Drinking blood versus eating bulgur and beets...a.k.a. what was I thinking?

When Alex started solids, he was a good little eater, slurping and gumming up just about everything I could blend together from kale & pear, to fennel & apple. I've taken advantage of this and continued to serve him a variety of foods that I'm eating already in their diced up solid form, or I'll puree with a little yogurt to improve the texture of the gritty more fibrous foods.

Alex does like beets, he liked those that wrapped in foil and drenched in oil and grilled until the were sweet and soft on the inside.

But last night both my husband Trey and baby Alex rejected a meal of bulgur and lentils (1:1 cooked ratio) mixed with pan cooked garlic beats and olive oil. I served the adult portion chilled like a salad and with a little balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, and a little blue cheese. I was in heaven--- I just adore stinkkkkky cheese and the contrast of the sour vinegar with sweet beets... but poor Trey, took a few bites and was left thinking, where is the meat?

I spared baby Alex the vinegar and blue cheese, and put in ample shredded cheddar, but now realize that although Alex adored shredded cheese a month ago, he now thinks it is launch material only. As far as cheese goes, only the solid chunks are edible. The little shreds are wildly whipped into our poor schnauzer's black tangles. Although Alex loved the lentil, potato, carrot stew, unblended, he thought the beans were little ticks and also tried to attach those to Loki's black locks to pay him back for barking during naptime.

Today, I tried to salvage the remaining bulgur and lentil blend today (I saved a beetless portion) and mixed 1/2 a cup with 1/2 lb of ground turkey, 1 egg, and a bit less than 1/4 cup of oatmeal together with a little bit of A-1.... We pan fried these, because they are a little looser than beef patties... Again, I thought they were wonderful (they did need some mustard for zip) but Trey almost passed out from malnutrition. Alex ate his lentils and bulgur in the blended form with a little olive oil, applesauce, and formula.

Unfortunately, a late morning nap kept us from our red meat source at the farmers market and poor Trey is going to have to drink blood this week to regain his composure.

Carrot, Potato, Lentil Soup

Thought I 'd post another easy bean(lentil) meal. It has been sweaty hot in Columbus, Ohio. Alex and I have been moving around between libraries and playgroups. We only go out in the cooler mornings, so that our black dog Loki won't die on our walks. Soup is a nice winter meal, but it is especially nice on these really hot days because it doesn't require a lot of tending and stovetop heat is much more forgiving than the oven.

Alex loves carrots and potatoes of every sort.

This meal is easy and can be fed to both adults and infants. It is also inexpensive and serves a family of 3-4 for 2 meals and freezes well.

In large pan:

Saute on medium heat until onions and potatoes have browned (about 10 min):

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion or 6 scallions (I use only the white bottom and save the greens for a soup garnish)
2 medium potatoes* (I used 1 sweet potato and 1 red potato- I don't peel, but I take off anything that looks too gritty or knobby)
3 carrots* (I pop the tops off and scrub, but don't peel)
1 apple or pear* (I take some of the skin off and remove the core and stem)

Add:

4 cup of chicken of vegetable stock (low sodium preferred for infants)
1 cup of uncooked lentils (you can substitute 2 cans of pinto beans)

Cook on low heat 30-45 minutes until lentils have softened.

Allow to cool on stove top for 30 minutes and then run the entire batch through the blender.


For the adult version, I garnish with scallions, dill, and/or chives. You can use other herbs if you have an herb garden, but this is what we had on hand. If you like a little heat add a pinch of red pepper.

For the infant version, I pour 1/4 cup of blended soup into his serving dish and add 1 scoop of formula (or breast milk), ~2 tablespoons of water, and 2 tablespoons of rice cereal. Alex prefers the soup when it is sweetened by the formula. Some babies will eat the soup without these modifications.

*Root vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes are especially good to buy organic because they scavenge pesticides from the soil. Apples and pears are also good to buy organic (or wash thoroughly and remove their skin) because they are heavily sprayed by pesticides.

Tomorrow, I will post the recipe for cornbread and cornbread teething cookies that I serve with this tomorrow. You can also serve this on a hearty grain like bulgur or brown rice or with toast/crackers.