Family Favorite Friday: Sausage, Spinach and Potato Skillet

Today's Family Favorite is a new favorite I recently whipped up. It was such a huge hit I decided to go ahead and give it "fam fave" status since it's still fresh in my mind. The brand of sausage is a great one because not only is it tasty, but also organic at a fair price. The addition of feta to the combo of flavorful chicken sausage, green spinach, and the mildly sweet Yukon Golds (which were also featured on this week's Meatless Monday) makes this a unique dish that you can mix-up with other veggies, such as bell peppers, black olives and fresh tomato, if desired. 


Sausage, Spinach and Potato Skillet
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients


3 links of chicken sausage 
3 cubed Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes
1 cup baby spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil + extra
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
About 1/2 cup crumbled feta for topping


Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a medium-large skillet over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and paprika to the garlic and onion and fry, stirring, for a few more minutes or until fragrant. You can add extra paprika if you want, but I felt it would be too overpowering. Add the potatoes and mix up with the rest of the skillet's contents and then cover, cooking over medium-low heat. Cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, slice the sausages into sections. Once the potatoes are ready, add the sausage and spinach to the pan and stir. Add more olive oil if it looks dry. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes more. Remove from heat and serve with a sprinkling of feta cheese. We had ours with some sliced avocado drizzled with lemon juice and a smattering of salt and pepper.

brand I used, but you can use any sausage you like, although I recommend using a garlic or other mild blend

It's not the prettiest looking dish, but it sure is tasty! This sausage in particular is very good. Like I said before, I especially like it because it's organic and not too pricey! I found Bilinski's at Shop Rite.


Babies 3-6 months can enjoy some nummy mashed potato mixed with steamed spinach and a little olive oil, and babies over 9 months can have some of the sausage and avocado as well. Avocado and olive oil are good for baby's skin and contain many nutrients to support their growth, such as omega-3s and healthy fats. And we all know iron-packed spinach is good for everyone!


You may not know that potatoes are surprisingly nutritious, and not just the starchy, carb-packed vegetable that they've been labeled as by some. They actually contain a high amount of vitamin c, vitamin b6, potassium, and magnesium.
Potatoes- especially those with darker colors, such as Yukon Gold and Blue -contain high amounts of carotenoids and flavonoids, and they even contain more phytonutrients than broccoli, components that guard against cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and certain cancers! That is something I just learned!


So don't ditch the potato...maybe just lay off the chips and fries!


Have a great weekend!

Strawberry Cream Tiramisu + Pics of the New Casa

So...I was going to save this quick little recipe for Sweet Saturday, but I think I can find something else to post then (and let's hope I actually do post!). I made this simple little strawberry dessert when  my parents visited us as our first official dinner guests. My mom actually made the dinner, a delicious roast curried chicken with potatoes and carrots, so I decided to whip something up for afterwards.

Here it is, and it's not exactly healthy, but there's less sugar in it than some cakes. You can make it healthier if you can find some whole wheat ladyfingers (maybe at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods? Don't have those fabulous places by me). 

Strawberry Cream Tiramisu

Ingredients
(serves 4)

1 cup fresh strawberries thinly sliced
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 ladyfinger biscuits

Pour 1 cup of cream into a large bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Mix in the vanilla extract and sugar. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of cream into a shallow dish wide enough to hold at least one ladyfinger. Have a separate casserole dish or cake tray ready to place the biscuits on that is long enough to line eight of the biscuits on. Carefully dip each ladyfinger into the cream, allowing to soak for about a minute each, and then place onto the tray like in the picture below, only making one row and not two (make two rows if you want to make eight servings).

Photo credit: cookwithsara.blogspot.com

If I had known how awesome this was going to turn out, I would've taken step-by-step pictures! 

Next, layer some of the whipped cream on top of the cream-dipped biscuits, then put a layer of the sliced strawberries on top of that. Add a little more whipped cream on top of the strawberries to help the next layer of ladyfingers stick on top, but don't add too much unless you like A LOT of whipped cream! Dip the remaining eight ladyfingers into the rest of the cream (add more cream if needed) and repeat the whipped cream and strawberries layering process. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving for best results. Voilá- dessert!

This is super simple to make and should be a hit with everyone. It takes less than thirty minutes to make and best of all- no baking! Anyone can make it, really! This was a hit with everyone at our little dinner party. Lily loves anything with strawberries in it :) Who doesn't?

Strawberries are super awesome for so many reasons. First of all, they are one of my fave fruits. Secondly, they have high amounts of vitamin C in them. Thirdly, they also provide anti-inflammatory support, anti-oxidant protection, and improved blood-sugar regulation! Sweet! 

This is a great spring/summer treat and I hope you like it!

Plus, here are some pictures of the new house, as promised. Interior is still not quite ready to be presented, so I hope you are all happy with these exterior ones for now :) 

love the happy daffodils :)

The weather has been so nice (at least is was) and Lily was really enjoying it.

the wind was so strong on Monday that it blew that pink tent you see in the background right away!

getting a driveway put in soon too

She sure loves pushing her stroller around, whether dolly is in it or not

don't mind the mess of boxes back there :P

There you have it. We are now in a quiet little suburban town. It's a nice change from our previous more urban town that we were starting to feel less safe in. Lily is quite happy :)

I'll have another fun recipe for Friday, so be sure to check back!

Meatless Monday: Diablo Potato Salad

Today's Meatless Monday features a potato salad recipe with a twist from one of the Honorable Mentions from therecipe contest I just held. The combination of the mildly sweet Yukon Gold potatoes with a mix of spices give your otherwise classic potato salad a kick. Thanks to Ashley of Healthy Mom for Junk Food Kids!

Diablo Potato Salad

Ingredients

(serves a cook-out!)

3 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved

1 tablespoon Salt

1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika

1/2 tablespoon White pepper

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced chives (or more- I used 3 tablespoons)

Boil the potato halves for about 20 minutes or until tender. When I made this, I couldn't find any baby Yukon Golds at the local supermarket, so I just used regular Yukons cut into halves, then quarters, then halved again. While potatoes are cooking, whisk together all other ingredients. Drain potatoes once they're ready then mix together in a large bowl with the sauce. Serve at room temperature with extra chives if desired.

about to be boiled

whisking...

Final outcome with added chives

This was quite delish! I am a big potato salad fan and this one immediately caught my eye while perusing Ashley's blog one day. I'm glad she submitted it for the contest and that I got to try it! I still have a lot left to eat with lunch for the rest of the week! Lily and Paul liked it too, and I will be book-marking this for future BBQs.

Paprika is such a fun spice I think. It’s sweet and slightly hot and really works well with mayo. I especially like to top egg salad off with a sprinkling of it. You may not know it, but paprika does more than add a spike of flavor to your food. It’s high in vitamin C and has anti-inflammatory, blood-regulating, antibiotic, and digestion-aiding properties. Paprika is also great on poultry and in rice dishes, such as this one that’s a favorite in my family.

For baby:

Mash-up a half or two of the boiled potato and mix it with a little olive oil. The olive oil is very good for developing babies :)

Kids should like this potato salad too; despite it’s name, it is not as firey as you might think, and actually just has a nice bite to it that’s more on the mild side for kids who don’t like spicy foods. My Lily never did seem to mind spiciness as long as it wasn’t mouth-burning hot!

So, this is me trying to get back on track with my blogging. Hopefully I will get back to my 3+ posts a week and then have a new up-and-coming blog of the month next month, as well as my weekly blog hops. If you have someone to nominate for blog-of-the-month, do it now! Preferably a blog with 200 followers or less that’s related to parenting, cooking, arts and crafts, health and/or well-being. Have a good week!

Recipe Contest Winner! Cashew Chicken with Brown Rice

Let me tell you, it was SO HARD choosing a single winner, not only because I received so many delicious submissions, but also because I had to get used to a new kitchen this week! What timing I have!

Anyway, after several taste tests and having Lily and Paul help me weigh in on which was best, we finally chose Devon Riesenberg’s Cashew Chicken with Brown Rice recipe. CONGRATS, DEVON! Devon has a lovely blog called The Zucchini Diaries that’s full of awesome recipes, from salads to main courses to even baby food! She also has another cute blog called The Jack Chronicles all about her day-to-day adventures with her family, full of lots of pretty pictures. Devon just happened to stumble across my blog apparently and decided to submit a few of her favorite recipes, and I’m sure glad she did :) You have an avid new follower, Devon!

Besides having her recipe featured on my blog today, she is also the winner of a 1 year subscription to EatingWell Magazine!

Like I said, it was very hard to choose just one recipe, so here are some honorable mentions that made the top cut:

Diablo Potato Salad from Ashley Nunez at Healthy Mom for Junk Food Kids

Simply Simple Granola from Susan Osborn at Little Shack on the Hill

Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms from Jessica Licciardello

I will most likely feature these tasty recipes in future posts since they were very good as well- thanks for participating, ladies!

Now, without further ado, I present the winning recipe:

Cashew Chicken with Brown Rice
(makes approximately 4-6 servings)

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped   into about 1 inch cubes

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

2 tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil

1/4 tsp pepper

3/4 tsp salt

3 tablespoons of Hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup water

6 scallions, thinly sliced

3/4 cup of raw crumbled cashews (optional: toasted)

Brown rice for serving (enough for 6 servings)

Cook brown rice accordingly and leave in pot until ready to serve. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl or large Ziploc bag, toss the chopped chicken with the cornstarch, salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken, tossing often and then transfer to a plate. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and repeat with the other half of the chicken. Once the second batch is 3/4 of the way cooked through, lower the heat to medium-low and add the garlic, being careful not to burn it. Cook the garlic for about 1 minute, and then add the rice vinegar. Cook until evaporated, for about 30 seconds. Add the Hoisin, water and all the chicken to the pan, and stir together. Cook until the chicken is done and the sauce is slightly thickened, for around 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and add the cashews and the scallions. Serve over brown rice.

it was good with the steamed broccoli

Lily's and Mommy's plates

giving it a try

husband-approved

DELISH! Paul really liked this one especially, and although Lily turned her nose up at it initially (like she does to so many “unknown” food these days), she ate it all up once I got her try the first bite. I added extra scallions and the only thing I would alter is adding twice the amount of water and Hoisin sauce to make it saucier! But, that is a personal preference since I just love Hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is a salty sweet and slightly spicy Asian sauce made from soybean paste, garlic, chilies, sesame, and other spices and goes great on just about any meat. It’s great in stir-fries and makes an amazing marinade for grilling. In fact, I plan to use thia very recipe on the grill this summer!

Although this recipe is Cashew Chicken, the cashews are optional if you or someone you’re serving this to has a nut allergy. There are no other nuts in the recipe, with the exception of sesame in the Hoisin sauce (check label as some may not contain sesame depending on the blend). I felt it was the vinegary garlic, Hoisin sauce, and scallions that really made this chicken great, but the subtle crunch of the cashews were a really unique addition to the tender chicken.

Cashews, like all nuts, are very good for you. They contain high amounts of many nutrients, such as manganese, copper and magnesium. Nuts are heart-healthy, help to lower cholesterol, provide an abundance of natural energy, help maintain a healthy weight, and so much more! Cashews provide an especially high amount of calcium to support strong and healthy bones. Try some cashew butter on your PB&J instead next time and I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

This recipe is fine for toddlers and kids, but not for baby. Baby can enjoy some brown rice cereal with milk or formula while the rest of the fam chows down on this tasty Asian-inspired dish!

Thanks again to everyone who sent in submissions! I will probably hold another contest in the future since this was so much fun, so stay tuned! Have a great weekend, and hopefully I will get back to my normal posting schedule soon enough! Next week I will post pictures of the new house, as well as a new Family Favorite recipe I cooked up for the first actual meal in the new kitchen. 

Wish me luck with getting my life back in order! 

Yes, I'm still alive!

Hi, all. So, it looks like Sweet Saturday didn't happen...and then it looks like Meatless Monday didn't happen either. Moving is a lot of work! I knew this already, yet somehow I thought I could squeeze blogging in anyway....guess not...

Anyhoo, the move went well and much smoother and quicker than expected. I had the best team of people helping us with the loading and driving and the unloading and so much more, and I really appreciated it! Love you guys! I still have a lot of "settling in" to do (mostly unpacking and putting away all these freakin' boxes!), but I got some of the major cleaning out of the way and set up Lily's room enough so that she's comfortable in it. Pics will follow once we get settled...

Today is also THE LAST DAY for sending your submissions in for the recipe contest. I think I have already chosen my winner, but I figured today I'd give you all one last chance to send in the most amazing, delicious and healthy recipe you got to healthymommyhealthybaby@gmail.com. Read more about it here. Entries sent after midnight don't count anymore, sorry! I just DO NOT have the time to try more than a few submissions, and it's been difficult enough to find time to do that as it is! 

I hope to be back on my bloggin' A-game soon enough, but this time I'm not going to make any promises I may not be able to keep. Special thanks to my faithful followers who have continued to stop by and leave some love during these times of my posting less, and I hope you will all hang tight while I get my life in order! I have so much going on right now, it's not just the move. I have some things happening at my job that could change everything for the better or worse, so keep me in your thoughts and let's hope for the best! 

Recipe Contest Extension!

Greetings, folks! Due to my being quite busy packing for the big move this week and not receiving as many entries for the recipe contest as I'd hoped, I'm extending it until the 21st, and then announcing the winner on the 23rd. I hope this does not inconvenience anyone, but it's the only way I can do this properly and be able to give every entry a fair chance, plus hope to accumulate a few more! 

Thanks so much for understanding, and I'm also hoping some of you will be grateful for the extension as well. So send me those recipes under the following guidelines:

Submit your healthy recipes to me at healthymommyhealthybaby@gmail.com. The winner will be notified and announced on March 23rd, along with their winning recipe on my blog. They will also receive a 1 year subscription to Eating Well Magazine, my favorite health and food magazine! 

So send them in! I can't wait to see what you send! And know that I'm sure every recipe will be awesome and I'm not picking favorites or anything. Each recipe will be judged using the following criteria:

1. How healthy the recipe is
2. How creative the recipe is
3. How family-friendly the recipe is
4. How easy the recipe is

 I will personally prepare the winning recipe myself to be featured on the blog and of course link to the winner's blog as well. I will take lots of pretty pictures and talk about how delicious it is :D

Have a great day and I will post a Sweet Saturday link party tomorrow as promised! 

Meatless Monday Ravioli with Sweet Potato in Lemon-Sage Browned Butter Sauce

We enjoyed this lovely and delicate-tasting dish a few weeks a go for Meatless Monday. It's a creation of my own, although loosely based on this recipe. The combination of the sweet potatoes with sage and cheesey ravioli was unique, and surely a combination I will be toying with more in the future.

Ravioli and Sweet Potato in Lemon-Sage Browned Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

1 15 oz package cheese ravioli (see suggested)

1 large sweet potato, skinned and cubed

1/4 cup butter

1 tbsp lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp chopped sage + extra for garnish

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Boil the ravioli according to package instructions. While you're doing that, lightly cook the sweet potato by boiling or steaming for 5 minutes. The key is to not overcook it and make it mushy. Drain each and then set aside. Melt butter in pan over medium-low heat until it starts to bubble, then add lemon juice, sage, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and nutmeg, and stir. Cook for about 1-2 minutes more or until it has a nutty aroma and turns a soft brown color. Add the sweet potatoes and saute in the butter sauce for about 2-3 minutes or until well-coated. Remove from heat and add in the raviolis until they are well-coated as well. Serve with some sage sprinkled on top and extra lemon and/or grated cheese of your choice if desired.

This is one of the few raviolis Lily likes (I know, shocking! What kid doesn't like ravioli?) and Paul and I have grown quite found of it as well. Paul actually picked it up one night when he took on the task of grocery shopping and I was glad that it caught his eye. You can use whichever kind of ravioli you like or have on hand, but if you can find the brand pictured below, I highly recommend it. It boiled right to perfection and the cheese taste was spot on and not dry like it sometime can be with frozen or dried ravioli. If you have access to fresh ravioli, that would work well too.

Baby can enjoy some of the boiled or steamed sweet potato with a little butter and sage. Yum, yum! Older babies over 9 months can have some of the raviolis chopped up with the sweet potato.

The sharp, yet light, green flavor of sage gives this dish something extra. Pairing it with sweet potato is always nice. Sage has a high content of vitamin K in it and is linked to better brain function and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. Sage was a highly valued herb during Greek and Roman times and also a favorite tea of China in the 17th century. Besides being an aromatic seasoning to add to squash, vegetable and poultry dishes, sage can be burned as an incense to purify your home and also make it smell nice :)

The Meatless Monday link party will return next week - I promise this time! Until then, work on getting your favorite healthy recipe to me for the contest I'm holding. Winner gets their recipe featured on my blog and a 1 year subscription to Eating Well magazine. Deadline is March 18th, read more about it here. Have a good week, and stop by later to enjoy some pictures from Lily's birthday bash!! 

Family Favorite Friday: Sloppy Joes

Yeah, I know. Sloppy Joes aren’t exactly healthy. My family doesn’t eat them very often. No, these babies are reserved for “special occasions.” Besides, I only eat red meat about once a month and when I do I want it to count! Using grass-fed, organic ground beef helps to make them healthier along with the use of whole wheat buns. I hope you like, it’s a very simple recipe, and it’s an American classic I’m sure everyone is familiar with.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

    1 pound ground beef

    1 medium onion, diced

    1 cup ketchup

    ¼ cup water

    2 tbsp brown sugar or 1 ½ tbsp agave syrup

    2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

    2 tsp mustard

    1 tbsp canola oil

    ½ tsp garlic powder

    ½ tsp onion powder

    ½ tsp salt

    4 hamburger buns, split

Saute the diced onion for about 5 minutes. Add the meat and brown in a wide pan over medium heat and then drain. Stir in remaining ingredients (except the buns!) and stir. Bring to a boil and then allow mixture to simmer at medium-low for about 20 more minutes or so. Serve over toasted burger buns with salad, mixed veggies, or French fries (you can bake them to cut back on the calories!).

 Lily loved this when she first had it. I had made them from scratch at Paul’s request one day, and after years of never really liking Sloppy Joes, I discovered that this recipe was quite tasty. I don’t know what kind I have been served in the past, but I know the sauce out of the can doesn’t taste this good! 

Lily's and Mommy's plates

Served with green beans and corn topped with her favorite topping- grated Parmesan cheese

Me likey

Although I greatly dislike the way animals are treated on factory farms, red meat once in a while can be very good for you. Making an effort to buy ones marked "grass-fed, pasture-raised, growth and antibiotic-free, organic" will greatly reduce your carbon footprint on the livestock raising parts of the world and will also be much better for you and the animals. Red meat is chock full of iron and B vitamins which provide you with healthy brain function, energy, and a balanced mood. Red meat is also very good for the heart and can help to prevent heart disease.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, when I was pregnant I got sudden cravings for red meat and my OBGYN told me this was because my body was lacking in iron due to Miss Lily sucking it all up. I have always been mildly anemic, so I was not surprised by this. Apparently, supplements were not enough to keep my body happy, and I had to take what was meant to be a break from vegetarianism and start eating red meat again. I have not been able to get back on the no-meat diet since, but I do limit my intake.

I had also meant to raise Lily vegetarian, and did for her first year. She didn’t try any meat until she was about 16 months old, and that was all Paul’s doing. I allowed it, just chicken and turkey at first, but then when she was 18 months old she caught a rare case of Bell’s Palsy which cannot be easily cured. It’s a virus that has to be “waited out” and the only things that supposedly help are massaging the affected area and taking vitamin B supplements. Well, I don’t know if the massaging did much, especially since it was near impossible to get Lily to stay still long enough for me to do it effectively, but shortly after she started recovering and I started giving her B complex chewable vitamins, the weakness the Palsy left in her right eye started to subside. Since then, she eats meat whenever we do.

It’s funny how life works like that, how you can plan and even anticipate for it to go one way, but something comes out of left field and completely changes that. I would like to go back to a stricter veggie diet eventually, but right now I am just going along with what my body tells me, and sometimes it wants to eat meat.

I don’t intend to post a Sweet Saturday post or link-up this weekend because I have so much going on (as always). We’re moving next weekend and Lily’s big party is this Sunday, and these things keep me busy! But, who knows, maybe I will find the time :) I do have something yummy lined up for the next Meatless Monday though, so do check back for that! I do intend to post something sweet next week though, as I will have plenty from Lily’s Mickey and Minnie party to fuel that!

Just a reminder, I’m holding a recipe contest in honor of my 1 year Blogiversary. Please send me your yummy, healthy, family-friendly recipes to healthymommyhealthybaby@gmail.com and be entered to win a 1 year subscription to Eating Well magazine and have your recipe featured here on HMHB! I can’t wait to see what you send me! Have a nice weekend!

Meatless Monday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!!!!

I have had a lot on my plate lately, and I feel that I start many posts like this, but it's true. So I apologize for not posting anything on Friday or for Sweet Saturday. I know some people like to link up with me, and I hope Sweet Saturday will be back soon (as well as the Meatless Monday link-up). I have some personal things going on right now plus planning for my Lily's birthday (which is today!!!!) and have had to turn my attention else where.

I hope today's post makes up for my slight absence :)

I decided to try my hand at baking a cake for Lily's mini party which we had on Saturday with my parents and a close friend. The big party is this upcoming Sunday, so expect a fun post on that next week. I wanted to try this recipe I concocted for whole wheat lemon-blueberry pound cake, making this the third cake I have ever made. I found a fairly simple and basic recipe to base it off of, and the results were quite tasty, yet things did not go exactly as expected as you will soon read about.

Whole Wheat Lemon-Blueberry Pound Cake

(based off of this recipe from food.com)

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar

1 cup fresh or thawed frozen blueberries
2 eggs , well beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unbleached flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
^{1 tsp lemon extract}

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together sugar and butter in large bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, then add lemon juice and extract. Mix together. In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt and baking powder, then add bit by bit to the wet mix until well blended. Lastly, mix in milk and then the blueberries. Pour cake batter into parchment paper-lined 8" or 9" round or square pan, or tube pan (I used a round pan because I do not have a tube pan). Pop into the oven for 1 hour, or until toothpick can be inserted into center of cake and comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for about 20 minutes before removing from pan, then setting onto wire rack or cutting board to cool. Serve as is, or frost with whipped cream cheese frosting, recipe below.

^{Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting}

^{(makes 2 cups)}

8 oz package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form in a large bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients into a separate large bowl and beat together until well combined and creamy. Slowly add in the whipped cream until completely combined, but still fluffy. Spread on to cake once it is completely cooled. 

Now, I have to admit, I did not line my pan with parchment paper. I used a non-stick pan (despite the fact that I prefer not to use those, I had one I figured I could use for this purpose this one time), so I thought I would not have to line it. Boy was I wrong. When I got the cake loose from the pan, it broke into several different pieces, as you can see from the image below.

mixing...

After adding the blueberries

Looks good...

oops.

I was not happy, but I just had to laugh at myself for not following proper instructions, and I felt it was clearly a lesson learned. BUT, not to be discouraged, I brainstormed a bit and then came up with a solution for what to do with the now crumbled cake pieces. I broke the cake up further into small, cube-like chunks and then layered them in wine glasses between layers of the whipped cream cheese frosting. The results were not only delicious, but stunning as well!

This version of pound cake is yummy, but also healthier than the average pound cake with the added benefits of whole wheat flour and blueberries. I would've used 100% whole wheat flour instead of a combination of both whole wheat and unbleached, but I wanted to maintain the fluffiness and not have it come out too dense. It came out tasting like a wholesome blueberry-lemon muffin. Tired little Lily didn't even make it to the serving of her cake, so we didn't sing happy birthday to her. She's only 2 though, and I don't think she really cares...

Everyone who did have some loved it though, and the few guests who came for the small party were impressed not only with the taste, but with the presentation as well. So, if you ever have the same problem I did with the cake falling apart, don't stress! Just get creative! There are plenty of ways to salvage a yummy dessert without losing your cool.

As I said before, I don't have a whole lot of experience in cake making. When I bake desserts, I usually bake cookies and brownies because...well, they're easier! But, I hope to test my hand at cake making a lot more, and will let you know what I decide to do for the cupcakes for Lily's big birthday party which is next weekend. I'm thinking basic yellow or red velvet...

This cake is safe for babies to eat who are at least 9 months old, as it's not too sweet and has natural fruit for baby's benefit. However, you may not want to give them too much icing as there is a lot of sugar in it, but it's chock full of calcium and vitamin D as well with the amount of dairy it contains.



Have a great week! I will be doing my best to get back on my regular blog schedule this week, but next week I'm MOVING, so I can't say what things will be like during the latter half of the month. So much change is coming, change that is desperately needed. I'm still holding my recipe contest which you can read all about here, so send me your favorite healthy family recipes! I've only received a couple so far, and they both sounded awesome!!!