Toddler Food

So the Bug has hit a picky patch when it comes to eating. She subsists primarily on milk, air, and peanut butter smeared on the carb-de-jour. She will also eat tortellini, and so, inspired by the Noodle and Doodle TV show, I invented this recipe for the whole family.

Tortellini lasagna

1 20 oz package tortellini (I used Buitoni herb chicken tortellini just to get some extra protein in the child)
2-ish cups fresh baby spinach
1 32 oz jar pasta sauce
2-ish cups part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Lightly grease a 9'x9 or equivalent baking pan. I used my olive oil mister to accomplish this task. Layer about half the tortellini, half the spinach, half the sauce, and half the cheese. Repeat.

Cover dish with foil, place in oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese on top is melty and goey. Enjoy. Assume toddler will reject immediately the spinach as though it were arsenic or toxic waste.

Oh, and I'm not a huge fan of Noodle and Doodle, because while the link I put above is right that it encourages cooking and crafting together, it also features a dude in a bus (awfully similar to a van), riding around with a puppet and a dog inviting kids to come do crafts in his skeevy van double decker bus, and eat the yummy food that his puppet helped him prepare. The dog's life is so miserable that he has a vivid fantasy life in which he is the owner of an all-dog diner and creates beautiful meals for a variety of interesting clientele. It was, in fact, one of Doggity's creations that inspired this particular creation.