Crumbs, 5/22/08

May 22, 2008

In case just eating enough vegetables (or getting enough into our kids) wasn’t enough of a challenge, new research shows that how we prepare the veggies we eat greatly impacts their nutritive value. (See Finding the Best Way to Cook All Those Vegetables, NYTimes.com) I never would have guessed that boiling anything would be more beneficial than steaming, but that’s true for carrots, zucchini, and broccoli. Thankfully, the article concludes with “the main lesson is to eat a variety of vegetables prepared in a variety of ways.” OK, I can do that.

I made another batch of the vegan dark chocolate cupcakes this week, subbing 1/2 cup flax seed meal for the flour. You couldn’t see or taste the flax seed, though I did wind up with some of them caught on my teeth, which was unpleasant. The boys didn’t notice. Also, it made the crumb of the cupcakes a little too light and fluffy — not dense enough to stay together when bit into by tiny, messy mouths. I’ll keep experimenting.

There are few things cuter than listening to my two-year-old clamoring for me to make him “flapjacks.” I made a flax seed meal version while he was sick (he was inspired to ask for them based on a Little Bear episode, where Father Bear makes his famous Flying Flapjacks), but wound up freezing most of them. One morning this week the boys went through all my frozen pancakes AND almost an entire additional fresh batch. This time I upped the flax seed to 1/2 cup and again they didn’t notice. I hope they get over this pancake kick somewhat quickly, only because I can’t face making that many dirty dishes so early in the morning. I need to add them back into my dinner menu again, and this time I might try sneaking in some banana and ricotta, like in Nick’s version.

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2 Comments

1. merrie | May 23, 2008 at 10:23 am

BTW- I loved LFO and saw them in concert, too:)
2. Amanda@ Down Home Dieting | May 24, 2008 at 8:39 pm

I’ve made Nick’s pancakes and they were great!