Spaghetti Dinner

Tube shaped pasta makes for the perfect finger food.  Add in some spaghetti sauce, and this is what you get:

What's for dinner?

We've been trying hard around here to make meals that serve the whole family. It's a great idea, but some nights it just doesn't work. (Jack is just getting his back teeth, so hopefully he'll soon be able to eat meat!)
So rather than making a grilled cheese or a hot dog for Jack, I've been looking for healthier alternatives that he can have while we're enjoying our adult dinners.

Here's a picture of tonight's meal. I know, it looks disgusting!! But I can testify that it's actually quite delicious!
I'm not certain that its completely healthy, since I did make a rue and add quite a bit of cheese. It does have three vegetables tucked inside however, and the whole thing took about 15 minutes for Jack and I to assemble.

Weelicious.com has quickly become my favorite new place to search for kid-friendly recipes. You should check it out!

Here's the link for the the green macaroni and cheese.

We've also made the spinach cake muffins which were a HUGE hit with Jack.  Audrey has been enjoying them too, and a few adults liked them at my last staff meeting.  Who knew spinach could be so good?  

Here's a picture of Jack helping with the muffins and proof that they were well received.  

Update: Dinner was a huge success! Audrey and Jack both loved it.
The next time I make this I will probably cook the broccoli a bit before assembly. Other than that, it was a hit!

Jack's food

In the Samad household cooking is much more than something we do to quiet our growling bellies.  It is a huge part of our life, consuming much of our time, a large chunk of our budget, and it is something we enjoy doing as a family.  So it should come as no surprise that when it came time to feed Jack we wanted to be the ones to prepare his meals.

How many knives do you need to cut a mango???

Pureed butternut squash

Finished product

We purchased Super Baby Food, a helpful but largely overwhelming book about baby food preparation.  We  skimmed through the book and decided that we wanted to make most of his food, but that we were ok with purchasing cereal and some of the fruits and vegetables.  When he was six months old we started steaming and pureeing some of the recommended  first foods and have gradually added  variety to his diet each week.  We have learned his favorites (peaches and pears), and have learned that green beans are best from Gerber.  (I could never really get the texture right.)

My kitchen helper

A meal with Aunt Marcia

One of the things that I enjoy about making his food is that I can control the texture, taste, and variety.  He is now able to handle thicker foods and I have decreased the amount of time that I puree each batch.

We are at the point where we want to start mixing flavors and adding spices to his foods.  We're seeking out new recipes and have stumbled upon a few that we're going to try.

Today we are going to try Moroccan-ish Carrots and Yams from Smitten Kitchen. This is one of my favorite foodie blogs and she has great pictures to accompany each recipe.  I have found a few keepers from her site and I would encourage you to check it out.   We might just try the First Spinach with White Yams too, since I haven't yet tried to prepare fresh spinach.

I am looking for some new ideas and inspirations for purees and meals and  finger foods.  If you have any favorite recipes that are a hit with your kids, please share!  Jack has just started eating Cheerios and Puffs, plus egg yolk, tofu, and cottage cheese.

First puff

A mixture of egg yolks and tofu

His first taste of Skyline.  He slurped the spaghetti while we ate.