At Last! Chicken Nuggets!

My kids had their first chicken nuggets last weekend.  Unfortunately? for them they weren't the classic kind from Mickey D's.  They were the healthy home-made kind.  But even though I admit I have a great love for chicken mcnuggets, these were pretty darn good too.

These nuggets are made with ground chicken so the texture is good for even the littlest finger food eaters.  No molars required!  Because, we still don't have molars around here....  And to make these little nuggets even more Mom-friendly?  They have grated carrots and chopped baby spinach in them.  Veggies and protein all in one! Glorious.

Aaron, double fisting.

Chicken Nuggets, adapted from Amanda at The Frikin Chicken  (I just stumbled upon this blog and it turns out the author is also a mom of twins!  She has some other recipes I want to try and I'm definitely going to start following!)

2 lbs ground chicken
salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 carrot, grated
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  In a large mixing bowl season the ground chicken with salt and pepper.  Next add all the ingredients except for the breadcrumbs and mix them together with a rubber spatula (or your clean hands!). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray it with cooking spray).  Spoon a rounded tablespoon of meat into a plate of breadcrumbs and roll to coat and form a little flattened oval "nugget".  Place the nuggets on the prepared tray and spray each one with a little olive oil cooking spray.  Bake them for about 18 minutes.  Cool and serve!

This makes about 3 dozen so freeze them for yummy nuggets anytime!

A New Way to Do Chicken

My 13 month old(!) boys are pretty much eating everything these days.  I'm happy to say that they aren't picky eaters and are willing to try just about anything.  Their lack of molars doesn't get in the way of their enjoyment of most foods either.  Meat, however, can sometimes be an issue.  At this point they can really only handle either ground or shredded meat so I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting ideas.  Chicken, in particular, is something they don't eat a lot of.  They love roasted chicken, but rarely eat it any other way.  (They haven't yet had chicken nuggets!)

These Indian Spiced Chicken Burgers are a new favorite.  Now I know these might not sound all that appealing to some people right off the bat.  I, for one, prefer beef in my burgers.  BUT!  Ground patties, be they turkey or veggies are easy for little fingers to pick up and for toothless gums to mash up.  And don't be worried about feeding the baby toddler "Indian" spices.   In this recipe the ground chicken is seasoned with Garam Masala. Garam Masala is a popular Indian spice, but it is really just a combination of spices that are commonly used in the U.S. too.  Typically it is a mix of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, cumin, coriander, and pepper.  Garam Masala is a warm spice full of fall flavors.

These "burgers" are easy to make, easy to freeze, and they are sure to be a hit with your little ones.  Or your big ones.  My husband and I like these too!  And they are only 364 calories per serving...Cooking Light is awesome sometimes.  :)

photo courtesy of Cooking Light, don't mind the beer in the pic, pretend it is apple juice!

Indian-Spiced Chicken Burgers, adapted from Cooking Light
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon bottled fresh minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground chicken

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.  Form into patties. Simple, right? The recipe (and calorie count) is for four burgers but I make smaller ones for the kiddos.  Heat a large skillet coated in cooking spray and then cook the patties over medium high until done all the way through.  That will take about 7 minutes per side for full sized burgers, a bit less time for smaller ones.

Try serving them on good rolls using yogurt in place of mayo and some fresh spinach instead of lettuce!  Look at us being so healthy!  Not such a bad idea after all of the Halloween candy, huh?

Turkey Meatball Stroganoff

As some of you may have noticed, my favorite cook book for the kids is by far Start Fresh by Tyler Florence (and you can get it in The Pantry!)  It is full of kid-friendly recipes that are healthy and above all, flavorful.  You won't find any bland baby food in this book.

It is my supreme belief that we have to teach our children to eat, just like we teach them to put themselves to sleep, walk, talk and read.  And teaching requires effort.  By making an effort to introduce as many foods and flavors as possible, as early as possible, we are giving our children the building blocks for making good nutrition choices for the rest of their lives.

If you and your baby are just starting out on the journey into solid foods Start Fresh has a ton of recipes for purees.  Flavor combos like spinach and banana, parsnip fig and pear, or carrot and mango.  Tyler also teaches parents how to get the most flavor from foods.  You won't have much need of a steamer basket using this book.

If your baby is a bit older, like mine are, you'll be sure to find recipes the whole family will love.  I think the biggest, and only, real downside to this book is the lack of recipes that target finger feeders.  I don't know about everyone else but my little guys weren't ready to wield a fork and spoon by the time they were interested in self-feeding. We are going to start working on that soon but for now finger foods rule in my house.  Though Tyler doesn't dedicate a section to that "art" of eating, some of his recipes can be eaten with fingers and we've yet to come across one the babies didn't like.  I like that this is a book that took us from baby to toddler and on with interesting recipes to keep us trying new things and new flavors.  A great buy if you are in the market.

A few weeks ago we tried yet another recipe from this book.   The kids enjoyed it, and had mushrooms for the first time!  (They loved them.)  This is a great meal for the whole family.  The turkey meatballs are moist and easy for babies without molars to enjoy and it incorporates every kids' favorite food, pasta.  I hope you enjoy it.

Turkey Meatloaf Stroganoff, adapted from Tyler Florence- found in Start Fresh
1 slice multigrain bread
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
6 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1 sprig thyme
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
8 oz cooked egg noodles
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Tear up the bread and put it in a large mixing bowl with the turkey, milk, caraway seeds, onion and a bit of salt.  Mix all of it together with your hands to combine.  Shape the mixture into 1 1/2 inch meatballs.  This makes about 18.  (plenty of leftovers for the kids to eat the next day!)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When the oil begins to shimmer add the meatballs and brown them.  Remove them to a baking tray and finish cooking them in the oven, 20 minutes at 350 F.

While the meatballs cook, cook the pasta and begin the sauce.  For the sauce add the garlic to the skillet you cooked the meatballs in.  Cook the garlic for about a minute and then add the mushrooms and the thyme.  Cook them 2-3 minutes or until golden and then sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir them around to coat.  Add the chicken stock and cook until the stock has thickened, about 10-12 minutes.

Once it the sauce is thick, whisk in the sour cream and the mustard.  Keep on warm until the meatballs are done. Once they are put them into the sauce and turn to coat.  Serve the meatballs and sauce over the pasta and top with the parsley.

Aaron concentrating on eating

And feeding Claire too, of course

Fig Cereal Bars

So in my never-ending quest to find new and interesting (homemade!) foods for my growing boys, I started looking for a fruit cereal bar I could make.  I wanted something healthy I could feed them at snack time.  They love their muffins, but variety is the spice of life!

Fruit is a tough one here since Aaron is still breaking out in a small rash whenever he eats any kind of berry (or tomatoes).  Since melons are still available they've been eating a ton of them.  They have bananas all the time for breakfast and apples fairly regularly too.  I was very happy to find a great cereal bar recipe that included figs, a new fruit!

I found this recipe at an interesting blog I decided to start following.  It's called Eat, Live, Run.  (Three things I  enjoy myself!)  The recipe posted is actually vegan and though I have nothing against eating vegan, I un-veganed it.  My only reason was to avoid having to buy ingredients I just don't have on hand.  If you want, feel free to click through and go vegan instead!

These bars are like large whole wheat fig newtons.  They are not as sweet as the popular cookies, but I thought they were just sweet enough. I made them on Sunday and they are still nice and soft and delicious.  The boys have really seemed to enjoy nomming on them for snack.

(They ate every crumb of those big bars, my little piggies!)

Soft Baked Fig Cereal Bars, adapted from Eat, Live, Run
3 oz unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups dried figs
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 1/2 cups water

In your mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the brown sugar and butter until it is nice and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition.  With the mixer on low, add in the milk.

Combine the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture to combine.  Once a soft dough forms, remove the dough and shape it into a smooth ball.  Wrap it in plastic and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for at least a half an hour.

Now work on the filling.  Put your dried figs into a large saucepan with the juice, water and sugar.  Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes turn off the heat and let the figs and liquid cool down.  Once cool pour the contents of the pot into your food processor, add the vanilla, and process until you have a nice smooth fig spread.  This stuff is pretty yummy alone!

Once the filling is complete, remove half of the dough from the refrigerator.  (Leave the other half in to stay cool!) On a floured surface roll out the dough in a long rectangular shape.  Mine was about 18 inched long and about 4 inches wide.  Spread the filling onto the dough leaving a one inch edge around all sides.  Now roll out the second half of dough to the same size, lay it over the filling and press the edges together to seal.  Cut your rectangle into about 10 cereal bars.  Place the bars onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake them in an oven preheat to 350 F for 25 minutes.

I hope you and your kiddos enjoy them!

Zucchini-Corn Fritters

My little guys may just turn into zucchinis before the summer is over, or maybe watermelons... Zucchini is just such an easy veggie and the kids are eating a lot of it these days.  Zucchini is inexpensive and on top of that you can chop and saute it in olive oil and be done in just 5 minutes (which is awesome when you have two screaming and hungry babies). You can bake zucchini into banana bread without anyone becoming the wiser...or you can make these fritters.  These fritters are delicious, easy to make, and great for freezing.  And while they are perfect for little hands, they are so good I have a hard time not eating them all myself.  

I was actually making veggie fritters before I found this recipe in Food Network Magazine.  A fritter is a pretty simple idea: grate veggies, mix with flour and egg and fry until golden.  Easy peasy.  This recipe mixes cornmeal along with the flour though, which I really love.  The little cakes are light and sort of sweet with no sugar added at all!  These are a definite finger food favorite but they aren't just for the kiddos, I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad will love these too.

Zucchini-Corn Fritters, found in Food Network Magazine, September 2011

2 medium zucchini, grated ( I use the food processor)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 ears of corn, kernels cut off

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup buttermilk 

1 large egg

vegetable oil, for frying

Toss the zucchini with 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt in a medium bowl.  Allow it to sit for about 10 minutes.  The salt will help to extract excess moisture.  After 10 minutes turn the zucchini onto a kitchen towel and squeeze out as much water as you can.  Set the zucchini aside.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Cook the onion and garlic until softened, about 4 minutes.  Add the corn and cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Set aside.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and pepper in a large bowl.  Add in the eggs and buttermilk and whisk to combine.  Add the veggies and stir to combine them all.  

Now heat about 1/8 of an inch of canola or vegetable oil in your large frying pan.  Once hot, spoon about 1/4 cupfuls of the batter into the oil and flatten slightly with a spoon.  Turn the cakes when the edges begin to brown, they should cook about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.  Remove the cakes to a plate lined with paper towels and serve either warm or at room temperature.  I freeze these and then just thaw them in a small warm frying pan when I'm ready to serve them.     

Enjoy, and try to chew with your mouth closed ;)

Pesto: Messy, Green and Delicious

I have a love/hate relationship with pesto.  The hate part stems from this:

You may not be able to tell but he's not wearing a shirt...and under that bib?  More green stuff.  It's on his arms and legs too.  His brother puts some in his hair for good measure.  BUT!  They love this stuff.  They shovel the little noodles into their mouths as fast as possible.  So I continue to feed it to them, but only on bath night (every other night at Four Pears).  They go straight from the highchair into the tub.  

Now for something I love about pesto?  I love that we have a seemingly endless supply of basil in the back yard. Say hello to the basil bush.  

Just like everything else in this houseshold, there are two of them.  This picture was taken AFTER I cut 3 cups of basil leaves off.  If I didn't trim the basil, I'm pretty sure it would take over the yard.  And its planted in rocks!  Who knew basil loved the hot desert sun so much?  Anyways...yeah, we make pesto almost every week.

We use an Ina Garten recipe (who else?) but substitute pistachios for the pine nuts so we don't bankrupt ourselves.  This sauce is so fresh and delicious!  It freezes well too; just put a thin layer of olive oil over the top of the sauce before storing.  I plan to stock the freezer so we can enjoy some in the winter when the basil bush finally dies...  It will die right?  

Homemade Pesto, adapted from Ina Garten

1/2 cup shelled pistachios

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups olive oil

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Put the pistachios and garlic into the food processor and process for about 30 seconds.  Next add the basil, salt and pepper to the machine.  Using a funnel, or a steady hand! slowly pour in the olive oil while the machine is running.  Continue to run the machine until everything is pureed and incorporated.   Lastly, add the parmesan cheese and process again for a minute or so.  Serve at room temperature or over hot pasta.  And feel free to eat it with your fingers! :)

Almost Homemade Ravioli

Did I mention my kids love spinach?  Well they did, when they were eating it off a spoon piloted by yours truly. But then they decided to take matters into their own hands and my lovely spinach puree went out the door.  I have been trying to come up with a spinach finger food ever since.  (PS.  if you have any other ideas, let me know!) Here's what I came up with- and yes, they still love spinach.



Don't be scared! We aren't making pasta.  Haven't gotten the KitchenAid attachment yet ;)  This recipe uses wonton wrappers instead; you can find them in the refrigerated section at the grocery store.  They were super easy to use.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli - adapted from Giada De Laurentis' Prosciutto Ravioli
15 oz of whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
48 wonton wrappers...or so.  1 package will be plenty

Whisk together the first 5 ingredients in a medium size bowl.  Filling done.  Next lay out some wonton wrappers on a baking sheet and put about 1 Tbsp of filling in the center of each square.  I used a small ice cream type scoop for that.  The same one I use for cookie dough, makes it go much quicker with a lot less mess.  Fill a small bowl with a bit of water.  Using your finger, dip into the water then trace the edges of a wrapper.  Fold the wrapper in half like a triangle and then pinch the sides to seal it.  Try to make sure you get all the air out of the pocket as you are sealing it.  Continue on until you run out of filling!

To cook the ravioli, boil them in salted water for about four minutes.  It's best to boil them in batches so you don't crowd them.  Serve these with your favorite pasta sauce!  Since Aaron doesn't do well with tomatoes still, I used the butter sauce in Giada's original recipe.

Hmm, what is this?

Who cares?  Just shove it in there like this!

Where's the Beef?

Beef is a sort of tough finger food, literally.  Alex and I don't eat a ton of red meat but when we do it is most often in the form of a steak, remember this one?  Yum.  But as the twins are still working on the whole growing teeth thing, steak just doesn't work for them.  We have done burgers of course... but ground beef shouldn't be the whole of their beef experience!

Short ribs are usually something we do in the winter; a nice hearty beef dish with a risotto or potato gratin. However, we knew the tender texture of the shredded short ribs would be perfect for mashing between toothless gums so we decided to make them this past weekend despite the summer heat.  Instead of a heavy warm side, we made a light cucumber salad to go with them.  It was delicious, a great family meal.  We made the salad during the morning nap and the short ribs were cooking in the oven while we all splashed in the kids' new hippo pool in the backyard. (Sorry no pictures of that, the kids prefer to skinny dip and we don't need THOSE kind of pictures on the internet!)  All in all it was a great Sunday and we had a great Sunday meal.


Short ribs are something we've been making for a while so we don't use a recipe.  The key is just cooking them low and slow with a lot of red wine.  How could it be bad, right?

Braised Short Ribs
3lbs bone-in short ribs
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp butter
1 bottle of red wine
4 cups vegetable stock (or beef, use what you have!)
5 sage leaves
3 sprigs of rosemary
5 sprigs of thyme

Before

Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Season the short ribs on both sides with salt and pepper.  In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt the butter.  Brown the short ribs on all sides.  Next add your bottle of wine and the rest of the ingredients to your pot and bring it to a boil.  Once it begins to bowl, transfer the pot into the oven and cook, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours.  The meat will be falling of the bones.  Transfer the meat to plates (or highchair trays!) and serve!  You won't even need a knife for this one; the meat will fall apart with just a fork.  So tender and juicy.  Enjoy!

After

Herb Crusted Snapper

So who loves Gordon Ramsay?  Alex does. I think he has a man crush.  But seriously Gordon Ramsay gets much love from this house. I think Gordon Ramsay has become almost more famous to the general population for dropping as many F bombs in a sentence as humanly possible on Hell's Kitchen or for his (slightly) kinder, more gentler side on MasterChef (love that show!) than for his food.  And that's too bad because his food is amazing!  Rumor has it he is opening a restaurant here in Vegas soon and we can't wait.  But for now, we'll just stick to his cookbooks and one pretty awesome app for the trusty iPad.

We own two Ramsay cookbooks: Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy and Gordon Ramsay's Maze.  The first is easy to cook from.  The second is like following a maze.  Imagine that.  His app, though, called Cook With Me is super cool.  Every recipe has a short video showing him cooking the recipe from start to finish, along with a flip through presentation with step by step pictures and instructions.  He even includes little tips like how to chop an onion super fast.  These recipes are mostly pretty easy to do, especially with the included instructions, and we've yet to find one we didn't like.

Herb Crusted Snapper is adapted from Ramsay's recipe for Herb Crusted Fillets of Brill with Tomato Salsa, found on the Cook With Me app.

2 large fillets of Red Snapper

olive oil

1/4 packaged bread crumbs (or about 2-3 slices of stale bread made into crumbs)

3 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

1 small bunch of parsley

6 oz cherry tomatoes, halved

2 shallots, sliced thin

1 small bunch of basil

salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Season the fish with salt and pepper and then place it in a hot oiled pan and saute for about 1 minute on each side.  The fish should be golden brown.  Place it on a baking sheet and set aside. Add about 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the empty pan.  Heat the oil and then add your tomatoes and shallots. Season with salt and pepper.  Chiffonade the basil.  (Fancy word for chop, follow the link for instructions!) Add that to your tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Now add your bread or crumbs, parmesan and parsley to your food processor and pulse to finely grind them together.  Add a bit of salt and pepper.  Now spoon some of the tomato mixture over your fish portions and then sprinkle them liberally with the breadcrumbs.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  When they come out, plate the fish and drizzle them with a little bit of olive oil.  

This is a great mild fish to try with kids. The twins' favorite fish so far I think.  It was so easy to flake this into finger friendly pieces and so nice to sit down and enjoy dinner without making a second "kid" meal.  Hope you like it!

Turkey Meatloaf for my Turkeys

A finger food favorite around here lately is turkey meatloaf.  The twins love it and so do the dogs.  My kids have finally discovered the joys of throwing their food to the dogs on the floor below, woo hoo!  And poor Taco already had a slight weight problem...

Turkey Meatloaf
1 lb ground turkey (I use 90/10)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 carrots, grated
1 c. bread seasoned bread crumbs
1 large egg
salt and pepper

Over medium heat saute the onions and green peppers until soft, about 7 minutes.  Meanwhile grate the carrots.  I use the grater disk on my food processor which is super quick.  Put the ground turkey and egg and carrots into a large mixing bowl along with the cooked veggies and bread crumbs. Since this is generally just for the kids I usually add just a pinch of salt and pepper. The veggies really give this meatloaf its flavor.  Combine all the ingredients with your hands!  Put the meat into a loaf pan and bake on 350 F for an hour.  After it is cool I cut this into meal size portions for the freezer.  Just put a frozen portion in the refrigerator to thaw overnight and dinner (or lunch) is served!

I think this means he likes it

It's obvious the dogs do too...

What the Twins Are Eating - 10 months

It is amazing how much can change in one month!  The boys went from eating one meal of finger foods at 9 months to an all out anti-spoon feeding rebellion and three meals a day with no mommy feeding assistance.  They really are finger food champs at this point.

As they are eating more finger foods they are slowly losing interest in their formula.  Right now they are taking about 24 oz or sometimes even less!  I give them about 6 oz in straw sippy cups with breakfast and lunch.  These are our favorites: Playtex Baby First Lil' Gripper Twist 'n Click Straw Trainer Cup, 7 Ounce, Colors May Vary  (not sure what is up with the price on Amazon...I'm pretty sure we bought them for around $5 at Target...)  Then my little guys have one "snack" bottle after their second nap, and one last 8 oz bottle before bed.  They almost never finish all they are offered anymore but I think that is just fine for this stage.

Family dinners are beginning to finally occur around here too.  Tonight's menu is cheeseburgers, so they'll have "deconstructed" cheese burgers with whole wheat english muffin pieces, zucchini, and watermelon...and we'll eat with them!  I don't know that we are up to eating every one of our dinners at 5 pm quite yet but we are definitely going to start eating more of them with the kids.  They seem to really enjoy interacting with us at the table and I think it is good for all of us.  It's definitely fun around here these days... but it can get messy! :)

Banana Zucchini Bread

After the kids had eaten sweet potato pancakes for a week straight I decided we might want to add another breakfast item to our finger food arsenal.  I had seen this bread on another blog and it sounded perfect.  Veggies and fruit, all in one!

This was a super easy and super quick recipe.  I had it whipped up and in the oven in the last 15 minutes before the end of nap time.   (You may want to allow yourself a little more time if you don't want to leave your kitchen looking like a cyclone hit it)  To cut down on some of the prep work I grated my zucchini in the food processor, scooped it out, changed the blade, and then used the processor to mash up the bananas.

The bread came out great!  Cooked through (not mushy) but still moist.  The kids had some bite size pieces this morning with scrambled eggs.  Kids, dogs (oops), and Parents all loved it.

Banana Zucchini Bread adapted from a great blog I've recently started following, Confections of A Foodie Bride

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 c. grated zucchini
3 Tbsp melted butter, more for greasing pan
3 Tbsp Canola oil
1/4 c. buttermilk

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan.  As I said above, I grated my zucchini first with my food processor.  Measure one cup and put that into the mixer or a large bowl.  Remove any remaining zucchini from processor, changed the blade, and pulse the bananas until mushy. (If you don't want to use the processor, a regular grater will work, and just mash those bananas up with a fork) Put the bananas into the mixer along with the melted butter, oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla.  Using the paddle attachment mix on low until blended.   Next add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Pour into your greased pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.  A knife inserted into the middle should come out with just a bit of crumbs attached.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning it out.  Finish cooling the loaf on a wire rack.  Enjoy!!

Fish for the Whole Family

Yesterday the twins had fish for the first time!  It's actually kind of strange that it took us this long to feed them fish because we tend to eat a lot of it around the Four Pears household.  I think these salmon cakes, though, were a great way to introduce such a healthy and yummy new food.  They are very mild flavored, mixed with a lot of potatoes and fresh dill.  Alex and I had our cakes with a spicy vinegar coleslaw to kind of turn up the flavor but the kids really dug into theirs a long with some fresh cantaloupe.  A great meal for all!  (Even the cats, who finally got some love.)

Salmon-and-Potato Cakes  adapted from this recipe at Food & Wine.

2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 1/2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp. salt
1 onion, diced
1 lb. skinless salmon fillets
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped

Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil on medium in a large and deep frying pan.  Put in the potatoes and season with the salt.  Add onions to pan.  Lay salmon fillets over the vegetables and then pour in the water around the fillets.  Bring to boil, then lower to simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the salmon and potatoes are cooked.  Remove the salmon to a small bowl and use a fork to flake the fish.  Drain the potatoes in a colander and them put in a large bowl.  Add the cream and mash lightly leaving the potatoes still rather chunky.  Stir in dill and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the salmon to the potatoes and mix to combine.  Form 8 patties.  Heat remaining Tbsp of oil in your frying pan and heat the cakes through again, about 3 minutes per side

. 

This is another great finger food and I was happy to have four patties left over to freeze for another day.  One large patty was a good size for the two of them to split...although they finished every bit of it!

Anti-Spoon Feeding Rebellion - Breakfast Battle

Last week the twins decided that even though oatmeal with fruit has always been a huge favorite, it wasn't going to be any more.  When mouths became sealed shut against my attempts and spoons (loaded with food) were continuously pulled away from me with tiny strong fists I waved the white flag on the breakfast battle. I blame the spoon.  It seems as though the spoon feeding days are coming to an end.  The kids are much more interested in grabbing and shoving their own food into their mouths now so goodbye oatmeal....hello sweet potato pancakes!

Breakfast in my house is at 6:30am so it has to be easy.  I made this the night before so cutting a few of them up with some diced bananas took me no more time than stirring together that oatmeal. These pancakes taste great, have a ton of veggies in them, freeze and thaw easily...they are the perfect breakfast finger food.

Sweet Potato and Blueberry Pancakes, adapted from Start Fresh: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating by Tyler Florence

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 eggs
2 c. buttermilk *
2 medium sweet potatoes, pureed**
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. blueberries (optional)

* To make buttermilk add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to each cup of milk called for, stir and let stand for 5 minutes.
** For sweet potato puree, chop potatoes into 1 inch pieces and steam in a steam basket until fork tender, about 10 minutes.  Put in food processor or blender with some of the cooking water and process until smooth.

For the pancakes whisk together your flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl whisk your eggs and add the (cooled) melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, pour in your sweet potato puree and combine.  You may need to add a bit more flour depending on the consistency of your puree, I needed an extra 1/4 cup.    Pour the batter on a medium hot oiled griddle or skillet.  If using the blueberries add a few into the pancakes right after you pour them out. My poor little Aaron gets a bit of a rash when he eats blueberries so unfortunately we had to skip them.  Flip your pancakes when the edges start to bubble.

A cool trick for freezing these!  After they are completely cool lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet and pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes or so.  After that put them into freezer storage bags.  This flash freezing keeps them from sticking together in the bag, neat huh?!  If you don't have room in the freezer to fit a tray you can just stack them in freezer bags with a piece of parchment paper between each one.  According to the recipe this makes about 12 four inch pancakes but I made them silver-dollar size and I swear it made a hundred.  (or at least it seemed like it)  I'm not complaining though cause the kids loved them and with two bags in the freezer, I won't need to make them again any time soon.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Ah finger food. An adventure in finding small bits of food to feed your (almost) toddler that are A. soft enough to mash between toothless gums, B. tasty enough to entice them to actually eat it, C. Healthy (cupcakes need not apply!), and D. Not too messy. Is "D" too much to ask?

Well this recipe fits the bill and it is delicious! I actually ate a portion of it for my own lunch.. sorry babies! I got this out of Tyler Florence's new cookbook for babies. This is just a great book, I really like the recipes and the concepts behind it. I need to do a post comparing this one to Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron as a lot of moms think of her book as a baby food Bible. A key difference between the two, in my opinion, is flavor. Tyler is all about the flavor, even for babies, and so am I. Why would baby want to eat bland flavorless food? This is anything but bland.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese, adapted from Smart Food by Tyler Florence.

1 medium (1 to 1 1/2 pounds) butternut squash, halved lenghtwise, seeds removed
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
12 oz small pasta shells **I used rotini because it was in the pantry!**
1/2 c. whole milk
1 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese **I used mild cheddar, again, already on hand**

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Place the squash, cut-side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over it and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork, 30-40 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool. Leave the oven on and reduce the temperture to 350 F.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of a salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions, or until al dente. Drain the pasta and transfer to a large bowl.

When the squash is cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop the flesh into a food processor. Add the milk and puree until smooth. Pour the squash puree over the pasta and fold together. Add about half the cheese and mix until combined.

Pour the pasta mixture into a greased 9 inch baking dish. Spread evenly and top with the remaining cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool before serving.

This recipe doesn't have a ton of cheese, milk or butter but the squash puree really makes it taste slightly sweet and so nice and creamy. So good! My kids loved it, I hope yours do too! The book says this makes about 8 kid sized portions but I think it made closer to twelve, especially since I always serve more than one item at each meal. I kept some in the refrigerator for the next day and froze the rest in these.

Yum!

What The Twins are Eating- 9 Months

My big boys aren't malnourished by any means. My first born, AJ, is a healthy 23 lbs and 30 inches tall. His "little" brother Aaron is an even healthier 27 lbs(!) and 31 inches tall. Right now they are crawling all over the house and AJ is cruising around the furniture on his own two feet. AJ just sprouted tooth number five while poor Aaron remains toothless! But don't worry, as you can see he is still managing to get his nutrition somehow ;)

The kids don't have meals with us yet because they go to bed at 6pm and we haven't adjusted to the idea of eating our dinner with them at 5pm just yet. Once they are more proficient self-feeders, and probably after their first birthday, we'll move to a family dinner time.

Here's what they are eating right now:

4 bottles of formula totaling about 26-28 oz

Breakfast: I spoon feed them each about 3 oz of store bought oatmeal/cereal with homemade pureed fruit mixed in and I usually give them some diced fruit on their trays as well.

Lunch: Finger Foods! (more, lots more!, details to follow)

Dinner: I spoon feed them each about 3 oz whole milk yogurt/cottage cheese mixed with pureed fruit and about 2 oz of veggies. They usually munch on some cheerios too. This will be the next meal to move to finger foods I'm sure. Already I give them more of a "meal" type food with their yogurt rather than a plain pureed veggie.

Some of their favorite foods right now are spinach, sweet potatos, cheerios, applesauce and yogurt. They had their first taste of hummus last week and that was a huge hit too! They are definitely becoming less interested in spoon feeding these days so I'm making more of an effort to make them interesting and healthy finger foods. Up this week....a healthy veggie packed mac n cheese!