Some people look forward to Thanksgiving and to eat turkey for the stuffing or the gravy. Not me. I’m a total cranberry sauce girl. Since we’ve been on a roll roasting turkeys every week this month testing holiday recipes, Kenya’s has acquired a real taste for it, too. He’s just like his mommy — he wants some turkey and a pound of the sauce to go with it.
That’s part of the reason I started making this sauce with agave nectar. Most cranberry sauces call for a cup of sugar for each bag of cranberries. It makes my teeth feel like they are going to rot just thinking about it. Granted, cranberries are uber sour, so they do need something to sweeten them up and agave does the trick. I also love adding oranges and orange juice to add not only citrus flavor, but also their natural sugars.
Cranberries are packed with the antioxidant vitamin C, which helps protects kids against infection, and antibacterial substances that can help prevent digestive and urinary infections.
We sat down for lunch last week and I’m not kidding when I tell you that Kenya kept pouring the sauce on his plate and eating spoon after spoonful. He loved it and hopefully so will your family this Thanksgiving.

Cranberr-Wee-Sauce (Makes 2 1/2 Cups)

1 Bag of Cranberries, washed and bruised cranberries discarded
2/3 Cup Orange Juice and or the orange pulp, removing the seeds and sections between the pulp
1/3 Cup Agave
1 Cinnamon Stick

1. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. When they reach a boil, turn the heat to a simmer and cook for
10-15 minutes or until the berries start to pop.
3. Turn off heat and cool. Remove the cinnamon stick.
4. Serve warm or chilled.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I tested this recipe out on several little ginuea pigs. I made these for a recent “kid’s dinner party” that my friends and I do every week and I can’t even tell you how hard I laughed when I pulled these sweet potatoes out of the oven and three of the kids simultaneously yelled “cupcakes”! No matter what we said they decided the orange and white “cupcakes” were a holiday treat and scarfed them down. The only “oops” moment came when one the little girls looked at me with a huge hunk of orange peel in her mouth and said, “I don’t like the wrapper”. Whoops!
These heavenly treats only take minutes to prepare, and they made quite a visual and edible impact on the kids and adults alike. I’m a big fan of cooking this dish with evaporated skim milk because it makes the potatoes really fluffy without the added fat of heavy cream. I usually don’t like to use foods that have a ton of sugar, but just a few mini marshmallows really take this recipe to the next level for kids and makes it fun for them. After all, it’s the “icing”! They’re not essential to the recipe, so you can easily leave them out.
This recipe is also a time saver when you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner, because the orange pulp that you scoop out goes right into the weelicious cranberry sauce recipe! A green vegetable, some succulent turkey and you have a perfect meal for the entire family with a few leftovers for the next day.
*Check out the Thanksgiving article and pictures on one of my favorite websites, CafeMom:

Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups (Serves 6 Big Kids)

2 Lbs. Sweet Potatoes (you want to use potatoes that are really orange, also known as yams)
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Evaporated Skimmed Milk (you can substitute it with regular milk)
1/2 Tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
3 Navel Oranges
Mini Marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke the yams several times with a fork or knife to pierce the skin.
2. Place on foil or a sheet tray in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
3. Let yams cool for several minutes, cut in half and scoop out the fluffy insides (I love eating the high fiber skin as a snack).
4. Mash the yams with butter, maple syrup, evaporated milk and salt until creamy and fluffy.
5. Cut the oranges in half and slice a very thin disk from the bottom so they rest flat. The skins are actually going to be the “bowls”.
6. With a pairing knife cut around the inside rim of the orange removing the orange sections and pulp. Place any of the orange juice and pulp in a bowl and discard the white membranes and seeds. Save the juice and pulp for cranberry sauce recipe or just enjoy as a snack.
7. Fill each orange cup with 1/4 cup of puree and top with several mini marshmallows (you can cover and refrigerate these overnight).
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Place on a sheet tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Serve.

When Kenya was a baby, I always wanted to make him dessert. It somehow felt unfair to me that as my husband and I devoured sweet treats, he couldn’t be a part of our fun. I devised this sweet potato pudding in an effort to remedy that. The creamy and light texture of this dish is so smooth, its perfect for babies with or without teeth.
I love cooking with sweet potatoes because they’re in season right now, packed with antioxidant vitamin and phytonutrients, and almost every baby I’ve ever known loves them. When I first took a bite, I couldn’t believe how much it tasted just like the filling of sweet potato pie. You may want to double this recipe because it goes perfect for a baby’s dinner or dessert!

Sweet Potato Pudding (Makes 3 Baby Servings or 2 Toddler Serving)

1 Sweet Potato
1 Egg Yolk
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Rice or Almond Milk
Hot Water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bake sweet potato for 1 hour or until fork tender.
3. When potato is cool, remove the flesh and cool (I like to eat the high fiber potato skin as a snack).
4. Whisk the egg with the cinnamon, rice milk and cooled potato until smooth.
5. Pour into a ramekin (or other small baking dish).
6. Place the ramekin in a larger baking pan.
7. Place the ramekin and baking pan in the oven and pour hot water into the baking pan until it reaches halfway up the ramekin (otherwise known as a water bath).
8. Bake for 30 minutes.
9. Cool and serve.

These feel like an authentic English or Irish dish to me. Or maybe it’s a 
New England treat. I don’t know where fish pies were born, but I do know they’re gorgeous and delicious. I try to avoid using too much butter whenever possible, but from the time I was a kid, I knew that there was one indisputable culinary fact: if it had a crust, it had to be delicious!
Having pre-made puff pastry in the freezer is a lifesaver for whenever you are making anything with a crust, so I always have some on hand. The golden puff pastry in this dish encloses a warm, creamy mixture of fish and sweet vegetables. It’s so creamy in fact that you would think it’s made with heavy cream, but in fact it’s just an easy mixture of milk and a roux. Yes, moms and dads, you get to be culinary geniuses this week and make a roux, which is SO easy to do! I guarantee this will be a hit for even those little ones that turn their noses up at vegetables. Give it a try.


 Fish Pie’s (Makes 4 Individual Ramekins for Big Kids or 1 Large One)

1 1/2 Cups Milk (I prefer whole milk for this recipe)
1 Cup Broccoli Florets, fresh or frozen
1 Large Carrot, peeled and diced
1 Ear of Corn or 1/2 Cup Frozen
2 Sole Fillets, fresh or frozen (or 1/2 Lb halibut, haddock or cod)
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Flour plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 Box Puff Pastry, 1 sheet (I like Dufours or Pepperidge Farms), defrosted
1 Egg, whisked with 1 tsp water (this is known as an egg wash for the crust)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Bring the milk to a boil in a large saucepan.
3. Add the broccoli and carrots and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the corn and fish and continue to cook for 4 more minutes or until vegetables are fork tender.
5. Remove the vegetables to a separate bowl. Break the fish into pieces and chop the broccoli into bite size pieces if needed.
6. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. When it’s melted add the flour and whisk making a roux.
7. Add the milk a little at a time until mixture is a thick saucy consistency.
8. Add the sauce to the fish and vegetables and combine.
9. Pour the mixture into individual ramekins.
10. Sprinkle work surface with a bit of flour and roll out puff pastry to remove lines (only if necessary).
11. Cut out 4 individual circles, using a knife, just larger then the top of each ramekin.
12. Divide the fish mixture between the 4 ramekins and cover with puff pastry sheet.
13. Brush each puff pastry ramekin with egg wash.
14. Bake on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden.
15. Serve.

When I was 6 months pregnant with Kenya, my husband and I went to Paris for some work as well as some much needed R and R. I had actually lived in Paris for years when I was younger so I was excited to walk all over the city showing him my favorite neighborhoods and old haunts. There’s nothing like being pregnant in the most romantic city in the world and walking by patisseries and bistros all day. It’s an automatic excuse to eat a lot. As a result, we didn’t take one form of public transportation the entire trip, since I didn’t want to miss a single culinary delight and we needed to walk our multiple meals off!
One of my favorite treats are crepes. These heavenly, light, little pancakes are the perfect base for all types of fillings like mashed bananas, almond butter, fruit preserves and, dare I suggest, Nutella (very common in France).
I made these for Kenya and myself for breakfast and he loved them. I covered them with apple butter and rolled them into little cigar-shaped cylinders which he held and ate at his leisure. When the rest of the batch was cool, I just wrapped them up and put them in the fridge so we could still eat them for a few days.

Crepes (Makes 14 Crepes)

2 Eggs
1 Cup Flour
3/4 Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2-3 Tbsp Butter, melted

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree.
2. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight (this helps the bubbles to settle and the crepes not to tear).
3. Grease a saute pan or crepe pan with butter. Pour in 2 tbsp of batter and swirl to cover the pan.
4. Cook for 1 minutes, flip and continue to cook another 30 seconds or until just starting to become golden.
5. Remove to a plate and continue to make remaining crepes.
6. Spread with apple butter, almond butter, mashed bananas, fruit preserves or any other favorite filling.
7. Roll into a cigar shape.
7. Serve.

OK, seriously, who doesn’t like a potato chip? Left to my own devices I could devour an entire bagful in one sitting. However, your average store-bought bag of chips is laden with saturated fat and calories that I don’t want or need, and while I don’t want to deprive Kenya of the great treat of chips, I certainly want to keep him away from bad fats and mega-doses of sodium. Sure, most chip makers offer “healthy” versions, but they’re still not great for you and why spend the extra money when you can make even better ones on your own for a huge fraction of the price?
I’ve been making these “potato chips” for me and my husband for years and now Kenya gets to be part of the fun. You can make them with almost any kind of potato (the sweet potato version is AMAZING and loaded with vitamins and minerals). They only take minutes to prepare and are a fantastic snack for kids’ lunch boxes too.

“Potato Chips” (Makes 2-3 Cups of Chips)

2 Potatoes, unpeeled (sweet and/or Idaho/Russet Potatoes)
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Sea or Kosher Salt to taste
Vegetable Oil Spray

1. Slice the potato into “chips” using a knife or a mandolin, about 1/8 inch thick.
2. Combine the potatoes, oil and salt in a bowl or resealable bag and coat the potato chips.
3. Spray 2 cookie sheets with a thin coating of vegetable spray and make one layer of potato chips on the cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until chips start to turn golden. Turn the chips to the other side and continue to cook 15 more minutes (some of the chips may turn golden before others, so make sure to keep an eye on them and remove them when their crisp).
5. Cool and serve.

I find it kinda funny how some recipes just seem to come to me out of thin air while others can be right in front of my eyes and I miss them completely. For example, Kenya LOVES eggs, peas and rice, so I can’t believe I didn’t think of making this dish sooner. This isn’t your usual “fried” rice, though, laden with oil and msg. This is a healthy version that has all the flavor of fried rice while still being super easy to make.
I usually prepare a big batch of brown rice to keep in the fridge for everyone in the house to nibble on all week. Also, since you can make so many fast simple sauces to mix in with brown rice, having some already cooked makes meal time that much simpler. I try as much as possible to give Kenya recipes without salt, but that would cut out a ton of Chinese and Japanese dishes I want to make him, so I use Bragg Liquid Aminos as an alternative. Bragg’s has less sodium than soy sauce and has 16 amino acids, the basic structural building blocks of proteins.
This is a great dish to take along when you don’t want to carry three different food groups on an outing. With this one, you have everything all in one dish!

Vegetable “Fried” Rice (Makes 6 Toddler Servings)

1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
2 Eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp + 2 Tsps Oil, peanut or vegetable
1 Tbsp Scallions, diced
1 Tsp Ginger, minced
2 Tbsp Red Bell Pepper, chopped fine
1/2 Cup Peas
1/2 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos or Low Sodium Soy Sauce

1. Heat 2 Tsp of oil in a wok or non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs and coat the entire pan like a pancake. Scramble for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through. Place the eggs on a plate. Cut into bite size pieces.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same skillet over medium high heat and saute the scallions, ginger and red bell pepper for 2 minutes. Add the peas and rice and continue to stir and cook 1 minute.
3. Add the sesame oil, Bragg’s or soy sauce and cook another minute or until all the ingredients are throughly combined.
4. Serve.

Oh. My. Lusciousness! I just tasted my first batch of homemade almond milk minutes ago and it is so delicious I ran to the computer, bumped today’s planned “recipe of the day”, and started writing this. This almond milk is so creamy, frothy and easy to make, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered to buy it in the store. Not only is the milk itself incredible and perfect to add to your own cereal or coffee, but my best little taster just made a case for drinking it all on its own! You should have seen Kenya chowing down on the ground almonds and milky solids which are strained out of the finished milk. He totally made a meal out of it (as did I, stealing bite after bite).
Almonds are rich in the antioxidant vitamin E, which boosts your little one’s immune system. They’re also a good source of calcium which plays a part in healthy bones, teeth and immune function. Don’t feel limited to only almonds, though. You could make this exact recipe with cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts and more. Just pour a touch of this over fresh berries and it’s as good as the taste of fresh cream. Obviously, if your little one has a nut allergy, this recipe isn’t for them.
Again, I do realize that you can buy a box of almond milk at the store to keep handy, but one taste of this recipe and you will understand why it’s worth the MINUTES it takes to make your own.

Almond Milk (Makes 3 1/2 Cups plus 3/4 Almond Puree)

1 Cup Almonds
2 Tbsp Agave
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
4 Cups Water

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree on high for one minute or until almond are in tiny pieces.
2. Place a strainer in a large bowl and cover the top of the strainer with cheesecloth (this step is important because the almonds will be in such small pieces that the cheesecloth and strainer need to stop them from going into the milk).
3. Pour the almond milk through the cheesecloth. You may need to do this in stages so the milk can slowly strain through the cheesecloth. It may help taking a spoon to scrape the bottom of the cheesecloth so the milk can pass.
4. Pour the milk and the almond puree into separate containers and refrigerate.
5. Serve.