Hot Dog Ice Cream Sandwiches - Chicago Style
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
baby food
by request, here is how I make my own baby food.
After pureeing in my food processor, I put the food into mini muffin silicon trays and freeze. I use the Wilton Easy Flex Silicon Mini Muffin Pan. Each cup is 2 oz., so I know how much baby is eating by the number of cubes I feed him.
When hard, I pop them out and place them in bags in my freezer, labeled with the date and contents.
The consistency will never be as fine as Stage 1 purchased food, but I have found that it doesn't matter for my kids. Your experience may differ.
*Edit February 2011: Added butternut squash and edited some cooking temps and instructions.
My new favorite baby food tool is a Food Mill. It's like a circular box grater that pushes the food down against rough holes that turn soft food into a very smooth consistency. I use the OXO Good Grips Food Mill.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OXO-Good-Grips-Food-Mill/dp/B000I0MGKE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1298456628&sr=8-1
Less mess and easier than a blender for clean up. Especially when making multiple batches of different foods.
.Butternut Squash - Half a butternut squash and scoop out seeds. Place cut-side down in a baking dish with enough water to come up the sides about 1/2". Place in a 425 oven and roast until pressure on the thickest part of the squash is very soft. Don't worry if the skin browns a bit. Let the squash cool a bit and scoop out the insides while still steamy. Puree and add water as needed to desired consistency.
Green Beans - I use organic frozen. Heat through in saucepan with a little bit of water and then puree to desired consistency.
Peas - Same as green beans.
Sweet Potatoes - Rinse and wrap in foil. Bake in 425 degree oven until pressure on outside of foil packet shows that the potatoes are very soft. Open packet and let cool slightly. If you do the pureeing while it's still steaming, the potatoes don't seem to need as much water and seem to have a smoother consistency. Slice open skin and scoop out insides. You can either puree with a little water at this point or freeze directly and dilute when you thaw for feeding.
Bananas - add slightly soft bananas to food processor and puree until liquefied.
Peaches - Dice fresh peaches and cook briefly over medium heat with a small amount of water. Let cool and puree.
Pears - Same as apples
Blueberries - You can cook these or not - your call. If you cook them, a little water and medium heat until warmed through. Then puree. If you don't cook them, puree and then if needed add a small amount of water to get desired consistency.
After pureeing in my food processor, I put the food into mini muffin silicon trays and freeze. I use the Wilton Easy Flex Silicon Mini Muffin Pan. Each cup is 2 oz., so I know how much baby is eating by the number of cubes I feed him.When hard, I pop them out and place them in bags in my freezer, labeled with the date and contents.
The consistency will never be as fine as Stage 1 purchased food, but I have found that it doesn't matter for my kids. Your experience may differ.
*Edit February 2011: Added butternut squash and edited some cooking temps and instructions.
My new favorite baby food tool is a Food Mill. It's like a circular box grater that pushes the food down against rough holes that turn soft food into a very smooth consistency. I use the OXO Good Grips Food Mill.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OXO-Good-Grips-Food-Mill/dp/B000I0MGKE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1298456628&sr=8-1
Less mess and easier than a blender for clean up. Especially when making multiple batches of different foods.
.Butternut Squash - Half a butternut squash and scoop out seeds. Place cut-side down in a baking dish with enough water to come up the sides about 1/2". Place in a 425 oven and roast until pressure on the thickest part of the squash is very soft. Don't worry if the skin browns a bit. Let the squash cool a bit and scoop out the insides while still steamy. Puree and add water as needed to desired consistency.
Green Beans - I use organic frozen. Heat through in saucepan with a little bit of water and then puree to desired consistency.
Peas - Same as green beans.
Sweet Potatoes - Rinse and wrap in foil. Bake in 425 degree oven until pressure on outside of foil packet shows that the potatoes are very soft. Open packet and let cool slightly. If you do the pureeing while it's still steaming, the potatoes don't seem to need as much water and seem to have a smoother consistency. Slice open skin and scoop out insides. You can either puree with a little water at this point or freeze directly and dilute when you thaw for feeding.
Apples - core and dice into 1" pieces. I leave the skin on, but if your baby has a hard time with digestion, peel all of the apples or even half, before use. Place in saucepan lid and add enough water to come about halfway up the sides of the apples and cook over medium heat until soft.
Let cool then puree in food processor with cooking liquid until desired consistency.
Bananas - add slightly soft bananas to food processor and puree until liquefied.
Peaches - Dice fresh peaches and cook briefly over medium heat with a small amount of water. Let cool and puree.
Pears - Same as apples
Blueberries - You can cook these or not - your call. If you cook them, a little water and medium heat until warmed through. Then puree. If you don't cook them, puree and then if needed add a small amount of water to get desired consistency.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Easy Bruschetta
Easy to make and you can toss it with hot pasta, put on a burger with mozzarella, top a grilled portabella mushroom, the list goes on and on...
Adjust the proportions until you like what you taste.
Tomatoes - try to get them fresh from the vine for a much better flavor
1 clove of garlic/ per 3 medium tomatoes
basil - handful/ per 3 medium tomatoes
olive oil
salt
Chop the tomatoes and drain in a colander. Dice garlic very fine (if you don't like raw garlic flavor, roast it or drop it in boiling water for a minute or so to smooth out the bite). Julienne the basil and toss with the tomatoes and garlic. Season with salt and add a drizzle of olive oil.
Serve over toasted bread or any of the suggestions above.
Adjust the proportions until you like what you taste.
Tomatoes - try to get them fresh from the vine for a much better flavor
1 clove of garlic/ per 3 medium tomatoes
basil - handful/ per 3 medium tomatoes
olive oil
salt
Chop the tomatoes and drain in a colander. Dice garlic very fine (if you don't like raw garlic flavor, roast it or drop it in boiling water for a minute or so to smooth out the bite). Julienne the basil and toss with the tomatoes and garlic. Season with salt and add a drizzle of olive oil.
Serve over toasted bread or any of the suggestions above.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Birthday sundaes
For my son's birthday, I gave him the choice; Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse (two favorites) and he chose Sesame Street. So I borrowed the same idea that my mother had just a couple of years ago for my sister's birthday (see how young you are, sis?). I changed up a couple things and these are the Oscars that I came up with:
Chocolate chip cookies
Green Ice Cream ( I asked a local independent custard stand to make me a batch of green Vanilla - it never hurts to ask) Thank you Greg's Custard
Small Eyes - ordered from candylandcrafts.com - next time I would get the medium eyes
melting chocolate disks - use milk chocolate for Oscar (the color is more authentic)
White cups
Black and Green food coloring spray cans
Spray the white cups with green and then black to look like a trash can - or do all black. Let dry and make the eye/eyebrow pieces.
Melt chocolate and put in a pastry bag (I use paper throw-away triangles). Make a chocolate squiggle for the eyebrow and immediately press in the eyes before it hardens. If the eyebrow doesn't turnout, you can always re-melt and try again. Let the eyebrow pieces harden and make the sundaes.
Scoop the ice cream into the cup to leave a gap visible once the cookie is placed on top. Place cookie at an angle on top and press eyebrow piece into the front. Refreeze until ready to serve.
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