esskayelle

feed me! feed me!

wondering what to feed your baby, and how much?

i was glued to this site when dillan was a wee one.

wholesomebabyfood.com

and am so relieved to see that they've come up with a toddler version.

wholesometoddlerfood.com

did you know that 1 tablespoon per year of age is equal to one serving?
what a relief!  whew, i am feeding dillan enough of every food group.  talk about peace of mind.

homemade microwave popcorn

healthier on your body and your wallet.

simply genius.

homemade microwave popcorn recipe

cheesy vegetable soup

delicious for the entire family!

i have the hardest time getting dillan to eat her vegetables.  but with this soup, i haven't had one issue.  i don't even have to puree the broccoli to disguise it, she scarfs everything down in their bite sized original pieces!

i got this recipe from allrecipes.com 4.5 star average.  (i tweaked the original a little)

ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 3 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped broccoli
• 1 cup cauliflower, chopped
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup velveeta small cubes
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ground black pepper and salt to taste

directions

1. In a large stock pot melt butter and saute onions until tender.
2. Add water and chicken granules, and bring to a boil.
3. Measure out flour into a separate bowl and add some broth from stock pot to whisk together with flour.
4. Slowly add flour mixture back into soup and add broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Simmer until vegetables are tender.
5. Add milk, cheese and season with salt and pepper. Heat through until cheese has melted being sure not to bring to a boil.

let me know what you think!

lemony delicious

--edit--

i just baked these

super easy to make.  i just had a warm one, simply divine. 
--edit-- they're nice and chewy when cooled.  my husband scarfed three down and dillan was whining for more.

lemon cookie recipe

:thanks rachel ray:

recipes for tots

now that dillan is eating big people food.  i've been toying with a million and one recipes. 

allrecipes.com has been a daily place to visit.

other moms, please post your successful recipes with us.  i think we'll all benefit from one another.

i'm desperate to have dillan really love veggies.  she'll eat them when i grind them up and stick it in her never fail food of choice, mac and cheese.  other than that, it's hit or miss.

here is a knock out recipe for banana bread that i baked this morning.  sooooooo good. 

                                INGREDIENTS

 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
                                                                                       

                                DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

i substituted oil instead of butter for the batter, and made bread instead of muffins.

dillan agrees..."mmmmMMMmmmm"

the perfect hard-boiled egg

some people will be hard-pressed to admit that they do not know how to cook a hard boiled egg.  how hard is boiling water, right?  well, for those of you closet "i can't cook a hard boiled egg" people, this entry is for you.

materials:

1. sauce pot
2. eggs
3. water

what do ya do?

1. put the cold eggs into the pot, and pour enough COLD water in the pot to cover the eggs.
2. bring the water to a boil
3. as soon as the water boils, turn off the stove and leave to cook for 13 minutes.
4. place the eggs in ice water until cooled.
5. enjoy!

tip:

1. an easy way to peel an egg is to take a knife and hack into the egg right at it's center (horizontally or vertically, whichever is your preference). 
2. use a spoon to spoon out the egg from the shell.

the result:
a perfectly yellow (not green) yolk, in a perfect hard boiled egg.  yum!

difficulty on a esskayelle scale:
easy breezy

have an egg-cellent day!