#2 Almost Homemade Chips

At my house a treat has always been chips of any kind.  Generally, the only time chips purchased are for BBQ's we're attending or parties.  Instead a great treat for them is to make the chips from tortilla's.

There are probably 100's of ways to make these, but here are a few ideas:

Lemon or Lime Tortilla Chips
-1 pkg of 8, Flour or Wheat Tortilla's cut into 6-8 wedges.
-Brush each side with lemon or lime juice, sprinkle with salt (I only use kosher salt/sea salt)
-Put in single layer on baking sheet(s).  Bake at 400 F for 8-10 minutes or until crisp (edges will be browned and crisp).
-Remove and cool completely before serving.

Simple Baked Tortilla's
-1 pkg of 8, Flour or Wheat Tortilla's cut into 6-8 wedges.
-In a bowl add about 4 tsp. olive oil or vegetable oil.  Toss wedges to coat and sprinkle with salt.
-Put in single layer on baking sheet(s).  Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes or until crisp. 
-Remove and cool completely before serving.

Jazzed-Up Baked Tortilla Chip's
-1 pkg of 8, Flour or Wheat Tortilla's cut into 6-8 wedges.
-In a bowl add about 4 tsp. olive oil or vegetable oil. Toss wedges to coat and sprinkle with desired seasoning i.e. cinnamon, nutmeg, little sugar, garlic, onion, salt, fresh ground pepper, oregano.  Have fun with it!  The kids love doing this part and creating their own. 
-Put in single layer on baking sheet(s). Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes or until crisp.
-Remove and cool completely before serving.

Of course you can eat salsa with these, bean salad, fruit salad, fruit dip.  Treat them as you would a regualar chip without the yucky stuff.  Kids love these for snacks, or if you give them their own mini taco salad for lunch at school or home.  Just don't forget the cheese, lettuce and other great taco toppings.

Michele

Best Sandwich's

About 7 years ago white bread became obsolete in my house.  The only bread entering the Mock household is wheat and the occasional sourdough (strictly for toast about twice a year).  My husband had the hardest time adjusting to wheat compared to the rest of the family.  This is also the man who when I met him never ate salad; unless he was stealing bites from my plate at Denny's.  Course when there are no other choices you are forced to adapt.  Perhaps you are unaware about what makes the white bread white and what happens to it in your body. 

Sadly I will give you the 101 on white bread.  White bread generally (unless otherwise noted) comes from "bleached" flour.  And it becomes sugar in your body.  While some of us have high metabolism's that burn off this excess sugar easily, some of us do not.  So that bread instead becomes fat that you may as well add to your stomach or behind.  My recommendation is to change the eating habit of white bread early and never look back.

My four kids love sandwhich's and variety is the key. 
Sandwhich suggestions all with wheat bread:

-PB&J (organic or natural peanut butter; the kind you usually have to stir together and a homemade jam or jam without sugar/corn syrup in the top 3 ingredients).
-PB and honey or sliced banana
-Shaved Ham or Turkey with non-processed cheese (Mine prefer variety, try provolone, colby jack, havarti or different types of cheddar) with small amount of mayo (if you use it), mustard and lettuce.
-Ham and Cucumber slices (salt and pepper to taste)
-Cucumber and cream cheese
-Vegan sandwhich may contain any combination of lettuce, tomato, pickles, olives, cucumber, spinach etc.

What ever you choose you can dress it up and make it fun for them with those awesome new sandwhich presses with different shapes from trains to hearts to butterflies for around $2.00 and up.  For those of you out there who are trying to reduce waste, use non-disposable rubbermaid/tupperware type sandwich containers.

Enjoy your lunch!
Michele

whole wheat chocolate pancakes

Pancakes are a staple in our house. This is a great recipe to get your kids introduced to whole grains. You could really put anything your kids like in then. I would suggest smashed bananas or apple sauce. I make them mini, just a tablespoon of batter per cake. They cook faster which is great when little hands are ready to snag then off the grill. I send pancakes in lunch boxes or take then in the car. Make sure every pancake gets a couple chips!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 large egg

1 cup whole wheat or white wheat flour

3/4 cup milk

1 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP oil

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients until batter is smooth. Then drop one heaping TBSP per cake on a hot griddle or pan. Flip cakes when bubbles appear on top. Serve warm.

#1 Wild Alaskan Blueberry Muffins

This particular receipe I have been using for 15+ years.  While the original receipe calls for fresh blueberries, more often than not, they are too expensive or simply not available.  Being an Alaskan girl they are the best when made with wild Alaskan blueberries, but being a wife to a soldier, I have minimal access to those.  They do taste smashing with store bought frozen blueberries though.  I purchase them in bulk at Sam's Club, that way I can use the berries for more than one receipe. 

For children the best part is stirring in the blueberries and nuts.  My children love to watch the batter change color with each stir around the bowl.  I usually have to stop them before the entire batter turns blueberry purple/blue.  I hope you all give this receipe a try and enjoy them as much as my family does. 

Michele

Wild Alaskan Blueberry Muffins

2 C. Flour                                     
2/3 C. Sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 C. milk (1%)
1/2 C. unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 to 1 1/4 C. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 C. chopped nuts (I use what's on hand)

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  I use muffin inserts, and let the kids put them in the tin.
-In separate bowl mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, b. powder, b. soda, salt & cinnamon). Set aside.
-In another bowl whisk together milk, butter and eggs until smooth (maybe chunky if the butter is hot from melting, this is fine).  Now you can add the dry ingredients just until blended. 
-Add nuts and stir.  Then add blueberries and stir only until they appear evenly distributed.
-Spoon into prepared muffin tins until about 3/4 full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Make sure to insert a toothpick too make sure it comes out clean. You can also tap the top of a muffin and if it sinks and doesn't come back up, it's not quite ready. 
-Cool in tins for 5 minutes, then remove and enjoy.
-Makes 12-16 muffins (depending on the amount of berries and nuts).

My 2 Eldest Children's School Snacks

So I asked my two eldest children what their favorite healthy snack was that they had eaten at school was. 
The jury is out:

3rd Grader:  Mommies Homemade Blueberry Muffins
1st Grader: Ant's on a Log and Monster Mouths

So I will pull out my receipe book and find my favorite receipe's for the muffins.  And describe how to make the other two. 

So stay tuned for my Blueberry Muffin receipe and how to throw together Ant's on a Log and Monster Mouths.

Michele

Creating Fun Healthy Snacks Kids Love

Getting started is always the hardest part of any great idea. So here is too creating the best of the great ideas out there:  Healthy snacks and meals for our kids.

Recently my dear friend asked for healthy ideas for her child to take to school for kindergarten snack time.  Having children around the same age I had already been through the same brainstorming activity. While my four children have vast pallettes, other children are extremely picky.  So the question is how do we create healthy fun snacks most kids will eat.

The grocerie aisles have such a variety of snacks too chose from out there, how do we as parents select the right snack. We have to ask ourselves: Are the choices healthy? And would I want someone else to offer this to my child?  More often than not, the answer is "No."   While many of the ideas have been done before, we want to have them as fresh ideas that are not forgotten.  So for now lets forget about the pre-packeged not so healthy snacks, and put ideas out that we can all use.

The first of the snack ideas are to come.  So stay tuned. Michele