hard-boiled egg (yolk only) + steamed and pureed spinach + whole wheat cereal + freshly grated Parmesan cheese = Baby Eggs Florentine What’s your most surprisingly successful lunch recipe?
Apple cream cheese mini-muffins
FINALLY, A BAKED GOOD that Phoebe likes! And not a moment too soon. We started a play group this week and I’d been told ahead of time to bring a “healthy snack”. I wasn’t sure how the group would go but I knew this for sure: the last thing we needed was a lousy snack…
Ina Garten’s white bean and rosemary soup
I LOVE THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA. I just do. I always have, I hope I always will. Her recipes are always delicious, they inspire me to try new things and she just seems fun, doesn’t she? With that husky laugh and a button down shirt, there she is making all manner of soups, roasted chicken and…
Anatomy of a failed dinner
NINE. THIS IS THE NUMBER of items I prepared for Phoebe’s dinner tonight. Nine. This includes entrees, side dishes, snacks and even desserts. What it shouldn’t be however, is confused with the number of things that she actually ate–and let’s not even talk about what she finished. I used to be curious about why parents…
Mini-meatloaf with Parmesan smashed potatoes
ANOTHER WIN! Trust me, I was due. One of my hopes here is to update a few classics that I enjoyed as a kid and introduce them to my own family. This meatloaf has a secret but not so surprising ingredient: sausage. Lots of meatball recipes include a combination of ground pork, veal and…
Top 10 ways to win the battle of the buffet
IF YOUR TODDLER IS ANYTHING like mine, mealtimes have moved from a neat little bowl of pureed something to a spectacle of bite-sized offerings…each one more hopeful than the next. Some are hits, many are misses. But the least likely to be thrown on the floor most popular items in our house are: 1 >>…
If the only choice is carrots, kids will eat carrots
IN VENDING MACHINE NEWS, there’s actually a surprisingly hopeful finding. Thanks to the keen eye of Margaret Roach, my friend/mentor/idol, I recently read a Grist.org article where a high school in Ohio quickly turned junk foodies into carrot crunchers…by installing a baby carrot vending machine. Turns out, kids like snacks. If the available snacks are…
Mark Bittman’s Get Tough Advice for Dinner
HE’S GOT IDEAS, BUT they don’t sound easy. In Mark Bittman’s summertime treatise on how to get dinner on the table–and the family around it–he offers five just-do-it tips on Babble.com. I love Mark Bittman, I love a family dinner. I’m in. Particularly when introducing a new food, say, raw carrots, typically goes like this…
Are fish sticks the end of everything?
NEW YORK TIMES WRITER Susan Dominus hit a hot spot last week…the children’s menu. With higher prices, not to mention stress levels, I can see how a fast and easy alternative to the regular restaurant menu was born but wonder if it’s a shortcut not worth taking. And I’m not the only one. At last…
Top 10 foods (nearly) every baby likes
PACKED WITH NUTRITION, you never have to feel bad about giving these to baby as often as you both want. 1 >>Sweet potatoes Roasting in the oven is easiest. Just rub the skin with a little olive oil, poke a few times with a fork and roast at 350 for about 45 minutes, depending on…