Broccoli Cheddar Nuggets

Another great way to get your little one to eat some vegetables!! Make them look like nuggets.  You can make these into cool shapes or just square nuggets.  This is another recipe that's inspired by Wholesome Baby Food.
Fun idea:  I had a mom tell me that she does a letter of the week so they go over things that are with that letter during the week.  Just a fun way to introduce letters to your little one.  While I was making these I thought we could have a shape of the week and I could make these into that particular shape.  I am so not organized for that yet, but someday....

Ingredients
1 - 16oz package of frozen organic broccoli, cooked, drained, chopped.
1 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs (High Allergen - not recommended under 1 year) 
Garlic powder - to taste
Dried Oregano - to taste

Directions
Pre-Heat oven to 375
Coat baking sheet with olive oil  *nuggets will stick if you use spray instead of olive oil
Combine all ingredients in large bowl
Make nuggets into whatever shape you would like and place on baking sheet.
Bake 15 minutes, flip nuggets, cook 10 more minutes.

Cheddar cheese and bread crumbs 

Added oregano and garlic powder 

 Had to add this cutie in there - as I'm taking pictures I look over and Ethan is wondering when the food will be ready! 

Chopped broccoli

 All mixed together! 

Made into squares 

 Complete! Golden brown! 

Substitutions: 

You could use another vegetable like spinach, carrots, anything that would chop well and form within the mixture that you little one can digest.  

*The recipe on wholesome baby food recommends using seasoned bread crumbs but I just use the organic bread crumbs and season the mixture itself.  You could use either.  

Toast - what to spread on it?

One day, my husband and I decided to add jelly to the boys toast but we thought to ourselves... probably not the best idea since there is so much sugar in regular jelly.  We went to sprouts and got an all natural fruit spread.  I couldn't find any with no sugar added for the longest time and I finally found this at Sprouts.  They had other flavors available also.  If you don't have a sprouts and really want this you can google the name and get it online for a great price!

Just an alternative to the normal toast with butter and extra sugary jelly.  I've also spread this on whole grain waffles.

* I realize there is sugar in all fruit spreads as fruit has natural sugars - this is simply a no added sugar spread.  

Fast and delicious waffles!

I don't know about you, but when my boys are hungry I don't get much of a warning.  This is why I LOVE fast and easy foods.. Do I sound like a broken record yet??

We used to buy boxes of frozen waffles, which just didn't seem cost effective or as fresh.  I was at Trader Joe's and saw they had a multigrain baking and pancake mix.  Picked it up and made a batch on Sunday for my parents who were visiting and the babies!  I made the batter according to the box and added some fresh blueberries.  Stuck it in the waffle iron and they were delish!  The boys and adults loved them!

When freezing: Put a piece of parchment paper between each waffle in a freezer ziplock.  This will keep them from sticking to each other when frozen.
Serving sizes: My boys each eat 2 triangles so they split one waffle.  If you have one child I would cut the waffle in half before freezing so it's easier when you want to toast.  My boys also had scrambled eggs with cottage cheese (one egg each) this morning.
To warm: Pop in the toaster oven!

*If you want to buy frozen box waffles then I recommend Whole Food's organic blueberry waffles.  Eggo actually also makes a whole grain waffle that comes in different flavors.  

Mini Quiches for my mini men!

Every morning starts out the same in our house.  The boys wake up at 7, nurse, and they play
.  By 8 they are ready for breakfast and they let me know it!  I usually can't cook fast enough for them!  This is why I LOVE pre-made foods!  My boys love eggs but that takes time every morning to cook them.  I decided to make some mini quiches for my mini men so I could just pop it in the microwave and it would be ready for them when they are hungry!  This eliminates lots of whining :-)

I was going to just use cheddar cheese and spinach but as I was giving them cottage cheese today I remembered a friend saying she made scrambled eggs with cottage cheese so I thought I'd add that in.  They absolutely love cottage cheese and it's a great (but messy!) snack! Oh and how awesome is it to get some veggies in their food at breakfast?!

Ingredients:
3 large organic eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup cooked chopped spinach
2 Tbsp chopped onions

As you know, I'm always trying to make things easier so a friend introduced me to the already chopped onion bags at Trader Joe's (seriously they are genius!).  I also got some frozen organic chopped spinach there.  As for the cottage cheese, I would love to use organic but the day I was at the store they only had fat free organic so I bought the regular small curd.  Haven't been able to find large curd anywhere.  If you know where to find large curd please share!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook spinach (follow instructions on bag)
Beat 3 eggs in large bowl.
Add all ingredients to eggs and stir.
Butter muffin pan (you can use butter or a spray)
Pour mixture into muffin pan (3/4 full)
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

 Three eggs in bowl 

 Shredded Tillamook cheese! 

 Poured into greased muffin tins

Finished product! 

Twin Tested, Twin Approved! 

Possible variations:

Next time I think I'll try it with some bell peppers to see how they like it. 

I will also possibly add a couple more eggs. 

You can always add crust! 

Try it with any kind of vegetable you think you taste good! 

What's for Breakfast?

I'm a part of several mom groups and I feel like one of the questions is always "what can I give my child to eat?"  Especially when it comes to us moms who are new to the whole eating table foods thing. So I thought I would compile a list of healthy and delicious ideas for breakfast.  Also, my boys barely have any teeth.  I was so nervous to introduce table foods to them because how can they chew without teeth?! Well... one has 3 teeth and the other has 2 and they eat meat.  Their gums are a lot stronger than we think!  Recipes for some of these meals will be posted soon!
*Always check with your doctor before introducing new foods you are unsure about*


Oatmeal:
 Once your child can handle thicker consistencies you don't have to mill your oats or buy the cereal that costs $3.99 at the grocery store.  You can just buy a big jar of organic oats and cook up oatmeal like you would for an adult.  Want to make a big batch so you don't have to fire up the stove every morning?  FREEZE IT!  I put mine in my Baby Bullet storage containers and freeze a months worth.  You can add fruit to it when you defrost it!

Fruits: 
Basically any fruit your child likes.  Big ones in our household are blueberries, bananas, pears, peaches, strawberries and mangos.  For those who like frozen fruit - Trader Joe's has an awesome frozen food section with lots of frozen fruits - even organic!

Pancakes:
Any kind of pancake!  See our favorite pancake recipe here.  You can alter it with any kind of fruit.  There are also plenty of pancake mixes you can get that are whole wheat, gluten free, and even organic from stores like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Sprouts.  I'm sure there are other places, these are just where I've seen them.

Eggs (High Allergy Food - recommended for 1+ years):
My kids LOVE eggs.  I make them like an omelet with real cheddar cheese in the middle, but they will eat them scrambled.  This week I am going to try making mini quiches (of course I will post it!) and I can't wait to see if they like them!

French Toast:
You can make this with whole wheat bread, just like you would for yourself.  Cut into bite sized pieces or sticks!  Personally, I wouldn't add syrup as a topping because I don't think kids need the extra sugar but that's totally your choice.  I think french toast is tasty enough on it's own! You can even add a little cinnamon to introduce a new spice!

Waffles:
Ok, so who has time to break out the waffle maker every morning?  NOT me.  Here's an option: make a batch like we do with the pancakes!  Freeze them and pop in the toaster oven!  Another option is to buy frozen waffles at the store.  You can find whole wheat frozen waffles at just about any grocery store you go to.  You can find organic waffles at Whole Foods.  To change it up get some fruity waffles!  My boys love blueberry waffles!

Bagels: 
You can freeze these also.  I've heard that freezing a bagel and giving it to a teething baby works wonders!  You can find whole wheat bagels and add a little cream cheese for a yummy breakfast treat!

In our house breakfast always contains a serving of fruit and a grain/starch (toast, waffle, pancake).  I try to add protein (eggs or cheese) at least 3 times a week.  If I don't do protein at breakfast I make sure to do it at lunch and dinner.

What does breakfast look like in your house?  What's your child's favorite breakfast?!

Pancakes!!

This is another recipe inspired by Wholesome Baby Food.  Their sweet potato pancakes are AMAZING, and I have made a few variations of them.  Shout out to my friend Rebecca for introducing me to these! The only problem I had was it took me about 2 batches to figure out how to make them correctly... that takes time, and who has time these days?! My goal of this post is to show you how to make these awesome pancakes so you (hopefully) don't have to take two tries to make them.

Tip #1 - If you have one child double the recipe... if you have two children quadruple the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup organic sweet potatoes, mashed/pureed
1 organic egg
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup organic whole milk

1.  Mix egg with sweet potato puree.  Add dry ingredients.  Add milk and butter.  It should be the same consistency as store bought pancake batter (lumpy).  *Please note: my pictures may look different from yours because I QUADRUPLED the recipe* 

2.  Spray non-stick pan with a olive oil spray or add a little bit of olive oil.  Pour into pancakes on your pan/skillet.  

Tip #2: WAIT for bubbles to come to the top AND pop then flip.

3. This batch (quadrupled) made me 24 pancakes.  That will last me 6 breakfasts.  I put in stacks of 4 inside of a large ziplock bag and freeze. I take them out in 4's and warm up for breakfast.

When I first made these I was worried they weren't cooked because they were a little mushy in the middle still.  Don't worry... they are cooked!  They will always be mushy because of the sweet potato puree... that will not fluff up and be completely dry like regular pancake batter.  Just like if you were to add bananas the bananas would be mushy inside the batter even when cooked.

Variations I've tried: 

Bananas: Awesome!!! They were DELICIOUS.  It was hard for me not to eat all of them and give my boys some!  Just substitute the sweet potatoes for bananas and you have another breakfast option!

Blueberries: Ehhh... not the best.  Here's what NOT to do.  Don't just add blueberries without being pureed.  I added thawed organic blueberries to the mixture without pureeing them and they turned out bland.  I would suggest pureeing, although that would take A LOT of blueberries to get the amount I would need.  I think next time I'll try blueberry banana so I can mash the banana and add whole blueberries so there's all over flavor! My boys LOVE the sweet potato and banana, but are not fans of the blueberry option.

Ma! The meatloaf!

This recipe is inspired by the Apply/Turkey Loaf sticks by Wholesome baby food.  This recipe has your protein, starch, vegetables and fruit!  I have made the turkey loaf, but recently we tried it with organic ground beef that we bought at Costco.  Also, I didn't have any carrots but had a TON of butternut squash so I substituted.  We also don't puree anymore because our boys are very good at eating and chewing their food.  I would say that is totally up to you, but for me it's one less step to worry about.  I found the oat bran, applesauce, and bread crumbs at Trader Joe's.  My husband has a simple way to cube a butternut squash which I will post soon!

Recipe:
1 lb organic ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup organic butternut squash (cubed and steamed)
1/4 cup unsweetened organic apple sauce
1/4 cup natural oat bran
1/2 cup organic bread crumbs
Basil to taste
Garlic Powder to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees
2. Lightly oil a loaf pan (a little olive oil works well or a pam spray of your choice)
3. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix together.  If mixture is too dry, add less bread crumbs next time but add more applesauce to moisten it up.
4. Put mixture in loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.
**Since it's for the babies I always use a thermometer to check the inside and make sure it reaches 160 degrees**

Ingredients (minus the beef)

Steaming butternut squash

Ingredients combined 

Adding the butternut squash

My husband doing the dirty work of mixing!  It's easiest to mix with your hands! 

In your loaf pan

Twin tested, twin approved! 

Now you may be wondering........ my kids will never eat an entire meatloaf!! Don't you worry.  I measure out 5 oz slices, put them in individual bags and freeze them!  Makes it so much easier when dinner rolls around, I just pick a bag out of the freezer and heat the perfect portion.  Remember... if you have one baby you would probably want to do less than 5 oz.  My boys split 5 oz.

Let me know how you like it and if you made any substitutions!