It's Bananas around here.

Ms. Alice Rose turns 6 months old on Monday the 25th of November! And so, perhaps because she is a second child, we gave her a banana today, 3 days shy of 6 months. :)

Here's the photographic evidence: 

She seemed to enjoy it, and we sure enjoyed witnessing her first experience with food! She continued to "play" with it and squeeze it in her fingers for a few more minutes after she stopped bringing it to her mouth. It was just a joy to watch! Yay, I love this age so much! Can't wait to introduce her to all kinds of yummy foods in the upcoming weeks and months. And what a lucky baby - one of her first meals will be Thanksgiving! :)

What She Was Offered

 {sliced red grapes}

{wild rice sticks + annie's cheddar bunnies}

{fruit leather}

{homemade turkey meatball + peas}

{sliced monterey jack cheese}

{peas}

{sliced monterey jack cheese}

{frozen blueberries}

{eggplant hummus + nut thins}

{kiwi} 

{avocado}

{sliced cherry tomato}

{jazz apples + pb}

{honey tangerine slices}

{dried blueberries}

{smoked salmon}

Soup Weather

The windchill today dropped well below zero (-32 when we woke up this morning!), so it was a happy moment this morning when I remembered we had a big pot of homemade soup in the fridge that we made yesterday with my mom.

It was SO easy to make that I thought I'd share it here.  I'm no food blogger, but every once in a while I come across a recipe that I just have to share - usually because it strikes the perfect balance between simplicity/no-fuss and deliciousness.

It's my Grandma Mary's vegetable beef with barley soup, and it's the perfect choice for a cold winter day.

Ingredients

- onion, chopped

- 2 stalks celery, chopped

- beef chuck roast, about 3/4 lb, cut into small pieces (or short ribs or any soup meat you want to use)

- 1/2 cup barley

- one large can diced tomatoes (28 oz can I think!), plus one can full of water.

- one can great northern beans, drained and rinsed

- one package frozen mixed veggies of your choice (we used one with peas, carrots, corn, and green beans)

- 2 bay leaves

- salt to taste

Start by cooking the barley according to the directions.  Then saute celery and onion together in your favorite large dutch oven with a bit of grapeseed or canola oil until soft.  Add beef.  When beef is cooked, add the rest of the ingredients - the can of tomatoes (juice and all), plus the one can full of water, the beans, the (now-cooked) barley, the frozen veggies and the bay leaves.  Taste it and salt as you go (it will need a fair amount of salt).  Cook on medium for a while, and then just leave it on low all day long - the longer the better.  I think I left it on low for like 8 or 9 hours!  

We ate it this afternoon for lunch with some homemade bread and olive oil.  It was perfect for this chilly day, and Eliza loved it too!

EASY Candied Pecans

I thought I'd share my candied pecan recipe in case anyone is interested. 

It is super easy and they are delicious!  Little jars or bags of these make great gifts for anyone.  It is a relatively inexpensive gifts to make, too, at about $2 per jar.

Recipe:

1 lb pecan halves

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 egg whites

1 Tablespoon water

1 gallon ziploc bag

In the ziploc bag, mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Beat the egg whites and the water into a froth. Add the pecans and stir to coat.

Toss the pecans into the ziploc bag and shake it around until they are covered with the sugar mixture.

Pour into shallow baking dish (I used two 9x13" pans) and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Once cooled, put them into six small mason jars, tie twine or yarn around the lid and attach a little gift tag with the recipe on it.  I used store bought tags that I got after Christmas last year, but you can be more crafty than me and make your own tags!  Or, you could print these from the Pioneer Woman... 

Enjoy!

What we've been up to lately.

Making a gingerbread house

Learning to roll out dough... we'll try again next year :)

Making gingerbread men...

...and women!

Making little jars of candied pecans to give out as gifts.

Aren't they cute?

Making lefse with my mom and my sister-in-law.

(SIL learning how to roll out lefse.  It's not easy!)

Making rosettes for the first time.

So, basically, lots of Christmastime baking, and sharing in the buttery merriment with friends and family.
I'm savoring each and every moment.
It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

What she was offered...

Today there is no "what she ate" photo, NOT because I forgot to take an after photo (which is usually the case), but because... she ate it all!  This is rare, people.  In fact, I have an upcoming installment in which she ate NOTHING.  There is no predicting toddlers and their eating.

{pb+j on whole wheat toast round w/our homemade jelly!}

{string cheese pieces}

{half a banana}

{three strawberries}

In which Eliza learns about cookie dough...

WSWO vs. WSA

A quick one for today - sorry if these are getting boring!  I am sort of getting into doing these...

clockwise:

{cherry tomatoes from our garden}

{toast strips + eggplant hummus}

{cheddar cheese e}

{raspberries}

{greek yogurt + honey}

{center: chocolate covered sunflower seeds}

We were apparently not a fan of raspberries today...

{go here for the dish set we use}

Snacks

The last post had me thinking about snacks.  On-the-go snacks, specifically, as snacks at home are a bit easier to come up with...

Our go-to on-the-go (hehe) snacks are:

1.  Trader Joe's freeze dried Banana slices.  Eliza LOVES these things and they are just plain old bananas that have been freeze dried (there are not fried banana chips, a very different - and much less healthy - product!).  Eliza also enjoys the freeze dried Mango slices from TJ's.  They also sell strawberries and blueberries but she doesn't seem to like those as well.

2.  Fruit pouches, which I call "smoothies".  These have become very popular lately.  Originally developed, I think, as a fast way to feed purees to a baby, they have been discovered by toddler mamas and dadas as a quick and healthy snack on the go (and yes I find it ironic that Eliza is eating purees now, as an almost 2-year-old!).  Unscrew the top and they can suck the smoothie right out the top (beware - one squeeze and you have a fruit smoothie geyser on your hands! Eliza is pretty good at not doing that anymore...usually).  There are many different brands and flavors.  This is one of Eliza's favorites:

3. Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.  Thanks to a friend, these are often referred to as "hoppers" in our house, and they are one of Eliza's favorite snacks.  Not the healthiest thing in the world, but sometimes they are just the ticket to satisfy both mama and toddler when we are out and about and need a fast and mess-free treat.

4.  Mini boxes of raisins.  Franny's are my favorite raisins.  They are really big, and I think they are better than any other. The fact that they are organic is cool too, but honestly, I like them for their taste more than their organic-ness. :)  Eliza likes them, but is tiring of them lately, so I end up eating most of the raisins we buy for snacks.  But, these little boxes are easy to throw in a purse and go!

                   

5.  Babybel Cheese.  Fun, relatively mess-free and YUMMY!  We recently discovered these at Trader Joe's (cheaper there than at big box grocery stores) and Eliza really thinks these are neat.  They are little soft cheese rounds in a wax shell that you peel open.  I love that they don't get smushed if they are in my bag, and they keep for a few hours outside of the fridge, thanks to that handy wax shell!

(ps, I was not paid to say any of this, though I wish I had been!)

What she was offered...

Today I only have a photo of what she was offered - hubby was cleaning up the table and didn't realize I wanted to take a photo of her plate after she was done, so he threw the remainder in the garbage (or, in this case, the compost bin for the non-meats -- I have found that keeping a compost pile while doing BLW and feeding a toddler who creates a lot of mess and doesn't finish her plate has been great - my composter has never been so full of food scraps! :)

clockwise from top:

{leftover BBQ pulled pork}

{garbanzo beans}

{fresh mango}

{pretzels w/pb and raisins}

{babybel cheese round}

{center: fresh tomato from the garden}

She didn't care much for the pork, but ate the beans and all the mango - those were by far her favorite two things on the plate. She licked the pb out of the pretzels and ate about half the portion of tomato and half the cheese round.   She has been a fresh tomato FIEND lately with all the cherry tomatoes in our garden, and she ate almost an entire fresh tomato from my mom's garden last week.  I'm one happy mama when I watch her pick a cherry tomato (or five) and eat it!  I wonder if it will last?

I'm glad people are finding this fun little series helpful!  You'll see that I'm not all THAT creative with food, but I do try to offer her a balanced variety.  I definitely don't think that toddlers needs to eat something completely different/new from day to day, so there are days when she will get the same lunch (or breakfast) as the day before.  I just won't post the repeats here since that wouldn't be very interesting.

On-the-go snacks are also a big part of our life these days and I am getting bored of the same old few things that I bring out with me when we are out of the house... so I'd love to hear your suggestions if anyone has any?!

What she was offered vs. What she ate

I know I just did one of these yesterday, but I thought I'd keep the ball rolling today with another installment of WSWO vs. WSA!

Today is a good example of how Eliza sometimes - well, often, actually - doesn't eat much.  But that's okay!  Believe me, the girl is not starving.  

What she was offered:

clockwise from top:

{cantaloupe}

{pretzels and goat cheese}

{edamame}

{heart-shaped pb&j}

{in the center: raisins and chocolate covered sunflower seeds*}

{not pictured: 2% cow's milk}

...

What she ate:

So, one bite of the pb&j, two pretzels (actually, she shared one with mama), a few cantaloupe bites, most of the edamame (she's an edamame girl!), and - not surprisingly - all of the chocolate sunflower seeds :)  It was a small lunch, but then she sort of made up for it at dinner tonight.  It all balances out!

*I decided to offer Eliza a little treat with lunch today - this is not a daily occurrence, but it's Saturday so I thought it would be fun :)

What she was offered vs. What she ate

Let's talk food.  It's a familiar topic of discussion for toddler mamas, isn't it?  Why?  Because, if you're like me, you are constantly wracking (or is it racking?) your brain to come up with meal ideas (and not just for the toddler, but for the whole family!).  I'm sure I've said it before here -- we don't prepare special or different meals for Eliza; she eats the same things we do.  

The one exception to this is lunchtime.  

Eliza eats after her nap and I eat lunch during her nap (eating by myself is a rare treat, so I take the opportunity when it arises!), so on the weekdays we sometimes eat different things for lunch.

Recently I've started having fun with what I prepare for Eliza.  I make what I call "Bento" lunches for her.  'Bento' is the Japenese word for 'convenient' or 'convenience'.  A Bento Box is a lunch box made up of several little boxes, each meant to hold a different food.  Like this:

I took this idea and decided to offer Eliza a "spread" for lunch.  It's fun for me, I think it's easier than coming up with a different main dish + veggie or fruit every day, and Eliza likes it too, I think!  AND, it will allow me a reason to someday buy a cute, eco-friendly lunch box like this one for Eliza. :)

I thought it would be interesting to do a series of "what she was offered" vs. "what she ate" with Eliza's lunches on the 'ol blog.  Maybe it will help someone out there to share a few new ideas for lunches, and it will inspire me to come up with new fun things to serve.  And, it will also help assure you that, no, your toddler isn't the only one who sometimes eats next to nothing! 

Here goes!

What she was offered:

clockwise from top:

{pretzels}

{mozzarella string cheese bites}

{half a banana}

{rainier cherries}

{annie's cheddar bunnies}

{full fat greek yogurt w/honey on top}

{in the center: garbanzo beans}

{not pictured: 2% cow's milk}

...

What she ate (or, didn't eat, as the case may be):

{and she asked for seconds on the garbanzo beans!}