Oral Fixation

Sometimes I go back and re-read my old posts (can you stalk your own blog?). It occurred to me that I obsess write about what The Baby eats, how he eats, how much he eats, when he eats poop or his first mud pie, and what he won’t eat, a lot. When I pumped and bottle fed I drove myself nuts. I hopefully didn’t drive you nuts too. If so, I apologize.

When a child is so young, I guess one thing you have complete control over is what goes in their mouths. Except poo and mud, of course. Oh, and cat food, phone antennas, newspaper… well, you know what I mean! I think that is why it’s so easy for pumping moms to freak about their supply – it’s difficult and sometimes impossible to influence (boy, am I glad I'm done!) Anyway, when I find a gem, whether it’s a product that might help pumping moms or a recipe that worked well for our toddler (13 months is toddler, right?) I like to pass it on.

The Baby really likes meatloaf and meatballs. They are easy for him to eat. While I do buy 93% lean beef, I still don’t like to let him eat read meat more than once or twice a week. These Thai Chicken balls were flavorful, would be super easy to modify (we didn’t have green onions so I added two tablespoons of finely chopped onion and some chives), and extra balls freeze well for future meals. We made them as a meal, but they’d be a great appetizer for a party. They were easy for The Baby to eat with his fingers. Here is an easy recipe that all three of us enjoyed from a member of Allrecipes.

Thai Chicken Balls
2 pounds ground chicken
1 cup dry bread crumbs
4 green onions, sliced
1 tablespoon ground coriander seed
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
oil for frying

In a large bowl, mix together the chicken and bread crumbs. Season with green onion, ground coriander, cilantro, chili sauce and lemon juice; mix well.

Using damp hands, form mixture into evenly shaped balls that are either small enough to eat with your fingers, or large enough to use as burgers.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the chicken balls in batches until well browned all over.

NOTE: I halved the recipe and baked them at 400 in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn (or roll) the balls around halfway through. We just happened to have coriander seed. I didn’t even taste it. Could be that it went stale since it just sits in my spice rack. Also, the sweet chili sauce was in with ethnic foods at the store. It made yummy dipping sauce too.