dinner and a baby

I recently started feeding Julia cheese, yogurt, and regular table food. At her 9 month appointment, her pediatrician advised us that we can start doing that. I was taken back a little since for the past 3 months I have only given her simple purées. “She has never had garlic, or onions, or any spices at all. Is it ok to feed her all those things now?”, I commented. “Go for it!”, she said. So I went for it.

Dinner on the deck!

Her first real food was couscous. I love making it since it is so simple and can be served as a side dish or a main dish. I do not follow a particular recipe… I just make it up depending on the ingredients that I crave. This time I added some olive oil, lime juice, olives, spinach, roasted tomatoes, salt, black pepper, goat feta cheese, and alleppo pepper (I love this pepper! If you have a Penzeys near you, grab some and sprinkle it on anything that you desire. It’s delicious!). I was not sure what Julia was going to make of the dish. She just loved it!!

The next dish that I made was a potato salad. This is another simple side dish that I love to make and it is a little more interesting than your typical potato salad. I found the recipe in the Lucid Food cookbook. It includes potatoes, pesto, olives, and hard boiled eggs. I did not make my own pesto this time. Also, since Julia cannot have eggs, I did not include them in the entire dish. I also added some avocado on top for all of us. Julia loved it since I gave her pieces of potatoes and avocados to feed herself (she loves feeding herself!). Another success!

Next up was a pasta with a chicken broth and shallot based sauce, kale, peas, and goat cheese. Since the pasta was not too soft, I did not think that Julia would be able to eat it, so I chopped it a bit with the rest of the ingredients. She loved this too! I was so excited that she liked the kale! Good thing, since she will be eating plenty of that in her lifetime! :)

The next dish was a little different. I was not sure if I wanted to feed Julia meat just yet. Since I do not eat meat or hardly ever cook it, I could not bare the thought of boiling chicken for her. And there was no way that I was going to get her the chicken dishes in the jar. That sounded even more appalling. Also, I cannot roast a chicken for the life of me. So what to do? Then a few weeks ago I found a recipe that sounded somewhat promising. I decided to give it a try. (I know!! Can you believe it!?!?) The dish includes chicken thighs, a few shallots, a pint of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 a cup or so of olives, fresh thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh mint, and feta. You roast the chicken with all the ingredients, minus the mint and feta. Once the chicken is done roasting, you add the mint and feta. The dish was delicious!! Since we loved it so much and it was easy to make, I decided to make it again and give some to Julia. She loved it too!

I must say that since I started feeding Julia regular food, my thoughts about dinner have changed a bit. I feel like I now have to think even harder about what dishes to make, since she cannot eat everything that we eat. For example, I tend to use nuts a lot in my cooking… specifically for pesto. But at the same time, I am super excited that she can now eat more of the things that we eat. It will definitely make it easier to not have to make multiple dinners for us. I also feel super lucky that she is such a good eater. Still to this day, she has only disliked bananas, pears, and cauliflower. If that is the extent of it, I have nothing to complain about, no?

the village bakery

Sometimes when I find a new place that I fall in love with, I do not want to share the news in fear that it will become super popular and will be difficult to go there. This was the case with The Village Bakery in Pittsford. I have been thinking about dedicating a post to it for a while now, but I could not do it. But it is so good, that I had to share. Plus it has become popular, so I already lost that battle.

As I was driving home through the village last fall, I noticed some construction behind the Starbucks. I kept an eye on it and one day the sign went up… it said “Bakery”. I got excited. I could not wait to check it out. As soon as I walked in, I knew that I was going to spend a lot of time in there. It reminded me of Le Pain Quotidien in DC. The communal table, the fresh breads, the sandwiches, and the pastries… perfect! So the Saturday following my first drop in visit, Joel and I went there for breakfast. I remember ordering the breakfast sandwich that included a poached egg, arugula, pesto, and goat cheese. It was delicious!

We continued to go there for breakfast several more times. Then one day we went there for lunch and I ordered the tuna melt minus the cheese. Oh my! It was the best tuna sandwich that I have ever eaten. I am not kidding! We practically go there almost every weekend and that is what I order each time. I just cannot get myself to order anything else. The bread is perfectly toasted but still super soft and fresh and the tuna salad is just so tasty. I am not sure what they put in it, aside from the obvious ingredients such as tuna and dill. But it’s just amazing!

Ok, maybe I have ordered other sandwiches here and there. The B.A.L.T and the Turkey sandwiches are very good. Joel has ordered the Croque Madame several times and that is pretty good too. The only sandwich that I did not really care for was the Chicken Salad. I really wanted to like it, but I found it too dry. It needed a tomato or something. The actual salad is pretty tasty but as a whole, it is just ok. Same goes for the Egg Salad… it was good. It was tasty and not drenched in mayo, which is a plus in my book. If you like egg salad, I would definitely give it a try.

Each time we go there for lunch, I also have to order 2 cake bites. These are the most delicious and moist cake bites ever! What a brilliant idea… make a cake and roll it in a bite sized ball. My favorite is the vanilla followed by the chocolate peanut butter. The perfect ending to a perfect lunch!

The breads are really nice too. One of my favorites is the VB Table Bread. It’s a really nice everyday bread. It’s not super crusty and the inside is soft. My kind of a bread. I have also tried their brioche and it is good, but does not compare to the brioche at Le Pain Quotidien. That is still the best brioche that I have tasted since having it in France.

I am looking forward to the summer since they have a very nice patio that is decorated with beautiful potted flowers. I spent some time there last summer once Julia was born and I was on maternity leave. It was the perfect location to kill some time while Julia was napping in her stroller. In fact, she has practically grown up there. The place is great for her too. She loves it there. I guess it helps that we have taken her there since she was in my belly. :)

Julia in the big girl high chair at the Bakery.

Now please try not to go there too much or if you do and is crowded, please save us a seat.

veggies and fruits

I have been having a lot of fun making food for Julia. And Julia has been having a lot of fun trying new foods. So far, she has loved almost everything that I have made for her… almost everything.

Soon to be dinner…

Veggies have been a success. Avocados, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach… she loved all of them.

Thumbs up for avocado!

Fruits on the other hand have been a different story. The first fruit that I tried were bananas. I simply mashed it and gave it to her to eat. She actually refused to eat it after the initial bite. I was surprised… I thought for sure that she would love it. A few moms have suggested that I add some breastmilk to thin it a bit. I am going to try and see how she feels about that.

Steaming peas…

The next fruit that I tried were pears. Per the baby cookbook (201 Organic Baby Purées), I chopped them, boiled them until soft, and then puréed them. The first night she tried it, she only ate a small portion. She liked them a bit more the next day, I think partially since I added some rice cereal to it. Same for the third night… I added some sweet potatoes to it. I guess I would call it a partial success.

Loved the peas too!

It is kind of funny to me that she has not been liking fruits very much. Everyone has been telling me that fruits are easy and that veggies should be introduced first because of that. I guess she is a veggie kind of girl. Hmm… I wonder where she gets that from. :)

weeknight cooking

Cooking has been a bit difficult lately, especially on a weeknight. I usually get home from work around 5:00, which means that I only have a few hours to play with Julia since her bedtime is 7:30. It also means that I do not want to spend very much time in the kitchen cooking. So I have been searching for quick recipes… I have found a few good ones.

Soup is a good weeknight meal. It usually makes a bunch, which means that you can have it a couple of times during the week. I have been loving this Leek Soup with Dill Oil, which I found on the 101 Cookbooks site. I have altered it a bit… I do not use any butter, I use an extra potato, I leave it chunky, and I do not add any of the items that she suggests (although they would probably be good to add). I have made it numerous times and it’s definitely a keeper. I usually serve it with a pressed sandwich, leftover pizza, or just a few slices of bread.

Gnocchi is one of my favorite foods. It’s comfort food for me, so it is another dish that I make all the time. I love it with pesto, prosciutto, spinach, goat cheese, and either pumpkin seeds or walnuts. I have also made it with a roasted tomato sauce. To roast the tomatoes, you simply slice a pint of tomatoes and add some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some of your favorite herbs (I use parsley and oregano), and some capers. The capers are key, so do not omit them. The sauce is delicious, especially on gnocchi! :)

Another recipe that is one of my cooking staples is the Matchstick Pasta recipe, which I also found on the 101 Cookbooks site. This is by far the easiest dish to make! During one of my shopping outings I could not find any pomegranate seeds. I was so upset since I was really craving the dish. I decided to try dried cranberries as a substitute… it worked great!

Pizza is another staple… I find myself making it every week. I usually use Bobolis for the crust, which makes it easy. My favorite toppings are pesto, prosciutto, spinach, and goat cheese. A while ago I found this really delicious pepperoni by Applegate Farms, so I decided to try a peperoni pizza. I used tomato sauce, mozzarella, green peppers, mushrooms, peperoni, and a few thinly sliced onion pieces. It was so good! It is now part of my pizza cycle.

In my recent issue of the Whole Living magazine, I discovered a nice quick dish. You simply sautée some garlic with a few sprinkles of pepper flakes, then you add some chopped kale, and sautée it until wilted and cooked through. Lastly, you add some peas and cook them for a bit. Once done, you serve it with some cooked rice and topped with an over-easy egg. It’s so quick and delicious!

Another dish that I would like to mention is the Peanut Sesame Noodles, which I found on the Smitten Kitchen site. I made this dish recently and I was surprised how easy it was to make. I wondered why I do not make it more often. I did modify it a bit. I do not make the sauce in a food processor. I simply whisk it and it works just as well. I do not use tofu… I have topped it with cooked chicken (usually the rotisserie chicken from Wegmans) and shrimp.

If I am really pressed for time, sandwiches with sweet potato fries are my to go dish. I usually keep a bag of sweet potato fries in the freezer… I love the Alexia sweet potato fries. I also keep veggie burgers and fake chicken patties by Quorn. Chicken patties on a bun are a favorite. :)

I hope that a few of these dishes will become some of your favorite weeknight meals!

cooking for julia

The time has come… Julia is old enough to eat solid foods! It is amazing to me that she is at this stage already. It has come so fast. I was prepared… my friend Marc gave us the Baby Gourmet (Les Petits Plats Français) cookbook and as a birthday present, Joel’s mom gave me the 201 Organic Baby Purées cookbook. Both books are great! Both contain lots of recipes for first as well as upcoming feeding stages. The 201 Organic Baby Purées book even contains a menu to use as ideas for what you can feed your baby. I was excited to start cooking for her.

Julia’s first solid food… rice cereal.

As a first feeding, we gave her rice cereal. I was amazed! She knew exactly what do to with the spoon… she opened her mouth wide and took the spoon just like an adult. Crazy! She was very enthusiastic about it and she loved the cereal more and more everyday.

Oatmeal cereal approved but not as enthusiastic as the rice cereal.

Then last weekend, we started feeding her oatmeal cereal. She was not sure how she felt about it at first. She was not as enthusiastic as she was when we fed her the rice cereal. After a few days though, she has grown to love it.

Since we were done with the cereal options, I decided to move on to vegetables. So last weekend I prepared her newest dish… sweet potatoes! I was so excited to feed it to her.

Puréeing the sweet potatoes.

Uh… what is that orange stuff?

Julia, on the other hand, was not as excited as I was. Her reaction was priceless!

Bah! I don’t know about this orange stuff!

The funniest part about it was that she was willing to eat it and was excited, but at the same time she was not sure how she felt about it.

I survived sweet potatoes! :)

We fed her the sweet potatoes for a few days and she liked them more and more everyday. Next up are avocados and carrots. (!!) I look forward to her reactions to the tastes and textures as we cycle through the many varieties of vegetables and fruits.

chickadee-dee-dee

One of the items that I registered for as a shower gift was a play mat/activity gym. I really loved this particular one, Skip Hop Treetop Friends Activity Gym, since it included birds and trees… it was kind of my theme for Julia’s nursery. It was one of the best things that I could have registered for. Julia just loves it! She has been using it since she was a few weeks old. She loves the birds, especially this particular one that includes noisy wings and a clear ball with small beads inside it.

Julia’s favorite birdie…

I used to, and still do, show it to her and tell her about the real birds that you can see and hear in nature. Since one of my favorite birds are the chickadees and their call is easy, I decided to tell her that it was a chickadee. She loves it every time I sing the call to her… chickadee-dee-dee, chickadee-dee-dee. So fun! She usually has the biggest smile on her face. :)

Hiking with Daddy.

The weather two weekends ago was really nice, so we decided to take Julia for a hike. We decided to hike in Mendon Ponds Park on the South Meadow Trail, which connects to the Quaker Pond Trail. Both of these trails are a favorite. They are great for running as well as cross country skiing. They are also great since you can make your hike/run/cross country ski trip as long or as short as you want it. Another great thing about them is that you can feed the chickadees. So that is what we did… we fed the chickadees. Julia was very intrigued by the birds. It was so fun to watch her expressions.

I cannot wait until she will be big and brave enough to hold her hand out to feed the chickadees. :)

Hiking with Julia

Julia went on her first hike on Sunday. Joel was going mountain biking at Dryer Road Park, so I decided to take Julia on a hike. Kristin joined us. The hike was great! Julia loved it! She loved watching the trees and the sun rays that were peeking through the trees. She also loved listening to the birds.

It was a bit chilly, so I was afraid that she would be cold. Her little nose did get a little cold, but she was overall warm. I knew that this was the case since she was not complaining and she eventually fell asleep. I foresee many hikes in the coming months!