What can you make with a carrot and two baby squash?

I know many of you already know a lot about doulas. Either you have had a postpartum doula serve you or perhaps you are one yourself! (Or perhaps you have wished upon a star for a doula or retroactively heard about doulas and wished they could have served you back when your baby was born!)

But did you know that in addition to mama nurturing and baby juggling (ok, not really juggling) that they also cook? I have this really amazing team, and I am so grateful that they share their time both with ABC and our clients. (If  you have tasted something made with love by your doula, you will likely get more out of this post...)

I covered this week for one of our overnight doulas while she was out of town camping with her kids, and while I was there I got a little insight into what she has been cooking for this family. I knew there has been chicken enchiladas, tortilla soup and quiche before, but this week they told me she made Spanakopita. With Filo dough. Layers. Butter. The whole shebang. (In the middle of the night!) All of a sudden I had the feeling that the bar had been raised and I wasn't sure I could reach it...

So I made apple crisp, which is actually pretty good and very healthy with all the goodies I sneak in there, but it is sure not Spanikopita. All I could content myself with was that the babies were really happy and let me cook long enough to make the house smell nice.

But today I got another chance. I got to fill in for another one of my wonderful cooking doulas (I have several) and I was presented with a new challenge. This mama  had recently discovered blood in her baby's stool, and thinks baby is sensitive to dairy in her diet. So out with all the milk products--and have you noticed that almost EVERYTHING has dairy in it???

Oh yeah, and she hasn't been able to grocery shop since she found out, and even her bread and crackers contain milk products.

And that's not the kicker. The biggest thing is that I have several hours to cook while baby naps, and what is in her produce drawer is one large carrot and 2 tiny patty pan squash. And parsley. Yep, that was the whole produce drawer.

So, you ask, what did I make? Well...I should be modest, but I just can't. Not with Spanakopita breathing down my neck...

I took the carrot and various pantry items and made lettuce wraps(lettuce coming home later via the daddy). Then I took half the filling and made hum bau (buns of sweet dough baked around a savory filling) so mama could grab one quickly and eat one-handed while breastfeeding.

And then I took the squash and made a green curry with chicken and lentils (and baby coconut--never used a can of that before!) and a pot of rice to go with it.

And the final piece was a batch of fresh pita so mama had some bread she could actually eat without dairy or a trip to the grocery store with a tiny infant in tow.

So take that Spanakopita! That is what you can do with a carrot and two baby squash and 3 hours to cook. Hopefully the bar won't be reset by another one of my doulas next week, or I might be in for another day in the kitchen trying to outsmart an almost empty produce drawer...