March Forward

I must say it’s challenging to stay on the ball and inspired on my journey of writing a baby food cook book in my spare time.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “I don’t have any spare time”.  Yet somehow each week my second thoughts and negative energy are mercilessly defeated in the nick of time by a feeling of “you can/must do this”.  Sometimes it’s as simple as an episode of Survivor or an encouraging word from friends and family that set me back on track.  If they can sit on an island trying to get along with perfect strangers while being eaten alive by bugs, eating nothing but rice and the occasional reward feast, I think I can strive to write my book.  And the Survivor contestants have it rough too.

Last night my “nick of time” revelation came to me in the form of a cough drop.  A little unconventional perhaps, but soothing just the same.  I was coughing up a storm at around midnight while desperately trying to get to sleep.  I stumbled downstairs and dug through my purse in hopes of scoring a throat lozenge in the hidden depths of the pouch.  I found 2!  The overhead stove light in the kitchen grazed the wrapper just enough to reveal some cryptic messaging.  These words went above and beyond the typical branding of “Halls” one might expect…

 

There were inspirational messages all over these babies…”You’re tougher than you think”…yes, I am! “Bet on yourself”…you know it! “March Forward”…I will!  So I popped the drop and fell asleep with thoughts of taking on the world in the morning.  Whatever keeps me going I guess. 

Ready…Set…Evolve…

ABC’s and 1,2, Cheese (and Tomato)Sauce

Age – 8 months +

Ingredients

·         1 cup alphabet pasta

·         3 tomatoes

·         ½ tsp. dried basil, or 3 fresh basil leaves chopped

·         ½ cup of chopped onion

·         ¼ cup of homemade or low sodium store bought chicken broth

·         1 ½ tbsps. of butter

·         1 tbsp. flour

·         1 ½ cups of milk

·         ¾ cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Baby Steps

1.      Chop onion and set aside.

2.      Peel, seed and chop tomatoes using the boiling water method.

3.      Add ½ tbsp. of butter to medium sized pan over medium/high heat and allow to melt.  Add onions and cook until translucent, approx. 5 minutes.

4.      Reduce heat to medium and add tomatoes and basil to onions and continue to cook for a couple of minutes until tender.

5.      Add chicken broth to tomato mixture, bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat.

6.      Boil water to cook pasta according to package directions but leave out the salt.  Cook, drain and set aside in large bowl.

7.      To make cheese sauce, melt 1 tbsp. of butter in medium sized pan over medium heat.

8.      Add flour to butter and stir with spatula until it forms a smooth paste.

9.      Add in milk, stir and raise the heat to medium high.  Continue to stir and cook until it has a thicker, smooth texture and is lump free, approx. 5 minutes.

10.  Add in cheddar cheese and stir until melted through.

11.  Remove tomato mixture from heat and transfer to a bowl and puree with hand held blender.

12.  Add tomato sauce to cheese sauce and combine well.

13.  Remove from heat and add tomato cheese sauce to pasta in bowl and stir together well.

14.  Let cool then transfer to freezing trays in the freezer to be used within 3 months and some to a food storage container in the fridge to be used within 48 hours.

Makes – Approx. 16 servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

 Feeling a little down on yourself?  Mentholyptus to the rescue!

Friday to Friday

I wonder why people find a marked difference in their mood getting up and at ‘em on a Friday morning compared to any other day of the week?  If you’re a nine to fiver, essentially you’re in for the same music (because the buzz is just too startling) wake up call, same morning grooming routine, same drive in to the office and same workload to accomplish while there.  Can it really just be the dress down Friday blue jeans causing the extra skip in our step?  I suppose the obvious answer is that the work week is almost over and we’ll be presented with a get out of jail free card, or better known as a weekend.  And by weekend I mean 2 work free days, or 2 days filled with grocery shopping, house cleaning, laundry, hockey practices, blog writing, dog walking, or…work.  And still our days are laced with feelings of joy on Friday.  Baffling.

Imagine how happy everyone could be if we played a little psychological game on ourselves of “today is Friday” every day of the week?  We could trick ourselves in to thinking that every day is Friday and suddenly the abominable daily work task requests and mind numbing stints in traffic would roll off us like something that rolls off something else really fast.  “You need these 53 things in the next hour?  Sure, why not.”  It’s FRIDAY!!!!!  “Cars, you can stop and go in front of me hindering any hope of movement over 20 km/hr. all you want because I’m cool as a cucumber sitting here listening to my “ready, set, weekend”(Eddie Rabbit) mix.  I have nothin’ but time.”  Ya, I think it’s a good idea.  Let’s pretend every day is Friday.

Now if you’re a mom or dad at home with a baby 24/7, you should play a game of “let’s pretend that every day I’ve gotten 8 hrs. of un-interrupted sleep”.  Not sure if your sleep deprived souls would allow for that kind of trickery though.

Even sleep deprived souls can thrive in the master chef baby food kitchen.  If you really want to try your hand at making your baby’s food at home, here are a few tools of the trade to help you get started…

·         Steaming is the best way to cook veggies and retain as many of their nutrients as possible so you will definitely want to have a steamer.  I use a steamer pot that sits on top of a pot of boiling water on the stove with a lid.  It’s as simple as boiling water.

·         You will want to have a couple of standard pans including a medium and small size so that you have options depending on what you need them for.  You don’t want to have to lug out a massive pan every time you want to scramble an egg yolk for your little one.

·         A large sauté pan with a lid is a great tool to have on hand to make baby some hearty chicken and beef stews.

·         Surprisingly enough, standard stirring utensils and measuring cups and spoons are required.  I’m sure you could have guessed that one.

·         A strainer is helpful to press berry or pea purees through in order to remove skins and/or seeds for younger babies.

·         You will need an appliance to puree baby’s food.  Whether you use a hand held blender, food processor, food mill or blender, they all work well to puree baby’s food to the desired consistency.  When working with large batches I find the food processor is the most useful, but I also love the convenience of putting the food into a deep bowl and using a hand held blender instead.  The clean up after using a hand held blender is quicker than the other methods, but really whatever you’re most comfortable with is the way to go.

·         Baby food freezing trays, or ice cube trays, to freeze baby food and store in the freezer for up to 3 months is something you will definitely need.  The benefit of purchasing freezing trays specifically designed for baby food storage is that they are typically produced to store the perfect serving sizes for baby, approximately 2 tbsps. each cube.  Ice cube trays work well also but most standard sized ice cubes would represent ½ a serving size for baby so you would have to use 2 cubes per serving.

·         Freezer bags are good to have.  Once your baby food cubes are frozen, you can pop them out of the tray and put them into a labeled freezer bag with the food and date noted so you can free up the tray for new purees that need freezing.  By noting the date on the bag you can make sure you use up the food before the 3 month mark in which you will want to throw it out to be safe.

·          Small food storage containers are also good to have so you can store baby food in the fridge you intend to use within 48 hours.

·         You don’t need to spend a ton of money on kitchen gadgets and high end culinary equipment to cook healthy meals for a happy baby.  The basics noted above should get you well on your way to becoming a baby food making expert!

 I challenge all of you to walk into work on Monday morning and say “Happy Friday”.  I bet you’ll get a lot of smiles.

Bark if You Understand

Do you ever find yourself in the middle of an in depth one sided conversation with your toddler when it’s too early to admit defeat in their lack of comprehension, and too late to stop in your tracks and forget about the whole thing?

Toddlers are tricky.  Sometimes they talk like little adults so you think you can carry on a regular conversation with them as if they are your middle aged next door neighbour.  Other times they communicate in the form of a “BARK” which is prefaced by a lap around the kitchen on all fours and a timely leg lift, just as all made-up dogs do.

The other morning I was loading my toddler Carter into the car for daycare drop off.  This day was special…I was dropping him off and Daddy was picking him up.  Normally whomever drops off also picks up, which in turn means whichever toy Carter brings with him for the ride, will be right there waiting for him in the car when he gets picked up.  I lift him into the car and he asks if Buzz Lightyear can come for the ride.  I quickly buckle him in so I can run to get the toy but then stop and think.  If he brings the toy in my car this morning, it won’t be in Daddy’s pick up car later.  O.K. I must explain this to him.  “Maybe you should just leave Buzz at home today because if you bring him in Mommy’s car and he stays in Mommy’s car, he won’t be in Daddy’s car tonight and I know you will want him to be in Daddy’s car tonight because Daddy is picking you up, so if you just leave him at home then he will be waiting for you at home when you get home instead of having to wait for Mommy to bring him home after work.”  I don’t even know what I just said, but I’m certain he is getting it.  He is nodding in agreement as the convoluted story keeps spewing out of me motivating me to carry on.  He’s looking like he has accepted it and is in full agreement of leaving Buzz at home.  Conversation ends with my “O.K.” and his “O.K.”  Then begins again with Carter’s face down and eyes up saying, “so, you gonna go get him?”

You would think after all these exhausting exchanges with the kids I wouldn’t have the time or energy to make homemade baby food.  But lucky for you I do…and you do too.

Today I’m making a corn, carrot and cauliflower puree for the Solid Food Intermediates out there, 8 months +.  It’s best to wait until 8 months for this one as corn is on the list of foods for baby that have a higher potential to cause an allergy or digestive issue.  The older a baby is, the better equipped they are to handle such an incidence.  Corn may not be a powerhouse as far as nutrients go, so it’s best to use them in combination with other veggie stars to add some sweet and creamy flavour to the puree.  For more information on using corn in baby food preparations, see Momtastic’s Wholesome Baby Food website.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Cream of Corn, Carrot and Cauliflower

 

Age – 8 months +

Ingredients

·         1 corn on the cob

·         2 large carrots

·         2 cups chopped cauliflower florets

·         ¼ cup of milk

·         1 tbsp. of butter

Baby Steps

1.      Place corn on the cob in pot of boiling water.  Cover and cook until done, approx. 12 minutes.  Set aside.

2.      Peel and chop carrots and put into steamer pot set over boiling water.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

3.      Add chopped cauliflower to carrots in steamer and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.

4.      While carrots and cauliflower are cooking, slice cooked corn from the cob and add to a large bowl.

5.      Once carrots and cauliflower are done, remove from heat and add them to the corn in the bowl.

6.      Add butter and milk to veggies and transfer to a food processor, blender or leave in bowl to use a hand held blender to puree.

7.      Puree to desired consistency.

8.      Let cool then transfer to freezing trays in the freezer to use within 3 months, and some to a food storage container in the fridge to use within 48 hours.

Makes – 10 Servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

Trick or Apple?

We made it through another Halloween with the kids keeping emotions of elation and terror in balance.

The Trick-or-Treat tradition of politely asking (begging) door to door for candy has been customary since at least the early 1950’s in North America, so says Wikipedia.  In Scotland, “Guising” or knocking on doors for food on Halloween dates back to 1895.  There, the little well intentioned charlatans would carry lanterns made of hollowed out turnips and be compensated for their efforts at each door with cakes, apples, nuts and money.  Imagine what a kid would think of receiving cake, apples or nuts in place of CANDY today?  It may be something reminiscent of the thanks Mr. Cunningham of T.V.’s “Happy Days” received after giving out an apple at his door on Halloween.  “You broke my cookie you big ox!”

No matter how you candy coat it, even if it’s with a candy coating, an apple is an apple on Halloween and it just doesn’t cut it with our kid’s one track candy minds at this momentous time of year.

It’s a good thing they can’t eat Halloween candy for dinner or my meal preparation efforts would be threatened at this time of year along with my dignity after dressing up for the office Halloween party.

Today I’m making Baby’s First Spaghetti!  It’s exciting when you can start making baby food that somewhat resembles the adult versions in taste and texture.  Baby is growing up!  Try this one at 8 months as there is a bit of added texture with the ground beef and spaghetti that may be a bit too much for a smaller baby to handle.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Baby’s First Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

Age – 8 months +

 

Ingredients

·         ½ lb. of lean ground beef

·         5 plum tomatoes

·         1 small zucchini chopped

·         ½ cup of chopped onion

·         1 clove of garlic minced

·         ½ cup chopped green pepper

·         ½ tsp. dried basil

·         ½ cup of low sodium chicken, beef or veggie broth

·         ½ cup of low sodium tomato sauce

·         225g. of spaghetti pasta (about ¼ of an average 900g. package)

Baby Steps

1.      Peel and seed tomatoes using the boiling water method, chop and set aside.

2.      Brown ground beef in large sauté pan over medium/high heat until cooked, approx. 10 minutes.  Crumble and set aside in bowl.

3.      While beef is cooking chop onion, zucchini, garlic and green pepper.

4.      Add butter to empty sauté pan used to cook beef and allow to melt, then add onions, garlic, green pepper and zucchini to pan.

5.      Cook veggies over medium heat until they begin to soften, approx. 6 minutes.

6.      Add tomatoes and basil, stir and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

7.      Add broth and tomato sauce, stir well and bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down heat to a simmer, cover and cook for ½ hour stirring occasionally.

8.      While sauce is simmering, boil water in pot to cook pasta according to package directions but leave out the salt.

9.      Once sauce is done simmering transfer to a blender, food processor or deep bowl to use hand held blender to puree to a smooth sauce.

10.  Add sauce back into sauté pan and add in cooked beef.  Stir well and heat to warm.

11.  Drain pasta from water and put into a large bowl to cut into small pieces with a knife and fork.  Add pasta to meat sauce and combine well then remove from heat.

12.  Let cool then transfer to freezing trays to store in the freezer to use within 3 months along with some in a food storage container in the fridge to use within 48 hours.

Makes – 20 Servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

Note:  Since this recipe makes a lot of spaghetti you may want to keep more in the fridge for older siblings or even set some aside for your own lunch and just add a bit of salt and pepper and even some dried chilli pepper if you like a kick of heat.

 Hope you all had a Happy Halloween and that your kids were blessed with the treats they long for and a clean bill of oral health at their next dentist appointment.