Surprise!

This recipe rather surprised me. But first, a bit of background on my surprise. My mom was in town for a few days last week while SPH was away on travel. We had a wonderful visit, having some really good mother-daughter moments that are often whisked away in the busy-ness of tending to the boys when we are together. It was a nearly perfect visit, had it not been for my poor R’s allergies. R was miserable last week. During R’s allergy misery, which thankfully lasts a mere week or so during the height of tree pollen season, my mom encouraged me to try a new recipe. This recipe was right up my and my mom’s alley, but far from something I expected the boys to try or eat. Especially when R was so miserable with his puffy red eyes, runny nose and constant sneezing, I thought to myself, “there is no way R or G will eat this.” In fact, I almost replaced this dish with some plain green beans on their plates, but then thought better of it. You know what? R ate two helpings and G ate all of his serving. I was shocked. So lesson learned: never limit what your child is exposed to because even though they might refuse 90% of the time, there are always food breakthroughs waiting to happen. I just never dreamed it would be a dish with spinach! Vegetable Bake 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use 1 – 5-6 ounce package baby spinach 2 cups broccoli florets, cut very small 8 ounce package sliced baby bella mushrooms 2 cloves garlic 1 cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground pepper ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 4 eggs 1 ½ cups milk 1 teaspoon dijon mustard Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil in the bottom of a 9x13 glass dish and coat the bottom and sides well (this will prevent sticking when the veggie bake is done cooking). Place the spinach in the bottom of the dish. In a large skillet, heat the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the broccoli, mushrooms and garlic, and saute for about 5-6 minutes. Pour the vegetables over the spinach. Sprinkle the top of the vegetables in the 9x13 dish with cheese. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir well. In a separate bowl mix the eggs well, then add the milk and dijon. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Pour the egg/flour contents over the top of the veggie bake and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the edges of the bake begin to brown. Serves 8-10. SPC
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