Learn how to make a creamy toasted cinnamon quinoa porridge that’s layered with coconut yogurt and a blueberry compote!

OT FEEDING TIP:

6-12 months: When serving the porridge, you can spoon-feed the baby or give them a pre-loaded so they can bring the spoon to mouth. If the baby is not opening their mouth or taking the puree at first, you can place a small amount on the tray so they can explore the texture through touch and smell.

12 months and older: For yourself or an odler kiddo you could add a little sweetener (uch as honey) and toppings (such as coconut chips or crushed nuts) to give the puree a nice texture. 

Quinoa Porridge

Serving Size:

4

Time:

35 min.

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1/2 cup of almond milk 
• ⅛ teaspoon of cinnamon.
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

1. Add oil to a cold saucepan until it starts to shimmer. Add the cinnamon and quinoa to the oil and stir them together until the spiced oil mixture coats the quinoa and you can smell the cinnamon becoming more fragrant (about 1-2minutes). 
2. Add the almond milk to the saucepan and stir the quinoa and milk together. Raise the heat until the mixture comes to a light simmer and let it cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. 
3. Spoon the quinoa into a bowl and set aside. 
   

Blueberry Compote

Serving Size:

4

Time:

8 min.

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

• 2 cups wild blueberries 
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Juice from ½ lemon

Directions

1. Add 2 cups of wild organic frozen blueberries to a saucepan. Break up any large clumps with a wooden spoon. 
2. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Sprinkle in 1/8 teaspoon of ground cardamom. Stir until combined.
3. Once the mixture comes to a gentle simmer and the juices start to release (about 5 min.) turn off the heat. 
4. Using a hand blender, blend the blueberries until they start to break apart and make a textured puree. 
5. Scoop the berries into a bowl and set aside. 
   

To assemble the porridge mixture into a 2 ounce container, first add a large scoop of quinoa porridge, then a large scoop of unsweetened coconut yogurt and then one spoonful of blueberry compote. Stir together to combine before serving. Enjoy! 

Grain variations: you could also follow the same porridge cooking steps using different grains such as rolled oats or millet. You may need to adjust the amount of milk you use due to the varying way the grains absorb the milk

Yogurt variations: you could also use unsweetened full fat Greek yogurt, sheep’s milk yogurt, goat’s milk yogurt, cashew yogurt, or almond yogurt. 

Milk variations: you could use peanut cow’s milk, pea protein milk, oat milk, coconut milk or any kind of nut milk

Fruit variations: you could follow the same directions for the compote but use different berries such as strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. 

The post Make A Delicious Dish for your Baby-Quinoa Porridge with Blueberry Compote appeared first on Feeling Yum.

OT Feeding Therapy Tips:

Ages 8 months- 1.5 years: If you are serving the spaghetti squash to a child under the age of 18 months, you can cook a portion of the squash 5-10 min. longer, so it is softer for them. You could then serve the squash mashed or serve the squash in a bowl, so the child can practice grasping the strands. The vegan Parmesan is a great way to introduce your child to Brazil nuts, since they are ground up. When you’re blending up the ingredients, just save a portion for your little one, before adding salt to the remainder of the mix. You can then mix the nut mixture into a puree.

Ages 2 years+: You can share with your kids how a big yellow squash can turn into long spaghetti strands! We teach you how to cook spaghetti squash so your child can help you with the food prep by scooping out the squash flesh. They then could help mix it into their favorite pasta sauce.

Products Used in This Video

Brightland Olive Oil: Lucid, Lemon Infused Olive Oil

Nuvo Olive Oil: The Early Harvest-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Himalayan Sea Salt: Himalania Himalayan Fine Pink Salt Shaker

Cacio e Pepe Spaghetti Squash

Serving Size:

6

Time:

1 hour

Difficulty:

Medium

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash
• Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
2. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds from each half. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the squash cut side down and make holes using a fork.
3. Place each half cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 35-40 min. depending on the size of the squash. Once slightly browned on the outside and tender to the fork, remove from oven.
4. Flip the squash so it’s cut side up and let it cool to touch. Using a fork, scrape strands from the side until it is fluffed and has mostly only the skin remaining.
5. Scoop the flesh from the squash into a bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a generous amount of fresh pepper. Stir in vegan parmesan (recipe below) and sprinkle with your favorite herb, such as parsley.

Recipe Ingredients

Vegan Parmesan

Serving Size:

12

Time:

10 min.

Difficulty:

Simple

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Brazil nuts
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ¼ teaspoon garlic flakes or powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic flakes or powder
• ¾ sea salt

Directions

1. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until a fine crumb is achieved. Transfer to a jar and store in the fridge. Sprinkle on your favorite Italian dishes, grain bowls, and baked dishes!

The post Cacio e Pepe Spaghetti Squash with Vegan Parmesan appeared first on Feeling Yum.

OT Feeding Therapy Tips:

Ages 9 months-1.5 years: Both dips are purees that you could share with your little ones. When mixing the ingredients for the guacamole dip, reserve a portion to the side for your baby that does not include added salt or Serrano peppers. When blending the salsa, reserve a portion without the added salt, Anaheim and Serrano pepper. Serve a very small portion (i.e. ⅛ teaspoon) if introducing peppers for the first time. If you are serving the jicama to a child under the age of two, you could steam them until the strips are soft and serve them mashed or in wedge pieces.

Ages 2 years+: If you have any picky eaters at home, get them involved in the cooking process, such as having your child help mash and mix the avocado. When preparing the salsa, your child could use a and add chopped ingredients to the blender. When the child is old enough, they could help prepare the ingredients by helping chop them with a child-safe knife.

Products Used in This Video

Nuvo Olive Oil: The Early Harvest-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Jacobsen Sea Salt: Pure Kosher Sea Salt

Tortilla Chips: Siete Maiz Sea Salt Totopos Corn Tortilla Chips

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Stores Visited

Antojitos Latinos Market:

25381 Alicia Parkway Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Whole Foods Market:

23932 Aliso Creek Road Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

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Recipes

Yummy Guacamole

Serving Size:

4-6

Time:

10 min.

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

• 3 ripe avocados
• ¼ red onion (depending on size)
• 1 serrano pepper (optional)
• 1 handful of cilantro
• 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
• A drizzle of olive oil

Directions

1. Slice the avocados in half, slice the avocado in chunks, and then scoop the flesh into a bowl. Mash the avocado with a large fork until you reach a desired consistency (we showed a chunky consistency in the video).
2. Dice the red onion, thinly slice the Serrano pepper (deseeded optional), and roughly chop a handful of cilantro. Mix these ingredients into the bowl with the avocado.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil to taste.

The Best Green Salsa

Serving Size:

10-12

Time:

30 min.

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

• 1 pasilla pepper
• 1 Anaheim pepper
• 1 Serrano pepper (optional)
• 2 large tomatoes
• 4 tomatillos
• ½ white onion
• 1 zucchini
• 1 handful of cilantro
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• A drizzle of olive oil

Directions

1. Bring water in a sauté or sauce pan to a boil. Roughly chop tomatoes, tomatillos, white onion, and zucchini. Add them to the lightly salted boiled water and cook until softened (about 8 minutes).
2. Heat an oven to 400 degrees. Deseed and slice the pasilla, Anaheim and Serrano peppers and drizzle them with olive oil and salt. Roast them for 12 min. or until lightly blistered.
3. Blend the boiled and roasted ingredients until pureed. Add 1 handful of cilantro, a drizzle or and sea salt to taste.

Jicama Strips

Serving Size:

4-6

Time:

5 min.

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

• 1 medium jicama

Directions

1. Slice off the top and bottom end of the jicama root.
2. Remove the outer skin using a knife.
3. Slice the peeled jicama in half lengthwise. Cut each half in ¼ inch sticks.

The post Delicious Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Dips for Gatherings appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Chickpeas are a healthy and easy swap for chicken in soups and salads. Not only are they loaded with fiber and protein, they are simply a pantry-friendly easy swap that make a lighter meal. Moreover, this dish travels and stores well. Double the recipe if you’d like to snack on it all week or share it at your next picnic. To challenge taking your cooking to the next level, I highly encourage you to take your time to cook your beans. The fresh texture and taste could never be replicated in a stored can.

The following recipe has suggestions of brands I specifically tested and love, but please adapt to your preferences and what’s in your kitchen to make swaps as needed.

Creamy Coconut Yogurt Dressing

• 1 container of Culina Plain & Simple coconut greek yogurt (5 oz.)
• 2 Tbs. Sir Kensington’s avocado oil mayo
• Juice of 1 medium size lemon to taste
• 1 tsp. of dijon mustard 
• 1 tsp. of kosher salt
• A few grinds of black pepper
• A handful of roughly chopped soft herbs (i.e. parsley, tarragon or chives)

Waldorf Salad

• 2-3 cups of cans of chickpeas link on how to cook beans
• 1 medium size apple
• 1 cup of grapes
• ½  spring red onion chopped
• 3-4 stalks of sliced celery 
• 1 cup of sprouted walnuts

Directions: In a small bowl, mix dressing ingredients. In a medium size bowl mix salad ingredients, Mix dressing into salad. Law over a bed of lettuce and add toasted walnuts on top and enjoy!

The post Chickpea Waldorf Salad With Creamy Coconut Yogurt Dressing appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Also, pestos are a great way to use herbs that droop quickly (aka soft herbs or greens that sat on your counter too long) that you’d like to use before they go brown. Once preserved in herbs and citrus, it will stay fresh in your fridge for at least a week. I love to use it for lunch grain bowls, which can be used in lieu of limp sad salad greens that are difficult to keep fresh on-the-go.

The key to obtaining a rustic creamy consistency with specks of herbs blended throughout, is the order you put in the ingredients. This helps ensure each ingredient’s texture is preserved as it gets processed, a technique I learned from Milk Street. 

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of pine nuts
• 2 medium garlic clothes pressed and peeled
• 1 lemon (meyer lemon preferred)
• 1-2 tsp. of nutritional yeast
• 1 bunch of fresh basil
• Kosher salt to taste

Directions:

1. First, macerate the garlic by roughly chopping 1-2 garlic clothes and covering them with the juices of 1/2 squeezed lemon (preferably meyer lemon) and let it sit for 5-15 min.
2. Second, pour in ~¼ cup of sprouted pine nuts, a generous sprinkle of kosher salt, 1-2 tsp. Og nutritional yeast and macerated garlic into a food processor using the S blade and blitz until it becomes paste-like (similar to peanut butter)
3. Next, add 1 bunch of plucked basil leaves and pulse a few times until gently incorporated. With the food processor running, drizzle in ~¼ cup of olive oil until desired consistency.
4. Squeeze in other ½ of lemon juice, adding more or less to taste

Once you’ve experimented a bit, you can start to try other nut and herb concoctions, such as kale walnut pesto, tomato pesto or spring pea pesto.

The post Diary-Free Pesto Alla Genovese appeared first on Feeling Yum.

I have a solution! If you don’t have an immediate idea for another use, you can use your roasted red peppers to make a delicious spread that you can toss over vegetables, fish, on toast or with eggs. It’s flexible as well, so you can experiment with what you have on hand. It will also last more than a week in the fridge-theoretically. 

What is romesco sauce? For the unacquainted- it’s a sauce used in Spain that is often used for tapas. The first time I experienced eating this creamy goodness over a bed of roasted asparagus was on a trip in Barcelona, Spain. Since I cannot eat dairy, I almost subjected myself to  watching the others at the table enjoy this delicious tapa until I summoned enough courage to inquire about the main ingredients. To my delight, the creaminess was due to the almonds and it was diary free! Music to my ears.

However, I’ve made variations in the past and  although family members never complained about finishing the leftovers, I personally have found them too rich and never finished them. Also charing the bell pepper over a stove or under a broiler, peeling and cutting it is an extra fussy step that is too much of a headache to do with a grumbly stomach on a weekday. 

My inspo for the riffing on ingredients came from one of my favorite spots in Los Angeles, Botanica- thank you!

Pantry Romesco Sauce

• The remainder of a jar of roasted red pepper
• ½  cup of sprouted almonds (I prefer to do ½ cup almonds, ¼ cup hazelnuts)
• 2-3 roughly chopped garlic cloves
• 1-2 serrano peppers if you like some spice
• Splash of olive oil, add more to desired consistency
• Handful of cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Splash of vinegar and/or lemon juice

Directions: 

1. Blitz all ingredients in a food processor until desired thickness
2. Add more salt or vinegar/lemon to taste. 

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