Chicken Sweet Potato Apple and Quinoa Patties

I found a recipe online for chicken burgers and as with all the recipes I use, I tweaked it to fit my standards. The original recipe called for quinoa as the thickener. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, so I made half with the quinoa and half with breadcrumbs.

I went to my local store to pick up the breadcrumbs and found crap. Did you ever look at the ingredient list on a major brand of breadcrumbs? It’s a paragraph long! My theory is if its more than two lines of ingredients, don’t buy it. Why can’t they just make things simple, pure and not filled with chemicals and words I cant pronounce? Off to the specialty store I went where of course I found plain simple no fuss no muss 3 ingredient breadcrumbs. Eating healthy is about making conscious choices. Check out the ingredients of a product before you give it to your baby or yourself.

Chicken Sweet Potato Apple Quinoa Patties

1 lb ground chicken

1 medium sweet potato

1 apple

1/2 medium yellow onion

2 egg yolks beaten

I divided the mixture and used quinoa in one and bread crumbs in the other.

They both came out delicious, i’m going to use quinoa in the future because of its health benefits.

1/4 cup rinsed and cooked quinoa

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1. Peel the sweet potato, apple and onion. Grate them together into a bowl. 

2. Add the ground chicken, beaten egg yolks, quinoa or breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly.

3. Make 1/2 inch thick patties and put on a baking sheet with baking paper underneath.

4. Bake at 375 for 10-15 min each side, depending on thickness.

You can freeze them uncooked to use later. 
Pulse for younger babies.

Makes 12 patties.

Chicken In The Pot

Im a big fan of dishes that you cook in one pot. What could be easier than throwing shit in a pot? Opening a jar, you say?

Right, well we don’t do that here.

This weekend we were away from home and I had a little incident with frozen pureed chicken soup going sour. I shredded some roasted chicken we had for dinner the night before and fed it to my baby. He loved it.

He was chewing, picking up pieces by himself, throwing it everywhere. I was very proud. I have given him pieces of soft food before, but until now i’ve always pureed his chicken because he’s a baby and I baby him. 

He’ll be 36 saying “Ma, I have 84 teeth, stop cutting my steak for me.” But thats what mothers do.

Chicken Carrots Sweet Potato Peas and Brown Rice

4 medium sized carrots

1/2 of a large sweet potato

1/2 cup of peas

1/2 onion

2 chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Cut the veggies into bite size pieces, like so.

2. Heat the oil in medium pot

3. Add onions until transluscent

4. Brown the chicken for 5 minutes

5. Add the veggies for 5 minutes

6. Add the uncooked rinsed rice and stir it in for a minute before adding liquid.

7. Add 2 cups of chicken stock

8. Add 2 cups of water

9. Bring to a boil

10. Cover and put in oven at 375 for 40 min.

You can feed this as is to older babies, pulse for a coarse chop or completely puree.

This made enough for 8 baby servings and I served 3 full bowls for dinner.

Golden Beets Carrots Apple and Quinoa

I wanted to create a sweet quinoa dish as a new spin on the old oatmeal and fruit purees. Apples are such a good sweetener and they let me sneak in veggies like carrots and beets. I’m super excited about him eating quinoa, maybe a little too excited...but its just so damn good for you! Start by making a small batch, test it out see if your baby likes it before your stock your freezer for the month. 

I think its really important not only to know that your food tastes good but to know how its helping you. 

I used golden beets which have the same health benefits of red beets, because they have a milder sweeter taste. Beets have potassium, vitamin c, iron, amino acids and fiber. Winner. 

Apples are amazeballs as well, apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Carrots are bananas for you, they are packed with beta-carotenes and are an antioxidant. Another reason why I like to load my baby with carrots is that my husband and I are blind as bats, and yes your mother was right...eat your carrots, theyre good for your eyes!

Saving the best for last....quinoa. 

Quinoa is an ancient grain that the Incas called gold and fed to their warriors. Trust me, they knew what was up. Quinoa is packed with protein, high in fiber and high in iron. Its such a high quality food that eating quinoa is the equivalent of eating meat! Double winner.

Golden Beets Carrots Apple and Quinoa

3 small golden beets, peeled and cubed

1 apple, peeled and cubed

3 small carrots, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

1.Cube the beets, apple and carrots and place in small glass bowls on a color coordinated tray. Just kidding. That’s only for crazies like me. Throw all of it into the steamer basket. Reserve the cooking water.

2. Rinse the quinoa well so it doesn’t taste like batteries.

3. Bring water to a boil and add the quinoa.

4. Puree the fruit and veggies first, then add the quinoa. Slowly add in the reserved water until you get the consistency you like. 

I found this to be thick so I used all of the water.

Makes 6 servings.

Helpful Hint: Do not fill up freezer containers completely, leave a spot of space. I think food expands when it’s frozen.

You can open a jar...

Or you can make easy, organic and wholesome baby food in minutes.

We live in a wonderful Amazonian world where we have the freedom and ability to choose whatever products we like.

I happened to choose the beaba babycook baby food maker  and I store the magic that is his food in these reusable baby food containers.

I like two kinds of spoons, one for mixing rice or cereal with food and one for food alone.

I also like to label each container with what’s inside.

Yes, its time consuming and unnecessary but it makes my OCD feel much better!

Choose whatever products you like, as long as you can steam it and puree it, you’re good to go.

Boiling in a small pot and roasting on a good rimmed baking sheet are other good options but steaming helps preserve the most nutrients, which is the numero uno goal for our growing babies.

 

Spinach & Roasted Pears

I’ve been having a hard time getting my baby to eat spinach on its own. Spinach is packed with iron, potassium, beta-carotene, vitamins K and C and helps protect the intestinal lining. You can’t get better than that! I knew I had to figure out a way for him to eat it AND love it. This is the most simple and perfect way to get your baby to eat spinach. He polished this off in about 30 seconds. 

Record time I tell you.

1 pear per handful of spinach makes 2 servings.

1. Peel and cut the pear in quarters, cleaning out the seeds and all hard parts.

2. Place the pear face down on a baking sheet and roast on 400 for 20 min or until soft.

3. Meanwhile, bring 1 cup water to a boil, add spinach and wilt for 1 minute.

4. Drain the spinach, but reserve the water if you are going to add rice cereal to this puree.

Let the pear and spinach cool, puree until smooth. 

Easy as that. Enjoy!