Zucchini Tots

My CSA partner gave me a recipe for Zucchini Tots to help us use up the abundance of zucchini in our weekly box.  I tweaked it based on my dairy restrictions and the tools I had on hand.  It kind of was a disaster, to be honest.  We're in temporary housing while our new house is constructed, and of course I realized that nearly everything needed for the recipe was packed away, somewhere in our POD or in the bowels of our closets.  And this was discovered mid-recipe construction.  Just my luck!  After a quick run to the nearby grocery store to grab muffin foils, I managed to make it work.  The taste was fine, but I'll definitely do some things differently next time.

Link to the original recipe

Ingredients:
1 egg (I used the Simply Basic organic brown eggs from Target)
1/2 C Panko
1 large zucchini
1/4 C diced onion
salt, pepper, or other seasoning to taste

The original idea is to grate the zucchini with a cheese grater, then strain the water out using a paper towel.  I'm sure this is the preferred method.  Well, I couldn't find my cheese grater, even after making my hubby pull apart one of our storage closets to get to the "kitchen" box at the very bottom.  Talk about frustrating!  I ended up dual-purposing the Baby Bullet and pureeing the zucchini.  Doing this meant I couldn't strain the extra water out.  Hence the double-dose of Panko!  I mixed all the ingredients together, then stuck them in the fridge for an hour since I was prepping them for dinner ahead of schedule.  This also helped solidify the mix too. 

The initial directions were to bake these in mini muffin tins, so the muffins came out more like tater tots.  I knew my mini muffin tins were in the POD, but thought I had left one of the big tins out.  Nope.  Failure #3 was when I discovered even my liners were packed away, probably never to be seen again.  This is what made me break down and go to the store.  Byerlys only had large liners, and since they were the sturdier foil ones, I ended up winging it and baking them without the tins.  It worked pretty well! 

Bake these for about 20 minutes at 375F, until the outsides are brown.  They tasted fine, but weren't really crispy like you'd expect for something that's supposed to be tater-tot'ish.  But they were nice and savory, and would be a good side dish.  Plus they're fairly healthy, a pretty green color, and a great way to use up that zucchini!

 

Purple Potatoes

Did anyone know there is such a thing as a purple potato?  Not this non-potato eater!  We received the little red potatoes in our CSA last week.  Well, while peeling the spuds, I was shocked to see the skin give way to vibrant purple veggies!  It was actually kind of exciting because vibrant colored fruits and veggies have more nutrients, and I'd been hesitant to give T potatoes because there isn't a ton of nutritional value to them.  Plus the purple color was really pretty (the photos don't do this veggie justice).  Since this was my first time making "real" potatoes (aka not sweet potatoes) I decided to try three different methods at the same time.  Normally as I make baby food I attempt a new method each time, determining which is best.  But this time I wanted to try multiple methods since I had plenty of potatoes. 

Ingredients/Tools:
Potatoes - I had about a dozen small potatoes
peeler
knife
tin foil
parchment paper

Note: all methods used the oven, at 400F, for about 25-30 min.

Method One: Foil wrapped potato sticks (with parchment paper)
This was the most time consuming method up-front.  I peeled the individual potatoes, then sliced and diced into thin sticks.  These potatoes are hard to peel because they're so small.  At one point I did end up slicing my finger.  I'd love to hear if people have better ways to peel small potatoes!

My mom read recently that the metal in foil can infuse harmful toxins in your food, so she recommended using parchment paper to line the foil.  I cut a sheet of aluminum foil, then made a matching sheet of parchment paper.  One these were prepared I laid the sticks in even lines on the paper.  Of course as soon as I started rolling the foil the lines disappeared in to a clump of potato sticks, but oh well.  I always add a little water (maybe 1 T worth) before sealing the foil. 

Once the potatoes were cooked I removed them from the oven and diced the sticks.  I didn't have to bake these as long, they were done probably within 20 minutes.  The downside to parchment paper is that the paper ended up sticking to the potato, pretty badly.  I had to cut a lot of potato away to get all the paper off.  Don't think I'll use it again when steaming something like that, especially something as starch-filled as potatoes.

Method Two: Foil wrapped skinned potatoes (whole)
One again, I peeled the potatoes then punctured them all over with a fork.  One they were prepared, I wrapped them in a foil pack with about 1 T of water.  No parchment paper this go-round.  After baking, approximately 25 minutes, I removed and sliced/diced.  Pretty simple!

aren't these just gorgeous? Reminds me of agates!

Method Three: Foil wrapped skin-on potatoes
This was the easiest method by far.  After washing the potatoes (it's always important to wash your veggies before cooking) I punctured them thoroughly then tossed them in the foil pack with 1 T of water.  These took longer to bake, at least 30 min.  After cooking them though, I sliced them in quarters and spent longer than I'd like scraping the skin off.  One of the downsides of this type of potato is the paper-thin, delicate skin.  I can understand why most red mashed potatoes have skin in them still! 

 

yes, we actually did have some red potatoes in our box too.

 

 



Miss T loved the potatoes, and they're really easy to heat up.  They're very easy for her to pick up and feed herself, which is the new thing.  She refuses to eat purees anymore, so I've got quite a bit in the freezer that I'm not sure how we're going to use.  She loves to give us a good challenge!  Don't tell my hubby that I may start working them into our pasta sauces etc. :) 

Allergies, sickness, and the sad effects

About two weeks ago I came down with a really bad cold, and then my allergies attacked.  Between the two my asthma was worse than ever, to the point my hubby nearly rushed me to the hospital twice last week in the middle of the night.  Neither of us got much sleep that week from all my gasping and coughing.  There aren't many medical options when nursing, because the meds dry up ALL your glands, not just your sinuses.  Anyways, I finally broke down Thursday and went to the doctor.  I was promised that the medication prescribed would help, and while I would have to "pump and dump" for a week it wouldn't impact my production.  My goal has always to make it a year and that's a battle that I've fought hard for.  Well, I'm on day 3 of the meds and my production and dropped.  Significantly.  As in I feel like I may not be able to nurse after this.  It nearly brings me to tears but health wise I cannot stop the meds and logistically I have enough milk stocked in freezers across the Twin Cities and Iowa to meet my year goal.  We will see how it goes, but this is devastating.  Oh, how I have wished and prayed for a better immune system and bronchial system for years.  At least I made it nearly 10 months.  

It's also been interesting over the past days getting into our new groove.  We are washing a.lot.of.bottles every day.  How do people stand using formula???  Plus we have to plan ahead to have milk thawed, then rush down to heat water and milk when she starts stirring with hunger.  Today we were visiting friends and she got hungry, and there was nothing we could do but load up and go home.  It hadn't occurred to me to pack a bottle, and I couldn't nurse.  We failed as parents.  From all aspects, nursing is the best way to go if you're able, in my opinion.  Plus it's free!!! (If you don't count the $300 pump, or the bags, or the pump parts;)).  On a positive note Mark is able to help with feedings now too.  

Turkey, Rice, + Veggie Meatballs, amongst other lessons

Chalk this one up to a learning experience.  Yes, it ended up pretty well but I really was questioning whether this meal would end up in the trash part way through.  To start at the beginning, my friend at work whose son is a month older than T was giving me tips on different solids to try.  One suggestion was meatballs.  I ended up taking her general recipe as an idea and made my own concoction.  Note at this point that I had never made meatballs, meat loaf, or anything of the sort because I'm just not a fan.  I'll eat it, but it's not something I crave.  This is something that occurred to me when I got to the point of actually baking the balls. 

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (I prefer Jenni-O 97% lean)
1 large patty pan
1 head of cauliflower
1 packet of Archer Farms steamable brown rice

I started by chopping up the patty pan and cauliflower, steaming them in the microwave (separate of course), and blending them (separate again) in the baby bullet.  Next I took the rice packet (lesson #2 of this post), tore the top to vent, and microwaved that.  As you may recall from a prior post, I don't eat rice and do not really know how to prepare it.  Luckily Archer Farms (Target Owned Brand) makes a great option that you just toss in the microwave.  Seemed to turn out well!  Our goal was to attempt rice for T soon, because daycare suggested we start working more grains into her diet. 

After everything was blended, I took the ground turkey and separated in half, each in a separate bowl.  I did the same with the brown rice, then added patty pan to one bowl and cauliflower to the other.  Note you will have some of each veggie left over.  Mix with your hands until everything is consistent and sticking together.  As my mom pointed out afterwards, the rice was my "bonding agent", acting similar to ketchup in meat loaf.  But much more healthy!  It shouldn't be too runny, so only add as much veggie as you can before it gets too soft. 

 

I made them into 1.5" or 2" balls, fitting about 16 on each cookie tray.  Then I baked them for approximately 30 minutes around 350F.  This is lesson #3.  I started off at 400F, and the outsides got brown very quickly but the insides were still liquid.  After several more attempts and repeated heat reductions, they were finally done.  Of course at this point I consulted my mom and learned what to look for to ensure they're cooked through.  Have I ever mentioned my mom writes cook books for a living and is a pretty awesome resource?  No?  Well I should know by now to always start with her.  She's better than Google! 

T loved the smell of the meat balls so much that she wouldn't even wait until dinner to eat them!  She finished one off as a snack, then two more while I prepped dinner.  So far she's only had the cauliflower version, but hopefully the patty pan version is as big a hit.  This recipe made about 35 meatballs and I froze them in a freezer bag for easy portioning later.

 

 

Raspberries

It was raspberry season, and I kept walking past all the berries wishing I could give them to my little Miss T.  I'd heard somewhere that babies couldn't have berries until they were over a year old, but after some research I learned that the guidance was outdated.  After 6 months berries are fair game! 

Now berries don't go far.  That was my #1 learning.  But isn't the color beautiful?  It's fairly runny, and I did not add any water.  My plan is to mix this in with other foods, similar to how I do the blue berries.  I mixed it with oatmeal and blueberries.  T thought it was ok, but they did not sit well with her little system.  I've got a bunch frozen if anyone wants it!

 

Kale Chips

Chalk one more thing up on the list of things I got the Mister to eat that I never expected!  We received kale in our CSA box, and I was just not sure what to do with it.  Part of it ended up as baby food for Miss T, and the rest was made into kale chips!  It was super easy.  I cut the kale off the stalk and into chip-sized chunks.  Then I tossed it slightly in EVOO and laid it on a baking sheet that was covered in parchment paper.  After sprinkling the leaves with sea salt, I baked for about 4 minutes until the edges were crispy and brown.  They were pretty tasty!  You can eat them as a snack, or as a dinner side like we did. By the way, T did not appreciate the nutritional value of kale and refused to open her mouth after the first bite ;)

Summer Squash

Does anyone else have squash coming out their ears this time of year?  Our CSA boxes have been filled with zucchini and patty pan the past two weeks.  Miss T isn't a fan of zucchini (sad!) so I've had to get creative.  In this week's newsletter, which comes with the box of veggies, there was a recipe for baked patty pan.  Now, while my intentions were to print the newsletter and follow the recipe, it just didn't happen that way.  Does anyone else feel that time gets away from them and their life is more than a little disorganized?  That's me right now.  It's tough for someone who thrives on organization.  Anyways.....I recalled one thing from the recipe and that was to season it with cilantro.  So I pulled together some stuff from my fridge and the CSA box, and threw this together as a side for dinner tonight.  We served it with marinated grilled chicken and tater tots.  Yep, I know, not healthy, but delicious! 

Ingredients
1 yellow patty pan (large)
1 fresh sweet onion (they're the smaller ones with stalks)
1-2 sweet red peppers
1/2 a large zucchini
~5 stalks of cilantro, shredded
1/2T EVOO
sea salt (to taste)

I diced it all and stirred everything together, then we tossed it on the grill pan for about 10 minutes.  It was delicious!  (I neglected to take a photo of the cooked product, because we dug right in!)