Little Miss Broke Arm and What I feed my Family When we are Down for the Count

I spend a lot of time thinking about, preparing and dishing out food for my fam. So when I got a call from my kid’s school last Thursday at eleven am, one after another, I knew things were amiss in the worst way. She had stepped down from a picnic table seat and fell onto a big, sharp rock with all her body weight behind her little noodle arm. As a nurse, I felt confident an urgent care was capable of handling the potential break as long as they had a working x-ray machine versus waiting for an ER—Here is a great summary of when to take someone to an ER versus urgent care for a potential broken bone (I'm looking at you if you have children with a Tony Hawk mentality). By two pm we had confirmed fractures in her left radius and ulna, her arm splinted in a temporary cast. 

If you look close you can see where both long bones of the forearm bow out at the sides a bit, those are the buckle fractures!

Children’s bones are basically gelatinous at this point, her x-ray cartoon-like with literally one bone floating between her arm’s long bones and her hand’s. They don’t always snap like adults, rather they compress, needing stabilization while they stretch back out again into their intended shape. Our bodies need rest and good ingredients at stressful physical or mental events. This is not always easy to do with a three year old, in fact, my kid chooses to play with her toys rather than engage in dinner half the time. If you have found yourself here in my little corner of the net, you may be caring for yourself, elderly loved ones or children and the following recipes are both nutritious, simple, and satisfying. They are in regular rotation at our house!

Pantry Zuke Muffins

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil.. I use whatever I have on hand

⅓ cup maple syrup because I am not a monster

1 BIG zucchini shredded, and squeezed by hand or rung out in cheesecloth. I never have cheese cloth on hand and my combination flour tends to be dryer than just using all purpose flour. 

1 brown banana, because there is usually one lying around past its prime 

Dry ingredients:

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup chickpea flour because of PROTEIN and FIBER. It is especially rich in magnesium, which is essential for bone health

1-1 ½ cup all purpose flour. I know, I know, I do not measure in the kitchen–it is one of my superpowers and equally greatest flaws. After bartending I can pour and scoop ingredients to roughly the precise amount which is admittedly dangerous with baking. If hand squeezing your zucchini, you may want to air on the side of more flour because it may be a wetter batter. 

1 tablespoon psyllium husk for soluble fiber

½ tsp spices like cinnamon/nutmeg/cardamom

Additional, FUN ingredients, all meant for folding in at the end:

Chopped walnuts! Rich in Omega-3 fats, I love addings them to our baked goods or morning oatmeal

Dried berries

Dark chocolate chips because we are alive and deserve to enjoy chocolate

Set the oven to 350 degrees, mix wet ingredients, slowly adding the dry ingredients after you have mixed them in a separate bowl. Scoop into muffin tins and bake for 17-20 minutes. If using muffin cups, take out immediately because they can be wet sometimes, especially in the summer time humidity. These are a lunch time goody for tots, an afternoon snack for moi. I like to toast mine up and spread peanut butter with a sprinkle of salt on top. 

Secondly is my go-to for sick loved ones and newly minted parents. The meals my family received after I gave birth were so so important and meaningful for me. I am blessed to have very good cooks for friends and with the hormones surging these meals usually brought me to my knees. This poached chicken, brothy rice and cilantro scallion sauce by Molly Baz is wonderful if you find yourself on a meal train for a new parent! I like to add 2 carrots, cut at an angle because I have class and so do my soups. I also like to thinly cut a savoy cabbage and add it right at the very end so it doesn’t get that sad sea-sick green tint to it. Chili crisp is also a must!!