Pumpkin Puree

While out on our weekly shopping trip at Trader Joe's two weeks ago my son noticed the pumpkins they had everywhere and begged me to get one. So I, being the nice mommy I am, said of course! I threw in a pie pumpkin and let him hold it all the way from shopping to check out to the car. He had to place it on the seat when it came time to get his stickers but happily held it all the way home enjoying the "heby" pumpkin.

When we went to Trader Joe's the next week he insisted we buy another one. So of course I obliged and told him that we'd have to bake them up soon so we could make things with the pumpkin. He said "I hep" and I said of course. So I had to let him help me roast these up and puree them. And I'll also let him help when I start baking and cooking with the puree!

This is the exact same thing I did when I pureed pumpkin for him last year when he was eating purees and he LOVED it. You may want to strain it a bit more to get a smoother texture if your feeding it to a younger baby but the consistency of this puree was pretty smooth. 

Enjoy!

Source: Ruth Yaron's Super Baby Food

Pumpkin Puree

• 2 sugar or pie pumpkins
• Lemon juice
• Water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut both top and bottom of pumpkins off. Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds and stringy guts. Place seeds aside if you want to bake them up for a healthy, yummy snack for later (or to use as a topping on many pumpkin goodies).

Place cut and cleaned pumpkins in a baking dish with the skin side down. Sprinkle the pumpkin flesh with a little lemon juice (or butter if you prefer). Bake for 30-45 minutes or until flesh is soft and a little golden brown on the tops (very little). I baked mine for 35 minutes.

Set aside and let cool. Once cool to the touch remove skin from flesh with either a peeler or a pairing knife. I find it easier to use a pairing knife. The cooked pumpkin's skin should come off easily. Dice flesh up into cubes.

Place cubed pumpkin into a food processor and pulse until smooth. You may have to add a little water to get things going. I added about 1/4-1/2 a cup depending on the batch and how many cubes were in the processor at once.

Once the pumpkin is very smooth place it in a mesh strainer over a bowl and let sit for about 30 minutes to an hour to remove excess water from the puree. Once this is done the puree is ready to use! You can use it to make pies, muffins, and other sweet or savory dishes.

My little helper making sure he was a part of the whole process...

Adventures in Toddler Food: Veggie Bites

My son has been pretty bad at eating his veggies lately. With the vast fluctuation day by day of his appetite we have had very little luck getting the greens in him. He's much more interested in the colorful fruit we've been bringing home this summer. A little too interested...

So I went out in search of a good veggie bite recipe and found a lot online. I got bits and pieces from a lot of different recipes and kinda pieced them together to form this one. And I am quite happy to say that it was a recipe my child loved.

He ate 2 veggie bites for lunch today! I froze the rest of the bites for a quick re-heat later as needed. This will make lunch time a lot easier on those days I don't have time to cook/bake for him.

Source: My Head



Veggie Bites

• 1 bag frozen broccoli & cauliflower, steamed & chopped
• 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2/3 cup shredded cheddar
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix chopped veggies, bread crumbs, cheese & eggs together until moist and able to form. Using either a small cookie scoop, a spoon or your hands form about 20 small balls the shape of a chicken nugget. Place on a foil lined cookie tray and bake at 20-25 minutes. Turn over after 15 minutes and press down with a spatula to evenly brown.

Cool a bit and enjoy! If your toddler needs their bites cut up (like mine did) just cut into 4s before serving.


Veggie bites prepared into balls and placed on the tray to bake


All cut up and ready for lunch


I don't know about this, Mom...


Ok, maybe they're kinda good...


Mmmm... better than the chicken nuggets



After 2 minutes of eating he had eaten 1.5 veggie bites, 1 cut up piece of chicken nugget & 2 sweet potato fries. He polished off the rest of the veggie bite pieces and called it a day for lunch. Oh, the finicky toddler. One day he'd polish off a plate full of food and the next just bits and pieces.

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).

Rata what?

Ratatouille! I had my first ratatouille dish at Disneyland's Cafe Orleans and fell in love. Since then I have been trying to find a recipe to try so that I could enjoy my love for the dish at home. My friend Anmarie, a vegetarian, checked out a slow-cooker vegetarian book at the library and found a ratatouille slow cooker dish. She tried it out and nothing but good things to say about it.

So I finally got my hands on the recipe and had to try it right away. I ran to the store to buy my veggies. This was the first time I cooked with eggplant and I think I am hooked! I will definitely be trying some other eggplant recipes soon. I have to let you know that Joseph was not pleased with the dish. Mainly because of the lack of meat and the surplus of veggies he didn't like. But too bad. He did eat all of the corn cakes I made as a side dish though!

Source: Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker



Half-Day Ratatouille

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 small yellow onion, diced (I did a rough chop because I wanted larger pieces)
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juices (I used two 14 oz cans)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons pesto, homemade or store-bought (I used 1/2 cup)

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplant and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggplant to a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the same skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until soft (I also added garlic), about 5 minutes. Add the onion to the slow cooker along with the bell pepper, garlic (if you didn't saute), zucchini, tomatoes and their juices, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours until the vegetables are tender.

Just before serving stir in the pesto.

Serves 4-6, 3 WW points if 6 servings, 4 WW points if 4 servings
And I noticed that this whole recipe except for the pesto was core! So maybe if I make the jump it won't be soo bad...

Corn Cakes
Source: Elly Says Opa

• 1/2 cup corn
  
• 1/4 cup masa harina (you could also just use AP flour)
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• good pinch of salt
• cayenne and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk (or buttermilk)
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  canola oil, for pan frying.

Combine the masa, cornmeal, salt, peppers and baking powder in a bowl. Add the milk and the beaten egg. Depending on the texture you want (I wanted something a little firmer), you could always add some more milk to resemble something more pancake-like. Stir in the corn and cheese.

Heat canola oil in a skillet (I use a nonstick skillet to minimize the amount of oil). Add spoonfuls of the mixture to the skillet (depending how big you want the cakes) and press down lightly with a spatula. Cook until one side has set and is golden brown. Flip and cook the other side until golden.

Serves 2 with two cakes each

2 WW points per 1 cake, but only 3.5 WW points per 2!!! Don't you love WW fuzzy math??