HEALTHY BABY FOOD

We've officially moved

Don't forget to check out our new blog at http://www.adventuresinbabyfood.com/

Thanks for looking!

Sabrina

Wean Machine Giveaway

Wean Machine Giveaway at the new blog; check it out.

Two New Post on the New Blog

Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast

Slow Cooker Broccoli Chicken

I recently got Drew's 1 year pictures and plan on getting this picture enlarged myself.

About Online Poster Printing
Online Poster Printing specializes in printing high-quality posters using premium materials. We offer a money back guarantee on all our products, such as photo canvas prints, vinyl banners, wall stickers, and rolled or mounted poster prints.

Do you have an awesome summer pic you’d love to have enlarged?? Now’s your chance!! OnlinePosterPrinting.com is offering a free 16×20 Gallery or Museum Wrapped Canvas Print for one of my readers to win.

It’s super easy to enter:

MAIN ENTRY:
Leave me a comment telling me what picture you’d love to have made into a 16 x 20 print. Make sure that I have a way to contact you in case you are the winner! Yes, it is that easy! I will number your entry in the order it is received and use random.org to pick the winner!Comments from this link will be combined with comments from the other blog at http://adventuresinbabyfood.com/(Just one prize for both blog comments).
This giveaway ends July 31.

Disclaimers: Giveaway is open to US/CAN residents. Shipping of prizes is not included and must be paid by winner. Online Poster Printing reserves the right not to print obscene or offensive materials. All designs submitted in the form of a giveaway may be used by Online Poster Printing for online marketing and promotional uses. The designs will be used solely as examples and will not be printed or commercially distributed. Prize will be a coupon via email.

Second giveaway coming soon to start of the new blog with a bang. Hint, it involves a recent gadget I just blogged about!

How to Start Your 1-Year-Old on Cow's Milk | eHow.com

It is that time; and I must say I am a little worried. Drew is about to be introduced to milk over the next day or so. I found a short but sweet article about how to start your toddler on it on eHow. I posted a link below. I'll let you guys know how it goes with Drew in a few days.

How to Start Your 1-Year-Old on Cow's Milk eHow.com

Shared via AddThis

New Blog Site Coming soon!!!

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't had a recent post. I've been working on a new blog that is almost ready to use. Please take a look at the new site. It is http://www.adventuresinbabyfood.com/. I'll be having new giveaway soon to kick off the new site.

Thank you,

Sabrina

This recipe came from my beloved "Cooking for Baby" cookbook. The above picture came straight from the book and is what they are supposed to look like. Below, you'll see my not so pretty, but still tasty version. First I'll give you the actual recipe from the book and than I'll tell you what I did.

2/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
unsalted butter for pan
(Makes 9 or 10 crepes)

In a medium bowl, combine flours, eggs, milk, honey and salt and beat until combined. Batter will be thin and runny.

Heat a lightly greased crepe or frying pan over medium heat. Pour in 1/4 cup of batter and tilt pan to coat bottom evenly with a thin layer. Cook crepe until top is set and bottom is lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using a heatproof rubber spatula and your fingers, loosen crepe around edges and flip. Cook until second side is brown, about 30 seconds. Repeat with the remaining batter, brushing pan lightly with butter before cooking each crepe. Crepes can be filled and spread with any ingredient you like.

I used cream cheese mixed with mashed bananas and strawberry jam. You could use applesauce, blueberry sauce, yogurt, Parmesan or cheddar cheese, etc.

Now, I like things easy, so I just used buckwheat pancake mix, made a little runnier than normal for my crepes, which is probably why mine are not as pretty; but they still taste good and are Drew approved!
Barnes, Lisa. Cooking for Baby. Gold Street Press, page 96.

(The above picture is from weelicious.com)

This recipe came from weelicious.com. This stuff is yummy, make a batch for you dinner as well!

Lemon Chicken and Vegetables (10 Baby/Toddler Servings)

1 Chicken Breast
1 Cup Broccoli Florets
1/2 Cup Yellow Squash, chopped
1Tsp Lemon Juice
1Tsp Vegit (I used a vegatized seasoning salt)

1. Cook the chicken breast in a steamer pot over boiling water for 4 minutes.

2. Add the broccoli and yellow squash and steam 4 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are fork tender.

3. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse.*

4. Cool and serve.

*It’s nice to keep this dish a little chunky if you’re serving it to a little one with a few teeth.

Have you heard of the Wean Machine? I don't even remember how I came across this (surfing the net I am sure!), but it seems really cool.

From the Juvenile Solutions website:

Introducing The Wean Machine™

Fill, squeeze and feed!
The Wean Machine makes nutritious and healthy food with
no noise, no mess, and no fuss!
Helps through each stage of weaning
Easy to use – fill, squeeze and feed
Saves time, no need to cook separate meals
Portable, compact and self contained
Easily sterilized and dishwasher safe
Contains no BPA’s, Phthalates or PVC
Not suitable for use in microwave
Never leave baby unattended when feeding
Always check temperature of food

I got this recipe from the Wholesome Baby Food Blog.

We’re sharing a “casserole” from our favorite egg recipes site, the American Egg Board. This is called the Good Morning Casserole. You can use all egg yolks (12 of them) if your baby has not yet started whole eggs. Remember, many pediatricians still recommend whole eggs at 12 months of age so please be sure to consult with your pediatrician about eggs. Click to read all about eggs and egg allergies, and find more egg recipes too.

This recipe would be great for the 10 month+ baby who is enjoying lumps and bumps in food; a really great textured meal for the active “pincher”. I also suggest using this recipe to help baby learn self-feeding with a spoon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
• 4 slices bread, crust trimmed (try a hearty multi-grain bread!)
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups skim or low-fat milk
• 4 slices cooked turkey bacon, crumbled
• 1/4 cup (1 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup (1 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt, optional
• 1/2 cup frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

Directions:
Across bottom of lightly greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish, arrange bread slices, slightly overlapping. Set aside. In large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, bacon, 2 tablespoons each of Swiss and Cheddar cheeses, mushrooms and salt, if desired. Pour mixture over bread slices. Sprinkle potatoes and remaining cheeses over egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake, uncovered, in preheated 350ºF oven until lightly browned and knife inserted near center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes

I cut this into baby size portions and froze them for later.

Avocados: A quick update

Just a quick update for those that may have had a similar issue. We tried avocados a long time ago and Drew broke out in a pretty good rash. Click here and here for the original posts. We tried it again while on vacation and had zero issues. I am excited to buy some more and try some new recipes with it!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day everyone, I hope you all had a fantastic day. We've been on vacation so we haven't made any recent post. I will have some new post soon, but for now, here is a great video of Drew playing hide and seek with his Daddy.

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Nothing special here, just some angel hair pasta with jarred spaghetti sauce and some of the organic frozen turkey meatballs I bought earlier chopped up. It is a huge mess, but ever baby has to do at least once.

Drew is not a big fan of fruits or vegetables right now, so I am having a difficult time trying to find ways to prepare them so he will actually eat them. I figured I'd try some beef stew. I could cook several veggies & meat at one time with loads of flavor infused in them. No way he could resist that, right? Well, turns out he actually does eat his vegetables; just when they are loaded with flavor. I just made my normal slow cooker beef stew recipe (Stew meat, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, garlic and a season packet for stews). I actually froze several servings for later too!

Gerber's Toddler Nutrition Guide

If you are like me; you are confused about what exactly constitutes a serving size for a toddler is. By toddler, I mean a child that is walking (or tyring to walk) and eating finger foods. I recently received Gerber's "Start Healthy Stay Healthy" guide in the mail and found the chart below to be extremely helpful; so I thought I'd share. Click here for the original PDF file
Update: Thanks Sharee, she just let me know that Wholesome Toddler Food has some great information about this too. Click here to read their site.

So once again, in an attempt to introduce more protein into Olivia's diet, I went on a quest for a chicken recipe. She has not been a chicken fan thus far, and I think it may be because it is sort of hard to "chew" for her.

I found a recipe on a new site I happened upon, that I now love. Here is the recipe I followed:

¾ - 1 lb. package organic chicken tenderloins 1 cup vegetable puree, thinned out with water 2 cups baby cereal (rice, oatmeal or other whole grain) Cooking spray Pinch kosher salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice chicken tenderloins into 1-2 inch long strips and set aside. Fill a wide, shallow bowl with the cereal mixture and another bowl with the vegetable puree. Dredge chicken in baby cereal, then in vegetable puree and go for a second dredge in the cereal mixture. Place chicken fingers on greased cookie sheet (lightly coated with cooking spray).

Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve immediately or freeze in freezer bags to re-heat for another time.

And with this, Olivia still remains NOT a chicken fan. Dinner was changed last minute to cottage cheese, banana,broccoli pieces, and a few Puffs. I'll try again tomorrow :)

Well, it seems both Sabrina and I now have independent eaters. I completely agree in that it is hard to find ways to incorporate the necessary nutrients when you have to make it in a form that they can pick up with their little fingers!

I scoured my favorite websites and books, and decided to try wholesomebabyfood.com's recipe for Apple Turkey Meatloaf. Olivia has loved sauteed ground turkey so I thought this wasn't a far stretch.

Apple Turkey Loaf/Sticks

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 whole egg or 2 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup pureed carrots
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup unprocessed natural wheat or oat bran (I used baby oatmeal)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
pinch of basil (I didn't use*)
pinch of garlic powder (I didn't use*)

*but maybe should have, since it was so bland

Directions:

Place ground turkey in a large mixing bowl.
Add the egg/yolk, carrots, applesauce, spices, bread crumbs and bran.
Mix well - If this mixture appears too dry, add more carrots or applesauce. If this mixture appears too wet, add more bran and/or bread crumbs

Place mix into a lightly oiled (olive oil) loaf pan and bake at 350F for approx. 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. **You may wish to cover with foil to prevent the top from burning

When finished baking and cooled, remove loaf from pan and slice as you would for bread. Break into small bits for finger feeding or Mash or chop gently

This recipe may also be made into "Turkey Sticks" for Toddlers and older babies who are able to handle more textured/chunky finger foods.

Ok, first things first, I do not recommend adding any more veggies or fruit even if it does seem dry, because then it is too moist. I ended up dumping out about a 1/2 cup of water halfway through the baking. And even then, it was still really squishy and thus not great for little fingers.

I tried feeding it to her on a fork and letting her eat it herself. Every bite came right back out with a shake of the head. (Shaking 'no' is her new thing!) So then I tried adding cheese to it, as that usually gets her to eat just about anything. She didn't buy it. So I'm all sad since I made this big meatloaf and no one is going to eat it. Yes, I tried it, and it is really bland..... so I'm not eating it either!

I cut it up and froze it, and thought we would try again another time.

So I reproached it today at lunch. I made her some macaroni noodles and shredded cheese, and mushed up some of the meatloaf into it. She bought it! She ate quite a good helping and didn't spit any out!

Needless to say, it was an experiment and I will keep trying different ways to hide it from her!

So Drew is quickly getting over his beloved purees. As you may be experiencing, finding "healthy" finger foods that babies will eat is becoming tricky. There is a great grocery store near my work called Newflower Farmers Market. They are a small, non-fancy organic grocery store with great prices. Besides some great fruit and veggies I got some "packaged" foods for Drew to try. This is what I bought (some of which is not that healthy, but it will do):

All natural nitrate free turkey dogs (One of Drew's new favorite foods)
Organic whole wheat small bunny crackers
Hummus (I spread some on the crackers above and Drew ate it just fine, thought it might be too much for him but it was all good)
Italian style turkey meatballs (a hit)
Organic brown rice cakes (a hit)
Buckwheat pancake mix (a hit, I add apple sauce or winter squash puree)
Organic apple-cinnamon cereal bars (a hit, just a few bites at at time)
Frozen organic butternut squash filled raviolis (LOVES them)
Organic apple & turkey sausage (Haven't tried yet)
A can of organic beef ravioli (Haven't tried yet)
Organic boxed macaroni & cheese (Haven't tried yet)
Frozen organic salmon patties (Haven't tried yet)
Not shown, but have to mention: Canned tuna (packed in water) I didn't give a lot of it, just a few bites. Drew LOVES this.
Also not shown: Gerber dried fruit. I was afraid these would be hard like regular dried fruit but these are freeze dried and very soft. Much like the yogurt bites; which Drew also likes.

I would love to hear any ideas for finger foods that you have that have not been mentioned yet.

*Drew is 10 1/2 months old now

This is a great, easy finger food to prepare. I used whole wheat tortillas; put some thawed sweet potato puree on half of it. Next I spread shredded chicken and cheddar on top the sweet potato. Fold it in half and microwave for 10-15 seconds; just enough to have the cheese melt. Cool and cut in to bite size squares. Drew can't get enough of these.

Plum organics frozen baby food is not worth the money, in my opinion. I almost bought this once before but didn't because it was almost four dollars for two servings. The next time I saw it I thought what the heck; maybe it is really good stuff. As you can tell, it looks nothing like the picture on the box. It smells as bad as it looks. Drew will not have anything to do with the stuff. So, if you see it in the frozen section at your local store, don't be tempted.

We made French toast for breakfast the other day and it went over well. I used three egg yolks with a dash of cinnamon and vanilla. I added a touch of water to help lighten the egg mixture. I soaked two pieces of bread and than cooked (without oil or butter) on a nonstick pan. I than cut it into small pieces so they were easy for Drew to eat.

Lunch/Dinner foods

Since they are essentially the same!

We are trying chicken, but not liking it yet, pureed or in pieces. I'll keep trying!

Pasta

Pieces of bread

green beans

peas

potatoes

sweet potatoes

steamed apples (have also been adding cinnamon, she loves this!)

steamed squash of all kinds

bananas- this is my go to food if she doesn't eat anything else. She will always put away a good 3/4 of a banana!

broccoli

asparagus

tofu

need to try:

Cauliflower

edamame

That's all I can think of right now, although I think there's more!

Here's a list of the things I give Olivia for breakfast now, and I would love to have any input from others as to things that I am missing, or could add.

This is still a work in progress as she is still trying new foods. Breakfast and lunch are my favorite times to add them, to prevent overnight waking in case they don't agree with her.

Pancakes

Waffles

Bananas

Yo-Baby Yogurt

Steamed and chopped apples or pears

Biscuits

Avocado sometimes

Cheerios

We tried strawberries today, with the ok of the pedi, and she hated them! I've tried grown up oatmeal, both the "real" kind, and the packaged Quaker Oats kind, and those were a no go. Maybe a weird texture?

I am sort of coming up blank when it comes to more things to give her here, so feel free to help!

Is she over it??

I feel like I haven't been able to contribute much lately. Olivia is over purees for sure, and it really over anything that I feed her! She wants to feed herself everything for the most part. This has led me to try and become more and more creative!

There are not many "recipes" out there for finger food! I will post our "normal" foods for each meal over the next couple days, so that those of you who may have kids like mine may get some ideas.

I feel sad because I was so wanting to make her food (which I still am technically) and she just doesn't want it anymore. I think I have an independent child when it comes to eating!

Congratulations to our Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Carol D. & Julie G.; you two are the winners of our Happy Baby Food Giveaway. Check your email for details.

Thank you to everyone that entered.

Sabrina

Last Day for Giveaway!

Don't forget to sign up for the Happy Baby food giveaway! Click here for details.

Edamame, Carrots & Cauliflower

I wanted to introduce edamame, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. I didn’t want to just give it to him plain just yet, so I thought some carrots would accompany it well. I used frozen, shelled edamame that I thawed in the microwave and fresh steamed carrots. I hand chopped them into fine pieces. I gave Drew one bite; hmmm, no. Tried a second bite; hmmm, still no. So, I thawed out one of my dressed up cauliflower cubes and mixed it in. That did it; Drew was good to go after that! Just goes to show that cooking for your baby is mostly trial & error and experimentation.

Barley & Mushrooms from the Cooking for Baby book.

I made barley & mushrooms with hopes that Drew would not like it so that I could eat all the leftovers! This is a very adult flavor and would go great as a side dish steak or chicken. But alas, he gobbled up every last bite!

1/2 cup pearl barley

1 Tbsp butter

1 clove of garlic, minced

6 oz cremini mushrooms, finely chopped (about two cups)

1 cup low sodium broth (I used chicken)

1/3 cup of water

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp thyme (I used dried)

In a dry saucepan, over medium heat, toast the barley. Make sure to stir it often. Cook until brown, about three minutes. Transfer it to a bowl. In the same saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook until it is aromatic, about one minute. Stir in the mushrooms and cook until tender, about three minutes. Stir in the toasted barley, stock, water, salt, pepper and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until barley is tender; about 30-35 minutes.

*Make sure to watch this. I didn't pay that much attention and it ran out of liquid, making much of the barley stick and burn. Luckily I was able to salvage enough of it. Just add more water if need be.

Depending on your child's age and ability, serve it as is or puree it (adding water) for a coarse puree. It will refrigerate (in an airtight container) for up to 3 days.

Barnes, Lisa. Cooking for Baby. Gold Street Press, page 65.

Giveaway: Happy Baby Baby Food & Yobaby Yogurt

If you have read the blog before, than I am sure you have seen my post about Happy Baby frozen baby food and Yobaby yogurt. These are awesome, organic, tasty prepared baby foods that are extremely convenient when mom (or dad) needs a break from making their child's food. What I did not blog about was their other line of organic foods for baby, such as Organic Puffs, Healthy Kids Meals, and Organic Cereals. The good people of Happy Baby Food and their partners at Stonyfield Farm were kind enough to provide coupons for free products. Two lucky winners will each receive the following coupons good for:

One Free cup or drinkable multipack of Stonyfield Farm Yobaby Organic Yogurt
One Free box of any flavor of Happy Baby's Fresh Frozen Organic Baby Meals
One Free Canister of any flavor of Happy Baby's Puffs healthy finger foods for babies
One Free canister of any Happy Bellies Flavor; the only baby cereal with DHA & Probiotics
Also included is one buy one get one free box of Happy Bites healthy kids meals coupon

This giveaway is open until May 8, 2009 at 11:59 pm CST.

1. Leave your name and email address in the form below.

2. For extra entries:

If you have a blog, share this giveaway with your readers then come back and make a second entry by leaving us the direct link to the post in the field "URL."
Twitter and/or Facebook about the giveaway. Be sure to include the link to the giveaway so that we know you twittered. Come back and make another entry letting us know you twittered.

3. Winners will be chosen by Random.org's integer generator. Your information is confidential and used for this giveaway only. One entry per person please with the exceptions listed above. You will not receive an extra entry for being a "subscriber". Multiple entries other than the ones listed above will be deleted. Feel free to leave us a comment but comments will not be counted as an entry- Please use the form.

4. Winners will be contacted by email where I will request an address to mail the coupons. Again, your information is confidential and used for this giveaway only. If I do not get a response back from a winner within 4 days of notification and address request, I will select a new winner by random.

Thank you and good luck!

Applesauce Pancakes

So, I've got all this leftover applesauce (Drew does not like anything apple) and I am trying to be creative about using it up without Drew noticing it. I decided to make pancakes with it and they turned out really well; and of course very easy. I had Hungry Jack pancake mix on hand (the kind you just add water to), so I used that. For 6-8 pancakes it normally calls for 1 cup of mix and 3/4 cup of water. Instead, I took one package of applesauce, which turned out to be a 1/2 cup. I used a 1/2 cup of water with that, because if I used any less the mixture would have been too thick. I slightly oiled my nonstick pan and made several small pancakes. I cut one pancake up into small squares for breakfast and froze the leftovers.

...

If you have a creative way to disguise applesauce in baby food I would love to hear about it!

Soyabean Dosa

Ingredients:

Soyabean-soaked in water for 8 hours,
followed by sprouting which increases their vitamin E content.
Ginger
jeera
Salt
Chillies (optional)
Rice Flour-1-2 tsp,

Method :

1. Grind the soyabeans in a grinder, with ginger, jeera, salt and chillies to taste.
2. Add water till the consistency is of idli-atta.
3. Heat the coated pan. Pour soyamixture on the hot pan, about 2 large spoonful. Spread with a spoon. Cover. Cook for 2 min, on medium heat.
4. Invert and cook other side, without cover.

Additions: Adding Onions, Tomatoes, Grated Carrots, Grated Raddish, Cumin seeds make the dosa more delicious. Oil can be sprayed on pan while cooking, but is not a must.

SPINACH DOSA

Ingredients

Par-boiled rice: 1 1/2 cups
Chana dal, Tuvar dal, Moong dal and Urad dal (combined) : 1 cup
Curry leaves: 5
Jeera 1tsp
Dry red chillies: As per taste(optional can be made without them too)
Spinach : 1/2 cup, chopped
Onion: 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Salt: to taste

Method:
Soak rice and dals seperately for 4 hours. Grind rice and spinach and make a smooth batter. Coarse grind the dals along with curry leaves, jeera and dry red chillies. Mix dals, finely chopped onion to the rice batter. Then make dosas (pan cakes) out of it.

One of Drew's favorite new food items is Yobaby yogurt from Stoneyfield. Their websites states:

YoBaby...

Helps promote healthy brain development YoBaby is made with the whole milk pediatricians recommend for healthy brain development for children up to age two.

Helps little bodies grow naturally YoBaby is naturally high in calcium and protein, essential tools for baby's growth.

Contains no yucky stuff! YoBaby is all natural and certified organic. It's made with milk from cows that were fed organic feed and have not been treated with antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. And, all of the fruits and grains in our products were grown without the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Helps aid digestion YoBaby contains six live active cultures. In addition to the two cultures needed to make yogurt L. bulgaricusand S. thermophilus we add four types of beneficial bacteria, known as probiotic cultures: L. acidophilus, Bifidus, L. casei, and L. rhamnosus. Our exclusive blend of probiotic cultures aid in nutrient absorption and enhance digestion.

I like how some of the yogurts contain cereal; I usually add mashed bananas, pureed pears, or blueberries for added texture, flavor and nutrition. For the flavors that do not have cereal added I’ll often mix oatmeal to them for added nutrition and to help thicken them up.

Baby’s Cheesy Cheese Logs

I just saw this recipe yesterday on the wholesomebabyfood blog. It seemed easy enough, I had all the ingredients on hand, so what the heck. Here is the recipe copied directly from their website:

Cheese Logs - a great finger food for babies 10 months and older. Babies 8 months + might be able to handle the texture, you decide Mom.

1/2 cup all purpose flour (using wheat flour makes this more nutritious but may yield a more gummy texture)

1/4 cup of butter1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar - preferably the small thin shreds

1 egg (or 2 egg yolks)

dash of pepper

dash of garlic powder

...
Mix the butter and flour together and then add the cheese & egg (spices are optional). You will then have a “dough”. Roll this dough into thin logs and & bake for about 10 mins @ 375 F. You may wish to bake these for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of your logs. If you notice browning on the bottoms, turn the logs over 1/2 way through the cooking time!
You can change this recipe as you see fit - instead of butter, use applesauce for example!

Note: I used 2 egg yolks and butter. I baked them for 10 minutes and they still were a little brown on the bottom. Do not grease your pan, there is enough grease from the butter and cheese. I wasn't sure what to expect from these. I thought maybe they'd be like cheese straws, but it has more of a biscuit consistancy than anything. Drew wasn't quit ready for the entire stick yet, so I broke them down for him. I am not sure if you can freeze these or not, but I am going to try.

Bagel with Cream Cheese

Finger food breakfast idea: Bagel with Cream Cheese.
...
This is an easy one, I take about 1/4 of a bagel and cover it with plain cream cheese. I cut it up into small, baby bite size squares. Drew really liked this; after the initial shock of course! I am thinking of mashing up some bananas and mixing it up with the cream cheese next time.

Scrambled Egg Yolk with Cheese

Finger food Breakfast idea: Scrambled Egg Yolk with Cheese.

...

So, maybe scrambled egg yolks was not the best idea I've had; but it worked out for the most part. I took three egg yolks, about a tablespoon of water, a dash of pepper, and a dash of garlic powder. Egg yolks are very thick, so the water helps to thin them out a bit. Beat the mixture with a whisk or fork and cook over medium heat "scrambling" the eggs while they cook. Add some shredded mild cheddar right before you take them out of the pan. Now, egg yolks cook quit differently than whole eggs or egg whites. They are very thick and pasty; almost with a dough like consistency. I was a little worried about them, but Drew seemed to really like them. This makes a good weekend breakfast alternative.

Soups .........

Soup is an easy and delicious way to combine healthful ingredients such as whole grains, vegetables, and protein choices. Its super easy to make and very less time taking . It makes the whole process of cooking food for your baby enjoyable and easy and not to forget full of wholesome ingredients.

You can me a broth and freeze so that you can use it later. The broth by itself is a clear soup and can be given by themselfs.

Vegetable broth:

3 cloves of garlic; pealed and smashed
2 celery ribs chopped
fresh sliced mushrooms
1 cup carrot chopped
2 cups leeks
2 large potato cubed
10 springs of parsley
2tbsp of rosemary, dill or thyme
1 bay leaf
10 black pepper corn
1 large onion cut in big slice
water
1/4 tsp ground clove

Method:
Rinse and put all the above in a pressure cooker with water and cook them for 20 mins. After it cools remove and strain them ... use into any soup.

you can use the carrot and potato in other dishes

Palak soup

Ingredients:

1 cup of palak,
1/2 potato
1/2 onion
1 clove of garlic
salt to taste
half tsp butter
pepper little
1 tsp cream for garnish

Method:

wash and cut the palak, potato and onion into small pieces and pressure cook them with some salt and water and garlic for 2-3 whistles. After it cools blend them and let it boil with some butter and pepper for 5 mins. The spinach soup is ready.. serve it with some cream on top of it.

the potato in the recipe helps the soup to get thick. You can serve this with a toast of brown bread or rice.

Mixed Vegetable soup

Ingredients:

Half carrot
1 potato
1 Onion
3-4 pods of garlic
1 tomato
1 small size floret of clauliflower
small piece cabbage
small piece of lauki(bottle gourd)
few leaves of palak
salt to taste
half tsp butter
pinch of black pepper

Method:
Cut all vegetables in small pieces. Put them in pressure cooker along with salt and water (water level -so much that all vegetables are soaked) Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Allow to cool put the content in the blender along with water and make a puree.Let the puree boil in an open vessel(u may add water if u feel the soup is thick) once boiled, check for salt, if needed add more along with butter and black pepper.

the soup above is a very good option for the bigger children as they fail to eat vegetables normally even half a cup of this soup would be great for the child's nutrition. It is not always neccessary that all the above vegetables should be there you can add or substract any veggiee ...
you can add any number of vegetables to this soup.

PEA'S SOUP

Ingredients:

500 gm shelled peas or you can use frozen ones
1 onion finely chopped
2.5 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh creamsalt
and pepper to taste

Method: Heat some ghee in a pan then add the onion and saute till pink. Then add the peas and saute or a further 5 minutes. Add seasoning and vegetable stock. Boil and simmer till the peas are cooked. Puree in a grinderor if your kid is a little older you can just mash it with a laddle and serve. Serve hot topped with fresh cream.

Sweet potato & pineapple

Drew is not fond of pineapple by itself so far, so I decided to chop some up and mix it with sweet potato and cinnamon. I am convinced he will eat anything if it is mixed with sweet potato.

Alternative uses for baby food...

So before I knew about the nitrates or whatever in carrots, I had made a big batch and used the reserved cooking water in them. Once I read that was a no-no, I decided to figure out a way to use them in our food (not Olivia's) so as not to waste it.

My husband is not a huge veggie eater, so I thought I would try to sneak it in some of his food! Here was tonight's spaghetti sauce right after I threw 6 cubes of carrots in it! He never even knew, and I'm not telling!

Pasta with Cauliflower & Cheese

Drew had an interesting week. I got a little food happy and introduced him to Cheerios, cheese, pineapple, and the frozen baby dinners; which have several new and different ingredients. What happens? Of course he breaks out in a rash. This was similar the one he had with avocado. So, we stopped with all the new foods and I thought it would be gone the next day; but no it got worse of the next two days. It is finally gone and I am re-introducing the new foods one a time. First Cheerios, which of course I don't believe was the culprit, but just in case. Second, cheese.

...

Today for lunch Drew had Ditalini pasta mixed with our dressed up cauliflower and shredded cheddar cheese. No real recipe to follow, just a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I did add a pinch of garlic too, his first time for this. I got the idea from wholesomebabyfood.com that did the same thing, but with carrots. Seeing how we are out of carrots I thought I'd try it with the cauliflower. This smelled so good that I had to try it for myself. Both Drew and I give it two thumbs up!

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