Mama Baby Smoothie | Creamy Raspberry Mango Smoothie

My little love sleeps late like Mama and Papa. Bless that baby. But it means that we don’t often have time in the day to have an afternoon snack or “goûter” like most French kids. Sometimes there is a spot to squeeze a little something into and we have been loving smoothies. Élie gets so excited for a treat and I can try to pack some extra nutrients into his day. We haven’t quite gotten to all having the same things at mealtimes, it will come, but smoothies are something we can share which is extra sweet.

My current favorite is this creamy mix of yogurt, raspberries, mango, and almond butter with a little maple syrup to sweeten. It tastes surprisingly like ice cream and, in fact, could be a quick version of that is you left out the water and used a food processor.You can try tweaking it too, add some fresh mint or maybe pineapple juice instead of orange. How about a dusting of grated chocolate if you’re feeling really indulgent?

Mama Baby Creamy Raspberry Mango Smoothie

Serves mama and baby generously

1/2 c. whole milk yogurt

1/4 c. fresh orange juice

1 1/2 tbsp. almond butter

1 c. frozen raspberries

3/4 c. chopped frozen mango

2 t. maple syrup

1/8 – 1/4 c. water

Place all the ingredients in a blender in the order listed. Putting your liquid ingredients in first helps the machine blend the mixture. Blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary. Thin with water for baby. If you think your little one will be bothered by the raspberry seeds, you can strain the mix after thinning with water. Enjoy together, maybe with a good book?

xo,

A.

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Petit Menu: Cod with Rainbow Swiss Chard & Parsnip

Élie’s Mamette came to visit us this weekend and she came bearing gifts. His first set of Duplo blocks for Élie and a huge bundle of rainbow swiss chard for us – fresh from her garden. This is a rare treasure in France! I have seen rainbow swiss chard here but only a handful of times and it was planted among the flowers at traffic circles and in town centers in some of the composed plantings France sprinkles throughout its towns. I can’t deny its visual appeal but if they planted it in the big pots decorating our town’s center they might find themselves with a chard burglar problem.

I’m lucky though: I gained a mother-in-law through marriage who not only loves to garden, she loves to discover new-to-her fruit and vegetable varieties. So she grows many things I’ve asked her to try, things that are hard to find here like tomatillos, butternut and delicata squashes, and swiss chard. She’s had a lot of successes but we could argue that the latter has been the most generous. In this region of more temperate winters than I am used to in Maine, the chard reseeds itself season after season and is quite determined in the face of the little French critters that try to have it all to themselves. And so I am a very lucky girl with a lot of swiss chard.

It won’t come as any surprise that one of the things I adore about having a baby is introducing our little one to new tastes and foods. My philosophy is simple: I wouldn’t give him anything I wouldn’t like to eat. I don’t think babies are born with wildly different palettes from an adult’s and just like art, music, books, travel: the more you try, the more color your world has. So if he is interested in something on our plates, I don’t hesitate to give Élie a taste (of course, things that are beyond his chewing capacity have to wait a little longer). And I love how curious about food he is!

Over the months, I’ve come up with a couple different mixes that I’m really excited about and Élie enjoys. Just like for our plates, I cook pretty seasonally for the little one. So I’m looking forward to sharing some of the recipes I’ve come up with as well as some of the things I’ve learned along the way.

And here is where my mother-in-law’s bounty of swiss chard comes in, the first recipe I’m sharing for the Petit Menu created just yesterday when I spotted those green leaves: Cod with Rainbow Swiss Chard & Parsnips. With a splash of coconut milk and a sprinkle of lemon zest, it’s light, fresh, and a bit sweet. It has been disappearing from Élie’s little bowl pretty successfully, too.

Petit Menu

Cod with Rainbow Swiss Chard & Parsnips

– 80 g piece of fresh cod, cut into cubes

– 100 g rainbow swiss chard, leaves and stems roughly chopped

– 1 medium parsnip, peeled and roughly chopped

– 1 1/2  tbsp. coconut milk

– zest of 1/4 of an organic lemon

Steam the parsnips, chard, and cod together (level 3 of water if using a Babycook). When the parsnips are tender, blend the fish and vegetables with the coconut milk, lemon zest, and enough of the cooking water to get the consistency you prefer. Serve and enjoy!

xo,

A. & É.

2014

Here’s the essential: we have a baby boy, Élie John François. He jumped the January 11th gun and decided December 26th, 2013 sounded better. Now, 15 months later, I am sitting here and trying to think where to begin, what to include, in this post about our life since then.

But how can I even begin to talk about all the ways big and small we’ve changed and grown and had fun! And been tired. Oh so tired for months! It’s all worth it a thousand-fold. To say we are completely smitten is, as for any new parents, a complete understatement. It is amazing how life managed to bring us just the most wonderful little light for our family. We could never have dreamed of a more perfect match.

And we’ve already had so many wonderful experiences with this little guy – we’ve played the tourist in Paris with visiting family, we’ve trekked to some of our favorite summer spots in the south of France, and we were able to celebrate his first birthday at my home in Maine with his American family.

All the while we’ve been working hard on this apartment, our home. It has so many challenges but we love it here. The work isn’t done and I am looking forward to sharing all those details because making home, designing spaces, is such a passion of mine, just as much as what I serve on our table. Our previous apartment didn’t have as much room for me to stretch those muscles and so I’ve been so excited to design a space that is truly us on this new canvas. I’ll finally be able to share more ‘dart’ along with the ‘egg’ here! Starting Wednesday, I’ll introduce you to what we started with, where we are now, and what my vision is.

In the mean time, you can catch up even more over on my instagram which has been my mini-blog when I couldn’t be here. I’ve thought long and hard about what I want to write here but maybe I’ve done too much of that. Let’s get going!

xo,

A.