Veggie Baby Food - Peach Mango Smoothie

I am still amazingly surprised that Veggie Baby eats Greek yogurt. Even I can't have it unless there's honey or something to counter the sourness of it. All she needs is a spoon of fruit mixed in and she's right to go.

Recently I gave her a tub to play with to keep her quiet while we were waiting for a meal at a cafe. I thought she'd like to feel how cold it was and maybe roll it around a bit. Instead she bit through the top and sucked the yogurt out from the resulting hole. Like it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted. Crazy.

This recipe is a bit fun, because it's pretty much what I would have in a smoothie, just a little thicker for a spoon. She loved it.

I even cut corners by using canned fruit - canned mango can be very useful!

For one serving:

Ingredients
2 canned peach halves
2 canned mango pieces
1.5 tbs greek yogurt (or more if you have a brave baby)
1/2 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp flaxseed meal
milk of your choice if you think it's too thick.

Directions

1. Blend!

Veggie Baby Food: Herbed Pumpkin and Rice

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Veggie Baby is right at that point now where I can get two spoonfuls of food into her mouth before she grabs the spoon from me and tries to do it herself. Making a gigantic mess. I let her go... she's gotta learn! And it's way cute to see her clumsily dump the spoon into the bowl, picking up absolutely nothing, and getting it to her mouth, usually via her chin. Growing up so fast.

She especially liked this pumpkin and rice concoction, which I whizzed in the blender before she started eating chunky things.

All you need is a cup of steamed and mashed pumpkin and a cup of cooked rice. Mix it all up with a pinch each of fresh basil and parsley and watch them shovel it in. YUM!

Veggie Baby Food: Pear and Apricot Puree

How pretty is this colour!

Back when baby veggie ate puree, (which went by fleetingly, to my surprise!), she loved this pear-and-apricot concoction. These days she's all about broccoli spears and whole nectarines, but I still make a puree now and then for dinners and things and when I've already changed her outfit 4 times and she's had two baths so damned if she's getting dirty again!

This one's terribly easy - peel, core and dice a pear or two and put in a saucepan with a little water. Add 3-6 (depends on amount of pear) finely-chopped dried apricots. Cook gently until all is soft. You can add a lid to help steam the apricot if you like. Puree in a processor.

And if you're funny about sulphur and dried fruit and whatever, feel free to substitute for fresh.

Yum :)

Veggie Baby Food: Spinach and Cottage Cheese Pasta

I remember thinking when I was younger that babies just ate puree and it was pretty much vegetable or fruit. Nowadays we know so much more and are getting less and less afraid to get their kids to try more adult foods early.

Back then you wouldn't have caught me eating spinach anything. If I can get Veggie Baby to eat spinach this early, then it will just be normal... right? Well, I'm going to try anyway!

This was super-easy, I just cooked a handful of pasta (doesn't matter what sort) until it was well overcooked. Easier for them to chew that way! Well, gum. In the last few seconds I threw in a handful of fresh spinach, and drained all when it was wilted. Popped it in the food processor with a spoonful or two of cottage cheese, pulsed all until it was at the soft but-bits-still-left-in stage (technical term) and it went down a treat. It does need some thinning with water if you have leftovers and want to use it straight from the refrigerator... but that's easy enough to do.

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I do want to know though... are you a spinach fan? I went from sheer loathing to true love. Is this normal?!

Veggie Baby Food - Carrot and Corn Quinoa

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I did not eat quinoa until I was 31. I probably couldn't pronounce it until two years ago. I had never heard of it my whole life, yet here I am giving it to my eight-month-old baby. How times have changed.

I'm really hoping that Veggie Baby likes a vast array of food, because I like cooking it. I'd be sad if she was a chips and nuggets girl... but I'd deal with it. For now though, it's so fun to try stuff and see if she'll eat it. She usually does, but we've learned our lesson with banana and parsley. If the kid had the dexterity to slap me, she would have.

Quinoa to me is just another thing to add to the veggies she eats - just like rice or lentils or beans or anything else. I know it's touted to have a vast array of health ticks in the right boxes so I'm pleased about that. It doesn't have much of a taste, but it has a little resistance when you eat it, so perfect for a baby trying new things and moving on from puree.

I cooked 1/4 cup quinoa in 1/2 cup water until done. Then mixed it with half a steamed carrot and half a steamed cob of corn. I'm a little paranoid about corn kernels, so I mashed it all and made sure they were all smooshed. It was a hit.

I do want to know, though... do you give your kid food you never ate as a child? Or things you don't eat now?

Veggie Baby Food: Banana Pudding

You know those days when everything gets on top of you? Stuff you didn't realise was weighing you down all becomes too much to carry? Then it takes one tiny straw and your camel's back collapses.

I had one of these days recently. I had been plodding along in my usual fashion, one foot in front of the other, trying not to get swamped in new-mother-juggling-work land. Or what I thought was my usual fashion. I hadn't felt any different, yet here I was after a slight public disappointment with hot tears pricking my eyes and a lump in my throat. An overreaction by any stretch.

As I sat in the car ready to go home, I caught hold of myself and wondered what the hell was wrong with me. Breastfeeding hormones? Tiredness? I'm not usually so sensitive. Sure I'd been looking forward to getting something done that needed to be done, and had met yet another roadblock with time ticking away too fast... but to want to cry? I've yet to see a man cry with frustration, but it seems women are born for it. Thanks, Eve.

I realised I'd been absorbing a lot of negativity without knowing that I had, and that I normally wouldn't. Things people had said to me that caught me off guard, butting heads ever-so-politely with well-meaning people which meant holding my tongue, lack of sleep, not eating anywhere near right, and the feeling that I was always one step behind everything in my life, running to catch up when I'm usually so organised. I sat there thinking "I've been holding on to that? Really?" about random things people had said...  and I hadn't noticed until it was too late. Positive Pete had a Negative Nancy moment. And I can't say I liked it.

So I did what I always do when I know things just need some time to work themselves out in my head without overthinking it - I cook. It keeps my brain from overload and is an excellent distraction. Bananas have finally come down in price to a reasonable level, so I bought a couple and made Veggie Baby a banana pudding from a cute old book from 1985 I had laying around about baby food called Feeding Baby. There's a bunch of cute stuff in there, like warnings that "a chop bone could poke into an eye"... OK!

This banana pudding is way cuter than an impaled eye, though. I bet your little one will love it.

BANANA PUDDING:

Mash half a banana with 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 tsp rice flour and 1 egg yolk. Pour into a small greased custard cup and bake in a moderate oven 20-30 minutes until set. Wait until cool before serving.

Ahh cooking. Where would I be without you?

Veggie Baby Food - Cherry-Apple Puree

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I can't get over how much I actually enjoy making food for the baby. Don't get me wrong, she still eats stuff out of a packet at times, but I'm really getting a kick out of making kid food.

Mind you, I find myself eating it too... this kind of puree in plain yogurt is good, as is putting it in the freezer on a hot day (I'm not telling you to add vodka...), and the apple purees and things are excellent on my morning oats! It's a win-win all round.

I always make batches of things on a Sunday afternoon when I'm pottering around the kitchen. It's nice to have something delicious and fragrant on the stove at that time of day.

Ingredients
2 sweet apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 handful fresh cherries, pitted.

Directions
1. If you don't have a cherry pitter, slice them around in half and twist to separate. Pull out the pit.

2. Set the apples in a small pan on medium-low heat with a little water. Cook until apples are soft, then throw in the cherries. Add more water if needed.

3. When all are soft (it won't take too much longer after you've added the cherries), process until smooth.

Very pretty stuff :)