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!

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" :)

Chicken Avocado Quesadilla

 Since avocados have been on sale, this has become a regular at my house lately--and no one is complaining! We eat this for lunch or dinner!

Ingredients

• 1 Cooked chicken breast (I throw a chicken breast in my steamer)
• 1 avocado, sliced thinly
• Shredded cheese (montery jack, monzerlla, Go Veggie! lactose free cheese--to make it dairy free)
• Butter (Earth Balance Lactose Free butter alternative to make it dairy free)
• Whole wheat tortillas
• Lime
• Salt
• Pepper

Steps

1. Preheat a griddle to 225-250 degrees.
2. Shred chicken.
3. Toss shredded chicken with a couple squeezes of lime, dash of pepper and dash of salt (optional).
4. On one half of the tortilla, place a few thinly sliced avocado pieces (I actually mash it up and spread it on the tortilla for Little Asher who is texture sensitive), some shredded chicken and a little shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla in half.
5. Put a thin layer of butter on the outside of both outside sides of the tortilla (I omit this on my quesadilla).
6. Cook on griddle until both sides are browned.
7. Allow to cool slightly and slice into triangles.

Miscellaneous: We usually eat this with crock pot vegetarian black beans (this recipe is next in the line up and I will link to it when available).

Tip:  Make the chicken ahead and put it in the fridge so that when it is time for dinner all you have to do is assemble and grill--easy!

Yield: Depends on how much chicken you use, but when we do one large chicken breast it feeds my family of four...which is about 6 quesadilla

Timing:  9-12 Months depending on your little ones ability to chew and grind and the number of teeth.  Little Asher was able to handle this cut up very small around 10 months and I would imagine Little Joy would have been around the same age had I tried it back then.

Difficulty: 2 out of 5; this is easy and can be partly made ahead.  Very few things get a 1 on difficulty from me; I reserve that for things I can do in my sleep!

Epicutie Rating (See left side of page for rating descriptions):
Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy; there is never a bit left of first helpings of this dish.  When she sees the griddle come out her exact words are "Is it pancakes or quesadilla??!  They are my favorite in the whole wide world!" LOL!
Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy; he usually finishes his before my husband and I finish ours!

Healthy Avocado Turkey Burgers

I sorta just made this up on the fly, so I hope I get the proportions of everything down ok!!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/4 cup natural apple sauce (strain it to get some of the water out)
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan
• 3/4 to 1 tablespoon Dale's Seasoning sauce (this is basically soy sauce, pepper, paprika and garlic; you could substitute for 2 teaspoons no salt seasoning mix if you do not want the salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
• Nutritional Yeast
• 1 ripe avocado
• slices of cheese (optional)
• buns

Steps:

1. Combine first five ingredients ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
2. Form into approximately five patties
3. Sprinkle the tops of burgers with nutritional yeast (and bottom if you want; I put this on the burgers because they were SO sticky I was afraid they would stick to the flipper so its kind of superfluous)
4. Grill burgers until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees; I like to make sure its DONE.
5. Top burgers with diced avocado and cheese and serve.

Miscellaneous:  My kids love cheese so every time we have burgers I indulge, who doesn't love a good cheese burger.  My dairy intolerant son uses veggie slices.

Timing:  Burgers are challenging; I would not give this until at least 18 months OR you can do it bun-less, deconstructed and cut up very small starting around one if they have a head full of teeth like mine did!

Difficulty: 1 out of 5; I made this up on the fly so it HAD to be easy!

Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions): Double Yummy in the Tummy's

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy; she scarfed down half a burger like it was nothing!
• Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy; Although it was hard for him to chew and tear into, he polished of his half of the burger without encouragement!

Veggie Frittatas

 Easy, delicious and good for you!!!!

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray or preferably silicone cupcakes liners
• 4 eggs
• 3-4 tablespoons milk (eye ball it)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup your favorite cheese, shredded or cheese blend (I have done part skim mozzarella  cheddar, cheddar/Parmesan combo, colby, etc)
• 4 whole sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil and chopped
• 1/3 cup green pepper, chopped

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Spray muffin tin with spray or line with silicon liners
3. In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk and salt.
4. Optional:  Place bell peppers in a small bowl with water, cover and microwave for one minute to soften the peppers.  My Little Asher does not prefer the pepper crunch and I do not min accommodating.
5. Add peppers, tomatoes and cheese to egg mixture--stir to combine.
6. Distribute mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups.
7. Bake at 375 for 14 minutes.

ALLERGY ALERT:  EGGS

Timing:  One year due to eggs.

Storage:  In the fridge for 2 days.  Microwave well to reheat.

Difficulty: 1 out of 5; Honestly the hardest part is chopping and the chopping is minimal here.  This is fast breakfast or even a breakfast for dinner option! 

Nutrition:  (using part skim mozzarella, per frittata) 36 calories; 3 g protein; 2 g fat

Tip:  The silicone liners are a HUGE time savor.  They make clean up fast and serving them even easier.  If you do not have any, its a great kitchen "gadget" for not much money.

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

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy;  She liked these even better the second time I made them--she ate three along with a pancake!
• Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy;  The first time we served this we only had the  frittatas and fruit and he ate like four of them.  The second time we served them we had pancakes with it since it was breakfast with dinner and he put up a fight because he wanted pancakes.  He is the strong willed one. He still loved it though, just wanted to let us know he wanted pancakes MORE--who doesnt?

Mixture

Before baking

Done!

Done!

YUMM!

WHAT IS THIS??

Pumpkin Ravioli

Pasta is always easy and fun for toddlers, so it's always on my short list. This recipe comes from Double Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. Since the cheese is cooked and part skim we decided to try it on Little Asher, no horrible reactions just some lower stomach issues.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz) can white kidney beans; drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup part skim ricotta
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3/4 garlic powder
• dash of salt
• 1 egg
• 72 wonton papers
• cornstarch
• Your favorite marinara sauce microwaved until warm

Steps:

1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Place beans, pumpkin, ricotta, Parmesan and garlic in a food processor and purée until smooth.
3. In a small bowl beat the egg with a tablespoon of water.
4. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornstarch.
5. Set wonton papers on a cutting board. Place one tablespoon of the pumpkin mixture into the center of the wrapper. Brush the edges with the egg wash. Top off with another wonton paper. Press firmly together.
6. Place the ravioli on the baking sheet. When all the ravioli is ready, carefully place them in the lightly boiling water using a slotted spoon.
7. As soon as the rise to the top of the pot, about five minutes, they are done. Divide among 6 bowls and top with marinara sauce. Serve immediately.

Tip: Next time I make these I will use ONE wonton paper and half the filling to make the ravioli smaller and easier for toddlers to pick up. I will fold the wonton paper in half vs using two papers per ravioli.

Storage: After cooking, 3-5 days in the fridge. I recommend refrigerating IN the sauce. I froze some uncooked ravioli a for quick meal in the future.

Timing: 10 months; super easy to chew!

Difficulty: 4 out of 5; It's only high on the difficulty scale because filling the ravioli is time consuming and once out start making this recipe you can't really stop for long.

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

• Little Asher: Yummy In The Tummy; holy gobble fest!!!!! After I cut I the ravioli he devoured three!
• Little Joy: Yummy In The Tummy; Little Joy quickly ate two ravioli without prompting. She even loved it left over. Little Asher wasn't as big a fan of the left over version :)
• Kelly: love it!!!!!!

Ready to serve

Cutting her first bit; this was a messy food---bib required this time!

Trying it!

"HMMM Mommy!"

I didnt get his first reaction but as soon as I took Little Joys picture---look how much he had eaten!

MORE!!!

Banana Cinnamon Waffles

I buy bananas a lot because my whole family loves them, but sometimes I buy a batch that seem to brown really fast.  That's when I want to have plenty of banana recipes in my arsenal. Furthermore, I am constantly looking for breakfast foods that will freeze well so that I can break up the week's breakfasts which are usually filled with cereals and oatmeals.  This recipe was inspired by one I found on a Cooking Light site.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (you could replace 1/4 of this flour for 1/4 cup buckwheat flour for a nutty flavor)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups rice milk
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted (I used Earth Balance dairy free, soy free butter alternative)
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 large ripe banana, mashed
• Cooking spray

Steps:

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Combine Dry ingredients in a medium bowl (flours, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt) stirring with a whisk to combine.
3. In a separate bowl combine milk, butter, eggs and vanilla.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry stirring with a whisk; mix until combined but not too much!
5. Fold in mashed banana.
6. Coat iron with cooking spray
7. Spoon batter onto hot iron spreading the batter to edges.
8. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until steaming stops; repeat procedure with remaining batter.
9. Serve warm.

*Allergy Alert:  Contains Egg*

Timing:  One year due to the eggs however I would have given this as early as 9 months to my Epicuties because its soft and easy to chew; even my texture sensitive Little Asher thought they were soft and yummy.  Most pediatricians recommend avoiding whole eggs until one year.

Storage:  Fridge for 4 days and freezer for a month.  Wrap each waffle individually in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer bag.  Thaw in microwave or toaster oven.  Quick and healthy on hand breakfast!

Yield:  14 waffles (see photo below)

Difficulty: 2 out of 5; the only recipes I give a 1 to are those that require NO cooking.  This was quick to whip up; I even made it after I had both kids up and dressed and no one starved while waiting :)

Epicutie Rating:

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy; She proclaimed "Oh mommy, this is good" after this first bite.  She did not consume as much as she usually does of foods she loves but we are learning with a toddler---some days they cannot eat enough to be satisfied while others they require very little food.  
• Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy; after a liquid feeding and puree prunes he still ate an entire waffle.  He tends to be particular about textures, but this was soft enough for him to find YUMMY!

It made 14 of the smaller square so 7 of the big double squares

Signing MORE

Let me try one more to see if I like it

Signing MORE MORE

YUMMY IN THE TUMMY

I said "Give me your I like it smile if you like it" LOL!