Joy’s popsicle post provided me with a burst of inspiration: Could I sneak vegetables into my daughter’s diet by disguising them in a tasty frozen treat?  The answer is yes.  Here’s my groundbreaking recipe:

Strawberry Spinach Popsicles

Pint of very ripe strawberries (overripe is okay)
2-3 cups of carefully washed spinach leaves
1 TBS honey (or more, to taste)

Place the strawberries in the blender and fill the remainder of the blender with spinach leaves.  Add honey and puree until smooth.  Pour into popsicle molds.  (Yields 2 cups liquid)

I invented this recipe and gave the strange-looking brown popsicle to my daughter.  She took one lick and said, “Yum, yum!”  Then she ate the whole thing, making quite a mess in the process.  Of course I sampled this brown concoction myself.  It really does not taste of spinach at all-it’s just pleasantly strawberry-flavored. 

Now, I know that disguising vegetables in other foods is controversial.  When Jessica Seinfeld’s book Deceptively Delicious came out, I read reviews from critics who claimed that lying to children about what they were eating would result in bitterness and mistrust in their parents as they grew older and wiser.  This seems a little far-fetched to me.  Besides, I did not lie to Audrey; I just handed her a popsicle and she ate it.  I hope she grows to love normally-prepared vegetables very soon, but in the meantime, I’m glad I found a way to sneak some greens into her summer confections.

This week’s Works for Me Wednesday is all about easy recipes that use five ingredients or less, so head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more simple cooking ideas.

The sun’s out, your baby’s teething and it’s time for a soothing summer treat.  So, how exactly do you concoct the perfect popsicle?

Popsicle molds:  There are several plastic molds on the market (I have to confess that I own a set), but there are other options available around your home.  You can make mini-pops with icicle trays or individual used yogurt cups. Crate and Barrel made BPA-free popsicle molds earlier this year but they appear to have been discontinued. I’ve written to our friends at The Soft Landing about their safest choice for popsicle molds and will keep you posted on their response.  If you prefer to avoid plastic altogether, you can use paper cups, carefully washing them out and reusing them each time.  You can also try small juice glasses, ensuring that you gradually cool the glass so that it doesn’t crack with extreme temperature change. 

The perfect recipe:  Growing up, my mom made homemade popsicles out of fruit juice, but they were always extremely dense.  We longed for those soft store-bought brands that seemed to melt in your mouth.  If you’d like to get that texture at home, try blending in whole fruit or yogurt.  The thicker mix will also make it easier for your popsicle sticks to stand up if you’re using ice cube trays or cups.  If you’re up for using gelatin, (which vegetarians might not be) it will create a softer popsicle that doesn’t melt quite as quickly.

Natural Dripless Popsicles:  These are a great way to recycle half eaten fruits and get healthy food into your child. Pictured is the momentous day that that I served Roscoe his first dripless popsicles.  He ate four in a row in one sitting. When I asked him what he would dream about right before bedtime he said “sicles.”  Luckily there was no reason to feel bad about his popsicle obsession since I used organic plums, my son’s half eaten bananas(tossed into the freezer over the last few weeks) and a bag of organic frozen blueberries.  He loved them even though he’s usually picky about eating any of these fruits by themselves.

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup water
• ¼  cup sugar (or other natural sweetner)
• Three cups of fruit

Heat water, gelatin and sugar in saucepan over low heat until gelatin dissolves, for about 5 minutes.  Then toss gelatin mixture in the blender with fruit and puree.  Pour the mixture into cups and wait until frozen.  Enjoy!

A chocolate dream:  I found a recipe for Berry Fudgy-cicles on vegan-food.net. and modified it just a bit. Honestly, these are completely amazing and taste way better than anything this healthy should.  The secret ingredient for these homemade fudgesicles is silken tofu which provides them with plenty of nutritional prestige.  I’m not sure if this treat will be more exciting for my son or for me!

Toss the following ingredients in a blender, puree, pour into molds, and freeze. 

• 12 ounces of firm silken tofu (make sure it’s silken tofu made especially for desserts)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup rice milk, coconut milk, or cows milk
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch sea salt
• 4 strawberries, washed, stemmed, dried and sliced into quarters (put these in molds and pour chocolate mix to surround berries before freezing)

Baby-sized options:  If baby is too little to handle her own popsicle stick, consider using one of the products that use a tiny mesh bag. You can put frozen fruit chunks or ice in the mesh and then let her gnaw away to her heart’s content. This link shows Muchkin’s Fresh Food Feeder (which is BPA-Free according to their website), but you can usually find one of these in a local store if it’s easier than ordering online.

What are your ideas for summer treats?  Please add your exotic recipes to our post!

This week’s Works for Me Wednesday has a theme: “Mom, I’m Bored!”  This summer will be the perfect time to bust out some homemade finger paint to keep my restless toddler amused.  Even very young babies can express themselves with finger paint–with a little assistance, of course.

A few months ago, I included this picture of Joy’s son Roscoe in our Eco-Valentine’s post.  I knew exactly what Andy would say when he saw Roscoe on Joy’s kitchen floor, wearing nothing but a cloth diaper, finger painting.  “What a mess!” he said, shaking his head.  I have to admit I felt the same way, and I marveled that Joy was definitely turning into the “fun mom” while I’d be forever known as the “uptight mom.”

You know what might work for me this summer?  Outdoor finger painting!

Here are some recipes to get you started.  Some are more eco-friendly and natural than others.

Basic recipe with food coloring

Finger paints with homemade natural dyes

Finger paints using juice for dyes

Easy corn syrup finger paint

With the warm weather ahead, I’m looking forward to making a batch of finger paints and letting my daughter go wild out on the driveway.  Clean-up will be a snap: I’ll simply hose her off when she’s done.

Store-bought Play-doh, which consists of a mystery list of ingredients and comes in individual little plastic containers, is more expensive than homemade. It’s easy to make a non-toxic version with a few common pantry items. I like to leave it white instead of coloring it, but below you’ll find how to use natural ingredients to color your play dough. If you roll it out, cut it into shapes, and bake them like cookies, you can even paint your creations. Try a batch today and see what your youngster thinks.

Edible Play-dough

Two Play-dough recipes

I found these recipes here.

Rubbery Play-dough

2 cups baking soda
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup cornstarch

Mix with a fork until smooth. Boil over medium heat until thick. Spoon onto a plate or wax paper.

Nature’s Play-dough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon cream of tartar
beet, spinach, and carrot juice

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the dough with your hands until of proper consistency. You can use the un-dyed version or divide it into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices to make green, pink, and orange.

Or maybe you’d like to try a scrumptious edible play-dough recipe. I’ve included a picture for inspiration. (Remember that eating it yourself is not required.)

For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

My daughter has loved black beans since we started her on solid foods.  First we blended them up and added them to her oatmeal porridge (Mm-m, doesn’t that sound scrumptious?).  Later, she was able to pick individual beans up with her hands and gum them.  Once she was about eighteen months or so, she enjoyed eating black beans in salsa or chili.  We make three pounds of dried beans at a time, use most of them in Andy’s frozen burritos (we make twenty burritos at a time), and enjoy the rest in other recipes.

Using dried beans instead of canned has a few advantages.  First of all, it’s cheaper.  I estimate that we save a whopping $2.80 every time we cook our own beans.  We also avoid the toxins lurking in cans.  (Holly on the Ecobaby Blog wrote about her concerns with canned beans here.)  Last but not least, we’re keeping more than seven fifteen-ounce cans out of the recycling bin every time we cook a vat of tasty legumes. 

Here’s how we make three pounds of dried beans:

1. Soak dry beans overnight in a six-quart stock pot.  Beans will double in size, so use as much water as possible.
2. Drain beans.  Add fresh water.  The whole pot will seem filled with beans at this point, with only an inch or two of water over the top.  That’s okay.
3. Cover and heat on medium high until the water just starts to boil.
4. Reduce heat to low.  Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes to over an hour, until soft.

Three pounds of dry beans will yield over six pounds of cooked beans.

Note: You can add spices to the beans while cooking, but don’t add salt until they’re done or they may never soften.

Freeze your cooked beans in six or seven glass jars (old peanut butter jars are perfect), and you will have them on hand to use in place of the canned variety.  I like to cook huge batches at a time to make the effort worthwhile.  Although it takes about ten hours from start to finish, the hands-on work involved in cooking three pounds of beans is minimal.  Now I just have to decide what to do with that $2.80 I saved!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

It takes almost no time to whip up a batch of pancakes from scratch.  Pancakes from a mix are filled with chemicals you don’t want your kids to eat, and they come in packaging you have to recycle or throw out.  For even speedier homemade pancakes, Joy explained how pre-mixing the dry ingredients can save even more time.  

The version I use is adapted from the Joy of Cooking’s basic recipe.  I use 100% whole wheat pastry flour.  The pancake is a fairly versatile food–you can experiment with different flours and milks if your kids don’t eat wheat or dairy.  I’ve even forgotten the eggs and had them turn out all right!

This recipe is suitable for babies and kids over one year old.
 

Whole Wheat Pancake Recipe

Preheat griddle.

Mix together in a large bowl:

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour (or even regular whole wheat flour)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

In another bowl, mix together:

1 ½ cups milk

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 eggs

Combine wet and dry ingredients, gently whisk together, and cook pancakes on the griddle.

Pancakes are endlessly adaptable.  Add blueberries, raisins, spices, or nuts to boost nutrition or calories.  I make a whole batch and keep leftovers in the fridge or freezer, then reheat them in the toaster oven for quick snacks.  My daughter, who has always hovered at the lower end of the growth charts, can eat up to four pancakes at a sitting.

I think I finally did it: I found an object that embodies the Green Baby Guide’s motto.  The humble pancake saves time, money, and the planet.

Last week we asked you to reveal your deepest, darkest, most toxic secrets as a part of our first giveaway.  Your candid “toxic confessions” were indeed shocking.  We’ve randomly chosen from our list of commenters, and the winner is . . . Mimi!  Congratulations, Mimi.  You will soon be the proud owner of Shaklee’s disinfectant wipes and oven cleaner, thanks to Green and Clean Mom.  Now get rid of that carpet cleaner you’ve admitted to keeping hidden in your carpet-free house! 

Well, that’s great for Mimi, but what about the rest of you?  You confessed to harboring everything from bleach to scrubbing bubbles under your kitchen sinks.  It’s time to head on over to a hazardous waste facility and drop the offenders off where they can be quietly and safely dispatched.  But now you’re left with no household cleaners and your oven’s a mess.  You could do what I do, which is nothing.  Or you could whip up a little homemade oven cleaner for just a few cents.  I got this recipe from the Mrs. Clean website. 

Chemical-Free Natural Oven Cleaner

5 T Baking Soda

3 drops Liquid Dish Soap

4 T White vinegar

Mix the above ingredients into a thick paste. Use a sponge to apply the oven cleaner to the inside of the oven and then scrub with a scouring pad.  Rinse thoroughly and wipe the oven clean.

Happy green cleaning, everyone.