I had the brilliant idea of starting a blog at the most inconvenient time-2 months before my mat leave ended!  It’s been so much more “work” than I thought it would be, with organizing thoughts and ideas, getting inspiration, creating a website (ok, I can thank my husband for that one!) and of course, assembling recipes.  I am not a fan of following every exact detail of a recipe (and I won’t be offended if you decide to do just the same with mine!) I love to get inspired and to experiment!

For the sake of the blog I realized that all the recipes I’ve been preparing over the last 4 months would need to be logged!  I kid you not when I say that I re-prepared over 37 recipes in 3 1/2 weeks!! Being the organized mom (to the point of being annoying) and multi-tasker that I am, this was actually not that difficult for me, yes busy, but not difficult. I have to also add that I have been blessed with the most patient and independent child who, often times, sits in his high chair and watches my “cooking” show live without a sound!

I realized early on that staple recipes were essential for minimizing prep time, as well as helping with inspiration for meals.  For example, while preparing green beans for my husband and I the other day, I set a portion aside for my son. I took a peak at my frozen baby cubes and realized the variety of options that I had before me, beans with rice, beans with chopped beef, and what ended up being his lunch, beans with tomato sauce and ground chicken.

I’m humble enough to admit that my son does not eat “gourmet” meals everyday, and on lazy days, I opt for quick meals, like pastina with broth and veggies.  Before trying my recipes I recommend preparing staple ingredients in advance and freezing them.  By avoiding last-minute preparation you avoid the risk of feeling overwhelmed, and just a little more “organized” (even if you’re not!) which essentially will make your cooking “journey” an enjoyable experience!

Here are some staple foods to get you started:

• chicken, vegetable or beef broth
• tomato sauce
• ground chicken, beef, turkey or veal
• ratatouille (tastes great with ANYTHING)
• risotto, rice or quinoa
• pureed or mashed salmon, halibut, or fish of your choice
• a variety of pureed or mashed veggies

Try some of these food and spice/herb combinations during preparation to add variety to baby’s meals:

• carrot + ginger
• cauliflower + nutmeg
• chicken + rosemary
• eggplant + oregano or basil
• ground beef + cumin or oregano
• ground veal + fennel
• halibut/haddock + turmeric
• lamb + mint
• lentils + cumin, coriander or curry
• mushrooms + parsley or sage
• peas or edamame + mint.
• potatoes + chives or dill
• tomato + basil or oregano
• salmon + dill
• squash or yam + nutmeg
• turkey + thyme
• zucchini + saffron