Foodie Baby: Chinese Food!

It's old news that Piper fell in love with zesty Italian, smokey BBQ, spicy Mexican, pungent liver and onion, and creamy Parmesan flavors, but there were still a couple of taste sensations we had yet to explore.  Tonight I tried baby food with an Asian flare!  As I was preparing the food it smelled INCREDIBLE, but in the back of my mind a little voice was telling me that these flavors were too foreign (no pun intended) for a baby's new taste buds to actually enjoy.  Wrong, again. I think the Chinese Five Spice created a sweetness that combined with the tang of soy sauce created an irresistible dynamic! This time, I managed to get a video of her reaction to the first bite!

~Ingredients~

1 large chicken breast, cut in small pieces
1 medium potato (not skinned), diced
1/2 cup diced white onion
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. of lite soy sauce
1/4 tsp. Chinese Five Spice
1 Tbsp. sweet and sour sauce
1 cup of water

~Instructions~
1.  Melt butter in a large, non-stick skillet.  Add soy sauce and stir over medium heat.
2.  When the mixture just begins to boil and form small bubbles, add chicken, potatoes, and onion.

3.  Stir until thoroughly coated.
4.  When it comes to a high boil, stir and flip once, then reduce heat to med-low.

 5.  Pour into a bowl.  Add the 1 Tbsp. sweet and sour sauce and stir until well coated.

6.  Spoon into a blender.
7.  Pour in the 1 cup of water and stir.
8.  Puree to desired consistency.
Should make approximately 5 jars of baby food.

AND THE VERDICT!!!!

Read More...

Hide Full Post...

What's For Dinner? - Chicken Puffs

A friend who shall remain nameless (I've always wanted to have a reason to say that!) contacted me earlier today asking me what I would suggest to cook for a hot date she has Wednesday night.  She really likes him and would like to make a good impression, he eats meat, she does not.  The first thought that came into my head:  CHICKEN PUFFS WITH *PROSCIUTTO-WRAPPED ASPARAGUS.  I know it sounds like a lot of meat going on, but both are easy enough to leave out. The chicken puffs are so cozy and comforting stacked on top of one another (innuendo intended) and pair very nicely with a glass of white wine (bow chicka bow-wow). Asparagus is a known aphrodisiac because of its powerful punch of Vitamin E which can really kick your hormones into gear.  The first cookbook I found in a search, and it undoubtedly has some sexy asparagus recipes while "Intercourses" I actually own, and have cooked from many times:


~Ingredients~

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into pieces  (leave this out if making a vegetarian version)
3 Tbsp. chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 of an 8oz package of softened cream cheese (or the whole thing...hey, I've done it, and it's delicious)
6 Tbsp. butter
3 (10 oz) cans of refrigerated Pillsbury crescent roll dough (DO NOT use the store brand to try and save money. There is a huge difference in quality. Not in taste, but in the actual separation of the unbaked dough.)
Add 1/8 cups of your favorite veggies until desired amount to make up for the lack of chicken if you're making a vegetarian version
pepper
celery salt
1 egg, beaten (this is key in order to make them very pretty)

~Instructions~

1.  In a medium saucepan slowly stir the chicken chunks with the onion and garlic over medium heat.  Cook until onions are tender and chicken is lightly browned. Simply saute the onions, garlic and added vegetables until the onions are tender if making the vegetarian version.

2.  In a medium bowl, mix the chicken (or vegetable) mixture, cream cheese, desired amount of pepper, desired amount of celery salt, and butter until creamy.

3.  Preheat oven to 325.

4.  Unroll crescent rolls and place approximately 1 Tbsp. of the mixture onto each and fold.

5.  Arrange the balls onto a large baking sheet.

6.  Brush the tops of the rolls generously with the egg washing using a basting brush.

7.  Sprinkle with pepper.

8.  Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

*will be posted as a separate blog entry

Read More...

Hide Full Post...

What's For Dinner? - African Chicken Stew

SPICY, HEAVY GOODNESS!! A really pleasant combination of peanuts, chicken, vegetables, and spice. Initially you taste the sweetness of the peanut butter, then the red pepper kicks in after a few seconds and really adds some zip! I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and the key to this one is keeping everything in one pan from start to finish (my dad and mom taught me that little trick). Deglazing the pan after browning the chicken and keeping all the yummys in the dish makes it that much better.

~Ingredients~

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1.75 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 large potato, diced
1 turnip, diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
1 cup of water (keep adding if it thickens too much)
1 cup peanut butter
1 (15 oz) can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

~Instructions~

1. In a large metal (not Teflon or non-stick) skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and brown quickly. Letting your infant think that she is orchestrating the whole ordeal is wise. No hurt feelings.

(That's some perfectly browned chicken!)

 2.  Chop up any other vegetables you wish to add.  I picked a turnip! Yum!  And it makes such a pretty picture!

3.  Remove chicken from the skillet. The bottom of the metal skillet should have brown crusty stuff that looks like it is stuck to the bottom of it.  These are the yummys.  Do not remove them.  Just go ahead and add a little more olive oil and add your garlic, onion, potato, and in my case, the turnip.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.

4.  Add the cumin, coriander, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt.

5.  Cut the browned chicken into bite-sized pieces.

6.  Mix in the water, but make sure you have a good scraping tool. Either a metal spatula or a pointed wooden spoon of some sort so that scraping the browned chicken off of the bottom of the pan is easier.

(It should be a warm brown color like this when the scrapings are in the mix)

7.  Add the browned chicken pieces.  Place the lid on the skillet and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

8.  Add the peanut butter and garbanzo beans and mix thoroughly.

9.  Let your infant experiment with radishes that you have prepared for a garnish. I was really prepared for her to spit them out and throw them across the room expressing that her mouth was on fire, but...

Radishes were a spicy success!!!

10.  Garnish your African Chicken Stew, serve with either rice or bread, and beverage of choice! After eating it with red wine, I would advise an ice cold beer instead.  But that's just my opinion.

</span>

Read More...

Hide Full Post...

Foodie Baby: Swiss Steak

The full recipe for Crock Pot Swiss Steak can be found by clicking right here!

This serves for a great baby food in that the London broil has been simmering for hours with the diced tomatoes making it extremely tender and flavorful.  The tomatoes and their sauce also add a robust and tangy flavor to the meat that will knock their tiny little socks off.

While the Swiss Steak is still in the crock pot, cut off a small portion of the meat and place in a food processor.  With a ladle, spoon a proportionate amount of diced tomatoes with onions onto it. The most important part is spooning a generous portion of the delicious red broth onto it.

Puree it to the consistency to which your baby is comfortable. I know it took Piper a little while to get used to any kind of chunks. I'm unsure if this is because until this month she had no teeth, but now she is fine with thicker and chunkier textures. In a case like this where thickness is an issue, add more of the broth from the crock pot until it is smooth enough.

This is what your infant should look like after eating her Crock Pot Swiss Steak.

I don't know if I can handle how GOOD this is, Mama.

You have any more?

Read More...

Hide Full Post...

What's For Dinner? - Crock Pot Swiss Steak

This is my parents' recipe!  My mother, Linda, says "This is one of the easiest dinners you can make.  I watched my mother make this dish while I was growing up, and it was served with either mashed or chunk potatoes so that the red sauce from the Swiss Steak could be poured on top." It is delicious any time of year, but it may not go over well with people who are iffy about tomatoes and onions.

---->To make this for baby, click here!

~Ingredients~

1- 14 1/2 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 beef London broil (however large you wish)

1 medium white, sweet onion

1/2 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce

1/2 of a green pepper (optional)

salt

pepper

garlic powder

1 Tbsp. oil
___________________________________________

Instructions:

TIP --->  Splatter screens are fine and dandy, but sometimes they just don't do the trick.  Before getting started, place newspapers around the burner so the oil doesn't land on your nice countertops.

Pat the London broil dry with paper towels (both sides).

Cut it in half to fit in the crock pot.

Season both sides of the London broil (just salt and pepper works just fine)

Heat the oil in a non-coated skillet (this is important...you will be deglazing it with the diced tomatoes) to medium high to high.

Sear all sides of the London Broil until it has a nice brown crust on both sides, about 5 minutes each.

Place the meat in the crock pot while it is still off.

Turn skillet off.

Very quickly, dump diced tomatoes into the skillet and scrape the bottom of the skillet to deglaze the pan.  (This cleans the pan and also captures the most delicious morsels)

Pour everything in the skillet on top of the London broil in the crock pot.

Add the Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce (A little bit of this goes a long way. It's pretty much a super concentrated beef reduction type of sauce.)

Cut your onion into chunks. Long skinny, pieces are fine...just not diced.

Lay onions on top.

Turn crock pot on high for about an hour (If you are preparing this before work and leaving it all day, skip this step and just turn to low and let cook for the whole day.)

Sprinkle in a little garlic powder.

Reduce heat to low and cook for as long as you wish, but for a minimum of 6 hours.

Serve with:
Chive and Sour Cream Mashed potatoes
Rosemary Chunk Potatoes
In spring when asparagus is fresh and in abundance, Spiced Sesame Asparagus
Any other time, good 'ol green beans will do just fine!

Read More...

Hide Full Post...