1st Birthday Cake

  I really want to make Londyn my Moms Chocolate Cake- because it is the best!! But would Chocolate put her into sugar shock? I found these baby friendly cakes that I am thinking look more like a baby would like. Which one looks better?

Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake


By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen



INGREDIENTS



1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin puree

2 large eggs, beaten

3/4 cup organic sugar

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped apple

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar for topping (optional)



1. Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare an 8-inch round cake pan by greasing and flouring it.

2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, and salt, stirring to combine. Add apples and nuts, stirring again. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

4. Cool the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack, remove pan, and cool cake completely.

5. When ready to serve, turn cake on to a pretty plate and top with whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar, if desired, or serve plain.



ps. If you make the cake, smooth it out when you put it in the pan as pumkin makes it bake in whatever shape it goes in there with. Guests loved the cake, BabyG did...I frosted it by whipping heavy cream with a little sugar and cream cheese.


BANANA CAKE




2/3 c. banana, mashed

1/2 c. butter, softened

3 lg. eggs

3/4 c. water

2 c. unbleached flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

Optional: 1 c. chopped walnuts OR 1/2 c. chopped walnuts & 1/2 c. raisins



Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan. Beat together mashed banana and soft butter until creamy. Beat in water. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until very foamy. Beat into mixture. Blend in flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat until smooth. Stir in walnuts or walnuts and raisins, if desired. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool. Serves 8-10.

Shamrock Pizza Squares- St. Pattys Day

Ingredients


1 (13.8-oz.) can Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust

4 ounces (4 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 large green bell pepper

Directions

1Preheat oven according to package directions and press the pizza crust into a large cookie sheet (12X18 inches) that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Prebake the pizza crust for about 5 minutes then remove pizza from oven.2While pizza is prebaking, in a small pot add pizza sauce and cream cheese and cook over medium heat. Once cream cheese is melted and incorporated with pizza sauce add the garlic and Italian seasonings.3Slice green bell pepper horizontally to make 6 thin "shamrock" shapes.4Spread pizza sauce mixture evenly over pie crust and top with mozzarella cheese. Finish off the pizza by placing the 6 slices of green bell pepper evenly spaced on top of the mozzarella.5Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is a golden brown. Slice into 6 squares with each square containing a shamrock

What is the yummiest thing you have ever cannned....

CUPCAKES!

Kelly came up with the cutest idea, I love nap time. It gives me time to steal other peoples well thought out ideas and make it appear that I am crafty and I have it all together.

I plan to make these one day, and maybe I will share if I don't eat them all by myself!

Babyfood

I love making homemade babyfood. I have made so many different things lately for Londyn to try.

Fruit-

I like mixing fruit with oatmeal in the am. I made purees apples, pears and peaches and smoothie cubes.

Apples-
Bottled apples. Strain. Add 1 Tbsp cinnamon for 1 bottle apples. Puree and pour in baby food jars. Freeze until ready to use.

Peaches and Pears-

Puree and freeze! Super easy.

Smoothie Cubies-

Whatever you have fresh- mix together. Pour in ice cube trays and freeze.
I have made orange, pineapple, strawberry. Mixed with the mixed grain cereal it smells like toast with strawberry jam!
Today I had a bunch of bananas going bad. I mixed them with frozen strawberries and pineapple. I also added a little yogurt and some OJ.

For Lunch and Dinner we do vegetables and meats. We have found we can ground up almost anything for L. The other night we made spagetti with the healthiest ingredients and ground it up. She LOVED it!! We made extra and froze them for later.

Peas and Carrots-

Carrots are easy just steam and puree. Add some pear juice to make less solid.

Peas are supposed to be de-shelled! Takes forever if you buy fresh and only made 3 jars! I would buy frozen next time!

Beef Stew-
Ingredients


1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 cup hot water

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 celery ribs, sliced

4 cups shredded cabbage

1 carrot, sliced

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

salt to taste

Directions

1.In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, brown stew met; drain. Meanwhile, dissolve bouillon cubes in water; add to beef. Add onion, pepper and bay leaf. Cover; simmer 1-1/4 hours or until tender. Add potatoes, celery, cabbage and carrot. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomato sauce and salt. Simmer, uncovered, 15-20 minutes more. Remove bay leaf before serving.

(Nat's Notes: I used s packets of McCormicks beef stew seasoning (instead of the bouillon cubes and bay leaf) and used 2 lbs beef. I added a lg. can of diced tomaotes. I cooked this in my electric pressure cooker and cooked it for 30-40 minutes. Very good flavor) 

Julies Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
This soup recipe is yummy for you and your baby! Makes a ton! Jar and Freeze. You can mix this with extra carrots or peas to add nutrition to the yummy flavor.

I made the tortilla soup recipe below and fed it to Londyn. She loved it!

I made labels on the computer from mailing labels and put the baby food jars in cans in my freezer. After removing from the freezer store in the fridge. We try to feed them to Londyn within 3 days.