Thinking Outside of the...Orange?

This isn't really a recipe post. I just wanted to show how sometimes when you are trying to get food into a toddler, you have to think a little bit outside of the box.

Michaela regularly eats yogurt for a snack, so I decided to punch it up a little and make this Banana Avocado Mousse for her snack yesterday. I was too lazy to actually blend it, so it didn't look quite as appetizing as I was expecting. After taking one look at it, I knew I would have to be creative in getting her to eat it. Luckily, I had just juiced an orange for her to drink, so I scooped a little bit into a used orange cup and served it to her with a spoon.

It worked! After staring at it for a few minutes in interest, she finally took a bite.

"Num num owange mama!"

"No baby, it's in an orange cup, but it's banana and avocado."

*Looking at me in confusion*

"Num num banana mama! Num num owange!"

This post is participating in the Big Words, Little Foodies meme. Head on over to Food with Kid Appeal to hear more funny stories of what kids say when trying new foods.

Homemade Vegetable Stock

I had a whole tray of leftover veggies from Rafael's Baptism, so I decided to make some vegetable stock. I first got this brilliant idea here. What a great way to use up an excess of veggies that are destined for the trash can!

Ingredients

any veggies

Directions

Dump all your veggies in a crockpot. Add enough water to cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 2-4. Strain out veggies and use broth as a base for beans, soups or any other dish that calls for vegetable stock.

Notes

• If you plan on freezing this or anything else soup like, here's a simple tip. Pour the liquid into quart or gallon sized Ziploc's and then lay flat on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer until soup is frozen. Then remove, and voila! You have a flat sheet of soup that is easily stackable and stores much more easily than a bulky container.
• I felt bad throwing away the leftover veggie chunks, so I pureed and froze them to add later to dishes for an extra nutrient boost.