Whole Wheat Apple Banana Muffins

Lately when I've made muffins, I've used this recipe I found on the blog 100 Days of Real Food. But today, I wanted to try something new. So, I used this recipe I found on weelicious.com. 

Here are the changes I made to the recipe:

·   Instead of 1½ cups of all-purpose flour, I used 1 cup of whole-wheat flour and ½ cup of all-purpose flour.

·   I only had 1 banana so instead of 2 bananas and 1 medium apple, I used 1 banana and 1 large Crispin apple. The apple was really juicy so I added the juice to the wet ingredients.

·   I don't have a pan for mini muffins so I used a pan for regular-sized muffins.  The recipe yielded 12 regular-sized muffins and a small loaf of bread.

·   I cooked the muffins for around 23 minutes. 

The muffins were delicious! I think adding in the apple juice made the muffins extra moist.

And did my teeny tiny foodie like them? Oh, yeah. The muffins were a major hit with Eliana. 

Can I get the whole thing into my mouth at once? You can bet I'm gonna try!

She loved them so much that when I had the nerve to try to give her a few spoonfuls of yogurt with cinnamon (which she loves) in between bites of her muffin, she had a MAJOR tantrum. She was so loud that I kept expecting my next door neighbor to come running over to make sure we were okay. Really.

But I want MORE OF THAT MUFFIN!!!!

GIVE ME BACK THAT MUFFIN YOU EVIL WOMAN!

I'm SO putting you into a nursing home when you're old, Lady!

After a brief hiatus from snack, Eliana actually finished all of the yogurt and then scarfed down the rest of the muffin. 

Let me shove this into my mouth super quickly in case she tries to take it away again.

And here are photos of the actual muffins.  

Happy Cooking!

Whole Wheat Muffins with Fruit

I found this blog recently called 100 Days of Real Food which I find very intriguing for a lot of reasons. Not only is it full of tips on how to eat more healthfully and mindfully, but there are lots of yummy looking recipes on the blog, too. I decided to try one today: whole wheat muffins with fruit. 

I mean, they look ridiculously good, right? I changed up two things from the actual recipe: I substituted maple syrup for the honey and instead of 1½ cups of whole-wheat flour, I used 1 cup of whole-wheat flour and ½ cup of white flour. For the fruit I used a mixture of strawberries and bananas.

I will keep you posted on how they turned out!

Bring on snack time!!

Happy Cooking!!

Baby Food Recipes 4/16/12

Here are some current recipes:

 White Bean Hummus with Spinach

-1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

-1 handful organic baby spinach

-Chopped garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper to taste

-Juice of one lemon

Put beans, spinach, garlic, olive oil and half of lemon juice in blender and blend until smooth. If needed, add more olive oil or lemon juice to make it creamier. Add salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne. Blend again. Adjust seasonings and olive oil/ lemon juice as needed. Serve alone or on wheat toast.

I tried dipping a baby carrot in the hummus and handing it to Eliana because I assumed she would just lick it off. Nope. It just got all over her hands, face and hair instead.

Pureed Peaches

-1 cup organic peaches, thawed if frozen

Puree until only a few small chunks are left.

The chunks of peaches would have been great if Eliana had been able to pick them up. But, they were way too slippery. She loved it so much she actually allowed me to feed it to her on the spoon. I think she realized that was the only way it would get into her mouth!

These peaches are so good. If only I knew how to lick them off my chin.

But I do know how to stick my whole hand in my mouth for more peachy goodness!

Sweet and Spicy Apple-Carrot Puree

-2 organic apples, peeled and chopped

-3-4 baby carrots, chopped

-Cinnamon and chili powder to taste

Steam apples and carrots, reserving some of the liquid. Puree and add liquid as needed. Add cinnamon and chili powder to taste. Let cool slightly before serving to baby.

Variations: Mix with oatmeal or cottage cheese, or serve on toast.

I know this sounds like a wacky combination, but she loved it! Even the kick of the chili powder!

Mmm- sweet and spicy.

Happy Cooking!

Baby Food Recipes 3/5/12

Lately, I’ve begun leaving even more small chunks in Eliana's food- but I’m still calling them purees for lack of a better description. (If you have any ideas for what to call this, please leave a comment after this post.)  At this point, Eliana just assumes she should eat whatever Matt and I are eating. Organic, seasonal and pureed, or not! She will look at our food and make a sort of demanding and questioning, “Eh!?” sound as if to say, “And where’s mine?” For that reason, we’ve been letting her lick more of different types of foods even if it's just for a taste. 

My daddy thought he would eat this Cara Cara orange by himself. Silly Daddy!

Forget Butterfinger. Nobody better lay a finger on my asparagus! 

Here are some more of the recipes I’ve made for Eliana over the last few weeks.

Lentil Puree

-½ cup dried lentils (rinsed and drained)

-Olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

-Reserved cooking liquid

Bring a small pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lentils and boil for two minutes. Then let simmer until tender- around an hour. Drain and reserve some liquid in case you need it for pureeing. Add lentils, olive oil, salt and pepper to blender and puree. Add cooking liquid as needed to loosen mixture.

Let cool slightly before serving to baby.

Lentil puree with a little bit of fried egg whites. 

Applesauce with Kale-Potato Puree

I came upon this one by mistake. I had intended to give her the applesauce in some bites and the kale and potato puree in other bites. Since it was mixing together in her spoon, I tasted them together and the combination was really tasty. (I had to make sure it was good because I wouldn't give her anything to eat that I wouldn't eat myself. Well, except for meat- but that is a whole other conversation.) So, I mixed the two and she ate it up. And, it gave me ideas of how to make tastier and healthier potato pancakes in the future!

-Mix 2 parts applesauce to 1 part warmed kale and potato puree.

Apple-Spinach Puree

Much tastier than it looks!

-1 apple, peeled and chopped (not a Granny Smith)

-1 handful of spinach leaves

-Juice of ½ lemon

Steam apple and spinach together. Blend and add lemon juice. Mix.

Let cool slightly before serving to baby.

Variation: Add cinnamon with or without lemon juice.

And even tastier with a teething ring.

Apple-Banana Puree

-1 Fuji apple peeled and chopped

-½ banana, chopped

-Few shakes of cinnamon

-Around ¼ cup of water

Put apple, cinnamon and about half the water in a small pot on medium heat and bring up to a simmer. Stir. Let simmer around 4 or 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the water level so the mixture does not burn. Add banana and stir.  Continue to cook another 1-2 minutes. Add more water as needed so there is always some liquid on the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and stir. Mash with a fork or puree in a blender.

Let cool slightly before serving to baby.

Variations: Substitute fresh nutmeg for cinnamon. Add Greek yogurt and/or oatmeal. 

Using her travel seat at Grandma Lauren's and Grandpa Pat's in Florida.

I'm in charge of the spoon!

I've also been making her a lot of egg whites that I fry in olive oil and cook a bit longer than I would typically so there are no undercooked parts. I crack them into a bowl, whisk them, add a bit of salt and pepper and sometimes Parmesan cheese. Then I fry them in olive oil or olive oil cooking spray. I also peel off the skin that forms because I worry about it being a choking hazard like the skin on a blueberry or apple. I use egg whites and Parmesan cheese just because it is what I make for myself and Eliana began trying to get them off my plate about a two months ago. I break or cut it into small pieces, around the size of her fingernail, before giving it to her. 

I make her French toast too which, again, I cook a bit longer than probably necessary so all the egg is cooked through. 

French Toast

-2 egg whites and 1 whole egg

-1 slice of whole wheat bread

-Vanilla extract to taste

-1 tablespoon of milk (I use skim because that’s what we keep in the house but use whatever you prefer)

-Cooking spray or butter

Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla in a bowl and pour into a square baking dish. Let bread soak in mixture for 5 minutes per side. On a griddle or in a large non-stick pan, heat cooking spray or butter on medium heat. Shake excess egg mixture off bread and cook for 4-5 minutes per side.

Cut into pieces around the size of baby’s fingernail before serving to baby.

My plate before I broke up small pieces for Eliana.

Hey! You got any more of that?

Happy Cooking!

Baby Food Recipes

Here are some of the recipes for what I have fed Eliana so far. I will try to post at least one recipe a week. 
A few notes about my recipes and cooking:

• I give Eliana as much seasonal, organic produce as possible. My friend Dawn brings up a good point about buying local, in season produce because other countries might not necessarily have the same rules about pesticides as we do.  If I were super clever, I would have thought to freeze the yummy organic fruit that was available in the summer. But, over the summer I had a newborn, so cleverness was not my strong point! 
• Organic fruits and vegetables that are flash frozen are still very nutritious so I will use them sometimes.
• Whenever I steam her food, I use the Beaba Babycook my brother and his family gave me last month. Typically, I blend it in there too, since it is BPA-free plastic. 
• "Puree" is a bit of a misnomer. I leave a few small, soft lumps as advised by our pediatrician.

Having said all that, here are some recipes. If you have any questions about them, feel free to ask! 

Roasted Butternut Squash
-1 organic butternut squash peeled, seeded and chopped
-1 small organic yellow onion- chopped
-Olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Toss squash and onion with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread in an even layer on a cookie sheet and roast for 40-50 minutes until tender at 400°. Mash with a fork or blend in food processor.

Let cool slightly before serving to baby. 

Carrot Puree

-2-3 organic carrots peeled and chopped

-¼ small organic onion chopped

-½ tablespoon cooked farro and some reserved cooking liquid

-Olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Cook farro according to directions on package and reserve some of the liquid. Heat olive oil in pan on low-medium heat and add onion, garlic and salt. Cook until golden - around 4 minutes and set aside.  Steam carrots.  Combine carrots, farro, about a tablespoon of reserved cooking liquid and onion mixture and blend. Add more liquid as needed.

Let cool slightly before serving to baby. 

Applesauce

- 2 apples peeled and chopped (if apples are organic, can leave peel on)

- About ¼ cup of water

- Cinnamon to taste

Put ingredients into a small saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes or until apples are soft. Mash with a fork or in blender, adding cooking liquid as needed.

Let cool before serving.

Variations: Combine with plain oatmeal, Fage Total Greek yogurt, or both.

Pear Puree

-  Follow same instructions as for applesauce.

- Variations: Add ginger instead of cinnamon. Combine with plain oatmeal, Fage Total Greek yogurt or both.

Happy Cooking!