Sunday 27 May 2012

Cultivate

Endless days and hours of preparation.  The culmination of all the baby steps that led up to this moment.  The exhilaration of reaching the highest summit!!

No, my baby food cook book isn’t done…my garden is planted.

I love gardening almost as much as I love cooking so when the two marry as veggie and herb seeds are sown to birth greens and produce for us to eat?!?  Well let’s just say I get a HUGE kick out of that!
Here comes the baby spinach…
Even when this type of spinach is full grown it’s still called a baby.  Just like some adults.

When we plant our edible garden, we really take some time to think about what veggies and herbs we eat on a regular basis so we can consume as much of what we plant as possible.  I remember the first year I wanted to plant everything even if I wasn’t that keen on eating some of the choices.  3 little pumpkin seeds turned into gargantuan vines that twisted and turned around all the other greens stifling them like an uninvited guest.  Although I loved the look of the pumpkin vines, I realized I would need to have acres of land to put them in so as to not cramp their style.  Live and learn.

The Basil is coming of age well now that she is free from the choking grip of the pumpkin creeper of years past…


If you’re making your own homemade baby food, think of things you can plant that can be used for baby food purees.  Imagine the $ you can save by making your own baby food, and then couple that with growing the ingredients at home?  Crazy savings and crazy inspiration to see those babies grow for baby!
Carrots, spinach, tomatoes, parsnip, potatoes and turnip are all great choices, and a strawberry patch will allow for weeks of strawberry puree to add to baby cereal or mashed fresh banana for babies over 8 months.

If you have older kids, gardening is a fun thing to do to get them and you outdoors.  You can teach them how food grows and explain that with a little culinary help, it can transform into wonderful things like spaghetti sauce and strawberry ice cream…that one may inspire them.

Here’s a fun little video I came across on Design Mom’s website.  They have a video series called “Olive Us” and this one was particularly cute for this time of year.

Olive Us – Episode 1 – Gardening



Now let’s use some of those home grown ingredients to make a wonderful little meal for baby.
We’ll feature some baby spinach in this one.  Spinach is jam packed with nutrients like Folic acid, Vitamins A, C and B6 and iron and calcium, to name a few.  It makes a great addition to baby’s menu.  And we’ll throw in some tomatoes and basil since they’ll be growing in abundance, along with a carrot or two and some onion.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Cheesy Tomato & Basil Rice with Spinach



Age – 8 months +

Ingredients

·         2 plum tomatoes
·         ¾ cup chopped onion
·         1 tbsp. butter
·         2 Basil Leaves chopped
·         1 cup of Baby Spinach loosely packed
·         ¼ cup of cheddar cheese
·         ¼ cup of milk
·         1 large carrot
·         ¾  cup of rice
Baby Steps

1.      Peel, seed and chop tomatoes using the boiling water method. See instructions from an earlier post “Bye, Bye Spontaneity.”
2.      Clean and dice basil making sure to remove stems.
3.      Clean spinach well and remove stems.
4.      Peel and chop carrots and onion.
5.      Cook rice in rice cooker or however you would typically make your rice.  I add double the amount of water to rice and let it cook for approx. 20 minutes.  So you can use ¾ cups of rice and 1 ½ cups of water.
6.      Meanwhile add carrots to a steamer set over boiling water, cover and steam for 20 minutes or until tender.
7.      While carrots are cooking, melt butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and add onion.  Sauté until soft, approx. 5 minutes then add tomatoes.  Stir frequently for approx. 2 minutes until tomatoes start to soften.
8.      Add basil and spinach to tomatoes and onion and continue to cook until spinach is wilted, approx. 4 minutes.
9.      Add cheese and milk to tomatoes and stir until cheese is melted.  Remove from heat and set aside.
10.  Transfer tomato and cheese mixture to a food processor, blender or bowl to use hand held blender to puree, and add cooked carrots.  Puree to a smooth consistency.
11.  Add tomato sauce to cooked rice and stir together well.  You can add some of the cooking water used to cook the carrots a tbsp. at a time  if you want a thinner consistency.
12.  Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to freezing trays to store in the freezer and use within 3 months, or to a food storage container in the fridge to use within 48 hours.

Makes – Approx. 12 servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)
Now go get the kids, put baby in a shady spot and get out in the garden and cultivate some family fun!!!

Sunday 20 May 2012

Pete the Pepper?


Guess who?

It’s the ever jovial and timeless Mr. Potato Head!


No, that’s not him…let’s try that again…


There he is!

Carter’s new (old) favourite movie is Toy Story. He has become entranced with each character so his discomposure was no shocker as he caught glimpse of the classic Mr. Potato Head toy my husband brought home for him recently.
He LOVES it!  Just as millions of kids before him. So simple…so easy…so brilliant.  Concoct your very own funny face on a plastic potato…genius!  When Mr. Potato Head first came to be, it didn’t include the plastic potato body.  The idea was to have your parents give you a potato, carrot or other big enough root vegetable to stick the plastic body parts into.  Voila…instant veggie person!


Mr. Potato Head was invented and developed by George Lerner in 1949 and then first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in 1952.  This was the first toy ever advertised on television and the first ad aimed at children directly.  All previous commercials would speak to adults.  I guess this is who we thank now for instigating a regular riot in the grocery store cereal aisle as little Jimmy MUST HAVE those sugar corn something or others that the big coloured box told him he must have this morning.  

Growing up, Lerner would take potatoes from his mother’s garden and add homemade body parts to them to give to his sister to play with…little did he know this was the birth of a gazillion dollar idea.
Over 1 million kits were sold the first year and then a year later the introduction of his beloved side kick Mrs. Potato Head came to be.

By 1964, government regulations made the plastic potato body we know and love today a mandatory addition to the Mr. Potato head kit.  It was kids playing with appendages that had connectors sharp enough to stab through the flesh of a hard vegetable that caused a stir.  Go figure.
Many fruit and veggie characters followed such as Oscar the Orange, Pete the Pepper, Katie Carrot and Cookie Cucumber but none had the staying power of the almighty Potato.

This is inspiring a baby food recipe in me.  But instead of using the plastic potato I’ll use a real one and I’ll replace the swanky moustache and dumbo ears with carrot and rutabaga and the toothy grin and rubbery arms with broccoli and cauliflower.  Then I’ll mash them all together for the ultimate in flavour, texture and nutrients for baby. 

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Monster Mash

Age – 6 months +

 Ingredients

·         2 large carrots

·         2 medium potatoes

·         1 ¼ cups chopped rutabaga

·         1 cup chopped broccoli

·         1 cup chopped cauliflower

·         1 tbsp. butter

·         ½ cup of milk

Baby Steps

1.      Peel and chop carrots, potatoes and rutabaga and place in steamer set over boiling water.  Cover and steam for 12 minutes.

2.      Add chopped broccoli and cauliflower and continue to steam for another 10 minutes.

3.      Remove from heat and transfer to a food processor, blender or bowl to use hand held blender to puree.

4.      If baby is over 8 months you can mash the veggies instead of pureeing them for some added texture.

5.      Whichever method you’re using, add the butter and milk and mash or puree to desired consistency.  You can also add some of the cooking water a tbsp. at a time to further thin out the mixture if you like.

6.      Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to freezing trays to be used within 3 months, or to a food storage container in the fridge to use within 48 hours.

Makes – 14 Servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

Just like the invention of Mr. Potato Head, this recipe is so simple…so easy…so brilliant (in nutrients for baby that is).

Thursday 10 May 2012

I Would Like...

With kids in the house there is no shortage of laughs.  Add in a 10 year age discrepancy and the diversity of humour goes through the roof.  One is funny because of the way they weave their words and thoughts together, and the other is funny because of the way they needle their prey with incessant mockery.  Considering both are boys it’s tough to guess which characterization is the 2 year old and which is the 12 year old.

2 year old Carter is currently on an “I NEED” kick.  Whenever he wants something he says, “I NEED” such and such.  One morning this week he bellowed, “I need a banana!”  My husband responded, “you don’t NEED anything.  If you would like a banana then say, I would like a banana please.”  “Now Carter, what would you like?”  Carter thoughtfully replied, “a yogurt”.  I almost choked on my granola trying to stifle my laugh.
On the other side of the spectrum is 12 year old Eric.  He’s more into the, “hey uncle Ryan I like your sweater…my mom has one just like it.”  And he’s in stitches.  And somehow so are we all.

Never a dull moment with these two…


And just as I started to mourn at the thought of Eric being too old to want to make me a Mother’s Day gift, in swoops the 2 year old with a handmade Mother’s Day card and potted plant courtesy of the daycare craft brigade.


Happy Mother’s Day to me. J  And to you of course!

Let’s see if all those hubbies out there want to whip up a simple Broccoli and Cauliflower puree with a creamy cheese sauce for baby today to give mom a break on her special day!

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Cauli-Broc ‘n Cheese

Age – 6 months +

Ingredients

·         4 cups of broccoli chopped

·         4 cups of cauliflower chopped

Cheese Sauce Ingredients

·         1 tbsp. of butter

·         ¾ cup of cheddar cheese

·         1 tbsp. Flour

·         1 ½ cups milk

Baby Steps

1.      Clean and chop broccoli and cauliflower and place in steamer set over boiling water.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

2.      To make the sauce melt butter in a pan over medium heat.

3.      Add flour and stir until it makes a smooth paste.  Approx. 1 minute.

4.      Add milk and stir until lumps are gone and it starts to thicken.

5.      Add cheese and stir until it reaches a smooth consistency.  You can add a bit more milk at the end if you want a less thick sauce.

6.      Transfer steamed broccoli and cauliflower into a blender, food processor or bowl to use hand held blender to puree.  Add a couple of tbsps. of the cooking water to the veggies and puree to a smooth consistency.

7.      Add cheese sauce to veggies and stir until mixed in well.

8.      Let cool and then add to freezing trays to use within 3 months or to a food storage container in the fridge to use within 48 hours.

Makes – 12 servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

Note – For older babies, 8 months +, you can just slightly puree the cooked veggies or even use a knife and fork to cut them into tiny pieces allowing for a chunkier texture.

Lucky for me this hobby/project/destiny of writing a baby food cook book in my spare (ha!) time allows me to reflect on all those little things my boys do to make me smile.  And there’s plenty. 

Sunday 6 May 2012

Corn & Oranges for Dinner

No matter how old we are, mom’s take care of us.  Whether of baby, toddler or full grown adult age they want to make sure we don’t endure any unnecessary hardships or inconveniences.

I car pool with a friend to work and we have an intricate set of kid, toddler and dog drop offs to carry out between the two of us to make sure everyone gets where they need to be on a daily basis.  A number of those drop offs and pick-ups are at our own parent’s houses. They have taken on the HUGE role of helping out a couple of days a week by taking care of their grandkids so their own kids can carry on with their (our) busy day to day lives with a little less to worry about.  Looking after a baby is one thing but as the little angels enter into toddlerhood and big kid status, grandma is run ragged but she always greets us at the door with a smile (probably because the hellions are going home now) and never a complaint.
This past Friday we picked my friend’s son up from Grandma’s and before he would leave he had to scope out the premises for anything he could bring home with him.  He scored an orange and 2 pieces of corn on the cob that Grandma had thoughtfully cooked up that day.  Now he was ready to go.

Instant entertainment was achieved making the rest of our long journey home seem miniscule as he chanted, “I’M HAVING CORN AND ORANGES FOR DINNER!!”  “I’M HAVING CORN AND ORANGES FOR DINNER?!”  Somehow without even realizing it, Grandma had taken care of everyone.
There’s something so simple but so good about corn on the cob.  As soon as Carter could pick one up by himself he would devour it leaving a bare cob with not one stray niblet to be found.


Of course all this talk of corn and oranges for dinner inspired this week’s baby food recipe.  Even as delightful (strange) as corn and oranges sounds as a flavour combo, I’m afraid I’ll have to leave the oranges out of this recipe.  Babies really shouldn’t have any citrus fruits until they are over a year old. The acidity in oranges is difficult for babies to handle which can translate into severe diaper rashes.  Read more about this at Momtastic’s Wholesome Baby Food website.

Corn is packed with folic acid, potassium and thiamine and has a tender, milky sweet flavour.  I wonder if babies like sweet and milky flavoured things…hmm?

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Sweet Corn and Peas Mash



Age – 8 months +

Ingredients

·         1 small corn on the cob

·         1 sweet potato

·         ½ cup frozen green peas

·         1 tbsp. butter

·         ¼ cup of milk

Baby Steps

1.      Remove husk from a small corn on the cob and place corn in pot of boiling water.  Cover and cook over high heat until tender, approx. 15 minutes.

2.      Remove from heat and carefully take corn out of boiling water with tongs and set aside.

3.      Peel and chop sweet potato into small chunks and add to a steamer set over boiling water and cook for approx. 15 minutes until tender.

4.      Add frozen peas to the sweet potato in steamer for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.

5.      Remove from heat and put cooked sweet potato and peas into a blender, food processor or large bowl if planning on using a hand blender to puree.

6.      Slice the cooked corn off the cob and add the corn niblets to the potato and peas along with the butter and milk.

7.      Mash or puree to desired consistency.  If you want a thinner consistency you can add a couple of tbsps. of the cooking water to the veggies and then puree.

8.      Add puree to freezing trays to keep in the freezer to use within 3 months, or to a food storage container in the fridge to be used within 48 hours.

Note:  If you’re having corn on the cob for a family meal one evening, cook one extra cob and keep to make this recipe for baby the next day…or if you’ve eaten your Wheaties that day and are really ambitious, whip it together later on.

Makes – Approx. 8 servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

Happy early Mother’s Day to all those wonderful mothers and grandmothers out there who take care of us each and every day and let us have corn and oranges for dinner from time to time if that’s what we’re in to.