Babycakes

Hot dogs. Wagon wheel pasta. Sliced carrots from a can. French fries. Goldfish crackers. Kiwi.

What do all those things have in common?

Claire will eat them.

Of course, she will eat just about whatever she can fit between her fingers as long as its sweet, fried, or tastes like a hot dog and doesn't require me feeding her with a spoon. (Sigh...cue the nods of agreement from moms who've been through the toddler phase.)

I don't think I've ever bought so many packages of hot dogs in my life.

But today I'm back to trying something else that worked a few weeks ago -- salmon cakes, in baby-sized portions. Babycakes, for short. (Yes, I know she's technically not a baby anymore, but she's still my baby and always will be.)

So hopefully, she will just love this for dinner tonight, along with her carrots from a can. I guess I can always give her another hot dog. Sigh...

Salmon Cakes (a.k.a. Babycakes)
(Courtesy of Kelly Oliver)

Ingredients:
2 (5 oz.) packages of salmon
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
1 tsp. dried dillweed
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
Dash of salt
1 cup dried bread crumbs
2 T. olive oil

Method:
Combine all ingredients, except for the 1 cup of dried bread crumbs and olive oil, in a bowl and mix well. Form into small patties. (This recipe makes about 6 small patties.) Put the 1 cup of dried bread crumbs into a separate bowl. Cover each side of the patties with the bread crumbs.

Heat a skillet over medium, and then add the olive oil. Pan fry each patty on both sides until golden brown, roughly 2-3 minutes on each side.

Serve to your baby, or to yourself!

These also freeze really well in case your baby likes them one day and not the next.

Yummy Baby Food Meal Combos

So with a little inspiration in the kitchen comes some fun meals. I've been experimenting a bit with food combinations for Claire. After all, if she likes Earth Best's Creamy Chicken Apple Compote, surely she will like a few things I came up with, right?

Right and wrong. I've made a few meal combinations that she enjoys though she still seems to prefer single ingredient servings. Like everything else with a child, I'm sure that will eventually change. In the meantime, I'm going to keep experimenting.

That said, here are a few meals that I've put together for Claire which are, in my opinion, pretty tasty. Feel free to use these for your child and feel free to post some food combinations in the comments section below that your child enjoys! I'm always looking for new ideas.


Black Beans and Chicken

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 oz. serving of cooked and pureed carrots
2 oz. serving of no-salt-added diced tomatoes (homemade* or from a can)
1 can of pre-cooked chicken, drained (or about 1/4 cup of pre-cooked plain chicken)
4 oz. pre-cooked brown rice

Method:
I had already cooked and pureed the carrots and tomatoes ahead of time. Add the black beans, carrots, tomatoes, chicken and corn into a blender, food processor or in your Beaba Babycook. Blend ingredients until desired consistency, adding water to thin the mixture out as needed. Stir in the rice after the mixture has been blended (or blend with the ingredients if your baby is texture-averse). This makes for a very delicious and nutritious meal.

*I made the tomatoes by steaming about 5 diced tomatoes and then blending them together in the Beaba Babycook. I froze individual servings so that I can use them as needed.

Potatoes, Spinach and Tomatoes

Ingredients:
1 medium Russet potato, cooked and cubed
1 1/2 cups frozen spinach, thawed
2 oz. serving of no-salt-added diced tomatoes (homemade* or from a can)

Method:
Blend ingredients in a blender, food processor or in your Beaba Babycook to desired consistency, adding water to thin the mixture out as needed.

Chicken, Potatoes and Green Beans

Ingredients:
1 can of pre-cooked chicken, drained (or about 1/4 cup of pre-cooked plain chicken)
1 medium Yukon gold potato, cooked and cubed
4 oz. serving of frozen green beans, thawed, steamed and pureed

Blend ingredients in a blender, food processor or in your Beaba Babycook to desired consistency, adding water to thin the mixture out as needed.