Off Road Cooking: Cooking for Baby 101

Ok, so I have been posting lots of meal ideas that I have made for little man, but didn't realize that I might have to back it up a bit. Read about my first ever "Off Road Cooking" post here!

I dedicate this post to explaining how I go about preparing meals. I have it down to a very simple process that literally takes minutes :)

Note that I make fresh food every 4 days or so. I don't freeze food because I do not have a microwave at home. Now you are wondering why I am a crazy person who doesn't own one... Well, I get enough wave exposure at work when I heat up my leftovers and I have a small kitchen. Plus, we don't use it much anyway. I am not a huge fan of what it makes the food taste like either.

Ok, let's get started!

You will need:
- small saucepan with lid
- baby bullet, food processor, blender or hand blender (or elbow grease and a potato masher! haha)
- small containers to store food (like Baby Cubes)
- sharp knife and cutting board

Ingredients:
Meat- chicken breast, leg or thigh, turkey, pork tenderloin, beef sirloin, salmon fillet, egg (I use the entire thing, although some say not to give the whites before 1yr)
I usually buy what is on sale, because this is the most expensive part of groceries. I like to use lean meat because it cooks nicely and boils well. You usually have no ligaments or stringy fatty tissue that would be difficult to blend.
I always use a tendoriser when I boil meat, not MSG!! I'm talking garlic, onion, leeks, chives.
I also use flavours, consisting of fresh herbs (basil, parsley, sage, thyme, oregano, cilantro)

Fats- olive oil, cheese or butter
If something is too lean, you can always ad some flavour with butter or cheese. It also helps to smoothen the texture if you find it dry.

Vegetables- ALL
Fruits- ALL
Fresh produce is NOT expensive! I hate it when I hear people saying this. If you stick with what is in season, go to markets or farms directly, and if you buy what is on sale or featured, you will be just fine. Make sure you get a variety all the time and try to buy something new that you never used before or often (ex: okra, eggplant, artichoke, gourds). For these specialty items, perhaps wait until they go on sale :)
I also recommend having basic items stocked in the fridge like potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, lettuce/spinach/kale, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, lemon, broccoli/cauliflower (always have enough to make a salad). For fruits I always need banana, apple/pear and maybe grapes. If I am out of these, I definitely need groceries!

Grains- brown rice, quinoa, lentils, barley, buckwheat, beans, cracked wheat (bulgur)
Always have these grains in your pantry. They are handy if you don't have meat or protein at home. They also provide  nice way to thicken any dish.

Flavour- fresh herbs for savoury dishes, cinnamon and nutmeg for fruit compotes and garlic, onion, leeks, chives, mushrooms for umami!

Cooking meat:
Take your saucepan and roughly chop about 1 cup of meat. Add about half a cup of water, a quarter cup of onions (or other suggestion above), a tiny bit of salt and pepper and maybe some fresh herbs if you have any. Cover and let it boil at a medium heat until meat is soft and cooked all the way through.

Blend with your tool of choice. Add water or milk if needed. You may also add butter or cheese to thicken and smoothen.

Fill your containers and let cool before placing in the fridge/freezer.

Cooking fruits or vegetables:
Roughly chop any combination of vegetables or fruit, about 2 cups worth. Add about 1/2 cup of water and let boil at a medium heat. Don't over boil the vegetables/fruit, it's almost steaming them to ensure that you don't lose all the nutrients, but they are soft enough to blend.
You can add a tiny bit of salt and pepper, herbs or anything above that adds flavour (like onions, leeks…) to your vegetables and cinnamon/nutmeg to your fruits.

Blend with your tool of choice. Add more water or milk if needed. You may also add butter or cheese to thicken and smoothen.

Fill your containers and let cool before placing in the fridge/freezer.

~

The philosophy behind "Off Road Cooking" is getting used to being creative with what is in the fridge. We don't always have time to do groceries, but you should have enough basics in the fridge to make a healthy meal, even if it is a simple one. My "Off Road Cooking" posts are generally not planned but something I whipped up that day. Sometimes I get inspired by traditional dishes and I make them baby friendly (Thanksgiving meal or the Baby Borscht).

I hope I can encourage you to be more creative in the kitchen, not just for your baby but for you too!

Please share your comments below, I would love some feedback on my "Off Road Cooking" lifestyle :)

Off Road Cooking: a fancy feast

Some dinner inspiration for you all!

I haven't been home for a few days and today I decided to dedicate myself to little man's nutrition! We were visiting a friend in Thunder Bay and I fed V more store bought baby food than usual (Baby Gourmet is the brand I go for) which gave him terribly smelly number twos (sorry for the over share). I think this is why I felt compelled to cook up a storm.

I made him a very gourmet dinner which consisted of a three course meal:

1- White: Boiled chicken with onions, fresh parsley, sage and goat cheese

2- Red: Boiled beets with kale, red onion, lentils and zucchini3- Yellow: Boiled pumpkin, leeks, celery, and carrot with butter

Needless to say, little man gobbled this up. The entire thing! What a piggy. Sometimes he's a bottomless pit. He never says no, so I don't actually know what his maximum capacity is.

Anyway, as they say… Bon Appétit!

What's your favourite meal to prepare for baby? What are their favourite flavours? Please share your comments below!

Off Road Cooking: Ghoulish Inspiration

Boiled beets with red onion and brussels sprouts… baby Borsch!

In the spirit of Halloween, I decided to use beets for little V's next few meels. I love using seasonal produce, which is great on the wallet!

Beets are so amazing. Naturally sweet, full of antioxidants and high in fiber which is great for the digestive system.

I won't give him this everyday, because it can be a little too much for his number twos.

As I was cooking, I noticed the gorgeous colour staining my cutting board and thought... What a bloody mess? ( hehe pun intended!)

Have fun in the kitchen and please leave your comments or questions below.

Momma's night off: Food Network Chef Bucket List

I love The Food Network. I have been watching it for over 10 years now, before it became a hipster thing. That's how I learnt my confidence in the kitchen and of course where I was able to unleash my creative cooking. I have had the chance to meet some of my favourite chefs like Michael Smith and Chuck Hughes, and now I can add Janet Podleski to my list!

I asked my brother in law to look after V tonight so I could attend this free talk. Janet talked about the Looneyspoons story and the struggles they had to overcome to reach to the level of success they are at today. She also did a small Nutrition portion to the presentation which had very smart and obvious messages like:

• Eat real food, not processed food
• Avoid sugar and bad oils
• Be positive about your image and encourage yourself to eat well

Eat Shrink and Be Merry's Janet Podleski, my sis Tamara and I at the Ottawa Public Health Day Event 

Off Road Cooking: Gourds are gourd for you

Following my October post, I thought it would be nice to show you what I've been stirring up in my baby kitchen these days!

Victor is really loving gourds, who doesn't. I particularly love cooking with pumpkins or butternut squash. Not only are they delicious and creamy, they cook so fast and they are easy to cut and peel (I use a peeler). As you all know, gourds can be intimidating to cook with because the skin is so hard and bumpy. An easy trick is to use a good sharp knife, preferably with a ceramic blade. You can cut it in half, remove the seeds,  bake it first and peel the insides, or simply chop it up and steam. I have seen gourds being sold in cubes at the grocery store which is a nice way to eat healthy, save time and avoid the intimidation. Listen, I am all for short cuts, if the end result is worth it.

Last weekend, Victor ate his first traditional Thanksgiving meal which consisted of mash potatoes, turkey breast, brussel sprouts, stuffing and a teaspoon of cranberry sauce. He LOVED it! I brought the baby bullet at the in-laws since I had been anticipating this day for a while now. It was nice to have the evening off in the kitchen. When it came to desert, I felt bad watching V stare at my homemade pumpkin pie, so I gave him a bite of the middle... his arms kept flapping in the air while he rolled his wrists, which is the symbol for "YUM, I WANT MORE!".

Poor thing, I wasn't going to give him more sugar desert, but I did make this for him... my version of Baby Apple Pumpkin Pie.

Are you sick of Turkey leftovers yet? What's your favourite Thanksgiving dish? Are you finding it hard to catch up to the 4-day week? Good news, tomorrow is Friday!

Apple Pumpkin Pie (homemade apple and pumpkin puree in water with cinnamon and nutmeg) 

Bumps on the Road- The Event (part 2)

This is part 2 from my earlier post "Bumps on the Road- A woman's story"

Here is an open letter than I sent to my friends and family to help me fundraise for "Bumps on the Road 9K Walk for Pregnancy". At this point in my life it's very hard for me to separate my personal life with my professional one. The work that I do is so relevant, and some would say that it is that passion that drives me to love my job!

2012 BOTR Walk- Mayor Jim Watson, Me at 24 weeks
and Councillor David Chernushenko (Old Ottawa South)

Dear friends and family, 
As you know every year I organize the CFWH Bumps on the Road 9K Walk, it's an event that is very close to my heart.
Some of you may already know that I had a miscarriage almost 2 years ago. This walk was inspired by that tragic event and was created to support the issues that pregnant women can face.
Last year, it was bitter sweet, as I was pregnant with Victor and going through so much from pelvic pain, to swelling and even pre-eclampsia in the last couple of weeks. 

This year, I will have Victor by my side and will support the walk to help other women who may not have been as lucky as I was during my labour. 

I hope you can all join me on October 20th and walk not only for me, but for your children, your mother and you!
Please visit our website at www.bumpsontheroad.ca to make a donation or sign up for the event!
Don't forget to share this with your friends too and help us achieve our 9K for 9K goal!
Thank you in advance for your support and I hope to see you all there! Chantal 

If you would like to read more about how this event came to be, check out my in depth interview in 2011 with Local Tourist Ottawa here.

 

Why fundraising for women's health is hard

You're probably thinking that I am crazy for making such a bold statement, but yes, it is extremely hard to fundraise for women's health! I have been working for a women's health organization for five years now, and specifically fundraising for 3 years for the Canadian Foundation for Women's Health, a national charity that raises money for research in women's sexual and reproductive health. Although one might think that this is an easy job, trust me when I tell you fundraising here comes with its challenges.

Successful fundraising equation
For fundraising to work, you must use this simple equation:

Cause/Problem + Passion = Support

In this equation "cause" is the reason you are raising funds for, the "Passion" is the person/business that is either affected by your cause or has a solution for the cause and "Support" is either monetary or in-kind.

What's Hindering the Support
Here are the factors that make it difficult to fundraise for women's health:

• "Isn't breast cancer women's health?", "I already support breast cancer", "I'm wearing pink today"
• Women's health is such a broad topic, specifically I am referring to women's sexual and reproductive health, the rest of our health is pretty much the same as men.
• Research that is needed for such things as "Pregnancy" don't come with a medication that can "cure" it. Therefore fundraising for it is less obvious. In fact, because we limit the use of medication during pregnancy, this makes it even more difficult.
• Remember when we talked about Passion, well in this case it's actually too broad of a spectrum. One can argue that Women's Health affects every single person on this planet. Why? Because we all came from our mother's womb. 
• Anyone that has taken a marketing class knows that you can't just advertise to "everyone" you need a target market. Well, in this case, if we narrow it down, one of our target audience is new moms raising a family on her maternity leave budget and that are struggling to make it by, or a young family that is spending every last dime on fertility treatments. Wow, we should be able to raise tons for research this way.
• Back to the Cause, what's so terrible about "Women's Health" that we need to raise money for? Well, obviously if you are asking yourself this question you have no clue what's either coming to you or you are a man. Women go through so many changes during different stages in their lives. As soon as a woman hits puberty, she is destined to encounter a plethora of unique "challenges' with her body. She will become a mother, or perhaps suffer infertility. She may have specific diseases such as Endometriosis, Fibroids or Vulvodynia. And later in life she may have uncontrollable symptoms of menopause and suffer from problems like incontinence. Dare I also mention that throughout this entire time a woman will be dodging the "C" word and try to protect all her organs; from het skin, to her ovaries, to her cervix and breasts.

Fashion, Heels and Cosmetics are NOT related to Women's Health
Why don't you just throw pink cocktail party and a fashion show to raise money for women's health? Contradictory to popular belief, high heels, fashion and cosmetics are not really related to women's health. In fact, many of these things are ironically bad for women. Heels destroy your feet, our fashion world makes it beautiful to have an eating disorder and cosmetics have made us more shallow, hate our natural selves, question our beauty and have been linked to cancer. Yes, women like these things (and trust me, so do I!). But this is a way to attract women and make fundraising "trendy". I am not sure how much the participants are doing it for the "Passion".


Fundraising is a difficult, yet rewarding job. When you have managed to convince someone that they should support you, because they already believe in your cause, you can rest assure knowing that you have instilled passion in one person. The nice thing about passion is that it is highly contagious!

The intention of my post is not for the readers to feel sorry for me and give to the charity that I represent, but more for you to find a cause and match it with your passion.

Good luck!