Curry Carrots

My little man has dropped carrots like a girlfriend caught cheating.  When he was little, he'd eat them puréed and I've had success sneaking them into other food, like these muffins.  Lately, he's avoided them like the plague.  I had this crazy idea as his "I'm hungry, please feed me" meltdown began that I would make carrot galette for him this evening.  I didn't have a recipe, I've never done this before, and I had a 21 pound sack attached to my leg.  It wasn't the best time to fiddle with something complex and new.  I only got as far as shredding the carrots in my Beaba before I quickly abandoned the original plan.  Curry Carrots evolved as my (extremely successful) Plan B.

Curry Carrots

Curry Carrots in the pan.
Simple and quick for desperate times.

• 2 large carrots
• 1 medium shallot
• Ghee
• Green Curry Paste (I like Thai Kitchen!)

Directions

• Wash and roughly chop the carrots
• Grate the carrots in a food processor or Beaba
• Heat about 1 Tbsp of Ghee in a frying pan
• Add the grated carrots into the mixture, stirring to incorporate with the Ghee
• Dice the shallot and add to the Carrots
• Add about 1.5 Tbsp of Green Curry Paste to the carrot mixture.  Use more or less depending on your baby's spice tolerance
• Stir all ingredients together and cook over medium low heat until the carrots are soft (about 5-8 minutes)

First Muffins

A fellow new mom brought a version of the One Handed Cooks' Sweet Potato, Carrot & Apple Spelt muffins to a little get together last week.  Robert got a hold of some and devoured an entire muffin, so I asked for the recipe.  I made a batch yesterday, and they are going quickly!  Robert ate 2 as part of his lunch today.  (Don't worry, they were dessert - he still got plenty of good vegetables!)

Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato (this is one good sized, but not huge, potato)
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tbs coconut palm sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 carrot
• 1 peeled and chopped apple
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

• Preheat your convection oven to 350
• Steam the sweet potato for about 15 minutes
• While steaming, mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg)
• Using a food processor (or a Beaba once the potatoes are steamed), blend the carrot and apple together.  Mix the carrot and apple into the dry mix
• Use the food processor to puree your sweet potato
• In a Kitchenaid or big bowl, beat your eggs and milk
• Add the sweet potato puree to the eggs and milk
• Fold in the dry mixture until just blended
• Either use cupcake wrappers or butter a muffin pan.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes  My muffins were perfect at the 25 minute mark - and that never happens!

This recipe made 12 muffins exactly.  My husband's comments about them are, "They are so moist and spongey!  I love that!"  Needless to say, I think 3 or 4 have found there way into his belly, too.

*** Update ***  I tried another variation with about 1 tsp of Mexican vanilla.  This added just a touch more flavor.

It's Christmas Time

Even though Robert is completely un-indoctrinated into the spirit of Christmas, I’m still trying to be festive.  There are so many tasty red and green foods to try, especially as he starts eating more substantial meals.  My first foray into Christmas cooking was by accident.  I wanted to try the Red Lettuce Mix from the Beaba Babycook Book because I received a gorgeous head of lettuce in my bi-weekly bushel from Farmhouse Delivery and because this was listed as a good early food.  As it turned out, I also had a scarlet turnip in that bushel, though I thought it was a less exciting, normal turnip.  I augmented my bushel with chervil (found with the fresh herbs) a small fingerling potato, and a sole filet, which conveniently was part of our regular dinner the night before. 

First. the Red Lettuce Mix:      

• Tender inner leaves from a head of red lettuce (or green – I’m under the impression it doesn’t really matter.)
• A small potato, chopped roughly
• A sprig of chervil
•  Breast milk

I put the lettuce and potato into the Babycook, steamed at level 3.  Then I discarded the cooking liquid and added the chervil and a bit of breast milk until it was a very smooth blend.  According to the cookbook, the baby should be able to suck this out of a bottle.  We tried, but without success.  It was quite popular when I fed him with a spoon.  This was also well received the next day after being heated slightly.  (Disclaimer - I tried this, and I thought it was disgusting.)

The turnip was a surprise.  I peeled it, then cut it in half to find its deep red insides.  It almost reminded me of a watermelon with a green/white outside and red surprise underneath.  I just roughly chopped it, threw it into the steaming basket at level 3, and blended well afterwards.  This was so good that I cooked another one in the Babycook for me for dinner.  

I've read mixed information on when to introduce turnips.  The Babycook Book says to wait much later - around 18 months, but I've also read that some kids love the taste early.  I think I got one of those kids.  

Our protein was a simple pan-cooked piece of sole.  The night before I made rolled sole for us, but saved a plain fillet for Robert.  After sautéing mushrooms, greens, and garlic in a pan, I used the pan for the fish for just a little extra flavor because sole is just bland without any outside help.  This was our first fish, and Robert’s eyes lit up when he tried it!  I put a piece of fish in the blender just to break it down a bit, but I didn’t puree it.  Definite winner.

 

The leftovers were just as festive and delicious as the actual meal.  We had this for lunch the next day:

First Foods

I really wanted to be one of those moms who exclusively breastfed until my baby was six months old.  Robert had other plans.  Starting around four months, he watched us eat attentively, mimicking our chewing faces, and looking longingly at most any foodstuff.

I resisted, and my husband supported me because he wanted to be around when Robert took his first solid food bites.

Then one day I was eating a banana with one hand and holding my little man in the other.  He managed to reach out, grab a handful of banana, and make contact with his mouth.  He seemed pretty pleased with himself, and so the solid food adventure began.

I read the amazing Bringing Up Bebe while pregnant, and really liked the idea of introducing food in a more French way.  (Disclaimer - I minored in French in college and have spent not an insignificant amount of time exploring different regions of the country.)  I am envious of the cafe culture, long lunches, and obsession-bordering-on-worship of high quality, very tasty food.  And, honestly, the obesity statistics in the US are downright scary.

I armed myself with a Beaba Babycook Pro and not much else.  After the banana incident, I pulled it out of the pantry, read enough of the manual to realize that I needed to run a few steam cycles before using it to prepare food, and decided on green beans and squash as our two starter foods, mainly because I had some local produce on hand from Farmhouse Delivery.  It seemed like fresh and locally sourced food was a good idea.

Green Beans

• Wash and place in basket, steam at level 2
• Blend with a small amount of cooking liquid.  I didn't use much to keep some texture to the beans. 

Squash

• Wash, peel, and roughly chop before placing in basket.  Steam at level 3.
• Blend with a small amount of breast milk until creamy

I wanted to explore different colors and textures, which turned out to be a good idea.  Robert felt very strongly that mushy food wasn't for him.  He gobbled up the green beans, but turned his nose up at squash.  Poor kid - now I'm going to keep introducing squash until he accepts it.