Sweet Potato Puree

In her short introduction to solid foods, this is Rebecca's favorite and quite simple to make - I just bake a sweet potato at 400 for 45-55 minutes, remove the skin, mash it, and add milk.

Baby Applesauce

I'm approaching a new era of cooking here by making our own baby food. So far this has been very simple since my 6-month old baby is only eating breastmilk, rice cereal, and sweet potatoes. So today I made applesauce to add to her diet.

I peeled, cored and chopped up 4 Red Delicious apples, put them in a large pot on low with 1/4 cup water and let them simmer with the lid on for 45 minutes. I then mashed them to a very soft mixture and froze most of it in an ice cube tray.

I tried introducing her to bananas, but this is the face she made:

Carrot Soup

Lots of cooking with carrots this month!

Ever since a friend of mine mentioned carrot soup a week or so ago, I've been wanting to make it -- the recipe I found is surprisingly easy too - only calling for a few simple ingredients: olive oil, carrots, a yellow onion, minced garlic, vegetable stock and a lemon. This I can do!

My friend also mentioned how much she loves her immersion blender. A fan of gadgets, I decided that I, too, need this blender. Perhaps I will start making soups every night!

Peanut Butter Brownies

Ever since my friend, Chava, made this enchanting recipe, I've been wanting to try it. Chava does interesting things with peanut butter - here is another of my favorites, a recipe she taught me to make when I saw her in Atlanta last year. Speaking of peanut butter, I've been realizing that I need more protein lately, so I've been munching on these awful-tasting protein bars the last couple days. So perhaps a peanut butter recipe or two will serve me well. Also, since my not-so-sweet-tooth husband has been asking for cookies or brownies lately, I thought it's about time I make this recipe. I might get to the peanut stew later this month... Plus, the 5 degree weather makes me want to bake and warm up our freezing home.

On that note, my baby and I have been indoors for the last three days - I'm getting cabin fever, so I hope it warms up soon. We've been singing, reading, playing with toys, eating cereal, napping, rinse and repeat. I have to get out tomorrow to drop off student papers, so at least we'll be heading out once. I just really feel for her all wrapped up in her enormous snowsuit:

Seriously mom?

Potato-Bean Casserole

Start with the simplest of ingredients: a potato (boiled) and an onion (sauted).

Rebecca watched with interest as I chopped and stirred...

Yum!

We have called this simple dish "2 J Casserole" for quite some time in my family -- mainly because Jake and I, Jamie, (2 Js) created this vegan dish back in 1999. Jake was living in D.C. for a semester; I came up to visit him for Thanksgiving weekend and we created this by experimentation. And it stuck.

Ingredients:

-- 3-4 potatoes
-- half a can of tomato sauce
-- 1 can of garbanzo beans (I use the low-sodium variety)
-- 3 small tomatoes
-- a yellow onion
-- a few T of olive oil
-- Morningstar tofu crumbles (you might use Quorn crumbles if you tire of Morningstar, as I sometimes do)
-- a dash of spices (This time I used rosemary, marjoram, and basil)

It's a hearty winter dish -- first you dice and saute your onion in olive oil while you boil your potatoes (I cut mine up in chunks first). Then you add the beans and sliced tomatoes to the onion mixture, then the sauce and tofu, and then finally the drained boiled potatoes and your spices. You might also have added a few sliced carrots when you added your tomatoes and beans - we used to do that but I'm all out of carrots. Also, this is the kind of dish that tastes even better the second day - all the juices and spices have been keeping each other company for a bit and it's even more savory.

Enjoy! And check out all the nutrients in the humble potato:)

One last thing - as I attempt to cook these days in between feeding and playing with Rebecca and trying to get her to nap (combined with some working from home), I'm realizing that some of my old favorite recipes like mushroom empanadas and flatbreads were pretty time consuming. Now I'm looking for recipes that are vegetarian and fairly fast. So I'll be going through my cook books and this blog archive to find some dishes that fit for our family at this point -- let me know if you have some good ones and I'll try them!

Carrot souffle

fluffy, yummy carrot souffle

My little one watching me cook, chewing an empty bowl, wondering when we're going to give her first bite of solid food (in a few days).

I am blogging as my baby takes her fourth and final catnap of the day.

For the first time today, my daughter watched me cook a bit while sitting in her high chair playing with a bowl. It stuck to her chin at one point and she burst into tears!

So here it goes. I am stunned that I haven't blogged about this recipe before. A family staple for years, the carrot souffle is sweet, easy, and pretty. You can lighten it up with Splenda or another sugar substitute; you can use applesauce instead of eggs to make it a vegan recipe, and you can add cornflakes on top for crunch or nuts on top for protein.

Here is the simple recipe:

3/4 cup sugar

1 lb of carrots peeled and microwaved for 4 to 5 minutes

4 ounces veg oil

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 tablespoons flour

Pinch of cinnamon

Directions: Chop up your soft carrots and add them to a Cuisinart (or grate them by hand). Afterwards, put the shredded carrots in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir. Pour into 1.5 quart dish sprayed with pam or oil.

Put in the oven set at 350 for 45 minutes.

Voila.

I enjoy the shock of orange amid an otherwise neutral-colored table or buffet. It's also a dish you could make for a brunch, with a dinner, or as an after-dinner dessert. So versatile! The little black dress of my recipes.

Happy Hanukkah!

Dear friends, I tried my hand at making latkes for the second time tonight -- this was the first time. My mom reminded me of how my grandma used to make them -- real fast, she said - 1, 2, 3 and they were ready to eat.

Well, I tried. I can't say they remind me of my grandmother's cooking, but maybe nothing really comes close to that...

But they're greasy and vegan and yummy, so cheers to that, and have a Happy Hanukkah.