The Beauty of Beets

Beets make the best food coloring EVER!  It's that rich pink that is usually only achieved with a strong shot of red 40, but without the harsh chemicals and additives, and it has the bonus of injecting your comeda of choice with a few vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients :-).  I am on a muffin kick and in my search to keep things fresh and interesting I decided to add some beet puree to my next batch. 

To be honest I first got the idea a couple of years ago from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, by Jessica Seinfeld. A loves the taste and I love what's in them. Yum yum happy mum!

The Evolution of a Toddler Diet

One thing I know for sure is that when it comes to my toddler and food, there is nothing that I know for sure. She eats bread but not the crust, she eats the crust but not the bread, she eats potatoes sometimes (usually when fried), she eats fish, she only eats raw food, she eats nuts, and she eats berries but only the red ones. LOL! I can’t keep up.


We have evolved from fish sticks and chicken nuggets though. These days A is eating mostly almond butter and honey sandwiches on whole wheat bread (it would have been peanut butter but Costco only offered almond butter as a less processed alternative to the main brands of peanut butter). It is the meal/snack of request 95% of the time and to be honest I really can’t kill her for it. It has lots of protein and lots of fiber; omega 3’s and is low in cholesterol, etc. It is also really easy to make ;-)

So that is it for now… oh, that and Chinese food. Anything that starts with the word Chinese she is game for. Go figure.

The Spice of Life: Allspice

This is a favorite Jamaican seasoning that also goes by the pimento. Allspice adds a zest to any meat dish – it is the secret ingredient in jerk (chicken, pork, etc.). It looks kind of like a black pepper seed in whole form, but the flavor is closer to cloves. I use this spice on EVERTHING. It’s what gives my food the, as hubby puts it “well seasoned”, flavor.

Since allspice is native to Jamaica it’s super cheap there so I always stock up when we visit – I actually stock up on all my spices there, they are ridiculously cheap there for some reason.

The Spice of Life

My favorite seasoning right now is garam masala. It is a blend of common Indian spices that add flavor to what ever it is that you’re cooking – I usually like to add it to meat, poultry or fish.

Last weekend I took whole chicken split down the back and seasoned it with garlic, onion, allspice, cayenne pepper, and garam masala. Bake covered at 300˚F for 1½ hours then uncover and turn up the heat to 375˚F for the last 30mins – basting ever 10mins or so. Everyone loved it, including hubby who is sick of baked chicken lol.