toddler lunch idea

It has been so busy for papa and I that there has not been too much cooking going on. We've managed to get in a chicken stew and a turkey stir fry which is not too bad because that's really 4 nights of eating home cooked food since I always make enough for leftovers! From Monday to Friday I need to make sure Molly goes to day care with a nutritious and well rounded lunch. On busy weeks the ideas run short and it is too tempting to send PB&J every other day. While these toddler lunch ideas are not culinary gems, they hopefully will help inspire busy moms to keep giving good food to their kids for all their meals. Thank goodness Molly loves fruit and will always eat any fruit I send! I've been watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and I'm so appalled at what moms put in their kids' lunchboxes! It was gross stuff like those Oscar Meyer pre-packaged lunches (coldcuts or chicken nuggets, crackers and cheese) which are full of preservatives and are really expensive! So I offer some ideas for quesadillas which all kids love. It is inexpensive to make and really yummy and good for your kiddies! Please share your toddler lunch ideas!

Quesadillas!!

always use whole wheat tortillas and good quality shredded cheese

filling ideas:

low sodium sliced turkey (we like trader joe's brand)

ground turkey sauteed with spinach puree and tomato paste

green peas (yes, Molly likes these now)

sliced hard boiled eggs

Toddler lunch idea - rice balls

It has been so fun watching Molly eat and enjoy food. Now that she's a toddler in full swing, she definitely has more to say about what she wants to eat. To my surprise she said "mmmmm wice" when I asked her if she liked her lunch today! She ate everything that you see above in her lunch box. I try to get all food groups into her meals, as much as possible. This was a good one with protein, fruit, veggie and grain. You already know about my challenges with getting her to eat veggies. I was sooooo excited when I discovered she likes seaweed paper. She eats it like potato chips. If you have a child in daycare, you'll know how hard it can get to come up with fresh ideas that are nutritious for your little one. Believe me, I've relied on the old stand-by PB&J way too many times! I hope you find this helpful and I hope your baby is as good of an eater as mine is!

Molly's Rice Balls

japanese short grain sticky rice (1 cup uncooked)

seasoned rice vinegar (2 tablespoons)

cooked chicken cut into tiny pieces (just shy of a cup)

seaweed sprinkles (tiny shreds sold at Japanese mkt) 2 tablespoons

furikake (I used a few shakes of a veggie mix, make sure no MSG!)

Cook rice, mix in vinegar, mix in rest of ingedients, form balls with damp hands

I made hers the morning after when the mix was cold and the balls were easier to form. The rice was room temperature by the time she ate them. Next time I'm going to try adding some broccoli puree. Let's see if she likes that!

Sunday Lunch at An Nhau Vietnamese Restaurant

How lucky are we ?!

We get to visit our baby sister at An Nhau Restaurant, with such charming decor and most importantly, delicious dishes. Talk about a pleasent welcome, she ran to me with open arms , so adorable! ! ( wonder if she greets everyone that way )
We decided to sit in the open garden surrounded by cozy gazebos and bamboo. Oddly the weather worked out for us in the month of November. Here I will share what we ordered:

Shrimp Summer Roll served with peanut * traditional sauce

Salt * Pepper Crispy Calamari

Shaken Beef Cubes with Watercress serve with

side of sliced lime and S*P

( squeeze the lime juice into the S*P dish and dip the beef cube, a nice twist and a first for me )

Caramelized Pork Belly, delicately sliced .served with pickle greens

do i need to say more.... just that i'm getting hungry posting this.

Slow Drip Espresso with Sweet Condense Milk

A little bird told me something lovely is going to happen to the Garden*

Definitely Returning..

For location information and to view the complete An Nhau Menu ,click HERE*

Previous An Nhau post : http://cookng.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-vietnamese-girl.html

Turkey lasagna

I was pleasantly surprised with my first lasagna effort. It was always one of those dishes that seemed too involved to make at home. Also, I tend to shy away from anything that calls for bechamel sauce. But for some reason I was inspired to make lasagna and a moderately healthy one with turkey and no bechamel. Sorry, all you purists. Well, it was a hit with both my husband and brother-in-law having thirds! They're both Italian American and are opinionated about anything Italian. As I'm typing this John is telling me how much he likes it :) Even Molly who already had dinner, asked for some! The recipe is an adaptation of one by the Barefoot Contessa. I'm really surprised that the consistency and proportions came out perfectly. Sorry I don't have a shot of the cross section. I was too hungry!

1 box no boil lasagna noodles

olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 small onion chopped

1 1/2 lb ground turkey

1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes in puree

2 tablespoon tomato paste

fresh oregano, thyme, basil

salt, pepper to taste

1 tub ricotta (15 oz i think)

1 cup parmigiano reggiano and some for sprinkling on top

1 egg

shredded mozzarella (1 bag) or use fresh if you have

-brown turkey then break into small pieces

-once meat is sizzling again, add garlic and onion, cook until o&g is soft

-add crushed tomatoes bring to a medium simmer for 10 mins

-add tomato paste and herbs, simmer another 10 mins

-add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until sauce is thickened

-soak noodles in hottest tap water for 20 mins and drain (add noodles one at a time and move them around once in a while so they don't stick together)

-mix ricotta, parmigiano, egg, pinch salt and pepper

-layer in following order, just eye the amounts

• sauce
• noodle 1 ply
• ricotta mix
• mozzarella
• sauce
• noodle 1 ply
• ricotta mix
• mozzarella
• noodle 1 ply
• sauce
• parmigiano

I used a 8 X 6 X 2 le creuset pan and it came out nice and crusty!!

ground turkey stir fry

We always have ground turkey in the fridge. We use it for turkey bolognese and this stir fry which we have every week. It is inexpensive and super quick & easy to make! We love it with rice and siracha. You can use whatever veggies you like. I like using long beans but have used kale, broccolini or cabbage. I also add carrots when I have them in the fridge.

• 1 lb ground turkey dark meat
• 1 bundle of long beans ( cut into 2 inch pieces and blanched)
• onion
• garlic
• 1 square preserved bean paste (fu yu) mix with water to thin
• 1 tablespoon black bean paste (lee kum kee is my friend)
• 1 teaspoon hoisin
• salt and soy sauce to taste

Brown turkey, unless you have an industrial strength stove like Annie, this takes a while. I drop the turkey in the wok in large pieces over high heat to get the sear. After I get some color then I break the meat up to smaller bits by pushing a wooden spatula through it. The meat usually gets a bit watery at this point. Just keep stirring until the water condenses and you hear the sizzling come back. At this point add a little more oil. I use olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and let it cook for a few mins. Then add the veggies. Once the wok is sizzling again, turn the flame down a little. Add the sauces and stir fry until veggies are at the tenderness you like! I put all the seasonings at the end because the turkey gets too salty if you season along the way.

Molly likes just the turkey and rice. I tried sneaking in the long beans cut into tiny pieces. She found them! "No"

Frittata for Molly

This is one of the few moments when Molly is actually happy eating a vegetable! I did however thought of a clever way to hide some healthy veggies and also include protein, dairy and carbs! I made a "frittata" of sorts with eggs, cheese, spinach, mini elbow pasta, spaghetti squash and it was yummy! I don't really have any measurements since I winged it when I made this. I started with sauteing the squash in butter and olive oil. Then I added the spinach. In a bowl I whisked 8 eggs and added about a cup of shredded cheese. Then I mixed in the sautee mixture and a cup of cooked pasta, seasoned, put it in a baking dish and baked at 375 for about 20 mins. This isn't gourmet food exactly but great for kids obviously. I was surprised at how yummy it was. John liked it too!

Lisa - Homemade Congee - Jook - rice porridge

Got some news today, Little Molly has a fever and a poor appetite. So I mentioned carrot jook and Em really like that idea. I actually found it on this Blog - great selections of soup and congees ( even for babies ) a must check out!
http://www.homemade-chinese-soups.com/congee.html
If I can I would have congee almost everyday, it just gives you an instant calming effect and also help restores your appetite. Great for hangovers , upset stomach, sick, or pissed off for no apparent reason... A simple yet versatile dish. The carrot jook does sound good!
Here is the recipe I make when we're not feeling well.
-rice / water - usually 3 parts of the rice amount
( remember you can add water or stock if you feel it is not your prefer texture)
bring to a boil then simmer with lid half off
add the following
-garlic - ( healing ) roasted so it's on the sweet side, squeeze paste into the congee melts right in.
-ginger - ( healing ) slice to thin sticks
-shitake mushroom - thinly slice
simmer for 20 - 30 mins

-fish sauce - few drops
-scallion and cilantro ( something about cilantro, it give it a fresh and smooth taste )
-salt and white pepper


and with that we get a good night sleep while the magic of congee is working the toxins out... always worked ! Congee is my friend