, cinnamon and chocolate chips, but I was thinking pistachios and dried cranberries would be good, too. Or coconut and chocolate chips. Or a big spoonful of all-natural peanut butter.

So, we got to work on what could only idealistically be called the "recipe." First, we gathered our ingredients:

three small (over)ripe bananas, raw almonds, cinnamon, chocolate chips

Then we chopped the almonds. Josie helped.

Next, we mashed the bananas into a bowl.

We added about a cup of the quick oats and mixed until it looked like this:

There's your two ingredients right there.

Then we added the good stuff --

                                      chooooocolate chiiiiiiips

Stirred it up and dropped by tablespoonfuls onto a well-greased cookie sheet. Is 'tablespoonfuls' a word?

These don't spread really at all because there is no butter or oil, so you can put them pretty close together. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Let cool on a rack.

Yep, pretty much like that.

So what grade would I give them, you ask? Well, I hate to say it, but they get a D+.

I gave one to my daughter Josie, who was eagerly awaiting the final product. She ate all the chocolate chips out of the cookie, handed me the rest and said, "here Mommy, I saved this for you." That pretty much sums it up.

The cookies turned out gummy, rubbery and weird. With there being no flour or sugar to give you that cookie crunch, you basically just baked a banana with some oats thrown in there for texture. I mean, what did I expect, right? But I guess I was hoping for a miracle, where I could eat six delicious cookies for breakfast in one sitting and tell people I just ate a handful of oats and a banana and would not be lying.

Online, the cookies have received (with only a few exceptions) rave reviews, so I feel like it must have been user error. It is possible that the bananas I used were too ripe. Or maybe I should have flattened out the cookies more. Or added some minutes to the cooking time. I think I will experiment and try again as I now have a giant 80 lb. canister of quick oats waiting to either be used or become a moth buffet. I did really like the addition of almonds to the cookies though and will likely use those in another cookie recipe since I do not really like walnuts, which are ever-present in cookie recipes.

Anyone ever tried the two ingredient cookie with success? Care to share your secret? (Unless your secret is just "I love cookies that double as rubber balls" -- that's a secret I don't need to know.)

Souper Tuesday: Turkey Soup

Well, I missed the Tuesday deadline, so today is Souper Wednesday. Perfect though because it is cold, blustery and really snowy outside!

As for soup, I have saved the best for last. Huh, you say? Turkey Soup, you say? That is the best of the four?

YES!! The name might be kind of lackluster, but the soup is not. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say this is the best soup I have ever had, save a phenomenal lobster bisque I had in 1998. I wish I could take credit for this soup, but I can't. In fact, I have no idea where the recipe originated, I got it from a friend. But please, please, try this soup!

On Thanksgiving, my aunt and uncle decided, AWESOMELY, that it was going to be their job to get all those tiny bits of meat off the turkey once everyone had eaten. I am so glad they did, because those leftovers are what I used for this soup. I just popped them in a freezer bag and into the freezer they went. You could also cook up a turkey breast, shred it and freeze it if you can't make this soup right away. P.S. if you do freeze it, no need to thaw it out 100% as long as you shredded it first. I thaw it out enough so that I can break it up a bit, then put it right in the soup!

Turkey Soup (makes 4 large servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups water
• 1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 can stewed tomatoes (I cut them up smaller)
• 2-3 cups shredded turkey
• 5 small red potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 tsp. salt (to taste)
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme (I love thyme, so I use a little extra!)
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1-1/2 c. milk

Directions:

1. Bring first 14 ingredients to a boil in a dutch oven. I whisk the cream of chicken soup and water together first until it is well blended, then I just go down the ingredients list and add them all in one by one.

2. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring and tasting occasionally, at least 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. I let it go more like 2 hours!

3. Right before serving, stir in milk. Warm through, stirring often. Serve very very warm but not boiling hot!

4. You're done! Easy!

My husband loves this soup so much, we were both genuinely sad when we ran out of leftover Thanksgiving turkey! Please try this soup, you'll be so glad you did. Have I mentioned how much we LOVE this soup??? GAH

An aside: have I mentioned how much I also love my dutch oven? I think it is out of production. I got it at Target, it is by Chefmate and I believe it is the 5 quart size. It was super cheap, I think I paid $29.99. From everything I read after the fact, it sold out like hotcakes at a firehouse breakfast. I guess I got lucky! There are two similar (read: affordable) pots that are popular, the Tramontina 6.5 Quart:

and the Lodge 6-Quart Dutch Oven.

Aren't they purty? Then there's always the classic Le Creuset 5 Quart Casserole :

That's just a paltry $275. My Chefmate is definitely no-frills, and I'm not sure how high of a temperature you can use it inside the actual oven, but I love it nonetheless. If you ever come across one at a yard sale, or if they reissue it, snatch it up!

Hope you enjoyed the Souper Tuesday series! I can cook alright for the most part, but I am psyched at the way these soups have turned out. I think soup may be my thing. I will add the recipes to my "recipe" tab as soon as I can. In the meantime, we return to our regular baby-and-kid related programming! Stay warm, spring is coming!

Souper Tuesday: Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

First, let me assure you that this has not turned into a soup blog, or even a food blog. Far from it (just look at my photos, ugh! Clearly I will never be a food photographer!). It's just that I have been on this soup kick, and at the same time, I've been really busy and writing my usual posts takes much longer than writing a post on how to make soup. Tomorrow I will bring back One Word Wednesdays, and I have other posts in the works that are more related to baby and kid stuff specifically. So have no fear!

Today's soup was born out of a lack of recipes online for Chicken Tortilla Soup that were to my liking, much like the Beef Barley Soup experience. I wanted a slightly spicy soup, and I had some chicken to use up, so Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup seemed great. A lot of the soups online involved me making tortillas by hand and cutting them into thin strips and frying them, all things I have just no interest in doing. So I just used tortilla chips instead. Just as good, I tell you! This soup had lots of flavor and of course you control the spiciness, so you can make it mild for your kids or extra spicy for yourself!

Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup (makes 4 large bowls)

Ingredients:

• 1 box (I think it's a quart?) chicken broth (I used low sodium)
• 2 cups water
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 can yellow corn
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 can black beans
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• salt
• chili powder
• fresh lime
• tortilla chips
• mexican blend finely shredded cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. In a dutch oven, saute garlic in olive oil until just fragrant.

2. Add chopped onions and saute until onions are transparent.

3. Add tomatoes, corn and black beans and stir until warmed through. (You can see from the photo that I forgot the black beans; what can I say, taking a 2 and 3 year old to the store you're bound to forget something! The soup was still good without the beans, but would have been better if I had remembered them.)

4. Pour in your box o' chicken broth and your 2 cups of water and stir. Heat for about 5 minutes on medium, then add chicken bouillon cubes. These are optional and some people don't like to use them; totally up to you.

5. Add shredded chicken to the soup. I like to broil mine (just because it is fastest) and then I shred them with 2 forks.

6. Stir well and heat through, then add salt if needed and chili powder. Start small and add more as the soup cooks if needed. I was surprised to find myself adding a pretty decent amount of chili powder two more times during the cooking process... I usually don't like things too spicy, but that extra kick worked great in this soup.

7. Turn the heat up and bring to a boil, then turn down to low, cover and simmer for at least 30-45 minutes. Mine went about an hour and 15 minutes total.

8. Taste often and adjust seasoning as needed.

9. Serve with tortilla chips. You can add shredded cheese on top right before serving -- it kind of melts into the soup which added a nice additional texture. I also highly recommend a generous squeeze of lime (I used two wedges) but wait until the very end to add it!

This soup was definitely a winner and would go great with a Negro Modelo! My husband only eats soup when it is really cold out, but I think this soup would be good in the summer, too. Let me know if you try this one! It's delicious!

Souper Tuesday: Tuscan Sausage and Bean Soup

I have been really proud of myself lately, and I owe it all to Pinterest. See, I have been trying to cook more, especially from scratch. I have that bad habit of being kind of an all-or-nothing person; I either can say I cook from scratch or I can't. But I have come to realize that this type of thinking is really kind of damaging and promotes a rather unhealthy desire for perfection. I am a mom of a two and a three year old. There is no such thing as perfection.

Something about Pinterest makes it easy to set goals. Instead of trying to revamp our whole diet and scouring the internet for recipes, I can look at my Pinterest recipe board and say, "ok, make one new thing from this each week." This has worked out nicely with my weekly soup challenge!

This week's soup was a Tuscan Sausage and Bean Soup, the inspiration for which I found on Pinterest. Feast on the Cheap came up with a simple and somewhat rustic soup that I thought my husband would like, and when the Italian Sweet Sausage went on killer sale, I figured there was no time like the present! I made a few minor tweaks to the recipe and got cookin'!

Tuscan Sausage and Bean Soup (makes 4 large bowls)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage (obv. I only used part of what is pictured!)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 qt. chicken broth
• 1 c. water
• 6-8 grape tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (read more about this below)
• 1/2 tbsp. dried basil
• 8 oz. (half a box) shell pasta, uncooked
• 4 oz. spinach leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Remove sausage from casings and brown in the almighty enameled cast iron dutch oven.

2. Add your onions, carrots and garlic.

3. Saute until onions are translucent. mmmmmmm

4. Add the chicken broth, water, tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Remember with the S&P to start small; you can always add more later, but you can't take away!

5. Bring to a boil, then turn to low and let simmer, covered, for a minimum 30 minutes, longer if you have time. Stir and taste occasionally.

6. 15 minutes before serving, add beans and pasta, stir, and recover. Let simmer for 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.

7. A couple minutes before serving, stir in the spinach until just wilted.

8. Let cool off a bit (soup is best served very very warm but not scalding hot) and serve!

This soup turned out great and we will be making it again. You can see from the ingredients picture that I subbed Great Northern Beans for cannellini -- I think this turned out fine, but don't add them too soon or they get a little mealy. The cannellinis might be better for this soup. This soup also makes yummy leftovers!

Souper Tuesday: Beef Barley Soup

I have decided I will start a quick Tuesday series all about soup. That's right, soup.

My husband has class this semester on Mondays and Wednesdays, which presents a dinner dilemma. What to make that will keep just fine until he gets home at 7:30? Soup has been the answer most weeks, and I have found some winners over the past few weeks, starting with beef barley.

I was recalling THE BEST beef barley soup I have ever had, which exists at the Eire Pub in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The Eire Pub is one of my favorite places in Boston, having a well stocked bar with friendly bartenders, affordable and very tasty food and a storied and rather legendary existence. It was even highlighted on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations somewhat recently. One time, my husband (then my boyfriend) and I went there and I got a Guinness and a bowl of Beef Barley Soup, and I was so full afterward I could barely walk. It was a filling combination. But the soup... goodness gracious. It was delicious.

So remembering this soup made me want to try my hand at it. I looked up a few recipes online but each one had something I wasn't crazy about... too much water, too much bouillon, not enough vegetables, etc. I was really trying to recreate that deep, dark Eire Pub flavor. I can't say I totally accomplished that, but I came damn near it. This soup uses a dutch oven, a low and slow approach, and most of a bottle of a nice, dark beer. The remainder of which you can finish off as you cook, which is a bonus.

Beef Barley Soup (makes 4 large bowls)

I used:

• 1 lb. stew beef
• 1 huge carrot, or 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1 large stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 roma tomato, finely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 box of beef broth (I think it's a quart?)
• 1 can of beef broth (15 oz. or so) 
• 1 cup pearled barley
• 1 can or bottle dark beer (I used Sam Adams Holiday Porter)
• extra virgin olive oil for sauteing
• worcestershire sauce
• salt
• pepper
• thyme
• 1 large bay leaf, or two smalls

(note: the onion is not pictured. I forgot to buy it, so in the photo you can see I used onion powder to replace it. I would recommend a real onion and for this recipe, I am going to pretend I used one!)

Directions:

1. In dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil and toss in garlic. Saute for a minute or so until fragrant.
2. Add finely chopped onions and saute until onions are mostly translucent and softened.

    3. Move onions to the side, add beef and saute until browned evenly.

  

4. Add your beer. You can use most of the bottle or the whole thing. I used about 2/3 so I could drink some! mmmmmmmmmmmbeeeer

5. Add your beef broth. You could use any combination of broth and water, but I would not recommend less than 1 box of broth. I used a box + a can of broth and then another can of water, and that was the perfect amount of liquid.

6.Now you add your vegetables (carrots, celery, tomato) and seasonings. I add worcestershire sauce to just about every dish that I use either tomatoes or beef in. I swear by that. Add your herbs and salt and pepper to taste, but start small - the flavor will intensify as it cooks, and you should taste it every half hour or so and adjust accordingly. You can always add more salt but you're not going to be able to take it away!

7. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer, covered, for at least a couple hours. Low and slow, just like BBQ! Taste it often and adjust!

8. About 35 minutes before serving, stir in a cup of pearled barley. It will take just about every minute of that time to cook, so don't rush it. Turn it off and let the soup stand for a few minutes before serving. Not many recipes talk about this, but food wasn't meant to be served super hot. Too hot and you can't really taste the flavors. So let it cool down just a bit before serving.

Serve with a yummy homemade bread, or be cheap like me and serve with saltines. My husband loved the saltines, so don't judge!

I am telling you, I can't claim victory (or even a tie) with the Eire Pub, but this soup was soooo good and perfect for winter. It had tons of flavor and depth and I was really happy with my version, especially with it being my first attempt!

Rainbow Party, Complete with Rainbow Cake

This sudden warm burst of weather we are having in this part of the country has made me long for spring. Not just wish for it, L-O-N-G for it. Both my kids' birthdays are in the late spring, and last year we did it up for Josie's birthday. It was my first attempt at doing a "theme" for a kids' party, and it was actually really fun!

We chose 'rainbow theme' because at the time, Josie was majorly into rainbows:

The balloon rainbow needed a little tweaking but guests were arriving, so it had to do. You could also skip the helium and hang them from the ceiling in an arc formation. I made the banner from cardstock with 2 holes punched in the top, rainbow themed scrapbook papers, and some twine.

You can kind of see some of the decorations we used on the walls in the background. We got most of our decorations at Birthday Express.

The food was by far the most fun part of the planning! Here are some of the things we made:

Rainbow Chip Cookies, using the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and mini M&Ms instead of chocolate chips. (Yeah, these were gone in no time!)

 

Rainbow Fruit Skewers (strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries and red grapes).

 

Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats. For each layer, just melt 1/2 tbsp butter and 3/4 c. mini marshmallows in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When it's melted together, add drops of food coloring, one at a time, until it is the color you want, then stir in a cup of cereal. Mix until well incorporated, press into a lightly buttered square Pyrex dish using a buttered spatula (or your buttered fingers, which is what I did). Repeat with all colors, spreading each layer as evenly over the last one as you can. Let cool and cut.

 

Rainbow Tinted Ice Cubes, just a drop or two of food coloring in the water, stirred with a toothpick.

 

Rainbow Party Gumballs, 99 cents at CVS for a bag.

 

Rainbow Party Straws. Got these at our grocery store. There was one odd tan straw in there.??

And then, the Piece de la Resistance, THE CAKE. We lit the candle...

... and Josie got nervous and cried. She hates the birthday song.

But she settled down once we switched gears and just wished her a very dry, nonmusical Happy Birthday.

The thing I loved most about this cake is that it looks like a giant, regular old white cake, but the rainbow sprinkles hint at what's inside...

The RAINBOW!!

 
 

Between the strawberries, the rainbow surprise and the sheer size of the cake, Josie was in awe!

(If you would like the actual directions, complete with some indispensible tips on getting a perfect rainbow cake, click on How To Make a Rainbow Cake.)

Our rainbow party was a big success, and really not hard to do with a little advance planning. Give it a try!

How to Make a Rainbow Cake

How to make a Rainbow Layer Cake in 25 easy steps!

Don't be scared, I broke the steps WAY down, that's why there are so many. It's really not very hard at all. But first, a little backstory.

Last year, I  (a terrible baker) pulled off a minor miracle: I made a fancy cake. And made it on the first try.

Two years prior, my daughter Josie's 1st birthday cake cracked down the middle and the icing bled:

Caroline's 1st birthday cake never made it out of the pan. It stuck to the inside and came out in huge chunks. Thank goodness for the grocery store bakery. I did manage a sloppy looking smash cake, made from broken cake remnants:

I didn't even try for Josie's or Caroline's 2nd birthdays, I bought store cakes both times. What can I say, I was feeling dejected from my previous attempts, and at that time in my life, I was tired. So tired. But for Josie's 3rd birthday, I decided to try again. I was determined to make a rainbow layer cake, and I really wanted to say that I had done it. I also didn't want to pay $100 for a cake. So, armed with a great list of tips from my cake baker friend Karen, I rolled up my sleeves, said a little prayer and had at it.

It turned out so puuurty! I was so relieved. I am not a baker, either by practice or at heart. But I wanted to look back and tell Josie that I made her rainbow cake, even if it was a total embarrassment. I have never needed things to be perfect with my kids; just meaningful and heartfelt. To my surprise, this cake turned out to be both!

Here are the instructions, complete with Tips You Shall Not Ignore. Please note: I don't bake. I don't think I have ever baked a cake from scratch in my life and I don't intend to use my kids' birthday cakes as a jumping off point. Hence the Betty Crocker stuff. Feel free to judge and scrunch up your nose at me, it really doesn't bother me. Substitute your own fancy from-scratch recipe if you are so inclined!

Rainbow Layer Cake

You will need:

• 3 vanilla or white cake mixes (I have been instructed to only use Betty Crocker)
• 4 containers vanilla frosting (again, Betty Crocker)
  
• whatever is on the back of the cake mix box (usually oil, eggs and water)
• food coloring (I used AmeriColor Gel Food Color 8 Pack Kit)
• your choice of decor
  
• cooking spray and a little flour for the pans
  

Tools:

• 2 Wilton Aluminum Performance 9 Inch Round Pans or the like. Please don't skimp on these and use those cheesy grocery store cake pans. After trying these, I am convinced they were crucial to my success! You can find them at most Michael's stores or here from Amazon.
• parchment paper
• a sharp knife
• a large offset spatula
• wire racks for cooling
  
• a 10" cake board
• a large silver foil cake board (see note below)

Steps:

1. Before you bake anything, put one of the pans on the parchment paper and trace around the bottom with a sharpie. Yes, it will mark up the pan a bit. No, that won't hurt anything. Make six of these circles total.

2. Cut out all six of these circles. These will go into the pans before you pour in the batter. Note: I almost skipped the parchment paper, because I thought it was only for professional baker types. But I am very glad I didn't; I forgot to add the parchment to the bottom of the pan for the orange layer, and it was a little fussy coming out of the pan. Don't skip the parchment!

3. Spray cooking spray on the bottom and sides of both cake pans and coat with flour until the bottom and sides are coated. Tap the excess flour out of both pans.

4. Place 2 of your parchment circles on the bottom of each of the 2 pans. Your pans are now prepped and ready to go.

5. Preheat your oven to the temperature indicated on the cake mix box.

6. Make the batter as directed, then split evenly between two bowls. You don't have to be exact on this, just eyeball it but try to keep it pretty close.

7. In one bowl, add your purple food coloring, one to two drops at a time. Mix and determine the color. My experience is that the color it looks in the batter is pretty much exactly the color it comes out in the baked cake, at least with the Americolor dyes. My friend tells me to use a toothpick to swirl the color around for a minute, then you can use a spoon to finish incorporating the food coloring. This prevents the food coloring from just globbing onto your spoon and staying there.

8. In the other bowl, do the same with the blue food coloring. Basically, you are making the layers two at a time in reverse rainbow order. Transfer the batter into the two pans.

9. Once the batter is in the pans, gently tap them on your counter to work out any air bubbles, then put them into the oven.

10. After 15 minutes, forget what your mother told you about heat escaping, open the oven and turn each pan 1/2 way around. It is fine, I promise.

11. Ok, this next step is muy importante. MUY! Check your cakes with a toothpick stuck in the middle 10 minutes BEFORE the minimum time that is on the box. So if the box tells you bake for 30 - 35 minutes, start checking at 20. If they are not ready, wait 2-3 minutes and check again. You are going for slightly crumbly in the middle. If it is wet still at all, leave them in another couple minutes. My oven does not run very hot at all and I took mine out a full 7 minutes earlier than the box indicated! This way, your cakes will not be too dry tasting and they are far less likely to crack. I did this trick with all six layers and NONE of them cracked -- formerly a huge problem for me.

12. When they are done, take them out and place them on top of the oven to cool for 10 minutes. Leave your oven on.

13. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges.

14. Your cakes will probably have puffed up in the middle. This is bad mojo for a six layer cake. You want a flat top. With the cake still in the pan, take a sharp knife and cut across through the puffed up part of the top, holding the knife as level as possible. Start small so you don't overdo it. Just keep going until it is as flat as you can get it. This was the most challenging part for me; but once I got the hang of it, it was no big deal. Oh and the part you cut off you should totally eat.

15. Spray your wire racks with a quick shot of cooking spray, put the racks face down on top of the cakes, then flip. If the cake pan seems to be sticking, lightly tap on the pan with your hand and it should come right out. Carefully remove the parchment paper and toss it. Let these two cakes cool while you make the next two layers.

16. Mix up the next cake mix as directed, split into your two bowls and dye them green and yellow, respectively. You don't need to wash the cake pans. Just spray and flour them again and line the bottom with your next two parchment circles.

17. Pour into the cake pans and bake -- don't forget to start checking it early! Repeat steps 12-15.

18. If you have enough wire racks, go ahead and make your last two layers, the orange and red layers. If not, they will have to wait while you free up some racks by transferring some of your layers to the cake board. To do this, flip the purple cake back into one of the cake pans. Place the cake board, shiny side down, onto the cake and center it. Then flip over again and remove the pan. Easy!

19. Frost the purple layer on just the top, not too thin and not too thick, just medium. Don't worry about the crumbs. Spread it almost to the edge.

20. Now, the second layer. This is one of those times when you have to have faith in yourself, because you will be picking it up and placing it on the purple layer. Have them right next to each other. Don't totally rush it but be quick and confident about it. It should not crack because it is pretty thin but just in case, don't overthink it or hesitate too much. You got this!

21. Frost the top of this layer just as you did the purple layer. Repeat with all the other layers until you finally put the red layer on top. Don't frost the red layer yet.

22. Now, the crumb coat. Yet another priceless tip!! A crumb coat is a super thin layer of frosting that catches all the crumbs you will encounter. Your "pretty" frosting will go on top of the crumb coat after it has set. To crumb coat: start with some frosting on the top and spread it very, very thin. THIN, people! Continue down the sides, being careful not to shift the cakes. Be gentle!

23. Once you have the crumb coat done over the whole cake, place it in the fridge for a half hour to set up.

24. After the half hour is up, use fresh icing to frost the rest of the cake. Start at the top middle and work out. Don't be stingy! Work your way down, then wipe around the bottom to clean it up.

25. The final look of the cake is totally up to you. I kept mine as smooth as possible, then added some shells around the base and swirls with strawberries on top as decoration. Some people have asked about the oversized nonpareils I used... I didn't think regular old tiny nonpareils would "hold up" to the size of the cake, so I got some Festival brand Grande Nonpareils at Hobby Lobby. If you don't have a Hobby Lobby, a comparable product would be the Wilton Jumbo Rainbow Nonpareils.

I then put a small dollop of icing on my large foil cake board and carefully - oh so carefully -- placed the finished cake (which was on the smaller cake board) on the center of it. This will hold the smaller cakeboard in place so it doesn't totally slide off your large foil cake board, taking the cake with it. Cause that would be bad, yo.

A note about cake boards: for my money, I would not skimp on the large foil cake board. That cake will be HEAVY. Having that big silver sturdy cake board will pay for itself by not only looking nicer, but by giving you a more solid base when you carry that bad boy out to your waiting crowd. They aren't very cheap, so if you'd like to save it to reuse, you can do what I did and use a smaller cardboard cake board under the cake to cut the cake on so the silver foil one doesn't get ruined from the knife. I hope that makes sense!

So there you have it, a no-fail, six-layer, very yummy rainbow cake! It was a little time consuming but not difficult, and it made a huge splash at the party, which is what you want from a giant rainbow cake I am assuming! Happy baking!

Let's Eat: Tex Mex Casserole

Sometimes I cook. Sometimes I slap a bunch of junk together and call it cooking. This is one of those times.

Tex Mex Casserole was born out of a burning desire for a casserole dish, but a lack of a desire for 99/100ths of the casseroles that are out there. There were always a couple ingredients in the ones I found online that I scrunched my nose up at. At first I was going to take Macaroni & Cheese and jazz it up with taco seasoning and other stuff, but that seemed too unhealthy. In reality, I don't think I did much better with this number, but it turned out good and I only used one powdered product!

Pros: pretty cheap, husband liked it, 2 year old ate half her portion, high protein, high fiber, mostly real food, leftovers

Cons: not super healthy, lots of dishes to wash, leftovers

TEX MEX CASSEROLE

Ingredients

• some ground beef (I used about 2/3 lb.ish)
• 1 small onion
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• half a box or so whole wheat pasta
• bag o' shredded cheese (I used Mexican Blend, whatever that is)

1. Preheat your oven to 400. Boil up some water for the pasta. Cook it according to the box directions.

2. While that's working, dice up your onion. By the way, on Lifehacker I got this little gem of advice:

That if you chew gum while you cut onions, you'll have no tears. GENIUS!! LIES!! Dude, don't even bother. I cried like a 9 months pregnant lady at a Sarah McLachlan-narrated ASPCA commercial.

So anyway, chop your onion.

3. Sauté that in a little olive oil until it is mostly cooked. Use a pretty big skillet if you have one. Oh yeah, you need a little olive oil too.

4. Slide your onions to one side and add ground beef. Brown it up.

5. Add 1 can petite diced tomatoes to the pan. I didn't have the petite type so I cut up some regular type diced tomatoes.

6. Drain the black beans and toss them in. You should be stirring at various points during this.

7. Stir in the taco seasoning. You can just choose your own spices if you're fancy like that, or use this Make Your Own Taco Seasoning recipe, or buy a premade packet and throw it in if you're lazy like me.

8. Your pasta should be cooked by now. Drain it well and stir that in too.

9. Add a big handful of cheese and stir it in.

10. Spray a square (9x9?) Pyrex dish with cooking spray and then put your mixture in it. It will look like this:

11. Put some cheese on it. You can be conservative or just use the rest of the bag. I was somewhere in the middle.

12. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Done!

You could also make 2 of these and freeze one of them for later (just cover it very tightly after step 11), but I don't know how to tell you to cook it. Maybe 350 for an hour or 400 for 45 minutes? Either way, we did really like this and it was very affordable and easy!

Toddler and Preschool Lunch Ideas

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I feel like we've been in a lunch rut lately. Josie eats a PB&J on whole wheat with either a yogurt or a banana every day. I mix it up a little more for Caroline, since she is a better eater, but both girls could use a little more variety and some exposure to new foods.

So, armed with pen and paper, off I went to the internet. After doing a quick Google search, I landed on lots of blogs with ideas for healthy toddler/preschool lunches. Well -- links to ideas. Then if I clicked on the link, it took me to a list of other links, and so on. I started to get annoyed. Seems like some mommies had a case of Lazy Blogger syndrome! In my frustration, I decided to create a post myself about healthy, budget friendly toddler lunch ideas -- ideas that shy away from most processed kiddie foods -- and post a list (not endless links) on my own blog! I am not reinventing the wheel here... just compiling a list of good ideas in one place.

So, without further ado, I present to you: LUNCH.

(Ok, maybe a teeny bit more "ado." In my search for ideas, I came to realize that there doesn't have to be an "entree" (like a sandwich) with a couple smaller sides. You can really mix it up tapas style and have lots of choices, but in smaller portions, on one plate, or you can combine everything into one dish. The key here for me was to open my mind as to what my kid's plate can look like.)

And now: LUNCH.

• The classic PB&J. Boring I know, but you can't NOT have it on this list. You can make it cute by cutting it into shapes, strips, or using a cute little contraption like this Munchkin 3 Piece Silly Sandwich Cutter Set.
• Veggies (think grape tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper etc.) and ranch or catalina dressing
  
• Veggies and hummus
• Cut-up pita bread or unsalted pretzels and hummus
• Fruit salad with yogurt dip
• Peanut butter and banana on whole wheat
• Veggie & Cream Cheese "Pizza"
• Cottage cheese w/ fruit
• Grilled cheese w/ ham (or turkey)
  
• Grilled cheese w/ tomato
• Cucumber and cream cheese on whole wheat toast, cut into bites
• Grilled chicken and cheese quesadilla (add some small veggies too!)
• Olives (yes, olives!) (but remember to remove the pits)
• Rainbow fruit on skewers (this is a HUGE hit at our house, but can get pricey)

       

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• Turkey and cheese roll-ups (just turkey, cheese, a tortilla and a thin spread of cream cheese or dressing
• Watermelon, cantaloupe or honeydew cut out in letter shapes with this Ateco 26 Piece Alphabet Cutter Set
• Zucchini-Blueberry Muffins. These are VERY good.
• Grapes and cheese plate - try a couple varieties of each to broaden their palates!
• Trail mix - raisins or dried cranberries, chocolate chips, almond pieces, dried apples, banana chips, cheerios, goldfish crackers, etc.
• Macaroni and cheese with small pieces of lightly steamed broccoli mixed in
• Orzo and tomato sauce with spinach mixed in
• Veggie burgers (no bun) w/ ketchup for dipping
• String cheese cut into "coins"
• Chopped salad (romaine, hard boiled egg, cucumber, tomato, shredded cheese, small bites of broccoli all tossed lightly in salad dressing)
• Scrambled eggs w/ cheese (add in peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, etc.)
• Baked zucchini chips or sweet potato chips
• Tuna w/ diced cucumber and tomato in light mayo, served with whole wheat crackers
• Pickles, cheddar cheese cubes, whole wheat crackers
• Blueberries dipped in vanilla yogurt, then frozen on a cookie sheet
• Frozen grape halves (or quarters for littler ones)
  
• Deli turkey or ham, rolled up and sliced, with tomato and cucumber "salad"
• Whole wheat crackers with Laughing Cow cheese spread (or peanut butter) and yogurt
• Edamame (add a little pinch of salt if necessary)

Kids won't eat fruit in the raw? Try making them a smoothie to drink with yogurt or milk, frozen blueberries, bananas or strawberries. You can even add a handful of raw spinach leaves and I PROMISE YOU they will never taste them. Recipes abound on the internet but here is a popular one for a Banana Blueberry (shhh... Spinach) Smoothie.

Nut allergy (either in your child or his/her classroom)? Try soy butter, it's really pretty good.

Got a kid on the go? Just grab a leakproof, flat container with a snap-top lid and some reusable muffin liners (like these Casabella Silicone Muffin Cups) and you'll be good to go for your own Bento Box!

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What else do you put in your toddler or preschooler's lunches?

Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites

Ok, let's just clear this up. This has nothing to do with babies. But there is a picture of a cute one in a minute.

Anyway, this week I read about Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites. The recipe for these are here. Really, there is no "recipe," it's pretty much common sense, but I want to give credit because as simple as these things are, I never ever thought of making them, which makes me a LOSER, because they are GOOD. That was quite a run-on sentence.

The original recipe calls for peanut butter to be mixed in with the chocolate. I do like peanut butter alright, but 90 percent of the time I am not a fan of PB and chocolate together. The other 10 percent I am either having a weird craving, or I am pregnant, which also means I am having a weird craving. In any event, I left the peanut butter out, but feel free to give it a shot.

So anyway, here are the ingredients I used:

• 3 bananas

 

• 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
  
• sprinkles and such

 

• an "assistant"  
  
  

And here is what I did:

1. Cut up bananas into bite-sized pieces. Feed several to assistant.

2. Melt chocolate chips in a bowl. Now, this got tricky for me. I melted them in the microwave, which worked, but the chocolate began to harden after just a few dips. I tried to reheat the chocolate, and that was a colossal failure, it just got weird and lumpy. So I had to melt the other half of the bag in a new bowl and then in my head said "go GO GO" and dipped as fast as humanly possible. Even so, I still had an entire banana left when the chocolate started to harden again. I would suggest melting the chocolate in a double boiler so it stays warm and fluid the whole time. Forget the microwave. Then pass assistant off to the Daddy so you can concentrate.

 

3. Dip the bananas into the chocolate. Easy enough.

4. Put them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet.

5. Add sprinkles, chopped nuts, coconut, or nothing if you're a purist (or lazy).

6. Freeze for an hour, then transfer to a container with a lid and freeze for another couple hours.

Voila!

The original recipe link above says these taste like vanilla ice cream on the inside. I have to disagree -- tasted like banana ice cream to me, which, let's face it, shouldn't be surprising. We tried these and I would make that double boiler change AND I would cut the banana pieces in half next time... these were kinda big and whether you bit into them or shoved the whole thing in your mouth, the result was tasty but COLD. Like, bordering on painful cold. So do yourself a favor and cut them small!

The things I love about these are 1) they are easy to make, 2) they are cheap, 3) the chocolate makes it feel like a really special treat, yet 4) these are better for you than most really special treats. Because, hey, they're fruit. Chocolate covered fruit, but fruit nonetheless. Still better for you than ice cream!