Raw Green Applesauce

I know that I have yet to post on Green Smoothies as I promised and as my penpal reminded me , but I sat down to do it and realized that it was going to be much more involved than I had originally thought… and I just have not had the time. I wanted to try a few new recipes before I do that big post, but while I was searching I found this recipe at RawFamily.com. I love raw recipes! Its not a movement that I see myself joining, but raw usually translates to “easy” and “healthy” and I need to start frequenting more raw recipe websites and cookbooks!
Anyway, I found this recipe and I had to try it! It was just what a raw recipe should be – easy, fun. I enlisted the help of Little Frances to help me make it! Its so fun to have extra hands in the kitchen as our epicuties get bigger!
Ingredients:

• 4 apples
• 1 banana
• 2 to 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• up to 2 cups water

Steps:

1. Chop apples into pieces, removing the core.
2. Place half the water and the rest of the ingredients together in a blender or a food processor.
3. Blend/process!
4. Add more water if needed until you reach desired thickness.

Yield: 3 cups
Storage: This can be kept in the freezer for up to 2 months. In the fridge, I would recommend no longer than 2 or 3 days since it is a raw recipe.
Difficulty: 1 out of 5. Easy, like most of the recipes I post on here.
Timing: 8 months. This is about the average age for introducing greens to small babies from what I can find.  Some recommend earlier, some recommend later. If you have concerns, speak with your pediatrician.
Miscellaneous: Our applesauce turned out a little brown since I had bought a pre chopped and rinsed salad kit that contained both red and green romaine lettuce. I also made the mistake of adding all of the water at once so it came out a little more soupy than saucy!  I recommend starting with a more conservative amount of water and adding as desired.
Epicutie Ratings (see left side of the page for ratings):
Little Frances: Somewhat Yummy! Little Frances’ enthusiasm may be due to the fact that she helped make it but she seemed to like it. It lost her interest after a while.

Little Elizabeth: Yummy in the Tummy! I failed to take a picture of Little Elizabeth, but she has loved it all three times she has eaten it!

Little Elizabeth’s First Food

So I know that I am way behind on my Green “Milkshake” post, but in the meantime, let me share with you Epicutie Elizabeth’s first food…

WATERMELON!!!

This was not pureed and she was two weeks shy of 6 months! I would have never been so unscientific with little Frances or given her solids before 6 months or something that she had to chew herself, but something about surviving parenthood the first time makes you more confident the second time around and sometimes you throw caution to the wind!

Also, here is how we celebrated her 6 month birthday…

FROZEN YOGURT!!!

That one was her daddy’s idea.

And yes, both foods got a “Yummy in the Tummy” rating .

Tofu Bites

Tofu is full of protein so I like the idea of eating it, but even after all the time I spent in China--I still do not love it.  However, just because I do not love a food does not mean I should push my preferences off on my epicuties; my worst food nightmare could be my children's delight.  It is my responsibility as a parent to provide them opportunities to experience new things (including food) even if my personal preference is against it (i.e. tofu, cheerleading for Addison, football for Caleb, brussel sprouts, peas, tatoo artistry, etc, you follow me).

Here is a simple way to serve up tofu as a finger food.  It is a great food as an early finger food (particularly those without many teeth like Little Asher) because its super soft.

Ingredients:

• Firm tofu
• Dusting of your choice (crushed graham crackers, cherrios or infant cereal; wheat germ, etc.)

Steps:

1. Crush your dusting in a ziplock bag.
2. Cut tofu into cubes or shapes of your choice.
3. Place tofu in ziplock bag and shake until well coated.
4. Serve immediately, discard left overs.

Difficulty:  1 out of 5; super easy, no cooking

Timing:  8 months; Some books say 6-9 months for tofu so I suggest somewhere in the middle around 8 months.  It is soft so it does not require any teeth.

Storage:  Storage any left over tofu according to the package instructions, however I would not save any leftovers of this food.  It seems like the dusting would get mushy--yuck!

Tip:  I would air on the side of too much dusting at first.  I think my children did not like it because it was too lightly dusted.

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

Little Joy (2 years):  Sour Puss; she was a great sport.  She TRIED her hardest to like it but she just did not enjoy it; poor thing.  She rarely turns her nose up at a food so I felt bad she hated it so!

Little Asher (9 months):  Sour Puss; he tried several bites and his face got more and more sour.  It was a texture thing I believe.

HAHAHAHA!

HAHAHAHA!

I AM TRYING MOMMY!

Milk Shakes!

Little Frances is crazy over milkshakes, although for obvious reasons, she does not get them that often.  I developed or found three alternate healthy, banana-based recipes that your little one will love.  I like to serve it in a parfait glass with a straw so she feels like she is getting the real thing!

This is also a great way to get Little Ones to drink milk, who would not drink it otherwise.  You can also replace the whole milk with skim milk to make a healthy, delicious breakfast smoothie for the bigger kids in the family .

Allergy Warning: Two of three of the recipes contain extreme allergens.  We have no history of food allergies in our families and even so I waited until Little Frances was 15 months old before I gave her peanut butter, and even then, only in small amounts.  Once I was certain that she was not allergic, she was allowed nut based products in larger quantities.  As always, if you are concerned, consult your Doctor!

Recipe 1: Blue-Banana Milk Shake

• 1/2 frozen, chopped banana
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup whole milk

Recipe 2: Peanut Butter Milk Shake*

• 1 frozen, chopped banana
• 2 teaspoons peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon milled flax seed
• 1 cup whole milk

Recipe 3: Nut-N-Honey Milk Shake

• 1 frozen, chopped banana
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 cup whole milk

Directions:

• Mix in a blender until well blended!

Yield and Storage: This depends on how hungry your Epicutie is.  Sometimes I save half of the milkshake in the freezer for Little Frances to eat the next day.  This would yield one adult sized milkshake or half of a milkshake for your toddler… it all depends on appetite.  This stores well in the fridge overnight.

Timing: Due to the possible milk, nut and honey allergies, give NO EARLIER than 12 months.

Difficulty: 1 out of 5! Easy and delicious.

Miscellaneous: I always buy a bunch of banana, slice them, and freeze them in individual baggies so that I have them on hand for smoothies.  Freezing them before hand means that you don’t need to use ice cubes, which can make your smoothie too watery… this way they stay nice and creamy!  This is also a great use for older bananas that you wouldn’t want to eat on their own.

Epicutie Rating: Yummy in the Tummy! --See right side of page for descriptions

Little Frances loves to crawl into her Daddy’s lap in the morning and have a taste of his morning milkshake!  I love her little milkshake goatee.

*This recipe was taken from Jillian Michael’s weight loss website.

Easy Fruit Yogurt

Since we are in the middle of a move, I have been trying to find, quick easy meals to prepare for Little Frances that don’t require a lot of ingredients, I don’t have to make in bulk, and are still really healthy. Its been challenging, but also FUN! I love looking through my fridge and seeing what tempting treat I can whip up for her.

I am a huge yogurt lover, so much in fact, that a lot of the time I just make my own. This way I can cut down on all of the extra unwanted ingredients that usually come in yogurt, and I never buy artificially sweetened or flavored yogurts. Here is a quick, easy recipe that is also healthy and without extra sugars or preservatives! I may do a post later on making your own yogurt, but for now, I am just buying the regular, plain yogurt at the grocery store.

Ingredients:

• Whole-fat, plain, all natural yogurt
• Fruit or fruit puree of your choice! For this recipe, I used frozen blueberries that I already had in the freezer and a banana

Steps:

1. Heat the blueberries in the microwave until fully cooked and somewhat syrupy.
2. Puree the blueberries and banana in a food processor, blender or chopper.
3. Pour the mixture into the yogurt, little by little until you are happy with the yogurt/fruit ratio.

Miscellaneous: I usually store some of the puree in the fridge for later use with the yogurt. These also make great pops if you have a mold! Frozen yogurt pops are great on gums that are sore from teething.

Timing: 9 Months

Storage: I keep the fruit puree in the fridge for up to one week and the yogurt until its expiration date. I would store the puree in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Epicutie Rating: Yummy in the Tummy! This has become a staple at our house. Little Frances loves this, and she especially cannot get enough of the yogurt in pop form.

The first time she tried it! She could not get enough.

The first time she tried a yogurt pop! She had two and still wanted more. I also enjoyed one with her :). Warning – make sure you have a bath ready as soon as your baby gets finished with these… things get a little messy!

Blueberries

Blueberries are high in fiber, rich in antioxidants and are packed with vitamin A and C; not to mention they can help with constipation!! For more information on the goodness of blueberries, check out wholesomebabyfood.com's site on Blueberries!

I loved the idea of introducing blueberries because it will be a wonderful finger food for a toddler, just grab, wash and GO! Blueberries were enticing to introduce also because they can help with constipation and I am always looking for ways to de-clogg Little Joy. I have heard mixed information about introducing berries before one year because they tend to be an allergen. After much debate, I went to my two main resources (the book "Super Baby Food" and the wholesomebabyfood.com website) to see what they recommended. Both shared that they can be introduced around 8-10 months since they are not the same kind of berries that are the usual culprits for allergies. PLUS my husband and I both do not have any food allergies that we know of, so her likelihood of having them is very low. I did decide to COOK the blueberries before serving them to make them easier to digest; after a year I will just puree.

WARNING: DO NOT feed WHOLE blueberries to a baby or young toddler, they can cause choking. Most recommendations are to wait until at least 3 years old before offering the blueberry whole. Also, you may want to ask your doctor before introducing berries if you baby is less than a year; I did not but you may want to since it has been known to be an allergen.

Ingredients:
Fresh blueberries (1 pint)
Water

Steps for COOKED puree:

• Wash blueberries
• Place berries in a pot and just barely cover the blueberries in water (about 1-2 inches of water)
• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes
  
• Remove blueberries from pot with a slotted spoon and place in your puree device
  
• Puree until smooth adding blueberry juice (the water from your pot) until desired consistency is reached
• SAVE THE LIQUID from your pot; just strain it before saving! This blueberry juice is great for adding to cereal to change things up a bit. I also froze some of the juice.
  
• Freeze puree until frozen solid (about 12-24 hours if using ice cube trays) and after frozen, place in freezer zip lock bags until ready to use (I like to save about 2 servings in the refrigerator)
• Uses for the puree: I prefer to add the puree to other foods such as pears, apples, yogurt, cereal etc.
  
• Uses for the juice: So far all I have tried was adding it to cereal along with milk.

Steps for UNcooked puree (it is recommended you cook the puree if introducing prior to 9 to 1o months old, see below)

• Wash blueberries
• Puree using liquid (probably water) to thin until you have reached your desired consistency
• Freeze puree until frozen solid (about 12-24 hours if using ice cube trays) and after frozen, place in freezer zip lock bags until ready to use (I like to save about 2 servings in the refrigerator)

NOTE: one ice cube is about an ounce of food

Timing: 8 to 9 months for COOKED puree; 9-12 months for raw mashed blueberries; 3 years for whole blueberries (depending on who you ask)

Storage: According to "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron, this can be stored in the freezer for up to one year.

Epicutie Rating: Yummy in the Tummy---see right side of page for rating descriptions.
Epicutie Little Joy LOVED her blueberry cereal, blueberry apples and blueberry pears! I will try them with bananas and yogurt soon. I do not ALWAYS add fruit to her cereal because I want her to be able to eat it plain if needed. It also seemed to help de-clogg her, maybe a bit too much :)

Difficulty: 1 out of 5---this is SO easy!!!

In the pot with water, ready to cook

Simmering, errr...boiling here :)

I used a chopper vs a food processor since we are trying to move to thicker foods now that Little Joy is getting older.
The juice remaining

I stored the juice in the jar for 2 days before freezing.

Little Joy's reaction to blueberries; not too excited but definitely wanted more. At the end you will see a blueberry explosion!

Pear Puree

Making pear puree is simple, fast and tasty!

Ingredients:
Bartlett Pears (these are the yellow/greenish pears)
Steps:

• Wash and peel pears
• Puree in your food processor of choice
• Pour into your freezing method (I prefer to pour into ice cube trays and cover with plastic wrap)
• Freeze until frozen solid (about 12-24 hours)
• After frozen, place in freezer zip lock bags until ready to use (I like to save 2 servings in the refrigerator)

Yield: 1/2 cup puree per pear
Storage: According to "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron, pears can be in the freezer for up to a year and refrigerator 1-2 days.
Miscellaneous: Pears can mixed with many things to make foods more appealing (prunes, cereal, etc.). Pears are also good at moving the digestive system along!
Test Subject Rating: Yummy in my Tummy --see right side of page for rating descriptions (Little Joy has found a favorite food)
Difficulty: 1 out of 5