Kenya’s up to his 5th word and it is the cutest thing. Every time he sees something out of the oven or if the water is on, he looks at me with big eyes and says “hot, hot, hot”. When I handed him his first pizza bagel, he could see the cheese just out of the oven bubbling and of course he uttered, “Hot”!
I made 12 of these and Kenya enjoyed them so much, he even wanted to eat them at breakfast.
These pizzas are super simple to prepare and incredibly economical. Why bother buying pizza sauce for $3 when you can make it for less then $1. The best part is that you can refrigerate all the ingredients separately and have them on hand for 2 weeks. These are guaranteed winners for little ones!

Mini Whole Wheat Pizzas (Makes 12 Mini Pizzas)

1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Italian Herbs
6 Mini Whole Wheat Bagels, split in half
3/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Stir the tomato sauce and herbs in a bowl to combine.
3. Place the bagels on a cookie sheet and coat each one with sauce.
4. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the mozzarella.
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Cool and serve.

One of my first food memories was my mother making quiche. Yes, quiche, the dish that most notably was in the title of a 1982 bestselling satirical book about masculinity. Quiche was my mother’s tried and true recipe that worked for dinner parties, neighborhood picnics, luncheons and more. Whether she told me this or not, I always thought of quiche as sophisticated food. When she let me have a piece, I felt like one of the grown ups. I’m pretty sure that Kenya could care less about being anything but a little baby right now, but one thing is true: he loves these crustless quiches.
Packed with tiny pieces of vegetables and cheese, these protein packed morsels only take minutes to prepare. I just toss all of the ingredients in the food processor, whiz it up and pour it into the molds. Really, it’s that easy.
These are perfect for any meal of the day or even a little ones birthday party, so they can pretend to be one of the adults.

Mini Vegetarian Quiches (Makes 12 Mini Quiche)

2 Large Eggs
1/3 Cup Swiss Cheese, shredded
1 Zucchini, diced or shredded
1/2 Cup Spinach
1/4 Cup Cottage Cheese
1/4 Cup Whole Milk

1. Preheat over to 325 degrees.
2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until throughly combined and vegetables are in small pieces.
3. Spray or grease mini muffin tins with oil or butter.
4. Pour a tablespoon of mixture into each muffin cup. It should fill each cup about 3/4 way to the top.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
6. Cool and serve.

I can’t stop buying cherimoyas….wait, do you know what a cherimoya is? I didn’t until recently and I’m so happy we found each other. A cherimoya is a fruit that Mark Twain called “the most delicious fruit known to man”. So, as I said, I can’t stop buying them and wanting to mix them with every
 fruit to make purees for Kenya. I got one at the Santa Monica Farmers
 market yesterday that was so ripe and sweet, I couldn’t resist buying it. Now
 that peaches are in season and finally starting to pop up again at the market, I feel like
 summer’s bounty of fruit is finally here.
Cherimoyas are high in fiber, iron and niacin. Make sure to pick ones
 that are soft when you give them a light squeeze, a good sign that
 they’re ripe. You can cut them into 6-8 pieces, pick out and throw
 away the big black seeds and then pull away the flesh from the skin
 which you can feed to your baby straight or puree.
Peaches are high in potassium, vitamin A and C. When they’re soft and
 ripe there is nothing like it. I waited until the peaches were very ripe,
 peeled them and then pureed them with cherimoya. I’m not exaggerating
 when I tell you that Kenya ate the entire bowl of puree that I made
 for this recipe (do you get the sense my son eats everything?!)

Peach & Cherimoya Puree (2-3 baby servings, unless your baby is like Kenya and eats the entire puree in one sitting)

1 Peach, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 Cherimoya, seeds removed, and peeled

1. Place both ingredients in the food processor and puree.
2. Serve

Life is moving so fast. I wanted to make this recipe for Kenya for Cinco de Mayo and somehow totally forgot. Sadly, I think Alzheimer’s is setting in early.
Kenya loves beans. Whether they’re pureed in a dish, mixed with other ingredients like this dish, or on their own, he loves ‘em.
The vegetarians in your life will also love you for making this. Simple, yet packed with flavor. You don’t need to celebrate a holiday in order to whip this dish up.

Mexican Beans and Rice (15 Baby Servings)

1 Tbsp Onion, finely diced
1 Clove Garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp Oil
1/2 Cup Brown RIce
1 1/2 Cup Water
1 Cup Black Beans, cooked
1 Tbsp Cilantro
1/3 Cup Tomatoes, finely chopped, fresh (peeled) or canned

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil in a saucepan over low to
medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the water and rice and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and simmer for 50 minutes or until all the water has absorbed.
4. Add the cilantro and tomatoes and combine.
5. Cool and serve.

*If your baby doesn’t eat solids, you could easily puree this recipe.

*In this recipe I prefer organic canned tomatoes. Some little ones have
texture issues, so it’s much easier for babies to eat the soft canned
version.