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!

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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...

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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.

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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!

The Food Journal Begins

Through February and March 2010 Toby began to eat more and more different foods, and I had to keep finding ways to keep up with his appetite.

It was here I (re-)discovered tofu.

My mom always made stir-fries with it, but those were usually the dinners that I loaded up on pasta, and then three carrot chunks from the fry pan.
I eventually didn't mind tofu much, but mostly because my mom cut it in tiny cubes, marinated it in soy sauce before hand and then cooked the heck out of it. I've seen Asian soups where there's a two inch square chunk of steamed tofu in it, and that I can't handle.

Toby and I were still watching what we ate, plus meat is really expensive, so I was looking in to a lot of vegan alternatives and how to get more protein in out diet. Tofu was up on the list, along with other soy products, so I figured, why not.

I found a fantastic herbed tofu. President's Choice Blue Menu. It's so good... a lot of flavour... and I still cook it to death in soy sauce.

Toby LOVED it. He ate it with more enthusiasm than I'd seen him eat anything. And then wanted more. Twice.






My not-quite one-and-a-half-year-old loves tofu.
My mom walked by us after a few of these meals and asked if I'd gotten a picture.
I took one.
My mom said I bet no one believes he eats this sort of thing.
I said not really, but other people have said their kids like tofu too.
and my mom said 'with black olives??? And red pepper???'

You have a point.




















And so I started taking pictures of all the things  we were eating and posting them to facebook, as many of you are aware.
And then the challenge began to grow.... is there anything my kid WON'T eat?? How AWESOME can I make these meals??

Slowly but surely I'm going to post it all here....

Keep eating!.. I mean reading!!....or both...

Exploration

When I first wrote that title, about 10 seconds ago, I had intended it to mean that Toby was now exploring new  foods and textures; but have suddenly realized that I, myself, have undergone a great deal of culinary exploration.

Right before having Toby, I had been in college for three years and then living on my own for another. I ate copious amounts of SideKicks, chicken fingers, rice and cookies. I loved cooking, but it mostly took the form of baking cakes or cookies for people. I had no reason to prepare anything more substantial or imaginative.

And so it became apparent that once Toby had started eating solids I couldn't just make a pot of pasta or mashed potatoes, while he munched away on rice puffs and boob. I became hyper-conscious of balanced meals and finding ways to make baking still taste good without using 2 cups of sugar and chocolate chips.
A lot of people make soups for the family, but since Toby had no interest in having a spoon shoved in his mouth, and was not yet skilled enough to do it himself, I had to find ways to have daily finger foods, that I could also eat and fill-up on.






- 13 month old Toby, pondering chewing tactics for his cooked peas, carrots and pepper.






I bought a lot of frozen veggies and cooked small amounts at a time for twice as long as indicated on the package to make them soft enough to 'gum' instead of really chew. I usually had chicken myself, or just ate a lot of veggies and dip.
I kind of felt like I was getting into a rut because there were so many common foods I was avoiding still because of Toby's rash and moodiness.  Rice, chicken, veggies, repeat. Potato, beef, veggies, repeat. I missed other food terribly.

It was probably around this time that I became so determined to explore more food options. I started buying and eating fruits and vegetables that I previously disliked or dismissed. I took full advantage of my access to almost 10 herb varieties in our gardens and added a different mix to the meal each night.
I could have the same food three times in a week and have it taste completely different.
Toby sat on the counter or in a sling while I chopped and stirred and he soon began helping himself to the raw cut up herbs that ended up in clumps on my counter.
I wanted food to be exciting for him, not just plain peas and rice every night. I couldn't use a lot of types of sauces because the onion bothered him and a large amount contain gluten and copious amounts of salt. But when I loaded a pot of rice with parsley and lovage, it suddenly had a whole new flavour experience.
Toby, from a very young age, began to view this range of flavours as 'normal'.

Once his head wrapped around the fact that everything he ate tasted different, he wanted to eat more.

Favourites at this time included:

Stealing frozen blueberries from the bowl when I was trying to make muffins. (Also great for teething)

Eating every single cut up grape at Great-Grampy and Gran's

And sharing apple slices and raisins with friends (once paranoid-mom was convinced

that chewing techniques were advanced enough to avoid choking on apple pieces)

Every time my mom witnessed him eating something with gusto, she would shake her head and mutter "He's.....you."

I would love for him to grow up with a flair for food. Or maybe he'll be over-exposed to it and want nothing to do with it when he's older.

But for now, the adventure continues!

First Birthday

I've never really understood the whole wild first birthday party thing.
I read somewhere that a child can handle as many guests at the age they are. Ie; 1 year old/1 playmate over. Or just a family visit. 2 years old/2 friends, etc.
Toby, for one, was so shy around people and napped unreliably that I didn't want to invite anyone over to try to be somewhere at a certain time. So we just had a family dinner (consisting of me, my mom, my dad and my sister).
What to serve for food that the one-year-old will eat, and also keep the grown ups full??

Well, Rice Puffs wont keep everyone as entertained at Toby, so we went for a bunch of bite sized veggies and roast beef.

And then there's the cake dilemma.

I know people say "Oh it's their special day, let them live a little", but I just cringe at the thought of all the things in an average birthday cake that are not suitable for babies. Plus with the unknown rash and possible food allergies Toby had, I didn't want to risk anything.
Things in cake that I was advised to avoid until over age one, closer to age two at least: Dairy, Egg, Wheat, possible peanut products. And no baby needs chocolate (caffeine) or sugar.
A recipe for over-tiredness.

So, What to do for a cake that was baby-friendly??

I settled on applesauce muffins. The recipe I used at the time was not all that great because I wasn't familiar with gluten-free baking. Applesauce is hard to work with in a muffin because it's so runny so I had to fiddle a bit to get it to work.
What I will share with you though, is the Banana Muffin recipe I came up with because if I had had this at the time, I would have used it instead.

Banana Muffins

1/2 cup dairy-free margarine
1/3 cup honey (yes I know honey is a no-no for babies, but I believe that is only raw honey - as in dipping a soother in or spreading it on a cracker. This is a small amount, very much cooked. Same sweetness and less sugar content than a cup of brown sugar. Or to be truly vegan, use agave nectar, though I've never used it so I can't vouch for it's results)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (or egg replacer, which I use)

1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt

Mash bananas in a separate bowl. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
In large bowl cream together margarine and honey. Add vanilla and egg replacer. Mix well. Add banana.

In separate bowl mix flour, flax meal, baking soda, baking powder and salt until blended.

Add dry ingredients to wet in two additions, mixing gently. Do not over-mix or muffins will be tough.

Spoon into 12 muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until just brown on top and toothpick comes out clean.

'Ice' with Apple Butter (I used Filsinger's brand. So good.)

Happy Birthday Baby!

First Foods

As I mentioned, Toby started solids late. He had a few licks of banana mush at 6 months and some watery rice cereal but he turned up his nose after a few tries and refused to let me put the spoon in his mouth.
So I gave it a rest because he was still breastfeeding FREQUENTLY and didn't seem all the interested in solids anyway.
It was when he started taking an interest in bits of lint on the floor and began picking them up and putting them to his mouth and then looking at me quizzically, that I began to give him small dishes of Rice Puffs.

This stuff is great cause there is one ingredient. Brown rice. No salt, so sugar, no additives. Just toasted, puffed rice. It's not labeled as a baby food, but rather in the grown-up cereal section, along with Millet, Corn and Kamut Puffs. The millet is great as a cereal topper, but almost too small for a baby to pick up, and just ends up sticking to slobbery fingers. The corn and kamut puffs are too 'crunchy' for babies with no teeth and pose a major choking hazard. Plus they are two grains that are best left to introduce well after the first birthday.
Rice however, is awesome. This stuff melts in your mouth so there is VERY little risk of choking, and are big enough for a baby to grab, and small enough that they can eat.
Toby ate buckets of this.

Shortly after starting the cereal, I introduced well-cooked baby peas. I get the President's Choice frozen baby peas because they are less 'marble-like' than most other frozen peas I've seen. These are really tender and moosh well with just gums in the mouth.
Plus, grains + legumes = protein = Awesome.








When harvest season began in our garden, and Toby began to put together that things in the garden equal food, he got hit first taste of... green tomato... and dirt... At that point all I could do was take a picture, and then try to take the tomato away from him...

But he seemed very interested in feeding himself, and very interested in different textures and flavours.
Foreshadowing????
More to come!!

The Beginning

Hello Hello!

Welcome to my toddler foodie blog. Here you will see descriptions, photos, and recipes (if i can remember what I did) of the food I make, and that my three-year-old, Toby,  loves.

I started documenting Toby's eating habits when he was about a year and a half. He was late to start solid food and never wanted to be spoon fed. At 9 months he started finger feeding himself small bits of rice puff cereal and then later - peas, carrots and potato.
When all his teeth came in and he had grasped the concept of eating more thoroughly, I started being able to make more interesting dishes.
I should also mention that we have food allergies to contend with. I found out Toby was allergic to egg early into his second year. For the full story you can red it HERE on my other blog. I have also been reluctant to start him on Gluten and Dairy products because of family allergies, and because his mood tends to change severely when he eats those foods.
Bottom line - I've been forced to get creative in the kitchen!!

After my parents and friends remarking that Toby was eating unusual food for a one-year-old, I started documenting meal times and posting the photos in an album on Facebook.
That album is close to 200 photos - the limit to Facebook albums.

And so this raises the question - Do I start a new album? Do I even continue? With Toby being almost three, is the stuff he's eating even that remarkable??
So I decided to start this blog. I'm going to go back the beginning of my Facebook album and posting one meal at a time with description.
And then I'll post current meals when I catch up to myself!!

Stay Tuned! Happy eating!