Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One Hundred Seventy-Five (Carrot Cupcakes for Argument Sake)

The Joy of Parenting brought to you by the The Joy of Baking website.

We have been admonishing our ten-year old for too much computer time.   She reminded us that if we did more activities with her in someway, she might not be on the computer as much.   She suggested that she might spend less time on the computer if she were allowed to have some independence baking like her bigger brother has.

We reminded her that she often argues so much that we end up not doing an activity.

She disagreed.

So, her dad suggested that they make bread pudding at the suggestion of her mom.  (Dad is infinitely more patient than Mom is).

And, the kid thought the baking was a good idea, but the bread pudding was a bad idea.

So, after extensive negotiations, her dad agreed to help her make carrot cupcakes.

Dad then suggested walnuts, and the kids reminded him that nuts are optional in the recipe.  She vetoed that option.

And so goes the conversation.

And we must say that the 10 year-old carrot cupcake advocate won her case.  The confections were absolutely delicious.

This recipe is adopted from The Joy of Baking website, but modified to use spelt instead of wheat, butter instead of oil, bourbon vanilla extract instead of regular vanilla extract, and organic evaporated cane juice instead of white sugar.

For argument sake, we think the modifications make a better cupcake.

Well said, counselor.

Carrot Cupcakes: 1 cup organic white spelt flour 1/3 cup organic whole spelt flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 2 large eggs 2/3 cup organic evaporated cane juice 2/3 cup butter softened 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract - (we used bourbon vanilla) 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 1/3 cups finely grated raw carrots  Cream Cheese Frosting: 1/4 cup butter, room temperature 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 2 1/4 cups  confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract l Carrot Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. In a medium cupcake pan,  line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Fold in the chopped walnuts (if desired.  Olivia chose not to use nuts). In another large bowl whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Then whisk in the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract until slightly thickened. Fold in the applesauce and grated carrots.  Then fold this mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. Evenly fill the 12 muffin cups with the batter and bake 20 - 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and let cool completely before frosting. Frosting:  In a separate beat the butter and cream cheese until very smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add more confectioners sugar if needed. Pipe the frosting on the top of each cupcake. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate the cupcakes until serving time. Can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. Makes 12 cupcakes.

What Your Kids Eat Does Make A Difference

You would think that I know this by now...that what you feed your kids can have a huge impact on their mental and behavioral health (as well as yours). I spent years studying this; we experienced this in our own home; we fought schools over this; I even changed my career path from being a lawyer to an entrepreneur making wholesome all natural spelt (ancient grain) breads, bagels, and pizza dough as a result of this. See www.speltrightbaking.com detailing our story. Yet, something about certain holidays -Christmas, Halloween, Easter - I get lulled into a stupor thinking that perhaps "just a little bit" of the commercial crap (artificially flavored, colored, and preserved candies) won't make an impact. But, inevitably they do. And, the crash is hard. For more information on how additives can impact you and your kids, see www.feingold.org

Our entire family's life changed when we finally realized that our young son's diet was directly impacting his health and behavior. We have told our story many times, but are telling it again because we believe that this is such a huge issue for families.

From 2-8, our son had many health (many digestive issues) and behavioral problems, and received numerous provisional diagnoses. I was very skeptical of the diagnoses, because he did not fit the diagnostic criteria all of the time. Sometimes, he was fine; others not - either distant, miserable, off-the-wall, hyper, upset. I wanted to know what was triggering him. It all seems to obvious to me now, but it wasn't at the time.

He is very sensitive to one food in particular (common wheat - but not all gluten based products), and definitely cannot tolerate certain additives in foods: the preservatives: BHT, BHA, and sodium benzoate; artificial reds and yellows; high fructose corn syrup. Our response was to remove wheat (and substitute with spelt) and remove ALL artificial food additives. There are just too many artificial additives out there, so to be safe, we removed them all.

The results have been profound. Our son no longer experiences the health and behavioral problems he did as a younger child and he is not on any medications.

There are plenty of studies out there demonstrating the connection between diet and behavior and I will post them as I find them. One such study was published in the Lancet (the British equivalent of the American Medical Association journal) in September 2007. Here is a link. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607613063/abstract

Please check out our website for more details on our story. www.speltrightbaking.com