Bread Recipes

Deliciously Deceptive by Jessica Seinfeld... You'll find great recipes and how to sneak all sorts of veggies into food. :)

HTH,
C.

You should check into some vegan cookbooks. There are a ton of recipes for breads, muffins, pancakes, etc that don't use any dairy, and they also usually call for healthier flours. Try Veganomicon, Vegan With A Vengeance, and if you're a dessert lover, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I dont know if libraries carry these, but you would be able to get a TON of information out of Veganomicon. It explains everything you'd ever want to know about the basics of different vegetables, grains, flours, different things to use in place of eggs....

Have you tried a vegan diet? Substitute nuts with something else when you see it in recipes. You can make great baked goods without eggs. Here's some websites with great recipes without cheese and egg. We don't use soy or dairy and there are still great , tasty substitutes out there. You'll have to use trial and error in some of the recipes. Hopefully you'll find something she'll like and is not allergic to. Just goggle and you will probably find tons of sites.

http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2006/10/nacho-cheese-dip....
http://www.veganchef.com/
http://www.vegweb.com/
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/veggieburgerrecipes/r/glut...

I'm not sure if you have tried Nature's Own... no HFCS and other preservatives. I found sweet potato fries at a health food store that was in the frozen section. Thinly cut and easy to throw in the oven. Also, keep pressing your child to eat veggies. When we have salad, I give my kids salad. When we chop up cucumber, I give them cucumber. Just keep offering - I think that is the best way to get a child to eat veggies.

I make a lot of smoothies for my 19 month old. I use fresh and frozen organic fruit and then throw in some veggies like kale and/or cucumber and/or squash - you can experiment. I use unfiltered organic apple juice and that keeps it sweet enough to make the veggies tasty. I also will sometimes add spirulina powder which is high in all kinds of goodies, like vitamins, chlorophyl, minerals, protein, etc. You can buy it at Whole foods. Also, if I feel like she hasn't had enough veggies for the day I mix some Amazing Grass for Kids into her milk as a supplement (also at Whole Foods). http://www.amazinggrass.com/

Also, I just bought a book called Nourishing Traditions that several of my friens who are rally into healthfood recommended and it talks about the importantce of soaking and sroputing grains for breads, etc. There are some recipes in there that you might want to try is you want really nutritious bread. Good luck! And kudos to you for taking the time and effort to feed your child a healthy diet, it will totally pay off. Sometimes it seems hard and overwhelming, but once you do some experimenting and get into your groove, it will be a piece of cake - like second nature! Oh and I almost forgot!!! The Super Baby Food book - AWESOME! If you don't have it, I HIGHLY recommend getting it. It has so much good information and great ideas on feeding babies and toddlers. I recommend it to everyone!I bought mine online for like $4 on Amazon.

my best advice is to bake the sweet potatoes, perhaps a little sea salt so its palatable, and ask at whole foods for bread recipes. There should have been recipes that came along with the bread-maker; but perhaps with the ingredients you are trying to avoid.
This may take a while to figure out, like most things in life, but the health food store employees have seminars and cooking classes, too. So ask them about that.
Will your baby eat fruits? A liquid vitamin may have to suffice until you get into a comfortable routine with "whole" foods....Also ask about Ezekial Bread...I thinks it's the one without wheat and egg, just grains.
Blessings, S.

HI D., I don't have any bread making advice or recipes - but regarding healthy crackers: Earth's Best makes organic whole grain sesame street (Big Bird and Elmo I think) little snack crackers. They are fairly healthy and make a non-cheese kind just called 'original' -they taste like ritz to me. Also, Pepperidge Farm is the only Publix type brand of crackers I have found that don't have anything terrible in them like trans fat, etc. We don't have a whole foods where I live so I have to do the best with what's here.

SP Fries-drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil onto wedges, or fry shapes you cut and bake in the oven -they should come out delicious. There is a frozen brand called Alexia that makes sweet potato fries you bake in the oven. They have no trans fat or anything weird.

My son is 4 and his one of his favorite things to eat are raw cucmber slices - maybe try those?

Hi D.- As far as the tasty veggies go, I always think people make their food too bland for their kids, which is usually the reason they dont like it. My kids eat everything and shy away from the bland foods other parents might try to feed them. For veggies I have found one thing that really makes them happy and is excellent for health - garlic. I buy pureed garlic in a tube (in the produce aisle at publix) and sautee it in a small amount of extra virgin olive oil. toss in the veggies and add some salt and pepper if you want. Of course, you have allergy concerns, so I'm sure its stressful trying any new foods with your little girl. Try this, she may like it. Also, my kids love grilled veggies. Just toss them in a zip lock with a very small amount of extra virgin olive oil so they dont stick. The grill flavor adds a bit of interest and you can grill just about anything... zucchini or any squash, corn, sweet potatoes, even broccoli and green beans. Careful with the green beans though. You can try adding a bit of the pureed garlic to the bag and tossing them very well until evenly coated. Good luck.

The sweet potato french fries are just peeled sweet potatoes, cut into thin strips and baked. You can brush a little melted butter on top before baking. You can leave them just like that or you can add a tiny bit of cinnamon/sugar to make them more like a dessert.
Just saw this in a mag and thought it was super cute.. http://popdeluxe.net/food-face-plate-fred.html
You can make mashed cauliflower just like you would a mashed potato. You steam it first, then mash. Add milk, butter, salt, pepper or whatever you want. If you don't have a steamer, get one. Even if it's just the little metal insert that you fit into a regular pot. Asparagus are fun because of the shape. You can steam those or put them in the oven with a little lemon juice, butter and mrs. dash for a few minutes.
I just realized that I listed butter with everything! geez! I do use butter, but not very much. And, I promise, not on everything! ha
This is a great time of year to try out veggies. There is a lot at the farmer's markets that's local and fresh. Try some out and see how she takes to them.

I don't know any bread recipes, but I think the Pepperidge Farms Pretzel Goldfish are cheese, nut and egg free. They are yummy, too.

As for veggies, when she is a bit older, you might try offering her veggies raw. My kids are great veggie eaters, but they like things like carrots RAW. Will not touch them if they are cooked. My daughter doesn't like any kind of potato (except french fries and tater tots), but she will eat lightly steamed broccoli and will eat slices of cucumber all day EVERY day if I offer it to her... They even love OLIVES.. Be creative...

have you tested your daughter for siliacs disease it's an allergy to wheat and gluten i recommend trying wheat and gluten free bread in freezer section at whole foods butter with olivio and warm up it is nice we flavor sweet potatoes with brown sugar and black strap molases and you can put marshmellows on top and have sweet potatoe pie - cooking the potatoes in water before hand and mixing up with salt and butter like mashed potatoes, for sweet potatoe fries just cut roll in olive oil add salt and bake add olivio to other veggies brown sugar corn syrup black strap molases maple syrup

I am no great cook, so I stick to the super simple. My 19-month old daughter loves zucchini the way I fix it for her. I just slice it thinly, top w/ a tiny amount of butter and a light sprinkle of garlic powder. Then I cover and microwave for 40 to 45 seconds to steam them. She loves it! I started out peeling the zucchini, but now only peel little sections to make it less course around the edges. I have done it with yellow squash too, but she prefers zucchini. If you prefer to avoid the microwave, you could steam then on the stove and add the slightest amount of butter/garlic later. I've also toppped steamed veggies with a little dried thyme. Also, oddly, my little one loves baby lima beans. I just buy them in bulk from the freezer section and steam or boil them. Again, I use the microwave (cover with water, cover and cook 3 1/2 to 4 minutes). But you could easily use the stove. Good luck!

D.,

I am sorry to say I truly can’t help you with most of your requests, but The last one about the pre packaged snacks…Have you tried the Earth’s Best Organic cookies or crackers? My son also has a egg allergy, and the Letter of the day Cookies do not have eggs in them they are however they are “made in a factory that uses eggs”…he has never had a reaction to them…Now on the up side she may grow out of the egg allergy my son is now 21 months old and can tolerate breads, and muffins now. I would just give him a bite or two here and there so he was still exposed to it a little, to see if he could build up a tolerance to it and he has. But he still cannot eat eggs in their plain form. Now my son loves fruit, and will not even look at veggies, everyone says it is a phase and keep on offering them someday they will try them again so I’m optimistic about veggies! I think you should be thrilled your little one still likes carrots, trust me I’m jealous!!! Lol! But all in all I would say get some one to watch you little one for a couple of hours and walk around whole foods and see what you can find by reading the ingredients.

Hi D.!
I also got a bread maker for the same reason, and then I realized that I could make more bread in less time and save energy, (because the bread maker has to be on 1-3 hours to make one loaf of bread). I make 4 loafs at a time by hand, and keep one out and freeze the rest. That way, I only have to make bread once every week and a half or so. I have found that my kids LOVE it when I make them into little bun or roll sized breads, that's just for them. The recipe that I use is egg and nut free. I use blended flax seeds instead of the oil, but, if you can't use flax seeds, you can use olive oil. The recipe is super easy and it's a great basic recipe and you can add whatever you want to later on to make different flavors. If you would like the recipe, let me know and I'll send it to you.
Also, on the veggies. I started my kids out on broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. I steam them, and my kids love them! A couple of my kids it took a little while, but now all four of my children eat broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, peas, and corn. They like them the best steamed, and not mushy, and that way the vegetable retain their bright colors. Just remember, it takes an average of 12 times giving a "new" food to a toddler, before they get used to it and start to eat it. So don't get discouraged.
Hope that helps!
Take care!
V.
Oh, and you don't have to season the vegetables at all! they taste great, just the way they are!

Hi D.,

Here is a link to some suggestions on natural and organic bread and other healthy treats like unfried sweet potato french fries. You can buy a powdered egg substitute by Bob's Red Mill in Whole Foods that works great for baking and could save you the trouble and expensive of endless label reading.

http://organicwinds.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-favorite-smal...

As for the veggies I swear by Dr. Sears approach to the "nibble tray". Take an ice cube tray and fill each cube with a different healthy treat like cherry tomatoes, raw green and sweet red peppers cut into tiny pieces, grated rice cheese (non dairy but tastes great and no soy which mimics estrogen and should be kept to a minimum with girls), sliced cucumbers etc. If plain won't work then you can put a dipping sauce into one of the cubes. Most kids seem to prefer raw over cooked veggies and since they're healthier anyway a little encouragement is good. I usually mix in some raisins, apple slices and other favorite snacks to balance out the veggies and make the tray more appealing. My daughter has enjoyed her nibble tray since before she was two as she can snack while playing.

Here is an online kids book about animals eating veggies that your daughter might like as well:

http://www.atlantisnatural.com/content/Eat_Your_Veggies_P...

Annie's Naturals has a good line of low sodium, whole grain crackers for kids that taste great. We like the whole wheat bunny crackers! Most crackers are made in plants that may use oils that have traces of peanuts so your best bet would be to check your local health food store for allergy friendly products.

Good luck!