Cinnamon-Maple Quinoa

I had this great dream of loving this breakfast.  In that dream, it would become a morning staple at our house and we would all live healthfully every after.

Wrong.  I hated it.  BUT, George loved it.  After a few skeptical first bites, he scarfed it down... and even started to cry if I took too long between bites!  I don't get it... but if he'll eat it, I will make it occasionally!  (He will be eating it as a side with every meal today because we have lots left over!)

• 1 1/4 c water
• 1 c quinoa
• 1 tbsp margarine or butter
• 1/2 c sweet potato puree
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/3 c milk
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 6 tsp pure maple syrup (divided, for garnish)
• 6 tsp chopped walnuts or almonds (divided, for garnish)

1. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil.  Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa in cold water and strain (skip the rinse if your quinoa came pre-washed, like mine did).  Add the quinoa to the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 12 minutes, uncovered.  Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a separate pot, melt the margarine or butter.  Stir in sweet potato  puree, 1 tbsp maple syrup, milk, cinnamon and salt.  When the quinoa has finished cooking, stir into the sweet potato mixture.  Divide into bowls and top with maple syrup and nuts.

*As long as you use gluten-free ingredients, this recipe is gluten-free!

Recipe from:  Double Delicious!  by Jessica Seinfeld

What I'm Reading

I love, love, LOVE these books by Jessica Seinfeld.  As you may have guessed, she uses a lot of purées in her cooking.  Sometimes I make things straight out of these books, and sometimes I use the recipes as ideas and make my own "shortcuts" (example:  I added chickpeas and sweet potato purée to a box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese).  Check your local library:  mine had both!  Hooray for the library!

Yummus Hummus!

I have a difficult time getting George to eat meat.  He will usually eat lunch meat turkey or chicken nuggets.  So I have been on a search for alternate forms of protein.  I think he may have a small allergy to eggs (by themselves), so that was out.  I started looking to different types of beans.  I got some chickpeas and decided to try to make a little bit of hummus.  I looked at some recipes online and only had some of the ingredients... so I tried it with what I had.  It turned out so yummy (and I usually don't like hummus).  I really didn't measure anything, so bear with me...

• 1/2 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• About a tablespoon of water (you can also use the liquid from the can of chickpeas)
• A few sprinkes of ground cumin
• About 1 clove garlic, minced (I always keep a jar of this in the fridge!)
• Lemon juice (probably a few teaspoons)
• Put all into food processor--until pasty.

I spread it onto toast (one of George's favorite foods) and cut it into small bites.  He loved it.

Served with:  2 slices of peach, whole milk, and a small handful of Goldfish.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

For breakfast, I added a sweet potato purée to our regular pancake mix!  It was delicious!  George ate it right up.

• Follow directions on box for 6-9 pancakes
• Heat & add 3 cubes of sweet potato purée
• Cook pancakes as usual

See?? Easy-peasy!!  My batter made about 4 pancakes.  That's a good amount of sweet potato per pancake!

Served with:  a little bit of butter, whole milk, fruit (baby food)

The Purées

Having a stockpile of frozen purées has really helped me here!  Did you know that you can add them to almost anything??

Some purées that are handy to have:

• Sweet Potatoes
• Butternut Squash
• Cauliflower
• Peas
• Carrots

I usually steam the veggies until they are mushy.  This makes it easy to throw them in the food processor  to purée (sometimes with a little bit of water to get the desired consistency).

Once I have my purée, I pour it into ice cube trays.  I let them freeze and then put the purée cubes into labeled freezer bags. (Mostly because I only have 2 ice cube trays...)

When I need a purée, I grab a bag and throw a few cubes into a mug and microwave them for about 30 seconds (1 minute if heating more than 1 cube).  Then, put the purée into your favorite meal!

My New Project!

My son just turned 12 months old.  We are in the process of weaning... and finding a new problem.  I have no idea what to feed this little person!!  If it were up to him, he would survive on yogurt, Goldfish, and breast milk.  Seriously.

Everyone says, "Oh!  Just feed him whatever you eat!"  Only one problem--I don't think his pediatrician would approve of a diet that consists of Cinnamon Chex, frozen pizza, and cookies.

So now we are on a mission to find foods that are somewhat healthy and toddler-friendly.  Maybe we'll find some things that are Mom-friendly, too!

Please, please, please send me your favorite recipes along the way!