Whenever Atti or I go to the dentist, or when he’s had a particularly challenging day at therapy, or basically just whenever I feel like we’ve earned a little reward, we go to the drive in and get milkshakes. Atti calls these his “special drinks” and other than cheerios they are the only thing I’ve never seen him turn down. He loves these so much I think he’s be willing to make himself sick to get one. But milkshakes aren’t exactly great for sick kids. All the sugar, all the dairy, plus they’re not really offering him a ton of anything to help him get better. So I decided to make a version perfect for sick days that was light on the bad stuff, and loaded with fresh fruit and juice to cram him full of Vitamin C. This special drink will get him feeling better in no time.

Fresh Orange Creamy Slush

1 can pineapple chunks, drained

2 clementine oranges, peeled

1/3 C milk

1 C fresh orange juice

8 ice cubes 1 T sugar (optional)

Toss everything in a blender and whir until smooth. Makes about 16 oz.

Atti drank his glass, his dad’s glass, and I had to fight him off of my glass too. The next time I need to keep him hydrated and he turns his nose up at everything else, I think that this icy treat will be the medicine we both need.

My friends at Mucinex asked me to come up with a sick day treat, and now they have a couple of treats for you. Mucinex is offering a $2 off coupon so you can try it for yourself. Just click the link and you can start saving. But if you leave a comment you might get to save a whole lot more with a $100 gift card to CVS! You get another chance to win the big sweepstakes, so leave a comment and let me know what is your favorite treat when you are feeling under the weather for your chance at the prize! 

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive 1 total entry by leaving a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 3/6/2013 – 3/31/2013

Be sure to visit the Children’s Mucinex Multi-Symptom Cold page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

For Atti’s birthday last week I wanted to bring a special treat to his class to share with all the other kids. I started thinking about what treat would make Atti the very happiest, and the truth is that, still, nothing makes him happier than a pile of Cheerios. He loves him some chocolate, and he loves cookies, but he would give up all other food quite happily for his beloved Cheerios. For his birthday treat, I decided to take those three things he loves best, and combine them into one thing that would totally blow his mind.

Chocolate Cheerio Cookies

2 Cups flour
3/4 C cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 C butter
2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 C cheerios

Sift the dry ingredients, except the cheerios, together and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the dry mixture, mixing as you go until it’s well blended. Stir in the cheerios by hand, mixing thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 350. Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake until set, about 12 minutes, 15 for more of a crunch.

These offer that salty sweet combo that is my kryptonite. I don’t know who liked them more, me or Atti. No. Strike that. Atti liked them more. He shoved them in his mouth like Cookie Monster. The teachers all ate some too, which I think is the sign of a seriously successful treat. Fun and tasty enough for kids, grown-up enough for grown-ups.

It’s another rainy day here, in most of California that’s as close to a winter storm as we get, and I haven’t been feeling great this week, so I just want to make myself a big cocoon. I’m wrapped in blankets, wearing cozy socks, and once Bear gets home we’ll all sit in front of the fire. The perfect companion for a day like today? A big bowl of soup.

Of course, the stuff you get in cans is just so gross. Even the expensive stuff is barely edible to me. So that means I make it myself.

Homemade Vegetable Soup
1/4 C butter
1 1/2 C onions, diced
1 1/2 C carrots, diced
1 1/2 C celery, diced
3 C red potatoes, diced
2 cans V8 vegetable juice
1 qt chicken broth
1 can green beans
1 can corn
Herbs to taste

Melt the butter in a large stockpan, and then add the onions, carrots, and celery and let them sweat at a low temperature until soft. Add the potatoes, vegetable juice, and chicken broth, and let that all cook on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through. Skim off any foam that might develop from the starchy potatoes. Add the canned vegetables and then season to taste. Salt is a necessity, then use your favorite herbs. Oregano, thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, and celery salt are what I happened to pull down from the cabinet and added. Put it back on the stove and let it simmer at a very low heat for an hour or so to let all the flavors meld together.

Would you like a demonstration? All right then!

Soup is one of those things that seems so much harder than it actually is. After a little dicing the stove does the rest of the work, and if I’m really desperate I can just by the veggies pre-diced. I’ve got dinner simmering on the stove making the house even cozier, and making a rainy day something to celebrate.

I’ve been making a whole lot of rich food lately. The cold weather just seems to beg for stews and soups and roasts and I’ve been loving it, but after a stretch of that I’ve found myself craving a big salad. Of course, it would have to be a salad that also somehow seemed appropriate for the season, and that means it has to be warm.

I’ve had wilted salads before and really enjoyed them, but I thought that with this I’d go even further and grill the lettuce. The char really makes it taste heavenly. And then I went ahead and cooked everything else too. The result is a roasted, warm, salad, packed with bursts of flavor and tossed in a refreshing lemon vinaigrette. It might be one of the most flavorful salads I’ve ever eaten.

Grilled Salad
3 romaine hearts
olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes
balsamic vinegar
Feta Cheese
Spicy Nuts
Lemon Vinaigrette
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 T white wine vinegar
1/2 C olive oil

With the weather running cold, I used my Foreman Grill to grill the lettuce inside. I cut each romaine heart down the middle, leaving the root intact for ease, sprinkled some olive oil on the cut side, and tossed it on the grill.

While the lettuce was grilling I also roasted up the tomatoes. I just cut the tomatoes down the middle, tossed them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and spread them out on a lined cookie sheet and roasted them until they were shriveled and delicious.

Then for the vinaigrette, just combine all the ingredients in a container with a tight lid and shake it up to combine.

Chop the grilled lettuce into bite sized pieces and toss all the ingredients together with dressing to taste.

I ate this entire bowl myself over a couple of meals and I’m already looking forward to the next time I have it. With only a few ingredients and some pretty simple steps, I got a burst of freshness and flavor that will make me re-appreciate the rich winter food I love.

My idea of a great salad is one that is so full of stuff that it’s no longer diet food. I am a huge advocate for properly made croutons, I love a shredded cheese, and a flavorful nut is pretty much the perfect example of what I’m talking about. All together it defeats the purpose of ordering a salad if your goal is calorie counting. But if your goal is eating a whole lot of good tasting stuff, you will achieve it.

I hear there are some people who actually eat nuts when they’re not surrounded by a variety of greens. Some people keep bowls of almonds at their workstation for that midafternoon pickmeup, while I’m currently staring at a basket full of two different kinds of SweetTarts.

With the holidays here and guests always needing something delicious to munch on while they wait for the main course, I decided to see if I could make a nut taste delicious enough to make me put down my candy in favor of a healthier snack, and then use that nut in a salad perfect for your fall table.

Spiced Nuts
1 egg white
1/4 C brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ancho chili pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
18 oz almonds

Whip the egg white until it is foamy, then toss in all the other spices. Mix together until the sugar dissolves and you make a paste. Add the almonds and stir to coat.

Spread out in one even layer over a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 290. If you’d like you can start at a higher temperature – I started at 350 – to give the nuts a little toasting, but watch them closely and turn down the heat so you don’t burn the sugar.

With this same technique you can make any flavor of nuts you want. Oregano and grated Parmesan would be outrageously good, or you could make something super spicy to satisfy your personal favorite heat level.

Next week I’ll be sharing how I used these nuts in a salad, but until then, I’m going to get to snacking.

I’ve been trying to add more vegetables to my family’s diet, which is always a challenge with my two meat eating guys. Lately I’ve been really inspired by the neglected root vegetables, and this time around I reached for beets and my super favorite, the rutabaga. Have you ever had a rutabaga? Try it once and you’ll never make a stew without it. It’s like a carrot and a radish had a beautiful albino baby.

Rice Pilaf is a dish I learned in cooking school. Growing up I thought it was what came out of a box and had those weird black rice pieces in it. Now I know that pilaf is actually a cooking method. You coat the grains of rice in fat before adding the liquid, and that keeps them fluffy and separated. Then you braise it all in a liquid while you leave it undisturbed. It makes a simple and delicious side, and most of the work happens while it cooks without you. This is a great time management meal.

Root Vegetable Rice Pilaf
1/2 cup butter
3 rutabagas, small diced
3 beets, small diced
4 large shallots, small diced
4 cups rice
8 cups chicken broth

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the vegetables. Keep the heat low and sweat until softened. Add the rice and stir until each grain is coated in butter. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cover until all the liquid is absorbed. Eat.

The beets will color everything else in this dish and make it come out in the most beautiful shades of orange and red. You really can’t get a more festive side dish for your Thanksgiving table, and it’s a great change up from the typical mashed potatoes.

I married a meat and potatoes man. So for our entire marriage I have been cooking potatoes every which way I can think to make them and still keep myself interested. Potatoes are great, but sometimes I need a break already!

My husband is also lousy at eating vegetables, so lately I’ve been experimenting with root vegetables, trying desperately to ease him into a little variety and give myself something to eat besides another set of potatoes. And in the process, I have started a bit of a love affair. Root vegetables are divine! And criminally underused. A rutabaga? If you’ve never had one, you don’t even know what your stews are missing.

Parsnips are another new favorite of mine. They look like an albino carrot, but they taste sharper, heartier, and still with that subtle sweetness. You can use them anyplace or anyway you’d use carrots, and get a little punch of something new and wonderful to wake up your taste buds stuck in a carrot rut.

Buttered Leeks and Parsnips

3 leeks, cleaned and chopped
8 parsnips, peeled and chopped
1/2 C butter
1 qt chicken broth
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a wide saucepan and sweat the leeks until translucent. Add the parsnips and the chicken broth and cover, cooking on medium heat until the parsnips are tender. Remove the lid and let the sauce reduce until desired.

So simple, right? And incredibly versatile. Toss in some pieces of chicken and serve over rice for a simple weekday supper. Serve it as a decadent vegetable dish on Thanksgiving, or even mash it up for the most amazing substitute for mashed potatoes ever. In fact, it will even be the same color as potatoes, so your kids don’t even have to know they’re trying something new. And your husband doesn’t either.