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The food team at SavvyMom are pleased as punch with the new and improved version of EatSavvy this month. We’re delivering the same great tried and tested savvy recipes for busy families but we have improved the look and feel of the site. We love the bigger food shots done by our very own Holly Sisson. They look almost as delicious as they are in real life. We also worked on making the site a bit easier for you to navigate and find what you need.
We’re always looking for ways to improve and make your experience better at SavvyMom so feel free to share your thoughts with us anytime.
What improvements do you like on EatSavvy or what else would you like us to change?
We’re rounding up to the last week of March with Easter just around the corner. Naturally, we think of eggs. Chocolate ones and decorated ones—it’s all about the egg. That’s why we decided to feature eggs as our main ingredient for EatSavvy this month. We’ve got four savvy egg-themed recipes for your family. They have a lot to offer in terms of taste and nutrients and they can be served up any time for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Check out this month’s EatSavvy for some fab dinner ideas that use eggs as well as a scrumptious brunch (we’re thinking Easter Sunday) and a fun breakfast idea for the kids.
You might need to buy a second carton, because with all these yummy recipes, they’ll be none left for boiling and decorating with the kids.
(Image courtesy of Holly Sisson Photography)
We love eggs in my family…one of favourite and most used fridge-foods. Thanks for the great ideas and recipes.
I hope you had a chance to read EatSavvy last weekend. This month’s recipes are delicious and easy, featuring asparagus as the star of the show. Who knew there were so many ways to cook fresh asparagus? It really is a lot more versatile than I thought. We actually had a really tough time narrowing down the choices when we were testing and reviewing the recipes. But alas, we finally settled on a creamy pasta dish, asparagus soup, an impressive pizza and every kids’ favourite—the crescent roll-up (look for the whole wheat version now available).
I received a few comments back that people tried the beet salad recipe as well and loved it. I hope you try some of them with your family and enjoy the food and the company as much as we do.
Image courtesy of Holly Sisson Photography.
This month is all about spinach on EatSavvy. I know… it’s not exactly the first ingredient one thinks of when cooking for the family. In fact, spinach was pretty much the only food I didn’t like as a child. Seriously, I like to eat pretty much everything, and now I like spinach, so there’s really nothing left.
But as we thought about the fresh ingredients that are available this time of year, spinach topped the list. Then we looked at some of the interesting and fun ways to serve it up and we set out to undo the bad rap that spinach gets. Besides, the fact that it’s a superfood and chock full of goodness, we found some pretty creative ways to enjoy it. No soggy, slimy steamed spinach for our kids. They’re feasting on fruity spinach salads, soufflés and dips. It’s good to eat your greens.
I hope you enjoy this month’s EatSavvy as much as my family did.
Image courtesy of Holly Sisson Photography
I hope you had a chance to review all of the delicious recipes in this month’s EatSavvy. The guest of honour this month is peaches—our favourite summer fruit. This year, we’re grilling our peaches and preparing peachy dishes that don’t involve peeling off the skins. Let’s face it, peeling peaches is not fun. We sautéed them in the toddler French Toast recipe, we pureed them for the stuffed chicken breasts, grilled them for a delicious marinade and we left them just as they are in the salsa (leaving the skins on).
Have you tried grilling your peaches in the summer? It brings out the flavour of the fruit and enhances the juices, making them even sweeter.
What’s your favourite way to eat peaches?
There’s nothing quite like the fresh produce available in August. Every year, when I get excited about going to the markets this time of year to buy the freshest of ingredients, I think of my grandmother who would stock up and make pickles and jellies with some of her favourite ingredients.
I can’t say I’m about to start pickling (although I’m not saying it’s a bad idea), but I do like to buy as much of my favourite ingredients as possible. I take a more modern approach and buy foods I can eat fresh—in a salad. In a few months, those same ingredients won’t be as plentiful or as delicious.
It was with this in mind that we decided to round up some of the best EatSavvy Salad Recipes from over the past two years. As a celebration of our annual EatSavvy birthday and in celebration of the season, we came up with these four fabulous recipes that the whole family will love.
What’s your favourite salad recipe?
Photo by Holly Sisson Photography
Caprese salad, hands down. Nothing like fresh basil with tomatoes and bocconcini cheese…
You know I like the tell the truth (it’s a Catholic thing, I guess) so I’ll tell you right away that I was pretty excited about this month’s choice of ingredient for EatSavvy—the almighty potato. You see, I’m married to an Irishman who was raised by a mother who still believes that no meal is complete without a potato on the plate.
Since he’s been in Canada, he has embraced international cuisine and loves food like pasta and sushi, but there is still something about the potato for him. Roasted, boiled, mashed, fried, baked or scalloped—there is no end to the possibilities and the happiness they bring to my home. Not surprisingly, my two boys have adopted this attitude in the spirit of embracing their Irish heritage.
All this leaves me looking for ways to serve potatoes up regularly, which is why I was so happy with our latest edition of EatSavvy. I particularly like the apple and potato pancakes with absolutely anything on top and my kids went crazy for the ham and cheese scalloped potato dish. It’s a real stick-to-your-bones meal on a cold fall evening or after a day outside in the fresh crisp air.
Of course, you don’t have to be Irish to love potatoes as much as my family…
What is your favourite way to eat potatoes?
Photo courtesy of Holly Sisson Photography
It’s not tough to figure out what my inspiration was for this months Squash It edition of EatSavvy. Everywhere you look this month, you’ll find one of these oddly shaped vegetables. But despite their abundance, I think squash is a bit undervalued.
My own childhood memories of squash aren’t great. It was usually just squashed (literally) with a topping of maple syrup (anything to make it taste better), but now there are some fun and fabulous ways to serve it up and we’ve got some for you in this month’s EatSavvy.
Squash adds a nice creamy texture to a traditional mac ‘n’ cheese recipe but I particularly like it as a spaghetti alternative. Let’s not forget the most popular squash soup.
It’s all delicious and healthy. And honestly, I’m so happy to know there are other ways to serve and enjoy it these days.
With the holidays now clipping at our heels, there is no shortage of cranberries around. Everywhere we go, we see cranberries—dried, fresh or frozen. These little nuggets of goodness are often overlooked for the canned jelly version, however, and even those who buy the real thing and know how to make a yummy sauce with them may be missing out on all the possibilities they bring to the table (pun intended).
We decided to change that this month and get you thinking outside the cranberry sauce with some very simple, family-friendly cranberry-themed recipes. They are a delicious, nutritious and colourful addition to all kinds of meals. Apparently our readers thought so too—there were quite a few comments on the Family Meal recipe this week for Cranberry & Chicken Pasta.
Tell us what you think of the recipes. We would love to know.
If you haven’t had a chance to look through the recipes on EatSavvy this month, you should. We chose the sweet potato as the nutrient rich ingredient this month and spun it four ways—as we always do. The inspiration in choosing this ingredient was easy because we had a guest food blog contribute the recipes and images who goes by the name www.sweetpotatochronicles.com. That pretty much explains it.
For a great way to turn Mac ‘n Cheese into a healthy option, try this Family Meal Recipe. But I will admit that the Sweet Potato Scones we published as a Toddler Meal are not just for toddlers. Mommy loves them too. We also have an amazing soup recipe and a Shepard’s Pie with a twist. Never a dull moment when you’re cooking with sweet potatoes.
Enjoy! And thanks to the Sweet Potato Chronicles for these great recipes.
I hope you’ve had a chance to review (and try) some of the delicious recipes in this month’s EatSavvy. The featured ingredient this month—beef—is one of my family’s favourite foods, so they enjoyed testing all the recipes.
Beef is a great ingredient when you’re looking for ways to ensure that protein makes its way onto your dinner table and into your kids’ mouths, and this month’s recipes are easy and delicious!
I particularly like the Short-Cut Beef Lasagna. Skipping the layering steps saves me time, making it possible for us to enjoy the flavours of lasagna on a weeknight. My kids went crazy for the Beef Pies with Cauli-mash Topping. The hearty beef and tomato sauce filling is delicious and they love eating out of individual dishes.
Bring the barbeque out from hibernation and throw on a couple of strip loins for juicy Steak Fajitas. And, if you are looking for a new recipe for Easy Entertaining, but don’t want to spend the day in the kitchen, give Beef Wellington a try. Don’t let the puff pastry intimidate you—it’s easy as 1-2-3.
We hope you’ll give these recipes a try and let us know what you think.
Photo courtesy of Holly Sisson Photography.
‘Beans, beans are good for the heart…’I won’t go on, but it’s true. They are good for the heart. So it’s no wonder that when we were thinking of recipe ideas for the month of March, our nutritionist friends at Fab Food Finds recommended black beans as the main ingredient for EatSavvy. You’ll find most recipes with black beans have a Mexican theme to them, which is a good thing for moms. Our experience has taught us that most kids like Mexican food (think nachos, cheese and salsa) and black beans are an added bonus to the menu filled with protein and fibre.
So don’t forget to slip some black beans in your quesadillas next time, or add them to your quinoa salad. Delish. Since kids like to dip, try the no-cook black bean dip with whole-wheat pita crisps.
Thanks to Fab Food Finds, we now know how to eat our beans at every meal.
My kids are not that fond of berries. My 11-year-old is getting better about eating them, but my nine-year-old can only bear to ingest blueberries if they’re pureed into a smoothie that mostly tastes like something else (whose kids are these anyway?).
So imagine my surprise when they liked, and requested more of this new milkshake recipe I came up with. Now, I’m no fool and I recognize that almost anything blended with ice cream is certain to taste great, but I was still surprised by their excitement over these shakes.
I originally made them for myself, as I adore berries and love them added to any kind of sweet treat. I only offered the kids a taste in an off-handed, “I know you won’t try it…” kind of way because they were there in the kitchen with me. They both said yes, and before I knew it, three strawberry milkshakes were being devoured.
I’m hoping that I won’t have to keep pairing the berries with ice cream in order to get the kids to enjoy them, and that eventually they will love them for what they are on their own. But for now I don’t mind making milkshakes for a treat. I like to get the kids in the kitchen with me for these, as they are so easy to make that the boys can do so with virtually no guidance from me.
I just need to make sure the berries make it into the blender.
Strawberry Milkshakes
You’ll Need
Prep and Cook
Store-bought pancake mixes are a dime a dozen, and rightfully so. They make mornings manageable and put a warm meal in front of the kids with little effort on your part.
But what if you made your own mix instead of buying them for your family? I know it might sound like a crazy idea, but in less than eight minutes you can have a jar of good-for-you-and-I-know-what’s-in-here breakfast food ready for your mornings.
I started making pancake mixes a few years ago and never looked back. They are typically made with things I have on hand anyways, and in addition to the health benefits of homemade goods versus packaged ones, there was also the cost savings benefit that was incredibly appealing. I figure that my pancake mix costs less than $1 per jar, versus the $3 or $4 I would spend on the supermarket stuff, and over the course of the year that can equate to big savings.
For the summer months, homemade pancake mix is also great for cottagers and campers, and makes an excellent hostess gift in a pinch. Wrap the jar up in a brand new tea towel and voilà!
Are there pantry staples that you make versus buy? Would you make your own pancake mix?
Homemade Pancake Mix
You’ll Need:
When Cooking the Pancakes
Prep and Cook:
Good to Know: To store in a jar, preheat oven to 350°F, place oats on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, set aside and allow to cool. Then combine all the ingredients, including the cooled oats and mix well in a bowl. Store the mix in a jar and keep in the fridge for two weeks, or freezer for up to three months.
Do they oats soften up? i worry that they would be… well… oaty. ;) I could grind them up first I bet and still reap the benefits.
I’m not one for making resolutions, unlike Minnow, but I do set aside some time to plan a few goals for myself for the coming year. Here are a few of the food-inspired ones I’m hoping to accomplish in the coming months:
Now it’s your turn. Tell me, what are some of your food-related goals for 2012?
A few of my food goals are:
1. Learn to cook with quinoa. I have the recipes, am sure the flavour and texture is right for me. I just need to do it.
2. More meal options to include beans and legumes. My picky daughter seems to like these and they are healthier and more environmentally friendly.
3. Use my slow cooker more. I love it when I do use it and come home to dinner basically prepped!
4. I also want to learn how to incorporate natural sweetners into my cooking and baking.
5. Get my daughter involved with meal prep two times a week. How is that for a goal that is specific?
Thanks for your list. It helped to get mine down on paper.
Mic
Comments
It would be nice if we could e-mail the actual recipe instead of a link, I often read the blog at work (shhh) and then send it to myself at home, I would like to be able to see the recipe title in the subject line so I know which one I am looking at. Great recipes!!!
I look forward to seeing more eat savvy in the new format. I love the ideas. Keep them coming ladies.