With the six-month mark also comes the beginning of solid foods. We started Miss Nugget on rice cereal a day before her six month for her evening meal. She was very uncertain about it at first, and over the course of the next few days, this developed into "I don't like plain rice cereal!". The faces became more frequent, and she was constantly batting the spoon away. After about a week of this, we tried her on rice banana cereal. She ate the stuff like it was going out of style! From that day, we slowly increased the amount she was eating, and she's now up to five tablespoons of the stuff. Since my mom was here over the holidays, we also experimented with other foods for Nugget's lunchtime feed, and thus building a list of foods that she likes that we can add to the rotation. I've continued to do this now that my mom has gone back home (hopefully for not too much longer; we're still waiting on her house to sell). So far, Nugget has eaten carrot (not keen, but will eat it), sweet potato (likes it), strawberry (LOVES it), creamed corn (LOVES it), peas (likes it), blueberry (LOVES it), apple (LOVES it), butternut squash (LOVES it) and pear (LOVES it). Clearly, we are a fan of fruits! Since she now has quite the range of fruits and vegetables, I'm going to try her on chicken and beef (I bought a couple bottles last week).
This past week, I was able to try a brand new recipe from Rachel Ray. Being at home (nearly) 24-7 with Nugget, my Food Network TV shows have upped considerably. One of the many shows that I've been watching is Rachel Ray's Week in a Day, where she cooks five different meals during the course of the show. They are all meals that can be made ahead, and simply reheated when ready to serve, something that will definitely be important for us in the coming years. The recipe is for a Croque Monsieur Pie. I was immediately intrigued, being a big fan of the Croque Monsieur. It was SUPER easy to put together, and I was able to quickly assemble it while Nugget had her morning nap. All that had to be done was pop it in the oven in the evening. The pie itself is DELISH. The bechamel sauce gives it an extra creaminess, and it is surprisingly filling. The recipe can also be easily modified for different meats and cheeses (possibly even add veggies, like spinach or bell peppers), and that's a big plus in my book. Definitely one to add to the rotation!
Meal planning has been getting a little more manageable, though I'm still keeping to very simple meals for the most part. I hope to begin sharing our weekly meal plans again, but there are some very exciting changes happening in our kitchen(!) that will prevent me from cooking every day. Hopefully I will get to share pictures soon! Have a great week and happy cooking all!