Tag Archives: baby and me dishes

Watermelon, Mint and Feta Salad

Posted on August 15, 2012 | 2 comments

Here is another recipe we enjoyed camping last weekend. Our mint is abundant right now and there are only so many mint cocktails one can drink. I thought this simple little salad would be refreshing camping and easy to throw together.

Packing for the trip, I cut several stems of mint, washed them and then stored them damp, wrapped in a paper towel, in the fridge (and then the cooler). This, by the way, is my favorite way to store herbs and lettuces from the garden. Except at home I just as often use a clean kitchen towel instead of a disposable one. I also packed up the last of my homemade feta. (The feta is another recipe I plan to share, so feel free to subscribe to follow.)

This salad is great with figs, too. This year a little birdie we call Baby eats our figs as fast as they come off the tree. She has even full on shoplifted a fig! We were in Whole Foods and she was sitting in the cart. I turned my back for a second to pick out a peach and when I looked she had grabbed a fig out of a basket on the display and had started eating it! Baby also got into a shopping bag today, found an avocado and bit into it as though it were an apple.

Anyway, she loved this salad. It is a great way to showcase fruit at it’s peak. For babies, watermelon is a great first solid once they are ready to try venturing past purées since it is so easy to “bite into” with just gums.

Watermelon, Mint and Feta Salad Recipe

A large bowl of watermelon cut into large bite sized chunks, chilled
Mint, ripped or cut into smaller pieces
Crumbled feta
Balsamic vinegar glaze or reduction
Squeeze of lime juice (optional)
Salt and pepper (optional)

I don’t have measurements for this salad, so just eyeball it. Cut up the watermelon and chill, if it isn’t already cold. Then add the rest of the ingredients, mix and serve immediately.

2 Comments

Posted in Family Adventures, Food, Healthy Recipes, Homemade Baby Food, Recipes for the Whole Family, Recipes from the Garden, Urban Homesteading

Tagged baby and me dishes, baby led weaning, easy farm to table, easy seasonal recipes, farm to table, meals for the whole family, natural baby food, vegetarian

Raspberry Oatmeal

Posted on August 5, 2012 | 2 comments

Lately I have been very interested in meals that Baby Bird can eat as well as us. Because, seriously, having to make separate food for her after pulling together our meal got old quickly. We are lucky that our Baby Bird likes to eat just about everything. I have also been interested in eating oatmeal since she was born, as it is a well-known galactagogue, or substance that promotes lactation, and is tastier than fenugreek.

When we first brought Baby home from the hospital, instant oatmeal was my middle of the night snack. Those first few days I was still taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen around the clock and needed something in my tummy. Waking every two hours to feed her worked up an appetite, too. Oatmeal was warm and cozy in the cold of the night and I could also take out a packet and microwave it with one hand, holding my tiny babe in the other. But in retrospect, microwaved instant oatmeal was probably not affecting my milk supply as I was hoping.

I think I was scared of oatmeal. Didn’t you have to cook steel cut oatmeal, slowly stirring, for 20 minutes? My next step was to buy some quick oats from the bulk section of the grocery store. (Bulk homemade oatmeal is a much better value than packaged instant oatmeal.) It actually was pretty easy. I just heated it to boiling with water, turned the heat down, stirred a minute and it was done. I was feeling very happy with myself. Then I learned that quick oats don’t promote lactation as much as rolled oats.

So today was my first attempt at cooking the real thing. Why was I so scared? Cooking rolled oats couldn’t be easier! And as a bonus, Baby loves it, too! I used the same technique as cooking the quick oats and was surprised that it didn’t take much longer. The texture is better too, in my mind. Today I mixed in a small handful of organic raspberries at the end. They easily broke up and added a little flavor to each bite. I didn’t sweeten it, but if your berries are tart, you could. Just avoid honey if you will be sharing with a baby under 1 year old. This recipe can easily be multiplied for more people. Papa Bird wasn’t in an oatmeal mood so Baby and I shared one serving.

She loves to eat out of my bowl, but I put baby’s oatmeal in her own small bowl so it would cool faster. I mixed in a little breastmilk to make her oatmeal creamier. She is very interested in feeding herself these days, so we did a combination of Mama feeding her oatmeal by spoon and dropping small “oatmeal cookies” on her highchair tray for her to pick up herself. I ate out of the pot. One less dish to do.

Raspberry Oatmeal Recipe

1 serving

½ c. rolled oats
1 ¼- ½ c. water
handful of raspberries

Add oats and water to a small pot on high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low, stirring. Cook for a couple minutes until desired consistency. Feel free to use more or less water, depending on preference, or add sweeteners to taste. Take off heat and stir in berries, or any addition you like. Oatmeal conserves heat, so be sure to check temperature before offering to a baby!

Disclaimer: I’m sure you will use common sense in giving any new food to a babe. For reference, mine is 10 months old, has 1 and a half teeth, can gum food well, and was well used to chunky purées before I gave her oatmeal.

Links:

http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/oatmeal/

http://kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/herbs/herbal_galactagogue/