Sage Scented Fettuccine and Butternut Squash and Chicken

I found this recipe on www.godariyfree.com and tweaked it to work with the ingredients I had on hand.  WE LOVED THIS!!!  And it felt so....FALL!

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
• 1 Pound Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and dice into 1/4-inch cubes
• Sea Salt
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock (mine was homemade using a variation of this recipe: Chicken Stock)
• 1 Yellow Onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/4 Cup White Wine
• 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 1/2 Tablespoon Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar**
• 1/2 Tablespoon White Wine Vinegar**
• 2 Teaspoons Rubbed Sage
• 6 Ounces Fettuccine 
• 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast (I could not find this so I omitted it, but it is a great substitute for cheese, I plan on ordering some and trying this again)
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Fresh Sage Leaves, optional
• 6 chicken tenderloins
• garlic powder

**Alternatively use 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar instead of Raspberry Balsamic and White Winne Vinegar; the original recipe called for this but I had to improvise because I did no realize I was out!

Steps (fettuccine):

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the squash, sprinkle with salt, and cook for 5 minutes. Don’t worry if the squash starts to break apart.
• Add the chicken stock and cook, still stirring gently until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 7 minutes.
• Add the onion and season with a little more salt. Cook until the onion begins to soften, 3 minutes.
• Add the wine, and cook until moisture is almost evaporated and mixture is caramelized.
• Stir in the maple syrup, vinegars, and sage. Keep warm.
• Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Drain the pasta and return it to the hot pot.
• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste; toss to combine.
• Add the vegetable mixture to the pasta and toss again to combine.
• Serve hot garnished with fresh sage leaves, if using.

Steps (chicken):

• Cut chicken into bit size pieces.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of of oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
• Place chicken in pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder--this is to taste.
• Flip chicken and sprinkle again.
• Remove from heat when cooked through.

Serve:  Serve the chicken and the pasta tossed together or the chicken on the side; we served it separate and just mixed some bites together and others not.  We did remove the larger pieces of onion before serving it to our 11 month old; our 2 year old did not notice the onions mixed in.

Yield: 4 servings

Timing:  Due to the wine and spices I would recommend around a year.  Little Asher was 11 months and is still cutting 6 teeth on top (not all the way in) and he ate it all fine.  He ate the chicken chunk-ed up just fine too!

Storage: 3-5 days in the fridge.  I am going to attempt to freeze the "sauce" to see if it reheats well; I would imagine so.

Difficulty:  3 out of 5; I ONLY give this a 3 because I had to stand over it and stir.  Anything that I have to stand over while I have a 1 and 2 year old running/crawling around automatically gets difficult.  However, no kids---this is a 2 easily.

Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for descriptions)

• Little Joy:  Somewhat Yummy; she joyfully ate it but like most two year olds she just acted difficult when she saw we were thrilled she loved it (because we loved it too).  She ate a big helping of noodles.
• Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy; Little Asher has been funny with finger foods.  Around 9 months he did not want anything to do with purees and then around 11 months he decided purees were preferred (we chalk it up to cutting 8 teeth the past month). BUT thats how we knew he loved this---he gobbled up a TON even after a full meal of purees.  SCORE!

Zucchini Muffins

I am always looking for quick and yummy breakfasts for my family.  When I make a batch of muffins, I wrap them individually in plastic wrap then place in a freezer bag and pull them out as we need them.  Currently we have whole wheat blue berry, pumpkin and zucchini muffins all stocked in the freezer.  This might not be THE healthiest muffin recipe, but I have not tried altering it too much yet.  It was too yummy not to share this version of it.  Next time I will try 1/3 oil and 1/3 applesauce as well as decrease the sugar some r replace some of the sugars for honey or maple syrup.  At this point, I will take just about anything that's dairy free though!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flower
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot

Steps:

1. Grease and flour or paper 12-16 muffin cups.
2. Heat oven to 375°.
3. In mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.
4. In a seperate bowl, combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; mix on LOW until blended.
5. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots (the mixture was REALLY thick)
6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.

**Allergy Alert** contains eggs

Yield:  12-16 muffins

Storage:  Serve immediately or at room temperature same day.  After the first day, refrigerate for several days or freeze for up to a month.

Difficulty:  2 out of 5; the most "difficult" part is shredding the carrots and zucchini.  It only took me about 15 minutes to get these mixed and in the oven so its pretty quick.

Timing:  One year due to the eggs, however I gave these to Little Asher at 11 months.  As always, ask your pediatrician before introducing ingredients that are common allergies.

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

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy--she gobbled up 2 muffins and licked the platter clean!!!
• Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy--boy has a sweet tooth!!  

My husband and I both LOVED them as well!!!

Minestrone Soup

This recipe was adapted from one I found on foodnetwork.com.  I love soups, there is something so homey about this one.  I particularly enjoyed this one because 1) its easy, 2) its a crock pot recipe and 3) it made my house smell awesome.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth or combination
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
• 1 cup uncooked lentils (sorted first)
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 3 bay leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked pasta (ditalini or other small pasta)
• 1-2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1-9 oz package chopped frozen spinach, defrosted
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (omit for dairy free)

Steps:

1. In a slow cooker, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, lentils, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
2. Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add pasta, zucchini and spinach.
3. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.
4. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top (omit for dairy free)

Tip:  I chopped my onion, celery and carrots the night before cooking and placed them in an air tight container in the fridge.  This really expedited the cooking the next morning when my house was filled with the usual morning chaos!

Yield:  The original recipe says 4, but I say more like 6

Storage:  Fridge for close to a week or freezer for 1-2 months.

Timing:  10 months; This is mild and since it is a soup everything is very soft.  When we served it to our 10 month old, we just pulled everything out of the broth.  Assuming each ingredients has been tried individually on your little one, I would say 10 months is plenty old enough to try this.

Difficulty:  2 out of 5; its a dump and go recipe---easy and fast!!

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

• Little Joy:  Somewhat yummy; we are at the fun age where Little Joy likes to exert her will.  She liked it, but did not want to admit she did.  My husband and I LOVED IT.  And when I eat it as leftovers for lunch, Little Joy is always asking for bites.
• Little Asher:  I refuse to comment on his ratings lately.  He is cutting eight teeth and only want purees.  So annoying!!!  I am ready to be DONE with teething!

Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is in the air and that means PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN!! I love pumpkin and the spices that go along with it. Each inhalation of the goodness takes me back to my grandmothers house each thanksgiving. I hold some of my fondest childhood and early adulthood memories from this annual family gathering so I welcome all the fall smells (especially the baking kinda, ha ha).

Not only did the pumpkin in the recipe catch my eye but the oats and maple syrup did too!!! This recipe was inspired by one I found on about.com believe it or not.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 15-ounce can canned pumpkin
• 2/3 cup canola oil (or oil of your choice)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Optional (I didn't add these because I wanted little Asher to be able to enjoy them with us):
• ----1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• ----1/2 cup dried cranberries

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a one to two 12-cup muffin pan with liners or lightly oil.
2. In a medium-large mixing bowl, sift together the flours, oats, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, maple syrup and eggs until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries.
4. Portion into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 18 muffins-ish
Difficulty: 2 out of 5; it's pretty much a dump and bake recipe
Storage: Air tight container for several days. I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer bag. I freeze them for a month or two and take them out as we need it; it's great!
Timing: One year due to the eggs however since its cooked egg and we have no history of food allergies and Little Asher was breastfed so long, we gave it just shy of 11 months.
Epicutie Rating (see left side of page for rating descriptions):

• Little Joy:  Yummy in the Tummy; she tore through nearly two muffins at breakfast
• Little Asher:  Somewhat Yummy; he is getting like 6 teeth in so he does not want anything near his mouth.  I suspect had his teeth not bothered him he would have followed suit and gobbled it up.  He ate more of this than any other food the past day or so though!

Tofu Nuggets with Dipping Sauce

Admittedly, I am running low on good finger foods for Little Asher.  At first he was all about finger foods and gobbled them up then recently he has gotten lazy and just wants to be fed.  Awkward age I suppose.  He did seem to really like these as did Epicutie veteran Little Joy.  My husband and I both like them, they taste every similar to a chicken nugget with slightly less flavor on the "meat".  This was adapted from a recipe on wholesomebabyfood.com

Ingredients (Nuggets):

• 1/2 package firm tofu
• 1/8-1/4 cup flour (more or less)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup fine dry bread or cracker crumbs (I used Italian bread crumbs)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• A few grinds of pepper

Steps (Nuggets):

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cut tofu into whatever size/shape you would like (perhaps fun shapes for toddlers)
3. Spread flour on a small plate or flat dish. 
4. Beat egg yolk in a shallow dish. 
5. Mix remaining ingredients in shallow dish. 
6. Coat each piece of tofu in the flour to cover, then into the egg, then crumbs, and then to a baking sheet.
7. Chill for 30 min to an hour to set the coating (you can just bake right away if you want this isnt a totally necessary step).
8. Bake 15-20 minutes until crisp.

Dipping Sauce:  I used peach puree.  For my 10 month old I dapped a little on each nugget and for my 2 year old I gave her a little dab on her plate to dip from.  I made the peach puree too (I will have to post about that later).

Storage:  I did not try to freeze them but I imagine it would freeze well and could be thawed and reheated in the toaster oven.  I kept mine in the fridge for about 4 days before it was used up.  I reheated in the toaster oven.

Timing:  8-10 months; these are very soft but watch your little one because they may try to swallow them whole depending on the size you cut them.

Difficulty: 2 out of 5.

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

Little Joy:  Somewhat Yummy; She liked it but I would not say she ate it with her usual zesto.  Course she is a 2 year old and most 2 year olds do not enjoy change.

Little Asher:  Yummy in the Tummy; I had to make Little Asher slow down because he was not chewing well enough.  He had them several times before they were all eaten up.

Lovely Lentil Stew

This is another great one from Dr Joel Fuhrman.  Its probably the easiest family food I’ve made, and can be eaten at as young as 8 months (as long as you leave out the pepper)!

Items:

• 1 cup lentils
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped

Steps:

1. Cook lentils in water for 30 minutes with onion, pepper, and basil.
2. Add tomatoes and celery and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Difficulty: 1 out of 5!  Its so easy and only takes one pot, my kind of dish!

Timing: 8 months.  I would leave out the pepper and add it later if serving to children under 1 and using it as a family good.

Epicutie Rating: (See left side of the page for descriptions) Somewhat Yummy.  Little Frances ate this like a champ, but I wouldn’t say that she loved it.  For the record, mom and dad liked it pretty well for such a healthy food with no salt added!

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!