Mid-Week Minute: Foooood!

I've got a few food suggestions for you today, because, well, I love talking about food. And I love getting suggestions for new foods and recipes to try so I'm just going to go ahead and assume you do too. 

First, we'll start off with something for the wee ones. Don't freak out... it's tofu. And yes, I'm serious. Tofu is not just for hippies and it's not gross. It's made out of soybean-milk curds (which, OK, does sound a little gross) but it is highly versatile and basically takes on the flavors of whatever it's cooked with. Most importantly, it's a great source of calcium, iron, and protein. And possibly just as important (especially if you're needing to get something in your baby's hungry mouth like ASAP) it doesn't have to be cooked and this "recipe" is super quick. So here ya go: Take a couple handfuls of Multigrain Cheerios and crush them in a ziploc bag (you'll want them to be close to a powder). Cut off a one-inch slice from the block of tofu and cut that into one-inch cubes (you can also get pre-cubed tofu for even more convenience). Add the tofu cubes to the bag of crushed Cheerios, shake to coat, and voila! Lunch! Wilder eats this for lunch (along with other things) every single day. He can't get enough of it. The cubes are easy to pick up, easy for toothless gums to chew, and the Cheerios add a great flavor. You could also coat them with wheat germ or whatever else you think would taste good. Go on, try it, you know you're curious!

Next I have a couple of low-calorie snack recommendations for the grown-ups. I first read about Fig Newtons Fruit Thins on my friend Annalee's blog and decided to try them. Y'all, they are SO delicious!! And best of all, you can eat three of them and only be 140 calories in the hole. Three may not sound like much but they are a really good-sized cookie. I got them in the Blueberry/Brown Sugar flavor but they also come in Cranberry/Citrus Oat, Chocolate/Raspberry, and Fig/Honey. They will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth without making you feel guilty.

My other snack recommendation is Pretzel Crisps by Snack Factory. Oh my word. Need something crunchy? Don't turn to the greasy potato chips! These come in an almost 1-lb. bag for around $4 and only have 110 calories for 11 crisps. They are flat too so you can top them with cheese, meat, or whatever you fancy. They come in a bunch of delicious flavors: Garlic Parmesan, Sesame, Buffalo Wing, Original, and my personal favorite - Everything (like an Everything Bagel, mmm). Look at us, snacking all healthy and stuff!

Last but not least is possibly the easiest dinner recipe in the history of mankind. I came up with this by accident and it's now a weekly staple in our house. 

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

Kickin' Chicken seasoning

(or any kind of spicy seasoning blend)

Salt/pepper

Your favorite BBQ sauce

1 medium onion cut into about 1-inch pieces

Coleslaw

Hamburger buns

Directions:

Season chicken breasts with Kickin' Chicken and salt/pepper. Put in a crockpot with the chopped onion and add a generous amount of BBQ sauce. Cook on High for 1-2 hours and then turn to Low for 2-4 hours, depending on what you have time for (or if you're going to have them cooking while you're at work just cook on low all day). Toward the end of your cooking time, shred the chicken breasts (they should pretty much just fall apart by that point). Mix in more BBQ sauce if needed. Serve on hamburger buns and top with coleslaw. Easy freakin' peasy. 

The combination of the spicy chicken and the cool coleslaw is SO delish and dinner really can't get much easier to prepare... unless you're having tofu cubes ;)

Alright y'all, Wilder's waking up from his nap so that's it for now. Let me know if you try any of it and how it works out for you! See you back here on Friday for Wilder's Week 40 update.