all he wants for x-mas is his 2 front teeth..... tooth #2

Memo to the rest of littlefoodies mouth- Spare us the abandonment and money. This kid is growing up waaaaaaaaay too fast and for a more than likely only child this makes the parents weepy and emotional and full of baby memories of past. He won't even be 4 1/2 for another month... The first tooth brought a dollar, the 2nd-due to being totally unprepared brought 5$.
Now I know they can grasp the concept of money at a young age because the look on his face was gummy and priceless and full of pleas to trudge thru this x-mas craziness and take him to target for 5$ worth of (crap) goodies. It's not my cash no mo so what can I do.

Merry x-mas and happy tooth loss to all!

best and easiest gingerbread cookies ever!

These really were perfect. The dough was pliable and not too soft which meant the kid could roll and mold without getting all frustrated. They came out chewy and spicy and soooo good! The recipe came from Epicurious.com and I didn't change a thing in the actual recipe, although it does call for molasses and states not robust i did use black strap which obviously worked just fab! we also rolled them out to be bout 1 in thick. We like em big and cakey like that.

Enjoy!

2/3 cup molasses (not robust)
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Bring molasses, brown sugar, and spices to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam up), then stir in butter 3 pieces at a time, letting each addition melt before adding next, until all butter is melted. Add egg and stir until combined, then stir in 3 3/4 cups flour and salt.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with as much of remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed to prevent sticking, until soft and easy to handle, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Halve dough, then wrap 1 half in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.

Roll out remaining dough into a 14-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cutters and carefully transfer with offset spatula to 2 buttered large baking sheets, arranging them about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes total (watch carefully toward end of baking; cookies can burn easily). Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (re roll once).

Put icing in pastry bag (if using) and pipe or spread decoratively onto cookies.

chocolate mocha milk chocolate chip cookies

Needing chocolate and coffee and more chocolate? Here ya go! These also get better the next day. I make the dough, bake a few and freeze the remaining dough to pop out and bake when I "need" them. I tweaked the recipe off of the nestle website, reducing sugar, changing up butter content. They are great!

Enjoy!

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted organic butter, room temp
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening, Spectrum brand is great. The crisco stuff.... baaaaaad stuff!
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar
1 tbl cooled, coffee
splash of pure vanilla extract
2 large organic fresh eggs
1 package milk chocolate chips (trader joes chips! yum!)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine flour thru salt.

Beat sugar and butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add in coffee and vanilla. Beat in eggs one and a time. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop onto parchment lined sheet.

Bake 10 min. Remove and cool. Eat!

roly poly santa cookies and the easiest all purpose sugar cookie dough

(DON'T MIND THE GREATLY USED SILPAT!)

Its time for all those x-mas cookies and the kid knows it for sure this year. I love christmas and having a kid is like living the magic all over again. This sugar cookie dough was so easy to whip together, no egg which made littlefoodie happy to indulge in eating that dough. Also, which is a great bonus is that it can be made vegan with non dairy margarine like Earth's Balance, which I love. The dough itself is sturdy and can be shaped and colored into just abut anything you can think of. When they were done it was buttery and flaky and yummy. Make sure to use quality flour and butter and sugar as the ingredient list is pretty minimal you want to get the most out of the flavors.

ENJOY!

1 cup margarine or butter, room temp.
1/2 organic pure cane sugar
1 tbl milk or half and half
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour-King Arthur Flour results in the best product!
red paste food coloring
raisins, diced up for little eyes and buttons
White frosting of your choice

Preheat oven to 350F.
In the mixer beat butter until light and fluffy. Add in sugar and beat to combine. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add flour and beat to combine. Remove 1 cup of dough and set aside. Tint the rest of the dough with red food coloring and stir until its the color you want your little Santa to be.
So, who wants boring measurements on how to roll balls the right size. Not I. Then- roll the balls in different sizes to make body parts. You will need a red belly ball-slightly larger than the rest. A white head-slightly smaller then the belly. 4 small balls for the arms and legs. 4 even small white dough balls for the hands and feet. Shape the red dough for Santa's hat. Arrange them together on the baking sheet and don't let them run away with the gingerbread men! That's done!
Put them together.
Cut the raisins up small enough for the eyes and buttons and place on cookie.
Bake 12-15 minutes.
Remove and cool.
When cool pipe your frosting of choice for the little ball on his hat, whiskers and beard, sleeves, pants and jacket.
Now eat them!

soft and chewy, yummy pretzels....

and that they were. The kid and the dad loved em. In fact, I will be making batch 2 today to satisfy the littlefoodies pretzel love!
Surprisingly, the recipe came from cooking light and didn't involve their usual pounds of sugar. I do believe that this might be the best pretzel recipe going. I plan on throwing a little cocoa powder in a half batch this time. I did half cinnamon/sugar and half salt... one for the dad, one for the kid.

Because I am lazy and off to play I will just copy and paste cooking lights recipe here with a link above. Remember, unbleached white flour is best (King Arthur Brand of course!)

Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 14 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
6 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon water
1 large egg
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly sticky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°.

Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll each portion into an 18-inch-long rope with tapered ends. Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle. Fold the ends over the circle and into a traditional pretzel shape, pinching gently to seal. Place pretzels on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 10 minutes (pretzels will rise only slightly).

Combine 6 cups water and baking soda in a nonaluminum Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer. Gently lower 1 pretzel into simmering water mixture; cook 15 seconds. Turn pretzel with a slotted spatula; cook an additional 15 seconds. Transfer pretzel to a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining pretzels.

Place pretzels on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Combine 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture over pretzels; sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until pretzels are deep golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The tooth fairy cometh

All he wants for x-mas is his bottom left tooth! The tooth fairy came last night and brought $1 and a pack of growing animal capsules. The cutest 4 yr old toothless grin ever!

Vegetarian black lentil stew with soy chorizo and pumpkin puree

Wow was this delicious. If you are skeptical about soy chorizo don't be. I love the real stuff but really pig's butts and snouts just can't make it into this belly or my families. Soy chorizo really has all the flavor of the regular chorizo. It cooks up differently of course but with a little extra liquid it is amazing... and we are not big fans of soy but this is stellar. There is the Soyrizo brand and then Trader Joe's makes there own version that I prefer.... and its inexpensive and so worth the try!
Black beluga lentils are a staple here and Trader Joe's makes them in a vacuum pack already cooked so just cut heat and serve. I threw a about a half cup of pumpkin puree for extra measure and it really brought out the flavor. I served this along side some steamed broccoli and yellow squash that was then stir fried with some olive oil and garlic- the kid's method of choice for veggies! I have been adding it to everything lately, including a turkey bolognese which was out of sight!

Enjoy!

1 small yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (your choice on the color- I use red or yellow mostly)
A few garlic cloves, diced
Couple carrots, diced small
1 bag Black Beluga Lentils (from Trader Joe's) or use black beans!
1 package Soy Chorizo
veggie broth
chili powder
cumin
salt and pepper
oregano
pinch of cinnamon
3/4-1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
Organic cilantro
monterey jack cheese

Saute onions, garlic, carrots and bell peppers in olive oil until tender and onions are translucent. Add a chili powder (about 1 tsp), cumin (about 1 tbl), a shake of some dried oregano, teensy pinch of cinnamon and salt and pepper. Cook over med heat until spices become super fragrant. Add in lentils or beans. Add in soy chorizo and cook until heated. Dump in pumpkin and stir up. Add some broth as needed to help prevent it from being too dry. Add in a generous handful of chopped cilantro. Cook until heated through. Spoon into dish and sprinkle with monterey jack cheese. Serve over stir fried veggies.