Homemade Baby Rice Cereal

When I first introduced Elina to solid food I started with oatmeal cereal. From the beginning Elina has not been a fan of pureed or liquid foods, so cereal was something she absolutely did not want. I tried a different approach by making her rice cereal and not thinning it out so it would be chunky and chewable. The first time I gave it to her she ate it. The second time she only ate half a serving and the third time she flat out refused. Then she went into one of her grunting fits and did not stop until I gave her bits and pieces of the breakfast I was eating. I didn't push the cereal on her anymore and Elina has been eating whatever I have ever since. While this recipe didn't work out for us, it's a recipe to keep on hand because it is so easy and it uses up something you probably already have in your pantry anyway.

Homemade Baby Rice Cereal

Source: Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes

Makes 1 cup

1/4 brown rice
1 cup water

Put rice in a blender and pulverize into a powder, 3-5 minutes on medium to high speed.

Bring 1 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add brown rice powder and reduce heat to low. Cook, whisking constantly, until water is absorbed, 4-5 minutes

Add water, breast milk, or formula to thin cereal to a consistency your baby can handle.

To store, refrigerate cooled cereal in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or fill ice-cube trays to freeze for up to 3 months.

...With a Cherry on Top

I am convinced that Cati does not like anything that's too sweet. She HATED pears and will only eat bananas if I'm eating bananas, but when it comes to tart fruits like blueberries and cherries she's all over them. I gave Cati cherries for the first time yesterday and she was beyond herself. She wanted more and more! I have a feeling the bag of cherries I made her will be all gone before the end of the week. That's OK; the cherries for Cati are the easiest and quickest thing to make. Unfortunately, I did not get video of her so you will have to trust me when I say she loved the cherries.


Baby Cherries
Makes ~2 cups

One 12-oz bag of cherries, thawed

Place cherries in food processor and purée. Process until smooth. Serve to baby one Tbsp at a time. 

Storage: Good for 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container or up to 3 months in the freezer.

Note: The cherries are pretty liquidy so it's very messy. Make sure to cover up the baby well when feeding cherries. 

The players. 

The cherries. 

The baby.

Lentils for Everyone

I tried to kill two birds with one stone. I bought lentils so I could make myself soup and from that make food for Cati. As usual though, I got distracted with the baby and ended up with something that was not a soup. Oh well. The lentils came out delicious either way and Cati LOVED them. I've been giving them to her for almost a week now and she still loves them. Go Cati!

Lentils for Everyone
Source: Jodi on Allrecipes.com

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (I omitted)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
1 (32 ounce) carton chicken broth
1 cup lentils
1 large carrot, diced


Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has turned golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, kosher salt, black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon of chili powder. Cook and stir 2 minutes more until the spices are fragrant.

Stir in the chicken broth, lentils, and carrot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes.

Pour half of the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot. Do not puree all of the soup, leave it a little chunky.

Note: I had no liquid leftover and that's why it wasn't a soup. I ate mine as is but put Cati's portion in the food processor.

The Players.

Mom's version.

Baby's version.

Baby.

Pumpkin Baby Food

In celebration of fall I made Cati pumpkin over the weekend. I had bought a small pumpkin especially for her but decided to use half of it for her and the other half for my baking. She seemed to really enjoy the pumpkin when I first gave it to her and the next day I used it to mask the taste of turkey.

Pumpkin Baby Food
Makes ~2 cups

1/2 of a 3-5lb pumpkin, roasted and scooped  (instructions on how to roast a pumpkin here)
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Breast milk, formula, water (optional)

Place warm pumpkin in food processor. Add butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Purée until smooth. Add liquid until pumpkin reaches best consistency for eating.

Storage: 3 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer.

Note: The pumpkin had great, smooth consistency so I did not add any liquid.

The players.

The purée.

The baby.

Cauliflower Baby Food

Cati tried cauliflower earlier this week and she reacted pretty well to it (meaning: she ate it). Cauliflower is a pretty interesting vegetable because, while it stunk up my house when it was cooking, it looked and smelled like mashed potatoes when it was done. I didn't think it tasted like mashed potatoes though; despite its outward appearance is still tasted very much like a vegetable and not like a starch.

Cauliflower Purée
Source:  Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes
Makes 2.5 cups

1 large head of cauliflower
2 Tbsp butter
Breast milk, formula, or cooking water (optional)

Remove the leaves and chop the head into small florets. Place in a large saucepan, fill with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until tender.

While still warm, place the florets in the food processor with the butter and purée until smooth.

Storage: Up to 3 days in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer. 

Note: Cauliflower needed no additional liquid to get a nice consistency.

The players. 

The purée.

The baby. 

 

Gobble Gobble

Here we go again with me doubting myself. Cati tried her first meat this week: turkey. I was really excited about going from a veggie-only diet to a diet complemented with meats. Cati, however, reacted in a way that made me wonder if I was doing the right thing by making her food. I guess I had high hopes for turkey and was really hoping Cati would love it. As you'll see in the video, Cati took one bite and then didn't want to take another bite. It took me 45 minutes to get her to eat half of the food I had prepared for her (turkey, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and apple). Was it the texture? Was it because she was getting tired (she started rubbing her eyes halfway through)? Was the combination a bad tasting one?

Baby's Turkey
Source: Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes
Makes ~2 cups

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup water
Breast milk, cooking water, or formula
1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional-for every cup of ground turkey)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (optional-for every cup of ground turkey)

 In a skillet, cook turkey in water. Add turkey to food processor and purée until smooth.  Add fluid until turkey reaches the desired consistency for eating.

Note: I added about 3-4 oz of breast milk per cup of turkey to get the turkey to a consistency I felt Cati would eat.

Update: First two attempts at eating turkey were a bust. Cati would eat, but very, very slowly. On the third attempt, Cati ate like a champ. It's probably because it was something like 5:1 veggies to turkey.

The players.

The puree. 

The baby.

The Color of Purple

I wanted to try to expand Cati's potato horizons by giving her purple potatoes. The truth is, I had visions of making her potato soup using a medley of different potatoes and these little potatoes looked too good to pass up at the supermarket. Her reaction to the potatoes wasn't what I expected. She was just OK with them but definitely not crazy about them. In fact, she wanted less and less to do with them in the days that followed.

Purple Potato Pureé
Makes 1 cup

1 cup potatoes (I didn't peel it)
1 1/2 cup water
Breast milk, formula, or cooking water
1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional)

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook 5-10 minutes or until the potato is easily forked. Drain potatoes (reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water if you are going to use water to thin out the purée), place in food processor, and purée. Add fluid until potatoes reach the best consistency for eating.

Storage: Good for 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container or up to 3 months in the freezer.

Note: I used about 3 oz of breast milk to get the potatoes to a smooth consistency.

The players. 

The pureé.

The baby. 

Making Mr. Giant Proud

Let's just get to the point. Cati liked green beans. I'm not surprised anymore. My kid loves her veggies and I couldn't be prouder. Let's just hope she keeps liking them.

Green Bean with Mint Pureè

Source: adapted from Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes
Makes 1 cup

1/2 lb trimmed green beans
1/4 tsp chopped mint
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
Breast milk or formula

In a large frying pan over medium high heat, bring 1-inch water to boil. Add beans and return to a boil. Cover and cook until very tender and bright green, about 7-9 minutes. Drain beans.

Add to food processor and pureè. Add mint and olive oil and continue to pureè. Add breast milk or formula until pureè reached the best consistency for eating.

Storage: Good for 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container or up to 3 months in the freezer.

Note: I added about 2 oz of breast milk to get the consistency kind of runny.

The players. 

The pureè.

The baby. 

Eating Sticks

The vegetable love affair continues. Cati tried asparagus for the first time over the weekend and she really liked it. I'm so proud of how well she is reacting to veggies and I can only hope it continues the older she gets.

Asparagus Pureè
Makes ~1 cup pureè

1 lb asparagus, cut in half with woody ends snapped off
1.5 cups water
Breast milk, formula, or cooking water
1/4 tsp basil (optional)

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook 5-6 minutes or until the asparagus is easily forked. Drain asparagus (reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water if you are going to use water to thin out the purée), place in food processor, and purée. Add basil and fluid until the pureè reaches the best consistency for eating.

Storage: Good for 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container or up to 3 months in the freezer.

Note: I made the pureè pretty liquidy and added about 2 oz of breast milk. Cati's favorite combination was asparagus and squash.

The players. 

The pureè.

The baby. 

Thank You Berry Much

Cati tried blueberry for the first time on Monday and she seemed to really like it. This is the first fruit I feel like she's reacted positively to right off the bat. It also solidifies my thoughts that Cati may not like things that are too sweet, like pears. Another interesting development is how messy Cati has gotten with eating. Before she wouldn't get any food on her and most of the food remained in her mouth, now food gets everywhere and I pair of her white pants have been permanently stained by carrots.

Blueberry Sauce
Source: Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes
Makes

2 cups blueberries, fresh or thawed

Place blueberries in food processor and purée until smooth. There will be small pieces of peel in the purée. To remove them, put the purée in a sieve over a small bowl and push the purée through with a rubber spatula.

Note: You do not need to add anything else to this. I love that! I added a bit of cereal to thicken up the sauce the first time I gave Cati blueberries. It thickened up to a yogurt-like consistency after being refrigerated and didn't need anymore cereal. 

The players. 

The sauce. 

The baby. 

Testing Zucchini

Cati tried zucchini. I love that she's eating all these veggies because I feel like less of a fat a** when I go to the grocery store. No one questions your selection of donuts, Lucky Charms, Oreos, and Cuban pastries when you've got zucchini in your cart. Cati seemed to like zucchini when she first tried it but it seemed to be hit or miss the next few times I tried giving it to her. Here are the lessons I have learned when it comes to introducing solids thus far:

*Eat with your baby. Cati is more enthusiastic about eating when I sit down and have my breakfast and lunch with her. I think it helps her understand that it's mealtime and that eating is something fun we all do.
*One thing can ruin it all.  I wouldn't say Cati is a picky eater, but she is temperamental when it comes to eating. If she doesn't like one thing about her meal, she won't eat anything else. During the second day of zucchini I tried giving her pear again and that ruined the entire meal. The minute the pear touched her taste buds she gagged and refused to eat anything else.
*Follow the baby's cues. This one is straightforward. The baby will let you know if he or she is hungry. There's not point in trying to get the baby to eat when he or she doesn't want to. Trust me, if you try you will end up with food everywhere and one upset baby.
*Don't be afraid of liquid. Load the purées up with liquids. Don't worry if it's too liquidy now because you can always add a little bit of cereal later on to thicken up the purée. I made the mistake of not adding enough breast milk to Cati's carrots once because I thought she could handle a thicker consistency but she didn't like the consistency. After I added more milk to thin the carrots out, she ate like a champ. This ties in to following the baby's cues and making sure you give him or her food in a consistency they like and are willing to eat.
*Don't be afraid to mix things up. When I first introduced Cati to veggies I gave her one veggie at a time. Now when I introduce a veggie I mix it in with another veggie she likes. That way, she's at least getting something I already know she likes so even if she isn't crazy about the new veggie, maybe the one she already likes will provide enough incentive for her to finish eating all her veggies. This worked wonders with apples because I mixed it in with her sweet potatoes.
*Roasting.  Throw some veggies/fruits in the oven whenever you are using the oven. Roasting veggies/fruits has been a lot of fun but if the veggies/fruits aren't tender enough the purée isn't going to be as smooth. As it is, I feel like I get a much smoother purée consistency when I boil Cati's food instead of roasting it.

Zucchini Purée
Makes 1 cup

3 small zucchini, sliced
Breast milk or formula (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place zucchini slices on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool. Place in food processor and purée until smooth. If purée is too thick, add fluid until zucchini reach the best consistency for eating.

Storage: Good for 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container or up to 3 months in the freezer.

Note: I put about 1-2 oz of breast milk in the zucchini to thin it out, but it was still a little thick. I think I should have added more so that it would have been more enjoyable to eat.

The players. 

The puree.

The baby.