Baby Pumpkin and Kale Savoury Bites

My little one is a very independent eater who hates food being shoved in his mouth.  For him, finger food is the way to go.  I am constantly on the look out for recipe ideas that make it easier for him to handle and eat his meal.  These healthy bites that are packed full of veggies, are easy to make and to store.  They are also good to take out in a lunch box for food on the go.

They contain no egg for binder, which means that they do need a little longer in the oven.  If they are still a bit wet when you take them out of the oven; pop them back in again with the oven down really low.  The moisture content in steamed pumpkin can vary so it may take a bit of trial and error.  They will be worth the wait.

Baby Pumpkin and Kale Savoury Bites

Author: Emily Raubenheimer

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 12

Healthy and yummy these are the perfect snack for toddlers. Once cooked, wrap them separately and store in the freezer for quick convenient meals.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of steamed pumpkin drained
• 1 cup of steamed and drained kale
• 1 small sweet potato peeled, diced and steamed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 tablespoons of finely chopped chives
• 2 cups of flour (I used gluten free flour)
• 1/2 cup grated cheese.

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients together.
2. Stir until it resembles a loose soft dough. You might need to add more flour if it is very runny.
3. Spoon the mixture a 12 cup muffin tray.
4. Bake at 170 degrees for 45 min.

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Baby Banana Bars

I’m always looking for new portable snack ideas for my baby, but it’s sometimes a challenge to find healthy items in the supermarket. So, this recipe has become one of the staples in my household. It’s so simple and easy that you can whip it up at a moment’s notice!

Baby Banana Bars

These banana bars are an all-round winner! They’re so quick and easy to make, are healthy, delicious, and great portable snacks. You can change up the recipe to suit what you have on hand, or what your kids prefer. This is my version, which includes dessicated coconut and sultanas.

Ingredients

• 1 medium, ripe banana
• 8 tablespoons of rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons of dessicated coconut
• 2 tablespoons of sultanas

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
2. Mash the banana in a large bowl.
3. Whizz the oats in a food processor until they are the desired consistency. For babies, you can blend the oats quite fine, but toddlers might prefer whole oats.
4. Add the oats to the banana, along with the coconut and sultanas.
5. Mix well. You want the mixture to be a sticky dough that holds its shape, and can be formed in your hands. Add more dry ingredients or more banana to adjust consistency.
6. Form the dough into small bars on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
7. Bake for 15 minutes (or until golden brown).
8. Cool, then serve.

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Pink Salmon Patties

Salmon is a favourite in our household; even my daughter loved it from around 6 months of age, so I love serving her some healthy fish each week. This salmon patty recipe is very simple and easily adaptable if you wish to add vegetables. This time, I added spinach for extra iron. You can freeze these patties to have on hand for a quick and easy mid-week dinner; fry them first, then freeze to prevent them sticking together. They can then be defrosted and warmed up in the oven.

Pink Salmon Patties

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 x 450-gram can of pink salmon
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, diced finely
• 2 eggs
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach leaves, washed
• 1 handful of parsley
• Bread crumbs
• Olive oil
• Peas, yoghurt and lemon to serve.

Instructions

1. Boil or steam the sweet potato until soft.
2. Meanwhile, sautee the diced onions and garlic until very soft, then add the spinach to the pan and cook until spinach is soft also.
3. Drain the salmon thoroughly in a sieve, straining out as much liquid as possible, then place in a large bowl with the two eggs. Mix thoroughly.
4. Mash the sweet potato and add to the salmon mixture, along with the onion, garlic and spinach. Mix thoroughly.
5. Take handfuls of the mixture and compress into balls, then flatten each out gently in your palm.
6. Coat each patty thoroughly in bread crumbs.
7. Shallow fry the patties gently in a frying pan until golden brown.

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Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free Berry Cake

Allergies are very prevalent among young children and it is sometimes hard to work out what to make for a celebration or a treat.  This cake is endlessly adaptable, is super easy to make and is very forgiving.  The batter can also be used to make cup cakes.

I first made this when I was asked to create a cake for a friend’s birthday. It was a bit of an experiment and I left it late in the day to bake. I ended up whipping the ingredients together in a frenzy, pouring the batter into the pan and carting it uncooked to the dinner! We popped it in the oven and throughout the meal wonderful aromas drifted from the kitchen. To my relief the cake was delicious and it has become my go to recipe.  Make this recipe your own – just about any fruit on the top will work.  We also love banana sprinkled with a little brown sugar.

 

Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free Berry Tea Cake

Author: Emily Raubenheimer

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups self- raising gluten free flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup almond milk/rice milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 cup mixed berries

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 170 C
2. Whisk the water and chia seeds together and set aside for 10 minutes to soak.
3. Combine the sugar, olive oil and vanilla essence and stir until smooth.
4. Add the soaked chia seeds and stir.
5. Add the self-raising flour gradually alternating this with the milk.
6. Pour the batter into a round pre-greased 18cm pan.
7. Cover the top of the cake with berries in any pretty pattern of your choice.
8. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack.

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Healthy Family Fruit and Nut Balls

Most adults love a treat now and then – or much more frequently if you have a sweet tooth like I do – and children are, of course, no exception. It is very hard to find healthy treats as tempting as the chocolates, lollies and cakes found in the supermarket aisles. But, I am happy to say, this recipe might just be the perfect alternative – AND it’s healthy!

These chocolatey fruit and nut balls simply consist of cocoa, dried fruits and nuts, and are so quick and easy to make that you can whip up a batch at the first sign of a sugar low. Of course, dried fruits are very high in natural sugars, so you will still need to limit your child’s intake (and yours), but these are a much healthier alternative to a chocolate bar, and just as satisfying. My 8 month old daughter loves these as an afternoon snack (I only give her half a ball), and I reach for them too when all I really want is chocolate; these are the perfect alternative.

The fruits and nuts are packed with vitamins and minerals, and the coconut oil used to bind the mixture together is said to be a great immune builder. For young children, make doubly sure you blend the nuts into very small pieces to prevent choking, and, as with all allergenic foods, make sure your baby isn’t allergic to nuts before offering this treat.

My friend Trish M made these amazing cocoa, fruit and nut balls for a stall at the Seddon Festival this year, and she has graciously shared her recipe for all of us with a sweet-toothed brood.

Healthy Family Fruit and Nut Balls

Recipe Type: Snack/Treat

Author: Eden Cox

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: makes 25 balls

Roll these balls in extra coconut for a pretty presentation – it also makes them look much more naughty than they are!

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls pitted dates
• 1 handful sultanas
• 1 handful mixed raw nuts
• 4 tablespoon raw cacao powder
• 1 handful dried goji berries or dried apricots
• 1 handful sunflower seeds
• 1 handful shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients together in a food processor and blend. If your food processor is a small model, it might help to roughly chop the larger fruits before blending.
2. Take tablespoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls with your hands.
3. Add more coconut if it feels too sticky, or a little water if too dry.

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Tips for Fussy Eaters

My son has always been a chubby bubba and a good feeder, so it came as quite a surprise to me when he didn’t take to solids easily.  My passion is cooking,  and I was really looking forward to introducing new foods to him.  In the week we chose to start solids, I read everything I could about weaning, decided on my approach, bought my supplies and made batches of yummy apple puree.  He hated the puree and gagged on just about everything else that I tried.

Aside from this he just didn’t seem interested.  He had way more fun playing with the spoon than he did his food.  In the weeks that followed my chubby baby started crawling and he lost weight from not eating.  Mealtimes felt a bit like a battle.  I found this stage really hard, I love food and I love sharing food with my loved ones.  I wanted mealtimes at our table to be something that he looked forward to.  He began to resist his highchair and when food came near him was very agitated.

We persevered, trialed lots of different approaches and I am happy to say that 3 months later I now have a boy that loves to try new things and joyfully engages in mealtimes.  While we are by no means experts, the following are strategies we tried that worked.  I hope they are useful.

Relinquish control:

Sometimes as parents we get so concerned about how much our babies are eating that we forget to make meals engaging for them.  Its no surprise that toddlers can get quite resistant and stubborn at mealtimes.  I suppose if we think about it from their point of view, it would be pretty horrible to have someone shoving unfamiliar food into your mouth at a pace you cannot control.  We stepped back from this and allowed my son to pick at small, soft chopped up food.  There were a few days when he ate barely anything but slowly he started to engage with what was in front of him.  The best part about this approach is you can relax, eat your own meal and allow your baby the freedom to explore.

Take away the pressure:

No one likes being pressured to eat.  We have stopped trying to force him.  We talk, laugh with him and eat our own meals.  Despite my worry that he might not get enough food, he has really responded to our trust.  Instead of resisting us he engages with us and happily chomps away on what we are offering.

Get Messy:

We got rid of the bib, bowl and spoon.  They were all distractions and he spent more time playing with them than his food.  We pop foods onto his highchair and let him go for it!  Food gets EVERYWHERE but he loves it.  Babies are sensory, they need to touch and smell foods before trying them. The mess and the chaos has a purpose.

Build in LOTS of snacks:

Babies have short attention spans and a meal can feel like a long expanse of time for them. Its no surprise that many kids wail when placed in their highchair.   I allow my son to graze throughout the day, rather than pressuring him to eat huge amounts in three sittings.  It means that I can factor in quite a few food groups  and he has the patience to eat them.  Now that he is crawling around, I also leave tiny torn up bits of sandwich on a plate on our coffee table.  He is quite good now at playing for a while and then stopping for a bite or two of the sandwich. I monitor him quite closely though to ensure that he doesn’t choke.

Keep offering foods but don’t pressure them to eat them.

I read once somewhere; that a baby needs to taste, feel and smell a new food 30 times before taking to it.  So if at first they don’t like a food, try again.  I have offered a little banana to my son every day for 3 months.  Each time he pulls a funny face and pushes it away.  To my amazement this week he actually picked up some banana on his own accord and ate it.  It may not be his favourite fruit, but it is great to see him trying it.

Eat with your child:

Aside from a couple of on the go snacks, we always eat together.  I really believe that children need good eating habits to be modelled to them.

The grater is your best friend:

Once your baby has learnt to chew and has some confidence with eating, grated food is a good way to go.  It is far easier for babies to pick up and chew.  Cheese, cooked pumpkin, pear, carrot, cucumber and apple all work well.

Make food easy to handle:

My son hates anything that feels a bit slimy and he also has trouble picking it up.  If you have this issue, try coating finger sized pieces of food in breadcrumbs.  Something like avocado or fish becomes much easier for little hands to grab.  I also leave a little bit of peel on a banana so that it is easy to pick up.

Tear it up:

I tear up bits of what we are eating and pop it straight onto the highchair for him to grab. No need for a processor here!

Rissotto is your best friend.

My son loves risotto.  It is sticky and easy for him to grab and I like that I can pack lots of different veggies into it.

Well that is it from me.  What has worked for you?

 

 

Baby Ravioli

My 7 month old is starting to get more adventurous with food and enjoys feeding himself.  I have been looking around for new foods for him to explore.  It occurred to me the other day that ravioli is the perfect finger food.  It is easy to vary the ingredients in the filling to make different versions, they freeze well and from the freezer can be cooked in under 10 minutes.  My son is unable to eat egg, so this version uses wonton wrappers.  The beauty of the wonton wrappers is that they are pre-prepared, the perfect size and easy to use.  Make sure you let these cool completely before serving as the filling can get quite hot.

Baby Ravioli

Author: Emily Raubenheimer

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 35 mins

You can fill these with just about anything, or use the filling I made.

Ingredients

• 1 small packet of wonton wrappers
• 200 gram of chicken mince
• 1/2 cup of steamed pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons of basil
• 4 tablespoons of ricotta cheese.

Instructions

1. Fry the chicken in a little oil until cooked.
2. In a blender, mix the mince, pumpkin, basil and cheese.
3. Using your finger, wet the edges of a wonton wrapper with a little water.
4. Dollop a teaspoon of the mixture on one half of a wonton wrapper.
5. Fold the wrapper in half over the filling to form a triangle.
6. Press a fork into the edges to form a pretty border.
7. Repeat for the other wrappers.
8. To cook, boil for 5 minutes.
9. Make sure they have cooled completely before serving to your baby.
10. If you are freezing the ravioli, lay them out on a non-stick tray so that they are not touching. Freeze overnight and then transfer into a freezer bag.

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‘An Apple a Day’ Cous Cous

The recent hot weather has made plain yoghurt, straight from the fridge, a real favourite with my 6 month old. To make every meal a hit, I’ve devised a number of baby recipes (both sweet and savoury) that incorporate yoghurt. This yummy, refreshing snack is great for babies starting to move on from smooth-as-silk purees to slightly chunkier fare. I added a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon for a bit of added flavour.

An-Apple-a-Day Cous Cous

Author: Eden F Cox

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

This recipe is quick and easy when you have all the components at hand. I made a batch of pureed apples to keep in the freezer by steaming peeled, cored and quartered granny smiths until tender, then blending with a little water until smooth. Make the cous cous according to the packet instructions: generally add two parts hot water to one part cous cous and let sit until the cous cous has absorbed the liquid. If you have a little extra time, you could also use some freshly made apple juice instead of the water (it’s best to avoid store-bought fruit juice due to the added sugar and preservatives). Natural, full-fat Greek-style yoghurt is best for little tummies.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cous cous, made according to the package
• 2 tablespoons apple puree
• 1 tablespoon of full-fat Greek-style yoghurt
• Tiny sprinkle of cinnamon.

Instructions

1. Place the cous cous into your baby’s bowl and top with the pureed apple. Finish with the yoghurt and add a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon.
2. For a refreshing summer treat, serve cold from the fridge. For a warming snack in winter, you can stir the apple puree into the cous cous and heat briefly in the microwave (of course, checking that it’s not too hot) before adding the yoghurt.

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‘Eat Your Greens’ Baby Puree

Who says kids don’t eat greens? Well, so far, at six months, we haven’t had a problem, but I’m not gloating just yet! I do, however, like to credit this delicious and easy puree recipe with providing a great early introduction to the joys of the green vegetable. Let’s hope it continues to please!

Eat Your Greens Baby Puree

Author: Eden Cox

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 15 mins

This recipe is so simple, but surprisingly tasty, and is brimming with vitamins. You can add whatever green vegetbales you have on hand. In this recipe, I include spinach, broccoli, peas, zucchini, and string beans. Remember, you can freeze small portions for up to three months.

Ingredients

• Small handful of green beans
• Small handful of spinach, thoroughly washed
• 1/2 medium zucchini, sliced into thick rounds
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• Small handful of broccoli florets

Instructions

1. Add about an inch of water to a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Place the asparagus, broccoli, beans and zucchini into a steamer basket, cover and steam for 5 minutes, then add the spinach and frozen peas.
3. Steam for a further 5 minutes until all the vegetables are very tender, then process into a smooth puree using a blender or food processor. You might need to add a little water to achieve a smooth consistency.
4. Serve lukewarm. Easy peasy!

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Baby Risotto with Green Veggies

At six-and-a-half months old, my daughter is already a bit of a foodie: willing to try anything once, and will, more likely than not, call for seconds!
So I thought I’d try her with something a little more chunky than her usual pureed fare. Baby risotto was a good choice, as it can be blended after cooking to change the consistency from lumpy to silky smooth. The beauty of this recipe is its flexibility. Next time, I’ll try a sweet potato version, or perhaps pumpkin. I think it would even work as a sweet treat, using fruit puree instead of vegetable.

This recipe makes about two cups’ worth of risotto, and you can freeze it, covered, for up to three months.

 

Baby Risotto with Green Veggies

Author: Eden Cox

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 35 mins

I’ve found risotto to be a great food for little tummies; the Arborio rice cooks to a soft and creamy consistency, and you can easily add purees of whatever vegetables your baby is into for the week. This version, using zucchini, asparagus and peas, is full of vitamins and minerals, and the natural sweetness of the peas made it rather popular at our dinner table!

Ingredients

• 4 asparagus spears, woody ends removed
• 1 small zucchini, cut into 5mm slices
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup Arborio rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon of unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Add about an inch of water to a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Place the asparagus and zucchini into a steamer basket, cover and steam for 5 minutes, then add the frozen peas.
3. Steam for a further 5 minutes until all the vegetables are very tender, then process into a smooth puree using a blender or food processor. You might need to add a little water to achieve a smooth consistency.
4. Stir in the butter and set aside.
5. In a saucepan over a medium heat, combine the rice and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer gently stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is soft and creamy. This takes about 20 minutes.
6. Stir the vegetable mix into the rice.
7. The risotto can be processed in a blender (with a little water) until you achieve a consistency that your baby can handle.
8. Serve lukewarm.

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