Labor Day FAIL!

Today I spent some time discovering the Sneaky Chef cookbook with recipes supposedly for men that I found for $1.40 at the Door County Pick N' Save. It has several interesting looking recipes in it, but you have to make these purees first. Normally I would not be into pureeing my food (not until I'm 85 and have no teeth!). But since I need to do it anyway for Billy's food, I thought I would give it a shot for us big kids.

So I made the simple "Purple" puree that consists of blueberries and spinach. After that I decided to try a muffin recipe. Upon completing the mixing portion of the recipe, my husband came in and said, "Oh wow." He was a little shocked by the color.

I thought it seemed strange too, but I figured it just looked weird because of the blueberries and spinach. So I baked them and they looked just as odd once they were baked and tasted a little bland. So I decided to take another look at the recipe. Guess what? Turns out I left out 3 TB of of cocoa powder. Sigh........Anyway, I am hoping Billy might eat them. He won't know the difference. :)

Making Baby Food

One of the questions that arises when you are a parent and a vegetarian is what to feed your children. Currently, my almost 5 and 2 1/2 year olds eat meat. Of course, their dad feeds them 3 nights a week while I am at work, and he is a lover of all things meaty. Getting him to buy into a vegetarian diet for the kids is tricky.

But the eight month old is another story. I feel like I can start fresh with him and get him eating "right" from the start. One of the ways to do this is buy organic baby food. Amazon often has great deals on their organic baby food through the Subscribe & Save program. Free shipping, food delivered to your house, and a really good price! All good things. I just had a case of Earth's Best 2nd Food Vegetable Mix delivered for about $8. Not bad for 12 jars of organic baby food!

But what is even better than buying jarred food is making your own from organic vegetables and fruits.

I have made baby food for all of my three kids. The first got a lot of experimental attempts and more jarred food. The second got a lot of homemade until she was ready for finger food. I don't think I gave her jarred food at all until she was nine months old unless we were traveling. And sadly, with this third one, I have been so busy, I barely have time to make anything extra. This is something I need to work on!

Nevertheless, I found time and made some organic sweet potato and apple puree for the little guy a couple days ago.  You can freeze it in ice cube trays and pop them out and put into a freezer storage bag until ready to use. I used:
-1 large organic yam
-2 medium sized Gala apples, peeled and cored.
Throw them in a pot with some water and boil until soft. Strain the food but keep the cooking liquid!
Once it has cooled a little bit, dump the food into your processor or blender. Blend until smooth and no chunks are left. You will probably need to add some of the reserved cooking liquid to make it smooth. Maybe 1/4 cup or so. This is better than use regular water because some of the nutrients that cooked out of the veggies are retained in the water. Bonus!

Anyway, there are lots of easy baby food recipes you can make! Even when purchasing organic fruit and veggies, it is still cheaper than buying the food from the jar.

Now I just have to work on the other kiddos........

RECIPE: Lentil Meatballs

Tried this recipe from vegweb.com on my family this weekend. I am the only one interested in eating them. They are kinda weird and very "bread-y" but my first experience with lentils was not a total disaster. Warning: while being cooked, lentils smell like pee. While being mashed, lentils look like poo. Soooo, not incredibly appetizing. A veg co-worker recommended Trader Joe's meatless meatballs so I might do that next time. I just liked the idea of not having soy all the time! Anywho, recipe below.

Amazing Lentil Meatballs (No Soy)

Ingredients:

    2 cups lentils
    1 cup oats
    1 cup corn meal
    salt and pepper, to taste
    2 tablespoons onion powder
    1 tablespoon garlic powder
    vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

1. Cook lentils according to directions. Use a masher to mash up the lentils to make more of a paste. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

2. Add everything else except oil, form into balls, and lightly fry.

3. Transfer to oven to finish, about 10-15 minutes.

Source of recipe: I wrote this.

Makes: 8 - 12 Meatballs, Preparation time: 5 min, Cooking time: 30 min