Restaurant Review: Muffins on Main

When I heard that a little muffin bakery had opened within a 5-mile radius of my home that was peanut & treenut free - I had to check it out with my little guy. It's a rare treat to be able to take him to a bakery that's safe for his food allergies and so it seemed like a great opportunity to have a Mom & Son Date. Off we went. 

Muffins on Main is a small, simple coffee & muffin shop in the center of town. You can tell that the shop owners want to keep it that way; they (very proudly) do not have WiFi, they have seats for 10 people, and their menu is extremely simple: 10 varieties of muffins & scones, coffee (dark/medium/light), tea, cocoa, and juice. That's it. They have found a focus and you can tell that there is a lot of effort in making sure that they excel at it.

The Good:

The muffins were VERY tasty. My son had decided before we even arrived that he wanted a blueberry muffin and found them in the case as soon as we walked in. I chose a French Breakfast muffin (flavored with nutmeg and then dusted with a cinnamon sugar), and we paired our muffins with a dark roast coffee and a fresh-squeezed orange juice. After we finished our initial order, we brought home 3 more blueberry muffins, a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin, a cranberry orange muffin, and a cranberry white chocolate scone as well.

Let's talk about the food itself first. The muffins were wonderful; they were moist and cakey, left behind few crumbs, and had awesome flavors as well. The scone had that biscuit-like texture and buttery flavor without being too dry, which is always a challenge with scones and Muffins on Main did NOT fail at it - to my scone-picky preferences, it was about as close to perfect as a scone can get. We had 2 muffins that survived the first day, and I am happy to report that after staying in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for 2 days, the muffins held up well and were still delicious.

All smiles after picking a blueberry muffin!

The dark roast coffee was tasty as well and it pleasantly lacked that "burned" taste that some dark roast coffees can have. I also thought it was a nice touch that they have vanilla infused simple syrup as an option for sweetener. The fresh-squeezed orange juice was also great; I stole a sip of my son's (Mom has to check on these things) and it was perfectly sweet. Whatever oranges they're using are the perfect kind for juicing and serving; my son is juice picky and he downed all of it quickly and asked me if he could have some more.

I LOVE that they don't have WiFi. After sitting there with my son for a half-hour, you can tell that they are trying to create a small-town bakery/coffee shop culture. There were regulars who came in that they knew by name, they engaged everyone who walked in with pleasant conversation, and there is a sign up encouraging people to free up the limited seating when they finish their muffins. They do NOT want their shop to become a place where people come to settle in and get work done - and I can absolutely appreciate that. It was incredibly refreshing and fit well with the bright, wooden, simply rustic and charming atmosphere achieved with the decor.

Customer service was also wonderful. When the baker overheard me talking about my son's allergy, she ran from the back to remind the staff that the outside gluten-free varieties were not safe for my son. The two women working the register were engaging with my 4-year-old son and all smiles to everyone who came in. When I ordered my son's juice, they offered me a second empty glass to make it easier for him to handle without spilling and without my having even thought of it or asking. They were helpful at the end when I ordered my to-go box of goodies and answered all of my questions both in person and on the phone with cheerful demeanors and a willingness to help.

The "Meh":

There is no BAD about this place which is why I am just calling this the "meh" section instead of the "bad" or "cons" section. Both things I'm about to list here have caveats attached to them.

Nothing meh about this picture...
...except people who waste muffins.

First is the parking. Muffins on Main does NOT have a parking lot, so once you find the place (easy to do) you'll have the park on the street. The good news is that while parking directly in front of their shop is very limited, there is PLENTY of GOOD street parking in a 1-2 block walk from their front door. Further, Westford (I discovered) does a great job of clearing these spots of snow (we went 2 days after 4-5" of snow fell and all of the spots in the center of town for parking seemed to be cleared and wide). So... yeah, they don't have a parking lot but there's plenty of street parking - "meh".

Second is the size of the muffins. The muffins are $2 each and are not that much bigger than standard muffins that you make at home. I somewhat expected the size of the muffins in a muffins shop to be closer to what you'd get out of an at-home "jumbo" pan, but alas that was not the case. Having said that - they are a little bigger than what you'd make at home and certainly better quality/taste; very fluffy, moist, tasty and well-risen, beautifully shaped muffins are what you get from Muffins on Main. While the price-tag is higher than what you'd get from chain places on lower-quality, bigger muffins - they're better muffins, and from my perspective they're safe for my son to eat. So again - "meh". (Note - the scones were also $2/each and were about average scone size - but above average scone taste.)

Verdict:

We ABSOLUTELY plan on heading to Muffins on Main again (and again and again). It's the perfect place to have little family dates and in the spring we'll grab muffins and then head over to eat them on Westford Common. I highly recommend heading over if you appreciate muffins, coffee, and simplicity (and a double recommendation if you have peanut/treenut allergies and are looking for a safe little place to get a coffee/baked good).

*************************

Muffins on Main is located at 40 Main Street in Westford, MA and can be found online at www.muffinsonmain.com.

I was not at all compensated or requested to write this review and I have no affiliation to the folks who own/operate the bakery other than I went there once and gave them about $20 of my money in exchange for delicious baked goods & beverages. 

Top Five Hated Food Messes

I'm pretty sure that if someone were to say the word "kids" in a word association game, many people would respond with the word "messy". It won't surprise the parents out there (or caretakers of children) that I spend a rather large portion of my day cleaning up messes that my kids have made. I have tried to teach them how to clean their messes themselves, but this endeavor usually lands with blank stares, distractions from other toys, or misplaced "cleaning" of things that don't need cleaning later.

There is no doubt to any who know me that I love my children. They are lights to the world, they have smiles and personalities that could win the hearts of the masses (and if not, my younger child might force you to give her your heart... she's a bit aggressive).

But boy can those children make a mess.

In the just over 3 years that I have been parenting and the millions of messes I have cleaned, I have developed a love/hate relationship for my kids' eating habits. I understand the sensory and developmental benefits of letting them experiment with textures and playing a bit with their foods. I appreciate the need for a variety in their diet and not surviving just on mac & cheese and chicken nuggets (though my children wouldn't complain, that's for sure).

There are many messes that I don't mind cleaning at all. I've been known to chuckle and go with it when my kids dump boxes of Cheerios all over the floor. I strip them down to the diaper on pasta & red sauce night so they can make a mess without the stress of destroying their clothes. Paint? Clear out the sink and hose 'em down when they're done.

But there are a few foods that I just can't stand cleaning.

Top Five Food Messes 

I Hate Cleaning Up

Shredded Carrots: My son (3 years) is especialy not a fan of eating just plain vegetables; he's doing that whole toddler "I am not going to eat anything" thing these days. As such, I have to hide them in lots of places - smoothies, eggs, pizza, pasta, baked goods, rice.. really anywhere I can think of - to get him to eat them. One of the easiest and least expensive (only $0.89 for a pound of organic carrots at Trader Joe's!) vegetables you can do this with is carrots. They shred easily, they cook fast, they have a sweeter flavor that kids don't mind partaking in, and are quite good for you. But good gravy... they can be a pain to clean up after a kid has thrown them all over the kitchen. A wet shredded carrot that isn't immediately - and I mean the moment - after it hits the floor is destined to stick there. We have a steam mop that cleans up just about anything, and you have to hover over a dried shredded carrot for quite a while before a hard scrubbing will get it up.

If you're ever at my house and see little orange specks all over the floor, you'll know I just gave up trying.

Delicious! Nutritious! Impossible to clean!

Oatmeal: I LOVE oatmeal for breakfast, and so do my kids. You can add all sorts of dried fruit to it, maybe a little bit of honey, some almond milk - oh man, I love a good bowl of oatmeal. I found a recipe recently for banana oatmeal that my whole family loved. My daughter has just hit the age (14.5 months) where using a spoon and fork as part of the ways she gets food into her mouth are becoming a regular practice. This is also the age where oatmeal gets every-freaking-where. On the high chair, on the floor, on the table, on the walls, in her hair, on her legs. And the stuff is like cement; within seconds of it getting spread thin and exposed to air it becomes virtually impossible to clean. There was one day I didn't get to it right away and it took soaking it under a cloth and a green non-abrasive scrubber to get it off our kitchen table. Sometimes I have to wash the table 2-3 times if I don't wash the table off the nanosecond the kids get up from the table when they have oatmeal for breakfast. Have you tried to do ANYTHING the nanosecond after a child under the age of 4 finishes something? If not - try it sometime. It's the best exercise in futility you'll ever experience.

Tiny Fruit Seeds: You know what kids love? Bite-sized fruit. Blueberries, grapes, sliced kiwi, and strawberries are among some the favorites in our house. It's wonderful to know that I have healthy snack options that I can fall back on when the kids are driving me crazy right before dinner and I don't want them filling up on another handful of Goldfish crackers. But as all parents know - what goes in must also come out. When a tiny person digests bite-sized fruit they also digest the microscopic seeds that are encased in each little berry. Cleaning the diapers on the other side of a blueberry fest can be... let me put it this way. My husband will often volunteer to do diaper changes on the weekends when he's home to give me a bit of respite; since both kids are still in diapers, I do a LOT of diaper changing in the course of a day. There was one day that my daughter was especially ornery and had a full diaper after a family blueberry devouring had occurred. His words as he fought to get her to lay still to me in the kitchen were: "D! WE CAN NEVER FEED THESE CHILDREN BLUBERRIES AGAIN!!!"

We did, of course. Because blueberries are awesome.

Blueberry picking - Fall 2014

Wet Rice: This will be brief. I hate sweeping up rice after a meal. If there's any mess I'm content to let sit until the next meal to clean up, it's rice that hasn't dried yet. If I serve rice at dinner, I spend more time in the cleanup portion of the evening trying to coax wet rice into my dirt pile with my broom than I do any other part of cleaning my kitchen. It just slooooooowly drags across the floor, making you think that maybe it will cooperate but ultimately just moving about a quarter-of-an-inch every time you try to sweep. So you sweep with shorter, faster motions thinking maybe that will work. No. It just scatters and makes a bigger wet rice mess. It's horrible. I hate it.

Watermelon: Aaaah watermelon. A staple at any summer cookout, a must-stock in my kitchen this time of year. There's really nothing quite as refreshing as a slice of cold watermelon. Except in my house we don't do slices. In addition to not giving you good visibility to the choking hazard that are watermelon seeds (and before you say it - yes, we buy seedless, but there are still seeds - they aren't seed-free, just seedless), slices create wet, slurpy, disgusting messes of children. In our house we make "watermelon fries"; my husband cuts watermelons into these thin, french-fry sized pieces. They're fantastic finger food and are still messy - but don't cause the giant dripping disaster that a whole slice is guilty of doing. And can someone please explain to me why it is that watermelon - which is clearly red or a redish-pinkish color - causes orange stains in clothes that are also close to impossible to get out? Thank goodness for OxiClean gel...

No seriously. This stuff has saved more articles of clothing in my house. Pen, grease, watermelon... it's awesome.
And no, OxiClean didn't pay me to say that. But if they want to give me some free gel, I'l take it.

Look, I'm a fan of my kids and I let the messes happen. You don't even want to know the playroom disaster I'm going to look at when I get up from writing this post, or what my daughter is doing to the leftover pancake my son just gave her right now. Making messes, getting dirty - it's all part of being a kid, and I'm OK with that. I don't stop giving my kids the things that make the messes...

...but you better believe that I've been working to help teach them how to clean them up.

"What kind of mess can I make with that....?"

Recipe: "I Can't Believe It's Not Peanut Butter" Cookies

I love peanut butter cookies.

Needless to say, with a peanut-allergy kid I don't get them very much these days. But they are delicious aren't they? And I have missed them.

I don't anymore.

About a year or so ago, we discovered Sunbutter: a buttery spread made of sunflower seeds that tastes about as close to peanut butter as you can get without it actually being peanut butter. It's cheaper than almond butter (Will is not allergic to almonds) and my family all enjoys eating it. We've tried a couple of different brands, but Sunbutter brand is definitely our preferred brand.

Recently I decided that I wanted to see how the Sunbutter held up in a batch of peanut butter cookies. I checked out a couple of recipes and put some of the things I liked about them together to come up with the one that I am sharing with you here. As I was pulling it together, I was uncertain about how they would turn out and decided that the gauge would be Steve. He's always honest with me about a recipe that I'm working on and as such I rely on him to help me develop things.

His response? "These are the best 'nut butter' type cookies you've ever made."

Ok then.

I made them a second time with a few tweaks and here is the final recipe. This is a great recipe for anyone who has peanut/treenut or egg allergies and can be adjusted for folks with milk allergies. It's also great to make with the little ones because there are no raw eggs to worry about when they those desires to stick their hands in the dough to sample it. So - go ahead, make some. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

- 1/2 cup butter (for milk allergies, use 1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan baking sticks

- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sunflower seed butter
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

Method:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

- I recognize that my next step is probably going to make some bakers cringe, but it's seriously how I make all my cookies these days. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and let it run until the dough sort of comes together in a ball. You may need to stop it occasionally and scrape the sides/bottom to make sure you get everything in the mix. Why a food processor? Well for me I find it saves a TRUCKLOAD of time when making cookies. Also, for the purposes of these cookies it pulverizes the oatmeal which kind of makes a faux-crunchy-sunbutter feel to the cookies - great for those who like their nut-butter cookies with nuts in them. 

- Scoop the dough out using a spoon and then using your clean hands form it into little dough-patties about 1.5-2 inches in diameter. The dough is going to seem crumbly: that's OK, just squish the dough together into the little round patties. The dough doesn't spread much while baking, so I can usually fit about 18 patties on a cookie sheet and get about 3 dozen total cookies.

- Bake the cookies in your preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. They should still be soft to the touch when you pull them out; I find that for our tastes, we cook them for 10-11 minutes in our oven. 

- Let them cool ON THE COOKIE SHEET for 8-10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish. If you take them off of the cookie sheet too soon - they WILL fall apart (remember what I said about the dough being crumbly); leaving them on the cookie sheet for a bit allows them to cohere a bit better. 

The cookies are usually ready to eat after about 15-20 minutes out of the oven. These cookies are deceptive; to handle the dough and look at the finished product, you might think that these cookies would be a bit dry all the way through. This, however, is not the case. The cookies are dry-ish on the outside and pretty moist on the inside (I know, moist-haters, but I can't think of a better word). 

Most importantly - they are delicious. 

And addictive. 

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Holiday (or Party) Allergy Guide for the Non-Allergy Crowd

When my husband and I used to lead the youth group at our church, I was always the one to be on top of who had food allergies and to say no to peanuts that may enter the room. At the time I had no idea how serious a reaction to peanuts could be, I had no idea that tree nuts could cause the same reaction, I had no idea how serious cross-contamination could be, and I only had a vague idea of how to use an epi-pen. All I knew was what I had heard peripherally; that peanut and nut allergies were serious business and could send someone to the hospital.

Then our firstborn child Will got diagnosed with peanut and walnut allergies when he was 16 months old. It's funny how what I did as a mindless precaution with children that weren't my own suddenly had to become serious, front of the mind business. 

Our garbage bag filled up with our beloved peanut butter stuff, anything that contained peanuts, anything with a walnut in it (like the bag of walnuts in my fridge), and anything that couldn't tell me exactly what tree nuts may or may not be included in their ingredients. We retrained ourselves grocery shopping to read every label, every time (yes, even things we've bought before - a salsa we've bought for ages recently started to indicate that there may be traces of tree nuts in it). Samples at grocery stores? Gotta read the labels first. Been around peanuts out with friends or at work before coming home? Strip down in the basement, start the washing machine, and put on clean clothes before saying hi to Will. 

Why such extreme measures? Don't we carry an epi-pen or Benedryl? 

Here's what the non-allergy crowd doesn't realize and the reason that I'm writing this post. 

Exposure to the allergens that cause an anaphylactic reaction isn't just a hit with an epi-pen. It's a 911 call and an ambulance ride... and usually another hit with an epi-pen, and risk of the reaction coming back in the few days following the initial reaction. Which can mean starting the epi-pen/ambulance cycle over again. 

Well... this just became "the year the ambulance came"...

I've now been on both sides of the coin and I have to tell you - it's so much easier on the non-allergy side. I've had to send emails out to Will's playdates asking them not to bring peanut butter on picnics because toddlers - no matter how many times you tell them - just can't not touch each other's food. There's a new Chik-Fil-A with a play place opening up near our house, and I'll have to turn down times with Will to hang out with his friends because they cook all their food in peanut oil (and while I can bring food for him to eat, that grease will be all over the twisty slides). 

The worst was when I recently had to tell my grandmother that I couldn't accept her gift of animal crackers for him because they were made in a facility with nuts. My grandmother. Animal crackers. 

Seriously.

I'm now that parent. The one that I am sure other people roll their eyes at in stores when I block the aisle reading labels. The one that feels rude and awkward turning down gifts or dictating what lunches people can't bring on outings. 

So it is with this post that I ask the other 85% of the population (our allergist said that 15% of the population suffers from food allergies) to be compassionate, patient, and maybe even help out the allergy parents and allergy kids (and even allergy adults) this year at your holiday parties. There are a few simple yet super helpful things that we can all do that will help those of us in the 15% category to feel less awkward and like there is a community of friends and family helping us to protect our kid. After all, the holidays are a time to spread love and joy and parties should be a time to relax and celebrate. 

Family parties shouldn't be scary places. For anyone.

So... what can YOU do to help?

1. Be aware of what's in what you bring to a party. This is as simple as reading the labels of whatever you put in the dish and making either a physical or mental note of what does/may or may not have an allergen* in it. I mentioned that we had to switch salsas recently, so don't just assume that there'd be no way something would have any nuts in it. Things I've been shocked or annoyed at for potential nut contamination have been the aforementioned salsa, steel cut oatmeal (it's what Will prefers and there's only 1 brand I've been able to find that is totally safe), some flours. You could even cut the labels off the products you use and bring them with your dish so people can make their own determinations. Which brings me to number 2...

2. Label your dish OR if you're the host provide labels for people to write on. This way there's no question, no random asking "what's in this", no needing to hunt for who brought the thing and asking what's in it. It also makes it easy for you to tell your child they can have this this and this, but not that that and that in one fell swoop. At our church cookout this year a few people did that at the dessert table and it meant that I could find something for Will without belaboring my decision. It was amazing. 2A: Do not cross-contaminate serving utensils from one plate to another - you never know what someone else put in their dish!!! In fact - please bring a separate serving utensil for your dish OR if you're the host, provide additional serving utensils for people to use. 

Something like this would be simple & perfect for your guests!

3. Don't share your food with someone else's kid. Period. Don't offer something off of your plate even if you know it's safe - something else on your plate might have cross-contaminated it without you realizing it. If a kid asks you for a bit or says they want some, redirect them to their Mommy and Daddy to ask them if it's OK. There was one day I went to the beach with some people and Will started to cough in the back seat; all I could do was wonder if he had eaten something I didn't know and whether or not it may have had nuts in it. When I pulled over he was fine and had just choked on his own drool falling asleep... but what if that wasn't the case? 

4. Throw your plate out when you're done. I know, this seems simple and I'm sure you're saying "Of course! Who doesn't!". Turns out the answer is most people don't immediately throw away their plates at a party because they're deep in conversation or they're people watching or playing with their phone or whatever. Think about it. We've all taken a turn being the person that collects a handful of garbage and makes a trip to the trash can asking "Are you done with this?" to everyone in the process. Here's the problem from the perspective of the parent of a toddler with allergies... the word "toddler". Toddlers - no matter how many times you tell them - don't understand "don't eat off of someone else's plate". They see "stray cookie" and they pick it up and it makes its way to their mouths. Will had hidden a brownie in his Batmobile that he pulled out four weeks later and started to eat. They don't care. Throwing your plate out helps the already-stressed parents of the toddler in ways I can't even begin to describe. 

~~~~~~~

I want to say that I fully recognize how easy it can be to say "just watch your kid" or "there go the allergy kids making everything a pain again". But take a minute and remember how "easy" it is to watch a toddler's every single move (don't you need to go to the bathroom or eat your own dinner?). Or think of a time that you felt really awkward at a dinner party when someone made something that you didn't like or couldn't eat for some reason. 

Now imagine that happening every time you go to a dinner party. Every. Single. Time. Only instead of a bad taste in your mouth if you eat it, you end up in the back of an ambulance with a loved one beside you praying you're going to live through it. 

All that the parents of an allergy kid want is for their kid to have as normal a life as possible. 

All that I'm asking the other 85% to do is to be a part of the village that it takes to raise a child and help out with that. 

Enjoy the upcoming season of celebrations and thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully incorporating these simple steps into your holiday plans. 

*The eight common allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, soy, shellfish, wheat, eggs and fish.

For more information about food allergies, visit http://www.FARE.org.

Macaroni & Cheese for One

Our son Will, like most kids who don't have dairy allergies and are able to eat full meals, LOVES macaroni and cheese. If I make him a plate of mac & cheese, he will quietly eat his lunch and oftentimes clean his plate. There are a couple of problems with this, however, when it comes to classic boxed macaroni & cheese:

1. Will needs to gain weight. While the macaroni & cheese you get from a box does have more fat in it than the typical adult would prefer to have in their diet, our doctor had suggested we try to sneak more fat into our buddy's diet.
2. No toddler can polish off a box of macaroni & cheese in one sitting, and it tastes terrible on the second day so leftovers are (kind of) out of the question. Which means that if I make Will M&C for lunch - it means that I also will be having macaroni and cheese. And typically this means that I end up having a little over half a box. Which I probably shouldn't be having. (2a - I LOVE MACARONI & CHEESE! Especially with some peas mixed in and a dash of black pepper... oh man...) Really... this is the bigger issue as there are a million ways to sneak more fat into Will's diet and I am very, very weak-willed when it comes to mac & cheese of any kind.

While I was pondering this issue, I remembered that I had once come across a recipe for "revolutionary macaroni & cheese". I had made it once for a friend of mine & I and it was delicious. I knew that I could adapt the recipe for one serving and fatten it up so that our little man was getting a fatter mac & cheese (in fact, in our house we call it fat-mac) AND I wouldn't have to be subject to a half of box (or more) of mac & cheese very time he had some (oh the horror...). A couple of tries, and I have perfected it! There are even a couple of veggies that I sneak in for total nutrition awesomeness for my toddler buddy.

Macaroni & Cheese for One 

Adapted from Revolutionary Mac & Cheese from Macaroni & Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pasta (penne, tri-color mac, rotini.... your choice)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan
• 1/3 cup frozen peas
• 3 tbsp - 1/4 cup frozen spinach (or 1/3 chopped frozen broccoli)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

• In a small saucepan, put the pasta & milk and bring to boil. This will happen faster than you think - so don't walk away! As soon as it starts to boil, bring down to a simmer and make sure to stir constantly. 
• About 5 minutes after bringing to a simmer, add the peas & spinach. Bring back to simmer & cook until noodles are tender (about 5-7 more minutes).
• Remove pan from heat - DO NOT DRAIN!!! Add both cheeses and stir vigorously until cheese is melted in. The sauce will thicken upon standing. Add salt & pepper and serve. Or just eat it out of the pan, after all - this is only for one person.

A couple of things... first, this will easily feed two toddlers or one adult. I usually fill up Will's plate and then there's a few bites left to fulfill my macaroni weakness until I make it for him again. If I were to make this for myself - I would substitute in skim milk for the whole milk and it would work just as well and be just as delicious. Will loves this stuff; we've tried it with a couple of different cheeses but this seems to be the way he likes it the best. He'll eat either spinach or broccoli in it for us - whatever we have in the house - but the peas are a must. And in the long run it's cheaper than boxed mac & cheese... really, this is a winning situation all around! 

If you are in need of a quick comfort food fix or a good lunch for your kiddo... definitely give this a try. You won't regret it.

Baby Applesauce Mini Muffins

Our son Will is 16 months old and is getting to the age where he doesn't want Mommy to feed him anymore. This means that trying to feed him the infant cereal in the mornings has gotten... interesting. I've been putting a little in a bowl with a spoon for him to "feed" himself while I give him the rest, but that doesn't always catch his attention. He wants to do it himself. While I want to embrace this independence, I want him to continue getting as much of the nutrition that the baby cereal offers for as long as reasonably possible.

This in mind, I recently went on a hunt for things to use the baby cereal as an ingredient in. The problem that I was running into was that a lot of the recipes I found for things like cookies or muffins had added sugar in them in addition to whatever fruits or vegetables they were adding in as well. One recipe even added molasses on top of the sugar (and bananas and another fruit).

The last thing I think my energetic toddler needs is more sugar.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands and played around with a couple of different ideas. What I ended up with ultimately are these applesauce mini muffins. They use 7 ingredients of which NONE of them are sugar, are all usually found in my house, and for the most part are things that I would be feeding him anyways.

Baby Applesauce Mini Muffins 

(makes about 20 muffins)

Ingredients*:
- 1/2 cup Baby Cereal (I used Earth's Best Multigrain cereal)
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp whole milk

Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spray mini-muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a larger bowl, combine cereal, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- In a smaller bowl, combine egg, applesauce, and milk until egg is well beaten.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Put the batter into the muffin tin and bake for 10-13 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly).
- Put on cooling rack or plate and allow to cool completely before serving.

I am a firm believer of not feeding anything to my son without trying it myself first, so I made sure I tried one of these before giving him one. They are actually pretty good! These little muffins are incredibly moist even when cooked through. After they cooled, I put them in an airtight baggie in our fridge and I expect them to keep for a few days (maybe 4 or so), so the next time I make them I will try freezing half the batch to see how they fare in the freezer.

But did they pass the ultimate test?

Our little man ate 3 of these yesterday and one so far today. He shoves it in his mouth as soon as I hand him and devours it. I'd say that they're kid-worthy.

*These are not dairy or egg free. I have not tried cooking these with egg substitute or soy/almond/rice milk. If you DO try to make these with substitutions, please leave a comment and let me know how it works out for you! Would love to hear (and you never know, our next kid might have an allergy I'll need to work with)!

12 New Things - Sushi

Those of you who read my blog regularly might remember that I had joined the 12 New Things challenge last year and checked three things off of my list (covering chairs, making my own black bean burgers, and snorkeling). Those of you who are good at math are thinking right now that three does not equal twelve.

You're right - it equals three. Good job.

Anyways, in full disclosure the challenge fizzled out across the board. The originator openly admitted her life was incredibly crazy and she couldn't keep up; truth be told, I just lost track. So now my "12 New Things" list is still in action, it's just significantly slower going than was originally intended.

Now that the confessions are out of the way... I am pleased to announce that I can finally check one off the list (that I had actually been putting off for a lot longer than the existence of the list): I tried sushi.

When Steve and I went to Martha's Vineyard, we had originally wanted to have dinner our first night at the Offshore Ale Company because the idea of a fun, pub dinner appealed to us. We arrived, discovered they had a 45-minute wait, put our name in - and looked elsewhere to see if we could find something else. After a check on Yelp, we decided to walk a couple of blocks over to the Lookout Tavern. They got great reviews... including rave reviews about their sushi.

I looked at Steve. We agreed. It was time for me to try the raw slimy stuff.

To start, I have to say that I loved the atmosphere of Lookout Tavern. It's seat yourself, super laid back, has a chill bar-ish atmosphere without being loud & obnoxious. The place breeds friendly, social contact among its patrons; we sat next to a group of women who were out for dinner & drinks that were pleasant to talk with. Not only that - but the waitstaff were fantastic. Our waiter was personable, offered up great suggestions, was prompt and attentive. We really enjoyed our visit and all the food was great. Plus, they served Magner's Hard Cider which is an automatic win in my book.

Mmmmm... Magners...

But enough about that. I know you're chomping at the bit, wondering about my first foray into the world of sushi.

After perusing their relatively extensive sushi menu and resisting the temptation to fall back upon tempura (which is fried and therefore not entirely sushi in my opinion), we decided to get two rolls to share. We ordered a spicy tuna roll and a yellowfin crunchy roll; somewhere in the back of my head I heard an old college friend's voice telling me that tuna was probably the right way to go when I finally did try sushi, so that was part of what drove the decision. It came out quickly, I took a deep breath, and followed the soy-sauce dipping instructions of my handsome companion. Without further delay... I popped the first spicy tuna roll in my mouth and took my first taste of raw-fish sushi.

Open wide! And don't mock my terrible chopsticks technique.

What happened next was almost like a scene out of a 1980's Life cereal commercial with me as the Mikey character: I liked it! Danielle liked it!

I really, really enjoyed every bite of the sushi that we got. The spicy tuna was quite good, but the yellowfin crunchy roll was my favorite. What made it crunchy were breadcrumbs around the outside and a small bite of apple rolled in with the fish & avocado. The flavors were so good that I had to resist the temptation to steal some of Steve's 4 pieces that he had for himself. The most impressive part in my opinion? I was enjoying the sushi so much that I didn't want to taint the taste of it with anymore soy sauce. I ate it in its raw, naked state until the last piece of my share of the sushi was gone.

And I wanted more... but we had a chicken sandwich coming that we were going to share and we also had our excursion to Back Door Donuts to take into consideration. Alas, no more sushi for me that night. The good news though - especially for Steve who loves food adventures - is that I've opened up a whole new level of the game of food for myself. With so many friends that love to go out for sushi, I no longer have to be the wet blanket who whines and says "waaah... but I don't liiiike sushi..."

Because I do. I like sushi, and want to try more of it.

Go 'Round Back

Steve and I are planners by nature, so of course when we knew we had a weekend coming up in Martha's Vineyard we needed to make sure we mapped out places we were going to eat. While looking through Yelp and a couple of travel books for recommended places, Steve stumbled upon this place called "Back Door Donuts".

Before I go any further, if you don't know then you should know that my husband has a weakness for baked goods. Delicious warm cookies or donuts are a huge temptation for him, and that weakness is multiplied exponentially when the words "apple fritter" or "cannoli" are involved.

So imagine the reaction when, while looking through Yelp reviews of "Back Door Donuts", that Steve had when more than one reviewer left comments that the apple fritters served at this establishment were "orgasmic". I do believe there was eye-popping and excited pointing at my laptop that had I not immediately typed furiously onto the keyboard and added it to the list we were compiling, I'm pretty sure Steve might have exploded like the old Starburst commercials. Needless to say - we were going to Back Door Donuts.

After a shared dinner at The Lookout in Oak Bluffs, we made our way over to BDD. We had checked at the front counter earlier in the day (the store is actually called "Martha's Vineyard Gourmet Bakery") and knew 7:30 PM was the magical time that they started to serve donuts & pastries. What we didn't know was where to find them; we could smell them, but didn't know where to go to get them. The nice lady at the counter told us to follow the building and head around to the back - and that we'd know where to go from there. She wasn't kidding - when we got to the back of the building, there was quite a line already formed waiting for the deliciousness.

Steve stepped out of line to snap this. You can see me across from the lady in the white t-shirt. I'm wearing a blue sweatshirt, glasses, and have a lighter blue purse handle.

I will say this about standing in a line like this: there's a feeling that comes along with. A feeling of coolness, a feeling of being in the "in-club", those who KNOW things. This isn't the kind of place that you stumble on while walking through downtown Oak Bluffs; you won't see the line while strolling by shops and restaurants because the back door is nestled between the back of a small mom & pop grocer and the small strip of shops the bakery's front is in. Basically - in order to find this place you have to KNOW about it before getting to it somehow.

After about a 10-minute wait in line, we were at the window. We ordered an apple-fritter each and shared a glazed donut. After hearing me order an apple fritter, Steve pointed at a monstrosity and commented that I should have gotten the cinnamon bun... what he didn't realize that we soon discovered is that the plate-sized object he pointed at was the famed apple fritter itself. It was seriously the size of a salad plate, was warm and gooey (but not TOO gooey), and had a smattering of fresh cinnamon apples across the top. Frankly, it looked closer to a loaf of apple monkey bread than an apple fritter... and also looked delicious, which made us excited to dig in.

Fritter sitting on Steve's lap waiting to be eaten. It's freaking huge.

We got about halfway through this beast before we had to take a break; thankfully, Steve had run into the front of the bakery and got us some waters to help wash it down. It was SO good. It was warm, sticky without making you filthy and gross feeling, had what could be the perfect amount of cinnamon, wasn't greasy but yet almost melted in your mouth. What I loved about this fritter over others is that instead of that jellied apple goo, they actually put fresh chopped apples tossed in cinnamon sugar on top. It was the perfect "garnish" to this giant, delicious fried cake. Needless to say that even after sharing dinner and purposely leaving room for this puppy, we were both incredibly full.

But the question is: was it worth it? Absolutely. We made sure that others who were walking by smelling our delicious fritters knew exactly where they could get them. One couple saw us eating them, assumed we got them from the bakery, and when the wife went inside I told the husband to get her out of there and go around to the back. He ran in after her and off they went. It was awesome helping others to be "in the know", spreading the word about the amazingness that is Back Door Donuts.

Mission Cookbook: Chicken Piccata

Quite some time ago (I mean like... 3 years?) I gave Steve a coupon that allowed him to choose whatever meal he wanted and I would cook it. He chose chicken piccata over angel hair pasta with fresh green beans. Time passed... like... 3 years... and I finally got around to cooking it.

Like... 3 months ago. And I'm just now posting it. GO ME.

At any rate - without any further delay - I present to you...

Mission Cookbook: Chicken Piccata

Part of the reason I never got around to cooking this was (I think) a subconscious avoidance. The truth is that I'm not a giant fan of overly-tangy-citrus flavors when they're cooked in my food. I don't mind them in a lemonade or some sort of sweet flavor, but when it comes to savory dishes I tend to avoid it. I'm the chick that never EVER squeezes the lemon over her seafood. The rest of it was that we were trying to lose weight, and buttery, saucy, dredged chicken over starchy pasta isn't really diet friendly. Once we hit goal - it was time for me to get past my citrus issue and get to cooking!

We scoured the cookbooks we have in-house and decided on the version of the recipe featured in our Cooking with Mickey cookbook. Say what you want about the kitchy-ness of Disney, they make some DARNED good food; if you don't believe me, I can give you a list of places I'll demand you try in order to prove you wrong. At any rate, I gathered my ingredients and got to work.

First things first: I must give yet another shout-out to my Le Creuset Dutch Oven. This thing is freaking amazing. I use it constantly when I'm cooking for things as simple as mashed potatoes to all sorts of complicated dishes... like chicken piccata. Check out this live-action shot of the dredged chicken frying away in the Le Creuset. It is seriously my favorite piece of kitchen equipment ever.

Can I even begin to tell you how awesome it is to deglaze this pot and get all the brown bits up? Once I hit the pan with the white wine and chicken stock it came right up - not an ounce of flavor was missed. Also, I was surprised at how simple it was to make the piccata. I was envisioning some super complicated process of sauce making and it wasn't bad at all. Truthfully, making the dish was pretty fun!

Now for the taste: I am pleased to announce (mostly for myself) that while the flavor was definitely distinctly lemon, it wasn't so bad that I wanted to pucker my face off and ignore the dish. Truthfully, it was quite good. The recipe in the book also allowed the chicken to maintain its moisture and it was one of the best chicken dishes I've ever had in my home. The angel hair pasta was the perfect choice to pair with the delicate nature of the chicken & sauce, and any green vegetable with a sweetness to it (think peas or green beans) are a wonderful compliment as well.

When I told Steve I was finally writing this post, he said "Oh THAT? That was fantastic!" so I think that it won over my main food critic as well. I would definitely make this dish again; I think that it's one that is great for an inside date night (which is what we had it for) or having another couple over for dinner. If anyone has this cookbook and has thought about the recipe - don't think anymore. Just make it. It's simple and delicious.

Bite-Sized Snackers

A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at making a savory mini-muffin. I have no idea what inspired me to do this, maybe it was the half of a red-bell pepper that was leftover in the vegetable drawer and maybe it was a craving for a snack. Either way, I whipped up a quick snack for Steve & I that was pretty good and easy to make.

Savory 2-Bite Snackers

(Makes 1 dozen mini-muffins)

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
- 1 tsp minced garlic (from a jar - I'm really high-class)
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup shredded asiago OR shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese (AKA "Shaky Cheese" that you put on pasta)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp dried basil

Batter never looks appetizing, does it? At least not unless it's cookies. Or brownies.

Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 and coat a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray.
- Combine first 8 ingredients in a medium mixing bowl (flour through salt).
- Add the egg and fold into dry ingredients until combined.
- Add the cheese and combine into mixture.
- Add EVOO, water, and basil and combine into batter.
- Distribute batter evenly in the 12 "cups" of the mini-muffin pan.
- Cook in 350 degree oven until toothpick comes out clean (about 9-12 minutes).
- Serve with warm spaghetti sauce for dipping.

Warm from the oven.

These are really tasty and can be addicting (there, I warned you). When I made them, the first thing that Steve noticed about them is that they almost taste like they have cornmeal in them. I think that's a combination of the whole wheat flour and the grated parmesan cheese, but it's a really cool texture.

Ready to eat!

Dipping them in the warm spaghetti sauce (we use Trader Joe's Tomato Basil marinara) adds a great extra flavor to the snack. Give these a try - if you don't have a mini-muffin pan, you might be able to make a dozen "cookies" out of them as well. I haven't tried that yet, but if you do - let me know how it works out!

Top 5 - Looking Ahead

The folks on the radio this morning said that there's going to be a freak day of just about 70 degrees today before it heads back into our seasonal normal temperature of the 40s over the weekend. These brief glimpses of spring that we tend to get in March in New England make me excited for blooming flowers, budding branches, disappearance of snow, birds chirping... Spring is one of my favorite seasons. So with that, I can't help but think about the

Top 5 Things I'm Looking Forward to 

With Spring's Arrival

Running Outside: Last year I shared with you my new-found enjoyment of running. While I don't mind running on the treadmill and have been seeing improvement in that area, I need to get outside where the pavement doesn't help propel me forward and the fresh air fills up my lungs. I'm excited for consistently nice weather so that I can get out there and let the rubber of my soles meet the road instead of the rotating belt of a treadmill.



View Larger Map

Lake Quannapowitt - Where I ran my first 5K!

Steve Grilling: Yes, I know that a lot of hearty New Englanders will grill all winter. But... Steve and I are not fans of hanging around outside in the cold, so when the weather gets that chill in the air we move inside and the cooking takes place over the gas of our stove rather than the grill. Spring's arrival means that Steve starts to get the grilling "itch", and now that we have a house he's already looking for times when it won't be freezing and he can start grilling. Since it saves money on the gas bill, gives me a break from after-work cooking, and makes Steve happy - I love when grill-time hits. (Plus - it's freaking delicious!!!)

Steve's inaugural grilling at our house - 2010. Complete with beer.

Our Garden: Last year we moved into our house in July which means that we missed half of a season (roughly) of what the flowers in our garden do in terms of blooming or what they are. I'm excited to start this year off as the snow melts and the first leaves & buds start to appear on the bushes and stems of the garden. I'm looking forward to more time with our irises before they're out of season, the purple blanket flowers in the backyard, and being able to spend more time with roses and lilies in full bloom.

Can't wait for areas like this one to start coming into bud & bloom!

4-40 Drives Home From Work: I believe that in the past I've shared with you my guilty pleasure of singing in the car, and the spring is my absolute favorite time to do that. Yesterday with temperatures in the 60's I dropped the front 2 windows, blasted some tunes, sang along with them, and yes - even car danced a bit. Sorry, but when Shaggy & Josey Wales start singing "Sweet Jamaica" I'm forced to extreme measures. For those of you who saw me on route 3 dancing while waiting to get through the traffic to the Drum Hill Rotary yesterday - you're just jealous you don't have as much fun in the car as I do.

Don't even say you wouldn't be dancing too. I won't believe you.

Closer to Summer: Summers now that we've moved have changed, and I'm actually looking forward to it now more than ever. I can't wait for summer evenings on the deck enjoying dinner & drinks with Steve, friends and family who come over, and the birds that fly around our neighborhood. Weekends out in the garden with the sun beating down on us, getting my hands dirty and just enjoying keeping up with everything out there. Sunday mornings on the front porch enjoying my coffee. Home improvement projects that I'll get to work on side-by-side with Steve, enjoying each other's company as well as knocking some things off the "punch list". Participating in my very first CSA from a farm right here in our town - Bear Hill Farm. There is so much that I am looking forward to this summer - so many little things that are just going to be a ton of fun - that I am excited about it.

Are you excited for spring?What are you excited about?

The Fruits of Idle Hands - Part 2

As I mentioned in my last post - on Sunday in a fit of borderline boredom I went nuts creating and cooking. The results were the previously posted apple-cranberry spice cake and the recipe in the post you're currently reading - carrot soup. Both of these were smash hits with the husband, which made me a bit excited since I was flying by the seat of my pants making things I'd never made anything similar to before. In fact, the carrot soup was such a hit that this morning Steve looked at me and said "When are we making carrot soup again? Any answer other than '10 minutes from now' is unacceptable."

Clearly he was joking (we decided on this weekend to prepare for 2 nights of dinners next week). Anyways - I'll get on with it:

Danielle's Carrot Soup 

(Makes 4 servings)

Yummy soup - but Chef Anne Burrell would yell at me for messy bowls.

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oils
- 4 cups chopped raw carrots
- 1 cup chopped red onions
- 1.5 cups vegetable stock
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp curry powder

Method:
- In a medium sized pot, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat.
- Add the carrots & onions and saute for about 5-7 minutes until onions begin to become opaque/translucent.
- Add the vegetable stock & water and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes or until carrots are fork-tender.
- Add remaining ingredients, stirring until they are fully combined. Allow to simmer for another 1-2 minutes or so to allow flavors to intermingle.
- Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.
- Pour all ingredients in blender and blend until completely pureed. If it seems a bit thick, add 1/4 cup water and blend again. Note - this should be a thicker soup, we found our perfect consistency to be kind of the same as a thicker tomato bisque would be.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for future use.

As with any soup, there are things that you can add in to this. We've tested out both some Trader Joe's apple chicken sausage on one night and peas on another night. The peas - I thought - were a perfect addition to the soup, whereas the sausage seemed kind of out of place. We also served this with naan on the side and it was a perfect compliment to the dish. It's a great way to warm your core and I think can easily fall into the "comfort food" category.

Man... I love to cook.

Incase you're interested - the nutrition information for this recipe can be found here: Nutrition Information.

Side note - the sub-moral of the story is that all the watching of cooking shows in my life is seemingly paying off. I'm apparently learning through osmosis what flavor profiles go well together as well as some basics of how to do things. 

The Fruits of Idle Hands - Part One

After a full day yesterday of serving at a local homeless drop-in center and catching up with the housework & laundry we'd fallen behind on, Steve and I decided to lay-low today and just spend some time with each other. For the most part we did (the exception being a way-too-delayed visit to my grandmother), and around 6:00 PM I was hit with a wave of being bored.

I wasn't much feeling like conversation so I didn't call anyone. I wasn't much feeling like emailing or reading (I'd already done both). Facebook just causes further boredom. There's only so much web-surfing one can do before they lose their mind.

So... what did I do?

I opened my refrigerator and pantry. I looked at what I had on-hand. And I got to work creating some tasty treats. The first thing I created was...

Apple-Cranberry Spice Cake

Ingredients:

DRY:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 rounded tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup dried cranberries
WET:
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter (1 stick), melted
- ½ cup almond milk
- 1 apple, diced

Method: 

- Preheat oven to 350 & grease 8x8 baking dish

- Combine dry ingredients in medium sized bowl (I used a fork)

- Combine wet ingredients in smaller bowl (I used a spoon)

- Add wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl, and combine by folding with a spatula

- Pour batter into baking dish and spread evenly across the pan

- Bake for about 40 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean). 

Now... if I'm going to be honest as I was pouring the batter into the baking dish, my fear was that the cake was going to come out rather dense. This was not at all the case - it was rather a light cake considering the consistency of the batter. It was quite tasty and unfortunately for my diet quite addicting.  Steve and I had a hard time stopping ourselves for going back and forth for more starting with the initial taste test to our actual serving time. This ended up becoming our dinner - which was fine because we ate enough of it to be a meal!

I think we might have had too much cake...

Tomorrow I'll share with you the other dish that I created - my version of carrot soup!