Perfect Fit

A shift in season is upon us. 

A shift in kid’s wardrobes is also upon us. 

Year after year, season after season I come to the same shocking discovery.  The clothes our kids were wearing last year have shrunk.  How do they shrink every year?  Do they wane on hiatus over the months of waiting patiently for our kids to take them out to play as a sulking tactic?  Surely there’s no way our little ones could have grown so aggressively that neither pants nor socks cover their ankles, bordering on shins, anymore?  No, I think it’s got to be those mischievous clothes.

Let’s hope the hand-me-downs scored last year which were in line with the season’s temperature requirements, but required too many pant cuff or sleeve roll ups, will fit to perfection now.  Fingers crossed.  Good old hand-me-downs.

We’re lucky to have lots of friends with little boys a little older than our youngest to reap the benefits of their wardrobe.

A cute song called “My Big Sister” comes to mind from The Barenaked Ladies’ 2008 Juno award winning children’s album “Snacktime”.  Although the band name doesn’t scream “kids r us”, they created one of the most clever and fun albums out there for kids (and adults who like to pretend they’re kids).

My Big Sister

By the Barenaked Ladies

I like my big sister

But I don’t want to wear her coat

Maybe black, it may fit perfect

But you and I both know, it’s a girls coat

Now I can handle some hand-me-downs

Shirts and sandals are out of bounds

Balls and games, and such, I don’t mind

But a coat, is over the line

 

O.K. time to cook.  I’m thinking potatoes, both sweet and white and add in some spinach for a Solid Food Apprentice iron boost.  These are perfect pureed for ages 6 months +, or mashed for those Solid Food Intermediates out there who are 8 months + and can handle some more texture.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Popeye’s Potatoes

 

Age – 6 months +

Ingredients

·         3 white potatoes

·         1 small sweet potato

·         2 cups of baby spinach leaves

·         1 tbsp. of butter

·         ¼ cup of milk

Baby Steps

1.      Peel and chop white and sweet potatoes and put in steamer set over boiling water, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

2.      Meanwhile, clean and pat dry baby spinach well and then add to potatoes.  Continue to steam for 2 more minutes.

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

4.      Transfer to a food processor, blender or bowl to use hand held blender to puree, or you can mash if baby is 8 months +.

 

5.    Add in butter and milk and puree or mash.

6.      Once pureed or mashed, let cool for a few minutes then transfer to freezing trays in the freezer to be used within 3 months, or to food storage containers in the fridge to use within 48 hours.

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

Note:  These are a great adult side dish as well…just add a bit of salt and pepper for added seasoning if your heart desires.

Now it’s back to assessing the new season’s wardrobe needs or else my little guy will be a “big guy in a little coat.”  I couldn’t resist this Chris Farley of Saturday Night Live fame reference.  Enjoy.

 

 

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.

21 Days

It’s frightening to realize how much of an affect a change in routine has on me.  I started a new job this week and I quickly realized after I jumped in the car and backed out of the driveway that I had to think about where it was I was going.

Normally when I leave for work my car just takes me there.  Somehow I arrive at my tantamount, daily destination.  But not this week…this week there was a significant breach in my routine.  I had to get up earlier to leave earlier and hit the road with an intricately laid out plan of how I was to get from A to B in the quickest, least traffic clogged way possible.  My biggest challenge was to find a coffee stop that wouldn’t set me back more than 4 minutes.  4 minutes to pick up a coffee is all I had in my tightly wound schedule of events to get me to my new job on time.  Driving home was the next feat…not to discount the real routine change of a brand spankin’ new job and the culture shock that goes along with that of course.  My car pool buddy carefully carved out a smart, tricky round-about route to avoid high traffic areas which governed us through 3 different municipalities.  I had to keep asking her, “are we there yet”??  I thought for sure we were on our way to a mini break at the cottage given the length and scenic mish-mash of the trip.  It was all I could do to keep calm and remember we would have to un-pack and get the cottage organized before taking a leap into the lake.

Back to reality, I made it home just fine.  That night when I was setting the alarm for the next morning I realized I would have to do this all over again tomorrow…and the next day…and the day after that.  GOOD GRIEF!?!!  Good thing it only takes 21 days of doing the same thing for it to become routine.  Come on April 16^th!!!!!!

Just like me, babies also thrive in the comfort of a routine they can count on.  I know people hate to hear about their friends not being able to join them for brunch because baby Billy needs to be home for his nap, but trust me, you don’t want to be in baby Billy’s company if he doesn’t have his nap.  For the most part, once you get baby into a great eating and sleeping routine the days become a lot more enjoyable.

Here is an example of the kind of schedule my son Carter (now 2 yrs.) was on when he was about 8 months old. 

It was a note I had written for a friend who was babysitting for us while we went on our trip to meet the Queen of England.  O.K. maybe we weren’t going to meet the Queen, or even going to England for that matter, but I can’t remember where it was we were going so why not embellish a little?  Anyway, I wrote the note to help make the day go smoothly for her in hopes of still having a friend when we returned.  It worked.

O.K. enough talk…let’s cook.  I think we’ll make a baby’s version of the classic Shepherd’s Pie with ground beef.  This recipe has lots of good things for baby…beef, tomatoes, carrots, corn, potatoes and sweet potato all together in one little wonderful package.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

 Mini-me Beef Shepherd’s Pie

Age – 8 months +

Ingredients

·         ½ lb. of ground beef

·         1 sweet potato

·         3 white potatoes

·         2 carrots

·         2 tomatoes

·         ½ cup chopped onion

·         1 clove of garlic minced

·         ¾ cup of corn (canned or freshly cut from a cooked corn on the cob)

·         1 cup of low sodium beef broth or homemade chicken or veggie broth

·         1 tsp. dried thyme

·         1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

·         1 tbsp. of butter

·         ½ cup of milk

Baby Steps

1.      Peel and chop white potatoes and sweet potatoes and place in large pot of cold water.

2.      Peel and chop carrots and set aside.

3.      Chop onion and garlic and set aside.

4.      Peel and seed tomatoes (using the boiling water method) then chop and set aside.

5.      Add ground beef to a large sauté pan and cook over medium high heat until no longer pink, approx. 10 mins.

6.      Add carrots, onions and garlic to beef and continue to cook over medium heat for another 6 mins.

7.      Meanwhile bring the pot of water that the potatoes are in to a boil over high heat then once water begins to boil, partially cover and cook for approx. 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

8.      Add broth, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes and corn to pan with beef mixture and stir well.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer for approx. 20 minutes which is when the potatoes should also be ready.

9.      Once potatoes are tender, remove from heat and drain reserving 3 tbsp. of the cooking water.  Add the reserved water to the potatoes along with 1 tbsp. of butter and ½ cup of milk.

10.  Puree or mash potatoes to a smooth consistency and set aside.

11.  Remove beef mixture from heat and transfer to a large bowl to use a hand held blender to pulse until the consistency is suitable for baby.  At 8 months, baby should be able to handle a chunkier texture than that of a 6 month old Solid Food Apprentice.

12.  When transferring the purees to freezing trays, use half beef mixture and half potato puree in each cube section so that the beef is on the bottom and the potato is on the top to make a little Mini-Me Beef Shepherd’s Pie!

13.  You can also set some of each aside to serve fresh and keep in the fridge in a food storage container to use within 48 hours.

Makes – Approx. 24 servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

Note – If you have more beef mixture than potato, freeze the left over beef mixture on it’s own in the freezing trays to use on a night when the family is having mashed potatoes with their meal to make a quick Shepherd’s Pie for baby.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Solid Food Apprentice

Spring has sprung.

Crocuses are in bloom…

Pedicures are in bloom…

Solid Food Apprentices are always in bloom…

If you have a baby who is approaching 6 months old and you have been longing…or wondering…what types of solid foods you should start with, this will be a good guide for you.  If baby isn’t quite a spring chicken anymore and has advanced to 8 months plus, this will still be helpful if you haven’t tried making his or her food at home as yet but would like to.  In a nut shell, or egg shell, whichever is smaller, this will take you through the painless basics of preparing baby’s first solid foods at home and the discovery of just how easy it can be.

Good news Solid Food Apprentice parents…this stage is the easiest as far as food prep goes.  Good thing because with a 6 month old baby at home I recall trying to battle through the day on very little or sporadic bursts of sleep.  Isn’t it funny how nature seems to provide a tolerable balance between ease and strife for the people?

Once baby is a pro with iron fortified rice cereal, which they can start to have at around 5 months, you can introduce others including oat and wheat as long as baby is over 6 months and you wait 3 days or so in between the new introduction to keep an eye out for any allergic reactions.  This way you can narrow down the culprit to the food that was most recently introduced.  Chances of your baby having food related allergies are higher if there is a history of it in the family.  If not, then it’s more likely that baby will not, but it’s always best to be watchful and proactive.

O.K. all you exhausted yet enthusiastic parents!  Here is a crash course in the top 5 fruit and veggie foods to introduce first to awaken their little taste buds at 6 months of age.

 Ready…Set…Evolve…

Age – 6 months +

New Beginnings Fruit

1.      Banana

Preparation – Pick it up, peel it, mash it, serve it. 

I think that just saved you 53 minutes by taking away your search for car keys, bundling of baby, drive to the store, polite battle through aisles to get to the jarred baby food, line up behind a clerk calling for a price check, drive home and coffee drive through stop for caffeine injection to get you through the rest of your day.  You’re welcome.

2.      Apples

Preparation – Peel, core and slice.  Add to sauce pan over medium heat, cover and cook stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until apples are juicy and tender.  Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes then puree to thin consistency.

3.      Pears

Preparation – Same prep as apples above.

4.      Peaches

Preparation – Peel and slice peach removing pit.  If the peaches are really ripe you don’t even have to cook them.  Simply puree.  If they aren’t super ripe you can always put them in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or so just like you would for apples and pears so they become tender and juicy and then puree.

5.      Blueberries

Preparation – Add fresh or frozen blueberries to a saucepan and cook over medium heat for approx. 5 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes then puree.  You can use a food mill to puree if you don’t want to have any of the skin in the puree making it that much smoother for a young baby to handle, or put the regular puree through a strainer and discard the skins.

All of the above fruit purees are great on their own or mixed with baby cereal.  All except for banana are suitable for freezing so you can make a big batch and freeze in portion sized freezing trays to use within 3 months.

New Beginnings Veggies

All of these veggies have the same prep method…steaming.  Steaming rather than boiling veggies helps them to better retain their nutrients.  So for each, place the chopped and peeled vegetables in a steamer set over boiling water and steam for time indicated.  Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes then puree with some of the cooking water so that a thin, easy for baby to handle, puree is achieved.

1.      Carrots

Preparation – Peel and chop and steam for approx. 20 minutes then puree with some of the cooking water to a smooth consistency.

2.      Sweet Potato

Preparation – Peel and chop and steam for approx. 15 minutes then just to make things complicated (easy), do the same as you did above for carrots. J

3.      Butternut Squash

Preparation – Peel, seed and chop and then just when you thought things were getting tricky they are the polar opposite…you just prep squash the same way as you would a sweet potato.

4.      Peas

Preparation - Place frozen peas into a steamer over boiling water, cover and steam for approx. 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and puree with some of the cooking water to a smooth consistency.  Just like the blueberries, you can use a food mill to puree peas so you don’t have the skins in the puree, or put the regular puree through a strainer and discard the skins.

5.      Broccoli

Preparation – Clean and chop broccoli into small pieces removing the thick stems and add to steamer placed over boiling water.  Cover and steam for approx. 10 mins.  Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes then puree with some of the cooking water to a smooth consistency.

All of the above veggie purees are suitable for freezing so just like for the fruit, make large batches and then put into portion sized freezing trays to use within 3 months.

There you have it.  This sounds easy because it is easy…not because I’m trying to make you think it’s easy.  I'm not that clever or calculating.

The Middle

So here we are somewhere between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  It doesn’t seem like an appropriate time to embark on a new project, handle a nagging task, or make a life changing decision.  Feats such as that are best left to the New Year which gives me time to procrastinate here for now.

I’m not even quite sure what day of the week it is and it’s rather exciting not having to know until January 2, which is back to work day.

It’s a great time of year to relax, reminisce about the past year and play with, wear, or read any Christmas gifts we were fortunate enough to receive.  Let’s try that new lip balm that was stuffed with care into our Christmas stocking, and wrap up in that life changing super absorbent hair towel a loved one surprised us with…o.k. maybe that one was just me.

It’s also a great time of year to live vicariously through our kids.  Watching them play with their coveted new toys is pretty entertaining.  My son has watched a new Elmo video several times now, but he still yells, “oh no, mommy!” when Telly is skateboarding out of control.  It’s as if he has no idea what the outcome will be.  He’s not convinced that the same chain of events that played out the other 9 times he watched it will repeat.

Wouldn’t it be great if we were so innocent and un-jaded that we could look at a situation we’ve seen play out several times before with an unbiased initial view?  Toddler misses his nap…I’ve seen this one played out before…brace yourself for a horrible afternoon.  If we were more like our toddlers we could be blissfully unaware of the monster that may or may not appear courtesy of a missed nap.

O.K. back on track…I received a new vegetable peeler in my stocking this year that you kind of wear like a ring?!?  I like rings, so I’m going on a peeling rampage!  I don’t want to just peel one kind of veggie…I want to see how this thing works on all kinds of specimens.  What can I make that requires the peeling variety that I seek?  Only a chicken stew with a diverse cross section of veggies will cure this peeling fever!  

Ready…Set…Evolve…

A Multitude of Veggies Chicken Stew

Age – 6 + months – However, be sure baby has tried each veggie used in this recipe during the solid food introductions period leaving about 3 days in between each to monitor for any allergic reactions.

Ingredients

·         1 small boneless, skinless chicken breast

·         1 tsp. butter

·         1 parsnip

·         1 cup chopped carrots

·         1 cup chopped celery

·         ½ cup chopped onions

·         1 small sweet potato

·         1 small white potato

·         1 cup chopped rutabaga

·         2 cups of chicken broth (homemade or low sodium store bought)

·         ½ tsp. ground thyme spice (if baby is over 8 months)

Baby Steps

·         Peel and chop all veggies and set aside.  I like to do all my peeling and chopping of the veggies before chopping the meat and starting to cook.  It serves two purposes…you’re less stressed and rushed over getting your peeling and chopping done before something over-cooks on the stove, and by chopping the veggies first you avoid any cross-contamination from the knife and cutting board courtesy of the raw meat transferring to the veggies.

·         Chop chicken into small chunks.

·         Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat and add chicken.

·         Cook until chicken is slightly brown on the outside and no longer pink on the inside…approx. 8 minutes.

·         Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

·         Add onions to pan and cook for 3 minutes.

·         Add the rest of the chopped veggies, the cooked chicken, chicken broth and ½ cup of water to the pan.

·         Increase heat and bring to a boil.

·         If baby is over 8 months, feel free to add the thyme for a new flavour dimension.  If not, leave it out.

·         Cover pan and reduce heat to medium/low and cook for approx. 45 minutes stirring occasionally.  Use this non-labour intensive cooking time to play with baby or fold some laundry…you know…all of those fun nagging parenthood tasks.

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

·         Transfer to a food processor, blender, or vessel to use a hand blender and puree to desired consistency.

Makes approx. 24 servings (2 tbsp. = 1 serving)

Tip – This recipe is also great for toddlers and adults for that matter.  You can add some salt and pepper to an adult’s portion, and just make sure the chunks of chicken and veggies are small enough for a toddler to handle without pureeing them.

So until New Year’s Eve when that clock strikes midnight signifying a shot gun start into a shiny new year, I’ll be marinating here in the middle for a while.