Guest Review from my 10 year old son

Welcome to The Review of The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable By Dan Gutman

Genius Files 

Dan Gutman is my favorite author.

This series is a very educational yet adventurous series.

It is about two genius twins who are recruited to a government agency named The 
Genius Files. They are warned that they will be in danger, but they are promised 
$1,000,000 for when they are grown up. The first twin is named Coke.The second 
twin is named Pepsi (or Pep for short). Pep is very good at solving ciphers (she 
wants to be a spy when she grows up). Coke has a photographic memory and 
remembers tons of random facts. The Genius Files puts Coke and Pep in danger. 
They are nearly killed numerous times on their cross-country trip to their aunt’s 
wedding. And if you like the first book you will love the second book. The second 
book just came out last week and I have read it 10 times. It is that funny! Each book 
ends with a cliff hanger.  I cannot wait for the new book to come out, but it will be at
least a year, so until then I will have to keep rereading the 2 Genius Files books.

Play Today DC

Do you live in the Metro DC area? Are you like me and you are always looking for fun things to do with your kids in and around DC?  Well look no further!



Play Today DC is a local, family friendly website, that is all about connecting local families with kids’ classes, events, and activities happening in our neighborhood. Along with a calendar of events, Play Today DC allows a parent to register for your choice of activity right on the website. No more playing phone tag with the kiddie gym! Play Today DC is free for families to sign up and enjoy. (Now in Beta version in Northern Virginia, currently serving Falls Church, Great Falls, McLean, Oakton, Reston and Vienna.  Expanding to serve other cities in the DC-area soon.)
JOIN PLAY TODAY DC AT THEIR LAUNCH EVENT:
On Saturday, February 4th, 2012 Play Today DC will host a free funfair event at the Westwood Country Club in Vienna, VA from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.  There will be tons of great activities for families including a moon bounce, face painting, snacks, music, plus raffles and giveaways. (Plus an iPad giveaway! See below for details)
SWEEPSTAKES OPPORTUNITIES: 
Visit the Play Today DC facebook page, become a fan, and you are eligible to win an iPod Touch in their online sweepstakes (Value $199). Print out the Play Today DC Facebook fan page, include your name, email address and phone number and bring it to the Find the Fun Fair on Feb. 4th  and be entered to win an iPad at the fair. Cool right?  (Value $499).

Disclosure: I received compensation in return for writing this post. But I just love making my life easier, so save yourself some time and join Play Today DC!

Lunch for One Please~

Lunch is a meal I usually eat by myself while the kids are all in school. I love to have leftovers from the day before, but if there aren't any I try to get creative and stay healthy.
I don't know about you, but I have always loved eggplant parmesan.  But many years ago I realized that I did not need to dip each piece of eggplant in egg and breadcrumbs and then fry it for it to taste good.
Today's lunch I will call deconstructed eggplant parm.
There are my 2 main ingredients.

Eggplant and hemp seeds.
This recipe could not be easier.
I do use 2 new tools that have made my life so much easier and might also make yours easier too.
First is an Oxo peeler.  My favorite oxo peeler broke a few months ago and I replaced it with this one
http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Swivel-Peeler/dp/B0000DAQ46/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326309261&sr=8-2  This peeler is so smooth, it is really amazing. It saves me time when I have a whole bunch to peel.
My second go to new appliance is my new toaster oven. It is the best toaster oven for a large family. First, it can toast 6 slices at a time, enough said.
Second, it can hold a whole pizza or the pizza pan that is included.
Third, it shuts off when it is done cooking. You know how you forget about the french fries you were making, well this oven is smarter than me. The cooking time is up, ding, it shuts itself off! I love it!
This is the oven that is being used the most in our house http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BOV800XL-1800-Watt-Convection-Toaster/dp/B001L5TVGW/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1326309510&sr=1-2
Ok so you peel your eggplant with your new peeler and you preheat your new toaster oven to 425.
Slice your eggplant into thin rounds. Place each round into your pan (spray a little PAM in the bottom) that will fit into the toaster.
Put a generous amount of sauce on each round, sprinkle on your hemp seeds, and then a teeny bit of parmesan on top of each round.
That is it!
Could this be an easier lunch??
Bake at 425 for 13 minutes, covered tightly with foil.
After it bakes, take off the foil, be careful of the steam, and then broil it for 2-3 minutes to get it crispy and brown.  Watch it carefully so it does not burn.  Broiling goes really fast!
Serve your eggplant rounds on a pita, sprouted wheat bread, or even on top of a salad.
Yum, mine is getting cold, so try it today!!!

Need a more filling breakfast?

I know there are many people who do not eat breakfast. I am not one of them. I always have a bowl of healthy cereal between 5:30 and 7 am, depending on what time my little princess wakes me up.  This breakfast is healthy but not very filling. I am hungry again by 9 am or so.  I added about 1/4 cup of this granola to my regular bowl of cereal and I find that I am much fuller most of the morning!!
I love to make granola bars with chia seeds that are amazing, but this weekend I made chia granola that is really out of this world!
Chia seeds are teeny tiny black seeds, that look almost like smaller poppy seeds. They have this great crunchy taste in baked goods. But, if you put chia seeds in a liquid, they turn into a gelatinous, almost egg like consistency. You can use this as an egg replacer in vegan baked goods. You can also turn chia seeds into a pudding like mixture.
If anyone has any recipes that they want me to share, feel free to post a comment here or send me an email cookwith5kids@gmail.com
I do not have a picture of this recipe either. My recipes have been so yummy lately that they are all eaten up before I get my camera out for a photo.

Chia Granola
can easily be doubled for a bigger batch of granola!
3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 T vanilla
Preheat oven to 300
Line two baking pans with parchment paper or silpat.
In a big bowl mix the oats, almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, chocolate chips, brown sugar, pistachios, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
In a separate bowl mix together honey, coconut oil and vanilla.
Pour liquid over the oat mixture.
Stir well.
Spread onto baking sheets evenly in a thin layer.
Bake for 30 minutes total, stirring and checking it every 10 minutes.
Let granola cool.
Store any leftovers, if you have any, in an air tight container.
Enjoy with almond milk, coconut milk, or regular milk!

Great gift for Teachers or save them for you!

I have many teacher gifts to hand out each year.  Since we like to bake, I like to make something special, delicious, and decadent for each one.  The teachers work so hard and spend so much time with my kids. I want to give them something from the heart.  Well most of my kids teachers are awesome and this year I made a new recipe, Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cranberry Mandelbread.  Yes, it is a mouthful to say, but it is oh so good to eat.
I have not one picture to post.  As soon as I made a batch of these biscotti like cookies, my kids would try to eat them.  I had to only bake teacher gifts while the kids were in school, then quickly box them up and hand them out.
Try this recipe. It is so good, dipped in hot tea!
Pistachio, Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Mandelbread
1 and 3/4 cup flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 T. butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar, reserve some for dusting on top
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 375
In a bowl, combine flour baking powder and salt.  Stir in the pistachios, chocolate chips and cranberries till well blended.
Beat butter and sugar on medium speed. Save a little sugar fro dusting on top at the end.  Add in eggs.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for a minute or so.  Take dough out of bowl, make sure your hands are well covered in flour.  Divide dough into 3 pieces and form into three long, fat sticks.  Place the sticks on a baking sheet, they will not grow much, so dont worry if the sheet is crowded.
Bake 20-25 minutes till brown.
Let cool about 30 minutes.
Gently cut the cooled loaves on an angle into 1/2 inch slices using a bread knife.  But the cut sides up on the baking sheet and sprinkle on the remaining sugar.  Bake 4-6 minutes more until lightly browned.
Serve with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
Enjoy!

Protein Pie

Today is my baby girl's 4th birthday. She is such a joy and I cannot imagine how boring life would be without her.

While I am typing this post, her cake is in the oven. It is a totally unhealthy marble cake with icing that I know she will love. But you know what is crazy, she loves healthy foods so much.  I know I could have made something much healthier and she would have loved that too.  Her brothers though, say birthdays should be about bad foods, so I made an unhealthy double layer cake and we will celebrate tonight all together.
On Sunday my 7 year old wanted a pie, so I set out to make him a protein pie. It had to be a pie that tasted delicious, looked unhealthy, and had a little hidden ingredient that no one would hopefully notice.  I made this recipe because I had a 1/2 cup of evaporated skim milk left over from a recipe I made last week.  The hardest part about making sneaky protein packed foods is that the kids are usually watching me in the kitchen, so it is hard to sneak foods they dont need to know about.  My teenager was in the room when he saw me putting the butter into the mix, and he commented, "This recipe looks good, happy to see you using butter Mom!" And he later ate 4 slices!
So here is my recipe for the super secret Protein Pie.

Protein Pie
Any crust you like, I used a healthy graham cracker crust
1 cup sugar
1 TB flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup evaporated milk or half and half, I used fat free evaporated skim milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 TB vanilla
1 can white beans, I used organic cannelini beans

Heat oven to 350
Prebake your crust if you are using a pastry crust. I used a graham cracker crust that was premade.
In a food processor add sugar, flour, and cinnamon and pulse for a few seconds.
Add in the milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla and pulse till combined.
Add in the can of beans(rinse it well first!)
Keep mixing it till it is very well combined.
Pour filling into the crust. Place the pie on the bottom shelf of the oven.
Bake until the edges puff up and the center is fairly firm. It can still wiggle a little when you gently nudge the pan.  Bake it 40-50 minutes.
Place the pie on a cooling rack and let cool 20-30 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
We had a little whipped cream and sliced strawberries on top and really loved it!!

Healthier Snacks

So I have 5 kids and each kid has a different eating issue.  Not really an issue, but each kid likes different foods.  This is most challenging when trying to plan one meal that will make everyone happy.  Basically I have given up on that.  I try to make things that are healthy, delicious and nutritious and will also please the largest number of people in my house.
My most recent idea is to make a "treat" or dessert type food that will have some added protein in it.  I have been experimenting for weeks and I will post for you my best attempts.
Today my 7 year old, basically the world's pickiest eater, and also a vegan,  is home sick.  He was hungry and I asked him if he would like a chocolate chip bar.  He smiled and said YUM!  So off I went to create something he would love and would also sneak some good stuff in.

Since I dont have a picture of the bars, I put in a picture of  my 7 year old when he was feeling good.


Oat Hemp Seed Healthy Bars
1/2 cup oats, not quick ones
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/4 cup hemp seeds (if you dont know what these are, scroll down, these are packed with omegas and tons of protein!)
1 scoop of protein powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup non dairy milk
1 whole banana mashed up well
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips
you could easily add raisins, dry cranberries, nuts, or coconut to these bars too!

In one bowl combine oats, both flours, hemp seeds, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir well.
In a separate bowl mash up the banana well. Add in almond extract and non dairy milk(I used almond milk).
Stir wet ingredients into dry ones.
Once mixed up, add in your chocolate chips or other mix-in that you like.
Dont overmix it!
Put in an 8x8 pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
My son ate them slightly warm and had 4 pieces in a row!
Hope your kids enjoy these too.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my vanilla protein pie that my teenage picky kid ate 4 slices of!!