I've been remiss in posting lately, but October is festival month and we've been hitting up all the festivals BIG time! Now that I have a second to come up for air, I'm going to post a recipe from my friend, Pam, who has been good enough to again share with me one of her awesome recipes that she makes for her son, Ben, who is 16-months-old. What a slacker I am! I finally post, and the recipe isn't even mine! But this recipe is so good, it has to be the next thing I post.
This recipe is a fabulous potato and spinach ball recipe, which I like to smash and flatten into a cake while it's frying, and Hungry Baby, AKA Teagan, loves them just as much as Ben - she ate four earlier this week. I has to cut her off like a little barfly.
These cakes are wonderful served with sour cream or plain yogurt, and I typically follow with a fruit such as applesauce, for "dessert". The cakes are so good, my husband ate half of them before I could get them into a Ziplock and freeze them for Teagan! And they're so pretty, I should have taken a picture - next time.
Baby's Age: 10 months and up
Consistency: Slightly crunchy on the outside, soft in the center
Pam's Potato Spinach Cakes
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 oz spinach fresh baby spinach
1 medium baking potato
4 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
2-3 tablespoons Parmesan, finely grated
canola oil for frying
In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil. Add spinach and saute until spinach is wilted. Transfer spinach to chopping board and finely chop, or for a smooth consistency, puree spinach in mini food processor. Set aside spinach and wipe out saute pan with a paper towel.
Meanwhile, bake potato in microwave. Scoop potato flesh into a medium bowl and discard potato skins. Mash potato with a masher. Add chopped spinach, flour, egg, and Parmesan, and stir to combine. Mixture will be slightly thick and "spoonable". If mixture is too runny, add a bit more flour.
Heat canola oil in the medium sauce pan and drop potato mixture into pan by spoonfuls, OR roll mixture into balls and drop into pan. I prefer the mixture slightly wetter, so I drop by spoonfuls. Fry for a few minutes on the first side, turning when slightly golden. After flipping, I like to press on the blob and make a little cake. If you've rolled into balls, just turn the balls. Fry for a few minutes on the second side, and voila, you're done.
Drain on a wire rack or paper towel, and serve when cool with the sour cream, yogurt, or just plain. These little cakes freeze very well.
October 25, 2009
October 9, 2009
Lasagna Dinner!
Have you ever looked at the Stage 3 baby food dinners on the shelf in the grocery store? The names of dinners are foods that appeal to adults: Lasagna Dinner, Chicken & Vegetables, Beef & Vegetables. But when you read the ingredients, the dinners contain items we would never put into our meals: pear juice and rice flour in a Lasagna Dinner? But, baby food companies know what appeals to babies, so I decided to make a mock Gerber Lasagna Dinner, and Hungry Baby love it!
If you haven't been following this blog, take a look back at the older posts on how to make carrots and chicken. In this recipe, I utilize cubes of both carrots and chicken, and this is a great way to use some of those cubes that may have been in the freezer for a few weeks in a new and interesting way that appeals to a baby's taste buds. This recipe is also versatile; if baby likes chicken, add another cube to the recipe, if you don't have carrots, try butternut squash. Go crazy with it!
Baby's Age: 10 months and up
Consistency: smooth
Mock Lasagna Dinner
3 tablespoons Stelle, a very small, star-shaped pasta
1 cube chicken, defrosted
2 cubes of carrots, defrosted
2 tablespoons rice flour
3 tablespoons apple juice or pear juice
1 1/2 tablespoons canned tomato sauce
1 teaspoon grated parmesan
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the stelle pasta and cook until very tender; usually longer than recommended on the package so the pasta is very easy for baby to gum. I usually test a few pieces before draining.
While pasta is cooking, combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. When pasta is very tender, drain in a colander with very small holes so the pasta doesn't slip through the holes. Add hot pasta to the chicken and carrot mixture and stir to combine. The heat of the pasta will melt the parmesan. Serve when slightly cooled.
The above recipe makes enough for two meals and can easily be doubled.
If you haven't been following this blog, take a look back at the older posts on how to make carrots and chicken. In this recipe, I utilize cubes of both carrots and chicken, and this is a great way to use some of those cubes that may have been in the freezer for a few weeks in a new and interesting way that appeals to a baby's taste buds. This recipe is also versatile; if baby likes chicken, add another cube to the recipe, if you don't have carrots, try butternut squash. Go crazy with it!
Baby's Age: 10 months and up
Consistency: smooth
Mock Lasagna Dinner
3 tablespoons Stelle, a very small, star-shaped pasta
1 cube chicken, defrosted
2 cubes of carrots, defrosted
2 tablespoons rice flour
3 tablespoons apple juice or pear juice
1 1/2 tablespoons canned tomato sauce
1 teaspoon grated parmesan
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the stelle pasta and cook until very tender; usually longer than recommended on the package so the pasta is very easy for baby to gum. I usually test a few pieces before draining.
While pasta is cooking, combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. When pasta is very tender, drain in a colander with very small holes so the pasta doesn't slip through the holes. Add hot pasta to the chicken and carrot mixture and stir to combine. The heat of the pasta will melt the parmesan. Serve when slightly cooled.
The above recipe makes enough for two meals and can easily be doubled.
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