Cheesy Broccoli Bites

So far Peanut still loves his green veggies

and he has a new found obsession with cheese.

I can hardly eat it without him giving me those eyes,

wondering why I'm not sharing.

I'm sure that if your little doesn't like their greens, 

then this would be a great way to get them to eat them.

When I came across this recipe here on Pinterest I knew I had to try it.

I slightly adjusted the time and temperature to yield a softer nugget

but it would be great with a crispy outside if your little can handle that.

Just a bit of tweaking of the recipe and Peanut and I both sat down for this meal.

Cheesy Broccoli Bites

1 lb broccoli, 

1 1/2 cup cheddar, grated

3 large eggs

heaping 3/4 cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350.

Steam broccoli over 1 inch of water, about 6 minutes.

Once broccoli is steamed chop it into pieces. 

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil (or use parchment paper) 

Scoop mixture with a cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon and then flatten into a patty onto the sheet.

Bake your bites for about 15 minutes or until just turning golden on the bottom.

Let them cool and serve them to your little.

Try not to eat them all yourself.

*Variation

-You could use a variety of different veggies like cauliflower, kale, spinach, or asparagus

-Add chicken, turkey, pork or beef

-Use a different cheese like gouda, swiss or mozzarella

-Add different herbs and spices

-Use homemade bread crumbs with your own seasonings

-Serve with ranch, hummus or soup to dip in

*Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days.

I haven't tried them frozen and thawed yet but I will report back.

*Benefits

Broccoli is known as having cancer fighting properties, lots and lots of cancer fighting properties

as well as protein, fiber, potassium, calcium, vitamins C & A, folate,

magnesium, phosphorus and beta-carotene.

Eggs are a fantastic source of protein with all 9 essential amino acids.

They contain choline, vitamins B2, B12 and D, phosphorus and selenium.

Cheese contains calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, folate and vitamins A, E, K and D.

Spiced Sweet Potato

Friday marks the official start of fall and this dish is the perfect way to celebrate.

It's the baby food equivalent of Thanksgiving dessert.

In fact, so much so that we were thinking of putting this in a tart shell, 

with a dollop of fresh whipped cream 

and eating it as our own dessert.

Some of us couldn't wait to dig in.

I must make a mental note to keep both my eyes open when looking thru the viewfinder.

This recipe also has roasted bananas but these are done uncovered and 

roasted until the sugars start to caramelize.

The flavor that ends up coming thru is much more caramel then banana.

After making this I started searching other recipes with banana and sweet potato
in them and was surprised to find added sugar in them.
I honestly don't think you need it, even for adults.

We add a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg and fall just comes alive.

Is there anything better than the smell of freshly grated nutmeg?

It's like giving your baby his first taste of the holidays.

Can you see it Peanut?  Can you taste the autumn comfort?!

Spiced Sweet Potato

1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes (yams)
2 medium bananas, peeled and cut lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch freshly grated nutmed

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Place your sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and
poke a few holes in them with a knife or fork.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the skin just starts to pucker.
Pull out your baking sheet and add the bananas.
Roast for another 15 minutes or so.
The banana should be bubbly with little golden spots and
the potatoes should have skin that is puckered and soft flesh.

You can scoop this all into a food processor and puree or
mash by hand
or do both and mix them together (which is what I did).
Add the cinnamon & nutmeg and mix.

Taste and add more spices if you like.

Enjoy!

~This is really sweet so serve in a small portion as you would dessert

*Variations
-This would be great served as a dip with graham crackers
-Try other spices like cardamom, cloves, ginger or pumpkin pie spice
-Mix this in with oatmeal or other grains
-Add some unsweetened coconut flakes
-If your child is old enough, this would be great with toasted nuts like pecans

*Storage
Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

*Benefits
Bananas are packed with potassium and fiber, are great for the digestive system and helps your body absorb calcium.

Sweet potatoes are high in vitamin A, antioxidants, potassium, lots of fiber and a bit of calcium.

Cinnamon has been said to lower blood sugar, improve blood flow, fight bacteria,
relieve gas and reduce inflammation.

Nutmeg has strong antibacterial qualities like cloves do, has been said to improve memory, reduce gas, aid in digestion, decrease nausea and help increase in appetite.

Roasted Banana & Apple

Banana and apple are obvious first foods but roasting them brings out a whole new flavor profile.

The sweet caramel flavor of the roasted banana is offset the tartness of granny smith apples.

This is a nice way to change up first foods for your little one 

when you are still in the introduction phase of solids.

Roasted Banana & Apple

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & cut into chunks

3 bananas, peeled and cut (or smooshed by your free hand) into pieces

Preheat your oven to 400.

Place the fruit in a baking dish, cover with a piece of foil and roast for about 15 minutes.

By now your kitchen should smell delicious and they fruit will be bubbly and fork tender.

Mash or puree to the desired consistency.

Enjoy!      

*Variation

-Add a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or pumpkin pie seasoning

-Use a different kind of apple or try pear

-Mix with any kind of grain or oatmeal

*Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

*Benefits

Apples are loaded with fiber, vitamins C, beta-carotene, riboflavin, thiamin, potassium,

phosphorus and calcium. 

Bananas are packed with potassium and fiber but they are also good for the digestive system

and have been known to be binding.

Zucchini Quinoa

This recipe is simple, nutritious and full of great texture.

Peanut loves it.

It's incredibly easy and a fantastic base for tons of combinations.

I used zucchini but you could easily substitute any summer squash.

Typically I roast summer squash, as steaming it makes the puree very liquid-y but 

we need that extra liquid in this recipe.

I overcooked my zucchini slightly because I was too busy using Pinterest
 but it still worked out perfectly. 

:)

Zucchini Quinoa

3 medium zucchini, ends removed, cut into chunks
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water (or unsalted broth)

Rinse and drain your quinoa in a small saucepan and then add 1 cup water.
Bring the water to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid.
Let it simmer for about 10 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Place your cut zucchini in a steamer over 1 inch of water.
Steam until tender, about 7 minutes.
Place zucchini in a food processor, reserving liquid and puree.

Once both have cooled combine, adding reserved cooking liquid if needed.

Enjoy!

*Variations

Can you see all the possibilities?

-Add just about any vegetable, cut into small chunks or hand mashed.  

Try carrots, parsnips, winter squash, sweet potato, peas, green beans, tomato, etc.

-Combine with cooked and pureed or diced chicken, turkey, pork, beef or fish

-Stir in herbs like cilantro (Peanut loves this), basil, mint, chives, or even dill

*Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

*Benefits

Quinoa is not actually a grain but a seed and is packed with protein and essential amino acids. 

It's far more nutritious then rice and has more calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, copper, manganese, fiber and zinc than many other grains.

Zucchini is high in potassium, vitamin A, beta-carotene, lutein and manganese.

Simple Peas

Have you ever noticed that 90% of baby foods are all in the orange color range?

Sometimes they are orange or yellow or beige or brown

but there really isn't that much green (or grayish/brownish green in stores).

Did you know that when you eat to much orange food your skin (think nose, palms, soles of feet) can take on an orange tinge?

It's not really a big deal but it does help to offer your baby a rainbow of colors when it comes to food.

Peas were one of those recipes that sounded super easy but I was a little confused about.

I read a bunch of recipes that just said to cook 'em and blend 'em but

as a first food I was a little concerned about the skins being a choking hazard.

I ended up straining it, which yields a lot less but makes me feel good about introducing peas early on.

I think peas were the third food we gave Peanut and to this day are one of his favorite.

Simple Peas

2 cups frozen (or fresh) peas

Place your frozen peas in the steamer basket while you get your water going.

Bring about 1 inch of water to boil.

Meanwhile, rinse your peas with cool water to help rid of any ice.

Steam your peas until bright green and easily mashed, about 5-7 minutes.

When you remove your steamed peas, reserve the cooking liquid and

run the peas under cold water to stop the cooking.

Puree the peas with enough cooking liquid to make a nice smooth puree.

At this point you could serve this to a baby.

If you are introducing this as a very first food I suggest placing the mixture in a fine mesh sieve

and pressing it thru with a spoon or spatula.

What you press thru will be perfect for a baby just learning to eat solids.

Enjoy!

*Variations

-mix with pear or apple or puree with pear, apple or white grape juice

-add some rice or other grain

-fantastic with sweet potato

*Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months

*Benefits

Bright green means they have retained the healthy chlorophyll and other nutrients haven't been destroyed during the cooking process. 

Peas are a great source of fiber, vitamin A and protein.

Oh and vitamin K which will help your baby absorb the calcium in his/her diet.

Creamy Coconut Kabocha

Have you thought about introducing your baby to coconut?

Well, if you haven't, you should.

We're not talking about chunks of hard coconut or strong imitation coconut flavoring, 

or even coconut flakes loaded with sugar.

We talking about simple coconut milk.

It has a natural sweetness and mixed with the kabocha will give a mild coconut-y flavor.

It's also nutritious and there are loads of ways to use it.

Although I love kabocha squash, you could easily something like acorn squash.

As you see in the pictures I used acorn squash because I had an extra.

This blend is so good that B and I started brainstorming dishes for us around the combination.

This in itself is easily served to happy adults.

Creamy Coconut Kabocha

1 kabocha squash, cut in half with seeds & pulp removed

coconut milk 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Place your kabocha squash, with the cut sides down on a baking sheet.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the skin is fork tender.

Shake your can of coconut milk before you use it.

Scoop the flesh into a food processor and blend with coconut milk to a nice creamy consistency.

The amount of coconut milk you use will depend on how much squash you are blending.

Enjoy!

*Variations

-This is really fantastic with cinnamon

-Add in nutmeg, ginger, curry or even herbs like cilantro

-Mix with chicken, turkey or pork

-Instead of kabocha you could try this with sweet potato or yam

-Use that leftover coconut milk in dishes for yourself.

It's popular in curry but 

I can't wait for it to chill down so I can whip it like this or

make this pie.

*Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months

*Benefits

Kabocha squash is a great source of beta-carotene which becomes vitamin A.

It also has iron, vitamins B & C as well as fiber.

Coconut milk is incredibly undervalued.  

Although it does have fat, the type of fat included easily breaks down in the body and is more easily used as energy providing instead of storing... and really, our babies do need some fat.

The healthier the fat, the better.

It's known to increase the immune system as well as providing vitamins A & E, 

potassium, calcium and chloride.