CRACKER CRISP TARTINES: FEEDING BABIES

The thing about cooking and summer is that often times, meals are thrown together. It’s lighter longer, we’re outside and it’s so warm out that less actual cooking and more assembly sounds more like it. Tomatoes with a thinned pesto drizzled on top and thick slices of bread on the bbq. Peaches and lentils and lots of herbs mixed into some quick-cooking quinoa. I love when it can be both easy and good, not exclusively one or the other. There is so much great produce this time of year to pull it off. With a toddler and a very messy mash-eating baby at the table, Hugh and I have found it more peaceful to feed, bathe and put the kids to bed and then have dinner ourselves. We can actually talk, sip wine instead of swig it, and no one is asking me to pull the green bits out of their turkey meatballs. And lunch, since we’re usually all around for now, my default is sandwiches but everyone is tiring of those lately too. I started piling things on crackers instead, same but different. In this case, I used the new Wasa THINS. The ingredient list is short and wholesome, they’re great to eat on their own, but also sturdy enough to hold some of my favorite toppings. I have vivid memories of original Wasa crispbread from my childhood - my mom would eat them with mustard as part of some diet she was trying or slather them in peanut butter and honey for my sister and me. These are not just for Curran, these most definitely end up being for all of us. If we’re pulling a late afternoon beach day and I know everyone will get hungry, I bring some dips and cheese to keep everyone happy until dinner time. I can’t get over zealous with the vegetables for the toddler but I can make these recipes below to taste and they make for a quick little lunch. I love that these crackers are thin and delicate so they don’t take over. Crackers can be too much sometimes. All said, let’s just keep snacks and meals easy while the produce is amazing and we’d rather be outside.

This post was sponsored by Wasa Crackers. All words, photos and opinions are my own. Visit their site for more recipe ideas or check out the #snackingwithwasa hashtag.

CRACKER CRISP TARTINES

The trick is to make sure you have a “glue” to hold things down - mashed avocado, nut butter, hummus, ricotta, maybe a soft goat cheese. I have a toaster oven that I use daily so it’s easy to warm up the pizza one but I understand this isn’t the case for everyone. It only needs a minute for the cheese to melt so you could pop 'er in the real oven as well. 
I wrote the recipes for one, but if you are going to make one, you might as well make a few whether it’s a snack or lunch situation. These recipes will work on any Wasa cracker or sturdy cracker of choice.

Pizza Crisp

1 Wasa THINS or similar cracker
1 Tbsp. pizza sauce
1 Tbsp. grated mozzerella
1 Tbsp. grated parmesan
chopped olives
dried Italian Herbs, for garnish
chopped basil, for garnish

Preheat a toasted oven or oven to 375º. Spread the pizza sauce on top of the cracker. Evenly sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan. Toast for 1 minute for the cheese to just melt. Top with a sprinkle of dried herbs and fresh basil. Enjoy warm.

Peach Crisp

1 Wasa THINS or similar cracker
1 Tbsp. mascarpone
1 tsp. maple syrup
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 a ripe peach, sliced thin
granola, for garnish

Mix the mascarpone with the maple and cinnamon. Spread it on top of the cracker. Arrange the peach slices on top and garnish with granola.

Veggie Crisp

1 Wasa THINS or similar cracker
2 Tbsp. prepared hummus or mashed avocado
1/4 of a cucumber, thinly sliced
shaved fennel
chopped herbs and celery leaves
sea salt and pepper, for garnish

Spread the hummus or avocado on the surface of the cracker. Arrange the vegetables and herbs. Finish with a sprinkle or salt and pepper. 

FEEDING BABIES. PART 3. BREAKFAST EDITION

Thank you all so much for the feedback. That was extremely helpful (and affirming, which I wasn't expecting, but was well needed). We've started quite a few house projects, approximately 8 weeks before having a baby, one of which will put me out of a kitchen for a few weeks, so we may fall a little quite over here. I suppose this gives me time to process everything each of you said while we are out of order over here. A handful of you chimed in who say you never comment and I appreciate that! Just know from the other side, the comments are huge, so big hugs.

So our little guy is almost a year and a half and while I am so excited to have a little baby that cuddles and snuggles, I love love love the boy Curran is right now. He is so curious and observant and active and smart. He doesn't really cuddle at all, but he is so engaged and enamored with Hugh and I that it makes me feel pretty special. I have however found this to be the most draining stage so far because he is constant and nothing keeps his attention for longer than 5 minutes. He gets frustrated when he can't communicate something and has learned the art of a tantrum. He's so much little boy but still has plenty of baby in him. Quite the crossroads. 

As for eating, he is totally over mashed things and prefers to always feed himself. His skills are fair with a fork but a spoon is a complete mess which I believe is pretty standard. The thing about this stage at our table, is that we can all eat a lot of the same things, but there are still a large amount of our stand-bys that he can't eat. I keep trying to give him bites of my salad but he acts like there is a hair in his mouth. I find myself having to think harder about meals that will feed all three of us. I don't have the energy to be a short order cook but I'm still learning what that is going to look like. A few of you mentioned last post that you really liked the extra ideas for kids so a few other items I try to keep ready that, in the right combination, suffice as a meal: tortellini, tofu chunks, cut up bbq'd chicken, string cheese, cooked peas, edamame, pomegranate seeds, grapes, raisins, mandarins, fresh dates. I have found that having food ready is the key to avoiding a meltdown, even if it just buys you ten or fifteen minutes to get something else started. It takes a one and a half year old a long time to get the beans out of an edamame pod and that is helpful. 

Even if you don't have little people, or they are of the age that can eat anything, I would make these recipes. They are just easy, versatile snacks or meals.  

MUESLI BARS // Makes one 8x8 pan

I love the Seven Sundays brand of muesli and they have a few different flavors to choose from that I use for these. I use a combo of butter and coconut oil because I like the flavor and moisture both give, but either exclusively as the fat will work just fine. Because these have no wheat or strong binder in them, they are quite tender. If you can let them sit for a day, they'll settle into themselves even more. 

1/2 cup brown rice syrup
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, coconut oil or a mix of the two
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup almond butter
1 ripe, medium banana, mashed
3 cups prepared muesli
2 Tbsp. flax meal
pinch of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350'. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment and coat it well with coconut oil. In a small saucepan, warm the brown rice syrup and butter and/or coconut oil together to melt. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, almond butter and banana and stir everything to mix. It'll be a gloopy mess. 

Put the muesli, flaxmeal and a pinch of sea salt in a mixing bowl. Pour the liquid mixture into the muesli and mix well. Press the mixture down firmly into the prepared pan evenly. Bake for 25 minutes until the top is golden but the bars are still fairly tender. Let them cool completely before cutting. These are very tender. Store them in the fridge and cut off pieces as needed.

MINI SWEET POTATO FRITTATAS ("EGG BALLS") // Makes 12

Curran calls them egg balls and I find that fitting. Here is the thing, the three of us can go through a dozen of these in one day no problem. You could easily make two dozen of these by adding two more eggs to the mixture plus a splash of milk to extend the batter. Potato size varies, but I'm confident you could get two dozen. Or add in cooked and crumbled chicken breakfast sausage if that is your sort of thing. 

1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and finely diced
1 cup tender greens, roughly chopped
1/3 cup grated white cheddar cheese
4 extra large eggs
sea salt and pepper

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the coconut oil. Once the oil is hot, add the diced sweet potato and a pinch of salt and saute for 8-10 minutes until tender. Add the greens and saute again to just wilt. Turn off the heat.

Preheat the oven to 350' and generously grease a mini muffin tin. Like, really generous. Eggs have a tendency to stick. 

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs well and then stir in the white cheddar. I put a sprinkle of salt, pepper and dried herbs here but this is optional. Tip the potato and green mixture into the eggs and stir to mix. Spoon the egg mixture into the muffin tin up to the top. Bake on the middle rack for 12-14 minutes until just firm but not overcooked. Cool and then remove them from the tin soon as they are cool to the touch. They can be stored in a covered tupperware in the fridge.

---

---

FEEDING BABIES. PART 2

Baby Food II . Sprouted Kitchen

When I titled my last post on feeding babies as "part 1," I honestly thought the series would begin and end there. Just Part 1. Thanks for humoring me. But it turns out a good number of you enjoyed those notes I had mustered from feeding Curran and said you were looking forward to said series. So here we are! Our little guy is a huge part of my everyday life and feeding him consumes a good part of his waking hours so I'm learning things along the way.

For frame of reference, Curran is almost one year old (what?! I know). From about 6 to 9 months old I could get him to eat a puree of just about anything. I assumed I had the worlds greatest eater, I coudn't mash up my greens and lentils fast enough, and then he learned he could say no. Around 10 months he got a little more opinionated and now turns his head and spits things out so we are compromising - you still have to eat fruits and vegetables but everyone is entitled to not like things. I try things out a few times, with days between, before I take his refusals seriously. I usually have better luck with things he can pick up himself (cue the baby-led weaning advocates) so am including a few recipes here for finger foods that work well for us and a smoothie for good measure. Again, I know each baby is different. I got away with throwing steamed vegetable cubes on his tray for a couple weeks but he has since caught on that those things are straight up boring and I don't blame him. But you should still try it before your mini person wises up. He was crazy about blueberries for a week and now won't touch them. I think giving things a break keeps them from burning out and then you can try again. I am not a master, but appreciate other moms sharing ideas and feedback so I figured I would throw my two cents in. 

When we were on the road, I used some store-bought organic baby food squeezer packs and he loved (loves) them. Great in a pinch, no junky fillers, but I still find it much more cost effective and less wasteful to make food for him myself. I bought these reusable Squooshi packs and we both get what we want. Other things I find easy for on the go are the Dr. Praegers vegetable patties (they are in the frozen section at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and other grocery stores, and I just let them thaw in the fridge or my bag), clementines and mandarins, blueberries, cooked rice-pasta (the fusilli shape are easy to grab). These are the things I throw in my purse when we head down to the park or are running errands and I know we'll be out awhile. Nothing ground breaking but the gamut of finger foods for someone with limited teeth is trickier than I thought. Anyway. Included are some niblets that Curran will eat (for now) and I hope this may help a few of you out in your quest to feed your little one well. 

Baby Food II . Sprouted Kitchen

Baby Food II . Sprouted Kitchen

Baby Food II . Sprouted Kitchen

Green Smoothie

Makes 2 small

I give him half and then save the other half in the fridge and it keeps just fine for a day or two. The trick to not having chunky greens is blending them alone with your liquid of choice until they are completely smooth. Like spinach milk. Then you add in the rest of the ingredients to blend. Both spinach and romaine are considered 'sweet' greens so their flavor adds no bitterness here. 

• 1 cup baby spinach and/or romaine
• 3/4 cup coconut water or almond milk, as needed
• 1 ripe pear, cored
• 1/2 cup frozen mango
• 1/4 of an avocado

Into a blender, combine the spinach/romaine and your liquid of choice. Run the blender until the greens are completely blended in. Add the pear, mango, avocado and more liquid as needed and blend until smooth. 

 --

Mini Sweet Potato Muffins

Makes two dozen minis

I made these for Curran but Hugh has eaten half of them so don't perceive these as strictly kid food. They have no processed sweeteners, so the banana and bit of maple keep these just sweet enough for your little person. Pumpkin puree will work in place of the sweet potato flesh if you have that handy.

• 1 large, extra ripe banana
• 2 eggs
• flesh of one small steamed or roasted sweet potato (about 1/3 cup)
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or warmed coconut oil
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• turbinado sugar, to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 360'. In a large mixing bowl, mash up the banana with the back of a fork. Add the eggs and whisk well to mix. Add the sweet potato flesh, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, maple and olive or coconut oil and whisk to blend well. Add the whole wheat, almond flour, oats and baking soda and mix gently until just combined. Do not overmix. 

Grease a mini muffin tin well with coconut oil spray or butter. Fill each well 3/4 full and sprinkle a little turbinado on top because even if you don't want them eating a lot of sugar, you have a heart and it's just a teeny bit. This makes two trays full. Bake for 16-18 minutes until just done. Wiggle them out of the holes to let them cool. 

--

Black Bean + Green Bites

Makes two dozen

The first time I made these, Curran loved them. Now it depends on the day. If your baby likes yogurt or hummus, put a little dollop on top of these and it helps hide the green flavor. Parmesan cheese is very low in lactose so even for dairy sensitive babies, this shouldn't cause much of an issue.

• 6 ounces baby spinach (or any other tender green)
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4-1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup flaxmeal
• 1 cup cooked and drained black beans
• pinch of salt and garlic powder

Just barely steam the spinach. Let it cool and squeeze out the excess water. Into a food processor, add the squeezed spinach, egg, olive oil, parmesan, flaxmeal and beans, and a pinch of salt and garlic powder. Pulse a few times to combine. Preheat the oven to 375'. Line your baking tray with parchment. With damp hands, roll the mixture into small 1/2" balls and place them on the baking tray. Bake for 12-15 minutes to cook and remove to cool. The bites will keep for a week in the fridge or half may be frozen. 

Baby Food II . Sprouted Kitchen

Baby Food II . Sprouted Kitchen

---

---