Spicy Sunday – Ginger

Jul 11, 2010 Finger Foods, Herbs and SPices, New Baby Food Recipes, Spices

When you think of ginger, you might immediately think of gingerbread cookies or cakes.  Ginger however has a myriad of other culinary uses and ginger nicely spices up many dishes that you can share with your baby. 

Ginger is thought to help ease a variety of digestive upsets and conditions such as nausea, diarrhea and general tummy upsets.  Herbal tea with ginger root is an effective and safe way for Mommy to Be to help relieve morning sickness.  Check out   EarthMamaAngelBaby’s special Morning Wellness tea if you need some nausea relief, expecting or not!  Ginger tea is also wonderfully soothing when you have the flu or a sore throat. 

Try incorporating ginger into a few of the foods that your baby is eating by roasting pears with a bit of ginger, roasting pumpkin and butternut squash with ginger or try adding some ginger when you are roasting carrots.   For the big kids, add a slice or 2 of ginger to some homemade lemonade or ice tea!

Using fresh ginger is really simple though the peeling is a bit time consuming.  Buy ginger in whole root form as shown in the picture and make sure it is firm and overall wrinkle free (a few lines and wrinkles are normal).    Peel the ginger root by using a small paring knife or a small potato peeler.  The exposed flesh should be a yellow-ish or tan-ish color; it may have a pink hue as well.  From here, you can mince it, dice it or use the peeler to make thin strips of it.    Add ginger to your dish during the cooking and it will give a nice light flavor.  If you add ginger at the end of the cooking, it will be more strong and some say pungent.    Enjoy this very tasty and versatile recipe for the whole family (Hi Elaine and Lydia & Deborah!)

Elaine’s Jasmine Rice (6mos and up)
You can add meats and veggies to this rice dish and serve as a meal for baby.  This will also puree well but watch it so it doesn’t turn into a paste!

Ingredients:
12 cups Chicken or Vegetable broth
1 1/2 cup jasmine rice
Ginger – as much or as little as you like – try 4 strips about 2 inches long 

Directions:
Combine 12 cups of chicken or vegetable broth with 1 1/2 cups of jasmine rice in a large stockpot.
Add a couple of slices of fresh peeled ginger for extra flavor. (Ginger is a natural tummy soother) 
Bring to a boil.
Turn heat down to a simmer and cook for about 1 1/2 hours or until rice turns very smooth and creamy.
Stir occasionally.
The rice will break up to a porridge-like consistency.
Cool the mixture, remove the ginger slices and serve warm – Total YUM!

You can spoon rice into ice cube trays and freeze as is or puree if needed. This will freeze well - if you freeze it in portions without additions such as meats or veggies, then you can change the dish at every meal.

Tags: ginger, herbs, rice, Spices

Spicy Sunday – Cardamom, a sweet and savory spice

May 23, 2010 Herbs and SPices, Spices

Cardamom – what a lovely spice!  Cardamom has such a wide variety of uses that you should keep some on hand, like you would keep ground pepper on hand.  A bit sweet yet a bit savory, this spice smells wonderful and is nice in baked goods, with veggies and with meats,  and of course in Chai tea.  This little spice is used in Indian, North African, Arabian and even Scandanavian cooking.  Cardamom is said to be helpful with digestion.

If you buy cardamom in the pods, you should open the pods and scrape out the seeds then grind them.  Grind the seeds with a mortar & pestal to get a nice powdery texture.  You may also purchase cardamom seeds and use them whole or grind them yourself.  I like to buy the pods because I think (just my own preference & thought) that the cardmom tastes and smells more fresh.

There is no limit to what you can add cardamom to.  It’s great in rice pudding, just 1 teaspoon will jazz up a plain rice pudding (don’t forget the raisins!).  Cardamom is also a wonderful way to add flavor to baked or slow cooker chicken; pair it with some cinnamon, nutmeg and sage and thyme.  Add a pinch of cardamom to plain or vanilla yogurt mixed with mango, pear or plum puree.   Introduce your little one to the flavor of cardamom in any way you wish!

You can also make a traditional Indian “smoothie” drink called Lassi using mango, milk, yogurt, almonds(crushed) and a pinch of cardamom.  Add sugar to taste or use agave syrup. 

A rough Lassi recipe would be:
1 mango – peeled, seeded, cubed
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup plain (or vanilla) yogurt
5 almonds (crushed) – allergy recs. are changing so pls. ask your pediatrician about nuts!
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Add everything to a blender and blend into a thick smoothie texture

Another way to make this is:
2 fresh mangoes
4 cups plain yogurt
1 cup cold water
8-10 tsp sugar (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Blend and serve over crushed ice

Allergy Alert:
Nuts
Dairy

 Enjoy!

Spices recommended between 7-8 months though some pediatricians say right from the start while other say wait!  Always ask your baby’s pediatrician about introducing new foods, herbs and spices.

Tags: Spices

Spicy Sunday – Include the Dill-licious taste of Dill in Baby Food

May 10, 2010 Herbs and SPices, Spices

Yes, I know it’s Monday but yesterday I was spending a wonderful Mother’s day doing sweet  family nothings   On with the post already…..

Feathery and fragrant, dill is a great herb to add to baby’s foods.  Dill is said to help calm hiccups, colic and digestive upsets.  It’s an herb that is said to have 2 seasons of use because the leaves are tasty in the Spring while the seeds are great to harvest in the Fall.  The leaves are less strong in taste than the seeds and are easier to incorporate into baby’s food. 

Dill is not a known allergen but as always, treat it as a new food item and watch for any reactions.  As most pediatricians will say, herbs and spices may be used from 8 months onwards but adding them earlier is not frowned upon.  Afterall, babies around the world are introduced to many herbs and spices from the beginning!

If you will be using Dill leaves (also known as Dill Weed), be sure to add them to your foods just before the foods are finished cooking.  Adding dill later in the cooking processes helps to retain the most flavor.  Dill makes a great addition to many food items.  Here are a few examples:

Vegetable or Chicken stock
Potatoes
Fish (Dill with fish such as salmon, flounder and tilapia is great!)
Eggs
Carrots
Parsnips
Cabbage
Chicken
Lamb
Turkey

Enjoy!