My parents were around in full force this summer. It was a huge help to me but it also meant my kids were exposed to a whole host of foods that mommy does not want them eating. Let’s see, there was the day that Kenya
innocently told me that my father bought him “some” gum at the car wash (sugar free Trident with Aspartame to be exact). We later found Chloe playing unusually quietly and chewing something. Next to her were 15 empty gum wrappers. When we asked her where everything went that was in the wrappers she said, “in my tummy”. Then there were the times my dad let Kenya order “a drink in a red can that was really sweet with bubbles in it,” but of course Kenya was told to not say anything to me. Are you starting to see a pattern here with my dad and his knowledge
of what is and is not ok to feed kids?

Or how about the day that I made these Blueberry Cheesecake Bites and Kenya said, “Grandpa took me to the Cheesecake Factory. I love cheesecake.” Now, I have nothing against cheesecake — it was one of my favorite desserts as a kid — but I get cavities just thinking about the mounds of sugar that most recipes call for. This version is different and has become one of my kids’ new favorite sweet treats. Since they are bite-sized, contain no refined sugar, have tons of fresh blueberries and even a whole wheat and oat crust, I feel a lot better offering these to my kids for dessert than a lot of the alternatives.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bites (makes 20-25 bites)

Oat Crust:

1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, chilled

Filling:

4 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 Large Egg, at room temperature
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Fresh Blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. To make the crust, place the first 3 ingredients in a food processor and pulse to chop oats.
3. Add the butter and pulse to combine.
4. Press the crust on the bottom of a parchment-lined 8 x 8 baking dish and flatten evenly with your hands. Bake for 10 minutes to set, then allow to cool.
5. Lower the oven temperature to 250 F.
6. To make the filling, place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and beat to combine.
7. Fold in the blueberries.
8. Pour the batter on top of the crust and bake for 1 hour.
9. Cool and then chill until ready to serve.
10. Cut into squares and serve.*

*To get clean squares, wipe your knife between each slice.

Do you have any idea how much money you spend on granola and/or nutritional bars for your kids? Take a minute and add it up; I would bet it’s more than you think. Before you say “they’re convenient”, trust me, I get it. On those busy mornings when you don’t have time for breakfast, there’s nothing easier than tossing a bar into your child’s lunch box and another one into your purse, but a majority of the brands on the market are not as healthy as their manufacturers would lead you to believe. Plus, they are made with ingredients I can’t even begin to pronounce.

About 8 years ago, I got so fed up with what my husband was spending on bars to take to work with him, I devoted myself to figuring out how to make them myself. I worked so hard at it, I even flirted with starting my own bar business! These Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are unbelievably delicious and, if you wrap them individually, just as easy to grab when you’re on-the-go as the ones you buy at the market (plus, you’ll have no problem pronouncing all of the ingredients in these). But the best part? This recipe makes 30 bars. Most pre-packaged bars will run you a dollar or more. That would come out to about $30 (!) compared to the less than $4 it costs to make this recipe (and don’t forget the time you’ll also save not having to go to the grocery).

If you can’t bear giving your kids chocolate chips first thing in the morning (my husband always gets tweaked when he sees the kids eating these at 8am), you can easily replace them with naturally sweet dried fruit like cranberries, cherries or raisins. My feeling is if my kids are going to have chocolate at all I would rather it be at the beginning of the day than right before they go to bed.

Chewy and crunchy with toasted oats and a sweet surprise in every bite, these Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are a must for your back to school rotation!

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (makes about 30 bars)

4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Chocolate Chips*
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Canola Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Honey

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the oat mixture and stir to combine.
5. Place granola mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and shape into a rectangle, about 13 x 9 x 1 inch thick.
6. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then cut into 3 x 1 inch bars.**
8. Serve.

* You can substitute raisins or other dried fruit for the chocolate chips.
** Individually wrapped, the bars will remain fresh for several weeks.

One of the greatest things about having a mother-in-law who is a veteran preschool teacher is that she has an encyclopedic knowledge of children’s books. She has always been able to effortlessly suggest to us amazing titles that contain wonderful morals and lessons, but are first and foremost a ton of fun to read.

One of the first books we got for Kenya based on her recommendation was “If You Give a Mouse A Cookie” and it’s still a favorite of both my kids. Even though it appears to be a chocolate chip cookie that the mouse is eating in the book (and there’s also a biscotti), we like to talk about what other cookies that we think the mouse might enjoy, going back and forth with our favorites. Raisin Oatmeal, Graham Cracker, Peanut Butter, Gingersnaps….wait, Gingersnaps? The kids had no idea what I was talking about. How could that be? Had I really never exposed them to the crispy, delicious taste of a gingersnap?! Armed with a big bag of whole wheat flour and iron packed molasses, I set out to right that horrible wrong.

These cookies are so much fun to make with the kids, but make sure to close your cookie jar lid because even a little mouse will want to get it’s paws on these!

Ginger Snap Cookies (Makes 32 cookies)

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Molasses
1 Large Egg
1 Tsp Fresh Ginger, grated

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place the first four ingredients in a bowl and combine.
3. Place the butter and sugar in a standing mixer or bowl and beat on low until fluffy.
4. Add the egg, molasses and ginger and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined.
6. Using a cookie scooper, drop 1 tbsp of cookie batter onto a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart from each other and bake for 12 minutes for soft cookies or 15 minutes for crispy cookies.
7. Cool and serve.

There is the sweetest, homemade sno-cone stand at our farmers’ market called Sno-con AMOR where the owner (and Kenya’s newest love), Lauda, serves up the most incredible traditional Raspados (Mexican Snow Cones). With homemade syrups in flavors like walnut, coconut and mojito (I almost want to drop to the ground with embarrassment every time Chloe screams, “MORE MOJITO” in a crowd full of parents), these are nothing like the artificially sweetened and colored sno-cones you may be used to seeing. Lauda uses only the freshest, all natural ingredients to produce her frozen works of art.

Recently Lauda has been featuring watermelon-cinnamon as a flavor and it is heavenly. The first time she offered me a taste I was skeptical. Cinnamon and watermelon sounded like quite an unusual combo, but it took just one bite and I was knocked out. So knocked out in fact, that I had to replicate it at home. Given that the kids only see Lauda on Sunday, having granita (very similar to sno-cones) for them at home the remaining six days of the week made me very popular with them indeed.

And no, your eyes aren’t fooling you. That’s yellow watermelon pictured above. The kids can’t get enough of it when it is in season, so I used it to make this cinnamon spiked watermelon granita that tastes almost as good as Lauda’s sno-cones.

Whether you decide to make this with red or yellow watermelon, it’s a super sweet summer time treat that’s filled with AMOR!

Watermelon Granita (Serves 6-8)

5 Cups Watermelon Chunks
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Sugar

1. Place all of the ingredients in a blender and puree.
2. Place the puree in an 8×8 inch Pyrex dish and put in the freezer for 1 hour.
3. Remove from the freezer and scrape with a fork to break up pieces.
4. Place back into freezer for 1 hour.
5. Remove from the freezer and scrape with a fork to break up pieces.
6. Repeat this process one or two more times over several hours until the
granita is similar in consistency to shaved ice.
7. Serve (cover the dish with tin foil to keep the rest in the freezer).

I’ve always thought that until kids are 4 or so, birthday parties are more for the parents than the actual celebrant. I mean, do you know any kid who remembers any of their birthdays before that age? I personally don’t, but that’s never stopped me from having parties for my kids every year. When Kenya turned 3 we threw a big one for him. Since we knew he’d have little to no memory of it, we tried to think of a way to give the celebration more purpose. Instead of asking the invitees for gifts, we suggested people bring a new book to donate to our local children’s hospital. The hospital staff was so grateful, we continued doing it yearly in honor of both our kids birthdays. When Kenya turned 4, he got to deliver his birthday books to the hospital himself and really understood how fun and fulfilling it is to give books to those who might not have access to them.

Last year I learned about an incredible non-profit organization called Milk & Bookies that teaches young children how great it feels to give back while celebrating the love of a good book. It promotes both literacy and service learning by providing kids the opportunity to select, purchase and inscribe books that are then donated to their less fortunate peers. Milk & Bookies even helps you make the process easy by sending you a big box full of materials for your party so all your little guests can inscribe their books and get all kinds of great things in return, like great “I Donated” stickers to wear, bookmarks and more. I think it’s just about the coolest organization ever!

When we received our Milk & Bookies box, we also decided to make cookies to commemorate one of Kenya and Chloe’s favorite books, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”. This is my variation on the traditional oatmeal raisin cookie which uses naturally sweet honey instead of sugar and is packed with so many tender sweet raisins I give them top billing and call it a Raisin Oatmeal Cookie.

The next time you’re throwing a birthday for your little one and don’t feel like having your house filled with more plastic toys that will just get played with once or twice and forgotten, empower your child and do this for their birthday — and of course make a batch of these unbelievably delicious cookies!

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies (makes 3 dozen)

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1/2 Cup Honey
1 Large Egg, room temperature
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 Cup Dried Raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the butter and honey in a bowl or standing mixer and beat for 1 minute.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another minute on medium speed or until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl, mix to combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix to incorporate.
6. Stir in the raisins then drop 1 tbsp of dough for each cookie onto a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes.
8. Cool and serve.

My husband is an incredible storyteller. He comes up with the most elaborate, entertaining tales that would keep even the most fidgety kid engaged. Every night, we take turns telling the kids bedtime stories. While hubby comes up with these super creative tales that have a lesson or moral woven in to boot, my stories are generally straightforward travelogues along the lines of “Mommy and Kenya Go to Paris” (you think I’ve been reading too much Madeline?). In my stories, Kenya and I roam around far flung locations like Paris, looking at the Eiffel Tour, touring Notre Dame and eating everything from croissants to crepes. Of course food gets more detail than anything else in my stories, and so Kenya usually asks if we can make the things I talk about so fondly.

Last week we had a crepe making extravaganza, preparing them three mornings in a row. Crepes are so easy to make and the kids love being surprised by the different fillings I offer them. In my Paris story, I talk about eating banana filled crepes with Nutella, but instead of buying a jar of the famous hazelnut-chocolate spread they use in France, we decided to make our own homemade version.

Whether you decide to spread this insanely delicious and addictive treat on Graham crackers, strawberries, crepes or even, I dare say, eat it right off the spoon, this version of homemade nutella will make you feel like you are on vacation in France. And chocolate for breakfast? That’ll keep your kids more engaged than the best story!

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (makes 1 1/4 cups)

1 Cup Hazelnuts
1/4 Cup Agave or Honey
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
3 Tbsp Hot Water

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes.
3. Remove hazelnuts to a kitchen towel, cover and rub to remove the hazelnut skins.
4. Place hazelnuts in a food processor and chop for 30 seconds.
5. Add the remaining ingredients and puree.
6. Serve with crepes or as a dip for fruit.

There’s something about tapioca pudding that seems so kid-like to me. Not that adults don’t also love this creamy, coconut flavored pudding, but the act of plunging your spoon deep down into the bottom of the cup and pulling up some sweet, juicy strawberries to accompany the tapioca on top — all in the same bite — carries with it an anticipation that I associate almost completely with how excited I used to get as a kid to savor my desserts. This dish irresistable to me. In fact, typing this is making me so hungry I think I need to stop and have some! I guess I’m still just a kid at heart.

Fruit on the Bottom Tapioca (Serves 4)

1 Cup Strawberries, stemmed and chopped fine
1 13 oz Can Unsweetened Coconut Milk, about 1 3/4 cups
3/4 Cups Water
1/3 Cup Tapioca (not quick cooking)
3 Tbsp Sugar

1. Bring the coconut milk, water and tapioca to a boil.
2. Reduce to a low simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Divide the chopped strawberries between 4 glass cups and pour tapioca over the strawberries.
5. Chill for one hour and serve.

For me, one of the great sites and smells of summer is a big basket of fresh peaches. We love eating them so much in my house that I tend to go a bit overboard at the farmers’ market every Sunday and buy way more than we could possibly eat in a week. As the days go by, some get bruises while others become uber soft and juicy. Unless you want to eat peaches for every meal there’s nothing you can really do with them except….make fruit leather! If you think my kids like eating peaches, you should just see how excited they get for this homemade fruit leather. They go through it so quickly I tend to make about three batches a week, but one of the great things about this recipe is that it stays good for weeks, if not longer.

Got a little over zealous like me at the market and now you’re sitting with several pounds of super ripe stone fruit — and no where near enough time to eat them before they spoil? Peach fruit leather is your answer!

Peach Fruit Leather

4 Ripe Peaches (skin on)
1 Tbsp Honey

1. Preheat oven to 225 F degrees.*
2. Rinse and remove seeds from peaches.
3. Place the peaches and honey in a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Pour the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet and spread with the back of a spoon or spatula in a large rectangle (my rectangle was 11 x 15 inches) making sure that the thickness is completely even.
5. Bake for 3-4 hours or until dry and not sticky to the touch. Remember, cooking times will vary depending on how thick you spread your mixture and how much water (juice) is naturally in the fruit.**
6. Set aside and cool at room temperature; it takes several hours for the fruit to soften up. Note that when you first take the fruit leather out of the oven, the edges will be a bit dry and crispy, but if you allow it to sit out for several hours it softens up nicely.
7. Cut with a knife, pizza cutter or scissors into strips, keeping the paper on if desired, then roll the leather into “roll ups”.
8. Serve.

* If you choose to use a dehydrator, cook the fruit leather at 135 degrees for 5 hours.
** Every oven is different, so the cooking time maybe less than 2 hours if your oven tends to run hot.

I bit into a strawberry that I bought at the farmers’ market this past weekend and it was so perfectly ripe, the juice dripped right down my chin. That is the kind of strawberry you want to use for these fluffy shortcakes. Combined with soft, melt in your mouth peaches, that are also in season right now, these Peach & Strawberry Shortcakes are pure heaven.

I made some recently as a treat for my parents and the kids one afternoon. Everyone lined up in front of me with their plates held out as I assembled each shortcake for them, topping a half a shortcake with naturally sweet
fruit, followed by a dollop of honey yogurt and finally it’s better half, creating the perfect summer time treat.

Peach & Strawberry Shortcake (Makes 8 Shortcakes)

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
3 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed
3/4 Cup Milk
1 Peach, pitted and diced
1 Cup Strawberries, stemmed and quartered
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Honey

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Place the first 4 ingredients into a food processor and combine.
3. Add the cold butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. Place the mixture in a bowl, make a well in the center and pour in the milk. With a fork, slowly stir until the ingredients are just combined.
5. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead about 5 times.
6. Pat the dough out into a rectangle and cut out about eight 3-inch rounds using a circular cookie cutter or the rim of a glass .*
7. Place the rounds on a sheet pan, bake for 17 -19 minutes and set aside to cool.
8. In a separate bowl, combine the peaches and strawberries.
9. In another bowl, mix the yogurt, vanilla and honey.
10. Cut shortcake in half through the middle, place a large spoonful of fruit mixture in the center, a heaping of yogurt honey sauce and top with the remaining shortcake half.
11. Continue making the shortcakes and serve.

*Option: you can brush the tops lightly with milk and sprinkle some sugar on the rounds before baking if you desire for extra sweetness.

I consider myself pretty healthy, but my husband takes it to an even higher level. He’s more of a au natural guy where I’ve still got a healthy amount (pun intended) of “if it comes from a box or can it’s all right with me” in me. Yes, I’m all about making things homemade as often as possible, but with so much keeping me busy, it’s not always a realistic goal. For example, as much fun as it is to make homemade ice cream, more times than not I throw my arms up and grab the Stonyfield from the freezer for me and the kids.

I don’t know if there’s something in the water or if a witch cast a spell on him, but my hubby has been diving in the kitchen more and more lately, coming up with a list of recipes that are actually really yummy! He’s been making this version of homemade ice cream that tastes unbelievably delicious, even to someone like me who wants the real deal. The kids certainly can’t tell the difference and hubby says if he didn’t know better, he wouldn’t be able to either — and this man knows his ice cream. But the best part is that instead of needing an ice cream maker or having to wait hours for the ice cream to freeze, his version is ready in less
than a minute, is totally healthy and the kids love helping him make it!

Chocolate Banana Ice Cream (Serves 4)

1/3 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
2 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Frozen Sliced Bananas*
1/4 Cup Frozen Strawberries ***

1. Place the yogurt, cocoa powder, honey and vanilla extract in a blender and quickly combine the ingredients for a few seconds, using the lowest setting to puree.
2. Add the frozen banana and strawberries to the mixture. Puree on the lowest setting for 20 seconds.
3. Scrape down the sides and puree again. Repeat the process until the mixture is smooth.**
4. Serve.

* Hubby’s Tip - Bananas can take a day up to 4 hours to freeze well, so take three or four bananas,
slice them about 1/2″ thick, freeze them in a Ziploc bag (make sure to lay the slices out flat in the bag when you freeze so they don¹t stick together) and leave them in the freezer so you can always make this treat on a moment’s notice.

** Use the lowest setting to puree to avoid the ice cream from getting too loose and so it has more of a true ice cream texture.

*** Hubby likes using strawberries but you can use whatever frozen fruit you like in addition to the bananas.