{"id":2413,"date":"2017-10-16T18:34:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T18:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saynplaycolumbus.com\/?p=2413"},"modified":"2017-10-16T18:34:11","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T18:34:11","slug":"take-a-taste-tuesday-with-from-this-point-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/2017\/10\/16\/take-a-taste-tuesday-with-from-this-point-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Take a Taste Tuesday with From This Point Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi! My name is Mariah and I\u2019m very excited to be sharing with you for <\/span>Take a Taste Tuesday! <\/span><\/i>My blog, <\/span>From This Point. Forward.,<\/span><\/a> isn\u2019t primarily about food or even motherhood, but focuses on how my life changed after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at the age of 25. That being said, perhaps the most difficult part of my RA journey has been figuring out how to navigate motherhood while living with a chronic autoimmune disease. (If my story sounds familiar to you, please keep an eye on my new site \u2013 <\/span>Mamas Facing Forward<\/span><\/a> \u2013 which will soon offer resources and support for the unique challenges faced by moms who are also living with chronic illnesses!)<\/span><\/p>\n

My boys are currently three and five, and they\u2019ll be gaining a little sister in just a few months! Like many kids, my oldest ate just about everything under the sun with gusto until he hit about 18 months, at which point he narrowed his list of \u201cacceptable\u201d foods to mere handful of items \u2013 most of which are carbs and dairy. Getting him to consume any type of produce is often a challenge. And though my younger son is much more willing to eat a wider variety, he\u2019s also apt to reject food if his older brother declares it to be gross. So I needed a life hack for easily getting nutrients into my family\u2019s meals \u2013 even when I\u2019m not feeling my best. And that\u2019s where \u201cgreen cubes\u201d come in! <\/span><\/p>\n

Green Cubes<\/b><\/p>\n

In the summertime, we belong to a CSA, which stands for \u201ccommunity supported agriculture.\u201d Basically this means we pay upfront to support a local farm, and then visit the farm once a week all summer and most of the fall to pick up our share of whatever the farm produces. This generally includes a huge variety of greens \u2013 spinach, kale, chard, beet greens \u2013 and between the CSA and our own garden I often end up with a literal mountain of greens that we have zero chance of eating before it wilts (particularly since the kids won\u2019t eat it fresh at all!)<\/span><\/p>\n

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So, instead of letting the greens go to waste, I make a batch of green cubes. This involves gently steaming the greens, pureeing them, and popping them in the freezer. I use an immersion blender and one of those baby food freezer trays \u2013 because that\u2019s what I happen to have \u2013 but a food processor and a regular ice cube tray would work just as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

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I will admit that this process can be somewhat time consuming \u2013 so I generally try to save it for a time when I have at least a little bit of energy to spare. I do think the investment of time is worthwhile, however, as it gives me a quick option for easily adding nutrients to meals later on. I also find that I get more and more efficient with this process as time goes on. These days I\u2019m able to multitask in the kitchen \u2013 cleaning up from dinner, for example \u2013 as I simultaneously put a mountain of greens through the steamer in batches. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once the green cubes are frozen, I keep them in a giant Ziploc bag in the freezer and add them to anything and everything. I throw in one or two almost anytime I\u2019m cooking ground meat \u2013 meatballs, meatloaf, taco meat. It\u2019s also a great way to add extra nutrients to jarred tomato sauce. And while I refer to these as \u201cgreen cubes,\u201d because I make them most often using greens, you can do the same thing with other vegetables too. For example, if I buy a big bag of baby carrots and we don\u2019t get through them all, I\u2019ll throw the rest in the steamer and make a batch of orange cubes to mix in with the Kraft mac and cheese! <\/span><\/p>\n

Veggie Banana Muffins<\/b><\/p>\n

Of course, green cubes are only effective at getting nutrients into your kids if they\u2019ll actually eat the meal you mix them into! My oldest currently refuses sauces (except ketchup) and all meat, so unfortunately he\u2019ll completely reject most of the suggestions I just made above. But he will <\/span>happily<\/span><\/i> consume any baked goods I care to provide \u2013 which is how I came up with what we call \u201cgreen banana muffins.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to getting my children to happily consume kale or chard, I\u2019ve managed to sneak some other nutrition into these muffins as well. And, once you have a bag of green\/veggie cubes in your freezer, this recipe is simple enough to make often and let the kiddos help! <\/span><\/p>\n

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Ingredients<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

1 \u00bd cups flour<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bd cup sugar (the banana muffin recipe I started with called for \u00be cup sugar, but I usually use less because I add vanilla protein powder and it\u2019s a bit sweet. I\u2019ll use even less if I substitute applesauce for the egg!)<\/span><\/p>\n

2 scoops (about \u00bc cup) protein powder (This is totally optional, but as my oldest doesn’t currently eat meat I\u2019m always looking for ways to get extra protein into him! I generally use vanilla whey powder)<\/span><\/p>\n

1 teaspoon baking powder<\/span><\/p>\n

1 teaspoon baking soda<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bd teaspoon salt<\/span><\/p>\n

3 large ripe bananas, mashed (when bananas start turning brown in our house, I peel them and throw them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer so I can use them for these muffins instead of wasting them)<\/span><\/p>\n

1 egg OR \u00bc cup applesauce (I\u2019m including an alternative here not only because it gives you options for different nutrients but also because I can\u2019t be the only mom who starts a baking project and then discovers I\u2019m missing necessary ingredients! I\u2019ve totally been known to squeeze an applesauce pouch into this muffin batter!)<\/span><\/p>\n

1\/3 cup butter OR 1\/3 cup coconut oil, melted (There are lots of health benefits to coconut oil and I think it tastes great. Also \u2013 and this may be TMI \u2013 one of the reasons I particularly love it in this recipe is that it\u2019s a natural remedy for constipation, which can sometimes be a problem for my oldest when he\u2019s being particularly picky)<\/span><\/p>\n

2 big cubes (about the size of a baby food jar) cooked, pureed vegetables (I usually make this recipe with green cubes, but you can also do it with sweet potato, carrots, cauliflower, or beets \u2013 though I will warn that while the beets turn the batter a delightful shade of hot pink, the baked muffins sadly don\u2019t retain much of the pink color!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Directions<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Mix ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of your muffin tins. I recommend using paper liners or coating muffin pans with a non-stick spray. We have a couple of silicone molds just to make these muffins a bit more fun! (Though these days I have to admit I wish the dinosaur one was nothing by T-rexes, because both boys tend to get upset when the T-rex muffins are gone haha!)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Even when we make a double batch of these, they rarely stick around in our house for very long. They\u2019ve always been a hit with our friends \u2013 so I hope your family enjoys them too! <\/span><\/p>\n

Each Tuesday for the next several weeks a fellow mom\/friend\/community member will be sharing a fun recipe, tips to include kids in the cooking process, or a great family restaurant for “Take a Taste Tuesday.” If you are interested in sharing your eating and\/or cooking fun be sure to connect with me via email!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi! My name is Mariah and I\u2019m very excited to be sharing with you for Take a Taste Tuesday! My blog, From This Point. Forward., isn\u2019t primarily about food or even motherhood, but focuses on how my life changed after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at the age of 25. That being said, perhaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-take-a-taste-tuesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}