Cooking For Toddlers

Kids love cheese, and unless they have a lactose problem – here’s a great way of getting some vegetables into them.  The first thing to do is cook the vegetables that you want to put in this cheesy soup so that they are soft – cook it any way you want – boil, saute… whatever.  Now that the vegetables are cooked and set aside and semi-mash them (I don’t like everything mashed to a puree – it’s nice to have the texture of the vegetable in there – and it also allows you to still distinctly taste the vegetable in the soup.  If you mash it to a puree then all the flavors mix together and it could still be good, but it’s not what I personally like – or my daughter), start a roux (melt 3 tbs. butter and stir in 3 tbs. flour – stir until smooth) – once you have you’re roux, add 2 1/2 cups milk (I actually use 1 1/4 cup homemade chicken broth and 1 1/4  cup milk) – and bring it to a boil.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes until thickened and bubbly.  Add salt and pepper (and minced parsley if you want that in you’re soup).  Remove from heat and add your semi-mashed vegetables, and a cup of shredded cheese (I like cheddar – but do what you like).  Stir until the cheese is melted and enjoy.  You can crumble bacon over the top, add chopped chives, maybe sour cream.  You can also add cayenne, or some other spicy pepper if you’re into the spicy.

Potato cheese soup

I love this because no matter what vegetable I put into this soup (but let’s be reasonable – if you add beets to this – then you get what you deserve – having beets thrown at you), my little daughter will eat it up with a smile on her face.  Notes on nutrition, the longer you boil a vegetable, the less nutrients that vegetable has.  If you overboil, then both the flavor and the nutrients leech into the water – and you’ve lost the healthy part of the soup.  So par-boiling is good for softer vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower…  Sauteeing is better for summer squash, bell pepper…  But the soup is delicious regardless of the nutrition in the vegetables – and that’s thanks to the cheese. ::).

If you have any other nice soup ideas, or other meals that the kiddies enjoy – please share.

So my little girl is potty training and I’m finding out a lot of stuff that first time parents probably encounter.  First of all, it can happen quite quickly.  Our little girl has had diaper rash for so long, and the doctors can’t do anything besides give her ointment that doesn’t work.  So my wife and I broke down and did what we agreed to not do – offer up M&M’s for each time she used the potty.  Wow, talk about fast learner.  Put chocolate on the table and she dropped her drawers and could pee on demand.  So we were very excited and we bought underwear, which she was totally into.  Until accident number 1 (poop in the drawers – let the good times roll), then she wanted to wear diapers.  At the sitters she was wearing underwear all day long and didn’t have any accidents, even during nap time – but her poop schedule got all messed up.  She started pooping once a day instead of twice, and in the evening instead of night.  And she went a couple of days with no poop (that’s when I start to talk myself down from freaking out). Well, because we were putting her in diapers – we assumed that she’d feel comfortable going poop (I’m going to try to write the word poop as many times as I can) in her diaper, and also she’d go pee at night while sleeping.  Ahhh – but no, about 5 days ago she woke up every hour crying and we thought maybe it was another one of those infamous ear infections that she’s known to get.  Then at about 3 in the morning she asked to go to the potty, and she pissed like a race horse and went to sleep fine.  But her poop schedule was still off, so I started researching how we could help.  I came across three things that seemed worth trying. 1) Papaya enzymes (I have taken these before and they had helped me with digestion when I was having a lot of heart burn problems) (2) Fiber in general (bananas, oatmeal…) and (3) Flax seed (I have taken the oil in the past and put it in salad dressings – which cloaked the very distinct taste of flax).

So that night (I don’t like to ponder these things too long) I headed out the the store and bought ground flax meal and papaya enzymes.  When I got home I gave her a papaya enzyme and she thought it was Candy – awesome.  Then I took the flax meal and mixed in a teaspoon of it into her morning oatmeal – she didn’t even notice.  That day her poop schedule went back to semi-normal.  At lunch I sprinkled a teaspoon on my goulash and it blended in perfectly.

So I will be giving flax meal to my little darling for two reasons:

1) It’s a good fiber source (but you can’t give too much, because in excess it’s a laxative)

2) It’s an amazing source or Omega 3 fatty acids.  According to webMD, “Recent studies have suggested that flaxseed may have a protective effect against cancer, particularly breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. At least two of the components in flaxseed seem to contribute, says Kelley C. Fitzpatrick, M.Sc., director of health and nutrition with the Flax Council of Canada.” – http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-flaxseed – and it’s also good for the heart. It also contains some Omega-6 fatty acids which are good for infant brain development – so it’s good for breastfeeding mom’s to be eating flax.  If you want more information, here’s another website that talks about the benefits of flax: http://thebest-healthy-foods.com/flax-seed-benefit/

The beauty of flax is you can bake it into things like breads, muffins, cookies – there are a zillion ways to hide it so that you, your friends, your kids are eating them without protest.

If you have any thoughts on this, recipes you’ve made with flax, other potty training stories – please share.  Oh yeah – did I mention that my little girl, besides very quickly learning how to control her peeing – she also learned that she could hold some pee in, so she could enjoy her M&M’s and go pee again in 5 more minutes…  It’s great to watch those not so little minds develop.

Hamburger meat, tomatoes, onions, garlic and pasta – it’s really a match made in heaven.  I tend to get in a groove of making similar tasting foods and my wife is the first person to openly and honestly inform me of this.  So I quickly searched google for recipes with hamburger meat and then Goulash came into view.  Thinking about my audience – my wife that loves a lot of meat, my two and a half year old daughter who adores pasta, and me who likes anything as long as it’s tasty – it was on.  I declared it was Goulash night.  First I got all my goulash ingredients together:

I declare this goulash night

Then I browned the meats (ground beef and ground turkey), spooned off some of the grease, added the onion and bell pepper, cooked that for 5 minutes, added the garlic and spices (basil, oregano, soy sauce, bay leaves, garlic powder, salt and pepper), cooked that for a few minutes, added the tomatoes and water brought it to a boil and reduced to a simmer.  Covered it and cooked it for about 30-40 minutes.  Then I tasted, seasoned more, added some elbow pasta and covered again for 15 minutes took it off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.

I also sliced a loaf of garlic bread in half length wise, brushed it with melted butter, sprinkled it with garlic powder, salt and pepper and broiled it for about 5 minutes – till slightly browned.  Easy and good.

Then cut up some tomatoes and cucumbers and put them in a ziplock bag with 1/2 cup of creamy blue cheese dressing, 1/8 cup of white and sherry vinegar, and 1/4 cup olive oil.  Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a tsp. of thai red chili sauce. Shook it up and put it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to marinate and chill.

Results: Both my babies liked it and that makes me happy.

Please tell me about you’re goulash recipes, variations…

Cooking for toddlers is always fun and exciting and humbling.  You can cook for a friend, partner… – and you might get some gentle criticism for what you’ve made.  But your little toddler will take out the big hammer and shatter any illusion that you made something that they want to eat.  So what I’ve found with my little two and a half year old girl is that she will eat the following:

1. Mashed Potatoes

2. Chicken Soup, potato soup, homemade broccoli soup (mine is pretty damn good), chili (although I end up blending it up and she’ll eat it with tortilla chips as a dip, but won’t eat the pre-blended chili)

3. Chicken (pretty much cooked any way)

4. Pasta (as long as it’s not too fancy and god forbid you add something like capers, sun dried tomatoes…)

5. Steak (pretty much cooked anyways)

6. Sometimes celery or carrots and blue cheese (but you have to be careful with celery – it has a high sulfur content – and toddlers can’t ingest too much sulfur without hurting their stomachs)

7. Any kind of bread (bagel, english muffin…)

8. Any cheese centered dish (mac and cheese, nachos, just a big block of cheese)

9. Eggs (that’s iffy – sometimes she picks a little, but most of the time no)

10. Pizza (my god she loves pizza)

As far as getting vegetables into her, it’s all about hiding, and that’s easier with some dishes than others.  I like to make pizza from scratch, because I can add fresh ingredients to the pizza sauce, and she won’t know. The soups are nice, because they have vegetables in them.

What about you other parents out there.  What have you found that works with your little ones?