Lauren in CT's Profile

That's brilliant! In my cold house, I have usually put the bread dough next to a hot air vent or right next to a laptop computer :)

I use an old pasta sauce jar to hold homemade dishwasher detergent. There's a nice wide mouth, which makes it easy to scoop or pour the powder.

I found a recipe for pumpkin waffles in a book on cooking for toddlers. The inclusion of a whole tablespoon of baking soda seemed odd, but I assumed it was right. The batter became extremely frothy, and when I bit into the first one, it was so incredibly salty I had to spit it right into the trash! I was so annoyed.

The discussion here shows exactly why it's difficult for any one group to provide a summary of healthy eating. One person says sugary fruits are bad, while another would say that they're fine if eaten in whole form (as opposed to juice) and varied in color. One person says potatoes are nutritionally worthless, while another would say they're fine as long as they aren't all your veggies. Some people believe grains are evil; some believe meat is the root problem of all our woes.

I like the rule of fruits and veggies being half your plate (with "plate" being a normal sized plate, not a banquet plate), foods being generally varied (not 100% french fries for your veggies), and foods being minimally processed and seasonally appropriate.

Another vote for the bulk bins! Many items like grains are cheaper in bulk at Whole Foods than bagged at the grocery store.

I love doing "Magic Meatballs" (one of those recipes where you mix in veggie puree). Weelicious' Broccoli, Carrot, and Cheese Orzo is popular in our house. Mini quiches of all types. Anything that can be served "bar" style, like scrambled eggs, decorate your own pancakes, baked potatoes, taco bar.

Will it work with full fat ricotta, or will it have texture issues?

My daughter is 9 months old and mobile, so it's become more difficult to do things like cook these days. I do the following:

Remove the cat food from the floor (very important)

Bring in bucket of soft items...towels, washcloths, a couple toys. She'll sit there and pull things out for awhile.

Put her in her highchair with cheerios, blueberries, veggies, other finger foods. Yesterday I gave her mixed veggies while I baked bread. I was praising her highly for eating so many of them when I noticed the pile she'd dropped off to the side...

Give her an empty cat food dish to bang against the ground

Give her a couple wooden spoons to hit against things