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Avocado Pancakes

My son attends a local preschool, and their breakfast has something to be desired. They serve the children cereal, milk and maybe....maybe some fruit. The only protein the get from that diet would be the milk. Sometimes the school serves sugary cereal, and Lucky Charms.

This is a crucial time in his life, his brain is not growing as rapidly as it did when he was a baby, but still neurons are making connections on a daily basis. Kids need a diet with healthy fats and protein. I make his breakfast at home every morning, and send it with him to school. He still eats with his friends, but he will not be eating school food.

Sometimes, I make him scrambled eggs with salmon. He only eats a little of that. Then I think of other ways of getting fat into his diet, like mixing some fish oil into his peanut butter - but he can't have peanut butter at school. One thing he always loves its my pancakes. Every two weeks I make a large batch of pancakes, freeze them in little baggies. When I assemble his breakfast in the morning I toss in a couple blueberry pancakes with his egg whites and fruit. Today - I made him a different kind of pancake.

Naomi's Avocado Pancakes
Although avocados contain mainly monounsaturated fats (omega-3s are polyunsaturated fats), they are still a healthy source of fats and beneficial for your child's development. Toddlers should consume 40 percent of their daily calories from fat, with is 33 to 45 grams of fat per day for toddlers consuming 1,000 calorie diets. According to the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory, half an avocado provides your child with about 15 grams of healthy fat. This batch of pancakes contains 3/4 an avocado, he will eat 3 or 4 mini pancakes every day.

So, the small amount of avocado in three pancakes certainly is not enough fats - but hey, it is something, and it is certainly better than pancakes without any avocado.


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Naomi's Mayonnaise

Brief History of Mayo:

Sources place the origin of mayonnaise as being the town of Mahón in MenorcaSpain, from where it was taken to France after Armand de Vignerot du Plessis's victory over the British at the city's port in 1756. According to this version, the sauce was originally known as salsa mahonesa in Spanish and maonesa (later maionesa) in Catalan (as it is still known in Menorca), later becoming mayonnaise as it was popularized by the French.
The Larousse Gastronomique suggests: "Mayonnaise, in our view, is a popular corruption of moyeunaise, derived from the very old French word moyeu, which means yolk of egg." The sauce may have been christened mayennaise after Charles de Lorraine, duke of Mayenne, because he took the time to finish his meal of chicken with cold sauce before being defeated in the Battle of Arques.
Nineteenth-century culinary writer Pierre Lacam suggested that in 1459, a London woman named Annamarie Turcauht stumbled upon this condiment after trying to create a custard of some sort.
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I made my first batch of mayo yesterday. I am not impressed with the flavor. One of my good friends, who is a chef suggested that the flavor was "clean". He makes mayo with avocado and almond oil. He suggested I use lemon instead of vinegar. 
It is very important that children get the right amount of fats in their diet. Healthy fats improve nerve function, coordination, cognition, and hormone regulation. Store bought mayo contains mostly canola oil. My mayo contains mostly grapeseed oil, then coconut oil, and finally a little canola oil. Next time I will follow my friend's recommendations and make it his way. 

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Blackberry Cobbler and Pie Filling For Sale, I have only THREE available

Hi Everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your summer.

I picked about 10 pounds of wild blackberries, and prepared three quarts. I have to make room for my blackberry wine and need to sell these three jars. They are $11.00 each. These jars are huge and enough to make at least two large cobblers.

Each quart has one tablespoon Splenda, so these are sweet and low calorie. Good for a healthy dessert.

I have only three, blackberry season will be over in the next few weeks, maybe I can pick more. Contact me if you would like one.

Naomi




Buy Here: Each one is $11.00 each

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Syrniki (Russian Cottage Cheese Pancakes)

Ingredients:
500 g Cottage cheese
2 eggs
4 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract for extra-delicious vanilla taste
4 tbsp flour plus some extra flour, for rolling
Vegetable or sunflower oil, for frying
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Sour cream, for serving
Directions:
1. Beat cottage cheese with mixer until soft, then add eggs, sugar, salt and 4 tbsp of flour and mix well.
2. Dip a spoon in water and spoon batter onto the surface, dusted with flour, roll it into a ball, then press down to make a syrnik.
3. Heat some oil on a large skillet over medium heat. Cook syrniki on each side until golden.
4. Serve syrniki with a dollop of sour cream, jam, honey, or maple syrup. And if you are a sweet tooth, don’t forget to dust them with powdered sugar!







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Homemade Granola Bars

The other day I got the idea to make my boys some nutrient dense homemade granola bars. Today I made a
note to myself to try a recipe. I found several recipes online but decided to be adventurous and go my own way. This is an extremely calorie dense recipe, unfortunately I cannot eat them. I will taste it, but will certainly not eat a whole bar. The recipe is just something I came up with to make sure my boys get a good amount of protein every week.

1. cup rolled oats
2. 1/4 cut crushed or sliced almonds

(bake the oats and almonds for 10 minutes at 350. )

1. 1/4 cup honey
2. 1/4 cup brown sugar
3. 3 table spoons butter
4. 2 tablespoons peanut butter

Mix and melt

Add the toasted oats and almonds to liquid mixture.

Then add:
1. one cup granola
2. three tablespoons soy protein
    (one tablespoon = 5 grams of protein)

I pressed it all into a lightly greased, foil lined baking pan. The toppings were chocolate chips and one tablespoon melted peanut butter. (I mixed a little soy protein into the peanut butter, about .5 teaspoon)

The mixture was so thick that I easily formed bars, but it only fit half of my pan. If the boys like this treat I will double the recipe and make a full pan.

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Healthy wraps for kids

My son's lunch

I have the misfortune of having two little boys who are picky eaters. Every once in a while I have to come up with new ways of getting fresh vegetables down their throats. 

Today, I made my son a chicken wrap (featured above).

Ingredients: small corn tortilla, homemade Taziki sauce, grilled chicken breast, tomato, and lettuce. In the side I gave him on tablespoon of taziki sauce with some chicken and slice of avocado. 

One of my favorite activities of the day is having breakfast with my son. Since he likes to fill up on milk, I started giving him water in the morning. For a healthy breakfast he had one egg and one egg white (scrambled eggs), and one piece of wheat toast with peanut butter. 


Egg yolks contain all the nutrients that eggs offer. They are healthy. It is misinformation to assert that yolks are unhealthy and should be discarded. Egg whites are good because they are low in saturated fat, cholesterol and  are a good source of protein, selenium and riboflavin. The only down side is that they are high in sodium. 

In the morning, when I make my son two egg omelette, I give him one egg and one egg white. (discarding only on yolk) I typically have a spinach egg white omelette myself. 

When preparing my own meals, and especially my children's, I try to ensure their energy sources are coming from 1/3 protein, 1/3 carbs, and 1/3 fats. I want them to learn early on how to eat healthy, delicious food within their calorie range. 



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