Monster Muffins

The food battle-that-isn't-a-battle wages on with no end in sight. Grady isn't too keen on eating red meat (or any meat apart from bacon and cheeseburgers) so we suspect his iron is low. I am not above hiding sneaky ingredients in foods he accepts it turns out, so the idea of monster muffins was born. The muffins are satisfyingly green when you bite into them, and packed full of chocolate chips to keep kids interested. I admit I may be losing the food battle-that-isn't-a-battle but I don't know what else to do. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 medium-sized overripe bananas
2 cups (packed) baby spinach
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (or other mix-ins like chopped nuts or dried fruit)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.

In large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

In blender, buzz bananas and spinach until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides to make sure there are no rogue pieces of spinach. Add egg, oil, and vanilla and blend until mixed.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir gently until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Batter will be thick.

Spoon into muffin tin and bake 20-23 minutes until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

Makes 12 regular-sized muffins.

Fresh Blueberry Pie

The BC blueberry crop has stretched into September, reminding us that summer isn't over just yet. This pie is easy to throw together and tastes great topped with a healthy dollop of whipped cream.

Ingredients

1 9-inch pie crust, baked and cooled (a graham cracker crust also works well with this pie)
4 cups fresh blueberries, separated (2 cups + 2 cups)
1 cup water
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter

Directions

Place 2 cups blueberries in bottom of pre-baked pie crust.

Mix remaining 2 cups blueberries with water and lemon juice in medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil gently, adjusting heat as needed, stirring occasionally, 3 - 5 minutes, until berries burst.

Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together in small bowl.

Add sugar mixture to cooked blueberry mixture, lower heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and translucent (just a minute or two).

Remove from heat and stir in butter until it melts.

Pour mixture gently over fresh berries in pie crust. Chill until set.

Enjoy!

Rhubarb Lemon Loaf

I love rhubarb. Partly because of its perfectly tart taste but also because it signals that summer is on its way. Gone are the days of trolling the produce aisle for limp lettuce and sad root vegetables. Rhubarb brings with it asparagus and then strawberries and then a summer full of beautiful local produce at the farmers market.

I've reached the point where I've tried all the somewhat logical methods of inducing labour (pre-pregnant Hillary believed that babies come when they're ready, million-weeks-pregnant Hillary is desperately hoping that eating a pineapple near the ocean under the light of a full moon is what will get this party started) and now I'm firmly planted in old wives' tales territory.

Which brings me to the rhubarb.

According to family lore, eating rhubarb is a natural way to induce labour. The internet is less supportive of this claim but like I said, reason left this party weeks ago.

This loaf is tart and zingy. It's perfect with a giant latte for breakfast but it also shines as some next-level strawberry shortcake (pile sliced strawberries and mounds of freshly whipped cream on top of cooled slices).

Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1-1/2 teaspoon lemon juice)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups fresh rhubarb, sliced approximately 1/4" thick

Streusel Topping (optional)*
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 9"x5" loaf pan.

Whisk together flour, lemon zest, baking soda, and salt.

In separate bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

Gently mix flour mixture into wet ingredients with a rubber spatula, just until moistened. Fold in rhubarb.

Mix together streusel topping ingredients until crumbly.

Spread half of the loaf batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel topping over batter. Spoon remaining batter into pan and top with remaining streusel topping.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 - 65 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

*If you're not a fan of streusel crumb toppings, leave it out and keep your loaf naked. Another alternative is mixing together 1/2 - 1 cup icing sugar with a few teaspoons of lemon juice to make a glaze that you pour over your still-warm-from-the-oven loaf. If you do the glaze method, I recommend using your toothpick to cover the surface of your loaf in tiny holes that the glaze can seep into for maximum flavour. 

Psyllium Husk Powder Brownies

I haven't written too much about Grady's digestive system issues here* because really, what is there to say? Grady is a fairly picky eater and we refuse to engage in daily battles over food. Every day we offer him a variety of different foods and every day he eats a combination of macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, apples, bananas, and yogurt. It's frustrating and also completely normal for his age (and temporary! I keep reminding myself. This won't last forever. It can't.).

* I do all my hand wringing over on Twitter using the #poopdoula hashtag.

Grady's doctor is aware of the situation and is supportive of our "offer different foods but don't try to force him to eat them" approach. The situation is not (yet) dire and as long as we stay on top of it, hopefully it won't progress past the "annoying and uncomfortable" stage before it improves.

Last week Grady's doctor gave me a sheet of recipes to try using psyllium husk. Psyllium husk is a soluble fibre that creates a gel instead of bulk so it's good for helping to relieve constipation. I think. I'm unwilling to google because I already know too much about kid poop as it is.

The Experiment

I didn't have the right ingredients to make any of the recipes so I decided to just add psyllium husk powder to my go-to brownies recipe. I wasn't sure how to go about it so I decided to just add the same amount of psyllium husk as flour and hope for the best. I didn't add any additional liquid because I wasn't sure if it was necessary (looking at the recipes given to me, the quantity of flour + psyllium is quite high compared to the liquid and fat). The only changes I made to the recipe are:

1. I added 1/2 cup psyllium husk powder.
2. I mixed the dry ingredients together in a bowl before adding to the liquid ingredients because I wanted to make sure everything was mixed well.
3. I added 1/2 cup chocolate chips to the batter because I wanted to make sure Grady would eat the brownies, even if he could taste the psyllium husk.

The Verdict

The batter was very thick. I think that 1/4 cup of milk or water or even apple sauce would help. The brownies are a tad on the dry side and I think adding some liquid would alleviate that. The psyllium husk is not tasteless but it's not overpowering. It adds a slightly nutty/grainy flavour to the brownies but it's not offensive. Grady is a bit wary (the brownies taste different than the brownies he's used to) but not opposed. I am cautiously optimistic that the poop brownies are going to help.