So behind...

So, the plan was to re-post everything here that I've posted on facebook but with comments and recipes, however I keep piling up new things I want to post and don't want to mess up the 'timeline'.

So, I'm going to just pick a few more 'notable' things from the past in an attempt to catch up to where I stopped posting food photos on facebook. And even then, there's a lot that's been piling up lol.
Sorry I havn't been posting much, but if you read my other blog you know that things have been kind of crazy lately!!
Back soon...
Keep eating!

--Erin

Rainbow Soup

 December 2010. Toby 25 months.

I got this idea from a colour book Toby had about food. 

Everyone is always saying to 'eat your colours' so I figured, why not have them all in one place??

Rainbow Soup

Red: Peppers

Orange: Carrots, peppers

Yellow: Corn

Green: Peas

Blue: Potatoes

Purple: Cabbage
Black: Ground pepper
White: Mushrooms, garlic

All stewed in homemade chicken broth.

Blue potatoes are hard to come by, and the reason we had them was because we grew them. I'm not actually sure if grocery stores carry them at all. I also don't know what else to used for 'blue'.

Next time I would not use purple cabbage, or I would cook it separately and add it later because it dyes the water purple, which made the other colours muted.

But it was sure delicious! And healthy!

Happy Eating!!

Second Birthday

November 2010. Toby 24 months.

At his first birthday we had a nice roast and potatoes, because it would be a nice meal for us with some things for Toby to pick at. But since his year had been filled with introductions to a bajillion more foods I wanted to make something he would actually love.
He will eat mostly anything, but there are still things he's less fond of. Beef and Chicken, for example, he likes the taste of but sometimes finds hard to chew.
What he will always eat though, no matter the mood, is rice, tofu stir-fry, and sushi.
How many other two-year-olds can say they had that for their birthday dinner??

Over the summer we has experimented a lot with different sushi fillings and had come up with two amazing rolls.
#1: Shredded carrot, cucumber, basil leaves, chives
#2: Sauteed mushrooms, red pepper, green beans

So good.

So for Toby's second birthday we had sushi and a tofu stir-fry consisting of PC herbed tofu, baby carrots, peas, baby corn and black olives.

And then to top it all off, a tractor cake.

The cake recipe I used is from The Gluten Free Gourmet and is as follows:

Fruit Cocktail Torte

1 cup gluten free flour mix

1 cup sugar (I used brown sugar, or half a cup of honey instead)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs (I used egg replacer)

One 17oz can of fruit cocktail

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325F

In large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt and baking soda (If replacing sugar with honey, DON'T add it here. Mix with egg before adding)
Add the beaten eggs, fruit cocktail (juice included), and vanilla.
Stir well until blended. Pour batter into greased 9x9 pan.

Bake 1 hour.
(I had to cover with tin foil about 3/4 of the way through to keep top from burning, but it takes the full hour for the middle to cook)

For the tractor cake I made a 'grass' icing with icing sugar, lactose-free margerine, vanilla and green food colouring. For 'snow' I used shredded coconut. For the number 2 I used crumbled gingerbread cookies that I had saved in the freezer form a few months before.

Owwwwm nom nom nom

Happy Eating!!

Fresh from the Garden

August-September 2010. Toby 20 months.

When harvest time came at our house, I knew Toby would be excited to see what was growing all summer, but I wasn't prepared for how much he would choose to eat raw from the garden.

It started when we were getting corn from a local farm and the owner handed Toby a raw corn cob that they had picked about half an hour earlier. He looked at me with an unsure expression so I took a bite and handed it back. He took a bite and proceeded to suck on it the whole way home.

Then he discovered that if he pulls on these leafy green things that he's been told to not step on all summer, there are in fact carrots on the end, 

and that mom thinks this is pretty cool and makes us wash the dirt off, and then we can just, like, eat outside.

 And beans you don't even have to wash, you just, like, yank them from the vine and eat them.

And did you know that these leafy things taste AWESOME? After being told to not eat leaves for almost two years, this is insanity.

We like: Spearmint, 

 basil, 

and even lemon balm.

 And peppers are basically apples, but within reach.

Silly Chaos, cats don't eat peppers. Go away.

Happy eating!

Dill stir fry and coconut curry stir fry

July 20-22 2010. Toby 20 months.

Steamed Potatoes with Chicken, carrot, zucchini and dill medley.

All ingredients, but chicken, from our garden.
Similar sized zucchini and carrot cut into 'coins' and then cooked with olive oil and dill in a fry pan until tender. NOt sure what prompted me to add a ton of dill to this mix but it is SO good.

 Picnic in the porch

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Coconut Curry stir fry:

-frozen chicken strips

-Beans form garden

-Frozen carrot, pepper, baby corn, snow pea, water chestnut mix

Ingredients steamed with coconut milk and curry powder.

 Toby mostly are the rice, but also didn't turn up his nose at the stir fry. YUM YUM.

Keep Eating!!

Sushi!

July 18 2010 - Toby 20 months

su·shi

 noun \ˈsü-shē also ˈsu̇-\

Definition of SUSHI

: cold rice dressed with vinegar, formed into any of various shapes, and garnished especially with bits of raw seafood or vegetables

I'm not sure what prompted me to want to make sushi. I had tried it for the first time while at college, after years of squirming at the idea of raw fish - I didn't realize that that's not what Sushi truly is.

Raw fish is a delicacy and an aspect to sushi, but the word sushi actually means seasoned rice. After that base you can literally pair anything you want with it.
I had made a friend online who is a chef and we had talked about getting together to cook something fabulous, because I was just tapping into my foodie side and wanted to learn everything.
I had decided, for whatever reason, that I wanted to learn to make sushi rolls because it was always something that seemed too intimidating to try on my own.
Needless to say that get together never happened, but here I sat with this bug in my brain about desperately wanting to learn how to make sushi rolls. I finally ended up watching endless youtube videos about how to make it, went and bought everything I needed, gritted my teeth, and decided I was going to do this.

It's surprisingly hard to find a good 'how to' sushi video. I watched a lot and took bits and pieces form each one. I also read the comments under the video for critique. This one is pretty easy to follow, although when I make it I leave about a 2 inch 'edge' on it instead of the 1 centimeter that she does here.

Ingredients bought! Organic sushi nori (toasted seaweed sheets), yellow and red pepper, cucumber, imitation crab strips (which I later found out contain egg because I'm dumb and didn't read the ingredients to begin with), and sauteed shitakii mushrooms.

Success!! Red pepper, cucumber and mushroom rolls; and yellow pepper, cucumber and crab rolls.

And mini sushi for Toby to try! For this I cut a piece of nori in half and then made the sushi the same way.

I handed Toby a fork, but then he wanted to know what the funny stick things were that I had, which were clearly more exciting than his fork. So I handed them to him...

...And he actually made them work!....sort of...

The first few he put in his mouth he promptly spit out because the taste of the nori was new to him. I ended up picking a few apart for him so he could eat the pepper and the cucumber and the rice. By the end I think he ate a few whole pieces.

Big smiles for fun food!!

Keep eating!!!

Curry and Baba Gannouj

July 12-17 2010. Toby 19 1/2 months.

Toby's first experience with curry.

I had been missing eating spicy foods, mostly because a lot of commercial things like that contain onion, but also because during my pregnancy I couldn't eat spicy foods without getting major heartburn. I'm not huge on 'hot' spice, but I like spicy flavours, like curry, and up until now I had been keeping my food rather bland.

 I had been doing a bunch of research into cooking with spices and herbs that have healing benefits, with the intent of making food taste good without using salt, which I was trying to not pile into my toddler. But I also wanted to be able to enjoy what I was eating without wanting to use a ton of salt an an example and for health.

I got in a curry mood one night and added some to the rice I was making. Not a lot, just enough for flavour.
I added basil and garlic to my frozen vegetable mix for a bit of a 'sweeter' mate to the curry. And then I made hamburger patties that I had found that didn't have any additives or spices, but also didn't taste like cardboard.
Not much of an 'organic' meal, but it was something new for Toby!

Toby eating it.... well, at least the hamburger.....

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Chicken stir-fry with Oregano and Cumin

Fries

President's Choice frozen grilled chicken strips, with frozen mixed veggies. At the time I was all about FAST and dinner time is NOW because when dinner time is mentioned, toddler wants food instantly.
This is where I started using a lot more cumin too, which goes really well with chicken and pork.

-------------

After Toby's proclaimed love for Baba Gannouj I started looking up some recipes so I could make my own, because most packaged varieties contain either mayonnaise or sour cream. 

Recipe:
1 large eggplant

1 can chickpeas, drained

3 cloves garlic

3 Tbsp tahini

dash of sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Slice eggplant in half lengthwise and roast in 400F oven for approx. 45 minutes, or until soft.
Allow to cool slightly, then scoop out inside of eggplant, leaving skin behind

In food processor, combine eggplant and remaining ingredients, except oil and parsley, until smooth.
Slowly incorporate oil until well mixed. Mix in parsley by hand.

 Homemade Baba Gannouj!!

Canada Day

July 1-2 2010. Toby aged 19 months.

Canada Day at the park. We saw the parade, walked for ages, the decided it was food time. I was just going to get some french fries, cause it's easy and gluten and dairy free. Pretty much everything else was not.  However the fry line was 8 billion people long, and I was starving. I decided to go for a hot dog, just to eat something, then do a better meal at home. The hot dog line was also a mile long.
The my sister pointed out this funny little Jamaican place with three people in line. Rice, Jerk Chicken and coleslaw?? I think so!! Healthier than what we were going to be eating!

Then we went home to this deliciousness. Made mostly by my mom, I made the potato salad, but still worth documenting!
BBQ Steak.
Potato salad (potato, garlic scapes and peas from garden)
Bean Salad.
Pickled beets (beets from garden, made by Granny) 

Grrrrrrrrrrr Steak

Potato Salad: Bowl full of cubed and steamed potatoes, and steamed carrots, peas and garlic scapes (the 'scape' is the stem of the flower that comes up from the middle of the garlic plant in spring. Farmers typically cut these off right before flowering, because the flower diverts plant energy from the bulb. Tastes like garlic but not as potent.)
Add slivered radish and homemade salad dressing from previous post.
Yum Yum!

---------------------

For breakfast the next morning... Toby devouring gluten-free flax toast with sunflower seed butter.
Even I am not crazy about that, let alone most one-and-a-half-year-olds I know...

---------------------

OK, this might look kind of gross, but if you like bacon it's soooooooo goooooooooood.

Organic bacon.
Rice pasta with bacon sauce.
Peas from garden.
Baby carrots.

Toby decides he likes bacon. A lot.

Bacon sauce:  Bacon drippings left in the pan, Small amount of water, a couple tablespoons of potato starch, oregano and salt to taste. Mix well and bring to heat for the potato starch to cook. Remove from heat when thickened.

Happy Eating!

Trout, Lunch, and Pesto

June 23-27 2010. Toby age 19 months.

I'm going to be combining several meals like this for a while because I wasnt to catch up to myself. I've got new stuff to post but want the backlog out of the way first!! And some of them I honestly don't have much of a story around, or I've forgotten details lol. Here goes!

Rainbow Trout seasoned with dill and lemon balm (from garden).
Local organic salad greens with homemade dressing.
Tomatoes with fresh basil (from garden).
French fries.

Toby substituted carrots and cucumber for the salad because his lettuce-eating skills 

were not great at this point.

I get frozen PC Blue Menu rainbow trout and put it, still frozen, in a baking dish with a small amount of water, seasonings, and a lid on top. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until fish 'flakes' apart when you pry with a fork.

Salad Dressing: Canola oil, red wine vinegar, sugar or honey, minced garlic, dried parsley, dried oregano, paprika, salt and pepper.
I don't really have measurements for this because I just pour in what looks good in the bottle I have.
I do a lot of taste testing to see how it is... too watery I add more vinegar....too sour I add more oil.
The sugar or honey takes away a bit of the 'bite' of the vinegar and also helps it all to blend (since of course oil and vinegar repel each other).

Sadly, the fried are not homemade. I just don't always like the taste of my homemade fries.
These ones are Cavendish, which I find cook really well, are a fair size (therefore filling and don't require as many), and 0 trans fats.

------------------------

This was Toby's lunch one day.... Leftover...stuff... which I believe to be cold leftover herbed tofu, beets, carrots, red pepper, potato, and possibly hamburger chunks. On the side he has walnuts, the new favourtie obsession at the time.

And I'm pretty sure sure he ate most to all of it too..

Rice fettuccine with chicken pesto sauce and peas. (Peas, basil, garlic and parsley from our garden) 

One of my early times making pesto and it was a so-so batch but still pretty good.

8-10 large basil leaves (I used some parsley and possibly lettuce too to get more 'body' without using up all my basil), 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 minced garlic clove, hand full of walnuts, salt.
Mix in blender until paste-like. If too watery, add more basil or parsley. If too chunky, add a touch more oil.
This recipe isn't perfect, and I'm still tweaking it.... still on the search for Perfect Pesto!!

Toby, 'nomming' the whole thing.

Toby getting wise to my photo documentation....

Until next time, Keep Eating!

Summer Goodness

June 13-22 2010. Toby age 19 months.

Summer is a great time of year when you're trying to discover new foods. Just going to a farmer's market is enough of an inspiration to start eating fresh local foods.
At our place we're fortunate enough to have the space for a large garden, and since my Opa has a degree in Agriculture and used to sell and sample seeds for Bejo and Seedway in the Holland Marsh, we have lots of different things growing and someone who knows how to look after the plants.
I always loved mucking around in the garden, but never took much notice into HOW things were done. I'd never really needed to. But with Toby now eating solids and taking great enjoyment in sitting in a pile of dirt and plucking something from a plant and eating it, I became more curious and aware of the garden activity at our house.
In early summer we don't have much ripe yet, but I began frequenting the farmer's market and  local food stores to get new fresh foods.

Arts For Peace Festival - Enjoying first piece of watermelon

Oven roasted Chicken Breast with garlic (from our garden) rosemary and cumin.
Roasted potatoes (stored over winter from our garden) and beets (from farmers market).
Carrots and peas (frozen from grocery store) with garlic scapes and lovage (fresh from our garden).

 And Toby eating it.

 Toby's new favourite discovery of the summer: Baba Gannouj. Or 'Baba-nu' to him. 

I believe dipping carrot 'matchsticks' into it.

 Toby eating Herbed tofu stir fry with carrots and beans (possibly from garden, I forget now).
Lentils and rice with oregano.
I didn't take a picture of the 'plate' this day because I didn't think it was anything new. But I took this picture because this was his second huge plate full. I took a video on this day too because he just kept shoveling food in and I'm not sure where it all went...

I cook my tofu by cutting the block into 1-2cm cubes into a large frying pan. I pour gluten free tamari soy sauce over top, just to get them all coated, not so they're swimming in it. Leave for about 15 minutes, or longer whole you cut up some more veggies for the stir fry.
Pour water over the tofu just enough so it wont burn. Cover and turn on stove until simmering. Turn stove down and continue to cook slowly around 20 minutes. Keep checking and adding water if necessary. I've burnt a lot of dinners that way.
Add in fresh or frozen veggies and enough water to suit the cooking. Cover and let cook until veggies are tender.

-Keep Eating and Reading!

Lentils and Pappadums

May 28 2010 - Toby age 18 months

Lentils and rice cooked with curry and oregano.

Peach and Lovage Salad.

Pappadums.

Carrots and Beans.

I'd always wanted to try pappadums since i found out what they were. I FINALLY found them in the grocery store after feeling like I'd hunted everywhere.
They're so easy to make, and taste amazing. Toby loved eating 'chips' for dinner.

Peach and Lovage Salad

6 ripe peaches (Or canned) 

 1 tbsp fresh chopped lovage 

 Half of an English Cucumber 

 Cube peaches into a medium bowl (Or drain and cube if using canned). 

 Slice and quarter cucumber. 

 Add in chopped lovage. 

Toss together and let sit about one hour before serving so flavours can mingle.
Enjoy!            

And Toby ate it all!