Pasta Lasagna!

Brady is now almost 10 months old and is eating just about everything. Two of his favorites are pasta and lasagna. The only problem with lasagna is having to cut it up so I figured this would make things a lot easier... it's also very yummy. Brady loves to feed himself this meal. The wheel shapes are perfect and don't require any cutting. Even my husband loves this dish! All ingredients used were organic but you can certainly substitute without changing the flavor.

PASTA LASAGNA
- 1 pound ground beef (I use organic, grass fed beef - yum!)

- 3/4 cup spinach (I thawed out some frozen spinach but you can also just add raw, fresh spinach too!)

- 1 1/2 cups full fat Ricotta cheese

- 2 eggs

- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

- 1/2 cup Mozzarella with a little extra to sprinkle on top

- 2 jars of tomato sauce

- 1 box of Rotelle pasta (wheel shapes - good for little ones!)

* Cook ground beef over medium heat until brown. Drain fat. Stir in spinach and tomato sauce. In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta, eggs, parmesan cheese and mozzarella. In a deep baking dish, spread about a 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture on the bottom. Then add a layer of rotelle pasta. Then add a layer of the ricotta mixture. Repeat and end with the sauce mixture. Sprinkle the top with some extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and put into a preheated oven at 350 degrees. Cook for 50-60 minutes then take foil off and cook for 10 more minutes until bubbly. This recipe makes about 10 servings.

* Brady's Rating: 5 stars!
* Mommy's Rating: 5 stars!

Zucchini Carrot Apple Bread (aka "Mama Bread")

My son just loves bread so I wanted to create some muffins that would be really healthy for him (and sneak in some veggies while I'm at it). Brady loved these muffins! No refined sugar and lots of healthy, organic ingredients. They are so moist , so delicious & so healthy! My husband said the name is too long so he shortened it to "Mama Bread". We have a definite keeper on our hands with this one.

MAMA BREAD
- 1 cup all purpose organic flour

- 2 cups organic whole wheat flour

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp nutmeg

- 2 tsp vanilla

- 2 eggs, beaten

- 1/4 cup vegetable oil

- 1 cup organic applesauce

- 1 cup organic yogurt (plain / full fat)

- 1 cup honey

- 1 cup shredded organic carrots

- 1 cup shredded zucchini (with skin)

* Mix all dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix together vanilla, eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, yogurt and honey. Slowly mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the carrots and zucchini. Pour into greased (I just use some olive oil) muffin tins. Put tins into a preheated oven at 425 degrees. When you put the muffins in the oven, immediately turn the temperature down to 400 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes (or until a knife comes out clean). I found putting them in an extra hot oven creates a nice, big dome top on the muffin. This recipe made 20 muffins.

* Brady's Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
* Mommy's Rating: 4 stars
* Suggestions for next time: I'll try adding in a few tablespoons of flax meal (finely ground flax seed) next time. We found these plenty sweet using honey. If you like them sweeter, you could always add in 1/4 cup of brown sugar.

Baby Banana Bread (No Sugar!)

I've been looking for a healthy banana bread recipe and just couldn't find anything appropriate for little ones. Brady loved this one and it doesn't even have any sugar!

BABY BANANA BREAD
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- few drops of vanilla extract
- 3 organic bananas, mashed

* Mix all dry ingredients together. Cut in softened butter. Mix in eggs and remaining ingredients (bananas last). Batter will be very thick and lumpy. Pour into a greased (I just use some olive oil) bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60min (until firm on top and knife comes out clean).

* Brady's Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
* Mommy's Rating: 3 stars
* Suggestions for next time: It tastes like healthy baby food. I found it a bit dry and in need of something sweet... (1) Applesauce. I wanted to add a few ounces of organic applesauce but we didn't have any left. I'll definitely be doing this next time to make it more moist and sweet. (2) I'll also be adding in a few tablespoons of flax meal (finely ground flax seed) next time. Mmm... omega 3's!

Spinach Souffle - Quick and Easy!

I've been trying to find a way to get Brady to eat green vegetables. Well, here it is! Spinach souffle! Quick and easy...

SPINACH SOUFFLE
- 16oz chopped, organic spinach
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese

* If you use frozen spinach, thaw first and try to drain as much of the water as possible. Use olive oil to lightly coat a muffin tin. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Add to muffin tin. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool before serving. Great finger food!

* Brady's rating: 5 stars (of out 5)!
* Mommy's rating: 4 stars
* Recommendations for next time: Brady loves these but I think I'll try swapping out the mozzarella for whole milk ricotta next time around.