Baby Soup: Lamb and Squash

Following my standard baby food recipe, here is one of Leena's favorites!

1/4 lb ground lamb
1 cup butternut squash (or sweet potato), peeled and diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 cup spinach
2-3 cups broth

Follow the standard baby soup recipe and enjoy!

Baby Soup Method: Turkey Parsnip Soup

It's winter time and it's perfect for root vegetables like parsnip and squash for baby. My method for making baby soups is generally the same - I pick a carb, several veg and a protein and some of our homemade chicken broth. I combine them all together and cook until very tender. In most cases I blend it - even though Leena can handle picking up chunks of food and putting them in her mouth. Usually her lunch is a soup that I feed her and breakfast and dinner she gets foods that she can feed herself with.
You can also vary the consistency - more, or less broth, depending on what your baby needs.

I love doing this because it gives them good bone broth which is good for their skin, bones and body with all the minerals and collagen. It also makes an entirely balanced meal with the carb-veg-protein mix.

Basic Method:
Boil broth (or water)
Dump in 1/4 lb meat
1 cup squash or root veg (or you can do 1/2 cup of a grain like quinoa, rice or amaranth)
3/4 cup zucchini
1 cup green like spinach or chard
Sometimes, 1/2 cup of fruit like apple or pear

I usually start with ground meat (free range, grass fed, organic - don't go cheap on this). You can do whole, and then chop, but ground skips a chopping step. The one thing I do differently with beef and lamb is I boil it first in just water, and then skim any foam that comes to the top. Once that boils for about 5 minutes, I add the rest.
Cook until all the veg is really tender. Let cool. Blend and puree!

This usually makes enough for half to be eaten within 3 days, and then the other half to be frozen. I freeze in ice cube trays for a day, then defrost and put in a labeled ziploc bag. This is great because then you have lunches/dinners ready any time baby needs to eat.


Turkey Parsnip Soup
1/4lb ground turkey
1 small parsnip, peeled and diced
1 small fennel bulb, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
2 cups broth
1/2 pear, diced (you can keep peel on)

Follow baby soup method above.

Baby Congee

Congee is such a warming and delicious adult food - and babies love it too! I have been making this for months for Leena and it's about time I share my baby soup recipes on my blog!

Baby Congee

1/2 cup brown rice (ideally, soaked overnight or for 6 hours, drain and rinse)

1 cup water

Bring water and rice to a boil. Simmer until rice is just done (if you undercook the rice, it’s perfectly ok since you will continue to cook with the other ingredients)

While the rice cooks, prep the other ingredients: 

1/2 chicken breast, cut into chunks

1 carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 cups chicken broth (ideally homemade, or if store bought do low/no sodium)

When the rice is done or almost done, dump all of the above into the pot. Bring to a boil and then let simmer (covered) until the carrots are really tender and the liquid is mostly soaked up by the rice. Usually for the baby food I leave extra liquid because as this sits in the refrigerator it will continue to soak up - which is ok, but to make it palatable for baby, you are going to want to water it down (or broth it down) before serving. One way you can do this is freeze broth into ice cubes and when you defrost or warm this soup, throw one of those in. This dish freezes amazingly well too. 

After everything is cooked, throw in a blender or food processor to make smooth and easy for baby to eat. 

I make this for myself too, but I don’t blend it :) and I add salt (a good amount of salt). So in our house, usually I make this for the grown ups, and before I add salt, I separate some for Leena and cook hers in a separate pot sans salt. 

Feel free to add zucchini, some greens and perhaps a bit of thyme or oregano to change it up. 

Black Beans - 3 Ways

First in my series of beans a la crockpot - black beans.
I really geeked out on this little project. It all started because I was reading this blog. and was inspired by the beautiful bean salads and a local bean grower with a real passion for beans (here).
I decided, we were going to do a day trip to Napa and one of my stops would be this bean shop. Each bag of beautiful, fresh beans cost about $5.50. I thought - ok, before I totally muck this up on my pretty beans- let's make sure I know what I am doing and use a cheaper bag.
So I also went to the store and bought a few cheaper bags of beans so I could test the cooking times and my abilities. I suggest you do this same thing - each crockpot can be different so you are going to want to test the timing on yours. And buying good quality beans is important because you want something that is fresh and you know how/where it was grown.
Another experiment was freezing the beans. I didn't think it would work, but it's better than canned!

What you need:
Water
Black beans

Process:
The night before you want to cook your beans, cover them with a lot of water in a bowl and leave on the counter. I used the whole bag because I didn't want to do this multiple times and freezing works great for beans!
Drain and rinse. Dump into your crockpot and cover with 2 inches of water.
For my crockpot it took 5 hours on high for black beans (again, these were pre-soaked). I like mine tender and not mushy.
Set it, and forget it.

Storing:
When your beans are cooked, you can use them immediately or let them cool and freeze them.
Just place them in a storage container and put the lid on and freeze. If you are not going to use them this month I would recommend vacuum packing them after they have formed in the freezer in the storage dish.

Black Beans My Way #1 {Black Bean Corn Summer Salad}

Ingredients
Black beans
Corn, grilled
red onion
cilantro
lime
olive oil

(no measurements here because some might like more corn and less onion, or more lime, etc) Just toss together and enjoy!

Black Beans My Way #2 {Refried}
An awesome use of the frozen beans - literally take them out, put them in a pot with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water and over medium low heat defrost them. As they defrost mash them as much as you like your 'refried' beans and you are done.
Serve on homemade corn tortillas and guacamole for a yummy vegetarian snack!

Black Beans My Way #3 {Plain}
Plain with some salt - great side dish with some protein and veg!


{I am on a bean rampage so keep your eyes out for more black bean recipes!}

Easy Skillet Chicken and Rice

This was inspired by an America's Test Kitchen recipe - but made GF/DF and some added umph it needed. It's such a comforting meal. So simple to make and so simple in taste. And I like that sometimes. This is a great weeknight meal and it takes only 30 minutes and can be mostly made from things I usually have in the freezer and fridge.

**Notes: I would really urge you to use a flavorful rice like basmati here. And good basmati. The dish is quite plain and the yummier the rice the better. Also, I always use a Le Crueset here. You can use any heavy bottom pan, but my preference for even cooking is always LC.

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbls olive oil
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1 medium onion, finely chopped
pinch of chili flakes
1/2 cup white wine of your choice (always cook with something you want to drink)
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped green olives
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1-2 lemons, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Process
In a pan heat the oil (make sure you've picked a pan with a lid). When good and hot - sear one side of the chicken. Take out and set aside.

Next warm up the onion and cook until soft. Add the chili flakes and garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add in the rice and let it cook until most of the kernels are white. Stir in the wine. And you are going to do a risotto type thing here where you really let the rice soak up the wine before adding the stock in.
Once the wine is absorbed, put the stock in and place the chicken back in the skillet. Cover and cook until the chicken is done - about 10 minutes.
Throw in the peas, green onion and olives. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Enjoy with a hearty serving of chard. 

Catching up with a Crockpot and Skillet Meals

It's been a busy and sleep deprived past two weeks and when the baby is peacefully sleeping in my arms (because that is the best feeling in the world and because when that is the only way she will sleep - you let her!) I have caught up on some blog reading (thank goodness for iPads making it easy to multi task like that).
So I come to you this week with a host of skillet and crockpot fixings. My new inspiration comes from a few places. One - has to be easy. Two - has to be nutritious. Three - has to make something that reheats well. Four - as usual, has to be gluten and dairy and nightshade free, but can't taste like that. Five - You will see a lot of beans. I always use canned beans and I don't mind it too much, but I really prefer to soak all my grains and legumes, but you can't get that with canned. It's also cheaper and tastier if you make your own.
Beans are also really great for the crockpot - because they take so long and also they don't taste like the crockpot when they cook. My crockpot recipes I pick and post do not taste like crock pot (possibly you don't know what I am talking about here - but some things, especially chicken - don't cook up well in the crockpot and end up tasting like the pot itself. It's weird and not pleasant). My crockpot postings will also not be your typical chili type deals because pretty much all of those recipes call for tomato - and lots of it - and that being a nightshade I steer clear.
The other recipes are soups (mostly lentil based) and the one skillet deals have been fun to play with too. Enjoy!

Stroller Snack

This is so simple and so good. It's what I pack myself to have on hand in the stroller when the nursing hunger attacks me (but non-nursing folk love it too!)

2 ingredients. Yes two. You can add more dried fruit or other seeds - which actually this started as a store bought no nut trail mix I was buying. I decided I only liked these two parts so to save money and satisfy my craving, I now make my own.

Ingredients
1 cup Raw or raw sprouted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup Enjoy life brand mini chocolate chips (or your favorite brand but his one is soy, nut,dairy,gluten etc all of the common allergens free)

Mix in a baggy and take to go