We have three children, and with each I’ve made almost all of their baby food.  It’s best for them, it’s most nutritious, and it’s also less expensive than buying large quantities of jarred baby food (especially the organic varieties). 

I have been in the thick (pun intended) of making baby food for several months now for our baby.  She continues to amaze me at how much food she can pack in!  Fortunately, when preparing your own food, it is easy to make a large quantity that you can then refrigerate and freeze in smaller portions to meet your baby’s mealtime needs.

It’s not hard to make baby food.  It does take time, though, and requires extra effort every few days.   (And, as moms and dads know, some days you have enough to do, already!)  But, it’s worth it to know that your little one is getting freshly made, tasty and nutritious whole foods.  Plus, it doesn’t require special culinary skills.  You don’t need to be a ‘Top Chef’ to get started, or to later come up with creative food combinations to keep your baby nourished and happy.  It simply requires some advance preparation, a little thinking, and a few tools to make the process simpler.

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Dreena's Egg Nog Ice Cream (with caramel sauce)

Ice cream has always been a favorite dessert of mine.  As a child I loved it, and growing through my teens and twenties, I found all sorts of ‘low-fat’ and frozen yogurt varieties to tame my cravings.  These “healthier” versions never quite satisfied, however.  Later I discovered that they weren’t healthy either, since they were made with cow’s milk, and also white sugar.

For a long time I did without ice cream.  I don’t know how I survived!  I didn’t have an ice cream maker, and dairy-free ice creams were not available.  You new vegans have it easy, I tell you!  You’ll hear me telling my grandchildren:  “When I was a young vegan, we didn’t have dairy-free ice cream“…  

No, in my early vegan days, I recall finding a chocolate sorbet for a period of time, and that helped soothe the icy savage beast within!  Not entirely, though.  I longed for creamy, luscious ice creams that varied in textures and flavors, and ranged from basic vanilla to all-out decadence filled with cookie or brownie pieces tossed in ribbons of caramel or fudge.  I need a fix just writing this.

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…the more you’re smart!

I know, supposed to be ‘the more you fart’.  But, I’ve taken liberties with this rhyme.  Not because we don’t say that ‘f’ word.  (Actually, it’s quite a popular word in our home these days, eliciting uncontrollable giggles… along with a few others in the ‘privates’ and ‘potty’ categories.)  

We changed it up one night at dinner, playing around with the rhyme. Then I took the game one step further.  Now, we (okay, I) rhyme foods that our kids like – and don’t like.  At our table, you’ll hear “chickpeas, chickpeas, good for your bick-knees“.   Makes absolutely no sense, right?  continue »

Often I have a couple of small portions of leftover bean dishes sitting in the fridge or freezer. For instance, last night I had three different bean casseroles that I decided to makeover into dinner. 

Molasses Baked Beans

The first was Molasses Baked Beans, a recipe (from Vive) that I made over the holidays (and that I’ll share with you soon).  The second was Sweet Curry Chickpea Casserole, also from Vive. 

Sweet Curry Chickpea Casserole

And, the third was new recipe, Thai Chickpea Almond Curry.  The flavors of each are distinctly different, and there’s just about a serving or two of each, so there wasn’t enough of either singular dish to feed the kids, hubby, myself, and my mom who’s visiting.   I also had cooked red quinoa in the fridge, and wanted to incorporate that into the meal.  So, how did I make this work? 

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First week of 2010, and already we’re inundated with resolution hype of how to “lose those holiday pounds”, “blast that belly fat”, and “whittle away to the new you” in just about every form of media.  Most of it is bunk.  Why?  Because most of it relies on some temporary ‘plan’ that is generally not enjoyable or sustainable. 

Diets are not the solution.  At least not in my opinion, and I dieted far more than I care to remember in my twenties and teens – and even earlier as a preteen.  continue »