As mentioned in my porridge post last week, I sometimes add chopped sprouts to the boy’s meals. Why? Because sprouted seeds, grains and legumes offer a nutritious supply of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, chlorophyll and protein. If the boys get a few servings of sprouts a week, I don’t have to worry when sometimes all they want are crackers.

There are many excellent sprouting resources on the web (SproutPeople, PrimalSeeds), but this is my quick and easy version for growing sunflower seed sprouts…..

Add enough shelled, raw sunflower seeds to cover the bottom of a clean, lidded, clear container (baby food jar, plastic container, etc.). Add enough water to completely cover the seeds and let them soak a couple of hours.

Drain the water, but retain the seeds (tip the container over the sink with the lid open a tiny bit). Place in a dark cabinet.

Two or three times a day add enough water to cover the seeds, then immediately drain the water. Replace into the dark cabinet.

Within a couple of days the seeds will begin to sprout. You can eat them immediately or transfer them to the fridge to extend their lives for several more days. If you want to encourage vitamin C production, place them on a windowsill for a day until the sprouts start producing chlorophyll and turning green like my mung bean sprouts below.

For toddlers, you can add chopped sprouts to sweet potatoes, porridge (easy recipe), spaghetti sauce, applesauce, yogurt (easy recipe), or add a few to the blender when you’re making smoothies. (Just remember to cook/heat the food first, then add the aprouts. Heating sprouts greatly reduces their nutritional value.)

One of the boys’ first foods – and it continues to be a favorite – is porridge. I first read how to make it in the book Super Baby Food, particularly how to make it for babies by grinding up all the ingredients before cooking. Now I make a big batch once a week, refrigerate it, then heat a portion each day.

The ratio of ingredients I usually use:

• 1 steel cut oats
• 1 brown rice
• ½ red lentils
• ½ split peas
• ½ barley
• ¼ corn meal

I keep this ratio pre-mixed in an air-tight container in the cabinet. I don’t add any wheat ingredients since the boys get enough from bread, bagels, crackers, etc.

To cook the porridge, use a ratio of:

• 1 dry porridge mix
• 4 water

Combine the porridge mix and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 45 minutes, stirring with a whisk every few minutes. You can add some cinnamon toward the end for flavor. Cool and refrigerate. I pour the porridge into single-serving containers, then just heat in the microwave before eating each day (add milk to taste, if desired).

Although porridge is a really good food by itself, I usually add one of the following for the boys:

• brewer’s yeast (excellent source of amino acids, protein, B-complex vitamins, and minerals)
• ground seeds/nuts (p acked with protein, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats)
• flaxseed/olive oil
• finely chopped sprouted seeds ( I’ll be describing how I sprout next week!)

Quick, easy, healthy, and delicious (you'll probably want to add a little honey/maple syrup/etc.)!

I recently spent a lovely weekend in Dalton, Georgia with my friends dear Heidi and Bob, those dastardly people who fled Miami two seconds after they wed several months ago. They’re in the midst of a floor-to-ceiling home remodeling and currently their house looks like this:

It’s good they’re doing this before having kids – can you imagine the number of times Jonah would electrocute himself and the massive quantities of small hardware bits Benjamin would consume?

Heidi had made banana bread without nuts, which rekindled my interest in this particular sweet bread. Plus, she eats hers with cream cheese on top, which I had never heard of, and it’s a tasty addition!

So when got home I found a really good recipe in my Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.  It’s so delicious I’ve made it twice! I just added the recipe to my Favorite Sweetbreads page so read, drool, then start the banana-mashing!

The boys are not allowed to eat these sorts of things yet, but Benjamin managed to stand on his tip-toes and snag a piece off the table yesterday. He’s very fond of snagging things off tables these days... banana bread, drinking glasses, placemats, knives, and all manner of breakable items.

I just read about An Island Life’s favorite places to eat in Honolulu, so I better share some favorites on our island as well.... Well, except that only one is actually on an island. The rest are on the mainland. But all in the metro Miami area.

Since we don’t, ahem, have a chance to eat out by ourselves much anymore, I’m listing five toddler-friendly places, where people will glance your way -- but not actually ask you to leave -- when they realize one of your sons can channel a T-Rex.

1) Deli Lane: locations in Brickell’s Financial District and near Sunset Place in South Miami. Huge menu – everything I’ve ever eaten there is delicious. Great weekday breakfast specials, outdoor seating. Favorites: Deliccino coffee beverage, pressed duck sandwich, and Swiss apple melt sandwich.  This photo of Jonah's errant foot was taken at Deli Lane last week:

2) Boater’s Grill: overlooks No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne – you can drive, hike, bike, or boat right up to the restaurant. Very casual, fresh seafood. The ceviche and dolphin is always fresh and tasty.

3) La Estancia Argentina: gourmet market offering excellent Argentinean specialties, including wine. The Coral Gables location has big wooden tables that high chairs pull up to nicely. I always get the Lomo sandwich (filet mignon on baguette) with a couple of chicken empanadas as appetizers.

4) Pollo Tropical: many locations all over South Florida. Delicious and kid-friendly Cuban fast-food (but still pretty healthy). We just ate there a couple days ago. Benjamin channeled a T-Rex. People thought the boys were cute anyway. He’s lucky he’s a twin.

5) Sweet Tomatoes: a few locations throughout South Florida. All-you-can-eat salad, soup, pasta, breads, muffins, fruit, frozen yogurt, etc. A wide variety of fresh, tasty food! It’s self-serve so you avoid the dreaded After-Ordering-Food-Wait when you wish it had never occurred to you to have kids.