Kids Veg'n Nuggets

 Veg'n Nuggets

This is a recipe that will be there for you when you're busy/running behind/have a child pulling at your pant leg screaming...and you need to get a healthy lunch in their bellies in a HURRY!

It is a delicious recipe for nuggets that are packed with nutrition and fun to eat! They are crunchy and sturdy and perfect for dipping. They freeze well, so they can be ready in a flash for a quick, healthy meal. This recipe makes about 30 nuggets so that's more than 7 meals that will be ready and waiting in the freezer! It takes a little prep work, but this can be done in stages (see recipe below) or all at once. The trick is to just steam the veggies until fork tender and then cool them quickly in an ice bath. You don't want them to get mushy. The nuggets are tasty and simple on their own, or can be dipped in all kinds of dipping sauces: peanut, tomato, avocado, orange-miso....go nuts!

Ingredients:

 1 small head broccoli separated into little trees

4 large carrots peeled and cut lengthwise and in half

4 small fingerling potatoes cut into quarters NOT peeled (about 1 cup)

1 can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed

1/2 cup raw walnuts chopped up

2 T flax seed, ground into flax meal
1 cup breadcrumbs

1 plus 1/2 T nutritional yeast 

1 plus 1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 t onion powder

1/4 t salt

Phase 1 Prep (15 min):

-Spread walnuts out on a baking sheet and bake at 325* for about 5-6 minutes

-Fill large bowl full of ice water and set aside

-Get a large steaming pot ready, place potatoes and carrots on the bottom, each on their own side, and the broccoli on top. Steam for about 5 minutes for the broccoli, or until just fork tender and about 7 minutes for the potato and carrots, or until just fork tender (you don't want them to get too soft).

-Transfer steamed veggies to ice water bowl and submerge. Drain and transfer to another bowl.  

**If this is all the time you have right now, place walnuts in airtight container once they cool and set aside. Cover slightly steamed veggies and place in fridge until you can complete next two phases.

Phase 2 Prep (5 min):

 -Place garbanzo beans in food processor and pulse a few times until most are chopped up a bit, some beans will still be whole, and that's ok. Transfer beans into a large bowl. (This phase can be done with a potato masher if you don't have a food processor (or don't want to get your food processor dirty) see picture below).

-place slightly steamed veggies in food processor and pulse a few times until chopped up a bit. You don't want to over process, you want small chunks of veg. Transfer veg to bowl with beans. 

-Add walnuts, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. Mix.

**This is also a good stopping place if you can't finish the final phase right now. Just cover bowl and place in fridge until you can finish the nuggets.

For phase 2, you can replace food processor with potato masher. Follow same steps: first garbanzo beans, then veg. Only smash up. Leave small chunks.

Phase 3 Prep (10 min to make nuggets plus 30 min bake time):

-In small bowl add 6T hot water to the 2T ground flaxseed. Whisk together.

-Spread breadcrumbs out on a plate.

-Generously spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

-Set up your nugget-forming area by lining up nugget mixture bowl, flax bowl, breadcrumbs plate and cookie sheet.

-Start forming nuggets by taking a little over 1T of nugget mixture and forming into rectangles. Dip rectangle into flaxseed bowl and shake off excess flax mixture. Dip into breadcrumbs on both sides, then line up on cookie sheet.

Clockwise from top right: nugget mixture, cookie sheet, bread crumbs, flaxseed bowl.

-Bake at 375* for 30 minutes, flipping the nuggets after 15 minutes

 To Freeze:

Cool completely. Put nuggets in freezer-zip bag and then place bag in air tight container. They will last for months.

To eat from freezer:

350* for 12 minutes

NUTRITION:

Broccoli is a super food. So many vitamins and minerals...if our kids are eating broccoli each day, we are definitely doing something right! Fingerling potatoes have their nutrients concentrated in the peel, that's why we keep it on. Vitamin C and potassium as well as carbs to keep our kids fueled. The garbanzo beans and the walnuts are our protein source in these super-healthy nuggets. Garbanzo beans also contain vitamins and minerals and significantly boost your intake of manganese and folate. Walnuts also have those awesome Omega-3s.

Almond Milk and Almond Meal

 Almond Milk

Ahhhhhh Almond milk. So easy to make and so delicious. 

If you are the kind of person that uses a lot of nuts in your daily cooking (like me) and you buy your nuts in bulk, this is definitely the way to get your milk fix. One cup of almonds makes over 4 cups of milk so again, if you're buying nuts in bulk, that comes out to be cheaper than buying the watery tasting almond milk you see on the grocery store shelves. PLUS there's the convenience factor. There's a lot to be said for the peace of mind you feel when you've run out of milk and need a splash in your coffee or a 1/2 cup for the soup you're making right now! ...you just grab your soaking nuts and blend them up and PRESTO! milk!

That brings me to another motto we have in our kitchen: Always be Soaking. 

Our kitchen counter constantly looks like we're conducting multiple middle school science projects at once. Between the cashews that are soaking for a quick velvety sauce, the sprouting lentils, the soaking beans and the almonds....there is a constant rotation of questionable looking mason jars on the counter.

RECIPE:

Sweetened Almond Milk:

1 cup almonds

2 plump dates (if your pitted dates are leathery, soak in hot water for an hour to re-plump)
1/4 t vanilla (more if you really like vanilla milk. I only like a hint of vanilla)
Small pinch cinnamon (a little goes a long way in this recipe)
Pinch of salt

you'll also need something to strain with: nut milk bag like this one or cheese cloth work best.

Unsweetened Almond Milk:

1 cup almonds

pinch of salt

Soak almonds in a bowl of water overnight. If you don't have that much time, I've made almond milk after soaking 4 hours and it still tasted great. After soak, drain almonds and add to blender with 4.5 cups water and the rest of the ingredients. (If you don't have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, use 3.5-4 cups water. A lower powered blender doesn't quite pulverize the nuts like a high powered.) 

Blend it on high for a couple minutes. You'll see the change from water to milk pretty quickly and it'll foam up a bit. Pour milk through strainer into large container and squeeze out all the liquid. Keep in refrigerator for a week to a week and a half in an airtight container. 

I usually do a batch of both sweet and unsweetened every couple weeks because I like them for different reasons....I like sweet in my coffee and oatmeal, unsweetened in recipes....and my 1 year old son likes them both equally for a special "milk juice" snack! The almond flavor when your make your own just doesn't compare to the store bought milks.

BUT WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THIS ALMOND MEAL??

haha. 

You jump for joy because you are saving even more money!!

I use almond meal in pancakes, crumbles, cookies....I substitute about 25-50% almond meal in place of regular flour in these items.  I also bake it into our weekly loaves of sandwich bread by using the almond meal in place of the quinoa or oat flour in this recipe. The bread comes out dense and nutty. delicious!

RECIPE:

Almond Meal

spread out the almond meal you have leftover in your nut milk strainer onto a cookie sheet. bake in the oven at 200* for two hours. this will dry it out into the larger clumps you see in the picture above. then whiz it through a food processor to create the fine flour texture. store in an airtight container in pantry or in fridge.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

Almonds do contain a good amount of Calcium, like you would expect to have in a glass of milk. The milks you buy in stores are fortified to contain vitamin D and added Calcium among other things....so obviously the milk you're making at home does not have those additives. The fact is, human beings do not need milk on a daily basis in order to maintain proper levels of Calcium and vitamin D. We eat Calcium in all types of food throughout the day (collard greens, broccoli, sesame seeds...) and do not need to rely on milk for our main calcium source. There are certain ages in your life during different developmental stages that your body requires more calcium and vitamin D (like children under age 2, teens ages 14-18) so it's important to do a check every now and again to make sure needs are being met. Plant sources of Calcium are more easily absorbed into the body than animal sources.

Granola and "yogurt"

Homemade Granola and "yogurt"

After switching to a completely vegan diet, there are definitely some old standards that I miss...usually around breakfast time. Eggs and yogurt were my regular go-to's in the morning. They were yummy, healthy (in a non-vegan mind) and so easy. Now my breakfast is usually a big green drink and either oatmeal or waffles or a couple of bananas and a handful of nuts (if I'm short on time or feeling lazy). However, recently my husband dropped most dairy from his diet as well, and he is going through the no egg, no yogurt blues....so with the help of some vegan friends, we have a new morning standard in our house! Both the "yogurt" and Granola are so easy it's kind of funny how little effort they take! Make each at the beginning of the week, and have breakfast ready to go each morning!

Owen's yogurt and granola breakfast with stawberries

RECIPES:
the "yogurt" is actually Oh She Glows Pudding recipe found in her book. It's simply chia seeds and homemade almond milk (or whatever non-dairy milk you prefer) mixed with a little sweetener. You just mix up all ingredients and put in fridge over night. YUM. She has an equally yummy chia recipe on her blog found here.
If you have not heard of Oh She Glows yet, pause now and google. Her cookbook is totally worth the $$.

Yogurt:

2 cups almond milk

6 T chia seeds

2 T maple syrup

1t vanilla

whisk together all ingredients in a bowl vigorously for about 1 minute. let sit for 2 minutes. whisk vigorously again for 1 minute. Pour mix into one large mason jar or a few smaller mason jars, screw on lids and place in refrigerator. Check on the jars after 5-10 minutes and if you see the chia seeds have settled to the bottom half of the jar, shake up the jar. this will evenly distribute the chia again for the perfect consistency. Let jars sit in fridge overnight. This batch is about 4-5 servings.

The Granola recipe is from some vegan friends here in Charlottesville that run a blog called VeganScratch.com. There are many great granola recipes out there, but this one is so simple and easy and DELICIOUS!

Granola:

3 cups Oats

1.5 cups chopped nuts (I use walnuts, almonds, pecans and sunflowerseeds)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 t salt

mix all ingredients together in large bowl and spread out on baking sheet. cook in 300* oven for 30min, then turn oven off and let sit in over for another 15min.

NUTRITION INFO:
Chia seeds are one of the best plant sources of Omega 3s plus they contain fiber, antioxidants, and they can be easily digested without being ground up or chewed up!

Granola tastes so great and contains one of my favorite ingredients to start the day: OATS! All that fiber and those great carbs to energize you the right way. Oats are low on the glycemic index, which is a ranking of how carbs affect your blood sugar levels. This means your body digests oats slowly, keeping you filled up with a nice and healthy, mellow energy.

Books worth buying

I love cookbooks. I read them before bed (i'm serious). I could spend a fortune on cookbooks, but I hold back because with all the awesome vegan blogs and online recipes (pinterest!) out there, there's really no need. I enjoy following recipes pretty often because I think it makes me a better cook. The more I get to know different flavor profiles and ingredients, the more successful I am when playing around with my own recipes.

For the most part, I look at recipes using one of these:

ipad stand
(with Hottie Black Eyed Peas from Post Punk Kitchen up. YUM)

This ipad stand was a gift from my husband and I use it daily. If you ask me, it was WAY too expensive (from William Sonoma) but there are other versions out there for under $20. 

Ok, back to the cookbooks pictured above. These are my favorite two cookbooks and I continue to go back to them time and time again. This is why I love each of them:

SUPER NATURAL COOKING 

by Heidi Swanson

There are great recipes in this book, but that's not the reason I love it. She has sections for different types of ingredients like grains, sweeteners, beans, etc. They are the staples she uses in her cooking. But instead of just listing them, each section has an intro that goes into the nutrition and history, and then she explains the flavors of each and how they will affect your recipes. It's awesome. I'm always going back to this one. 

OH SHE GLOWS

by Angela Liddon

Angela is a recipe-tester extraordinaire! She tests and tastes and tests and tastes until she gets the recipe just perfect. Every single recipe I have tried in this book is killer! If I have to make something on short notice for any type of event or even a potluck or whatever, I know that I can choose one of these recipes (even if I'm making it for the first time) and it'll be a sure-fire hit! GREAT recipes!!

To tofu or not to tofu

I think you either love tofu or you are a little freaked out by tofu. And I'll admit I used to think it was tasteless, processed, fake stuff. That was until I did a little research and did a little testing in the kitchen. The fact is, tofu is a quick and easy protein source that your kids will eat. The trick is, knowing what to buy and how to cook it.

What it is and what it isn't: tofu is not the highly processed fake food I once thought it was. It's simply soy beans that are boiled, puréed and strained, then pressed into a firm mass. Is it soy beans in their natural state? No. But it's not too far off! 

Twin Oaks tofu

Here in Virginia, we are lucky enough to have the intentional community called Twin Oaks making organic tofu for us by hand. We can find it at our local markets, but if you don't live in Virginia, the best tofu to buy (in my opinion) is extra firm organic. Definitely go organic with your soy products because soy is similar to corn as far as mass production goes, and they do some nasty things to plants...keep it clean and healthy. 

When to eat it: I think tofu is good for switching things up every now and again. My family has a tofu meal about once every two weeks or so. I think it's important to stick with veggies in their natural state (ie: a meal made from fresh produce, grains and legumes) but keeping meals exciting is important too. 

Toddler approved recipes: 

Owen will eat tofu right out of the package or with a little of my peanut sauce for dipping. But here are two recipes that are favorites for dinner and then lunch leftovers:

Vegan stuffed shells from pbs.org

 (thank you to my friend Elizabeth Howe for showing me this recipe)

 Click here for recipe

Tofu quiche

Ingredients:

1 Wholly Wholesome vegan pie crust (because as many times as I've tried I cannot make a crust to save my life)

1 package extra firm organic tofu

1 head steamed broccoli

1 roasted red pepper (optional)

1 medium yellow onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced 

1t thyme

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t rosemary

1/2 t sage

1/2 t parsley 

3-4 basil leaves chopped
1 tomato sliced for the top

Take pie crust out of freezer and thaw on counter. Heat up 1 T olive oil in pan and add onion. Cook a few minutes until translucent and add garlic, cook a minute more and turnoff heat. Break up tofu into 1 inch pieces and place in blender. Process until smooth (add a splash of milk if it's not getting to a smooth consistency on its own in the blender. You want it to be like a thick paste that doesn't leave the spoon if you take a big scoop and turn it upside down). When tofu is smooth, dump into a bowl and mix in onion and garlic, broccoli, red pepper and herbs. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Smooth this out into the pie crust, add sliced tomato and then bake at 375 for 35 minutes

Quick and easy Veg Curry

It's COLD outside (Arctic Blast)! 

Warm up with this quick and easy Vegan Curry. 

Yummy, healthy and as always, Owen approved!

ingredients:

1.5 cups dry green lentils

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T minced ginger root

1 T olive oil

1.5 T curry powder*

4.5 cups water

two big handfuls fresh spinach, chopped a little

heat oil in large pot over medium heat, add onion and cook until soft and translucent (3 min or so) add garlic and ginger and cook another minute. add curry powder and stir around for a minute until onions look curry-coated. add lentils, sweet potato, tomato and water. add a little pinch of salt and pepper. bring to a boil then simmer for about 45 minutes until lentils are soft. add spinach and stir for about a minute. then enjoy!

*Any curry powder will be great. I tend to get sucked into the spice area at Whole Foods and usually come out with at least three baggies of curries to try. Let your nose lead you!

Nutritional info: this is one big pot full of crazy-good nutrients to warm your body and soul. I could make a very long list of all the goodness...but I'll break it down to this: you're getting your protein from the lentils, your iron from the sweet potato and lentils, and the vitamin C in the sweet potato and tomato help you absorb that iron, so you know it's getting into your body!

Sweet Treats

Battling the Sweet Tooth

It's no secret that kids are partial to sweet food. 

It's also no secret that food is one of life's great pleasures, so we can't possibly deny our kids the sweet pleasures they are craving, right? right. 

The trick is choosing the right sweet foods. 

Processed sugar (white sugar) provides no benefits for your body. Zero. No nutrients. Also, it's addictive so the more processed sugar you consume, the more you'll crave. There's no good reason to have it in your pantry. There are so many alternatives and I promise, you and your kids will like these foods so much more than the candy, cookies, doughnuts, etc that leave you feeling jittery, cranky and gross. Once processed sugar is out of your house and replaced with delicious whole-food sweeteners, you won't even miss it!

Sweeteners we use in the Rapp house: 

100% pure maple syrup

Organic Blackstrap Molasses

Banana (favorite)

Apples/Homemade Applesauce

Pineapple

We use banana the most. Mash it up in your oatmeal, make cookies with mashed banana and oats, or make "icecream" with frozen bananas (recipe below). Frozen pineapple is a great sweet treat and can be used in banana ice cream for a more tropical flavor.

We use crushed up pineapple, applesauce, maple syrup and blackstrap molasses in baking. The following recipe link is a staple in our house. These carrot/molasses muffins are nutrient rich and delicious!

http://fortheloveofleaves.blogspot.com/2013/08/nutty-molasses-carrot-muffins-vegan.html

just made some of her carrot/molasses muffins this morning!

Nutrition info: 

Maple Syrup: 1/4 cup serving has 4% of your daily calcium need and 6% of your iron need

Molasses: Just 1 Tablespoon has 10% calcium, 15% iron, 10% B6. plus Magnesium and Potassium. 

**If you are veggie or vegan, you know the importance of eating good sources of iron and calcium. These are yummy, sweet ways to fill that need! (sometimes Owen and I sit down for a spoonful of Organic, unsulphured blackstrap molasses....it's a special treat and we love it!)

sampling the molasses

Banana "Ice Cream"

banana "icecream" with almonds and blueberries on top

Cut up three bananas into 1 inch slices and freeze on a tray for a few hours. (If you're going to leave them in the fridge to freeze for more than 5 hours, put them in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn). When you're ready for it, put all frozen slices into your blender and blend until creamy like ice cream. serve and enjoy! It's just banana so you can enjoy this treat any/everyday! (I ate this for breakfast a lot this summer!!)

the blender: frozen bananas turned into icecream!

note** If you do not have a high powered blender like a Vitamix you may have to add just a splash of milk (almond, soy, coconut) to get it to the right consistency.