We got the idea from a photo that we had recently seen. We came up with two different flavors from the same recipe, one with lemon and one with strawberries. They both have a fresh and fruity taste and you can eat them just as they are, but when you dip them in chocolate and roll them in the different toppings they become irresistible. What we are most proud of with this recipe is all the different natural toppings that we came up with. They kinda look like they have been sprinkled with caramel and sugar toppings, even though we only used natural unsweetened ingredients such as bee pollen, dried mint leaves, puffed amaranth, poppy seeds, dried rose leaves etc…

Frozen Chocolate, Lemon & Strawberry Pops
To make this recipe you have to be the kind of person that thinks that the process is part of the fun. It takes a lot of soaking, blending, assembling, freezing … But hopefully you will be mighty proud when you are done.

Lemon Cashew Truffles (makes 15 truffles)
1 1/2 cups raw cashew nuts (soaked for at least 1 hour)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup agave syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 teaspoon sea salt (optional)

Strawberry Cashew Truffles (makes 15 truffles)
1 1/2 cups raw cashew nuts (soaked for at least 1 hour)
1/3 cup mashed strawberries
1/3 cup agave syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 teaspoon sea salt (optional)

Preparing one batch: Add all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Put it in the freezer for 20 minutes, so the filling becomes firm enough to shape. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop spoonfuls of the lemon cashew filling or strawberry cashew filling onto the baking sheet. If necessary, roll the lemon or strawberry balls between your palms to make them fairly round. If they’re too soft when your done with all of them, freeze them for about 20 minutes until they’re firm enough to insert lollipop sticks into. Insert lollipop sticks, Place them in the freezer while making the chocolate cover.

Raw Chocolate Cover
3/4 cup Cacao powder
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup agave syrup
1/2 cup drinking water

Add all ingredients to a blender and mix until you’ll get a liquid chocolate consesisty. Add more water if needed. Remove the pops from the freezer. Working quickly, dip a frozen ball into the chocolate. Leave some uncovered. With the coating still wet, roll it in the toppings of your choice or sprinkle them on the top.

Natural Toppings

hemp seeds
flax seeds
cacao nibs
dried roses
dried mint leaves
popped amaranth seeds
poppy seeds
dried sea-buckthorn
goji berry
blueberry or acai powder
chia seeds
bee pollen

Store the popsicles in the freezer until serving them.

When we were in California we made a guest post for the online kids store Alex and Alexa. They asked us to make a post on Elsa’s favorite dinner. We are not sure if we did it because they offered to send her some cool and expensive baby clothes or because we had in fact already talked about making a vegetarian baby food post for a long time. Probably both reasons. You can read the whole post on the Alex and Alexa blog. Or a shorter version of it just by scrolling down.

Vegetarian baby food doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult. Just keep in mind to add different kinds of protein, such as beans, lentils, seeds, quinoa or eggs. Different kinds of fat such as avocado, coconut or good quality oils (flaxseed, olive, almond, sunflower, hemp). Vitamins and minerals from different kinds of fruit and vegetables.

The easiest way is to cook a lot of everything one or two days a week, store it in big jars that you keep in the fridge or freezer, and when it’s time for dinner all you need to do is to take a spoonful from each jar, heat and serve! Don’t be afraid to use mild spices and fresh herbs, babies love that.

We have put together a few of Elsa’s favorites. She actually eats everything that we put in front of her (including the napkins), but these things make her extra giddy.

Her absolute favorite food is – believe it or not – Sprouts! They are easy for her to grab, put in her mouth and to play with. Even though most of them ends up on the floor they can keep her occupied during a whole meal. Which gives us time to feed her these other dishes (and to eat ourselves). If we don’t give her sprouts we make sure that she always has something to hold on to and play with while she eats, like this cucumber ring.

Aubergine & Sweet Potato Mash
1 aubergine
1 sweet potato
3 tbsp olive oil

Cut the vegetables in small peaces, boil them in water for 20 minutes.
Puree in a food processor or mash with a fork. Add the olive oil and stir around.

Beans & Herbs
1 can beans
5 leaves of fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil…)
3 tbsp olive oil

Cook any kind of beans according to the package or use canned beans (as we usually do).
Puree beans and herbs in a food processor or mash with a fork. Add olive oil and stir around.

Lemon Quinoa
Cook quinoa according to the package. Mix it with oil and juice from lemon or orange.

Dessert
We want to keep her off ice cream and cookies as long as we can. Right now she is more than happy with a scoop of cinnamon applesauce, a coconut avocado mash and a slice of grapefruit to chew on.

Cinnamon Apple Sauce
1 bag of apples
cinnamon

Cut the apples in small pieces and boil them in water on low heat until they soften, it will take about 20 minutes. Drain them from the remaining water and set to cool off for a couple of minutes. Drizzle with cinnamon and mash with a fork or a blender.

Coconut Avocado
1 avocado
2 tbsp shredded coconut
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Mix avocado, coconut and oil in a blender or with a fork.

Meet Elsa. Our daughter. She is exactly two days old and we can’t stop looking at her. Therefore we will keep this post really short – so that we can continue to drown her in hugs and kisses.

We will be back soon with more green recipes. But this time it’s all about her.