Polenta: versatile, easy and gluten free

My dearest friend lives on the other side of the country and it sucks. When we are able to get together, we dream about life as neighbors, but of course I picture being able to walk down the hall of an apartment building in New York while she thinks about side by side homes in southern California. Sigh. 

I love her daughter like she was my own, and after she was recently diagnosed with celiac disease, I went on a hunt for approachable gluten free recipes to add to their family rotation (like this one or this one with gluten free pasta or these granola bars). Thankfully, there's a lot out there nowadays for gluten free families (we recently also launched a new gluten free bundle on the LaLa Lunchbox app) and I'm sure they'll find their way but something that immediately came to mind was polenta.

Polenta is basically a blank canvas that can take on any number of flavors and that versatility is under appreciated in my humble opinion. Cornmeal, the main squeeze of polenta, is great for a gluten free diet. It has iron, fiber and a bit of protein and while it's not a nutritional powerhouse, there's plenty to celebrate. Polenta is basically boiled cornmeal and when you add milk, butter and cheese to that, you've got something mighty tasty. You can make polenta for breakfast and serve with cinnamon and maple syrup. You can serve it with dinner and top with roasted vegetables, or sauteed greens with garlic. You can serve alongside meat or with a vegetarian meal. You can make fun shapes with it and it instantly becomes a kid-pleaser. It's terrific for lunchboxes too. Polenta is like the little engine that could! 

Here's how we do it around here:  

Ingredients for basic polenta (cheese optional)
1 cup goat milk (you can use any milk; my youngest is allergic to cow dairy so we use goat)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup gluten free corn grits
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional) 

Method
1. Pour the milk and water into a sauce pan, add butter and salt and bring to a boil. 
 

2. Slowly add the cornmeal and whisk continuously. Reduce the heat to medium low. 

3. Continue to stir until it becomes creamy. Reduce the heat to low and keep stirring for another several minutes until it becomes creamy. 

4. Once it starts to come together and the liquid has all been absorbed, you can be done! But if you want to add cheese, fold it in slowly and stir to combine. 

5. Once done, spread it out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside for about 30 minutes to cool. 

6. Now comes the fun part! Get the kids involved, get your cookie cutters and make some shapes! 

And there you have it. Five ingredients (6 with cheese), and 6 steps to immediate deliciousness! 

DIY Meals for Kids

I'm a big fan of kids in the kitchen. But I'll be honest, despite all of the reasons to get kids cooking, sometimes the reality of the giant mess that usually follows is completely unappealing. On the days that I just. cant. deal. with that kitchen mess, but still want to keep the spirit of kid involvement alive and well, I go DIY. 

Below are five ideas for you to have some fun with mealtime. They've been a huge hit in my house and as an added bonus: the prep is done by me so my kitchen isn't a complete disaster by the time the meal is served. I hope they're a hit in your house too!  

1. DIY Tacos
Who doesn't love tacos? Actually, one of my kids doesn't love tacos, so when we have DIY Tacos, he makes himself a quesadilla and eats beans and pineapple on the side. Fine by me. But for those who DO love tacos, you can make it fun with black beans, ground meat (season with chile powder and garlic), cheese, cilantro, limes, pineapple, avocado, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, peppers and cucumber. Don't forget the tortillas! 

2. DIY Bruschetta 
The inspiration for this one comes from What's Gaby Cooking. I saw it and was instantly smitten. My family went bananas for this because there are so many flavor opportunities! DIY Bruschetta is fabulous for entertaining as well. Here we've got grilled bread with: goat cheese, ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella and a slicing cheese, grilled corn, roasted tomatoes, roasted pepper puree, bean dip, hummus, grilled mushrooms, olives, caramelized onions, guacamole, grilled steak, prosciutto and pesto. Note: when we do this for dinner for just my family, we don't have this many options! This photo was taken before entertaining some guests. :) 

3. DIY Oatmeal  
Cook a big old batch of oatmeal and put some favorite toppers in a muffin tin for the kids to choose from. Ours include: strawberries, raspberries, coconut, banana chips, pumpkin seeds, chopped apple, chopped banana and golden berries. 

4. DIY Pasta
Pasta can be a challenge in my house because my youngest can't eat dairy, my oldest loves dairy and doesn't like too many ingredients in her pasta and my middle child doesn't love meat and eats cheese sparingly. DIY Pasta is a blessing for us! We usually have it with meat or chicken (often leftovers cut up), peas, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, basil, tomatoes and peppers. I frequently have tomato sauce as well.  

5. DIY Egg Roll Ups
I got the idea for Egg Roll Ups from Aviva Wittenberg. Essentially, it's using egg as a tortilla replacement and it's pretty genius! Scramble the egg and fry it in a pan with a little butter, flip it after a few minutes and then slide out of the pan onto a plate. Once cool, you can use it like a tortilla and roll up anything you want! For us, it usually involves cheese, quinoa or rice, veggies (below, we have purple cabbage, zucchini, green beans and tomatoes) and ham or chicken (often just cut up leftovers). 

Are there DIY meals that you make at home? We'd love to hear about them! 

Granola Bar Recipe: nut free, dairy free, and packed with protein

Life as a parent is infinitely more complicated than I could have imagined as a kid playing "house." The little things that make it easier (like packing lunch at night) are complete godsends. Simple, straightforward recipes are just as important. These granola bars are outrageously delicious and easy to make with my kids (prep time is only 15 minutes!) and I feel great knowing that there are no unpronounceable ingredients and nothing artificial. This recipe is also nut free, dairy free, packed with fiber and protein and can be easily modified with slight changes (noted below). I’m happy to pack these with my kids’ lunches any day of the week.

The Recipe:
1 ⅓ cups rolled oats (old fashioned, not instant)
1/3 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground flax meal
1/2 cup raisins (*can substitute dried cherries instead)
1 cup puffed kamut cereal (*can substitute puffed brown rice cereal)
6 tablespoons coconut oil (*can substitute vegetable oil)
2/3 cup sunflower seed butter (*can substitute any nut butter)
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup dairy free chocolate chips (*can use any chocolate chips, or eliminate completely)

The Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
In a mixing bowl, add the oats, oat flour, salt, cinnamon and flax meal. Mix thoroughly.
Add the raisins, puffed kamut and coconut oil and stir to eliminate clumps in the coconut oil. Fold in the soy nut butter, honey and water, carefully coating the ingredients but not pulverizing them in the process. Finally add the chocolate chips.
Spread evenly on the parchment paper. Mixture should be about one inch thick.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Let cool for ten minutes and cut into bars.

Enjoy!

Quick, Easy Pasta for Busy Weeknights (and Egg Experiments too!)

Between spring fever, family birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day and the end of the school year, it's a wonder that anything gets done. Apologies for the silence of late, but we've been knee deep in egg-related science experiments, end of year activities and preparations for the busy Back to School season for LaLa Lunchbox and LaLa Breakfast. In the midst of everything, I've discovered a super easy, really fast dinner that has made our crammed days much easier: Pasta with Boursin and Peas! Here's my favorite part: once the kids tasted it, they immediately requested it for their lunches. And boom! Just like that, the ten minutes it took to put this dish together saved me big time on lunch as well. 

As an aside, did you know that if you put eggs in vinegar, the acid breaks down the egg shell? 

Did you also know that if you place a hard boiled egg in toothpaste for 24 hours, remove it and place the egg in vinegar for 48 hours, the part that was submerged in toothpaste will not decay? Pretty cool – and also a really cool way to show the importance of brushing teeth! 

Anyway, back to the pasta. I've made this once a week for the last four weeks and two of my kids have been wolfing it down for dinner and lunch (my third child can't have dairy). Remember Boursin? I remember slathering it on crackers as a kid and absolutely loving it's creamy, salty, garlicky flavor. Okay fine, I admit it: I used to eat Boursin with a spoon. Didn't you?! I hadn't even thought about Boursin for decades but when I came across the concept on Pinterest, I tried it immediately and the kids went nuts. 

Here's how we did it: cook one pound of pasta (whole wheat or white) and when it's finished and still hot, add 4 ounces of this (use the remainder for crackers, naturally!): 

Add peas to that (I used 6 ounces of frozen peas that I quickly steamed) plus fresh pepper and some lemon zest and bam! Dinner is done. Lunch is too, if you've got leftovers. Hat tip to Joanna Goddard for finding this deliciousness and Danielle Oron for creating it! 

Here's the full recipe (slightly modified from the original):
1 lb pasta - I used penne but anything will suffice
4 oz of Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs
6 oz frozen peas, steamed
fresh ground pepper to taste
zest of 1/2 lemon 

Cook the pasta as directed on the package. Drain the pasta and while still hot, add the Boursin and stir so that the cheese gets all creamy and delicious. Add the steamed peas. I included 2 TB of the water from the steamed peas so that the pasta had better moisture. Add the lemon zest and mix thoroughly. 
 

I removed the peas one night and had them on the side instead. 

Pile into the Kitchen for Mother's Day!

There's a sweet collection of Winnie the Pooh stories that my 2 year old is obsessed with these days. The pages have been torn and taped in places from those moments that her excitement got the better of her. One of the stories is about a scavenger hunt, and ends with Christopher Robin telling Pooh and the crew that friends working together is the greatest thing in the whole world. I thought of that story over and over this Mother's Day. 

My husband had a Mother's Day plan. He and the kids would get up early and make me a fabulous breakfast (not in bed – I have a thing about food in bedrooms). How do I know about this plan? Because my kids can't keep a secret! Well, my 9 year old can. But her brother and sister spilled the beans. They created a menu using LaLa Breakfast on the iPad and each person claimed a role in the making of a delicious Mother's Day breakfast.

Most important first step? Coffee. My husband took charge of that one. The kids created a Mother's Day Breakfast Sandwich that they knew I'd love – the SAT sandwich: Applegate Sausage, Avocado and Tomato with fruit on the side. My husband, armed with the camera, sat back and watched the collaboration magic. My littlest one washed berries: 

My middle guy chopped bananas:

My 9 year old stole the show. I'm so impressed to see how motivated she is in the kitchen these days. She's eager to prepare foods and has been careful to watch, listen and learn new techniques. She toasted bread, sliced avocado and tomato, and even prepared the sausages all by herself and brought their sandwich vision to life. 

The Greatest Gift in the Whole World! The sandwich was delicious, of course. But as I sat in my bedroom – under strict orders not to come out until they gave the green light – I remembered that I'm celebrating my 10th Mother's Day this year. Tenth! And my big family is finally getting to a place where we're able to pile into the kitchen and work together as a team. It's an absolute thrill to see a spark of independence in all three of my kids. And sure, it sounded hectic in the kitchen at times (I sat quietly playing Words with Friends and drinking coffee) but look what came out of it! The SAT is a perfect sandwich, and this savory breakfast with a hint of sweet was a delicious way to kick off Mother's Day. Awesome teamwork! 

Apparently parts of it had to be made a couple of times: 

I'm grateful at my soul's core for the opportunity to be a mom to my three kids. Thanks to them I feel hope, courage and tenderness in ways that I hadn't previously even comprehended. I'll be celebrating later today with my phenomenal mom, without whom none of this would have happened. 

Three cheers to moms everywhere and to the folks who love them and make their lives richer! And best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy Mother's Day! 

My son was busy drawing a heart for me on the iPad and didn't want to be part of this photo.