Helpful Baby + Marmite Carbonara

Monday

Arthur woke up at 7:20 Monday morning, ready to start the week! He was quite good-natured in the morning; being content being left to his own devices in the crib and play mat for several minutes, tolerating tummy time remarkably well, and helping Mama do some chores around the house.

Laundry is fun!

After his 10:00 second breakfast and nap, Arthur continued his helpfulness by accompanying Mama to Lidl, where we stocked up on groceries that the little dude carried home in his stroller. What a useful angel - we should have had a kid ages ago!

As a reward,

the lucky booger got two afternoon snacks today! They were pretty much identical in composition, but full of foods he liked. We are still working our way through the tofu and plum purée, so that’s what he had each time. But I mixed the purée with formula powder for his first snack, and with almond flour for his second, so he got some allergens in both times!

Unfortunately, though, Arthur had no desire to sleep during his 1:00 nursing session like he usually does. He had clearly been tired beforehand, rubbing his eyes and fussing, but even though I closed the curtains and made shushing noises, he did not want to sleep.

Despite the lack of his usual nap, Arthur was incredibly sweet and affectionate the following hour. He does this little gurgling sound when he feels really close to you - I think it’s his way of saying I love you. He was having a blast just making eye contact with me while sitting in his high chair, smiling and giggling like crazy. I think at that point, he was getting to the I’m so tired I’m a little drunk phase. Luckily he took that much-needed nap during his 3:00 nursing session.

Arthur’s dinner was quite the concoction: a mixture of Weetabix, kefir, peanut butter, and plum purée that I had prepared earlier in the day. I wasn’t surprised that he ended up loving it!

So, Arthur’s solid start to the week consisted of:

• tofu

• plum purée

• formula (milk powder)

• almond flour (new food, although he’s had almonds before)

• Weetabix

• homemade whole-milk kefir

• peanut butter

Tuesday

Arthur and I were on our own on Tuesday, as it was an office day for Miklós. So I got up a bit earlier than usual - at 7:20, which was a good call, as Arthur woke up 10 minutes later.

He was in a great mood throughout the morning, and really enjoyed being on his play mat; he was perfectly happy there playing with the various attached and unattached toys while I did a few things around the house.

After returning from our usual grocery store run, I gave Arthur a bit of a snack to tide him over while I unpacked and had a cup of tea. He had the rest of the lentil pasta, and seemed to enjoy it. Less enjoyable to him was the sound of the blender. Even when I hold him it seems to freak him out; I’m hoping he’ll get used to it eventually, especially if I act really calm. But he’s clearly a sensitive kid.

Luckily, Arthur was back to taking his usual 1:00 nap today, which I think he needed. Afterwards, we continued our adventures in tofu. In fact, Arthur finished off the entire block - I was very proud of him. We tried a new source of vitamin C to accompany it: tomato paste! I had been using some for making a “Doritos” hummus (which I’ll post later), and, since tomatoes are a really good source of Vitamin C, figured I’d use some of the extra on Arthur.

A scalp injury or tomato paste? You be the judge.

At first, I offered Arthur the paste on its own, thinned with some water; he seemed kind of neutral about it. Then I figured it would probably be a lot nicer with the herbs that typically accompany tomato sauces, so I added garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, and, as an afterthought, some olive oil to help boost the vitamin absorption. I think he liked it quite a lot less afterwards; I’m not sure if I put too much oil in it (sometimes he has a hard time with it) or he didn’t like the spices, but he made some serious faces every time I gave him a spoon of it. Ah well. I eventually added in a bit of nutritional yeast to make it more palatable to him, but I’m not sure it helped much. He did, however, do a good job at getting it everywhere, including his hair.

I was happy that Arthur was back to his 3-nap-a-day schedule today, with his usual 10:00, 1:00, and 5:00 naps. I was also happy that Arthur was doing a good job at polishing off foods in general today; for dinner, he did the same thing with his plum-peanut butter-kefir-Weetabix porridge! He still had an appetite afterwards, so I fed him quite a bit of the roasted Hokkaido squash I was eating. He devoured it, just like his mama!

So, on Tuesday, Arthur consumed the following solids:

• lentil pasta

• tomato paste (new food!)

• garlic powder

• dried basil

• dried oregano

• olive oil

• tofu

• Weetabix

• kefir

• plum purée

• peanut butter

• Hokkaido squash/pumpkin

I didn't cook anything special on Monday or Tuesday, but I did want to post the carbonara recipe I made on the weekend! When Miklós and I were quarantining together during Covid, we had a jar of marmite in the cupboard, and we had fun experimenting with different ways to use it! I remember marmite mushroom omelets being pretty good, and I was particularly partial to marmite oatmeal (I'll have to make that again!) So when it was on sale at Albert Heijn a few weeks ago, I couldn't resist picking up a jar for the nostalgia factor. I used it in the seitan I made a week or so ago, and then while scouring the internet for other recipes incorporating the condiment, came across this recipe for a marmite carbonara. I don't think I've ever made, or even had, a classic carbonara before, so I was intrigued. I mostly followed the recipe, as is, with a couple of minor tweaks. And it was quite tasty! A bit salty, but good (as anything with Parmesan is sure to be), and as Miklós put it, "You can taste the marmite, but it's not overpowering." Here's how I made it:

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Marmite Carbonara (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks

• 2 tsp Marmite

• 40g finely grated parmesan

• 250g pasta (I used red lentil pasta)

• 2 big cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tbsp virgin olive oil

• ground pepper, to taste

• optional: 1 recipe carrot bacon

Instructions

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil while you mash together the egg yolks, Marmite and grated parmesan with some freshly ground pepper. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook until just tender.

2. Put the garlic, carrot bacon (if using), and olive oil in a cold frying pan, then bring to a medium heat and fry until the garlic is golden and crispy.

3. Reserve a small cup of the pasta water then drain. Take the frying pan off the heat and tip in the pasta, followed by the Marmite mixture and a good splash of cooking water. Toss together until the pasta is glossy and evenly coated.