First and foremost, weelicious is about recipes for kids — or at least that was the intention when I started this website for little ones almost four years ago. I dreamt of coming up with meal ideas that would appeal to kids and inspire them to eat foods that are not only good for them, but that taste delicious at the same time. Something has happen along the way, though. I’ve realized that we’re all kids at heart and even adults love the idea of food that comes in interesting shapes, has bright colors, unique flavors or an engaging aspect to them.

So, did I make these Italian Aspargus Sticks for: my kids or me and my hubby? The kids and I had these tasty asparagus stick creations for dinner one night and we loved every bite. I never know how the kids will react to certain vegetables, but the taste and presentation of these sticks are so appealing that it’s hard for even the most finicky eater to resist them. Tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, Kenya and Chloe loved dipping the asparagus in the tomato sauce I served with it on the side and kept remarking, “there so crunchy, Mommy!” As I do with most recipes, I double what I make and freeze half in order to have plenty for another night, but my planning was all for naught. When my husband got home from work later that night, I sat with him while he ate our leftovers. He ate them all and wanted more so I popped the frozen ones in the oven to toast them up for him. The next thing I noticed, they were all gone! So much for being prepared for a future meal.

It’s good to know that no matter what our age we can all enjoy the same foods and always remember it’s great to be a kid at heart!

Italian Asparagus Sticks (Serves 4)

1 Cup Whole Wheat Panko or Bread Crumbs
1 Tbsp Italian Herbs (you can find them in any grocery’s spice section)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Bunch Asparagus, cleaned and stems removed (if you snap the asparagus down towards the bottom, they will naturally break at the woody part at the bottom)
Tomato Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl.
3. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl.
4. Place the flour in another bowl.
5. Make an assembly line with the bowls. Dip the asparagus first into the flour, then the egg and finally into the bread crumb mixture, coating evenly and repeating with all the sticks.

6. Place all of the coated sticks on the baking sheet/rack. Arrange so they’re not touching, spray lightly with oil and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bread crumbs are golden.

7. Serve with Weelicious Tomato Sauce

*IF FREEZING: after step 5, place sticks on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and place in a Ziploc bag. Label and freeze. When ready to eat – remove from freezer and put sticks in the oven, adding at least another 3-5 minutes baking time.

Want to make a side dish that’s a little bit out of the ordinary? Italian Asparagus Sticks are crunchy on the outside, tender inside and big and little hands will be grabbing for them!

Getting dinner on the table as fast as possible with the least amount of effort (but with the maximum amount of flavor) is my mission as a mom. Since potatoes are inexpensive, healthy and, of course, delicious, they help make my job that much easier. These Herb Garlic Roast Potatoes are a fail safe recipe that I guarantee will join your weekly rotation of favorites! The zip of the garlic powder and dried herbs really pull together the creamy inside and crunchy outside of the potato. They’re the perfect accompaniment BBQ chicken, fish, steak, burgers or any meal you may be planning for the holidays. I love them right out of the oven, but they’re also great to serve warm and make awesome leftovers. Easy? Mission accomplished!

Herb Garlic Roast Potatoes (Serves 4)

1 Lb Fingerling Potatoes, cut in half
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tsp Sea or Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Italian Herbs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt, garlic powder and herbs on a sheet tray.
3. Bake for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are golden on the exterior and tender inside.
4. Serve.

It’s cold and flu season and tons of people I know are sick right now. Besides a trip to the doctor and a lot of bed rest, there’s sadly very little that will actually make you feel better. Thank goodness Hanukkah is here to remind me of the perfect medicinal treat that you can make at home. Chicken soup is called Jewish Penicillin for good reason. A nice sized bowl has been known to relieve cold and flu symptoms. Now throw in some matzah balls and that will make you feel better and put a smile on your face.

I made a big batch of Matzah Ball Soup for the kids yesterday with some of the Chicken Stock I posted yesterday and they were totally into it. Traditionally, matzah balls can be gargantuan, so you can only imagine how big they look to a little kid. To avoid intimidating my little ones with basketball-sized matzah balls in their bowls, I rolled mine into little spheres, making them perfect for tiny mouths to eat. And these matzah balls are light and airy, so even when you’re feeing under the weather, this nutritious soup won’t weigh you down!

Matzah Ball Soup (Serves 6)

4 Large Eggs, whisked
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Seltzer, Club Soda or Sparkling Water
1 Cup Matzah Meal
1/2 Tsp Salt
6 Cups Chicken Stock

Accompaniments: cooked chicken, carrots and/or celery

1. To make the matzah balls, place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined.
2. Cover the matzah mixture and refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled.
3. With wet/damp hands, roll matzah balls using about 1 tsp of the mixture for each ball.
4. Place the matzah balls in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until the balls are soft and fluffy.
5. Warm the chicken stock in a separate pot and add the matzah balls and add accompaniments, if desired.
6. Serve.

After almost a full week of cooking turkey for family, friends and the kids, I was more than ready to move on to something new, but not before I made a delicious Turkey Noodle Soup with the last remaining bits of turkey in the fridge. The kids aren’t really used to soup, so I was happy to see how much they loved it, devouring the whole batch in just two days. Now, with Hanukkah just around the corner, I have Matzoh Ball Soup on the brain and it got me thinking that I don’t have a good Chicken Stock recipe on weelicious. The bonus of this recipe is that you get soup AND fresh cooked chicken out of it, which I put to good use all week in Mac, Chicken and Cheese Bites and Chicken, Bean & Cheese Quesadillas.

Whether you need chicken stock to make Chicken Pot Pie, Risotto Milanese, White Chicken Chili or another favorite recipe of yours that calls for it, this clean, fresh tasting stock is great to have on hand. And with some light seasoning, it’s even wonderful to eat on its own. Especially at this time of year when it seems like everyone around you is getting sick, a good chicken stock, with its medicinal properties, is something you want to make sure is always on standby in your fridge or freezer.

Homemade Chicken Stock (Makes 12 Cups)

1 – 4.5 lb Whole Chicken, washed
20 Cups Water
3 Celery Stalks, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
1 Large Onion, chopped
2 Bay Leaves
8 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
8 Parsley Stems
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Place all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
2. Simmer for a minimum of one hour or up to two hours (the flavor gets better the longer you simmer it).
3. While simmering the stock, periodically use a spoon to skim off all the impurities that rise to the top.
4. After the stock has cooked, take the whole chicken out of the pot (if simmering the stock for 2 hours, remove the chicken after the first hour, take the meat off of the bones and set aside. Return bones to the pot and continue cooking for another hour). Strain the stock into a container and allow it to come to room temperature.* You can shred the chicken to use for other recipes or just eat on its own.
5. Store in the fridge over night.
6. The next day, remove solidified fat from the top.
7. Store stock in fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months. **

*You can use the stock at this point or you can continue with the steps for storing.

** To Freeze: Place stock in a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, simply defrost.

Even for the best of cooks, roasting a turkey can be a huge stress! I’ve cooked more than my share of turkeys over the years and the one thing that I’ve come to realize is: less is more. In my opinion, the key to a perfect turkey is brining. I like to prepare a simple brine for my turkey to sit in for a day or two before cooking (this is one of Kenya’s favorite jobs because he loves playing with all the spices involved) and then into the oven it goes.

Remember, when you make a good turkey, people will remember and complimemt you forever. But when you mess up a turkey, no one will let you forget it. So, don’t mess up the turkey! With brining you won’t. No stuffing, no flipping it halfway through, just a few easy steps that make this Maple Brined Turkey the most juicy, succulent turkey you and your family will ever eat!

Maple Brined Turkey (Makes 10-12 Servings)

Water
1 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Cup Salt (preferably kosher)
1 12-14 Pound Turkey (defrosted if frozen)
1 Orange
1 Onion, quartered
10 Cloves
20 Peppercorns
3 Star Anise
1-2 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil

1. Place the maple syrup and salt in 4 cups of hot water. Stir until the salt dissolves.
2. Place the maple syrup mixture in a large stock pot with a gallon of cold water, the juice of the orange, the orange halves (once juiced, of course), the onion, cloves, peppercorns, and star anise and stir to combine.
3. Wash the turkey inside and out (putting aside the neck and liver to make gravy) and place breast side down in the stockpot with the brine (you want the brine to just cover the turkey).
4. Refrigerate 18 hours to 2 days. (Or, you can set it in a cool safe place outdoors as long as it’s below 55 degrees outside).
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
6. Take the turkey out of the brine and rinse inside and out with cold water, discarding brine.
7. Place the turkey on a roasting rack inside a wide low pan and blot the turkey with a paper towel.
8. Tuck back the wings (or cover with small pieces of foil) and rub the skin of the turkey with the oil.
9. Roast on the lowest rack of the oven for 30 minutes and then place a piece of foil just over the breast of the turkey to cover (the breast cooks faster then the legs and wings so this process helps it to cook more evenly).
10. Pour 1 cup of water in the pan, reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue to roast 1 hour.
11. Remove the foil from the breast, turn the pan so the other side of the breast is towards the back of the oven (most oven’s heat comes from the back, so turning it prevents overcooking) and cook for another hour to 90 minutes. Insert a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the thigh (avoiding the bone) until you reach a temperature of 160-165 degrees. The turkey will actually continue to cook a bit more even after you take it out of the oven (the total cooking time in the oven will be 2 1/2-3 hours total).
12. Let the turkey rest for 20-30 minutes (this is an essential step to allow the juices to redistribute and settle).
13. Slice and serve with gravy or Cranberr-Wee-Sauce.

This is one of my tried and true recipes that I’ve been making for years but for some reason never thought to put on weelicious. Long before I was married or had kids, when my best friend and I were living together, this soup was in my weekly recipe rotation. Like many kids who shun their veggies, my friend was hard to cook for, but she absolutely loved this naturally sweet soup.

Preparation takes minimal effort and once Kenya saw me take out the hand blender, I don’t think he cared how it tasted as long as he got to help me make it. Once the ingredients were cooked and nice and tender, I let Kenya use the hand blender to mix it up, making the soup super creamy (without using any dairy, mind you). Boys sure do love their toys! I think he pureed it for what felt like 20 minutes until he finally deemed it
“just right mommy”.

Nutritious, delicious and heart warming, hopefully this Carrot Ginger Soup will be in your weekly rotation all winter long!

Carrot Ginger Soup (serves 4)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Small Yellow Onion, diced
1 16 Oz Bag Baby Carrots
2 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, peeled and chopped
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 32 Oz Box Low Sodium Vegetable Stock (you could also use low sodium chicken stock)
Accompaniments: plain yogurt, sour cream or crème fraiche

1. Heat the oil in a stock pot over medium heat and sauté the onion for 4-5 minutes or until translucent.
2. Add the stock, ginger, carrots and salt, bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until carrots are fork tender.
3. Puree the soup using a hand blender or in a blender until creamy and smooth.
4. Serve topped with a dollop or yogurt, sour cream or crème fraiche.

As the seasons change and the weather gets colder, I have a growing desire to make warm, hearty foods for breakfast. To me, a hot bowl of oatmeal before heading off to school on a chilly morning gives kids a sense of comfort — not mention enough energy to carry them through to lunch. Back when I first had Kenya, I discovered my crock pot, a wedding gift that had sat unopened in our closet through two moves. After years collecting dust, it quickly endeared itself to me and became my best friend in the kitchen. It’s so easy and efficient to use, I think I try to find a way to make everything in it. Oatmeal is one of the things I wanted to make in it for the longest time, but it wasn’t until last week when the weather finally got cooler here (and Kenya took to draping himself with a blanket at the kitchen table), that I felt truly motivated.

Plus, with my husband leaving for work everyday before 6am and the kids and I not eating our breakfast until around 7:30am, I loved the idea of preparing something the night before that, no matter what time each of us fed ourselves in the morning, would seem totally fresh and special. As hard as this all may sound, it was one of the easiest breakfasts I’ve ever made. All I did was toss steel cut oats and the other ingredients into the crock pot, stir it up and 8 hours later we were enjoying a perfect nutritious meal to start our day. The added benefit was that the kitchen smelled so amazing in the morning that even the kids stopped to remark, “what’s for breakfast, Mom?”

I’ve now made this recipe five days in a row, so there must be something about it that everyone loves!

Oatmeal in the Crock Pot (Serves 4-6)

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats
2 Cups Water
2 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Tsp Cinnamon
Desired accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, walnuts and or raisins

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine.
2. Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 5-9 hours (the amount of time can vary depending on your crock pot. Some crock pots that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others).
3. Stir in desired accompaniments and serve.

* I like to let the kids squeeze in their own honey to get them involved and swirl in a bit of extra milk to cool it down for them.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite activities was sitting with my grandfather in front of huge bags of green beans that he had picked from the local U-pick farm and snapping the ends off of them. My grandfather loved to gnaw on the raw beans and chat away with me. This year, Kenya and Chloe planted their first bean stalk and when the beans were finally ready, the two of them had the best time picking them, snapping the ends off and helping me steam them for dinner.

Fresh green beans are crisp, sweet and delicious, but after a summer full of simple preparation I decided to test drive this version. My kids love almost any food with a crispy crust, so I should have known what a big hit it would be. Because the beans are baked, they have the crunchy coating of fried beans, but are totally healthy. But the real star of this dish was the ginger-honey mustard dipping sauce. Chloe was busy dipping and dunking her veggies in it (and when she ran out of beans she even tried to drink it!).

Whenever you want to change things up a bit and put a spin on what seems like the everyday ho-hum veggie, try this and see how your troops react.

“Fried” Green Beans w/ Honey Mustard Sauce

1 Cup Whole Wheat Panko or Bread Crumbs
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Flour
Green Beans, cut into bite size pieces (about 2-3 inches long)
Olive or Canola Oil Spray

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowl.
3. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl.
4. Place the flour in another bowl.
5. Make an assembly line with the three bowls, first dipping the green beans into the flour, then the egg and finally into the bread crumb mixture, coating the beans evenly and repeating with the remainder of the beans.
6. Place all of the coated green beans on the baking sheet or on a rack above a baking sheet. Arrange beans so that they’re not touching, spray with oil and bake for 30 minutes or until the bread crumbs are golden.
7. Serve with dipping sauce.

* If freezing, after step 5 place on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove and place in a Ziploc bag, label with the date and name of the recipe, and freeze. When you’re ready to eat – take them out of the freezer and put them in the oven, adding at least another 3-5 minutes to the baking time.

Dipping Sauce

1/4 Cup Mustard (yellow or Dijon)
1 Tbsp Honey

1. Place ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.
2. Serve.

I’m way into fruit, nut and seed butters. Peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower butter, apple butter, pumpkin butter….I love ‘em all. With HalloWEEn just days away, there seems to be pumpkin seeds everywhere you look in my kitchen. It got me to thinking: why not pumpkin seed butter? I don’t know of anyone who sells it, so why not make it?

This is an awesome recipe for getting your kids involved in cooking. My little ones had a blast making it with me. After I toasted and cooled the seeds, we put them in the food processor and watched the seeds change shape and texture several times. Every time we took the top off, the aroma of toasted pumpkin seeds filled the kitchen. The kids were totally fascinated by it and loved tasting it.

Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, iron and protein, which makes this butter perfect on a sandwich or even served as a dip with celery or apples. Plus, if your kids have nut allergies or attend a nut free school, a good peanut butter alternative like this one is a great spread to add to your lunch time ingredient arsenal.

At this time of year when the weather is getting cool and you’re looking for more fun activities to do inside, this is one that will stimulate all of your kids senses — especially their taste buds!

Pumpkin Seed Butter (Makes 1 1/2 Cups)

3 Cups Hulled Pumpkin Seeds (aka Pepitas)

Accompaniments: Honey, Celery, Apple, Bread

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
3. Allow the pumpkin seeds to cool.
4. Place the seeds in a food processor and puree for 5-6 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides with a spatula (you need to puree the mixture so it eventually becomes smooth- you don’t need to add any additional oil).
5. Serve on bread with honey, or celery or apple slices.

* This pumpkin butter can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.