Making Homeade Baby Food- Move Over, Martha.

At Grayson Boy's 4 month check up we got the go ahead to start on some solid foods, and since he's already been on rice cereal off of a spoon since 6 weeks, we decided to start with some sweet potatoes. 

I've done a lot of reading, and I really wanted to try and make my own baby food using all organic veggies.  I figured, how hard can it be? I cant over cook anything, because its going to be pureed to mush so I mustered up the courage and gave it a whirl. 

Sunday I decided to whip up a few batches- sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots and green beans.  It really was pretty darn easy.  I put the oven on 400 and washed and scrubbed the potatoes, gave them a poke and wrapped them in foil.  The Squash got hacked in half, put in a pan with an inch of water and both went in the oven for about an hour.

Don't judge, this was the smallest squash the store had- it was ginormous.

The green beans and carrots got steamed on the stove top until soft.

Once something was soft, into the super fancy schmancy food processor we got as a wedding gift and still haven't used it went.

Add a little water or formula to thin the veggies out to give a nice smooth puree and pop them into an ice cube tray and freeze up.  The ice cube tray is the right size for a single serving, and you can reuse it time and again.  After they were frozen I popped them into a Ziploc baggie and stored them in the freezer.

All together I probably spent 2 or 2.5 hours in the kitchen making enough baby food to last us a good long time. That one squash made 48 servings alone.

 Now for the real test-

Super excited for some sweet potatoes!

First bite in...

Ma, this is not my rice cereal. This tastes kind of healthy. What are you trying to do to me?

I guess its not too bad...it tastes better than the formula I suppose.

Here Daddy, let me help you shovel this into my mouth- because Ive decided I like it!

Good job, Mommy. Martha should be shaking in her boots!

(love this kid.)

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies. Also known as de-lishous.

Ok lovelies, you know I don't bake. Well today, I figured Id give it a whirl. Only burned two trays, so I'm considering it a success!

My grandma used to make these when I was little, and I never really appreciated them.  Probably because she used to put walnuts in them, and I didn't (and still don't) like nuts in my cookies. So I substituted the walnuts with chocolate chips and they are amazing.

Ingredents:

2 Ripe Bananas

1 Cup Soft Butter

1 Cup Sugar

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Cup Peanut Butter Chips

1 Cup Raisins

1 Cup Chopped Walnuts or Chocolate Chips- your choice

Preheat oven to 350. Put bananas into a blender until smooth. In a large bowl combine butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add in bananas, eggs, and vanilla. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the two mixtures together. Stir in peanut butter chips, raisins, and either chocolate chips or walnuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls two inches apart onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 9 minutes or until golden brown.

They seriously taste like banana bread cookies. The hubs even liked them, and he hates raisins- so these are a winner at our house!

Cheddar Bacon Biscuits = Amazing!

Who doesn't love the Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster?

I love them, but I'm not a big fan of anything else that the restaurant serves. I don't do fish...it smells.

So when the hubs gets to go there I typically get a Caesar salad and lots of biscuits. I started thinking about how I could do them at home, and started searching for some recipes.

Thank you Rachel Ray for coming through in a pinch with a super simple recipe that I think is even BETTER than the ones at Red Lobster. Why you may ask? Because these ones have the added goodness of bacon. Mmmm.

Super easy. Start with a bag of Bisquick Complete Biscuit Mix.

After dumping that into a mixing bowl start cooking up 3-4 slices of bacon in a frying pan.  Once done to your liking, remove and let cool.  Pour a tablespoon or so of the pan drippings into the dry biscuit mix.  Chop up the bacon and add it to the mix.  Now grab the cheddar cheese and mix in about 1/2 cup of the finely shredded stuff. Add the needed 1/2 cup of water and mix to combine.  Drop on the baking sheet and bake according to package directions (450*F for 8-11 minutes).

They're beautiful and delish and I can make them at home with anything other than fish. Score!