Ode to Frozen Vegetables

Frozen vegetables, oh so cold

Frozen vegetables rarely get old

So easy, so simple, throw them in the pot

Quick, nutritious, and delicious, tedious they are not!

Organic? Yes! Diverse? Of course! I really cannot say...

Enough about these vegetables -- so great in every way!

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As you can see, my freezer is overflowing as usual with a variety of tasty frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables are actually said to have more nutrition than fresh, because they are immediately packed into bags after processing, while fresh vegetables can leak out vitamins and minerals during transport to market. I like them because they are so easy -- no need to spend time chopping! I usually buy them at Trader Joe's, which has great prices for organics.

Some common ways I use them include:

-- add thawed blueberries to oatmeal (Nora eats this nearly every morning, with banana mashed in as well)
-- add thawed strawberries or raspberries to plain yogurt
-- add chopped spinach to spaghetti sauce or Mexican-style casseroles
-- add green beans, sliced bell peppers, or broccoli to stir-fry*
-- add any of these same, plus peas, to Thai-style green or red curries*
-- add peas or peas & carrots to macaroni & cheese
-- add thawed and sliced artichoke hearts to pizzas**
-- Serve as a side dish! I microwave broccoli, asparagus, green beans, or peas for 3-4 minutes if my main dish is cooking on the stove. If I'm already using the oven, I might throw green beans or asparagus in a pie pan with some cooking spray and roast them for 20 minutes or so right alongside the main dish.

* This will result in a slightly mushy stir-fry or curry, which might bother some people, but I still find that the easiness of it outweighs the mushiness.
** Trader Joe's has frozen artichoke hearts!

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.

Avocado!

The vegetarian baby has embarked on this next stage in her life! She had avocado on her 6-month birthday -- you can see the results. She seemed to like it pretty well, but then developed a cold that kept her from enjoying much of anything for about a week. Since the cold ended, though, she's been eating up her twice-daily meals.

Her absolute, hands-down favorite food so far is oatmeal. Because I was concerned about iron, I opted to use a fortified commercial brand instead of making my own. We feed her Earth's Best organic whole-grain oatmeal, and it's a hit!

To date, her foods and opinions on them include (in order of introduction):

-- avocado (liked, then didn't like, now likes)
-- sweet potato (didn't like, now tolerates)
-- [rice cereal] (she has just had some tastes of this at our "baby pre-school" class, she likes it fine)
-- oatmeal (her favorite)
-- unweetened applesauce (also introduced at baby pre-school and I decided to go ahead and let her eat a little every few days -- she loves it)
-- banana (didn't like, now tolerates)
-- peaches (just a taste, at pre-school, she liked them)

And next on the lineup, later today, is butternut squash. So there's some variation from my original plan, but on the whole I'm happy with the schedule so far.

I've been asked why I was skipping rice cereal. In my opinion, there's not much point to it. Rice cereal is usually given as a first food because it has a very low allergy risk. However, it doesn't have much to offer - nutritionally - other than calories and fortified iron. I decided that I wanted to maximize nutrition, and oatmeal offers more vitamins and fiber, as well as the iron, with a similarly low allergy risk.

With the exception of the oatmeal and applesauce, I am making all her food myself. I use the "food-cube" method. I buy the produce -- all organic -- then cook and/or puree it at home. She'll eat a bit fresh that day, and the rest gets frozen in an ice cube tray overnight. Then I pop the cubes out and store them in freezer bags. So far I've made two avocados, three sweet potatoes, and 2 bananas . . . and I have enough of all these foods to last another 10-15 days. It's much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying all those little jars! Plus it's very satisfying.