Brie, Blackberry, and Honey Grilled Sandwich

I had seen brie sandwiches on Pinterest way too much lately, it was getting to me. Well, we moved last weekend, and the food that made it from one house to the next was a small amount, but it was all quality things, things I wouldn’t feel comfortable tossing. Finding time to explore a new grocery store in my new area seemed like the last thing I wanted to do, so we had a lot of rich ingredient meals lately. The other night we had halibut steaks with Gorgonzola arugula salad. Today, was no exception. When Mae awoke from her nap, I began to get together lunch. I made her a peanut butter sandwich with strawberries, then started my sandwich. This was the set up:

 

I was so excited. It smelled amazing. I buttered the bread, laid the cheese, immiserated the blackberries a bit then layered them, and last I drizzled honey before placing the other piece of bread. The picture I took of it when it was completed is pretty mediocre. I apologize. I was just excited to eat it.

 

It tasted amazing. Well, I got a few bites in and noticed the babe eyeing it over her peanut butter and strawberries, so I gave her a bite. She made a loud, audible yummy noise, then she persisted for more and more. With every bite came another overly exaggerated yummy noise. I only got a new more bites in before she just took it from my hands. I would have made her one also, but she usually ignores blackberries on her plate, and brie is a really stinky cheese. Serves me right for assuming, huh?

Beside the fact I barely got any, it was a great combination, as made evident by my 15 month old daughter.

 

Apple A Day

-My neighbor and I play this fun game, as I see it, where if I bring her a dish of something (dinner, treat, whatever else there is), that when she returns the dish she fills it with something nice. I made her family beef stew a while back, so she brought back my container with apples. Now Adam and I both like crispy apples, as opposed to the soft grainy type. This was the soft grainy type, but what I failed to realize was that we have a third member of this family here. I don’t know how she knew, but she begged for an apple, and immediately began chewing it up. She has now done this for two evenings in a row. She out-rightly begs for an apple, then spends s the next hour or so walked it around teething at it. To be honest, I know that that isn’t that exciting, but what is pretty neat is how these things look after she goes to bed. Adam thinks it almost looks like art. Here is one look at the last two (I saved the first to show Adam, but since I hadn’t seen him until last night, there it waited). The photo doesn’t give it justice, bec ause you got to see all sides, but this will do for this post.

The Pepper

My garden didn’t quite make it to the grand plan I designed at the beginning. Originally it had rows of artichokes with a natural sunflower fence. It had individual boxes of leafy lettuce, strawberries, baby cucumbers, onions, and a large box for three different heirloom tomatoes, and two varieties of heirloom bell pepper. And of course the beautiful peach tree. Well, through a series of bad frosts, lost seeds, wind storms, high heat, and poor planting in general – there isn’t much left. I got my tomatoes, peppers, onions (hopefully), and the peach tree, oh and I think I still got a few sunflower plants that might be making an entrance.

I planted the first week of April, and I finally have a fruit to show for all my effort (and heartache). A green pepper. It is supposed to be turning orange or yellow, but I thought I would jump the gun and taste it in its green form. The verdict? Mega good. It tastes different than a store bought pepper, more of a fresh watery first bite then a harsh chaser. The smell is out of this world. It sticks to my fingers and lingers around the little plants.

Since it was morning when I plucked this little guy from his vine, I decided to make him into an omelette. I used two eggs, mozzarella cheese, a store bought tomato, and this (washed) pepper. It was super yum

And, of course, Mae had to have her own piece of pepper to gnaw on with her two little teeth.

Strawberries!

There are just way too many fresh strawberries out there, so in Mae’s last doctor appointment I asked if I could feed her strawberries. My doctor gave me a group of great suggestions for how to give them to her, but in the end, I just stuck it on a spork. She really liked it. And she looks like a pretty, unicorn, doll-face of  the sparkle kingdom.

Salmon & Couscous

Can I just tell you this was one of my favorite meals I have ever made? It was so light, quick as all-hell, and delicious to the taste, texture, and smell. It took around ten minutes from start to table. The couscous was pretty well cooked in three minutes. The salmon needed about five minutes per side. I wish I took a picture for you! Here is the recipe I used, Salmon & Couscous. I added some fresh flat-leaf parsley, omitted the oil from the vinaigrette (on accident, but it was a good move), and made two batches of the vinaigrette, one to fluff with the couscous the other to poor on the salmon when it was cooked. Also, I couldn’t get a hold of sumac, so I used a bit of paprika. Oh goodness it was good.

Mae had dinner with the family for this meal. Here is the list of foods she has tried so far:

1. Apple – gummed, loved
2. Pork – gummed and tried to swallow, loved
3. Banana – mashed, disliked
4. Waffle – gummed and swallowed, loved
5. Chicken & Spinach sausage – gummed, disliked at first then liked
6. Mashed potatoes – licked, mushed, and liked then disliked then likes
7. Kale – it was crumbly, but she disliked at first when it got in her mouth, then liked.
8. Fresh pizza crust – gummed and swallowed, loved
9. Mango – gummed, liked
10. Salmon – tasted, disliked
11. Couscous – swallowed, disliked then liked

Mostly, she always gives this look when she tastes something new (this is her first taste of salmon or fish):

Then she keeps trying to it over and over again, no matter the first reaction. It is mostly from her desire to grab things and put it in her mouth stage that she is in – which is why this is the perfect time to start her fooducation! I am going to keep trying foods, cooking them in different ways, presenting them in different ways, until she gains an appreciation and maybe even a love for it. For example, Adam always hated coconut (still does), but I made a coconut cake and coconut shakes (all from real coconuts I shucked myself) and he really liked it. The coconut shreds are disgusting, but done right, the shreds can be used to make amazing coconut milk, and the coconut water is amazing in specific causes. I was proud of myself for that one.

We tried the spoon for the first time this dinner. I put a little bit of couscous on the spoon then put it in her mouth. She made that same look above, but because the little grains were so small, they were in her mouth. We had her water there, so we handed it to her, and she sucked a little down. It is all so confusing for her, but we keep reassuring her that this is the way dinner is, and she is doing well. She then took over the spoon and would take it out and put it back in, every once in a while I would put a small amount of couscous on it. She would also put the couscous in her fingers then suck her fingers. She doesn’t quite understand she is eating, so she gets confused like I said. However, she gets ornery sometimes at night, and dinner always calms her down. It might just be because it is new and requires concentration, but I wonder if she is wanting it and needing it.

I love my little baby Mae. She is so smart. I know most parents say that, but she really is a smart baby. I talk to her often, and I know she understands me at times. She makes these amazing babbling noises that are very much in a conversation cadence, so when she pauses I speak to, and we have these conversations that make me laugh. I am attempting to not talk over her when she is talking, out of respect. I talk over people, so this is really helping me get over that, and it is helping Mae. I hope that in the future because I respect when she speaks, she will do the same for me.

I love raising her, I can’t wait to raise a whole mess of babies!

Mae’s First Fooducation

At only ten days before her six month birthday, Mae has declared herself ready for le foods. The other day when we went to picnic in the park, she stole my apple core (with plenty of apple still on it) and with two hands put it in her mouth. Perfectly normal thing to do with what she has in her hands, don’t get me wrong, but once she began to gum on the white flesh she made what I can only conclude as a yummy discovery noise, then pushed it further in her mouth and closed her eyes. I let her do her thing. I told Adam about it the next day, and he wanted to be a part of her first foods, so we got out the Bumbo, took some of the leftovers from the dinner we had just eaten (pork and black beans) and let her explore them. She was loving all over the pork. We took video. Well, that was it: we needed a high chair. I kind of have been putting this off because I wanted the perfect high chair and had yet to see one.

I started with IKEA. I had read numerous good reviews for this little number below, Blames highchair, red in color even, to hopefully match my dining room set:

Cute, huh? Simple, wood, red. Right up my cup of tea. Oh, how wrong you are, Internet-land. My best friend and I were there looking at the floor models, and the tray was broken on every one. The red color wasn’t what this photo shows; a dark, cranberry red, instead it was a bright, crayon red. When I put Mae in it that bar that runs in the back hits her right on the back of the head and every time she leaned around to look up at me, she would whack her head on it. It was quite low too. I was hoping it’d be at least tall enough to be sufficient when I had her in the kitchen with me as I cook, but it looked uncomfortable, industrial, and a colossal waste of $60+. So instead, I just impulse bought this cute dish set for her:

And this super cute basket of vegetables (the two mushrooms are married, if you are wondering). Mae loves the green onion:

I was really quite sad that I didn’t get a high chair after all that driving (IKEA is like 1.5 hour car ride away). We went home, I fed her, she napped, and it was evening time. I couldn’t shake this desire to have her eat dinner with us, so I decided I would go to Babies R Us and get one of those tray attachments for the Bumbo. Mae and I found the trays and they were $11. It still seemed like a waste of money. So, without hope we walked over to the high chairs. I really wanted something beautiful with a little whimsy, and those things are hardly found at a store like that. But there, amongst the monkeys and butterflies, the plaids and paisleys, was the one. I saw it, saw that it was $99 and just knew it’d be worth my time. I took a photo, sent it to my husband for final approvals, then got an employee to help (since I was wearing a bebe).

It’s the Babies R Us RightHeight High Chair, and I love it. I love that adorable black pattern. It was super easy to assemble. It is just what I wanted but didn’t know it. And with a 20% discount, it was only a $20 difference from the sh*tty IKEA one. I am so glad that I didn’t settle.

Mae loved her spoils of the day’s excursions:

So that night, we got all ready. I made super flavorful mashed potatoes that omitted the salt and dairy and just had herbs and spices, and by the time it was all ready to go: she fell asleep for the night. It was a long day, and it was her bed time by the time I got to dinner. But don’t be dismayed! The whole family had breakfast this morning! I made waffles, chicken sausage with spinach, and a hard-boiled eggs. She made the absolute best expressions.

I didn’t think she actually ate anything, which was what I wanted, for her to just play with her food and explore the texture and flavor. However, when it was all said and done, she burped, it was startling. Apparently she was swallowing, because she did swallow air. And then for her to burp without the patting on the back and coaxing was really great to see. She is growing up so fast. I love it.

Let the fooducation continue!

BTW, for some of my friends who don’t know, I had decided not to give her rice cereal and jarred baby food and instead go right into eating meals with the family. She still has her breast milk so she isn’t going hungry or lacking in nutrients, we are simply beginning the weaning process with flavors, spices, herbs, and the love for food, rather than filling the belly. It doesn’t mean we won’t also give her mush from spoons, but for right now, this is what we are doing and it is wonderful.