Insta Meals Monday: Introduction & Raspberry Sorbet

Today, I'm delighted to bring you the first post in my series: Insta Meals Monday. Let me share a bit of the background that led me to this series. First off. A confession. I, The Iowa Farmer's Wife, am addicted to Instagram. There. I said it. And I have definitely fallen into the Instagram trap of photographing my food. And after several encouraging nudges (and a few phone calls from Auntie Rosita) I decided to designate Mondays as Insta Meals Monday.

Now, before you get too involved, there are a few things you should know.

1.) All meals will be vegetarian. 

2.) All posts may not be complete meals (i.e., side dish or dessert - although you just might consider dessert a meal).

3.) All meals will be gluten-free. Substitutions for gluten-free options may be suggested depending on the recipe.

4.) Meals are not based on the paleo plan, however, many meals will follow paleo guidelines.

5.) All recipes are my own unless otherwise noted.

6.) And finally, the term Insta doesn't mean that the meal will be Instant, it's simply because I post the pictures to Instagram. 

Posts will include 1 picture (pulled from Instagram) and the recipe. I don't plan to take pictures of the process or ingredients. I'll do my best to share the ingredients and where I find/purchase them. 

My goal is to make these meals/recipes and user/mom-friendly as possible without ingredients you can't find in a regular grocery store. While you may not have these items in your pantry, they won't be hard to find or locate. 

And lastly, I hope that these posts will inspire you to try to meals for you or your family, try new foods, eat less meat and eat less gluten.

Without further ado: 

The Recipe: Raspberry Sorbet

What you need:

1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk (I use Trader Joe's brand with no added sugar))

1.5 bananas

1 cup frozen raspberries OR blueberries

Note: I use an immersion blender for all blended recipes.

Place ingredients into a blender (or cup if using an immersion blender). Blend until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add almond milk. If mixture is too thin, add frozen raspberries until desired thickness. Serve immediately. Makes 2 small bowls of sorbet.

Can be frozen for 10-30 minutes before eating.

My kids eat this for breakfast, but we also like it for dessert. We call it ice cream because it really does taste just like raspberry sorbet, and I'm super excited to make it in the summer to eat outside! 

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Muffin Tin Monday

It's been awhile since we've participated in a Muffin Tin Monday, but I couldn't resist after I found these cute silicon cupcake flowers in a bag of stuff that needed to be returned. I decided to keep them because it'd been months since bought them and because I decided the price was right. Before I made Sweet P some muffin tin madness, I let her play with them for awhile (and boy, did she have a ball). She calls them "cuppies."

The theme this week is spring! These flower shaped cups fit great into that theme. I also decided to go with a dipping theme because she wanted hummus for dinner and our muffin tin was born. This was also on a Friday, but I'm posting it on a Monday and that counts in my book!

Clockwise from top left: feta cheese, hummus, carrots, broccoli, apples, pita and in the middle, peas.

And yes, my little hummus lover dips apples and feta cheese in it as well.

Muffin Tin Monday

I haven't been checking out the themes lately, but there isn't a theme this week so I lucked out! She L-O-V-E-D the pita/hummus combo. Like I said last week, all I hear around here at lunch time is "hummus, hummus, hummus." I found mini pitas at Trader Joe's and I'm pretty sure I did a little dance in the aisle. I was a little concerned that she wouldn't eat the fresh spinach, but she gobbled it right up. Hummus is like ranch dressing around here!

Clockwise from top left: blueberries, pita w/ hummus and fresh spinach, apples, avocado, pita w/ hummus and avocado, celery

Muffin Tin Monday

We haven't done Muffin Tin Monday in a while because Sweet P was sick and pretty picky. But I decided we'd give it a go since she started eating better once we got home. Her new love? Hummus (is she her mother's daughter or what!?). She loves it (and loves to say it too). Once I tell her that's what she's having, I hear a little voice saying "hummus. hummus. hummus." until I put it in front of her. I wasn't sure what the theme was this week and was too lazy to look when I was fixing her lunch so I decided to go with shapes (loosely). Turns out the theme was liners and cups (which I sadly didn't use).

Clockwise from top left: flattened dried bananas cut into stars, avocado squares, hummus (no shape unless blob counts), pita triangles, orange circles and celery crescents. And the little turkey gobbled it all up.

Muffin Tin Monday

I decided to Muffin Tin Monday it up today. We haven't used a muffin tin in a couple of weeks so I thought today would be a good day to bring it back out. She went to town so either she was really hungry or really excited to see that muffin tin. There was no theme at MTM today so we didn't really have one either, but if you look closely it looks like a white and orange theme!

Let me just "ughhhh" to the pictures. Can't wait to get the Nikon back.

Clockwise from top left row to right: plantain chips & dried coconut (doco according to her), white beans, tangerine, cheese.

The cheese was, as always, the first to go. She made short work of the doco and beans after the cheese and then gobbled up everything else! That's the best she's eaten in weeks! Here she is posing with her tin with a cheekful of cheese.

Turkey Treat

Gammie sent me this idea and I decided to try it for Sweet P's lunch on Monday. She, of course, devoured the avocado and the 2 tiny raisins and left the rest. I gave her the apples and pears later, they were received much better when not competing with avocado.

Gobble Gobble!

I used a pear for his body, avocado and apple slices for his feathers, a triangle apple piece for his nose, 1/4 raisin for each eye and a piece of dried fruit as his gobbler. I applied the face pieces with peanut butter.

Ya know, we don't eat turkey, so this is as good as it gets.

Muffin Tin Monday

There isn't a theme for MTM today, so I picked a green theme. As you can see. Yes, I know potatoes aren't green, but everything else fit the mold.

Clockwise from top left: grapes, avocado, pumpkin seed/date cakes, green beans, potatoes, kiwi

Let's not even talk about how not "green" or "local" my tin is today. Because I'm pretty darn sure kiwis and avocados don't grow anywhere near Iowa. On an avocado note: The Farmer's 2nd cousin (he's 6) was disgusted by Sweet P's avocado this weekend. He told me, "It looks like vampire guts." Okie dokie. And he definitely didn't want to try it.

She ate the kiwi and the avocado, dissected a few green beans and left the rest (I snuck a few potatoes into a bite of avocado). Maybe she'll come back for it later, but I'm pretty sure we might have to ditch muffin tinning for awhile so I can give her veggies, first! Happy MTM!

Carrot Pancakes

Sometimes I think people shudder at what I feed my kid (or what my kid will eat). Last night on the phone to Auntie K, I said, "Can you believe Sweet P is eating homemade pizza with a pesto base, dried tomatoes, spinach and broccoli? Would you have eaten that?" Auntie K's response, "Who makes that for their kid?" Um, well, me. And Auntie K meant that in the nicest way possible. She keeps me up to snuff on nutrition since she's a biology major who knows lots about that kind of stuff (that and my Science Guy husband). Auntie K always reminds me to wash Sweet P's hands (and my own) after we play in the dirt because a cat might have pooped in it. What would I do without her?

Whew, what a tangent. All that to say I'm gonna share my carrot pancake recipe with you. I wasn't sure how these would turn out, but ya know, if you can make carrot cake and carrot muffins, then why not pancakes? I desperately wanted them to be pumpkin pancakes, but I refuse to give Sweet P things out of a can (you know I'm a nutso, right?) so I nixed that until I figure out how to bake my own pumpkins. I really wanted to buy a sugar pumpkin at Trader Joe's today (Yes!!!!!!! we finally got one!!!! grand opening today!!! that should be it's own post, really), but I had the Farmer with me and he's the voice of reason and said, "No." to the pumpkin. Grr. Sheesh, where is this post going? Here's the recipe. And along with it (please don't gag, I tried it and it was good), carrot yogurt to dip them in.

The Recipe: Carrot Pancakes

What you need:

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1 cup organic oats (uncooked)

1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water (egg replacement)

1/4 c organic plain yogurt

3/4 c steamed carrots (mashed)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp honey

About 1 cup of water

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add yogurt, olive oil, carrots and honey, stirring slightly. Combine 3 tbsp water and slowly add cup of water until pancakes reach your desired consistency. They should be somewhat runny, but thick. Heat a skillet or griddle on medium heat and drizzle olive oil in the pan. Drop small amounts of batter into skillet (or large amounts depending on what size you want them). Cook for 1 minute and turn. They may need a bit longer if they are still moist on the inside. Repeat until you've used all the batter.

Carrot Yogurt

1/2 c organic plain yogurt

2 tbsp steamed carrots (mashed)

sprinkle of cinnamon

Mix ingredients together in a small bowl. Dip pancakes in yogurt.

You can of course use shredded carrots for the pancakes, but I wanted to use mashed for better consistency. It also helps since I use water instead of milk to make it thicker instead of runny. I made these for Sweet P on Halloween morning, hence the pumpkin shaped pancake. She LOVED dipping them in the yogurt and then licking the yogurt off. She didn't quite get the concept of actually taking a bite of the pancake with the yogurt on it, but we'll get there! Keep leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

Muffin Tin Monday

Today's theme is Halloween and we followed it! Woohoo! Sweet P is diggin' cheese sandwiches. Made her first one today and she may or may not have eaten all the cheese off the top before eating the bread.

Clockwise from top left: Mini carrot muffin, baby pumpkins (carrots), eyeballs (grapes), hay and pumpkin seeds (grated cheese and pumpkin seeds), toasty ghost (cheese bread-raisin eyes), Frankenstein snacks (kiwi).

I made the ghost's mouth with my finger after the cheese had melted. Was it hot? Um, yeah. I don't recommend it.

Carrot Raisin Mini Muffins

I made these on Tuesday for my sick little munchkin. I'm pretty sure she ate 7 in one sitting. She hasn't eaten much of anything since then so I'm glad she stocked up while she could. We woke up (and by we, I mean she) that morning at 4:15am, so naturally, I got in the kitchen and started baking. I made Pumpkin Raisin Muffins for the Farmer and me and Carrot Raisin mini muffins for Sweet P. I'll post the pumpkin muffins later. Here are the minis:

The Recipe: Carrot Raisin Mini Muffins

What you need:

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1 cup organic old fashioned oats (or whatever kind you have)

1 tbsp flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (egg replacement)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg

1/4 c yogurt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup water

2 large carrots (grated)

1/4 c raisins

Preheat oven to 350˚. Combine flour, oats, spices, baking powder, flaxseed, yogurt, olive oil and water. Add in carrots and mix in raisins. Mix until moistened. Dollop in oiled mini muffin tins. Bake for 23-25 minutes. Makes approximately 30 mini muffins.

I know that seems like a long time to bake, but when you use water they take longer to bake. Otherwise, you end up with mushy insides (blech). Like I said, Sweet P loves them. It might be because there are raisins and the girl is a raisin fanatic, but she likes them all the same. These also freeze well if you made a double batch. I used all organic ingredients (except for spices and olive oil), but of course you don't have to use organic, they'll still taste great! These muffins are milk and egg free.

Pumpkin Seed/Date Cakes

Auntie Rosita sent me a link to this recipe a few weeks ago from Green Kitchen Stories and I finally got around to trying it. The Farmer was using the computer so I did it from memory since I knew the measurements, but I didn't separate the pumpkin seeds into 3 piles like it said so I ended up having to use twice as many dates. It then made twice as many cakes so that's good. I can't quite describe their taste, but they are super yummy. I also made my own topping since I didn't have any of those items they used for their toppings in the house. I'm posting the recipe as I made it since that is how they turned out.

The Recipe: Pumpkin Seed/Date Cakes

What you need:

1 cup pumpkin seeds

15 dates

Place a 1/2 cup of seeds and 1/2 the dates in a blender or mini food processor.

Blend until the mixture sticks together when you gather it. Mold into balls and place on wax paper. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Flatten balls into round cakes (I used the bottom of a glass). Place in fridge or freezer while you make the topping.

Sweet P was yelling at me for more as I made these since I gave her a taste so I had to be quick with the topping. Here's what I did.

The Recipe: Blueberry Yogurt Topping

What you need:

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/4 cup yogurt

dash of cinnamon

Blend in a mini food processor or blender for a few seconds. Add a dollop to each cake.

Wala! Sweet P loved these (and so did I). They remind me of Larabars (which we love around here) and the topping was really good, too. I wasn't thinking it was going to be anything special, but it added a nice flavor to the dates and pumpkin seeds. A great snack for her on the go, too, minus the topping of course!

Muffin Tin Monday

I was so inspired by all the awesome pumpkin muffin tin's last week that I had to do my own. Sweet P loved it! I hope to see more pumpkin ideas this week. There's no theme this week so maybe we'll see pumpkins again and then again next week for the Halloween theme!

Clockwise from top left: Pumpkin stems (green beans), mini pumpkins (yellow watermelon), white pumpkin (tofu), tiny jack'o'lanterns (dehydrated bananas), toasted jack'o'lantern (whole wheat bread), orange pumpkins (orange tomatoes with green bean stems).

Little Miss Sweet P gobbled it right up. Especially that toasted jack'o'lantern. The girl is obsessed with bread these days.

Muffin Tin Monday

Today's muffin tin theme was Pumpkins, but I didn't do a very good job of following that theme. I suppose if you pretend, those carrots look like pumpkins...right? Meh, maybe next time.

From left: green beans, star shaped whole wheat bread and homemade Larabar, kiwi and carrots.

Muffin Tin Monday

Better late than never eh?

We stuck with the Rainbow theme again this week...as you can see. She wasn't too fond of the plums today. They were leftover from Sunday so that may have been the problem, she's a fresh cut fruit kinda girl. And of course, the cheese was the first to go.

From top left: Purple grapes x2, carrots x2, green beans x2, plums x2, string cheese x2, strawberries x2.

Butternut Squash Muffins

Yesterday I taught you how to make butternut squash puree and now we're gonna use it!

Since I have a muffin lover, these were, of course, made for lil Sweet P. They came out a little like cornbread, so if you'd like a sweeter muffin (and butternut squash is pretty sweet on its own) you'll need to add some sort of sweetener (I vote honey or agave nectar). I made Butternut Pancakes today (more on that tomorrow) and added agave nectar and they had a much sweeter taste. Keep in mind these are egg and milk free, you can always substitute those if you'd like.

What you need:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup dry uncooked oats

1 tbsp flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (egg replacement)

1/2 c - 1 cup water

1/2 c pureed butternut squash

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg

Combine ingredients in a medium sized bowl, add water 1/4 cup at a time until batter is moist, but not runny. Fill mini muffin tins 1/2 full. Bake at 350˚ for 15-18 minutes.

Egg and milk replacement: use the egg in place of the flax (or keep the flax and nix the water) and milk instead of water (not sure if you'll need less or more).

I didn't take pics while I was making them, but there is one here from Muffin Tin Monday. My girl eats these like candy. And they are great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack!

Butternut Squash Puree

Last week the Farmer brought home a LARGE amount of butternut squash. I was a liiiiittle overwhelmed by all of it, but luckily it keeps for a good, long while and I have (with the help of a few friends) come up with quite a few things to do with it. To use as a base for most of the recipes, I decided to puree the squash. Here's how:

Pureed Butternut Squash

What you need:

1 butternut squash

1/2 c-1 c water

3 tbsp yogurt

Preheat oven to 375˚. Cut your butternut squash in half. Line a baking sheet with foil and place squash halves on sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until squash is soft when poked with a fork. Allow to cool, then scoop out flesh and place in blender. Add 1/2 c water and yogurt. Blend. Add more water if necessary. Puree into a creamy consistency. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

The puree can then be used in recipes like muffins, pancakes, as a soup or simply eaten with a spoon!

Oatie Date Balls

Let me apologize ahead of time for the lack of pictures for this post. But you saw a picture of the oatie date balls yesterday here so that's good enough, right?

These snacks happened on accident. I made my first attempt at homemade Lara bars (because let's face it those things are crazy expensive and my kid downs them like nobody's business). So in my first attempt, I realized I shouldn't have used an entire apple. It's WAY too juicy. And here's what happened:

The Recipe: Oatie Date Balls

What you need:

1 apple (peeled and chopped)

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/3 cup raisins

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup oats

Puree apples, dates and raisins in a food processor (I use a mini). You'll get a thick applesauce consistency. Transfer to a bowl and add cinnamon and oats. Stir well to mix in oats. Mixture will be sticky (and messy). Roll into 1 inch balls (or smaller for your munchkins). Place on a cookie sheet (or wax paper) and put in freezer overnight. In the morning you'll have a yummy sweet treat.

I also tried baking a few...it didn't go so well. They baked alright, but they mostly fell apart. Sweet P LOVES the frozen ones. Dates taste a lot like brown sugar so these are perfect, healthier dessert. Try them, if you like dates, you'll them.

More attempts at Lara bars coming soon!

Muffin Tin Monday

Today's Muffin Tin:

Clockwise from top: Strawberries, carrots, quinoa garden pagoda pasta, sippy cup (water), dragon's tongue green beans (from the garden), oatie date balls

She loved this meal, especially my accidental oatie date balls (more on those tomorrow). She also loved that balloon, it didn't leave her hand through lunch (or after lunch for that matter). I had to convince her to say goodnight to it and leave it downstairs before we headed up for bed.

Muffin Tin Monday

My inspiration for this post comes from Muffin Tin Mom, creator of Muffin Tin Monday.

Since Sweet P loves a variety of food and loves to feed herself, I decided to start doing muffin tin meals. It gives her a chance to choose from a variety of foods, see an assortment of colors and feel different textures. Here's my first attempt at a muffin tin meal. Happy Muffin Tin Monday!

Clockwise from top left: kiwi, raw firm tofu, tomatoes, macaroni shaped quinoa pasta, dried, unsweetened coconut, chopped date.

Does Sweet P like Muffin Tin Monday? Mmm, I think so.

Sweet P's Pizza Recipe

Have I mentioned how much I love pizza? I just looked through my archives, and I don't think I've ever told you how much I love, love, love pizza (more than I love hummus). In fact, if I only had to eat one thing for the rest of my life, pizza would be it. Hands down. That's why I never suggest where to eat if we eat out. The Farmer knows I'll always say pizza. But this isn't about me loving pizza, it's about me teaching Sweet P to love pizza (and she does, by the way), too. So here's a healthy recipe for a toddler pizza (or a personal pizza for you!).

The Recipe: Sweet P's Pizza

Pizza dough:

What you need:

1 cups organic whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1/4 tsp sugar

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup (or more) water

Place yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl with 1/4 cup warm water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes (the yeast feeds on the sugar and will start to foam). Add 1/2 cup of flour and stir (I use my hands). Add olive oil, remaining flour and water (more if you need it) and continue to form into a blob of dough. Flour the counter and remove dough from the bowl. Knead about 20 times, forming the dough into a ball. Place the dough back in the bowl, drizzle olive oil on the dough and then cover with a towel for about an hour.

Once the dough has doubled in size, pull off a piece the size of racquetball and roll out on a floured surface.

The toppings:

What you need:

Homemade or jarred organic tomato sauce

mushrooms

spinach

organic grated cheese

any other toppings you'd like

Preheat oven to 350˚. Spread tomato sauce onto the pizza, add mushrooms and spinach, then top with grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Slice with a pizza cutter to create 6 pieces.

The first time I made the pizza, I used just cheese to see if she'd even eat it. Oh, she ate it all right. Then I added mushrooms. And the last time I made it, I stuck some spinach in the mix. She gobbled it all up every time. Well, first she ate the toppings and cheese off and then went back for the bread. The dough makes around 3 small pizzas. Keep the unused dough refrigerated. It'll last up to 4 days in the refrigerator.