HOMEMADE BABY FOOD FOR THE MINI WHIPPED GOURMAND – PART 2

A child’s first year of life is a whirlwind. Some days, if you watch close enough, I swear you could see them grow right before your eyes. Mini Whipped’s palate has evolved as fast as her motor skills. It has kept this cook on her toes! By 5 months, we were feeding her rice cereal. A few months later, I started making her homemade baby food and freezing it in ice cube trays. (Find first set of baby food tipshere.) Now, at 1 year of age, she will eat just about anything. Still, I have found that having readymade meals in the freezer makes things easy when our schedules are taxing.

Some tips and ideas for feeding a 1 year old:

MUFFIN TINS: Upgrade frozen portions from ice cube trays to muffin tins! The perfect new portion size.

ORZO PASTA: A great pasta to add to meals. It is small enough you don’t have to cut it further and big enough to add some appreciated texture.

VEGGIE BABY LASAGNA: Steam a bag of frozen spinach. Puree it. Mix in orzo pasta, small curd cottage cheese and a bit of shredded mozzarella. Freeze portions in muffin tins.

WAFFLES: Whole wheat frozen waffles are a favorite breakfast treat in our house. Just cut them up in small squares and serve with bananas.

GROUND MEAT: Ground turkey and chicken are fast and easy. Freeze in baby size portions and pull them out to saute quickly for finger food. Serve with peas and carrots. The organic frozen veggies will thaw in hot water while you cook up the ground turkey.

POLENTA: Follow package directions, put the cooked polenta in a loaf pan. Use slices as needed for baby and parents! Try topping with your favorite pasta sauce.

MINI PIZZAS: Buy mini whole wheat pita breads. Top with sauce, cheese and ground meat or veggies and put them in the toaster oven or under the broiler. Put extras on a baking sheet and freeze them. Stack the frozen pizzas in a tupperware and take out as needed.

SMOOTHIES: Yogurt and fresh fruit smoothies will teach your little one how to use a straw in no time!

taken by : http://whippedtheblog.com/2009/04/20/homemade-baby-food-for-the-mini-whipped-gourmand-part-2/

Semolina Dosa

I am glad to share this recipe with you all today. As the title suggests, it is ” Semolina Dosa ” but of a different kind.This is part of our blog hop with the theme “dosas” . Hence, you can have a galore of dosas today.

Usually semolina dosa, is an instant dosa , which is made by mixing a few flours and other ingredients together.. But, here,the urad dal is soaked and made to a batter.  it is then mixed with semolina and  let to ferment  for  eight hours, the outcome is a wonderful blend of aromatic and crispy dosas. I am really in awe with this dosa, thanks to my mom.

Ingredients :

urad dal 1 cup

semolina 2 cups

salt to taste

oil 

Method :

Soak urad dal for two hours. Grind to a fine paste. Mix the semolina  and allow to ferment. The batter is thick, unlike other dosa batters. One needs to add water to the required consistency. Heat a skillet, smear some oil, take a ladle full of batter, pour it and sizzle it in circular shape, from inner to outer side. Put a spoon of oil and let cook till brown. Remove and serve with coconut chutney or onion chutney.

taken by : http://www.evergreendishes.com/2015/04/10/semolina-dosa/

Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice Casserole

Last week, we had my parents in town AND my son’s baseball game. Since things were crazy busy, I decided to throw this casserole together in the morning and have it ready to go before baseball that evening. It took me about 10 minutes to put together, and fed my family, my parents, and still had enough leftover for two lunches the next day. The kids loved this because of the cornflake “cereal” topping (their word choice, haha). It was very flavorful and it was an all in one casserole since it had veggies, rice, and chicken already in it. This is definitely the perfect go to casserole on those busy evenings!!
And to make the night even better, my son’s team won the game! See, this casserole is even good luck, haha!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
• 2 cups broccoli, chopped
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups cooked rice (any rice works, just make sure it is cooked)
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup corn flakes, crushed (I put cereal in a sandwich bag, seal it, and hit the bag a few times until crushed)
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
2. Mix the chicken, broccoli, cream of chicken soup, cooked rice, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Pour mixture into greased baking pan and spread evenly.
4. Sprinkle crushed corn flakes over mixture evenly.
5. Drizzle melted butter over corn flakes.
6. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes, or until casserole is bubbly.
7. Serve immediately!!

taken by : http://thecookinchicks.com/2015/03/cheesy-chicken-rice-and-broccoli-casserole/