When I tell you that Kenya took the bowl of this carrot ginger dip and tried to drink it, that gives you some idea about how much he LOVED it.
I get so many emails from parents saying that their little ones won’t eat vegetables. In my experience if you give them something to dip their vegetables in, magically they want to give it a try. I’m not saying this will work with every child, but it’s worked for many people I’ve suggested it to.
Taking the vegetable pieces and dipping them in a variety of different sauces makes eating a fun activity. One of my readers even suggested coming up with little names for the veggies like “trees” for broccoli, “logs” for carrots and “sticks” for beans. You can also try eating veggies with your child. Even better, at our farmers’ market you can buy all kinds of different fruits and vegetables by the piece, so I don’t have to spend tons of money before figuring out which his favorites will be.
I’ll be posting more dips in the future and I guarantee this will be a good start for little ones that usually have an aversion to vegetables.

Carrot, Ginger, Miso Dip (Makes 1/2 Cup)

1 Large Carrot, finely grated (about 1/2 Cup)
1 Tbsp Ginger, minced
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Yellow or White Miso
3 Tbsp Canola or Vegetable Oil

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree.
2. Drizzle in the oil while machine is running until puree is thick and creamy.
3. Serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

Oxo Good Grips Box Grater

This is a perfect first food for a little one. I’ve been making it for Kenya since he started eating solids, but for some reason I forgot to put my recipe on weelicious. Applesauce is THE baby food standard. Inexpensive, healthy, sweet and complementary to so many other fruits and 
vegetables, apples should be one of the stars in your babies diet.

Full of vitamin C and fiber, you can make sauce from almost any kind of apple you can find, although Fuji’s and Gala apples are especially sweet and 
delicious.

I add a touch of cinnamon just to give it a little zip, but you could easily leave it out. Why spend more money buying jarred when you can make this in minutes?!


Apple Sauce (6 Baby Servings)

2 Apples, peeled and chopped into large chunks
1/8 Tsp Cinnamon

1. Place apples in a steamer pot over boiling water.
2. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Place apples and cinnamon in a food processor and puree until smooth.
4. Cool and serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

I know, I know, another red, white and blue recipe for the holiday. What can I say? I love holidays. This is one of my favorite recipes that I’ve ever made for weelicious.
I’m a firm believer that it’s important for little ones to spend their first year or so not eating added salt (some fruits and vegetables naturally have some sodium). You want them to love the fruits and vegetables they’re eating, not the salt that enhances or changes the flavor and does not add nutritional value.
Now that Kenya’s 16 months-old, I give him food with added salt every now and then just to introduce the flavor of it for him. When I was shopping for this recipe, you can buy salt-free blue corn chips, but I used organic blue chips from Garden of Eatin,’ which only has 60 mg of sodium.
These fish sticks are crunchy on the outside and tender inside. I tested this dish with tilapia and orange roughy which both turned out delicious, but you could use almost any white fish available such as snapper or halibut. Kenya loved watching me dip my fish stick into the sweet red pepper coulis (just a fancy word for sauce. He thought it was so funny, so I helped him dip his stick in and take a bite which he thought was even funnier. It’s amazing to see what entertains a little one.
Happy 4th of July!!!!

Blue Corn Chip Crusted Fish with Red Pepper Coulis (Make 8 Fish Sticks and 1/2 Cup of Coulis)

2 Cups Blue Corn Chips (about 30 chips)
1 Red Bell Pepper (you could also use roasted bell peppers in a jar)
2 Fish Fillets, cut in 4 pieces (tilapia, orange roughy, snapper or halibut will work)
1 Egg, beaten
2 Tbsp Flour
2-3 Tbsp Oil, olive, vegetable or canola

1. Place the chips in a food processor and pulse until completely fine, similar to sand.
2. Place the red bell pepper directly over a low flame on your stove.
You want the skin of the pepper to turn black in spots. Keep turning the pepper with tongs every few minutes until it’s charred all over and starting to soften.
3. Place the pepper in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel.
Let the pepper steam for several minutes.
4. Peel the skin off the pepper (it will easily peel off), cut it in half removing the seeds and stem.
5. Place the pepper in a food processor and puree until smooth. Pour the
coulis into a bowl.
6. Place the egg, flour and the blue chip crumbs each into separate shallow bowls.
7. Roll the fish pieces in the flour and tap off to remove any excess.
8. Dip the fish in the beaten egg, letting any excess liquid drip off.
9. Roll in the blue corn chip crumbs making sure the fish is completely coated.
10. Repeat with the remaining pieces of fish.
11. When all the fish pieces are coated, heat a large saute pan over medium heat.
12. Heat the oil for 30 seconds.
13. Place the fish pieces in the pan and cook 2 minutes on each side.
14. Place the cooked fish on a paper towel lined plate.
15. Cool to room temperature (very important for the little ones) and serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

Since Kenya started eating solids, whenever he sees an avocado he lets out a little squeal of joy. I can just say the word “avocado” and he will look up at me excited. Even when he’s got a cold or just feels under the weather, few foods sound or look appealing to him, but the avocado is his comfort food.

My husband could happily eat a huge bowl of guacamole breakfast, lunch and dinner and be satisfied. I figured that the apple wouldn’t fall too far from the tree and it didn’t. Both of my boys love this “guac” recipe.

This fruit, yes, avocado is actually a fruit, is an excellent source of unsaturated fatty acids and has a higher proportion of good fat than any other food except olives. Avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including 4% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E, 4% vitamin C, 8% folate, 4% fiber, 2% iron, 4% potassium, with 81 micrograms of lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene. All important nutritional building blocks for your baby. Also, did you know that avocados have 60% more potassium then bananas and they’re fiber content is higher than any other fruit? This recipe will be a total winner with your baby.

Baby Guacamole (4 Baby Servings)

1 Avocado
1/2 Tsp Lemon Juice
1/4 of a Tomato, seeded and chopped
1 Tsp Cilantro, chopped

1. Cut the avocado in half. Use a chefs knife to pull the pit out.
2. Scoop the flesh out and place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree.
3. Serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor