Spinach, leek, and jicama quinoa porridge

Healthy eating habits are something you can instill in your child from an early age. As parents, we have the ability to shape our child's palate. We have the power to help them make good eating choices by offering healthy and flavorful food from an early age. We try to keep the sweet and salty items to a minimum in our house anyways, but it is especially good to go easy on them when you have an impressionable little one around (side note, not all sodium is created equal).

Have I told you all the story of Papa (grandpa) giving Dalia Lays potato chips at a mere 12 months? It didn't go over well (for me, not her, she obviously liked the chip she was able to swallow before I freaked), but I had to give a little laugh thinking about how "crazy" I must have seemed. Even so, I don't regret seeming like a crazy mommy because I think all of this food stuff is a pretty serious deal. Eventually she will probably have a lot of sweet/salty things, just not yet. And to this date, she hasn't had any meat, either.

Anyhoo-This is a video of Dalia eating a delicious, off the cuff meal created by yours truly: spinach, leek, and jicama quinoa porridge. (Check out her sweet spoon skills!)

Quinoa is a super, protein-packed grain with a nutty flavor--delicious hot or cold! You can mix anything with quinoa for a delicious side dish or entrée. Try cooking it in low sodium vegetable broth and then add some diced dried apricots, cilantro, and a yummy orange vinaigrette.

I didn't use a recipe, but I can give you a general idea of how to make this.

1. cut leeks, place leeks in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes to remove debris, remove and set aside

2. peel jicama, dice, and set aside

3. saute leeks, jicama, and spinach in some garlic-infused olive oil (fats help with baby's brain development, which is why pedis never say go easy easy on fats early on)

4. let cool and puree, set aside

Helpful Tip: We fill ice cube trays with "green veggie cubes", freeze them, and add them to everything we make. We always have some form of these on hand. For more info, Ruth Yaron's "Super Food" is a fabulous book. I blogged about it here.

5. cook quinoa in low sodium vegetable stock, fluff, and transfer to serving dish

6. mix in your puree (you can do a lighter puree if you want more texture), add as much of the green mixture as you like. Less=drier texture/More=more porridgey texture

7. add whatever salt/pepper you desire!

And it is clearly good. You saw how Dalia ate it up!

Adventures in Eating

Check out these chompers (still only 6 teeth, but she can eat ANYTHING):

Thanks to my lovely husband, Dalia pretty much refuses to use a "baby" cup (sippy) anymore. And while this seems like a good thing, it makes my life harder!

Enjoy some Dalia photos, oh how my child loves to eat:

Dipping the spoon is her new favorite thing:

She claps for herself after she makes it to her mouth.

And, the big girl cup!

Silly

Don't forget to VOTE FOR DALIA, photo #1! I think she is still in first place, but don't forget to vote once daily until Sunday!

Agar What?

We are going to try this bad boy from one of my favorite baby food sites: wholesomebabyfood.com

Adjustments? We don't eat gelatin (it isn't kosher and it isn't vegetarian) so we will use agar agar instead. Applesauce is still out of the picture so I am going to do this with mango sauce and blueberry juice.

Fruited Gel Squares

(I know my baby better than this site and I know she can handle this recipe)

Ingredients:

1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (or add thin dices of banana, peach, pear, grapes, blueberry etc)
2 cups apple juice
3 small packages unflavored gelatin

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix cinnamon into applesauce and set aside.

Pour 1 cup cold apple juice in 8x8 pan and sprinkle gelatin on top. Heat remaining 1 cup of apple juice in the microwave for 3 minutes or until boiling.

Stir boiling juice into the gelatin and cold apple juice. Stir in applesauce.

Refrigerate for 1/2 hour and then stir to keep applesauce evenly distributed. If you do not stir when in the fridge, the applesauce settles to the bottom, but it still tastes great.

Refrigerate for an additional 2 1/2 hours or until firm. Cut into squares with a knife, or use cookie cutters to cut into shapes, and serve.

Purees Bite the Dust

yes, those are piles and piles of boxes in the background--another starbucks, please

With the exception of some food Grammi got for Dalia to help us on the road while we are moving, Dalia is past pureed foods (at only 8 months). She has been eating chunks with her hands for about a month already, but I have "let go" and allowed her to self feed. It is scary at times (um, she looked at me with a mouth FULL of sweet potatoes), but I know this is an important step in her development and she is ready ready ready.

Example #2:

the smaller the chunk, the more annoyed and frustrated she gets...too much work for not enough food!

Time for some Investigation!

So given our recent week of not so much sleep (well hardly any really, especially if you count "hours in a row" it just might end up being "hour" total) it is time to start investigating the culprit of Dalia's tummy troubles--and sleep troubles...

Ah, just in time for packing/moving/stressful purging of belongings/sorting/cleaning/organizing. Thank goodness Grammi is hear to relieve some mommy and daddy duties! Still, this isn't going to be fun at all is it?

Another Starbucks decaf, please.

Perhaps an allergy or maybe a slight sensitivity to a certain something?

Bye bye bananas, brown rice, and applesauce! Oh brother, did she have two of the three yesterday? And don't I have a zillion mango banana cubes in the freezer (oh, new smoothie options for mommy). Well thank goodness we had a chance to see Dr. Minkus just when we felt like we didn't know what to do!

The best part? Minkus said, "no teeth in sight for the near future." I had a serious are you *&^%$#@ moment! No teeth? This isn't the dreaded "teething" pains? AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Seriously he must be wrong--just this once.

Well, updates will come soon enough! We will get to the bottom of this constipation stuff sooner or later.

IHOP

What else does a mommy need to say?

(please notice the chanukah princess bib, totally out of season, but totally rockin')

And how about this one?

And we can't forget that Dalia is basically refusing her sippy (for drinking purposes, but for teething? yes, please) and opting for adult drinking glasses:

Lest I forget to mention that Dalia is a grabbing, touching, exploring, and extremely curious little munchkin' and has recently changed our ability to do anything! She is ACTIVE!

Dalia Meets Salmon

The Horowitz family had a lovely Shabbat, thank you very much! On the menu? A delicious and vibrant piece of wild sockeye salmon. And this was not just for the mommy and daddy :)

We decided it was time for Dalia to taste something very different from her usuals (mango, banana, apple, grape, blueberry, cherry, egg yolk, brown rice, oatmeal, flax seed, wheat germ, asparagus, broccoli, and acorn squash--the list goes on and on). We cut up her little piece of salmon and placed in on her tray. Within seconds her little exploring hands were maneuvering the pieces with serious determination. SUCCESS! She looked at us with a huge smile as she placed several of her fingers (and the small piece of fish) in her mouth.

She really enjoys feeding herself these days and it is great to see her learning this very important skill.

Now what could top off a meal of amazing fish?

Well #1: prunes (boy Dal has been having poo issues) and #2: a piece of North Shore Kosher Bakery's challah:

Talk about a great night!

Goodies from our Visit

This, my friends, is pure and joyful love

And a candid in the dress sent to us by Grandma, of course:

We can't help but swipe away little tears every time we take a photo memory of our little girl. Take this one, for example:

What a thrill! Standing with them help of daddy and laughing uncontrollably.

She is growing so quickly.

This one is also a goodie:

We just cut off a slab of watermelon and let her go at it. She loved squeezing it, sucking it, licking it, and destroying it. Now that is what I call a fun Saturday afternoon.

Dalia Loves Sippy Cups and Oatmeal

I thought you all would appreciate this home video:

Happy Sunday

The sun is just starting to set and all of our windows are open, I love fresh air! I hear the birds chirping away-happy as can be that spring is finally in full force. Nothing beats a seventy degree Sunday evening. Don't you agree? To top it off, a friend from a long time ago gave birth to a beautiful baby boy-an amazing and natural home birth. Congratulations, K!

The day was packed with adventure (I am being sarcastic). With our washer and dryer in constant use this week, there was a mountain of clothing begging for my attention. The kitchen requested my presence as well, and to top it off, I also tended to the floors and my closet. Needless to say, I am exhausted. H did quite a bit of work this weekend, too.

Our little munchkin is asleep and H and I are about to seriously chow down on some delicious, healthy lasagna. You didn't think lasagna could be healthy? Well I am a pro at making everything a little bit healthier :)

Speaking of making food, H and I made some decisions about how we are going to proceed with the world of solid foods. I have to do a bit more research and processing, but it did not involve the purchase of a fancy baby food maker, despite my original plans to get one. More on that later this week.

Have a beautiful Sunday!