Almost a big girl

I had a dream last week that Malanga Baby was speaking in full sentences already. Her first one was something about Sancho Panza and the caballos mansos. I was asking her to repeat it, but she thought I was silly for not listening the first time. While she's not anywhere close to speaking like this yet, she does give me the "mommy, that's baby stuff" look more and more now, particularly at the table. Long gone are the happy puree days. If it has to go on a spoon, Malanga Baby has no interest. She wants foods she can pick up and squish herself. This may or may not make it into her mouth, too, but that's not the point, if you ask her. The video below is of her eating steamed broccoli.

I'm too busy trying to keep up with this new "I am too big to be fed" development to post on here much. But the good news is that when all my other culinary ideas fail, bananas always come to the rescue. It's funny because bananas were one of the first foods I introduced to Malanga Baby and she wasn't a fan back in the day. But now that I cut it into little pieces for her, she loves it.

We got the beet!

Beets are a messy and wonderful thing. I roasted some for Malanga Baby tonight and she seemed to enjoy every brightly colored bite. Malanga Papi said she looked like she was wearing "old lady lipstick" afterwards. I think magenta suits her.

Roasted Beets Method

(the basic recipe came from Lisa Barnes' The Petite Appetite)

It's best to try this one while baby is napping since it will be difficult to do much else with your stained hands. I used 2 beets and this yielded about 7 ounces of pureed beets.

- Dress appropriately and use a red cutting board, if possible

- Scrub beets, remove tips & tails

- Pierce beets with a knife

- Wrap beets together in aluminum foil

- Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes

- Let cool, remove skins, puree in food processor

- Dress baby in dark clothes or clothes you don't mind exposing to the risk of staining

Try serving them with ricotta cheese for some variety. Note that your baby's pee will be pink almost immediately after eating beets. And yes, the red does eventually come off of skin.