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Posts Tagged ‘baby recipes’ | |||||
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We eat a lot of dhal in our family. Dhal and rice. Dhal and spinach. Dhal and rasam. And on lazy nights, just dhal and and my mom’s Andhra mango pickle. Yum. When my kids were just starting on solids around 5 months, we fed them dhal and rice almost daily. We gave it to them plain with some ghee or mixed it in with a vegetable puree (jarred or made in the Beaba). But for young babies, it’s difficult to have fresh cooked rice on hand (or have the patience to wash the blender) each time you want to feed them the protein-rich dhal-and-rice. So what do you do? You pre-make a large jar of dhal-and-rice powder. When you’re ready to feed, you mix 2 tablespoons of the powder with about 2/3 cup of water and heat it up on the stove (stirring constantly) until the water is absorbed. Cover and let stand for about 1 minute. And there you have it – a fresh meal in 2 minutes flat. So here’s the recipe for the dhal powder: 1/2 cup dry dhal (moong dhal is best for starters – later, you can also use toor dhal or other types of dhal) Mix and grind in a coffee grinder until you get a very fine powder. When you cook and serve, add some ghee and a dash of salt. | |||||
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I used Morningstar Farms’ soy-protein “chik’n nuggets” for this Italian-inspired meal, but you can use regular nuggets if you prefer. 6-8 baby carrots, diced (or 1 large carrot) Steam the carrots in the Beaba – water level 3. Meanwhile, prepare the nuggets as directed (I used the microwave) and cut into quarters. When the carrtos are steamed, puree them with the nuggets (along with the reserve water) to desired consistency. Transfer to a bowl, stir-in the pesto sauce and serve! | |||||
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As vegetarians, our family tries to eat alot of tofu. I couldn’t find very many flavourful tofu recipes for babies – so I improvised one day with refrigerator remnants and ended up with a family favourite. My 9-month-old eats this as her meal, and everyone else uses this as a pita bread or chip dip. My secret ingredient here is MTR Rasam Powder (available at your local Indian grocer) – but you can substitute a mix of cumin and coriander powders. 1/2 large potato, peeled and diced Steam the potatoes in the Beaba – water level 3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and then the garlic, and saute until the onion is translucent. When the potatoes are steamed, puree them with the onion and garlic (and their oil) as well as the remaining ingredients in the Beaba – adding water as necessary. | |||||
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During a recent visit to my mother’s, I tried (really tried) to use her stainless steamer pot and her blender to make my daughter fresh baby food. But it just took too much time and resulted in too many dishes in the sink. So I held up my nose and resorted to jarred food. My heretofore-voracious eater started pushing food away. I’m sure she lost weight that week. She was probably dreaming about the fresh pear and oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon or the zucchini and dhal with cumin I make her with our Beaba Babycook. The stuff is so tasty, even my toddler eats and un-pureed portion. So as an ode to this ingenious, time-and-effort-saving invention which has become an indispensible member of our family (we use it at least twice daily), I will post our favourite recipes in our new series Beaba Be Mine. |
