Picky

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I hear it all the time from fellow moms: "My kid's picky eating is driving me crazy!'

 

Two years ago I was totally in the same boat. My oldest daughter, Lily, only wanted to eat kraft mac n' cheese, hot dogs and chicken nuggets. :sigh:

 

Then we made a few small changes. Now our kiddo actually likes things such as asparagus, sweet potatoes, and fish. I thought I would share our changes with you so you can see what worked for our family and hopefully they might help you a bit with your picky eater. These rules are still in place today.

 

Change #1 (The most effective change)
Two-Bite Rule
Tastebuds are one of those things that are constantly changing and adjusting as we grow older so it's important to have kiddos keep trying different foods because one day they may dislike something and a week later they may eat a full serving of it.

We told Lily, and reminded her daily, that she had to try two bites of everything on her plate at every meal. No exceptions. She wasn't excused from the table until those two bites of everything were in her belly. At first it was really difficult. Yep, there were tears. But once she realized that we weren't going to back down, she took her two bites much more willingly. And she discovered that she actually likes peas, and more recently, black beans hummus.


Change #2
Snacks
If Lily doesn't eat all her food at a meal, she is only allowed to eat fruit at snack time (10:00 and 3:00). This is so she can't fill up on unhealthy things like goldfish or fruit snacks and so she has more opprotunity to eat fruit. My mom did the same thing with my siblings and I when we were growing up and it totally worked.


Change #3
No Complaining
At meal time, there is no complaining over what is served - that includes us parents! If we have a positive attitude towards food, then our kiddos have a more positive approach to trying new foods.


Change #4
Stop Serving It!
Back when Lily only wanted to eat hot dogs, Kraft mac, and chicken nuggets, I made the decision to stop buying and cooking them for her except on rare occasions. Last time I checked, little kids can't cook and grocery shop on their own so if they are only eating junk food, it's more our fault than theirs. Stop buying unhealthy foods and they won't be able to eat it and will have to try other things.


Each of these changes dramatically changed our child's eating habits. While I would still classify her as a somewhat picky eater, she now will try anything and because of that, she keeps finding new foods that she likes. And for us, that's the important part.

Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes with Strawberries

So during the last few weeks our baby girl has been pretty cranky. Since I was seriously sleep-deprived I was just living from one hour to the next and didn't quite realize just how fussy she had become until it dawned on me last Wednesday night that she might have colic. Then a day later it dawned on me that there might be a good reason for her colic.

She had also developed this nasty rash on her little chubby cheeks. So I did what any mom does these days,

I googled.

And after reading about how 13% of babies are overly fussy because they can't properly digest dairy products, I decided to cut them out of my diet. 12 hours later Harper's rash started clearing up and she was actually happy and smiling during her waking hours...you know, instead of crying and screaming. As much as it really stinks to have to swear off dairy, I'm thrilled that we now have a happy little lady. I just feel bad that it took me this long to figure it out.   

This morning when I made pancakes for breakfast, I had to figure out how to do it without dairy.  

Thankfully, almond milk is delicious and can be easily substituted without any problems. You can use either in this recipe and they'll turn out great.  

And I sliced up some strawberries instead of doing my usual butter and syrup.

Oh, did I mention that these are lemon poppy seed pancakes? I took my favorite griddle cake recipe and tweaked it around to make these. So if you love that recipe, rest assured that these are equally scrumptious.

And they're so dang good with fresh strawberries on top. It's the perfect way to enhance the tartness of the lemon.

And all the pretty red makes me think that this would be a fun way to start off your Valentines Day breakfast. Right?

Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes with Strawberries

Yields about 8 4inch pancakes - but easy to double if you need to!

1 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. poppy seeds

1 egg

4 tbsp. honey

Zest of 1 lemon

3 tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 cup milk

3 tbsp. oil

2 cups strawberries, stems removed

1 tsp sugar

In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Whisk together and then create a "well" in the center. Add in egg, honey, lemon zest and juice, milk and oil. First whisk the wet ingredients in the center without disturbing the dry ingredients then once they are well-combined, whisk everything together until there are no lumps.

Slice strawberries. Sprinkle sugar on top and stir together. Allow to rest while you make the pancakes.

Heat a griddle or skillet to medium heat. Grease with a bit of oil or cooking spray. Pour the batter out, about a 1/4 cup per pancake. Cook for a few minutes per side; flip when the bottom is golden.

Top warm pancakes with strawberries and enjoy!

Winner!

The Nielsen Massey vanilla giveaway is now closed! And the winner is lucky entry #8:

Congratulations

Felicia!

Send me an email at frontierkitchen(at)gmail.com with your address and we'll get your fancy shmancy vanilla mailed off to you. You're gonna love it!

Pinterest Inspired Football Food

The Superbowl is tomorrow! I'm so excited because I've been a devoted Patriots fan for several years. I frequently get asked why I'm not a hardcore Broncos fan because they're the closest pro football team to where I live. But I feel like that's the beauty of living in Wyoming where we have no professional teams - I get to cheer for whomever I want to without feeling guilty.   

In the past few weeks, I've been seeing tons of different varieties of pull apart breads on Pinterest. Everything from sweet to savory. So I got inspired.  And decided to make mine hot wing flavored because, well, what's a football game without hot wings?

You'll just need a few ingredients - a round sourdough loaf, hot sauce, green onions, monterey jack cheese and either bleu or gorgonzola crumbles.  

Slice your loaf into 3/4" slices, stopping just before cutting it all the way through to the bottom so that it will hold together. Then turn it and cut slices going in the other direction so you have little cubes.

Drizzle hot sauce down into the crevices and a bit on the top. Then stuff slices of cheese into the bread as well. Finally sprinkle bleu cheese all over and down into it.

Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes - just long enough for the cheeses to melt.

Top with sliced green onion and serve immediately. In true football food fashion, you can just grab a chunk and keep on cheering.

Hot Wing Pull-Apart Bread

1 sourdough loaf

4 oz sliced monterey jack cheese

1/4 cup bleu or gorgonzola cheese crumbles

3-4 tbsp. hot sauce

2 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut loaf into 3/4-1" slices, cutting almost all the way through but stopping near the bottom so it the loaf stays intact. Turn the loaf and cut slices again so that you now have cube shapes. Drizzle hot sauce down into the crevices. Stuff with cheeses. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Top with green onions and serve immediately.   

Vanilla Giveaway and More!

Okay, confession time: last year at this time I didn't use real vanilla when I baked. I totally had a giant container of the imitation stuff sitting in my pantry and only used that.

But then I went over to a friend's house to make caramels and she kindly, but firmly, informed me that I needed to switch to the real stuff, pronto. Whatever, I thought. How much different can it actually be?

Well, quite a bit. The imitation stuff works fine but it's like using american cheese vs. gouda.The better the quality of the vanilla, the better tasting your baked goods will be because good vanilla really draws out and enhances the flavors. I've experimented with a couple different vanilla brands and even bought a few vanilla beans. It's been so fun (not to mention yummy)!

A few weeks ago I got the chance to try Nielsen Massey's Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract. This vanilla is super high quality, smells incredible and is making me a very happy baker. This dark vanilla has completely sealed the deal for me to never use the imitation stuff again.

And the best part? One of y'all gets to try it out for free! I'm giving away one bottle of this yummy goodness!

To keep things fun, I thought that instead of having the boring standby of you leaving a comment stating you want to win (who doesn't?), y'all could help me pick what dessert to make with the Nielsen Massey vanilla for my birthday next week.   

So leave a comment with your vote. The finalists are:

Source: marthastewart.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Martha Stewart's Salted Caramel Chocolate Layer Cake. Except I'd frost it with chocolate ganache or mousse...

Source: almostbourdain.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

NYC's Famous "Crack Pie"...because it's addictive. No drugs involved.

Source: sandrakavital.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Tiramisu Cupcakes. Oh yum.

Source: food.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Earthquake Cake. Ugly, but sooo good!

Want more entries? Leave a separate comment for each additional option saying you did so:

#1 - "Like" Frontier Kitchen's Facebook page. If you're already a fan, just let me know!

#2 - Share a link to this giveaway, one of my recipes or my Facebook page with friends via either Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or email.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm. MST on Monday, February 6th. The winner will be notified and announced here on the 7th.

Disclaimer: Nielsen Massey is sponsoring the giveaway. The only compensation I received was product to review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own. If the giveaway winner does not respond within a week of the giveaway ending, I will choose a new winner.

Whole Wheat Pineapple Upside-down Muffin Recipe

Earlier this month when I posted my healthy eating goals for 2012, I mentioned that I was switching to baking more with whole wheat flour. I've kept up with it (for January at least!) and the only non-whole wheat thing that's been baked in our house was some cookies the husband whipped up last weekend. And when your man decides to bake up some chocolate goodness for you, you don't refuse.

You're welcome for that important bit of relationship advice.

A few weeks ago I had some friends over for a playdate with our kiddos and since kids are forever in need of snackage, I decided to whip up some muffins before they got here. These muffins aren't only whole wheat, they're also really low in fat, contain oats, and, are made with raw sugar so you can feel really good about indulging in a little mid-morning baked goodness.

Baking with whole wheat flour can make things a bit dense so unless you're ready for that hardcore plunge, try using whole wheat pastry flour (check out Whole Food's bulk bins) because it will result in a much lighter texture. Or you could use half whole wheat flour and half white flour.

Whole Wheat Pineapple Upside-down Muffins

Yields about 16 muffins

Adapted greatly from Eating Well

Topping

3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

1 10-ounce can pineapple slices

Muffins

2 large eggs

1/2 cup turbinado sugar or honey

1/4 cup canola oil or melted butter 

2 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple (not drained)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup white flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 400. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Sprinkle sugar into each muffin tin. Cut pineapple slices into sixths and place a couple pieces in each muffin cup.

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar/honey, oil/butter, vanilla and pineapple. Mix well. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until well-combined. Scoop batter into each muffin cup. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until the muffin tops spring back when lightly touched.

Ricotta and Roasted Asparagus Naan Pizza

Don't you just love pizza? It's so yummy I could eat it every week and be perfectly happy. But right about now I need to be shrinking my figure (something about having a baby makes it a little larger than normal...whatever). Ahem!

 I tried to healthify pizza a bit last week so I could enjoy one of my favorite foods without feeling too guilty. It was a fantastic success! Pizza for under 300 calories? Yes, please.

The night before I made whole wheat garlic naan so I decided to use some of the extra as my pizza crust. Then I shmeared on some lowfat ricotta cheese and topped it with roasted asparagus and mushrooms. Then I remembered that I don't really like mushrooms so I took them off mine after serving the family theirs.

Ricotta and Roasted Asparagus on Naan

Serves 4

4 naan flatbreads

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 clove garlic, grated on a zester

1/2 lb. asparagus

2 tsp. olive oil

1 cup mushrooms, halved

kosher salt and black pepper

parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Trim asparagus ends and place on a baking sheet along with mushrooms. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes or until asparagus is nearly tender, tossing halfway through so everything cooks evenly. Meanwhile, combine ricotta and garlic in a small bowl.

Remove asparagus and mushrooms from pan. Place naan onto the pan. Spread naan evenly on top of each piece of naan. Layer mushrooms and asparagus on top. Pop the pan back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Serve piping hot with a bit of parmesan cheese on top, if desired.