Food for your Itty Bitty: Cream Cheese and Strawberry Toast

Ok, so this could hardly count as a recipe, but we were running low on groceries today and I needed to get resourceful, and I was so excited about how good this turned out, I wanted to share! Delilah and I ate 3 pieces of this toast today, it was delicious.

It is super simple, literally 3 ingredients. Let's go!

Toast your bread.

Smear strawberry jam on the toast.

Top with whipped cream cheese.

Eat!

And that is it everybody. If you are wondering why I used whipped cream cheese, it is because I accidentally grabbed it on a quick run to the store. Does anyone else have as much trouble as I do finding normal cream cheese? Honestly, I don't really see myself ever going back to the regular stuff, since this is so easy to spread, but still, what makes finding good, old fashioned cream cheese so damn difficult. And unsalted, no sweet cream, butter. And, while we are at it, sour cream. I always stand in the diary aisle for like 15 f*ing minutes looking for what I need. And don't even get me started with yogurt. 

*On a side note, since I mentioned yogurt, if you haven't already, you have got to try Noosa. It is so good, really the best yogurt I have ever had. Mmmm the blueberry and raspberry are my favorite. DO IT! Try it!

So now you all know the troubles I have at the grocery store, getting back to the subject. (Anyone just have Salt&Pepper's Shoop pop in there head?) This toast is really good and went over great with Delilah, like we will have this for the rest of the week for breakfast, great. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did!

Food for your Itty Bitty: Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

I have probably eaten this dish 4,765 times. It never gets old. Of course it always tastes better when my mom makes it, but she is not always here and I know I can count on it being on the dinner table for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Delilah loves broccoli and she also loves rice. This dish is perfect because it is easier for her to pick up. It does take a few steps, so I usually start cooking everything during her morning nap. 

Make one cup of rice, boil 2 small heads of broccoli, and cook 1/2 onion and 1 stalk of celery in 2 tablespoons of butter. Do these in separate pots ;)

Mix together a can of Cream of Mushroom soup and 2 cups of cheese. I always use cheddar, but since I am out, sprinkle cheese will do just fine!

Make sure to break up the broccoli, since your Itty Bitty is eating this you don't want pieces that are too big.

Ok, so I may have gone a little overboard with the mixing. Apparently I got caught up in recapping True Blood, I cannot even believe Alcide died! RIP you good looking werewolf, you.

Once everything is cooked and cooled mix it together in a bowl and but it into a well buttered, and I am talking about 2 tablespoons of butter, pyrex pan. Bake on 350 until the cheese is melted and the top is a little golden.

Cheese me!

A lot of preparation but so worth it!

We've got an applause everybody!

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

2 Heads of broccoli - cooked until tender

1 cup cooked rice

1 Stalk of Celery

1/2 Small Onion

4 Tablespoons butter

1 Can Cream of Mushroom soup

2 cups of cheese - you can use sprinkle cheese or block cheese cut into little cubes

Cook diced celery and onion in 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat until very tender, about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350

Mix rice, celery and onion, broccoli, cheese, and soup in bowl. Place mixture in a buttered pan, use the other 2 tablespoons. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I served this with my Seasoned Salt Chicken. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan, season chicken, either thighs or breasts, and season with salt and pepper and seasoned salt. Brown chicken on both sides and put a cup or so of chicken broth in the pan. Do not cover the chicken completely. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, put a lid on it and simmer for 30 minutes. Take the lid off and turn up the heat and reduce the liquid to make a simple sauce. That's it!

Food for your Itty Bitty: Mahi Mahi & Roasted Asparagus

Delilah's first taste of fish…. a hit, I think! She ate it and seemed to like it, although, next time I will season it a little less. Adventures of eating….

Mahi Mahi was on sale at our local HEB, so that was the fish I decided to use, it does help that Mahi Mahi is one of my favorites. It reminds me of chicken, you can literally prepare it any way you want. I decided to go with my tried and true method of cooking fish.

Before we start with the fish, preheat the oven to 350. Wash and trim your asparagus. I always break the bottom of one and then cut the rest to match.

Place on a cookie sheet, lined with foil (less mess!) and drizzle a little oil, salt and pepper.

I used ghee for the oil. And lemon pepper ;)

Place in oven.

Now the fish...

I bought a pound and cut it up into individual servings. 

Use this time to season your fish however you like. I am a sucker for Old Bay.

This is going to sear and then go into the oven, so I heard somewhere if you cover your handle with foil, any pan can be oven safe. It has always worked for me! Get the pan very hot and sear the fish, flesh side down.

 Once it's brown, flip it on the skin side and send the pan into the oven.

Cook fish for about 10 minutes, it should be cooked all the way through. The asparagus should be fork tender. Serve it up with your favorite macaroni and cheese and you've got yourself a meal!

Ours:

Hers:

** I will say that roasted asparagus was not her favorite. I will try it steamed next time to see if that helps.

Mahi Mahi

1 pound fish

1 tablespoon seasoning of choice (Old Bay)

1 tablespoon oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. 

Place oil into an oven safe pan, heat until very hot. Sear fish, flesh side down, for about 5 minutes until brown. Flip over, turn off heat, and place in oven to finish cooking. About 10 minutes.

*This method has worked for any fish I have made: salmon, white bass, cod. It comes out perfect every time.

Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus

oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Snap one asparagus and trim the rest of the bunch to follow. Place on cookie sheet lines with foil. Cover with oil and season to taste.

You can also add garlic slices.

Cook in oven for 10-20 minutes. Depends how crunchy or soft you like it!

Forth of July

Thanks to little baby sleeping all night long for a week now, I was able to get up before everyone this morning and be a little festive. It is amazing what a little sleep will allow you to do!

Our day is going to consist of yard work, skillet pancakes, BBQ, sparkles, and who knows what else!

Happy Forth of July everybody!!

Look at that cute wake up face! I love how what little hair she has gets all fuzzy in the morning. Baby bed head ;)

Rest in Peace star headband, you were only worn for 5 minutes and were no match for an 11 month old.

Skillet Pancakes

Preheat oven to 450, put 2 tablespoons of butter into a cast iron or pie pan.

Mix together, 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 pinch of salt, 1/2 milk, and 1/2 cup flour.

Take pan out of oven and pour in the batter, bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Food for your Itty Bitty: Balsamic Chicken with Butter Pasta and Asparagus

I was talking with a friend about making dinners that are geared towards babies. I want Delilah to be exposed to flavors, textures, and all foods, not just "baby" foods. Now that she is only eating "real" food, I have modified my cooking. I make things a little softer, cook it longer, stay away from spicy (which is a tough one for me), and I always try to include a carb, a veggie, and a protein. I still season everything quite a bit, she loves Herbs de Provence and garlic. :) She always gets some sort of dessert too, whether is is fruit or her favorite ice cream sandwich. 

Anyways, my friend asked me if I look online for recipes and that she never knows what to make. I definitely have my inspiration sources, but for the most part, I use what my momma gave me (recipes of course) and come up with meals based on what I have in my pantry. I have also found it useful to plan out the week and shop for what I need, but if I haven't found the time to do that, we eat what we have! 

I will be happy to help with dinner ideas, just comment on what you have and I will help come up with a dinner!

Tonights menu: Balsamic Chicken with Pasta and Asparagus

I have wanted to start liking dark meat, but I am a white meat girl. I asked my husband to pick up thighs and I am glad I did. It was really good! I have to admit they look a little intimidating, but being the world's pickiest chicken eater, there wasn't a weird piece on the thigh! 

Start with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of Herbs de Provence. 

Melt a couple tablespoons of butter, everything's better with butta, and start to brown your chicken. 

Flip the chicken to brown the other side and then pour in 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. I never, ever measure, so this is more of an estimate.

I also sprinkled a little sugar once I flipped the chicken. I would have originally used honey, but not with the baby :)

Lower the temp to med heat and put a lid on it, let it cook for 15 minutes or so. 

I wanted a thick sauce, so after 15 minutes I opened the lid, turned up the heat to med high and let the sauce thicken for another 10 minutes, or until the desired consistency.

Get some pasta water boiling... cut up your asparagus...

... and add the pasta and asparagus into the water. Cook until everything is soft enough for baby. I squeezed in a lemon while the pasta and asparagus were cooking, I didn't want it to be too overpowering for the bebe, and it was perfect.

Put them back in the pot, throw in some salt, lemon pepper, garlic powder and a few tablespoons of butter, and you've got yourself a party!

I have stopped using vegetable oil, so butter is the new black in this house!

Hers:

Ours:

Balsamic Chicken

Chicken Thighs/Breasts

Salt & Pepper

1/4 t Garlic & Onion Powder

1/4 t Herbs de Provence

1 t Sugar

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

2 T Butter

Season the chicken and melt the butter in a med high pan.

Brown both sides, on second side sprinkle the sugar. Add the vinegar and lower heat to med, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Take off the lid and let sauce reduce, over med high heat, until desired consistency. Done!

Pasta

Spiral Pasta (Any kind will do)

Asparagus

Lemon

Salt 

1 T Lemon Pepper

1/4 t Garlic Powder

3-4 T Butter

Boil water and squeeze lemon in the water. Cut up asparagus into 1 inch pieces. 

Throw, ok not really throw, gently place everything into pot. Cook until tender.

Return everything back into pot, put butter and seasonings in and stir it up. You can sing "Stir it up" by Bob Marley if you would like. Done!

This was a hit with everyone! Enjoy!

Oh hey Friday!

Food for your Itty Bitty: Toaster Strudel

I have been running into road blocks when it comes to Delilah's breakfast. She is waffled out, tired of bananas, and not interested in me feeding her yogurt or oatmeal. She also is not a fan of eggs and I am terrible at making pancakes. They never turn out like pancakes, more like thick underdone bread circles. Mashed potatoes and pancakes, my kryptonite. 

I had bought some of those toaster strudels, remember those? With the ridiculously good frosting packets, that never had enough frosting in them. Well she really liked those! I have been reading ingredient labels lately, I am not too crazy about it, but it concerns me anytime it says "Less than 1% of...". I mean, that can't be good. So I decided I would try to make my own! I contemplated whether or not I would use pie crust or frozen puff pastry, I decided to go with the puff pastry since it would resemble the original. I also decided to use cream cheese and jam as the filling, you could make your own, but ain't nobody got time for that ;) But seriously, my favorite flavor is the apple one, so I will be trying out my own apple filling. And Delilah loves anything dairy, which is funny because when I was pregnant I went through a gallon of milk a week for months, it was gross how much milk I consumed, but it tasted so good! Anyways, she loves all things dairy, so I also want to try a cream cheese filling too. I will update as I try the other fillings, but for now, it is strawberry jam, cream cheese, and a vanilla frosting!

These turned out really good, I had to try one three ;)

The few that I used strawberry jam with ran a little bit. I am still going to try a different fruit filling, but until then I am going to only put the recipe for the cream cheese strudels.

Thaw your puff pastry overnight and lay it on a floured surface so it doesn't stick. Then dance.

Mix your cream cheese and sugar, yum yum yum.

I used a pizza cutter to slice up the pastry, made it super easy. Decide how big or small you want your strudel and slice it up. Make sure they are the same sizes and you have an even number.

Put some cream cheese mixture on one side and then slap the other side on top.

Use a fork and seal the pastry together.

Ca-ute!

Once you finish and all of your pastry is on the baking sheet, put in an oven until they are golden brown.

While they cook, whip up your frosting and wait...

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Done!

Put on a cooling rack and wait again.

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They're cool, time to drizzle some icing!

This was after I ate a few.

Toaster Strudel

1 Package of Puff Pastry, thawed

1/2 cup Cream Cheese, softened

1 T powder sugar

Preheat oven to 400.

Lay out puff pastry and roll just a bit to get the creases out. It is ok if they are still visible, that is what I used to measure mine out. Cut along the long lines of the puff pastry with a pizza cutter. Then cut horizontal lines to whichever size you would like. I was able to cut out 4 pieces. 

Mix together your cream cheese and sugar. Once again, if you like yours sweeter add more sugar.

Put a tablespoon or so of the cream cheese mixture on one side of the puff pastry. Lay another piece on top, like a ravioli :) Use a fork to smoosh the sides together, lay on a greased baking sheet. You want to work fast because the puff pastry gets more difficult to work with as it warms.

Continue until all of your pieces are used up! Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. 

Take the strudels and put on a cooling rack until cool. Drizzle on your icing and then eat it up!

Frosting/Icing

3 T powder sugar

1 t Milk

1/8 t Vanilla

Mix together. You may need to add more sugar/milk depending on what consistency you would like.