Two asparagus recipes in one week? The nerve of me! Well, I’m fully prepared to defend myself. Asparagus is in season in most parts of the country right now which means it’s probably grown locally and a lot more fresh than if you bought it in January and it was flown here from who knows how far away. It’s also likely a lot less expensive. When vegetables are in season, use them. A lot. In as many recipes as possible. And listen for which ones your kids love and then seek out new ways to prepare them. My son and daughter are going through a huge asparagus phase right now and you can be pretty sure that if I serve them something with asparagus in it, they’re going to be totally excited to eat it.

And here’s one of my husband’s favorite asparagus tips (no pun intended): to keep your asparagus fresh until you are ready to use them, stand the spears straight up in a tall glass filled with an inch or two of water. Asparagus can lose moisture quickly and dry out and this method will really prolong it’s shelf life so to speak. This time of year you can usually find 3-4 glasses with “asparagus bouquets” in our refrigerator.

This is a simple, fresh side dish that can be ready in 5 minutes or less. If it’s in season, do you need a better reason?!

Sugar Snap Pea and Asparagus Sauté (Serves 4–6)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Cups Sugar Snap Peas
1 Bunch Asparagus, chopped
½ Teaspoon salt
Zest and juice from 1 small Lemon

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the sugar snap peas and asparagus and sauté until tender, but still crisp, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Sprinkle with the lemon zest and juice, toss to coat, and serve.

When my kids are feeling under the weather and don’t feel like eating much of anything, one thing they will eat that I can always count on to help them feel better quick is this homemade Chicken Soup with Rice.

Aside from eating it, Chloe and Kenya could read — and sing — Chicken Soup with Rice every day. After Maurice Sendak’s passing last week, I decided to dedicate this video to him for writing a book we truly love about a recipe we completely adore: Chicken Soup with Rice.

In May I truly think it best
To be a robin lightly dressed
Concocting soup inside my nest
Mix it once, mix it twice
Mix that chicken soup with rice

The day I was testing this recipe a friend of mine came over and began oohing and ahhing about the smell from the moment she walked into the kitchen. I pulled this dish of loveliness from the oven she asked me what it was. “Quiche,” I said. “Quiche? What’s that?” she asked me. How is it possible that she had never heard of quiche? Quiche is just a simple savory pie filled with a variety of fillings — it was almost a staple of my diet growing up in Kentucky. Whenever my mother was having people over for a “fancy” lunch she made it.

This one is filled with the beautiful asparagus I’ve been finding at the farmers’ market and bites of delicious, savory ham. If my friend was confused by what I made, you should have seen how perplexed my kids were when I put a slice of it on each of their plates that night. Neither one could seem to understand why I would put asparagus, ham and cheese in a pie. They actually found it quite funny. However, after tasting just one bite no one was laughing anymore and the sounds of ooh and ahh were heard in my kitchen yet again!

Ham Asparagus Quiche (Serves 6)

4 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Half and Half
1 Cup Swiss Cheese, shredded
1 Cup Chopped Asparagus
1 Cup Chopped Ham
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Unbaked Pie Crust* (you can make your own pastry dough or buy prepared crust at the grocery)

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, then stir in the remaining ingredients.
3. Place the dough into a pie or tart pan and mold into the shape of the dish. Place the pie crust in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
4. Pour the filling into the well-chilled pie crust, and bake for 50 minutes or until golden and cooked through (the center shouldn’t jiggle).
5. Cool and serve.

*Pie Crust (Makes 1 Deep Dish Pie Crust)

1 1/3 Cups Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter, cubed & cold
2-3 Tbsp Water

1. Place the first 3 ingredients in a food processor and pulse.
2. Add cold butter and using on/off turns, process until coarse meals forms.
3. Add the water 1 tbsp at a time and process until moist clumps form, adding more water 1 tsp at a time if mixture is dry.
4. Form dough into a disk, wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until cold.

If the appliances in my kitchen were all marriage material, I would have a horrible time choosing which one to settle down with forever. Seriously, how should a girl choose? So many of them are hard working, reliable and would honor me for a lifetime. But if I had to pick the one that is the most handsome, the one that makes me smile every time I see him, it would have to be my Kitchen Aid Artisan Standing Mixer. I use it several times a week and it does everything from help make perfect cookies to turn out tender pizza dough to produce the fluffiest whipped cream.

Now here comes the best part. Kitchen Aid is offering one very lucky weelicious reader the chance to say “I do” and spend the rest of her years with this dashing new Artisan Standing Mixer in stunning crystal blue (retail value $349.99). How exciting is it that one of you is going to welcome this mack daddy mixer into her home?!

For a chance to win, simply tell me what you really want for Mother’s Day this year — besides this mixer! Winners will be chosen at random and announced here next week. Good luck!

Forward this email to your husband, partner or child right away. O.K., Kenya and Chloe don’t have email — most 5 and 3 year-olds (thankfully) don’t — but you get my drift. You want this recipe in the hands of the people you love. You can leave them notes on their pillows, mention it in casual conversation at the dinner table, write a song about it or, just come right out and fess up to the fact that this is what you really want to have on Mother’s Day morning — something fresh, simple, healthy and tasty…which is also a recipe everyone can make together.

And, it couldn’t be easier, so there should be no excuse from your peanut gallery that they can’t figure it out! If they have the ability to get to the market, take a glass out of the cupboard and layer juicy strawberries, tangy Greek yogurt and crunchy granola, then they can put this spectacular dish together. And if they forget it for breakfast, no worries. Just make sure it ends up being delivered to you in the afternoon (on a tray as you’re lounging on the couch reading a good book) or maybe after dinner while they’re all doing the dishes and you’re chilling out on the side lines!

Doesn’t that just sound lovely, moms? Well, a girl can always dream.

Strawberry Parfait serves 4

1 Cup Wee Granola or your favorite brand
1 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Cup Sliced Strawberries
Honey to drizzle

1. In your prettiest glass or serving bowl, layer granola, Greek yogurt, A drizzle of honey, and the sliced strawberries. Repeat in that order until you fill your glass or serving bowl, finishing it with a dollop of Greek yogurt, another drizzle of honey, and a small whole strawberry on top.
2. Serve.

Homemade ice cream in minutes? That’s right, in minutes! This decadent Chocolate Banana Ice Cream is simple to make right in your blender, it’s non fat and good for you. Who knew that was even possible?!

Make it with your kids or even by yourself to enjoy at the end of a long day. This is a scrumptious no guilt treat that will make you smile from ear to ear!

Correction: This recipe does contain dairy, but you can substitute soy yogurt for a non-dairy alternative.

What is it about a frosted cookie that makes kids go gaga? I think I could serve Chloe a mud biscuit and if there was icing on it I guarantee she would eat it. But since I’m not in the habit of serving my kids mud (at least not regularly), I’ve been making these Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies as a special treat. A lot cheaper then the iced cookies sold in the bakery at our local grocery, they’re also made with better ingredients than what you will likely find in the pre-packaged varieties. They’re soft and sweet with tiny pieces of lemon zest and poppy seeds speckled throughout — my kids say they look like tiny spots.

Keep a batch of this dough in the fridge and you can quickly roll it out whenever the kids come home from school and you want to bake them a special treat. Frosted or not, these cookies are beyond delicious (though to be clear, Chloe prefers them with icing!).

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies (Make 1 dozen large cookies)

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2 Tsp Lemon Zest

Icing:

2 Tsp Lemon Juice
1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer (or using an electric mixer) cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes on medium to high speed, or until light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest and beat until just incorporated.
5. Turn the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until the dough comes together.
6. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until 1/4″ thick and even.
7. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes (I like to start at one end of the dough and make the cuts close together to utilize all of the dough).
8. Using a spatula, transfer the cut-outs onto a Silpat or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
9. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the tray from back to front halfway through cooking until the edges just turn golden.
10. Cool cookies on a rack.
11. To make the icing, stir together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth and ice the cooled cookies.

I started weelicious almost 5 years ago, because I was having a difficult time figuring out what–and how–to feed my new eater. I was fairly shocked by the lack of information organized online especially since there are so many avenues available to parents and knew there had to be a better way.

I experienced a somewhat similar situation the first time I was pregnant, assuming like many women that my only option was to find an OBGYN and have my baby at a hospital. Around that same time, one of my dearest friends, Keri, told me she was going to become a doula. A what?! I had never heard of such a thing. Sure, I had heard of midwives, but they were something I associated with the turn of the last century. Obviously, I was not very enlightened when it came to the world of child birth but I was a quick study. Keri became my doula and my husband and I worked with her to review all of the birth options available to us in the hospital so I could have the exact birth I wanted — something I would have likely not been able to do without her.

Cut to two years later: me 5 months pregnant with Chloe and someone having given us a DVD of Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s brilliant documentary The Business of Being Born. Within minutes of finishing the film, my husband and I decided that we were going to have a home birth and set out to find a midwife. Long story short, having Chloe at home was one of the most magical experiences of my life. As well it should have been. Pregnancy and birth should be one of the most life changing times in a woman’s life, yet all too often birth is treated as a medical condition rather than something natural which has occurred since the beginning of time.*

Several years ago I met Anna Getty and Alisa Donner, the founders of Pregnancy Awareness Month, and was roused by their mission to educate and inspire women through birth. This year Ricki Lake, Dr. Alan Greene, Josie Maren and other incredible experts will be speaking at the P.A.M. event for moms-to-be, new moms and their families to discuss everything from prenatal nutrition and feeding babies and children to celebrating pregnancy and learning more about the birth process. I’ll actually be on a roundtable talking about food for babies and kids with Dr. Greene. I hope you can come out to celebrate P.A.M. this Sunday, May 6th, and enjoy this event with me and my family!

In honor of Pregnancy Awareness Month, I’m putting up one of my favorite baby food purees. I came up with it back when I started weelicious but never actually posted it before! It’s super easy to make and will give your baby a great head start towards loving the fresh tastes and flavors of wholesome foods. Recipes like this one are the building blocks to creating great eaters for a lifetime!

* It’s worth making clear here that I love my OBGYN and he was supportive of my decision to have a home birth.

Carrot, Brown Rice, Parsley Puree Makes (Makes 6 Servings)

1/2 Cup Short Grain Brown Rice
1 1/2 Cups Water
2 Medium Carrots, chopped
1/2 Tsp Dried Parsley
1/4 Tsp Cumin

1. In a small saucepan, combine THE rice and water.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add the carrots to the rice, cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes. You will still have some liquid in the rice, this will help with the pureeing.
4. Transfer rice, carrot, parsley and cumin to a food processor, puree until smooth adding additional water if nessecary and serve.

I bet if I looked in the refrigerators of every home in the country, there would be some sort of cooked chicken in 8 out of every 10 of them. That’s good news for moms in need of quick, delicious meals to prepare for their families, because whether you roast it, grill it or buy a juicy rotisserie bird at the market, cooked chicken is one of the most versatile foods you can keep on hand in your fridge. There are plenty of exciting things you can make with it like Mac, Chicken & Cheese Bites or Chicken, Bean and Cheese Quesadillas (both of which kids love), and these Chicken Caesar Wraps, which are another favorite of mine.

Between Kenya’s love of any kind of food put in a wrap and Chloe’s obsession with olives, it’s not hard for me to understand why my little ones love them too. These sandwiches can be put together in no time flat….and eaten up just as fast!

Chicken Caesar Wrap (Make 2 Wraps)

1 Cups Cooked Chicken, chopped
1 Tbsp Kalamata Olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 Cup Eggless Caesar Dip
2 Cups Romaine Lettuce, shredded
Salt to taste
2 Spinach Wraps

1. Place the first 3 ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
2. Place 1/2 of the mixture on the spinach wrap and top with 1/2 of the
lettuce.
3. Wrap the sandwich, cut in half and serve.

Looking for easy Cinco de Mayo recipes? Whether you’re in the mood to make Chicken Fajitas, Chicken and Rice Burritos, Fish Tacos or Pupusas, slices of avocado or guacamole make a rockin’ accompaniment! This tip video will show you how simple it can be to open, slice, pit and cut an avocado and keep that beautiful green color from turning brown!