Turkey Meatloaf- Trial and Error

Well, it seems both Sabrina and I now have independent eaters. I completely agree in that it is hard to find ways to incorporate the necessary nutrients when you have to make it in a form that they can pick up with their little fingers!

I scoured my favorite websites and books, and decided to try wholesomebabyfood.com's recipe for Apple Turkey Meatloaf. Olivia has loved sauteed ground turkey so I thought this wasn't a far stretch. 

Apple Turkey Loaf/Sticks 

 

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 whole egg or 2 egg yolks, beaten 
1/2 cup pureed carrots
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup unprocessed natural wheat or oat bran (I used baby oatmeal)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
pinch of basil (I didn't use*)
pinch of garlic powder (I didn't use*)

*but maybe should have, since it was so bland

 

Directions:

Place ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. 
Add the egg/yolk, carrots, applesauce, spices, bread crumbs and bran.
Mix well - If this mixture appears too dry, add more carrots or applesauce. If this mixture appears too wet, add more bran and/or bread crumbs

Place mix into a lightly oiled (olive oil) loaf pan and bake at 350F for approx. 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. **You may wish to cover with foil to prevent the top from burning

When finished baking and cooled, remove loaf from pan and slice as you would for bread. Break into small bits for finger feeding or Mash or chop gently

This recipe may also be made into "Turkey Sticks" for Toddlers and older babies who are able to handle more textured/chunky finger foods.

 

Ok, first things first, I do not recommend adding any more veggies or fruit even if it does seem dry, because then it is too moist. I ended up dumping out about a 1/2 cup of water halfway through the baking. And even then, it was still really squishy and thus not great for little fingers. 

I tried feeding it to her on a fork and letting her eat it herself. Every bite came right back out with a shake of the head. (Shaking 'no' is her new thing!) So then I tried adding cheese to it, as that usually gets her to eat just about anything. She didn't buy it. So I'm all sad since I made this big meatloaf and no one is going to eat it. Yes, I tried it, and it is really bland..... so I'm not eating it either!

I cut it up and froze it, and thought we would try again another time.

So I reproached it today at lunch. I made her some macaroni noodles and shredded cheese, and mushed up some of the meatloaf into it. She bought it! She ate quite a good helping and didn't spit any out! 

Needless to say, it was an experiment and I will keep trying different ways to hide it from her!

 

Potato & Butternut Squash Stew

This week's new foods for Drew consisted of white potatoes and butternut squash. Potato & Butternut Squash Stew is yet another recipe from the Cooking for Baby cook book. If you couldn't already figure it out, I am a big fan of the cook book. The recipe is as follows...

Cut squash (1/2 small, peeled and seeded butternut squash), potato (6 small yellow, peeled), and apple (1 medium Fuji, peeled, cored and seeded) into 1 inch chunks. You should have about one cup of each. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add potato, squash and apple and cook, stirring occasionally (about 8-10 minutes). Apples will begin to turn golden. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are soft, 30-35 minutes. Mash or blend to desired consistency.

I made a few minor changes based on what I had in the kitchen and Drew's taste. I only had frozen butternut squash and just used a half of a bag and one large white potato. Drew hates apples, but I wanted to try this to find other ways to sneak them into his diet. I only used one quarter of an apple. I also made this very thick and chunky because I am trying to get Drew used to more finger foods now.

Before I gave this to Drew I tried out just the butternut squash. I simply microwaved a half a bag of frozen butternut squash and blended it, no need for extra liquid. Butternut squash is possibly Drew's new favorite food. As for the stew, the first time Drew ate this he wasn't thrilled about it, but he gobbled it up the second go around. I've also Drew plain potatoes diced in small cubes as finger food and he loves it as well.

Barnes, Lisa. Cooking for Baby. Gold Street Press, page 46.

A day in the life of Drew: Breakfast

Drew is about 6 1/2 months old right now. We are trying to get him on more of a real feeding schedule. This is what Drew had for breakfast this morning:

6:45 Nursed

7:30 Breakfast

1/4 banana mashed (a little on the chunky side) mixed with about 3 tablespoons (mixed) oatmeal. These are two of Drew's favorite foods and loves them just as much when mixed together. He ate all of this

1 sippy cup with 2 oz of water (not actually able to drink out of it, yet)

1 skinned, raw apple slice in his mesh food holder. This was mainly to re-introduce him to apples because he hated cooked apples before. He chewed on it for about a minute (not really eating anything) and didn't make any yuck-yuck faces, so I think he may like the taste of them raw. I also used a Fuji apple this time instead of a honey sweet.

An Apple a Day Keeps the Baby Away

So we was at the grocery store the other day and couldn’t remember what type of apples my book suggested to use so I wasn’t sure what to buy. I asked the produce worker what he thought would be sweet, taste good to a baby and cook well. He suggested honey sweet apples. I had never heard of them before so he let us try one. Tasted good, so that is what we got. These were not organic so I peeled them before I cooked them. Here is what we did…

2 Honey Sweet Apples (Peeled, cored, and sliced)
Steamed apple slices for 10 minutes
Pureed (No added liquids)

We froze the left overs to use over the next few days. As far as Drew liking or not liking apples, the video explains it all. (Until I can get it to post the video, here is a link)

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2ijozlz&s=5

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic