Black Bean and Spinach Enchilada Bake

It has been very cold here for the past few days and I've been thinking a lot about warm and cozy comfort food. On cold, dark evenings there is something about undeniably comforting about sitting down to a steamy, cheesy mess of a casserole straight out of the oven.

Maple-Glazed Carrots

This week we are going to share a few of our favorite veggie sides for the holiday festivities. While the center piece of the meals are general protein, turkey, ham, prime-rib, etc. that doesn't have to be the only delicious part of your meal. Couple that with a few delicious veggie sides and you are going to have one delicious Holiday meal.

My husband and I grew a massive garden this summer, great in theory but then we had to cook all those veggies! I had veggies up the wazoo and had to get really creative with cooking them all. I had more carrots then I knew what to do with! After trying about every way to cook carrots these really became one of our favorites. There carrots are full of flavor, easy to prepare, and fast. They are a perfect side to any holiday meal or any meal for that matter. But the maple in them really gives them a great holiday flare. They are adapted from this recipe from Saveur.

Butternut Pecan Pancakes

One of our most popular recipes this year has been our fun and kid-friendly green "monstah" pancakes. I've done a fall/winter remodel of this fabulous and nutrient-dense pancake to include a wonderful helping of butternut squash roasted in a touch of coconut oil and some delicious fall spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. You can roast up a sweet potato the same way or even use canned pumpkin. These pancakes use the same base as the "monstah" pancakes (quinoa, almond milk, and rolled oats), but this is a flavorful twist that will have everyone clamoring for more. This has been an even bigger hit with our friends and family, and just in time for the holidays.

Why These Kids Love Kale

There are so many books, articles, pieces of advice (both solicited and unsolicited) about how we should feed our kids, when and how much, and what we should feed them. There is no arguing that this is one of the most important ways that parents and families can care for their children and loved ones.

Natalie and I (Collette here!) will be adding articles that we've read, sharing tips and tricks that have both worked well and failed (because we all learn from failures). We will also have guests chime in from time to time to talk about getting infants on the right track, tips for having kiddos around extended family with different eating habits, and tips from family members without kids who do a great job babysitting and helping to feed nutrient-dense meals to our little squirts.

Kids & Veggies: Cooking and Growing

Collette and I (Natalie here) were contemplating when our kids ate the best or happily ate new things without hesitation, it really came down to two scenarios: The Kitchen and The Garden. While we will discuss many topics about kids and veggies here (including how to introduce them, when, how to raise independent eaters, baby foods, and so on), we thought we'd dedicate our first full "Kids and Veggies" post to these two important places.

The Kitchen

Cooking with your kids is an incredible way to expose them to a variety of foods and to help them understand where their prepared meals come from. When they are involved in this process and "help" with food prep, they are more likely to eat what they helped with or had a say in (and what child does not like a say!). My son is much more likely to try a new vegetable when he is involved in the preparation. I always have him try it as we are prepping (he has been know to sneak raw onions or peppers during prep) and then his favorite part is the "tasting." When he has seen it from start to finish and tasted it numerous times before dinner is actually served he will always eat it from his plate. However, I have seen the opposite effect when he is not included. If I cook a new dish or introduce a new food that he has not seen and was not included in, he is much more hesitant at meal time to give it a try. The best part is, if you are getting your kids into the kitchen with you, that means you are in the kitchen. And it is always better for you and your family to be preparing your own wholesome food.

Spinach Pesto Pull-Apart Bread

In July I gave birth to the most adorable little boy that has ever existed (not that I am biased or anything), which meant the 9 months prior to that I was pregnant, and all that comes with it: food aversions, cravings, sicknesses and a lot of other pregnancy symptoms that people don't tell you about. Long story short, pesto was once one of my favorite condiments, and then it went bad in our fridge and made me sick and I didn't look at it again until I was at Costco last month and saw a big jar of their Basil Pesto. I bought it and I have an excuse to put it in everything! Thus, this pull apart bread was born.