December 2012 Recipes

These first two kid-friendly recipes are from Mary McDougall, grandmother to 5 wonderful children; ages 9 through 6 months.

YOUR KIDS WILL LOVE THIS SOUP
This soup recipe first appeared in The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart many years ago. I have had several requests for this recipe over the past few months, so I decided it was time to share it again in this newsletter dedicated to children’s favorites.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 12-13 minutes
Servings: 4

¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup water
2 16 ounce cans fat free refried beans
1 ¾ cups vegetable broth
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1/3 cup mild Mexican red sauce
½ teaspoon ground cumin

Place the onion and water in a medium saucepan. Cook and stir until the onion is tender and the water has evaporated. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and cook over very low heat for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro if your child likes cilantro.

MILD GREEN ENCHILADA SAUCE
This is another favorite with kids because it’s not too spicy for them. It’s great over burritos, enchiladas, rice & bean bowls, or plain brown rice.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: makes 4 cups

1 7 ounce can mild Mexican green sauce
3 ½ cups water
4 tablespoons cornstarch
fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

Combine all of the ingredients, except the cilantro, in a medium saucepan. Mix well to make sure the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils. Add chopped cilantro just before serving, if desired.

7 Days of Kid-Friendly Breakfasts
By Heather McDougall, McDougall Program Director and Mother to 3 boys; ages 4, 6 and 9.

Below are 7 tried and true recipes that even the pickiest child will like. If you make a double batch of the pancake batter you can save half and use it two days later for the waffles, just add more non-dairy milk and stir well. With the Breakfast Burritos, make the beans ahead of time. These can then be used throughout the week for a Bean Burrito or Enchilada dinner, which can also easily be doubled for a lunch of leftovers during the week. Next month, I will be doing kid-approved entrees.

BANANA PANCAKES – Adapted from McDougall Newsletter, July 2003
These are a favorite breakfast in our home. They are easy to make, and everyone loves them! These are wonderful served with a little maple syrup or applesauce. You can make these the night before and you will just need to add a bit more liquid to the mix in the morning.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: makes 10-12 pancakes

¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
¾ cup unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 tablespoon egg replacer mixed in ¼ cup warm water
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 cup sparkling water

To Cook:
Mix the flours, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Place the bananas in another bowl and mash well. (This is about 2 ½ bananas.) Mix the egg replacer and water and beat until frothy. Add to bananas and mix well. Stir in the non-dairy milk and water and mix again. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir to mix. Do not over-beat.

Heat a non-stick griddle over medium heat. Pour mixture by ¼ cup measure onto the dry, heated griddle and flatten with the bottom of your measuring cup. Flip and turn over when the first bubbles start to appear. Cook until brown on both sides. Repeat until all mixture has been used.

Hint: This makes a delicious, light pancake that rises as it cooks. For a slightly thinner pancake, (or if you let your batter sit too long before using) thin batter with a little more non-dairy milk, stirring to mix well before ladling onto the griddle. This may also be made with all whole-wheat flour, but it will be slightly heavier in texture. These may be refrigerated and heated in the microwave or oven at a later time. They may also be frozen and heated in a toaster.

MULTIGRAIN HOT CEREAL – McDougall Newsletter, December 2004
This is another hearty breakfast that we enjoy. It does take a bit longer to cook but it is very filling and delicious. The mixture can be made up ahead of time and stored in an airtight container. If you soak the mixture overnight, it cuts down on the cooking time in the morning. My boys love this with bananas, non-dairy milk and brown sugar on top.

4 cups oat groats (whole oats)
½ cup brown rice
½ cup quinoa
½ cup barley
½ cup millet
½ cup rye
½ cup spelt berries

Combine all the ingredients (or as many as you choose to use) in a large container and mix well. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

To Cook:
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Rinse 1 cup of the mixture under cold water, then add to the pan and cook over medium-low heat for about 1 hour. Let rest, covered, about 10 minutes before serving.
THE NIGHT BEFORE: Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Rinse 1 cup of the mixture
under cold water, then add to the pan. Turn off heat, cover and let rest until morning.
Reheat in the morning and serve.

Place 3 cups of water and 1 cup of rinsed mixture in a slow cooker (crockpot). Cook on low heat setting for 8-10 hours.

Hint: Add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg or mace to the cooking water for extra flavor. Or try a tablespoon or two of currants or raisins.

WAFFLES
These can easily be made with the extra pancake batter you made earlier. Simply add more non-dairy milk and stir to get all the lumps out. We have a great non-stick farm animal waffle maker by Villaware that my boys love. They fight over the barn waffle, but there is also a pig, chicken and cow to choose from. For some reason, eating food in a fun shape makes things taste better for young children. We serve these with fruit, honey or syrup.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: makes 8-10 waffles

¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
¾ cup unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon egg replacer mixed in ¼ cup warm water
1 ½ to 2 cups non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon agave nectar

To Cook:
Mix the flours, baking powder, nutritional yeast and salt together in a bowl. Mix the egg replacer and water and beat until frothy. Stir in the non-dairy milk and agave nectar and mix again. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir to mix. Do not over-beat.

Heat a non-stick waffle iron until hot. Pour mixture by ½ to 1 cup measure onto the dry, heated waffle iron and close top. Cook until nicely browned and waffle pulls away from the top of the waffle iron. Most waffle irons “beep” when waffle is ready. (This will vary depending on the kind of waffle iron that you have, maybe 3-5 minutes.) Repeat until all mixture has been used.

Hint: This makes a delicious, light waffle that rises as it cooks. For a slightly thinner waffle, (or if you let your batter sit too long before using) thin batter with a little more non-dairy milk, stirring to mix well before ladling into the waffle iron. This may also be made with all whole-wheat flour, but it will be slightly heavier in texture. These may be refrigerated and heated in the microwave or oven at a later time. They may also be frozen and heated in a toaster.

SCRAMBLED TOFU

This recipe is adapted from VeganDad’s blog on scrambled tofu. I serve this with roasted potatoes and toast for my boys. For me, on the side, I serve sautéed kale and peanut sauce or salsa. Delicious!

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2 - 4

1 package 6-8 ounces firm tofu
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground white pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon soy creamer

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Drain water off the tofu and crumble into the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until tofu begins releasing its water.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the creamer and mix well. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly, lowering the heat if the tofu begins to stick. The idea here is to let the water evaporate and the tofu firm up. You want to keep the heat high enough to facilitate this evaporation.

Add creamer and mix well. Allow some of the liquid to evaporate, remove from heat and serve.

OATMEAL
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 1-3

This is so easy to make the night before. I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats Whole Grain. I bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add 1 cup oats, turn the heat off, let cool and put in the fridge overnight. The next morning I simply have to heat up, top with the boys favorite fruit, and I am done.

FRENCH TOAST
My boys absolutely love this for breakfast. I make extra, so they can have it later for a snack just toasted and plain or with sliced bananas and peanut butter.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: makes 6-8 slices of toast

1 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
6-8 slices of bread

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk.
Preheat a non-stick skillet to medium-high.
Quickly dip bread into mixture and place on skillet for about 3 minutes each side. Repeat with remaining bread until mixture runs out. If you do not use all of the mixture, you can easily refrigerate and use another day. It will keep for about 5 days in the fridge.

BREAKFAST BURRITOS
This is such an easy breakfast to make if you plan ahead a bit. Use leftover beans from dinner a night that week, scrambled tofu from breakfast a couple of days ago, and there is hardly anything else left to do but a bit of reheating and chopping. My boys like salsa but I love peanut sauce on almost anything, so that is what I use. The peanut dressing recipe can be found in the McDougall Newsletter, February 2006.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Servings: makes 4 small burritos

1 cup mashed beans (we like cranberry beans, but pinto or black work well)
1 cup leftover scrambled tofu
½ cup corn
½ cup chopped steamed kale or spinach
Mild salsa
Tortillas of your choice
Heat a tortilla on a non-stick skillet, spread a thin layer of beans, then scrambled tofu, sprinkle on corn and steamed greens, add salsa and roll.