Pumpkin recipes for babies

Two healthy pumpkin recipes for babies.

1. Mashed pumpkin, egg yolk and tofu

Egg yolk is rich in vitamin A, D, B6 and B12. Tofu is rich in calcium and iron. This is a nice combination as Vitamin D in egg yolk can help the body to better absorb calcium, whereas pumpkin adds some sweetness to the dish which babies will like.

age: above 6 months

Ingredients:

- pumpkin/ butter squash 1.5 ounces / 40g peeled and cut into small pieces

- Tofu 1.5 ounces / 40g cut into small cubes

one egg yolk (taken from hard boiled egg)

How to cook:

1. Use a Steamer to steam pumpkin and tofu until the pumpkin is soft. Follow the Amazon link to see the Steamer that I use at my home. I recommend it because it comes with several features like different cooking modes and a function that keeps food warm after cooking.

2. Put pumpkin, egg yolk and tofu into a container and use a Hand Blender to mash them. Another often-used tool in my kitchen is this Hand Blender from Cuisineart. Very strong, very reliable and easy to clean.

2. Finger food - fried pumpkin strips

age: above 10 months

Ingredients:

- pumpkin/ butter squash 10 ounces / 300g

- one raw egg if your baby is allergic to egg white, you can also take the yolk

- bread crumbs

- Corn Starch

- cooking oil


How to cook:

1. Peel and cut pumpkin into strips

2. Mix pumpkin strips with corn starch until each strip is covered with a thin layer of corn starch

Cooking Oil

3. Beat the egg

4. Dip each of the pumpkin strips into the beaten egg

5. Coat each strip with bread crumbs

6. Leave the strips there for about 3 minutes

7. Put cooking oil in a Wok, use medium heat to warm up the oil, and put the strips in, fry until they turn into a light golden color

8. Take the strips out, leave there for 3-5 minutes

9. Put the strips back into the cooking oil and use strong heat to fry again until the color is golden

Read more »

Vegetarian baby food recipes

Two yummy vegetarian baby food recipes

1. Mashed pumpkin, tofu and carrot
This dish is rich in Vitamin A, which is very good for your baby's eye development. Since Vitamin A is fat soluble, you can add some cooking oil while you steam carrot

age: above 6 months


Ingredients:

- pumpkin/ butter squash 1.5-2 ounces / 40g peeled and cut into small pieces

- tofu 1.5-2 ounces / 40g cut into small cubes

- carrot 1 ounce / 20g peeled and cut into small pieces

- Clear Vegetable Soup 0.2 cups / 50ml

How to cook:


1. Use a Steamer to steam carrot, pumpkin and carrot until they are soft

2. Put steamed pumpkin, carrot and tofu into a container, use Hand Blender to mash them

3. Put the mash into vegetable soup, mix well, use low heat and cook until it starts to boil

2. Mashed pumpkin and peas

Pumpkin is rich in Vitamin A, C, Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. Peas are a good source of Dietary Fibre, Vitamin K, Thiamine and Iron

age: above 6 months

Ingredients:

- pumpkin/ butter squash 2 ounces / 50g

- peas 1 ounce / 20g

- some Baby Formula

How to cook:

1. Peel pumpkin/butter squash, cut into slices.

Steamer

2. Use a steamer to steam ingredients until they are soft.



3. Steam the peas until they are soft

4. Use a Hand Blender to mash peas and pumpkin, add baby formula, stir and mix well

Read more »

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!

Read more »

Eggs for babies recipe

Steamed egg

This is a very common Chinese home-style dish found all over China and for people of all ages. It is easy to make and tastes delicious.

age: above 6 months

Ingredients:

- one egg

- water

- Sesame Oil

How to cook:

1. Beat the egg to a consistency similar to that used for an omelette

2. Add water to the egg and beat the mixture until they are mixed very well. The ratio of water to egg can be from 1:1 to 3:1, when you use less water, the steamed egg will be harder, when you use more water, it will be softer

Steamer

3. Steam the mixture for 10-15 minutes using a Steamer. When you use a spoon to poke it, no liquid egg is coming out, then it is ready

4. Add a few drops of sesame oil. If you have a baby or toddler who likes a bit flavor, you can also add a small teaspoon of soy sauce

Tips:
- Use cooked water cooled down to room temperature, so that the egg will be smooth. When you use tap water be aware that there is air inside. When you steam it, the air will come out, thus leaving many tiny holes in the steamed egg

- Do not steam it for too long. As soon as it is ready, take it out
- Do not use strong heat because it could also cause little holes in the steamed egg

Read more »

Baby pumpkin recipe

Pumpkin porridge

A very easy and yummy baby pumpkin recipe! Compared with many other vegetables pumpkin has relatively little calories but contains a very high amount of vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for good visual sight. Other vitamins that can be found in a pumpkin are vitamin C and vitamin E. It is also rich of antioxidants like beta-carotene and minerals like iron, zinc, copper, or potassium.

age: above 6 months

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons of Rice. As always, my choice of rice is Jasmine Rice from Rice Select. This is a very tasty rice with a nice texture.

- 1-2 tablespoons or 30g of Millet. I like to use Millet from Bob's Red Mill because of it's good quality and nice flavor.

- water about 1.5 cups / 400 ml (depending on the type of rice you are using, some rice needs more water and some needs less)

- pumpkin/ butternut squash 50g chopped into small cubes

How to cook:

1. Use a pot or Rice Cooker to cook rice, millet and pumpkin cubes until they are soft. IF you are looking for a Rice Cooker I would recommend you to take a look at Aroma's 8-Cup model. It is very easy to use and comes at a good price. Depending on whether you are using a rice cooker or a pot cooking time lies between 1-2 hours.

Read more »

Sweet potato baby food

Sweet potato porridge

This healthy and very simple recipe for sweet potato baby food combines the energy carriers rice and millet with sweet potatoes that have a high content of beta-carotene, vitamin A and sodium. In addition they are rich in fibers, proteins and have a good amount of complex carbohydrates. As a result sweet potatoes have a very high nutritional value which makes this vegetable an excellent choice for baby food.

age: above 6 months

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons / 50g Jasmine Rice. I like to cook Rice Select's Jasmati Rice. Check out the Amazon link to see some customer reviews.

- millet 1-2 tablespoons / 20g

Millet

- water about 1.5 cups / 400 ml (depending on the type of rice you are using, some rice needs more water and some needs less)

- sweet potato 2 ounces / 50g chopped into small cubes

How to cook:

1. Put rice, millet and the sweet potato cubes in  a pot of water. You can also use a Rice Cooker and its slow cooking ore "porridge" option. I always use Aroma's 8-Cup Rice Cooker, a very reliable and easy to use Cooker that comes with a steaming option. When using a pot to cook this porridge, cover it and let it cook while using low heat. This sweet potato porridge takes about one to two hours to cook.

Read more »