Cooking with kids: Healthy fall recipes

I love the ministry of Hearts at Home. They tell me, as often as I need to hear it, that my job as a mom is important and valuable. They publish books, have conferences (check to see if one is near you because I know you want to hear Michelle Duggar, Dr. Juli Slattery, and The Fly Lady), and maintain a website. The founder, Jill Savage, has a new book coming out in February: No More Perfect Moms. I can't wait to read the book, because Jill never gives me a formula to be better, rather she points to Christ and reminds me of grace. I need that.

Today, is the Hearts at Home monthly blog hop. The topic is fall recipes (click here to see recipes from other bloggers).  I almost posted our scrumptious 100% whole wheat flour chocolate chip cookie recipe (don't get too excited about healthy cookies, because the amount of butter cancels any health benefits). But as mom, I really want to model healthy eating.  Probably, the cookie recipe would gather more comments. Most women collect dessert recipes-- maybe because desserts bring praises. Still, while they ooh and ahh at dessert recipes, they groan if I bring dessert, They are trying to be healthy and my cookies are just another temptation to break their diet.

To help you and your girls eat healthy, I decided to share with you a cookbook and two of its recipes that the girls and I love. The recipes are simple, easy, and healthy. There is nothing more effective than cooking healthy and eating healthy together.

The Cookbook: 
Williams-Sonoma: the kid's cookbook is a hardcover book that is spiral bound. It has beautiful images of EVERY recipe, a great intro to cooking section in the front, and the recipes are simple to follow (the language in the recipes is more detailed than the average cookbook).
Oodles of Noodles (vegetarian).  
My bug, the 8-year-old, is my child who loves to cook. She is also the picky eater of the family. She hates chicken (except in nugget form), pork, and most meats. She loves beans, peanut butter, eggs and carbs. And after discovering this recipe, tofu. Or maybe she just likes the opportunity to slurp noodles! This Asian-inspired soup is simple, fast, and light. Bug can make it herself. If it is the main course, we serve it with a hearty salad and cornbread muffins. The recipe is very forgiving. We add more noodle, more tofu, more chives. It is always good. Note that the recipe as written only serves two.

ingredients:
4 cups of veggie or chicken broth
2 ounces dried vermicelli (we sometime use rice threads instead which makes the soup gluten-free)
3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup diced firm tofu
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives (green onions work too!)
1 tsp Asian sesame oil.

1. Pour the broth into the medium saucepan, cover, and set over high heat. Bring the broth to a boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to medium.
2. Remove the lid. Add the vermicelli and peas. Simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently with the wooden spoon to keep the pasta from sticking together, for 5 minutes. 
3. Add the tofu and continue to simmer until the noodles are al dente (tender but firm to the the bite) and the peas are tender, about 2 minutes longer. To test, using a slotted spoon, scoop out a few noodles and a few peas. Set them on the cutting board to cool for a few seconds. Taste them. If they are tender, they are done.
4. Using the pot holder, carefully remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the chives and sesame oil. Ladle into soup bowl and serve immediately. 
*Recipe from William Sonoma: the kids' cookbook

Baked Pork Chops with Apples
Picky Bug doesn't like pork and didn't even try this recipe. But everyone else loves it. Moist pork chops with baked apples is delicious.  This recipe is so easy and foolproof.  After making it with me once, Bird can easily just this recipe together and bake it.  It serves four.

ingredients
4 red-skinned apples
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
4 boneless pork chops, each about 3/4 inch thick
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Baked Pork Chops and Apples just before baking. 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Have ready the 8-inch square baking dish.
2. Set 1 apple on the cutting board and cut it in half length-wise with a sharp knife. Cut each half in half again to make quarters. Place each quarter on its side and cut away the core. Cut each quarter lengthwise into 1/2-inch think slices. Repeat with the other apples. Pile the slices into the baking dish.
3. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon evenly over the apples.
4. Generously sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper. Tuck the chops into the pile of apples, rearranging the slices around them. Scatter the butter pieces over the tops of the pork chops and apple slices. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 40 minutes. Ask an adult to help you remove the foil from the baking dish. Be careful: The steam is very hot! Continue to cook until the pork chops are lightly browned and the apples are tender, about 20 minutes longer. Using oven mitts, remove the baking dish from the oven.
6. To serve, use the table fork to transfer each chop to a serving plate. Scoop up the apple slices and the juices with the serving spoon and place them around the chop. 
*Recipe from William Sonoma: the kids' cookbook

I forgot to snap the after picture of the pork chops; you'll just have to make it! What do you cook with your kids? What are your favorite healthy recipes

Fuel: Zebra leg girl, a story to share with your girls

I haven't posted a fuel article for a while. And this post isn't for you moms. It is for you and your girl. To inspire you. To make you think. I think this article is for girls of all ages. Enjoy! 
The Girl With the Zebra Leg Wow Hog Country

How I plan to always connect with my girls

It's the best day of the week to be a mom at Pruning Princesses. Monday Mentor Mom day. This week things are a bit different because, well, I am the mentor mom. Actually I am a MOMtor over at one of my favorite blogs for encouragement, Mothering From Scratch. The subtitle of the blog is "Where Mentoring Moms is Our Main Dish" and the two women who write this blog do not disappoint. The post I wrote is close to my heart. It's about the habit in mothering I am most proud of. The one I never regret and that I would encourage every mom to adopt. 

The steady needs of toddlerhood wore me down some days. By 6 pm, especially on nights my husband couldn't be home, I would practice being patient in ten minute intervals. Bed time could not come soon enough. I wanted to rest from issues: picky eaters, listening to my daughter sob at the sight of shampoo, trying to be consistent with discipline. But our bedtime ritual took extra patience and intentional focus.

Sometimes I envied the moms who tucked their children into bed and walked out of the room. I maintained an elaborate, time-consuming bedtime ritual that took an hour....(read more)

What You Should Teach Your Kids

It is Friday. You know the drill. Five minutes of writing. It is a beautiful community and I am just discovering its blessings. Join us over at Lisa-Jos. Today's word: focus.

 A mental list of faults that need to be corrected unscrolls in my mind. The list of traits I want them to have is long and it is hard teaching characteristics I have not mastered myself. Still, I try. I pick stories, heroes, prayers that emphasis fearlessness, perseverance, kindness, bravery. 

And I try more, almost will, my girls not to pick up my faults. My fears. My selfishness. I do not want them to experience the pain that holds hands with cowardliness or discouragement or doubt. 

When I focus on the list, I see the faults. I see the work there is to be done. The lessons that I want stored in their hearts. Lessons I can teach but not force to grow roots. I miss the grace of God. 

Ignoring the list and teaching them instead the wonders of God and the peace of gratitude, I can re-see their beauty, enjoy their quirks,  and wait expectantly for God to mold them. Grace returns.