Learning to Share

So, here’s an issue I’ve been dealing with concerning Lily lately…she’s not much of a sharer. Many people have told me she’s still very young and that she will learn to share eventually, and to just keep teaching her when the appropriate moment arises. Yet, others seem to think this could be an issue and that I should be firmer in teaching her this valuable skill. Case in point:

Monday I took Lily to one of our local parks and we had a few sharing “incidents.” First, she has gotten into the habit of carrying her beloved Bert and Ernie dolls with her wherever she goes now, and her travel companions caught the eye of another toddler playing at the park named, Nora. Nora pointed right at the dolls and started to head right for them, but her mom stopped her as soon as Lily started to tense up and cry. It’s really that easy to set her over the edge- one only needs to imply that they may want to check out the toy she’s holding or even simply looking at. 

Running around at the park with her best buddies

  Little Nora went on and on about Bert and Ernie, but her dear mom did a good job of keeping her cub away from Little Miss Crankypants Lily. Lily went about her business, but then another little girl who was probably around 2 ½ came over to us and started throwing a green ball around. It seemed that she was definitely trying to get Lily’s attention so they could play. Lily, on the other hand, was interested in nothing but getting that ball from the little girl. The little girl would throw the ball, then Lily would go after it, and then the little girl would go after it too, always getting to the ball first. This upset Lily, although it was clear to me the tot was merely trying to play a game with her.

She went back over to her mom in a confused state, and her mom in turn coaxed her into trying to play with Lily again by rolling the ball to her to she could roll it back. What a sweet lady, such good intentions…too bad she doesn’t know my daughter. Lily instead only wanted to obtain the ball for herself and run away with it, but the little girl’s mom persisted in trying to get them to play together, so I decided to use this time as a learning experience for Lily. It took about ten tried before I finally got Lily to let go of the ball for the little girl to chase and then return to Lily again, and it looked as if Lily was finally starting to understand the simple game of catch and toss. It was pure bliss for me, the Worrisome Mom, when that moment came where Lily looked at the ball in her hand, then looked at the little girl waiting for her to send it back, then let go of the ball and let it roll over to her without crying. I cheered her on and so did the little girl and her mom. What a breakthrough! We had forgotten about little Nora at this time…

It was when the little girl had sent the ball back to Lily again that Nora came out of nowhere exclaiming, “Ball!” and ran right up to Lily and snatched the ball from her hands. This resulted in an eruption of tears from both the ball players, Nora’s mom scurrying up to her telling her “No!” and each little crying girl running to their mother’s arms.

Nora’s mom looked so embarrassed, as I had when Lily kept trying to take the ball for herself. She got Nora to return the ball without much fuss and things quieted back down, but not for Lily. She appeared to be more confused than ever, so I tried to get her to go on the swings with the little girl she’d been playing with, but she was just too upset and indicated to me she wanted to leave. So, leave we did, but not before I said goodbye to the fellow moms and thanked the ball-owner’s mom for the encouragement. Unfortunately, I did not catch her or her darling daughter’s name, so I hope to see them playing at the park again sometime.

This is just a particularly amusing example of Lily’s sharing trials and tribulations; there have been many more where she just screamed and cried and one time she even poked the poor little girl admiring the same pumpkin in the patch as she right in the eye! (The little girl was fine, thank goodness!). So, now, Dear Readers, I am once again asking for fellow moms with toddlers- or with kids who once were toddlers -to weigh in on this and offer up any advice they may have. Is this “normal”? Is Lily still too young to really understand sharing? Should I continue to be patient and just let things evolve? Is there a helpful way you taught yours how to share?

Thanks a lot, and check back Friday for another yummy cookie recipe!

Bonus cutie :)

Meatless Monday: Mini Quiches

I got these mini phillo tarts for Thanksgiving the year before to make delicious-sounding apple-brie tarts, but when I gave the recipe a test-spin, they didn’t turn out quite right…as in the mixture seeped through the tarts. I did not have the time nor the patience to give the recipe a try again before Turkey Day, so I just had these phillo tarts laying around and finally decided to use them when Lily and I started getting that rumble in our tummies for dinner one night.

Mini Quiches

Ingredients

1 dozen mini phillo tarts

2 large eggs

½ cup chopped spinach

¼ cup diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

2 tbsp crumbled feta

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes over low heat, then add the spinach and sauté for about 1 minute more. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, in a somewhat large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, salt, pepper and cayenne. Add in the feta and mix, then add the sautéed spinach, garlic and onion. Set the mini phillo tarts onto baking sheets about 1 inch apart from each other. Gently pour or spoon egg mixture into each cup. Sprinkle a little bit of black pepper and shredded cheddar on top and bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Serve with a spring mix salad or a light soup.

She doesn't look too sure about it here, but I promise she did like it!

"Here let me help you with that..."

 Lily really liked these quiches, and so did Paul and I. They’re super easy to make and you can obviously mix up the ingredients you put in the egg mixture to your liking. Kids will dig these too as they are cute and compact and fun to eat.

Normally I write a longer post and add some nutrition info, but as I said in my last post I have a lot of big projects to work on right now, so this is just a quickie Meatless Monday recipe I wanted to throw up. I hope you aren’t too disappointed! Happy Monday and I’ll catch you again on Wednesday (I hope!).

November Cookies: Honey, Flax 'n Almond Cookies

Life is starting to get very full again (for example, I meant to post this yesterday, but didn’t seem to find the time). I recently took on a couple of new “big” projects for work, and since I work in retail, this just reminds me all the more that the holidays are upon us. I have most of my shopping done (kept it very minimal this year, only shopping for the little ones in my life at Etsy and local shops!) and baking recipes are brewing in my head daily. Hence, why I made this month “baking month” so I could test out new recipes and perfect older ones and make my final decisions on what to give as gifts this year. At this time, I’m thinking: Flax ‘n Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Chocolate Coconut Cookies, Vegan Sugar Cookies (for the friends and family in my life with allergies), Honey ‘n Flax Whole-wheat bread, and Banana bread. Is that too much coconut and flax? I figure, they’re healthy and tasty and I have been using them in cooking and baking a lot lately, so why not? What do you think?

The recipe I chose to share with you today could be a contender as well, although they cost a bit more to make since they use so much honey to make them sweet. They are AWESOME though! They have gone over really well with friends and family interested in healthy eating, although I will be honest and say that the sweet-tooths in my life thought they needed to be sweeter! If you try this recipe and want to sweeten it up more without sugar or more honey, I’d recommend adding about ½ cup chopped dates. I like them just the way they are, and I hope you will too! Once again I have adapted this recipe from my favorite magazine, Eating Well.

Honey, Flax ‘n Almond Cookies

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour

¾ cup sliced almonds

¼ cup flax flour

2/3 cup + ¼ cup honey, divided

1/3 cup coconut oil

¼ cup whole flax seeds

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Extra flax seeds or sliced almonds for garnish (about ¼ cup combined)

Mix the flours, almonds, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl and set aside. Beat the 2/3 cup honey, oil and 3 tbsp of butter in a separate bowl until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla until well blended with the rest of the mixture, then combine the wet ingredients with the dry. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat cookie sheets with a little coconut oil or butter, (unless they are non-stick, which I don’t recommend due to carcinogens). Mix the rest of the butter and honey together until well combined. Roll dough into small balls (about 1 tbsp each) then line on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Press the back of a very shallow spoon (I use a tablespoon) or your thumb into the balls so it makes a shallow indentation, enough to fill with some of the honey-butter mixture. Spoon a small amount of the honey-butter mixture into each indentation. Top with a couple slices of almonds and/or a sprinkling of flax seeds. Place on center rack in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. 

I think I could use some new baking sheets, what do you think?

Alternatively, you could fill the cookies with jam instead, or as well. That’s what I did when I first made these cookies and was experimenting with things as you can see.

With honey-butter, with honey-butter with flax seeds, and with blackberry jam

In the original recipe from Eating Well, it says to add the honey mixture after the cookies have baked. When I did this, the honey didn’t set right and got all runny. Putting the honey-butter mixture in before baking will help it set without getting too tough. The jam, however, may get a little tough, so you may want to wait for about 5 minutes into baking before you add jam to the cookies. I found that depending on the type of jam you use, it could come out a little rubbery and separate from the cookie when you bite into it. The less runny the jam, the less likely it will get rubbery.

There is so much awesomeness in these cookies, I just love them! They’re healthy and taste really good, so healthy in fact that you could even eat them for breakfast without feeling guilty about it. One of the best things about these cookies is the amount of wonderfully rich and delicious honey in them, which I think is like the nectar of the Gods! I adore honeybees for so many reasons- they really are what make the world go around if you ask me. If it weren’t for honeybees, we’d have no one to pollinate the plants, and the world as we know it would completely change for the worse! You may have heard various things about the dwindling honeybee population and the reasons for it, such as pesticides, global warming, and even cell phone usage. I’m not here to talk about that plight today, as there is still so little concrete evidence for any single reason why the bees are disappearing (all I know about that is that it really stinks!). Instead, I’ll focus on the benefits of honey and hope that that will draw enough attention to how amazing bees really are. If you want to learn more about the disappearing bees, click here.

Honey is first and foremost incredibly healing when it comes to viruses and infections. Have a sore throat? Take a spoonful of honey and if it doesn’t go away in minutes, keep taking it once an hour until you feel better. Got a nasty cough? Try taking some buckwheat honey to beat the infection and sooth the chest pain. Weak immune system? Take a spoonful of honey everyday and you will boost it by at least 50%! So, skip the sugar in your tea and add honey instead, because as you’ll learn if you make these cookies, honey is probably the best sugar replacement available! Do note though that honey is sweeter than sugar, so use about 25% less when using it to replace sugar in recipes. Add more if desired. 

These are also ideal cookies to give your little one who is at least over 1 year old. Lily really likes them and I don't feel bad about giving her sweets this way! Infants under 1 should not eat any honey though because of Clostridium botulinum spores and toxins that can cause infant botulism, a life-threatening paralytic disease. Weird, right?  Before I had Lily I never thought honey ever posed any risk. It's okay to use products like Burt's Bees on infants though, just make sure they don't eat it! Older kids will love these cookies too, and you can use the dough as a base for a variety of healthier versions of cookie classics. 

First Featured Up-and-Coming Blog of the Month!

As I wrote in my Liebster blog post last week, I will now be featuring a different blog each month to spotlight as an up-and-coming blog with less than 200 followers that is worth a read! This month's blog is "And Then There Were Three" by Stephanie May and her husband, Tom. It's the perfect blog to browse when you just need a good chuckle that you (as a fellow mom) can relate to. It's a fun read for anyone though, I'd say, with or without child.

Stephanie writes such humorous and aptly named posts like "Poop or Chocolate?"- you can just guess what that one's about- and "Vacation + Baby = Regrets" which tells the tale of these first-time parents' vacation nightmare with baby and the lessons learned when it comes to attempting to get a little "R&R" with a crawler around. Tom's writing is even more satirical and to the point when it comes to the trials and tribulations of parenting, with posts like "Demon Baby" (we've all been there!) and "Karate Chops" which starts off as a rant on how annoying it can be when people endlessly question you about how much sleep you're getting with a new baby around, yet takes a self-help turn at the end.

Any which way you read it, Stephanie and Tom's blog is full of quick, funny, and clever musings that will leave you wanting more. Please feel free to nominate another deserving blog in the comments below! The only requirements are that the blog have less than 200 followers to be nominated, and preferably have something to do with parenting, family, health, cooking, or creativity. Thanks!

Meatless Monday: Crockpot Tomato Sauce

I had quite the busy last four days, which is why this post is a little late. Lily and I went to the zoo with her Aunt Kim and cousin Rhys on Thursday, caught up on chores and work on Friday, went to NYC with the grandparents on Saturday, then Lily slept over the grandparents’ house Saturday night and got back late Sunday afternoon then went grocery shopping with Mom and Dad. In between, I caught up on chores I normally have trouble doing with Lily around, like giving Ogum a desperately needed trim and FINALLY finishing painting Lily’s room (see pics below). By Sunday night I was spent!

It was Paul's idea to do the split colors like this

Lily loves ducks (and Elmo as you can see by the book she insisted on carrying around with her)

"I'm walking in the spiderwebs..."

"Honk, honk!"

Today’s Meatless Monday recipe is pretty easy, the only really active part being peeling, seeding and chopping up the tomatoes. When I first made this in my Crockpot, it was because I had recently acquired a huge batch of organic, farm-raised and picked tomatoes from Paul’s dad who works on a farm (part of the way he spends his “retirement”). I got bright red, yellow, orange and green tomatoes, more than enough to make the sauce with, the rest went into salads. The yellow and orange were so sweet (“Like candy!” according to Paul’s dad), and the red were perfect for this sauce! I just threw the green ones into the sauce as well because I am not a big fan of them alone (although I know many people enjoy fried green tomatoes). To be honest, I rarely eat fresh tomatoes because the acidity bothers my stomach. I usually will only eat plum or cherry tomatoes very thinly sliced on sandwiches or mixed up in a salad or with fresh mozzarella. But, when it comes to sauces, soups and beans, tomatoes really make them amazing!

Some of the lovely organic tomatoes from the farm

Crockpot Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb ripe tomatoes, preferably plum

6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, diced

½ cup olive oil

½ cup fresh basil

1 tbsp white sugar

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

First, peel the skin off the tomatoes with a small, sharp knife; then seed the tomatoes and if they’re soft enough mash up into chunks, otherwise dice. Set aside. In a small frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil with the salt and pepper for about 3-5 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove from heat then add contents of the pan along with all the other ingredients to your slow cooker. Set to low and cook for up to 12 hours, minimum 6 hours. The longer you cook it the better it will taste, but in my experience, 6 hours of cooking will still taste great if you can’t wait that long!

Taste the sauce once an hour as it cooks and add more seasonings according to taste as you go. If it’s too acidic, add more sugar. Some other seasonings you can add are red pepper flake to spice it up, thyme to soften it, and cinnamon to warm it up and make it a bit less traditional if that’s what you’re into. This recipe is a basic, classic tomato sauce recipe, perfect for anything you need sauce for, but I think it tastes best smothering spaghetti!!!

Lily loves tomato sauce. Most kids do, I think. I actually was not a big fan as a kid, and now I know it’s because of the acidity. My parents just thought I was being picky and made me eat it anyway, or else cave and give me my fuselli with butter and cheese. The picky eater in my house is my husband, but even he can appreciate a homemade, slow-cooked pasta sauce.

For babies 9-12 months, puree ½ cup pasta with a little olive oil and a few spoonfuls of sauce then top with grated Parmesan.

Tomatoes- despite their acidity that my stomach disagrees with –are quite good for you. For one thing, they are loaded with the antioxidant lycopene and vitamins A, C and K with are strongly present in all red or orange-colored produce. They provide cardio-vascular support, strengthen bones and some studies show they are beneficial in protecting against cancer, especially prostate cancer.

So, next time you have time to spend at home and get a hankering for some home-style Italian pasta, give this recipe a try if you have a slow cooker or big pot and bring Italy to the dinner table. (This would be a great recipe to bookmark for a snowy day when you’re stuck inside!)

November Cookies: Dark Chocolate Coconut 'n Flax Cookies

I am POOPED today! I took Lily to a zoo in Brooklyn yesterday and after having to take 3 different trains there and back, not to mention having to be on my feel all day with her, I am still sore. I am almost too tired to even write anything right now…but, bloggers can’t rest now, can they? Not when they’re trying to actually stick to what they set out to do and post at least 3 times a week and have a different cookie recipe every Friday! Not when they’re computer acts up non-stop, narrowly avoiding being punched in the screen several times in less than a day! And definitely not when the internet connection was acting up all morning for no known reason, luckily finally deciding to work again as soon as I was about to reach my wit’s end! (It’s been that kind of day…) No, nothing will stop me from getting healthy cookie recipes to you, my devoted readers (at least I think you’re devoted…), not even a cranky toddler (who I just put down for a nap, yay!).

Note: Lily woke up just minutes after I started writing the paragraph below…what a stinker! She only napped for about 30 minutes!

And for the sake of chocolate and indulging in naughty sweets, this first November Cookie recipe is not the healthiest I have, but certainly one of the yummiest, and I think it deserves to be the first I post, mainly because it has become the new favorite of the house and because I felt like it.

Dark Chocolate Coconut ‘n Flax Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour, sifted

¼ cup ground flax flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup butter or ½ butter ½ cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups dark chocolate chips

1 cup shredded coconut

I usually preheat my oven once the dough is ready to be put on the cookie sheets, but if you prefer to preheat your oven once you start making dough, you can go ahead and set it to 375 degrees. Combine flours, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. In separate bowl, mix sugars, vanilla, and butter and/or oil together until smooth and creamy. Add each egg one at a time until well beaten and combined with mixture. Then slowly add the flour mixture, a little at a time, until well blended together with sugar mixture. An electric beater works best. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and coconut until mixed in evenly with dough.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of cookie dough onto ungreased baking sheets in rows, at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-15 minutes in oven on center rack until golden brown. Remove cookies and allow to cool before serving, as they will be HOT! Enjoy with a nice glass of milk (I prefer almond).

Can't you just smell them baking?

Of course, cookies are best when they’re fresh out of the oven, and often I can only wait for about 10 minutes before sinking my teeth into one of these heavenly delights. The coconut and dark chocolate go perfectly together, and the whole wheat and flax flours add the extra benefits of fiber and omega-3s. This recipe also calls for 25% less sugar than the average classic chocolate chip cookie recipes. 

Delicious outcome

I use organic and Fair Trade chocolate chips when I can, like Sunspire, which is available at Whole Foods if you have on near you. You can also find a store online. I have written a post about slaves being used for harvesting cocoa beans where you can read more on the abominable practice of forcing children into unpaid labor under harsh working conditions. It’s very difficult to find chocolate that is truly slave-free, especially when it comes to chocolate chips. If you feel very strongly against using chocolate that may have come from unsavory sources, try just breaking up a slave-free chocolate bar instead! Here’s a site that lists many of the organic, Fair Trade and/or slave-free chocolates available.

I know it’s very difficult to find chocolate that is not only organic and Fair Trade, but also truly slave-free. It’s also hard to find an affordable one! Vitacost.com- one of my favorite websites ever! –has Sunspire baking chips available at very reasonable prices and in a variety of different versions, from grain-sweetened, to vegan, to carob and more! Of course, they don’t offer a “classic” semi-sweet or dark chocolate version on vitacost, but they do have that kind available at Whole Foods.

Of course, I’m not trying to lay a guilt trip on anyone; I don’t always use certified chocolates myself since they are not always readily available like I said. I a merely trying to draw attention to the situations surrounding the cocoa bean trade that some sources claim is “getting better”, yet many state otherwise. It’s always good to be informed, and if you are able to make a better buying decision isn’t that always the best way to go? Most of you have children and are horrified that children as young as three (probably younger!) are put into labor camps to harvest cocoa beans, coffee beans, and many other items. Heck, even if you don’t have kids I’m sure you are just as saddened by the situation, so let’s do our best to support those companies that are trying to make a difference!

To end on a lighter note, Lily recently tried chocolate chip cookies for the first time (here’s the photographic proof!) and loved them! This version of chocolate chip cookies would be a great first cookie for a little one in your life due to the added benefits of whole grain flours, coconut and less sugar than most readily-available cookies out there. And of course you want your child’s first cookie to be homemade! They will taste the love you put into making them, I guarantee it!

Dark chocolate has also been proven to be quite healthy itself, especially in comparison to milk chocolate. First of all, it is full of heart-healthy antioxidants and natural mood-boosters which is why many people crave chocolate when they're feeling blue. It also contains many vital minerals such as iron and magnesium. I don't know about you, but I greatly prefer the taste of dark to milk chocolate anyway!

Check back next week for Meatless Monday, the first featured up-and-coming blog post, and another cookie recipe! Have a great weekend!!!

More Halloween Fun!

Here they are- the pics of Lily in costume and our first jack-o-lantern! Enjoy, and feel free to link to your fun Halloween blogs and pics in the comments! (Yes, I know it's 2 days after Halloween!)

Proudly showing off Fairy Princess costume #1 (it was too cold for her to wear this version out), Mommy forgot to turn off the flash

She really likes the wand

Fairy Princess costume #2, tie-dye pixie!

At the yearly parade in our neighborhood where all the kids trick-or-treat at the shops

Throwing her hourly tantrum- how pretty are those wings?!

My first jack-o-lantern! Not bad, eh?

Spooooky

MeOW! Happy Halloween!