Lentil Minestrone Soup

This recipe was submitted by my dear friend Heather; she always cooks fresh, healthy, organic and FUN things. I LOVE dinner parties with her family :) Her Epicutie Little Ray is still a little young to be sampling something like this, but I have a feeling very soon I will be featuring some of her recipes!!! Heather adapted this Lentil Minestrone Soup from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison.

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 T tomato paste
• 1/4 c chopped parsley
• 3-4 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2-3 ribs celery, diced
• 1 c green lentils, sorted for rocks and rinsed
• Aromatics: 2 bay leaves, 8 parsley branches or celery leaf stalks, 6 thyme sprigs (or whatever herbs you have on hand)
• 9 cups water
• 2 c small pasta, cooked
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 T Dijon mustard (KEY ingredient)
• 1 T red wine vinegar (KEY ingredient)

Steps:

1. Heat oil and onion in soup pot over high heat, stirring regularly, until lightly browned, about 10 mins.
2. Add tomato paste, parsley, garlic, veggies, and salt and cook 3 mins more.
3. Add lentils, aromatics, and water and bring to a boil.
4. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
5. Add pasta, stir and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Remove aromatics from soup before serving.
8. Serve warm.

Yeild: About 8 servings

Serve: Serve with 7 Grain Bread (post coming soon!) or other bread along with a salad for the adults.

Timing: Everything in the soup is very soft so if your little one demonstrates the ability to chew and has several teeth I would think this appropriate. Keep in mind, there is a lot going on in this dish and it can be messy since its a soup. So it might be more appropriate for the pre-toddler (12-18 months). Since Little Joy had teeth and loved finger foods, I would have offered it to her as early as 10-12 months I think.

Variations: Although I have not tried it, I think sliced mushrooms or lima beans or cut up green beans would be a great addition to the soup. Be adventurous and add more veggies your family likes!!

Difficulty: 3 out of 5; I only give it a 3 vs 2 because of the overall time involved including cook time. This is VERY easy and worth the effort.

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

Little Joy loved this...especially the lentils, she calls them beans (and she loves beans for some reason). She made a big ole mess with it, but really liked it. Little Joy is starting to like leftovers so by the third day she was kinda over it :)

No pictures this time, with Baby #2 due TWO DAYS AGO I am not totally on my game with documenting our food adventures!

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

 

This another one from Deceptively Delicious!  I promise this blog is not just for Deceptively Delicious recipes, but I was looking through my cookbooks last night and I had all the ingredients on hand for this one so I couldn’t resist.  I have a history of my banana bread not turning out, and once upon a time, I tried every banana and banana nut bread recipe that I could get my hands on and I was never happy with how they turned out.  After making this, I still feel like I am searching for that perfect recipe, but in the mean time this healthy, easy version will definitely scratch the itch!

Cinnamon Streusel Topping (Optional)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Steps:

1. Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in the butter or margarine. Set aside.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups banana puree
• 1/2 cup cauliflower puree
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

***I used 4 thawed frozen bananas to make 1 1/2 cups and I did not puree them beforehand.

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a 9x5 inch loaf pan or 2 mini pans with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl or a zip lock bag, mix the flours with the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, if using. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar and oil with a wooden spoon until well combined. Mix in the egg whites, banana and cauliflower purees, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
4. Pour the batter into a loaf pan.  Cover evenly with the streusel topping if using.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes for the large loaf, 25 to 30 minutes for the mini loaves. Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan to cool before serving.

Timing: This could be given as early as 9 months, but be aware of the egg whites if your little one has an egg allergy.  Usually it does not affect children if it is cooked in something. I personally would not give

Difficulty: This was pretty simple, but I am giving it a 3 out of 5 because I had to get so many pans and bowls dirty!  Very few dirty dishes is a requirement for me to give something a low rating .

Miscellaneous:

• I used 3 mini loaf pans instead of 2.  I have a history of not evenly cooking my banana bread so I wanted to be cautious and not put too much batter into the pans.
• When I put the cinnamon streusel topping on the batter, I gently mixed it with the top layer of the batter so that it would stay on the bread once baked.  It turned out very well.
• To make cauliflower puree, simply steam raw cauliflower florets for 10 to 12 minutes and then puree.

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

Chicken Enchiladas with Spinach

This is another recipe from Double Delicious, my second favorite cookbook!  This is such an easy, super healthy recipe, and I love that it gets Little Frances (and her Daddy) to eat such a large amount of spinach.  Plus, its delicious too.  This is one of my favorite things to cook (and eat)!
Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed (about ¾ lb)
• ½ t garlic powder
• ¼ t pepper
• ½ c sweet potato puree or carrot puree
• ¼ c sour cream
• 1 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 6 (9 inch) whole wheat tortillas
• ½ c spinach puree
• ½ c mild tomato salsa

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat a 9 x 12 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder and pepper.
5. Cook the chicken 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
6. Off the heat, mix the sweet potato or carrot puree, sour cream, and half the cheese into the skillet.
7. Fill each tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish.
8. Dot the tops of the enchiladas with spinach puree. Spoon the salsa over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
9. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until the cheese melts and filling is hot, 35 to 40 minutes.

Tips:

• When I am in a hurry, I just buy rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and use the meat to skip steps 3-5.  Then I warm a skillet to melt the cheese mixture.
• To make a 1/2 cup spinach puree I steam 1 large back of baby spinach for 2 minutes and then puree.  This purees easier with an immersion blender (which I don’t have).

Yield: 6 enchiladas
Timing: Because this is a difficult food to chew, I recommend no earlier than 15 months or until your baby has at least 8 teeth. I would NOT think that this would puree well for smaller children.  This is definitely a toddler food.
Difficulty: 2 of 5… super easy, super delicious!
Epicutie Rating: Yummy in the Tummy! --See right side of page for descriptions
Little Frances LOVES these!  It is her favorite food next to hamburgers.
Little Joy gave this a YUMMY IN THE TUMMY as well!  She gobbled it up and asked for more!  We served this along side some Mexican rice.


But before she will eat it, we must first feed baby!

Ok, now Little Frances will eat them. Yum yum.

Butternut Squash Puree

I realized we have never posted the basic Butternut Squash puree recipe!!!

Ingredients:

• One Ripe Butternut Squash

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut squash lengthwise
3. Scoop out seeds
4. Place flesh side (squash meat side) down on a cookie sheet or in a casserole dish
5. Add 1-2 inches of water to pan
6. Place in oven for 35-45 minutes or until the skin begins to pucker and when a knife is inserted its soft.
7. Allow to cool slightly.
8. Scoop out meat and puree to desired consistency using water (not from the pan) or breast milk to thin as you feel necessary.
9. Place in ice cube tray, cover and freeze for 24 hours.
10. Remove cubes from tray and place in freezer bag for long term storage.

Storage: Refrigerator for 3-5 days; freezer for 1-2 months.

Difficulty: 1 out of 2

Timing: 6 months; this is a great food to introduce as a first or second veggie

Miscellaneous: This puree (without any thinning) can be used in a number of other dishes too!!

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

Little Joy has always loved squash!!!

Chicken and Biscuits

Thus I continue on my adventures in cooking through the "Double Delicious" cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. I have made a dozen or so recipes from this cookbook and have posted hardly any of them! I am determined to catch up before Baby #2 arrives (due in 10 days)! Also, most of my posts here on out will be geared for family meals.

Ingredients for Chicken:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed OR about 10 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins which is what I use (about 1 lb; add more or less depending on how much you need)
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 1/2 cup carrot puree (can also use pumpkin or sweet potato puree)

Ingredients for Biscuit Topping:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup trans-fat-free, soft tub margarine (you can substitute any butter, if using regular butter it should be softened)
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
• 3/4 cup low fat buttermilk

Steps:

1. Heat oil in an dutch oven or flame proof casserole dish.
2. Sprinkle chicken with pepper.
3. Add chicken to the casserole dish until it begins to brown.
4. Stir in soup, milk and puree until all ingredients are well combine.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
7. Prepare the biscuits by combining flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
8. Rub the margarine into the flour with your finger tips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
9. Add egg, honey, cream of tarter and buttermilk all at once.
10. Mix just until soft dough forms.
11. Dot the dough over the chicken mixture.
12. Bake 20-25 minutes, uncovered, until the biscuits are cooked through and golden on top.

Yield: 6 servings

Storage: 3 days in the refrigerator. I do not recommend freezing.

Timing: I would wait until your little one has teeth to grind and chew through the bread and chicken. For us this was 12 months. We gave it to Little Joy at 17 months.

Serve: Serve immediately. This is a great family food and goes great along side sauteed green beans or steamed broccoli. OR a green salad for the adults, YUM!!!

Difficulty: 3 out of 5; easy and fast but does require a little prep time so I gave it a three vs. a two.

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

Little Joy seems to like everything the first 2-3 times she has something, then if we have it several days in a row as leftovers, she is waving us off saying "All done" in sign language and verbally saying "All done chicken. No Thank You". HA!

Step 3: Cooking chicken in oil

Step 5: Remove from heat; all chicken ingredients combined.

Step 10: All dough ingredients combine

Ready to serve

Served to Mommy and Daddy with salad :)

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 At-Hand Blueberry Muffins

A few weeks ago we were coming off of a week long family illness and I had not been to the grocery store in ages… our cupboards were bare!  I had no idea what I was going to make my family for breakfast since I was down to one egg, had no yogurt, and very little milk.  Thankfully I remembered this easy recipe from my Wild About Texas cookbook (one of my favorites!), and I was able to prepare something for the whole family.  The great thing about this recipes is that you probably already have every single ingredient on hand.  I always make certain to have frozen blueberries in my freezer for this and other recipes. 

This recipe is not what I would classify as “healthy”, but it is a healthier alternative to most blueberry muffin recipes and certainly less fatty than what you would buy in the store.  I like to make this occasionally when I am in the mood for something really sweet, like chocolate chip cookies.  This still satisfies my sweet tooth and is much better for me than what I would have normally eaten!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup blueberries (I always like to add a few extra.  I love blueberries!)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in egg and milk.
4. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt until moistened.
5. Fold in blueberries.
6. Spoon batter in to 10 well-greased muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. (I just add the frozen berries.  I do not bother to thaw them and it works fine.)
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Yield: 10 muffins

Timing: I would use your best judgment, although I think that these could be given as early as 9 months considering the eggs and milk are mixed and cooked. 

Storage: Refrigerator for 1 week, freezer for up to 2 months.

Difficulty: 1 out of 5!  These are so, so easy.

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

I know you are thinking… of course Little Frances loved them! Who doesn’t love blueberry muffins?  Actually she has been such a picky eater since her molars have been slowly, slowly, slowly coming in.  She has even been turning down sweets, so I was delighted with how quickly she gobbled this up, and kept asking for more.  I didn’t think she would ever get full! Her happy face says it all.