Hello there friends, family and fans of NGCO!

I’m Sarah, Josh and Jessie’s cousin. 

Jessie asked me awhile ago if I wouldn’t mind sharing some baby food recipes and tips with you all and I said sure!  I love making baby food.  I like knowing exactly what is going into [...]]]> by Cousin Sarah

Hello there friends, family and fans of NGCO!

I’m Sarah, Josh and Jessie’s cousin. 

Jessie asked me awhile ago if I wouldn’t mind sharing some baby food recipes and tips with you all and I said sure!  I love making baby food.  I like knowing exactly what is going into my little guy’s mouth and how it was made. 

Let me start by saying, I reference this website for almost everything: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

I usually have a day that I designate as "Baby Food Makin’ Day"  cuz, I’m not gonna lie, it makes a huge mess of your kitchen… or at least I do… it could definitely be just me.

I make large batches of whatever fruits and veggies I can find at the stores here and then freeze them in ice cube trays or glass jars.

The last time I made baby food I did oatmeal, squash, sweet potato, green beans and broccoli. I’m sharing two things today: Oatmeal and squash.  They’re both pretty easy and standard, but they’re faves of my little guy, Ziggy (aka Isaac).

Oatmeal. 

I’m a big fan of keeping things natural, so I make my own cereals in order to keep away from everything that is added to fortify commercial cereals.  I do oatmeal, brown rice and barley.  The day I took photos I was doing oatmeal, but the other grains can be substituted and prepared in the same way.

I use the desired quantities on the oatmeal container.

First, I start a proper amount of water heating to a rapid boil.

While that’s going, I grind the oats in my food processor (you can also use a coffee grinder) into a fine powder.*This oat powder can also be used to substitute flour in many baby baked good recipes if you like to stay away from bleached and wheat flour.

Next, I get my whisk out.

Once the water is at a rapid boil, I add the oat powder.

The key to avoid clumping is to whisk whisk whisk!

Cook for the suggested amount of time.

When done cooking, you can stir in a bit of extra water to thin it out if desired.

I let the oatmeal cool for a minute, but not too long or it gets thick and hard to work with, before dividing it up into labeled jars or ice cube trays.

You can also make oatmeal as you normally would, and then process it after it’s done cooking, but I find that it’s much smoother this way.

Finally, I date and freeze the jars.  Or, if I use trays, I freeze them until the cubes are good and hard (usually at least two hours) and then I break them out and put them into a labeled and dated plastic bag and store in the freezer.

Then, I just take out a cube or two and thaw as needed and add to fruits or vegetables!

Squash.

Acorn squash works the best as far as freezing goes, it retains it’s texture the best.  My 9-month old would eat squash all day, every day if I let him.  LOVES it!

First, wash the outside of your squash.

The hardest part to me is cutting the bugger in half, length-wise. I start on the bottom with a heavy-duty knife and go through the stem last.

Remove that sticker, of course.

And then scoop out the seeds and guts with a spoon (I save the seeds to roast later… yummy!).

Then, place the halves, skin up/meat down in a baking dish and add an inch or two of water.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.  I usually check after a half hour.  When the skin starts to pucker and your finger leaves an indentation when pressed on it, it’s ready.

Let cool for a few minutes and then scoop the meat out into a blender or food processor. 

Puree, and if needed, add a little water until desired consistency.

Divide into dated and labeled glass jars or ice cube trays and freeze.

Cubes will take at least two hours to freeze entirely.  (If you take them out too soon and put them in baggies, they’ll stick together.  Not fun.)

Break cubes from trays and place in labeled plastic baggies.

Hint: If you’re having a hard time getting the puree from the trays, put a bit of hot water in a baking dish and let the bottom of the trays soak in it for just a minute to loosen them.

Then remove from freezer and use as needed. 

The thing I like about cubes, is you can start out with just one or two when baby first starts on solids, and increase as you go along (my guy was up to four, until he just recently decided he was too cool to be spoon fed purees anymore, now I’m experimenting with making him finger foods).

Also, I like to combine say a cube of oatmeal with a cube of squash and a cube of green beans… they make it easy to make different food concoctions.

Anyway, there you have it!  (I was going to include an "after" shot of my kitchen, but it was just too embarrassing). ☺

Hi! Prairie Princess here.  Can you believe Jessie invited me back to guest blog again?  Weird.  Although between us, I don’t think it has anything to do with me personally, and everything to do with my status on Facebook the other night that stated “just made some peanut butter bars with fudge frosting [...]]]>

Hi! Prairie Princess here.  Can you believe Jessie invited me back to guest blog again?  Weird.  Although between us, I don’t think it has anything to do with me personally, and everything to do with my status on Facebook the other night that stated “just made some peanut butter bars with fudge frosting that are of the DEVIL.”  Fun fact about Jessie….she LOVES peanut butter and chocolate together, one of the many reasons we get along so well.   Apparently, the “peanut butter bars w/ fudge frosting” teaser caught her eye and a deal was made.  I will stop at nothing to get a guest blog deal. 

In my arsenal of sweet treat recipes, I have 3 favorite peanut butter/chocolate recipes, make that 4 because this one just got inducted to the list.  They are Buckeye Bars, PW’s Peanut Butter Pie, Martina McBride’s Peanut Butter Incredible Bars (long story but yes THE Martina McBride gave me a recipe, never mind if it was via the recipe section of an issue of Country Weekly), and now these, these “Of the Devil Bars”.  Hmmmmm….maybe I should do a guest blog series here and give you all of them over time?  Jessie, have your people call mine, we’ll work something out. 

I wish I could take credit for this recipe but I can’t.   Actually yes I can, I gave them their new and improved name, oh and also I failed to include an important ingredient that altered the outcome.  The original recipe is from one of my favorite cooking blogs www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com.  Just what you needed right, another blog to read?  As long as you’re adding to the blog reading list add this one too www.hillbillyhilarity.blogspot.com.  Oh yeah, I totally went there with a shameless plug for my own blog.  Sorry, now let’s get back to the cooking.

Of the Devil Peanut Butter Bars  (from sisterscafe.blogspot)

The Bar

¾ c. butter (margarine worked fine)

¾ c. sugar

¾ c. brown sugar

¾ c. peanut butter

(do you see a pattern here?  This is one that will be easy to commit to memory with the ¾ c. thing…dangerous!)

2 eggs

½ t. vanilla

¾ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 ½ c. flour

1 ½ c. oats  (this is the ingredient that I didn’t realize I didn’t have until the rest of it was already mixed up…oops)

Cream together the butter and sugars.  Add peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Risk salmonella poisoning, take a spoon and have dip from the bowl…it’s divine. (Has anyone ever really gotten salmonella from eating dough or batter with raw eggs?  Confession time:  I have been known to make a cake or a batch of cookies strictly for the batter or dough.  Anyone with me on this one?  Anyone?)   I was tempted to stop at this step and just have some peanut butter mousse but I did the adult like thing and pressed onward.  Sigh. 

Add dry ingredients and mix the oats until firm dough is made.  Since I didn’t add oats my dough never got firm but it was nonetheless DELICIOUS!  You’ll need to do a taste test again at this point just for quality control purposes.   Press batter into a jelly roll pan.  What’s a jelly roll pan you may ask?  It’s smaller than a cookie sheet, but has 1” sides.  Google says it’s 10 x 15 x 1, so there you go, Google knows all.  Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Start watching them closely at 11 minutes because it would be a shame to overbake them.  They should be barely golden.  Sidenote:  When one omits the oats they will still be jiggly in the middle when you take them out.  It’s okay, better jiggly than not.  Wish the same were true for my thighs. 

Allow to cool while you make the frosting, oh the frosting. 

Chocolate Fudge Fughettaboutit Frosting

1 c. sugar

5 T. butter

1/3 c. milk (I used half and half because my motto is go big or go home, but that’s just me)

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

And now for the secret ingredient………

¾ c. mini marshmallows (who would’ve ever thought to put marshmallows in frosting?  Pure genius!)

Place the sugar, butter and milk in small saucepan over medium low heat, stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.  Boil, still stirring constantly for 1 minute.  Remove the pan from heat, add the chocolate chips and stir until melted, then add the marshmallows and stir until melted.  Then dip a (clean, it’s flu season) spoon in for a taste and die a glorious death.  Spread onto mostly cool bars or just eat the pan full of frosting, whatever.    I’m totally using this frosting recipe for other culinary delights (ex:  cakes, cookies, brownies) in the future. 

And should you omit the oats either accidentally or because you want to be like me, you’ll need to put the bars in the freezer for a while to allow them to set up, otherwise they are a gooey mess of wonderfulness but hard to handle.  Cut into squares, enjoy and curse the day you found this recipe because it will inevitably be the demise of your diet.  My apologies. 

Peace out from the Prairie Princess.

Hi my name is Holly, you can call me Prairie Princess. I’m a wannabe farm girl who lives in the boondocks with my backwoods, military husband, GI Joe and 3 hillbilly kids. I love to pet my assortment of farm animals, shop, read, blog, and cook. Which brings me to why [...]]]> *contains no illegal substances

Hi my name is Holly, you can call me Prairie Princess. I’m a wannabe farm girl who lives in the boondocks with my backwoods, military husband, GI Joe and 3 hillbilly kids. I love to pet my assortment of farm animals, shop, read, blog, and cook. Which brings me to why I’m here, I’m sure you were wondering.

As a fellow blogger, we thought it would be fun if I did a guest post. And by we, I mean I begged and pleaded with Jessie to let me guest post as it would be such an honor. But I’m not an artist like sister Emily of Styled post fame or a music connoisseur like The Tyler Forret of The Tyler Forret Speaks fame, but I can cook. Not one to brag but I have won an award or two or actually just one, for my culinary abilities, so it just made sense that my post feature a recipe. Be thankful as I’m sure you didn’t want to hear about my gay llamas or the chickens that refuse to lay eggs, or my love of New Kids on the Block, or my unfortunate incident at the aquatic center.

As a good (I use the term good loosely) Baptist, it’s second nature that when someone dies, is ill, or has a baby they must be fed. Well, not the dead but those left to grieve, obviously. Even though Jace is now nearly 6 months old, give or take a few months, I thought it was time I took Jessie and family a home cooked meal. I am happy to report that the Zeiglers did not starve during the time of my neglect, as apparently it’s not just Baptists who do such things. Who knew?!? My pink, feathered hat goes off to the wonderful ladies of their non-Baptist church for beating me to the punch. You should also beg Jessie to write a guest post for the blog so you can share your recipes. Without further ado here’s the recipe for the post partum meal I took to the Zeiglers. I was going for easy, quick, yummy, and kid friendly. I hope it hit the spot, it does for us.

Photo staged?  I think not.  This is real life, people, try to ignore the sauce splatter.  This is a pre-cooked picture.

Post Partum Pot Pizza

12 oz. Kluski noodles (don’t let this scare you, they are real and can be found in the pasta section right next to the egg noodles, they are a dry noodle made by the Amish…really!), cook and drain

1 lb. ground beef or Italian sausage

Other pizza toppings as desired. Ex: pepperoni, Canadian bacon, mushrooms)

1 26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce, any flavor

1 14 oz jar of pizza sauce

½ t. Italian seasoning

1 t. garlic salt

Pinch of sugar

6 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

6 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

¼ c. Parmesan cheese, grated (the canned stuff works too, I won’t judge)

Spray crockpot with PAM and pour a tiny bit of spaghetti sauce in the bottom to prevent sticking.

Brown beef, season with Italian seasoning and garlic. Drain. Add pizza and spaghetti sauces and spices to meat.

Layer in the crockpot: noodles, sauce with beef and other pizza toppings, and cheese. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.

Cook on low 2-3 hours (or if you’re in a hurry 1 hour on high), until cheese is melted and dish is completely heated.

Serve with garlic bread.

Ready to eat!  Yum.  Photos and captions provided by: Jessie.

Because Jessie is such a rock star for delivering a 10 pound baby au naturel I made her Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie for dessert. Whether or not you’ve given birth recently, you should make this pie immediately, you’ve earned it.