Spaghetti

Everybody has their favorite recipe for spaghetti, so I thought I'd offer my favorite toddler (and baby) recipe for spaghetti. We've been feeding this to the Biscuit since he started on table food (I'm not kidding) and he has been lapping it up every time we have it since. (Oh, and the adults in my house eat this too!)

Ingredients (sauce)
2 cans organic diced tomatoes (non-organic tomatoes are the most pesticide-containing veggie)
3/4 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic (diced)
1/2 yellow onion
4 baby carrots (diced)

Instructions

1. Brown the meat and drain.
2. Saute the onion and garlic in the same pan for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and carrots.
4. Add the meat back to the pan.
5. Cook for at least 20 minutes on low-medium heat.
6. Cook spaghetti noodles separately (according to package instructions).

I recommend (for babies and young toddlers) that you put some noodles and sauce in a small food processor and pulse/chop for a few turns to make it easy for the little ones to eat both the meat and the noodles. And, of course, everything's better with cheese so add Parmesan or some shredded cheddar if desired.

I've substituted the carrots for green peppers on occasion and I suppose you could probably throw in part of a squash or zucchini. Just remember that the veggies need to cook for about 20 minutes to turn soft (and to go unnoticed).