Rice recipes for babies

Here we have two rice recipes for babies that are very easy to make and contain a lot of nutrition:

1. Fried rice

This recipe combines everything in one dish: rice, vegetables and shrimps. It provides your baby with carbon hydrate, vitamins and protein which is everything you child needs to grow up healthily. Another advantage of this dish is that it's very easy to make and won't take you a long time to prepare.

age: above 10 months

Ingredients:

- 2 ounces or 50 g of cooked rice

- 0.5 ounces / 15 g of shrimp meat cut into small pieces

- 0.5 ounces / 15 g of carrots cut into small pieces

- 0.5 ounces / 15 g of cucumber cut into small pieces

- 0.2 ounces / 5 g of Chinese black fungus (already soaked in water and ready to use) cut into small pieces. I like to use Havista Dried Mushrooms for this dish. They add a great and unique flavor.

- one beaten egg 

- some cooking oi

How to cook:

1. Put cooking oil into wok, use medium heat to heat it up

2. Add shrimps, stir fry until the color is changed, then add carrot and black fungus pieces, continue to stir fry until carrot pieces are soft

3. Add cooked rice, continue to stir fry for 2 minutes, then add cucumber pieces and beaten egg, stir fry until cucumbers are soft

4. Enjoy!

2. Colorful rice balls

Another tasty rice dish that blends different flavors! This time it's rice combined with shrimp, egg and spinach. Spinach contains a lot of iron and vitamins while the egg and the shrimps provide a good amount of proteins. Shaping everything into small rice balls makes this dish perfect as a finger food for your baby. The different taste and color of each rice ball allow your child to experience this food in a very exciting way.


age: above 10 months

Ingredients:

- a small bowl of cooked rice (soft)

- 1 ounce or 25 g of cooked shrimp meat, cut into small piece

- 0.5 ounces / 15 g of spinach leaves cooked in water and cut into small pieces

- one cooked egg yolk, use spoon to press it into mashed consistency

- a few drops of sesame oil

- a little bit of roasted seaweed (optional, only for decoration)

How to cook:

1. Mix sesame oil together with cooked rice

2. Divide rice equally into 3 portions

3. Mix the 1st portion of rice with shrimps meat

4. Then use your hand to make the mixture into a ball

5. Mix the 2nd portion with spinach, repeat step 4

6. Mix the 3rd portion with egg yolk, repeat step 4

7. The size of the rice ball depends on which is easy for your baby to eat

8. Enjoy!

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Toddler meal ideas

Some toddler meal ideas that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

1. Steamed pork with soup

This is a healthy and delicious dish. Because it is steamed it is not oily and only slightly flavoured. It is a popular food for people of all ages especially and originates from Hubei province in China.

age: above 12 months

Ingredients:

- minced pork 7 ounces / 200g

- half teaspoon of Ginger Juice

- Corn Starch 1 ½ teaspoons

- some Soy Sauce

- salt

- some Sesame Oil

- chives/spring onion cut into small pieces

How to cook:

Mix minced pork with corn starch, ginger juice and soy sauce

1. Mix the minced pork, corn starch and the ginger juice with one teaspoon of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons water. Make sure all ingredients are well mixed.

Form a layer of meat inside the bowl

2. Put the mixture in a bowl (which you will be using in the steamer), and use a tablespoon to press the mixture along the bowl's side so that it forms a layer that sticks to the bowl from inside, leave about a half inch / 1cm empty space to the rim of the bowl and make a hole in the middle at the bottom (like in the  picture above)

Add water

3. Add water to a level until the meat is covered

4. Steam for 15-20 minutes using a Steamer until it is fully cooked (if your rice cooker has a steam tray, then you can steam it while you cook rice)

5. Add a few drops of sesame oil, another teaspoon of soy sauce and some chives 

2. Assorted Tofu

This is a perfect dish to eat with some rice. Your child will benefit from both plant and animal protein, as well as vegetable fibers.

age: above 12 motnhs

Ingredients:

- Tofu 3-4 ounces / 100g cut into small cubes

- minced pork/beef/or a mixture of both 1 ounce / 30g

- 1 carrot cut into small cubes

- 3 leafs Chinese cabbage cut into small pieces

- 2 cups of Clear Soup

- Corn Starch

- half a teaspoon of Ginger Juice

- salt

How to cook:

1. Mix the minced meat with ginger juice, salt and half of a teaspoon corn starch, leave for 15 minutes.

2. Put the soup in a pot, then add carrots, boil until carrots are soft, then put Chinese leaf and Tofu inside, cook until Chinese leaf is soft, sprinkle some salt

3. If you want to thicken the soup, put 1/3 of a teaspoon corn starch into 3-4 tablespoon water, mix well, then put into the boiling soup, continue to cook and stir for one minute.

3. Rice

Rice is a good source of carbohydrates, Vitamin B3, B5, B6, Manganese, Phosphorus and Zinc. These are vital nutrition for our daily life.


I normally cook white rice (fragrant jasmine rice) together with millet and polenta (corn grits). This makes the cooked rice a nice mixture of white and yellow color, which is more appealing to children. On the nutrition side, millet and polenta are both rich in B vitamins, millet is also rich in iron. They can compensate the nutrition of rice and make it more nutrition-balanced.

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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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