Strawberry and vanilla breakfast cookies

Here is the third recipe I tried this weekend from The Sneaky Chef to the rescue book.  I decided to try these because they seemed like a nice quick and easy - make ahead breakfast.  Since both myself and DH were assigned to speak at church this past Sunday I figured Sunday morning would be a bit crazy -usually is anyway with 4 boys, but I decided to make these Saturday evening.
They weren't bad if you think of them as a breakfast and not so much as a cookie.  Definitely don't have the sweetness of a cookie, but I liked them.  The kids didn't mind them either and each ate 3-4 for breakfast with a yogurt.  Except of course the 2 year old who didn't even want to try them.  I think he had a bite of one at lunch time, but that is is.
Final verdict - not bad for a different, healthy breakfast not loaded with sugar.  Definitely good for an on-the-go breakfast and a quick and easy morning.
I actually followed the ingredients right from the book.  I've rewritten the directions though.

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup flour blend (basically equal parts AP flour, wheat flour, and wheat germ.  I mixed 1/2 cup each and had a bit left over.  You could easily just use 1/3 cup of each for this recipe - or just use all whole wheat.)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats (I rolled from groats - worked well)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup Strawberry Puree (just pureed strawberries - I thawed some frozen I had and pureed them in the food processor -Use 2-2 1/2 cups frozen to make a cup of puree - I used a generous 2 1/2 cups, and have 1/4 cup puree left over which I froze for future use.)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  (flour blend, baking soda, salt, oats.)
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, strawberry puree, sugar, and melted butter.
4. Stir the dry into the wet.  Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet, leaving about an inch between cookies.  Scoop up 1/2 teaspoon jam in a measuring spoon.  Make a small indent with the back of the spoon in a cookie and fill with the jam on the spoon.  Repeat for each cookie.
5. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until "golden brown."  (?? to the golden brown - these cookies are pretty dark, not sure how you were supposed to see golden brown.  I cooked mine 25 then added 2 minutes. and took them out.

"Treasure stuffed shells" -sneaky stuffed shells

kThis is what I made yesterday out of The sneaky Chef to the rescue.  I was a bit worried about it because it had a large dose of puree and the puree contained zucchini which DH does not like.  I did do some massive re-vamping to this because it looked like it was going to be extremely bland.  It had no type of seasonings in it whatsoever, just tomato sauce, cheese and puree.  Well, I knew I wouldn't like that so I spiced it up a good deal. When discussing that with DH at dinner his comment was "you spiced this up, I thought it was kind of bland.  Other than lacking a tiny bit in the flavor department, it was good.  I could make it again - everyone seemed to like them - except of course for picky 2 year old who wouldn't touch them even tough I just gave him red sauce and noodles - but the noodles didn't look like spaghetti so they were spurned.  Still not sure how that child grows.
I also doubled the recipe in the book.  That worked out perfectly for the amount of sauce I made.  Here is what I did - with some notes for next time - For the red sauce - I just used my pizza sauce recipe from my Peter Reinhart book - very basic though - I'd probably go a bit heavier on the Italian seasonings next time.

Red Sauce

• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper (probably up to 1/2 next time)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• (next time add Italian seasoning - up to 1 Tablespoon)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or 2 of either - we just like the flavor of 1 of each the best.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt - I think I forgot this - that would definitely have helped

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl

White Puree

• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 small to medium zucchini, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Stem the cauliflower for about 10 minutes -until very tender.  Drain.
2. Meanwhile, place the zucchini in a food processor with the lemon juice and process until well chopped.
3. When cauliflower is done, add it to the food processor and puree until smooth - adding 1-2 Tablespoons of water if necessary (I didn't need it.)

Stuffed Shells Ingredients

• 1 box large pasta shells (I did not use the entire package.  Some were broken when cooked, and I stuffed a few with plain mozzarella)
• 1 cup ricotta (I used fat free)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white puree (above)
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 6 Tablespoons wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (could probably add another teaspoon or 2 depending on what you add to the sauce)
• 1 recipe red sauce (above)
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (I didn't measure.  Just put on a nice amount.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 10 X 15 pan with cooking spray.  
2. Cook shells according to package directions until slightly firm.  Drain and set aside. 
3. Meanwhile, mix ricotta, Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the white puree, egg substitute, Italian seasoning and wheat germ in a bowl. \
4. Combine tomato sauce with remaining White Puree in another bowl.
5. Pour about 1 1/2 cups of the red sauce mixture onto the bottom of the 10 X 15.  Fill shells with about a Tablespoon of white sauce.  Place on top of red sauce in the dish.  Top shells with remaining red sauce then the mozzarella cheese.
6. Cover with foil.  Bake 20 minutes, uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. 

Sneaky sliders

This week I kind of went a bit crazy at the library -ok, honestly it wasn't at the library that I went a bit crazy it was online a over the process of a week that I've been looking at books and requesting them.  There just happened to be 8 or 9 of them in this week.  (all cookbooks.)  So, I've been looking through a bunch of stuff.  This weekend I decided to choose a couple of recipes from The Sneaky Chef to the rescue.  Actually I also have The regular sneaky chef out, but I used this new one this weekend.  So if you haven't read these or used them, they use a lot of vegetable purees in regular recipes to "sneak" veggies into your kids.  I have tried the first sneaky chef a while ago, but it is a lot of work to puree veggies and "sneak" them into your kids.  Plus we just have a no thank you portion rule at our house that you get a small portion you have to try and you can say no thank you to having more, but not to trying a couple bites of something new.  However, my 2 year old is about the most stubborn guy that I know.  He won't keep anything I try to put in his mouth in his mouth, and he'd just as soon go hungry as try something new.  So, I actually worry about him getting enough to eat, and definitely enough nutrition.  So, I decided to try some new things.  Unfortunately this is the third recipe I've tried, and I don't think he has tried any of them.  I'm writing this one first because I hope not to forget what I did.  I added some spices.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup green puree (see below)
• 1 Tablespoon ketchup
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 12 small soft dinner rolls (I used some 30 minute rolls -recipe to follow)
• optional toppings - lettuce, onion, pickles, tomato, cheese, ketchup, mustard -- We topped ours with white cheddar, tomato and diced spinach today)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix green puree, ketchup, wheat germ, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.  Then add the ground beef and mix until well combined.  
2. Shape into 12 small patties.  Spray a large skilled with non stick cooking spray and heat.  Cook burgers for 2 to 3 minutes per side.  Add cheese if desired at the end.
3. Serve on rolls

Green puree

• 2 cups baby spinach
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup frozen petite peas or sweet peas

Directions

1. Place broccoli in a steamer.  Steam for 10 minutes adding peas during the last 2 minutes of cooking.
2. Meanwhile, place spinach in food processor and process until finely chopped, scraping sides as necessary.  When broccoli and peas are done/tender, add to the spinach and process until smooth adding a tablespoon or 2 of water if necessary.  (I didn't find it necessary the broccoli and peas seemed to contain enough moisture from steaming.)  
3. Use or freeze in 1/4 cup portions for future use.