FoodieTots.com

Happy opening day, GBD Chicken and Doughnuts! GBD is the latest from one of our favorite bakers, Tiffany MacIsaac, also of Buzz Bakery and her husband Kyle Bailey, chef at the popular Birch & Barley. Happy (organic, hormone- and antibiotic-free) fried chicken and delicious doughnuts — maybe not the healthiest of meals, but perfect for the occasional indulgence. My college years were fueled by California’s famed Donut Man, and my hometown spawned the most delicious doughnut on earth — so I’m delighted that the doughnut craze has finally reached DC. (And that the GBD crew spell doughnut properly, at least outside of Twitter where you’ll find them at @GBDchixndonuts.)

The younger foodie tot and I sampled the chicken and doughnuts at a pre-opening pop-up. Here’s her review:

GBDchixndonuts pop-up from Colleen | GlassBottle on Vimeo.

That tres leches rivals my favorite from NYC’s Doughnut Plant, so I’m thrilled to be able to get my fix without commuting to the Lower East Side.

Find GBD — which stands for golden, brown delicious — in Dupont Circle, 1323 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC.

It’s the third month of the year — how’s everyone doing on your food resolutions? I confess, I’m not a big resolution maker — I’m more likely to start something new as spring approaches than in the depths of winter. But one thing I’ve been working on, since the holidays ended (well, except for Valentine’s Day) is pushing back on my son’s nightly candy/sweets habit. (You know, since Halloween. Sigh.) The boy is old enough now to understand the game rules: the one-bite rule has grown to at-least-three-bites of nearly everything, always something green, and he’s even eating salad without complaint most of the time. Still, I keep trying to rein back the treats, as I don’t believe kids need dessert every single night. So exasperated one night last week, when we’d already gone out for frozen yogurt after school, I told him his sugar-quota had already been reached and he could have fruit for dessert. And before he was two words into the predictable “but fruit is not a dessert” whine, inspiration struck: “How about if I cut up some fruit and you can make your own fruit sundaes?”

Honestly I was a little surprised that he stopped mid-whine and agreed to the suggestion. So I arranged some cut apples, bananas, blueberries and blackberries on a plate, gave them little glass bowls and let them mix their own creations. And they loved it! In the words of my six- year-old, “It’s a healthy dessert that tastes good and everyone can make it!” Score one for healthy alternatives.

Now if you wanted to gussy these up a little more, for a special occasion like, you know, random Thursdays off from school (seriously, why aren’t three-day weekends enough?) you could offer one or more of these additions:

• plain, Greek-style yogurt or unsweetened, vanilla-flavored whipped cream
• toasted coconut flakes
• a touch of honey or maple syrup
• pomegranate seed “sprinkles”

For bonus points, let kids help you chop the fruit with kid-safe knives. Bananas make an easy starter fruit for teaching toddlers safe knife practices.

What new food habits has your family adopted this year? How are they going?

If there’s one thing the foodie tots love more than food, it’s trains. My late grandfather founded a short line railroad in Maryland, so this is more than a passing fancy in our family. Over the holidays we took an impromptu weekend trip to NYC to see the Angelina Ballerina Very Merry Holiday Musical by Vital Theatre Co. (Highly recommend, by the way, for the 2- to 6-year-old set.) With just one day in the city for sight-seeing, we stopped at Grand Central Terminal to check out the holiday train display at the Transit Museum annex. (The NY Transit Museum, in Brooklyn, is another foodie tot favorite.)

Grand Central Terminal, one of the most noted landmarks in New York, is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. The train display, featuring a Lionel layout with Metro-North and New York Central trains departing from a mini Grand Central Terminal, is open through February 10. Worth a visit if you find yourself in NYC!

(As for eats, we do the tourist thing and go to Junior’s in the food court for matzo ball soup, deli sandwiches and egg creams. And a stop at Murray’s cheese counter in the market is a must.)

Happy holidays from the FoodieTots fam to yours.
We hope you’ve made many happy & delicious memories
this holiday season.

It may be the end of November, but I figure there’s still time to share one last pumpkin treat before the holiday baking begins in earnest. You need something healthy for those lunchboxes and after-school snacks to offset the Christmas cookies, right? These soft-baked granola bars are easy to put together (even with little helpers). I made them for my son’s school bake sale — a not-too-sweet treat you can still feel good about.

Recipe: Pumpkin Granola Bars
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Makes 10-12 bars

• 3 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Crunchy Cinnamon Granola Bars from One Hungry Mama
• Granola Bars with Mango, Hazelnut and Ginger from Cookin’ Canuck
• Fig, Date and Almond Granola Bars from Brown Eyed Baker