World's Greatest

...Spaghetti.

That is all.

Okay, okay. I just have to brag a little, then I'll be on my way. I make spaghetti. It's the world's best spaghetti. I learned how to make it from my mother (so hers is pretty good too) and I've been making it since I was 14 years old. She learned how to make it from an Italian neighbor in Italy. (you're starting to believe it's the best now, aren't you?) Whenever I ask my husband this question: "What's your favorite meal that I make?" or "If you could have anything I make for dinner tonight, what would it be?" the answer is ALWAYS spaghetti.

I cannot share the recipe. I plan on passing this down to my daughter so that she, too, can make the world's greatest spaghetti. But if you want an idea for how to spruce up your own spaghetti, I can share this:

-Use Italian sausage instead of ground beef.
-Add balsamic vinegar to your meat as it is browning.
-Use fresh herbs whenever possible, particularly basil and oregano.
-Don't forget the thyme!!

Spaghetti and red wine. Heaven at my house.

It's beautiful.

Add in some grated parmesan cheese and it's ready to devour.

Some grated red pepper is a delicious addition also, if you like a spicy kick.

Next time I make spaghetti, we'll discuss spaghetti sandwiches. Be on the lookout!

Baby Food: Spinach and Asparagus

After about 2 months of eating solid foods, I realized Everleigh was not getting enough green vegetables. She was eating peas and I was struggling to feed her green beans. So I started looking for more that maybe, hopefully, she would like. I am surprised that she really does like spinach. I love how healthy it is and how easy it is to make so I am super happy with this. However, there is one problem. Even if you buy that huge plastic box of baby spinach from the grocery store, once you steam it and puree it, as you can guess, you don't get a whole lot out of it. So it's not really the most efficient or cost-effective of the homemade baby food items.

Next, I tried asparagus. I like using asparagus because it is very versatile. It makes a great finger food because if you steam it long enough, it smushes up in your mouth really easily, but it is still easy for little fingers to grip. Also, if your little one tolerates a thicker food, then you can just fork-mash some very well done asparagus. No need to get out the food processor. Or, if your little one is like mine, and she can't decide from one day to the next whether she prefers thin purees, a little chunk, or finger foods, then you can also toss it in the food processor and it thins out quite nicely. However, it, like spinach, is not super cost-effective. It is not the cheapest produce item you'll find in the store and one bunch of asparagus, once steamed and pureed, does not make a whole lot.

Enter solution. Mix the two! It pureed very evenly and turned a lovely deep green color. It froze well and once thawed, it is a little runny, but these days that is what my daughter prefers. If you wanted, you could always add some rice cereal to thicken it. A little poured over pasta would make a yummy sauce for babies too. You can taste both the vegetables in the mixture but of course, spinach has a more powerful flavor and it is dominant. Like I said before, Everleigh likes spinach so this works for us. When I offered her asparagus alone, it was a little more of an effort to get her to eat it.

I want to point out that the spinach is super easy to cook. You don't need to go to all the hassle of pulling out the steamer, which you will probably be using for your asparagus anyway. For mine, I sprinkled it with some water and popped it in the microwave for about a minute. For extra nutrients, use the asparagus water you used in the steamer. For older babies that can tolerate raw veggies, I would not cook the spinach at all. Once it's in the food processor it chops up into tiny bits anyway. But then, maybe you would not be processing your older baby's food. I don't know.

Hey! Speaking of older babies and pasta. Throw some olive oil, parmesan and garlic into the food processor and you've got yourself an easy uber-nutritious pesto! (Don't add water to thin if you are going to do this.)

Pretty asparagusses (asparagi?) ready to be chopped and steamed.

Spinach about to get nuked. Don't mind the dirty microwave, please.

Just wilted, ready to process.

Chopped asparagus and bright spinach all together.

Add in a little of the asparagus water to help thin it out.

In it's pureed glory.

Ready to freeze! I like these Fresh Baby containers because they have lids and can be stacked in the freezer.  

However, an ice cube tray covered in plastic wrap works well too.

An Apple a Day

It seems so simple. Apple Sandwiches. And yet I never would have thought of it myself. Thanks to my co-worker with whom I share an office, I discovered a delicious, healthy and satisfying lunch that fits great into my schedule and my diet. This is by far the best way to eat an apple! It was a great lunch for myself but would also make an AWESOME alternative to lunchables for children. It's really fun to build the sandwich to your own individual liking and have the remaining apples and celery to dip.

I brought an apple and some celery sticks. I lightly toasted a multgrain sandwich round and spread each side thinly with peanut butter. Next, I thinly sliced the apple and removed the seeds. I piled the apples on one side of the bread. On top of that I spooned yogurt with honey and cinnamon. There you have an apple sandwich! I dipped the celery in the remaining peanut butter and dipped the leftover apple slices in the yogurt and the peanut butter.

There are so many alternatives you could add to this lunch to change it up a bit. It would be great to replace the peanut butter with nutella or almond butter for a change of pace. You could include fruit flavored yogurt, or add frozen berries to the plain yogurt. Instead of yogurt, simply honey and a sprinkle of granola on top of the apples would add crunchy sweetness. Crackers or tortillas instead of bread would be fun.

With the exception of the whole apple, all the components fit neatly in my Easy Lunchbox and I basically made the whole thing at work. I toasted my sandwich round in the office toaster oven and I brought a knife to thinly slice the apple. If you needed to, the bread could easily be toasted ahead of time. If the apples must be sliced in advance, make sure to toss in some lemon juice to keep from browning by the time it is ready to eat.

Multigrain sandwich round on top of celery sticks. Peanut butter for dipping leftover apple and the celery.

The yogurt is plain, lowfat yogurt with honey and cinnamon on top. An apple to slice. And hot tea.

Thinly sliced apple. My sandwich is ready to make.

Peanut butter on both sides. Pile up the apples. And a dabble of yogurt on top. 

My lunch is ready to enjoy.

Yummy sandwich, apples dipped in yogurt and celery dipped in peanut butter.

I spent this afternoon in the courtroom in trial. This lunch kept me from feeling groggy and gross right after and kept me feeling full and satisfied until the end of the day. I highly recommend.

Tzatziki

I continue to try to make and bring healthy lunches everyday to work in order to avoid the temptation of going out to eat with my co-workers or going through the drive-thru while I'm running errands during my lunch hour. My sister suggested using tzatziki as a sandwich dressing or dip as a substitute for higher calorie and fat choices such as mayonnaise or ranch dressing. Tzatziki is a cold Greek sauce made from yogurt and cucumber. It is creamy, tangy and refreshing. I already had a big container of this yummy Stoneyfield yogurt so I decided to try to make my own. It was pretty successful and I will probably play around with the ingredients next time to perfect the flavors. I used these Nature's Own Multigrain sandwich rounds which I'm really loving and they are extra healthy.

Tzatziki Sauce:

1 cup drained* plain yogurt
1 cup peeled, shredded cucumber
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dill
salt and pepper

Add the herbs and spices to the cucumber. Gently fold into the drained* yogurt. Add about half the cucumber mixture to start and increase to taste. Also, add as much of the juice from the cucumber as you like, to create the texture of sauce that you like. Let sit in refrigerator for several hours or overnight to let the flavors combine.

*I read a few recipes online that all suggested the yogurt be drained first. I did and I definitely see why. If you fail to drain it, the sauce would be WAY too runny, even if you drained all the cucumber juice. Using a colander to drain the yogurt (like many sites suggested) did not make sense to me. Maybe my mesh colander is not fine enough, but I am sure if I had ladled yogurt into it, all the yogurt would have strained through, not just the liquid. So I innovated. I suspended a coffee filter in a small plastic-ware bowl. I secured it with a rubber band around the outside. I spooned in the yogurt and placed the lid on top. It worked perfectly and a lot of liquid drained out. I left it overnight and the result is a much thicker, sour cream like yogurt that made a perfect dip.

My yogurt draining in its coffee filter strainer.

Vibrant grated cucumber! I used a large hole cheese grater

to quickly shred up one whole cuke.

Sandwiches:

I pounded flat some chicken breasts and marinated them in balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing. I then grilled them on my George Foreman grill and sliced it up. I made my first sandwich on the Multigrain round with baby spinach and the tzatziki sauce. This was a mistake. While delicious, by lunchtime, the bread was majorly soggy. I should have seen that one coming.

The next day my sandwiches were much more successful. I made open face sandwiches and included the sauce on the side for dipping. I hate them more like a wrap (think gyro sandwich style). I also added carrots for more crunch!

I think simply toasting the sandwich round and dipping in the sauce would be nice too. Other ideas I would consider include using it on top of any grilled meat, baked potatoes, or salad greens. I also believe that if you reduce the proportion of yogurt to cucumber, it would make a nice dish all on it's own. There are lots of possibilities and it is incredibly healthy compared to many alternatives. If you use the same kind of yogurt I did, in 1 cup there is only 120 calories and 2 grams of fat! And the amount I made was more than enough for 3-4 sandwiches.

The first sandwich I made with soggy bread.

I also had a bowl of homemade chicken soup. Yum!

Successful open face chicken, spinach and carrot sandwiches with tzatziki dipping sauce on the side.

(Also great for dipping carrots and celery!)

 Thanks for the idea, Cari!

Spoon Feeding Forever?

I am going to post a follow up soon regarding making our own baby food. It is going really well and now that the Little One is 8 months old we are becoming a bit more adventurous in what she eats. Well, I am becoming more adventurous. She would beg to differ I'm sure. Sweet E loves her purees. Give her one tiny chunk and you would think you were trying to poison her food with the dirty looks she gives you and the hacking and coughing production she does. But I continue to offer finger foods and I do see some tiny tiny progress with each offering. The goal with the finger foods is 1) to move away from purees to table foods and 2) to teach her to feed herself. She could care less about either of these goals. So runny squash served on a spoon by Mommy or Daddy or Foxy it is. Forever.

My mom (aka Foxy) assured me that things seem slow nowadays but in the future, when looking back on these times, things will seem fast. In hindsight it won't matter that Everleigh took a few months to catch on to the idea of chewing her food or picking it up herself. She'll get the hang of it and I will miss the days I got to feed her with a spoon.

For now I'll share some of my ideas for offering finger foods I've been using. If you have any other ideas or just words of encouragement please share, they are highly welcome!

Also, I know a lot of babies her age are eating the puffs that you can buy. I haven't tried these yet because I don't like the fact that they have added sugar in them. However, it may be just the training tool I am looking for since they are easier to grasp than slimy fruits and veggies and they melt in their mouths right away. I figure she probably won't be actually eating too many anyway.

Warning: the following pictures may contain a messy face baby. Look away if you don't find it endearingly cute like I do!

I gave her a frozen hunk of banana. It is a legitimate natural teething soother.

I thought she would love it!

I think this face says it all. I don't know if the reaction was because it was so cold or because it was solid, not liquid. But I will tell you, this is the face I get whenever something remotely chunky is in her mouth. At this point I was just happy she was holding it and even attempted to put it in her mouth. It landed on the floor very shortly after this picture was taken.

She loves (LOVES!) banana. So lately I have been using chunks big enough for her to palm to practice. She definately makes the attempt to put it in her mouth. But removes it quickly. If I hold it for her she'll gum it a little and seem to like it. But she'll only tolerate this for a few "bites." I think banana is the best to practice with because she likes it so much.

This is egg yolk. This picture is what I am striving for. She picked up the pieces, put it in her mouth, and actually ate it! This was the second day I'd offered her such solid finger foods. I was so proud! Needless to say, she hasn't done it since.

She's not so sure about the consistency.

"What is this, mom????"

She looks repulsed here. She did actually eat quite a bit of it.

But again, after a few bites, she spit most of it out.

Last night I tried just setting a lump of mashed (not pureed) sweet potatoes in front of her. I think this is the key. She put her hands in the potatoes and then in her mouth. She's figuring it out. I think I just need to let her get messy and play around with the foods I know she likes so she can figure out the feeding herself part. I am also working on gradually increasing the textures and consistency of foods in order to get her closer to table foods. I don't have a goal for her, I know she needs to learn and be comfortable at her own pace. I am trying to have fun with it and I really do love serving her with a spoon!