ML Interest Tag: kale

This Mom’s Punny Lunchbag Notes Are Too Good to Miss!

by Red Tricycle

This mom goes above and beyond when it comes to cute lunchbox notes. After she noticed her loving lunch notes were being unread or getting lost, Jenn Aguilar of Calgary began to draw adorable, pun-filled lunch bag designs for Kale, 14, and Konnor, 12. Scroll below to see some of our favorites:

“What do healthy rappers order? Beets by Dre & 2 Grains.”

“What is Tupac & Dr. Dre’s favorite salad called? Kale-fornia Love.”

“Why were the candies mad at the Hershey Bar? He was always Choco-late!”

“Why were the burritos having beef? They were having a wrap battle!”

“How long will I love you? Pho-Eva!”

“What does Batman do with all his $$? He makes it Wayne!”

All Photos: lunchbagadventures via Instagram

Which one is your favorite? Tell us in the comments below!

H/T: Buzzfeed

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Now Shipping: NYC’s First Organic Meal Delivery Service for New Moms

by Mimi O'Connor

One of the ironies of trying to eat well when you’re breastfeeding a newborn, is that of course, it’s one of those periods in life when orchestrating any meal — let alone a really healthy one — is a bit of a challenge. Barley + Oats, New York’s first organic meal delivery service for new mothers, is hoping it can help the parents of newborns out with this dilemma, while also supporting things important to new moms like milk production and hormonal balance. We got a real live new mom (who also happens to write about food) to give the service a whirl — read on to get her take on Barley + Oats!

photo: Barley + Oats

Introducing, Barley + Oats (No, not the singing guys)
Founded by health food enthusiast, new mom and Natural Gourmet Institute grad Ashly Yashchin (the idea for the company came to her when pregnant with her first son) Barley + Oats creates and delivers freshly prepared snacks and meals for expecting, new and nursing mothers. In addition to being organic, the food is dairy, wheat, soy, caffeine, peanut and refined-sugar free, and made with lots of lactogenic ingredients to help increase the quantity and quality of breast milk. The service also promises micronutrient-dense offerings with a focus on vitamins and minerals for newborn growth and postpartum health; foods rich in fatty acids to support mood stabilization, and preparation geared towards aiding digestion and nutrient absorption. (And yes, that photo above is exactly what we looked like in the weeks following the birth of our child.)

photo: Barley + Oats

A Little, A Lot, for a Week or a Few Months
Barley + Oats is ready to meet your culinary needs, be they modest or full-service, with options ranging from relatively affordable to top dollar/great for a group gift-level. Offerings include snack packs with items such as oatmeal raisin kale cookies, creamy hummus with flax crackers and caramelized fennel and apricots; lactation oatmeals, granolas and cookies, and full meal plans for just mom or a family of two — or even four! Craving some bone broth? They’ve got that, too. Barley + Oats also offers lots of non-edible baby gift packages with cute, often organic items like Estella yellow cab security blanket and Metrocard rattle, postpartum bath herbs, books from eco-conscious publisher Homegrown and nursing pillows.

photo: Barley + Oats

Thoughts From Guinea Pig Mom
At home in Park Slope breastfeeding her two-month-old boy, our new mom was happy to introduce some new fare into her meal routine. (She admits to eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a quick and easy lunch and cobbling together breakfasts during those initial weeks.)

Her overall assessment was, “it’s like spa food for moms”, and she appreciated knowing that whatever she was reaching for was healthy. She reported getting lots of fresh seasonal produce such as such as figs, tomatoes and kale in her snacks and meals, and thought the food looked — and tasted — homemade. Favorites included many of the breakfast items (coconut yogurt/granola, oatmeal), the lactation cookies and fresh juices.

Adjustments she’d make included increasing the size of the lunch portions (“nursing makes you hungry!”) and packaging that could go right into the oven to make it even more new mom-friendly. (She also noted the use of a lot of coconut, which wasn’t an issue for her, but may be for someone else.)

Additionally, she felt the reheating and serving instructions were clear, enjoyed the nutritional info provided on the packaging and appreciated the refrigerated bag and ice packs that came with delivery.

photo: Barley + Oats

The Essential Info
Snack Packs can be ordered for periods of 5 to 30 days (starting at $150) and meals are available for periods ranging from 5 to 20 days with the five-day “After Hours” dinner plan costing $175. (Customers may order either a single meal plan, such as lunch, or a a plan with more than one and snacks.)

Orders are billed up front at time of purchase and may be paused or canceled up to the Friday before delivery. Barley and Oats currently delivers to all locations in Manhattan and many in Brooklyn. (See a full list of the Brooklyn neighborhoods here.) Not in the delivery area?; Write them and they’ll do their best to get to you. The good news: the lactation snacks and gifts are shipped nationwide.

Online: barleyandoats.com

Have you tried Barley + Oats? Give us your review in the comments below! 

—Mimi O’Connor

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Now Open: A New Family Pizzeria in the SFV

by jolie loeb

What do the makers of Menchie’s do when they get a little hungry for something that’s not a flavor of the month?  Open up a Neapolitan-style pizzeria!  At MidiCi in Sherman Oaks, beneath show stealing stovepipe ovens and meticulous ingredients lies a pizza spot that is worth traversing canyons and freeways.  Exceptional eating, awesome atmosphere, and the monkeys are as mad for it as they are for Menchie’s.

When Is A Date Night Not A Date Night?
When you bring the kids! Dine beneath a sprawling indoor olive tree, under soaring ceiling on sleek black barstools.  There’s an espresso machine aptly named after a Greek goddess and artisanal gelato that is destination worthy all by itself. It’s sure a far cry from the family pizza scene of yore: no TV set on a SpongeBob loop and/or oversized rodents coming over to force a photo. But this place, beauty notwithstanding, is designed for family. And the pizza?  It’ll blow you (and the kids) away.     

Step Back In Time
The scene here is less hyper-stimulating (not counting the pizza) and more sublime.  With culture creeping out of every corner, bring the kids around the restaurant for a look—even the condiment counter is a vision.  And mind the floor on the way there, it’s micro-cement, hand applied with a trowel, honoring the tradition dating back to the Roman Empire.  So you get a little art history alongside your artisan pie.

Speaking of history, MidiCi pizza makers have all endured rigorous training in authentic Neapolitan pizza gastronomy and they make the magic right in the heart of the restaurant.  The ovens, sand and stone hand hewn, are wood firing wonders, hand built by a third-generation family in Naples, burning at 1000 degrees the Neapolitan way.  Cool eye candy for kids, to see the way pizza was made when and where it was invented.  And then to taste pizza exactly how it should taste.

“Fast” Food, Not “Fast Food”
Get in line and pick your pizza pleasures (MidiCi literally translates into “You tell me”) and let the prized pizza makers top it with whatever you like you (there are plenty of kiddo friendly fixins). Got a kid with a penchant for pickiness? Not a problem—they’ll go as plain as they prefer.  If  you’re feeling too tired to make decisions, they offer classics and pre-created specialties and substitutions are delightfully accommodated.  Pies are one size and range in price from $7-$14.  If they can agree on toppings, kiddos can probably get away with splitting one.

Then sit and relax, but not too much, because these pies bake in 90 seconds, so before they can squeeze out even one verse of the “I’m hungry” blues, dinner is served. Dessert you can order when you’re done eating your meal; it’s at a separate register where you don’t have to wait in line with the pizza people.

Here’s what’s in your pizza dough: Non-GMO flour imported from Naples, pure water, sea salt, live yeast.  That is it.  And what they put on top is just as pure; crushed non-GMO Italian peeled tomatoes, “white gold” buffalo mozzarella; it’s all the stuff you’d use at home.  If you had a grandma from Naples coming over to make dinner.

Beyond the Pies
With a whole burrata section to delight in, this place makes introducing burrata to bambinos easy.  The Burrata with purple kale, grape tomatoes, and homemade pesto is kind of like pizza deconstructed.  So good that routine kale rejection won’t happen.  They may even try a bit of beet with the burrata.  Expanding palates, one bite at a time. 

Even if you think you’re too full for dessert, you need to try it.  The signature Nutella calzone is completely off the chain. All puffed up and bursting with berries and banana, doused in Nutella…fuggedaboudit.  The kids won’t even beg for Menchie’s on the way home.

While you’d happily eat here without the kids, the beauty of this place is that they’re not only welcomed, they’re wanted. It feels beautiful and bright and makes you linger and chat over an espresso, but service is also as fast and friendly as eating at your local neighborhood joint, or at a friend’s house.  MidiCi has created a space for congregating and reconnecting over manna from heaven, or Naples.  Same thing.  

MidiCi Neapolitan Pizza
14612 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks
818-788-2178
Online: www.mymidici.com

What’s your favorite dinner spot that appeals equally to adults and kids?  We’d to hear love your tips in the comment section!

—written and photographed by Jolie Loeb

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Just Opened! 10Below Ice Cream is Too Cool

by Mimi O'Connor

Another day, another novelty food item debuts in New York City. If you and the kids checked out every new culinary creation or confection in the five boroughs, not only would you very likely be clinically obese, you would also probably be unemployed. (Who else has that kind of time?) Furthermore: the under 10 set is probably not going to vibe on, say, kale-flavored ice cream with cilantro-infused whipped cream. However, 10Below is an ice cream shop worthy of your attention, time and taste buds. Here’s the scoop (har) on NYC’s latest nouveau parlor serving up the cool stuff.

The Concept
Debuting just a few weeks ago at the end of July, 10Below creates ice cream through a process originated in Thailand, during which you literally see your order made from fresh ingredients right before your eyes.

The shop takes its name from the ice cold (or, we suppose, even colder) plates maintained at the temperature of minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, AKA, 10 below — or less.  Creating ice cream with this frigid method apparently results in smaller ice molecules leading to not only a smoother and creamier product, but also eliminating the need to add the fat and emulsifiers used in conventional ice cream production.

The Process
After choosing your flavor and paying, the raw ingredients are prepped in a cup and you wait for your turn. When you’re up, your personal ice cream concierge places the raw ingredients — which range from fresh fruit to Nutella to graham crackers — on the cold plate to give them the deep freeze. A proprietary, cream base is then added to the mix, and you watch as a 10Below employee mashes, smashes, slices and dices your raw ingredients, melds them into the rapidly freezing cream, and then ultimately, smoothes the mix into a sort of tasty frozen disc. Finally, the amalgam is carefully scraped from the cold plate in the form of what can only be described as an “ice cream roll up.”

Your cup of rolls is then topped with your choice of any number of fresh, tasty toppings, such as fresh fruit, condensed milk, whipped cream or even a marshmallow individually roasted on the spot.

The Tastes of 10Below
Flavors change weekly, but Strawberry Shawty (strawberries and graham crackers), Monkey Business (bananas and Nutella) and Honey Boo Boo (blueberry, raspberry and honey) are among the recurring popular choices. The roster also reflects what’s currently in season when it comes to fruit; the Mo Money Mo Mangoes (mangoes and strawberries), for example, is a hot seller right now. Other flavors include Smores Galore (marshmallow, graham crackers and chocolate) and Cookie Monster (Oreos).

Everything tastes fresh because it really is: Everything is made and prepared day of. (10Below doesn’t even have a freezer, so nothing is kept overnight.)

The Vibe
10Below is a pretty small place on the basement level of a building in Chinatown. A giant chalkboard decorated with an illustration of a rainbow and the parlor’s  cheery logo/mascot, a whale with an ice cream cone on its head, greets visitors when they walk in.

Hip-hop tunes boom from the sound system, and a young crowd is helped by an equally young staff and everyone seems to be having a god time. Because of the shop’s tiny footprint, things can get tight, but everyone’s, uh, chill about it, making 10Below feel a little like a clubhouse.(You may be the oldest person in there; we were.)

Before You Go to 10Below
Should you and the kids go to 10Below? Absolutely. But there are a few things you should know in advance.

The very nature of 10Below’s individual creations means that each order takes time, which means that no matter when you go, there will probably be a bit of a wait. (The nice part is that when it’s your turn, it’s your turn, and at least when we were there, fellow patrons tend to respectfully give you a “front row seat” to view your roll ups coming together.) That said, waits can be long; its not uncommon to see a line down the block and wait for an hour on a weekend afternoon. Which is why we recommend going on a weekday, ideally from 11 a.m. when they open, to early afternoon; from 4 pm. to early evening, things get a little nuts, apparently. The store also has limited seating and tables, so plan on taking your treats to go.

10Below
10 Mott St.
Chinatown
212-965-1336
Online: 10belowicecream.com

 

Have you experienced 10Below? Tell us what you thought of it in the comments!

—Mimi O’Connor

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Playing It Cool: Atlanta’s Best Froyo

by Phebe Wahl

Nothing says summer like ice cream. But if you are looking for a healthier way to beat the heat—cold kick it with these sweet spots that offer lots of flavor, fresh fruits and less fat. Read on for four, fam-friendly froyo places that serve up the soft stuff.

The Yogurt Tap
This all-natural joint serves up flavors using fresh, fruit-packed with good stuff that is hard to pronounce (including live and active cultures like S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus and L. acidophilus). All of their yogurt selections are made in-house daily, and we love that you pay by the ounce and their tasty assortment of toppings. With no artificial flavors or dyes, this is froyo you can feel good feeding them.

Details: 419 Church St. Decatur, 404-373-6090, theyogurttap.com

Jujubees Italian Frozen Yogurt
Jujubees is a wonderful little locally owned frozen yogurt shop.  They normally offer 4 standby flavors and one yummy rotating flavor. Orange mango is amazing. After you order, choose from their many fresh fruit toppings. For a unique twist, they add toppings and then put more yogurt on top.

Details: 4279 Roswell Rd., 404-303-0024, facebook.com/Jujubees

Yogurberry
Touted as one of the creamiest froyo’s in Atlanta, Yogurberry makes their frozen yogurt with  organic, grassfed milk. They partner with a local farmer to bring the healthiest organic ingredients, serving up innovative flavors (like taro and pomegranate) plus other clever concoctions like Bubble Tea. Sip on the green smoothie (spinach or kale, orange, lime, apple, ginger, yogurt and cilantro) while the littles dive into the frozen yogurt banana split.

Details: 3281 Piedmont Rd., 678-487-7752, yogurberryatl.com

Fruttela
A perfect pit stop after an adventure in the Old Fourth Ward or on the belt line, Fruttela offers 50 different toppings and 10 flavors touted as “a more fruitful yogurt.” Their yogurt is made fresh every day with organic ingredients, fiber-full fruit pulp and probiotics.  Ask for a sample and remember to try the red velvet and pumpkin spice flavors before you leave.

Details: 701 Highland Ave., 404-588-0117, lafruttela.com

Where is your favorite spot to score froyo in Atlanta? Tell us in the comments section below!

—Jessica Obenschain

Photos courtesy of The Yogurt Tap, JujuBees via Facebook, Donnie H. and Daniel B. via Yelp

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Fruigees: Squeezing in the Good Stuff

by rtelenawf

Pretty much every grab-n-go snack option for kids is packed with added sugar. Groan!  If slipping a cereal bar or yogurt tube into your kiddo’s lunch bag makes you wish there was a better store bought choice, look no further. We discovered Fruigees, a new product that was made and tested here in LA, that’s as kid-friendly and delicious as it is healthy. These super tasty squeeze packs will simplify snack time and help you sneak veggies into your little ones, too.

Photo credit by Fruigees Facebook Page

Only in LA
Fruigees is the brain child of cousins Josh Kahn and David Czinn, who were inspired by seeing grown ups eating baby food. While in a pre-med class, David noticed students snacking on the little jars of puree. It was convenient and portion controlled, but as any new parent can tell you, it’s seriously lacking on the flavor front. The cousins set to work in their grandparents’ kitchen, blending healthy ingredients that actually taste great. Of course, they needed feedback, which is where living in LA came into the mix. David and Josh took samples to Runyon and Fryman Canyon to get feedback from local hikers. Only health conscious and taste sensitive Angelenos could help shape the focus of the all-organic ingredients. After countless more experiments and sampling, Fruigees came to fruition and made its debut at LA farmers markets.

photo credit: Fruigees facebook page

What’s In Those Packs
Fruigees are packed with only the good stuff. Every pouch is organic, non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, has no added sugar, and is kosher, too! And each serving has 100% of your daily Vitamin C. With totally healthy veggies like beets, carrots and kale, plus fruit juices like orange, cherry and grape, you can be sure that your little ones are getting goodness in every slurp.

Speaking of slurp, Fruigees have an awesome consistency. It’s less like applesauce and more like jello or pudding – thick and creamy, which kids love. And the taste…when’s the last time kale tasted like grape soda? Though they include vegetables, the flavors are sweet and can pass for a (healthy) dessert. David and Josh knew they were onto something fabulous when a parent told them her daughter refused ice cream after having her tonsils removed, because she insisted on only having Fruigees. If a no-sugar, veggie-packed snack can beat out ice cream, we’re in.

photo credit: Fruigees facebook page

Say What?
Fruigees (pronounced: “froo-jeez”) fruit snacks are available in three flavors: 24 Carrot Orange (Orange-Carrot); Nothing Beets Cherry (Cherry-Beet); and Kalefornia Grape (Grape-Kale, which was the hands down favorite of all the Red Tricycle kid-testers).

You can find them in select natural grocers in town (like Erewhon on Beverly Blvd) as well as major retailers like Meijer and QFC, or you can skip the traffic and order them directly from Amazon. Check their website to find where Fruigees are sold near you.

photo credit: Elena Fenegan

If you wanna see your kid cry out for “More Kale!,” give this squeeze a try. And don’t worry, the squeezy yumminess is for kids of all ages, so feel free to store a stash in your purse for a quick and body-fueling “I’m a parent and too busy to eat real meals” pick-me-up.

Online: fruigees.com

We never would have thought of kale and grape, but kids love it!  What crazy fruit and veggie combos are a hit at your house?

-Elena Wurlitzer

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Slow Cooker Lentil Sausage Soup

by Erin Lem

It doesn’t get more simple than a one step recipe. Created by food bloggers Diane and Dave of Homemade Food Junkie, this hearty and healthy soup dish is high-fiber, dairy-free and gluten-free. The secret ingredient that makes this slow cooker recipe so fab? Kale. While normal greens don’t usually fare well in soups and stews, Diane points out that kale holds up well and adds great color and texture to this dinner.

Serves: 10

Ingredients:
one 12 0z. package spicy chicken sausage sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 Cup lentils any color
2 to 3 large carrots-sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
several garlic shallots or chives-minced
2 celery ribs sliced small
several leaves of kale, any variety, torn or cut into small pieces
1 14 oz. can garbanzo beans
1 14 oz. can kidney beans
1 14 oz. can Italian stewed tomatoes
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

Method:
Put all prepared ingredients into the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low 6 to 8 hours.

“Like” this recipe if you plan to make it this winter, and then tell us how yours turned out in the Comments below.

For more great recipes be sure to check out Diane and Dave’s food blog, Homemade Food Junkie by clicking here.

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15 Signs You’re a Park Slope Parent

by Hanna Neier

Park Slope. Home of the double stroller. Haven for the environmentally and socially conscious. Maybe you moved here for the terrific public schools, gorgeous brownstones, tree-lined streets and amazing community atmosphere, or maybe you just couldn’t bring yourself to move all the way out to the suburbs. Whatever your reasons, there’s no doubt in your mind that Park Slope is the place to have kids. Read on to discover the 15 signs you’re a Park Slope parent then let us know in the comments section which signs you see in yourself!

Image: Sharon via Flickr

1. You’re part of at least one co-op — the Park Slope Food Coop, your friend’s babysitting co-op, a new preschool co-op and of course, your building co-op.

Image: Krista Fogle via Flickr

2. You actually know your neighbors — and you see them regularly in social settings.

Image: Payton Chung via Flickr

3. You thought it was strange when that single guy moved into your building — isn’t this neighborhood just for folks with babies on the brain? 

Image: Maggie via Flickr

4. You have a backyard or a roof deck (or at the very least you’ve made a garden of your fire escape).

Image: Kessner Photography via Wikimedia Commons

5. You were super excited when composting FINALLY came to Park Slope. You gleefully sort your banana peels and eggshells every day into the tiny little dumpsters and those wickedly overpriced (but worth it!) biodegradable bags.

Image: Hanna R. Neier

6. None of your friends live in a doorman building. You even shovel your own snow.

Image: Ron Bulovs via Flickr

7. On your visits into Manhattan you always wonder — where did all the strollers go?

Image: Anita Hart via Flickr

8. You’re a writer. (Or at least half a dozen of your friends are).

Image: Santos Gonzalez via Flickr

9. You see absolutely no need to move to the suburbs — you live walking distance to an enormous park and a fabulous public school. So what if your kids share a room and your entire apartment is only 800 square feet?

Image: Tom & Katrien via Flickr

10. You have no need for Facebook or Craigslist. You are hooked on Park Slope Parents and the endless stream of local parents who have advice to give or useful hand-me-downs to sell you.

Image: Neeta Lind via Flickr

11. Kale is a staple in your house. Your kids can name at least two varieties. If you don’t get it at the co-op, you buy it at one of the ‘hood’s three weekly farmers markets. 

Image: Eden, Janine and Jim via Flickr

12. Playgrounds are the new social hot spot. The bars are too overrun with babies.

Image: Axel Buhrmann via Flickr

13. You have an endless array of mommy and me yoga classes to choose from. You tried at least two of them before deciding that babies and mommies should have their own yoga class. Now your kids go alone.

Image: Noah Easterly via Flickr

14. Your kid’s wardrobe is 50% second hand. Some of your best outfits were picked up from the stoop sale down the street.

Image: Shannon via Flickr

15. You have a love hate relationship with big box stores. You’re happy they’ve been kept out of your ‘hood as they are the downfall of mom and pops. So what if they’re convenient and fairly priced?! Sigh.

What did we miss? Share your Park Slope Mommy-isms in the comments below!

–Hanna R. Neier

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More Than Mush: A Puree Taste Test

by rtamaliedrury

Baby food used to be simple. You had your bananas — just bananas — you had your peas, and you spoon-fed them to your little one a jar at a time. Nothing fancy. Today, baby food is gourmet. Whether you’re steaming and pureeing the equivalent of a Thanksgiving feast or Googling “can babies eat liver?” (answer: a little), your baby is probably eating better than you were until your mid-twenties.

Even the purees on the grocery store shelf sound like something you’d order at the hot new organic lunch spot. But do these adventurous flavor combos actually live up to their promise? We taste-tested the five most grownup-sounding pouches of organic baby mush we could find — and let our nine-month-old foodie weigh in, too.

Happy Baby: sweet peas, green beans & spinach with quinoa & chicken broth
Mom’s verdict: This brownish concoction has very liquid-y texture, like soup. To us it tasted neither good nor bad — just kind of neutral and somewhat pea-like.

Baby’s verdict: A budding vegetarian, perhaps? He gave a slight nose wrinkle at his first bite and then caught on to the flavor of this one fast. We also tried mixing it with oatmeal and homemade sweet potatoes — no protests on either front.

Nutritional perk: low in sugar, high in Vitamin A

BUY NOW

Oh Baby Foods: LavenBerry
Mom’s verdict: A simple list of five main ingredients (apples, beets, cranberries, lavender flower and Vitamin C) made for a bright, uncomplicated overall flavor. We couldn’t really taste the most unexpected one — lavender flower — but it sounded nice.

Baby’s verdict: As with most sweet things, he was totally fine with it and tore through the pouch in about five minutes flat, leaning in for more when we tried to take it away.

BUY NOW

Earth’s Best: pumpkin cranberry apple
Mom’s verdict: We’d paint a whole room the bright pink color of this puree. So pretty. The taste is super tart— we mostly noticed cranberry — and sweet, but not overly so. It’s nice. We’d eat it for dessert with chocolate cake.

Baby’s verdict: He loved this on its own and also mixed into whole-grain cereal for extra color and flavor. Didn’t spit out a drop or even wrinkle his nose.

Nutritional perk: 45% daily value of Vitamin C

BUY NOW

Plum Organics: quinoa & leeks with chicken & tarragon
Mom’s verdict: We’d rather eat this meal in its actual form. The mustardy color and earthy smell weren’t so appealing, but the taste — kind of like gravy — was okay. The top ingredients listed on the back of the pouch are actually carrot, sweet potato and corn puree, so we wouldn’t exactly call this our baby’s first encounter with leeks.

Baby’s verdict: Major nose wrinkle and eye crinkle paired with confused open-mouth chewing. He got used to it after a couple of bites, though, and ate the rest of the pouch without incident.

Nutritional perk: 4g of protein

BUY NOW

Sprout: peas, brown rice, white beans & kale
Mom’s verdict: Kale? We were impressed to find it in baby food. But mostly this pouch tastes and smells like the canned peas we used to eat as kids. We definitely got a sense of the white beans being mushed up in there, too. Eh. We’d rather make a hearty stew out of these ingredients.

Baby’s verdict: A little lip-smacking at the thick texture. A look up at me like, “Mom, what’s this?” Then happily ate all subsequent bites.

Nutritional perk: 3g of fiber

BUY NOW

 

What is YOUR baby’s favorite puree? Let us know in the Comments!

— Amalie Drury

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Roast Chops with Apples, Spuds & Cider

by Susie Foresman

Keep the family toasty all winter long with a warm and hearty meal of pork chops, apples, and potatoes with a handful of kale. This recipe, courtesy of Kerry Altiero’s new cookbook, Adventures in Comfort Food combines sweet, salty, and tart flavors and the final dish is exactly what your family needs on a cold winter day.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) center-cut boneless pork chops
1½ cups mashed potato
2 apples, halved and cored
More olive oil on hand
6 leaves kale, coated in olive oil
¾ cup cider
Drizzle cider vinegar
Salt
Coarsely ground black pepper

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. On the stovetop, heat a 9-inch heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. Place the chops fat-side down. We hope you have an exhaust fan. Brown the fat until dark, almost black, about 5 minutes.

2. Turn to the flat side and brown. You do not want to cook it through at this point, so don’t turn to the other side.

3. In a 9 x 12-inch oven-safe casserole dish, place the mashers in a pile. Next to them place the apples, cut side up. Brush both with olive oil. Add the seared chops next to them.

4. Into the oven! Bake for 10 to 20 minutes. The apples will puff up and eventually get to the consistency of applesauce. As you see the apples beginning to puff (it will be at least 10 minutes), top the entire dish with the kale leaves and roast away.

5. When the kale is dark green and beginning to crisp at the edges, pour in the cider. Bubble and boil it will. When everything is hot and the chops are medium or medium-rare (12 minutes or so), remove from the oven and plate. Drizzle some cider vinegar over. Finish the dish with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Recipe from ADVENTURES IN COMFORT FOOD by Kerry Alteiro
Page Street Publishing/October 2014
Get the book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Kerry Altiero is the chef/owner of Cafe Miranda, a popular and multi-cuisine restaurant in Rockland, Maine. Kerry won Maine’s Lobster Chef of the Year in 2012 and Cafe Miranda was named Best Farm to Table Restaurant in 2013.

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