One of Kenya’s (many) favorite foods are black beans. He loves them with brown rice or quesadillas, or even just on their own. I wanted to come up with another fun way for him to enjoy them.
Beans are an incredible source of fiber and iron and because of their soft texture they’re perfect for forming into these little black bean cake-like patties. Sometimes I find it hard to come up with delicious vegetarian recipes which are truly filling, but these totally fit the bill.
I love serving these to Kenya with a little guacamol-wee and sour cream for him to dip in. Trust me, the only major problem I had making these was keeping my husband away from them. Luckily, most of the ingredients are things I keep on hand, so I quickly cooked up an extra batch so we would all have plenty to munch on at dinner and throughout the next day.

Black Bean Cakes (Makes About 20 Patties)

1 15 Oz Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Ear of Corn, cut off the cob (or 1 cup frozen kernels, defrosted)
1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/4 Cup Cilantro, packed
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
2 Tbsp Bread Crumbs
1 Egg

1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree.
2. Heat a large saute pan over low to medium heat.
3. Place 1 Tbsp of the bean mixture in the pan. Using the back of a spoon, spread the mixture into an even circle (the size and shape of a pancake).
4. Cook for 3 minutes.
5. Flip on the other side and cook another 3-4 minutes or until cooked through.
6. Cook remaining patties and move to a plate.
7. Cool and serve.

When Kenya was a baby, I always wanted to make him dessert. It somehow felt unfair to me that as my husband and I devoured sweet treats, he couldn’t be a part of our fun. I devised this sweet potato pudding in an effort to remedy that. The creamy and light texture of this dish is so smooth, its perfect for babies with or without teeth.
I love cooking with sweet potatoes because they’re in season right now, packed with antioxidant vitamin and phytonutrients, and almost every baby I’ve ever known loves them. When I first took a bite, I couldn’t believe how much it tasted just like the filling of sweet potato pie. You may want to double this recipe because it goes perfect for a baby’s dinner or dessert!

Sweet Potato Pudding (Makes 3 Baby Servings or 2 Toddler Serving)

1 Sweet Potato
1 Egg Yolk
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Rice or Almond Milk
Hot Water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bake sweet potato for 1 hour or until fork tender.
3. When potato is cool, remove the flesh and cool (I like to eat the high fiber potato skin as a snack).
4. Whisk the egg with the cinnamon, rice milk and cooled potato until smooth.
5. Pour into a ramekin (or other small baking dish).
6. Place the ramekin in a larger baking pan.
7. Place the ramekin and baking pan in the oven and pour hot water into the baking pan until it reaches halfway up the ramekin (otherwise known as a water bath).
8. Bake for 30 minutes.
9. Cool and serve.

I’m like a kid in a candy store this time of year at the farmer’s market. Last weekend it was in the high 50’s (that’s cold for LA) when I got to the market at 8 am, and it finally felt like fall had arrived. Just looking around at the produce you could see all sorts of new fresh new fruits and veggies debuting in different stalls. Sweet persimmons, different varieties of squash, pumpkins and one of my favorites, multi-colored baby carrots. I couldn’t resist buying a bag full!
Whenever I make these for my father-in-law, no matter how many pounds I make, they always disappear completely. He says he could eat just the carrots for dinner and be happy. Interesting how Kenya kept devouring them one after the other just like “Bop Pop” (as Kenya calls him).
Carrots are rich in beta-carotene and fiber so they’re especially good for little ones healthy vision and skin. I bought 2 pounds of these carrots, roasted them and kept them for all of us to munch on throughout the week. The skins on baby carrot are so thin, you just have to give them a good scrub and rinse. The touch of maple syrup this recipe calls for adds an extra bit of caramelization and gives them that sweet, nutty flavor that takes them from great to amazing!

Roast Baby Carrots (4 Big Kid Servings)

1/2 Lb Baby Carrots (you could also large peeled carrots cut into stick shapes)
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Kosher or Sea Salt, to taste
Olive or Vegetable spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix the carrots with the maple syrup, oil and salt.
3. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with spray.
4. Place the carrots on the cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender and golden.
6. Serve.

I fell in love with The Handstand Cookbook series the first time I saw it. It’s the perfect gift for budding little chefs and parents who want to cook with their kids. There’s a Mexican cookbook kit, an Italian kit and Chinese on the way. The books are even arranged by levels of difficulty for each recipe so you know when you should give a little extra help.
I talked to the founder of the company, Yvette Garfield, about testing one of her recipes, but giving it a weelicious twist. I salivated from the first time I read her recipe for “Lasagna into Chilaquiles”. It reminded me of a dish that my Mexican “mother” made for me when I was an exchange student living in Toluca, Mexico, so I knew had to recreate it.
By adding baked blue corn chips instead of regular fried tortilla chips and adding a little milk to make the eggs even fluffier, it lightened the dish up a bit, but kept all of the intended yummy flavor. I made these for me, Kenya and a friend for breakfast and we all sat as happy as clams devouring our perfect chilaquiles. Ole!


Chilaquiles with a Weelicious Twist (Serves 4)

1 Small Onion, diced
1 Tbsp Oil
4 Cups Baked Blue Corn Chips (I used Guiltless Gourmet)
6 Eggs, beaten
1/4 Cup Milk
1 1/2 Cups Mild Salsa (I used Pace Chunky Salsa)
1 Cup Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
Sour Cream, optional
Guacamole, optional

1. Heat a large saute pan over low/medium heat. Saute onions until soft and translucent.
2. Whisk the eggs and milk together in a bowl.
3. Add the corn chips to the pan.
3. Pour the egg mixture over the corn chips and stir over low/medium heat for 1 minute.
4. Add the salsa and cheese and cook for 3-4 minutes, continually stirring the mixture until cheese is melted. .
5. Garnish with guacamole and sour cream and serve.

Everyday I try to visit different message boards on the web to see what moms are talking about. Lately, I can’t get over the one common obsession that moms are asking about everywhere: How to cook a pumpkin! For a country obsessed with Halloween and pumpkins, it’s kind of ironic that we rarely cook with them, unless its using pumpkin out of a can on Thanksgiving.
Now, I admit it’s something of a mantra at weelicious that I don’t like using canned foods in general, but canned pumpkin is an exception to the rule. I once read Martha Stewart say that you shouldn’t waste your time cooking fresh pumpkin when making pumpkin desserts (because it’s very hard to get the exact flavor you want) and I believe she’s correct, but roast pumpkin on its own with a touch of cinnamon and maple syrup is heavenly.
When I was living in Australia years ago, I ate pumpkin every few days. Pumpkin is as common to cook there as sweet potatoes are in the States. The pumpkin down under was so sweet and creamy, I wanted to try and replicate the flavors that I remembered. There are several types of pumpkins this time of year at my farmer’s market, so it’s kind of hard to tell which one to buy, but I’ve found you can’t really go wrong no matter what you choose. I bought several varieties last weekend such as “autumn gold” and “sugar”, which are both high in vitamin A. The cooking time will vary a bit depending on the size of the pumpkin you buy, but whatever you get, with this recipe it will be tender and delicious.

Roast Pumpkin & Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 Pumpkin
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/8 Tsp Cinnamon
Vegetable Oil Spray
Sea Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Carefully cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin using a knife, about 2 in x 2 in. Remove the “top”.
3. Using you hands or a spoon, remove the seeds and rinse with water in a colander. Remove any of the stringy pulp pieces that stick to the seeds.
4. Lay the seeds on a towel to let dry.
5. Pour the maple syrup into the pumpkin and swirl it around coating flesh.
6. Sprinkle cinnamon inside.
7. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes.
8. Place the top on the pumpkin and continue to cook for additional 20
minutes or until tender (the cooking time will vary depending on the
size of the pumpkin. Take a fork and pierces the inside to the flesh every 10 minutes towards the end of the cooking
time to see if it’s tender). Uncover the pumpkin and cool.
9. Spray another cookie sheet with a think coating of vegetable oil and evenly place the pumpkin seeds on the sheet. Lightly sprinkle pumpkin seeds with salt.
10. Bake the seeds 20-30 minutes or until the start to turn a golden color.
11. Cool and serve.
*If you’re making baby food puree, you can leave out the maple syrup