[jeanette]

First Foods should be semi liquid. Dont forget to start with savoury foods for the first few weeks as your baby may refure these in favour of sweeter foods!

Banana puree
one small ripe babana
1-2 tsps of baby rice
2 tbsps of breast or formula milk

Mash the banana until smooth. Mix the rice and milk, and stir in the banana. Adjust the tesxture with milk or rice to make a runnier or firmer puree

 

[jeanette]

Carrot and parsnip Puree

one carrot, peeled and diced
one parsnip, peeled and diced.

Steam the vegetables until tender. Puree in a blender and adjust the texture with babys usual milk

 

[jeanette]

Broccoli and Cauliflower Puree

One large floret broccoli
One large floret Cauliflower

Steam the vegetables until tender. Puree in a blender and adjust the texture with babys usual milk

 

[Kathryn]

Thanks Jeanette,

These have gone down really well with Isabella.I am going to try the cauli & broccoli one next as she isn't keen on broccoli on its own.

Love
Kathryn

 

[jeanette]

Pawpaw purée
1 ripe pawpaw

Peel and seed the pawpaw, and mash to a purée with a fork. To vary add baby rice or mix with mashed banana.

Sweet potato mash

1 sweet potato

Steam or boil the sweet potato until it is tender. Drain and mash well, adding baby's usual milk to make a suitable consistency.

Potato and spinach purée

1 medium potato, peeled and quartered
20g (a handful) spinach

Boil the potato in unsalted water until tender. Steam the spinach over the potato in a sieve for the last few minutes of cooking. Drain and mash the potato with a little of baby's usual milk. Purée the spinach and add to the potato. Adjust the texture with boiled cooled water or breastmilk or formula.

Pear and apple purée1 ripe pear, peeled and sliced
1 apple, peeled and sliced

Place the pear and apple in a small saucepan with one tablespoon of water and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is tender. Purée in a blender.

Lentils with butternut squash50g split red lentils
120g butternut squash, peeled and diced

Boil the lentils in water until soft. Steam or microwave the squash until tender. Drain the lentils in a sieve. Add the squash to the sieve and place the sieve over a bowl. Using a wooden spoon press through the mixture, stir and serve.

Avocado and kiwi puréeHalf a ripe avocado
1 ripe kiwi fruit

Mash the avocado well. Peel and mash the kiwi. Push the kiwi through a sieve to remove the pips, then mix with the avocado.

Canteloupe melon puréeLarge slice of canteloupe or other melon, seeded

Purée the melon and, if desired, add a little baby rice to thicken up.

Dont forget the link on the starting weaning thread!

More recpes available on the babycentre website

 

[jeanette]

RICE PUDDING (1 SERVING)

2 tablespoons baby rice
Approx. 200 ml (7 fl oz) breast/ formula milk

• Add the milk to the baby rice and stir well.

• Heat gently if required.



VEGETABLE PUREE (2 SERVINGS )
1 medium carrot
1 small potato
1 medium floret of cauliflower or broccoli
Approx. 60ml (2 fl oz) breast/formula milk

• Wash, peel and chop the vegetables into small pieces.

• Cook the vegetables until soft.

• Drain off any excess water.

• Liquidise and allow to cool.

• Add formula/ breast milk and mix well.

 

[Jayne]

Thanks Jeanette, these recipes are great ^thumbsup^



One thing I also did when weaning Jack was add baby rice to everything! It became a sort of base food which I flavoured with different fruits and veggies. Seemed to make them more filling. ie. pureed carrot, thinned right out with milk and then re-thickened with baby rice. Also I did this because I didn't want to add things like weetabix, porridge, etc. into the diet until quite late on, so I used the baby rice a bit like a porridge for breakfast and just flavoured it with banana or something.

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

Just found a really nice looking recepie for that famous butternut squash, so thought I'd post it. Have some more too which I'll put up later.

Apparently butternut squash is rich in betacarotene which is better absorbed if cooked in a little fat, so .....

CREAMY BUTTERNUT SQUASH

From 4 months (6 months one below)

Pre-heat oven to 180 D/350 F/Gas Mark 4. Peel the squash, cut it in half and scoop out seeds. Chop and brush with melted butter. Cover with foil and bake in oven until tender (about 1 to 1 and half hours). Scoop out the flesh and mash/puree with a little milk.


------------------------------------------

This one is sutable from 6 months onwards or after first tastes have been accepted:

(makes 4 portions)


25g butter
40g leek, carefully washed and finely sliced
300g butternut squash, peeled and chopped
40g French beans, topped, tailed and cut in half
150ml of unsalted veg stock or water
40g frozen peas
3 tbsp cream cheese or mascarpone

Melt the butter in a thick-based sausepan and saute the leek until softened (about 3 mins). Stir in the butternut squash and cook, stirring for 1 min. Add the French beans and pour over the veg stock or water. Simmer, covered, for about 10 mins.

Add the frozen peas and cook for 4 mins more. Puree the veg and then stir in the cream cheese or mascarpone.

Serve.

SUITABLE FOR FREEZING

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

TRIO OF FRUITS

Suitable from 4 months.
Makes 6 portions.
Suitable for freezing.

Note - When buying dried apricots (which are a great source of betacarotene, iron and potassium - the drying process also concentrates these) choose a semi-dried variety as they are nice and soft. Sometimes dried apricots are treated with sulphur dioxide (E220) to preserve their rich orange colour and prevent fungal growht. It is best to avoid these, as this substance can trigger an asthma attack on susceptible babies.

75g ready to eat dried apricots
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
75ml water
1 large ripe pear, peeled, cored and chopped
2 tbsp baby rice
2 tbsp of baby's usual milk

Put the apricots and chopped apple into a small saucepan and pour over the water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cover and cook for about 7 mins. Add the pear and continue to cook for 2 mins. Puree the fruit in a blende. Mix together the baby rice and milk and stir into the fruit puree. Serve.

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

VEGETABLES WITH CHEESE SAUSE

Suitable from 6 months (you can use cows milk in cooking from 6 months)

I think this recepie is really good if baby isn't too keen on veg. But I'm sure it's a nice alternative to plain veg too

Makes 4 portions
Suitable for freezing

75g Cauliflower cut into florets
50g broccoli cut into florets
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced
50g frozen peas

Cheese sauce:
15g butter
15g flour
200 ml milk (full fat cows)
40g cheddar cheese, grated

Put the veg into a steamer set over a pan of boiling water and cook for 4 mins. Add the frozen peas nad continue to cook for 3 mins.

To make the cheese sauce, put the butter, flour and milk in a small saucepan. Heat gently and stir or whisk until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Stir int he grated cheese until melted.

Pour the cheese sauce over the veg and blend tinot a puree or choop the veg for older babies and mix with the sauce. For young babies you can add a little more milk to thin the puree, if necessary.

Serve.

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

TIP ON POTATOES

When pureeing potatoe, use a a mouli or press through a sieve. Do not use a food processor as this breaks down the starches and you end up with a sticky pulp!

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

Basic idea here, sorry if it's been written before or I'm stating the obvious but .............  

Banana puree!

Now, whenever I tried this before, I think I must've had my thicko head on because I just pureed it with a mouli and served it.  Didn't go down well at all -  bit gooey and lumpy. So, yesterday I mushed it with the mouli and added a little formula and then pushed it through a sieve, thickened it up with the famous baby rice and warmed it through.  Hey presto!  Yummy banana with no bits in.  Ben loved it    I'm not sure I'd have eaten it once it turned a lovely shade of grey though after the air had been at it for 10 mins or so    He didn't seem to mind though  

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

Did a recepie up above that includes dried apricots. Now it says they are suitable for freezing in that recepie, and so I assumed they would be if I did them on their own. Hmmmmm, did some yesterday afternoon, and they're still not frozen Didn't keep the packet, but I wonder if it says on there not to freeze. Will have to have a look whilst in Tesco's tomorrow.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know in case you were planning on freezing some of those dried (but still plump) apricots.

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

Broccoli and Pea Puree

Suitable for freezing
Makes 2-3 portions

3 florets of brocoli
Handfull of frozen peas

Steam or boil the brocoli for 5-6 mins, adding the peas 5 mins before the end of the cooking time.

Puree the brocoli and peas in a blender until smooth, adding a little of the cooking water if necessary.

Serve lukewarm.

Jayne x

 

[LizzyB]

^doh^ What's a mouli?!

Lizzy xx

 

[Jayne]

It's one of those hand blender thingies. Do you know the ones I mean?

Definitely work on potatoes much better than anything else.

Another thing I've found when using them is to put the fruit/veg in as narrow a bowl as possible when mouliing (is that a word ), and also adding cooking liquor/extra boiled water makes the puree smoother and easier to get all the lumps out. If you can't though, just press the mixture through a sieve. Teeny weeny bits, like those produced when you puree brocolli are fine though and baby should be able to cope with them.

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

Oh, btw, the frozen apricots never did freeze as hard as I expected, but they seem to be okay and haven't gone off. Ben loves them too

Jayne x

 

[Jayne]

Oh, Aaaaand with the banana, no need to mouli at all, just push it through a sieve and serve. Yum

Jayne x

 

[LizzyB]

Thanks Jayne ~ in that case I have a mouli and never knew it!

Fab

 

[Jayne]

It's all you'll ever need for weaning. They're great, and really easy to clean up afterwards. Don't need any of these fancy food processors. Just steam and mouli to the right consistency for baby's age. Actually I do most of Ben's food in one of those expandable metal steamer dishes that you put over a pan of water on the stove. Either that, or I put them in a pyrex dish with a couple of teaspoons of water, cover and microwave.

Love

Jayne x