I haven’t been posting a lot of recipes lately. You may have noticed.
While I could easily blame our busy schedule (and, this summer has been a busy one!) or the fact that Madison is now mobile and I spend most of the day chasing her around the house (also true), I don’t think it would really be the whole truth. The thing is, I have still be doing a lot of cooking. In fact, I think I am cooking more now than I used to. There are a lot of days where I cook all three meals a day.
I think the real reason that I haven’t been posting as many recipes lately is that the way I cook has changed drastically over the past few months. I haven’t gotten lazy and we haven’t started eating junk… It’s quite the opposite.
You see, Madison has started eating “big people” food, as we call it around here (that’s “solids” for the rest of you). I must admit that we had a bit of a transition phase where I attempted to feed her cereal and pureed food… I know baby led weaning is all the rage right now, but it didn’t work for us. Sadly, purees and cereal didn’t work all that well either… She needed to eat something to give her energy for all of her baby antics, though, so we resorted to giving her those squeezable packets. She will happily suck down puree from a packet (and, her favorite, strangely enough, is broccoli, peas, and pear), but as soon as we tried to feed her with a spoon, she would grab it and throw it across the room. I wish I was exaggerating. I have scrubbed puree off of almost every surface in my dining room. This food-loving mama was losing her mind.
So, as soon as the kiddo started showing interest in eating real food, I embraced it 100%. And, as you may have guessed, I am rather particular about what she eats… No sugar. Very little salt. Only whole grains. Fresh, local, and organic produce. Meat from local farmers who I know don’t use antibiotics, hormones, and other junk. Yes, I have becomes that parent. I thought I was going to be the one throwing a tantrum when I picked her up from the church nursery and one of the little girls was trying to feed her a Cheez-It.
What does all of this have to do with my lack of sharing recipes? Well, since I have become somewhat obsessed with preparing baby-friendly food, I’ve been preparing a lot of very simple food. We’ve had plenty of zucchini sauteed with a little bit of olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs. We’ve had our share of fresh steamed corn on the cob. We eat a lot of salads made with whole grains (Maddie gets hers sans-dressing, but with a drizzle of olive oil) and whatever fresh stuff I have on hand at the time.
In a lot of ways, we’ve been eating much better than we ever have. We have a large CSA share from a local farm, and I’ve been running out of produce a few days early each week. Honestly, I wish I was keeping track of more of the recipes, because there have been some good ones. I’m working on it!
One recipe that I did happen to jot down, though, was this pizza. I made it one evening with some leftover pizza dough. Maddie loves my whole wheat homemade pizza, so we still have pizza night every week. I also had some leftover grilled chicken, fresh corn (another Maddie favorite), and a bottle of barbeque sauce that I picked up at the farmer’s market (not baby-approved). Maddie got to snack on some corn, chicken, and cheese while Darron and I enjoyed this barbeque chicken pizza. I think we both agreed that it was one of the best pizzas that I have made in a while. Fortunately, I took the time to snap a few photos!
Barbeque Chicken Pizza with Corn and Cilantro
Serves 2-4
- Pizza dough for one medium pizza
(Here’s one of my favorite recipes, this pizza uses 1/2 of the recipe) - 1/2 cup barbeque sauce
- 8 ounces jalapeño jack cheese, shredded
- 1 cup chopped grilled chicken
- 1 cup steamed corn kernels cut off of the cob
- 1/2 cup sliced red onion
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Preheat the oven (and pizza stone, if you have one) to 450°F.
Roll out the pizza dough (fairly thin) on a large piece of parchment paper (or on a pizza pan, if you’re not baking on a stone). Spread the barbeque sauce over the dough and sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Arrange the chicken, corn, and red onion on top of the pizza.
Bake for 13 – 14 minutes, until the top of the pizza is golden and the cheese is bubbly. Top with fresh cilantro leaves and enjoy!
Jen, we’re finding we eat so much better too. The baby’s not even here yet, but what really changed the game for us was joining a CSA. We eat more vegetables each week than we ever did, and more variety of them. We’ve also gone whole grain because James’s cholesterol demanded it. I need to make up some of your pizza dough and make this. I have a bottle of Stubb’s in the pantry that would be just perfect for this pizza. (Love it – real ingredients *and* Texan.)
Jen I don’t think you’ve become “that” parent at all. It sounds like a great way to eat and Miss Madison is so very lucky having such a great foodie start in her life. This pizza? I could eat it right now (so, for breakfast!). Yum!
Such perfect toppings for a pizza, I’m in love with this!!
Eh, there’s nothing wrong with being “that parent.” It just means Maddie will grow up to appreciate good food and will understand early on where good food comes from.
This pizza looks awesome, and BBQ chicken is one of Eric’s favorites. I’ll definitely be trying this one soon!
I’m just wondering about the bbq sauce you used… I find it difficult to find ones that aren’t packed with HFCS or sugars… I have been on the search for a simplistic one I can make myself that doesn’t have ketchup in it… any suggestions?
Hi – I have found a local barbeque sauce that, while it does have some sugar in it, doesn’t contain HFCS. It is made by Torchbearer Sauces, and you can order online. Unfortunately, I haven’t really made my own barbeque sauce in the past, so I don’t have a good recipe to offer. It’s on my list of things to do this year!