Ma What's For Dinner?

Serves: 1-2  Prep time: 2 minutes  Cook time: 0 minutes

Make sure you banana is ripe. Peel it and break to desired length.  Grab a fork and begin to mash it.

For the new to food crew (i.e. 5-6 months) mash this up very very well.  You can blend with formula or breast milk, combine it with rice cereal, or just serve it up plain.

Beginning at around 7 months you can add some texture to the bananas by stirring it in with some smooth yogurt or cottage cheese.  Most babies really enjoy the taste of both of these and will delight in being able to stick their hands in and play with their food (very important for baby’s development!)  

Around 9 months begin adding in bigger chunks of soft banana for your baby to pick up and chew on.  This is when babies begin to master their ability to grasp food between their thumbs and forefinger.  Be sure to give them lots of opportunity to get messy and play with their food.  Put the food directly onto their high chair tray in small batches.

By 10 – 11 months self feeding will be in full swing.  If you can actually get your child to let you feed them, well – you’ll be having much more luck than I ever did!  Cheerios are a wonderful addition to this recipe to make it a substantial breakfast for your little one and will satisfy the desire to self feed.

Thank goodness for bananas!

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Ok my pureeing prima donnas, here it comes…

…your pumpkins first meal after rice cereal!  Yea!  We’ve hit the big time.  They’ll be off to college before you know it.  They’ll graduate, move out, shack up with some yoga instructor and start ignoring your texts.  And then you’ll be a Grandma in no time…ok wait, back it up…let’s at least get their first meal into them before they sprout some teeth.

Ok, first things first.  You need some supplies.  I recommend a steamer, a potato ricer or mouli, a food processor, and some ice cube trays.  You can pretty much make any baby food you need with that gear.  The ricer or mouli is only to make potato and sweet potato with (they tend to get gummy if you run them through a food processor) so you can skip those if you’re low on funds.  Ok, fire up that steamer because here we go…

We’ll be making potatoes first.  Why?  Because potatoes are nice and mild and a great way to begin the process of introducing the vast world of flavors and textures to your child.  Plus you make a big batch, freeze them, and store them in plastic freezer bags and then combine them with other less baby appealing veggies (ie broccoli) they’re more likely to adjust to the stronger tastes.  So smart huh?

4 large russet baking potatoes cleaned, peeled, and chopped

Liquid (you can choose to use breast milk, formula, or the steaming water.  You’ll need enough liquid to make the potatoes smooth and almost runny, like thinned yogurt.)

Place chopped potato in the bowl of your steamer and cook for 15-20 minutes, until they are very soft.  Remove the potatoes place them into a ricer or a mouli (you could even just press them through a colander if need be).  Strain the potatoes into a bowl and combine with enough liquid to make a thin and smooth puree.  Serve as is or combined with rice cereal.

You can save some in the fridge for the next few days and spoon the rest into clean and sterilized ice cube trays to freeze for future use.

You can use this recipe to make a number of vegetables including carrots, parsnips, butternut squash, sweet potato (avoid the food processor), rutabaga, and zucchini.  Just clean, peel and steam as above, and puree in the food processor until smooth.  Voila!

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Prep Time:  5 minutes   Cook time:  20 minutes

Makes about 1 ice cube tray worth of extra for freezing

1 head of cauliflower florets

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 plum tomatoes diced and seeded

1/2 T unsalted butter

Steam cauliflower until soft, 15-20 minutes, so it’s extra soft for babies.  While you are waiting for you cauliflower melt butter in a small sauce pan.  Add tomatoes and cook over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.  Lower the heat and add in cheese and allow to melt, stirring often.

Once the cheese and tomato mixture is well melted and combined pour over cauliflower and mix well.  Transfer to a food processor and and puree to desired consistency.  Freeze the leftovers in a sterilized ice cube tray to keep for future use.

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Serves: 1   Prep Time: 5 minutes  Cook time: 8 minutes

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup baby spinach

1 t unsalted butter

1 T grated Parmesan cheese

In a small sauce pan heat butter over medium heat.  Once butter has melted add in your spinach and allow to wilt while stirring occasionally.  Once your spinach has wilted (about 2-3 minutes) pour in your egg yolks and cook until yolk is cooked completely through.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Remove omelete from the pan and allow to cool on a cutting board.  Once the omelette has cooled, chop to desired consistency.  You can also add more cheese.  Serve up for you baby to enjoy!

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