Tuna Baked Gnochi

for family 200g pasta:

Spaghetti sauce should have a garlic taste. If using tomato sauce or plain sauce, sauté minced garlic and optional onion before adding sauce to pan. Feeding younger babies is easier if you exclude the onion. Cook gnochi in hot water according to package instruction. Add one can of drained tuna to pasta sauce. At 350F, bake gnochi covered with the spaghetti sauce and grated parmisian until cheese melts and begins to brown (10 minutes). This dish is good with or without baking. Picture is without baking. Serve with garlic bread and red wine if desired.


for baby:

tomato sauce before addition of tuna
tomato sauce with garlic and tuna

Taste Training

The first time my son tried bananas, he spat them out. I continued to eat bananas myself, but prepared different food for him. About two weeks after his first taste of bananas, I tried again. He still didn't like it. After another two weeks, he was trying to play with my banana while I was talking to a friend. Knowing that he didn't like bananas and that I didn't mind eating after him, I allowed him to mouth my banana. He ate half of it before I realized he suddenly liked bananas. I had to get myself another banana.

Before bananas, avocado was the first solid I gave my son. He didn't love them, but he tolerated them because he was hungry. As I introduced more foods that he loved, he became less willing to eat avocados and they became phased out of his menu. When we lived in Chile, however, the abundance of avocados resulted in my desire for him to eat avocados. For three days, I mixed avocado with banana for his breakfast. After those three days, he began to enjoy eating plain avocado.

Teaching children healthy eating habits starts early. If they are hungry, they will eat. If they eat something of good quality enough, they will start to like it. I have done this to myself to switch to dark chocolate and natural yogurt, instead of milk chocolate and yogurts with added sugars. You may be surprised with the healthy foods your child enjoys naturally or learns to enjoy. Repeated exposure to an unfamiliar taste either through mixing with a flavor they do like or from simply trying again can train the taste buds into enjoying the flavor your child (or yourself) did not enjoy previously.

Is He Full?

A friend anxious to become a mommy herself was feeding my son some avocado when she stopped to ask when he's had enough. I told her that he'll stop when he's done. She was a little skeptical of my answer and hesitated giving him more food, but she understood a few minutes later. He simply stopped opening his mouth when he was done.

I have observed babies of different ages and personalities express their fullness in different ways. My niece used to throw her food at the dogs when she was done. She had observed her grandma giving leftovers to the dogs, so she was doing it too. A friend's two-year-old would yell "Help baby!" when she was done eating, because she wanted out of her high chair. If you didn't help her fast enough, she would squirm to stand up and get out of her high chair herself. Younger babies may spit out food, push the spoon away, turn their heads away from the spoon, or simply keep their mouths closed when they are done eating.

Some people may think that because young children cannot talk, they cannot communicate. This is not true. All babies are able to express hunger, such as chewing on their hands. All babies old enough for solids are also able to stop eating or to stop expressing hunger when they have had enough food. Of course, understanding your own child is much easier than understanding a child you are watching temporarily. Don't let communication failure with other children's babies discourage you from having children of your own.

Porotos Granados

This recipe comes from Chile. Traditionally, the squash used is zapallo and the beans used are cranberry. The cranberry beans get incredibly soft and delicious in this recipe, but other white beans work too. I sometimes use a mixture of different types of beans, depending on what I have in my cupboard. Like most soups, this recipe is very flexible. Experiment with adding lentils, green beans, lima beans, corn, tomatoes etc... If using garbonzo beans, try adding cinnamon. This is an involved procedure, but is fairly cheap, very delicious, and incredibly nutritious.

First, begin cooking the beans in water (beginning in broth may prolong the time for the beans to soften). Meanwhile, sauté the onion, optional peppers, garlic and spice in oil. After about 15 minutes, drain beans and cook in broth, adding the onion mixture. After ten minutes, add cubed squash. When beans become soft, cover and reduce heat. Check if the beans are soft by sampling a minimum of three beans. Simmer until the squash is soft and the broth thickens. Add corn, tomatoes, and optional peas five minutes before serving.

Example that serves 2

1/2 Onion, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 cups Beans (ex navy, northern, Spanish, cranberry)
2 cups Broth (ex vegetable, chicken, or onion)
2 cups cubed Squash (butternut, pumpkin, zapallo)
Spice (paprika, cumin, chili powder)
1 ear Corn, cut from cob
1 tomato, diced


For baby:

Fish out a few large chunks of squash from soup half way through cooking. Squash will be soft enough to mash with a fork.
or
Place some finished soup in a food processor. Be careful to not serve too hot to baby.
or
Bake or steam unused squash until soft enough to mash with a fork. Excellent with cream cheese or yogurt

Green Pasta Sauce

for family: 200 grams pasta

Add 1 to 2 avocados to hot, drained noodles. Avocados may be mashed, diced, or a combination of mashed and diced. Add about one tablespoon butter to sweeten. Add garlic, salt, and bread crumbs. This can be done multiple ways. I usually add garlic salt and grate toasted sandwich bread. As an alternative, you can use garlic bread crumbs. Add parmisian cheese mixed into pasta and garnished on top.


For baby:

fresh avocado plain, fork mashed
or
fresh avocado mashed with grated parmisian