New kitchen toy

We went to an indoor playground yesterday and there was a consignment store.  I found a Baby Bullet marked $24.  It was missing a couple pieces but it had the parts I thought would be most useful so I decided to pick it up.  Turns out it was 50% off so I got it for $12 :)  I absolutely love a deal so I was very excited!  Unfortunately when I got home I realized the large container for blending was missing the lid.  Hoping I can get one from the company.

I used it last night to make pizza and it worked like a champ!  Today I pulled it out to make a hot dog for lunch and it blended it right up.  I have to say that I wish I would have gotten this when Annabelle first started on solids.  I was pureeing with an immersion blender or the food processor, this one works quick, is small for washing, and even has the individual fridge and freezer cups.

As you can see in the picture there is one small cup missing from the tray along with one lid.  The large cup doesn't have the lid but there is a milling blade, mixing blade, two small cups and the 12 cup freezer container.  I've only used it twice but I plan on keeping it on the counter because I think this will be something I use at least once a day!  

Freezer shortcuts

Many days we have therapy or other activities right until dinner.  We get home, Annabelle is hungry and I have nothing made.  That is when my freezer foods come in handy.  I mark them all DF so I know they are definitely dairy free and safe for Annabelle.



Buy a rotisserie chicken from Wegmans for $5, pick off all of the meat and blend in the food processor.  I then put it in a freezer bag, refrigerate it overnight then freeze.  This way I always have chicken prepped for a quick lunch or dinner.



After picking the meat from the chicken I boil the bones in a pot of water to make chicken broth.  I add a little chicken bouillon for some extra flavor.  After it's cooked up I strain it and pour into ice cube trays.  You then throw them into a freezer bag for meals later.  I typically do this with a ham bone as well to make ham broth (same process).



I have yet to find a container of breadcrumbs that are dairy free (other than panko) so I typically take bread, rolls, buns and throw them in the Ninja to blend down to fine crumbs.  I add in some Italian seasoning, garlic, onion powder, and DF parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast.  Then put into freezer bag and freeze.

Dairy free cheese is very expensive compared to regular cheese so for that reason I bag the Daiya cheese and keep it in the freezer.  

Annabelle doesn't eat ice cream often but does like it on occasion.  Instead of buying the coconut ice cream I freeze bananas when they are getting ripe.  I then put them into the blender and blend until it's a soft serve consistency.  I also blend in some peanut butter, vanilla, and sometimes strawberries / raspberries.   

I typically buy frozen fruits and veggies to use in meals for purees.  The fruits make great smoothies and the veggies can be added to meat and potatoes for a quick, healthy, well rounded meal.





I also freeze squeeze pouches I make from the Infantino Squeeze station, buy uncrustable PB&J sandwiches, Trader Joe's Turkey meatballs, and TJ's chicken or vegetable fried rice.






An example of a quick last minute meal:

1/4 of chicken
1 chicken broth cube
1/4 cup mixed veggies
1/2 cup cooked pastina or 1/2 cup of chicken or veggie fried rice from freezer

Microwave all for 30 - 60 seconds depending on your microwave.  Throw all into the Ninja for 30 seconds and you have a great meal.  
** If it comes out too watery add mashed potato flakes to thicken it up.

Recipes - kids favorites

Dairy free Mac & Cheese

1/2 cup cooked pasta (I typically use pastina)
1/8 - 1/4 cup rice or soy milk
2 tbsp vegan cheddar cheese
1 tbsp DF butter (Blue Bonnet has a df stick and smart balance tubs)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (cheese like flavor and an extra 20 calories / tbsp) 
        can typically buy at grocery store or amazon

put all in food processor and blend.

White sauce

1 cup soy or hemp milk; Cold
2 tbsp Flour (I love the Gold Metal Wondra brand)
1/8 tsp Pepper
2 tbsp DF Margarine or butter
1/4 tsp Salt

Heat all ingredients to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. yields 1 cup sauce.  Can use over pasta, rice, potatoes, or vegetables to puree.

Pizza Puree

2 slices of bread
1/4 cup pizza sauce
10 slices of pepperoni, 
1 small can mushrooms
1/2 cup DF cheese (Daiya mozzerella, Trader Joe's sometimes has DF too.  Be careful, they also have lactose free that does contain dairy)

Optional Add-ins:
Roasted red peppers, green peppers, onions, eggplant, any veggies you have that you may put on pizza, 1/8 cup sausage, 2 slices of bacon - any meats you have cooked up

Add bread to food processor and blend to crumbs.  Add remaining ingredients and blend.  May have to scrape the sides and blend 2-3 times.

Tuna / Chicken salad

1 can tuna or chicken
2 hard boiled eggs
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup grated carrot
1 tbsp pickle relish
1/2 ripe avocado
Salt & Pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in food processor until fluffy and serve.  We have crackers when we are eating it (if tolerated).

Dairy Free SpaghettiO's - milkfreemom.com 

1 - 15oz can tomato sauce
1 can of rice, soy or hemp milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (for cheese flavor)
7oz ring shaped pasta or small pastina stars
Water as needed

Stir together in a medium saucepan all the ingredients, except for the pasta and water. Bring the tomato mixture to a boil and stir in the pasta. Turn the heat down and cook the pasta as it simmers, stirring often to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Continue to cook and stir the mixture until the pasta is tender. (The time will vary depending on the size and shape of the pasta but will likely be much longer than indicated on the pasta’s package.) Add a splash of water, as necessary, to keep the sauce from becoming too dry. (I probably added about 1 cup of water by the time I was finished.) Adjust seasoning to taste – including a bit of sugar, if you prefer your sauce on the sweeter side.

Pumpkin pancakes

2 cups bisquick
1 1/4 cup soy, almond, hemp milk
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp all spice
1 tsp cinnamon 
2 tbsp syrup


Blend bisquick, milk, pumpkin, and spices.  Pour into small pancakes.  Cook until bubbled then flip.  Put 2 pancakes into food processor with 1/4 cup almond milk and 2 tbsp syrup and blend.  

Products I love + egg quinoa cups and crockpot applesauce

I love to cook and I have a lot of products I have in my kitchen that are must haves.  I think everyone has their "go to" products.  A certain spoon, spatula, rubber scrapper, pan, etc.  These are some of my go to products when it comes to making Annabelle's foods.

This is the Infantino Squeeze Station, it allows you to make your own squeeze pouches.  Yes, it is much easier to buy them pre-made and no they are not reusable but they allow you to make very high calorie squeeze pouches.  A typical pouch of applesauce is 40 calories.  I take homemade applesauce (recipe below), add duocal, some brown sugar, blended banana, and maybe even a little peanut butter and suddenly you have a 150-200 calorie pouch.  That's a big deal when you are trying anyway possible to get those calories in. 

I like using the Quick Chop for chicken, sausage, or something like egg quinoa cups (recipe below).  It's quick and easy and breaks up larger foods that have moisture in them.  
















I don't know what I would do without my Ninja Blender / Food processor!  I use this thing 2-3 times daily.  I make smoothies with the cup attachment and blend food, bread, graham crackers, everything with the food processor.  I use the blender attachment (not shown) to make healthy cauliflower white sauce.

The last product is my Cuisinart immersion blender.  I've had this since Annabelle started eating purees at 4 months old.  I love using this to make batches of applesauce, pearsauce, mashed sweet potatoes, squash, the list goes on and on!  I take the purees and put them into ice cube trays then freeze them.  Pop them out into freezer bags and you have quick easy meals.






Please comment below on your favorite go to products to help prepare your kids meals.

Egg Quinoa Cups (dairy free)

6 Eggs
1 cup frozen spinach (cooked, cooled and drained)
1/2 cup ham, bacon, or sausage
1/2 cup dairy free cheddar cheese (like Daiya brand)
1/4 cup soy or hemp milk
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 Quinoa
1 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Bring cup of water to boil and add quinoa.  Cook over simmer about 20 minutes (water will cook into quinoa) then cool
3. Beat eggs, milk, salt & pepper (can add calorie booster such as duocal to this mixture if you would like - I leave it out because I love these too)
4. Mix meat, cheese, spinach, and quinoa and fill each tin halfway with mixture
5. Pour eggs over top to 3/4 full
6. Bake 30-40 minutes - test with toothpick and top should be slightly firm
7. Can use quick chop to break apart or put in food processor with a little more milk to puree.

NOTE:  These freeze well, refrigerate over night to cool completely then put in freezer bag.

Crockpot Applesauce

This recipe is amazing to make in the fall, fills the house with the smell of cinnamon apples!

8 medium apples (Use a combination of different apples for flavor) 
1 tsp lemon juice 
1 tsp cinnamon 
5 tsp light brown sugar

1. Peel, core and chop the apples.
2. Add the sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon.
3. Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
4. Store in canning jar or make into squeeze pouches

Waking up the mouth & Coconut Chocolate Mousse

Annabelle has very low tone, trouble chewing, and lots of drooling.  One thing our SLP showed us is to wake up the mouth.  We use the Winnie the Pooh Funny exercise song while doing external massage to her face: 

NOTE: Video can only be seen on computer, not ipad or phone

Our ARK zvibe case

After that we use an ARK zvibe to "wake up" the inside of her cheeks, teeth and tongue.   If I try to feed her before the food usually falls right out, after she can keep her lips closed better & uses tongue lateralization.  The travel pack (below) comes with three tips, two spoons, and the vib part.  The mouse was sold separate.

As you can see, she loves it!

She also likes to help and do it herself.  She's good with this smaller tip now but at first she needed to use the mouse so she didn't choke herself. 

 

Coconut Chocolate Mousse 

• 1 can of Trader Joe's coconut cream (or other brand, TJ's is the only I've tried)
• 2-3 Tbsp Coco powder
• 1 Tbsp sugar or sweetener (honey, truvia, etc)

Extras:
2 scoops of Peanut Butter
Blended fruit (Raspberries, banana)
Duocal powder

Mix all together with spoon or mixer.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (ideally overnight) and enjoy!

Start at the beginning

Day she was born

What better place to start than the beginning.  When Annabelle was born she was a healthy, beautiful bundle of joy.  At 2 months old things happened (read more at Annabelle.Kresge.com) which led us to get a MRI.  From those results we found out she had a brain malformation called Polymicrogyria.  This was the point that our lives drastically changed.  Later that year we also discovered she has a severe milk allergy.  

Eating at the beach

Since she first started eating solids we have had difficulties with her low tone, tongue thrusting, and lack of tongue lateralization with foods.  At 3.5 years old she is still on a thick puree diet for nutrition and chunky / solid snacks for practice of oral motor skills.  Annabelle is also underweight, she is just 24 pounds so I use a lot of healthy fats and additives to increase calorie count in her meals.  This along with the milk allergy has created a lot of challenges with mealtime.  I thought I couldn't be the only one with these issues so I would start a blog to share what solutions and ideas I have come up with and hopefully others will share tips, tricks, and recipes from what has worked for them.

One of Annabelle's favorites this summer is hot dogs.  She can't eat them cut up or they end up on the floor, not that the dogs mind.  This is a version I came up with that she loves:

Blended dogs

1/2 hot dog bun

1 hot dog (if dairy free be sure to read ingredients, some dogs have dairy)

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp mustard

1-2 tbsp relish 

1/4 cup of beef broth

1 scoop Duocal powder - high calorie add in we get through GI Rx

Put bun in the food processor (I use a Ninja blender, either the processor or smoothie attachment ) and blend until bread has broken down to breadcrumbs.  Add remaining ingredients and blend 30-90 seconds.  If it is too thick add a little more beef broth and blend until it is the consistency you need. 

** Can also add in onions, pickles, tomatoes, avocado (good calories), cheese (if not DF).