Fruit baby food recipes

Two yummy and healthy fruit baby food recipes.

1. Fruits with oat porridge

This easy-to-make porridge provides your baby with healthy food fibre and all kinds of vitamins. Its composition is very flexible, the proportion of fruits and oatmeal is totally up to you. Another advantage of this food: You can use all kinds of fruits in any combination.

age: above 6 months

Ingredients:

- fruits pealed and cut into cubes (for example: apple, banana, pear, peach, avocado, apricot, etc., normally I combine 2-3 kinds of fruits)

- oatmeal (there are oats in different sizes, I like the really thin type, or already been shredded into small pieces, because they take a shorter time to cook, but if you have the regular oats is also fine, they just take a bit longer to get cooked)

How to cook:

Cooked oat

1. Put oats in a pot, add some water to cook it. Do not put to much water, it is better that the cooked oats are in a consistency that is pretty 'sticky' (see the picture below)

Cut fruits

2. Put the fruits cubes and cooked oats into a container that is suitable for a hand blender

3. Use a Hand Blender to mash the fruits and oats and it is ready!

2. Mashed yam and blueberry

Yam has an extremely high amount of vitamin B5, C, and most significantly nutritional fiber. In addition it is also an affluent resource of potassium as well as manganese. Compounds in blueberries have antioxidant and inflammation-fighting properties, they can even protect the retina of the eye.

age: above 6 months

Ingredients:

- fresh yam 3.5 ounces / 100g (instead of yam you can also use sweet potato)

- fresh blueberry 1.5-2 ounces / 50g

How to cook:

The ingredients - yams and blueberry

Cut yam into pieces

1. Wash and peel the yam (tips: please wear gloves while you peel fresh yam, the juice might make your skin itchy), cut into small pieces and then steam them until they are soft. As an alternative, you can also boil the yam with it's skin still on until it is soft, then peel it and cut it into small pieces. This way you do not need to wear gloves

Mash soft yam

2. Use a Hand Blender to purée the yam, then purée blueberries

Put into any shape you want...

3. Make the 2 purées into any shapes you want

... and add blueberry for the finishing touch!

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Soup recipes for toddlers

Two healthy and tasty soup recipes for toddlers.

1. Tomato potato beef soup
This dish can be enjoyed by the whole family. It contains carbohydrates, meat protein and vegetables and provides many of the nutrition your toddler needs. The slightly sour taste of the tomato is also an appetite stimulator for children.

age: above 18 months

Ingredients:

- beef 3.5 ounces / 100g cut into small cubes

- potato 2 ounces / 60g peeled and cut into small cubes

- tomato 1.5 ounces 40g cut into small cubes

- corn starch

- Vegetable Oil

- chives/spring onion cut into small pieces


- salt

- White Pepper

How to cook:

Corn Starch

1. Mix the beef pieces with a little bit corn starch, salt, pepper, leave for 15 minutes

2. Put a table spoon of cooking oil in a Wok or pan, use medium heat to stir fry the tomato pieces until tomato juice comes out

3. Add some hot water into the wok, wait till the water starts to boil, put potato pieces and beef inside

4. Wait until everything is cooked, add salt and chives/spring onion

5. Enjoy!


2. Broccoli and meatball soup

This is a delicious soup that also can be enjoyed as a family. Please mind that if you are cooking this dish as part of a meal for the whole family, you will need to use more of each ingredient. Broccoli is a very healthy vegetable, not only it is very rich in Vitamin C and K, it is also well known for its anti-cancer properties. Minced pork/beef is rich in protein, Vitamin B6 and B12. Combined with some rice, it is a nice meal with vegetable, meat and carbohydrates.

age: above 12 months

Ingredients:

- minced pork or beef or a mixture of the two 1.5-2 ounces / 50g

- broccoli 3.5 ounces / 100g

- Vegetable Soup Base (either Cubes or tubs is ok)

- Corn Starch

- Soy Sauce

How to cook:

Mix minced meat with corn starch

1. Mix the meat with a teaspoon corn starch, a teaspoon of soy sauce and one to two table spoon of water

Cut broccoli into small pieces

2. Cut the broccoli into small pieces as shown in the picture. If your child is very picky and does not eat the flower part, you can also use the stem of the broccoli, just cut the skin away and cook it with the flower part

3. Put a cube of soup stock in the water (if you are using tube, then half of a port is enough) and boil the water

Shape minced meat into small balls

4. When the water starts to boil and the soup base has melted completely, use a teaspoon to shape the meat into small balls and put the balls in the water

5. Cook the meat balls for 2-3 minutes in the boiling soup, then put the broccoli inside, continue to cook until everything is cooked and the broccoli is in a texture that you like

The soup is ready!

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Meal ideas for toddlers and family

Delicious meal ideas for toddlers and family!

1. Tofu on shiitake mushrooms

This healthy mushroom dish from China will be interesting for picky-eaters because of its unique form and shape. It provides your child with a good amount of dietary fibre, proteins, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Copper and Selenium. Research has shown that shiitake mushrooms are particularly important for a healthy cardiovascular system.

age: above 18 months

Ingredients:

- Firm Tofu 3.5 ounces / 100g

- Shiitake Mushrooms 6 pcs (You can use fresh ones or dried ones. If you are using dried shiitake mushrooms you need to soak them in water overnight)


- carrot 0.3 ounces / 10g chopped into small pieces

- celery 0.3 ounces / 10g chopped into small pieces

- salt

- Corn Starch

- White Pepper

- sugar

- Sesame Oil

- raw egg white

How to cook:

Prepared Shiitake mushrooms

1. Clean and rinse the shiitake mushrooms and dry them off, cut off the stems. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper inside.

Mashed Tofu

2. Use a Garlic Press to mash the Tofu, get rid of excess water, mix it well with the egg white, a little salt, sugar, corn starch and a few drops of sesame oil

Carrot and Celery cut into small pieces

3. Cut the carrot and celery into small pieces

Tofu on shiitake mushrooms

4. Divide the Tofu into 6 portions and put each portion inside a shiitake mushroom as shown in the picture

Decorated with carrots and celery pieces

5. Decorate each mushroon-Tofu portion with chopped carrot and celery

Preperations for the steaming process

6. Steam for about 15 minutes using a Steamer until everything is cooked

7. Take out and enjoy!

2. Chicken meat ball soup

This is a soup that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Chicken soup is promoting a healthy digestion and reduces inflamation. It also promotes strong and healtyh bones.

age: above 1 year

Ingredients:

- minced chicken breast meat 7 ounces / 200g

- half of an egg white

- 1 1/2 tea spoons of Corn Starch

Sesame Oil

- sesame oil

- salt

- chicken soup 1.5 cups / 400ml

- some pak choi leafes


- some chopped spring onion

How to cook:

1. Mix the minced chicken meat, egg white, corn starch, one teaspoon of water, a few drops of sesame oil and a little bit salt

2. Use a spoon or just use your fingers to shape the above mixture into balls

3. Boil chicken soup and put the chicken meat balls inside, continue to boil the soup for 5-7 minutes until the meat balls are fully cooked

4. Add pak choi leafes and continue to cook for about 3 minutes, then add the copped spring onions

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Tofu recipes for babies

Two tasty Tofu recipes for babies:

1. Steamed Tofu and prawns
Your toddler can gain protein form both Tofu and the prawns, what is more, the vitamin B12 and B6 helps your toddler producing the energy he or she requires for all daily activities. The minerals such as zinc and selenium strengthen the functioning of your child’s immune system. Note that babies shouldn't eat any seafood before they reach the age of one.

age: above 12 months

Ingredients:

- soft Tofu 4-5 ounces / 120g

- prawn 1 ounce / 20g chopped into small pieces

- some clear chicken soup

- Some drops Soy Sauce. When talking about Soy Sauce then there's only one choice: Kikkoman. Strong, full flavored with a soft finish. Have a look at what others say on Amazon, if you don't trust me ;-)

- Some drops of Sesame Oil. I recommend you La Tourangelle's Sesame Oil (like all of their other oils) because it has a great flavor and comes at a small price.

How to cook:

Soft Tofu

1. Cut Tofu into small cubes


2. Put Tofu into a bowl, and put prawn pieces on top of the Tofu

3. Add some chicken soup, add a few drops of soy sauce and sesame oil

4. Steam until prawn is fully cooked using a Steamer. If you thanking about bying a  Steamer then I'd recommend you to take a look at this one from Hamilton Beach. It comes with several cooking modes, large containers for big portions and it is very easy to clean. Another big plus: It also features a function that keeps food warm once they are done cooking.


2. Steamed Tofu, egg and carrot

This is a very simple dish which only takes about 10 minutes to prepare.

Tofu is rich in Calcium which is good for your baby's bone development. The Vitamin D in egg yolk can help your baby's body to better absorb Calcium. This dish also contains a lot of Vitamins and minerals, which make it a very nutritious food for your baby's healthy growth.

- age: above 7 months

Ingredients:

- 2 ounces or 50 g Soft Tofu. Give Soft Tofu from Mori-Nu a try. It is of very high quality and can also be used for making pies, pudding and other dishes.

- Carrot 1 ounce / 30g

- one cooked egg yolk (which is taken out from a hard boiled egg)

- baby formula about 0.25 cups / 50ml (you can also use cow milk for children that are older than 12 months)

How to cook:

1. Put Tofu into boiling water and boil it for 5 minutes, then take it out to let drain the water


2. Peal the carrot, cut it into slices, steam it until soft using a Steamer. This Steamer offers several cooking modes and keeps food warm after it has being cooked. Check out the Amazon link to read full product description and customer reviews.

3. Use a hand Blender to mash Tofu, carrot and egg yolk. I use this Hand Blender and really love using it because of its high quality and reliability. You can also use a Garlic Press if you do not have a blender.

4. Mix the mashed Tofu, carrot and egg yolk with baby formula and it is ready!

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