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A peek Into My Kitchen: Dressed Up Kale with Breadbrumbs

Kale is one of those vegetables that packs a super nutritional punch--it's high in vitamins A, C, Folic Acid, Calcium and Iron.  Unfortunately, it can have a strong cabbage-y taste which makes it one of those veggies that you either love or hate. 

If you offer it to your kids at a young age, they may develop a taste for it and eat it steamed plain (I gave it to my 3.5 year old as a baby and now he loves it!)...it may, however, be a harder sell for older kids and adults (I have worked very hard to convince myself to like it at all.)

Fortunately, almost anything served with butter and bread crumbs can be yummy--and this Kale is no different.  The buttery bread crumbs soften the taste of the Kale and make it pretty mouth watering.  The bread crumbs get stuck in the curly edges of the Kale so that you get some with every bite.

You may want to double this recipe, because it is so good I tend to eat most of it right out of the pan!

Dressed Up Kale with Breadcrumbs

1 bunch of Kale, chopped roughly, tough inner stems removed and washed well*

2 Tbsp butter (I used salted butter for extra sweetness)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

In a steamer basket, steam Kale until completely wilted.

While Kale is steaming, melt butter in a medium frying pan.

Once butter is melted, add bread crumbs and saute until golden brown.

Add steamed kale to bread crumbs and saute for another couple of minutes until bread crumbs begin to get stuck in the crevices of the Kale and all the flavors have melded together.

Serve warm.

* To wash Kale: Fill a large bowl or pot with cold water and swish kale around in it. Remove kale and change the water a few times until you no longer see floating bits of dirt and bugs in the water.

Also try my Crispy Snacking Kale

A peek Into My Kitchen: Irish Soda Bread--a work in progress

For some reason, I decided that I needed to bake bread with my 3 1/2 year old this afternoon...knowing that he wasn't going to be in a patient mood today, I looked around for a recipe for a non-yeast bread that wouldn't involve waiting for it rise or too much babysitting.

I happened upon Mark Bittman's recipe for Irish Soda Bread in one of my favorite cookbooks How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and figured that it was worth a shot.  It came out somewhat too dense, but with a sweet, salty and altogether pleasant taste--definitely worth a second try.

I have a picture of the bread we made hidden somewhere within the recesses of my husband's camera, and I will try to add it to this post sometime within the next day or two.

Irish Soda Bread

Neutral oil for the baking pan (I used canola, but you could use corn or grapeseed)

1 1/2 c warm milk plus 1 1/2 Tbs vinegar

4 c flour (I used 3 c white flour and the 1 c of whole wheat flour that I had left in my cupboard)

2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees F.

2. Grease a baking sheet ( I covered with foil first to avoid too much cleanup)

3. Combine all dry ingredients in a food processor and process to combine.

4. Add soured milk gradually and process until you have a soft ball of dough. (You make not need all of the soured milk)

5. Shape the dough into a round loaf and make a pretty cross hatch design on the top with a sharp knife.

6. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the loaf is golden and sounds hollow when you thump the bottom.

7. Let cool thoroughly before slicing.

A Natural Constipation Remedy: Prunes for Baby

My children tend towards constipation in their first year of life...whether formula fed, like my son, or breast fed, like my daughter, the results seem to be the same.

Keep in mind, that infrequent pooping does not a constipated baby make.  According to my doctor, and everything else that I have read on the subject (amazing how fascinating bowels are once you become parent!), a baby is only considered truly constipated if they have hard, often marble-like, stools which cause discomfort.  You actually aren't supposed to freak out if your baby only poops once a week, as long as they are having normal stools and aren't having excess gas or any discomfort.  Don't believe me? the experts at WebMD concur.

Because prunes and plums are a food with low risk of allergic reactions and aren't particularly acidic, prunes are a good go to remedy for your baby once he or she starts solids.

I recommend buying your prunes in a see-through bag instead of in an opaque container so that you can see and squish the prunes through the bag to make sure that they aren't too dried out.  Look at the package carefully and make sure that there is no added sugar and (particularly if you have a family history of food allergies) that they are processed in a nut-free facility.

Keep in mind, dried prunes are not the same as dried plums. They look and taste quite different.

Pooping Prunes

1 12-15oz bag of good quality dried pitted prunes (organic is best)

Pour prunes into a small saucepan, and add just enough filtered water to cover them.  Cook them over medium-low heat until prunes plump up and soften considerably--about 10-15 minutes.

Puree them in an electric food processor or blender (if you choose this option for a young baby, I recommend pushing it through a fine sieve after you are through pureeing to remove any bits of skin that may be chokable) OR 2. Puree prunes using the finest setting of a hand food mill (this will give you the smoothest prunes) You may want to add more water to make processing them easier.

To store:  Freeze in a small container or ice cube trays. Pureed prunes will be thick and gloppy and will not freeze into completely solid cubes--you will probably have to store them in the ice cube tray in your freezer.

When introducing prunes to your baby, do so very slowly. More than a teaspoon or two (or 1 cube) may cause stomach cramping.

A peek Into My Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Blondies (Nut Free)

These are just a great stand-in for brownies if you're not into the really fudgey, chocolatey ones.  My nut allergic son is often disappointed when he goes to someone's house and they are serving a variety of nut-filled treats. This is a great crowd pleaser to bring to just such an event!

Chocolate Chip Blondies

4 tbsp.  butter, cut into pieces

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 c. packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. flour

1 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spray an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick spray.

3. Cream together butter with brown and white sugar.

4. Add egg and vanilla and mix.

5. Combine baking powder, salt and flour.

6. Add to butter mixture and mix until just combined.

7. Stir in chocolate chips.

8. Scrape dough into prepared pan (it will be very thick and sticky), making sure to spread the top out as evenly as you can.

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until light golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (if you hit a chocolate chip with the tester, it may come out chocolatey even if the blondies are done--try another spot before you put it back in!)

Note: You can make even shorter work of this recipe by making it in a food processor--simply pulse after each addition!

More Recalled Drop Side Cribs: Dorel Asia

Clearly there is an ongoing problem developing with drop side cribs in general...if you have one, make sure that all parts are in good working order and that your child's mattress is on the proper level for their age and activity level.

To receive a free replacement kit contact Dorel Asia at www.dorel-asia.com. The repair kits will be provided to owners within the next several weeks.  Until then, you need to find an alternate sleeping arrangement for your baby.

For more info, including the problematic model numbers, go to the CPSC's website to read the official press release.

1.5 million Graco Strollers Recalled 1/20/10

More stroller hinge problems...this time with a a few different Graco models.

Today, Graco announced a voluntary recall of their Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and Travel systems.  The recalled strollers were manufactured and sold between October 2004 and February 2008  For the specific model numbers being recalled go the CPSC' s official press release

The strollers are being recalled because of reports of fingertip amputations and lacerations in a handful of children...sound familiar?  It may, because it is almost the exact wording for the Maclaren recall of a while back...which means that the injuries were probably avoidable with some extra adult vigilance.

The fix, as with the Maclaren recall, is a hinge cover kit that Graco is providing free of charge. 

For additional information or to receive your kit, contact Graco at (800) 345-4109 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit www.gracobaby.com

Making Your Own Baby Food Is Not Rocket Science--Gathering Your Tools

As I previously mentioned, I have recently started feeding my daughter solid foods. As I did for her brother, I am making all of her food (save for her baby cereal) from scratch.  While all of the peeling, chopping and pureeing takes time I am fully convinced that the results are worth it! Homemade baby food not only tastes better (have you ever tasted some of those jarred vegetables?!) and is generally more nutrient dense, but also introduces your baby to fruits and veggies as they were meant to taste--generally resulting in fewer rejected foods and less picky eaters.

To help other parents see how simple it can be, I am trying to gather all of my tips as I go along.

First and foremost, you need to gather your tools:

1. Basket steamer--one of those folding ones is great for fitting in different sized pots--for steaming fruit and vegetables

2. Food processor or blender--for pureeing large batches quickly (I think the food processor far surpasses the blender in ease of use and quality or purees)

3. Fine mesh strainer--for straining large batches of fruit/veggies that you have pureed in your Food processor or blender

4. Full-sized food mill--if you want to strain and puree simultaneously--takes a lot of elbow grease ;)

5. Travel-sized food mill for making single portions on the go

6. Potato masher--for later, when your baby is eating chunkier foods

7. I oz Ice Cube Trays and small freezable containers--for freezing portions of pureed food

8. Plastic Wrap for covering ice cube trays when you freeze cubes--to prevent other flavors from your freezer from infusing your cubes

8. Freezer friendly zip-top bags--for storing food cubes

9. Permanent marker--for labeling date and contents of bags in freezer (cubes of similar colors can look the same and different foods have different freezer shelf lives)

 

A peek Into My Kitchen: Simple Stir Fry

Stir fried vegetables are a huge favorite in my house--in fact, when my son isn't feeling well and I know that he won't feel like eating, a stir fry will usually tempt him to eat something for dinner.

Here is one of my go to recipes:

Simple Stir Fry

2-3 tsp dark sesame oil

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red, orange or yellow pepper, cut into thin slices

2 zucchini

I can baby corn, drained

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or tamari

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1. Heat sesame oil in a wok or other large pan.  

2. Add garlic, zucchini and peppers.

3.Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until peppers and zucchini are beginning to get soft.

4. Add soy sauce, vegetable broth and baby corn.

5. Stir  in hoisin sauce.

6. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so until vegetables are thoroughly cooked.

To change it up a bit, you can add broccoli, scallions, carrots, mushrooms, snow peas...the list goes on.  You can also round it out by adding a protein--Quorn, seitan, edamame, tofu...or even chicken or beef.]

Serve with white or brown rice.

A Healthy Glass of Bubbly! SodaStream Soda Maker Review and Giveaway

Full disclosure: I don't drink soda.  In fact, I hate the feeling of bubbles on my tongue. If I do drink any soda, it is usually after I have left the can open on the counter for a while to get slightly flat.

In spite of my distaste for carbonation, I was completely fascinated by the idea of  Sodastream's home soda maker which would make it possible to create our own sodas and sparkling water at home not least because my husband loves soda and would guzzle bottle upon bottle of Fresca and Diet Coke if it weren't a habit that's both expensive, bad for the environment and unhealthy.

Our new Fountain Jet machine couldn't have been much easier to put together--there was so little setup involved--you just take it out of the box, put the CO2 cylinder in the back and get to it! We used the water from our water filter (it's pretty cold, so we didn't even need to chill it as recommended) to refill the reusable bottles and proceeded to try flavor after flavor for the next few weeks.  My husband is a fan of the Cola because, since Soda Stream is an Israeli company--another plus!!--it reminds him of the Cola Syrup that he grew up on in Israel.  I like the Cranberry-Raspberry  and my son prefers the Orange.  There are 25+ kosher certified flavors to choose from including a whole bunch of aspartame-free diet flavors and many which are caffeine free AND none of the syrups contain high fructose corn syrup. My favorite part? For bubble-phobes like me, you can choose the level of carbonation by adding more or less CO2.

Basically, if you drink any soda at home, you can't go wrong with one of these machines--and they even pick up your used carbon dioxide canisters (when you order new ones.)  The only drawback that we found with this machine was that it takes a whole bunch of trial and error to get your preferred amount of bubbles--and the bubble making noise is somewhat disconcerting to small children.

The generous folks at Sodastream have made it possible for me to offer a giveaway of: a Fountain Jet Soda Lover's Start-Up Kit which includes a Fountain Jet machine,   CO2 to make over 100 liters of soda, 2 reusable carbonating bottles, a sample pack of flavors, and 3 full-sized flavors of the winner's choice. Such an awesome giveaway! Shipping only available in the continental US.

Giveaway closes 1/26/10.

To win:

Mandatory Entry: Go to the Sodastream website and let me know what 3 flavors you're most interested in trying.

For additional entries (one comment per entry):

1.Follow this blog

2.Follow me on twitter @peekababy (leave an additional comment with your twitter name) and Retweet on twitter @peekababy.

3. Digg this post, Stumble this post, Fave on Technorati etc and leave a comment per action

4. 2 entries. Blog about the contest mentioning the peek a blog and leave an extra comment with a link to your blog posting. 

5. Become a public Google friend of my blog.

6. Add me to your networked blogs.

7. Grab my button and add it to your sidebar or blogroll

8. Subscribe via RSS feed.

9. Vote for me on Top Baby Blogs.

Winner will be chosen using random.org.

Disclosure: I received a free Sodastream Fountain Jet machine and a whole bunch of flavors in exchange for my honest review.

**Winner Winner Winner**

Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3615950 | Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 10:59 AM

I blogged about it. entry #2

http://jumpingontrampolines.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-soda-stream-giveaway.html

luv2laugh@cox.net

A peek Into My Kitchen: Baby's 1st Applesauce

Baby's 1st Applesauce

• 12 large apples: Fuji, Macintosh, Gala or Yellow Delicious are all good choices      

  FYI: Apples are one of the 'Dirty Dozen' of produce that are best purchased organic

Fill a pot with enough water to barely touch the steamer when you put it in the pot.  Insert the steamer basket and fill it with your apple pieces.
Cover pot and bring water to a boil. Steam for between 10-15 minutes, until apples are really soft. .
Once apples are fully cooked (just barely falling apart is good) either

1. Puree them in an electric food processor or blender (if you choose this option for a young baby, I recommend pushing it through a fine sieve after you are through pureeing to remove any bits of core or fibers that remain attached to the apples) OR 2. Puree apples using the finest setting of a hand food mill (this will give you the smoothest applesauce.)

To store: Estimate how much applesauce your baby will eat in 3 days and put it in a container in your refrigerator. Freeze the rest in ice cube trays.