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Recipes

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At about 4 to 6 months your baby will be ready to start on solids.For the first few weeks of weaning your baby is just having little tastes of new foods. Most mums find baby rice a useful food to start with. It can be mixed with milk in a small amount to start with. Baby rice is also useful to mix with fruit or vegetable purée.Points to remember: * Do not add any salt to improve the strength of flavour. * Some of these recipes make more than one serving, so the remainder will need to be stored appropriately until it can be used later. Freezing is an ideal way to store extra portions.
* When freezing, divide into portions first and freeze the individual portions in small plastic containers or clean ice cube trays.
* To reheat frozen foods, first allow to defrost completely then reheat to piping hot before allowing to cool to the temperature suitable for your baby.
* If reheating in a microwave oven, make sure that you stir the food to disperse any hot spots.

First purees

Suitable first fruits include apple, pear and banana and suitable first vegetables include carrot, swede, parsnip and potato.

With the fruit, choose a sweet variety of apple or pear. Peel, core and chop, then gently heat in a pan with just enough water or milk. Puree and/or sieve. Divide into small portions such as in an ice-cube tray. Allow to cool and freeze. Carry out the same preparation for the vegetables. Ripe bananas may only need to be pureed with a little of baby's usual milk (not suitable for freezing).

These fruit and vegetable purees can then be mixed together or mixed with milk and some pure baby rice (such as Heinz and Farley's Pure Baby Rice) to start to add texture to your baby's meals. The following recipes provide other ways to introduce new flavours and texture to your baby.

Carrot and Courgette with Rice

From


Mrs S Chumbley, Ongar

Ingredients


2 carrots

1 courgette

Water

2 teaspoons baby rice



Method


1. Peel and slice the carrot. Wash and slice the courgette

2. Boil the carrot and courgette together in a small amount of water until tender.

3. Drain, retaining the cooking water

4. Liquidise the carrot and courgette with about 60mls of the cooking water

5. Add the 2 teaspoons of baby rice and stir

(The amount of water and/or baby rice can be altered to get her desired consistency)



Comment


Very simple but good as a first taste of vegetables



Courgette and Potato Gratin

From


Ms J Kent, Norfolk

Ingredients


1 small courgette

1 small potato

60ml milk

25g grated Cheddar cheese

15g butter



Method


1. Wash the vegetables and chop

2. Boil the potato for about 10 minutes until soft

3. Gently fry the courgette in the butter, until soft. Do not allow to get too brown

4. Add the cooked and drained potato, milk and cheese to the courgette and cook over a gentle heat until the cheese has melted

5. Blend to the required consistency



Comment


It is possible to make a larger batch, divide into portions and freeze to be used at a later date


Chicken with Sweet potato, Swede and Carrots

From


Ms R Osman, Kent

Ingredients


1 chicken breast

Half a sweet potato, peeled and diced

One third of a swede, peeled and finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced



Method


1. Cook the chicken fillet in the oven on medium heat (about 180°C) until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes

2. Steam all the vegetables until tender

3. Finely chop the cooked chicken

4. Blend the chicken and vegetables together, using some of the steaming water to adjust the thickness



Comment


Can be made in large quantities, divided into portions and frozen until needed



Chicken and Mango

From


Mrs C Strachan, East Lothian

Ingredients


1 chicken breast

1 carrot

1 parsnip

1 mango



Method


1. Roast or steam the chicken breast until cooked

2. Peel and chop the carrot and parsnip and steam until tender

3. Peel and de stone the mango, cut flesh into rough cubes

4. Puree all ingredients together



Comment


To make this recipe less fruity and more savoury, use just half a mango and 1 medium sized cooked potato instead



Fruity Pork and Vegetables



From


Mrs A Burrows, Bolton

Ingredients


25g minced pork

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

Half a leek, washed and finely sliced

2 ready-to-eat dried apricots

Half a parsnip, peeled and chopped



Method


1. Dry fry the minced pork until cooked through, transfer to a small casserole dish

2. Add the remaining ingredients to the casserole dish with just enough water to cover them

3. Cook in a moderate oven until soft

4. Blend all ingredients together



Comment


This recipe can be varied by using minced lamb instead of pork



Gem Squash and Carroty Mash with Thyme

From


Samantha Hindman, York

Ingredients


1 gem squash

1 medium carrot

4 baby potatoes

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Olive oil



Method


1. Peel and de-seed the squash, cut into thick slices, place in a roasting tin and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast in a medium to hot oven until soft (about 30-40minutes)

2. Peel and chop the carrot. Clean and chop the baby potatoes (unpeeled). Boil the carrots and potatoes until soft

3. When all vegetables are cooked, blend or mash together depending on the texture required.

4. Stir in the thyme



Comment


“My baby girl Edie loves this”


Pear and Cinnamon Porridge



From


Mrs L Hylton, Cambridge

Ingredients


1 tablespoon porridge oats

100ml milk

Half a ripe pear

Pinch of cinnamon



Method


1. Heat up the milk in a pan and add the porridge oats

2. Stir until all the milk is soaked up by the oats and the oats are soft

3. Take off the heat

4. Peel and core the pear and mash

5. Mix the pear into the porridge and add a pinch of cinnamon



Comment


“This is great as a breakfast or as a porridge”


Pear and Nectarine Cream



From


Miss P Middleton, Essex



Ingredients


3 sweet pears

1 nectarine

4 teaspoons baby rice

50ml milk



Method


1. Peel, core and slice the pears, put in a microwaveable dish with a little water. Cover and microwave until tender, drain and cool

2. Peel the nectarine, remove the stone and chop

3. Liquidise the pear, nectarine, baby rice and milk together



Comment


For a more textured dessert mash the fruit then mix with the baby rice and milk


Comments (2)Add Comment
...
written by dawna fogarty, 14 April, 2009
my baby is 5 months old i do make my own dinners id make her patatos and veg and all other stuff i just have no idea what to make for dessert can i make banana and pear
...
written by Eve, 20 November, 2008
Wow ... very good idea with the recipes. I'll try every one of that. Thank you!

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