Need Help Gearing a Show Towards Baby/Kid Friendly Foods.

[vlh1187]

Hi all,

I JUST got my kit in yesterday, and am so excited!!! I have a friend who is a new mom, and would like to do a show geared towards baby/kid friendly foods. It sounds like she's going to have a pretty good turnout, so I'd like to be really prepared with some good ideas. Has anyone done something like this before?? Thanks!!

 

[cincychef]

I have been trying to get takers on this show idea for a while. I was thinking of a new mom show with tips and ideas on quick easy dinner for new parents, but also money/time saving tips on baby foods.I try not to buy any babyfood because it is so expensive. Here are a few tips.
Sweet potatoes : peel and boil and mash
Applesauce: make your own without sugar use apple peeler corer slicer
Carrots: boil and blend
Blueberries/strawberries buy on sale and freeze, use metal sheet pans and place on single layer in freezer then transfer to freezer bags
buy quick cook oatmeal in place of baby cereal
Great tools for your kitchen are food chopper, a good set of cookware, several peelers, and several sets of prep bowls, these are perfect for freezing babyfood and then thawing them.I had some other ideas too, but I will have to come back later and add them.
Hope this helps get you started.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I do this for my son's breakfast quite often, just did it with blueberries for him this morning - it works out perfectly, and then I know that he is getting a good serving of fruit with his breakfast!

Put 1/2 cup of blueberries/raspberries/blackberries/peaches in a prep bowl (frozen or fresh - I do both), add a Tbls. of Maple Syrup (I use real syrup or sometimes Agave Nectar) and pop in the microwave for about 1 minute or a lttle less.

This makes a great fruit syrup - and great to use on a slice of french toast, or a toaster waffle, or a pancake.

 

[Becca115]

The cookie press has a disk to rice potatoes. I haven't tried it for other foods, but it may work like a food mill for baby food. I know other ricers market that. Any body tried it?

I love to show off the micro-cookers for moms of any aged kids. They're great to cook veggies for babyfood, or mac and cheese when the kids are older. It's my fav mom tool!

 

[vlh1187]

Mac and Cheese??? Good idea! Do you do the instant Mac and Cheese? Or can you cook a box in the microwave?

 

[vlh1187]

I really wanted to come up with a healthy dinner that was parent and baby friendly. I think I'm going to do a pasta dish with butternut squash sauce and chicken breasts. When making the butternut squash sauce, you can leave out a few chunks for new eaters, more advanced eaters can eat the chicken, and toddlers and up can eat the whole meal. Any thoughts?

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I really wanted to come up with a healthy dinner that was parent and baby friendly. I think I'm going to do a pasta dish with butternut squash sauce and chicken breasts. When making the butternut squash sauce, you can leave out a few chunks for new eaters, more advanced eaters can eat the chicken, and toddlers and up can eat the whole meal. Any thoughts?

In one of the 29 Minute to Dinner cookbooks (can't remember which one!), and it's also in the new Vegetarian Cookbook is a recipe for Mac n Cheese that uses butternut squash hidden as one of the ingredients. It's pretty good! Before my son was diagnosed with gluten/dairy sensitivities I made it a few times, and we all liked it.Also in the first 29 Min. cookbook there is a recipe for Crunchy Whole Grain Chicken Bites that have been a huge hit at our house. I still do them, only using oat flake cereal, or rice chips in place of the sun chips....Those would be for toddlers and above, but they'd go good with Mac n Cheese!

 

[Mommy2amo]

One minute omelets - one egg scrambled in a prep bowl - add some cheese and veggies and whatever.... microwave for 1 minute. You do have to put Pam or veg oil on the prep bowl or the cheese will stick. Perfect for a toddler's breakfast!

 

[Aun]

I use the Creative Cutters to cut shapes out of sandwiches for my son. It makes a "boring" sandwich much more interesting and the small size makes it easier for him to pick up on his own.

 

[Becca115]

Mac and Cheese??? Good idea! Do you do the instant Mac and Cheese? Or can you cook a box in the microwave?

I make the regular Blue Box variety in the microwave. I use the Large Microcooker. Pour in the mac with 1 3/4 cup hot water. Microwave uncovered 8-10 minutes stirring halfway through (the original directions suggest stirring every 2-3 minutes to keep the noodles from sticking together). Then proceed with the box directions adding the cheese mix, milk, and butter. No need to drain. (The original directions had 1 1/3 cups water, but I needed more for my microwave.)

 

[Dotty]

The cookie press has a disk to rice potatoes. I haven't tried it for other foods, but it may work like a food mill for baby food. I know other ricers market that. Any body tried it?

I have tried the ricer for baby food. The food has to be very soft - well cooked and it is good for small amounts. I wasn't too pleased with it as a potato ricer. With all the steps you had to go through to get the potato in (cut into 1/4" pieces), it takes way too long to do a family-sized pot of potatoes. However, as a baby food mill, I like it alot.

 

[HealthNut]

i had a future host tell me, yesterday, that using the chopper - when making vegees for your family, use the food chopper to chop up the vegees to baby size pieces.

 

[rompydompy]

http://www.wix.com/rompydompy/the-food-fightI have a site I run for funsies geared towards just this topic! Pretty much everything uses a babyfood base or can be pureed into it.

 

[lesliec]

My honest opinion for a brand new consultant would be to make the 3 cheese garden pizza (one of the new kit recipes), and give lots of tips of how to incorporate kids in the kitchen (ie- rotary grater, mandoline w/supervision, safety cutter knife thingy, sandwich maker etc.)
If you have some of these things then show them off, but if not, then have the pg numbers and suggest them and have them turn to the pg in the catalog and talk about them.
It is hard enough doing your first few shows, and truly trying to have kids there helping could end up being a nightmare and not get you the desired results.

 

[lt1jane]

if you search the files for "baby" you will find several versions of a flyer that lists PC products that are helpful to parents with young children. I would definitely have copies of that for anyone interested.

Too bad the consultant who did my show after my son was born didn't. She just treated it like a regular party knowing full well that I'd just had a baby that everyone was coming to see. (I postponed my party when I was pregnant because I just didn't have the time and energy to have one while I was sick and pregnant.)

BTW, I highly recommend the 29 minutes to Dinner Volume 2 Mac 'N Cheese. In my house I did have to switch from shells to regular macaroni though. My son wouldn't eat macaroni that didn't look like the blue box. LOL Now that he's older, he will