A year or so ago I saw some pictures of hard-boiled eggs in cool shapes on Craigslist. I decided I wanted to make some for my kids. The instrument apparently used was a sushimaker, so I got one (thanks Ebay) and then for one reason or another I didn’t do anything with it. I finally tried it some time ago and it sort of works. The key is using a small enough egg that fits, putting it when it’s stil warm and flexible, and then cooling it down. Alas, the egg usually breaks anyway and the shape doesn’t last for long out of the mold – but my girl still liked it.
Category: Food for Tots (Page 2 of 2)
Michaela has discovered the pleasure of cherry tomatoes and they have now become a staple in her diet. I suspect that what she most likes is the size, she’s very size conscious and always wants a smaller cup, a smaller plate and, apparently, smaller food. She’s been a fan of quail eggs and baby carrots for years, and cherry tomatoes fit right in. They’re a great snack at home and easy to put in her lunch box for school. They are a good source of vitamin C and they’re very cute.
The figs from our fig bush are ripe. Well, they’ve been ripening for the whole months and some still have some time to go, but some of them are perfectly soft and ready to eat. Mika asks me for “higos”, only she forgets the word and sometimes seems to say “eeco”. Our routine is that I select those who are very soft without having turned dark, rip them apart, give her half and take half fo myself. Then we chew the sweet (but not too sweet) pink pulp and throw the peels on the ground – where they’ll be quickly eaten by birds or other creatures.
Mika is not very efficient in her eating, but she keeps asking for more and more. The bush is pretty small so it doesn’t give too many, but they are very good. Tomorrow if we go out I’ll take the camera and try to take a picture of them.
I’ve been asking people for ideas on vegetarian sandwiches to send with DD to school. I’m listing them here to remember them and for the benefit of other parents. If you have more ideas, please post them under comments.
-PB&J
-Cream cheese & cucumber
-PB, cream cheese & cucumber
-Camembert, banana, and salt
-Egg salad (and crackers)
-Tofu salad.
-Yves bologna, ham & salami (veggi meats)
-Avocado & cheese
-Avocado & cucumber
-Tofurky lunchmeat
-Falafel
-cream cheese & olives
– Cream cheese or nut butter with raisins and chopped dates.
-Roasted vegetables and cheese (zucchini, red bell peppers)
-Tomato and cheese
-Apple, celery and cheese
-Sliced pear and cheese
-Pre-grilled portobello mushroom and spread of choice (pesto would be nice)
-BLTs with Fakin Bacon
-Baba ganouj with assorted vegetables
-Spiced/sweetened canned pumpkin and cream cheese
Michaela and I have fallen in love with Trader Joe’s frozen gnocchi. Both their Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, with a tomato sauce and mozarella cheese and their Gnocchi al Gorgonzola are great. We specially like the gorgonzola one, though it’s terribly caloric. One 1lb. package has almost 1,000 calories and while it’s supposed to be four servings, that would only be if you served them as a side dish. Mika and I had no problem devouring one whole package for dinner last night, and she was even hungry enough to have some more gnocchi from my mom’s plate.
The gnocci alla sorrentina is much healthier, with 510 calories for the 1lb package. Of course it’s not as yummy, but it’s quite good nonetheless.
You can make them with less sauce for less calories and less mess.
They are made in Italy, without any artificial ingredients, though the gorgonzola gnocchi has margarine in addition to butter. You can heat them on the microwave or in a frying pan (7 minutes). In all, it’s a delicious and quick meal.
Hard boiled quail eggs are a great toddler food. They are small enough that they fit easily in a toddler’s hand and can be eaten in a couple of bites (less mess) and cute enough that they want to eat them. We find them at the San Leandro farmers market for 10 for $1. They are quite delicate, however, so often times one or two of those eggs have a broken egg shell by the time we bring them home. They are also a little bit tough to peel, the shell breaks into many small pieces. I usually rinse them after peeling them to get all the pieces of shell off.
What I usually do is hard boil a dozen at the time and then keep them, in their shells, in the fridge. When Mika needs a snack I peel one and give it to her.
This is not to say that these are good snacks for Ms. Diary Mika – but she loves them.
I was looking for some bread for P&J sandwiches and came across Ironkids crustless bread. What a great invention! We haven’t arrived at the crust issue with Michaela yet, but I hate crusts myself 🙂
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