Great Dried Fruit Product

We are on a much needed vacation this week -- hooray. On this first leg of our two part trip we are visiting my folks (Grammie & Popop Flava) in Pennsylvania. This is particularly special because my brother and his fiance are in town. They live in Wyoming so it is not often that they have a chance to spend some quality time with BF.

This afternoon we walked into town to get some exercise and to get out of the house for lunch. We popped into the local bagel shop for our meal and ordered BF a turkey sandwich with grilled veggies on wheat bread. Of course, we cut everything up into baby friendly pieces but she had a grand old time sitting on her uncle's lap being hand fed by Popop -- life couldn't get any better.

At the end of the meal we packed up to walk some more but BF still seemed hungry. I didn't want to give her any more turkey so my sister-in-law (to be) said that she had some freeze-dried apples BF could snack on. She pulled out this small bag of Brothers All Natural fuji apple slices. My sister-in-law got the fruit from her mom who thought it would be great to take along on a hike. Because the fruit is freeze dried, it literally melts in your mouth and she figured it would work well for the baby.

As you can imagine the apples were perfect for BF. The bigger pieces she could hold onto and bite. The smaller pieces she just popped into her mouth! I thought this was a great (and creative) way to get her some fruit when we are on the go. Plus, this is a good change of pace from the Baby Mum-Mums, which she loves but I feel iffy about because they are not organic and made in China.

Check out the Brothers All Natural website, they have a nice series of dried fruit products. We just placed a big order for BF!

Diarrhea ...

I apologize to any squeamish folks reading this blog but I need to address this messy topic and I know that every mom out there can relate ...

DF and I are facing a new challenge in our house; persistent diarrhea. BF has had chronic diarrhea for approximately five weeks. Although she has been on two courses of antibiotics during this time, she never really got better in-between her ear infections. At first we were mildly concerned, however, with the diarrhea comes some other chronic issues like horrific diaper rash!

Early this week we decided it was time to venture to the pediatrician. After a thorough check, we were told that it is likely just a series of viral infections causing the diarrhea. Is BF in daycare ... yes ... well there's the problem. So, we went back to our regular life to let the virus run its course

Last night, however, after diaper explosion number five and a diaper rash to rival all other diaper rashes, DF and I no longer felt like we could wait passively. We decided that there has to be something we can do to help stem the tide! Feeling totally overwhelmed and uneducated, I started to do some research. First, I came to the conclusion that there is indeed a good chance the BF does have a viral infection in which case I just need to push fluids and continue to feed her a BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast.)

I also came across some other dreary possibilities but the one that jumped out at me as a realistic cause for her diarrhea and yeast diaper rash was the lack of good bacteria in the GI track. As we all know, antibiotics can often wipe both the bad and the good bacteria in our systems. BF has been on several heavy-duty anti-biotics so it stands to reason that she may not have any good bacteria left. Should I pump her full of yogurt (acidophilus)? Well, it looks like the reviews are mixed. Some small studies have shown that acidophilus can be an effective tool in preventing diarrhea but others contradict this finding. What to do ... well I think that this might be the solution to our problem so this is our approach for the moment ...

Breakfast: formula, bananas, yogurt, and a few cheerios
Snack: formula, whole wheat bread
Lunch: water, red peppers with rice, fish (simple protein)
Snack: formula, rice crackers
Dinner: formula, carrots, chicken, and pro-biotic formula

We are going to keep her on this diet for a few days (and keep our fingers crossed) and see what happens. At least it makes me feel better that I am trying something!

Bring Back The Casserole!

Up until recently, I never had any plans to ever cook a casserole. My perception was that this form of American cuisine was passe, to say the least. When I pictured a casserole I saw dry tuna fish, cream of mushroom soup, and canned green beans. Yuck! Well, on my never ending quest to find new and interesting foods to serve to BF, I have become intrigued with exploring this food medium. Apparently the classic casserole can be given an upgrade, bringing it well into the 21st century.

Take for example, my first casserole experiment. From Joan Nathan's The New American Cooking cookbook, I decided to made the Gratin of Rice and Zucchini with Cheese. I was able to use fresh organic zucchinis, brown rice, our favorite Cougar Gold cheese, and some leftover challah for breadcrumbs. All of these lovely ingredients came together to form a perfect square meal for BF. She could have fed the meal to herself, but for the first time in weeks she actually wanted to be spoon fed (go figure!) We knew she was happy because after each bite she would let out a hearty "mmm."

I was thrilled because we were all able to have dinner together! I think I have a new rally cry ... bring back the casserole!

Chicken Soup for Baby Flava

Baby Flava is coming for a visit and the freezer is full of Holiday Cookies but nothing for BF.
What shall I make? It's cold and blustery outside so what better food for this weather...soup.
We haven't talked about soup, but what a perfect food for BF. You have your broths, your bisque, your cream based soups, and every flavor imaginable: beef, chicken, vegetable, potato, tomato, squash. Another opportunity to introduce new flavors and textures. You can add rice, pasta, lentils, beans, all sorts of different things to your soup.

Lets start out with simple Jewish Penicillin, Chicken Soup. As my Grandma (BF's Great Great Grandma) would have said...first you kill a chicken!

Today go to your store and purchase a natural or organic chicken, whole, or parts. Kosher chickens make a wonderful soup, the choice is yours.

Here is your basic recipe:

Chicken Soup

1 whole chicken cut in 8 pieces
1 medium onion peeled
2 large carrots cut into 1/4" rounds
2 large stalks of celery cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 parsnip peeled and cut int0 match stick size pieces
1 bouquet garni (tie up in a piece of cheesecloth 10 whole peppercorns, 3 parsley stalks 3 stalks of fresh thyme and 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
Kosher salt to taste
Water

Place chicken in large stock pot. Add 2 quarts of water, bouquet garni and 2 tsp. of salt and bring to a simmer. Simmer (try not to boil) chicken for 30 minutes. As the chicken cooks skim the top to get rid of any fat and yucky foamy stuff that rises to the surface. Add vegetables and cook for another 20-30 minutes until veggies are soft.

Remove chicken from pot, let cool and remove skin and meat from bones. Taste soup stock for seasonings. If to dilute, cook down a bit...if to strong add a cup or two of water. Shred meat and place back into stock pot with soup. Discard skin and bones.

You may add cooked noodles, rice or matzoh balls to the soup. Be sure to cook these items before adding to your soup, otherwise the soup will be absorbed in the cooking process and you will have a thicker soup. If this is what you like, then by all means go ahead.

Other things you can add to your soup: hominy-makes it more like a stew; corn, squash, tomatoes, peppers...a chicken vegetable soup. Spinach leaves, escarole...etc.

Sunday Night Dinner ... Disaster

On Fridays and Sundays I try to plan my day so that we can all eat dinner together as a family. This past Sunday afternoon I was cooking up a storm, trying to replenish our fridge with prepared foods for the week ahead and restocking the freezer with some BF staples. On top of chopping veggies for the salad and preventing the blender from exploding, I was also pulling together what I thought would be a pretty tasty Sunday night dinner; acorn squash with sage butter, homemade tomato sauce (made with leftover tomatoes and parsley from last Sunday's veggie chili) and anelletti pasta and topped with cougar gold cheese. Each portion of the meal was designed to be BF friendly -- good favors, new textures, and lots of pieces she could feed herself.

Once we all got settled at the table I focused on watching BF's reaction to what I thought would be her ultimate meal. She started with the squash. One piece in the mouth, not bad. The next piece made it into her mouth but it didn't last there very long. Out came the tongue and the squash. The third piece went directly onto the floor! On to the pasta (there was no way she wouldn't chow down on this) one bite "yum." Second bite, "ummmm." Third bite, on the floor with the squash. The next thing I knew BF was flinging the anelletti (spaghetti o shape) in every direction.

What a total disappointment! Not only was the dinning room a total mess but I was baffled that BF seemed not to like this food I had so lovingly prepared special for her. What happened? I had no idea. Were the textures too funky? Perhaps the flavors were too robust. Maybe she had a tummie ache or was just feeling frisky. Regardless, this dinner disaster was a good healthy reminder that BF is indeed a baby. As soon as I think I have the rules figured out, she reminds me that there are no rules. I guess this is what make experimenting with Baby Flavas so exciting.

Babies go through Flava Changes

Baby Flava is eating everything, she has a vast and varied palette. At some point she may become a finicky eater. But not to worry, babies go through eating stages just like all the other stages.

I recently read an article about finicky eaters and how they have parents who are finicky eaters. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree! The article also said to reintroduce the item they won't eat at various intervals at least 15 times...yes 15...and they could possibly then like it. I always had heard 7, but who is counting --literally. How crazy would it be to count the number of times you reintroduce lets say...broccoli. If your child is starting to refuse food don't panic. Try not to get in the habit of cooking differently for you child....it will make you crazy and allow the child to gain control of the situation.

Mama Flava went through a stage of eating only hot dogs and applesauce when she was a baby. I fell into the trap of feeling desperate...my child needs to eat. Eat something...so I would try to give her the chicken or beef or vegetable we were having for dinner and when she wouldn't eat it-- I would get out the hot dogs and applesauce. After a brief discussion with the Pediatrician...I followed his advice and gave her a piece of meat, veggie and starch we were having for dinner that night...and she got nothing else until she finished the three pieces. I felt like a terrible Mom for a few weeks...she was not eating much for dinner...but it worked for her. She realized hot dogs and applesauce were not going to be dinner every night and once again she started eating a broad variety of foods and enjoying them.

Will this work for your baby...don't know...but if you have a finicky baby eating only one or two items...talk to your pediatrician, or your Mom...or ask us...we might have some yummy recipes that might expand your baby's choices.

Parenting Styles: What does it mean to conform?

To a large degree I am a conformist; my underwear is worn under my clothing and my baby does not ride on my lap in the car. Even to a small degree I am a conformist; I wear clothing that I see in magazines and I purchase baby products that my peers have vetted and recommended. So, recently when I was confronted by two incidents where my parenting style was portrayed as so non-conformist it was practically alien (we do not let BF watch TV) I found myself wondering if there is such a thing as conformity when it comes to parenting styles.

There are some general rules of parenting that I think most well meaning Americans would agree upon. For example a child should have enough food to eat, she should be loved, and every child should be kept out of harms way. Beyond these general rules there is an endless amount of room for individual style choices which of course means plenty of room for criticism.

As I mentioned, BF does not watch videos. She is eleven months old. In addition to the theory that there is a whole world out there for her to explore in person (not through a TV screen) an important study was published recently clearly indicating that TV has a detrimental impact on the brain of a young child. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no television at all for children under the age of two. (Here is a link to a TIME article if you want to know more http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1650352,00.html).

So clearly conformity has taken on new rules if I am looked at cross eyed for not letting BF soak up the boob tube! In my my book, preventing development delays would be a new general rule of parenting that everyone would abide by. I guess I am back to my original claim that I am a conformist, I just need to figure out how to let everyone else know that I am!

What do you think...
- Mama Flava

Uncle Flava Makes Challah and Latkes-Generation to Generation

Baby Flava's Uncle Flava appeared in his local newspaper. Just like Grammie Flava and Mama Flava, he too made latkes for Chanukah. He was asked to be interviewed and photographed while making traditional Chanukah items and he chose Challah and latkes.

Uncle Flava lives out West, but the ingredients were the same, the method was the same and the feelings were the same...a connection to our family and traditions.

As the last Chanukah candle burned out...I thought of Baby Flava's family all over the country and world, all celebrating the same thing together yet apart. As each of us took our bite of latke, whether with sour cream, applesauce, salt, or 'heaven' forbid ketsup; we were all joined in the sensory memory of our tradition, our family, love, friendship linking us to past generations and Baby Flava, our future generations...invoked by the simple act of eating.

May your holiday memories be as sweet.

Winter Fruit: Kiwi

Last week my in-laws came over to the house for brunch. Along with my husband's famous belgin waffles (that is a story for another entry) I thought it would be nice to make a fruit salad. One pineapple, two pears, one banana, two oranges, some orange and lemon juices, and a package of green grapes later I realized that I had just made the world's most vanilla fruit salad. The salad looked like an odd shade of beige (I couldn't serve this) and I was left wondering what I could do to perk the dish up a little bit. I added a few tablespoons of blackberry jam which added just enough flavor and contrast for me to serve the fruit salad. However, this was the moment that I realized it was officially winter!

I always get bummed out walking through the fruit aisle of the grocery store this time of year. Normally you will find me dragging my feet and mumbling something to myself like "slim pickings ... grapes (we've eaten those every day for the last six weeks) oranges (too much work) grapefruit (more work than an orange) strawberries (for $8 a box I just can't justify the expense in the winter) apples (mealy) bananas and pears (boring) ...

So, you can imagine my joy when while trudging through Trader Joes last week I stumbled upon a package of Kiwis! Just when I am about to loose hope for the winter -- Kiwi season arrives. Sweet, tart, and green, these little treats were the antidote to my winter fruit blues. The best part ... I cut up some slices for BF to try and she loved it! In fact she gobbled up my kiwi so fast I had to peel another for myself.

Brisket for Baby Flava

Winter is the time to make comfort food. Those meals that fill our hearts with memories and our bellies with scrumptious slow cooked, sauced foods which make our mouths water and the winter doldrums melt away.

For Grammie Flava the comfort food of choice: Beef Brisket.

It is a simple recipe, can be made in advance and frozen, or made the day before you use it. It is not a quick dish, but needs little attention and always comes out right. If you make brisket and it comes out tough...you didn't cook it long enough simple as that.

Brisket and pot roasts are made with the tougher cuts of meat and braised, cook with dry heat then wet and cooked for a long time. The method, braising and the length of time tenderizes the meat.

The cut of beef I like best is first cut beef brisket...trimmed to leave a little bit of fat for flavor, but not a huge amount.

The recipe was originally my Mom's and used Lipton onion soup mix...I'm sure many of you know the recipe. I stopped using the soup mix because (horror upon horror) they still use MSG! No worries, I ended up changing the recipe to make it even better with a little twist my Mom would never have seen coming.

GF's Twisted Beef Brisket
3-4lbs of First cut Beef Brisket
1 large onion, medium dice
1-2 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1 jar of Muir Glen Organic Cabernet Tomato Sauce
1/2 bottle of Stonewall Kitchens Maple Chipotle Sauce

Place brisket (fat side down) in roasting pan. Cover with chopped onions, salt and pepper. Cover pan tightly with lid or foil and cook at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover, turn roast fat side up. Pour sauces over meat and add 1/2 jar of water...mix.

Cover and cook for an additional 2 hours. Check for doneness by inserting fork. If fork comes right out it is done...if there is any resistance recover and cook for at least 1/2 hour. If sauce is to thick you may add more water.

When done, degrease sauce. Trim fat from brisket and cut meat very thin at an angle across the grain and place back in sauce. (You may refrigerate overnight and the fat will harden and can be lifted right out of the sauce. )

Serve with mashed garlic potatoes, potato latkes, kasha and bows.

Comfort food at its best...and for Baby Flava...soft, tasty...she'll be smacking her lips and wanting more.

Fast Food for Baby: Hummus and Avocado Sandwich

This title might strike you as oxymoronic but there is such a thing as "fast food" for baby. I am not referring to the salty greasy kind of fast food that comes in a white paper bag; we're not naming names here. Rather, I am talking about the Baby Flava version of fast food, which comes out of the kitchen in a flash and is full of important nutrients!

There are always certain staples that are kept in every home's kitchen. In mine (among other things) you will always find whole wheat bread, hummus, and a ripe avocado or two. If you anticipate needing fast food at least a few times a week, you may want to consider keeping a similar stock of baby-friendly staples in your own kitchen.

Last night I was very grateful for my stock of goodies. Daddie Flava and I both got home from work late. The weather was terrible and BF had a double ear infection. Needless to say we were all exhausted and starving. I needed food fast and the baby needed food faster. I pulled out a few goodies and I whipped up a delicious fast food meal BF couldn't get enough of. Here are all of the details ....

Take a slice of whole wheat bread and trim off the crust. Slather the bread with a decent helping of hummus. My hummus of choice for the baby is organic, low in sodium and garlic, and mixed with roasted red peppers (another BF staple!) On top of the hummus place a thin layer of sliced avocado. Cut the bread into baby sized bites and let your little one go to town. BF puts these baby sandwiches into her mouth so quickly I can only put a few in front of her at a time. The best part of the recipe -- you can make yourself a snack at the same time with the crusts!

Yum.

Banana Avocado Sauce with Pomagranate Sauce/Seeds

One of our first postings was our Banana Avocado Sauce. This is the perfect time of year for this sauce for you and your baby. And it makes a beautiful holiday sauce sprinkled with a few pomegranate seeds!!! If you read back it is a simple recipe:

Banana Avocado Sauce
1 ripe banana
1 ripe avocado
1/2 lemon juiced
1/2 orange juiced

Peel your avocado and banana and place in the jar of blender. Add the juice of the lemon and orange and as Mama Flava said -- out comes this yummy fluffy green sauce filled with incredible nutrients. Have any of you recently received the email about the banana and all the health benefits it holds? It should be a banana and apple a day keep the Doctor away (no offense Popop Flava!)

This sauce would be great along with the Baby Latkes. To make it a powerhouse, you could also add a tablespoon or two of pomegranate juice and WOW it packs a health kick not to mention the dynamite flavor!

Now for the adults...use the Banana Avocado sauce as a base (pool it or squiggle it) on your plate and place on top of it: a brownie, a piece of chocolate cake, a small piece of cheesecake, a poached pear, a thin slice of tarte tatin (apple tart or pie) and THEN sprinkle it with pomegranate seeds. Beeeee-utiful and yummy.
For Grammie Flava it must look good as well as taste good!

Working with pomegranates: I am sure you've all seen on the food shows...take the seeds out of your pomegranate in a bowl of water to avoid the juice spurting everywhere (and staining) and it is much easier to dislodge them. Use the seeds as is or to make a scrumptious pomegranate sauce:

Place seeds in food processor and grind.
Pour through sieve to remove seeds.
Take liquid and place in small sauce pot.
Cook on medium and reduce down to a lovely syrup you can drizzle on:
Cakes, fresh fruit, roasted chicken, or use as a glaze for fish or fowl.

So many easy things to do with a single healthy item!

Baby Latkes

Hanukah began at sundown tonight and I am so excited! I love the glowing lights of the hanukiah (Hanukah menorah) and the free pass to indulge in my favorite fried foods; most traditionally soufganiot (donuts) and latkes. Potato latkes are a staple of Eastern European Jewish Cuisine. Crunchy, salty, and starchy, laktes achieve the triumvirate of the best potato flavors.

I can get a bit neurotic about what foods I give the baby. She is eleven months old and a french fry has never passed through her lips. I feel like there will be plenty of years ahead where fries, hamburgers, ice cream, and candy will be inevitable so for now I have been enjoying the chance to keep her far away from all of them! However, for her first Hanukah there was no way I would be able to deny her the experience of participating in our celebratory meal.

So, I needed a baby version of my standard latkes. My latke of choice is shredded and deep fried to more of a chocolate rather than golden brown and then doused in sour cream and applesauce. For Baby Flava I decided to go for something slightly less greasy and of course not too crunchy.

Try out this recipe on your little pitseleh (little one) and let us know what you think.

BABY LATKES

1/2 yellow onion
1 medium sized white potato
1 medium sized sweet potato
1 egg
3-5 tablespoons of flour or matzoh meal
Salt & pepper to baby's taste
Canola oil

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees and wash and peel the potatoes. In a large bowl, shred the onion and potatoes and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Squeeze potatoes and drain any excess liquid and place the potato mixture into a food processor. Blend until the mixture is pureed and add the egg, flour (until the consistency is a little thinner than sour cream), ground pepper and mix.

Heat a skillet to medium and place 2 teaspoons of canola oil in the bottom of the pan. Spoon the potatoes into silver dollar size pancakes and saute until browned (about 3-4 minutes on each side.) Once browned, place all of the latkes on a paper towel to get off any extra fat, then place on a baking sheet and finish cooking in the over for 5-6 minutes.

Break into baby sized pieces and enjoy with sour cream and apple sauce. Yum.

"Cookie Weekend", Generation to Generation

Although Mama Flava is trying to avoid high fat and high sugar for Baby Flava... my favorite thing to make this time of year...HOLIDAY COOKIES!

Great Grandma Flava made cookies for extra money when we were growing up. She was known all over the tri-state area for her cookies and everyone waited for the annual Hotel Show to get some of her tasty gems. My sister took this cookie tradition and turned it into a weekend holiday cookie marathon about 40 years ago. (Wow I'm getting old!) Starting with her friend Susan, the two of them spent a weekend making batch after batch of holiday cookies. When they were done they would split what they'd made and voila...holiday gifts. That first year was a bit of a disaster, but it got better as they went along.

As the years went by I joined my sister-Aunt Flava-her friend and even Great Grandma Flava would be there and the cookies would fly. We started counting how many cookies we'd make; each year trying to make more than the last. The last time I remember counting it was somewhere over 4ooo cookies. We stopped counting after that. The "cookie weekend" was a huge event and we planned for weeks when it would be and what we would make. Any new recipes had to be tested before the weekend because the weekend was all about production.

Who ever hosted made a huge pot of sauce for pasta, or chili, or stew. This was eaten for lunch in between batches of dough, or heated up for dinner so no one had to cook meals. Take out was an option, but going out to dinner...no way. Waste precious cookie baking time out to dinner....no! Friends and family have joined cookie weekend over the years....but my sister and I still prevail, each year making hundreds, thousands of cookies, by hand, with the best ingredients, to be given away as part of our family holiday tradition.

There are approximately 11 basic cookies we always make from recipes collected over the years: Susan's Gingersnaps, Grandma's Butter Cookies, Baby Fingers (aka Mexican Wedding Cakes), Ribbon Cookies, Angela's Pignoli Cookies, Kranchen, Pecan Diamonds, Linzertortes, Thumbprints, and some type of Brownie (the last few years it's been the "better than sex brownies"), and Cranberry Walnut Swirls. Then there are additions and subtractions: Nutmeg Logs, Sesame Cookies, Macaroons, Raspberry Criss Cross, Lemon Bars, Lemon Stars, Chocolate Chip, Lace Cookies, Meringues with Chocolate and Hazelnuts, to name a few. This years additions: Chocolate Spritz with a Chocolate Ganache filling, French Almond Macaroons, Almond Horns, and maybe Rainbow Cookies.

What would Baby Flava like-all of them? What could she eat; lets stay away from nuts and chocolate that would leave us Grandma's Butter Cookies, Thumbprints, Kranchen, Linzertortes. All natural ingredients, Organic unbleached flour, organic unsalted butter, sugar, and eggs (free range and fed natural ingredients).

Grandma's Butter Cookies... That would be Great Great Grandma Flava's recipe. Simple easy and tasty!

Butter Cookies (Nana’s--aka Great Great Grandma Flava )

1 lb butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, mix well then add flour mixture. Roll into logs, 10-12" long and 1 1/2" in diameter; roll in sprinkles, then roll in wax paper. Freeze or refrigerate for few hours till firm. Cut in 1/4" slices, bake on ungreased pan untill brown on bottom.

(I will often make a batch of this dough and leave it in the freezer. Then if I have company or need to bring something someplace, I take out a couple of rolls of dough and within 15 minutes have fresh homemade cookies.)

To make chocolate pinwheels from this dough... Take a hand full of dough add 1 square of semisweet chocolate melted knead until well blended. Roll out the chocolate dough into rectangle. Do same with a hand full of plain dough...place on top and roll into pinwheel. Can also do strips and do checkerboard etc.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until just beginning to brown on top.

Baked cookies may be frozen up to three months.

Roasted Red Peppers: A Baby Flava Staple

Do you ever feel like your baby only eats foods that are white, orange or green? Get out of your color rut! It is so easy to expand your baby's color palate and reap the benefits of a rainbow colored diet. My favorite "red" is roasted red peppers -- it is amazingly simple, full of flavor, and my baby girl can't get enough!

Roasted Red Peppers

Ingredients: 4-5 Organic Red Peppers

Directions: Wash the peppers thoroughly and remove any price stickers. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the peppers on the sheet spaced evenly apart. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 25 minutes. Turn the peppers to be sure they are roasting evenly and put them back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Once the peppers are out of the oven let them cool before peeling off the skin and removing the stem and seeds. Place the remaining pepper into a food processor and blend until smooth. Place pureed peppers into ice cube trays and freeze.

When I pull my roasted red peppers out of the freezer to give to the baby for dinner I love to mix them with some organic brown rice, however they would also be delicious spread on a piece of whole wheat bread and diced up, drizzled over some whole wheat pasta, or mixed with some roasted turkey.

Yum!

Ricotta Gnocchi...Perfect!

We made Ricotta Gnocchi for Baby Flava's lunch. We used half regular and half whole wheat flour and otherwise followed the recipe. She LOVED them! The asparagus and carrot sauce was an easy way to get vegetables in and it was very tasty too!

The Gnocchi were the perfect texture, cut in three they were the perfect size and they were easy to pick up for little fingers. Of course you could buy pre-made gnocchi, but it was not hard to make them fresh.

Anytime you make dinner...and you want to serve it to your little one...just think, texture, size and flavor. The only change you might want to make; decrease butter, or use extra virgin olive oil if you can; decrease the salt and; use whole wheat flour in place of the white flour (up to 50% whole wheat flour can be used in a recipe without drastic changes in the results.)

Can Baby Have Too Much Food?

I am blessed to have a baby girl who loves to eat. Sweet or savory, soft or crunchy, green or white, you name it, she will eat it. She ends most meals with a big giant belly and occasionally a good belch. Most parents of picky eaters would be insanely jealous -- a big full belly -- no fighting at mealtime -- no spinach covering the walls, floor, and the inside of baby's nose. However, Baby Flava's passion for food presents a unique challenge. If she eats everything I put in front of her, how will I know when she has had enough? Can babies have too much food?

Last week I decided to experiment with a few techniques to see if we could determine how much food was too much food. First, I began to offer the baby very small portions. Once she finished what was in front of her I would look for signs of hunger and then offer some more. Next, I put all (and I mean all) of the food I made directly in front of her to see what she ate and if she left anything behind. Lastly, I tried offering lots of small meals throughout the day to see if that kept her belly feeling full but not stuffed.

After my (hardly scientific) experimentation I reached a conclusion, she does have a natural full sensor. When she is hungry she will let me know and when she is full she will stop eating. My pediatrician was right, follow her lead and she will let me know when she has had enough. When you are feeding your baby a well rounded diet of healthy whole foods there is no need to hold back, feed her until she is happy and satiated. She'll let you know when she's had enough!

To Stuff or not to Stuff!

A thought about stuffing. I do stuff my turkey on Thanksgiving. However, I also bone my turkey and it cooks in half the time. I test for doneness with a thermometer (that has been calibrated that morning--)and the stuffing must read 165 degrees or higher before I consider the bird done. I always cook the extra stuffing in a pan in the oven.

For Baby Flava...I will give her the stuffing I cook outside the bird instead of the stuffing inside. We've never had any problems with our stuffing...but for all the little Babies out their...better to be safe.

Do you know Gnocchi?

Pop-pop Flava loves potato Gnocchi. I don't usually make it at home, it's a pain in the neck, the hot potatoes and all. In September I did some cooking in Tuscany, and lo and behold we
made Gnocchi Di Ricotta; Ricotta Gnocchi-- and was it easy!!!!

Not that Baby Flava consumes my every waking moment...yes she does...but I had an epiphany...perfect size, texture and flava for BF! You can make it full fat, low fat...and the sauce is asparagus and carrots.-but you can use whatever veggies you prefer. The perfect food! We'll test this on BF during Thanksgiving and let you know how she likes it.

In the meantime here is the recipe--make it with the asparagus for the grown up Flavas..they'll love it!

Gnocchi Di Ricotta con Asparagi
Ricotta Gnocchi in Asparagus Sauce
10oz. ricotta cheese
3 oz grated parmesan cheese
3 oz. all purpose flour
grated nutmeg, salt

10 oz asparagus
1 oz unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic sliced (optional)
3 small grated carrots
1 cup vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

fresh grated parmesan cheese for topping


In large bowl place ricotta, parmesan, flour, nutmeg and salt. Mix
ingredients by hand and knead the dough into a ball. Let rest for one
hour.

Peel and wash asparagus. Blanch in boiling salted water until
aldente. Remove from water, cut of tips, set aside. Rough chop
stalks of asparagus. Melt butter in saute pan and add 2 cloves of
sliced garlic. Cook garlic until it just starts to brown and remove
from pan. Add chopped asparagus, and carrots and continue cooking for
5 minutes. Add vegetable stock and cook for another 3 minutes.
Puree mixture in blender or with immersion blender. Set aside and
keep warm.

Take dough and cut a walnut sized piece. Roll into sticks about 3/4
in diameter. Cut into small 1/2 inch pieces. Place on flour covered
sheet pan. When ready, drop into boiling water. As they float to the
surface, take out of the water with slotted spoon. Place in warm bowl
and add asparagus sauce. Decorate with asparagus tips and sprinkle
with fresh parmesan cheese.

You may use other cheeses as you like, and make the sauce with other vegetables.

Bananapeas!

Shopping for Thanksgiving I came across some beautiful organic English Peas. This is an impulse buy for Grammie Flava since peas were not on my grocery list. Did we mention Grammie Flava is a Chef? No? Well I am. I always tell my students recipes are guidelines...so are grocery lists!

When I go to Whole Foods with a grocery list, it is a guideline to what I need. Usually it will say onions, carrots, my staples; but it will also say, fruits and veggies. This is of course to take advantage of the fresh, organic lovelies Whole Foods, the farmers market or a road side stand might have. Hence the impulse buy of peas.

Baby Flava (BF) loves peas. Peas for Thanksgiving it is. Hmmm, but I also had two bananas getting very ripe....peas and bananas, why not. I rinsed the peas and steamed them in just enough water to cover. Once steam comes out of lid turn off, wait a minute then pour everything into the blender--don't overcook. Put the lid on the blender and if you have a center piece on the lid, open it a bit to let the steam out. Blend and add bananas.

When I am visiting Mama Flava and BF we put anything pureed in ice cube trays, freeze and pop out into a ziplock bag. Then you are ready to pop a few cubes into the microwave, zap and you are good to go. At home I don't have any ice cube trays. What to do?

Have you seen those ice cube tray/swizzle sticks? Make cute ice cube sticks for people to put in drinks. Why not make BananaPea Swizzle Sticks. BF is teething; hand her a frozen Bananapea and voila--BF is feeding herself, getting some soothing cold on her gums and we've introduced a new texture and temperature.

The Flava of the Holidays

Thanksgiving. Need I say more? Filled with flavors and aromas and family. What better way to start your babies sensory memories by allowing them to share the tastes of the holidays. Some of the items are a no brainer; mashed sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes. The rest can be easily pureed. You have all the fixin's for perfect baby flava; turkey, gravy, stuffing, veggies. Your turkey will blend beautifully with your gravy to form a smooth mixture, and for the older babies, small pieces of turkey, stuffing...wonderful finger food!

Baby Flava started many years ago

Hi from Grammie Flava! My first posting is appropriately on the eve of Mama Flava's Birthday. In those days, when Mama Flava was born, there was no such thing as organic or natural in the grocery store. There were "health food stores" and boy were you looked at cross eyed if you went there...and costly, wow. There weren't any choices for baby food, there were Gerber jars and Zwiebac. And who knows what was in them. La Leche League was considered a group of crazy woman who wouldn't use formula for their babies and took breast feeding way to far...past a month.

Back then, baby food was EXPENSIVE to those of us on a fixed budget...what was one to do. Make your own of course. No Cuisinarts to "mash" things up but I did have a coffee grinder. If it could pulverize coffee beans....why not. So Baby Flava was really born right along with Mama Flava. I blended up whatever we were eating for dinner...chicken, greenbeans, carrots (oh how she hates carrots now!!). When Great Grandma went shopping and bought an extra skirt steak and asparagus for us...Mama Flava had pureed skirt steak and asparagus for dinner.

So when the new baby came along...we continued on with the tradition. Only now it is much easier and it's lots more fun. We have big Cuisinarts, small Cuisinarts, super blenders, immersion blenders...we can puree anything, even an old shoe if we wanted to!

Comfort Food For Baby?

There is nothing worse than a sick baby. When she is not feeling good, I am a basket case. This weekend she had a bad cold, a really bad cold. Runny nose, chest congestion, watery eyes, the works. We were finishing up a late afternoon walk on Sunday when I started thinking about what I could make for dinner that would make her feel better. Chicken soup, the standard Jewish 'go to' comfort food sounded like a good option until I realized that at nine months she has no idea how to slurp. Could I teach her ... maybe ... but even on a healthy day that would be a real challenge. Short of putting broth into a bottle, which I considered momentarily, there seemed to be no logical food delivery vehicle for the soup.

The next step, break the soup into basic parts -- chicken, water, veggies and spices. Her nose was clogged so I didn't need to worry too much about flavor. So, here I am with what is shaping up to be a comfort food solution -- chicken and veggies. Carrots are pretty standard in chicken soup but my girl (just like her mama) is not the biggest fan of the boiled version so instead I substituted roasted yams. Some simple baked chicken broken into gumable size pieces and voila -- instant baby comfort food!

Call me crazy but halfway through the meal (which she particularly enjoyed because she could feed herself everything) the baby took a big sigh and I knew, in the way that only a mama can, that this meal really hit the spot.

The Jar Dilemma

Early this morning I opened up my kitchen pantry and stared blankly at our stash of jarred baby food. You've been there, right? It's 7:45am on an average weekday, we're already running late, and I'm desperately trying to get myself, my husband and the baby out the door will all of the proper accoutrement for our day. The baby needs lunch and I have two choices; jarred or homemade. Here is my jar dilemma.

The simplest choice on these hectic mornings would be to grab the jar, tuck a spoon in her bag and run. Alternatively, I can bite the bullet, be a bit late to work, and spend ten minutes pulling together a great combination of homemade baby food from the freezer and the fridge.

Why do I struggle with this choice? It's not that the jar is such a bad option. The food is stage appropriate, organic, simple, and free from preservatives. But something just makes my guilt hackles stand on end. My precious baby girl is being sent off to spend 9 long hours at daycare and I can't even manage to put together a homemade meal for her lunch. Am I a terrible mom if I send her with the jar? Am I wasting time rationalizing this decision; time that could be spent preparing some flavorful homemade food?

In the end, I send her with a jarred lunch, as I do at least a few days a week. Am I a bad mother? Well, I hope not and I rationalize it this way ... jarred peas are simply one of the many thousands of flavors she will experience in her lifetime. I prefer homemade when possible but processed, canned, jarred, and otherwise modified food is just a part of our everyday world. Besides, if I can save my sanity by not being late to work, I am going to be a better mom in the end.

Flava of the day: Avocado and Banana sauce!

My folks just came back from a trip to Italy, Switzerland, and France (Paris) where Grandma Flava, our resident chef, was on a whirlwind culinary tour. Sadly, there was nothing out of the ordinary to report other than a strange but scrumptious sauce (it came with a standard molten chocolate cake).

Banana Avocado Sauce. Could that be for real? Grandma Flava was sure it would be a hit so into the kitchen we went. The prep was simple; banana, avocado, lemon juice, and orange juice into a Cuisinart. The result was a gorgeous fluffy light green sauce that was de-lish and the perfect consistency for baby.

Fiber and potassium from the banana, healthy unsaturated fat from the avocado, and vitamin C from the lemon and orange makes for a healthy baby.

The verdict ... Baby Flava licked her bowl clean -- literally.

Yum!