In my life B.E. (Before Eliana) I was a teacher and literacy consultant. When she was born I decided to take a leave of absence from the New York City public school system and stay home with her. Packing up and then storing all of the materials from my classroom was a huge ordeal! You see, I LOVE all my teacher-ly stuff and in particular my books! As I packed up my life as a teacher, I kept aside some picture books that I loved and knew I would want to share with Eliana. I Will Never, Not Ever, Eat
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Sweet & Spicy Citrus Salad Yields 2 servings Ingredients: -1 grapefruit -1 orange -1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes -1-1½ teaspoons honey -1 pinch chili powder Preparation: Peel the grapefruit and orange by cutting off top and bottom and then cutting down the side of the fruit to remove the skin and the bitter white pith. Continue until all of the skin and pith is removed. Section both fruits into segments, by carefully cutting on either side of the white membrane from the outside down into the center. Remove that segment to a cutting board
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After Eliana’s 6-month check up with the pediatrician, when the doctor filled my head with tips and suggestions about starting Eliana on solid foods, I was really excited about this new adventure in feeding her all sorts of tasty foods. I was excited to make her homemade applesauce since apples seemed to be her favorite food up to that point, as well as some other purées made out of local, seasonal ingredients. But as excited as I was, I was worried too. I was worried because she could have an allergic reaction. I was worried because she might not like
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We love apples here in the teeny tiny foodie home. Though we typically just eat them raw, sometimes I get the urge to play around and change them up a bit. I often make them into applesauce or this recipe of baked apple yumminess but recently, I got the idea to create something different. You are welcome to skip the recipe “back story” and just head to the recipe itself. But, I feel the need to share the chain of events that led me to create this recipe… So, here’s the story of this recipe: Recently, on the same day,
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In January 2012, my daughter Eliana began eating solid foods. I was really excited to make as much of her food as possible and to introduce her to all sorts of flavors and textures in both “traditional” purées (applesauce) and “non-traditional” purées (carrot onion farro purée). I wanted to create an eater with a wide and varied palate, aka a teeny tiny foodie. Based on the advice of her pediatrician, I added little bits of spices, herbs and oils, so that her food was tasty. I let her gnaw on slices of watermelon, banana, bread and apples, too. It
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You may have already guessed this, but I’m pretty obsessed with food. Yes, I love to eat food. But I also like to play around with it, create with it and try new recipes. There are usually 2-3 new recipes floating around in my head at any time. Eggs in a Hole is one of the recipes that had recently taken up residence in my mind so it was on my “cook soon” list. Then last week I began taking a childhood nutrition class* online and Eggs in a Hole was one of the recipes the professor demonstrated making
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Last year around this time, I shared a post full of ranting about the craziness regarding traveling with an 18-month old, along with some suggestions for survival. Click here to read that original post. I’m a list maker. I have tons of legal pads filled with all sorts of lists. Lists of recipes in progress, lists of things to remember or do and most of all I have packing lists. My packing list is totally crazy and OCD filled and contains things like “this notepad” because I might implode if I didn’t bring the current legal pad onto which I’m
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This vegan soup is a tasty and satisfying meal all on it’s own. I like to serve it topped with croutons, roasted pumpkin seeds or lightly salted popcorn.* Sometimes I even mix in some chunks of seared tofu, too. This seasonal soup can be a delicious addition to your Thanksgiving table, too. (It will be one of my contributions to my family’s dinner table). Before the recipe, there are a couple tips and ideas I want to share with you. 1. Don’t be afraid of salt. Unless I’m following a new recipe, baking or refining one I haven’t yet perfected,
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A great activity for Little Foodies is to help scoop out the insides of the pumpkin (or other large squash) and help you separate the seeds from the guts or pulp. This super fun activity teaches kids about science by exploring textures and how things change, works on fine motor skills, builds vocabulary if you talk about what you’re doing together and teaches about volume, too. Who knew cooking could be so educational? Simply Spiced Pumpkin Seeds Ingredients: -Raw pumpkin seeds from one pumpkin -2 teaspoons olive oil -1-2 pinches of salt Preparation: Heat the oven to
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For this week’s Monday Meal, I’m not sharing one of my original recipes. Instead, I’m sharing a recipe for polenta that I make fairly regularly for dinner. The original recipe, by Peter Berley, is adaptable to any season and can be made using staples from the fridge and pantry so I make it all year long with a few little revisions of my own. But I must confess that this week’s Monday Meal has some ulterior motives, too. It just so happens that when I made this recipe recently, Eliana had one of her “totally toddler” moments that can occur
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The other evening, a friend stopped by my apartment and was surprised to see that Eliana was eating toast with peanut butter and a plum on the side. My friend had assumed that Eliana eats “a fancy risotto” or something similar for every meal. So, let me be clear: Eliana does not eat a fancy risotto or something similar for every meal. Like everybody else, I too have nights when there isn’t any food in the fridge to heat up, when I’m exhausted and have no interest in actually cooking, when Eliana is exhausted and hungry and barely ate
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I was recently asked to write a review of a new children’s book that just came out. The book is called End of the Rainbow Fruit Salad and it is a great, toddler-friendly recipe book. The story follows a small group of kids called the “Kitchen Club Kids” as they make a fruit salad together. I have to tell you, I LOVE this book and I’m honored that one of the authors asked me to review it. Here’s what I love about this book: -The large and engaging pictures help Little Foodies follow the story and recipe -The
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