Soup!

So I hope I am not the only one who struggles to put food on the table sometimes. It's not necessarily that I don't have what I need (although that does happen). It's more about planning ahead and making something that everyone will want.

Right now I am working with my husband, a newly vegetarian, my stepson who is pretty good but if it looks funny- no way, my daughter Sofia (3) who eats so little sometimes I wonder how she keeps on living and Leila (16 months) who eats everything and twice as much as Sofia. I'm pretty easy going too but.... little to no dairy. That leaves me frustrated and wanting to head to the closest drive-thru.

As it turns out, with the  changing seasons and changes in seasonal foods, I have latched on to soup as my go to and I found the perfect book! From the library of course (love it!). The book is called SOUP and it is just a compilation of a bunch of super yummy, super easy, soup recipes. I don't think I have ever cooked so many recipes out of one book in my whole life. Pumpkin soup, chunky turkey soup, lentil soup, even Mulligatawny is honor of the Soup Nazi himself. I think I added too much ginger though. Time for some tweaking. Anyway.

The thing about soup is that most times it is easy and can be quick- but you have to have the right things laying around. I suggest you always pick these things up at the store and have them on hand:

butter

onions

vegetable or chicken stock

parsley

potatoes

carrots

celery

For some reason it seems like most recipes call for some combination of the above and having those things around can be a life saver. Especially after a long day.

I definitely recommend the book- just buy it, you won't be disappointed but until then here is one of my favorites:

Allotment soup

You need:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium leek, finely sliced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 large zucchini, diced

1 celery rib, diced

1 large potato, diced

2 tomatoes peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 quarts cold water

sea salt and ground pepper

6 oz frozen green beans

How to:

Heat oil in a large pot. Add leek, carrots, zucchini, celery, potato, tomato and garlic and cook, stirring regularly for 10-15 minutes until soft but not brown. Add water and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until everything is tender. Add frozen green beans and heat until tender. Serve with some yummy crusty bread.

Yum-o! Enjoy!

WATERMELON!

I totally heart watermelon!

Ever since watermelon season started, I have almost singlehandedly eaten 6 watermelons. Granted, the first couple were a little small, but, really!

Can you overdose on watermelon? Can too much of a good thing really be not-so-good? I wanted to know....

Some fun facts about watermelon:
(http://westchesterdish.com/2007/06/ten-facts-you-never-knew-about-watermelon/)

1. Not only does it quench your thirst, it can also quench inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and arthritis.
2. Over 1,200 varieties of watermelon are grown worldwide.
3. Watermelon is an ideal health food because it doesn’t contain any fat or cholesterol, is high in fiber and vitamins A & C and is a good source of potassium.
4. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene. These powerful antioxidants travel through the body neutralizing free radicals.
5. Watermelon is a vegetable! It is related to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.
6. Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.
7. Watermelon is grown in over 96 countries worldwide.
8. In China and Japan watermelon is a popular gift to bring a host.
9. In Israel and Egypt, the sweet taste of watermelon is often paired with the salty taste of feta cheese.
10. Every part of a watermelon is edible, even the seeds and rinds.

According to Self Nutrition Data website (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2072/2) One cup of watermelon balls contains the following:

46 Calories
0g Fat
0mg Cholesterol
2mg Sodium
12g Carbohydrates
1g Dietary Fiber
10g Sugar
1g Protein
18% DV Vitamin A
21% DV Vitamin C
1% DV Calcium
2% DV Iron

It seems to be that the worst thing about watermelon is the sugar. I say, well, at least it is natural sugar!

Eat on, people! Watermelon lovers unite!

Making your own baby food? Totally Do-able!

For as long as I can remember I have looked for ways to save a dime. Not because I am cheap but because my economic status has always forced me to be more, well, economical. It's kind of fun (if you choose to look at your circumstance that way) to look at a situation and ask, "how can I do this better... or cheaper... or make it more personal?"

When I started to feed Sofia solid food, I knew that there had to be another way so I started to research it. I found several different books but the one that I like the best I actually found this time around with my other daughter, Leila. It is called Naturally Healthy First Foods for Baby by Jacqueline Rubin. It is kind of like a first foods bible, very thorough and has a lot of "recipes."

You can buy a lot of different things to use to make your baby food. There is the BabySteps Kidco system, the Baby Bullet, the Baby Brezza (which I first saw at a local Babies R Us) and others. These systems look really nice and I am sure they work great. I have listed the web addresses below for anyone that wants to do some more research. I, of course, thought I could be a little more cost effective.



My baby food making "system"

I make my baby food using a $10 mini food processor I found  at Wal-Mart and $1 4-pack of ice cube trays. So... $11 plus some zip-loc baggies and I am good to go. Not bad. Let's see how the price of my system compares with others:

My system: $15
KidCo system: $59.95 for electric processor, tray, food mill and carrying case

http://www.kidco.com/main.taf?p=2

Baby Bullet system: 4 "easy" payments of $19.99 for bullet, 8 storage containers

http://www.babybullet.com/

Baby Brezza system: $99.99 for just the processor ($14.99 for 4 containers, $14.99 for cutting board)

http://www.babybrezza.com/index.php

I think I win. :) Now on to the how-to portion...

When you first decide to start baby food (generally somewhere between 4-6 months or after) there is a little bit of an order to follow. Start with rice cereal to begin and then when baby has that down, move on to oatmeal and other grains. Rice is the easiest to digest that's why you start with that. Mix small amounts of baby cereal with breast milk, formula or water ("baby" water, purified or boiled is preferable). Go from soupy to thicker as baby learns to take it. Take your time feeding baby, he/she has plenty of time to taste everything. After cereals, start veggies. Veggies before fruits because fruits are sweeter and can sabotage your veggie efforts. Give each veggie or fruit for a couple of days and monitor for any sign of allergies. 

To make your own baby food you will need the raw vegetables or fruits, your processor, ice cube trays/ little glass jars, and some baggies for freezing. If I were making carrots, this is what I would do:

1. Prepare carrots by peeling them and trimming off end. Discard/compost waste. Cut into slices and place in a pot of water.

2. Boil water and carrots until carrots are soft. Do not drain water- it can be used when blending carrots. 

3. Place carrots in food processor with a little carrot water. Blend. Continue adding water as needed to get the right consistency. 

4. Spoon into ice cube trays and place in freezer.

5. When frozen, pop out (may need to let them thaw on the counter a little) and place in baggies. Label "carrots" and date. 

Pretty much all of your veggies can be done this way. Remember, leave out the oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Baby has no idea about any of this yet so take advantage!

When it comes to fruit, a lot of time you can just mash it as is. Bananas and Pears can be mashed. Peaches and apples can just be blended. You can reconstitute dried apricots in some hot water and then blend those. 

Meats can also be blended. I remember making a tray of black beans and rice for Sofia and she loved it! Be creative- you get to decide what you want to make and how to feed. It is awesome and cost-effective.  

Final note: I have only talked about electric processing of baby food. You can also look into food mills that are manual processors. I would say that you can get a food mill for around $12 or so.

Happy feeding!