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!!!!

I wanted to cook something festive and naturally colorful for the 4th of July and came up with this heavenly blue potato gratin. Not wanting it to have a heavy 
cream sauce, I thought that the idea of “cauliflower cream” sounded so 
much more nutritious and delicious. Its kind of surprising that the cream’s main ingredient 
is a vegetable since it has such an undeniably rich taste. Let it be known, though, I don’t 
want to deceive Kenya into thinking he’s getting cream sauce. I want him to know 
that even cauliflower can be the star ingredient of a dish and give you just as much flavor, if not more, than heavy cream.
This is one of those perfect dishes to serve on the fourth because the 
adults will dig it too. I made it for a party and everyone loved the 
red, white and blue theme. Kenya loved peeling apart the layers and 
eating them one by one. Although weelicious stands by the concept that every recipe should be easy, 
fast and fresh, this one might take you a few extra minutes. But for 
me, it was worth it!

I am addicted to Grape-Nuts and have been for years. There is something about the nutty, crunchy taste that I just can’t get enough of. Kenya is getting to the age where he wants to try everything he sees me eat. So when I pour my bowl each morning, he always wants to munch on a few. It became clear to me very quickly that he inherited my love for them. Still, I want him to have variety in every meal, so I decided to make him a Grape-Nut breakfast parfait. Sure I could just make him his own little bowl with milk and berries, but that could be a real mess. So I came up with this recipe that also gives him fruit and dairy in addition to the carbohydrate of the Grape-Nuts. This being the week of 4th of July, I incorporated a red, white and blue theme for the fun of it, but it’s great any day of the week.
I try to make this dish first thing in the morning, so that by the time Kenya’s ready for breakfast the Grape-Nuts have gotten a chance to soften up from the yogurt. Kenya has so much fun watching me take the spoon, push it deep in the glass and pull up a delectable, colorful bite of pure yumminess.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for…popsicles! OK, fine, I know 
that’s not how the song goes, but I promise you’ll have some seriously happy 
little ones after serving this treat (The picture of Kenya, above, gleefully holding his 2 popsicles was so much better then the actual shot of the finished product).
Why do all popsicle recipes have to have so much sugar in them? Not only is it bad for you, but you lose all the great, sweet natural taste of the fruit. I got the most 
heavenly strawberries from Harry’s Berries at the farmers market and 
decided to see if I could make popsicles (heaven forbid) without sugar. 
Not only was the end result delicious, I felt like they were totally superior 
to brands that I bought at the grocery with added sugar.
This recipe makes 12 popsicles for a fraction of the price you’d pay for a box of “healthy” or 
organic pops. In those, you only get 6 and spend more for the privilege. So these are tasty and a good deal too.
Strawberries are packed full of vitamin C and ellagic acid, believed 
to be help prevent cancer. The allergic potential for strawberries is 
high, though, so make sure to only give these to kids over the age of 
one without a history of food sensitivities. As always, ask your doctor first if you have any concerns.

I served these to kids at a swim party this week and you should have 
seen their eyes light up when I pulled them out. The best part was 
after they ate them, the little ones weren’t jacked up on sugar which 
made all the mommies and daddies VERY happy!

Years ago I had the great fortune to take several trips to Morocco for modeling jobs. It was so 
incredible being able to travel to cities all over the country and to experience 
the culture first hand. We would go to what are called souks, where the local merchants sell hand woven rugs, tagines (covered clay pots used to cook stews), food, jewelry and much more. It was always fun getting to take a break from work or shopping 
(when time allowed) to eat delicious creations, many of which were made with couscous.
When I’ve asked people what they think couscous is, they usually say, 
”a grain”. Actually, couscous is pasta made by rolling and shaping moistened 
semolina wheat and then coating the tiny pieces with finely ground 
wheat flour. The quick-cook variety, which you can buy in stores, takes only 
minutes to steam.
Although I love a savory dish with couscous, I’m always trying to 
think of healthy sweet treats for Kenya that he will enjoy without giving him sugar. With 
that in mind, I came up with this vanilla bean couscous recipe. It couldn’t be easier and you can make as much or as little as you 
want just by increasing the amount of milk and couscous. If you want to make it 
even sweeter, you could add some agave nectar, but when Kenya, his 
grandmother and I tried it today we thought it was heavenly just like it is.

Last week when I was heading out to the farmers market, my friend Zoe said, “You should make something with figs”. Zoe, mind you, is 14 years 
old. How many 14 year olds do you know think about figs let alone have tried them outside of maybe a Fig Newton bar? 

Zoe was so right and luckily there were figs all over the market — ripe, sweet and something that really feels like a great treat, so why 
not feed them to your little one?!
 I realize it’s not the most common first fruit to give babies, but 
they’re one of the highest plant sources of calcium and fiber and have 
the highest overall mineral content of common fruits. Their soft 
texture and the crunch of their teeny tiny seeds will give an interesting mouth 
feel for little ones.
Being the crazy frugal shopper that I am, after paying $4 at the 
farmer’s market for 8 perfectly ripe figs, I wanted to see how much they were at my local supermarket. $8 for 6! I was kind of shocked, but it’s proof again that when you shop at your local farmer’s market not only is the produce you’re getting superior to what you can buy in a store, but you’re also saving money.

I served this puree to Kenya by itself and he loved it. I even had him try 
it on top of yogurt and cottage cheese, again a total hit!


One of the biggest culinary hits that I’ve made for Kenya so far is pesto. 
I’m not only talking about the traditional pesto made with basil, 
though. I’m talking about all different kinds like cilantro, parsley and now my new favorite, 
spinach. This recipe is bright green in color and since I added tofu, 
it has an even creamier texture then the traditional variety.
Spinach is rich in the antioxidants vitamin C, iron and beta-carotene. 
Since it can have a strong taste when cooked, this raw, pureed version 
takes on a delicate almost sweet flavor.
I mixed most of it into pasta and then with the remainder, I covered 2 
salmon fillets and baked them, one for me and one for Kenya, so 
everyone was happy.


Long before that animated rat put it back on the map, my grandmother used to make the most mouthwatering ratatouille. I know that 
when she made it, she imagined as if she had been whisked off to the 
south of France to prepare it. Now, whenever I see bell pepper, zucchini or eggplant, 
it’s the first dish that comes to mind. Granted my grandmother’s version was delicious, but 
the cup of oil she used in her recipe would give it an orange hue and make it not so healthy.
 This baby version of ratatouille is not only healthy, it uses just 5 
ingredients, all of which are in season right now at the farmers market. The vegetables 
in the dish are so vibrant and colorful, you know upon first sight that it has to be full of 
vitamins and minerals.
Did you know that weight for weight, bell 
peppers have more vitamin C then oranges? And tomatoes are 
actually a fruit, packed full of 
antioxidant vitamins which help protect your little ones immune system 
by fighting off harmful free radicals. These facts alone are just two reasons 
why a ratatouille a day keeps the doctor away

I literally have hundreds of cookbooks I started collecting when I was a 
little girl and continue to this day. I admit that after all these years, it’s gotten a little out of 
control, but I love the endless variety and different styles of books out there. There are also some genuinely odd and funny ones as well. The Elvis 
Presley cookbook “Are you Hungry Tonight” is great. Just looking at the table 
of contents makes your arteries feel like they are clogging, but the one recipe Elvis is best 
know for is the “fried peanut butter and banana sandwich”. I’m not 
saying that it doesn’t sound incredibly delicious, but it’s not 
exactly one of the first dishes I would want to turn my son on to given the “fried” approach. So, always in service of trying healthy approaches to not-so-healthy classics, I think I came up with a good one: Mini Elvis Paninis.
I recently had over a group of 
little ones ranging from 15 months to 4 years old and they devoured 
these sandwiches faster then I could make them. Since I still haven’t 
given Kenya peanut butter (our Doctor recommended we wait until he’s over the age of 2 in case of allergies), I made his with almond butter (feel 
free to replace it with peanut, soy or cashew butter if that’s what your 
little one prefers). Almond butter is an ideal first nut for babies to 
try since it has a low allergic potential and almonds are packed with 
calcium, vitamins B and E. 
By using the panini press, the heat melted the banana and almond 
butter together while pressing the sandwich together for smaller 
mouths to get bigger bites. And….same great taste, no frying. These mini sandwiches are delicious and 
will give your little one tons of energy for playing.