Work on the Cake

It’s been a while.  So much so this space seems foreign to me and yet like home at the same time.  Kind of like going back to sleep in your childhood bed after 30 years.  Comforting, yet too small.  Actually the “too small” part doesn’t make sense in this comparison but I’m all out of sorts so inaccurate analogies are to be expected.

In a mere 2 days my husband is off on an expedition of a life time.  He’s climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa to tick off one of his bucket list items as a means of proving that 40 is just a number.  Everyone is curious as to why I wouldn’t join him on this incredible adventure.  The allure of climbing and camping and not showering would wear off for me after about hour 24, not hour 144 as it would be for the other bucket list checker offers.

But that’s o.k.  I wouldn’t make him walk around with me for endless hours exploring Botanical Gardens, gift shops and Farmer’s Markets…or maybe I would…but I may be getting off topic.

I read a statement of perfection recently that stuck with me although the author or even the context escapes me at the moment.  “You are responsible for the cake, everything else is the icing”.  So my husband is going to work on his cake in Tanzania Africa and I’ll work on mine here.  Then we will just slather all the icing on top once we each have a nice substantial base to apply it to.

Speaking of cake...check out the birthday cake I ordered from Cake Rolls in Etobicoke, ON.

“Looks like it’s just gonna be you and me” so says my 4 year old after learning of Daddy’s big trip.  Yep, there will be lots of single mom baths to be had over the next 10 days or so.  Baths where he’s not allowed to play because the earliest I can get him in is 7 minutes before bed…and that’s if all goes to plan without an unanticipated telemarketer call taking up 2 extra minutes for me to hear the plea, then to get my gentle yet firm answer out, “I’m not interested…I don’t have any ducts to clean sir”.

Ok I think I’ve rambled enough for one day…sorry like I said, it’s been a while so I’m getting carried away.  Although I haven’t been blogging very often, I have still been working on the book and I’m happy to say that I’m at the point of the last 10%.  The dreaded last 10%.  This is what separates the finishers from the non-finishers.  I don’t want to be a non-finisher!  This is the % that is the most difficult because it’s the time to organize and finalize.  All the meat, or in keeping with our theme today, the cake, is there, now it just needs the icing…and a few more recipes for those 12 months + Solid Food Professionals.  Let’s do this!

This is a great Potato Pancake recipe to introduce some exciting new textures for babies 12 months +.  It can be cut into little pieces so they can pick up with their fingers and feed themselves.  By adding in some shredded carrot in place of some of the potato and some spinach, you can pack in extra nutrition into this little pancake package.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Popeye’s Potato Pancakes

Age – 12 months +

Ingredients

• 4 tbsps. Butter

• 3 Potatoes

• ½ Cup Baby Spinach Chopped

• ½ Cup Shredded Carrots

• 1 egg

• 2 tbsps. flour

• Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Baby Steps

1. Rinse, dry and chop baby spinach and set aside.
2. Peel carrots and potatoes and shred using the grater attachment on a food processor or mandolin slicer.
3. Add shredded potatoes, carrots and spinach to a bowl and mix well.
4. Add in egg and mix well.
5. Add in flour and pinch of salt and pepper and mix until flour is combined.
6. Add 2 tbsps. of butter to a large frying pan and melt over medium high heat.
7. Spoon potato mixture into pan and press down to form a pancake shape.  You should be able to fit about 4 pancakes into the pan at a time.
8. Cook until underside is brown, about 3 minutes, flip and repeat.
9. Once cakes are done, remove from pan and place on paper towel lined plate to let cool.
10. Add 2 more tbsps. of butter to pan and repeat process to make 4 more pancakes.
11. To serve, cut into bite sized pieces for baby once cooled down.

Makes – Approx. 8 Pancakes

Note:  These are best to eat the day you make them rather than refrigerating or freezing them and heating them up again.  So plan to have them as a side dish for a family meal and add a bit more salt and pepper to the other family member’s portions and dip in sour cream if you so desire.

I wish my husband Carl all the best on his big Kilimanjaro climb!  Enjoy every second and come home safe and sound.  And please don’t leave your cake out in the (African) rain…I love that song.

Gentle Reminders

Do you think there will ever be a time when my calendar notes things like “Morning bike ride…Harvest Russet and Yukon Gold potatoes…Harvest apples and feed extras to the chickens and donkeys…Today Show appearance”?  This is typically what you will find on Martha Stewart’s  calendar.  Ah, Martha.  That woman knows a little bit, if not a lot, about anything and everything.  Or so it seems to the envious…I included.

Although I make mental notes to harvest my vegetables, it would be a waste of ink to actually scribe it down on a calendar.  By the time I would write it down and follow through, my bounty would have already been harvested by the wild life.

Ah, well…we all need something to aspire to.  Mine is to have a real life calendar like Martha’s.  Except maybe the parts about scrubbing porch floors, walls and ceilings.  That stuff can sort itself out.

Fall is in the air...

...and with it apples, carrots, tomatoes and pumpkins are ready for the taking.  I wouldn’t be so bold as to create a baby food puree with a combo of all of these, but I think a pairing of apples and carrots would do the trick.

I had a whole grain carrot muffin yesterday and it reminded me of how ridiculous I thought it was that carrots could be used as an ingredient in cake when I was a kid.  Why would anyone want carrots in a baked good?  Of course I now know it’s delicious, but if you tell a kid you are making carrot or zucchini cake, you might as well tell them you are whipping up some red pepper and beet cookies while you’re at it.

Luckily I’ve matured and know that the sweetness of a carrot is a great addition to confections.  Pair them with apples, and you’ll also have a puree that baby will love.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Apple Carrot Puree

Age – 6 months +

Ingredients

• 3 small Apples (about 2 cups sliced)
• 1 cup of chopped carrots
• Yes, that’s it

Baby Steps

1. Peel and chop carrots and peel, core and slice apples.
2. Place chopped carrots in steamer set over boiling water and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Add in apple slices and continue to steam for 5 more minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let stand for a few minutes.
5. Transfer to a bowl to use hand held blender to puree.  Add in 4 tbsps. of the cooking water and puree to a smooth consistency.
6. Transfer puree to a container to go in the fridge to use within 48 hours, or to freezer trays to keep in the freezer to use within 3 months.

Makes - Approx. – 5 Servings (1 serving = 2tbsps)

 

Note:  Feel free to double, or even triple this recipe to freeze more.  I only used 3 small apples because that’s all I had handy today.  Use a sweet variety of apple, like Gala, rather than a tart variety like Granny Smith so the puree isn’t too tart for baby.

I shall sign off now…my calendar is sending me a gentle reminder to “order pine trees for planting before the ground freezes.”

Forget-Me-Not

 

In a blink of an eye, summer is over.  In the time it takes my toddler to tire of one activity and move on to another, he’s started school.  Like a bat out of hell, my first born is starting high school?

How can my son be old enough to venture off in to high school?  A place I remember so vividly myself as if it was yesterday.  A place I feel I would still fit in, until I drop my son off and see all the kids and think, damn I feel old.

I think the fear of time going so fast is the force behind the volume of activity we try to jam pack into each day.  I wonder if we slowed down, would time do the same?  I’ll let you know once I finish prepping my week’s meals for a 2 week detox I’m currently on, cleaning the house top to bottom, making sure the dog is walked and kids are entertained, making lunches for Monday, getting kids and dogs dropped off to school and doggy daycare, sitting in traffic for 1.25 hrs. to get to work, work, and another 1.25 hr. drive home for pick up just in time.  After I’m done all that, I’ll dig into the mystery of time.

I’ve missed writing over the harried summer.  It’s an outlet I enjoy and want to include somewhere in this spinning existence we call the day to day.  I began this blog and sharing baby food recipes with the aim of writing a baby food cook book when my baby was a baby and I was entrenched in the baby life every day.  Now my boy is 3 ½ and in kindergarten so he hardly qualifies as a taste tester, but this journey isn’t over.  Every time I catch the wonder of people who bear witness to my son’s request for veggies over pizza, it reminds me of how much of an impact feeding him homemade baby food from the start really made on his future food choices.  So I think it’s important to continue to share the recipes and press on with the book.  And so I will.

Tomatoes are ripening up beautifully in gardens far and wide right now so I thought I would share a staple Tomato & Veggie sauce recipe.  This is a great sauce to have on hand to mix with mini pasta, chicken, beef or rice.  The applications are endless and yummy.

This recipe is intended for babies 6 months +, as long as they have gone through their first solids trial period to rule out any allergic reactions to certain foods.  It makes about 4 cups so the prep is worth the fruits of your labour.

The recipe calls for peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, so I’ll go through a simple boiling water method to get the peeling done easily.

 

•        Score an “X” on the bottom of each tomato with a sharp knife and place in a large bowl.
• Cover tomatoes with boiling water and leave for 2 mins.
• Move tomatoes from boiling water directly to a cutting board and leave for 1 min.
• Skin should easily peel back. Start peeling from where you scored the “X” on the bottom.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Babe-Essential Tomato & Veggie Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. of butter
• 1 cup of chopped onions
• 1 garlic clove diced
• 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
• 1 cup of chopped mushrooms (you can leave these out if baby is under 8 months old.  They don’t pose a high allergy risk, but they may present a digestive issue in some over sensitive tummies.)
• 1/2 cup of chopped, peeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup of chopped green pepper
• 7 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 4 fresh basil leaves chopped, or 1 tsp. dried
• 1/4 cup of chicken broth (homemade or low sodium store bought)

Baby Steps

1. Prep and chop all veggies, and peel and seed tomatoes using the boiling water method noted above and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large sauté pan over med/high heat.
3. Add onion and garlic and cook for 3 mins. until onions become translucent.
4. Reduce heat to medium and add all the rest of the veggies except the tomatoes and continue to cook for 7 minutes stirring often.
5. Add tomatoes, chicken broth and basil to veggie mix, stir well and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to med/low, cover and cook stirring occasionally for approx. 30 minutes.
6. Remove pan from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
7. Transfer to a blender, food processor, or large bowl to use a hand blender to puree.
8. Puree into a nice smooth sauce.

Makes- approx. 4 cups

Sauce can be kept in the fridge for 48 hrs. to use in other baby meals such as pasta or rice and chicken etc.  You can add the sauce and then freeze the new meals in freezing trays.

If you freeze the sauce alone and want to add to pasta dishes once thawed, you can do so, however, you cannot then re-freeze the new meal.  For example, if you’re making pasta or rice and chicken for the family one evening, take some of the pasta or rice and chicken and cut or puree into tiny pieces that baby can handle and add a defrosted and warmed sauce cube for an instant healthy meal.  The key rule to remember is once something has been cooked then frozen, you can’t thaw it and re-freeze it again.

It’s nice to be back in the blogging saddle, although given my “spinning day to day existence” I can’t promise you a rose garden each and every week…maybe just a sporadic smattering of forget-me-nots every now and then.

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten Baby

We moved into our house 5 years ago after one of the biggest snowstorms of the century and surveyed the snow covered backyard.  This stirred dreams of building as gargantuan a garden that the space could stand come spring.

We built that garden, and come fall, it was time for my tulip bulb planting extravaganza.  I must have planted over 50 bulbs back there and each and every one had fallen victim to my nemesis…SQUIRRELS!  To them, each bulb planted was a personal invitation to dinner…or play…or whatever they do with the things after they dig them up.  Needless to say I had no tulips in my garden the next spring, but there were plenty on the other side of the fence where the squirrels had decided was a much better place for the dancing beauties.

They are farther away than I would like, but they are still beautiful.

 

Time seems to be marching on at an uncontrollable pace.  How can my oldest son be starting high school and my youngest…the baby…starting kindergarten in September??  Soon they’ll be out of the house and on the other side of the fence like my tulips...or in their own houses with their own families I guess.  Which would be better than the other side of the fence because all that is there are train tracks, squirrels and tulips.

Carter, my little one, had his Kindergarten orientation this week, which I suppose is arousing all these clingy feelings in me.  He watched intently as I held out my hand to introduce myself to the principal.  He waited for our exchange to end, and then offered his own hand out to her along with a mighty, “Hi, I’m Carter Hughes”.  Where did this baby/man come from?  Wasn’t it just an hour ago I gave birth and brought him home from the hospital along with the terror of what to do with him next?  I guess we figured it out.  The principal certainly thought so.

This pic is from orientation night.  Everyone got a kids fun package to take home, and inside, along with the array of colouring activities, books and 1 lollypop, were a pair of sunglasses along with a business card from the local family optometrist.  I guess nothing says family optical target market perfection quite like the gathering of pre-schoolers at the annual kindergarten orientation trade show. Huh.

In honour of our growing kids, I’m featuring a fun and easy recipe for those Solid Food Professionals out there of 12 months +.  At 12 months, baby is ready to enjoy a wide array of foods and is eager to experience new tastes and textures closer to what their family is regularly eating.  These chicken quesadillas are a great way to introduce a new flavour into baby’s repertoire and is the perfect finger food for them to enjoy with you at the table.  It also packs a great nutritional punch with the assortment of veggies, protein and dairy incorporated.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Arriba, Arriba, Quesadilla!

 

Age – 12 Months +

Ingredients

·         1 tbsp. plus ½ tsp. of butter

·         1 small boneless skinless chicken breast

·         1 tomato

·         ¼ cup of diced onion

·         ¼ cup of diced green pepper

·         ¼ cup of corn niblets from cooked corn on the cob

·         Pinch of cumin and coriander spice

·         2 soft 12” tortillas

·         ¼ cup of grated cheddar cheese

Baby Steps

1.      Peel, seed and dice tomato using the boiling water method.  For details check out a previous blog, “Bye,Bye, Spontaneity”.

2.      Dice onion and green pepper and set aside.

3.      Boil corn on the cob in pot with lid until cooked through, approx. 12 minutes.  Set aside.

4.      Melt 1 tbsp. of butter in large sauté pan over medium/high heat.

5.      Chop chicken into small pieces and add to melted butter in pan.  Cook until brown all over, approx. 6 minutes.

6.      Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  Add diced onion and green pepper to pan and reduce heat to medium.  Sauté until tender, approx. 3 minutes.

7.      Slice corn off of cooked cob and add ¼ cup of the niblets to the sauté pan along with the veggies.  Continue to cook for 1 minute.  Save the rest of the corn from the cob for finger food for baby to have later that day if you want…or treat yourself.

8.      Add diced tomato to veggies in pan and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.

9.      Add chicken back into the pan with the veggies along with a pinch of coriander and cumin spice.  Stir together well then turn heat down to low.

10.  In another pan large enough to fit the 12” tortilla, melt ½ tsp. of butter over medium/high heat, then add 1 tortilla to pan and cook for approx. 1 minute on each side.  Remove and repeat with 2^nd tortilla.

11.  Keep 1 tortilla in pan and reduce heat to medium.  Add all of the chicken and veggie mix onto tortilla plus the grated cheddar.  Place 2^nd tortilla on top and continue to cook approx. 1 minute until cheese is melting and tortilla is browned.

12.  Flip quesadilla over to cook other side for 1 minute more until browned.

13.  Remove from pan and let cool.

14.  Use a pizza cutter to cut some into finger food sized pieces for baby, and triangles to share with other family members.

15.  Serve immediately.

Makes – 1 serving for baby plus 7 wedges for other family members.

Note:  This dish isn’t just for baby, it makes a great family meal.  Double the recipe and add a bit of salt and pepper and chilli powder to the chicken veggie mixture used in the rest of the family’s portions to kick up the flavour a bit.  Serve with salsa and sour cream for dipping and a side salad.  Olé!  Dinner is served!  Maracas are optional but always encouraged.

I know our kids must grow and we must grow along with them.  I just wish it didn’t happen so fast.  Eventually they may be farther away from home than I would like, but they will still be beautiful.

Pieces of Me



 

Where was the serenity of my tulips this past Thursday at 2:32pm. when my wisdom tooth was being yanked out?  I hadn’t so much as ever even had a cavity filled in my life when this was thrown at me.  Since it was only one that needed excavating and the word around town was, “it’s quick and easy these days”, I thought I could just go for the freezing and be done with it.

I survived the freezing with relative ease, “there you go, that’s the worst part over” said Dr. Nightingale.  Oh, this is not so bad…easy street…I thought.  They let me linger with the freezing for a few minutes for it to take effect.  As soon as a fork could be stuck into my right cheek with me none the wiser we were ready.  “Now you’re going to feel a tremendous amount of pressure” said Dr. Death as his assistant kept me comfortable by stroking my head and telling me to breath.  I didn’t realize I needed to fire up the old VCR before this appointment to watch “So You’re Having a Baby” to brush up on my labour survival skills.  A tremendous amount of pressure there was, but he neglected to mention the tremendous amount of aggression that goes along with removing someone’s tooth with a tool, brute force and your own two hands.  I’d sooner have someone tie one end of a string around my tooth and the other on a door knob and slam that baby shut!

Don’t worry…I survived.  There was just the swelling to deal with and relearning how to chew and keep food away from the canyon in the back of my mouth.  Tricky.  At least I’m well versed at making food for people who gum their food into oblivion or I would have felt pretty deprived these past couple of days…maybe I’ll eat today’s baby food recipe for dinner tonight.  Mmmm.

It was just a little wisdom tooth.  I’m now a ¼ less wise, so says my husband.  Lucky for him. 

It’s just another little piece of me gone like my favourite mug I had to throw out last week.  I was in ceramic chip denial for a few weeks until I had no choice but to give in.  So sad.

In other news…

 

This maple syrup has been in my fridge for a while.  When my husband asked me how long today, I thought for moment and remembered picking it up at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto while away with my friend for her birthday…maybe last year.  Then I thought about what we did for my friend’s birthday last year, and it wasn’t this.  REALLY…it was 2 years ago and I still have the maple syrup in my fridge??  How do 2 years pass by so fast?  Clearly we don’t eat enough pancakes.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

 

Cheesy Veggie Risotto

Age – 8 months +

Ingredients

·         1 cup broccoli florets chopped

·         1 cup of carrots chopped

·         ½ cup of frozen peas

·         ½ cup of rice

Cheese Sauce

·         1 ½ tbsps. butter

·         1 ½ tbsps. flour

·         1 ½ cups of milk

·         ¾ cup of grated cheddar cheese

Baby Steps

1.      Cook rice according to package directions leaving out the salt and set aside.

2.      Peel and chop carrots into small pieces and place in steamer set over boiling water.  Cover and cook for 10 mins.

3.      Clean and chop broccoli and then add to carrots once the first 10 mins of cooking is complete and continue to cook for another 8 mins.

4.      Add peas to steamer and cook for 5 more mins.

5.      To make cheese sauce, melt butter in large sauce pan over medium heat.

6.      Add flour and stir with a spatula until it makes a smooth paste, approx. 1 min.

7.      Add milk to paste, increase heat to medium/high and stir and cook until lumps are gone and milk begins to thicken, approx. 3 mins.

8.      Add grated cheese and continue to stir until melted and well combined.

9.      Remove steamed veggies from pot and transfer to a bowl to use hand held blender to pulse a few times breaking veggies into tiny pieces.

10.  Add rice to veggies and pour in cheese sauce and stir together until well combined.

11.  Let cool for a few minutes then transfer some into freezing trays to be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, and some to a food storage container in the fridge to use within 48 hours.

Makes – Approx. 12 servings

I wonder if the pain of a tooth forcing itself in is as bad as someone forcing one out?  Just another reason why I wish babies could talk.

First Glance

It takes time to get to know someone long enough to almost forget how you had them pegged at first, second or third glance.  Like the new quiet and sad eyed co-worker who turns out to be your greatest confidant…or the new seemingly polar opposite from you kid in school who turns out to be your best friend…or the new little mysterious human you bring home from the hospital who turns out to be the love of your life.
First encounters are such a universal mystery.  If you think back to when you first met all the special people in your life, and what your perceptions of them were at the time, I bet 9 times out of 10 you were way off and 10 times out of 10 you will laugh at your inaccuracy.

When you bring that new born baby home and look into their eyes, (or at their closed eyes because unless you have x-ray vision you can’t look into their eyes until they are able to open them) a million thoughts stream through of what type of person you imagine they are going to be when they grow up.  It’s exciting and daunting at the same time to admit you have a hand in, if not ultimate control of, moulding this person into one of the greatest ever made.  You might as well aim high at the start then alter your target with every “D” average report card that comes home. J

As you ponder the super human your little one will transform in to, you can start them off on the right healthy track with some fresh homemade baby food purees.  Today’s is a sweet fruit puree for those Solid Food Intermediates out there of 8 months+.  This recipe includes apples, mangoes and strawberries.  Although apples and mangoes are safe to offer baby at 6 months, you should hold off on strawberries until 8 months.  Strawberries have a higher potential of causing an allergic reaction and babies are better equipped to handle such reactions at 8 months.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

 Apple-Berry-Mango Puree

Age – 8 months +

 

Ingredients

·         2 ripe mangoes

·         1 apple (a sweet variety like Golden Delicious or Gala rather than tart like Granny Smith or baby’s face will turn inside out…may be entertaining for you, but not fun for baby)

·         1 cup of chopped strawberries

·         Yes, that’s it

Baby Steps

1.      Peel and chop apple into small chunks and set aside.

2.      Peel and chop mango into small chunks and set aside.  If you’re not familiar with the anatomy of a mango, check my earlier post, “Sunny Side of Grey” for tips on how to peel and chop them.

3.      Rinse and take green stems off of strawberries and chop into small chunks and set aside.

4.      Add all fruit and 3 tbsps. of water to a medium saucepan, cover and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until fruit is tender, approx. 12 minutes.

5.      Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

6.      Transfer to a food processor, blender or bowl to use a hand held blender to puree to a smooth consistency.

7.      Let cool for a few minutes 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 use within 48 hours.

Makes – Approx. 11 Servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

 No matter what you imagine your little one will be like when they grow up, you can be sure the constant love and care you offer them along the way will come back to you when they are old enough to realise how awful they were to you in their teenage years.