One of the most exciting things going on in Jameson’s little world right now is discovering food and eating by himself. It is so much fun to watch him pick up a piece of food, look it over and taste it. For the most part, Jameson eats what we do for dinner and for lunch I try to make things that are healthy for us both to enjoy. For breakfast, he has yogurt and sometimes eggs or organic waffles because all I can handle is coffee at that hour. Lunch is always a tough one for me though. I love making a quick salad for lunch but that doesn’t seem appropriate for a 9 month old. I started thinking about good healthy things he could eat during the day that were easy to whip up and came up with our two favorites-hummus and mac and cheese (not together obviously.) I have been making my own hummus for about two years now and recently discovered this amazing recipe which was much better than the one I was using. By no means can I take credit for this but it is so good that I need to share. Give it a try:
Best hummus recipe ever. If you don’t click here you are ridiculous.
Hummus on Pita with cheese cubes! YUM
Jameson loves hummus on pita bread and veggies. He has not mastered dipping yet so I just spread it on for him and let him get messy trying to pick it up. Hummus in the hair is a pretty normal situation in our house 🙂
The second meal that I always enjoy is mac and cheese and lets be honest, the college age, early 20 something girl in me can always get down with a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. However, I’m a mom now and I need to worry about what I’m putting in Jameson’s little body and reading the ingredients list on that deadly blue box is enough to make my skin crawl. I discovered that I can actually make something pretty close to Kraft in about 10 minutes. If your little guy or gal is a cheese head like mine I say give this recipe a try. It basically takes only two minutes more to make homemade than it does to finally get that bright neon orange powdered cheese to melt when you use the box 😉
Easy Breezy Mac & Cheesy: (What?! That name is adorable and you know it!)
Ingredients:
* Quinoa Elbow Pasta (We use Ancient Harvest but any brand will work)
* Two cups of shredded organic cheese of your choice
* 1 Cup of milk
* 1 tablespoon of organic unsalted butter
* Cook the pasta to your desired texture. For myself this would be al dente but I have a little man eating this so I tend to make it much softer for him
* Drain the pasta through a strainer and put the pasta back in the original pot.
* Toss in the butter and stir
* Stir in the milk and allow the warm pasta to bring the milk to room temperature. This prevents the milk and cheese from clumping together when mixed (thank you mom for this tip!)
* Once the milk is slightly warm, stir in the cheese
* Continue stirring until all three ingredients are mixed together
* At this point you can add in whatever seasonings you would like. I always toss in some pepper and sometimes I’ll throw in some peas or another veggie to make my mommy mind feel a little better about all that cheese 🙂
While I also love a homemade mac and cheese recipe that you bake in the oven with breadcrumbs, this simple version is great for new eaters and little ones who can’t be bothered with all that fuss. Enjoy :0)
-E
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