The decision to purchase the Donut Maker required very little thought… Will has been asking to try donuts for a while and none of our local bakers seem to fly without eggs. We also checked the shelves at our grocery stores, but the ingredients were all over the place — cow’s milk, milk fats, eggs, peanut facilities. I investigated recipes for making donuts — all requiring frying, which is delicious, but not really fun for Will when it comes to participating. Buying the appliance was a must — And our first attempt to bake was FUN, the donuts come out mini, perfect for Will sized hands. Not to mention, they were yummy and only took 15 minutes as baking time with the Donut Maker is only 3-5 minutes! Winners, ALL AROUND!

For our trial run, we borrowed a donut recipe from Vegan Yum•Yum. If you haven’t been to this blog, you must go there immediately…. Or in a few minutes when we’re finished with our donuts. The recipe calls for:

Dry Ingredients:
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp (scant) Nutmeg
1 tiny pinch or shake Cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Soymilk
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Egg Replacer for 1 Egg
4 Tbs Earth Balance

We plan to move on from here — chocolate donuts, jelly… And I’d like to find an egg substitute that doesn’t require an egg replacer… WHO KNOWS, we may just be onto something here!

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? YES! He loved them. The only thing was that he saw the recipe at Vegan Yum•Yum with sprinkles and he then required them… Not really what we had planned in the health foods department, but it’s all a work in progress!

PS. Many thanks to babycakes for a stellar appliance!!

This is a simple Focaccia Bread combined with almost overly ripe tomatoes and shredded basil. The result is a very sweet bread that takes almost no time to make.

Rapid Rise Highly Active Yeast – 1 package
Warm Water – 1 1/2 Cups
Olive Oil – 4 Tablespoons divided
Basil leaves – 1/2 Cup
Kosher Salt – 1 Tablespoon
Flour – 1 1/4 Cups
Black Pepper – To Taste
Ripe Tomatoes – several

You will need: Measuring Cups & Spoons; 2 small to medium mixing bowls; Wire Whisk; Rubber Spatula; Plastic Wrap; Pizza Pan

Start by emptying the Yeast package into the warm water, whisk and then add in 2 Tablespoons of the Olive Oil — save the other two for later and then set the liquid mixture aside.

Start shredding up the basil — This is where Will comes in with his very dull knife and begins the shredding process. Once the basil is cutup, he starts cutting and mashing the ripe tomatoes…. Since the tomato juices tend to make the Focaccia Bread a little soggy, it is OK for him to crush the fruit… The end result, although not concentric, will have a very rustic look.

While your son and/or daughter is busy with tomatoes, mix together the shredded basil, salt and flour and stir with the wire whisk. Once the dried ingredients are combined, add in the liquid mixture and stir the dough until it forms a ball in the mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size (about 45 minutes — a good amount of time to clean up the tomato mess).

After the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 425° and brush one tablespoon of the olive oil onto your pizza pan, and then smooth the dough out onto the pan. Sprinkle a little more salt and the black pepper over the dough and then let it rise again, this time for about 20 minutes. After it has reached a reasonable height (we prefer about 1 1/2 inches) lay out the tomatoes and any extra basil that you may have and then bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges are a golden brown.

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? No… no he didn’t. But he did say he would try some later… we still seem to be waiting for that.

To get back into the groove we’ve started out with an easy one — Corn Bread… Basically our Corn Muffin recipe in a 9×9″ pan. Easy, quick and yummy!

Check back soon for new stuff, if this weather continues — we might just write a book!

It’s still summer! Which means that we have a plethora of tomatoes! Either from our own garden or from our neighbors, we have more arriving everyday — And, since it’s still a little too hot to bake anything, we’ve been busy crushing…

This recipe makes approximately 2 Cups of Tomato Broth

Cherry Tomatoes  – approximately 2 pints (do not use green tomatoes)
Basil – 1 Tablespoon Chopped
Garlic  Cloves – 3 Crushed
Dried Oregano – 2 Tablespoons
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1/4 Cup
Salt to taste

You will need – Measuring tools; Tomato Crusher; Skillet; Spoon; Pot (for cooking pasta); Strainer

This recipe is really so simple…
1. Crush the tomatoes – discard the skins and reserve the liquid
2. Crush the garlic and chop the basil — cook over low heat in the skillet until it starts to crisp up… add the other ingredients along with the tomato broth, and simmer.
3. Cook your pasta — for this we choose Dischi, which kinda has the shape of an elephant ear… Not that anyone would want to eat an elephant ear — but Will thought the idea was hilarious.

Serve the broth over the pasta and season to taste. The broth is light and sinks into the pasta quickly which also makes for a very nice dish as a leftover…

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? This is where the leftover tip comes in handy… Will didn’t want to eat it the first night — he said “No, I’m not gonna like it..” but I suspect he was just too tired from all the tomato crushing… The next night, however, with the broth all soaked up into the pasta, he ate it and actually said, “I love this pasta.” which was nice until he also said that he loved the fork… We are working on our definitions.

Canola Oil – 2 Cups
Flour – 1 Cup
Salt – 1/2 Tablespoon
Baking Powder – 1/2 Teaspoon
Sparkling Apple Cider – 1 Cup
Fish — Flounder, Cod or other White Fish – 1 pound
Lemon – 1/2 to squeeze

You will need – Mixing Bowl; Measuring tools; Whisk; Knife for Cutting – watch little fingers!; Rubber Spatula; Deep Pot for Frying; Slotted Spoon

Start by pouring the oil into your pot and heat it over medium/low heat and then whisk together the Flour, Salt and Baking Powder in your mixing bowl. Pat down the fish with a paper towel and then trim while looking for any bones to remove and then cut into strips. Slowly pour the Sparkling Apple Cider into the flour mixture and stir with the spatula until smooth.

Once the batter is combined, use your fingers and dip the fish into the batter piece by piece and add to the hot oil. Only add in a few at a time making sure that they aren’t touching — otherwise they will stick together. Let one side cook for approximately 4 minutes and then use the slotted (or holed in our case) spoon to turn each piece over. Cook both sides until the color is golden brown and then remove to drain. Repeat until all the fish is cooked, give a good lemon squeeze over the whole lot and then GO FOR IT!

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? We are happy to announce that YES, Will ate them! He actually tried a bite of each one to see which was the yummiest! It was only a few months ago that he did an about-face rejecting the frozen fish sticks — needless to say, we are really happy to see fish back in his diet again! Just goes to show how important it is to TRY TRY AGAIN!

Many of our attempts fail, unfortunately. But sometimes we come across a recipe that turns into something completely different, which is OKAY because it then becomes something else… Something new… Something we were not expecting, but enjoyed nonetheless.

We started off to make quesadillas using a recipe for Tortillas from the May 2010 Food Network Magazine. And to say we started off — we did everything that the recipe called for… We even tried to flatten our tortillas with a coffee can , which they recommended should you not have a tortilla press… we ended up finally using one of Will’s plastic plates instead… Note to self – get a tortilla press.

But that wasn’t the only hitch. When we started cooking, the tortillas became stiff – like little pie crusts — not soft at all. We were, however, half way through combining the filling for the quesadillas from a leftover Chicken Fajitas, so we continued on to make these fun little chicken sandwiches…

Here is the link for the Tortillas — please note, again, that ours turned out like crusts.

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? He actually really liked the mini corn pie crusts and he liked the vegan cheese, but once everything was all put together he lost interest and cared more about cleaning up and riding his bike. Maybe it was the time it took to make the tortillas? Regardless, the rest of us ate them and agreed that we had created something yummy!

First of all, his recipe is all about peanuts and spice — clearly both traits not in-tune with Will’s current allergies and tastes.. But we were certainly up for the task — and Anders’ recipe sounded so delicious, that we started searching for ways to modify the dish. It was in April’s 2010 issue of Body+ Soul (a Martha Stewart Publication) that we found Cold Peanut Noodles… Here is what what we started with:

Anders’ Thai Tofu Stir-Fry with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Extra Firm Tofu – 1 Block
Chunky Peanut Butter – 1/2 Cup
Water – 1/2 Cup
Soy or Tamari Sauce – 2 Tablespoons
Sherry – 1 Tablespoon
Lemon Juice – 1 Teaspoon
Brown Sugar – 1 Tablespoon
Peanut or Coconut or Vegetable Oil – 2 Tablespoons
Garlic – 2-4 Cloves, minced
Crushed Red Pepper – 1-3 Tablespoons
Stir Fry Veggies – 3-4 Cups — Anders uses broccoli, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, baby corn, bok choy, red peppers and carrots
Chili Thai Sauce – 1-2 Tablespoons

Martha’s Cold Peanut Noodles
Whole Wheat Spaghetti – 1/2 lb.
Natural Creamy Peanut Butter – 1/2 Cup
Low-Sodium Soy Sauce – 2 Teaspoons
Toasted Sesame Oil – 1 Teaspoon
Chile Garlic Paste – 1 1/2 Teaspoons
Garlic – 1 Teaspoon, grated or minced
Sugar -1/2 Teaspoon
Water  – 1/2 Cup
Served with shredded Bok Choy and Carrots dressed with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and a little toasted sesame oil. Season with salt.

Here is what we did to make this dish kid friendly and peanut free:

Anders & Martha Inspired Soy Nut Noodles
Whole Wheat Linguine – 1 package
Creamy Soy Nut Butter – 1/2 Cup
Chunky Soy Nut Butter – 1/2 Cup
Water – 1/2 Cup
Light Soy Sauce – 2 Tablespoons
Lemon Juice – 1 Teaspoon
Canola Oil – 1 Tablespoon
Garlic – 3 Cloves Crushed
Gomasio – 1 Tablespoon
Sugar – 1/2 Teaspoon
Served with Shaved Carrots, Daikon Radish and Snow Peas

First, we cooked our pasta according to the package directions and then let it drain and cool. Then we combined all the ingredients and until smooth and then mixed it in with the noodles. We decided to keep all Chili ingredients out of the recipe as well as the Tofu — Will is very specific about how he likes his Tofu, and we didn’t want to scare him off. To compensate for the lack of heat in the dish, we added some shaved Diakon Radish, which has a bit of a bite to it.

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? Well, he ate pieces of the dish on it’s own… the carrot shaving, soy nut butter, snow peas, pasta… but once we threw it all in a bowl together he wouldn’t have anything to do with it… We did, however, serve it to guests for dinner and it was a huge hit! Thanks Anders (and Martha)!

Bread is not an easy food to accomplish. Most of our attempts have not only taken too long, trying the 2-year-old’s patience, but in many cases the dough never rose to the occasion — making for hard bricks of flour. This recipe was simple AND we were done with the actual preparation in less than 20 minutes — just enough time to make the experience fun!

Adapted from The Complete Book of Breads by Bernard Clayton, Jr.

For One Loaf:
Whole Wheat Flour – 3 Cups
Sugar – 1/4 Cup
Salt – 1/2 Tablespoon
Dry Wheat Yeast – 2 Packages
Hot Water – 1 1/2 Cups

You will need – Mixing Bowl; Measuring tools; Whisk; Rubber Spatula; 9×5″ Bread Pan, greased; wax paper

In your mixing bowl, whisk together the Wheat Flour, Sugar, Salt and Yeast. Pour in the water and stir 50 Strokes to blend with the spatula and add to the bread pan. Wet your fingers so that the dough doesn’t stick to you and push the batter into the corners and smooth it out. Cover with wax paper and put in a warm place to rise — approximately 30 minutes until the batter has doubled in volume.

Honey  – 2 Tablespoons
Dijon Mustard (egg free) 1 Tablespoon
Soy Milk – 1/4 Cup
Worcestershire Sauce – 1/2 Tablespoon
Panko – 1/4 Cup
Gomasio  – 1 1/2 Tablespoons
Black Pepper – 2 Teaspoons
Dried Basil – 1 Teaspoon
Garlic Salt – 1 Teaspoon
Low-fat Ground Turkey – 1 package

You will need: Mixing bowl, Whisk, Spoon, Baking Sheet

Preheat your oven to 375° and whisk together the Honey, Dijon Mustard, Soy Milk and Worcestershire Sauce. Add the Panko and allow the crumb to sink into the mixture and then add the rest of the ingredients. The best way to incorporate the Ground Turkey is with your hands — wetting them first will make it easier to clean them off after the meatballs are formed. Mash the Turkey in with the rest of the ingredients and knead until mixed through. Measuring with your eyes, dish out a little more than a tablespoon and roll the turkey mix into balls… Try to keep them all relatively the same size.

Once your meatballs are ready, wash your hands and then pop them in the oven for 20 minutes, turning them at the ten minute mark. We like to add more color to the turkey meatballs by adding in colorful pasta, diced tomatoes and chopped basil — I’m sure that you can think of a million other yummy toppings too! Please note that there will be leftovers… We recommend adding the meatballs to a sauce for the second round as they tend to get a little dry after they’ve been refrigerated. Mangia. Mangia.

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? He ate the pasta… loved that. He was a little sketch on the Meatballs which is strange because he used to eat them when he was younger…. tastes change I suppose…

We just added a little Plum Vinegar for some sweet & sour, Cole Slaw mixture of cabbage and carrots as well as a few Parsnip shavings..

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? Well – we caught him testing out the texture of the rice paper — which is a HUGE step in the war against strange and unusual textures… We feel confident to say that we are on the road to taking a bite… Any day now!