baby tender turnips

Photo credit goes to me this week.  :)

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turnip tune up

I signed us up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this summer and our share started this week.  (If you live downtown, there are still a few shares available!)  Part of the appeal of joining (aside from the fabulous picked-this-morning organic produce and the surprise factor each week) is the community aspect.  We are relatively new to TriBeCa, so one of the compelling membership attributes for us was the opportunity to get a little social with like-minded, veggie-loving folks we are likely to run into during our weekend excursions.  I worked the distribution shift (each member must work one easy and very friendly 2-hour shift).  My mister and little miss kindly came to visit with our Radio Flyer in tow to haul home our loot.  The whole experience was actually a lot of fun and everyone was practically giddy to pick up their vegetables, chat with Farmer Bob and check out the operation.  Then again, it is summertime, the weather has been spectacular, and that genrally puts people in a cheerful mood!

Our first bounty included a LOT of greens (kale, chard, a selection of micro-greens - I chose broccoli rabe), root vegetables (baby turnips - more greens! and radishes) and scallions.  I made a heaping bowlful of blanched greens tossed with toasted hazelnuts and grated grana padano cheese for dinner, and steamed the turnip roots for our little sprout.  Turnips are a rich source of vitamin C but I amped up our daughter's mash with a splash of orange juice.  Baby turnips are very mild and tender.  I didn't even need to peel them.  Love that!

Tangy Turnips

Equipment:

Large sauce pot with lid

Steamer insert

Potato masher

Microplane

Ingredients

1 bunch of baby turnips or 4 small turnips
1/8 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp butter

Instructions

Remove turnip greens and set aside. Remove the crown of the turnip with a sharp knife. 

If you are using baby turnips, cut them in half and slice off the bruised areas, and you're good to go.  If you are using mature turnips, you'll need to peel them and cut into 1-inch cubes. 

Steam until tender -- about 10 minutes.

Drain and mash with a potato masher or fork. 

Mix in butter, grated ginger and a splash of orange juice.

She polished her tasty turnips off in one sitting.  That's my girl!

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nice rice

Rice is a staple in our home.  I have no less than four varieties of rice (basmati-white, basmati-brown, sushi-white and wild) sitting in beautiful, air-tight glass jars on my counter top at any given moment.  Like most parents we introduced our daughter to solid food by adding rice cereal to her bottle.  Once she mastered purees, she graduated to "regular" plain rice.  Now she's two and we always have a tub of some sort of rice concoction sitting in the fridge ready to be reheated and tossed with something to make a quick meal.  For example, if you have frozen peas and steamed chopped carrots, just toss them into 1-2 cups of cooked rice and snap, you have festive "carnival" rice as a base that can be eaten as-is or mixed into a scrambled egg.  I make "instant soup" with 1/4-1/2 cup of vegetable or chicken broth, a 1/4 cup of carnival rice and a few spoonfuls of shredded silken tofu.  You wouldn't believe something so easy could be so satisfying.

A sassy lass I know in New Hampshire recently shared with me that her 15 month-old was literally licking her plate clean after a coconut rice lunch. Since I'm always on the look-out for a delicious rice, I asked her to share her secret.  Ms. Sassy adapted the original recipe from Coastal Living magazine, then I tweaked it and vetted it through Bettina RD for nutritional input.  Of course, you may adapt this yourself and eliminate mango or pistachios, but keep in mind that these ingredients add nutritional benefits like mango's vitamin C, beta carotene, and potassium and pistachios' lutein, zeaxanthin, B vitamins, fiber, copper and magnesium.

Coconut milk puts the coconut in coconut rice.  You may be surprised to learn that a 14 oz can of coconut milk contains about 84g of fat. Recommended total fat intake for a 1-3 year olds is 30-40g/day (25-35g/day for a 4-8 yo).  However, research is inconclusive right now on what the appropriate saturated fat intake levels are for babies, so use your own judgement here and if in doubt (or if you plan to snarf some of this up yourself and find the fat content over the top), substitute with low-fat coconut milk.  If you decide to go full-on full-fat, don't panic, this recipe yields seven cups of rice, which translates into 14 servings for baby, assuming that you dole our a 1/2 cup per serving, which means each serving contains about 6g of fat.  

If baby (or anyone in your family for that matter) has a tummy troubles, coconut rice may help as it fits into the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast).  On top of that, coconut fat is often used to help resolve digestive issues since it has some easy-to-digest medium chain fatty acids. Let's go back to that can of coconut milk again.  Of the 84g of fat in the entire can of full-fat coconut milk, 75g of that is saturated fat, and of that saturated fat, 50% of it is lauric acid (12:0), a medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) which is easily digested.  Lauric acid may also have a positive impact on immune function.  

Equipment

• Sauce pan with tight-fitting lid
• Wooden spoon
• Coffee grinder or blender (to crush the pistachios)
• OXO mango slicer -- you don't have to have one, but it sure makes cutting mango away from the seed a lot easier and I'm convinced that you end up with more mango too.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 14 oz. can of coconut milk
• 2 cups of brown basmati rice (of course you can use white rice instead.  Jasmine rice works great too.)
• 1 cup diced mango
• 1/2 cup chopped and toasted pistachios
• 1/4 shredded coconut (just a bonus if you have it)

Instructions

1. Stir all broth and coconut milk together in the saucepan while the burner is on med/high.
2. Stir 2 cups of rice into the liquid. 
3. Cover wait until you see steam escaping from the pot, then turn the heat down to simmer or melt.
4. Leave pot covered and allow to cook on the lowest temperature for 45-50 minutes.  All of the liquid should be absorbed and the rice should be tender.
5. Remove from heat and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes.
6. Remove the lid, fluff with fork and mix in mangoes, pistachios and shredded coconut.
7. Spoon out 1/2 cup servings and get ready for clean plates!

It is so easy to make rice but it takes time which is why I keep a covered tub of prepared rice in the fridge at all times.  If seven cups of rice seems like too much rice to store, you can freeze it (I learned this nifty trick from that clever little minx Nigella Lawson).  Just be sure to freeze your rice in small portions so that it is easy to thaw and use when you are ready.

 

 

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too tired (or not inspired) to cook?

There are days you feel like cooking and there are days you don’t.  That’s what delivery is for, right?  Well, that works for you, but might not work for your baby, as baby food menus may be the one delivery menu niche NYC has not yet comprehensively filled. 

There are a few ways to manage these types of situations.  I always, always, always have a beautiful package of steamed organic beets in the fridge.  Tofu is another no-cook go-to food.  Both of these items are vacuum packed which gives them a fair shelf-life.  I like to keep chops and purees in the freezer or fridge to give me some flexibility, variety and save me from cooking every meal, every night, twice.

Here’s a list of fresh and packaged foods to have on hand that can be easily turned into improvised no-cook meals. 

Fresh

Avocado – just cut and scoop.

Fruit salad composed of:

• Banana
• Bluberries
• Mango - slices in a snap with this amazing OXO tool.  (Watch the video. Normally, I'm not a single-use gadget kind of gal. but a mangophillic friend suggested it to me so I watched the video and the product sold itself.  And yes, it it really is this easy to slice mango with the magical OXO tool)
• Apple - slices in a snap with a handy apple-corer.  I like Rosle, but there are certainly less expensive versions of this type of tool out there.
• Mixed with a dollop of plain yogurt or kefir

Packaged

• Plain yogurt (add nearly any fresh fruit)
• Silken tofu
• Frozen peas (simply defrost under warm running water) -- When our daughter was really small, I would scatter a 1/2 cup of peas on her tray. She loved picking them up one by one and feeding herself.  
• Steamed beets

Delivered

• Mexican or Cuban = Order a side of red or black beans.  Share your rice and guacamole, or order a plain quesadilla.
• Thai or Chinese = Share your rice and puree (or chop up) an order of plain, steamed vegetables.
• Japanese = Share your rice and order tamago (egg sushi)
• Indian = Share your rice and saag paneer or puree a portion of a mild vegetable curry entrée. Yes, curry.  You might be surprised that your baby will eat and love curry!

While we're on the subject of rice ... do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of rice that comes with take-out/delivery?  Don't discard it!  Transfer that rice to a ziploc bag and dole it out to baby for meals.  Heat up a tablespoon of stock or plain water in a small frying pan and drop in a 1/4-1/2 cup of leftover rice mixed with a vegetable chop for a minute and presto, you have dinner for baby.  The same trick works with quinoa.  Our two year-old loves quinoa, chopped beets with finely grated grana padano cheese.

Sorry for the silence over the past few weeks!  I'm working on a from-scratch rice post for next week -- one that will please your little one/s and all of the big people too!

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ain't nobody here but us chickens

The kind folks who raise the pen-free chickens that lay the eggs we feed citybaby (and ourselves) put a little one minute video together set to a James Brown song documenting a day in the life of the ladies who nest.  

If you are wondering, yes, citybaby loves her eggs.  They are not just for breakfast in our family!

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iPhone apps for kids

I’m participating in a contest at Best Kids Apps, a blog about iPhone apps for kids, for a chance to win an iPad.  Given our daughter's amazing facility with my iPhone (she expertly navigates to her favorite apps and she's not even two!), the iPad seems like smart tech tool that would receive a lot of attention in the house.
 

For whatever reason, I've kept the original iPhone box and it sits on a shelf in our room. The smallish box features a facsimile of the iPhone on the top and it is accessible when our daughter is climbing around in our bed.  She fancies it her phone and we find it very funny when she picks it up and starts talking on it.  Conversations usually sound like this, " 'LO!!  Shoes! Baby, Da-Da, 'Bye!"  Sometimes she even pushes the on button, then tries to scroll through the screens to get to her apps screen or funnier still, holds it up and says "cheese!" as she tries to snap our photo.  It is pretty comical to watch and I can only imagine what goes through her head as she does this.  

On my real iPhone, I keep all of the baby apps on one screen.  She loves Pet The Animals, Baby Babble and Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise.  But she is clever (and the GUI is so intuitive) and also routinely finds the non-baby apps like the iPhone Camera and Photos.  I'm fascinated that she can scroll through the hundreds of photos to find and watch her favorite home videos.

Because my iPhone is so essential to managing my life at this point, I do worry that she will inadvertently erase some of my essential apps which is why I keep screen shot captures of my app screens in my Photos so I can easily reinstall apps that go missing.  If our family had an iPad I think we'd use it to watch Sesame Street videos (we don't have TV), play with educational apps and bring it with us on trips to access email and keep up on Facebook since it is more portable, and in some ways more useful than a laptop.

 

 

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tofu plain and simple

Thank you to the LA Fuji Mamas for the use of this photo.  Lots of great tips and recipes can be found on their blog.

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tofutastic

A few years ago a few friends and I signed up for a tofu cooking class at SOY.  The cooking class was held in the restaurant’s diminutive kitchen and run by the infectiously effervescent owner Etsko Kizawa. Before I took that class, tofu was something I might order out but I had no idea what to do with it in my own kitchen.  I learned so much about the versatility of tofu from Etsko's fun little class and have incorporated much of what I learned that lovely spring day into the meals I prepare for our buttercup. 

 

We introduced our daughter to plain, silken tofu when she was 6 1/2 months old.  I chose silken tofu for the texture which is similar to custard.  While there is slightly more protein, fiber, fat and calories in firm tofu, I felt that the the texture of firm tofu was too dense for an infant just starting out on solids.  Tofu of all varieties is usually found in the refrigerated aisle at the market near dairy or it may be shelved (in shelf-stable packages) in the ethnic food section.  

 

The unique silken texture and flavorlessness of tofu qualifies it as an ideal first stage food.  After all, it is hard to reject something that doesn't smell, taste or look like anything suspicious!  It looks a lot a lot like plain yogurt but tofu lacks yogurt's goopiness which makes it a “tidy food” for when you are out and about.  Bettina RD shares that it's a great substitute for yogurt for children who are allergic to milk.*   If your baby is eating purees and you want to introduce tofu, start with silken.  If your baby is chewing or you have moved on to chops, then soft or medium tofu is ideal. I buy organic tofu and when I’m feeling motivated, I trek to the Japanese market where there are bountiful options in a wide variety of sizes offered in cute and clever bento-style packages.  I love having small stacks of individual-meal-sized packages of fresh tofu available in our refrigerator. I find that single-serve tofu packages store more efficiently than opened, partially consumed packages and they also pack into the zippered compartment of a bag easily.  There are usually many tofu options available at a Japanese market. Resist the strong urge to buy the cutest package.  Instead check the nutritional information and select the one with the highest calcium content.  Not all tofu is created equal!  

 

Our daughter is 23 months old and she still loves to eat plain silken tofu.  When I have the single-serve packages on hand, I simply open one, drain the excess water and let her take her best shot at the contents with a spoon.  If we only have a larger package on the shelf, I drain the water out of the package each time I open it and simply spoon out her portion into a small bowl.  Parents and grandparents alike are incredulous at the sight of our daughter happily gobbling up spoonful after spoonful of plain tofu even at parties when pizza and cake is abundantly available.  Oh, don't despair, I don't deprive her of her fun -- she eats her pizza and cake too but only after she's filled up a little with her nutritious sugar-free pre-meal!  

 

I learned how to make a tofu scramble at the SOY cooking class.  We introduced tofu scrambles to our daughter once the little imp moved past purees and into mashes and chops.  A tofu scramble is similar to an egg scramble, but it is a leaner source of protein.  One large egg (50g) has 72 calories, 6g protein, 5g fat and 212mg of cholesterol while a single 3 oz (84g) serving of Mori-Nu organic silken firm tofu is 60 calories, 6g protein, 2.5g fat, and 0mg of cholesterol.  Not only is the soy protein complete which is important for growing wee ones, it may also help fight obesity.  

 

You don’t need a wok to make a tofu scramble but it helps if you are making a scramble for the whole family or a small brunch crowd.  I'm outlining the basics here, but like an egg scramble these types of dishes are usually best when improvisational and you’ll achieve great results based upon what you like and what’s in the fridge.  

 

*Milk allergies, like all allergies are protein-based.  They usually disappear by 3 years of age yet, unlike those who are lactose intolerant and can eat some dairy products like yogurt, no dairy products should be reintroduced until then.

 

Tofu Scramble

 

Equipment:

 

• Medium-to-large nonstick frying pan (or wok)
• Spatula (I can’t live without my silicone spatulas)
• Fork or whisk
• Spoon
• Bowl

 

 

Ingredients:

 

• A pat of butter
• One egg
• 1/2 cup silken tofu -- obviously these portions can be scaled larger to feed a bigger crowd.
• Vegetable chop or chops.  We had some kale leftover from a dinner party this week.  I used that plus carrots.

 

 

Instructions:

 

1. Melt the pat of butter in the frying pan on medium.  Be sure to coat the surface of the pan or wok.
2. Beat one egg in the bowl as the butter melts.
3. Pour the egg into the pan.
4. Scoop 1-3 spoonfuls of silken tofu out of the container and crumble tofu into the cooking egg.
5. Mix the tofu and eggs together with the spatula.
6. Add 1-2 spoonfuls of your chops.
7. Continue to mix the ingredients together until fully cooked.
8. Slide the scramble onto a plate and allow to cool.  It should have the consistency of fluffy scrambled eggs and the eggs should be fully cooked.

 

 

I add all types of vegetables to tofu scrambles.  Chops are easy because I usually have them on hand, but coarsely chopped spinach works great and so does minced zucchini.   Shallots and mushrooms complement each other nicely.  These items will cook quickly in the scramble and do not need to be pre-cooked, but feel free to add practically anything green like asparagus, peas, broccoli or diced green beans. 

 

Tofu scrambles are simple to scale to a bigger crowd for brunch or even dinner.  I usually add one egg and 3-4 tablespoons of tofu per person.  If you have some left-over, you can toss it and re-heat it up with with quinoa or rice the next day.  A tofu scramble is a healthy, hearty and flavorful way to start or end the day no matter how many teeth you have!

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10 Tips for Managing and Organizing Your Family #IconApps

In one of my first citybaby posts, I stated clearly that I am not a super-mom.  I'm absolutely not, but I am pretty organized.  

One way I've been able to provide cooked-from-scratch meals for my daughter since she started solid foods is by managing our time.  An organized parent is an efficient parent, and as full-time working parents, we make an earnest effort to make the time we spend as a family meaningful.  Quality mealtime is a priority for us.  These ten tips have helped me consistently put nutritious, flavorful and seasonal meals on the plate with minimal effort.

1. Keep it simple.  I'm not Martha Stewart and neither are you.  Family meals should look and taste good, but your dinners don't need to look like a food stylist plated them every night.  The effort you put into a home-cooked nutritious meal will be appreciated by everyone around the table even if the final product isn't ready for it's close-up.     
2. If someone offers help, take it.  Even your toddler can "help."  Your child's help may slow you down, but the extra time you take getting their "help" will give you unexpected one-on-one time focused on an activity that ultimately may help your child build confidence.  
3. On a related note, be social!  Of course it goes without saying that having a network of friends will help you live a full and fun life, but cast a wide net and participate or create online social communities too.  You might be surprised to learn how all of us thinking together are smarter (and more efficient) than one of us thinking alone.  Embrace the wisdom of crowds.  I've learned valuable stuff from joining Facebook fan pages like CSA, Twitter Moms, 365 Tips and I hope the fans of my blog citybaby have picked up some ideas and inspiration from me; I've certainly picked up really useful information from commenters!
4. Employ short-cuts but try not to rely too heavily upon processed or pre-prepared foods for every element of your family meal.  You may never be able to eliminate cans, jars and frozen foods completely, but try to incorporate these types of items in moderation.  Make an effort to put one made-from-scratch element on the plate each night.  For example, if steamed, peeled vacuum-packed organic beets are available in your market, use them to make a puree and slice up the rest for a salad.  Trust me, a beet puree made from quality beets will trump a jar of baby food beets any day. 
5. When it comes to cooking, act on a grand scale.  If the thought of breaking out the pots, pans, steamers and food processor every night at the end of a long day with the end goal of making baby food every night isn't appealing, I'm not surprised.  When our daughter started eating solid foods, I introduced her to pumpkin first.  The beauty of making gallons of pumpkin puree was that it was the puree that kept giving.  After the effort involved in making one ginormous batch of pureed pumpkin was completed in the span of an evening, we had purees at the ready in the freezer for weeks. Putting a grand effort into a task over the weekend will buy you precious time later in the week when your energy and time resources may be depleted.
6. Use technology. I mean really use it. I use the Intuition on my iPhone to keep my ideas for our meals organized an I believe this task helps me minimize food waste. I also keep notes for my blog posts in the same app.  I build my weekly grocery list with my FreshDirect app throughout the week adding items as I think of it.  When it comes time to place my order for the week, it only takes moments instead of hours because most of the work is already done.  
   
7. Use an online calendar and share it.  I create events in Google Calendar and "invite" my husband to them all the time.  Even if he's not really invited to our book group, or my salon appointment there's a reminder in his calendar that I'm going out so that he doesn't make conflicting plans. I even "invite" our babysitter to events like our vacation (even though she won't be joining us) to help her remember when we'll be away. These calendar entries also remind me to be sure that a balanced and easy-to-heat-up meal sits in the refrigerator for my two favorite people have something to eat while I'm out as a thank you to my lost-in-the-kitchen spouse.
8. Write things down.  Don't laugh, but I actually wrote "write things down" on a post-it as I put my thoughts together for this post.  I can't keep everything in my head (who can?) nor do I like having a desk littered with post-its and random notes, so most of my notes to self are kept in my Intuition app.  I always have my phone with me -- having one tidy place where ideas, errands and to-dos are jotted down keeps me referencing my lists often and helps me keep things prioritized.  I even email notes to myself directly from the app for later follow-up or calendarization.  Post-its are unavoidable but my rule is post-its are for urgent items only.  I get a dollop of satisfaction each day as I drop no-longer-needed post-its in the recycle bin because I know that those things have been truly crossed off the list, even if that simply means they migrated to my iPhone.
9. Simplify, simplify, simplify.  I can't underestimate this one.  Try not to buy products that have a single purpose.  You're likely to use products that have multiple functions more often than the ones that have very limited use.  I find I use products that make my life easier more frequently when the are sitting very accessibly on a shelf or a counter free from clutter.  For example, I used a food processor to make nearly all of my daughter's baby food and as it turns out, because I was using the food processor all the time for purees and chops, I noticed that I used it to make slaws, soups and sauces for us more frequently too.  If I had a baby-food cooker and a food processor, the thought of creating more dirty dishes on a nightly basis might have prevented me from the DIY meals my family enjoys so much.  As a result, our daughter is an adventurous eater. I directly credit her zeal for vegetables to the variety of ingredients she was introduced to thanks to my handy food processor.
10. Tip number nine doesn't exclusively apply to cooking.  Even when you are out of the kitchen, take steps to simplify all aspects of your life and you'll become more efficient.  If you have 100 apps on your phone, you are less likely to be able to find or even remember that you have that one very specialized app that does that one very special thing. Keep and use apps that multifunction like Intution (access call lists, errands, grocery lists, wish lists and more) and TripIt (manage flight info, car rentals, hotels, OpenTable dinner reservations and eVites).  Set up an iGoogle account to aggregate email and calendar accounts so that all of your content appears in one integrated page.  If you use social media, set up an account with Digsby or HootSuite so you access all of your accounts, friends and followers at once instead of managing multiple log-ins and tabs on your browser.  On the no-tech side, adapt and reuse what you already have to keep everything organized instead of buying special stuff to accomplish the very same task.  For example, I never had a diaper bag -- I simply outfitted a mid-sized  tote with baby items like bottles, a Skip-hop changer, burp cloths, pacifiers, alcohol wipes and Purell and it was totally fine (ditto the messenger bag for my husband).  My baby was never the wiser, we probably saved $50-100 by using what we already had and we still use these bags for non-baby-specific purposes.

After all, you don't need specialized gear to be a good parent, but being organized (and using a few organization tools) makes it easier.

Disclosure

This post is part of a blogging contest from the TwitterMoms community. There is a chance this post could be randomly selected to win a $50 Target GiftCard, so wish me luck! For more details, you can view the contest page.

 

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avocado mash up

Sincere thanks to sean dreilinger for the use of this photo of delicious avocado.

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audacious avocados

I live in a city now but I did not grow up in one.  I was born and raised in South Florida before it was converted into one big mini-mall.  In fact, it wasn't unusual to see our neighbors riding horseback around our little community.  Strawberries and tomatoes were procured from the local u-pick farm (we often ate as many as we picked - at least I did) and our trees were heavy with fruit year 'round.

One of the biggest and oldest trees on my parents' property is one that still provides an abundant crop of enormous avacados season after season.  I think it is kind of sweet that the avocados from the very same tree that used to supply me with produce for my weekend fruit stand (operated from my Radio Flyer wagon) laid the foundation for our little omnivore's insatiable appetite for this curious fruit.

Nutritionally speaking, avocados are undeservedly maligned.  While no one has ever gotten fat from eating avocados, they aren't exactly the go-to produce for anyone counting calories.  Lucky for babies, they need lots of fat and their daily caloric intake is nothing short of astonishing.  Avocados are high in monounsaturated fat ("the good fat") and contrary to popular lore they contain zero cholesterol (only animal products contain cholesterol).  Avocados do however contain a good dose of the plant sterol beta-sitosterol, a kind of plant cholesterol that may actually promote heart health.  In addition to loading baby up on healthy fats, avocados are incredibly high in fiber, especially soluble fiber, the fiber that makes you feel full and cuts down your cholesterol.  As it happens, this tasty, mellow fruit is also an excellent source of potassium, folic acid, and that eye-protecting antioxident lutein, all of which are important nutrients for baby.

Despite my clear Floridian bias, our daughter eats avocados from both coasts.  Florida avocados, generally less expensive and much bigger, are only available fall through spring while California (aka Hass) avocados are available year-round.  Both types are packed with nutrients, but there are some slight differences ounce by ounce, and when feeding baby, it is a game of ounces. In a 1/2 cup of pureed avocados (4 oz), the creamier California avocados contain 192 calories, 18g fat (11g monounsaturated), 8g fiber, 583 mg potassium, and 102 mcg folic acid, compared to the Florida avocados which contain fewer calories (138 calories), less fat (12g fat -- 6g monounsaturated), less fiber (6g fiber), less potassium (404 mg), and far less folic acid (40 mcg).

From the feeding-your-baby perspective, avocados are like bananas, clementines and kiwis, in that they are super portable, come in their own packaging and a 1/2 avocado sans seed can act as it's own "bowl" for a lunch or snack if you are on the go.  

To prepare an avocado you must be sure it is ripe.  Since avocados don't ripen on the tree, it is best to buy one that is under-ripe and let it ripen on your counter-top.  Hass avocados must be fully brown, while Florida avocados will be bright green but the flesh will "give" when you give it a squeeze.  The pit may rattle when you shake it -- if this is the case, that is an indication that the fruit is past-prime.

Slice your avocado in 1/2 from the top to the bottom, cutting completely around the pit.  Open the avocado and squeeze some lemon or lime on the fruit on the side that contains the pit.  Cover this 1/2 of the avocado with cling-wrap so that the fruit comes in little to no contact with the air and reserve in the refrigerator for later use.  Cut the other 1/2 in half again lengthwise and use your knife to score the fruit, taking the blade all the way to the skin but not puncturing it.  Invert the skin and cut the perfect avocado cubes away from the skin.  Mash with a fork until you achieve the consistency you want.  Mmmmmmmm.  Virgin guacamole.  If your baby doesn't like it, it will be tough to store the mash since it will turn brown quickly.  On the bright side, the mash is a terrific spread for mom or dad's turkey, tuna or veggie sandwich as a healthy, rich, cholesterol-free substitute for mayonnaise.  

 

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nattō is neato

Thank you to Jasja Dekker for the use of this photo.  You captured the essence of nattō so well!

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nattō not nachos

"What the heck is that?" you may be asking.  The way it was explained to me by tofu-cooking-sensei Etsuko Kizawa, nattō is comfort food to the Japanese much like mac-n-cheese is to the average American.  Funny side note, I didn’t realize that mac-n-cheese was uniquely American until I went to a Southern-style restaurant with a few British friends and found myself translating many of the foods on the menu.  I expected questions about collard greens, black-eyed peas and hush puppies but was genuinely surprised when I was asked if mac-n-cheese had anything to do with McDonalds.

So what is nattō?  While fermented soybeans may not ever qualify as one of your comfort foods, the lovely thing about introducing new foods to babies is that they don’t know what you do and don't like.  Natto is really, really good for you, so why not try it?  Unlike most of my posts, nattō is not a grocery store staple.  You can find it in any Japanese market.  I always get a sense of smarty-pants satisfaction at the check-out when I have natto in my basket because the checker usually gives me an appreciative look and silent smiling nod of approval when natto is in my pile of goodies. 

Nattō is definitely an acquired taste.  It has a viscous, gooey texture and can have a strong odor.  Okay, fair enough, I hear you asking, “This doesn’t sound very appealing, why should I serve this to baby?”  The answer is because natto is terrifically nutritious and has multiple health benefits.  You have a small window of opportunity to introduce new foods to baby, right?  At some point your little person is going to beg you for a Happy Meal and chicken fingers, so why not use this precious time wisely and introduce out-of-the ordinary foods that are really healthy.  In fact, According to Parents Magazine, by 15 months, [most] kids eat more French fries than veggies ... taste buds will adapt to what you feed [your baby]. If that ends up being lots of whole grains and veggies, [baby will] begin asking for those.  The more variety you offer, the more foods baby will grow up to like.  This has certainly been the case with us.  Of course our daughter eats French fries occasionally, but at 22 months, she also very happily eats asparagus, beets, broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, quinoa and oartmeal.  French fries are a treat, not the standard.

  

Not convinced yet?  Are you thinking "my baby is too young to be introduced to something as radical as fermented foods."  Au contraire!  According to the well-informed Bettina RD Good old fashioned plain yogurt, a staple of our daughter's diet, is a fermented food and baby consumption of this item is oft encouraged by pediatricians to build up the healthy bacteria in baby's gut.  For toddlers, improving the diversity of digestive bacteria reduces digestive issues.  Improved digestive activity leads to better absorption of many of the nutrients baby needs to grow.  As a long-term bonus, there's research indicating that long-term consumption of fermented soybeans in particular may help reduce the onset of type 2 diabetes.  

An extra bonus is that nattō requires no cooking.  I buy small packages and mix it with brown rice but you can serve it plain and right out of the package.  Some Japanese eat it for breakfast with soy sauce and mustard or sugar.  I’m not a fan of adding salt or sugar to food I serve my baby, but this is a choice and I’ll leave the condiment options up to you.  According to the very lovely Etsuko at SOY, some people grate daikon and mix it into nattō to change the flavor and texture. To be completely honest with you, our little girl doesn't like it much (yet), but I keep trying since it is such a super-food and the benefits are numerous.  I've read that some food items take as many as 12 introductions to generate interest in a toddler and I've introduced nattō about four times. If your little ninja is over one year old, consider mixing natto with honey or agave to sweeten it instead of sugar.  You can spread nattō on toast, which is likely going to be my next attempt at serving up natto since she loves toast and if that doesn't work, I'm going to try rice crackers (she calls these cookies).

If you can find nattō, try it.  It is not expensive and if baby likes it, you’ll be happy to have another easy to prepare (yet somewhat exotic) go-to healthy food in the fridge at mealtime.  And while you're in the Japanese market, look for individually wrapped single-serve organic tofu.  I find that these tofu packages are the perfect size for meals.  They travel really well and are considerably less messy than storing partially eaten tofu containers in the fridge.  There are usually many varieties of tofu available at a Japanese market. Resist the urge to buy the cutest package -- instead check the nutritional information and select the one with the highest calcium content.  Not all tofu is created equal!  More on tofu another time, our little pixie is a BIG fan.

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no fear of spears

My thanks to  itsjustanalias for the use of this photo.

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auspicious asparagus

Eggs are incorporated into more than just breakfast in our household.  

Everyone in our family loves them and we eat them all sorts of ways.  One of the easiest egg dishes that can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner is a frittata.  If you have chops, cheese and of course eggs, all you need is time.  Our 22 month old eats asparagus as long as I chop it up and add it to a frittata. In comparison, I don't think I was willing to eat asparagus until I graduated from college.  

If you have abundant chops or purées, use them in a frittata.  This asparagus-gruyère  frittata is one that I make regularly, but broccoli, peas, ham, carrots, leeks, mushrooms, cauliflower and just about any other chop-able vegetable will work in a frittata.

Frittatas are easier to make than egg scrambles but do require more time and some patience.  The secret of a successful frittata is to leave it alone after you add the ingredients at the stove-top stage up until the point you slide it out of the pan an hour later.  A frittata needs time to sit and properly set.  If your baby has reached the point that he or she is picking up Cheerios, after the frittata fully cools, cut it up into small bite-sized pieces, scatter a few small pieces on your child's tray and encourage your cutie to pick up pieces to eat on their own.  Little bites work well for the barely-toothed, especially if your main non-egg ingredient is a purée and you substitute plain yogurt for grated cheese.  

As I noted in a previous post, some pediatricians do not recommend feeding eggs to babies so if you are allergic or have concerns that your baby may be, be sure to ask first.  Our doc said it was fine to introduce eggs to our daughter before 12 months. We did and she gobbled them right up from the start. Nutritionally speaking, eggs are considered the gold standard for protein. If your little person isn't gobbling up meat (many do not, including ours) eggs are a healthy go-to for protein.  My friend and nutritional consultant Bettina RD adds that egg yolks in particular have a lot of nutritional goodness in their fatty, yellow yolkness.  Egg yolks are high in lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidant carotenoids that protect the eyes and skin and that are fat-soluble. 

Family Frittata

Equipment:

• 4 oz. small single-serving containers
• Frying pan (non-stick helps but is not essential)
• Spatula
• Whisk

Ingredients:

• 7-8 eggs -- I get my free-range eggs fresh from the farm.  If I'm lucky, my egg purveyor will bring me a few duck eggs, which have rich yolks and yield delicious frittatas. 
• 1/2 a shallot finely chopped or one chopped scallion bulb.
• Chopped asparagus -- be sure to snap off the woody ends before you start chopping.
• 1/4 cup-1/2 cup grated gruyère (or any hard cheese like cheddar, swiss, jack).  If your baby does not have many teeth, use a microplane or substitute with yogurt or softened cream cheese.  The cheese is essential as it will bind the frittata together when it has fully cooled.
• 1/4 cup of whole milk

Instructions:

1. Turn the heat to medium and add a pat of butter or a spoonful of olive oil to the pan.
2. Add asparagus and shallot or scallions.  Sautée lightly until the vegetables begin to soften.  About 3-5 minutes.  
3. While the asparagus is cooking, beat 7-8 eggs leaving out two yolks.  
4. Mix 1/4 cup of milk to the eggs.
5. Remove from heat, drop contents of pan into a bowl and allow to cool.
6. Turn the heat to medium-low and pour the egg mixture into the pan.
7. Scatter vegetables evenly around the pan.  Don't mix them.  You want the frittata to set.
8. Scatter grated cheese evenly on top of the frittata.  Try to mix the cheese into the eggs without disturbing the bottom of the pan.
9. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
10. Turn heat down to low and set the timer for 10 minutes.  Don't touch the contents of the pan or cover it.
11. When it looks like the frittata is nearly ready, turn on the boiler.  Remove the pan from the stove-top while the boiler heats up.
12. Place the pan in the boiler for 3-6 minutes.  Keep an eye on it to make sure the top does not burn.
13. Remove from the oven and allow the frittata to fully cool.  This might take 40-60 minutes.  Letting the frittata fully cool is the most important step.  Once it is cooled and set, it will be very easy to slide the frittata out of the pan.  If you try to remove it too soon, it will tear apart and you will have a very messy mess on your hands.
14. Slide the frittata out of the pan onto a cutting board using the spatula to separate it from the pan.  

You can cut up the frittata any way you like -- you don't have to cut it like a pie.  I cut ours in long strips and then into bite-sized pieces for our daughter.  She picks up the frittata cubes and pops them into her mouth like popcorn.  Between Mr. Witty-Charming and me, we usually polish off the other 1/2 of the frittata for dinner (which sounds like a lot but is actually only 2 eggs each) with a frisée or arugula salad.  Baby Wonderful will eat her share and we reserve the rest in a few 4 oz. small single-serving containers for lunch or dinner the next day.  To mix it up and add some fiber, I toss frittata cubes with warm quinoa or rice the second time around.  

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