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