My son recently had a birthday. For his birthday party, he wanted to share brownies with his friends. That sounds simple enough.
Enter food allergies. My family has a number of food allergies. The main one impacted by the desire for brownies is the fact that we eat a grain-free diet. That, however, isn’t the whole of the issue. We’ve made delicious brownies before. … Continue reading
There are many things I want my children to know before they grow up and leave our house. I want them to learn to sew. They need to learn to clean up after themselves (see HERE), and how to clean a house (see HERE). They need to learn how to manage their finances (see HERE, HERE, and HERE). … Continue reading
My 9-year-old son has started making us dinner once a week. Last week, he decided that he wanted to make donuts for dessert to go along with his meal. Since my boys have never had a donut, this was a very exciting prospect for both of them.
Together, my 9-year-old and I came up with this recipe. (We modified it from another recipe I jotted down years ago – unfortunately, I don’t know its original origins).… Continue reading
I love winter squash. When a friend offered me some mystery squash, I gladly took three. She explained that a large harvest of volunteer squash had come up in her garden. She had no idea what kind of cross-pollinated squash they might be.
While she warned me that what type of flesh lay inside was a mystery, I felt inspired by Ma in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter:
“Hurry and get the work done,” said Ma.… Continue reading
Earlier this week a dear friend gave me three rutabagas from her garden. I hadn’t cooked rutabaga before, but I was excited to give it a try. I treated the rutabagas like I treat many root vegetables: I simply cut them up, along with some carrots and parsnips, and roasted them in my oven. They turned out delicious, and the dish was so easy to put together.… Continue reading
As promised, once my boys picked all of the apples off of our tree [see HERE], we processed them to make a big batch of applesauce. Applesauce is so simple to make, and delicious to eat. For us, it was a great way to make use of our harvest of super-tart apples.
Applesauce is one of those things that is made almost entirely to taste (well, when you make it yourself instead buying it pre-made), so I’ll describe how we made ours below.… Continue reading
We had a bowl of leftover cauliflower “mashed potatoes” in the refrigerator. Remembering back to what my family did with leftover mashed potatoes when I was growing up, I was struck by the thought of making nightshade-free “potato” pancakes. So I started experimenting.
After a few iterations, I came up with the following recipe. While my boys were disappointed that they didn’t taste like the grain-free banana pancakes they’ve had in the past (they focused on the word pancake, and forgot about the word cauliflower), they acknowledged that they were pretty good for a way to eat vegetables.… Continue reading
My 9-year-old son grew some chia sprouts as part of a project in which he was learning about families of plants.
It was extremely easy to grow the sprouts. He half-filled a small container with potting soil. He sprinkled a bunch of chia seeds over the top of the moist dirt. He then set a folded up, wet paper towel directly on top of the seeds, covering them completely. … Continue reading
We seem to be in a vegetable rut lately; always eating the same vegetables prepared in the same ways. So the other day I decided to try something new: breaded zucchini spears.
While the outside breading didn’t crisp up quite as much as I’d hoped, the final spears tasted great and were different from what we’d been consuming.
Everyone liked them, and, importantly, they were very easy and quick to prepare. … Continue reading
The other week, my favorite chef – who also happens to be one of my dearest friends, had a discussion with my boys regarding their favorite treats. When he mentioned that his one of his favorites were Almond Joy bars, my boys stared at him blankly. They had no idea what he was talking about. Because of their food allergies, they have never tasted an Almond Joy bar.… Continue reading