Tag Archives: Whole Foods

How I Got My Daughter To Try Zucchini and Zucchini Noodle Dishes I Love

8 Oct

 

I never thought I would be able to get my girls to eat zucchini.  Not long ago my mom gave me a Veggetti™ Spiral Vegetable Cutter. It’s been the best gift.  It turns Veggies into thick or thin “spaghetti” noodles.  I use it almost every day for lunch and dinner, mostly with Zucchini. One day my youngest, who won’t touch zucchini when its cut into chips or sticks, saw me eating the Zucchini Noodles. She loved zucchini noodles. She prefers the simple version with olive oil, garlic, salt and a little parmesan cheese or in vodka sauce.

20141008-132950-48590122.jpg

Below are some of my favorite creations that I put together using simple ingredients:

Simple; with olive oil, salt, garlic. Topped with parmesan cheese.

Simple; with olive oil, salt, garlic. Topped with parmesan cheese.

 

Sautee noodles with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, red onion, adding tomatoes at the end. Top with feta cheese.

Sautee noodles with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, red onion, adding tomatoes at the end. Top with feta cheese.

Sautee with chile olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, red pepper, adding heirloom tomatoes a few minutes later. Top with goat cheese.

Sautee with chile olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, red pepper, and carrots. Add heirloom tomatoes a few minutes later. Top with goat cheese.

Zucchini Noodles topped with Whole Foods pre-made Eggplant Balls that were simmered in Cucina Antica Vodka sauce. One of my favorites.

Zucchini Noodles topped with Whole Foods pre-made Eggplant Balls that were simmered in Cucina Antica Vodka sauce. One of my favorites.

Sautee Zucchini Noodles with salt, pepper, olive oil, crushed red pepper. Heat two Whole Foods ready-made Turkey Balls and mix in. Top with parmesan cheese.

Sautee Zucchini Noodles with salt, pepper, olive oil, crushed red pepper. Heat two Whole Foods ready-made Turkey Balls and mix in. Top with parmesan cheese.

 

Cook Pancetta and roast butternut squash first. Cook Zucchini Noodles. Add pancetta and butternut squash, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic. Top with goat cheese.

Cook Pancetta and roast butternut squash first. Cook Zucchini Noodles. Add pancetta and butternut squash, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic. Top with goat cheese.

 

 Veggetti™ is available at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for $14.99.  It is top rack, dishwasher safe

Disclaimer:  I did not receive compensation for this post.  I am not a professional chef by any means but I love mixing simple ingredients together to come up with something delicious.  I also love to share products that help my girls eat more vegetables.  I’m still working getting my oldest to try them because I know she will like them if she does.

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Mom Made Foods: Making Meal Time Easier {Review and Giveaway}

7 Jun

Last week was a pretty hectic week.  We went away for Memorial Day and when I got back I was rushing to get the class gift together for the last day of school and running around getting ready for my friend’s wedding which was Saturday.  The girls were staying the weekend with my mom so I also had a lot of grocery shopping to do. I usually just go to Whole Foods daily so I needed to make sure I had enough food for my mom and the girls so she wouldn’t have to go out. It was such a busy week preparing for the weekend and catching up from being away, easy meals were the way to go.  I stocked the freezer with Mom Made Foods and made sure to have plenty of pasta, sandwich meat, and anything easy to prepare.  The favorite for the girls was the Mom Made Meals Spaghetti and Meatballs.  My girls love it so much, Pela had to carry the box through Whole Foods one day and ate it as soon as we got home.  The girls have tried the Mom Made Mac & Cheese, Turkey Meatball Bites, Bean Burrito Munchie and Cheese Pizza Munchie and have enjoyed them all.  Mom Made Foods are perfect for when you are getting ready to go away and don’t have time to make a meal.  Mom Made Meals are quick and delicious-my husband has been known to eat the Spaghetti and Meatball on nights we don’t cook.  Click to find Mom Made Foods near you.

Image from Mom Made Foods.

Comes with 4 bite size meatballs. I like serving in our Oogaa bowls to make re-heating easy if the girls don’t finish it all.

See past posts: Turkey Bites, Healthy Meal Fast

GIVEAWAY:  Enter to win 5 coupons to try Mom Made Foods FREE.   Giveaway ends on Thursday, June 14 at 12 p.m.

To enter leave a comment with Mom Made GIVEAWAY and a Mom Made Food you would like to try.  Comment on my wall by “liking”  Tastefully Childish on Facebook (mandatory).

Other ways to enter (make sure to comment Mom Made GIVEAWAY):

“Follow” @TastefulyChldsh on Twitter

“Like” Mom Made Foods on Facebook

“Follow” @MomMadeFoods on Twitter

Disclaimer: I did not receive compensation for this post.  I was given coupons for the purpose of this giveaway and past reviews.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Healthy Meal Fast

29 Nov

The past couple days we have been busy with family in town and I am going to a MomTrends event tonight I wanted a quick and easy dinner.  While I was at Whole Foods I came across Mom Made Meals.  We got the cheesy Mac and Cheese.  I saw the peas in it and didn’t feel so bad.  When I read the ingredients I discovered that there are sweet potatoes and butternut squash in the ingredients as well.  I grabbed a couple of boxes for when it gets a little hectic over the Holidays and we need a quick and easy lunch or dinner.  It would be a great side to your left over turkey (if you are still have any) or with chicken tenders. The girls loved every bite.  I even tried it and really liked it.  I went to the Mom Made Meals website and saw the variety of meals, munchies’, and bites that I can’t wait to get for the girls.  Check out their website to see where you can Mom Made Meals in your neighborhood or to order them online.

   



iAll mages from Mom Made Meals.

Tags: , , , ,

I Know Two Little Girls Who Swallowed a Pie…

22 Nov

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a PieBoth of my girls love books.  We visit the Barnes & Noble in Tribeca at least once a week.  A few weeks ago I was on a mission for books for Thanksgiving and found I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Allison Jackson.   We have read it just about every night since we bought it.  The girls LOVE it and my older daughter even helps read it to my younger daughter.  Since we have been reading it so much and talking about Thanksgiving, we decided to make a pumpkin pie to share with some friends at a potluck.  I had most of the ingredients sitting around so I only had to pick up a few things.  The recipe below was very easy.  Unfortunately, my youngest was napping but it would have been so easy for her to help with.  While the pie was cooking we read I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie and I changed it to “I know two little girls who swallowed a pie” and my older daughter thought it was funny.  If you are looking for a last minute activity that you could share on Thanksgiving, definitely try this.

Tips before you start:

  • Measure out all the ingredients and set them up where your child will be preparing the pie.
  • Number the ingredients if you want your child to work on number identification and then have them count the ingredients you are using for the pie.
  • Make sure you encourage proper hand washing.
  • If you have more than one child helping, let them take turns putting in the ingredients and when whisking count to ten and then switch whiskers.

Recipe for a Perfect Pumpkin Pie (1 9 in Pie)

Nutritional Information: Amount Per Serving Calories: 379 | Total Fat: 14.3g | Cholesterol: 70mg

Ingredients

  • 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin (I used Libby’s Pumpkin)
  • 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (I used Santini Organic Sweetened Condensed Milk)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt ( I didn’t measure salt, only put a little in our pie)
  • 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (I used Whole Foods brand in the freezer section)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
  3. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.
     

Other cute Thanksgiving books I found:

T Is for Turkey  10 Fat Turkeys

Tags: , , , , , ,

Goldfish in a Bowl

15 Nov

When I asked my older daughter what she wanted for dinner she told me she wanted “goldfish in a bowl”.  At first I told her no way, “goldfish in a bowl” isn’t dinner.  I had asked her earlier in the day so I had some time to think about how I could incorporate goldfish into her dinner.  I started thinking back to when I was a kid and one thing I loved to eat was tomato soup with goldfish.  My mom used to give us tomato soup and grilled cheese whenever we were sick or on a cold winter day.  So I decided that it would be something easy to do and the girls would enjoy.  They were so excited to have “fish” for dinner.  The LOVED it.

How to make it:

Tomato Soup (I used Whole Foods Roasted Tomato Basil), follow cooking instructions 

Pepperidge Farm Cheddar Goldfish made with Whole Grain (put as many in as you would like once the soup is in a bowl or cup, the girls had about 5)

Grilled Cheese (2 slices of italian bread, 2 pieces of American Cheese, slice of the outside of tomoato)

  • Butter slices of bread.  Add cheese.   Put bread together. This would be easy for your child to do on their own.
  • I used a nonstick pan, buttered first.  Put the sandwich on the pan.  Using a lid to a pot, I pressed down on the sandwich.  After about 1-2 min, I flipped it and repeated until cheese in middle was melted.
  • I cut the end of the tomato into a fish shape and used little pieces of cheese to make the eye and mouth.
Choose a veggie of choice to serve with it, if desired.  The girls snacked on some shortly before so we didn’t use any tonight.
Each had a cup of soup and 1/2 a grilled cheese sandwich.  There was nothing left when they were done. My oldest was asking for a “fish tomato” the rest of the night. Yummm!
  

Tags: , , ,