Our friend Angie Primm over at Boston Mountain Baby is sooo sneaky. Her business is making organic baby/toddler food right here in NWA and she has the cutest names for her creations: Squish Squash, Houdini Zucchini and Baja Baby! Straight up is great, but for the older kids, these pureed frozen cubes can also be used to get extra veggies into their meals. Here are a few of Angie’s kid-approved recipes and — at the bottom — best “quick fixes” for making dinner extra healthy.
(Click here to read the Q & A about Boston Mountain Baby on nwaMotherlode)
Sweet ‘n Creamy Pasta
1 box of your favorite whole wheat pasta (ours is rotini)
4 tablespoons of butter
½ cup Italian blend shredded cheese
½ cup frozen green peas
4 cubes Boston Mountain Baby So Sweet Potatoes OR Bunny’s Banquet (carrots)
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions: Cook pasta according to box directions. Drain and return to pot. Add butter and Boston Mountain Baby cubes and cook on low heat until cubes are thoroughly defrosted. Stir frequently for even distribution. Remove from heat and add shredded cheese and peas. Toss to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Super Strawberry Smoothie
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries *
½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries*
*if using frozen, it is best to defrost the berries until they are ALMOST thawed. A little bit frozen makes for an even better smoothie
1 banana
1 cup fruit juice
2 thawed cubes Boston Mountain Baby Spinach Patch (or any other green cubes)
2 thawed cubes Boston Mountain Baby Bunny’s Banquet (or any other yellow or orange cubes)
1-2 tablespoons of honey or agave nectar (optional)
Directions: Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend on low for about 10-20 seconds, then on high for 30-60 seconds. Pour into chilled glasses, enjoy, and have peace of mind knowing you are giving your family extra nutrition it needs and deserves!!!
Chicken Nuggets
2 large chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
2 thawed cubes Boston Mountain Baby Spinach Patch (or any other green cubes)
2 thawed cubes Boston Mountain Baby Bunny’s Banquet (or any other yellow or orange cubes)
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/8 cup ground flax seed or wheat germ
¼ cup parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Directions: Mix all Boston Mountain Baby cubes in one small bowl. Mix bread crumbs, flax seed or wheat germ and cheese in another small bowl. Dip chicken pieces into veggie mixture and then roll into breadcrumb mixture until all of the chicken is covered. Pan fry on medium-high heat on all sides until chicken is no longer pink. Or, you can cover the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, turning chicken half-way through the time.
Smashingly Good Potatoes
About 2 lbs of potatoes (peel if you must, but not necessary)
4 tablespoons of butter
1 cup milk
4 thawed cubes Boston Mountain Baby Bunny’s Banquet (or any other yellow or orange cubes)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Directions: Boil potatoes until you can easily slice potato with butter knife. Drain. Add all other ingredients and mash lightly with a potato masher.
Serve with Chicken Nuggets, enjoy, and have peace of mind knowing you are giving your family extra nutrition it needs and deserves!!!
Angie’s best “quick fixes” for dinner:
- Add ANY of the veggie cubes to your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce. I like to add broccoli because the sauce really hides the broccoli flavor which is otherwise kind of hard to disguise especially for those kiddos that really hate broccoli.
- I make “green mac & cheese” which is just a regular box of mac & cheese with a few spinach cubes mixed in. Boys especially think this is very cool and you can’t even taste the spinach.
- I’ve just recently started adding yellow squash cubes to applesauce for a snack. The squash and applesauce are exactly the same color and squash has a very mild flavor so they don’t even notice.
- Add ANY of the veggie cubes to ground beef and taco seasoning when making tacos.
Mealtime Mama is a bi-weekly feature sponsored by a crazy good lunch spot in Rogers — Cuisines Gourmet to Go. Not only do they offer great daily specials at their bistro, they also offer take-home meals that are ready to heat and eat for dinner. Click here to see their weekly menus or call them at 479-631-2900 to ask about their take-home meals.
