4. Recipes...

My favorite recipe(s) from each of my recommended books:


Super Smoothies by Barber and Whiteford

For infants:

"Breakfast on the Crawl"
1/2 cup breast milk or formula
1/3 quartered fresh strawberries
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 banana (RIPE)
approx. 1/4 cup dry rice baby cereal

Put milk and fruit in blender. Blend until smooth. Add rice cereal to desired consistency that is "age appropriate."

*Obviously, you will more-than-likely use a spoon for this in lieu of a straw! Unless you have a highly advanced infant! Also note that strawberries are a high-allergen fruit so feel free to sub it out with another fruit.


For children and adults:

"The Flu-Buster" (appropriate, eh?)
1 cup of orange juice (I would recommend FRESHLY squeezed)
1 cup quartered fresh strawberries
3/4 cup diced papaya (don't be afraid of the jarred here if necessary)
1 banana, sliced (they say frozen but I use fresh)

Combine orange juice and berries in blender. Then add papaya and banana. Blend until smooth.
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Top 100 Baby Purees by Karmel


Oatmeal puree for infants:


"My Favorite Oatmeal"

1/2 cup milk (cow's milk, breast milk or formula)
1/4 cup rolled oats (try and do steel cut if you can)
6 dried apricots, finely chopped (get ones with the fewest amount of preservatives)
1 large pear (peeled and chopped)

Put milk, oats and chopped apricots into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer and stir occasionally for 3 minutes. Puree with chopped pear.



Vegetable side for older babies:


"Cauliflower and Broccoli in Cheese Sauce"

1 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower florets
1/2 cup chopped broccoli florets
1 T unsalted butter
1 T all-purpose flour
1 cup of milk
pinch of nutmeg
3 T grated cheddar cheese
2 T grated Gruyere cheese

Steam cauliflower and broccoli for about 7 minutes or until tender (or boil until tender). Meanwhile, prepare the cheese sauce by melting butter in saucepan and then stirring in flour. Make a smooth paste and cook for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the milk, bring to a boil, and cook for a few minutes over low heat until thickened and smooth. Add nutmeg. Stir in cheese until melted. Puree to desired consistency if necessary.


* Both of the above recipes are perfect for "table-training" which is teaching your child to self-feed. They both stick to the spoon well which makes for a great (and neater option) table training-food!
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Super Foods for Babies and Children by Karmel


The below fish recipe is a staple recipe in our house. I serve it with broccoli florets, mango chunks and whatever "good" starch I have on hand. This meal, as you will learn in my article, "Brain Food and Vitamin E," is the ideal meal for rocking the best of both those worlds! Not to mention it is super quick and easy!


"Fillet of Fish with Herb Butter"

2 T softened, unsalted butter
2 T herbs (the recipe calls for fresh but I use dried I have on hand)
1 T lemon juice
2 cod fillets (about 1 pound)
Coarse ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (both of which should become spice cabinet staples)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the butter with the herbs and lemon juice. Place the fish in a small ovenproof dish, season with salt and pepper and spread the herb butter over the top. Bake until the fish is cooked through (only 8 to 10 minutes). Flake with fork and make sure there are no bones.
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I had to add these choices because honestly, I make them ALL the time and have to admit, I do feel a bit "deceptive!" But in a good way. WINK.

Deceptively Delicious by Seinfeld


"Pita Pizzas"

8 4-inch whole-wheat pita pockets
1/2 cup spinach puree (1 pkg. of frozen, thawed, drained and pureed in food processor)
2 cups bottled tomato sauce
2 cups thinly sliced part-skim mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400. Spread spinach puree on each pita. Spread the sauce over the spinach. Cover with cheese covering all spinach thoroughly! Place pizzas on foil-lined baking sheet and bake until cheese melts and begins to brown. Let cool so the cheese "sticks" and "covers" the veggies!


"Baked Egg Puffs"

Nonstick cooking spray
2 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup yellow squash or butternut squash puree (baked or boiled until soft and then pureed in food processor)
2 T shredded reduced-fate cheddar cheese
2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400. Coat small ramekins or coffee cups with cooking spray and set on baking sheet. In large bowl, whisk eggs, egg whites, squash puree, cheese flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Divide the mixture among the ramekins or cups and bake until tops are puffed up and the eggs are no longer runny in the center when pierced with a knife, about 13 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

* For those of you with babies, any recipe that call for just egg white, don't throw the yolks out! Babies can have the yolk of an egg before their first birthday! Save those suckers and use them when feeding your infants! A great protein source and omegas.

* Also, for those of you with babies, any recipe that calls for a puree, make more than the recipe calls for and freeze cubes of it for your infant. Kills two birds with one stone as they say!_______________________________________________

The Sneaky Chef by Lapine

I don't know about you, but anything quick for breakfast that my kids can eat on the way to school is OK by me. These breakfast cookies rock. Freeze them and just get a couple out before you jump in the shower in the morning. They'll thaw in no time. Then just make-up little snack baggies of either blueberries or grapes, grab their sippys of water and off you go. You drive, they eat breakfast. That is serious multi-tasking time management my friends!

"Flour Blend" (I doubled this below. If you're gonna make it, then make it for several uses!)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups wheat germ, unsweetened

Mix well and set aside for BOTH of the below recipes!

* And don't sneer at the wheat flour and wheat germ! These need to be in your pantry anyway! Trust me! More on this later! I will post some other recipes where this flour blend will come in handy, but if you need another use for it, add some bread crumbs and tons of different seasonings and Parmesan cheese. Coat some chicken or fish fillets with it! TO DIE FOR! Makes for an awesome Chicken Parm coating!

"Breakfast Cookie and Milk" (These have a lot of protein for a "cookie." Perfect for breakfast.)

2 cups whole grain cereal flakes (such as Wheaties or Total)

3/4 cup of the above Flour Blend

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 large egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

Cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 400. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with oil. Crush the cereal in a plastic bag. Or you can food process it. Whisk flour blend, cereal, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk egg, sugar, oil, vanilla and ricotta cheese. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Drop tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets leaving about an inch between cookies. Flatten with back of fork. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar lightly. Bake about 18 to 20 minutes or until nicely browned and crispy around the edges.

* Great with milk! Maybe "chocolate milk" that you used Ovaltine in? A multi-vitamin in a glass!

Both my oldest kids went through this whole NO AVOCADO stage. It drove me absolutely crazy. I LOVE avocados. Love them, love them, love them. The below recipe is so easy to sneak one of nature's most valuable commodities into some store-bought chocolate pudding. My kids LOVE pudding. And so does their Daddy. But what they don't know......

"Chocolate Pudding with Avocado"

Boxed instant pudding mix (it has to be chocolate for this recipe)

1 ripe avocado, pureed in food processor

Make pudding to boxes instructions. Before it's set, quickly add to avocado in food processor. Mix well to avoid texture issues. Spoon into ramekins or other small bowls. Put in fridge- the colder you serve this, the less likely the detection of avocado. Feel free to squirt some Reddi Whip on top and throw some sprinkles on top! Voila! A great, light dessert full of calcium, vitamins C and K, folate and fiber. Oh, and "good" fat! SUPER MOM!

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