Manic Monday- Freezing Smoothies

Smoothies, smoothies, smoothies. So easy peasy. Perfect for a quick snack or with a meal. Toddlers enjoy them also!
Our standard smoothie is very simple- 

Fruit

Ice

Water
Spinach

You can add nuts, milks, honey, yogurt, flax seed, oils, and more. We like plain yogurt and honey too.
But that's our standard.

Freezer Tip: Freezing fruits and vegetables before you can use them is a great way to have items ready for smoothies and a great way to save money because you aren't throwing food away!

Below is a list of things I've kept in the freezer for our smoothies-

Manic Monday- Fruit and Nutella Crepes

Wordless/Repeat Wednesday post. These crepes are easy to make, with minimal ingredients. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them between sheets wax paper. They also keep in the refrigerator for a few days if you want to make them ahead of time for a meal. I don't put sugar in the batter, but it can be sweetened easily. I like to keep the crepes pretty neutral, I've wrapped them with savory fillings (chicken, cheesy spinach, ground beef and cheese, ricotta, etc). I have also filled them with fruit, fresh whipped cream, Nutella, chocolate sauce, cream cheese and cinnamon, chopped nuts, and fruit preserves.
These crepes have strawberry, banana, Nutella, and fresh whipped cream. I sprinkled them with chopped almonds. MMM.
Find more "ManIc MoNdaY" posts here.

Amazing ice cream (No machine needed) GF/SF/DF

This looks melted because I had to stop and get my girls in bed before I could take pictures.

There are tons of posts out there for this one ingredient ice cream. I'm sure you've seen it. I never made it because 1- I don't like bananas 2-pureed and mashed up even makes that feeling towards bananas worse. But I had a banana that was going to start getting brown spots and if I eat a banana it needs to be JUST out of the green stage and not anywhere near the brown spots stage. So I peeled it, sliced it and put it in the freezer. I figure it couldn't hurt doing one banana and seeing how it goes. I've been meaning to make coconut ice cream and haven't had a chance, so tonight I put the frozen banana into the blender with a little bit of coconut manna. HELLO yumminess!  Just like ... ICE CREAM. You don't need the coconut butter but NOM NOM. Have you ever had a Tropical Blizzard? They were my favorite blizzard and this is BETTER. For one it's healthy and it just tastes REAL. So GOOOOD. I also topped my bowl of ice "cream" off with some almonds. But this opened a huge door of possibilities for me. I need to eat more fruit so this nice cream cold treat will help.

EASY Pumpkin Puree and Don't forget the BABY!

Did you know that there is a pumpkin shortage? Well, there is. Sad, but true. I haven't seen a shortage around here but every time I go to the grocery store I try to pick up a few pumpkins to make pumpkin puree for my stash in the freezer. I have even bought some cans, just in case. I have roasted sugar/pie pumpkins to make puree before, but I usually put it in the crock pot. Because it's so easy! There are pictures here if you'd like to see just how simple it is. For pumpkin puree I just wash the pumpkin.

Cinnamon Crepes with Strawberries for Pixie

Like I said before Pixie is eating table foods now so it's much easier to feed her. These are crepes with cinnamon, unsweetened whipped cream and strawberries. Crepes are versatile for little pre toddlers because they can be filled with just about anything, chicken salad, egg salad, ricotta cheese even ground beef.

Green eggs, hold the Ham

Pixie hasn't needed her food processed for a while now. She been eating just about every table food without the extra salt or sugar. Except for nuts and honey and maybe a few other foods. I have given her both the white and yolk of eggs and she hasn't had any allergic reactions. These scrambled eggs have a little bit of cheese on them and steamed broccoli. The toast squares a lightly buttered.

Spinach and Rice for Baby

This is a simple Spinach and Rice soup. You can use vegetable or meat stock. Make sure it's salt free. If you have cubes on hand it will make this dish even easier to make for baby. Link to freezing stock and making salt free baby stock. For younger babies you can process or puree it.

Cabbage and Beet soup for Pixie

My mom made this soup for my aunt who is recovering from surgery. Since it isn't seasoned with salt Pixie had some also. It's pork stock bones, beets, cabbage and water. The beets and cabbage give it a sweetness and the stock bones give it flavor and depth.

Broccoli, butternut squash and zucchini puree

I have a confession, I no longer puree Pixie's food to this pictured consistency, this just happens to be a very late entry. Simple really, broccoli, butternut squash and zucchini. The Babycook to steam and then pureed in a little bit of the cooking water. Older babies with broader pallets might like some seasonings, herbs and or butter.

Rice Congee or Jok for Pixie

Rice Congee is rice porridge. Eaten in many Asian countries, it can be made with brown or white rice, with just water or with the addition of chicken, fish, beef or other proteins, herbs, sometimes beans or lotus root or ginkgo nuts. As a child my grandfather on my dad's side lived with us. He used to eat plain white rice congee with condiments like pickled mustard greens, salted duck eggs, soy sauce, pickled tofu and century eggs/thousand year old eggs. It's a comfort food. Pixie has had plain white rice congee, I also make her one with vegetables and chicken stock. Congee is Chinese while Jok is Thai. In Lao we call it Khao Peaak, literally "wet rice".

Carrot Puree

I am sure I have posted a carrot puree before, but it's a great vegetable to add to other baby puree's, it's naturally sweet and let's face it carrots are cheap. For baby you can roast them, steam them, put them in soups. If you roast them you can add other root vegetables like turnips and toss with a little olive oil and rosemary sprigs. They can be steamed with other vegetables but also compliment fruits well. When added to vegetables like broccoli, spinach or asparagus that aren't sweet they can help you introduce less popular vegetables to baby. When cubed and cooked until tender they make great finger foods.

Summer Squash with Rice for Baby

YAY for Summer Squash! My older girls love Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash. For Pixie I cut the squash into cubes- with the skin on. Steamed it in the baby cook, drained the cooking liquid and pureed. One batch I did with steamed rice and the other without. Now that Pixie is a little older I just mash this with a fork for her.

Roasted Butternut Squash

This is a simple roasted butternut squash. Peeled, seeds removed and cubed. Tossed in olive oil and roasted in a 375 degree oven until tender. It makes a great finger food for older babies served as is (in smaller cubes), it's great for the whole family actually. For older babies a pinch of curry, cinnamon, nutmeg, a little butter, yogurt or sour cream would be a great addition. I pureed Pixie's in the babycook.

Chicken and Vegetables for Baby

I have a picture of the finished dish somewhere but I can't seem to find it. The beauty of the baby cook is less pots, pans and what not to wash, smaller batches for fresh meals fast with the option of making a couple of extra batches to freeze. This is chicken breast, sugar snap peas and red bell pepper. Once it's cooked and blended to the consistency you baby likes add some cumin, pepper other herbs/spices to broaden your baby's pallet.

Cinnamon Yogurt Banana Mash

For a little variety Pixie had organic plain yogurt, banana and cinnamon in her steel cut oats. She liked it...

Fruit Juice Gelatin Blocks

Fruit juice gelatin is an easy alternative to boxed Jell-O. You can use any fruit juice- I haven't tried citrus juices though. You know exactly what is in the gelatin and you can control the sweetness. I just use the recipe on the back of the Knox no flavor gelatin box. I first made these for Diva when she was a baby that was FOUR years ago! EEK. I do cut the recipe down since the one on the box makes a big batch.

GPAC Teething Biscuits

**Sorry I removed all the pictures of Pixie chewing on these**
It’s hard finding teething biscuits with minimal ingredients, no soy products and no refined sugars. These teething biscuits hold up better than store bought. They are still messy but not as messy. You can add flavor with any spices you’d like, such as- cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, mild curry powder, all spice. The dough is stiff, not hard to work with but it isn’t like kneading bread dough.

GPAC Teething Biscuits

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup maple syrup- I use about 2 tablespoons more
3 tablespoons applesauce- I use homemade applesauce, if you use store bought find one that is unsweetened
I put ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon in this batch

Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Put all the ingredients into a bowl, stir with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to hold together.






It will be a little dry.








Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth (3-4 minutes).








Roll out to 1/3 inch thick. Cut into shapes that are easy for baby to hold. I used a mason jar lid to make a round biscuit, then I cut out a small hole in the middle. Bake on parchment paper until the bottoms are slightly browned. About 35 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet. Store the biscuits for up to two weeks in an airtight container.

Tilapia and Fish Packet for Baby

This method of coking fish for babies is versatile. You can use almost any vegetable or fruit that your baby has had. I prefer parchment paper because, for me at least these packets cook up faster in parchment as opposed to foil.

Beets for Baby

The humble beet, kind of ugly and homey on the outside but so beautiful and vibrant on the inside. I like beets, I think I am the only one in the house that does. Besides Pixie I mean. The older girls try them whenever I have them because I ask them to but I don’t make them take a second bite. The first time I had fresh beets at the house, as in made them myself was when SIL and her family were visiting form Uganda one summer. They were so easy I couldn’t believe I never made them before. Beets are good roasted in the oven also. They are great for baby plain or with other vegetables or yogurt. I like them plain or with butter, salt and pepper.

 

Wash and trim the beets. Boil until tender- this takes a while.

 

Once they are fork tender, run them under cold water to rinse. Then peel with a paring knife. The skin should come right off easily.

 

Puree for baby using a little water or if you let baby have it juice. I wouldn’t use the cooking water, for no other reason than the fact that I don’t like the color. It’s not a vibrant pink like the beets, it’s a mucky brown and beets are dirty since they are a root vegetable. Oh and be careful they stain everything pink. Including diapers.

 

Make snacks easier to pick up for baby

None of the girls liked the texture of bananas in their hands; they must get that from me. They don’t mind it if they don’t have to touch it though. I don’t like bananas for the most part. I do like them in a banana split or in baked goods though. If I eat one plain or uncooked it has to be firm. When Diva was a baby she wouldn’t pick up bananas or tofu because of the texture. So I would crush up cheerios and toss cubed bananas or tofu in them to coat. This just makes the pieces less slimy and easier for little fingers to pick up. This is a good method for kiwi, tofu, anything that is hard for babies to pick up.