Friday, 6/24/11

Before...

roasted chickpeas (see "recipe" below), raspberries/blueberries, cheese to spread, cheese crackers, seeduction wedges, ham balls, green cookies (center)

After...

Roasted Chickpeas:

1 can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed and outer hulls removed (time consuming yes, but worth it and you're getting out of ironing sheets anyway...)
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
light sprinkling of Curry Powder

Preheat oven to 350. Spread out chickpeas in one layer. I offer a glug of olive oil across them, sprinkle with spices and give them a shake to get evenly coated. Into the oven they go for 15 minutes or so.


Thank you to Katherine Patton again for sharing this with my wee Hugh. He LOVES them. Except for today as you can see in the after pic. It's a mystery to me why today was the exception. And! According to my math, he ate 1 ham ball. 1. And the stink-eye I had to give the lowly ham shredder...wasted effort.

Go on over to Weelicious to see her recipe for honey-roasted chickpeas. They have gotten rave reviews from others. We haven't tried them yet because I don't want Hugh to know they can be made sweet or that's all he'll ever want ever ever again!

Thursday, 6/23/11

Before...

sliced apple, raspberries, steamed "purple potatoes" w/ ketchup dots, pita chips, roasted chickpeas, ham and cheese sandwich hearts (dried blueberry dots on top), Dai Due pickle hearts, fig cookie stars and heart shaped cereal bites.

After...

The "purple potatoes" come from our CSA. Which one do we use, you ask? All of them! We scrounge left overs from our friends' CSA deliveries. It's a pretty sweet deal. Usually there's a yummy baked good given in trade, but not until at least November. I can't turn on the oven until then. I'm afraid the house would never cool down. And I'm not even kidding.

Hugh, June 2011

Wednesday, 6/22/11

Before...

steamed carrots, cheese to spread, raspberries, blueberries, sliced apple, cheese crackers, hummus in cup, ham balls, seeduction bread squares, green cookies (center)

After...

When I was pregnant with Hugh, I discovered DaBecca Black Forest Ham - nitrate free, humanely raised, and delicious. I've been ordering 1/3 pound, "shaved like snow", every week, ever since, with little interruption. I've found that there are only 2 deli counter people at Central Market who really know how to shred the ham so I can roll it into perfect little balls for Hugh. If I don't get one of those 2 people when it's my turn, I am very sad. Because what ensues is a small discussion about what I actually mean by "shaved" and "snow" and "shredded". So, the less able deli person will attempt to get it right and hold up a "thin" slice and say, "this is as thin as i can get it." To which I always reply, "i'm not asking for thin, i'm asking for pulverized. just do the very best you can, we really like it crumbly." and then under my breath, "i'm not your hamshreddingdoula! do i have to come back there and do it myself!?!?"

And then suddenly I feel like my mother. Which is not a problem really. Because now all her peculiar requests make absolute, perfect sense to me! In another 30 years I suppose her most current particulars will make perfect sense as well. Mothers know something!


Looky what I found! More ideas! More pretty pictures! Made Your Lunch

Tuesday, 6/21/11

Before...



on the left: carrot chips, raspberries and blueberries, soft cheese to spread on pita chips, a love note to remind him to ask for help opening his thermos, spreader and fork under the love note, fruit leather flowers (center)

on the right: pasta with homemade Bolognese, grilled cheese on rosemary bread

Thank you to Katherine Patton for sharing the Bolognese recipe! Be sure to DOUBLE this recipe, because it's a lot of effort (be prepared to love on it all day long!) and you'll want to squirrel some away in your freezer. I store in quart-size freezer bags or glass jars. This sauce makes a SUPERB and loving meal gift for a family with a new baby.

After...



It really surprises me that he leaves any fruit behind. In his natural habitat, he'd eat a full pint of blueberries in one sitting if I'd let him. He would like everyone to note that the fruit leather is his favorite part.

Monday, 6/20/11

Before...


clockwise: steamed carrots, edamame, sliced peach, kiwi, blueberries, cheddar bunnies, pita chips, ham and cheese sandwich hearts, fruit leather says "I <3 U", carrot chips, green cookies (center)


After...

another blog is born

What are those green cookies?

Where'd you get that lunch tray?

Does he really eat all that food?

I'll answer all these questions and more. Share recipes. Post pictures of before and after. Lunch accessory acquisitions, etc.

Most importantly, we're gonna have FUN!

Feeding my wee Hugh is one of the most important things I do every single day. I have taken great delight in feeding this child, since he was in my womb! As a wee growing baby, he'd start twitching every 2 hours *exactly*, to remind me to eat something. But feeding Hugh actually started way before he was even conceived. Truthfully, it started when I was learning to eat, myself! Though my own mother was tremendously (read: dreadfully) adventurous with food (octopus patties and egg foo yung for dinner!), she did impress us to make good choices. And she made a huge effort to feed us whole foods, made from scratch whenever possible. I truly appreciate that.

The second Hugh turned six months old, I offered him solid food. He wrinkled his face and spit it out. He could have cared less that it was a local, organic, perfectly steamed sweet potato. For the next few months, I tried all kinds of foods. I was just so excited to share the world of food with him and also desperate to not be his main source of nourishment. The two-hour timer continued 24 hours a day for Hugh!

Around 8 months, he grabbed a whole black bean off my dinner plate. I could tell his whole world just blew wide open. He quickly reached for another. And another. He has loved all kinds of beans since that day. It remains his absolute favorite food. But I didn't really have much to do with it. I ate it and I guess he wanted to eat what I was eating. I surely wasn't eating that bland sweet potato puree! What a smart little human, no?

When Hugh was about a year, I introduced popsicles. I wanted him to have more veggies and this was the only way I could figure out how to get him to eat a variety. It started with beets and parsley, mixed with banana, pineapple and apple juice. Now, I use anything and everything in his smoothie popsicles. He easily eats 5-10/day. PER DAY!

Check back often for new ideas on presenting wholesome food choices to young children!