A New Decade of Mundanity

This is a slightly modified recipe from Food Network that I use. 

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped very very fine (or grated)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli (thawed)
1 large carrot, shredded
2 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth. Add the chicken broth and bay leaves, then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the bread bowls: Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the top of each loaf, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Remove the bread top, then hollow out the middle with a fork or your fingers, leaving a thick bread shell.

Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. You can then puree the soup with a blender or immersion blender, but since the broccoli is chopped and the onion and carrot are so small, you don't absolutely have to.

Add the cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick. Garish with cheese to serve.

Really haven't been motivated to write lately (obviously).  Just a few baby things to jot down.

• @ 6 months Aiden's 2 bottom teeth pushed through simultaneously - occasional chomping of the boob occurs.  It is painful.
• @ 7 months Aiden started saying Momomomomomom.  Cute, but I don't really think he meant me, I think it was his new way of saying "Hey Booby Lady, I want food NOW". It seems to have been a 2-week phase though - he doesn't really say it anymore.
• Can add yellow squash, scrambled eggs, soft boiled eggs, pasta and cheese to the list of foods.  Moving away from the purees to mushy/chunky - he's doing really well but often needs alternate bites of something less chunky to help get the "chewed" bits down.

Just a list of non-jarred foods I've tried with Aiden so far.  Most of them were just pureed in my Bullett and thinned with some apple/carrot juice or low sodium chicken broth.  Some of them aren't entirely on the "list of things he's allowed to eat" at his age but we don't have any history of food allergies in our families. 

6 & 7 months:

Apple
Avocado
Cherries
Mango
Ground Turkey
Brown Rice
Peas
Corn
Green Beans
Carrots
Wax Beans
Strawberries
Kiwi
Banana

The mango/cherry combo froze really well, so did the ground turkey and the brown rice/mixed veg combo.

Next on the list is ground beef, whole wheat pasta, cheddar cheese, sweet potato, yellow squash and tomato.

With the start of a new decade I have resolved to be more active with this journal, having become very negligent since Aiden was born. I've given it a new look, a new name and since it will be posting to Facebook too, perhaps some new readers. Right now all posts from before 2010 are "Friends Only" (viewable by my LJ friends only) but over the course of the next week or so I'll be reorganizing all the old posts with better tags and making many of them public.


New Year's Resolutions for 2010:

1. Healthier lifestyle (better diet & more exercise) to result in loss of 50 pounds.
2. Consistant updating of blog.
3. Read 1 book a day to Aiden.
4. Devise a work/housework/Aiden daily/weekly schedule that I can stick to and make a habit.