September 15th, 2010
Paloma loves to eat. In that way, we are very fortunate. It’s quite a rarity for her to turn down food, and she’s always eager to try anything I put in front of her. I’ll never forget an impossibly bitter dandelion smoothie that I made. No one could drink it, except for Paloma, who joyfully slurped down a whole glass. I dearly love to cook and feed people, especially family and friends, and her approval makes me one happy mama.
Our days usually start with me cooking breakfast and impatient Paloma sitting at the kitchen table, spoon in hand, narrating my preparations and hurrying me on. It’s quite humorous. She is not the calmest of children (a little tornado to be exact) and becomes very excited when food is in sight.
This is where the idea for the edible puzzle stemmed from. I imagined a game that would occupy Paloma, and, since she puts everything in her mouth, be safe and tasty to eat. I thought about the obvious educational qualities of puzzles such as teaching about shape, colour, size, structure, and included two more – flavour and nutritional value.
I started by making various fruit leathers of different colours. Mango, kiwi, blueberry, strawberry, pineapple, kiwi-spinach and carrot-mango to be exact. Then I decided on five basic shapes (circle, triangle, long rectangle, curved teardrop, and straight teardrop) and cut each one out in three different sizes. The simplicity of the shapes allows for much imagination when building a picture, the possibilities here are never-ending. It seems that room for creativity is one of the most important aspects of a children’s game, it encourages a sort of intellectual freedom and concentration.
Well, it was a hit. Paloma is a little too young to be able to construct her own images, but she liked watching us do it, naming all the animals and things, and loved the fact that all the pretty puzzle pieces could be eaten.
This type of puzzle would make for an interesting homemade gift. Or it could be a way for a more finicky eater to learn about the taste, scent, and colour of different fruits and learn to like them through playing a game.
Bunny rabbits, cats, birds, tigers, bears and other animals, snowmen, butterflies, flowers, sailboats, the sun, pine trees, bees, and landscapes.
You name it.
Fruit Leather
You can find many fruit leather recipes on the internet. Here, I just blended the fruit in a food processor. Then sweetened it to taste with raw honey or agave. Spread it quite thickly on Teflex-lined dehydrator trays and dried at 115F until leathery. Peeled off the Teflex, flipped, and dehydrated some more until completely dry. I made hard templates of each shape and used a knife and kitchen scissors to cut out the pieces.
Tags: children, dessert, food, food for tots, paloma, raw food, recipe, snack, special food
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August 14th, 2010
Paloma turned two on Friday, and we can hardly believe how fast time flies. Last year, for her first birthday, we had a big party with lots of guests and even more food. I believe we started cooking a whole week before the date in order to get everything prepared!
This time was very different. We just returned from Chicago (will write about that soon) and simply had no time for putting together a party. We wanted to keep it low key and family only, but a few close friends promised to come over and celebrate anyway, even if we had nothing to feed them.
Being food obsessed as we are, we couldn’t let them leave hungry, so we came up with a few sweet dishes that take little time in preparing, and threw them together as fast as we could. First, we served our favourite Baby Spinach and Strawberry Salad, which is always a winner. A box of ripe mangos was waiting for us when we returned home from traveling, so the wonderful Mango Chili and Coconut sorbet was created. We mixed a separate serving for Paloma, without chili, but after she reached into my plate and tried the spiced sorbet, it was clear that no kids’ version was necessary. She loved the spice! The chocolate truffles are another crowd pleaser. People always enjoy them and can never believe that they contain no cream or butter, as rich as they are.
Paloma was in heaven with all the attention and presents. Perhaps her favourite one was a set of animal nesting dolls that we got at the beautiful P.O.S.H. in Chicago. She played with them all day before the guests arrived.
Lastly, I wanted to share some very exciting news. We were invited by the awesome creative director at G Living to be among their contributing Green Chefs. We’ve always loved the site and were very happy with the invitation. See our introductory post here, and the Fig and Hazelnut Pizza post here.
Mango Chili and Coconut Sorbet
5 mangos – peeled and pitted
1 cup unsweetened dry coconut flakes
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 1/2 cups purified water
6-8 tablespoons raw agave nectar
3 or less teaspoons chili powder
dash of cayenne pepper
In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients. Chill well and put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests. Freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.
Chocolate Truffles
(Makes 28 small truffles)
15 dates – pitted
1 cup almonds
1 cup unsweetened dry coconut flakes
2/3 cup walnuts
2/3 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons carob powder
1 tablespoon maca powder
1 tablespoon mesquite powder
2 teaspoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For dusting
ground pistachios
ground almonds
small coconut flakes
cacao powder
In a food processor, thoroughly mix all the ingredients until moldable. Form the truffles. Roll into ground pistachios, ground almonds, small coconut flakes, and raw cacao – many possibilities here. Keep refrigerated.
Tags: children, design, dessert, food, food for tots, paloma, raw food, recipe
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June 24th, 2010
As much as we love our chocolate granola, the time came to try something new for breakfast. Here continues our quest for adventurous, summer flavours. Taking advantage of wonderful seasonal fruit, plums and apricots, we decided to make two kinds of hearty breakfast biscotti. Cardamom adds just enough allure to the taste of dark, sour plums. Lavender does not only work well in teas and soaps, but pairs beautifully with ripe apricots (pairing idea from Roost). And the pumpkin seeds supply the bars with warm, homey colour and countless health benefits. Both versions are interesting and completely unexpected in flavour. The biscotti also makes for a fine snack, so I’ve been nesting a couple in Paloma’s lunchbox on daycare days.
Plum – left, apricot – right.
Sprouting instructions here.
Apricot Biscotti:
2 1/2 cups buckwheat sprouts
2 1/2 cups sunflower sprouts
10-12 apricots – pitted
5 dates – pitted
1 tablespoon dry lavender flowers plus some for sprinkle
1 tablespoon mesquite powder
1 tablespoon maca powder
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 tablespoons light agave nectar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raisins
2 handfuls pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds plus some for sprinkle
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
Cut 5 or more apricots into small chunks, place in a large bowl. In a food processor, pulse the remaining apricots together with the pitted dates to make a chunky puree, and add to the bowl along with the rest of the ingredients. Mix thoroughly using a wooden spoon, and spread thickly and evenly on Teflex sheets. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and lavender. Dehydrate at 115 F for about 20 hours. Remove from the dehydrator, and cut into individual bars of desired shape. With the Teflex sheet removed, place back on the screen and dehydrate for another 20 hours for crunchy biscotti, or less if you prefer a more chewy consistency.
Plum Biscotti:
2 1/2 cups buckwheat sprouts
2 1/2 cups sunflower sprouts
12-14 plums – pitted
5 dates – pitted
1 tablespoon mesquite powder
1 tablespoon maca powder
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 tablespoons dark agave nectar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raisins
2 handfuls pumpkin seeds plus more for sprinkle
1 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash of cayenne pepper
Cut 6 or more plums into small chunks, place in a large bowl. In the food processor, pulse the remaining plums together with the pitted dates into a chunky puree, and add to the bowl along with the rest of ingredients. Mix thoroughly using a wooden spoon, and spread thickly and evenly on Teflex sheets. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds. Dehydrate at 115 F for about 20 hours. Remove from dehydrator, and cut into individual bars of desired shape. With the Teflex sheet removed, place back on the screens and dehydrate for another 20 hours for crunchy biscotti, or less if you prefer a more chewy consistency.
You can make these bars as sweet or as spicy as you like – just add more agave syrup or cardamon and cayenne.
Tags: breakfast, food, food for tots, raw food, recipe, snack
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