One of Kenya’s favorite treats when we go to the farmer’s market is getting to hold and sip the water from a huge young coconut through a straw. It’s become a bit of a new tradition for us where we buy one and take turns enjoying the clear, light, sweet juice inside and then taking it home to scoop out the soft tender meat later.
Coconuts don’t exactly fit well into lunch boxes, but now you can buy coconut water at your local supermarket from a company called O.N.E. in to-go boxes to pack in your kids’ lunch or just drink at home. I especially love it because it contains less then half the sugar in most juice boxes and it’s rich in potassium and electrolytes which help kids to re-hydrate kids after they’ve been running around.
Go coco-nuts!

I think one of the most fun but also scary things about cooking is diving 
into recipes of different cultures. I have to admit, when I walk 
into Thai or Indian grocery stores I feel totally lost. There are so 
many interesting ingredients that I’ve never used before. I can’t tell 
you how many times in the midst of my test-cooking I’ve opened a little jar of something like red 
curry paste, eaten a spoonful and immediately had my face turn beet 
red, sweat starting to drip down my face. But after a bit of experimentation, you can find a whole new world of delicious flavors to expand your and your little one’s palette.
This chicken cur-wee is a perfect introduction for toddlers to try a 
dish that has a tiny bit of heat, but no overwhelming spice. The flavors 
are incredibly complex, yet it only takes minutes to prepare. The 
green curry paste is made of herbs such as lemongrass, galangal and 
green chiles. When it’s infused into the coconut milk, it takes on a 
sweet flavor which is perfumed with flavorful herbs. The best part is 
that you can buy it at most grocery stores, so you don’t need to go to 
a specialty store to pick it up.
I wasn’t sure how Kenya would react to this dish, but he loved 
it, I mean he LOVED it!


Chicken Cur-wee (10 Toddler Servings)

1 Cup Coconut Milk
2 Tsp Green Curry Paste
1 Cup Potatoes (I used Yukon Gold), cut in bite size cubes
1/4 Cup Onion, diced
1/3 Cup Carrots, diced
1/3 Cup Peas (you can use frozen peas)
1 Chicken Breast, cut in bite size pieces

1. Place the coconut milk and curry paste in a medium saute pan over high heat. Whisk them together until combined.
2. Add the potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover.
3. Cook for 4 minutes.
4. Add the onion and carrots, cover and cook for 3 minutes.
5. Add the chicken, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes or until all the vegetables are fork tender and the vegetables are cooked through.
6. Cool and serve.

I took a baby nutrition class yesterday that I was so excited about. Sadly, it was totally uninsperational. Someone asked the teacher about turning babies on to spices and she said “maybe you can put in a pinch if it’s part of your culture”. Really!? When I go out to dinner I can’t wait to try Mexican, French, Thai, anything and everything that’s new and exciting especially when it comes to dishes with complex flavors. Why shouldn’t babies be turned on to interesting new tastes. In this dish I put curry, cumin and coconut, 3 things that turn a blah dish into something exciting. Any time Kenya tries Indian food he gobbles it up.

Indian Fish (10 baby servings)

1 Cup Coconut Milk
1 Tsp Curry
1/2 Tsp Cumin
1/2 Potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 Cup Cauliflower
1 Tilapia Fillet (any whitefish will do)
1/2 Cup Frozen Pea

1. In a saucepan, bring coconut milk and spices to a boil. Add potato and simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Add cauliflower and cover 2 more minutes. Add fish and cover for 3 minutes.
3. Put all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
4. Cool and serve.
*If mixture is still too thick, add hot water to thin.

Kenya could eat a whole sweet potato if I handed it to him. Being that his tiny little hand couldn’t hold the whole thing up, mashed sweet potatoes seem like a better choice. In my quest to find new ingredients that will tempt his taste buds I realized that he hadn’t tried coconut milk. Sweet and creamy, it adds body and depth to the puree. Add a touch of cinnamon, yummy delicious.

My Sweet Potato, Yes, Ma’am (serves 14 2 Tbsp Servings)

2 Medium Yams, washed
1/3 cup Coconut Milk (full fat or light)
1 tsp Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Poke several holes in the yam with a fork.
3. Bake for an hour. (I put them on a piece of tin foil so they don’t drip all over the oven).
4. When yams are cool to the touch peel off the skin and scoop insides into a food processor with remaining ingredients.
5. Puree until smooth.
6. Cool and serve.

*I always use yams. I don’t know when the confusion started and why we cook with yams, but call them sweet potatoes, but yams are much sweeter. Pick ones with deep orange skins. That’s the best way to tell the difference.