I’m always shocked to find out how many people know of and adore noodle 
kugel. I only tried it for the first time recently, but when I shared 
my feelings about how much I loved it with friends, I got some pretty darn 
passionate responses about what a recipe for noodle kugel MUST include. The variations made my head spin. Some people said nuts were a must. Others cited raisins, cinnamon and all kinds of other additions.
When I was originally doing research on kugels and their history, I 
was shocked to find that most recipes called for a cup or more sugar. That much 
sugar would send me into outer-space, so I can only imagine what it 
would do to our kids.
My version is a much healthier toddler-and-family-friendly recipe that 
you could eat as a side dish or even for dessert! After it comes out of the 
oven, cut it into squares and take a bite of the soft, tender, creamy 
noodles perfumed with cinnamon — you’re in heaven. Of 
course Kenya tried to shove the entire square I gave him into his little mouth in 
one bite which he quickly figured out wasn’t such a good idea! As for my friends with very strong opinions on what is and isn’t kugel, most of them gave this their stamp of approval.

Noodle Kugel (makes 20-25 squares)

2 Cup Eggs Noodles
1 Tbsp Butter
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Raisins

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook for 5-7 minutes. You want them to be tender, but firm.
2. Strain the water off the noodles and place them in a large bowl.
3. Add the butter and toss the noodles so they’re evenly coated.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Place the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, agave and cinnamon in a food processor or blender and pulse to combine throughly.
6. Pour the liquid mixture over the noodles and stir to coat.
7. Pour the noodle mixture into a 9 x 9 greased baking dish.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. Cool and cut into square pieces.
10. Serve.

I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible this sauce tastes. So good, in fact, that when I finished pureeing it, the weelicious team stood over the food processor eating spoonful after spoonful. Wait, wasn’t the sauce supposed to be for Kenya?
I don’t know if it’s the particular mix of vegetables, the fact that all the produce comes straight from the farmers market or the that everything is roasted and caramelized in the oven, but whatever the reason, the taste is amazing. It’s so good that you could easily serve this recipe to a 10 month old as a puree minus the tomatoes (you don’t want to give them to babies under 1 year in case of allergies).
Plus, it only took me minutes to prepare, which is always great when you have a a million things going on.
The vibrant colors in the vegetables create a sauce so rich and visually beautiful, the uses for it are endless. It’s so versatile you could spread it on toast, fish, chicken, pasta….or just eat it on a spoon like Kenya and I did.

Roast Vegetable Sauce (2 Cups)

1 Small Eggplant, cubed
1 Whole Garlic Clove
1 Tomato, cut into 6 wedges
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Cup Carrots, chopped
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
Pasta (I used tortellini filled with parmesan cheese from Trader Joes, but any pasta your little one enjoys will work)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a large glass dish dish or cookie sheet and combine. Make sure all of the vegetables are evenly coated with oil.
3. Bake for 45 minutes.
4. Cool for several minutes.
5. Place the vegetables in a food processor with the tomato sauce and puree until smooth.
6. Toss some of the sauce with pasta and serve.

There’s nothing more soothing and medicinal then chicken noodle soup.
But how do you get your baby to slurp up a bowl of Jewish penicillin? I made this for Kenya when he had a cold and poor little guy actually seemed to take a turn for the better.
Chicken is high in iron, which supports a healthy immune system. It also contains the antioxidant zinc, which protects babies against infection.
Studies have shown that chicken soup has properties that slow mucus production during illness. Whether this is true or not, I know tons of parents that want to believe anything in order to help their little one feel well. By no means does your baby have to be sick to enjoy chicken soup with stars. It’s super tasty and freezes beautifully.

Chicken and Stars (Makes 15 Baby Servings, freeze 1/2)

1 Chicken Breast
10 Baby Carrots
1/4 Cup Celery (1 stalk), chopped
1/2 Leek or Onion, chopped
1 Tsp Parsley, chopped
1 Cup Pasta Stars, cooked

1. Place the chicken in a steamer pot over boiling water for 3 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, celery and leek and continue to cook for another 5
minutes or until everything is fork tender and throughly cooked..
3. Place all the ingredients except the pasta in a food processor and
puree. Add water from the pot if needed.
4. Combine with pureed mixture with the pasta.
5. Cool and serve.

What little kid, or big kid for that matter, doesn’t like macaroni and cheese? The only problem with the macaroni is that it’s too big and messy for babies to eat. I can deal with the mess, but the thought of a macaroni noodle going down wrong sends me into Mommy panic. Orzo is a fantastic remedy to that problem. Orzo looks just like a big grain of rice, but it’s actually pasta.
Kids can have funny textural issues. The first time I made this for Kenya he spit it out. Not exactly a compliment to the chef. The second time he tried it he held it hostage in his mouth before spitting it out again. How could he NOT like orzo and cheese?! I thought it would be a sure fire hit. In a last ditched effort, I decided to throw it in the food processor with some whole milk and puree it a bit. Tah dah… he loved it. Sometimes it’s not the flavor, but the texture of the puree that babies aren’t into. Also my ego couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t like something my friends and I would have devoured.

“Mac” & Cheese (10 Baby Servings plus extra cheesy sauce for dipping with vegetables)

3/4 Cup Whole Milk
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Flour
1/4 Cup White Cheddar Cheese (you could also try monterrey jack, parmesan, or mozzarella)
1/2 Cup Orzo

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan.
2. In a pan, bring water to a boil and add orzo pasta.
3. Cook orzo for 9-11 minutes or until tender. Drain.
4. While the orzo is cooking, melt the butter in a separate heavy-bottomed saucepan.
3. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown — about 1 minutes.
4. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
5. Add the cheese and stir until melted.
6. Combine with the orzo.
7. Cool and serve.

Most restaurants wouldn’t serve number and letter pasta with pesto, but then again, their diners are probably over the age of 1. After I made pesto for the Pesto & Chicken recipe, I wanted to put it on everything. Kenya is addicted to the pesto’s flavors, so I decided to put it on his bite size pasta. This will be a hit even with the adult kids.

Pasta & Pesto

1/2 Number & Letter Pasta
3 Tbsp Pesto

1. Cook pasta for 7-9 minutes or until soft, not al dente.
2. Cool in a strainer and add pesto.
3. Cool and serve.

Somehow a rich sauce and pasta seemed too heavy for a baby. All I could picture was one of the Sopranos slurping up spaghetti bolognese with noodles dripping all over. Then I remembered my love of tiny letter and number pasta as a kid. It was so much fun making out what all the symbols and shapes were in soup or sauce. Kenya’s still under 1 years old, but he loves everything in bolognese, so why not make a baby version.
While I was making it for him, our friend Dana, the chinese Doctor, was over and wanted to know if she could try it. “Delicious”, she exclaimed. Perfect, now I know what we’re having for dinner. Kenya’s unpureed sauce. Bon Appetito!
*This is a thick sauce, so add more liquid if you want it more thin.

Baby Bolognese (Makes 20 Baby Servings (2 Cups extra for adults)
*You can 1/2 the recipe if just making it for baby

2 Tbsp Onion, diced (about 1/4 onion)
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped fine
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup Ground Meat (I used Bison)
1/4 Tsp Dried Basil
1/4 Tsp Dried Oregano
1 16 Ounce Can Chopped Tomatoes
6 Baby Carrots, cut into thin coins
1 Cup Mini Vegetable Pasta, numbers and shapes

1. In a wide skillet, heat oil over medium flame.
2. Saute onion for 3 minutes.
3. Add garlic, meat and herbs. With a spoon breakup meat into smaller pieces.
4. Saute for 6 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.
5. Add the tomatoes and carrots.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover for 10 minutes.
7. Remove the lid and continue to simmer until desired thickness of sauce.
8. Puree for baby.
9. In a large pot bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
10. Add pasta, return to a boil and cook for 9-11 minutes.
11. Mix the pasta and pureed sauce.
12. Cool and serve.