Carrot & Black Cherry Baby Jellies

The huz was telling me just yesterday (after the Little Guy threw his chicken, then potato and then asparagus on the floor during dinner) that this is payback for me always playing with my food. However, I say playing and throwing are two different things. My playing was usually artfully sculpting a pool out of mashed potatoes with gravy as the water and carrots as the diving board. Little Guy, I swear, just likes to break my heart by throwing my most time-consuming meals directly on the floor for the dog to eat.

In his defense, he's 14 months old and it has to be really awesome to watch a furry animal with big teeth gobble anything he gives him.

But I digress. This is post is about playing with a fun, wiggly, shiny food. Food I apparently loved as a kid.

Meet jigglers. Or, "baby jellies" as the recipe card my mom gave me calls them. I'm not sure the origin of the recipe; I just know my mom's been using the recipe since I was a wee-one and it's great because you can control what goes in them. There's no added sugar in these and no chemicals - it's straight up juice (of any kind really) and gelatin (which isn't for everybody). I've made them with 100% carrot juice and 100% black cherry juice and Little Guy eats more than he throws. (Score!)

This recipe is so simple, you really can't mess it up.

Carrot or Black Cherry Baby Jellies 
 gluten-free, dairy-free

8.5 oz carrot or black cherry juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin

In a small saucepan, sprinkle one envelope of gelatin over juice. Let stand one minute. Stir over low heat until dissolved, about 3 minutes. Pour into a small glass "pan" - I used a Pyrex 3 cup glass container (a glass loaf pan will work too). Chill until firm in the refrigerator (about 2 hours) and cut until squares (or use fun cookie cutters).
 

Kid Food: Carrot Apricot Chews

My baby is now officially a toddler. A toddler who prefers to eat while exploring: double-fisting mini-muffins while he runs, climbs and crawls around the somewhat baby-proofed house. He takes a bite and then he's on the move, always gripping tightly (usually too tightly) to his snack of the moment. Sometimes we don't know whether he finishes his food or squirrels it away someplace (we find a lot of "real" food in his play kitchen cabinets). 

We try, and do succeed, in getting him to sit in his high-chair during meal times and he does pretty well most of the time, especially if there's meat in front of him. (That's a picture of him eating a chicken wing on New Years Eve. He was in HEAVEN.)

But, there are days when the wiggle-worm will not sit still and when those days align with the days I have no patience, his meals need to be portable.

He has this affinity for Ella brand "nibbly fingers." They're like small, chewy oatmeal bars with somewhat healthy stuff in them. They're portable, and packaged individually. They're great, but expensive so I wanted to make my own version, and after a few attempts, we got a winner!

The Bubs loves them, I've eaten a few dozen and when we bring them on play-dates his pals seem to dig them too.  

Bub Bub's Carrot Apricot Chews

1 cup carrots
3/4 cup dried apricots
1 1/2 cup oats (I use certified gluten-free oats)
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup maple syrup (or agave - I've used both before; agave makes it sweeter)
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a heavy-duty blender or food processor add all of the ingredients and blend until a batter forms. Spread on a lightly greased (I use coconut oil) pan (I use 8x8 or 8x6) and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then cut into rectangles or squares. 

Ba Humbug & Feeling Loved

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. Sure, it's a nice excuse to remind people that you care for them, but the forced, commercial holiday that it has turned into makes me bitter -- or it could just be the fact that my Valentine is half-a-world away. Either way, I'm forgetting the lovey-dovey stuff and turning right to the chocolate, well almost.



My parents are pretty amazing people and they can read me like a book. I'm sure they had a feeling that today might be a difficult day for me (really though, I'm doing fine -- this will be the fifth year spending Valentine's Day thousands of miles apart from my sweetheart, so I've gotten used to it), so they decided that at 8:30AM this morning they would come over to my place and have a wonderful Valentine's Day breakfast prepared for me. A crustless vegetable quiche, sausage and fresh berries. Yum. My Mom is an great cook, or as I liked to say when I was little "a good cooker." Along with this delicious breakfast, they brought flowers and an awesome present (that deserves it's own post). Even if the food, flowers and gift weren't a part of it -- just them stopping by made me feel loved, so that was pretty neat.

In an attempt to not indulge in the store-bought Valentine chocolates because I know very few of the gluten-free and dairy-free variety, I decided to make my own chocolately treat: Cinnamon and Chocolate Covered Almonds. They're pretty simple to create, and after hearing that cinnamon is a mild appetite suppressant, I was stoked.

Cinnamon and Chocolate Covered Almonds (gluten-free, dairy-free)

1 cup raw, organic almonds
3/4 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (or Tropical Source -- both are gluten/dairy-free)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

In a double-boiler mix the chocolate on low heat until completely melted. A few at a time, drop the almonds into the chocolate and cover. Place the almonds on a large platter to harden (I let this happen overnight). Next, put the cinnamon in a small bowl, and a few at a time, coat the chocolate-covered almonds with the cinnamon. Give to your parents who you love very much.