Lentil Balls

We're still not 100% sure Nora has a wheat allergy, but a nurse at our pediatrician's office told us to hold off on giving her any more wheat until we have more info. So, I'm now on a quest to find ways of offering the kinds of foods I'd like to see her eating -- things she can pick up, bite chew on, pull apart, etc -- without using any wheat. It's a challenge.

Last night I made a tray of "lentil balls." I put organic instant oats (no salt or sugar added -- just straight up oats from the bulk food bin at Whole Foods) in my mini-blender and ground them to a powder, as I often did when making her porridge. I then mashed it together with some cooked lentils, a little salt, and sauteed onion and carrot. I baked the lentil balls for 20 minutes. She loved them! She enjoyed being able to control the food by herself, though she did drop a lot down the sides of her chair. I gave her another this evening and it was a hit again.

The amounts below are approximate as I didn't do a good job of measuring, but I think different proportions could work as well.

2 cups lentils, cooked
2 cups instant organic rolled oats (before grinding), ground into a coarse powder
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 tsp salt
olive oil for sauteing

1. Saute the vegetables in the olive oil for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2. Leaving aside about 1/2 cup of the oatmeal powder, mix the remaining oatmeal, lentils, vegetables, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Form the mixure into balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Roll each ball in the leftover powdered oatmeal before laying it on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake the lentil balls at 350 for 20 minutes.

They can be frozen after cooking -- I would guess they'd keep well for 2-3 months.

Mama's Girl

My grandfather (my father's father) ate pasta with marinara sauce every night for the last couple decades of his life. I inherited his love for it. Given the choice, I'd eat spaghetti nearly every day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever! Anytime is fine.

Nora has decided that it's near the top of her list, too. We suspect a possible wheat allergy, because Robert had one as a child and because after her first wheat last week she developed red cheeks and a rash. More to come on that when we have more info, but in the meantime she's enjoying quinoa-corn pasta. A bit pricy, but what can you do? I dust it with rice cereal to make it a little easier to pick up. She gobbles it down every time!

Tip: When I used part of a jar of organic spaghetti sauce to make pizza for Robert and myself over the weekend, I froze the remainder in my baby ice cube tray and now have a bag of baby-size pasta sauce portions, ready to heat and serve.

Porridge!

Life has been very busy lately, with little time for blogging. But I will try to do some more baby food entries before Nora becomes a toddler! She's now a very busy 9 1/2-month-old. Crawling, climbing, and dancing are some of her favorite activities!

There have been many new foods over the past couple of months, and a daily staple is "porridge." Porridge takes many forms, but always includes one or two grains*, a protein, and at least one fruit or vegetable. I mix it all together and serve it warm, and she usually loves it.

Some common combos include:

oatmeal - egg yolk - squash
oatmeal - egg yolk - banana
barley - tofu - broccoli - squash
millet - tofu - pumpkin
barley - tofu - broccoli - sweet potato
millet - garbanzo bean - green bean - peach (yes, really, she ate it!)
barley - lentil - green pea
barley - lentil - carrot

As long as you've got the basic ingredients on hand, you can make a quick, healthy meal in a short amount of time!

* I usually sprinkle a tablespoon or two of Earth's Best organic iron-fortified cereal into the porridge to increase its iron content.