Keep Well Chicken Orzo Soup

LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  This.

There are no words for how this soup aromatically fills the air in our home and soothes my soul.  Ladle after ladle full and we never tire of this--it has made it to the short list in the cold months.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 tablespoon flour
  4 garlic cloves
  8 cups chicken stock (From here--Crockpot Chicken and Stock)
  2 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (From here--Crockpot Chicken and Stock)
  4 cups chopped kale, stems removed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 Tablespoons fresh, chopped rosemary
• 3 Tablespoons fresh, chopped parsley
• 3 Tablespoons fresh, chopped thyme
• 2 cups small, dry pasta--orzo

Steps

1. In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute about 5 minutes until softened. 
3. Add garlic and flour stirring constantly for 1-2 more minutes until fragrant.
4. Add chicken stock, chicken, and kale.
5. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until flavors are combined and veggies are tender.
6. After the soup has fully simmered, Stir in salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley and thyme.
7. Cover and begin to cook pasta until al dente.
8. IMMEDIATELY after pasta is al dente, drain and add to soup (if you let the orzo sit it gets clumpy and soaks up all the water-yuck)
9. ENJOY THE DELICIOUSNESS

Tip:  Chop the veggies the night before serving and refrigerate until ready to use!

Timing:  Little Juliette had this at a few days shy of 8 months coarsely chopped up.  I added extra steamed carrots for her to make it thicker and easier to spoon feed her.  For a child to self feed this, I would say 18 months depending on how well they self feed.

Difficulty:  2 of 5.  As far as soups go, this is pretty easy.

Epicutie Rating:
Little Joy, Asher and Juliette:  Yummy in the Tummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Extra carrots for Little Juliette's Soup

Pre Chopped Veggies

Little Juliette's Soup to be Chopped

Chopped and ready for her!

SHE COULD NOT GET ENOUGH!  She kept signing more as soon as the food hit her mouth!

Little Joy and Asher had smile face toast with their soup---the face is Bell Pepper :)

Crockpot Whole Chicken and Stock

 I have a huge back log things to post, maybe one day I will catch up!

This is a regular thing at our house these days because it is quick and easy and inexpensive.  I can get whole chicken for .95/lb; we use it in four ways:

• First Day:  Whole chicken in the crock pot served as chicken with some sides such as "Buttered" Noodles and steamed green beans.
• Second Day:  Homemade Stock and Chicken Noodle Soup--I have two recipes for this now:  Classic Chicken Noodle Soup and Keep Well Chicken Orzo Soup
• Third Day:  Chicken Avocado Quesadillas
• Later:  I use remaining stock in other soups or in rice

Our favorite "way" we use it is in Soup and as Stock!


Ingredients for CHICKEN

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 onion
• Rosemary sprigs
• Lemon cut in half
• Apple chunks
• 1 large chicken

Steps for CHICKEN

1. Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.
2. Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Remove any giblets from the chicken and stuff the cavity with lemon, apple and rosemary.
4. Rub the spice mixture all over. Be sure to put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts.
5. Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker, toss a few rosemary sprigs on top, cover it, and turn it on to high. There is no need to add any liquid. 
6. Cook for 4 – 5 hours on high (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone. 
7. Leave all the juices from the chicken in the crock pot so you can make the easiest stock EVER overnight

 Ingredients for STOCK

• Bones and onion from above (remove all the chicken from the bones)
• Carrots
• Celery
• Salt
• Pepper
• Water

Steps for STOCK

1. After eating the chicken and removing the meat from the bones place the bones back into the crockpot
2. Break up the carrots and celery by hand into large chunks--no need to cut or peel!
3. Fill the crock up with water
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Turn to low and allow to simmer over night--We usually eat the whole chicken with sides for dinner then I make the stock overnight.  The next morning I remove the lid and crank it up to high until noon to concentrate the flavor some---this is optional.  The stock is ready the next morning.
6. DONE!  You can refrigerate the stock for several days or freeze it---I use it right away in a soup!

My stock the next morning

Timing: 7/8 Months; The chicken is super soft.  If you are uncomfortable offering it as a finger food pulse it in a food chopper for a few seconds.

Difficulty:  2
of 5--for what you get in return on making this, its EASY!

Epicutie Ratings

• Little Joy:  Somewhat Yummy--They eat the chicken just fine, but at the end of the day she could take or leave it.
• Little Asher:  Somewhat Yummy--He loved this the first few times it was served but now as with many things he tries to exert his will.  He lollygags but eventually eats it.
• Little Juliette:  Yummy in the Tummy--Much like her big sister, this girl loves all kinds of food.

Oatmeal Pancakes

Whew...it has been a while since I have been able to post!  We had a third baby and my husband had to leave town for 8 weeks for work.  Translation:  Life has been crazy!  BUT...I am back and Epicutie Juliette will be reviewing recipes soon!

I am nursing so I am always on the prowl for recipes with oatmeal!  This recipe was inspired by a cooking light recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 ounces all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nonfat buttermilk (we use almond milk for dairy free)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (we use canola oil for dairy free)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• Cooking spray

Steps:
1.  Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.
2. Combine milk, butter/oil, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl.

3.  Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

4. Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon about 2 1/2 tablespoons batter per pancake onto griddle.

5.  Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles; cook until bottoms are lightly browned.

Serve:  serve warm with pure maple syrup and fresh berries. 

Difficulty:  1 out of 5; quick prep!

Tips:  combine dry ingredients the night before to save time in the morning. Another idea, double the recipe and freeze half for a last minute breakfast another day'

Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions)

Little Joy:  yummy in the tummy

Little Asher:  yummy in the tummy

Mommy and Daddy:  love this!  Healthy, quick and helped the milk supply too!

Dairy Free Mexican Pizza

I got my inspiration for this dairy free pizza from godairyfree.com. The original recipe called for olives and we DO NOT like olives but I liked the base recipe so away we went!

Ingredients:

Avocado Cream Sauce:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/3 to ½ cup Dairy Free Plain Greek Style Cultured Almond Milk (Yogurt)
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Mexican Pizza:

• 1 ball pre-made dairy-free pizza dough (I made mine in my bread machine)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced thin
• 3 green onions, diced
• ½ lb ground meat of choice, browned
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons non dairy Parmesan 
• ½ cup dairy-free Monzerella cheese 

Steps:

For the Avocado Cream Sauce:

1. Pit the avocado and scoop the flesh into a food processor.
2. Add all other ingredients and process until completely smooth.

For the Mexican Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Stretch the dough onto a pizza pan or cookie sheet and brush with olive oil.
3. Spread the avocado mixture onto the dough leaving about ½” border around the edge.
4. Evenly sprinkle on the remaining ingredients, adding cheese last. 
5. Bake the pizza until the crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
6. Cut into slices and serve with your favorite hot sauce or salsa

Difficulty: 3 out of 5; I only give it this high for difficulty because i homemade the dough. Store bought dough would give this a 2!

Yield: 6 people

Serve:  We served with salad and fruit to our 2 and 4 year old.

Tips/misc:  if you do not care about dairy free there's a few substitutions you can make....

• dairy free yogurt = sour cream
• dairy free mozzarella = mozzarella 
• dairy free Parmesan = grated Parmesan 

Another tip, chop and brown the meat earlier in the day when your kids are napping or occupied versus waiting for the dinner rush to do everything 

Timing:  12 months. It's pizza and there's lots of seasonings going on here. Chopped small I think 12 months is fine!

Epicutie Rating: 

• Little Joy: YUMMY IN THE TUMMY she's our adventerous eater. Give her a new food and she's all over it! She ate three small slices 
• Little Asher:  Somewhat Yummy he is the skeptic. He ate his slowly and liked it enough to eat it without too much encouragement. He pulled everything apart and ate it like that. 
• Mommy and Daddy: Oh man. I love this!  It wasn't heavy like traditional pizza but made me feel like I was eating regular pizza!  This is on my short list. 

Crust with sauce

Pre Baking

Post Baking

Fruit, salad and pizza

Little Joy

Little Joy Digging in!

Thumbs Up Approval!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

This recipe was inspired by a Parents Magazine recipe.  The original one had chunks of butternut squash whereas mine has puree; it saves me time just having purees already made vs having to cook the chunks of squash when I make this.  That is how this recipe was born....

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butternut squash puree (less if you want the squash taste less pronounced)
• 1/2 lb elbow noodles of your choice
• 2 tablespoons butter (we used butter alternative to decrease the dairy amount in here for dairy intolerant Little Asher)
• 2 tablespoon flour or tapioca flour
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk (or reduced fat milk or other milk alternative)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• dash of salt
• dash of white pepper
• 1 3/4 cups cheese (I used a mixture of part skim mozzarella and reduced fat cheddar--the high fat content is what bothers lactose intolerant folks; If I could do what I wanted I would use WHITE CHEDDAR)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a medium casserole dish.
3. Cook the elbow noodles 2 minutes less than the box says.  Drain and place in a large bowl.
4. Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat.
5. Whisk in flour and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Slowly whisk in milk.  Bring mixture to a boil, add nutmeg, salt and pepper, then simmer.  Cook for 3 minutes; stirring occasionally making sure the lumps mix out.
7. Add cheese and squash and stir until cheese is melted.
8. Stir cheese sauce into pasta and transfer to greased casserole dish.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

NOTE:  You can top this with turkey bacon crumbles or buttered crumbled wheat crackers or more cheese.  Get creative.  This time I tried buttered crumbed wheat crackers and it added a nice texture/

Difficulty:  2 out of 5; with the puree already made this was easy peasy!  I made it about an hour before I wanted to bake it, covered it in the oven and when it was almost time to eat I took the lid off and baked.  You could also make this during nap time or in the morning and refrigerate until ready to bake.  Increase the bake time if you refrigerate.

Timing:  I would give this to mine as early as 9 months depending on their chewing abilities.  Mine love finger foods so 9 months is good for mine---otherwise around 12 months is perfect!

Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions):

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the tummy!  She loved the crunch--she's my one with a bit of a mature pallete.  She likes lots of flavors like her mommy.
• Little Asher: Yummy in the tummy!  He does not have mac and cheese much because it is too much dairy but since there is not as much dairy to pasta with the squash in there, it is quite a treat!  He gobbled up two hardy helpings.

Step 6: Whisk in milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper with butter and flour

My Squash Puree

Noodles awaiting sauce

Shredded cheeses

Step 7:  Add cheese and squash to milk mixture

Before adding a topping

Topping added

YUMMMM

And its done!

Served with ham and steamed peas

Little Asher going in...

Hows it taste?

"MMMMM"

"Watch me mommy" says Little Joy

And all she says is CHEESE after it

Vegetable Fried Rice

This recipe is inspired by a skinnytaste.com recipe!  If your toddler or preschooler has not tried their hand at chop sitcks, grab some for the family to enjoy this meal.  My epicuties gobble this up and I think its partly because of the fun utencils!

Ingredients

• 3 cups leftover cooked brown rice (or any other rice or quinoa)
• 2 eggs, scrambled (or 2 egg whites, and 1 whole egg scrambled )
• 1 tbsp oil of your choice (coconut, olive, etc)
• 2 tsp splashes sesame oil (optional)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced 
• 5 scallions, chopped, whites and greens separated
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• cooking spray
• 1 cup ready-to-eat shelled edamame
• 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce, tamari for gluten free (or more to taste)
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Steps

1. Make your rice (I made mine in the rice cooker the morning we wanted to eat this and refrigerated it until I was ready to use it)
3. Whisk eggs season with salt and pepper. In a hot wok/large pan, spray a little oil and cook the eggs. When cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
4. On medium high heat. Add oils and cook onions, bell pepper, scallion whites, and garlic.  I cooked until soft to be more palatable for my little ones, but if you want extra crunch then cook 60 seconds on high heat
5. Add carrots and cook for an additional 2-4 minutes (again less if you want it extra crunchy).
6. Add brown rice/grain and stir well a few minutes to heat through.
7. Add cooked egg along with soy sauce, scallion greens and edamame, mixing well for about 3-4 minutes.  Add more soy sauce if you want
8. ENJOY!

Yield:  Approximately 6 one cup servings....we ate most of it.  It went down easy!

Difficulty:  2 out of 5; most of this could be prepped to cook when you littles are napping or occupied and then when it is time to eat it would be a breeze!\

Timing:  1 year; it would be a mess, but if I had made this when mine were younger I would have given it as young as one.  I would avoid the edamame or cut them in half for younger toddlers.  Babe three that is baking will have it sooner than my older two.

Allergies:  This has soy AND egg so be sure you watch this food if its one of the first time your littles has eaten these ingredients.

Epicutie Ratings:

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy-She scafed this down a long with a side of turkey sausage.  She looooves to use the chopsticks
• Little Asher:  Somewhat Yummy-He ate his whole bowl but you could tell he liked it but not LOVED it.  He was not as into the edamame this time as he was last time.

Overall, this was a hit...we will be making it more often!

With turkey sausage

Little Joy

He actually got good at it but we were in a hurry to finish dinner and head to Awanas so I could not keep stopping to record!

Turkey Sloppy Joes

I got this recipe from "Once a Month Mom"'s dairy free gluten free menu---I LIVED on this site when I was on the elimination diet with Little Asher and a lot since then because he dairy intolerant....still.  The original recipe makes 8 servings and its just too much so I halved it to see if it still worked well and it does--I had to alter the cooking times a bit too, so here is my version!

I also LOVE slow cooker meals because I can get it in there before the kids are up or when they are busy :)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 3 carrots, finely minced
• 1 pounds ground turkey
• 1/2 cup gluten free ketchup, fruit juice sweetened preferred
• 1 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons gluten free yellow mustard
• pinch of salt, optional
• pinch of ground pepper

Steps:

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Sauté onion and carrots until onion is translucent, then add ground turkey.
2. Using a heat safe spatula, break up meat in skillet until turkey is completely cooked about 5 more minutes.
3. Transfer to crock and add rest of the ingredients.
4. Mix well, cover then cook on high for an hour and lower to low for about 4-6 hours until flavors are combined and  vegetables are softened.  
5. Check about 1/2 hour before eating and see if the sloppy joes look too “juicy”.  If they are, I remove the lid of the crock and cook on high, stirring periodically until the right consistency is reached.  When the recipe is halved it is usually the right consistency when ready to eat.

Difficulty 3 out of 5; I only give it a 3 vs 2 because it is not a dump into the crock pot and go---you have to brown the meat and cook the veggies first.

Tip:  This is a GREAT freezer meal.  Do steps one and two, allow to cool, place in a freezer bag along with all other ingredients--FREEZE!  When you are ready to use it, thaw over night, place in crock pot and cook on low for about 7 hours and ENJOY!  I am thinking of all you working moms out there!

Timing:  Unless this is pureed, I would recommend waiting until around 14 months or so.  It can be strange to eat and difficult unless you have a palete used to these things or VERY good chewing skills.

Serve:  We serve this over a piece of homemade bread (also easy to do before you leave for work) along with another veggie!  Double veggies is always good in my book!

Epicutie Ratings:  (see left side of page for rating descriptions)

Little Joy:  Somewhat Yummy; when we first had this about a year ago she went crazy over it but now she eats it just without huge zesto--which is fine.  Cant love EVERY food, but tolerate every food is the goal!

Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy; it took him a little while to grow into liking this, but he is ON BOARD!

Meat and veggies sauteed 

Everything mixed and ready to cook in the crock pot

4-6 hours later!

Served with potaoes and lima beans (we were in desperate need of a grocery store run!)

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Bananas.  Oh bananas.  These are always plentiful in my house but sometimes, they get too ripe too fast for us, so I use them in other ways and this recipe is one way!  This recipe is from 100 days of real food, with some alterations for dairy free!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour (I use King Arthur’s organic white whole-wheat flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 ¾ cups almond milk (or any other milk alternative, for those not avoiding dairy use regular milk!)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (we use Earth's Best Soy Free lactose free butter), melted
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 100% pure maple syrup for serving

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together honey, eggs, milk, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
3. Make a well (hole) in the center of the flour mixture and pour the liquid mixture into the center; mix to combine but do not over mix!
4. Gently fold the mashed bananas into the batter with a spatula.
5. Heat a griddle or sauté pan over medium-high heat (if you are using a pan swirl some butter in there, if using a griddle this isn't needed).  Add pancake batter using a 1/4 or 1/3 measuring cup.
6. When the pancakes have begun brown on the bottom and start to bubble on the top, flip them over to cook the other side.
7. Serve with maple syrup!

Difficulty:  2 out of 5; for pancakes, this is pretty easy!

Tip:  Freeze leftover for a quick breakfast another day!

Timing:  I serve pancakes as early as about 10 months since my babes show good chewing ability, but by 12 months I think these would be great for any toddler as long as they are cut up small!

Epicutie Rating:  (see left side for rating descriptions)

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy!  My kids LOVE pancakes so I knew this would be a hit!
• Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy!  He ate SIX PANCAKES!!!!!!!  I had to cut him off!

The batter

THE GOODS!!!!

"Helping"

He couldn't wait for me to get the camera out!

YUM!

Going back for more!

Banana Porridge

If you want easy---this is IT....Banana Porridge!   This is my go to breakfast for my kids and has been since they were both about 15 months old.

Ingredients:

• Ripe Banana
• 1/2 Cup Quick Oats 100% Oats Oatmeal
• 1 Cup Water (or Milk)
• Dash of Salt

Steps:

1. Cut the banana into small pieces (I usually cut it lengthwise in an X and then slice horizontally making small triangle pieces.  Place in a large cereal bowl.
2. Add oats, water and dash of salt into bowl.  Stir to combine.
3. Microwave for two minutes.
4. Remove from microwave and allow to stand for at least 5 minutes (so it can thicken).
5. Serve...watch out its hot!

Yield:  I split this between my 21 month old and 3 year old and its JUST enough for them both so---two hearty toddler servings.

Note:  I have also used applesauce and cinnamon vs bananas and even strawberries too!

Timing:  As early as 9 months if they are good at chewing

Difficulty:  1 out of 5; easy as it gets!

Epicutie Rating:

Little Joy and Little Asher:  YUMMY IN THE TUMMY!  Sometimes Little Joy gets tired of having it day in and day out but she always gobbles it up and then sometimes says "so tomorrow we will have something new" :)