Tried and True Archives - Busy Moms Helper

The Tastiest Chicken-Veggie Broth for Your Kid

June 9, 2020 by Angela Paris

We all love chicken broths. They’re nutritious and tasty and can work wonders when we’re down with the flu. Chicken broths are a bit harder to prepare than any other type of broth, but it’s worth it. They taste like nothing else and can be bolstered with veggies for a richer flavor and nutritional profile.

Vegetable broths are great for children. They have all the vitamins and nutrients kiddies need and can be prepare in just a short time. Veggie broths are much easier to prepare as well. You don’t need to be a kitchen whiz for them – just cook some veggies in water, season the broth and bring it to a boil.

You can add a bit of chicken in such a broth to make things even better. This will add even more essential nutrients to the soup and make it taste all the much better.

Here’s a simple vegetable broth with chicken you can try to prepare for your kid. Once they try it, they’ll never find another type of broth as tasty as this one.

Ingredients

100 gr. spinach
100 gr. pumpkin
100 gr. carrots
500 ml. water
10 gr. butter
30 gr. chicken meat

(serves 2 bowls)

Preparation

Pour the water in a pot and let it to boil. In the meantime, wash the veggies nicely and chop them up. Put them in the boiling water and lower the heat to medium. Add the chicken meat as well and leave the broth to boil.

As soon as the veggies are nicely soft, blend them, and your broth is ready. Use a baby spoon to feed your baby – we promise you they’ll love it!

Homemade Avocado-Based Mayo You’ll Fall in Love With

June 9, 2020 by Angela Paris

Can we all agree that mayo is great? It’s perfect as a spread, in many different recipes, and as a tasty addition to a sandwich. Mayo is also dirt cheap right now and thanks to its versatility, it’s the favorite food of millions. There’s one problem with it, though – the mayo sold in stores is just about the unhealthiest thing you can eat.

Store-bought mayo is very processed and therefore not really healthy. The good news is that you can prepare your own mayo with a twist at home without the unnecessary calories and processed compounds.

Homemade Avocado-Based Mayo You’ll Fall in Love With

What Health Problems Can Store-Bought May Cause?

Studies have found that most mayo brands contain vinegar, egg yolks, whole eggs, soybean oil, and a lot of sugar. Most of these ingredients, especially soybean oil, have been branded GMO and we all know how much damage GMO can do to your health.

A teaspoon of this type of mayo has 90 calories. Add 2 to your sandwich and you have nearly 200 extra calories. That’s a lot. Store-bought mayonnaise has been associated with weight gain and obesity, not to mention heart disease and similar problems. It’s just bad.

So why buy it when you can make your own healthy dose of mayo at home? It tastes just like the real thing, but this time, its based on avocado. Yes, it may sound yuck, but trust us – it’s the mayo you need.

Ingredients

2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup avocado or olive oil
1 tablespoon water
Salt and a bit of pepper

Preparation

What’s important for this recipe is that the ingredients should be kept at room temp before you mix them. Use a processor to beat the egg yolks, then add the water and a bit of salt and pepper. Pour the oil slowly in then add the lemon juice in when the mixture is nice and thick.

That’s it – your homemade mayo is now prepared. Make sure not to make big batches of it due to risk of salmonella. Keep it in your fridge and eat it in a few days if possible. This one doesn’t have that many calories and won’t make you gain weight. As a matter of fact, avocados are the perfect opposite of store-bought mayo.

Tried & True Recipes: Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

October 7, 2016 by Kelly Dedeaux

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a Tried & True Recipe, so let’s give this Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread a try! Super easy to make, delicious and super moist.

As with all of our tried & true recipes, we’re just sharing our experience using another fabulous blogger’s recipe. To get the recipe and instructions, head to the post at Running to the Kitchen. We love her many fantastic recipes, from tasty desserts to yummy dinners. When I saw this one, I just HAD to give it a try – and of course it was every bit as delicious as I’d hoped!

The only twist I’d maybe do to her recipe is to add some Pumpkin Spice to it – for a little bit more pumpkin goodness. But that’s just me…we’re major fans of all things pumpkin, so want us much of the flavor as we can get!

I did make one loaf without chocolate chips, since hubby isn’t a chocolate fan (I know, crazy, right?!) and he agreed that everything from the texture, to the flavor combos was perfect – just needs a bit of pumpkin spice.

This is a tried and true recipe that definitely passed our test! Head over to Running to the Kitchen for this pumpkin banana chocolate chip bread recipe – or check out all her other amazing creations on her home page!

Other Tried & True Recipes

Caramel Frosted Pumpkin Cookies & The I Heart Naptime Cookbook

September 6, 2016 by Kelly Dedeaux

I received a free copy of THE IHEARTNAPTIME COOKBOOK to assist this review. All opinions are mine alone. #naptimecookbook

It’s almost fall, which means pumpkin season – YAY! Yes, you all know my love of everything pumpkin – so of course I couldn’t wait to try these Caramel Frosted Pumpkin Cookies from The I Heart Naptime Cookbook. They taste incredible, and are one of over 100 easy (and delicious) recipes that you can make in less than an hour. Yup, she knows us busy moms sure love saving time in the kitchen!

This post contains affiliate links that help support this blog at no extra cost to you. See our Disclosure.

When I look back on how I got started with my own blogging journey, I have to give credit to a handful of truly phenomenal blogs that first inspired me – and Jamielyn of IheartNaptime was one of them! She shares so many tasty recipes, along with fun crafts and more. When I was offered a chance to review her new book, The I Heart Naptime Cookbook, I was so excited because I knew it’d be chuck full of great stuff – and I wasn’t disappointed 😀

Her new book is now available, so be sure to grab your copy HERE. I love that she shares some of her own stories and the background of things through-out the book – she’s always been so relateable and just down-to-earth, which is one reason her blog is so great!

Now onto these DELISH pumpkin cookies – they’ve got me in the perfect mood for fall, and I already can’t wait to whip up another batch!

Caramel-Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

Makes 36 cookies Prep 20 min Cook 10 min Chill 15 min Total 45 min

When we moved to Ohio for my husband’s residency, I quickly fell in love with autumn. With fall comes the leaves changing, pumpkin patches, apple cider, and, of course, pumpkin desserts.

Whenever I take these pumpkin cookies to a get-together, my friends always ask for the recipe. They are the perfect cookie to celebrate autumn, although we love making them year-round, too. These pumpkin cookies are so soft and the caramel frosting is worth making all on its own. These do take a few extra dishes, but I promise, they will be worth it.

Ingredients

For the cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon table salt

For the caramel frosting

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more as needed
½ cup packed light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Method

1. Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the pumpkin and mix until smooth.

3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly add to the wet pumpkin mixture and beat until just combined.

4. Using a medium cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing the portions two inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Make the caramel frosting: In a small saucepan, combine the butter, heavy cream, brown sugar, and salt and, while whisking, bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the caramel mixture into a medium bowl and let cool for 1 minute.

6. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and stir until smooth. Frost the cookies immediately with a rubber spatula, as the frosting will begin to firm up quickly.

7. Store in an airtight container or large zip-top bags at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Get your copy of The I HEART NAPTIME COOKBOOK here!

Tried and True: Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

January 30, 2016 by Kelly Dedeaux

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a Tried and True recipe – where we test out a popular recipe from other bloggers we love and share if it was a thumbs up or down. Today we’re sharing our thoughts on this DELISH recipe from Lemons for Lulu for Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies – simple to make AND tasty!

As I was searching some of my favorite sites for what I wanted to try next, I came across these chocolate peanut butter cookies – and of course I couldn’t resist! First you whip up the chocolaty cookies, which are flavorful and perfect themselves.

Next is a CREAMY peanut butter and chocolate chip frosting for putting between these yummy cookie sandwiches – taking this dessert to a whole new level of YUM! Glancing at the recipe I was worried it wouldn’t be as quick as I was hoping – you know how much I love easy and fast recipes – but it ended up being really simple!

Now I want to go try the frosting with other things, too – perhaps on top of a chocolate pie? Hmmm….might need to stock up on peanut butter! 😉

To try out this THUMBS UP recipe, go to Lemons for Lulu!

Other cookie recipes you may like…

No Cake Mix Red Velvet Cookies

Tried and True Recipes: Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Bars

January 9, 2016 by Kelly Dedeaux

Being a busy blogger myself, I’m often sad that I just don’t have the time to try hardly any of the recipes I drool over on other blogs! However, I really want to help support others and share the love – plus enjoy eating the creations! So I decided to try something new, and I’m calling it Tried and True Recipes! To start it off, I picked these Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Bars from Crazy for Crust!

I’ll basically pick a recipe from another blog and recreate it – not changing anything (within reason). Then I’ll share my pictures of the outcome, how simple or challenging it was, and – or course- how tasty it was….or wasn’t. I will NOT share the actual recipe, because I don’t believe in stealing, and using someone else’s recipe IS STEALING. So follow any of these links to Crazy for Crust to get the recipe, and her much better photography skills – once you see how my attempt at it went!

One great thing about this is – I’m totally a common, everyday mommy in the kitchen. I’m average – no special training, no particular talent. So based on my experience, most people can relate equally!

Ingredients – all of them are common kitchen/pantry items, not requiring what most people would consider special stuff.

Time – She says prep time 25 minutes and bake time 20 minutes. This is about accurate to what it took me. Also does need some cooling time, so this can’t be made right before an event.

Difficulty – As long as you read the entire instructions first so you know as you go, and follow it closely, you’re fine. I did have some struggle getting the cookie layer AND the peanut butter mixture layers to spread smoothly.

Did I have to make a change – I started making this, positive I had the peanuts for the topping. Turns out I didn’t, so mine is without that sprinkle on top!

Taste – Amazing, and totally worth any effort put into making this!

Ingredients

Preparation

What Health Problems Can Store-Bought May Cause?

Ingredients

Preparation

Other Tried & True Recipes

Caramel-Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients

Method

Get your copy of The I HEART NAPTIME COOKBOOK here!

To try out this THUMBS UP recipe, go to Lemons for Lulu!

Other cookie recipes you may like…

Now head over to Crazy for Crust and try out the recipe for yourself! If you’ve tried it, I’d love to hear your feedback!