Friday, September 28, 2012

We call these rice cakes :)

I took an old family recipe which was my favorite and turned it into amazingness allergy free for my son to enjoy!
Recipe:
I used about 2cups of leftover brown rice 3/4 cup of liquid- I used coconut milk from the can
I used 2tsp of chia seed pudding leftovers or you could use 2 eggs or an egg replacer
1cup of pancake mix
+you could add a tsp of sweetner as well we don't

This made about half of a medium sized mixing bowl. Then I put them into my cake pop maker and smashed them and they took about 4minutes on each side. They look like little hashbrowns. I used some frozen blueberries with some water in the bullet mixer and then poured some on top it soaks then right up and they taste good with a little maple syrup poured on top for some sweetness.
This recipe makes a ton!
These will freeze really good because the pancakes do!

::If you don't have a cake pop maker::
You could use a normal muffin tin fill them only about and inch full. Bake for maybe 10-15 minutes on 350* I'm not sure I would just watch them closely. I usually bake my pancakes German style and it takes about 20minutes.
The smaller the better if you are using gluten free pancake mix because they tend to not rise and you don't want a gooey center.






Thursday, September 27, 2012

We are Paleo Vegan

When finding recipes which I recently made a fabulous pancake recipe and forgot to write it down and then turned those into goldfish shaped pb&j's they were so delicious! Anyway we bake paleo meaning no grains and then for our protien source we use quinoa mostly and sometimes brown rice but I don't like to use anything but quinoa. My son doesn't really do good with lentils or rice for digesting. He has FPIES to casein so no dairy falls into the paleo and has big issues with gluten and corn so also falls into the grain free lifestyle of paleo. He does absolutely terrible with eggs and turkey and pork. It takes him 7days to recover from them for sure after an upset. So that is where the vegan lifestyle began. Vegans tend to use alot of grains though. Which he doesn't do well with so I bake mostly using Paleo recipes. Which is absolutely fabulous and has great flavor. If your going to do this though you need to order in bulk! :) I love the vegetable recipes that paleo diets consist of and seasoning. We were juicing daily for vitamin intake and making sure he was getting the right amount of vitamins in his diet but Summer is ending soon and the greens we usually use are all gone locally anyway which is pretty much all he can tolerate the freshest of the fresh. He cannot eat stuff from the store because there sprayed with fungicide. Most of the organic usda approved stuff is as well so we can only go to about 3 booths at the farmers market. I have never like tomatoes and they have the most fabulous tomatoes! I also believe in full term breastfeeding like the paleo lifestyle follows as well. This way he will be healthier for the rest of his life if I just donate my time to him for the something like 1% of his life that requires it! :) If my husband goes hunting this season my son will be allowed to eat Deer but that's only because it's fresh caught and not processed or sprayed with anything and we can butcher it and package it ourselves :)

Organic & Breastfeeding

When I was doing the elimination diet and following my son's reactions he was reacting to me not eating the slightest bit of chemically covered vegetables.  By this I mean not organic of course. He wasn't reacting right away it took about 2-3 days for my food intake to get to my milk to him.  He wasn't reacting to things like salt and pepper and spices, since he became allergic to cinnamon I could eat cinnamon just fine it's weird how kids react differently. If chemicals passed through breastmilk then why do they always tell you what you eat is fine. I suppose if your child has a strong gut then it wouldn't trigger a reaction but it will still effect him. As I think further on this the chances of him getting a cold or something from me not pumping up my breastmilk with more awesome immune boosting foods is increased when I don't eat healthy. He is currently doing really well minus the fact that my husband has come home and the house is filled with bad food he keeps getting his little fingers on. I have found that activated charcoal relieves his belly pains within 15 minutes. He loves it and thinks it is chocolate milk which he has never had before lol. I'm so glad the last 6 months of hell have paid off well and he is finally doing well! As the naturopath said as long as he gets a well rounded diet weekly not daily like an adult then he will be just fine! :) So having a whole broccoli for lunch and eating a whole bowl of peas for a snack is ok!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Chemical free means corn.free household!

We are officially chemical.free. I hate how everyone says it's impossible to avoid cancer or chemicals that cause cancer. It's actually extremely easy and cheap. I use Dr. Bronner's liquid soap it has 18-1 uses and on there website it tells you how! We use it for all our soap replacing just by diluting it and using a foam soap dispenser. I use my 2-1 bissel steam mop to clean and disinfect everything it has the hand attatchment to clean the toilets, sink, mirrors have no streak, stainless steal is amazing, the floors are actually sanitary enough to eat off of without getting some chemicals in your mouth. I can't believe how easy it was to clean poop off my sons wall when he tried to draw a mural! The Eww of motherly.duties. I didn't even have to touch it either the steam mop was amazing! We use squiggle toothpaste even though we could use Dr. Bronners. For shampoo and conditioner I use nothing I went down from doing a baking soda strip on my hair to nothing. I can hand swipe tangles out, no more nasty dreads in the back of my head at night. My hair shines in a good way. I do use a boar brissle brush and brush in the morning and at night this is the best! I have one that has long and short bristles to get to your scalp to evenly distribute the oil down the hair strand. It was like a $50 extensions brush but it is amazing! I have beach hair now because the PH in my scalp is balances and not blocked by shampoo residue. I don't use any products on my hair but some real coconut oil the cooking raw kind found in health food stores for some fly away control. Which actually strengthens the hair when I use it instead of just a temporary fix. I don't color my hair because I have two kids and no time. But I would just go outside with lemon and salt water combo and bask in the sun if I did. The kids use Dr. Bronners baby on there skin and coconut oil for dry patches as well. Ok I do use some bad mascara but all mascara is bad even if it is plant based. We use Charlie's soap for cloth diapers and clothes and some lavender oil in the vent in the dryer and it makes everything including the house smell good. I use baking soda and lemon for spots or stains. Or I just throw lemon juice in the steam cleaner and add some sun on the porch. It's super fast. So really not expensive and the Bronners pasta forever and comes in different scents and uses like tea tree is antifungal and citrus is a good kitchen cleaner. I use it in the dishwasher. I was using Apple Cider Vinegar in the glass cleaner in there but it works fine without it. Just 1tsp in each compartment no matter what size the load. Any questions I'd be happy to answer them! The reason behind this all is my son is allergic to corn and its used quite a lot in chemicals and the fumes or smells are corn and have carcinogen toxins in them! So he kept getting into the baby soap and getting sick. Skin is one of our largest organs and by rubbing things into our skin it gets into your system pretty fast. So be careful what you use it does effect you even though you may be tolerable.
Here is a picture I took as soon as I woke up. Loving the beach hair and my curls that I hardly could ever get to show!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Lasagna Bowl

Homemade Sauce with Tinkyada lasagna noodles
The noodles can.usually be found in the gluten free section of your Wal-Mart or local grocery store. They are a $1 more than your average cheap pasta usually. They are thicker and healthier since the only ingredients are brown rice! More protein! The sauce I made in the crockpot starting with enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the crock. Then added minced fresh from the vine garlic and minced onion. I used 3 little purple onions and 3whole things of garlic. Then after about an.hour on high I added chopped tomatoes. I go for the ugly tomatoes at the Farmers Market and just cut the imperfections out. They taste better anyway. Then about 30minutes before dinner I add the fresh from the vine basil a whole bunchle and chop that up and throw it in there. Then sprinkle some sea salt in there and call.it good until ready to serve! Just take a knife and slice up the noodles when there done before draining.  We all had a double serving including the 10month old! 

Nutritional Benefits:
Brown Rice(pasta)
Vitamin B-6
Fiber
Magnesium
Zinc
Protein


SUPER Fresh Tomatoes=
Vitamin A
Vitamin K
Vitamin C
Lycopene
+Antioxidants
Fiber

SUPER Fresh Garlic
Super Anti Bacterial fighting powers!
Prevents some forms of Cancer
Vitamin C Vitamin B-6 Manganese
Helps the endocrine and liver function!

Super Fresh Basil
Acne-helps destroy bacteria on the skin when rubbed in!
Antidepressant if you smell it!
Immune System Enhancer!

Fresh Red Onions
Vitamin C
Chromium
Flavonoids Quercetin-Allergy fighting powers :)



Sunday, August 5, 2012

Check out my board of recipes on Pinterest!

I'm much better at pinning than writing! http://pinterest.com/megeshorty/desmund-s-special/ Here is the board I pin great ideas too!

Chia Pudding easy snack or fast breakfast!

Chuh Chuh Chuh Chia Pudding =)
1/2 cup of chia seeds
2 cups of hot water OR hot fresh fruit juice OR the rest of the coconut milk heated- I use blueberry juice from the frozen blueberries it was so good!!
1 big mixing bowl
2 cans of coconut milk usually found in the Asian section of your store or cool whip or heavy whipping cream
+Whatever topping you would like I like cold or warm fruit

So my perfected recipe! I take 1/2 cup of chia seeds and 2 cups of warm water, mix, then let it set for 15minutes to gel. Then I take the coconut milk and use a fork and get out the thick coconut milk and mix with the fork. You can also use maybe cool whip or heavy whipped cream but it won't be healthy. Mix it well and either eat a cup or let it sit in the fridge for about 2+hours. I like it best overnight. I keep the half pint mason jars constantly full in the fridge for easy access just like homemade pudding cups! I add berries usually blueberries since I have a ton of them frozen to the topping.

It does taste good with any topping. I had a peach warm topping to mine this smorning fresh from the crockpot. Just chopped up peaches set on warm overnight. Super yummy!  It tastes just like tapioca pudding, I think better because of the coconut milk creaminess. It's a hit for the toddler & 10 month old and delicious! I stopped adding sugary stuff like honey or maple syrup I just didn't like adding it, it tastes fine without it but you can drizzle some on afterwards!

Benefits! 

Canned coconut milk
-Calorie dense-Good for up to 2 hours of weightlifting!
-Low Carb
+High in Potassium-Target area of Heart, muscles and nerves!
+Rich in Choline-Target area your metabolism
+Medium Chain Triglycerides-Metabolism-Can enhance fat and calorie burning
-livestrong.com-

For kids it's great for helping them gain weight because of the high fat/calorie count. The fat count is pretty close to breast milk for gaining weight. -Kellymom.com-

Chia Seeds
Read THIS!!


Inflammation

The unsaturated fat contained in chia keeps inflammation down, providing a healthy balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. In an article in the North Carolina Independant Tribune reported an article, "New Study Explores Health Benefits With Chia Dr. David Nieman, Director of the Human Performance Research Lab at the Appalachian State University in North Carolina, stated "chia seeds are the best plant source for omega-3 fatty acids."

Blood Sugar

Chia controls blood sugar and prevents the onset of diabetes, according to the Nutritional Science Research Institute. It mentions a study published in 2007 by "Diabetes Care" claiming chia, a low glycemic food, allows blood sugar to rise slowly, without a spike, keeping blood sugar controlled.

Digestion

Twenty-eight percent more fiber than flaxseed puts chia seed in the lead for proper digestion. It also takes care of 20 percent of the daily requirement of fiber. The seed contains both soluble and insoluble fiber. Chia provides slow digestion, keeping insulin requirements low.

Cardiovascular Benefits

Chia alleviates a multitude of factors that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention considers risk factors for heart disease. High cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes have been linked to cardiovascular issues. Chia's omega-3s, especially the alpha-linolenic acid, reduces plaque buildup associated with heart problems.

Nutrition

Along with essential fatty acids, chia contains minerals and vitamins that protect cells. There is as much calcium in 3 oz. of chia as there is in 2 cups of milk. Iron in 4 cups of spinach equals the same as 3 oz. of chia.

Energy Booster

There is a surge of energy and strength with chia. It is credited to the synergy of its potent properties. It was once called "Indian Running Food," according to James Scheer, eloquent author of several health books including "The Magic of Chia."

Weight Control

Although clinical trials haven't shown chia seeds to reduce weight, Scheer boasts chia helps control weight. Hunger pangs result when too much insulin has been released and blood sugar drops. Mixing chia seed with fruit juice can keep a person satisfied until lunch, according to Scheer. Chia swells once in the stomach, turning into a gel, thus making an individual full.

Sleep Aid

Chia seed contains tryptophan, an amino acid that promotes sound sleep. The healing effects originate from serotonin, a neurotransmitter needed for tryptophan formation.

Lowers Cholesterol

With chia's fiber count, linoleic acid and long chain triglycerides that scrub away artery plaque, chia lowers bad LDL cholesterol and raises good HDL levels.

Prevents Cancer

Chia's antioxidants play a crucial role in cancer prevention. Chia holds protease inhibitors that destroy cancer cells and repair DNA damage. Scheer mentions in his book about a survey, taken in 41 countries, showing lower cancer rates where chia intake was highest.


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/444471-top-ten-health-benefits-of-chia-seeds/#ixzz23wWwElxb



Free DiY TODDLER DESK

So I have all these boxes I didn't use up from sending stuff to my husband on deployment. So I took some shipping tape and made my son the perfect desk and chair! Took about 5minutes! I stuffed all the boxes full of grocery bags I needed to get rid of those too and it makes it so they don't cave in! Free and free! The only thing I wasn't recycling would be the tape. You could take fabric and glue it to it and use some stuffing and you would have a real desk with a chair but this will work just fine free and fun! He likes drawing all over it.




Friday, July 27, 2012

My favorite southern style Vegan Gluten Free Mac n Cheese!

Ingredients
-vegan casein free, whey free Daiya cheese, mozzerala and chedder
-Use your favorite non dairy milk substitute I used coconut milk-vegan casein and whey free, So Delicious unsweetened
-gluten free brown rice noodles by tinkyada fusilli style
-1tsp oil
-1tsp basil minced
-1tsp parsley minced
-1tsp emerils essence or favorite seasoning
-stuff it with broccoli or your favorite veggies, peppers even!

-How To:
In a pan cook the fusilli for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and let sit for another 5-10 with a lid on it. Then drain and set aside in a strainer or bowl. In the same cooking pot you used add 1/2 cup or more of each cheese and 1cup of coconut milk or more and a tsp of coconut oil or whatever you like to use. Stir with a wisk on medium heat. Add seasonings and spices. When its slightly gooey consistency add half the pasta and mix it up add a little bit more milk then add the rest of the pasta to the pan and stir with wisk. It should be all creamy now. If not add a bit more milk. Serve it nice and hot so it doesn't get cold the cheese gets gooey if cold. :) enjoy!
Takes about 15-20minutes and its great right out the fridge to the microwave for later too.

You can search on the Daiya website to find out where this awesome cheese substitute is found and it lasts quite a bit longer because you don't really need much! The tinkyada I have always found for cheap at Wal-Mart in the gluten free section ours is located by the cookies and crap food but I'm sure if you ask someone they could show you. The bag of pasta is like $3 pretty cheap  :D
SO GOOD!!



Friday, July 20, 2012

What do you do when he has a reaction??

Depends on the reaction.

If he wakes up in the middle of the night inconsolable screaming I give him gripe water sometimes I let him drink the whole thing to soothe his stomach.

If he has an ataxia or food reaction about 30 minutes after the culprit food then I give him a.kingbio homeopathic spray called food chemical allergy relief I think its what its called. 2sprays seems to do the trick just fine and it curbs it from reacting to his gut. If he seems fussy in two hours I give him some more spray. There are no side effects to the spray so its better than any sort of medicine. It also works super fast like 5-10minutes.

If its an.FPIES reaction to dairy I usually try to detox.him with an emergency green smoothie or juice with some ginger and other cleansing and soothing veggies. If he won't.drink the juice I make a smoothie to hide the juice with some frozen fruit. Also mashed potatoes seems to help his tummy and he will always eat some potatoes!

If he gets a diaper rash or bad acid burns which is a food reaction I usually make some colloidal oatmeal. You take some oatmeal blend it in a blender add some water til you have a thick paste and paint it on him. Then he takes a hot steamy shower with the water spraying up super high so by the time it reaches him its not so hot. We've done this since he was a baby and it really heals it. He can't have gluten but oats have never bothered his skin and you can.use GF oats. We also use coconut oil to heal and bag balm works wonders too. If they are really big I use a blister patch bandaid on them in his diaper so they don't get wet. They soak off in the bath tub pretty easy.

Why don't you just feed him "normal" food?? The reactions he gets.

People say why don't you just feed your kid "real food" or let him have it. Well if I "let" him have something he can not tolerate he is miserable and then I am miserable trying to console him from all the pain he endures.

         First he reacts mentally. He gets weird, insane in the membrane. They call this ataxia. He will get angry, his eyes seem to get dilated, he does this weird underbite with his mouth, he starts biting his tongue and blowing bubbles, and starts head butting things as if he cannot feel his head or pain. This usually happens between 30minutes to 1hr after.

      Secondly he gets restless when it comes to bedtime. You have to understand his normal self before you can understand the reactions. He normally is perfect at bedtime. He has always been an excellent deep sleeper. He usually nurses right to sleep. If he is upset he will just nurse forever and not wear out or tire down because he is so irritated and can't hold still, and picks at everything on me and drives me nuts. In fact tonight is one of those nights where 30minute bed time turns into 4hours. Naptime was like that too.

Third. He wakes.up in the middle of the night with his eyes closed screaming bloody murder and inconsolable. His tummy is tight and he won't move his legs. He turns into a stiff doll basically.

That is all usually besides the diaper rash. When he eats something with corn or gluten he gets holes on his skin. He gets deep circular open sores.

Fun stuff. Not!

Desmund's Food Story

It all started when we moved to America when he was 15months old. Before that he had some slight issues, stringy weird poops, slight allergies to citric acid, a bad reaction to dairy he accidentally got at 10months. No big deal. So no dairy or citric acid. Then he started getting crabby about 30minutes after he ate. I notice everything usually. So we did an elimination diet and just started skimming things down to see what he reacts to.

First thing was gluten. We tried going from bleached flour/unbleached flour down to only whole grain/whole wheat flour. Then just doing rice for a week and reintroducing wheat. It was most definitely the wheat. He would react in the middle of the night almost 12 hours exactly from whatever he had eaten that caused an upset. His stomach was hard as a rock and cramping he would just nurse to console the pain I'm guessing. This wasn't always the problem he had always been a really good sleeper and hadn't nursed at night for quite some time. So no more gluten. We tried to get into an allergist but we were moving again. So I just kept paying attention to his food. He seemed to be doing just fine no dairy, citric acid, or gluten.

The first reaction of his life was to chemicals in disposable diapers he had crazy burns from the diapers and they were very deep. So we switched to cloth right away it took about 3weeks for them to heal. His skin was super sensitive we thought it was just because he was a 35 week preemie. If he touched you and you had not safe detergent on his skin would turn all red and get bumps exactly where he touched you or laid up against you. So we switched to Charlie's soap. Apparently that is from a corn allergy we later discovered was our biggest offender, it was in diapers and cleaners of every kind. No excema or skin reactions after we switched.

His very first food reaction was around 10 months to citric acid in baby food. He would get red acid burn on his bum an upset tummy and weird poop. So no more baby food. We did Baby Led Weaning for the most part anyway but the doctors kept pressuring us to do baby food because he wasnt gaining weight like he should. Maybe they should have done a blood test??? Dum dee dum.

TMI
The next upset was to baby food Gerber 2nd foods it had "traces" of dairy unmarked on the label of course. But at this point we didn't know. He was under a year so he shouldn't have been given dairy to begin with. I don't remember the circumstance of him eating the baby food but I do remember my husband fed it to him! Lol. That night he had blood dripping from his bum. It wasn't in his poop it was coming out his bum about a teaspoon full. So we rushed to the Urgent Care on the army base. We should have gone to the Koreans instead. Real Doctors. The army doc tried to tell us he had fissures from the poop, he even went as far as copying the page from his book and sending us home with that. So a googling I went to find out there was milk in the baby food and that he probably had a severe food reaction to it. So no more of that ever again. Later we found out from our Allergist this is an FPIES reaction so he has FPIES to casein for sure and cannot have any form of it.

I'm not sure how the other ones developed he just seems to be fine and then one day gets upset and can no longer tolerate that kind of food anymore. Of course I always double check by taking it out of his diet for a month then reintroducing it for 3 days the doctors all recommend this method. I keep a food diary on my phone and record what he eats and what time. I also keep one for me since I'm still breastfeeding.

CORNTAMINATED
The problem with opposing foods is things are hidden in our foods for instance if they aren't organic they have chemicals in them. Organic foods also have chemicals on them as well. If they are meat its been sprayed down with lactid acid, or bleach. Who knows what they were fed as well. He could be reacting to anything the meat came in contact with. Most meats unless locally have been sprayed with lactic acid even organic so its totally ruined. So I found a local farmer at our awesome farmers market and tried some safe meat on him. No such luck he reacted for 7days!! Meat is a super bad one for him.

Vegetables and fruit. If they are in the store they have all been sprayed with a chemical to not cause fungus and to keep the bugs away. Apple's are polished with wax among other things so they look pretty. So now he was reacting to vegetables at the store. Most chemicals we found out have corn in them not normal corn genitically modified corn so its unnatural. If its unnatural your body has a problem.breaking it down and absorbing nutrients from it. So farmers market there are only 3 local farmers that don't use any kind of spray and it comes straight to us the day its picked. All the others use the spray the USDA recommends which is the anti fungal spray with all the bad chemicals in it so totally ruins those nice organic veggies.

He has had thrush off and on since he was born the reason it doesn't go away is because all.medicines over the counter or not have citric acid aka another corn GMO PRODUCT in them to preserve them. So they make his body fight them off because its bad to him. Who would have known! He is almost 2 and we are just now figuring out everything around him was making him sick.

What does Desmund eat?

He apparently doesn't like crusts so I took some paleo bread made with coconut flour I bought a whole months supply from Julian's bakery, I toasted them in the oven & I cut them into stars and made it with natural freshly mooshed creamy peanut butter and homemade blackberry jam sandwiches! He ate them all! The baby ate the crunchy crusts. Win win!






Thursday, July 19, 2012

Quinoa Sneaky Fishies

1st. I make my quinoa weekly in the rice cooker, add a good stock for some flavor and some "FRESH" herbs these are very good for your health so I add whatever I have fresh that week from the farmers market. Then store it in the fridge for easy access during the week in a glad container or whatever you have. You can make alot with it. It's full of protein so I try to shove it in everything. You can even make amazing cookies with it!
2nd. I usually make these ahead of time and then keep them in the fridge for lunches. Think of it as your easy microwavable bad foods replacements like corn dogs, easy mac, hot dogs, chicken nuggets. =They freeze wonderfully! Especially in the ziploc individual vacuum bags!
3rd. The recipe. 
In a bowl I prefer metal so it doesn't stick. I combine Quinoa with a veggie puree of whatever I have on hand or left over. It all depends on how much veggies you have for this but I do a 1/3 veggie to quinoa ratio. This is what I use instead of eggs since we are vegan + shoves more veggies in there for amazing flavor! Blend them up with a little chicken stock or some whatever that's it! Sorry my measurements are really not there. I just use whatever I have on hand so sometimes I add more quinoa more pureed it just needs to be the consistency to roll them into a ball pretty much without being wet feeling. 

2 cups Quinoa
1/2 cup pureed veggies or mashed potatoes-
1/8 cup of minced onions or scallions or leeks
1 tsp of fresh garlic minced 

This is my basic recipe now to make it good! 
FLAVORS- 

Pizza bites-
-basil
-oregano
-some mozzarella cheese or some daiya-mozzarella(vegan)-
-meat just like you would a pizza if you aren't vegan so you could use bacon bites or pepperoni left over sausage or hamburger
Veggie's Minced
-mushrooms
-olives
-peppers
Some emeril's essence spice just a dash! 
Dip in some marinara

Mediterranean Yumminess
-chopped spinach 
-minced mushrooms 
-artichoke hearts 
-oregano-thyme-marjoram-basil-sea salt
If you want to get fancy add some ground lamb precooked of course.
I love adding a hint of emeril's essence. 
Dip in some Tzakiki sauce- I love making my own vegan style Yum! 

Jambalaya
3/4 cup black beans-drained and cleaned-I precook mine but if you use canned you don't have to
1/2 cup for the pureed veggies I use celery, carrots, tomatoes. 
-minced green peppers
Meat-1/4 cup add whatever you like if your not vegan-Vegan leave it out.
-baby shrimps
-kielbasa sausage-chopped into teeny pieces 
-chicken-chopped or shredded works 
-parsley-thyme-old bay seasoning or whatever cajun style seasoning you like I just used some chipotle chili powder
-Instead of Quinoa you can use rice here as well just make it healthy by using brown rice, not the minute, rice real rice it's nutritional! :D

Sweet Potato/no pureed veggies for this one
1/2 cup grated or mashed sweet potatoes

Potatoes/broccoli and cheese
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
1/4 cup broccoli bits cut the tips off no stems
1/4 cup shredded cheese or daiya chedder
-no pureed veggies for this one
dip in vegan sour cream or normal

These are just the ones I've made regularly. Feel free to make your own! 


*If your vegan you can add Tempeh or tofu or Seitan to these and they would be delicious!

Now after your done mixing them all up into a bowl take out a cooking pan and spray it with oil and turn your broiler on high.

You can roll them into balls and stick them into a muffin pan or you can make shapes for kids. 
Starting from a corner put a cookie cutter down make sure you spray that so that it will come up easy and then take a spoonful and smash the mix in the cookie cutter until it's flat on the top then take the cookie cutter away. You can also make like a big ball and then take the cookie cutter and put that over it and smash it down. Depends on the kind of cookie cutter and size you have. Just wipe the excess away and leave them about an inch apart. 

When your done you spray them with oil or brush them with butter whichever you want to do. 
Add Ons-
+Add some cracker crumbs so they turn out crunchy by patting them down with some crunched up crackers. I use like a pretzel crumb to get that crunchiness my son likes.
+Add some Parmesan cheese crumbles too just sprinkle it over and pat them in with a spatula. 

Broil
I put mine in the middle rack so they don't burn if they aren't crispy put them up higher. 
With my oven I do 10 minutes on one side them flip them over with a spatula and crumble on the rest the same way or cheese and oil or butter them. Put them in for another 10. They should be like a hashbrown texture when done.