milling mondays: homemade baby rice cereal

It is common to feed babies rice cereal when they first start eating solid foods and it is SUPER easy to make yourself.

We decided to give it a try with E after trying sweet potatoes for a couple of days. We figured that maybe giving her something more bland with her formula mixed in would be less of a change for her pallet and a gentle way for her to learn how to eat. And she liked it much better than the sweet potatoes. Instead of crinkling up her face and closing her mouth, she would reach for the spoon and open her mouth. So we decided to go this route for a couple of days and then return to veggies. Since then she has loved every veggie we have fed her:)

Homemade Rice Cereal

Ingredients

1/4 cup organic short grained brown rice

1 cup water

Directions

Bring the water to a boil.

Grind the brown rice into a powder. I of course used my WonderMill which worked great!

Add the rice powder to the boiling water while stirring. Let it simmer for 10 minutes continually whisking to make sure it doesn't clump.

Mix in breast milk or prepared formula to the desired consistency.

sweet potato puree

For a while Esther has been very interested in eating - she keeps reaching for food or drinks that Michael and I are having. Since I felt like it was too early to share my coffee or Thai curry with her;) we decided to let her try to eat some solids (with doctors approval). I think Esther had high hopes for the experience. As I lifted up the spoon to give her her first bite I looked away to say something to Michael and before I knew it she had wrapped her mouth around the spoon and taken a bite. BUT I think it ended in disappointment for her. She was so eager and then ... then her face started frowning and she wasn't as eager for the following bites. She didn't complain, but her facial expressions revealed her true feelings. Ha! I guess food wasn't all it was cracked up to be in her mind and maybe sweet potatoes just didn't taste good to her in general so we will try another veggie or fruit in the near future.

In the end I think Esther's parents had more fun with it than Esther herself:) We started the day by going to the farmers market to pick up some sweet potatoes to bring home to puree.

farmers market

mor and daddy - why are you posing me with a sweet potato???

Sweet Potato Puree

Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes, peeled
Water

Directions
After peeling the sweet potatoes cut the potatoes up into small chunks.
Add the chucks to boiling water and let it boil until tender, about 15 minutes.

Then add the boiled potatoes to your blender and add some boiled potato water (or other liquid) and blend until you get the right consistency.

The pureed sweet potatoes can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days or you can freeze it as well.

This is SUPER easy to make and has no preservatives. Both characteristics that are important to me when feeding my baby. 

I think it tasted just fine and even a little sweet, but for now Esther isn't the biggest fan. I guess once we start mixing food together we will try the sweet potatoes again with a fruit or something.

even if esther wasn't the biggest fan of sweet potatoes she was super excited about her new bib:)

diy thursday: homemade (spicy) dijon mustard

I have been making my own condiments since I am tired of reading their labels and seeing the amount of weird ingredients that are added to preserve etc. If you do end up finding some that only include the "basic" ingredients ... then it is rather expensive. To remedy these two problems I figured how hard could it be to make it myself ... and it has proven to be super easy. My husband loves mustard and I have in the recent years come to enjoy it as well. So recently, I set out to make some Dijon mustard and it tasted GREAT and was really easy to make.


Homemade Dijon Mustard
recipe adapted from honest-food.net


Ingredients

6 Tbs mustard seeds (the dark seeds are more spicy than the lighter seeds)
1/2 cup mustard powder
2 tsp salt
3 Tbs white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cup water


Directions

With a spice grinder roughly grind the mustard seeds. Choose your combination of mustard seeds based on how spicy you like it. We like things spicy in our household so I just used brown/black mustard seeds, but you can use white/yellow or a combination to find the right level of spice you prefer.

Mix the roughly ground mustard seeds, mustard powder, and salt together.

Then add the vinegar and water and stir together.

Finally, add the mustard to a glass jar and let it sit in the fridge overnight ... and voila you have mustard!

ENJOY!

diy thursday: cold brew

I love coffee. I love the taste and the aroma. And sometimes cold brew is the way to go. The great thing about cold brew is that it is a lot less bitter providing a much smoother flavor. It is less acidic and since many people have a hard time with the acid in coffee this allows them to drink coffee without much trouble (and if you want to make it even less acidy you can use decaf coffee). If you do make caffeinated cold brew then there is less caffeine per cup as well. Cold brew is also easy to bring if you are going somewhere where they don't have a coffee maker. Just bring some cold brew and you have coffee for the week without the need for a coffee maker. And to top it off cold brew is super easy to make.


Cold Brew Coffee

Ingredients

Ground coffee
Water (I use filtered)
French press or substitute (I use my Eva Solo Cafe Solo -just a little plug for danish design:))
Glass jar with lid or other container


Directions


In your french press add your coffee and water (1/3 cup ground coffee per 1 cup of water).

Stir the coffee and water together.

Let it sit covered for 24 hours.

Then pour the concentrated coffee into your glass jar. This is why is it helpful to use a French Press or my trusted Eva Solo as it helps keep the grounds out of the coffee concentrate as you pour. But you could also use a coffee filter instead.

Store the cold brew concentrate in the fridge.

When you are ready to use then add some cold brew to a mug or glass depending on whether you want hot or iced coffee. Add as much as you would like depending on how strong you like your coffee.

Then add either hot or cold water  - and voila... you have a fresh cup of low acid smooth tasting coffee.

ENJOY!

diy thursday: raw apple sauce

I love apple sauce! Apple sauce is also a great alternative to oil when baking. And since organic apples are a lot cheaper this time of year, I decided to go ahead and turn some of them into apple sauce. 

Homemade Raw Apple Sauce

Ingredients

Apples

Lemon Juice (about 1 Tbsp per 2 apples)

Directions

Cut the apples into smaller pieces. I leave on the peel for added fiber.

Place the the ingredients in the blender.

Blend them together until desired consistency. 

This is great to freeze as well. I freeze smaller portions and use it when I bake .... or just want a yummy treat. 

ENJOY!

milling mondays: four seed oat crackers

 

These crunchy crackers are full of nutrition and jammed packed with seeds. They are tasty and have so much more to offer than the traditional cracker. They are great by themselves or with toppings such as hummus.

Whole Wheat Four Seed Oat Crackers

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Ingredients

3 1/3 oz. oats

3 1/3 oz. sesame seeds

3 1/3 oz. pumpkin seeds

3 1/3 oz. sunflower seeds

3 1/3 oz.  flax seeds, slightly ground

11 3/4 oz. whole wheat flour (hard wheat berries)

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

6 3/4 oz. water

4 1/4 oz. oil of your choice

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 395F.

If you mill your own flour, grind your hard wheat berries. I of course use my WonderMill.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

 

Then add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and mix together.

 

Once the dough has formed, add the dough to a prepared baking pan. If you prefer thinner crackers, divide the dough in two and spread out on two baking sheets.

 

Score the dough to easier cut the crackers once they are baked.

 

Bake for about 15 minutes.

 

Finish cutting the crackers with a pizza cutter. You may want to then bake them for another 5 minutes for them to fully set. Let them cool in the pan before eating.

ENJOY!

 

milling mondays: whole wheat chocoloate chip pumpkin bread

It is almost October and fall is kind of here. It has even cooled down here in Arizona ... it is only in the 90s during the day:) So I decided to feature another pumpkin recipe to help bring in the fall. This chocolate chip pumpkin bread is whole wheat and vegan, but that doesn't compromise the taste at all. It provides just the right amount of sweetness with a hint of pumpkin ... and of course the chocolate chips make it even better (chocolate makes everything better:)

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Bread

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (1 cup soft wheat berries and 1/2 cup hard wheat berries)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 Tbs ground flaxseed mixed with 4 1/2 Tbs water  

1/2 can pumpkin puree (7.5 oz)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

yields one loaf

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Grind your flaxseeds and mix together with the water (don't grind it in your WonderMill). This is a great egg substitute. Let the mixture sit as it becomes an egglike consistency.

If you mill your own flour, grind your soft and hard wheat berries. I of course use my WonderMill.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

 

In a separate bowl mix together the vanilla, apple sauce, sugar, honey and the flax seed mixture.

 

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and then add in the pumpkin puree before folding in the chocolate chips.

 

Pour the batter into a 9x5 loaf pan.

 

Bake the bread for about 45 minutes.

Let the bread cool on a rack.

 

ENJOY!

 

milling mondays: coconana oat cookies

These cookies combine the wonderful taste of things I love: coconut, bananas, and oats. What a great combination. These soft, moist cookies have such a wonderful taste with just the right amount of sweetness. And they are somewhat healthy for being in the cookies category and even vegan too. They are also super easy to make. All in all, a great yummy cookie.

Coconana Oat Cookies

modified from the recipes for ibs cookbook

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Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup oil

1 Tbsp coconut milk

1 cup oat flour (steel cut oats if you mill your own flour)

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut

yields about two dozen cookies

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a blender, mix together the bananas, vanilla extract, applesauce, agave nectar and oil

 

If you mill your own flour, grind steel cut oats to make oat flour. I of course use my WonderMill.

Add the flour, baking soda and cinnamon to the mixture in the blender and blend it all together.

 

Fold in the oats and coconut.

 

Finally, scoop the cookie dough onto your baking stone/greased cookie sheet and bake the cookies for about 18 minutes.



 

Let the cookies cool on a rack.

 

Enjoy!