One Potato, Two Potato

Last night we made "sweet potato chips" which is basically sliced sweet potatoes, tossed with canola oil and a bit of salt, and then baked in the oven. They are not crispy, though, more like a soft slice of potato. Amelia goes through phases on these. She likes them, she avoids them like they've got swine flu, then she likes them again. We've had a bad run of it lately but since Len and I like them, it's no biggie. Last night she asked for ketchup and I suggested she try a bite plain first, since the last time she decided she liked them more without ketchup than with. She actually did try a bite (shocker) and remembered how much she liked them. So that was a big hit, which is nice since sweet potatoes are decent for you and the dish is easy to make.

Tonight, we made baked potatoes and she was huffy because I actually put one on her plate (split, and mashed up with margarine). Sheesh. Suffice it to say she didn't go near hers, except to stab at it half-heartedly with a fork. For some reason as a kid I didn't like mashed potatoes so maybe it's a texture issue? Who knows? I realized how much I like baked and mashed potatoes, though, so that's good.

Riddle me this

OK, so just out of curiosity, can anyone explain why my kid won't eat a bite of her dinner until she gets ALL the stuff that is being served? Like tonight -- for dinner, I made her beef, crackers & pretzels (yeah, yeah, I know. I'm out of carb ideas. So sue me), raisins, and grapes. I served it all up except the grapes. She asked for the grapes. I told her in a minute. She got upset and refused to eat anything else. I told her to get started on the rest of the stuff and the grapes would be on their way. Fussing ensued until I gave her her grapes. At which point she ate everything in front of her and asked for seconds, and thirds, on the grapes.

Is this a 3-and-a-half year old thing, or just my kid?

Enquiring minds want to know.

P.S. The grapes were tasty, I admit. We're on a roll over here. Do grapes actually have any nutritional value, or are they just nice sweet cold treats? Either way I'll keep serving them to her, and I'm glad she likes them, but I'm curious. Grape research underway, I'll report back.

Strawberry Success

So, for some reason, I really wanted Amelia to like strawberries. I'm not sure why, maybe because most kids like them and I always want her to have experiences like her friends when she can, considering how much stuff she can't have, but the whole "try them, you'll like them" goes over like a gondola full of shit around here, so... in the spirit of Ellyn Satter and her tip that it can take a kid MANY times before they'll like a food, I kept offering them and trying not to talk them up too much. Of course, nada.

Finally I hit upon a great idea: SUGAR! Sugar is Amelia's gateway drug. Sprinkle it on anything and she'll at least give the item a try ... or a lick. Brown sugar is her absolute fave but in a pinch she'll go for the white stuff.

Long story short, she is now enjoying her strawberries (not as much as her beloved grapes, though) and I can either a) pat myself on the back for getting her to like a new food or b) kick myself for making her such a sugar junkie. Ah, motherhood!




In less fun news, tonight Amelia had a full-on tantrum and was screaming and sobbing while eating her oatmeal raisin cookie. If it were me I might not have continued chowing down, but nothing was going to pry that cookie out of her little hands. She's asleep now so can someone pour me a margarita, please?

The first recipe I ever memorized

I feel like a old-fashioned cook because I can now easily make biscuits from scratch without consulting the recipe.

Baking Powder Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup oil (I use Crisco Canola oil)

Preheat oven to 450. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together oil and water, then add to the dry mixture. Stir just until all the ingredients are blended, then remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Knead about 20 (approx.) times, added more flour if it gets too sticky. Then roll out (I just pat with my hands) and use a small cup to cut out biscuits. Place on a ungreased baking pan and bake about 10-12 minutes, until the biscuits are slightly browned.

Easy! Yummy! Someday Amelia will love these (hopefully). Come on, what's not to like? But for now she may just have a nibble or two only when her favorite stuff (turkey, raisins, grapes) are all done and she is still hungry. That's okay, though; I like these, as does Len. As Len once joked, how come we're trying to fatten up our daughter and instead we're the ones getting big?

Picnic festivites & blueberry muffins

Today I took Amelia and Baby John to a playdate at Sophie's house. Sophie has a baby sister, Isolde, who is only a month older than John so that makes it fun for everyone -- me included. I am giving myself a pat on the back for going out with two kids, as I'm still kind of nervous about that, and for not having a heart attack during our picnic lunch when Sophie, hands all sticky with cream cheese, kept trying to hand Amelia blueberries. Luckily no cross-contamination occurred, only because Amelia didn't want the blueberries in the first place.

I didn't say anything (as in, "Sophie, if you have cream cheese on your hands don't touch something Amelia might eat because she's allergic") because I was sure Amelia wouldn't eat them in the first place, although in hindsight I should have said something after all. Hm. Next time I need to be ready if that happens again!

Regardless, we all had fun and there were no problems. Highlight: the girls playing on the slip 'n' slide. So fun!

Also I made some more blueberry muffins (from my cooking bible, the FAAN Allergy-Free Cookbook). Finally fresh blueberries are in season and not obscenely costly. Frozen ones taste fine but when you mix the batter it turns it all purple, whereas that doesn't happen with the fresh ones.

Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup milk-free, soy-free margarine at room temperature (note: I took ours out of the freezer and therefore had to microwave it to get it soft enough, which I think makes for a slightly less successful muffin)
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. water, 3 Tbsp. oil, 2 tsp. baking powder; mixed together
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen are fine but let them defrost first)
1 Tbsp. sugar mixed with 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (I don't do this step btw!!)

Preheat oven to 375. Line muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium-size bowl, beat margarine until creamy. Beat in the sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in water, oil, and baking powder. Add vanilla, remaining baking powder, and salt.

Fold in half the flour and half the water with a spatula. Add remaining flour and water. Fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg-sugar (if you are doing this step). Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let muffins cool slightly before serving.

Tidy!

Amelia likes a project, so she and her beloved nanny Lena organized the shelf in the pantry that has all of Amelia's safe (aka non-allergenic) foods on it. Also we found a box of Golden Raisins Amelia and I had bought on a shopping trip a while ago but forgot all about. So today for snack she had golden raisins (to me they are kind of weird but I'm not sure why) with her pretzels.

In case you're wondering, yes, she's still freaked out about the fire and even woke up last night at around 1 AM screaming and scared. Poor thing!

Photo of nice neat shelf:


PS Why does Amelia love the little corn on the cob holders that you stick in each end of the corn but won't actually eat the darn corn? Munch, what is going on in that little brain of yours?

We didn't start a fire....

Well, actually, we did. Tonight, Len was cooking dinner when all of a sudden, the oil from the salmon dripped on to the coils of the (STUPID) electric oven, and as you can imagine, what occured was fire. Amelia--> terrified. She is scared of fire and all things fire (fire alarms, the red button in the elevator to call for firemen, fireplaces, talking about fire, smoke, etc.)

I once started a fire in the microwave while attemping to sanitize my sponges. (Don't ask.) She didn't stop talking about it for weeks. So tonight, the dinner conversation was 100% all about the fire. Was the fire gone? Where did it go? How did it start? What happened? Would it come back? What happens if there is a fire? Is the oven still on? What caught fire? Is the turkey okay? Can I see the fish? Is it ruined? Is that smoke? Is it still hot?




Not much eating was done, as you can imagine. I actually tried to bribe her ("eat a bite of your turkey and I'll tell you about the fire for the 97th time") which I realize is a bad idea on so many levels, but man I was tired of talking flames and I knew she was hungry. On the upside, though, now Len is the firestarter, not me!

Oh, and she got her appetite back for a cookie before bed, so never fear.

As an aside, why is fish so freakin' expensive? It was like 10 bucks for just enough salmon for me and Len. I am annoyed that eating healthy costs way more than eating junky. I guess I have to think long-term health rather than short-term cost cutting. Annoying, though. Amelia can actually have fish, says her allergist, but I have yet to feed it to her because I am hella neurotic and scared to introduce a highly-allergenic food even if I'm told it is okay. I have offered her some of ours but I am always confident she'll say "No, thanks" and so far she has. Stay tuned, though, we'll get there!