QUINOA

The more baby food blogs/articles/books/magazines I read, the more I see about this increasingly popular "super food" for babies. This is a great additional source of protein. We've tried a couple of recipes that call for quinoa and Caeden has loved them. So... here are some I found from Homemade Baby Food Recipes. I've been using this site regularly for new recipes.



Creamy Quinoa Breakfast

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and diced
1 drop of vanilla
4 fl oz (1/2 cup) natural yogurt
2 oz (1/4 cup) cooked quinoa

Steam the apple and pear dice, then puree with the vanilla in a blender.
Reduce the heat and simmer gently, covered, for 5 mins.
Mix the fruit puree with the yogurt, then stir in the quinoa and serve.




Easy Quinoa and Banana Breakfast

4 oz (1/2 cup) cooked quinoa
1/2 ripe banana
4 fl oz (1/2 cup) milk - you can use breast milk, formula or whole milk

Blend the milk with the banana and pour into a small saucepan.
Add the quinoa and simmer gently for 5 to 10 mins, until thickened.
Puree if desired.

Variations: Add a little chopped dried fruit at the start of the cooking time - apricots taste great!




Pretty Pink Quinoa

1 medium beet (beetroot), peeled and diced
1 small apple, peeled and diced
4 oz (1/2 cup) cooked quinoa

Steam the beet cubes and apple until tender, then puree together in a food processor.
Stir in the cooked quinoa and serve!




Sweet and Savoury Vegetable Quinoa

This is quite a textured dish, ideal for babies who are already chewing.

8 oz (1 cup) quinoa, cooked in vegetable broth

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp diced zucchini/courgette
1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 spring onion/green onion/scallion, chopped
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp chopped, dried apricots

Soak the raisins and dried apricots in warm water to soften them.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan/skillet.
Saute the zucchini and sweet potato dice with the onion until golden.
Stir in the cooked quinoa, raisins and dried apricots.
Serve warm - mmm!




Easy Quinoa Curry

This recipe is ideal from around 10 months of age.

4 oz (1/2 cup) cooked quinoa

1 small onion
olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp fresh ginger, crushed
6 oz (3/4 cup) cannellini beans
1/2 tsp curry powder
6 oz (3/4 cup) canned tomatoes, chopped

Heat the oil in a frying pan/skillet and saute the onion for 2 mins.
Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 2 mins more.
Stir in the cannellini beans and the curry powder.
Add the tomatoes and cooked quinoa, then lower the heat.
Simmer for 10 mins, then mash well and serve.




Chicken and Quinoa Patties

A wonderfully nutritious finger food for older babies!

8 oz (1 cup) ground chicken
1/2 sweet potato
1 medium apple
1 garlic clove
1/2 small onion
1 egg yolk, beaten
2 oz (1/4 cup) cooked quinoa
pinch dried thyme

Peel the sweet potato, apple, garlic and onion and grate them together into a bowl.
Stir in the ground chicken, beaten egg yolk, quinoa and thyme and mix thoroughly.
Divide the mixture into balls, then press with your hands into 1/2 inch thick patties.
Cook under the grill/broiler for 10 mins each side, until cooked through.

If you want to prepare some of these in advance for future use, then freeze the patties BEFORE cooking them!



Nutritious Quinoa Meatballs

Another great finger food idea!

1/2 lb lean ground beef
4 oz (1/2 cup) cooked quinoa
2 oz (1/2 cup) grated carrot
1 egg yolk, beaten
2 tbsp applesauce
pinch dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F (200 deg C).
Mix all the ingredients together and form into 1 inch meatballs with your hands.
Cook for around 15 mins, unitl the meat is done.
Serve warm, storing excess meatballs in the freezer.

SLACKER

this post is just to say.... SORRY!! i've been slacking. i haven't forgotten about it. i PROMISE today i will post at least a few new recipes! i've been cooking.... just not writing about it!

little side note... a few of the recipes i've read called for chicken sausage. i was really hesitant to use it because its, well, processed. but... for memorial day weekend, with all the grilling, i broke down and let caeden try it. he LOVED it! and after reading the ingredients, i'm not worried about it anymore. another great protein source. i buy the Al Fresco brand. they make them in all kinds of fun flavors. so far he loves the traditional "sweet italian" as well as the "sundried tomato and basil". :)

i keep trying to include links and its just not working out for me so.... you can check out the chicken sausage at: www.alfrescoallnatural.com

Black Bean Burgers with Mango Salsa

This is a recipe I actually made for Kevin and I one night but gave Caeden a few bites and he loved it! so... perfect family recipe! The ingredients below are for 6 servings. You might not need that much. The burgers ARE freezable. Here it is:

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, divided
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 medium jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (you can obviously leave this out. I don't and Caeden is fine with it.)
2 large egg whites (be careful for young babies who haven't had egg whites yet)
1 and 1/4 cup peeled mango
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 and 1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 avocado, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
6 whole wheat hamburger buns, lightly toasted
6 green lettuce leaves

- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- place black beans in a medium bowl; mash with fork. Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro and the next 7 ingredients (through egg whites).
- shape bean mixture into 6 (1/2 inch thick) patties.* Arrange patties on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray (I use olive oil in a sprayer). Bake for 20 minutes, carefully turning once.*
- combine remaining 1/4 cup cilantro, mango, and the next 4 ingredients (through minced garlic) in a medium bowl.

* Since you can freeze the burger mixture (either before or after you cook) you can really make them any size you need. I make them smaller ("baby size"). You just need to watch the cooking time. I take mine out after around 17 minutes. To freeze the burgers before cooking you'll need waxed paper cut into 5 inch squares. Just layer paper and burger, stacking them on top of each other, and then place in a freezer bag. You might want to stack them even if they are cooked because the consistency is a little mushy.

Soooo..... for the adults.... you just place a burger on the bottom of a hamburger bun, and then top each with 1 lettuce leaf, 1/3 cup mango salsa, and the top half of the bun. For the babes... I serve the burger (cut up into the appropriate size pieces for your baby) and then the salsa on the side. Both are great "finger foods".

Don't be intimidated by the length of this recipe. They're actually super easy to make and quite yummy!

Making Life Just A Little Bit Easier...

Hey Everyone!
Wanted to share this "ah ha" moment I had last month-- I was eating a bowl of granola with freeze dried strawberries in them at 9:00 pm on the kitchen floor with my precious baby girl standing there, staring at me, saying "mum mum." I gave her a little bit of the milk-- then some of the strawberry and her face lit up! And I thought-- "ah ha!" I had read an article earlier that week about the 6 worst "healthy" snacks to give your child and on that list was one thing I had started giving Baby D-- crackers! The horror I felt as I was faced with the fact that I was diluting my child's system with cheesy crackers (hey, at least they are organic!!)--- and boy oh boy does she love those cheesy, salty crackers! Let's face it, we all need a "quick fix" at times, and I couldn't figure out what I could throw in her "snack trap" that wouldn't leave me riddled with guilt. Then it dawned on me-- freeze dried fruit!!! If we are on the go and need to take something that won't spoil, or I don't want to lug a huge ice pack and sack, I throw freeze dried fruit, yogurt melts, and/or cheerios in to a snack trap and off we go! SHE LOVES IT! You can find freeze dried fruit at Trader Joe's in yummy flavors like strawberry, mango, and banana-- she LOVES the strawberries and bananas! I hope the babes like it!

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!

Asparagus anyone??

I've been slacking! SORRY! I really have nothing useful to say this morning. Let's see... food-related. Caeden will be enjoying something with asparagus today. "why" you might ask? Well, I just read this fabulous little tip the other day... I THINK it was actually from Parenting magazine.... that there's something in asparagus that helps ward off the common headache and nausea associated with having one too many a cocktail. HA! I guess if you eat asparagus before, during, or after drinking it will help with the hangover. Sadly, I need that help today. I promise I'm not a bad parent. The last time I went out, without Caeden, prior to last night, was MARCH 14th!!!! And I don't know about you but since having a baby I can't even have one small drink without getting the BIGGEST headache. So.... we're trying the asparagus trick today. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Easy Breakfast Ideas

These aren't really recipes. More like, stuff I throw together on short notice in the morning.

Today we had:

"Mexican" Scrambled Eggs

1 egg
1 slice tomato, diced
3 fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 pinch garlic powder

*whip it all together and cook.

Another thing I do a lot:

Baby Oatmeal

Earth's Best Baby Oatmeal cereal. Mix in 2 ounces of babe's favorite fruit purees. We usually do Berry puree, Peach, Apple, Pear and Banana.

* I've tried making my own oatmeal by throwing organic oats in the food processor but the little man doesn't seem to like this as much as the baby oatmeal. I suppose this works out better since the baby oatmeal is fortified with Vitamin D and iron.

Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes

I use the Maple Grove Farms whole wheat pancake mix and substitute homemade apple puree for the egg and the oil. Toss in a little cinnamon. Voila!

* These need to cook a little longer and don't come out as light and fluffy as a "regular" pancake but they're quite delish!

Foodie FUN!

Messy Mama-
I am so pumped you are doing this blog, what a great idea. I am foodie to the fullest and love everything about food, EVEN baby/toddler food. I would certainly say one of my biggest challenges feeding my little one is making sure she is getting her daily servings of protein and iron. Raising a vegetarian baby definately keeps things interesting in the food department and we are always having to come up with quick and clever ideas to sneak in iron/protein packed foods that she may not be so inclined to eat! It's always an adventure at our house! Here are a few of Baby D's FAVORITE throw downs that are jammed with iron and protein and yummy to the taste buds!

Beet Grilled Cheese (that's right people, I said beets)
1 slice of 7 Grain Bread
1 slice of organic provolone cheese
1/2 of beet bulb, finally chopped (I buy them from whole foods in a vaccum seeled package)
1 smiggen of butter (I am a HUGE fan of Kate's Homemade Butter from Maine)

Lay 7 Grain Bread flat, cut in half.
Cut your slice of provolone in half, lay the cheese on the halfs of the bread.
Spread your finally chopped beats in between the halfs.
Throw your smiggen of butter in the skillet, heat until cheese melts.
Cut to your baby's size liking and watch them throw it back!!!!!! It's amazing--I was shocked!
I always serve this with sliced Danjou Pear.


Spinach & Brown Rice
1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup spinach
1 garlic clove (small side)
3 grape tomatoes
1 naked Quorn cutlet (protein packed "fake" chicken made with microproteins and egg whites, you can find in your natural section of your local grocery or whole foods)
1 smiggen of butter
Sprinkle of Parmesean Cheese

Cook the brown rice and spinach as directed.
Cook the Quorn cutlet as directed.
Heat a smiggen of the butter in your pan and throw in your garlic, quickly heat your tomatoes.
Once everything is complete, mix together, sprinkle your cheese, and serve!
Store the rest in fridge for quick heat-up or in the freezer for another dinner!
This one goes beautifully with blackberries.

Hope you all will try these recipes and most of all that your little one will love them!

PS- Sorry I don't have exact measurements-- I just throw it together and pray that it works! HAPPY COOKING!