Thursday, September 3, 2009

Wee wittle wecipes

Have you heard about this website, Weelicious? Before I tell you all about it, I must admit I am no gourmet cook. In fact, I am very inexperienced in the ways of the kitchen but I am learning, slowly. And I really like cooking SO MUCH MORE when I am drinking wine. Regardless, what I am trying to say is that the kitchen is a place I used to avoid (unless there was chocolate cake) but having a third mouth to feed is forcing me to get comfortable FAST. Weelicious is a website devoted to all foods/meals specifically for baby (hence the name...delicious food for the wee ones) (I bet I didn't need to explain that, huh?). I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I added it to my reader and have been checking it out ever since.

Since Noah has been off purees/baby food for a while, I have been resorting to bite-size pieces of many "whole foods" and haven't been very adventurous in actually making MEALS for him. For example, a usual dinner for him would be a diced chicken breast, green beans, and torn up bread. I mean, sounds FABULOUS, doesn't it? Think Top Chef will come calling now? Doubt it. It's no wonder the kid gags on anything with a little flava (am I the only one who can't say "flavor" without giving it a little added zing?). I spent the good part of last week's naptime researching new foods to make for a 13 month old...foods that don't require an hour's worth of prep or a dishwasher's worth of dishes and bowls and knives or comes out of a bag from the freezer (I'm looking at you, chicken nuggets). And this is where Weelicious has really been a wonderful resource.

The recipes are simple and easy to prepare and (this is the best part) many of the recipes COMBINE the food groups so I don't have to think of three or four items to put on Noah's plate. For example, for lunch today I made Cheesy Quesadillas with Apples and Honey. I subbed in applesauce for apples slices, torn up sliced cheddar cheese for shredded, and regular flour tortillas for whole wheat ones (though that would have been way better for him) and in ten minutes I was done. AND HE LIKED IT. What I like most is that the recipes the author posts aren't complicated and are definitely not rocket science. I'm just not creative enough in the kitchen to come up with this stuff on my own so the fact that someone else IS, well, that works for me.

Tonight I made Baby Frittatas for tomorrow's breakfast and in place of the asparagus and sun dried tomatoes the recipe calls for I used a zucchini and tomatoes my mother-in-law grew in her very own garden (Grandma Mo, there is a little of your love in every bite). Again, not rocket science, but I never would have thought of mini frittatas for a baby on my own. And the leftover zucchini went to make zucchini bread (not a Weelicious recipe but it's for me, not the baby, anyhow). All in all, a big, fat smooch to Weelicious.com. Go forth, dear friends, and be inspired. Or kick yourself for not coming up with that website/idea sooner.

Update: The frittatas were given 2 out of 4 claps by His Highness and I think they would be much improved with cheddar cheese in place of the parmesan. The zucchini muffins, however, 4 out of 4 claps. With the amount of sugar they have in them, are we at all surprised?

2 comments:

k said...

I am SO going to check this out.

Lord almighty, I struggle with meal ideas and this may help.

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Good work, Ma!