With frosting on top!

Yes, pumpkin recipe season is upon us but I'm one of those people that make pumpkin things all year around. When Trader Joe's starts selling canned organic pumpkin (September-ish), I start stocking up. It's a $1.99 per 15 oz. can. An average price from what I've seen. I make sure I end up with enough cans to get me through the year ahead. I happened to underestimate how many I would need last season causing me to run out mid Summer. I'll be sure to add on a couple of extra cans this year.

Oh, and, I know I could make my own pumpkin puree but remember - this mama needs some convenience. Canned pumpkin is one of those conveniences! Never do I say never (well except when asked if I'd run a full marathon) so one day I may make my own puree but it won't be this year!

I've shared pumpkin bread in the past but this one is a perfected version of what I once made and it's topped with a simple cream cheese frosting. I was inspired by my oldest son's sweet tooth and our shared love for pumpkin bread. As I talk about often, it's a rule that we make our own "treats" and buying them is the exception. Although I don't consider my whole wheat pumpkin bread on its own (sans frosting!) a treat, I apply the same rule to quick breads, muffins and like items as the store bought versions are highly processed and full of unnecessary ingredients. And, when the exception arises, I make a point to purchase fresh baked items from an actual bakery not something in a box wrapped in plastic.

Okay, enough about that. Let's get to the yummy bread. This bread is awesome on it's own. It is a common snack in our house. On this particular day, we were in the mood for a little something extra. The initial request was for cake actually. Ending up with whole wheat pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting turned out to be a perfect compromise.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
8 to 10 servings
Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food and Weelicious


Bread:
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour (or white whole-wheat flour)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey or brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree


How to make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour to salt).

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add eggs, oil, honey (or sugar), vanilla, and pumpkin. Stir together gently with a fork, don't beat it up!

Line standard loaf pan with parchment paper or grease with oil. Add batter.

Bake for approximately 30 – 40 minutes. Check for doneness at 30 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 oz. light cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

How to make:
Beat all ingredients together until smooth. I mixed by hand (what a workout!) but you can use an electric mixer to make it easier (and smoother).

Frost cooled pumpkin bread. I had extra frosting... I guess I could have put on more but I think there will be extra regardless. Slice loaf  (8 - 10 slices) and enjoy!

Resist the Lunchables

With back to school time in full swing, let's talk Lunchables. I'll start on my soapbox. I figure it's best to come out swinging and lighten up from there! I've read and heard more than a handful of people talking about giving their children Lunchables for snack and/or lunch. The conversations are sort of matter of fact, you know, like it's the norm. I also see ones where it seems the parents are either near burnout or have given up.

What confuses me the most is the amount of people okay with feeding their children this highly processed, who knows where the "food" came from, always has a treat, salty tray of food product. I can understand the temptation to reduce some of your workload during the school year as well as save a buck or two but does it have to come in the form of highly processed food that is not providing proper nutrition to the kiddos and ruining their palate at the same time? For me, it's about nutrition as well as teaching my kids healthy eating habits. Processed meat, cheese and crackers with a water (with "Kool-Aid to sprinkle in a little flavor and fun") and some Jell-o and cookies to top it off is not healthy and certainly will not assist our children with learning how to make healthy food choices.

I usually say this somewhere in a post like this - I'm the Medium Food Mama, not Totally Green, Organic and Crunchy Mama. I appreciate the need for some convenience and the occasional packaged food (can we say Mac & Cheese?) but providing a steady diet of highly processed "kid food" is not good for anyone. I also understand budget. And it truly frustrates me that crappy food is the cheapest food. Better organized people may beg to differ with crappy food being the most affordable because well, you can grow some of your own produce, join a co-op or eat organic rice, beans and veggies most of the time BUT it's just not feasible for a lot of folks. I looked into a co-op myself and it was too expensive to join. I also make a lot of my own versions of convenience foods, not all of it turns out to be less expensive. I walked by a cold case of Lunchables at Target this morning and the price I saw was $1.52. A "meal" (in a lot of people's minds) for a buck fifty is likely gonna trump a sandwich on whole wheat with organic turkey, organic produce and avocado with a side of organic fruit for a lot of people. Unfortunately.

The Lunchables facebook page has almost 590,000 likes. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese has over one million. Pages for companies that offer healthier convenience foods for kids like Plum Organics (84,800), Annie's Home Grown (285,800), Amy's (49,300), Clif Bar (110,850) and Nature's Path (267,700) have significantly less followers. So is it about money or lack of nutrition knowledge or just plain denial? I'm not sure yet. From my rookie research though, I lean towards it being a bit of each with a little nostalgia and comfort mixed in.

The challenge of eating healthy on a budget and with little ones that may be a little picky is not going to go away but in my opinion items like Lunchables can. There are plenty of alternatives to these yucky little trays. Here's a few links to give you some ideas.

Mom's Plan
Weelicious
Easy Lunchboxes
The Nourishing Home

One of my favorite sites

If you're a reader of my blog, you likely know that I love Weelicious.com. I make lots of Catherine's recipes for the family. In fact, my husband just made his first weelicious recipe, chicken curry, for my birthday and it was so good and easy to make, he made it again this past weekend.

Catherine is giving away 10 autographed copies of her new cookbook, Weelicious. I know I'd love one. I plan on ordering a copy once it's released as I just don't seem to win things but I threw my hat in the ring anyway, and so should you! Click here to enter! And, meanwhile, take a look around Weelicious.com. I always find something new to try and so far everything has gone over well with the kiddos - including the chicken curry.

WhoNu these weren't a good option? I knew, that's who!

WhoNu? Cookies. Don't get fooled. These have been on the shelves for a while now and I thought they'd go away but they haven't. I'm not sure if people are buying them and that's why or if the shelf life is so long they've just been sitting there this whole time.

I did a little research on the Oreo type version of the WhoNu? cookie and let me start by comparing the ingredients.


WhoNu? Chocolate Cookies: Sugar, Wheat Flour, Vegetable Oils (Canola, Palm, Palm Kernel Oil, Soybean Oil And Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed And Coconut Oil), Cocoa, Dextrose, Polydextrose, Yellow Corn Flour, Corn Syrup, Baking Soda, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Monoglycerides, Vanilla Extract.

Oreo Cookies: Sugar, Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid), High Oleic Canola Oil And/or Palm Oil And/or Canola Oil, And/or Soybean Oil, Cocoa (Processed With Alkali), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, Leavening (Baking Soda And/or Calcium Phosphate), Salt, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Vanillin – An Artificial Flavor, Chocolate.

They're very similar, yes? Although I don't buy Oreo cookies or other boxed/highly processed cookies, I've never noticed them claiming to be "nutrition rich cookies." That's what's irritating. Well that and this piece written last year. Especially "Who knew delicious could be so nutritious? That's what Moms across the country are exclaiming since the recent launch of WhoNu?..." Moms are exclaiming? Hu? Any mom exclaiming that in regards to these cookies, needs to brush up on the facts. Oh and this quote from the VP "Children are snacking more than ever and they're snacking on nutrient-deficient foods with empty calories" reminds us that kids in the US are snacking too much and often it is junk they're snacking on. Whether it's hard to hear or not, parents are the reason for both these issues. We decide what we buy and serve to our kids, they don't.

No matter how you slice it, WhoNu? chocolate cookies are highly processed junk. Oreos with added vitamins. And I don't need a cookie to assist me with my child's nutritional needs. So, please leave these on the shelf along with the other boxes and bags and if it's a cookie your kiddos want, get in the kitchen and bake some. Perhaps, these Vegan Chocolate Chips Cookies? You don't have to be vegan to like a vegan cookie. That's my motto anyway!

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Never underestimate the PB&J. When made with quality ingredients, it's a nutritious snack or meal for the kids. And you, too. Here are my rules when making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich:

1. Whole grain bread, wrap, etc.

2. Natural peanut butter

3. Organic real fruit spread

Whole grain bread is easy to come by and Jif or like brands are not natural peanut butter. They commonly contain sugar, molasses, hydrogenated vegetable oil, mono and diglycerides. Even the "Natural Jif" is not natural peanut butter. It contains sugar, palm oil and molasses. Pick one that contains just peanuts or just peanuts and salt. There is no need for anything else. You can read an earlier post about peanut butter here for a little more detail.

Now for the jelly/jam/preserves/fruit spread/conserve. Like peanut butter, they are not all created equal. Some are full of artificial ingredients, color and preservatives. Here are some examples:

Smucker's Strawberry Preserves:  Strawberries, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Fruit Pectin, Citric Acid.

Smucker's Simply Fruit Strawberry: Fruit Syrup, Strawberries, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Fruit Pectin, Red Grape Juice Concentrate Added for color, Natural Flavors.

Smucker's Low Sugar Strawberry: Strawberries, Sugar, Water*, Fruit Pectin, Citric Acid, Locust Bean Gum*,  Potassium Sorbate Added As a Preservative, Calcium Chloride*, RED 40*.  *INGREDIENTS NOT IN REGULAR PRESERVES.

Market Pantry Strawberry Preserves: Strawberries, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Fruit Pectin, Citric Acid.

Trader Joe's Fresh Strawberry Preserves: Fresh Strawberries, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Pectin, Citric Acid

Dickenson's Strawberry Preserves: Strawberries, Sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Pectin, Citric Acid

The ingredients in your jelly/jam/preserves/fruit spread/conserve should be as minimal as possible. Pectin and citric acid are common ingredients in store bought preserves, which is fine for me but so are artificial color, corn syrup and/or high fructose corn syrup, which are not fine for me. Look for preserves with a short ingredients list. Like:

Happy Girl Kitchen, Co Strawberry Jam: Organic Strawberries, Organic Cane Sugar

Santa Cruz Organic Fruit spread: Organic strawberries, organic sugar, fruit pectin, organic fruit and vegetable juice (color), citric acid

365 Organic Strawberry Conserve: Organic strawberries, organic cane sugar, natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid, citric acid

In my experience you may or may not pay more for a better quality jelly. The prices seem to be comparable with the exception of the big brand organic spreads, they're terribly over priced. Trader Joe's, although not used as an example in the good list, has some affordable options (read the labels though to avoid the one/s with corn syrup) as well.

And, of course, if you or your children have a peanut allergy, seed or other nut butters make a yummy substitute for peanut butter. My favorite is Sunflower Seed Butter. So go ahead, make a PB&J for you and the kiddos, it's nutritious, affordable and fast!

Honey

Honey is something that I think most families have in the pantry/cabinet. Personally, I use it often. And my use of honey has actually increased over the last year since updating a handful of my recipes to include honey as the sweetener instead of regular sugar.

As I do with all the things I buy, I like to take a look at the ingredients, find out where the food came from and compare prices. Honey should be pretty straightforward, right? Well after stumbling upon an article about honey, it's not.

The article was written late last year. I think everyone should read it. It's information to be armed with. So many people "just shop" and have faith what they're buying is, well, what it says it is. Here's just one quote from the article that stands out to me: "The grocery stores want processed honey as it lasts longer on the shelves." This is definitely the motivation for most products grocery stores stock. We are surrounded with highly processed foods for the long shelf life and low price. And although I could go on and on about that subject, I won't because that's an entirely different post.

Like quite a few of our staples, I buy honey at Trader Joe's because it's good and the price is right. I was certainly relieved to see Trader Joe's honey was noted as a good choice but still super frustrated at the fact that this is something we're forced to contend with. It definitely reinforces the importance and necessity of taking the time to research what you're putting in your grocery cart and eventually in your body.

Click here to read the article.

Mayonnaise

Every time I reach for it on the shelf at the store or in my refrigerator, I question using it. But honestly, I won't be making homemade mayo any time soon and my family likes a little on their sandwiches. So it is something on my shopping list. We use alternatives as well like mustard, hummus, avocado, balsamic vinaigrette, pesto and cream cheese but most days, plain mayo is used.

I admit to buying "light" mayo for many years now. Many, many years. My weight has always fluctuated and it tends to fluctuate very easily upward if I am not on top of my food consumption and exercise. With that, starting way back when I was a teenager, I ate a lot of low fat foods and non fat dairy. I was never into the fat free junk food or fat free is better bandwagon, that stuff tasted awful and was highly processed. But I purchased fat free milk and yogurt, light cheese, low fat salad dressing and light mayo regularly. As my food knowledge grew, I started to gravitate towards real food and packaged food that contained more real ingredients than not. And, although in the case of mayo, the real version is much higher in fat (11 grams vs. 4 grams), if you eat healthy, real, whole, high quality food, it becomes a non issue. And if you look closely, you'll notice that even if regular mayo has 7 grams more fat than the light version, it only has 1 gram saturated fat.

Mayonnaise is not my first choice as a spread on my sandwiches but it is for my boys and hubby as well as for lots of other people. If you are a mayo person and don't make your own, take a minute to see what's in the brand you purchase. All "real" mayo is not created equal. Some are made with canola oil (not a fan of canola oil personally but that's an entirely different post), soybean oil or a combination of oil including olive oil. And note that even the "olive oil" mayo contains soybean oil, it's not pure olive oil mayonnaise. Find one without "natural flavor" or weird preservatives. After some research, and even though it contains canola oil, Trader Joe's Real Mayonnaise is what I switched to. I assume Whole Foods and other like grocery stores have a version that is comparable.

Trader Joe's Real Mayo: Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Whole Eggs, Apple Cider Vinegar, Egg Yolks, Water, Salt, Spices, Lemon Juice Concentrate.

Best Foods Real Mayo: Soybean Oil, Water, Whole Eggs and Egg Yolks, Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Lemon Juice, Calcium Disodium Edta (used to protect quality), Natural Flavors.

Kraft Real Mayo: Soybean Oil, Water, Eggs, Vinegar, Contains less than 2% of Egg Yolks, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Salt, Sugar, Dried Onion, Dried Garlic, Paprika, Natural Flavor, Calcium Disodium Edta As A Preservative.

Kraft Olive Oil Mayo: Water, Olive Oil, Soybean Oil, Vinegar, Modified Food Starch, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Eggs, Contains less than 2% of Salt, Mustard Flour, Dried Onions, Dried Garlic, Natural Flavor, Enzyme Modified Egg Yolk, Beta Carotene* (Color), Lactic Acid*, Potassium Sorbate* and Calcium Disodium Edta As Preservatives, Phosphoric Acid* *Ingredient not Normally Found In Mayonnaise Contains: Egg.