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Pumpkin Spice Chicken

10/24/2018

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October is Pumpkin Month at Veggie Buds Club so we are excited to bring you a delicious and savory main dish featuring pumpkin from Noelle Martin of @motherhoodandmeals! 
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​Pumpkin is packed with incredible nutrition to support the development and strength of our eyesight, bones, and immune systems. For years I have been making pumpkin muffins, pancakes, and cookies and love how this nutrient dense vegetable adds to their flavor and nutritional value. This year I decided it would be fun to try using pumpkin in a new way and since my family loved it I couldn't resist sharing it here for PUMPKIN month at Veggie Buds Club! You can find the tasty PUMPKIN SPICE CHICKEN recipe below. And to make a really festive meal on Halloween you could serve it with orange sides such as carrots, orange peppers, golden berries, mashed sweet potato, roasted butternut quash, or turmeric spiced cauliflower rice!

Pumpkin Spice Chicken

Ingredients
  • 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
  • 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup pure canned pumpkin (or your own homemade puree if you prefer)
  • 1/4 cup honey mustard
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric
Instructions
  1. Place chicken breasts on a baking stone or in a glass baking dish whole or in strips.
  2. Mix chicken broth, pumpkin puree, mustard, maple syrup, and spices together and pour over chicken. Add a small amount of additional chicken broth or water to the edges of the pan to prevent the chicken from drying out. 
  3. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until chicken breasts are cooked through. (NOTE: Larger pieces will take longer to cook and oven temperatures can vary slightly leading to varying cooking times.)

Noelle Martin is a Registered Dietitian and mom of three young boys. She has a passion for education, inspiring, and empowering moms to make healthy choices for themselves and their families. Noelle loves involving her children in food planning and preparation for their home and sees the kitchen as a perfect area for teaching both academic and life skills. Follow @MotherhoodandMeals on Instagram for Noelle's nutrition tips, recipes, product reviews, and motherhood moments.
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Kids Love Orange Veggies!

10/17/2018

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We are excited to bring you this month's post from Katie Blauser, the creator of Eat Pretty Darling. Each month on our blog we feature a "Color of the Week" that corresponds with Veggie Buds Club's veggie of the month. October's veggie is PUMPKIN so we're focusing on ORANGE veggies this month!
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Katie Blauser is the mama of two boys, wife of a picky eater, and food lover at Eat Pretty Darling. She believes in making food fun, healthy, & pretty! Katie’s not only outnumbered by boys in her little family, but also by picky eaters. She loves trying to find new ways to get both kids and adults to eat healthy while making food pretty yummy, pretty healthy, and pretty fun! Find Katie on Instagram (@eatprettydarling), where she shares colorful and cute food ideas for both picky and adventurous eaters.


Color of the Week - Orange

With the leaves beginning to change and fall in the air, it’s the perfect time for pumpkins! We gathered some orange foods at the grocery store to make a family favorite for this week’s #eatprettycoloroftheweek. We had a lot of fun exploring the cheese department this week. There are so many varieties of cheese and they have such different tastes and textures. We settled on cheddar cheese, smoked gouda, butternut squash pasta, and of course pumpkin! Throwing these ingredients together makes a delicious mac & cheese that both my picky eaters and I devoured. The pumpkin isn’t too noticeable but it helps make it the creamiest texture.

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Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

Ingredients
  • 1 pie pumpkin, or 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 12 ounces pasta (we found this fun Butternut Squash pasta at Trader Joe’s)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 2/3 cup reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
  • ½ cup fresh grated mild Cheddar
  • ½ cup fresh grated Gouda (we used smoked Gouda for added flavor)
  • Pinch nutmeg
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 large baking sheets with aluminum foil.
  2. If you are roasting the pumpkin yourself, cut off the top of the pumpkin and then cut it into quarters. Scoop out the seeds (rinse and lay them out on a baking sheet overnight to dry out if you want to make roasted pumpkin seeds with them!). Place the pumpkin on the prepared sheet pan and lightly coat in olive oil. Roast in the oven at 400°F for 35 to 37 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft if pierced with a knife.
  3. Remove the pumpkin from the oven, and when cool enough to handle, remove the pumpkin from the skin. Discard the skin and place pumpkin in a food processor. Puree until smooth.
  4. While pumpkin is roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, and set aside.
  5. Over medium heat melt the butter. Add the onion and cook over low heat about 2 minutes, add flour and cook another minute. Make sure flour is well combined. Add milk and broth and whisk, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a light boil. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until it thickens slightly and season with salt, nutmeg and pepper.
  6. Once it begins to thicken, stir in pumpkin and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add cheeses and mix well until melted. Add the cooked pasta and mix well.

Orange Food Ideas

There are more out there, but here’s a list to get started!
  • Pumpkin
  • Oranges
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Butternut Squash
  • Apricots
  • Cantaloupe
  • Mango
  • Peaches
  • Carrots
  • Orange Bell Peppers
  • Papaya
  • Persimmons
  • Cheddar Cheese
  • Nectarines
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Baked Pumpkin Donuts

10/10/2018

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October's featured veggie is PUMPKINS at Veggie Buds Club! We hope you enjoy this delicious recipe for Baked Pumpkin Donuts from this month's Veggie Buds Club subscription box.
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This recipe was developed by Heather Staller, a mom of two boys, ages 5 and 3, and cooking instructor specializing in bringing cooking into preschool classrooms. After college, Heather knew she wanted to be a teacher, but first followed her lifelong dream of going to culinary school. Teaching cooking combines both of her passions, and she truly enjoys introducing young children to the joys of cooking with fresh ingredients. Find Heather on Instagram (@heather_kidskitchen), where she shares inventive kid-friendly recipes and ideas for cooking with kids at home.
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Baked Pumpkin Donuts

Whether you use homemade pumpkin purée or pumpkin from a can, these wholesome baked donuts are the most delicious way to celebrate the veggie of the month! Don’t worry if you don’t have a donut pan. You can bake up the same batter in a mini muffin pan and call them donut holes! Your little chef is going to love measuring, mixing, and scooping the batter. The pumpkin spice-sugar coating to top off the donuts is optional but really makes them a special sweet treat. 

Makes 6 large donuts, 12 mini donuts, or 12-14 mini muffins
Ingredients
  • 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour (or gluten-free flour blend)*
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, pinch of ground nutmeg and cloves)
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin purée (from a can or homemade)
  • 2 tablespoons neutral oil
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • ½ cup coconut sugar (or 1/3 cup brown sugar)
  • ½ cup milk (any kind)
Topping
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
  • ¼ cup maple sugar, granulated sugar, or coconut sugar 
  • ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a donut pan or mini muffin tin.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
  3. In a second bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients (besides the topping). Add the wet ingredient to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until just combined.
  4. If making donuts, scoop batter into a small zip-top bag. Twist the top then cut the tip off of one corner of the bag. Squeeze the batter into your donut pan, filling them each about ¾ of the way. If making donut “holes,” scoop batter into muffin tin using a spoon or small ice cream scoop. 
  5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the donut or mini muffin comes out clean, about 10 to 12 minutes for large donuts and 8 to 10 minutes for mini donuts or muffins.
  6. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then transfer donuts to a cooling rack. Mix sugar and extra pumpkin pie spice in a small, shallow bowl. When donuts are cool enough to handle, use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the donuts with a thin layer of oil. Dip into spiced sugar mixture.
  7. The sugar coated donuts are best enjoyed the same day they are made. Plain donuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
 *I used Bob’s Red Mill white whole wheat flour, oat flour, and gluten-free flour mix with success.
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Pumpkin Energy Balls

10/4/2018

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October's featured veggie is PUMPKIN at Veggie Buds Club, and we are very excited to bring you a recipe from Stephanie Middleberg's new cookbook, "The Big Book of Organic Toddler Food" for this week's post!
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Stephanie Middleberg, MS, RD, CDN, is one of New York City's most sought-after health experts and the bestselling author of "The Big Book of Organic Baby Food". The founder and owner of Middleberg Nutrition, she and her team of registered dietitians offer nutritional counseling and cooking classes to individuals and families as well as consulting, advising, and planning services to food companies. When she isn't working with her clients or media outlets, Stephanie enjoys eating and playing with her young children, Julian and Remi, jogging with her husband, Andrew, and concocting recipes in the Middleberg Nutrition Test Kitchen. Follow or connect with Stephanie online: Middleberg Nutrition, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Pumpkin Energy Balls

These no-bake pumpkin balls are tasty, and they freeze well so they're perfect on-the-go snacks your toddler (and probably everyone else in your family) will enjoy. I also find with energy bites that you can really add anything to them. Check what's in your pantry - these would be excellent with shredded coconut, dried fruit, or cacao powder added in. Use gluten-free oats to keep them gluten- and allergen-free.
Serves 10 to 12
Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup sun butter
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • Pinch sea salt
Instructions
  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, sun butter, pumpkin puree, flaxseed, honey, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, mixing well.
  3. Form the mixture into 1-tablespoon balls and place on the prepared tray. Serve immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and store, refrigerated, for up to 1 week.
Substitution Tip: For vegan, you can replace the honey with 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup. You may need to add up to 1/4 cup more of the oats to adjust the texture of the balls.
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