MAPLE BANANA CAKE WITH YOGURT FROSTING

I really wanted to push this as a smash cake idea, but I must tell you that in retesting, it is quite delicate. It is DELICIOUS, but she is not a sturdy, easy to frost cake. I’ll give it to you straight in case you have dreams of a Pinterest-worthy sprinkle dream cake. We’re using banana and maple here, and with the sweetness and tang of the frosting, it all balances to be quite the treat. I tested it with both maple and sugar, the prior resulting in a more damp cake, and certainly less sweet, and the later a bit more traditional (and easier to frost). It gets sweetness from over ripe bananas, and I used Greek yogurt to help “frost” it. Know that Greek yogurt does not hold well at room temperature any longer than an hour, so I would suggest making the cake in advance and assembling it with the yogurt just before serving. Alternatively, if you need it to be sitting out over an hour, or hold stronger for decorating, I would make a half batch of this frosting, and just go easy on the amount. This is so many suggestions! I’m sorry, but there is cake.

MAPLE BANANA CAKE WITH YOGURT FROSTING

Make one 8” cake

I call for quick oats, which may sound annoying and you can use old-fashioned oats with a little pulse in a food processor or blender to break them down a bit. If you want a nicer textured cake, less dense, cake flour in its place here will help. If you do not time your life to have brown bananas in time, canned pumpkin does the trick.

A high fat content Greek yogurt is important here. Regular yogurt or anything runny will not work.

Egg Free: Make a flax egg by mixing the flaxmeal with a Tbsp. of water until it starts to thicken. The banana helps hold things, this doesn’t work as well with the pumpkin swap.

Gluten Free: Use a GF 1:1 flour in place of the whole wheat pastry flour.

Ingredients

1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup mashed, overripe bananas (about a medium)
1/3 cup coconut oil, warmed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temp

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour or cake flour
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats, or pulsed oats (blitzed in a food processor or blender)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

YOGURT FROSTING

2 Tbsp. butter, room temp
2 Tbsp. cream cheese, room temp
6 oz. full-fat Greek yogurt
1 cup powdered sugar for a firmer frosting, maple works
dash of vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350’. Grease and parchment line a 8” pan or three, 6-8” cake rounds (this will yield much thicker layers).

In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the maple, smashed bananas, coconut oil, vanilla and eggs. Mix well to combine. Add the flour, pulsed oats, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, salt, and give it a few more stirs to just combine. Tip it into the pan and bake for 30 minutes, until cooked in the center. Remove to cool completely.

In a mixer, combine the butter and cream cheese until smooth and aerated a bit. Add the yogurt, powdered sugar, vanilla and mix until combined and smooth. This can be done in advance and kept in the fridge for a few days. Chill to firm up it needed.

If you’re leaving this as a 8” cake, just frost and enjoy. If making a smash cake, use a round tupperware, jar or larger glass to get 2 to 3 circles from the cake and eat the scraps. Layer the cakes with some frosting between, and then over the sides and top. The cake is easier to work with if it is cold! It does need to be kept in the fridge once frosted!

FOOD FOR NEW PARENTS : CRUNCHY LUNCHY LENTILS

For my sister (and maybe my 6-years-ago self, too…)

I know you guys are so ready for this. You’ve been ready, the road to get here has been a little twisty and I CANNOT wait to be moms together. Just giddy about it. Let’s start there.

We were a few days home from the hospital with Curran, and it had set in that maybe this was going to be harder than I thought. A big transition. My body torn up and my nipples chapped and the gut-wrenching worry that this teensy thing may just stop breathing or any number of tragic things that now feel like cold possibilities.

A thoughtful friend mailed a note and I’ll never forget the perfect timing from an experienced mother. I still keep it in Curran’s keepsake journal. The note reminded me that I was capable - that I was made to be this child’s mother amidst the overwhelming exhaustion and newness of it all.

Motherhood is such a wild cocktail of elation and… grief maybe? I don’t intend to be dramatic, but your life is never the same. You think about and prepare for this transition for months, sometimes years, and there is no accurate description that will touch on how you feel the second you look at that baby. You rebirth yourself in that moment as well. You’ve known great love, but nothing like this. It fills a corner of your heart you didn’t even know was there. That smell! His skin! Those itsy bitsy toes! Seeing your husband hold his tiny body to his chest. It’s out of body, really. So out of body, that sometimes you feel untethered. The emotions, the physical healing, being responsible for that small life, getting through the day… it’s a lot! You feel so many things in the course of a day. In the course of a moment. It is both the best, most tender job AND so effing hard. All day. Every day. You will second guess your own intuition and also find how to truly trust yourself outside of google and other opinions.

There is a lot of chatter about diapers and organic sheets and the best baby wash but there is a quieter murmur about the metamorphosis that occurs as a woman becomes a mother. That metamorphosis seems to be life- long, far as I can tell, as the caring for these little people grows and changes. My experience may be nothing like yours. What worked for me or what I struggled with or when my babies slept or what bottle they liked may not matter at all come your turn. I find that all that unknowing and problem solving and figuring and filtering through noise, is what builds your own confidence as a parent. Pilfering through the shoulds and suggestions, to make choices that work for you and your family. You are his mom and the best person for the job. Believe that this very moment! You have support all around you.

I want to pass on to you, just like that well timed note did for me, the affirmation that this role is yours, and you are absolutely capable. You are everything he needs. This mom business is immeasurably valuable work.

Let people help. Drink lots of water. Find your pockets of relief. Your body will heal. It will pass. Tomorrow is a new day. Sleep does return. And it’s just like every old lady tells you at the market on your most frustrating of days… it goes so fast. xo

Love you so dearly, my sister. Happy to be on this wild ride with you. xo

—

I heard from many of you looking for a list of recipes to stock up on, or gift, to those in the new baby season. Here are the condensed, top suggestions, in order of most repeated via my instagram question. I will start a series here “Food for New Parents,” per request, so these sorts of recipes are easy to find on the site. I’ll post more recipes in the next few weeks, but visit the bundle page on SKCC for recipes that are easy to reheat or freeze! This is the deliver-friendly bundle.

• burritos (include frozen ones for easy reheat)

• fresh cut fruit

• fresh cut vegetables and dips

• healthy muffins (see the ones i just posted on ig reels! or these )

• fritatta/ frittata muffins (fresh or frozen - notes here or my fave is from our first SK cookbook)

• lactation cookies (these from How Sweet Eats were mentioned)

• granola bars (Robyn’s!)

• date/ energy balls

• casseroles (Ashley’s Baked Risotto! so good)

• salad kits and fixings for quick salads and bowls (greens, dressings, grilled/chopped chicken, quinoa, toasted nuts)

• healthy, light things - “pizza and take out are easy”

• soups and stews (this lentil soup, this tomato soup or Anna’s Dhal)

• vegetable enchiladas (duh these goat cheese guys)

• chili - veg or turkey (this veggie chili, or this beef one)

• pasta sauces (this bolognese is perfection and I’m intrigued by this cauli version)

• legume/grain/lunch type salads (the Marakkesh carrots from Bowl + Spoon! Online here)

• cookies/cookie dough (always Tara’s! add oats and down to 9 minute bake time for a little goo)

• wine/coconut water

---

CRUNCHY LUNCHY LENTILS

Serves 4

This is a salad that can hold its integrity for a few days. I keep it stored in the fridge, and spoon it on top of lettuce with a little more vinaigrette when ready to eat. I’ve also packed it in a tortilla or stirred in some cooked brown rice to make it more filling. It will dry as it sits, so add a drizzle of oil and vinegar if it needs a refresh.

Ingredients

¾ cup French/De Puy Lentils
2 Persian cucumbers, seeded
1 apple
1 medium fennel bulb, fronds reserved
1 large shallot
1 small bundle of mint
1 small bundle fresh basil
½ cup walnut pieces

For the vinaigrette
1 large clove garlic, grated
Juice of one lemon
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. dried dill
½ tsp. coriander
Flaky salt
Fresh ground pepper

Goat, parmesan or feta cheese, for garnish, optional

Directions

Rinse your lentils. Put them in a pot with 1 ½ cups of salted water or broth. Bring the liquid up to a simmer, put the cover on ajar and cook for 20 minutes until tender. Fluff the lentils, and set them aside to cool completely. 

While the lentils cook, get chopping! We want a fine dice on the cucumbers. Core and finely dice both the apple and fennel and mince the shallot. Super small bits! Chop the herbs. 

In the bottom of your mixing bowl, combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients and stir to mix. Add the cooled lentils, all your chopped vegetables, walnuts and herbs. Toss to coat. Chill in the fridge for an hour if possible for flavors to marry. Not imperative if you don’t have the time. 

Serve the lentils over some tender greens with a sprinkle of goat, parm or feta cheese. 

---

Sara Forte 2020-09-14

Crunchy Lunchy Lentils

4

A crunchy and fresh, make-ahead vegetarian lunch.

• ¾ cup French/De Puy Lentils
• 2 Persian cucumbers, seeded
• 1 apple
• 1 medium fennel bulb, fronds reserved
• 1 large shallot
• 1 small bundle of mint
• 1 small bundle fresh basil
• ½ cup walnut pieces
• 1 large clove garlic, grated
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp. dried dill
• ½ tsp. coriander
• Flaky salt
• Fresh ground pepper

 

Rinse your lentils. Put them in a pot with 1 ½ cups of salted water or broth. Bring the liquid up to a simmer, put the cover on ajar and cook for 20 minutes until tender. Fluff the lentils, and set them aside to cool completely.

While the lentils cook, get chopping! We want a fine dice on the cucumbers. Core and finely dice both the apple and fennel and mince the shallot. Chop the herbs.

In the bottom of your mixing bowl, combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients and stir to mix. Add the cooled lentils, all your chopped vegetables, walnuts and herbs. Toss to coat. Chill in the fridge for an hour if possible for flavors to marry. Not imperative if you don’t have the time.

Serve the lentils over some tender greens with a sprinkle of goat, parm or feta cheese.

PT20M

PT20M

PT25M

mediterranean

Entrée

vegetarian, make ahead, quick, salad

Little Sprouts, an e-cookbook

We wrote an e-Book!

Writing that makes me feel very modern, even though I’m still not sure we’re doing this right. I feel like maybe I should have taken a course on this or something?

I enjoy cooking and I really like eating, but we have two kids with opinions… about everything, actually. Feeding them can be tricky. I think there is a lot of angst from parents around their kids and food, and I want to take up space in that conversation.

“Are they eating enough?”

“Ok, but are they eating enough vegetables?”

“I am embarrassed by how often they eat pizza or mac n cheese.”

This e-book gives a handful of ideas to add vegetables into foods that you find they already like, hopefully making meal time less of a strain on you or them. I wrote two cookbooks before we had children and my cooking has evolved so much since then. Evolved because of them and because of myself, but this piece feels like I am handing a collection of favorite recipes to a friend. Nothing to prove, no effort to impress you with my creativity - just real food that I have on regular rotation for our kids, and it feels like it may help someone else trying to do the same. Perhaps an excerpt from the book’s intro will help that feeling make sense:

“Before I had children, I forecasted they would eat everything my husband and I enjoy - big vegetable lovers, lots of color and seasonal produce, requesting green smoothies (hold the banana, add extra kale, mom!), beyond their years in taste given what I do for work. Then they actually existed in my life, and I realized I may have built an unrealistic expectation. I cook constantly. For over a decade, I have been writing recipes for our food blog (Sprouted Kitchen), have published two cookbooks, freelanced for other food publications, and most currently, run a meal planning subscription service (Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club). I know my way around making a meal, but having kids at the table feels like it complicates the ease of which that once was for me. I make most of our food from scratch, but my kids, who are 3 and 5, cannot be persuaded with any amount of convincing nutritional information to choose broccoli over a hot dog. So, how do we settle somewhere between those things? I want them to have a healthy relationship with food. I love seasonal produce, home cooking, and general wellness, but I refuse to make meal time a battle. We have to eat for energy and nutrition, but also for the pleasure and practice of having a moment to sit down together at a table. My job is to provide nutritious food and a loving environment; it is their job to eat if they are hungry and no, I am not a short order cook. Those convictions are easier to put on paper than hold to at dinner time. I get it.”

It is a collection of 30 recipes (a few are favorites from here on SK and SK Cooking Club) that focus on getting more produce into your wee ones. I can’t guarantee they’ll like everything in there, but it’s adult-friendly too so you have that! The recipes are geared for ages 2+, and they are simple and easy to follow. Most of them are gluten and dairy-free, and when they’re not, notes are made to help accommodate. While it’s not exclusively vegetarian, most of the recipes do lean that direction, while many of the breakfast recipes include eggs.

(I like to be as clear as possible so ya’ll know what to expect!) I understand that you can flip through a book at the bookstore and here you cannot. The e-book is divided by breakfast, snacks + lunch, and meals. I may be biased (having birthed the children in most of the photos), but the imagery is beautiful too ;)

Whether you buy this e-book or not, I hope you know you are doing an excellent job. Parenting is hard and food is a sticky subject. If some days everything they eat is some shade of beige, they’ll be ok. I hope getting more color into your babes doesn’t feel defeating, and if it does, may I make that seem more accessible with Little Sprouts. xo

---

ROASTED BUTTERNUT + BLACK BEAN QUESADILLAS

From Little Sprouts
Makes 4

My children would eat bean and cheese burritos every day if given the choice. It doesn’t always work, but adding vegetables into things I know they already like, is helpful. Here, we are adding taco seasoned squash and a handful of greens (whatever you can pull off - cilantro, baby kale etc.) in with the refried black beans and cheese. I smash the squash down so they melt in with the cheese a bit. I’ve also had luck with shredded zucchini in the summer.

Batched Taco Seasoning:

Mix all of these spices together and store them in an airtight container.

• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp. sea saltdash of cayenne, to taste

I am including a recipe for a homemade taco seasoning, but we also like the one from Thrive market because it isn’t too spicy.

Ingredients

4 cups cubed (about 1”) butternut squash (from roughly one small squash)
1 Tbsp. avo or olive oil
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
Salt, as needed
4 whole grain tortillas
1 13 oz. can refried black beans
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups melty cheese - a Mexican blend, white cheddar or non-dairy sub
Coconut or avocado oil, for cooking

instructions

Preheat the oven to 425’. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up. 

Pile the squash cubes onto the baking sheet and drizzle them with the oil, taco seasoning and another sprinkle of salt. Toss everything to coat and spread them in an even layer. Roast for 25 minutes until edges are browned and squash is tender. Remove to cool slightly. 

Meanwhile, spread the beans over the top of the tortilla. Add a few spoonfuls of the cooked squash and use the back of a fork to smoosh them down a bit. Sprinkle the top with a handful of cheese and a generous amount of cilantro. 

You can pan-fry them, or to do a batch all at once, placing the open-faced quesadillas on a baking sheet and heating them in the oven for 10 minutes to warm through, then just fold them over.

Sara Forte 2019-10-28

ROASTED BUTTERNUT + BLACK BEAN QUESADILLAS

4

A kid-favorite stuffed with butternut squash and black beans.

• 4 cups cubed (about 1”) butternut squash (from roughly one small squash)
• 1 Tbsp. avo or olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
• Salt, as needed
• 4 whole grain tortillas
• 1 13 oz. can refried black beans
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cups melty cheese - a Mexican blend, white cheddar or non-dairy sub
• Coconut or avocado oil, for cooking

400 calories20 grams fat1 grams transFat36 grams carbohydrate2 grams sugar10 grams fiber21 grams protein

Preheat the oven to 425’. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up.

Pile the squash cubes onto the baking sheet and drizzle them with the oil, taco seasoning and another sprinkle of salt. Toss everything to coat and spread them in an even layer. Roast for 25 minutes until edges are browned and squash is tender. Remove to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, spread the beans over the top of the tortilla. Add a few spoonfuls of the cooked squash and use the back of a fork to smoosh them down a bit. Sprinkle the top with a handful of cheese and a generous amount of cilantro.

You can pan-fry them, or to do a batch all at once, placing the open-faced quesadillas on a baking sheet and heating them in the oven for 10 minutes to warm through, then just fold them over.

PT10M

PT25M

PT35M

mexican

Entrée

kid friendly, quesadillas, vegetables, vegetarian