NurturMe baby food & a giveaway!

When I was first contacted about this product I immediately got on NurturMe's website 

and read all about them.

I watched the video, looked at the blog and searched the internet.

I was really, really excited.

I just crossed my fingers and hoped that it didn't taste like chalk.... or some of the other store bought foods.

When I pulled the package out of the mailbox I briefly wondered if they were sending the food separately.

These things are light as air.

Roughly the same size as a package of hot cocoa they weigh about 1/2 ounce each.

What is it?

It's dry baby food.

"The first and only certified-organic, all-natural, gluten-free baby food 

made from nutrient-rich, quick-dried fruits and vegetables."

Phew, that's-a-lot-of-hyphens.

I know that at first dry baby food sounds odd but really it shouldn't surprise us.
One of the most common first foods given to babies is rice cereal.

This is the same concept.

You simply mix these packets with breast milk, formula, water or whole milk and
voila, you have your food!

It's a traveller's dream because you don't have to lug around jars of baby food
or worry about refrigeration and other things.

Easy Peasy.

And get this... it tastes good!
B and I tried them all dry and mixed and Peanut gives them a thumbs up as well.

I have to say, and you're probably going to think I'm really weird,
 that I was really excited that all the powdered food were different textures.

Why?
Because when I buy baby food from the store I always marvel at the fact that
 it all comes out the consistency of pudding.
How is this possible?
How can cooked peas and chicken and banana and sweet potato and green beans and
beef with macaroni and vegetable risotto and mango turkey with brown rice
all be the consistency of pudding?  How?!

They are different foods, they should have different textures!

The apple.  Oh boy, have you ever had apple chips?
That's what these taste like.
I wanted to roll a dessert in them and eat it myself.
B tried to convince me to pour it on his ice cream.

Also, the packaging is recyclable and the carton is made using wind energy.
Yay for green packaging!

And cute.  The packaging is sooo cute.

Well, it is.

I'm just sayin'.

My first thought was to use it as a thickener for some of my purees.
Often times when I puree really ripe fruit (that's super juicy),
the puree turns out really thin.
Tasty but thin.

So I added the apple to my cherry peach sauce and it was perfect.
Look how thick and yummy that looks.

Oh and while we are still talking about apple, which is #1 on the dirty dozen list,
I should mention that all the fruits and veggies used, are from certified-organic U.S. farms.
All natural with nothing added.

Pure and simple.

NuturMe comes in 4 different flavors:
Plump Peas, Crisp Apples, Scrumptious Squash & Hearty Sweet Potatoes

You can mix and match them.
I gave Peanut the squash and sweet potatoes and he loved it.

I mean, how much easier can it get?
It's one of those things I'll keep in my diaper bag, earthquake kit and car... just in case.

Besides, these aren't just for your infant.
On the website I saw them mix the squash into mac and cheese for a toddler.
You can't see it at all and the flavor would work perfectly.
Parent's just love sneaking extra nutrients into their kids food.

My favorite, from a recipe standpoint, has to be the peas.

It took us a while before I felt comfortable giving Peanut peas with the skins blended in.
He tends to choke and gag and things a lot.

The result was that I didn't make a lot of things with peas.
This is the answer to that problem.

You could substitute a package of the plump peas in this recipe, add a bit of water and call it a day.

These peas taste like peas.  Not like store bought grayish baby food peas.  Like real, fresh peas.

Other suggestions from NuturMe included Apple Pudding, Sweet Potato Pancakes and Froggy Pasta.

Most importantly
(you know, besides the flavor, the fact that it's environmentally friendly
it's light weight, perfect to store and has super cute packaging)

is that it's sooo good for your little.

The fruit and vegetables are drum-dried and freeze-dried
which means that they retain more nutrients and phytochemicals than their cooked counterparts.
Especially the over-cooked veggies and fruits you buy at the grocery store.

The only draw-back is that their aren't more flavors!
I have a feeling that will be changing as they gain more momentum.
I hear banana has just come out.

You can find them on websites like
Amazon, Babies R Us, Target, Diapers.com, NurturMe.com and in some Whole Foods stores.
And actually starting today they will be available in Babies R Us stores nationwide.

So because you are awesome and this product is awesome...

and I feel you should be united in your awesome-ness...

and because every parent needs to have an easy, healthy product like this at their disposal...

I'm giving away one New Feeding Gift Pack which includes 2 of each flavor and the NurturMe spoon.

To enter this giveaway just leave a comment.

Giveaway closes Sunday 8/14 at midnight and the winner will be randomly chosen 

and announced next Monday.

For additional entries you can: 

1. Facebook, tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a link

2. Like them on Facebook and leave me a comment (and get a coupon on their page)

3. Follow them on Twitter and leave me a comment

Good Luck!

~NurturMe did provide me with the product for this post but the opinions and photographs (with the exception of the last) are mine.  I would not post about a product I do not support.

Cherries with Mango & Pear

The cherries out right now are just so absolutely gorgeous, it seemed wrong not to share them with Peanut.

My mom was telling me that cherries and mango are her favorite fruits and here we are.

No cooking.

The hardest part of this recipe is pitting your cherries.

Unfortunately my cherry pitter went back to Sacramento, her name is Jordyn :)

So I just sliced them in half and took the pit out with my fingers.

I still have purple under my nails.

I added diced pear for some additional texture and we ended up with this tasty treat for your little.

Cherries with Mango & Pear

2 cups pitted cherries

1 mango, peeled and cut into chunks

1 large ripe pear, diced*

Place your cherries and mango in the food processor and blend (or pulse if you want chunks) 

to the consistency right for your little one.

Add your diced pear, stir and serve!

*A word about your pear.  

Make sure it's very ripe and you dice it to a size that your baby can mush in his/her mouth.

~Alternatively you could also just puree all the fruits together

*Variations

-Add minced herbs like mint or basil

-Add spices like cinnamon, ginger or vanilla

-Mix in to yogurt, cottage cheese or oatmeal

*Storage

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

*Benefits

Cherries are a great source of potassium, have anti-inflammatory properties 

and are packed with antioxidants.

They also contain melatonin which is said to help regulate natural sleep patterns, 

in which case I may only give Peanut cherries to eat from now on.

Mangoes are also a great source of potassium as well as beta-carotene and vitamin A.

Pears are high in fiber, vitamins B2, C and E.

Check back on Monday for an awesome new product and a giveaway!

Oops, Missing Pictures

This picture is totally how I feel right now.

I'm sorry about the posts with missing pictures.

I'm new to apple and just realized that deleting pictures in 

iPhoto also deletes pictures in flickr as the two are synchronized.

My previous work flow involved deleting pictures off my computer that were already in flickr and were specifically for blogging.

As I repeat previous recipes I will be filling those pictures back in.

I'll have some new recipes up shortly... as I've apparently just erased all the pictures I just took.

Oh well, live and learn. 

:)

Chicken with green beans & brown rice

Green beans are just one of those things I haven't made much of.

They are great as a first food but you lose so much in the cooking,
pureeing and straining process that I never really did it.

However, now that Peanut is used to texture in his foods, it's perfect.

I also had this great brown rice blend from Trader Joe's that I used,
which is why there are dark spots that almost look like pepper.

Chicken with Green Beans & Brown Rice
1 small chicken breast (about 4 oz) cut into chunks
8 oz frozen green beans (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup brown rice
2 cups water (or unsalted stock), divided

Bring 1 cup water to a boil and add the chicken.
Rinse green beans to remove ice crystals and add to the boiling water.
Bring back to a boil, cover, reduce heat and
simmer for 4 -5 minutes until fork tender.
The color should be bright green, if they are starting to turn brownish/dark then pull them out.

Meanwhile, grind your brown rice in a blender or spice grinder.
You can grind to a powder, into smaller pieces or not grind at all,
depending on the texture you want for your little.

When the green beans and chicken are done, add them to the food processor,
reserving the liquid.
Puree, adding cooking liquid as needed.

Bring 1 cup water to a boil.
Sprinkle brown rice powder into the boiling water, whisking constantly.
Turn the heat down to simmer the mixture,
whisking constantly until the liquid is absorbed and the grains cooked.
Mine was ground to a powder and it took about 8 minutes.

Add the rice mixture to your pureed veggies and stir in
(or pulse the food processor to incorporate).

Enjoy!

*Variations
-Although Peanut loves this I thought it would be even better with herbs.
Add some minced fresh herbs like cilantro, basil, chives or parsley.
-This would also be good with a bit of garlic or onion
-Substitute a different kind of rice or grain like barley, quinoa or spelt.

*Storage
Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
When you reheat, make sure you heat completely to bring it back to a nice consistency,
 then allow to cool to the right temp for your little.

*Benefits
Green beans are high in folate, potassium, vitamin K, fiber and even a bit of calcium and vitamin A.
Chicken is a great source of lean protein in addition to potassium, phosphorus, niacin,
calcium, iron, selenium and zinc.
Brown rice still has it's bran layer which allows it to retain more fiber (4x more then white rice)
 as well as nutrients like niacin vitamin B6, magnesium and manganese.

Banana Avocado Whip

Banana and avocado are one of those combinations that I have seen over and over on baby sites.

Seriously, don't knock it until you've tried it.

The color is that gorgeous avocado green but the majority of the flavor is the sweet banana.

The secret ingredient in my banana avocado whip is the silken tofu.

Years and years ago I made a Cooking Light recipe for strawberry mousse that had silken tofu.

It blends right in and noone would ever know that it's in there.

It's softer then firm tofu, making it perfect to blend and you can put it with just about anything.
Add it to your fruit or veggie purees, serve it as finger foods
or pretty much mix it into anything.

Banana Avocado Whip
1 banana (Make sure it's ripe! The riper, the sweeter)
1 avocado
1/4 cup silken tofu

Simply puree all the ingredients together!

*Variations
-Serve it chilled on a hot day.
-Mash into chunks with a fork.
-Eliminate the tofu to serve as a first food.
-Add yogurt and/or milk and make this into smoothie for baby or for you.
No really, people drink these shakes, just google it!

*Storage
Hmmm, this is really a matter of opinion.
It will easily refrigerate for up to 3 days but it does get brown.
Both the avocado and banana get brown like guacamole that has been sitting out.

This doesn't mean that it's bad.

You can avoid this by putting the puree in a container and filling it to the top
or covering the top with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap sits on the top of the puree.
I would still put a lid over that.

If the air doesn't get to it then it won't brown.
If you do get some brown parts you can mix them in,
eat them yourself or skim it off the top and throw it away.

I used 2 ounce containers and filled them to the brim.
These keep perfectly until opened.

*Benefits
Bananas are packed with potassium and fiber but they are also good for the digestive system
and have been known to be binding (which is a nice way to say that it aids in diarrhea).

Avocados are fantastic for your baby.  Yes, they do contain some fat but it's the good fat.
The fat in avocados is monounsaturated which helps lower cholesterol and is high in omega-9.
Besides, babies could use the healthy calories in avocado.
They contain lutein, an antioxidant that helps maintain the health of your eyes and skin.
All this in addition to fiber, potassium, folate & vitamin A and you have a perfect first food.

Tofu is a great, simple source of protein without the added fat of some meats.
It also provides iron, omega-3 fatty acids and calcium.

Roasted Roots

Although this might seem more a fall dish, I make it pretty often because Peanut loves it.

A combination of several different "roots",

I used carrots, parsnips, rutabaga and sweet potato but

you could certainly use any kind of root vegetable in this.
Typically I don't even have equal amounts of everything.

Roasting brings out their natural sweetness, requires very little as far as effort goes

and maintains a maximum amount of nutrients.

I usually do twice as many veggies as listed below, splitting the batch

and placing half on a sheet tray for B & I.

Toss with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and roast.

Roasted Roots

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

1 small sweet potato or yam, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

1 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Place all your roots into a baking dish and cover/seal with a piece of foil.

Bake for 45- 1 hour or until fork tender.

Puree to the desired consistency, adding water or unsalted stock if needed.

If you want to make your puree chunky then puree only half of the cooked vegetables.

Mash the other half with a potato masher or fork and add it to the puree.

*Variations

-Use any combination of root vegetables

-Add fruit like apple or pear to the mix before baking

-Once cooled, mix in minced herbs like oregano, sage, chives or basil

-Add in some onion for some extra flavor

-This would be perfect mixed with cinnamon or nutmeg
-Add cooked chicken or turkey

-Top with a pat of butter and serve the family for dinner

*Storage

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

*Benefits

Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A, potassium, fiber and beta-carotene.

Parsnips are packed with folate, calcium, potassium and fiber.

Carrots are a great source of antioxidants, boosting the immune system and building eye strength.

Rutabaga has loads of potassium as well as calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and fiber.

Big & Little: Minted Melon

I suspect that some of you have been baking in the summer heat these days.

A few days ago I had veggies to roast but I could not bring myself to turn on the oven.

Peanut was lying on the floor in nothing but his diaper and looking slightly wilted.

Well, as wilted as a moose can look.

So I decided to make us both something refreshing.

What could be more refreshing then sweet summer melon and the cool touch of mint?

I've broken these down into 2 very, very simple recipes.

I did them each twice using both cantaloupe and honeydew

but you could just pick your favorite and stick with it.

Each recipe uses half of a melon (both about 4 lbs) but could easily be adjusted to use the whole melon

or more for one recipe and less for the other.

Make sure your melon is ripe!

Ripe melon = yummy sweetness

"I cantaloupe, I cantaloupe"  "Please honeydew, please honeydew"

Get it?  Can't-elope? Honey-do?

Anyone else say that or was it just my mom?

I say that in my head whenever I see either one of those...every.time.

When B and I lived in LA above Grand Central Market we would head downstairs 

to this amazing booth that sold tons and tons of different kinds of agua fresca.

It's basically a drink made from fresh fruit and very little else.

The possibilities really are endless.

Minted Melon Agua Fresca

-adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Half of a 4 lb cantelope or honeydew (or 1 small 2 lb melon), 

seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes, roughly 4 cups

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup of mint leaves

1 tablespoon of lime or lemon juice

pinch of salt

2 cups club soda

extra mint for steeping or garnishing

Add melon, water and mint leaves to your blender and puree.

Place a colander lined with cheesecloth, a kitchen towel 

OR a muslin swaddler for your baby drawer :)

over a deep bowl, add the puree and let it drain for about an hour.

Gather the towel/swaddler and gently squeeze any excess juice.  

Throw away the solids, stir in remaining ingredients and taste.

If you want more mint flavor add in a few sprigs of mint before chilling

Chill for at least an hour, it should be ice cold when served.

Pour into 4 glasses and top with 1/2 cup of club soda each.

Enjoy!

*Agua Fresca Variations

-hold the club soda and serve this to your little

-Add vodka but don't mix it up with the ones you set aside for your kids

-Try this with watermelon although you may want to cut back on the water a bit

-Omit the water and soda and freeze these as popsicles

Now on to the baby food.

This puree is refreshing and Peanut really enjoyed eating it straight from the fridge.

I'm sure it was cooling for a hot day and 

probably a relief from the 4 teeth that popped up in the last 10 days.

This recipe could easily be cut in half.

Also note that the puree in the pictures had less mint and I ended up adding more later.

I added apples for texture more then anything as the real star here is the melon.

Minted Melon Puree

Half of a 4 lb cantelope or honeydew (or 1 small 2 lb melon), 

seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes, roughly 4 cups

2 apples, peeled, seeded, cored and cut into chunks

1 1/2 teaspoons of minced mint

Steam your apple chunks or simmer in 1 tablespoon of water, 

until the apples are fork tender.

Allow the apples to cool.

Puree the apples, melon and mint.

Enjoy!

*Variations

-Leave out the mint (or add more if you like)

-Try this with watermelon

-Mix with peach or blueberries

-Instead of mint substitute a small amount of grated ginger.

I would start with 1/4 teaspoon and taste, adding more if needed

-For older kids serve this semi-frozen, like a healthy slushy or granita

*Storage

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

*Benefits

Cantaloupe is packed with potassium, beta-carotene, fiber and vitamin A.

Honeydew also has loads of fiber and potassium as well as calcium, magnesium and vitamin C.