Tropical Chicken and Brown Rice

image courtesy zatarains

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (Brown/or Jasmine) Rice
2 cups water
1/4 cup papaya cubes
1/4 cup mango cubes
1 or 2 boneless chicken breasts
pinch of ginger and nutmeg if desired

1. Combine all of the above ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes or until rice is soft, fragrant and a bit soupy.
3. Take out the chicken breast(s) and cut into small pieces, transfer back to saucepan
3. Add more water if needed and stir frequently to stop sticking to the pot and add more milk or water if necessary.
4. Cook an additional 15 minutes or until chicken is done

Once the mixture is fully cooked, allow to cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree or chop as needed for your baby's age and texture requirements. This makes a great finger food meal for older babies and toddlers alike.

Papaya Mash

image courtesy thedailygreen

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1 fully ripened papaya

1. Peel and de-seed a fully ripened papaya
2. Mash or puree as needed for your baby's preference

You may wish to steam papaya chunks for a bit to soften them and enable easier digestion.

Apple Swirl Cake - GREAT Birthday Cake

image courtesy myrecipes.com

Age: 1 year (due to orange juice)

Ingredients:

2 cup apples
3 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (can substitute apple sauce)
4 eggs
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups sifted flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt

Peel, core, and chop apples into small pieces. Mix together with 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine sugar and cooking oil; beat. Add eggs, orange juice, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Beat until smooth. Pour one third batter into greased and floured 12 cup bundt pan alternating with one half apple mixture. Repeat.

 
End with layer of batter on top. Bake at 325 degrees F for 60 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool in pan 10 to 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack or serving plate to complete cooling. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar if desired or lightly frost with cream cheese frosting.

Pea CousCous

image courtesy myrecipes.com

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1 cup organic low-sodium chicken stock
2 tsp. olive oil
¾ cup dry couscous
¼ cup peas

In small pot, add chicken stock, olive oil, peas and bring to boil. Turn off heat, add couscous. Let sit for 6 minutes. Fluff couscous mixture and puree to desired texture. *leave whole for older, more mature, babies.*

Bananas Foster

image courtesy grillvillebbq

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1 whole banana, ripened
½ tsp. vanilla powder
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 - 4 Tbsp. breast milk or formula

Add  banana, vanilla powder and cinnamon into food processor and blend until smooth. Add milk little by little until creamy texture has been achieved.

Mangos & More

photo courtesy reallyrawfoods

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango
1 ripe banana

Blend both ingredients in a food processor until desired consistency is achieved. You may add formula, breast milk or water, if needed.

Appocado Sauce

image courtesy greenbabyguide

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1 avocado, pitted
1/2 cup applesauce

Mash the avocado in a small bowl. Mix in the applesauce and serve.

Barley Cereal

image courtesy chennaigrocery

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1/4 cup ground barley
1 cup water

Bring water to a boil and add barley, whisking constantly for 10 minutes until fully cooked.

Add breast milk or formula to achieve desired consistency.

Oatmeal Cereal

image courtesy nutritiongyan

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1/4 cup ground Oats (NOT quick cooking or instant)
3/4 to 1 cup water

Bring liquid to a boil in a saucepan. Add the oatmeal powder and stir constantly for 10 minutes or until cooked.

Mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired and serve warm.

Creamed Peas

image courtesy thedailygreen

Age: 8m+

Ingredients:

4 cups peas, fresh or frozen
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large sauce pan. Whisk in flour and allow to cook for 1 minute. Slowly add milk, whisking the whole time to prevent lumps. Add salt and pepper and other spices as you find appropriate. Cook until sauce begins to thicken. Add peas, stir and cook until peas are heated through (about 5-7 minutes). Serve warm alone or with rice.

Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

photo courtesy readersdigest

Age: 8m+

Ingredients:
8 medium sized sweet potatoes
5 tablespoons - use butter
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons mayonaise
2 cups water & 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
quick shake of salt
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger to your taste

In a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer the potatoes.

In a saucepan, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth.
Gradually add broth/water, mayonnaise, and spices. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Pour mixture over potatoes. Sprinkle with sugar & cinnamon. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 2 hours or until tender.

Creamed Banana

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana, sliced
1/4 cup light cream
small pinch of sugar

(bananas are slightly sweet, alone, so I would omit the sugar)

Blend well until creamy.

Sweet Potato Soup

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photo courtesy myrecipes

Age: 8m+

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable broth)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup milk (use whole milk or use 8oz whole milk yogurt)

Mix the flour and butter to make a roux in a large saucepan. Heat the roux until you achieve a nicecarmel color.

Add the broth and brown sugar, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Stir in the sweet potatoes and spices, bring to a simmer again, and cook for 5 minutes more. 

Next, puree the soup in batches and return to the saucepan. Add the milk, and reheat soup. Season with salt and pepper (optional), ladle into warm soup bowls and serve.

Note: You can substitute sweet potato puree for the whole sweet potatoes and skip the pureeing as shown above.

Rediculous Rice Pudding

image ©jenniferiserloh

Age: 6m+

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice (I would use brown)
1 cup warmed milk
2 drops pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar (i would use a little less or none at all)

Combine all ingredients and cook very gently for 10 minutes or so until rice is heated through and it's thickened up a bit.

Cool before serving. Serve warm or cold.

Sweet Potatocakes

photo courtesy nurturebaby

Age: 8m+

Ingredients:
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup cooked sweet potatoes, mashed
1 egg (or 2 egg yolks)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (use graham flour for a nice taste.)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk (or more)

Mix sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl with the egg. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and add the baking powder, then add to sweet potato mix. Add up to 1/3 cup of milk while stirring then stir in 1 tbsp butter.

The mixture should have the consistency of thick, lumpy sauce like an "instant" pancake mix.

Place a non-stick or heavy iron skillet over medium heat on top of the stove and add 1/2 tsp butter.

Spoon batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles rise to the surface of the pancakes and break. Approx. 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the pancakes and cook another 2 minutes. Remove pancakes from the skillet and keep warm on a covered plate in the oven.

Note: These potato cakes freeze very well! Reheat in a toaster or microwave until warm.

Teething Biscuits

Age: 8m+

Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Beat eggs and add sugar, vanilla extract and flour. Mix well. Roll dough between two sheets of floured wax paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut desired shapes and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Let stand overnight for 10 to 12 hours.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato Risotto

photo courtesy aliveandcooking

Age: 8m+

Ingredients:
2 md sweet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
4 cups hot vegetable stock
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tbsp. minced garlic

1½ cups arborio rice (12-ounce package)
¾ cup white grape juice
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1½ teaspoons thyme leaves
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoons black pepper

Preheat oven to 350*F. Peel sweet potatoes and cut in half. Cut half the sweet potatoes into ¼-inch diced and set aside. Cut the remaining sweet potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and roast until soft about 30 minutes. Puree with ¼ cup chicken stock. Reserve.

In a large saucepan heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil, and sauté onion and small diced sweet potatoes over medium high heat. Cook about 3 minutes until softened. Add garlic and arborio rice and cook 2-3 minutes stirring frequently. Stir in white grape juice. Cook, stirring until completely absorbed.

In the same manner add hot stock, ½ cup at a time, stirring until each addition is completely absorbed and stock is used up. Add sweet potato puree, rosemary, thyme, butter and Parmesan. Simmer on low for 10 minutes or until your risotto is soft and all liquid has been absorbed. Season to taste with pepper if desired.

Not Your Mama's Apple Pie

Age: 8m+

Ingredients:
3 cooking apples, sweet!
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon water or apple juice
Small pinch of ground cinnamon

Peel, core and dice the apple into small pieces. Add to the lemon juice and water and cook over medium heat in a small saucepan for 20 minutes or until soft.

Mash or puree to desired consistency. Beat in the egg yolk (or infant cereal) and sugar until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until set. Cool before serving.

Peach Yam Bake

Age: 8m+ (6m+ if made without the flour/wheat germ/spices)

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (optional)
3 tbs. flour
2 Tsp Wheat Germ
1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbs butter
4 cups mashed sweet potatoes
2 cups of fresh mashed peaches

Combine sugar, flour, wheat germ and spices. Cut in butter until you achieve a texture like bread crumbs. Arrange yams and peaches in 1-1/2 quart casserole; sprinkle with butter mixture. Bake at 350*F for 35 minutes. Puree (or mash) until you reach a desired consistency.

Apple Pear Supries

 Age: 8m+

Ingredients:
2 cooking apples, sweet!
1 pear

1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon water or apple juice
Dash of ground cinnamon and nutmeg

Peel, remove core and dice the apples and pear into small pieces. Add the lemon juice and water (or apple juice) Simmer on low in a small saucepan until soft, about 20 minutes.

Mash or puree the fruit. Whisk in the egg yolk and sugar until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until set. Cool before serving.