Feeding my Toddler

So I must admit that I have come to a realization over the past few months that Jayson has been eating solid foods by himself: kids are messy eaters.
Yes, I know that this goes without saying, but I don't think I realized how messy kids can get. Maybe it's because I always only saw kids who weren't messy eaters? I don't know. But I used to worry so much about keeping Jayson clean while he ate that we kept him from a lot of foods like soup, refried beans, and other messy foods like that. But those foods are also good for him to eat. So what is a parent to do?

Give up, that's what!

Chocolate and Caramel Chex Mix

This is another one of those recipes that I would love to claim for my own, but cannot: I stole it one from my older sister. February of 2011 my sister Delsa developed her own version of General Mills' Turtle Chex Mix. In her own words:

I love the turtle chex mix you can buy at the store, but it's expensive. So today I created my own recipe (pretty similar). I made it in a small batch,I think, but these are the approximate proportions that I used. Be warned, it is addicting, but delicious.

I have been making it for parties and for family ever since, but have made a couple changes to adapt it to my tastes. It's been a long time since I had the "official" version, but this one is tasty enough that I don't miss it at all.

Gourmet Boiled Cookies

I can remember making boiled cookies for a long time. They were always delicious: moist, chewy, peanut buttery, and just a little bit sticky. And to me, they were always "boiled cookies." It wasn't until I got to college that I found out that the rest of the world had a different name for one of my favorite cookies: no-bake cookies.
Then when I was in Switzerland serving my mission for the LDS church, I got a real craving for the cookies, but didn't have the recipe. So I borrowed one from a friend, and tried it out. The result was not anything like what I remembered. They were grainy, hard, and overloaded with chocolate.
After I got married, there arose the occasion to make my beloved boiled cookies for some friends, and just for fun I decided to spruce the recipe up a little. The following recipe is the result.

Summer Garden Soup

One night after my wife and I were newly married, we were looking through our cookbooks to decide which recipes to make, and we saw a recipe for a vegetable soup that looked appetizing. We tried it, along with a few changes of our own, and decided that it was a keeper. I love this recipe because it is so different from other soups that I make. It's very light, but very flavorful. It has a fresh flavor from zucchini, tomatoes, and a splash of lemon juice. And, as I recently discovered, it is filling without being Calorie-dense. The entire batch of soup has fewer than 1000 Calories!
Another reason my wife and I love this soup is that it doesn't take all day to prepare. It's not quite as fast as cooking up a packet of Ramen noodles, but few things are. We always have this soup with Cheesy Garlic Biscuits, which remind me of the Cheddar Bay Biscuits sold at Red Lobster.

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Did you know, the word biscuit is derived from a French word meaning "twice-baked." Those original biscuits were more like hardtack or Zwieback, and could last for very extended periods of time without going stale. Then again, they probably wouldn't taste very good when fresh, so the point was moot.

These biscuits, on the other hand, are soft and delicious, and make a perfect accompaniment to soup.