picky eater

ZENB for Plant-Fueled Pasta and Sauces- Perfect for Picky Eaters!

Abby H.

I’ve got two picky eaters. The big kid has a lot of food aversions (textures, tastes/flavors), which is pretty common for people on the spectrum. The little kid will try new foods with greater frequency, but she loves noodles with butter.

We’ve tried so many different brands of pasta, trying to find something that tastes great and has good nutrition. a lot of veggie-based pasta gets weird and gummy when cooked, so has a weird flavor, and then there’s the “zero pasta” which is stinky even after you spend twenty minutes rinsing it.

Enter ZenB Pasta! Made from 100% yellow peas, including the skins. It comes in a variety of pasta varieties: Penne, Elbows, Rotini, Spaghetti, and Agile.

It’s an amazing source of protein and fiber. It’s gluten-free and vegan!

Both kids tried ZenB over the weekend and loved it. They both asked for seconds, which is unheard of. I love that it’s a great source of protein- it’s hard to get protein into kiddo sometimes.

If you want to check it out, The ZenB website currently has a free shipping offer, when you shop here.

And if you are looking for some new sauces, ZENB has the hook-up! ZENB Gourmet Pasta Sauce, made from WHOLE vegetables, for a rich depth of flavor.

 

Recipe: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2019-03-08 at 7.56.56 AM.png

The kids have been begging for homemade cookies lately, and I’ve been busy with other stuff, so I haven’t had tons of time to make cookies.

I dug through the cupboard last week and realized that I had all of the ingredients except baking soda. I used the last half box I had to deodorize the kids bathroom.

So I turned to an old favorite, Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Flapjack & Waffle Mix. and because of the other ingredients, I used a smidge of baking powder (please remember that soda and powder are not interchangeable in recipes- it has a lot to do with the other ingredients and their pH/chemical makeup) and the cookies turned out perfect!

Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Flapjack & Waffle Mix contains leavening, so the added baking powder was just a little *bump* to make sure the cookies didn’t come out flat.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • One stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth preferred
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup white/granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Flapjack & Waffle Mix
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups quick oats, uncooked
  • 2 cups of chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter.
  3. Add sugars one at a time and mix until fluffy.
  4. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated fully.
  5. Mix in baking powder, salt, flour, and oats. Once all are blended into the dough, add chocolate chips.
  6. Drop tablespoon-sized dough balls on cookie sheets that have been greased or are lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking pad.  I prefer silicone baking pads.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Let cookies rest 1-2 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack.

This recipe makes approx. 3 dozen cookies. If you are allergic to peanuts, you can substitute sunbutter or your favorite nut butter. Do Not use Nutella- It contains a lot of sugar and other ingredients that will throw off the chemistry of the recipe and you won’t get yummy cookies.

Recipe: Protein Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2019-03-08 at 7.56.56 AM.pngIt can be hard to get the big kid to eat enough protein. He doesn’t eat meat, and a lot of the non-meat protein sources are foods that don’t appeal to him (or have “gross” textures- So is the life of a kid with ASD).

Like moms who have been trying to sneak in healthy foods for ages, I’ve been trying to find ways to add protein to foods he already enjoys without making the textures or flavors “weird”.

I really love the Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Flapjack & Waffle Mix– You can substitute it 1 for 1 with AP flour in baking to ramp up the protein in your baked goods without sacrificing flavor or texture.

Screen Shot 2019-03-08 at 7.57.18 AM.pngI am also a huge fan of peanut flour, like PBFit. I add it to shakes and baked goods all the time. I decided to play around with it in our favorite cookie recipe, to see if we could add some protein and flavor without making the cookies “weird” in texture or flavor. Luckily everyone in the house LOVES peanut butter cookies.

I entered all the ingredients into to Spark Recipes Nutrition Calculator to get the information on the amount of protein per serving. If you make more or less cookies with cookie dough, your nutritional info will vary slightly.

Protein Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 18 servings or 2 cookies each (approx 3 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup softened butter or butter flavored crisco (NO NOT USE SPREAD OR MARGARINE)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp. Vanilla
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 1/2 cups Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Flapjack & Waffle Mix
  • 1/2 cup PBFit
  • 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter/shortening
  3. add sugars one at a time and mix until fluffy.
  4. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated fully.
  5. Mix in soda, salt, flour and PBFit. Once all are blended into dough, add chocolate chips.
  6. drop tablespoon sized dough balls on cookie sheets that have been greased, or are lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking pad.  I prefer the silicone baking pads.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cookies may not be golden or as brown as you are used to- but they are done. Let cookies rest 1-2 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack.

Notes: Cookies contain less sugar than most traditional cookie recipes, which means they do not get as brown in the oven as they cook. This recipe makes approx. 3 dozen cookies and each serving of two cookies contains 275 calories and 7 grams of protein.