If you’re like me, you know all too well that meal time can be challenging.

Anything you can do to cut down on the struggle of preparing, cooking and cleaning is a huge help. That’s where this Bambu cutlery set comes in totally handy. Kenya loves watching adults cut up their food and then mimic the
action himself with own his fork and knife. I feel much better knowing his wooden knife is safe, but also a lot of fun for him and it inspires him to eat more!

Bambu cutlery is made from the highest quality bamboo, which is sustainably grown so it’s good for the environment as well as your kids.

Once in a while we take Kenya out to dinner. I say “once in a while” because my husband gets so stressed out about keeping an eye on Kenya that it can take away some of the fun. In order to enjoy ourselves more, we try to take Kenya to restaurants with dishes he loves that are fun for him to eat too. Japanese restaurants are great for this reason. We order him edamame (always a favorite since he gets to pop the beans out in his mouth), a vegetable sushi roll (so fun to pick apart) and miso soup. He loves drinking the soup straight from the bowl and picking at the tiny pieces of seaweed and tofu that are left over. Miso is a traditional japanese food that is prepared by fermenting rice, soy or barley. There are different varieties such as light, dark, red and yellow miso, but each has its own distinct salty flavor which makes it even more delicious when added to spreads, marinades, sauces and soups. It’s also high in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals which is great for kids.

We had a ball trying out this recipe in the weelicious test kitchen. We bought several different types of miso paste and tried making the soup 10 different ways. The star of the test, was this recipe. It’s a traditional preparation and it takes only minutes to prepare. And last, don’t get freaked out by the ingredients kelp and bonito. They are delicious, inexpensive and so good for you. You can find them at most supermarkets in the international section or in health food stores. Once your kids start slurping up this soup on a regular basis, you can start experimenting by adding all kinds of other veggies such as edamame, broccoli or anything else your kids love.

Miso Soup (4 Servings)

2 Piece Kelp (Kombu)
4 Cups Water
1/4 Cup Bonito Flakes
3 Tbsp White/Yellow Miso
1/2 Cup Shiitake Mushrooms, julienned
1/2 Cup Tofu, chopped in bite size cubes

1. Place the kombu and water in a pot over medium heat. Just before it comes up to a boil and the bonito flakes and turn off the heat.
2. Let the kombu and bonito sit for 1-2 minutes.
3. Strain the liquid, discarding the kombu and bonito flakes. Pour the liquid back into the pot.
4. Whisk the miso into the broth and add the shiitake mushrooms and tofu.
5. Simmer over low-medium heat for 3 minutes.
6. Serve.

A weelicious reader sent me the idea for this recipe and I absolutely love it! It’s the perfect dish to make when all you have on hand are a few bags of frozen vegetables or a refrigerator full of cooked ones and want to create something fast and delicious that your kids will love. I used broccoli and corn because I too had several bags in the freezer, but you could also try peas, cauliflower, or any other combinations you love.

You can also toss this dish together in the morning, put it in the fridge and pop it into the oven that night. I love a one pot dinner that’s so easy to pull off!

Veggie Casserole (Serves 6)

1 Tbsp Butter or Olive Oil, plus more for greasing casserole dish
1 Small Onion, chopped
1 Cup Milk
2 Eggs, whisked
2 Cups Broccoli, cooked (can use frozen)
1 Cup Corn, cooked (can use frozen)
2 Cups Brown Rice, cooked (Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s sell pre-cooked brown rice)
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven the 350 degrees.
2. Heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 3-5 minutes or until soft.
3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk until combined.
4. Add the onion, broccoli, corn, rice and cheese and stir to combine.
5. Grease in a casserole dish and pour in the mixture (I used a 9 x 9 inch pan).
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of your casserole dish.
7. Serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Oxo Good Grips Box Grater

While other kids went outside to play when I was in grade school, I would always find myself in the kitchen with the lunch ladies, checking out what they were making for that day and stealing bites of whatever I could get my hands on. One of my favorite things the ladies prepared were sloppy joes. They were tangy, warm and fun to eat because they were so messy. I loved biting into them and watching the sauce dribble back onto the plate.

Recently, I was nostalgic for a good sloppy joe recipe and I couldn’t believe how many of the ones in cookbooks or available online contained tons of sugar and ketchup. This recipe is super yummy, but also healthy, which makes it a great meal for the whole family. I use ground turkey instead of beef because it’s lower in fat, comparable in price, and tastes just as delicious.

Kenya’s still too young to get the concept of holding a big sandwich like this, but he loves to eat the turkey mixture with a spoon out of a bowl.

Turkey Sloppy Joes (Serves 4)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Onion, diced
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Carrot, diced
1 Celery Stalk, diced
1 Pound Ground Turkey
1 15 Oz Can Tomato Sauce
3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Salt and Pepper to Taste
4 Whole Wheat Sandwich Buns or Rolls (optional)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes or until soft.
3. Add the bell pepper, carrot and celery and continue cooking for 3 minutes.
4. Add the ground turkey and cook for 5 minutes or until meat is cooked through.
5. Add the tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve as is or on buns.

Almond Cookie Recipe

So one morning last week my sweet husband took Kenya to the park and brought along Kenya’s breakfast. We’ve been trying to weed out all the plastic food storage in our house, so my husband brought Kenya’s oatmeal in one of our small, glass Frigoverre containers (which, by the way, I love for home storage). Suffice to say things got busy fast at the park. My husband dropped Kenya’s breakfast while running around and he was late getting home because he was cleaning glass shards up off the playground.

So, what to do? It’s easy to buy inexpensive plastic containers — they will certainly stand up to most drops — but I worry about our family’s food sitting in plastic given the numerous studies on the leaching of toxic chemicals from plastic to food. This could just be my post-pregnancy brain on crazy woman over drive, but I’d rather be safe then sorry. Plus, eventually Zip Lock bags and plastic containers get thrown away and live forever in landfills.

Yesterday, I was at The Little Seed, an eco-friendly baby store in Los Angeles, and saw this adorable, new Think Baby Feeding Set. Each one comes with a bento box, a soup bowl, a baby bowl, a cup, a fork and a knife. The containers are the perfect size for kids who need their lunch or snacks to be packed up for the day, and the lids fit snugly so whatever is inside won’t get out. The best part is they’re free of bisphenol-A, phytalates, pvc, lead and melamine (just the words themselves sound scary).

The set isn’t cheap ($39.95), but when I think about the cost of all the Zip Lock bags that I go through in a year’s worth of snacks, this durable product seems like a bargain. Plus, they’re husband-proof.

Thinkbaby Complete BPA Free Feeding Set, Orange, 6 Months

Lately, Kenya has been going through a big muffin phase (or rather mommy has been going through a big testing spree making muffins and there’s not much else for Kenya to eat!). Growing up, my mother used to make us blueberry muffins for breakfast and I always remember them being warm, soft and delicious. A very comforting way to start the day. The only problem with most muffin recipes is that they’re loaded with sugar and some can be as heavy as hockey pucks.

These sweet lemon poppy seed muffins are so light and airy, you’ll want to sit around and eat them all day (as Kenya likes to demonstrate when I make them!) One more reason to love poppy seeds, aside from their flavor, is their extensive quantities of calcium and high percentage of protein. Who knew those little black seeds were so packed with nutrients?

These little morsels are the perfect treat for breakfast, lunch box snacks or even dessert!

Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Butter, melted
2 Eggs, beaten
1/2 Cup Agave Nectar
3/4 Cup Rice, Almond, Low fat or Whole Milk
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 Tsp Lemon Zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a muffin tin or line tins with cupcake papers.
3. Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to mix.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, agave nectar, milk, and lemon juice, poppy seeds, and lemon zest.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix until the batter is smooth making sure not to over mix.
6. Pour the batter into 12 muffin cups, dividing evenly. Bake on a center rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

We used these to make this recipe:

KitchenAid Precision 24-cup Mini Muffin Pan

When I was living in NYC modeling, I used to splurge with my girlfriends once in a while and dine at Nobu. Nobu is a Japanese restaurant co-owned by Robert DeNiro and which features the cuisine of world-famous chef, Nobu Matsuhisa. Every dish at the restaurant is fantastic, but the miso cod is by far the crown jewel on the menu! It has been copied by many restaurants, but I have yet to taste one that comes close to matching the flavor and snap of the original. I was reading Saveur magazine last night and they rated the top 10 restaurant dishes ever and this dish was one of them. Yes, it is a unique recipe but you can make it at home for a fraction of the restaurant price.

Over the years I’ve tested tens of different variations on the recipe: marinating the cod for an hour up to 3 days, cooking the marinade ingredients over heat or just whisking them raw in a bowl. The original recipe uses tons of sugar which I didn’t think was the healthiest idea, so I substitute agave with fantastic results.

You can also use different varieties of fish or even try scallops, but black cod is always my first choice. It’s high in omega-3 fatty acids and has a mild flavor which is perfect for kids. I served this to my family and friends recently and let everyone roll pieces of fish in leaves of Bibb lettuce and eat it like a sandwich. The cool, crisp taste of the lettuce combined with the warm piece of miso cod was like heaven in every bite! There’s no reason why you can’t have the world’s best dishes at home.

Miso Marinated Fish (Serves 4)

1/2 Cup Yellow or White Miso
2 T. Agave
1/2 Cup Mirin
1 1/2 Lbs. Black Cod or Salmon (you need to use an oily fish)

1. Place the miso, agave and mirin in a bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Pour over the fish, cover, refrigerate and marinate for 30 minutes (can be marinated up to 24 hours).
3. Preheat oven broiler to high.
4. Remove from marinade and place on a foil lined cookie sheet.
5. Broil fish 6 inches from the heat source for 8-10 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
6. Serve.

As a cook, I get bored making the same thing day after day. I need to constantly change it up or being in the kitchen just isn’t fun for me. Recently, Kenya has been asking for omelets EVERY morning for breakfast. So after the first few days of “crack eggs, whisk eggs, cook eggs”, I decided to see how he’d respond to a bit of a change.

“Egg in the Hole” was one of my favorite breakfasts from childhood. This dish is especially great because there’s lots of fun stuff the little ones can do to help you prepare it — getting to make the holes in the bread is probably the most fun. When I was a kid, a simple drinking glass did the trick. But here at weelicious, we believe things can always be MORE fun. Well, cookie cutters aren’t JUST for making cookies, you know. While you’re getting everything ready to prepare the “Egg in the Hole”, your little ones can rummage through your cookie cutters and pick the shape they want their egg to be. Say hello to “Egg in the Witch”, “Egg in the Gingerbread Man”, “Egg in the Star”, and more! In no time flat you’ll have a delicious high protein and carbohydrate meal that’s the perfect start to a day….and never boring!

Egg in the Hole (Serves 2)

2 Slices of Bread (I used whole wheat)
1 Tbsp Butter
2 Eggs
Salt

1. Using a cookie cutter, press out the center of the pieces of bread reserving the cut out.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and melt the butter.
3. Add the pieces of bread and the center cut outs to the pan.
4. Break 1 egg into each cutout, sprinkle with salt to taste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Flip the bread gently and cook to desired doneness (2-3 minutes total for runny eggs and 5 minutes total for firm eggs).
6. Serve each piece of bread with the cut out.