BILLIE BITES ALL

We're more than half way there, and it's not even four months.

The main premise of this blog when started in April was to create tasty, healthy meals without meat for our family. As in ONE evening meal, not one for baby Billie and a second installment for ma and pa. I wanted Billie to embrace food and eating with the passion of her parents. To yearn for different textures, colours and flavours.

Well, Billie must have been listening. And watching.

On Saturday we took Billie to her first big festival. It was the perfect introduction - the very baby-friendly Chicago Folk and Roots Festival. Put on by the Old Town School Of Folk Music, the $10 admission was the best tenner ever spent.

Despite coming prepared with the ubiquitous banana, Billie grew bored after a few mouthfuls and wanted some of the black bean cakes with mango salsa that mama was chomping on. And a bit of that red beans and rice that dadda was downing. Thumbs up to the festival organisers for inviting Wishbone restaurant, and keeping food vendors to a limited quality few.

But Billie's bean feast wasn't that surprising - she asserted her fondness for handling beans (unmashed please) the previous weekend while staying with her Italian Great Grandfather. (STAY TUNED FOR AN INCREDIBLE ARRAY OF RECIPES SWIPED FROM GREAT GRANDMA EVE).

No, it was the STUFFED SPINACH PIZZA that did it.

Our festival party stared wide-mouthed as Billie demolished most of a large slice of this Chicago institution. If you haven't been here you probably don't know what I'm talking about. At first I was reticent when Miles tried to take me out for stuffed pizza on my first Chicago visit. But it's not like that Pizza Hut stuff. Chicago stuffed pizza is more like a pie.

We've yet to try Billie on regular thin crust pizza, but something tells me we couldn't keep her away.

My mission has caught up with me sooner than anticipated. There's no more slipping Billie some mush while the adults dine on a smorgasbord of dishes.

Recipes to come...

Below: Billie tonight after sampling soft-shelled crab at local Oak Park restaurant Poor Phils

EXTREME FOODS, HEALTHY MONDAY AND A SUPERIOR SALAD

Since stepping off the Sydney-Chicago flight on Wednesday night, there's been a lot of pancake and burrito-eating. Family reunions tend to be centred around food, and here that means the local diner. Or the favourite diner in the neighbouring suburb. Or the fast-food outlet trussed-up to look like a fancy family restaurant.

But when an order of vegetable omelet comes with hash browns, a side of blueberry pancakes and toast for Billie - in other words our family of three can split one meal that costs $US6.75 - why would you bother cooking?

Well, after a few days you just do. You crave fresh vegetables and fruit, cheese that's not melted and a salad that's not sweet. (Why, oh why, do Americans put sugar in everything?)

The balance of the not-particularly healthy ubiquitous diners and fast food outlets are farmers markets - such as Oak Park's 34-year-old one where we picked up affordable organic vegetables on Saturday - and the impressive Whole Foods Market franchise.

On my previous visit to Oak Park (an 'urban village' on Chicago's western fringe) I was taken to Whole Foods a few hours after landing. It blew my mind.

So on Healthy Monday, this organic/healthy/sustainable/fair trading/locally produced but MASSIVE and CHEAP supermarket was the main destination for Billie and I.

In Australia, I buy bits and pieces of organic food - milk, yoghurt, teas, breads etc but it's often too darn pricey.  As usual, today I studied the price tags of every item before it made its way into Billie's stroller/shopping cart.

A dozen organic large free range eggs for $US3.99? Organic raspberries at $US.300 a punnet? A block of organic tofu for $US1.69? And apparently the big regular supermarket chains offer some organic lines even cheaper.

Oh, and fresh organic mozzarella for $US3.99 - several large pieces. So that became the protein in our vegetarian Healthy Monday Superior Salad tonight:

SPINACH, MOZZARELLA, ASPARAGUS  SALAD WITH CRANBERRIES

Fresh baby spinach leaves, washed and picked
Three ripe tomatoes, quartered and then cut again
1 orange pepper/capsicum, cut into chunks
1 large round of mozzarella cheese, chopped in smallish pieces
Handful Brazil nuts, chopped in half
Handful dried cranberries
Bunch asparagus, chopped into thirds of quarters and then lightly steamed
Vinaigrette

Assemble all ingredients except dressing and asparagus. As soon as asparagus is cooked, add to salad, dress and serve. This is a light meal - serve with bread perhaps. Or corn chips, guacamole and salsa as we did (only because we had leftovers in the fridge).

Yes, this is not really a baby recipe, but Billie would love mozzarella given half a chance.
Sorry - no pics as using mother-in-law's computer...