Spinach and Tomatoes oh my!

My mother-in-law brought over a bunch of tomatoes from her garden the other day and I knew I had to use them up fast. So I looked up recipes that had the ingredients I had on hand (spinach, onions, tons of spices!) and came upon this one.

It was delicious! And it was so simple to make. I whipped it up as the kabobs were grilling and it was all ready to go by the time the kabobs came off the grill. The meal melded perfectly together.

I wasn't as creative with the rest of the tomatoes... they are all now pureed and cooked into marinara sauce for later.

Source: Recipezaar



Spinach and Tomatoes

• 2 (12 ounce) boxes frozen spinach (I used fresh)
• 2 (16 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped (optional)
• 1 pinch basil (optional) or oregano (optional)
• parmesan cheese
• balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar

Combine spinach, tomatoes, onion and herbs in a small saucepan.

Heat to boiling then simmer 7-10 minutes or until onions are cooked.

Serve, passing parmesan and vinegar at the table for each person to add as they prefer (I just tossed the parmesan in and sprinkled with vinegar after plating it).

Adventures in Baby Food: Peaches

Peaches are another great food to start with if baby isn't quite 6 months. They're easy to digest, have a diuretic affect and act as a laxative. So if baby seem stopped up from rice cereal or another fruit/veggie, use these to get things going again :) Then everyone is happy (before becoming a mom I did not think I'd even be talking about these things!)

E loved the peaches. I really didn't doubt if he would like them though. He's liked everything we've given him so far. And he's a great eater. He lets you know when he wants more and and lets you know when he's done. He even is using his sippy cup in between "bites". This solids thing is getting more and more fun!

Source: Wholesomebabyfood.com



Peach Puree

• 4 small-medium organic peaches

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut peaches in half and take out the pits. Place peaches in a dish with 1" of water. Bake until soft or until the skin starts to peel up (roughly 20 minutes for me... shorter if the peaches are riper).

Let cool (I didn't wait for them to cool too much) and peel skin off. Place fruit in blender/processor and puree. Strain through strainer and, if needed, use cooking water to thin out or cereal to thicken up the puree.

Serve or store.



After feeding E his lunch I decided to make use of the mesh feeder we got with our food mill (still haven't used) and put an ice cube in there for him to gnaw on. It was GREAT! He loved it. And I didn't have to wipe him up too much from the puree because he had already sucked everything off by the time he was done with his ice cube!

Spicy Southwest

Let me preface this post by saying yes, I know what this looks like. But it was sooo darn good! And I didn't even follow a recipe. I can honestly say that this is a genuine, one of a kind recipe from me. And there are so many alternatives that I'm thinking about for the next time I make them.

All of the ingredients except for the avocado are ingredients that are always in my fridge or pantry. So this is a meal I can make again and again without having to worry about having all of the ingredients.

Next time I want to try topping them with enchilada sauce and setting out dippers for them... sour cream, salsa & guac. And maybe topping them with pepper jack instead. YUM!

Source: my head



Southwest Meatloaf Muffins

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (I used Rotel)
• 1 can corn
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/4-1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Red cayenne pepper
• Onion powder
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Provolone cheese
• Avocado (optional)
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together well. Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup scoop out some mixture and fill a muffin pan.

Bake for 20 minutes. Pop meatloaf muffins out of tin and place in baking dish. Top with cheese and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbling.

Allow to cool and serve with avocado. The avocado sort of cools off the spiciness if you use a lot of chili powder & cayenne pepper.

Adventures in Baby Food: Carrots

I was at Trader Joes yesterday and picked up a bag of organic baby carrots for dinner tonight. We just finished off the last of the pears so I decided to try them with E. They were a big hit! He easily ate two tablespoons. He was making sounds almost the whole time :) He really likes this solids thing!

Solids are getting easier and easier to prepare. I can't wait to start making large batches to freeze once I figure out what he likes and what he doesn't like. But so far he's liked everything.

And in a month or so I'll actually be able to start making things more fun... you'll see more "spiced up" recipes :)

Source: my head



Carrot Puree

• organic baby carrots

Steam carrots until soft. Puree in food processor. Strain puree into a bowl. Divide into separate portions and serve.

Yup... it's that easy.

Adventures in Baby Food: Pears

E has had a bit of trouble staying "regular" if you know what I mean. And today I had to deal with a not so fun situation... 5 days of not "going" leads to a fun mess for Mommy to clean up. So I went in search of a solution to our solid food problem.

A few lovely mommy friends I "chat" with suggested a few solutions. One of which was pears. I hadn't even had pears on my radar yet for baby foods and was sticking with a list I saw somewhere listing rice cereal, sweet potatoes, avocado, & bananas as good starter foods for 4-6 month babies. I was a bit hesitant to veer off this list because we started E on solids at 5 months instead of the recommended 6 months.

But I did venture off that list today and E loved it! He downed 1/2 of the puree I made and wanted more! I didn't give him more since the serving was roughly 1/2 a small pear. This equaled 2-3 tablespoons of puree. This is definitely easy to whip up... under 20 minutes to steam, puree, and serve!

Source: wholesomebabyfood.com



Pear Puree

• 1 ripe pear (or more if you are doing large batches to freeze)

Peel, core and dice pear. Steam pear for 10 minutes or until a bit soft. Place in food processor and puree until there are no lumps whatsoever. Put pear through strainer just in case (you don't have to do this but I did). Allow puree to cool a bit and serve to baby! Store any left overs in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.

Soon to be updated with a video of E eating the yummy puree!

Adventures in Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes

My sweet little boy is growing so quickly! He's been eating rice cereal for a week now and I thought he might like a little change. So I whipped up some sweet potatoes for him this afternoon to see how he'd like it. And he loved it! He was all grins and kept pulling the spoon in for more. I guess it was a success. We're going to stay with the sweet potatoes for now and than move on to avocados next weekend! Oh, the joys of baby food.

Source: Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron



Sweet Potatoes for Baby

• 3 small sweet potatoes or 1 large
• food processor
• strainer
• breast milk (no, seriously... it's an ingredient :))

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly (use a vegetable brush if needed). Poke holes all over potatoes and place them on a cookie tray covered with foil.

Bake for 45 minutes and let cool. Once cool, peel and pop into the food processor. The skins literally fall off after you pick at them. Process for about 30 seconds to one minute and scrape the edges of the bowl to make sure everything is processed.

Once everything is processed very well and there are no lumps whatsoever place the potatoes into the strainer and press through into a bowl. I used a small spatula to scrape off the potatoes on the other end of the strainer. Discard the lumps, bits, and strings left over in the strainer.

Mix 1-2 tablespoons of the sweet potatoes with enough milk to thin out to the right consistency and serve to baby.

Store left over sweet potatoes in air tight containers for refrigeration (lasts 2-3 days). Or use a freezer method. Do not store with breast milk. We're considering buying these when we start doing large batches of food. But we want to make sure E likes what we serve him before making huge batches :)



All stored and ready for tomorrow and Monday



YUM!

Joseph always picks the messy dinners...

So my husband went shopping with me two weekends and he wanted to make a few meals since we decided he had to start helping in the kitchens some nights so we can both spend time with E before he goes to bed. Joseph is very by the book when it comes to following recipes. No substitutions and measuring is always exact. And he doesn't pick any "easy" recipes perse. So his night to cook was last Friday. We got busy and ended up just eating hot dogs because we didn't really want to deal with dinner.

So yesterday I asked him what he was planning to make on Friday so I could just make it on Monday night. He said he printed the recipe and it's on the computer desk. I went to go look... Alton Brown's chicken fried steak. Yeah, messy :) and highly caloric.

This recipe was worth it. I think I might play with the gravy a bit to see if I can get a little more flavor in there but other than that it was a good meal.

Source: Alton Brown



Chicken Fried Steak

• 2 pounds beef bottom round, trimmed of excess fat
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 whole eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup whole milk (we used 1/4 cup 1% milk & 1/4 heavy whipping cream)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Cut the meat with the grain into 1/2-inch thick slices. Season each piece on both sides with the salt and pepper. Place the flour into a pie pan. Place the eggs into a separate pie pan. Dredge the meat on both sides in the flour. Tenderize the meat, using a needling device, until each slice is 1/4-inch thick. Once tenderized, dredge the meat again in the flour, followed by the egg and finally in the flour again. Repeat with all the pieces of meat. Place the meat onto a plate and allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking.

Place enough of the vegetable oil to cover the bottom of a 12-inch slope-sided skillet and set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the meat in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook each piece on both sides until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a wire rack set in a half sheet pan and place into the oven. Repeat until all of the meat is browned.

Add the remaining vegetable oil, or at least 1 tablespoon, to the pan. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of the flour left over from the dredging. Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Whisk until the gravy comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the milk and thyme and whisk until the gravy coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Season to taste, with more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the gravy over the steaks.

This is how E plays while we prep dinner :)

Saucy Changes

I've made a few changes to my homemade meat sauce and I'm liking it! The sausage gives it so much more flavor than the ground beef I normally use. And I'm trying to experiment with fresh vs. frozen/dried ingredients. So far this mix that I've been using has been giving excellent results. And I apologize in advance for the crappy picture... I took it with my camera phone because both cameras (SLR & point and shoot) had dead batteries :(

Source: My head



Meat Sauce (perfect for any pasta!)

• 1/2 lb ground pork sausage
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 can large whole olives
• 2 cubes frozen garlic (Trader Joes... in the freezer section)
• 2 cubes frozen basil (Trader Joes... same place as the garlic. They also carry cilantro!)
• 1 tbsp dried italian seasoning
• 1 tsp ground oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Brown meat & drain.

Mix all other ingredients in a pot, stir and set to medium low until meat is done. Add meat and let simmer for 30 minutes on low.

Toss with your favorite pasta and serve!

You can also toss, place in a oven-safe dish, top with cheese and bake for a baked pasta. YUM!

Tacos + Pasta = YUM!

When at the grocery store this weekend I was thinking "easy" for meals for the week. It's been pretty crazy in our home and sometimes we break down and just bring something home (i.e. fast food) instead of making a meal at home. And this is really cutting into our budget.

So I have been trying to stick with cooking at least 6 dinners at home. So far so good! And each meal I've been able to set aside a part of the meal (like cooked ground beef/1/2 can of kidney beans) to use in other meals for the week.

Now this meal was super easy (under 30 minutes!) and super tasty. The spices and chiles gave it a bit of a kick which I appreciate and the creaminess of the cheese just hit the spot. I'll definitely be improving this dish to put it in our rotation (I'm thinking maybe a touch of enchilada sauce... perhaps some sliced olives?).

Source: Inspired by Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations



Taco Pasta

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp red cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with chiles
• 1/2 can kidney beans
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups rotini pasta

Place pot of water on stove to boil. Start browning meat and add spices in. Cook meat until almost done and add tomatoes and kidney beans.

Cook pasta & drain. Add meat mixture and cheese. Mix well and serve!

Serves 6 | 6 WW Points

Another Stab at French Dips

And this time with a picture! No changes to the original recipe we tried except we used provolone cheese instead of mozzarella :)



Original recipe here