Yumm... Apple Pie

This week I didn't get to finish completing any project but I did work on Wee Rose's baby blanket some more. I'm glad I decided to make a more toddler sized blanket because of how long this is taking me. I swear I'm closer to done then is in that picture.

Instead I made my first good apple pie. I love apple pie and I've always been good at the seasoning but not so much at the top pie crust. Well I got it figured out this time. I also took pictures because I was so proud. I used this recipe for the pie crust and this one for the apple filling.

   Before the top crust goes on.

  My second attempt to get the top crust right. For the holiday I used a star cookie cutter instead of just slits.

  And voila! My final pie out of the oven. It looks pretty darn cute if I don't say so myself.

I think next may be a berry cobbler. I've tried it in the past to minimal success, now to find a good recipe.

Food Troubles

Wee Rose appears be starting to wean herself. She has little interest in her bottles anymore and the only good size bottle she will eat anymore is at about midnight everyday. We think that one is out of hunger. We're trying to adapt to giving her more solids, specifically finger foods that are good for self feeding. Unfortunately her skills there are still developing and it's looking like a mix of spoon fed food and finger foods is best. Well to give her a bit more variety to her diet I went on an Internet  hunt for suggestions and recipes. I found this site aptly labeled Homemade Baby Food Recipes.

This morning I put forth on of the sites suggestions in regards to sticky fruit that is hard to pick up. I cut up some peaches and dusted them in baby oatmeal. I'd only call it a so so success. Yes she was able to pick up the fruit easier and eat it better but boy was it a mess. She had this sticky oatmeal on her fingers which she got all over her face and into her hair. We finished off the peaches with just a bowl of oatmeal. I think it worked pretty well as a breakfast. At least she still lets us spoon feed her. When Lil' R switched to finger foods he refused anything but that. He's always been an very independent sort where Wee Rose is much less.

This site has this recipe up which I really want to try. It looks like it's something I could make in bulk and freeze the extras.

Infant finger food recipes - Butternut Squash Ravioli (age 6 months+)

2 oz (1/2 cup) flour (unbleached)
2 oz (1/2 cup) semolina flour
2-3 fl oz (1/3 cup) very warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
around 6 oz (3/4 cup) butternut squash, peeled, cooked and mashed
pinch of sweet paprika (optional)

Mix the flours together, then slowly add the oil and water, mixing well (this is easiest to achieve with a food processor set at the lowest speed).
The mixture should become a ball of dough - if it seems too dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time until a ball is formed.
Knead the dough thoroughly, then divide into two pieces.
Roll out each piece VERY thinly.
Stir the paprika into the butternut squash.

EITHER

Take heaped teaspoons of the butternut squash and place at intervals along 1 sheet of pasta.
Place the other sheet of pasta over the top and press down around the 'mounds' of butternut squash.
Next, cut around the butternut squash mounds with a very sharp knife.
Create a decorative edge for your ravioli by pressing all the way around the edge with the wet prongs of a fork.

OR

Splash out on some ravioli moulds.

They are inexpensive and make it much easier to create perfect ravioli shapes!

NEXT...

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then carefully slide in your ravioli shapes (we find it best to cook just three or four at a time).
When the shapes rise to the surface of the water, they are ready. Carefully remove them with a slotted spoon.
Serve as they are - with a fresh tomato sauce for babies already enjoying tomatoes - or even with a sauce of another veggie puree thinned with a little stock!

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Meal Planning Fail

Technorati Tags: cooking,organization,menuplanning

So I fell off the meal planning wagon. After our vacation to Florida Pagan Gathering I got completely screwed up. We came back and I immediately needed to grocery shop for a weeks groceries with no meals figured out. I also had to go back to work immediately so I didn't really have to free time to figure it out either. Well yes that was a few weeks ago and I still haven't gotten the full swing back.

This is horrible because without knowing what to cook our food bill went up immediately. I mean the difference was $40 when I bought things "just encase" I mean it isn't like the food went bad it's in the pantry or freezer still to be eaten but we didn't need to buy it. If I don't get my act together quick though we're going to repeat this all over again. I go shopping again this weekend and only have a handful of meals down on the calendar.

I think part of the problem is that I'm bored with I've been cooking. I need to change things up a bit. It can't be too much though or I know I'll feel overwhelmed. I picked up the Sneaky Chef Cookbooks because Lil 'R won't eat a vegetable save his life right now. I've already started adding a puree of sweet potatoes and carrots to our mac 'n cheese which he doesn't notice but I need to add more and more green vegetables at that. It has this recipe for egg and bacon breakfast bars that I want to make within the next few days.

Anyone have any favorite recipes that they cook that can be done either in the crockpot or within 30 minutes at night? I suck at making things ahead of time though I really wish that wasn't the case. If I could do that I know we'd be eating a thousand times better.

Calzone Hearts

I found this recipe for Calzone Hearts last week and decided it would be a great thing to do for the family Valentine's Day dinner. I prepped them on Sunday night because making the dough and forming the hearts took quite a bit of time. I won't kid you the dough is a pain in the butt. It is a very stiff dough and at times I almost wished I had a pasta machine to get it right. While watching movies with Hubby I put together all the calzones and it took me over 2 hours to do it all. First I rolled and cut out all the dough. I happen to have a heart shaped cookie cutter so I just used that. Once they were all cut I prepped the filling. For ours it's just mozzarella and turkey pepperoni. I chopped the pepperoni really fine first. Once I put the filling in I just crimped the edges with a fork. After I was done though I just covered them in plastic wrap and stuck them in the fridge to be baked the next evening.

The next night I made garlic bread and threw the calzones in the oven. While they were baking I also make a berry cobbler like dessert for later. I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com called Easy Fruit Cobbler. I used strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Yes, it was very easy to make. Based on the comments on the the site I added vanilla extract to the dough and some brown sugar on top of the berries before baking it.

There it is sitting in the oven. It tasted great. Hubby had it with whip cream where I prefer vanilla ice cream with mine.

But the final picture of what dinner looked like.

Voila!! Lil' R loved the calzones so I think I may go through the torture of making them every year.