Chicken Pot Pie (GF)

Serves 6

2 pie crusts*
2 T. butter
2 T. flour or GF cornstarch
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/8 t. thyme
1/2 c. chicken broth (homemade is best!)
1/2 c. whole milk
1-2 c. cooked, shredded chicken breast
2-3 c. frozen or fresh veggies (corn, peas, celery, onion, carrots, green beans, etc.)

1. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and blend in the flour or cornstarch and spices. Stir until smooth.

2. Immediately add the broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

3. Add chicken and veggies to sauce mixture. Place bottom pie crust in pie plate and pour filling into crust. Add top crust and pinch edges to seal.

5. Bake at 425 degrees for 35-40 min.

Delicious served with fresh fruit or a salad!

*For a wheat pie crust, use this recipe. For a gluten-free crust, try this one. Or purchase a store-bought crust.

Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad with Black Beans & Roasted Corn (GF)

It was in the high 80s yesterday--in the middle of May. My original intent was to make this salad as a side dish, along with some BLAT sandwiches (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato). However, in my stinking hot kitchen, just using the stove heats up the house a minimum of 3 degrees. Not cool with a single window AC unit for the entire first floor. No pun intended!

Needless to say, after roasting the corn and cooking the quinoa...I was way too hot to stand by the gas stove and cook the bacon. Sooo, our side dish became a main dish. I added some previously grilled chicken from the freezer (that I tossed in the microwave to reheat) and called it dinner.

My husband went back for seconds of this, and that says a lot! I ate the leftover today for lunch and it may have been even better on day #2. This would be such a yummy summer salad for cookouts and office potlucks. Or make up a batch on the weekend and eat it for lunches all week.

Mine could have used an extra squeeze of lime juice today, after soaking up the dressing all night--but I was out of limes. It was still delicious! However, it is something to keep in mind if you make this ahead for a picnic or lunches. You may want to add a little extra dressing right before serving.

Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad with Black Beans & Roasted Corn

Makes 6 servings (about 1 c. each)

1 c. Quinoa (I used red quinoa)
2 c. Chicken or Vegetable Broth
1 can (15 oz.) Black Beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 c.)
1 c. Roasted Corn*
1/2 c. Red Onion, diced
1 small green or red pepper, diced
1 pint Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. Cilantro, chopped
1 Avocado, diced (optional)

1/4 c. Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice (about 2 med. limes)
1 t. Lime Zest
1/4 c. Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1 t. Honey or Sugar (optional--I did not use, but you may prefer)
1 t. Cumin
Salt & Pepper

1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly and combine with 2 c. broth in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 min. Stir occasionally. Quinoa is done when liquid has cooked off, grain is soft and germ ring has appeared on the outer edge of the grain. Allow to cool.

2. In a small bowl combine lime juice, olive oil, lime zest, garlic, honey (if using), cumin, salt and pepper. Whisk well to emulsify.

3. Add cooled quinoa, roasted corn, black beans, green pepper, tomatoes, onions, avocado (if using) and cilantro to a large serving bowl. Pour lime dressing over quinoa mixture and toss to blend. Refrigerate 2 hours for best results.


*Heat 1 T. olive oil in a small saucepan at med/high heat and add 1 c. frozen corn. Sauté until corn just begins to blacken.

Living the Lutz Life: March Snowstorm, Stone Soup, Nature Walk & Missing Tooth

Last week we got a pretty decent March snowfall that caused all of the local schools to close. The snow was just perfect for building snowmen and making snowballs! The kids had a blast with their new snow friend.

                                               

I took Jackson sledding, but Charlotte thinks sledding is "too scary" so she played dress-up at her cousin Cora's house instead.

Jackson and I completed a unit on rocks last week and spent one afternoon making stone soup (note the "townspeople" who brought food to put in the soup! Ha!).

The temperatures were in the high 50s last Saturday, just 4 days after our big snowfall, and we took advantage of the beautiful day by walking around at Hobart Urban Nature Preserve. Note to self...buy rainboots for future spring nature walks!

 

We ran into the Easter Bunny at church last weekend! Charlotte was not a fan. at. all.  She wanted nothing whatsoever to do with him. Jackson, on the other hand, thought he was pure awesomeness.

See this kid?? You have never witnessed any 5 year old go as postal as this one did when he lost his first tooth on Monday night!! Raging hysteria, I'm tellin' ya. Don't let this sleepy morning after picture fool you. Head over to YouTube and watch it for yourself!

How did your son or daughter react to losing his/her first tooth?

Easy Hot Cocoa with Pumpkin Puree

My kids begged me to make them hot cocoa this morning and in an attempt to score some extra kid love, I agreed. Of course, I am always looking for ways to sneak in some additional nutrition or remake a recipe to be healthier. The pumpkin flavor is hard to detect in this hot cocoa and my little taste testers raved about it!

Canned pumpkin is on sale this week and I have been looking for other ways to work it into my children's meals because it is high in fiber and vitamin A. I typically add a couple spoonfuls to their applesauce along with some cinnamon and we love pumpkin waffles. I still cannot believe these muffins with pumpkin or carrot, peanut butter and banana are the most popular recipe on my blog! 

Seriously though, you can only use so much pumpkin. If I have a partial can, I freeze one tablespoon portions in an ice cube tray and pop the pumpkin cubes out into a freezer bag. That way I can add a cube to this hot cocoa, a bowl of oatmeal, applesauce or use multiple cubes when baking. {16 T. = 1 cup} No ice cube tray? Simply freeze one tablespoon blobs onto a cookie sheet and freeze!

Easy Hot Cocoa with Pumpkin Puree

Serves 2+

2 c. milk*

2 T. pumpkin puree

2 T. honey or sweetener of choice (more if desired)

2 t. pure vanilla extract

1 T. cocoa powder

marshmallows for serving (optional)

Mix pumpkin, honey, vanilla and cocoa in a small saucepan to form a thick chocolate paste.

Turn stove to med-low and gradually whisk in the milk. Heat until not quite simmering.

Pour into mugs and top with marshmallows for serving. This makes 2 adult size or 3 child size servings. Add a little brewed coffee for a grown-up mocha treat!

*Feel free to use a non-dairy milk, like almond milk, and adjust the sweetness as needed.

For a single serving--Mix 1 T. pumpkin, 1 T. honey, 1 t. vanilla and 1/2 T. cocoa in a large mug. Stir to form a paste. Gradually pour in 1 c. of milk, stir well and microwave 1-2 min. until hot. Stir again and add marshmallows.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles

Makes 8 square waffles

1 3/4 c. white whole wheat flour or spelt flour
1/4 c. ground flax seed (or use an extra 1/4 c. of flour)
1 t. salt
1 T. baking powder
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
3 T. sucanat (dehydrated natural sugar cane) or brown sugar 
3/4 c. pureed or canned pumpkin*
1 t. vanilla
1 c. milk
1/4 c. melted butter or coconut oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Use any or all of the following for serving:
Pure maple syrup
Fruit
Yogurt 
Nuts

1. While your waffle iron is preheating, stir together flour, flax, salt, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice in a small mixing bowl. 

2. In a larger bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, milk, butter and beaten eggs with a wire whisk until thoroughly combined. 

3. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well mixed. The batter will be fairly thick and more "scoopable" than "pourable".

4. Scoop about 1/2 c. batter (for each square waffle) onto hot waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer instructions for your iron.

5. Serve warm with syrup, fruit, yogurt and/or nuts.

*Feel free to substitute another fruit or veggie puree for the pumpkin and change up the spices. Use sweet potato, squash, zucchini, applesauce, mashed banana, etc.

Spaghetti Sauce with Hidden Veggies

I have adapted this recipe to the preferences of my own family. You may like yours less sweet, less chunky, with more garlic, etc. Feel free to take this recipe and tweak it to your liking. I would suggest adding the spices gradually and tasting as you go in order to come up with the "perfect" sauce. Don't forget to write down how much you added of each thing so that you can make it again!

Makes 2 quarts+ of sauce. Leftover sauce can be frozen for another meal.


29 oz. can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
29 oz. can petite diced tomatoes (or another can of crushed tomatoes if you don't like "chunks" in your sauce)
1 t. salt
1 t. parsley, dried
1 t. oregano, dried
3/4 t. onion powder
1 1/2 t. basil, dried
3/4 t. garlic powder (to taste)
pinch black pepper
2 T. sugar (optional--we like ours a tiny bit sweet)
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

2 T. olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic (more if desired), pressed
2 c. finely chopped veggies of choice (zucchini, mushrooms, onion, red or green peppers, carrots, spinach, etc.)


1. In a large saucepan (at least 3 qt.), heat the oil on med. heat and saute the garlic, onions and veggies just until tender. See note at the bottom for ways of disguising the veggies.


2. Remove the veggies to puree (if doing so) and then add them back to the same pot. Otherwise, add the remaining ingredients to the cooked veggies and simmer on low 30 min. or more. I sometimes leave mine on for hours to simmer and the smell is amazing.  Alternately, the cooked veggies can be added to the crockpot with the crushed tomatoes and seasonings and left to cook all day.




Tips for Dealing with Picky Eaters:  If your family doesn't like the texture of chunky sauce, you can puree the veggies, along with the can of diced tomatoes, in the blender and then add back to the pot to cook. You may need a bit of water if the veggie puree thickens it up too much.

If you don't mind chunky but they won't eat "green stuff", I recommend using yellow summer squash (looks like zucchini), mushrooms, carrots & red pepper as they blend in better with the tomato based sauce than the green veggies do.

Peanut Butter Muffins with Carrot & Banana (GF)

This is a delicious, moist muffin that is full of wholesome ingredients you can feel good about giving your kids. These muffins freeze and re-heat well, too. They have protein from the peanut butter and egg, whole grains*, and even a vegetable! A word of caution--they are not an overly sweet muffin; however, our family feels the honey and banana give these just the perfect touch of sweetness. Feel free to substitute a different orange veggie for the carrot. Pumpkin or sweet potato would be other good choices.

Yields 12 muffins

1/2 c. mashed banana
1/2 c. pureed cooked carrots (or sweet potato or pumpkin...mmmm!!)
1/2 c. natural (no-added sugar) peanut butter
1/4--1/2 c honey (I used 1/4 c.)
1 egg
1/4 c .softened butter or coconut oil
1/4 c. packed brown sugar or sucanat
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. sea salt
1 c. whole wheat flour (or use oat flour to make these GF)

2 T. ground flax seed (optional)
 

1.  Mix all dry ingredients, EXCEPT BROWN SUGAR in a small bowl.

2.  In a larger mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients and blend throughly.               

3.  Gradually add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Batter may be slightly lumpy.

4.  Fold in the brown sugar and stir just once or twice. This will create a strudel like crunch on the top!

5.  Spoon batter into 12 greased or paper lined muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min. Makes 12 muffins.

**I sprinkled these with large crystal, turbinado (raw unrefined) sugar during the last 3 min of baking to create a bakery-like appearance.

Adapted from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

Crustless Pumpkin Pie (GF)

Photo credit: All Recipes

Serves 6

3/4 c. sugar or sucanat (or 1/2 c. honey or pure maple syrup)
2 c. canned pumpkin (15 oz. can)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
3/4 c. evaporated milk or half-n-half
2 t. pumpkin pie spice (or 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. nutmeg, 1/4 t. allspice, 1/4 t. cloves)


1. Beat sugar, egg and pumpkin until well combined.

2. Stir in vanilla, milk and spices until thoroughly blended.

3. Pour into a greased 9-in. pie plate. Place pie plate in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 2-in. baking pan; carefully add 1/2 in. of hot water to baking pan (around the pie plate) to create a hot water bath. 

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve with homemade real whipped cream, if desired.

Pasta Carbonara

Photo credit: Kraft Foods

Serves 4

1/2 lb. fettuccine, spaghetti or other pasta

4 slices nitrate-free bacon, chopped

4 oz. (1/2 of 8 oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed

1 c. frozen peas

1 c. other frozen veggies (ie. broccoli, carrots, peppers, etc.--optional)

3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

1/2--1 t. garlic, minced (to taste)

 

1.  Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings in skillet. Drain bacon on paper towels.

2.  Add veggies and garlic to bacon drippings and saute lightly. Turn off heat (or turn to lowest setting) and cover skillet to keep veggies warm.

3.  In a small saucepan, add milk, parmesan cheese and cream cheese; cook on low heat until cream cheese is melted and mixture is well blended and heated through.

3.  Drain pasta; place in large bowl. Add cream cheese sauce, sauteed veggies and bacon; mix lightly. Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from this Kraft recipe.