Food for Four Babies or One Adult
Shells & Cheese
Hello! Today’s newsletter is about food I made for a baby, which for myriad reasons might not be your cup of tea. If it’s not– you can delete this and keep it moving (or, forward it along to someone you think might find it useful).
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Last summer, I wrote about how my son (then, seven months old) loved to eat and how happy that made me. There was a spiced zucchini soup with lentils, which we both found delicious. All in all, I thought this was a sweet, generally pleasant thing to write about and most of you agreed. But, of course, from the outer edges of the internet came a lot of “JUST WAIT” (pejorative). As in, sure he might be a good eater now, but just wait till he’s older and doesn’t eat anything.
Alison Roman
Broadly speaking, “JUST WAIT” is something I’ve heard a lot since becoming a parent. It seems to be a thing other parents love to say to new parents– I myself have said it, I’m sure. While it’s not always meant negatively, it doesn’t exactly…feel positive. I don’t think that any new parent (or person) is so naive as to think something that is true today will definitely be true next week, much less forever. Change is a given in this beautiful life of ours– especially true when talking about a baby who grows into an adult.
Regardless of your parenthood status, when someone says “JUST WAIT” (pejorative) following an expression of joy or optimism, it implies things will one day, maybe soon, not be as good as they are in that moment. “Just know that whatever bliss you’re experiencing now is short lived”, it says. “JUST WAIT” is ominous, a dark cloud that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Imagine every time the weather was nice you said “what a lovely day” and someone replied “JUST WAIT!”, assuming you didn’t know that bad weather, one day, is an inevitability.
Anyway, yes, of course I knew that at seven months old, Charlie’s tastes and habits would likely change, ebb and flow. A good eater at seven months does not imply a three year old that will eat everything.
At almost 14 months, Charlie is still a pretty great eater (though I know that could change at any moment!!!), but not without a good amount of trial and error. Every time I run through whatever small jar of stuff I made him, I like to experiment with what he might like. New ways of eating a chicken thigh, a new way of presenting eggs or a new way to get spinach into something. I find it extremely fun and exciting to figure out what he likes and analyze why.
So far, I know he hates dry food (unripe fruit, un-sauced pasta) and reheated frittatas (he can always tell when they aren’t freshly made…my beautiful son). He used to like sweet potatoes but now despises them. Some of his favorite things to eat include lentils (!), tangerines, smoked salmon, Cheerios, meatballs, dried mango, prunes and…kale. When wilted and dressed with salt and garlic, the boy eats it by the fistful which for some reason makes me think of a tiny dinosaur. Roll your eyes and tell me he won’t love kale when he’s three, I do not care. He loves kale now and I find this charming! You’ll never take this joy from me!
Oftentimes, the food I make him is just a modified version of what I want to eat. The other day, I wanted shells and cheese (who among us). I’d been thinking about a simplified version of this for a long time– no bechamel, no Velveeta/American cheese, no cheddar (I didn’t have any).
In about 15 minutes I had something I’d call…spectacular. The bar is low these days, but I swear it. I cooked my shells till fully tender (I like shapes large enough for him to pick up but not so large I have to cut them), saved some pasta water before draining, put the pasta back into the pot and added cream cheese and parmesan, stirring till melted and a nice, thick sauce was created. That’s it. If this were for me, I would have added lots of black pepper, maybe some garlic at the end, but I know from experience Charlie is not a black pepper guy just yet. I was so thrilled, so proud that I had made this child the thing all children want: macaroni and cheese, without a box, without fuss. Mother of the year and it’s only March.
Well! He hated it. Refused it, screamed and made an awful face. A terrible, contorted face that suggested I had just presented him with a pile of wilted kale (though I know he would have loved that). Intensely swiped it off the Stokke tray onto the floor, where so much food ends up these days I have taken to covering my floor with an oil cloth I ordered on Etsy- an excellent tip I got from a friend of mine with a toddler. This baby HATED my spectacular pot of shells and cheese which is fine because this mother LOVED IT. I ate the whole pot, thrilled at what I had created.
Of course, I'll try again– They say it takes a baby seven times under a full moon or the third Tuesday of each month to like something. But I guess the lesson here is if you’re going to make your baby food, you’d better also find it enjoyable because you might end up eating most of it. Just wait.
A Very Easy Macaroni and Cheese
4 toddler servings / 1 adult serving
You can make this more interesting any number of ways: adding chopped broccoli, cauliflower or kale to the boiling pasta in the last 3 minutes of cooking. Adding a little paprika or garlic to the cheese mixture. Lemon zest at the end. But I also think it’s fine to let this be what it is: a really, extremely, very simple and easy way to make a classic macaroni and cheese that tastes very close to the box, as fast as possible.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces pasta, something like a shell or elbow
- Kosher salt
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more
- Black pepper (for anyone who likes it)
Preparation
1. Cook pasta in a pot of salted boiling water until cooked through. Save one cup pasta water and drain the pasta. Return the pasta back to the pot along with cream cheese, parmesan and half the pasta water.
2. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium and stir to melt the cheeses. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and the pasta is all evenly coated, 3 to 5 minutes. If this happens faster than you anticipated and it’s a bit thick, add more of that pasta water. Add more cheese if you like, and some pepper if it’s for you or someone who might enjoy black pepper.
3. Let cool enough for the baby (or you) to eat before serving.
DO AHEAD: Because there will probably be leftovers, of course this can be made ahead. Wrapped tightly in the fridge, it's good for 3 days. Give the pasta a splash of water before reheating stovetop or in the microwave.
For those who use the website, there will now be a “BABY” tag on recipes that are made specifically for baby (not to say you can’t serve your baby Squash Soup or some version of this salmon– you can).
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