… because it’s Monday and I need to get in the car and drive to Dallas, I’m leaving you today with a little photo essay from this weekend’s Miracle Match Marathon that The Husband ran. It’s also a post that reminds me that I should have ignored my insane advertising/graphic design path and followed my true passion in art and photography. Oh well, things happen for a reason and if I did follow that path to the Kansas City Art Institute instead of my alma mater University of North Texas I would not have met my amazing, fantastic and quite handsome husband. I just can’t live without the husband, mia, a good meal, and…

my camera.

I was also reminded how much I am attached to my camera when my iPhone was stolen later that day and all I could think of was, “I’m so glad it wasn’t my camera!”

By the way, what is it about a man in uniform or in action that makes such a great subject? hmm?

A far cry from the popular french street food, socca, these chickpea pancakes bring a new kick to the traditional pancake your mom used to make! Our own Ashley Bass, creator of Musings of a Mid-Life Mom, created these delightfully fluffy pancakes and has been on my “you know what” daily to post the recipe. Can’t you just picture her in the kitchen on a Sunday saying, “Chickpeas are good in humus, kids like hummus, why not Chickpea pancakes?” I’m not going to lie, although I was impressed with the creativity I was a little hesitant to make them. Finally, last night I decided to reward Miss Mia with pancakes for dinner after she apparently has potty trained herself. {That’s a story for another day, but it’s true. So far I haven’t had to do a thing but purchase a potty. Yes, you are welcome to throw rotten tomatoes at me.}

After making a batch, I have to say I don’t want to make pancakes any other way! A little healthier than your average flour pancake, this chickpea pancake recipe is made with whole wheat flour, applesauce (a little touch from me), and mashed chickpeas that bring a healthy amount of protein, fiber, iron, calcium, and Vitamin C and not to mention they make the pancakes ultra fluffy and moist! Top with maple syrup, honey, or this ginger apple compote for an amazing breakfast or even dinner! Thanks Ash.

Chickpea Pancakes with Ginger Apple Compote makes 16

• 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat White Flour (you can use white all-purpose as well or mix half wheat half white)
• 1 Tbs Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 16 oz can Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans
• 1 cup Organic Apple Sauce, no sugar added
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 4 Tbs Butter, melted
• 1 Tbs Honey
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

**to make a lighter version of this recipe, substitute the milk for 1% and the butter for 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil. {For those of you on Weight Watchers, this version is 6 points for 3 small or 2 large pancakes and add 1/4 cup of ginger apple compote for 2 points.}

In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt).

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and mash. You can also use a blender or food processor but make sure not to over puree.

Add the rest of the wet ingredients (applesauce, milk, eggs, honey, butter, vanilla) to the chickpeas and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.

Heat a griddle or skillet to medium. Add about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake to a greased griddle.

With a spatula, flip the pancakes when they begin to rise and bubble around the edges. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes or until cooked through. Now you can serve just like this with a little syrup or….

Ginger Apple Compote makes 1 cup

• 2 medium organic apples (I used Fuji), peeled, cored, and diced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger peeled and shredded (with a microplaner) or 1/2 tsp dried ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 Tbs brown sugar

In a saucepan, add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until apples are cooked, water has reduced and the consistency is thick. Pour over pancakes and serve!

Or if you are anything like Ashley, you can always just throw some mashed chickpeas in pre-made whole wheat pancake mix and make this super fast! But where is the fun in that? Freeze any leftovers and pop in the toaster to reheat. Enjoy.

…and for something a little different, spoon the batter in greased muffin tins and place in a 400° oven for 10 to 15 minutes until cooked through. Crispy on the outside and moist and creamy on the inside these little pancake muffins are insanely delicious. Thank God I didn’t cook many because I really didn’t want to work out for 3 hours today!

Pancakes for dinner? Why, yes please.

Some of you may remember the week long giveaways I did in December. On one of those days we gave away a Beaba Babycook. After that, I was asked to do a review of this one-of-a-kind baby food making appliance. At first I was a little hesitant as I have relied on my oven and food processor to do most of my baby food making and did not see the need for yet another appliance in my kitchen. But the moment I made my first puree with this little green wonder I knew I was wrong.

The Beaba Babycook is an all-in-one appliance that functions as a steamer, defroster, warmer, and blender to prepare healthy baby food purees. As we all know the best way to attain the most nutrients out of food while cooking is to steam but I always used the oven because I found it a hassle to pull out my huge steamer from the pantry. Let’s face it, making your own baby food is rewarding on so many levels but sometimes it can be a bit of a job. That is the main reason I love this product! Simply put, the Beaba Babycook makes feeding your babies fast, functional, easy and incredibly simple to do even on a daily basis.

Here’s how it works: (I’m making a Peach Ginger Chicken puree, suitable for babies 8 to 10 months)

Peach Ginger Chicken Puree 1 serving stage 2 (8 to 10 months)

Add water to the measured and marked blending bowl. You will find how much water to use for certain foods in the enclosed booklet. For this purpose fill to the 3 mark.

Pour water into the steam heating compartment and close the lid.

Place the bowl back onto the Babycook, snapping it into place. Place the chicken in the steamer basket and insert the basket into the blender bowl. Secure the lid on by snapping it into place.

Turn the knob to steam and go prop your feet up or whatever it is you have to do for 15 minutes (time varies for certain foods).

Once finished, remove the chicken from the basket and place in the blender.

Add the peaches and ginger. Since peaches aren’t in season in the winter I used frozen and defrosted them using the Babycook before hand. Place the orange mixing lid and the blender bowl lid onto bowl, locking it it into place.

Turn the knob to the blender setting and puree for 1 minute. Serve.

So simple! Seriously, the next best thing to the invention of the diaper. The pros are it is compact, the blender is powerful and really better than my food processor, it’s an all-in-one steamer and blender, comes with easy instructions and small cookbook with a food guide and it is very easy to clean. The cons are that I did not find it big enough to do large batches of puree to freeze for future use. But keep in mind that I usually spend a day cooking, pureeing and freezing rather than making purees on a daily basis.

I would highly recommend this to anyone that wants to make their own fresh, healthy and nutritious food for their babies! No really, just the invention of this incredible machine is having me consider the possibilities of another child!

Find a retailer at the official Beaba Babycook website http://www.scichild.com/Home/Where-to-Buy or on Amazon

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from Scandinavian Child. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

My husband once told me that if you stumped your toe that everyone in my family would come running with a band-aid. He’s right and that’s what I love about the massive horde of people that I call my family. (Seriously we’re huge, think My Big Fat Greek Wedding minus the Greek) This week has been no exception as one of us is going through their own war. No matter how close or far away you are to that person you still get your guns out and fight it with them because you are apart of the same cloth. So, I sit here after a long and trying day to ignore a heavy heart and the thought of the days and weeks to come. In doing so…

I hear the laughter of a beautiful, strong and loved man while he bathes his daughter,

I smell a venison roast roasting in garlic, wine and stock in the cold night,

I taste a smooth glass of red wine calming my nerves,

I feel the most precious lips of a two year old kissing my cheek goodnight,

and I ask myself, “how did I ever get so lucky to be blessed with this life?”

courtesy Rebecca McCoy Photography

mia, 3.5 months old

If you keep up with us here then you know that our sweet little girl, Mia, had a rough start to her young life. Being born 16 weeks early (at 24 weeks gestation) and weighing a little over 1 pound, her chances of survival were less than slim. She was so critical that her only hope was to be transferred to a hospital 40 miles away. She fought for 132 days in the NICU at the Children’s Hospital at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas before she came home. Shortly after we had her home, she returned to Scott and White PICU for another 2 weeks.

We owe everything to all of the staff at Scott & White for putting their hearts and souls into saving our daughter. If they where not there Mia would have never made it to the Children’s Hospital in Dallas over 100 miles away. Not only did they save her but they became apart of our family and helped Tim and I through every step of a very difficult journey. Two years have past and Mia is a healthy, happy and rambunctious little girl! Now Scott & White is beginning their own journey to provide a brand new state of the art and the only free standing Children’s Hospital in the central Texas area and they need our help.

From now until January 31st, the Pepsi Refresh Project is giving away millions to great ideas that will better the world and you guessed it, Scott & White’s strive to build a “World Class Children’s Hospital to Save Lives” is on their list. All we have to do is get enough people to  vote for this and Pepsi will give the new Children’s Hospital at Scott & White $250,000 to build state of the art operating rooms and purchase surgical equipment! Please remember this hospital is being built mostly by the kind donations from the community and generous donors. So, whatever you may be doing today, please don’t forget about the thousands of Central Texas children and families who will be afflicted this year by illness and injury and need the expert care of this amazing hospital!

You can VOTE THREE WAYS every day until JANUARY 31,2010:

1. Cast your online votes at: http://www.refresheverything.com/childrenshospital – for “A world-class Children’s Hospital that will save lives.”

2. DOUBLE YOUR VOTES by voting again via Facebook:  http://vote.refr.es/scottwhite.fb

3. TRIPLE YOUR VOTES by texting 104716 to Pepsi (73774)

4. And those of you with an iphone can actually quadruple your votes by downloading the free iphone app from the link above.

FROM ONE FAMILY WHO KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF A GREAT CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, THANK YOU!

For more information about the new Children’s Hospital at Scott & White, please visit: http://www.sw.org
And for more information about voting for this great idea, please visit: http://pepsi.sw.org

New Year, New Me…that’s what we all say, right? These past couple of years have been an up and down journey and I feel that finally this year I’m coming back to myself. I have to admit, I totally put my family’s health before mine and ignored the 40 or so pounds I put on in two years. That’s right I said it, 4-0, 40! And that’s just since Mia was born. In my college days I was a skinny minny. Then came Tim and being with a musician leaves you with bar food at night and whatever gas station stop you find on the road. This usually meant day old burritos in the desert and a beer as the morning coffee…blek! A far cry from the egg white omelets I was used to. Years down the line when Mia came I didn’t have a chance to gain weight or even pop a cute preggers belly since she was born so soon. But what I did do is live off hospital cafeteria food every meal everyday for 5 months. Then the stress of being a new mom to a tiny baby with health issues packed on the pounds. Now with Mia healthy and the holidays behind me, it’s finally time to get back to my old self. And to do this I’ve joined the classic Weight Watchers plan to help me get back on it. So far, it’s pretty awesome and doing it on-line frees me from finding a babysitter for meetings (because in Waco there is not a family friendly meeting…uh, hum).

I strive to always post fresh and healthy recipes but for the next couple of months I will be trying to post leaner family friendly meals, including the WW point value if applicable. Food Blogger on a diet is such an oxymoron but we’ll see just how far we can take it. Happy New Year to you all!

Ginger Orange Roasted Salmon serves 4

• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
• 1 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1 1/2 Tbs fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 Tbs orange zest
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 pounds Wild Atlantic Salmon

*WW points = 6 per serving, serve with 1/2 cup brown rice and steamed vegetables for a 9 point meal

In a small bowl, whisk the first 8 ingredients together.

Place the salmon in a glass dish and pour the marinade over the salmon, coating it completely. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to an hour, flipping the fillet halfway through the marinating time.

Once marinated, remove the salmon from the marinade and place the fillet on a baking sheet. I cover my pan because fish always sticks and I hate, no despise clean-up.

Place in a 425° oven for 10 to 12 minuets. Serve!

This is so simple and brings a delicate orange and ginger flavor to the salmon. If you would like a stronger sweeter flavor you can reserve the leftover marinade, place it in a sauce pan, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until it has reduced by half. Spoon a teaspoon or so over the salmon when serving.

So far this is Mia’s favorite salmon dish!