Dip It! Ideas from the Toddler site

Aug 23, 2010 Finger Foods, fruits

If you’re looking to put some zing into your little self-feeder’s meals, try a simple dip.  Many of the pages found on the Toddler site are being moved to the Wholesome Baby Food site.  I thought I’d share these fun ideas that have been loved by those who visit the Toddler site for many years now. 

Older babies and toddlers (even parents too) love to dip their foods and these ideas will give your little one lots of dipping pleasure!  Make these “add-ins” and mix them into cereals and other foods!

*Avoid honey for those under 12 months – substitute with real maple syrup*

Blueberry Yogurt Dip
1 part plain or vanilla yogurt (1/4 cup)
1/2 part blueberry puree or 100% natural blueberry preserves (about 4 tablespoons)
honey to drizzle on top

Mix it all up and serve

Honey of a Hummus
1 can drained chick peas (garbanzo beans)
1 cup tahini (add more or less until you get the desired consistency)
1/4 cup honey

In a blender or food process or add chick peas, honey and tahini; blend until you get the desired consistency

Appley-Yogurt Dip
1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup Natural applesauce

Mix yogurt and applesauce and dip in your favorite fruits – some Toddlers even love this for dipping veggies, try it with sweet potato fries!

Peanutty Yogurt Dip  (ask your pediatrician about the appropriate age for peanuts/peanut butter as recommendations have changed!)

1 part plain or vanilla yogurt (1/4 cup)
1/2 part peanut butter (about 4 tablespoons)
honey to drizzle on top

Mix it all up and serve

Tags: dips, fruits, yogurt

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

Easy Peasy Zucchini & Tomatoes For All

Jul 8, 2010 Finger Foods, Fruits and Veggies, New Baby Food Recipes, vegetables

I just couldn’t wait for my little zucchini plants to bear fruit so I scooped some up at our new in-town Farmer’s Market.  Yesterday was the first day of the Market and I arrived 1 hour after it opened.  Almost everything, yes everything was gone!  There were 2 fresh egg vendors there and both sold out.  I really wanted to get some fresh organic and free range eggs

Anyway, the good news is that this bodes well for the future success of our market and it means I won’t have to drive a minimum of 45 minutes to support local farmers.  So I left the market with some zucchini, beautiful beets, fresh garlic with the greens still on and some yummy maple cream from one of the local maple syrup purveyors.  More on the maple cream at a later time…

Tomatoes and zucchini are not only healthy, tasty and so easy to prepare, they are also very colorful and can be made sauteed  “al dente” or squishy for babies.  Serve warm as a side or over brown rice with diced chicken – YUM!

I’m very fond of color in meals and this dish should be great eye-candy for your little self feeder.  This family friendly side would be great for little ones who are 8-10 months old who don’t have any digestive issues.  Tomatoes can be highly acidic and your little one might develop a rash from eating them.  Cooking tomatoes helps to cut the acidity a bit so please use your judgement about offering tomatoes to baby.  Also, my older twins were not so fond of the zucchini skin (i sauteed to al dente) so you may want to peel the zucchini for your little one.  Be sure to sautee to a texture that your baby will be able to handle.

Green & Red Saute

Ingredients:
2 medium sized vine tomatoes
3 medium zucchinis
1 chive strand (or should it be called a straw?)
1 clove fresh garlic

Directions:
Wash all veggies thoroughly and peel the garlic then wash it off.  Mince the garlic clove, chop the chive strand and dice the tomatoes and zucchinis.
In a large frying pan, add the garlic and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Heat the oil and stir the garlic then toss in the tomatoes, chives and zucchini.
Saute until the veggies are cooked to your preferred texture

See, I told you this was easy peasy

Alergy Alert – none but mind the tomatoes as mentioned.

Tags: 8-10 months, finger food, garlic, herbs, Spices, tomatoes, zucchini