YOGURT

Babes can't have cow's milk until after a year, but they sure love their yogurt LONG before that. Here are a couple yogurt recipes to switch things up a bit.

We had this one for lunch today:

Cucumber, Yogurt and Mint

1/4 cucumber
1/2 cup organic plain whole-milk yogurt (I use Stoneyfield)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh mint

Shred the cucumber using the large holes of a box grater. Place in a bowl with mint. Stir in yogurt. Voila! You can also substitute the cucumber for edamame puree, and the mint for parsley. We like lots of flavor here so I stick with the mint. We even got to use the fresh mint from our herb garden today! Nothing better than being able to walk out the door and pick the herbs you're going to need!

Yogurt and Fruit Smoothies

Here's your chance to get creative with all kinds of fresh fruit. You can really dump anything into a blender and have it turn out delicious, but here are some of our favorites.

I always start with:

1/2 banana
1/2 cup organic plain whole-milk yogurt

From there I add:

1 ripe mango
1 cup fresh or frozen sliced strawberries (for older babes)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup red raspberries (for older babes)
1/2 cup blackberries (for older babes)

Mix and match at will. We usually do all berries, mango/banana, or mango/banana/strawberries. If you add a few ice cubes you can make it thicker so younger babes can eat it with a spoon. Smoothies can also be frozen for up to three months.

I also make my own fruit yogurt instead of buying the already mixed flavors. I found that there's a lot less sugar if you make your own fruit purees and add them to plain yogurt.

That's it for today!