Lately, I have been following this little bean around the house as she has gone from crawling to walking MUCH quicker than we had all anticipated!!!

Food wise- I continue to cook for our family…

Staple breakfast: 2 corn tortillas, shredded zucchini, one egg and two egg whites, feta or light Cabot, and peach salsa,

quick butternut and cauliflower soup,

broccoli and light Cabot quiche,

glory bowls,

baked zucchini sticks (I can’t get enough of these!),

quinoa oat bar (I can’t find the recipe I used-oops!),

and triple coconut sweet potato cake (for Easter).

For now, I am back outside with my girl.

With Dave on the road this weekend I had a friend over for brunch. I had seen on healthy aperture a recipe for baked potatoes with an egg and instantly wanted to put something together.

So here it is- a baked potato (baked in the oven for 45 minutes on 400F) covered with Cabot cheddar, salsa, a sunny side up egg, and Cabot sour cream. 

This is a perfect weekend breakfast treat especially with a cup of hot black tea and shaken soy milk. I like to pretend the soy milk is a foamy latte.

I also made Maddie-monster some baby french toast with whole grain bread. So far Mads does not have a problem with gluten so we are going full steam ahead -just keeping them separate from mama’s.

Baby French Toast

Ingredients

2 slices whole grain bread or gluten free bread(if needed)
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
dash of vanilla
shake of ground cinnamon 
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 

Whisk the egg in a bowl. Add the milk, vanilla, and cinnamon, and whisk to combine. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread slices, turning bread carefully with your hands to coat pieces evenly.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add both slices of bread and cook, undisturbed, until bread has browned, about 2 to 4 minutes. Carefully flip and cook other side.

She gobbled it right up with her avocado and banana!

Happy long weekend!

Maddie wants to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day- with this ridiculous smile

She has already had a wonderful morning – opening up some V-day treats including this sweet vest from Mymy and a card from Gran. How cute is this vest!?! She is going to wear it to support the Crimson hockey and basketball ladies this weekend!

Maddie and her sitter made these cards for Dave and I yesterday– apparently R had to take the marker from Mads every 10 seconds- ha! Baby scribbles= happy mama!

After putting Mads down for her morning nap I heated up leftover red quinoa, Cabot cheddar, butternut squash bake for breakfast – I love warm savory foods in the am!

Have a good one all!

Someone asked me the other day how I cook with a crawling baby- a walk about comes to mind. She jams around the kitchen while I chop, stir, and sauté.  Thank you Mymy for getting this for our little bean- it’s a lifesaver!

Dinners:

Roasted vegetables with a tahini dressing over brown rice

Quinoa pasta with butternut squash, kale and chickpeas drizzled with olive oil and parmesan

Chicken soup(poached chicken, shredded zucchini and carrots, chicken stock, and quinoa pasta)

We make this soup about once per week- so simple and tasty!

What are you making for dinner?

Though my blog posts have been few and far between- I have still been cooking and creating strong meals for my family. I came across this salad on food52 (a website that was created to, “help people become better, smarter, happier cooks”).

This salad is perfect for all those cold winter nights we’re are ALL dealing with right now!

Warm Squash and Chickpea Salad with tofu croutons

• 2 pounds butter squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper
• 14 ounces canned or home-cooked chickpeas, drained
• 4 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt
• 3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons tahini paste
• 2 tablespoons water, to taste
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat the oven to 425°F.
2. Toss the squash with the garlic, olive oil, and some salt and pepper.
3. Place on a tray, optionally lined with parchment, in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until soft. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
4. While the squash is cooking, make the tahini sauce. Mix the crushed garlic with lemon juice and add the tahini. Now thin with the water and olive oil, and check for seasoning. You should taste a balance between the nutty tahini and lemon.
5. To assemble the salad, place the squash, chickpeas,  tofu croutons and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Pour on the tahini sauce and remaining oil and toss carefully. Season with salt and pepper

This salad is so warm and inviting- you and your family will definitely fall in love with it!

Now that things are starting to slow down at home (note: this does not include Maddie who is now crawling)- I’ll be sharing our meals more regularly.

We started foods with Maddie around 5 1/2 months. I was very excited to start this process with the little bean and found that she was not as excited as I was – ugh!

We started with sweet potato which she played around with and then spit out. Next was baby oatmeal (happy family) with breast milk and cinnamon. She took a couple bites played around with it in her mouth and then moved her head away. We did not force it, but decided to wait another couple days and try again. This was how it went for a couple weeks with mushed up apples, sweet potatoes (it takes 15 times for child to really not like something and thankfully after 6 tries she seemed to change her mind ), and oatmeal with cinnamon. After that we tried a new food about every 3 days, and haven’t stopped trialing yet!

When life gets crazy or we are  out for a meal I put on of these squeeze packets or jars in our bag. I always feed her with a spoon though as I have heard that letting a baby suck on these packages is not good for their growth and development.

I am now making vegetable/fruit combinations weekly including broccoli, butternut squash, and apple, and 

avocado, silken tofu, blackberry with whole milk yogurt – baby smoothies .

We are also now giving her finger foods at the beginning of each meal to help her learn how to feed herself. She loves these teething sticks (bread, applesauce, and cinnamon) –so simple and makes our girl very happy.

Note: so far Maddie doesn’t seem to be gluten free- Dave couldn’t be more excited!

Can’t wait to share more Maddie foods along the way …

Before Thanksgiving, I put together this quick dessert (oat apple crisp) to bring our to the Hammer’s for dinner! It is quick and easy and with a very busy girl usually clipped in next to me at the table- I don’t have a lot of extra time in the kitchen!

So you guessed it- you start with apples– cut into slices! 

Apple Oat Crisp (adapted from Martha Stewart Living, November 2013)

Topping

• 1 cup of gluten free rolled oats
• 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 stick of butter, melted

Filling

• 2 pounds of apples, cut into slices
• 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon

Topping: Preheat oven to 375. Pulse 1/2 cup oats in a food processor, until coarsely ground. Transfer to a bowl and adding remaining oats, brown sugar, salt, and butter. Stir until combined.

Filling: Toss together filling ingredients in a bowl and place in a 9 inch square baking dish (note: I doubled the recipe). Sprinkle with topping. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until apples are tender about 25- 30 minutes more. Let cool slightly before serving.

It was perfection right out of the oven!

I might have tried one bite before getting to the Hammer’s – it happens

I made this delicious brussels sprouts salad for Friendsgiving last weekend. It was a big hit and gone on the first round!

Chopped Brussels Sprouts with Dried Cranberries, Pecans & Blue Cheese (adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

Ingredients:

1 pound brussels sprouts
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cinder vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions:

1. Rinse brussels sprouts and remove any damaged or dirty outer leaves. Place on a cutting board and slice off the hard root end. Using a sharp knife, thinly slice the brussels sprouts( OR buy them already chopped at Trader Joe’s ) .

2. To toast the pecans, place a medium frying pan on the stove top. Turn on medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add a single layer of pecans. Stir frequently with a spatula until they start looking darker and you can smell the toasted nuts. Remove from heat.

3. While the pecans are cooling, make the dressing. Mix together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.

4. Add the toasted pecans, dried cherries, and blue cheese to the chopped brussels sprouts. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until all of the ingredients are well coated. Serve immediately.

Note: I let this salad sit for about 10 minutes before serving so the dressing softened all the ingredients.

I think this would be a perfect addition to your holiday table!

We also got our pictures back from the photographer- I thought I would share two cute ones with you all …

Look at those eyelashes!!

Once a week for about the past 4-5 months, I have been Facetiming(sp?) with my friend Anne in Canada who also has a new babe at home. Anne is also gluten free so sometimes we talk about what we are making for dinner that night. Last week, she told me about Glory Bowls. I instantly asked for the recipe as it sounded like something from Life Alive.

This recipe does take some prep so I made the rice and dressing while Mads was sleeping.

Glory Bowl (adapted from Whitewater Cooks)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 cups cubed extra-firm tofu
• 6 cups hot cooked brown rice
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 2 cups grated beets
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 cups baby baby spinach leaves(I used kale)
• 1-2 cups slivered almonds, toasted

Glory Bowl Dressing:

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/3 cup  Tamari sauce
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp. tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup vegetable oil

In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; fry tofu, stirring often, until brown and crispy, 10 minutes. Drain on paper towel–lined plate.
 

Dressing: In blender, purée together nutritional yeast flakes, tamari, vinegar, water, tahini and garlic. With motor running, add oil in slow, steady stream. Blend until smooth. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.)

To serve, divide rice among 8 bowls; drizzle each with 1 tbsp. of the dressing. Top each with tofu, carrots, beets, kale and almonds. Drizzle each with 2 tbsp. of the dressing.

This recipe is so tasty and makes such a LARGE amount of food – I had enough to have for dinner, and 2 lunches- which makes my crazy mornings so much easier-grab and go!

Can’t wait to have another helping at the office today

I took a very long break from blogging, but it was all for a wonderful reason – this little owl!  

Maddie has kept her mama very busy & Meg’s Food Reality has become Maddie’s Food Reality. As a dietitian it was my goal to feed her for a year. But due to reasons not controlled by me, my body was/is not able to make 100% of Maddie’s milk needs.

Herbal Supplements( I smell like maple syrup constantly from fenugreek), lactation cookies, medications, pumping- oh the list goes on and on….

Finally, I was diagnosed with low milk supply. I literally have tried every possible method to increase my supply and still I can only make about 50% of her needs. As this little girl’s nutritional needs are very important to me- feeding her has been a large part of my day either in feeding, pumping( between 7-10 times/day), and now making REAL foods for to try! She loves butternut squash, peas, green beans, carrots, and apples – yeah!

I can’t believe she is now 6 and half months old! Where did the time go?

Little bean is up from her nap now, so time to run! BUT I’ve got a couple of new recipes for you all – so get excited!