Six First Foods for Baby (that aren't cereal)

That little chunk is six-months old this week. The time with baby number two is flying by in hyper speed. Breast feeding was way more successful for me with my second, but he seemed to be growing so fast that at his four month appointment I asked the doctor about starting real food. A lot has changed since we started our first on solids almost 3 years ago. The American Academy of Pediatrics is now recommending that parents wait until their babies are 6 months old before introducing food. They're also changing some recommendation of what baby's first foods should be. Rice or oat cereal was the norm just a few short years ago. 

As we work on changing our diet as a family - the idea of feeding Emmett super processed rice cereal became less and less appealing to me. We talked this out with our pediatrician and she supported us taking an alternate route. As with anything baby related - this is just what we decided would be best for our family and we sought the advice of professionals along the way. Emmett's first meal (at about 5 months, again with the support of our doctor) was a smashed avocado. Since then he has tried a variety of vegetable and fruit purees - and even homemade cereal:  

Avocado: Full of healthy fat, protein and fiber, Avocado is arguably one of the worlds most perfect foods. It doesn't even have to be cooked to give to baby. We smash our by hand with a little bit of water to thin it out enough for baby. 

Banana: Another easy to prepare first food, bananas are high in potassium and just sweet enough. Again you can smash a super ripe banana with a fork or puree it with a little water for baby. 

Sweet Potato: We love love love a sweet potato - they are high in beta carotene, fiber and a good source of carbohydrates. Its super easy to throw a couple sweet potatoes in the oven to roast on a Sunday and then puree the 'meat' of the potato after it has cooled. 

Apple: Steamed and pureed apples are a favorite in our house. Our three year old even loves to eat this apple sauce.  

Zucchini: Zucchini is such an awesome starter starch for little ones - the taste is slightly sweet, not too 'green'. I love to roast them before pureeing with a little bit of water. 

Oatmeal: Not all cereal is bad! Oats are actually a pretty awesome, but stay away from instant oats and try to buy gluten free oats if you can. Here's a simple oat cereal recipe perfect for baby: 

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup water

Pour the water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil over medium high heat. Grind your oats into a fine powder, a food processor or high powered blender will do the trick. Gradually whisk these into the boiling water, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Cool and serve.

If you're looking to improve the eating habits of your whole family - from your littlest bits to your meat-and-potatoes husband - look no further than Prescribe Nutrition's Kids Rule Program! I'll be playing along and you can get 30% off with the code STIRANDSCRIBBLE. 

White Chicken Chili + Prescribe Nutrition

You guys, this week has been like whoa. Two shoots, a baby shower, four batches of chocolate cupcakes, and everyone on spring break. Bouncing between stay at home mom, work at home mom, and work away from home mom has got me in a perpetual game of catch up. I am so glad that I have nothing on the schedule next week, because I need to get back in balance. 

I haven't been great about updating the blog regularly, but hopefully you're following Stir & Scribble's adventures on Instagram? The last couple of months have been a fun journey into eating a more whole foods based diet. If you've been a follower for very long - you might have noticed that I've had many false starts and stops at feeding my family a less processed diet. This time though I've had help. 

In February, I signed up for a program with Prescribe Nutrition. Prescribe Nutrition is a team of incredible woman with one incredible goal - to get you to give up a 'diet' in favor of eating real whole food. There programs are designed to shake you free from the standard American diet in a fun, approachable way with a ton of support and community. I loved my Prescribe experience so much that I shared my story over on their blog this week - you can read all about my disdain for diets here.

This weekend I'm jumping into another program with the Prescribe Nutrition team - Prescribe Balance. Prescribe Balance is perfectly timed to kick off spring. Twenty days of digging deeper into eating whole foods, getting some exercise, and daily cleaning rituals with the goal of getting everything back in balance.  I couldn't need it more right now - care to join me? Use the code 'stirandscribble' for 20% off! There's still plenty of time to sign up!

White Chicken Chili
serves 6 to 8
recipe courtesy Prescribe Nutrition

This Chili is one of the recipes from Prescribe Balance and a great example of whole foods meets comfort food that is typical of the Prescribe Nutrition team. We scaled back the spice for Ella and served it with a ton of lime and avocado. Its the perfect Sunday supper (and great for lunch leftovers).

1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
1 large white onion, peeled and chopped
1 poblano, pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped*
1 anaheim pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground chili powder*
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt, divided
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
32 oz (4 cups) organic veggie or chicken broth
2 (14.5-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups (about 2 lbs) cooked, shredded chicken**
Juice and zest of 1 lime, + extra lime wedges for garnish
1⁄2 cup full fat coconut milk
1⁄4 cup chopped cilantro leaves + extra for garnish

*only include if you prefer some extra spice in your chili!

Heat the oil in a large heavy bottom pan or dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add the onions, peppers, cumin, coriander, chili powder, paprika and 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

Pour in the broth. Add 1 can of the beans and, using a potato masher (or a handheld blender), mash the beans in the pot, creating a thicker texture.

Stir in the remaining beans, shredded chicken, lime juice and zest and bring to a boil. If you prefer a chili with more broth, add 1 - 2 cups of water. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and keep on a low simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve immediately with additional lime wedges and cilantro.

Blondie Swirled Brownies

I read about motherhood a lot. Not just because its relevant to me, but because I find modern motherhood to be particular enthralling. Never before have we had so many choices as mothers - breastfeeding vs. formula, to vaccinate or not, stay at home vs. working mother, exposing our children to technology. And these choices are continually hyped by the media. We're suppose to lean-in, cry it out, find balance, and put a tidy little label on it. 

The last 60 days of my own adventure in motherhood has been challenging. I left full time work in preparation for baby number two, but also to find a better work/life ratio. I won't call it a work/life balance, because 'balance' is a beautiful, mythical unicorn. Anyway, I thought that being a full time mom and wife might be better for our family. The first week I was so gun-ho: making a cleaning schedule, committing to a summer reading program, trips to the library, the park, and potty training (!!!). Basically I was a SUPER MOM. I was also really miserable. I found my threshold for pleasant homemaking, creative toddler activities, and reading Fancy Nancy with enthusiasm is about 4 days. 

A creative person, like myself, with no outlet can be kind of ugly. I spent a lot of time and money on finding curtains, of all things, and maybe I irrationally cried about laundry once. Luckily my husband is incredibly supportive (or terrified of me) - so I started taking freelance work. Recipe development, food styling, and a little project management for good measure. The pendulum quickly swung the other way and I was busier with work than I had been with a full time job and I was still trying to do the SUPER MOM thing. It was silly. 

The struggle, my struggle, was I felt like I needed to be something - if I wasn't a "working mom" then I had to be "stay-at-home mom", right? When I reach these questions I ask myself - "What would I want my daughter to believe"? And I realized something so stupidly simple, something that should be so apparent already (and maybe it is to everyone but me?!) If Ella wants to be a mom, start a family, have a career, become a CEO - I want her to know - she doesn't have to label it. She doesn't have to put her head before her heart just to fit into a tidy little box. She doesn't have to choose between being a homemaker or being a boss. 

I'm still finding clarity on what I am now - I'm still working (at home and sometimes not) but I don't check into a desk each day, and I have the flexibility of taking Ella on a donut picnic anytime I want to. Ella will continue to go to preschool 3 days a week, because I now understand what I need my work/life ratio to be - even if I don't know how to label it. 

Our challenge as modern mothers will be stepping away from clean profile labels and the ever-widening exposure of motherhood to understand ourselves without comparison. We will be stronger mothers without comparison or labels when we can each tell our own stories in real conversations (hopefully over lots of wine). 

These blondies meets brownie bar mash ups are much less about 'not having to choose' than they are about my  procrastination, because I would, of course, feel inspired to bake and write a blog post when the thing I need to be doing is packing my daughter and I up for a ten-day trip. I may take a few of these as gifts of thanks, bribery, or apology for our fellow travelers. Two and 3/4 years old is a very emotionally erratic time, so it either going to be smooth sailing or a complete disaster! Wish us luck. 

Blondie Swirled Brownies
Makes 28 bars

This bars are inspired by Dorie Greenspan's Chipster bar, which is basically a brownie with a chocolate chip cookie baked on top. I was feeling too pressed for time to make a batch of cookies and blondies are always the perfect solution for that! These are rich and sweet, loaded with chocolate and you are absolutely going to need a glass of milk or a strong coffee on the side!


for the brownie layer: 
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 ounces unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour - I used white whole wheat
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped

for the blondie layer:
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour - again with the white whole wheat
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup milk chocolate, chopped or semi-sweet chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking pan and line with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a large microwave safe bowl using 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each. This should take about a minute and a half. You can also melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler.  Beat in the sugars. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Fold in the flour, salt, and additional chopped chocolate and pour into the prepared pan.

Melt the remaining butter in another microwave safe bowl on high in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Beat in the brown sugar, followed by the egg, flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

The blondie batter will be slightly thicker than the brownie batter, so I like to scoop the blondie batter in 2 tablespoon scoop over the brownie batter and then swirl with the spoon to incorporate.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the pan comes out mostly clean. Cool for about 30 minutes in the pan before removing a slicing.

just a tip | baked farro

Just dropping in for a quick farro cooking lesson this week. I've mentioned in our last real family food post that I'm trying to swap some go-to carbs (like white rice and pasta) for more whole grains. Farro is a really great example of an often overlooked grain that is packed with flavor and nutrients. 

Farro is a wheat grain of ancient Mediterranean origin that is still quite popular in Italy. Farro actually consists of three different grain farro medio begin the most common in the US. Look for pearled or semi-pearled farro, which has had some of its tough outer layer removed to make it cook faster. Its high in fiber, zinc and vitamin B! 

Until recently I had tried the traditional (i.e. I read it on the bag) cooking directions of boiling the farro in salted water I found that it either took forever or I ended up with mushy farro! Recently I tried baking it - which is both faster than boiling AND produces perfect fluffy farro every time.

Baked Faro

1 ½ cups faro

1 tablespoon unsalted butter or olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups boiling water*

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Combine the faro, butter, and salt in a 2-quart glass-baking dish. Add the boiling water, cover (with the dish’s lid or aluminum foil) and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest covered for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff the faro with a fork.

* I typically bring the 3 cups of water to a boiling in the microwave - use a microwave safe measuring cup and try 3 minutes on high heat. Use caution (and an oven mitt) when removing from the microwave! 

Toddler Friendly Taco Soup with Corn Tortilla Crisps

Life behind the scenes at Stir & Scribble is not all beautifully lit cocktails and artfully stacked donuts. I've allude to this before when talking about the current lack of date nights with my husband. My goal has always been to bring you real recipes that are fuss-free and family friendly (and strong drinks, because raising a family is tough business). So I also want to share more of our real family meals. 

Even as trained culinary professional - dinner time can be really stressful! Ella is either getting herself into trouble or begging for a snack, the dogs want in, no the dogs want out, 'Ella please stay out of the dog food' while trying to cook something that A. I want to eat B. Ella will eat. Priorities. 

This "Toddler Friendly" Taco Soup is more a strategy than a recipe - one that I learned in the trenches of cooking food for Ella. The end result is a soup for adults and a plate of food for Ella to eat. This isn't about soup for a toddler because honestly eating soup with a toddler will result in you both needing a bath and the floor needing a mopping and do you really want to do that on a Wednesday night? I would much rather watch Nashville and drink a cocktail. 

My friend* Jenny calls this tactic "Deconstructing Dinner" and it will serve you well to learn, embrace and employ this tactic regularly. You don't really want to eat plain pasta and peas or make two dinners every night until your kiddo learns to appreciate tomatoes anyway. 

*Okay - I've never actually met Jenny, but I imagine we would become friends over a cocktail and swapping family dinner stories. 

TODDLER FRIENDLY TACO SOUP with Corn Tortilla Crisps 
makes about 6 servings 

Soup:
4 (6-inch)corn tortillas 
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided 
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced 
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained 
1 cup of frozen corn
1 teaspoon kosher salt 
1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 
1 quart chicken broth 
1 can of diced tomatoes
8 ounces chopped cooked chicken 

for serving: 
Salsa 
Chopped avocado 
Sour cream
Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
lime wedges 

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the corn tortillas into wedges. Liberally coat a baking sheet with 2 tablespoons olive oil and lay the tortilla wedges in an even layer on the pan. Flip the tortillas so both sides are coated with oil. Set aside. 

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Brown the onions in the hot oil until softened and beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and peppers and cook until the garlic is fragrant about 3 minutes. Add the black beans and corn and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes - until the corn is cooked and the peppers are softened. 

At this point, I pull a spoonful of the veggie bean mixture out onto Ella's plate. It cools while the rest of the soup cooks. I also pull a handful of chicken for her plate before the it goes in the soup. 

Add the salt, paprika, and cumin and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, and chicken and bring the mixture to a simmer. 

Meanwhile, bake the tortilla crisps in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. While the crisp are still hot a sprinkle a few with shredded cheese to melt while they cool. 

Simmer the soup for 5 minutes - remove from the heat and serve with the tortilla crisps, salsa, avocado, shredded cheese and sour cream.  Ella gets her own diced avocado and a little sour cream for her "dipping' chips".

ATL LOVE | Tucker

Illustration c/o Natalie Kilgore, find more of her work at Natty Michelle

Welcome to the ATL LOVE Series! I've asked a handful of my favorite Atlanta bloggers to give us an-eats-and-treats tour of their favorite Atlanta area neighborhood over the next few weeks. Many thanks to the talented Natalie Kilgore, who's incredible hand draw illustrations really tie the series together. You can purchase her work in her etsy shop, Natty Michelle Paperie or follow her blog, Natty Michelle, for her insightful "free-lance ladies" series or peeks into her charming home. 

Today's ATL love series takes us to Tucker where my dear friends and Isn't She Lovely blogger Jana Burrow is raising her sweet little family. Jana's blogging is my go-to for uplifting lady talk and real life mom advice. She is also a gifted writer and her post "Inside a Year and a Weekend" really moved me. 

Find more from Jana: blog|facebook|pinterest|twitter|instagram

What you love about your hood: It has a small town feel right next to the big city! We are incredibly close to major highways, but we always feel like we live in a little bubble. The surrounding areas of Decatur and Oak Grove are nearby and we frequent those areas for eating out as well. 

Favorite breakfast/brunch: Sunday brunch at Marlow's is my favorite. However, Seth loves to take the girls to Old Hickory House on days when he lets me sleep in!

Favorite coffee stop: Paramount Coffee Shop and Books

While I have only been there once, I look forward to going again! I went because there was a Scout Mob and I was not disappointed. Can't wait to go back.

Best working lunch: I don't technically work, so a working lunch for me is Chick-Fil-A so the kids can run around in the play equipment. However, if I did have a working lunch with adults I would go to The Greater Good. I love their sliders, but really you can't go wrong. 

Best date night bet: Shorty's

Usually for a date night we try to get out of Tucker and find something new. But, when we want to stay close to home and have a really yummy meal we head to Shorty's. Seth is a pizza guy and I do not love pizza. They apparently have great pizza, but their menu offers so much more too! I prefer their shrimp fajitas.

Best meeting friends for drinks: Local Seven...it's bar food, but great atmosphere!

Favorite dessert stop: Sweet Dee's

I love that Sweet Dee's is on Main Street. I have never been one to just buy a cupcake, but I find myself unable to resist at Sweet Dee's.

Donuts, pie, or ice cream: I struggled with this one because outside of chains there's not much of these around here. So, Seth told me to put his favorite place on Main Street which is Growler Time. 

Diner, greasy, spoon or grab and to-go dinner: Matthew's Cafeteria. It's pretty historic, and really greasy!

Neighborhood Shop or Farmer’s Market: Tucker Farmer's Market (summer only) This farmer's market is really impressive. There's music, food, and fun for the kids. Our routine is to get a King of Pops treat, pet the goat and buy the goat cheese, stock up on veggies, play in the kids area, and head to Main Street for dinner. 

Non-food shopping: Tucker House has all of your boutiquey needs and is just a cute place to go!

previous ATL LOVE posts: Marietta|East Atlanta Village| more coming next week..