ChowBaby

go ahead. do a google image search for "peanut butter and jelly" and check out the results. mostly white bread, but sometimes wheat. mostly creamy peanut butter, but sometimes chunky. the one thing that's ALWAYS the same: purple colored jam.

i take this as proof that i'm not alone in defaulting to jams of purple and dark red color. so maybe my revelation about orange colored jams will be useful to others with messy eating toddlers, too--they don't stain! i'm not telling you to ditch grandma's homemade strawberry rhubarb preserves, but i am suggesting that clean-up--or at least laundry--will be easier if you feed little justin-bobby orange, peach, or apricot jam.

-S

sounds strange, but it works. at least with the two veggies i've tried: sweet potato and butternut squash. (what else do you think you could use?) it's just like apple butter, really. (in fact, apple butter is a great reference for consistency.) and you can use it the same way. i usually spread veggie butter on our morning toast on top of a little butter. for today's snack, i spread squash on toast that also had some peanut butter on it. yum!

you can prepare the veggies however you'd like in order to make a thick-ish puree. i like to roast both sweet potatoes and squash. i'm sure you can steam (though you'll lose flavor) or boil (you'll lose flavor and nutrients). whatever is easiest.

once roasted and cooled, i peel the sweet potato and wrap the whole thing in foil. anytime over the next three days that i want some sweet potato butter, i just unwrapped it, cut off a slice and spread it with a knife. spreads smooth as melted butter and doesn't need any other flavor (though i sometimes sprinkle cinnamon on top).

as for the squash, i find it easier and neater to make the puree as soon as it has cooled. i don't mind lumpy and prefer to dirty as few dishes as possible, so i just mash it with a potato masher and season with a little bit of all natural, organic maple syrup and freshly grated ginger (best done using a microplane, one of my other favorite kitchen tools). 

so easy, a sweet treat (though less so than jam, in a good way), and a creative way to get an additional serving of veggies in the mix (without having to hide them!).

-S

(pictured: squash puree in a mason jar--i keep in the fridge for up to 3 days--and today's snack of toast with peanut butter & squash with a side of blueberries)

   

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use_veggies_instead_of_jam.zip (1240 KB)

i made flax seed more convenient than ever... totally by accident!

i buy organic whole flax seeds and grind them myself. (time saving tip: grind a week's worth and store in the fridge in an airtight container. i love my glass pyrex storage set. just don't keep too long since ground flax seed can go rancid.) i usually pulse just a few times, yielding a grind that still has some texture which works nicely with yogurt (my new FAVORITE--pear is best!!) or soup or oatmeal.

this time, though, i wasn't paying attention and pulsed longer. i ended up making a flax seed powder. it is a lot like a ground spice (of course!). what's the big deal, you ask? the difference in texture made it even easier for me to think of sprinkling it on all kinds of stuff. just this morning i sprinkled it on top of the butter and apple butter on isaac's toast, just the way i would cinnamon.

the powder doesn't have the same, yummy, mild nutty flavor that you get when you just lightly grind flax seed, so i'll probably end up using both textures. (i also keep the oil on hand for things like salad dressing.)

oh, and by the way, whole flax seeds are much harder to digest and, therefore, less nutritious. 

-S