Veggieful Shepherd’s Pie: Family Meal Ideas

Veggie-ful Shepherd’s Pie

I hate having to cook dinner after work.  I know I am not alone in this sentiment (I’m pretty sure I just heard a collective “amen, sister.”)  So any make-ahead-and-quickly-reheat or one-pan-meal ideas make me happy.  Because of this, and despite the fact that it’s still summer and I should be making only raw salads, I decided to make Shepherd’s pie.  And it was delicious.  This dish was identified by my sister, who came to eat with us, as the “best Shepherd’s pie” she’s ever had.  On top of that, all three kiddos ate it (3 year old, 1 year old, 18 month old) and it was loaded with veggies.

I found this recipe from Pink of Perfection and I modified it a bit.  First off, I grabbed all the veggies left in my refrigerator in order to healthy the dish up a bit.  So for me that was bell pepper, zucchini, broccoli, onion, and mushrooms.  The quantities on these veggies is definitely open to wiggle room but I’ll give you an estimation of what I used just so you have an idea.  I really think the extra veggies helped elevate this recipe. 

Veggie-ful Shepherd’s Pie

Serves ~6 depending on appetites and if you serve it with sides

Ingredients:

For the mashed potatoes:

3 cloves garlic (smashed but whole)

1.5 lbs yukon gold potatoes (skin on cut up into ~2 inch chunks)

2 tbsp butter

For the meat & veggie filling:

1-2 tbsp. butter (cut up into small chunks, and possibly a bit more as you cook)

1/2 a yellow onion (cut into thin slices)

~8 smallish crimini mushrooms

~3/4 of a bell pepper (I used several small colorful ones but still it was at most about 3/4 of a regular large bell pepper)

1/2 of a zucchini

1 medium head of broccoli

2 cloves garlic (diced)

1 lb of grassfed, sustainably raised, antibiotic free ground beef

1 tsp coarse kosher salt

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cayanne 

1 tbsp. flour

1.5 tsp. of tomato paste

1 cup stock (I used a homemade beef stock but the original recipe calls for chicken so you can use that or veggie I’m sure, if that’s what you have)

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (I like Dubliner)

Directions:

Put potatoes and garlic cloves in a large pot and add water to cover.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low simmer and cook for an additional 25-30 minutes.  When potatoes are soft, turn off heat, strain the water, remove garlic (or just leave it if you like things garlicy) and return to stove.  Let rest for ~5 minutes then add butter, salt.  Coarsely mash potatoes to desired consistency and set aside. 

Heat some of the butter in skillet or heavy bottom saute pan then toss in onions.  Cook on medium-low heat until carmelized.  Remove from pan and put carmelized onion into a bowl and then saute mushrooms in same pan, adding more butter if needed.  Once cooked, remove from pan, add to bowl of onions, then throw rest of veggies into pan (I cooked the zucchini, bell pepper, and broccoli all together.  I am not 100% sure why I decided to cook the onion and mushrooms separately and then the rest of the veggies together, but for some reason I thought the broc/zuc/peppers would be fine in a bunch, and I think it worked out fine.)  Again, add more butter if needed and cook for ~5 minutes with a lid on the pot to help steam the veggies.  Once tender, remove from pan, add to bowl of mushrooms and onions.  Keep pan on med-low heat.

Add diced garlic and saute for ~1 minute until fragrant then add ground beef, salt, oregano, cumin, and cayanne to pan.  Cook until meat is no longer pink (I think ~8 minutes) then pour out excess fat from pan.  Put pan back on stove, add flour to meat and mix in well.  Then add tomato paste, mix in well and cook for another minute or 2.  Finally, add stock and put the sauteed veggies from earlier back in pan.  Simmer for ~3 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit.  

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and then assemble Shepherd’s pie: layer meat/veggie mixture in bottom of 9×13 baking dish then spoon mashed potatoes on top, using spoon to smooth them into a flat layer.  once it looks lovely, sprinkle the cheddar on top and then pop it in the oven for ~20-30 minutes until golden brown on top.  Or if you are not eating it until that evening or the next night, don’t preheat oven 🙂 let the assembled pie cool, cover with a lid or foil, and store in fridge until ready to cook.

I served this with a very simple green salad.  

Also, the leftovers keep fabulously, taste even better the next day, and make perfect toddler lunches.  (I believe I heard an “hallelujah!” that time.)

Baby Led Eating: corn on the cob

Corn on the cob: easy to hold and manipulate, great oral sensory input, sweet and delicious, difficult to bite off large choking hazard sized pieces.

5 signs your baby is ready to start solids (not age based!)

Pretty much across the board pediatricians encourage parents to start solid foods at a certain age (some say 4-6 months, others suggest around 6 months, others 6 months and older.) Between 4 to 6 months is the most common time frame, but this is a HUGE spread in baby time.

Major skills and maturation occurs between 4 to 6 months, such as the ability to sit independently. While we can’t see it as obviously, your baby’s body is also maturing and growing on the inside (the stomach, reflex patterns, and immune system for example are all changing during this time.)

Age is a vaguely helpful guideline but each baby is SO different that age is an unreliable indicator and should actually be low on our list of check offs that help you decide if your baby is ready to transition to solid foods. The primary indicators of readiness are developmental skills and interest. That means, your baby should have the following skills/signs to show you that she or he is ready to start eating solid foods:

1. Head and neck control- not wobbly at all. Your baby should be able to hold his head up while sitting, by himself for at least 15-20 minutes. 

2. Trunk control/sitting independently- possibly a bit wobbly but at least sitting for a few minutes by herself if placed in a sitting position without toppling over. Even better if she can get into and out of a sitting position by herself. 

3. Fine motor coordination- to reach for and grab items and bring to the mouth. This can be toys, a spoon, or food. Your baby should have enough eye/hand coordination to at least reach towards objects and push them around the table while trying to pick them up. 

4. An emerging pincer grasp (picking a smaller item up with the pads of the thumb and index finger)- around the same time that your baby is ready to begin solid foods, she will also be starting to try to pick up smaller and smaller items that she comes across (lint on the floor, stray dog food, anything gross and small will probably catch your baby’s attention.) 

5. An active interest in food, watching you eat, being a part of the meal, and touching/exploring food-the motor skills I mentioned above will generally coincide with your baby’s overall interest in food and  eating. Your baby will go from being fairly content to sit in your lap or in a sling while you’re at the table and maybe even nap through a meal, to wanting to be a part of it all. He will try to grab food from your hands and off your plate. He will intently watch you bring food to your mouth. If you let your baby be a part of your mealtimes, around the time he or she is ready to start solids you’ll see a distinct interest as though your baby is asking for you to let him/her eat!

Traditional Puree/Spoon-fed Approach VS Baby Led Weaning

“Why have an ‘approach’ at all?” you might ask.  This may seems silly to those who just “do it” and never even consider what their personal “approach” might be.  “We just fed you” my mother said when I asked her about what she did for me.  “We didn’t stop to think about approaches.” 

4 generations of daughters enjoying lunch together.  We all were fed in different ways and I’d say we all turned out fairly well!

I get this.  Many people are too busy to consider the intricacies of a feeding style or they inherently trust their parenting skills and would never second guess themselves or confuse things by reading about someone’s feeding philosophy.  But, many parents don’t have this same sense of self-confidence or experience, and because we are more isolated than ever these days, we also don’t have family or friends we can easily turn to for guidance. Additionally, if we look around at the incredibly high rates of picky eating childhood and adult obesity as well as the unbelievably high rates of funky childhood diseases, like autism, type II diabetes, asthma, and allergies, and digestive disorders (like Crohn’s or Celiac), I think it becomes clear that whatever we have been doing–even when we are confident about it–has not really be working all that well.  We need guidance to find a better way.  Yes, I know that it’s a leap to blame these ailments on the style a parent uses to introduce solids.  Of course that’s not the full story, but I believe the way we start, often gives way to how we continue to interact with food, mealtimes, feeding and our children over the course of their childhood.  We all learn and improve as we go but we also build habits and routines that can be difficult to change. And when picky eating sets in, so does poor nutrition and unhealthy eating, which does contribute in a very real way to childhood and adult illnesses.

So, that being said, looking at theory and approaches can be helpful in terms of understanding what part of each approach works well and what doesn’t.  It also helps the next person to learn from our mistakes and do it better from the start so that she doesn’t have to undo bad feeding habits.

So, in the interest of making things easier and more sucessful, here is a chart that compares the two primary approaches to feeding an infant solid foods: Baby Led Weaning and Traditional Purees.

Baby Led Weaning Introduction to Solids

Benefits

Drawbacks

Not focused on quantity and intake, so milk remains primary nutrition source No need to prepare or buy “baby food” Consistent exploration of solid food builds new oral motor patterns early on Early and consistent practicing of new oral motor patterns helps to create a well coordinated skill set Coordinated oral motor skills are important for eventual eating of resistive foods, such as vegetables and meats Coordinated oral motor skills decrease a person’s risk for choking May decrease mealtime battles because baby is feeding him/herself and will either choose to eat or not Self-feeding builds eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills Uses a baby’s inherent motivation to explore, discover, and self-feed Use of frequent modeling because parents eat the same thing as baby Less focus on just baby at meals increases the focus on socialization and family time Self-motivation is valued and practiced at each meal

Very messy Gagging happens and looks scary Over stuffing mouth is common at first Increased risk of choking at first if done wrong (though physiologic protection from 5-8 months decreases this risk, as does supervision, always sitting baby upright in a supported seat and never putting food in the baby’s mouth for him/her) Possibly difficult for nanny, daycare, or unfamiliar feeder to do Baby often is less likely to accept spoon feeding because she enjoys feeding herself Many parents worry they can’t also give purees

Traditional (Puree) Introduction to Solids

Benefits

Drawbacks

No choking risk at first Baby uses very familiar oral motor patterns Can be less messy if parent controls the spoon Builds spoon skills quickly Potentially faster/more efficient mealtimes Gets larger volume of food in baby from the start Parent controls activity but can still be fun and “baby led” with a tuned-in parent Some babies enjoy because there is less challenge initially Some babies prefer bland flavors and textures

Less exploration by baby if parent spoon feeds Easy to over ride inherent hunger/satiety cues by giving “1 more bite” or stopping before baby is done if not tuned-in Quantity can easily become a focus with implications for decreased milk intake and mealtime battles Delayed building of important oral motor patterns (I.e.- for chewing) Increased risk of choking later, after natural physiologic protection against choking is gone and textures are introduced Purees are often bland Less modeling because adults don’t often eat purees for our meals Uncertainty about when to progress to textured and finger-foods

Best First Foods

I know that what you want is a simple list of foods and maybe some recipes.  Instead I am giving you an essay. I am sorry. I am, truly. But I think part of the problem with health care for infants these days is that we’re giving one-size-fits-all recommendations. And when it comes to first foods that is definitely the case. Whether or not the recommendation is rice cereal, vegetables, fruits, or even meats, our healthcare providers are emphatic about it being one of these options across the board for all babies. But with millions of babies out there, each with a different genetic make up, temperament, and home environment, there is no possible way that one idea will work for all. 

Often parents are surprised to hear that there may be more than one right choice for first foods. We assumed there is one right way and that’s what has been recommended to us. Not so! Rather than a mediocre one-size-fits-all recommendation, parents need tools to make the best decision possible for their family and individual baby. 

That’s what I want to offer in this post- guidance. Rather than 2 or 3 foods, which might be best for me and my child, but totally off for your baby, I’m going to give you ideas to consider in order to get at what will work best for you when choosing the best first foods. 

1. Consider what you and your partner’s favorite foods are. 

2. Think about which foods are important to your culture and family. 

3. Take into consideration which foods are local and seasonal. 

4. Of course take into account your baby’s nutritional needs (is she exclusively breastfeeding or is she taking formula? Iron needs may be higher in the baby who is fed formula, as an example. Or maybe intense allergies run in your family. Discuss your baby’s unique needs with the pediatrician or a dietician.)

5. Consider your baby’s temperament. For example, if your baby is spirited and likes to do things for herself, a “finger foods” approach, such as baby led weaning might be a good option. If your baby is content to be fed or is a really hungry baby that likes to eat quickly, a puréed and spoon-fed approach might be the more ideal way. Pick foods that lend themselves to the approach your child prefers. 

6. Gear your food choices and approach towards your baby’s developmental readiness. If your baby is not sitting up independently yet but you have started introducing solids, purees are probably your safest bet, not finger foods. If your baby is just discovering his fingers and is loving to pick up small objects, finger feeding small bites might offer maximal enjoyment and motivation for feeding. Again, pick foods  that lend themselves to the approach that best fits your baby.

Once you’ve taken all this into account, it should be easier to pick certain first foods that will best suit your baby and your family. Run those ideas by your child’s pediatrician and then bon appetit!

More Baby Led Weaning…In Action!

8 months old, 2 front-lower teeth.  Loving pears (I took one bite and gave her the rest to gnaw on), bell peper sticks (raw, just to munch on), and veggie patties (soft, I broke into pieces about 1.5″ square for her to pick up and eat).

10.5 months, 2 front-top and 2-front bottom teeth. Corn on the cob to much on

8.5 months, 2 front-bottom teeth. BBQ ribs with minimal sauce

Baby Led Weaning In Action!

One of my Birdie’s first attempts at solid foods: roasted beets.  She’s 6 months and 1 week in this video.

I roasted them in a bit of olive oil to soften, then let them cool and just placed them on the (clean) table in front of her.  She had a nice time trying to pick them up, then sucking and munching on them.  She needed some help picking them up and she never really managed to swallow them, but I loved watching her discover the flavor and texture while also working on tongue lateralization and early chewing patterns.  

Notice that the piece is big enough for her to grab and hold while feeding herself.  I’m there the whole time for supervision but she never needs help asside from picking up the slippery pieces! Also notice that I never push or force, I let her natural curiosity guide her.  

Last, try not to notice our dog, Henry, licking the table and waiting for the baby to drop her food.

7 Tips to Improve Meals Out with Your Baby

FYI- These are tips for actually enjoying eating out with your baby at an adult restaurant in an adult sort of way- without having to skip the conversation to stroll around the restaurant for half the meal, or eat at the “early bird special” hour, or get a to-go box and pay as soon as the meal arrives so you can dash as soon as you shovel your food in.

This morning, my husband, Birdie, and I went out to breakfast at our favorite local spot. This is the first time we have done this since our little lady has started eating solid foods and crawling. Honestly, I’ve sort of been avoiding going out to eat with her because I figured it would be a lot more difficult now that she wants to get into everything and move around.  It was a beautiful morning and we got a table after only about five minutes of waiting! We sat down, quickly ordered our coffee and suddenly I had a small twinge of anxiety. I did not bring any food for my baby! Actually, I didn’t bring anything for my baby. Well, I did have my breasts with me thankfully so she could always have some milk if she needed.  No matter how tired and stressed out I get- I never forget my boobs!  However, I was not sure how we would entertain her for the next 20 minutes while we waited for the food to arrive, and then for the second 20 minutes while we ate our meal and paid. What if Birdie makes a scene? What if she starts crying and we have to leave? What if she starts banging or throwing the silverware?? Other diners might think that our daughter was destined to be a prison inmate (banging an old tin cup along the cell bars. ) I want people to see my daughter and assume she is destined for greatness: Harvard, Nobel prizes, amazing discoveries. Not jail.  She already has crazy, patchy hair that makes her look capable of wild outbursts. Spoon-throwing would not help.  BUT! None of this happened. We had a really lovely, really fun breakfast out with Birdie acting totally reasonable the whole time! My husband and I got to enjoy ourselves and our meal- no rushing and cramming.  No apologizing and slinking out to the car. Overall, it was a really awesome morning and I look forward to eating out with her again in the near future. I think that there were, in fact, a few things that I did have with me or that I did during the meal that made this outing go smoothly, so I decided to share. Also, a few things occurred to me while I was eating that probably would really help for next time.

Here are my tips for eating out with your baby (6-12 month old.) Some of this may seem obvious to you impressive parents out there. But, some of us are a little slower on the draw. For us newbies, and for those who agree that brain power is hard to come by first thing in the morning before we’ve had our coffees- here are my insights.  Will these work for every person, every time.  Nope. If your baby has an ear infection or is crazy tired, or just having a super fussy day, maybe just skip the meal out today.  But these tips are a pretty sure bet in most circumstances with a healthy baby

1.  Use table and purse items as “toys”.  If you’ve got nothing- you were blurry eyed and didn’t think to grab any toys for your baby- maybe you’re lucky you remembered to put pants on before you walked out the door- scour the table or your purse for “toys”. I use the term “toy” in the most liberal sense here- spoon,  creamers,  sugar packet container or ask for an extra plastic cup or to-go box to open/close/shake/fill/etc.  Stick with things that wont break if dropped and even better of they wont make a loud clanging noise if (really, when) thrown. The little plastic creamers and a to-go box are probably your best options- better than a spoon or a plastic cup. In your purse- keys, wallet, tic tac box, glasses case, make up bag w make up removed. Stick with things that can be mouthed, shaken, opened/closed; not things that can be ingested, broken, destroyed, or completely made a mess of.

2.  Try a “busy wallet”. If you can be the teensiest tiniest bit prepared I recommend this idea for a “busy wallet” from The Acts of Grace blog, which is easy to have on hand at all times so you don’t have to think about it when you’re heading out the door.  I saw this wallet idea on pinterest a while back and thought it was genius.  One of Birdie’s favorite things is my wallet. I don’t mind her playing with it because it keeps her interested (opens/closes/has different textures to mouth) but it’s probably a bit dirty for a traditional “toy” and I do dislike opening it up several hours later to find vomit where I traditionally keep my credit card. Also, I worry that I will lose important things from my wallet: drivers license, money. So I am excited to try this faux wallet toy for the next time we go out.  It’s small enough that I can keep it in my purse at all times so I won’t have to worry about packing a toy for Birdie when I go out.
    

3.  Wear a teething necklace.  A necklace also serves as an easy toy in a pinch and this one in particular, I love:​

I found it on Etsy a while back when I was searching for a rattle.  I though these necklaces were both pretty and nicely functional- non-toxic dyes, non-treated wooden beads that are made to be mouthed- but I hesitated to purchase until I saw one on a friend of mine recently.  It looked so good on her and she said her son loved it so I went for it.  So glad I did.  Lucy loves it.  She loves to mouth it, to hold it, to pull on it, to wear it to put it on and take it off.  It keeps her attention and it  and works as an accessory- two birds with one stone!  This necklace did the job today when I realized I did not bring a toy and I wasn’t in the mood to let Birdie launch a spoon across the restaurant.

4.  Bring a small snack and a lidded cup.  If you’re really the impressive, boy-scout-type, bring some small snacks, which also would totally entertain while waiting to order and waiting for your food to arrive.  Even better- bring a cup (zippy, straw, etc.) to let your baby play and also drink so you don’t have to pay for a child’s drink that they take 2 sips of and leave.  While I love this plan, I am pretty much almost never that thoughtful to bring anything useful with me ahead of time.  I have repeatedly forgotten to bring an extra diaper and wipes with me, which is probably the most basic baby item I’m supposed to bring on outings.

5.  Don’t be afraid to nurse!  No matter what you bring or don’t bring, I highly suggest nursing in public to pass the time, soothe a fussy or hungry baby, and generally make going out with your baby easier.  I have a few friends who don’t feel comfortable doing this (with or without a nursing cover) and I can say it’s very limiting for them.  You have to be one of those “prepared” mamas who feeds their baby at home before you leave, packs a bottle just in case, and has milk or formula on hand.  That is 100% not me.  Also, even in the best of circumstances, Birdie sometimes really wants to nurse right in the middle of an outing.  It can be a little intimidating at first, but with some practice, it’s so liberating, so easy, and so helpful.  I find that the more confident I am about it, the less anyone else seems to care or even notice.  2 things that helped me build confidence with this: using a nursing cover initially   (or possibly always, if you have a baby that is so distracted by everything around them that they can’t focus to nurse in public, a “hooter hider” can really help block out distractions) and nursing with other mamas in public.  When you nurse in a group it takes away the feeling that everyone is looking just at you and this helps you get past that initial fear, which is good because the more you practice, the easier it gets.  Now I find that nursing in public- especially at a restaurant to help pass the time- is the lazy mother’s best tool.

6.  Order something that your baby can self-feed.  This is probably the most important tip.  I can’t stress this one enough.  This frees you up in a few ways- allows you to not have to pack and bring extra food for your baby, engages your baby and keeps them distracted and quiet at the table, helps them to stay seated in their highchair while the food is being served, and allows you and your partner to enjoy your own meal without having to directly feed your child.  So, instead of bringing separate food for your child or ordering them a separate meal, just share. Pretty much every child is more motivated to eat what you are eating and will want what you have anyways.  Just about every restaurant has something on the menu that you and your baby will both enjoy, just keep your child’s skills and interests in mind as you order.  This can be purees if you’re giving purees (you just have to be ok with giving up the spoon to let your child “feed” herself) but I think works even better with table foods, which can safely be done as early as 6 months old.  For example, my husband and I both ordered our favorite meals (his: eggs benedict with roasted potatoes and mine: french toast with citrus banana caramel topping- yum!!)  Lucy is 7 months old and she has no teeth.  She’s just learning how to chew and mostly she mouths things and sucks on them.  I gave her strips of my french toast, cut up bits of banana, and large pieces of roasted potato.  She LOVED the strips of french toast I gave her and spent at least 10 minutes picking them up, sucking them, mashing them, and exploring them.  If I was concerned she couldn’t handle the texture, or large chunks, I could have given mashed up bananas but this approach works best when she can pick up an item herself and attempt to self-feed.  We also gave her a few of the larger pieces of roasted potatoes, which she could grab and hold to suck and munch on. Again, this is key. Pieces that she can hold and munch or suck on kept her busy for the entire duration of the meal, which allowed us to chat, eat, and generally enjoy ourselves without having to have one parent feed while the other scarfs, then switch off and have one parent hold/walk/distract while the other scarfs.  It was awesome to have all three of us enjoying our meal at the same time.  By the time my husband and I were done with our meals, Lucy was just starting to get tired of going after pieces of food so we all wrapped up around the same time.

7. Leave a generous tip.  Don’t worry about the mess- just tip well and hold your head high as you walk out the door.  This is a suggestion that a few mom friends have shared with me and as a former server, it resonates well with me.  I certainly felt a bit sheepish about the state of the floor beneath my daughter’s highchair, but with a slightly larger tip, I was able to smile and say goodbye to the server, rather than running out the door feeling like he was cursing us as we left.  

I hope these help you get out there and enjoy social time with your family!  I know that having a baby can feel really isolating when you don’t leave the house.  Let me konw what you thinnk and if these suggestions help.  If you have any other go-to’s, I’d love to hear them!