Baby Food Puree Meat Sauce

You've probably heard of sneaking some veggies into pasta sauces as a great way to add extra nutrition, and I've done this several times with shredded carrots, bell pepper, etc with great success.

But the other day I wanted to make pasta and meat sauce for dinner only to realize that I didn't have any veggies to add to it. So I decided to use baby food puree instead.

This is another simple recipe with just a handful of ingredients.

I started by browning the ground beef and draining it. Then I poured in the can of pasta sauce and mixed in a couple of teaspoons of baby food puree. I used squash and we barely even noticed it was there. Season to taste with salt, pepper, sugar, Italian seasoning, etc.

I served it with pasta and the picky eater actually finished his whole bowl, which made me so happy :)

Baby Food Puree Meat Sauce

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained

1 jar pasta sauce

1-2 tsp baby food puree

Seasonings of your choice (such as salt, pepper, sugar, Italian seasoning)

Combine all ingredients and cook on medium heat. Season to taste.

Serve over pasta or rice, or as pizza sauce

Here is a printable version of the recipe

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Yummy Veggie Cake Bites

I saw someone's post about cake pops the other day, and it made me want to make some. So I set out on a mission to make some cake bites with a little veggie twist to add a bit of a healthy edge to these yummy treats.

I love how simple this recipe is and how few ingredients are needed, compared to other cake pop recipes I've seen online.

I started by crumbling some sheet cake in a bowl. You can use any kind of box cake mix you like, or to double up on the veggies, try using my baby food puree cake recipe.

In a separate bowl I combined the softened cream cheese and the baby food puree and beat with a hand mixer such as this one until smooth and combined. Then, mix the cream cheese mixture with the crumbled cake until it forms a dough that you can work with.
NOTE: this recipe also works great with veggie smoothies in the place of baby food puree in the same amount.

You can also taste test a small piece and see if it is sweet enough for your taste. If it needs a little more sweetness you can add some honey or your sweetener of choice to the cream cheese mixture before combining it with the crumbled cake. Next, shape the dough into cake bites in your preferred size.

Keep the cake bites in the fridge for half an hour or so to harden. Then you can decorate them by dipping them into melted chocolate and various toppings of your choice, or you could just eat them as is. I didn't really need to decorate mine since my boys were all over these as soon as they came out of the fridge.

I especially love that the cake bites aren't overly sweet due to the overload of frosting in the dough, and the fact that there are hidden veggies in it :)

Here is a printable version of the recipe.

Yummy Veggie Cake Bites

1/2 of a 9x13 pan of cake (crumbled)

2 oz softened cream cheese

2 and 1/2 Tbsp baby food puree

Beat together the cream cheese and baby food puree, then mix together with the crumbled cake until if forms a dough. Shape into cake bites and refrigerate for 30min. Serve as is, or decorate before serving.

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Spinach Mango Baby Food Puree Smoothie

We had a bunch of spinach and i thought of experimenting with some green smoothies with a baby food puree spin. I love veggie smoothies because sometimes it is just a lot easier to drink your veggies rather than eating them. Plus they are so great during hot summer days.

This smoothie recipe  has five simple ingredients and all you have to do is combine everything in the blender and let it do all the work. 

I love using the V8 veggie blend healthy greens juice for this recipe because it gives a little extra  sweetness along with another dose of veggies.

I absolutely love my ninja blender, especially the nutriblend feature which extracts the nutrients from your ingredients and mixes it all together really nicely in the smoothie.

And the best part?  My picky toddlers actually love this smoothie. Woohoo...

Spinach Mango Baby Food Puree Smoothie

2 cups spinach
1 cup frozen mango
1 jar baby food banana
1 single serving container greek yogurt
1 cup V8 veggie blend healthy greens juice

Combine all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

 

Here is the printable version of the recipe. 

 

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