Sunday Dinner

Growing up, Sunday dinner was always a little fancier than the rest of the week. Maybe something that cooked for a few hours on the stove or in the oven, maybe a fire in the fireplace, and maybe sitting in the dining room instead of the kitchen.

I've tried to keep up the tradition, and sometimes nothing says "Sunday" like meat and potatoes. But since we don't eat meat ... it's time for Field Roast!

We buy it at Whole Foods or at our local co-op. It's easy, and we all love it. I make a vegetarian gravy and serve up some cooked vegetables and potatoes, and voila - fancy Sunday dinner!

Vegetarian Gravy

1 carton (4 cups) vegetable broth
1 bulb of garlic
1 T olive oil
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
a bunch of fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
some white flour
a little butter (optional)

1. Bring the vegetable broth to a gentle simmer on the stove. Add in the carrots and pepper.
2. While the broth is simmering, slice off the top of the garlic bulb, pour on the olive oil, cover in a microwavable dish, and cook on high in the microwave for 2 minutes.
3. Allow the garlic to cool, then peel the individual cloves and add them to the broth.
4. When the carrots are soft, puree them with the garlic into the broth. (I use an immersion blender, but you could also pour it into a food processor.)
5. Whisk in the nutritional yeast and bring to simmer again.
6. Whisk in the flour, or, if you have more time, cook the flour in the butter to make a paste before whisking it in.

Harvest Meal with Soymilk

Fall is such a great season for vegetarian cooking, with all the squash and other harvest-y foods. A couple of weeks ago I made wild rice casserole (complete with low-sodium cream of mushroom soup), which was a big hit.

She ate it with squash and applesauce. The applesauce, not usually served at dinner, was very popular. (Incidentally, I usually add wheat germ to applesauce to boost its nutrition content.)

Off to the left you can see her straw cup with soymilk. While I cook with cow's milk, I don't serve it for drinking. N. has only ever had soymilk to drink and she assumes it's the norm. When she sees a picture of someone drinking milk, she calls it "so-milk!" It took a while for her to like drinking it, and even now she doesn't drink very much - maybe an ounce or two at best. But since we're still nursing twice a day, my pediatrician says we don't need to worry.

Tofu Shapes

Every once in a while I have an unusually satisfying success. Yesterday afternoon was one of those times.

I am always hoping to find more foods are both nutritious and easy to eat, especially if they don't involve bread or cheese. I also like recipes that are easy to make and to clean up afterward.

Several years ago, I stumbled across the Vegan Lunch Box, a blog written by a Washington mom with lots of great ideas. (I also have her first cookbook and am hoping to soon purchase her second.) She has a recipe for Tofu Fish Sticks that always interested me, and now I have a child old enough to eat them.

However, I myself hated fish sticks as a child, so I wasn't interested in making anything that tasted remotely fishy. I also have a daughter who doesn't like strong flavors right now, so I needed to make a plainer version than what Jennifer has on her blog. I ended up designing my own recipe, and it worked very well!

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes (read here if you don't know what these are)
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
2 T sesame seeds
1/2 cup plain unsweetened soymilk
1 lb firm tofu

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Prepare a cookie sheet. (I like to use a Silpat.)
2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a cereal bowl or pie pan.
3. Pour the soymilk into a shallow bowl.
4. Cut the tofu into slices about 1/2-inch thick. Then use a cookie cutter or knife to create your desired shapes. You'll probably have leftover scraps -- they can be used, too!
5. One at a time, dip each piece of tofu into the soymilk and then the cornmeal mixture and cover both sides. Place on the cookie sheet.
6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes on each side.
7. Let cool before serving, depending on the age of your child.

Nora didn't like these when I served them at 2pm, but when I served them again at 3:30, she ate three of the heart shapes! Robert ate about ten of the scraps, and I ate a few myself, dipped in ketchup and mustard.

It is somewhat time-consuming to do all the dipping in the two bowls, but I was able to complete most of it while Nora sat in her booster seat having a snack. Then she napped while they cooked in the oven.

Baby Stir-Fry

In search of a combination of finger food, vegetables, protein, and grains? Try a baby stir-fry. Easy and nutritious!

For protein, I have used cubed tofu and halved black beans. I think other beans would work as well.

For grains, I have used brown rice, brown rice spaghetti, and assorted quinoa pasta shapes. Her hands-down favorite is the brown rice spaghetti, despite its nutritional deficiency as compared to the quinoa pasta. I think she likes it because it clumps together nicely and she can actually get it into her mouth.

For vegetables, I like carrots, broccoli, green peas, onions, and green beans. Last night she had a bit of red bell pepper and mushroom. I keep the vegetables at an adult bite-size for the cooking, but cut them smaller before I put them on her tray.

I found a wheat-free tamari sauce (San-J brand) at Safeway. Of course, not wanting her to have too much sodium, I try to keep the tamari to a minimum. But she seems to really like it, especially on the tofu.

1) Cook rice or pasta according to package directions.

2) Chop all ingredients to desired size. (For stir-frys, a thin slice or dice is appropriate.)

3) Heat canola oil over medium or high heat. Fry tofu (if using) until golden. Spoon out and set aside.

4) Fry vegetables. Start with the hardest (e.g. carrots) and add additional vegetables every minute or two. End with the softest.

5) Mix all ingredients together. Let cool before serving to baby.

On Eating Soy

Soy is a bit of a controversial food. For several years, it was promoted as a superfood. More recently, some have raised concerns about its estrogen-ic qualities, and there was some speculation that it could mess with the hormones of a pregnant woman or her unborn child.

I was very hesitant to eat much soy during the first part of this pregnancy, so I avoided it for the most part. At my 19-week appointment, though, my OB (who I like very much) said that while she understood my concerns, she feels that soy is just fine to eat, and that you'd have to eat very large quantities of it to even come close to its purported estrogen-ic properties. So since then, while still being moderate, I've enjoyed its use more frequently. It is a very nice way to get protein.