Monkey Bars from the Sneaky Chef

This recipe was in my most recent Parenting Magazine. I thought it sounded good, the taste was good but the texture was way too moist. My 2 year old did like them, but I am going to add more flour next time. I also did half whole wheat flour to try and make them healthier.

Makes one dozen 3” bars • 5 tablespoons butter • ½ cup brown sugar, packed • ½ teaspoon salt • ¼ cup Beech-Nut sweet potatoes (stage 1 or 2) • ¼ cup Beech-Nut carrots (stage 1 or 2) • 2 large bananas, mashed with the back of a fork (about 1 cup) • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract • 2 egg yolks • ½ cup rolled oats, old-fashioned, not quick cooking

• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour (ideally “whole wheat pastry flour”) Optional Decoration: • ½ cup white chocolate chips, melted in microwave Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter or spray only the bottom, not the sides, of an 11-by- 7-inch or 9-inch square baking pan. In a saucepan over medium low heat, melt the butter, sugar, and salt. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool a bit. Once cool, whisk in the baby food, bananas, vanilla, and egg yolks. Add the oats and flour and mix until just combined. Pour the entire mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake for 40 to 43 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in pan before cutting the bars. If desired, dust with powdered sugar when cool, or drizzle melted white chocolate in a striped pattern across the tops of the bars. Keeps for a week in the refrigerator, covered tightly.

Easy Enchiladas

Ingredients:
12 small tortillas
1 tomato
1/2 onion
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
2 cups lowfat shredded mexican blend cheeses (can use cheddar or Monterrey jack too)
1 can prepared enchilada sauce (can make your own too, I just never seem to have time)

Pre-heat oven to 375.
Chop onion and tomato, add them to large bowl with black beans, stir in 1 cup of cheese and about 1/2 of the can of enchilada sauce.
Heat tortillas in paper towel in microwave.
Grease a 9 x 12 baking dish with cooking spray, I use my Misto filled with olive oil.
Pour a little bit of sauce on the bottom of the dish (maybe one tablespoon), spread it around to coat bottom.
Put a large spoonful of mixture in each tortilla, roll up tortilla and place seam side down in dish. When finished you can add extra mixture on top of tortillas. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over tortillas and top with remaining cheese. Bake approx 20 min. until cheese is bubbly.

These enchiladas can also be made a few hours ahead and then baked.

Meals This Week

I am on a baking kick this week. I know that it is soon going to be unbearably hot and I won't be able to stand having my oven on, so my goal is to make extra treats to freeze for quick breakfasts in the hotter months (May-September). This week I made zucchini bread (recipe from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook). I also made blondies.
Here is what we have eaten for dinner this week:

Sunday: Baked Fish + baked potatoes + fresh peas from our garden. We were out in the garden most of the afternoon Sunday so I didn't make anything elaborate.
Monday: Homemade Marinara Sauce + Spaghetti, the marinara sauce I got from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (here is the one I have). The sauce was easy and really tasty. We had quite a bit leftover that I froze for another pasta day. I served it with salad and frozen garlic bread (not healthy I know, but yummy).
Tuesday: Easy Enchiladas with brown rice (cooked with salsa for flavor), this is a recipe I have created that changes almost every time I make it.

Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Taco Salad (layer rice, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, plain yogurt, salsa, etc)
Friday: we are invited to a friend's house
Saturday: Pizza!

My goal

My goal is for us to eat out and/or get take-out only one night per week. I am not quite there. We usually get pizza Friday night and go out to somewhere very kid-friendly Saturday night.
I need to find more recipes that are delicious yet still easy enough that I can make them on a bad day.

Vegetarian Chili Recipes

I have three chili recipes for the crockpot.
This one is our current favorite:


Veggie Chili (Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook)

makes 6 servings

2 qts. whole or diced tomatoes, undrained (USE diced only)

6 oz. can tomato paste

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped green peppers

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 tbsp. brown sugar

15 oz. can of garbanzo beans

(I also added a can of black beans too!)

1. Combine all ingredients except beans in slow cooker.

2. Cook on Low 6-8 hours or High 3-4 hours. Add beans one hour before serving.

Variation:

If you prefer a less tomatoey taste, substitute 2 vegetable bouillon cubes and 1 cup water for tomato paste.

Here is another recipe. It is also good, but much thicker and the flavor is not as good.

A friend just emailed me another recipe that we will try in the next few weeks. I will post it soon.

Last Week's Meals

We were all sick for a few weeks so I fell behind on posting.

Here are our meals from last week:

Sunday: Stir Fry (Frozen Veggies + Tofu in wok with soy sauce served over steamed brown rice). This is a quick and healthy meal when I can't think of anything else to cook.
Monday: Oven baked fish & spinach rice casserole (made with brown rice), the recipe is here. The casserole was okay, not as great as I had hoped.
Tuesday: Slowcooker Veggie Chili (from the Fix it and Forget it Book) I served it with cornbread and some Fritos I found on sale at Randalls.
Wednesday: Leftover chili
Thursday: Veggie Burger night. I tried this un-fried french fries recipe here. It was a disaster. I was tired and put too many slices on the tray and they never got crispy. My two year old had a great time helping me sort through the potatoes though.
Friday: I don't remember, I think we may have gone to Jason's Deli, healthy and affordable.

Quick Dinner

Tonight I could not figure out what to make because I did not make a good menu plan this weekend. So I decided to make veggie burgers, with frozen french fries & fresh steamed broccoli. I melted one slice of cheese on each veggie burger and served it with ketchup. My toddler actually ate some.

I called my husband on his way home from work to give him fair warning. He hates veggie burgers, so he picked up McDonald's.