In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded mom and Whole Foods Market® team member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both her toddler and husband. Read the other posts in her ongoing series.

My son was turning two and I was on a mission to create a special birthday meal that’s both healthy and fun. I asked my son what he would like to eat for his birthday dinner and his response was loud and clear: “Pizza!” At our house pizza is a treat. So, I started thinking about ways to make a healthier pizza that was loaded with good stuff.

To start, I decided to make my own whole wheat crust. It’s fresh, it’s tasty and it’s definitely worth the effort. Next up, the sauce. Shhhhhhhhh! Here’s my secret: load up the sauce with vegetables. That’s right; broccoli, spinach, cauliflower – the choice is yours. Once you soften the vegetables and whirl them up in the blender your child will be none the wiser. This sneaky little trick makes me smile, which is how my next idea came about. I’d top the pizza with a vegetable smiley face!

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In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time mom and Whole Foods Market® team member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. Read the other posts in her ongoing series.

I used to think that a curry dish actually had to have curry spice in it. But now I know that “curry” is a generic term that applies to a wide range of dishes originating from India, Pakistan, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. I also know that my family loves “curry-for-dinner” night at our house.

It all started one evening when I ordered take-out from an Indian restaurant. As my husband and I dived into our curry dinner, my son looked up from his plate of bland chicken and carrots and eyed our food with envy. He then started muttering, “curry, curry, curry.” So I let him taste some of the the spinach saag curry, tandoori chicken and rice, doubting he’d like it. I was wrong — he absolutely loved it! I was so excited that my toddler enjoyed such an exotic dish.

So I challenged myself: re-create this dish at home using fresh, organic ingredients. I also wanted it to be easy on the wallet, so I chose spices that would taste good in both the chicken and vegetable dish. Also, I used whole milk, instead of cream, since that’s what was in my fridge; it worked surprising well, in my opinion. Brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli rounded out the meal, but the dish would also pair nicely with peas.

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In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. Read the other posts in her series.

With green pastures, magnificent cliffs and majestic castles, Ireland is a country known for its outer beauty. Just last month, I was lucky enough to enjoy Ireland’s inner beauty from my mother-in-law’s kitchen in Waterford. I discovered a vibrant food culture in Ireland and a plethora of organic vegetables that are grown year-round.

After a morning walk on the beach and trip to the local market, my son settled down for a nap. This provided the perfect opportunity for me to work side-by-side with my mother-in-law to create a well-known Irish Dish: Shepherd’s Pie. As we compared the recipe to the local produce and ingredients I had purchased, my husband and mother-in-law began to laugh at me. It turns out that Shepherd’s Pie is traditionally made with lamb or mutton and I mistakenly purchased beef. Using minced beef turns this dish into a cottage pie (which is more of a British dish). So my attempts to cook a true Irish meal in an Irish kitchen were foiled! But alas, I carried on with my “almost Irish” meat pie meal.

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In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time Mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. Read the other posts in her ongoing series.

On a snowy winter afternoon, my mind wandered back to the summer of 2009, when my husband and I had the amazing opportunity of traveling to Tanzania. This trip inspired me to add Tanzanian flavors (like curry, mango and mint) to dishes at home. Tanzania, typically known for its game areas, tropical beaches and Mt. Kilimanjaro, has some captivating culinary marvels. From 17 varietals of bananas to plump juicy mangos, goat meat and plantains, I am fascinated by traditional East African cuisine.

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In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time Mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. Read the other posts in her ongoing series.

When one member of my family gets sick, inevitably another one seems to catch it. On Sunday morning, my husband and son both woke up with colds and as the only one not sick, I had to be on top of my game. I started by perusing the kitchen cupboards, and I let my imagination go to work.

Breakfast was easy. I served oatmeal, washed down with a green smoothie to start the day off right. When lunch time rolled around, I whipped up a quick soup and served it with whole wheat toast.

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In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time Mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. See other posts on making homemade popsicles, vegetable soup out of a pea base, a carrot ginger soup from locally grown carrots, finger foods, zucchini pesto, berry cobbler and a green smoothie. She even hides vegetables in her pancakes.

The smell of banana bread baking in the oven is AMAZING! But this afternoon, as the banana bread baked, I was a little bit nervous. This was a very special batch. It was my first attempt at a gluten-free bread and I was anxious to taste the results.

I have recently been introduced to a community of mothers who feed their children gluten-free foods. I thought it would be fun to bring a gluten-free recipe home to my family. My mission: to create a healthy gluten-free dessert and answer the question, “Can desserts be delicious without the gluten?” Here’s what I did.

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In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time Mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. See other posts on making homemade popsicles, vegetable soup out of a pea base, a carrot ginger soup from locally grown carrots, finger foods, zucchini pesto, berry cobbler and a green smoothie.

play·date noun: a play session for small children arranged in advance by their parents. As a new mom, the concept of having a “play date” was completely foreign to me. I mean, when I was single, dating was hard enough and now I’m expected to be social and meet new parents with a baby in tow?

However, after going with my son on his first play date, I discovered that play dates aren’t scary at all. In fact, they provide an environment for children to meet other children, while moms and dads can interact with other adults. In fact, I’ve learned a lot about everything from child development to healthy foods for children while sipping coffee and chatting with other parents as our kids happily played with toys.

I am always trying to find ways to add more vegetables to my family’s diet. On one of our play dates, my new mom friend, Mandy Hutton, suggested vegetable pancakes! Mandy said, “It’s great to have more options for meals and I like the fact that this recipe is an all-in-one meal. I try to make a big batch ahead of time, then just microwave each pancake one by one, as needed.”

As soon as Mandy mentioned the pancakes, I couldn’t wait to get home and whip up a batch of my own. My toddler seems to gravitate toward foods such as toast and crackers rather than the vegetables I wish he’d eat. It seems to be a textural thing rather than taste, so by marrying grains with vegetables, I can give him a healthy, well-balanced meal he’ll enjoy eating. Here’s the veggie pancake recipe that I’ve come up with:
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In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time Mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both toddler and husband. See other posts on making vegetable soup out of a pea base, a carrot ginger soup from locally grown carrots, finger foods, zucchini pesto, berry cobbler and a green smoothie.

As I kid, I would run down the street after the Good Humor truck in search of the perfect summer treat. Most of my friends would go for the ice cream-based varieties like chocolate éclairs and devilish cookie sandwiches. But the sno-cones, Italian ices and popsicles always appealed to me. There’s something about flavored ice that’s just so refreshing.

During these hot summer months, I want my son to be able to enjoy a treat. But as a health-conscious mother, I want him to enjoy his treat without all of the added sugar and artificial colors and flavors. When I couldn’t find a store-bought popsicle that met all my requirements, I set out to make them at home instead.

The hardest part was finding the right popsicle molds. My qualifications were: BPA-free, no-drip handle and dishwasher-safe. After sifting through many products online, I clicked my way to the perfect set. I felt like a kid again. I couldn’t wait for the popsicle molds to arrive in the mail and when they did, I started whipping up different batches. I tried a variety of different fruity mixes and my family enjoyed being taste testers. Even the dog pitched in to help. Read the rest of this entry »

In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time Mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both baby and husband. See other posts on making vegetable soup out of a pea base, a carrot ginger soup from locally grown carrots, finger foods, zucchini pesto and a green smoothie.

In the summertime, nothing is more glorious than eating fresh berries. I live in Michigan where the berries are bountiful. At my house, we eat berries all day long. They are a satisfying and healthy snack. Berries taste great tossed in yogurt at breakfast and placed on top of salad greens for lunch and dinner. Blueberries, blackberries and sliced strawberries are among my 14-month-old son’s favorite finger foods.

One day my family went berry-picking at a local organic farm and we came home with a bucket of ripe blueberries. Staring at the large bucket, I became inspired to create a light dessert. I took an old family recipe from my Mom and made a few adjustments by creating a fruit puree for my toddler and a fruit cobbler for my husband. The result was delicious.

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I am a first-time Mom on a budget. In this ongoing blog series, I explore ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both my baby and husband. I’m having fun sharing my trials and tribulations of trying to cook healthfully and economically, while at the same time pleasing my family. I started out simple by turning mashed up baby foods into soups, like creating a vegetable soup out of a pea base and a carrot ginger soup from locally grown carrots. I even turned one of my purees into a zucchini pesto. I have experimented with finger foods, too. Today, I will make a green smoothie.

When I was growing up, there were things that my mother always said to me, such as, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” At dinnertime, she would say, “Eat your greens” and “You can’t have dessert until you clean your plate.”

Now that I am a Mom, I find myself saying some of the same things to my son. But I’ve changed the rules. At my house, you can have your greens and dessert all in one. With green smoothies, I’ve convinced both my husband and my son that eating greens can actually be fun.

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