Baby Food Recipe :: Chicken/Turkey Purée

Chicken and turkey are great "first meats" to offer to babies 8+ months. Both poultry products are high in protein and iron and are also easily digestible. 

The lean white meat often found in the breast is high in protein while the dark meat found in legs and thighs offer higher amounts of iron but also have more fat. Either way, whether you choose white or dark meat your baby is sure to be satisfied with this basic chicken recipe.

Note: this recipe can be used for either chicken or turkey.

Ingredients:
Chicken or turkey (your choice of cut)

1 tsp Olive oil

1/4 cup of liquid ( low-sodium vegetable stock, low-sodium chicken broth, or water) for every cup of chopped cooker chicken

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit 
• Lightly oil baking dish with olive oil
• Rinse chicken in cold water and dry
• Place chicken in baking dish (if using skinless chicken lightly coat the chicken in olive oil)
• Place aluminum foil over baking dish and place dish in oven
• Bake until the juices run clear (this should equate to roughly 20 minutes per pound)
• Remove chicken from oven and cool
• Dice chicken into small cubes (see picture at the bottom of the post) 
• Place chicken cubes in blender / food processor 1/2 cup at a time and purée while alternating liquid and chicken until desired consistency is reached

Note: If your baby has already been introduced to seasoning please feel free to add those seasonings to the chicken just before baking. Remember, NO SALT.

Storage:
Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days or place chicken purée in ice cube trays. Once the chicken is frozen transfer the frozen chicken cubes into a freezer safe bag and store for up to 3 months. 

Each cube = roughly 1 ounce. As your child is introduced to new fruits and vegetables mix the thawed chicken cube in for a complete meal. Some suggestions include: apples, peas, rice cereal, avocados, and sweet potatoes. 

Baby Food Recipe :: Baby Guacamole (BONUS - Recipe for Adult Guacamole Too!!!!)

Baby Guacamole

Yum! Guacamole is a go to favorite in our house for babies, kids and adults alike. Fresh guacamole can be made in under 10 minutes.  There are two recipes below one for babies 8+ months and one for adults.

Baby Guacamole

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
1/4 lime (remove seeds)
1 tablespoon of minced onion
1/8 teaspoon of minced garlic

Instructions:

• Cut avocado into halves and remove pit
• Scoop flesh from peel, place in bowl and mash with fork 
• Add minced onion and garlic and stir
• Squeeze lime juice over guacamole, mix and serve

For babies 10+ months add diced tomatoes (cubes should be about half the size of a pea to avoid choking)

Note: For a smoother puree use a food processor 

Storage:
Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days; do not freeze

Adult Guacamole

Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1 lime
1/2 cup small onion - minced or 1 small scallion
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 jalapeño pepper - minced (optional)
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

• Cut avocados into halves and remove pits
• Scoop flesh from peel, place in bowl and mash with fork 
• Add minced onion, jalapeño  and garlic and stir
• Add cilantro and salt and pepper to taste and stir
• Squeeze lime juice over guacamole, mix and serve

Storage:
Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days; do not freeze

Baby Food Recipe: Baby Chili

With the start of Fall this week, now is as good of a time as any to introduce filling comfort meals. Chili is a hearty american classic which with a couple of modifications can also be a good whole meal for babies.

For this recipe you can use ground beef, ground turkey or omit the ground meat altogether and just use beans (skip steps 3 and 4 in the instructions below). Recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb of ground meat (chicken, turkey or beef)

1 cup of diced tomatoes with the juice

1/2 cup canned kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

1/4 cup diced onions

1/4 cup of diced green peppers

1/4 cup of corn

Chili powder (if the baby is over 12 months)

Cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Spray cooking spray in the bottom of a medium sauce pan and heat the pan on medium-high heat
2. Add green peppers and onions to the pan and sauté for 1-2 minutes 
3. Add the ground meat and brown the meat while also breaking  meat into tiny pieces with a spatula. 
4. Drain the meat and return to pan
5. Add tomatoes with juice and kidney beans (drained and rinsed) and corn to the pan (optional: add a 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder to the mix if the baby is over 12 months old)
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes to let the flavors blend
7. Let the chili cool for 5 minutes then transfer to blender or food processor and purée to desired consistency

Storage:

Option 1: Store the chili in air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days

Option 2: Separate the chili  into 4 ounce portions and place in a freezer-safe container. Freeze overnight and save for up to 3 months 

Baby Food Recipe: Lentils with Brown Rice and Carrots

Lentils, Carrots and Brown Rice

Lentils are quick and easy meal saver in my house.  Both of my kids are on the borderline for anemia so we are always searching for foods that are high in iron.  In addition to being high in iron these legumes are also high in fiber, protein, maganese, folic acid and potassium. Combining lentils with rice (brown rice in this case) enhances the nutritional value of both foods.

This is a good first whole meal to offer to your little one since the taste is not overbearing and rice is still incorporated.  Recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1 cup of low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of dried red lentils, rinsed 

1/2 cup of brown rice

1/2 cup chopped carrots

Instructions:

1. Add the water and low-sodium chicken stock to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil
2. Once the water and low-sodium chicken stock come to a boil add the remaining ingredients
3. After one minute, cover the sauce pan, reduce the heat to low and simmer until lentils, rice and carrots are tender
4. Place lentil mixture into a food processor/blender and puree to desired consistency (If additional liquid is needed to puree alternate between water and low-sodium stock until ideal consistency is reached)

Storage:

Option 1: Store the lentil mixture in air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days

Option 2: Separate the mixture into 4 ounce portions and place in a freezer-safe container. Freeze overnight and save for up to 3 months 

Baby Food Recipe: Pears

Pears are packed with Potassium and Vitamin C.  They also are full of fiber which improves digestive function (good for the little ones). Their sweet taste and easy of pureeing compared to other fruits makes them a win-win for mommy (or daddy) and baby.

Follow this simple recipe to make a quick pear puree for your little one.

Ingredients:
1 ripe pear

Instructions:

Peel, core  and cube pear

Steam pear for 2 minutes to soften and breakdown sugars (only for babies 8 months and younger - for older children skip to the next step)

Purée the pear cubes using a hand mixer or blender (Fully ripened pears usually purée easily and there is no need to add additional liquid to the purée)

Storage:

Option 1: Store the pear purée  in air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days

Option 2: Place the pear purée in ice cube trays and freeze overnight, then empty frozen cubes into a freezer safe air-tight container/bag and save for 3 months (each ice cube equals 1 ounce)

Baby Food Recipe: Baby Candied Yams

Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Cinnamon

If you love candied yams, you can be sure that your baby will too!  The sweetness of the apples coupled with the cinnamon and nutmeg spices are sure to please your little one's palate - without adding sugar.  Baby Candied Yams were a hit for both of my kids and my go to dish because it was quick and easy.

Try this Baby Candied Yams recipe below:

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 apple
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• water

Instructions:

1. Peel, core and cube sweet potato and apple
2. Place apple and sweet potato cubes in a pot and fill with just enough water to cover the sweet potatoes and the apples
3. Boil the apples and sweet potatoes until tender
4. Place corn, sweet potatoes and carrots in a blender/food processor/hand mixer bowl and reserve water
5. Blend/process/mix and add reserved water until desired consistency is reached
6. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg

** Ensure that baby has tried both apples and sweet potatoes before offering this medley to avoid food allergies**

Storage:

Option 1: Store the baby candied yams in air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days

Option 2: Place the baby candied yams in ice cube trays and freeze overnight, then empty frozen cubes into a freezer safe air-tight container/bag and save for 3 months (each ice cube equals 1 ounce)

Breakfast Today: Frittata with Turkey Bacon, Onions & Colby Jack Cheese

This morning I needed breakfast in pinch, but we wanted a variation from our normal go-to breakfasts. When in doubt make a frittata! It goes down in history as being one of the quickest crowd pleasers there is - and people with think you spent more time than you did on the "quiche sans the crust."

Here was my quick recipe:

Ingredients:

6 large eggs

1/4 cup chopped large onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

3 pieces of turkey bacon (or your favorite bacon chopped* -- if using pork or beef bacon cook first in a separate pan then drain it and add to step 2)

2/3 cup colby jack cheese

1 teaspoon of unsalted butter

Pepper to taste

*For babies ensure that the bacon is chopped in very small portions smaller than a pea to avoid a choking hazard

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

In a warm oven-safe skillet place melt the butter then sauté the bacon, onion and pepper until onions and peppers begin to soften

Combine the eggs, pepper and cheese in a separate bowl and beat then add to the pan

Once eggs begin to set up on the bottom transfer to the oven and cook until eggs are firm (about 10 minutes)

Transfer frittata onto a plate and serve

Serving size is 1/6 of the frittata

** For babies chop the frittata portion into bite-sized potions about the size of a pea