veggie baby and other stuff

Introducing Jack to table food has been an interesting experience. First he hated all fruit. Then he hated vegetables. Now we're in the everything-you-eat-is-mine stage. So when I find a food that he likes for more than a few days, I get super excited and make it in bulk.

In the beginning, nearly everything he ate I bought and puréed. Some women boast their frozen milk stash, I had an impressive frozen purée stash. It's so easy that I honestly can't fathom why people buy jarred food as making his food is cheaper too. Then I realized that what he likes today he may not like tomorrow so cooking in bulk may not have been the best idea ;)

What has never changed is this kid's love of avocado. He eats a couple ounces every day at breakfast and has since 6 months old. All I do is purée a couple avocados with a little water in a food processor, divide into ice cube trays, cover and freeze. Then when it's frozen, pop them out and put them in a large freezer bag. Plus I've learned that I can mix two cubes of avocado with one other vegetable  from my stash for breakfast and he still loves it.

He was sick this past weekend so I started looking for different foods that he would eat (being sick obviously means you're too sick to feed yourself!) and found two chunky purees that he really loved. 

Lentil Puree (adapted from weelicious)

Quarter of an onion, chopped

Few baby carrots chopped

1 tsp minced ginger

2 cups of water

1 cup lentils (I used green)

14oz can tomato purée or sauce

1tbs curry powder

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tbs olive oil

Sauté the carrot and onion in oil for a couple minutes. Add ginger and curry, sauté for another minute. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to lowish, stir, cover and cook for 35 min or until lentils are done (make sure you're stirring occasionally) and in a creamy sauce. Let it cool and puree in a food processor. Freeze in covered ice cube trays, and once frozen, remove and put in a large ziplock bag. Good frozen for 4 months. 

He loved it. It's actually pretty good, I ate some for lunch before I pureed it. 

The second recipe he liked but not the first bite. The quinoa texture threw him off guard but by the second bite he was hooked. It reminded me of rice pudding, and with quinoa, I knew he was getting a vitamin and protein packed breakfast. 

Quinoa banana smash (adapted from weelicious)

I banana

6tbs cooked quinoa

2 tbs plain almond or soy yogurt

Pinch of cinnamon 

Mash banana and add remaining ingredients. Makes roughly 3-4 servings. 

I'll periodically post baby recipes but back to adult food in the next posting!