Weelicious Cookbook is Delicious

A new family cookbook from Catherine McCord, Weelicious is subtitled "One Family. One Meal."

As a working mother, this is my dream. Being able to cook one meal that my whole family will eat. Fast, Fresh and Easy? Yes please. And if it makes leftovers or can be made ahead and frozen? Even better.

I skipped right over the baby puree section, both because I no longer have a toothless infant, and because my kids didn't much like purees of any kind when they were younger anyway.

For a Weelicious experience, I involved my kids in browsing through the colorful pages of this cookbook, choosing recipes and food they wanted to try to make together. Then I made a grocery list and we went shopping for the ingredients for six different recipes. Most of the ingredients were things we had around the house already, and we just needed to get fresh produce.

Here is my family review of the recipes we have tried so far:

• The Breakfast Cupcakes were a hit, and about as healthy as pancakes.
• My kids refused to try the Slow Cooker Lentil-Veggie Stew, although I thought it was delicious, and it made lots of wonderful leftovers for the grown-ups.
• Making our own Graham Crackers was awesome, the kids loved rolling out the dough and cutting the shapes with cookie cutters, and I loved giving my kids slightly healthier "cookies" that we made together.
• The Brown Rice and Veggie Casserole was delicious, with vegetables that were chopped up small enough to be indiscernible to my kids and the cheese prominently visible on top. We all happily took leftovers in our lunches the next day. I was glad it was a hit, because I made up two extra casseroles at the same time, to freeze for later.
• Corn Dog Bites on a Stick are pieces of veggie hot dog dropped into home made cornbread, baked in mini-muffin tins. Simply genius, and easy enough that we made this one on a week night after work. My kids would eat this every day.
• Veggie Nuggets were advertised as a replacement for the kinds sold in stores. My kids were not fooled, although I didn't think they were too dissimilar. We'll have more either way, since I made a double recipe and froze them for later.
• Spinach Ricotta Bites. Delicious and baked in mini-muffin tins. Apparently my kids will eat anything baked in a mini-muffin tin. This is genius.
• Mushroom Barley. Kids wouldn't try it, but the adults loved it.
• My kids haven't really had pudding before. Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pudding food processed blend of greek yogurt, cocoa powder, peanut butter, honey. Cold, thick, delicious.

The book includes 40 pages of short articles on healthy habits, cooking, shopping, eating. She mentions her own lifestyle and nutrition choices for her family, like avoiding packaged snacks and choosing organics where possible, but she doesn't make her choices seem judgmental or the only option. Catherine McCord has a Weelicious blog with videos and recipes similar to the book.

Because my household is vegetarian, many of the recipes didn't work for our food preferences, but there were enough vegetarian or adaptable recipes that I want to make again or try that I decided to buy this cookbook instead of paying late fees on the library's copy. If making meals that your whole family (even the preschoolers!) can enjoy together is a dream come true, check out this new cookbook for ideas and recipes.

Photo credit: Those are my kids, Kivrin and Travis. They love visiting the library and hope you do too!