When you are serving vegetarian or want a tasty, light and healthy dinner, our harissa cauliflower steaks are always a huge hit!
This beach-ready buttermilk fried chicken was fun to make and completely delicious.
After eating these at a baby shower, I dubbed them the world’s best crabcakes. I quickly pulled out my cell phone to write down the ingredients as the baby’s grandmother named ingredients. I had to figure out the recipe myself……
These Chocolate Garden Cups offer the perfect combination of crunchy and smooth, and they are packed with nutrients. Just make sure you have the face wipes handy!! Adorable and fun to make with the family, these Chocolate Garden cups are perfect for kids parties or an after school snack. Topped with yummy cereal, the deliciously simple, eggless chocolate pudding is light, easy to make, and not too sweet.
This spring, the UrbanMommies team has been focusing on health. Jogging, extra water and vitamins have all been part of the routine. With the gardens not quite in bloom and stores of frozen fruit and veggies depleted, I started doing some digging on other options for getting nutrients through food. Canned cling peaches. Who knew? They are actually better canned than fresh and are readily available in stores – even in school lunch snack sizes.
Myth: Canned peaches are less nutritious than fresh peaches.
Fact: Canned peaches are actually more nutritious than their fresh and frozen counterparts. Canned peaches have 3.5 times the vitamin C, 10 times more folic acid and 1.5 times more antioxidants than their fresh counterparts. (And they are in stores all year round when there is nothing growing in your orchard!)
Myth: Canned peaches are full of sugar.
Fact: Canned California cling peaches have no added sugar in the juice or water that they are packed in, other than the natural sugar in the raw product.
Myth: Canned peaches lose their flavour and colour through the canning process.
Fact: Canned peaches retain their flavour, colour and firmness even when cooked or baked in entrees, appetizers or desserts.
Because California cling peaches are picked and packed usually within 24 hours, they retain their appearance, texture, flavour and nutritional content.
So… I need snacks after my runs. I need some great family meal ideas, and after 6 months of making school lunches, they were getting rather boring. Enter California Cling Peaches to remedy all of these situations!
Check our recipes for gluten-free sweet chili and chicken peach wraps and peach, goat cheese and basil flatbread pizza.
Disclosure: This article was sponsored by California Cling Peaches. And we bet you learned a thing or two!
The garden is thriving and the kids have been eating poorly since school got out. Well, mine have anyway. Time to hide some veggies in their favourite foods. When we made these summer zucchini muffins, we tripled the recipe, baked one pan of muffins and saved the other two batches in large ziplock bags in the freezer. A perfect start to the school year. Simply defrost the dough the night before and fill 12 tins for fresh breakfast treats or lunchbox snacks.
3 cups grated fresh zucchini (no need to take the peel off. The green adds depth.. and saves you time.)
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour (or replace 1 cup with wheat germ)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
You don’t need a mixer for this recipe.
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.
2. Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.
If you’re used to picky eaters or chicken finger lovers, kid friendly crab cakes make a great healthy snack. And it’s not necessary to catch the crabs and shell them like we did (for authenticity). You can grab the cans. You also have the option of frying or baking. The baked version is of course healthier, but you could do a flash fry at the end using olive or grapeseed oil (which has a higher temperature threshold to prevent burning). Served with veggies or a robust salad they make a great dinner as well.
Kid Friendly Crab Cakes Ingredients:
4 T. finely crushed whole grains (kamut, wheatgerm, wholewheat flour – whatever you have)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning/cocktail sauce
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, beaten
salt to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
1 pound fresh crabmeat, well drained
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs (try to use whole grains seasoned with just salt and pepper)
2 tablespoons butter
3T cut chives
6 T finely diced apple (optional)
Method:
- Mix grains, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, seafood seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, egg, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl.
- Stir in crabmeat until mixture is combined but still chunky. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs on a plate.
- Shape chilled crab mixture into 4 small thick patties; coat completely with bread crumbs.
- Grease a cookie sheet and place in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Flip crabcakes at 10 minutes.
- Optional: flash fry for 30 seconds/side in a skillet before serving.
This kid friendly crab cakes recipe is also great for making shapes – the letters in the kids’ names, hearts, stars and geometric shapes. Have fun!
One of the biggest nutritious hits in our family are zucchini muffins: they’re tasty and nutritious. If your kids find the spice levels in this recipe aren’t appealing, adjust as needed. Your kids can help in preparing these zippy zucchini muffins from beginning to end, from measuring both dry and wet ingredients, stirring, pouring the muffin mix into the pans…and of course, eating them! You can also try this recipe with grated carrots, too.
This year we have illustrious plans. Lunches will be made the night before, they will include fun, healthy options, and ‘litterless‘ will be a huge goal. Ok, even if we only bat one for three, here are a few tips that may make coming up with healthy school lunch ideas a bit easier.
1. Substitute avocado or hummus for mayo – avocado serves as a healthy fat source plus provides a creamy spread for sandwiches.
2. Use your slow cooker overnight to have healthy hot thermos food ready and waiting in the morning. Hot lunches are a treat in the winter. (Or you could just reheat leftovers). Our Slow Cooker Pinterest Board is a great source for recipes.
3. Pep up your plain old PB&J with almond butter and fresh fruit slices –fresh fruit means natural sugars. Check with the school if ‘peanut-free’ also means ‘almond-free’. Stores like Whole Foods have great peanut butter alternatives.
4. Margaret Ng, Health and Wellness Manager, at Pacific Blue Cross recommends always using whole grain breads or tortillas – wraps are a fun change of pace especially when they are packed with veggies. And when you’re not around to hear the kids complain, we bet they’ll forgo the white bread – especially after a busy morning of school.
5. Swap processed chips and snacks for healthier homemade options like trail mix with dried fruits and nuts, homemade fruit roll-ups or granola balls.
6. Keep it petite: Little people enjoy little portions so they can snack through the day. Out: the double-decker hero sandwich. In: A stylish Bento box filled with flavours and colours.
7. Play with their food. It needn’t take a ton of extra time to cut their sandwiches with cookie cutters or insert raisin eyes into a celery/cream cheese caterpillar. If you want more fun ideas we are always updating our school lunch Pinterest board.
8. Add fun with finger foods: Experiment with nutritious dips and spreads for veggies and crackers. Alternatively, boil an egg they can peel themselves.
9. Consult your kid: There is no better way to ensure they eat their lunch than by getting their buy-in. Find out what their favourite snacks are and shop accordingly. If they are older, give them an assignment at the grocery store to find 5 healthy options they will want to take in their lunch and send them down the aisles. (Make sure you get veto-power though).
Good Luck and Happy Lunch-making!
Now that the kiddos are heading back to school, you need to have the pantry prepared for the traditional after-school-snacks raiding. Growing kids come back from school and sports practice famished–and here are the best after-school snacks for your hungry kids ideas that are healthy, filling, and will hopefully appeal to your kids’ perhaps-picky natures.
Veggie Dippers. Keep a ready supply of already-cut veggies on hand in plastic Ziploc bags (broccoli, celery, carrots, cauliflower, bell pepper strips, sugar snap peas, etc.) in the crisper. Let your kids pair them with dips, because many vegetables are rich sources of fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin D and E. Try hummus, lowfat cream cheese with herbs, lowfat ranch dressing, or cucumber sauce.
Fruit Dippers or Cheesers. Slice up apples and pears and serve them paired with lowfat cheddar cheese or a lowfat cream cheese dip (try mixing sugar-free strawberry preserves with cream cheese for a fantastic dip).
Snack mix. Make your own snack mix with Chex or Life cereal, dry-roasted nuts like almonds and peanuts, raisins, coconut shavings, and dried fruit and granola. Served with lowfat milk or yogurt, this is a powerhouse snack, packed with fiber, calcium, protein, and good energy-giving carbs.
Tortilla rollups. Keep whole wheat tortillas around and smear or fill them with a variety of items: hummus, tuna salad, shredded cheese and veggies, cream cheese and jelly, sliced ham or turkey, etc.
Mini-pizzas. Have your kids make their own with whole wheat English muffins, topped with pizza sauce, lowfat mozzarella cheese, and whatever toppings suit their tastes. Pop them in the toaster oven or under the broiler and in five minutes, you have a tasty, nutritious, and filling snack.