Sarah Approved Food

Sarah has put my culinary skills to the test.  She loves something one week and won't even take a bite of it the next week.  I've definitely discovered a few things with her that have held true since the beginning - She hates bell peppers and onions (even when cooked down), she likes chicken and ham the best and calls all meat chicken, you can disguise a lot of healthy things when they're in a smoothie, and when she's hungry she will eat.

I have mom friends whose kids won't eat smoothies, but if your child does like smoothies this is a great way to sneak in vegetables.  A typical smoothie for Sarah has milk, plain yogurt, spinach, pumpkin, a banana and random fruit (strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, fresh squeezed orange juice).

I know it's really great to try new foods when your kids are little, but I also think it's okay to stick to things they like when they are healthy foods.  Sarah loves broccoli and carrots, and it's okay to have those a couple of times a week.  I don't naturally gravitate toward fish, but since Robert loves it, and I know it's really healthy I've been trying to serve it a few times a month.  I recently discovered a real winner that uses broccoli, carrots, and salmon, and then I served it with wild rice.  Sarah approved of all of it and asked for more.  Honey Teriyaki Salmon and Veggies in Foil was a hit with all of us.  We subbed a few things:

• White vinegar instead of rice vinegar
• Ground ginger instead of minced ginger (and used less of it)
• Vegetable oil instead of sesame oil

I've also discovered that Sarah loves soup!  She likes eating from spoons and slurping up the broth at the end.  This is a good way to incorporate meat, beans, and veggies.

All three of us are big fans of Aldi's Never Any line.  They make really delicious breakfast sausage and chicken sausages. These are precooked so they're fast to grill up in a skillet, and there aren't any nasty hormones, fillers, or by-products.

My last random thought - Sarah has been having days where it feels like she's not eating much at all. Her pediatrician told me to look at a week at a time, not just every separate meal. When I do that, I realize she is eating a variety of things. She's also growing and adding inches and ounces, so she must be getting enough food. I think it's hard to transition from the newborn phase where your baby gains 15 pounds in a year to the toddler phase where your child only gains a few pounds a year. It's hard for me to change my mindset at least. 

What are some of your favorite tried and true toddler foods?

Homemade Baby Food

It's no secret that Robert and I are on a tight budget due to living off of his single income.  I'm always looking for ways to save us money whether it be by shopping at Aldi, line drying Sarah's diapers (or even just using cloth for that matter), and getting creative with leftovers.  So when Sarah turned six months old and it was time to introduce fruits and vegetables I knew that I would primarily be feeding her homemade baby food to save money and to provide her with wholesome, single ingredient foods.  I know one of the biggest negatives that comes to mind when thinking about homemade baby food is the time commitment.  However, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way!

So far I've made green beans, avocado, acorn squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and apple sauce, and they've all been very successful.  A few things I've learned through personal experimentation and through online and book research include:

• Use fresh when you can (duh), but when something isn't in season you should shoot for frozen.  You really don't want to make baby food from canned fruits or vegetables.  Fresh and frozen will be the most nutrient-rich options compared to canned.  It will also be fresher and won't have any seasonings or sugars added to it.  I've used all fresh so far except for green beans as they obviously aren't in season in February.
• The best cooking method is baking/roasting, second place is steaming, and you really want to avoid boiling or microwaving.  Boiling and microwaving will remove a lot of nutrients.  Also, if you think about it, as an adult don't most foods that you enjoy taste better baked or steamed than boiled or microwaved?  I know that a baked sweet potato tastes better than a microwaved sweet potato and that steamed broccoli tastes better than boiled broccoli.  Your baby feels the same way!
• There seems to be conflicting thought on whether you should re-use your steaming/boiling water or get fresh water to thin out the baby food.  I can see benefits to both perspectives.  By re-using your water maybe you're re-adding some vitamins that escaped, but by using fresh water maybe you're avoiding re-adding any dirty, germy water back into your food.  I'm not convinced that one option is superior over the other.  There are some foods that don't even need water added, such as apples.  There are other foods like sweet potatoes that are rather dry and just need some liquid in order to puree.  Generally, it's best to add as little liquid as possible during the pureeing process, especially if you'll be freezing the puree.  The consistency will change during the freezing and thawing process, and you'd rather have to add more liquid right before serving than regretting that you added too much before freezing and now it's watery.  Just plan to add liquid as needed when you're ready to serve the food.
• Pureeing the food - I've used a fork for ripe avocado, and I'd imagine you could do the same with bananas.  When I need to puree foods, I use our Ninja, and it works very well.  I didn't use the large container but opted to use the single-serve, smoothie cup instead.  From personal experience, blenders always seem to work better if they're about 75% full.  You obviously don't want it so full that it overflows when you put on the lid, but they also just don't work when they're fairly empty.
• Storing and serving - If you're making a small batch you can just store it in the refrigerator for a few days.  You want to make sure that you store the food in single portion sizes because you don't want to re-use any leftovers due to contamination from saliva.  If you aren't serving the food fairly quickly, then you can freeze the food.  That's what I've been doing.  I spoon the food into ice cube trays, freeze it overnight, pop them out the next day, and store them in a labeled freezer bag.  They can stay in the freezer for months.  I just get out a cube a few hours before serving so it can defrost.

• Cold pressed oil - Babies need lots of good, healthy fats to develop properly.  Babies under two should receive 40-50% of their daily calories through healthy fats.  Babies get lots of healthy fats through breast milk and formula, but it's helpful to add in fats to baby food.  You don't need much - only about 1 tablespoon a day.  Good fats also make foods taste better.  Think about it - having a little fat on your meat adds so much flavor and prevents it from getting dry.  Baby food acts the same way.  
• Fats to avoid
• Partially hydrogenated oils
• Vegetables oils
• Margarine
• Good fats:
• Cold pressed, organic coconut oil
• Cold pressed, unrefined extra virgin oil
• Organic, grass fed butter
• Avocado
• Wait a few days in between trying new foods.  I know the chance of your baby being allergic to sweet potato is very low.  Have you ever met anyone allergic to sweet potato?  Neither have I.  Regardless of the allergy food, your baby's body needs time to learn how to digest these new flavors and consistencies, so it helps to avoid overwhelming her system by introducing foods over the course of a few days.
• Sarah seems to naturally like orange and yellow vegetables like carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes because they're sweet.  Green foods that aren't as sweet such as avocado and green beans didn't appeal to her as much on their own.  Actually, she hated them.  When she ate green beans she made herself gag and threw up.  It was disgusting.  So I read that you can ease your baby into a new food by mixing it with a familiar taste such as breast milk, formula, or cereal, and it totally worked for Sarah!



Hating avocado without cereal





Reaching for more avocado when mixed with cereal

After Sarah finishes the food I've already made her I plan to make butternut squash, peas, bananas, apricot, pears, and pumpkins.  I've read that nectarine, mango, papaya, peach, and plum are also good first foods, but those just aren't easily accessible and tasty in southwest Missouri in February.  My favorite website for resources has been Wholesome Baby Food, and my favorite book as been one that my parents got me when Sarah was born, and it's called The Top 100 Healthy Recipes for Babies & Toddlers. So how about you?  Have you had success making baby food?  Any good and funny baby food catastrophes?

What I've Done: Our Engagement Dinner

One of my favorite meals of all time is our engagement meal.  I'm sure some of it has to do with the nostalgia and good memories of what happened shortly after eating, but it was also just a great meal.  Robert is a great cook and did an excellent job of the picking the recipes.  We still enjoy making this meal on occasion, and we did just that this week.  After hearing that, I know you're just dying for the recipes, so here you go.

Chili-Lime Chicken Marinade
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice
*If you want to save money or just don't want to go to the store you can substitute the lime peel and lime juice with some lemon juice.
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeno seeded, finely chopped
*Again, if you want to save some money you can just sprinkle in some crushed red chili flakes
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Marinade and grill

Corn Con Queso
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
*Or chili powder
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cobs of corn
Queso fresco (cheese)

Combine ingredients, rub on corn, wrap in foil, grill.

Garlic Cilantro Mashed Potatoes
1 pound of potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspon of salt
Butter and milk

You probably noticed that each of this dishes have similar ingredients.  I like this for two reasons: It gives a bit of a theme to the meal and it helps you use up a fair amount of cilantro at once so it doesn't go bad.  I don't know about you, but it's always hard for us to finish up the whole bunch of cilantro before it goes bad.

What I've Done - French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup
1/2 stick Butter
2 large Yellow Onions, Halved Root To Tip, And Sliced Thin
4 cups of water mixed with 2 chicken bouillon cubes and 2 beef bouillon cube
1 t garlic powder
A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
French bread
Grated cheese

Melt the butter in a skillet, add sliced onions, and saute on medium heat for 20 minutes.  Move your onions to a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Put the onions into a stock pot (yes, this is dirtying a few large dishes) and add water with bouillon, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Now your soup is ready for you to eat.  Garnish with some shredded cheese and enjoy with some bread freshly toasted under the broiler.

This soup wins the award for being unbelievably cheap yet surprisingly filling.  That's a winner!

What I've Done - Black Bean Fiesta Burgers

I've tried a couple of bean burger recipes so far, and I think I've come up with a conglomeration of all of them and have come up with a winner.

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
3 T corn meal
1 c cooked rice
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro - including stems
1/3 cup diced white onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chopped garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Put all items in the food processor/blender.  Mold into burger patties.  Place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  I mixed together a few tablespoons of mayo with hot sauce mixed in and served that on the hamburger buns.  Delicious!  I just told Robert to pretend it wasn't even a burger and not compare it to a real hamburger and he liked it!  It's a winner!

What I've Done - Crock Pot cream cheese chicken chili

Who doesn't love a good Crock Pot recipe that you can put together before work and have waiting for you when you get home? This is definitely my old stand by for fall and winter. Here you go:

3 chicken breasts, still frozen
2 cans Rotel tomatoes
1 bag of frozen corn
1 can each of kidney beans, pinto beans, and black beans, drained and rinsed
1 t garlic powder
1 T cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t onion powder
Any additional items to bring the heat like jalapeño or hot sauce, add to taste
1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese
_________
Put the chicken in the crock pot.
Top with the tomatoes, corn, the drained and rinsed beans, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder.  Stir to combine.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Remove the chicken, shred, add back to Crock Lot and add in cream cheese. Heat until cream cheese is melted.
Yields 8 servings (This can easily be halved by only using one can of beans and reducing all the other ingredients. Keeps in the refrigerator well.)

I think it's safe to say that I like this recipe even better than regular chili.  So good!

What I've Done - Kale

Go out and buy some kale right now.  I bought a huge bag recently and froze it in smaller bags and it took forever to go through.  $5 well spent, if you ask me.  My two favorite things I've done with kale so far would have to be making kale chips and using it for a soup broth.

Kale chips:
Spread kale onto a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt, bake in oven at 300.  Bake for 10 minutes, toss, bake for another 10 minutes or until nice and crunchy.  Easy peasy!  And you can eat a ton of it without filling up and it's so healthy.  One cup of chopped kale contains 33 calories and 9% of the daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and a whopping 684% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.  I've now introduced you to your new favorite snack.  You're welcome.

Green Chicken Soup:

• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 bunch kale, chopped
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced (I left out mushrooms because, well...I hate them.)
• 1 cup shredded chicken (optional, though nice)

1. Place chicken stock in a soup pot over medium heat, reserving 2 cups stock
2. Take reserved stock and blend it with kale in a vitamix, until smooth and creamy
3. Pour kale-stock mixture into pot of chicken stock
4. Add carrots and mushrooms (and shredded chicken if you have it)
5. Cook for 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender
6. Serve

Yum yum yum yum yum!

What I've Done - Loaded breakfast biscuits

Okay, so I didn't actually make this one, but my sweet husband did and they were awesome!  It sounds like quite a bit of work so it's probably one of those special occasion sort of meals.

Stuffed breakfast bubble biscuits

Can of biscuits

Shredded Cheese (I had Mexican style on hand)

Frozen Shredded Hash Browns

1 package of Cooked Bacon

6 Scrambles Eggs

 

Stuff biscuits with all the fixings and bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes.  Boom!  And who doesn't love breakfast for supper?

What I've Done - Apple cinnamon chimichangas

 Another good one!  We had a bunch of apples to use up, and sometimes you just want something sweet!  This was pretty easy and very fun to make together.

Apple cinnamon chimichangas
4 apples, chopped
1 1/2 c water
1/4 c cornstarch
3/4 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 T lemon juice
Combine everything but apples in saucepan, bring to boil, cook for 3 minutes until the mixture becomes thick.  Add in apples and simmer til tender (about 10 minutes).

8-10 flour tortillas
1/2 c sugar
1 T cinnamon
Mix together in another bowl

Fill tortilla with filling, fry in a 1/2 inch of oil (about 30 seconds on each side).  Remove and roll in cinnamon sugar.

Ice cream with this is a MUST!

What I've Done - Peach and Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake

This one was a bit of a bust.  It turned out correct, but it just wasn't all that good.  It wasn't very flavorful, and I left thinking, "I could have just made a white cake from a box and dumped in some peaches."  So here's the recipe:

3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds (I used vanilla extract)
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ cups diced fresh peaches (I used canned peaches)

Mix it all together and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  I don't have a bundt pan so I used two round cake pans instead. 

While cake is baking, make syrup. Combine peach puree, sugar, and orange juice in a small non reactive saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Using a pastry brush, dab syrup generously all over surface of the warm cake, allowing it to soak into the cake before reapplying. Let the cake cool completely.  THIS WAS A BUST.  It never turned into a syrup for me.  It was more like peaches in sugar water.  Whatever.

Tell me other people have had recipe fails?!?

What I've Done - Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole

This one comes to you courtesy of Picky Palate.  I have trouble getting Robert to like brown rice.  I grew up eating it so it tastes totally normal to me, but Robert is used to eating white rice so brown rice tastes dry and gross to him.  The compromise - wild rice.  Plus, we had half a bag in our pantry and needed to use it somehow.

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 stalks celery, finely diced (I didn't have any so I skipped it, but I'm sure it would be a nice addition)
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic (I used garlic powder)
2 Cups shredded, cooked chicken breast (boiled)
2 Cups steamed white rice (I used brown rice, and Robert couldn't even tell!!!)
16 oz prepared wild rice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
______
Cheese Sauce (I totally skipped all the cheese sauce stuff and substituted it with a can of cream of chicken.  We're pretty sure cheese triggers headaches for me, so I'm attempting to avoid it when possible.)
4 Tablespoons butter
1/4 Cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 Cups chicken broth
2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
Top with 1 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat oil into a medium dutch oven or pot over medium heat.  Saute onion, celery and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in chicken, both rices, salt, pepper and garlic salt.  Reduce heat to low.
2.  To prepare cheese sauce melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Whisk in flour, salt and pepper then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously.  Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in cheese until melted.  Pour cheese sauce into rice mixture then transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with additional cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.  Serve.

*I cooked and baked mine in an iron skillet.  I'm anemic and will take any extra iron I can get!  Did you know that cooking in an iron skillet amps up the iron in the food you're cooking?  It's an easy way to get extra iron.

Robert said this was a dish worth making again so that's always a good sign!

What I've Done - Buttnernut Squash and Black Bean Enchilada Skillet

I'm attempted to have Robert and me eat a meatless dinner one night a week.  It's partly due to health purposes and partly do to cost purposes.  I made a new dish this weekend - Butternut and black bean enchilada skillet.  I found the recipe on Pinterest, but it's from Recipe Sweet.  Here's the recipe:

 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 Medium Yellow Onion, Diced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced (I used garlic powder)
½ Jalapeno, Seeded And Diced
3 cups 1/2 Inch Diced, Peeled Butternut Squash (I used half of a butternut squash)
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
Salt And Pepper To Season
1 can (15 Ounce) Can Black Beans, Rinsed And Drained
8 Yellow Corn Tortillas (taco Size), Cut Into Thick Strips (I used 4 flour tortillas)
1 can (15 Ounce Can) Red Enchilada Sauce
1 cup Reduced-fat Colby Jack Or Mexican Cheese, Divided (I didn't add any cheese so it was a bit healthier)
Cilantro And Low Fat Sour Cream, For Serving

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large oven-proof skillet. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook 2-3 minutes until onions become translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add cubed squash, cumin and chili powder and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash is slightly tender, 8 to 10 minutes. You want the squash to be fork tender, but not so tender that it starts to fall apart and become mush.
2. Next add the black beans, corn tortilla pieces, and can of enchilada sauce and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low and sprinkle in 1/2 cup of cheese. Stir again and simmer for a few minutes until everything is nice and melted.
3. Serve with sour cream, cilantro, guacamole, or hot sauce! 

This was a big hit with the hubs.  He claims he doesn't like squash, but I'm gradually converting him.  The key to making him like squash is to not overcook it.  He hates when it's mushy/stringy which I can understand.  This made for great leftovers as well.  The beans provide lots of fiber, and getting orange vegetables such as the squash provides plenty of vitamin C and supports eye health.  What are some of your favorite vegetarian dishes?

What I've Done - Sour Cream Enchiladas

This is so unbelievably easy.  It's one of my inventions.  It was created in a moment of desperation.  What do we have that is fast, easy, and cheap?

Sour cream enchiladas!
Fill tortilla with sour cream and a piece of cheese.  Roll it up.  Put in baking dish.  Cover with enchilada sauce.  Bake til hot and bubbly.  Done!

What are some of your fast dinners that have been invented out of desperation?