Oatmeal Cookies

The inspiration for these came from the awesome Smitten Kitchen blog but I cut down on the sugar and added some applesauce since I figured B. might not like the raisins suggested for this recipe.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce (or half of one of those little Knotts containers)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups instant oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add the egg, applesauce and vanilla and blend well. Smitten's blog says to whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a separate bowl before mixing with the wet ingredients but I just measure and dumped them straight in because I hate washing extra bowls.
Because the applesauce makes a fairly wet batter, I refrigerated the mix for about an hour before baking. I use a Silpat mat (nothing EVER sticks, it's amazing) but the original recipe calls for parchment paper. And then baked for about 12 minutes.

DISCLAIMER: T. ate two cookies and then decided he didn't like them. They are on the healthier side. So don't make these if you're expecting the full fatty version. I do have a richer oatmeal cookie recipe somewhere that I'll post later.

kale can't be escaped

OMG, kale chips are everywhere--every parenting blog, Food Network show and now last night's episode of Modern Family. OK universe, I get the message. Today we will make kale chips.
UPDATE: Never managed to get the kale. B. had a fullscale meltdown at Whole Foods so I couldn't get more than chicken and bananas. The only thing that got us through the checkout line was a sample of roast beef the deli guy gave B. And my picky little kid wolfed it down like it was the best thing he'd ever tasted.

Nine days later...just made kale chips. Not sure it was really worth the trouble but I'm glad I tried them. I was way too liberal with the sea salt and olive oil as that is essentially all I could taste (unless that's the point?). Pretty simple really. You preheat the oven to 350. Tear the leaves off the woody stems and toss them with about a tablespoon of olive oil and sea salt to taste, lay them out flat on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. If I ever make them again I would take them out a little early because I enjoy the less crispy bits but I think that's personal preference.

random stuff

Finally finished with a red carpet marketing project I was working on that was sucking up all my time (it turned me into a tweeting maniac, though I'm sure getting paid had something to do with the obsession). In the meantime I managed to make a kick-ass Mario Batali bolognese sauce out of all organic ingredients which B. rejected. (This was particularly frustrating because his favorite restaurant meal is rigatoni bolognese. What gives little man?!) And then there was one day where B. insisted on mac and cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The kid knows what he wants. Next week will be interesting since I have a two-week assignment and we just got a new blond babysitter that B. seems to be infatuated with. Hmm. Maybe she'll be able to get him to eat all sorts of healthy things. Mwahahaha.

creamed spinach and the birthday party circuit

Add creamed spinach to the list of rejected veggies. I thought the creamy texture and addition of parmesan would make it edible. Plus I served it alongside safety choices: roasted chicken and sweet potato fries (which are really just roasted strips of sweet potato that I call French fries to make them sound more badass). But it was totally rejected by B. and T. In fact, DH wouldn't even fake a bite to set a good example. Which only makes me more determined. So I'm gonna slip it into lasagna or baked ziti and serve it with a smile!
Totally unrelated but we're officially joining the birthday party circuit and I'm oddly giddy about it. We've gotten two invites this week alone (including an adorable one which is a custom job from tinyprints.com that makes me feel like I've got to step it up this year). And I know more are coming. The thing is, it takes all pressure off making plans for the weekend. I always feel like I should be scheduling more playdates and this takes care of that without any initiative on my part other than showing up with a gift. Everyone with older kids seems to complain about the weekend shuffle between birthday parties but I say bring it on. If you invite us, we'll be there.

new tastes

Add mustard, honey and maple syrup to the list of condiments B. has tried and liked so far. Sadly that didn't extend to this roasted cauliflower dish from Food52 I tried this weekend. So good. So simple. So not appealing to a toddler. But on the positive side, he did eat a major helping of scrambled eggs this weekend while my mom was here. Apparently B. is a social scrambler and will only eat eggs when he has more than an audience of one.

not the best pic but you get the idea

happy v-day!

Making sugar cookies while B. naps so he can decorate them when he wakes up. (Found this Martha recipe, natch, that has less butter than the others so I'm giving it a try.) Beyond giddy myself since I went out to buy pink sprinkles, sparkling sugar and sparkle gel. Pretty! Some people do arts n crafts - we're gonna decorate cookies. Yay! Will post results later.
UPDATE: I found this recipe made sugar cookies that were too fluffy. I happen to like thinner, crispy sugar cookies myself. So for our next cookie decorating party (Easter?) I'll use this one from Epicurious. Way more butter but a better cookie.

peanut butter...meh

B. had his first taste about six months ago and has remained unimpressed ever since. The recommendations on feeding your kids peanut butter keep changing but there are no food allergies in the family so we felt pretty comfortable trying around 1.5 thinking he was gonna get hooked but he's never been interested. So today I tried giving him a PB&J sandwich, thinking the jelly would seal the deal. (The fridge is pretty bare but I couldn't take him grocery shopping because he refused to nap and I knew he'd pass out the minute we got in the car.) Anyway, I couldn't even get close to him. So the ease/affordability/convenience/deliciousness of PB&J will have to wait for another day. Instead he had a quesedilla topped with mashed avocado and I ate the PB&J. Yum.

mmm...pizza!

We got a pizza stone at Williams Sonoma last night. I've been making in the oven lately and even once on the BBQ but it needs a little help and I'm hoping this will help save the crust from burning.
Except B. got so excited by all the talk of pizza that he wanted some immediately. It's really hard to explain to a toddler that actually making pizza is also gonna require a trip to the grocery store for cheese & sauce and to Abbot's Pizza shop (which will sell you dough balls to make your own - love this!).
So we stopped by a mediocre pizza joint to get him a slice on the way home. I don't think he cared (or could tell the difference? The only time he's objected to pizza is when I made a BBQ chicken pizza. He was outraged that someone had dared mess with his classic tomato sauce/mozarella combo.) but I'll definitely be making up some pies tonight because mommy wants some good margharita!

ketchup makes everything better

Fish sticks worked. Sort of. I got a box of Dr. Praeger's fish sticks and served some up Monday. Dipped in ketchup. B. ate about 5 bites. Not a bad start. And then we switched over to hummus and pita chips. Today comes helping number two of fish sticks. For the record, I'd prefer he ate fish fillets but he won't so this seems like a good gateway food to get him hooked. Fingers crossed it goes well. We've also had some banana, cinnamon french toast and bagel n cream cheese today. Sometimes it seems like the whole day is spent fixing food, convincing him to actually put the food in his mouth, cleaning up the kitchen and then starting all over again. Making me qualified to be one extremely competent...lunch lady?!
UPDATE: He ate one bite. And only when bribed with the promise of a bottle of milk. Except he did chew and swallow said bite so it can't have been that bad. Operation Fish Sticks continues!