RazzMelon Puree

The whole time I was making this I could not get the Price song "Raspberry Beret" out of my head...only I was singing "RazzMelon Puree" instead. Yep, sometimes I entertain little A by singing horribly while I cook ;) Anyway,  I bought a melon at the farmers market, as kind of an afterthought on my way out. I was just planning on eating it myself but, later that day I was outside looking at the little raspberry bush that I planted in the beginning of the summer, and noticed it had a few berries on it.  So I decided to pair them with the melon and make it as a cool puree for little A. It turned out to be a really easy, sweet little summer puree.

1 small melon of your choice - cantaloupe, honeydew or whatever your favorite is

1 basket of raspberries

Cut the rind off the melon and scoop the seeds out. Cut into 1" chunks. Put into a food processor along with the raspberries and puree. No liquid is needed - the melon makes this a pretty thin puree. Little A likes this added to whole milk yogurt, it can be mixed with oatmeal or baby cereal also. I was a little concerned about how melon would freeze, but it actually turned out great.

Homemade Strawberry Milk

Makes a good afternoon snack :)

I have a picky drinker. He doesn't like juice or water. Just milk. I know he loves chocolate milk - but don't really want him to have too much of that. I have been wanting to try strawberry milk with him for a little while now but was having trouble finding whole strawberry milk (found lots of 2%). Plus, I am not really sure what is in store bought strawberry milk. So I was talking to my sister in law about it and she said "is there some way to make your own?". She is a genius.

So here it is, homemade strawberry milk! And it was EASY! And it tastes GOOD! And I know that he is getting REAL fruit in it! Imagine all the possibilities - raspberry milk, blackberry milk - maybe even vanilla peach milk...

1 small basket of strawberries, stems cut off, preferably a little overripe

2-3 tbls. vanilla flavored agave nectar

Your preference of milk

Puree the strawberries. Puree em' good, make sure that there are no chunks and that it is as liquid-y as possible (liquid-y is probably not a word, is it?). 

Then run it through a sieve into a small bowl, pushing it through gently with a spatula. When it is through the sieve, add in the agave nectar and put it back into the RINSED food processor. Puree again for a minute or two, just to get it smoother. 

Run the berry puree back through the RINSED sieve. There will still be some small seed parts in it, but it should look a little something like this...

Stir in a heaping tablespoon of the puree into 4 oz. of milk and stir well. If there are still too many seed parts for you taste, run the milk/puree mix through the sieve and serve. Yum! I froze the rest of the puree in an ice cube tray in single serving amounts (which was a little messy, since strawberry does not freeze that solid - it took a knife to get the cubes out). When you are ready to make another glass, just thaw the puree cube and stir it into milk. Makes about 10 4oz. glasses of milk. Tip: if you are putting it into a sippy cup or bottle, run it through a tea ball strainer to get out all the pulp/seeds.

Little A's Favorite Oatmeal

A couple years ago we planted a peach tree, not really expecting that it was going to produce anything - I don't exactly have a green thumb. A few years went by with nothing and then - bam! This year...peaches, peaches, peaches! The only problem is that 40 peaches all got ripe at the same time. So I made some peach pies, and then decided to stock the freezer with little A's favorite breakfast - peach oatmeal. 

This is recipe with tons of variation possibilities - the batch featured here is made with 3 large peaches and 3 apricots. I have used blueberries, plums, pears, raspberries and a combination of fruits. This recipe will grow with your child - puree it totally smooth when they are little and gradually make it chunkier until you don't need to puree it any longer.

I add ground flax seeds to his oatmeal because they are full of omega 3s and fiber (they are also supposed to help with constipation). and add a little nutty texture.

2 cups of peeled cut up fruit or berries

3 tbls. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 tbls. brown sugar - you can use maple syrup or honey instead if you don't want to use sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. old fashioned rolled oats (not instant)

1 c. water

1 c. whole milk

2 tbls. ground flax seeds
1 large cup of hot coffee, with cream and sugar or plain - it's up to you!

Coffee? In a baby food recipe? Yep, that is for you...it is morning, and since you have a little one I am guessing you need it as much as I do! OK, now for the recipe, preheat your broiler. Put fruit in a shallow glass baking dish and dot the top with butter. Sprinkle the top with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Place about 6 inches from the broiler and bake for 5 minutes or until the top just starts to brown.

Meanwhile, bring the water and milk to a boil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the oatmeal and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. 

Add the fruit mixture to the oatmeal and stir to combine, let them cook together for 2-3 minutes.

Add the flax and transfer to a food processor and puree to desired consistency - smooth for smaller babies and a little chunky for toddlers.

Spoon the left overs into ice cube trays and freeze. Another good thing about this recipe is that you can add cream to make it higher calorie and make it a little runnier or you can add in baby oatmeal cereal to make it a little thicker - or do both just to add the extra calories.

To make this lower calorie reduce butter to 1 tbls and omit the sugar or use one of the alternatives above. Use 2 cups of water and omit the milk or use low-fat milk.