Tomato and Egg Bake

This was super yummy, and even Geoff liked it (and if you had asked him 5 years ago when we were first married he would have told you he disliked tomatoes and squash).  So give this a try, even if you think you have picky eaters.

2 C red onion, chopped
1 1/2 C red bell pepper, diced
1 lb yellow squash, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1/2-1 C cooked quinoa
1/2 C thinly sliced fresh basil, divided
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 C milk
3/4 C Gruyere cheese, shredded
3 eggs, beaten
small chunk French bread baguette
2 beefsteak tomatos, sliced

Preheat oven to 375

Saute onion in a little oil over medium heat.  Cook 3 minutes.  Add bell pepper and cook 2 more minutes.  Add squash and garlic and cook 4 more minutes.  Combine vegetables with cooked quinoa, 1/4 C basil, thyme, 1/2 tsp salt, and the black pepper.

Combine remaining 1/2 tsp salt, milk, cheese, and eggs.  Stir with a whisk.  Add milk mixture to vegetable mixture, stirring until just combined.  Spoon into a greased baking dish (11x7 or 9x13).  Arrange tomato slices over quinoa mixture.

Place bread in a food processor and pulse into crumbs.  Toast breadcrumbs on the stovetop in a little olive oil.  Sprinkle bread crumbs over tomatoes.  Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until browned.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 C basil.

Baby Pumpkin

Today I saw pie pumpkins in the store.  We rarely get the pie variety of pumpkins so I was tempted to buy one (or two) just because we may never see those pumpkins again.  However, when I made baby pumpkin it was in the middle of the summer and there were certainly no pumpkins in the store, so I used canned pumpkin.  Much to babies dismay, I was particular in making sure it was just canned pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling. 

1 large can pumpkin
¾ cup milk
1 tsp. fresh ground cinnamon
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. The recipe I was following instructed that you heat the mixture to 160 degrees.  I did so, but I don't know how necessary that step was.  Cool.  Freeze in ice cube trays.

And now, our final post with pictures from Maryland.  On one of my last evening there, we went and picked 10 pounds of blackberries and 5 pounds of rasperries.  It was a delicious evening.  And I got the smashed blackberry stain, courtesy of one Little Boy I know and love, out of my shirt.  The following morning we had banana pancakes with fresh berries on top.  Delish!

This Desmond smile looks just like a little Robbie grin.  All he needs now is a bright yellow mario shirt.

Salsa Shredded Chicken

This was a great slow cooker recipe.  We had a serious amount of chicken left over - 3 meals worth and then we froze a container of chicken that we can use for rice bowls again or we can throw into burritos.

1 lb chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C salsa
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 C sour cream (I didn't have a full cup, but it turned out fine)
1 Can Black beans

Garnish (optional):  cheese, avocado, cilantro, diced tomato

Put chicken, soup, salsa, and taco seasoning in slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  Pull out chicken and shred with two forks.  Stir in sour cream and black beans.  Heat on low for another 30 minutes.  Serve on rice.  Garnish, as desired.

Isaac did eat some of the chicken, beans, and rice.  He liked it pretty well.  But, as per habit, I'll include another baby puree recipe that we made several months ago.

Baby Chicken

This puree was a different consistency then the others I've made so I added rice until it was the right consistency.  The benefit to having some pureed chicken is I can make any manner of "main dish" mixes now.  So for dinner, Isaac might get a mixture of 1 cube chicken, 1 cube cauliflower, 2 cubes carrots.  The mixture can change every night depending on the purees you have on add.  Also, you can add seasonings or spices as desired to change it even more.  This way, he gets a larger variety of meals without me making millions of different mixes a head of time.


Directions:  Cook a chicken breast (do not salt).  Puree with some water.  I also added some rice to puree with it.  Freeze in ice cubes.  


And now, for Babies visit to Maryland, part II:

We took the boys swimming a couple times at this awesome pool with a lazy river, a splash pad, a vortex, and water volleyball and basketball.  The second day was cloudy and so the water was a little chilly (Anna, the fish, loved the cool water) but the first day was perfect. We also went to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, walking briefly on the Appalachian Trail and reaffirming my belief that West Virginia is beautiful and we need to take a vacation there so that the mountains and trails can be thoroughly explored.

Isaac LOVES swimming. 

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

Lentil Enchiladas

Once upon a time I lived with a fabulous roommate who has great taste in food.  This recipe came from her and it is really easy to make, makes a lot, and is delicious to boot.  Added benefit: lentils, unlike other legumes, don't need to soak overnight and cook up in 10 minutes.  Thanks for the great recipe, Caroline!

1/4-1/2 C onions, diced
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro, plus some for garnishing
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 C red lentils, rinsed (I've made this with both red lentils and brown lentils.  Red was my favorite but both work)
3 C water or veggie broth (or any combination of the two) (can also use chicken broth if you're not worried about having a vegetarian dish)
Taco seasoning or mixture of cumin, corriander, red pepper
8-10 corn tortillas (I had enough lentils for 15+)
30 oz green enchilada sauce
Cheese, grated
Tomato, diced

 Preheat the oven to 350.

Bring water/broth to a boil.  Add 1 C red lentils and cook until al dente (~10 minutes).  Drain and set aside.

Saute onions, cilantro, jalapeno, and half of the bell pepper.  Add lentils to the pan with the onions and peppers.  Stir in some taco seasoning or other spices to desired spicy-ness (I didn't measure, just shake until it tastes good).  Add 1 C of the enchilada sauce.  Heat through.

Pour 1 C of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Put several spoonfuls of the lentil mixture into each tortilla.  Sprinkle with a tiny bit of cheese, if desired.  Roll the tortillas and place them seamside down in the baking dish.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas.  Top with a little bit of cheese and remaining diced bell pepper.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Top with tomatoes and cilantro.  Enjoy!

Baby Prunes

I mentioned a few posts ago that baby was on some specific foods to help with digestion.  That's where this recipe comes into play.  Baby prunes are a regular at our house.  Every day, in fact.  Recently, while we were visiting Austin, we were feeding Isaac some prunes at a pizza joint when a lady walked up and said, "He sure likes that chocolate!  He is eating it fast."  I said, "Oh, I'm sure he wishes it were chocolate."  She then asked what we were feeding him and was shocked at how well he ate prunes.  She then preceded to have a loud conversation about how prunes must keep the baby regular and ended by singing Isaac a song about eating prunes.  Very strange conversation.  But what entertains me is she thought I was giving my 9 month baby chocolate for lunch.  Really?

To make prune puree:  Place prunes in a sauce pan.  Fill with enough water to just barely cover all the prunes.  Bring to a boil and cook until prunes are soft (about 8-10 minutes).  Pour entire contents of the pan into blender or food processor.  Puree.  I usually need to add more water so the prunes don't have the consistency of tar (sure sounds appetizing, huh).  Feed to baby and take delight with every dirty diaper.

And finally, I'll give you the first set of pictures from Babies trip to Maryland to visit his cousin.  We went to DC, successfully maneuvering Anna's double Bob through the metro and through a museum.  For the most part, baby traveled like a champ.  Sleeping at nights was a little to be desired but it was worth it to go have fun with family.

Sweet Potato Muffins

These were really yummy.  You could make them for yourself even if you don't have a baby to feed.  I, however, made these specifically for my little Bean. Speaking of my little bean, have I mentioned how wild and wiggly he is lately?  An omen of things to come, right?  The other day he was crawling with purpose and rather than go around Tina, he went straight over her.  Just crawled up over her back without skipping a beat.  What a good dog to just sit there and watch him do it.

Our skinny little bean's waist can't quite hold pants up.  We're always a size or two behind in the pant department.

1/2 C all purpose flour

1/2 C wheat flour

1 C old fashioned oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Whisk all the above dry ingredients together.

2 eggs

1/3 C brown sugar

1/2 C milk

1/4 C oil

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk all the above wet ingredients together.

1 C mashed sweet potato*

Add mashed sweet potato to the wet ingredients.  Blend well.  Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just mixed.  Batter may be lumpy.  Scoop into mini muffin tins (for baby) or full sized muffin tins (for you!).  Bake at 350.

Mini muffins - 350 for 15-17 minutes

Full Sized Muffins - I didn't bake any myself, but someone commented on the original recipe that it took 20ish minutes for full sized muffins

* For sweet potato, bake ahead of time at 400 for 1 hr.  Or dice and cook in a pressure cooker with a touch of water for 8 minutes or until done)
 

And in other news, we got a piano.  I think it's fabulous.  Isaac likes it too and pulls himself up to play on a few keys several times a day.

Banana Bars

It's a toss up over whether I prefer to eat the bananas fresh or if I like them baked into things - especially things with chocolate!  So next time you buy some bananas, accidentally let some get overripe and then make these little gems.

2/3 C margarine
2/3 C sugar
2/3 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 C mashed banana
2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C chocolate chips

Cream margarine and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla, egg, and banana.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Add chocolate chips.  Pour into greased jelly roll pan (10x15).  Bake 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Option:  Bake in a 9x13 for thicker bars.

Baby has eaten cauliflower.  He's no longer eating it because, as mentioned in the last post, we've pulled a bunch of foods out of his diet to see if some digestive problems can be fixed.  So now we have a bag of frozen cauliflower puree in the freezer.  Oh well.  We'll figure out something to do with it.  I'm thinking I'll mix it into mashed potatoes some day (but don't tell my husband).

For Baby Cauliflower just steam or boil the cauliflower in a little water until tender.  Puree with cooking water.  Add water as necessary. Freeze in ice cubes or silicon muffin tins, depending on desired size.  Isaac liked cauliflower mixed with carrots or peas.

If you're reading this blog with the intention of making baby food, hopefully these recipes are starting to sound super repetitive and you see how easy it is.  It takes 45 minutes once a week to have more than enough food and enough variety on hand for him.  And as he gets older he's eating more of what we eat so soon it should be even less time.

Gooey Goo for Chewy Chewing and Wheat Bread

That's what that Goo-Goose is doing.

In an attempt to help our little boy have a happier digestive experience we have pulled a handful of foods out of his diet.  Unfortunately, this included pulling rice out entirely (goodbye convenient baby rice cereal) and anything fortified with iron (goodbye convenient baby oats).  While rice is gone completely for the foreseeable future, we're still giving him oats so long as they are not fortified with iron.  This means cooking him his own little pan of baby oats.

Start by blending up dry old fashioned rolled oats in a food processor or blender until it resembles a coarse flour.  Then add 1/2 C oats to 1 1/2 C boiling water.  Simmer, whisking continuously for 10 minutes - or I should say, whisking as continuously as a wild little boy who is set upon playing with the dog dishes will allow.  It will resemble goo.  Not blue goo mind you, but goo none the less.  I'm storing it in the fridge and hoping it will be enough for a few days worth of cereal.  Not terribly thrilled about making him oats all the time, but I'd still like him to consistently eat some grains.

Note:  I first tried just mixing the coarse flour with some hot water and mixing it with fruit.  He ate it fine but it didn't digest - just came straight out still looking just like it had going in.  On the bright side, at least it came out - already an improvement.  Anyways, the hope is that cooked oats will digest better.

(Update: Now we are just throwing 1-2 Tbsp oats in the microwave with a bit of water.  3 Tbsp water per 1 Tbsp oats.  Cook for 30 seconds.  Turns out perfect everytime.)

One day I had stepped into the kitchen while baby was crawling around in the living room.  I heard him fuss a little but didn't worry about it but as the fussing gradually increased I poked my head over the ledge to find him like this.  He had crawled into the bottom of the excersaucer and couldn't get out.  He was not impressed with the situation but it certainly warranted shooting a picture before helping him get out.

Wheat Bread

This wheat bread is phenomenal.  The recipe is from my mother, who I think got it from my grandma, though I'm not certain.  Anyways, living in humid Houston, I know that I need to use a little bit more flour than she does in dry Colorado.  (1-1/2 to 2 Cups more than she uses).

Also, I use fresh ground wheat.  My grinder produces a flour that is finer than the flour you can buy at the store.  I don't know if that makes a difference.  So add flour cautiously so you don't add too much.

1/3 C oil
1/3 C honey
1/3 C molasses
5 1/2 C warm water
1 Tbsp salt (plus maybe a pinch more)
2 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 C vital yeast gluten (or dough enhancer or gluten flour)
2 1/2 Tbsp vinegar

Mix all the above ingredients together in a big stand mixer and let rise 5-10 minutes until bubbly.

Add 10 C wheat flour and 1/2 C old fashioned rolled oats.  Cover and let rise to the top of the bowl.

Gradually add 2-3 C flour (I add white flour here, though you can do white or wheat) until the sides of the bowl clean.  Don't add too much too fast.  It will need to beat for 7-8 minutes.  Let raise to top of the bowl again.

Divide into 5 greased 8x5 bread pans.  Shape.  Let the dough rise for another 10 minutes.  Bake at 365 for 40 minutes.

Yummy!