One of my favorite things about baby food is that it’s just pure, wholesome and delicious. When these fruits are at their ripest, it’s so heavenly tasting, you don’t need to add anything.
Whenever I look at baby food jars in the grocery with artificial colors, preservatives and additives I think “do you really want your baby eating that crap”. I wouldn’t want it in my body, so why would I knowingly feed it to Kenya?
There’s nothing sweeter then a fresh banana, pear or peach. Even at this time of year, when peaches are out of season, I defrost frozen organic fruit and in an instant I can make this puree. This is the best dessert or breakfast food a baby would want.

Banana, Pear and Peach Puree (12 Baby Food Servings, freeze 1/2)

1 Banana
1 Pear
1 Peach (or 1 Cup Frozen Organic Peach Slices, defrosted)

1. Put all ingredients in a food processor.
2. Puree until smooth.
3. Serve.

Recently I’ve gone on a “protein kick” cooking for Kenya. Chicken, beef, fish, but what about beans. Some people dread cooking beans because they think there are too many steps in the preparation. That’s where lentils come in handy. When mixed with a grain they become a protein and lentils are packed with iron, important for the creation of white blood cells and antibodies. Iron is more readily absorbed when eaten with vitamin C, so I added tomatoes to this dish.

*Don’t be freaked out by the purple color in the dish. I used purple cauliflower.

Indian Lentil Stew (15 Baby Servings, freeze 1/2)

1 Tbsp Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Brown Rice
1/4 Cup Lentils
1 1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Tsp Cumin
1/4 Tsp Curry Powder
1/2 Cup Tomatoes, canned or fresh
1/2 Cup Cauliflower

1. Heat oil in a 2 quart saucepan and saute onion and garlic until soft.
2. Add water and bring to a boil.
3. Add lentils, cumin and curry powder. Cover and simmer for 50-60 or until soft.
4. 10 minutes before mixture is complete, add tomatoes and cauliflower. Cover.
5. Puree mixture until smooth.
6. Cool and serve

I find it funny that everyone says Kenya looks tan. Both my husband and I are pale as ghosts so there had to be some long lost relative with a dark skinned gene. Nice try! He just eats so many orange vegetables, that his skin has taken on an orange hue. He does look handsome with his auburn glow, though.
There’s at least one deep orange vegetable for Kenya to snack on in the fridge everyday. They’re incredibly easy to make, nutritious, a beautiful color and super sweet. Yesterday, I baked his ‘once a week’ butternut squash. As it came out of the oven, I scooped out a bite to make sure it’s something I would eat. Not so sweet?! I was perplexed and didn’t want to throw away a perfectly good squash. I looked around the kitchen and found the gorgeous California Medjool dates I had bought at the market to snack on. Sweet as candy and rich in Magnesium and Potassium, I soaked a few and threw them in the food processor with the squash. Heaven. Kenya thought so too.

Butternut Squash and Date Puree (Makes 10 Baby Servings, freeze 1/2)

1 Butternut Squash, halved, seeds removed (refrigerator the other half for later
4 Dates

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Place one half of squash face down on a cookie sheet or in a pyrex dish.
3. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
4. Pour hot water over dates in a bowl and soak for 15 minutes.
5. Scoop cooked squash out of the shell and into a food processor.
6. Remove the pits from the dates and put them in the processor.
7. Puree until creamy.
8. Cool and serve

There’s something really cool to me about going to the farmers market and finding new foods that Kenya hasn’t tried yet. I just picked up a big celery root (or celeriac as it’s also known) which is quite unusual looking. It’s often knobby and brown with it’s big green top sprouting out. The first time I looked at it, I had zero idea why you would even want to make an attempt at turning it into something you could eat. I was so wrong. Just lob off the top, peel it, and then you can do all kinds of things for baby or you. Sometimes I’ll use half of it to make a puree for Kenya and make a salad with the rest for myself. In this puree it becomes super creamy and tastes like a cross between celery and a potato. I’ve been known to serve it with a little added butter when I’m having friends over.

Celery Root & Potato Puree (12 Baby Servings)

1 Potato, peeled and cubed
1 Medium Celery Root, peeled and cubed
1/4 Cup Whole Milk (if over 10-12 months), Breast Milk or Water

1. Place ingredients in a steamer pot over boiling water.
2. Steam for 8-10 minutes or until fork tender, reserving water in pot.
3. Place celery root and potato in a food processor.
4. Puree for 30 seconds. Add the milk and continue to puree. If it’s still to thick, add water from the pot.
5. Puree until smooth.
6. Cool and serve.

The name of this recipe sounds like something you would get at a five star restaurant. Sometimes I like to think of my kitchen as Kenya’s gourmet digs and he’s my best customer. Don’t our kids deserve to eat only the finest, freshest food possible?
Our pediatrician had recommended that we wait for 2 years before feeding Kenya nuts. Through my research I found that if you don’t have food allergies in your family, tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, etc..) Should be a good choice (avoid peanuts until age 3). The day after Kenya’s first Birthday, I pulled out the jar of raw almond butter and put a dab on a spoon. I placed the tiniest drop on his lips and waited, praying that he wouldn’t go into anaphylactic shock. Nothing. I gave him a little more. Now he was grabbing at the spoon begging for more.
Nuts are a fantastic source of protein, vitamins and minerals, but if there are any cases of food allergies in your family you may want to wait until your babies is older.
This is one of those fantastic and super easy recipes that makes you look like a gourmet chef. The best part is that you can keep the pesto in the refrigerator all week and add it to pasta, fish and other delicious treats.

Pesto with Chicken and Quinoa (10 Baby Servings with extra Pesto, freeze 1/2)

Quinoa (Makes 1/2 Cup)

1/4 Cup Quinoa
1/2 Cup Water

1. Place both ingredients in a pot.
2. Bring to a boil and immediately cover and simmer
3. Cook for 15 minutes over low heat.
4. Serve.

Pesto (Makes 2 Cups)

3 Cups Basil Leaves, washed
1/2 Cup Pine nuts
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove

1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

1 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
2 Chicken Skinless Chicken Thighs

1. Add chicken to a steamer basket over boiling water and cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Remove from pot, reserving water in pot.
3. Remove chicken from the bone and cut into pieces.

Pesto with Chicken and Quinoa

1. Put chicken, 1/2 cup quinoa and 3-4 Tablespoons pesto into a food processor and puree until smooth. Add some of the water from the pot to thin.
2. 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.

This is one of those no brainer foods for baby. Steam it, throw it in the food processor and bam, you’re finished. It’s easy to freeze and can be mixed with other foods you’re planning to serve. The carrots are packed with beta carotene which converts into Vitamin A which helps vision and healthy skin and the cauliflower is a good source of Vitamin C. I always steam a few extra vegetables and chop them into baby bite size pieces, so Kenya can work on his fine motor skills and feed himself.

Carrot & Cauliflower Puree (10 Baby Servings, freeze 1/2)

15 Baby Carrots
1 1/2 Cups Cauliflower, cut into florets

1. Wash the vegetables and put them in a steamer basket over boiling water.
2. Steam for 6 minutes or until fork tender.
3. In a food processor, puree using some of the cooking water to thin the puree.
4. Cool and serve.

Some mornings when I walk downstairs bleary eyed (wait, that’s every morning), I wish there was something already made in the refrigerator that I could just pull out. I came up with this recipe for just that reason.
After staying out late while the grandparents were in town, I knew that making things easy on myself in the morning would be important. Fruit, dairy, protein and wheat germ are the perfect start to Kenya’s morning of play.
Wheat germ was one of those foods I thought only older people ate. I remember my Grandparents talking about adding it to their food and thinking it was only for “old” people. Turns out it’s delicious in everything from muffins to cereal. Wheat germ is the product left behind after the processing of refined flour. In actuality, it’s the best part containing all the nutrients that have been stripped from the final product. It’s packed with B-Vitamins, Vitamin E and Iron, and a rich antioxidant.
Truth be told, this also makes a great dessert for your wee one.

Blueberry & Mango Breakfast (8 Baby Servings)

1/4 Cup Blueberries, washed
1/4 Cup Mango, chopped
1/2 Cup Tofu
2 Tbsp Whole Milk Yogurt
1 Tbsp Wheat Germ

1. Place ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Serve

Yummy, delicious, creamy, nutritious.. All the words I think of when describing this dish. The first time I tried a cherimoya was 3 weeks ago at the Farmers Market and my “avocado lady” gave me one. In some Latin cuisine, cherimoya ice cream is popular. To me, it tastes like banana crossed with strawberries and pineapple. When Kenya isn’t in the mood to chew and I want to give him something sweet, pureed cherimoya is perfect. One night when he wasn’t in the mood for it, but was devouring his avocado, I decided to throw the two in the blender and it made this gorgeous light green mousse. Packed with vitamin B6 and potassium, this is a fruit every baby should have the opportunity to try.

Avocado & Cherimoya Mousse (makes 10 Baby Servings)

1 Avocado
1 Cherimoya

1. Wash both fruits.
2. Halve the avocado, remove the pit and scoop the light green flesh into a food processor.
3. Halve the cherimoya and remove the big black seeds. Scoop white flesh into a food processor.
4. Puree until smooth and serve.

Poor baby. It was Kenya’s first Birthday and he got sick. I always thought that nursing him for a year would ward off all the viruses that seem to plague little ones. Nice try. Babies and kids get sick and there’s so little you can do to prevent it, but I’m always willing to give it a try.
He wasn’t feeling himself and I wanted to make sure that he had some food in his tummy to fight off whatever had gotten a hold of him. I’ve always read that chicken soup is the best thing to eat when your sick, so I tried to come up with something similar that would go down easy and that I could cook in a jiffy. He took one look at it and decided that he would open his mouth and give it a try. Within hours he was feeling better. Maybe it was the food, or maybe Mommy’s TLC. Whatever it was, he started to smile and feel better.

Chicken Soup for Babies Soul (10 baby servings, freeze 1/2)

1 Yukon Gold or Russet Potato, peeled and cubed
12 Baby Carrots
1 Chicken Breast
2 Tbsp White Cheddar Cheese, grated
1/4 Whole Milk or Water

1. Put chicken, carrots and potatoes in a steamer basket over boiling water.
2. Steam for 8 minutes or until all ingredients are cooked though and tender.
3. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until creamy. Add more liquid if needed from the water remaining in the pot.
5. Cool and serve.