Baby Recipes

In one of the more challenging parts of lil livin', I have to come up with recipes that are quick and nutritious for a vegetarian diet...for a baby. A lot of you will find these recipes useful for your little ones even if they aren't vegetarian, because I've heard many parents say their child doesn't like meat yet. I hate long intros so let's crack on with the recipes. 

Kitchari (Lentil and Rice Porridge)

My Mother in Law taught me this one. It's some of the first baby food my daughter had and she immediately loved it. It also seemed to help her unconstipate - probably from all of the ghee. 

• Split red/yellow lentils
• brown rice
• frozen vegetable mix (carrots, peas, beans)
• Turmeric
• quinoia (optional)
• Ghee or Butter

For one serving, in a pot on the stove, I mix 1 cup of water with 1/3 cup mix of lentils, rice, a pinch of turmeric, and sometimes quinoia. I get that boiling, then I add 1/4 cup of frozen veggies. Turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid. Let that simmer until there is no liquid left. You can immediately serve out the kitchari with a good dollop of ghee or butter on top. 

Strawberry Prune Smoothie

As you can tell from my previous recipe, my daughter had slight issues going #2. She's breastfed, so we were told it was normal for her to poop every three days, but it stopped getting normal when she would really struggle and it'd come out hard. We didn't need to medicate her or anything. Just getting her off bananas and rice and onto prune juice really helped us. She would not take the prune juice on its own though, too disgusting, which I agree with. Then I thought, what better way to mask this flavor than with her favorite flavor - strawberry. And BOOM, a staple recipe was born. 

• Frozen strawberries
• Prune juice
• Chia seeds (optional)
• Flaxseed meal (optional)

In a blender, I add 1 cup of prune juice, 1 cup of strawberries, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal. Blend for 30 seconds or until super smooth. Serve immediately, or pro tip: freeze aliquots of smoothie mix in an ice tray. After frozen, place aliquots in a freezer bag and keep frozen, thawing one a day (that's what I do). I usually give the smoothie cube a good chop into bite size pieces for serving. 

Tomato Spinach Waffles

One of my ultimate favorite recipes that both my baby and I enjoy regularly. I have also gotten some high praise from other mommies on this one. It's great for on-the-go, any time of day. Most people think "sweet" when they think "waffle", but the syrup is a hassle and a no-go in the sugar-free world that is baby. So a savory waffle is super exciting. 

• Pancake mix (I use Pearl Milling Buttermilk, ahem not sponsored, but should be)
• spinach
• sundried tomatoes
• Oil
• flaxseed meal (optional)
• Wheat Bran (optional)

Heat a waffle maker - I use a mini waffle maker. It makes one at a time and takes super painfully long to make a bunch of waffles, but it's a tiny gadget that makes the perfect serving (think Eggo sized); hey hey lil livin'. ANYWAY, in a mixing bowl, add 2 cups of pancake mix, 1 1/2 cups of water, 1/3 cup of oil (I use olive oil to avoid seed oils), a handful of spinach roughly chopped, 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal, 1 tablespoon of wheat bran, and 6 pieces of sundried tomato roughly chopped. Mix it all together and pour 2 big spoonfuls of batter into the waffle maker. Wait for ultimate goldenness. Pop it out and repeat, repeat, repeat until all the batter is used up and you have a plateful of goodness. Eat up! Save the leftover waffles in a freezer bag. To reheat, don't thaw, just stick right into the toaster. Check the center - sometimes it stays colder longer than the rest of the waffle, so keep toasting until the center is hot too. Only you know your toaster settings best, so I'll trust you on that one. 

You're welcome for this recipe. 

Hash Brown Casserole

I made this super recently and I know there will be many variations to it, but here's the one I made and liked. 

• Bag o' hash browns
• Alfredo sauce
• shredded cheese
• Mushrooms
• Oil
• Salt
• Hemp seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375℉. In a pyrex, oil the bottom heavily. Add in the bag o' hash browns. Chop up some mushrooms and place on top of the hash browns. Spread some shredded cheese of choice (I had mexican). Open a jar of alfredo sauce and pour about 1/3 to 1/2 a jar on top. Mix it all together. Sprinkle hemp seeds for extra protein. Salt it up. Bake for about 30 minutes. A super grand tip I hope you will use: Turn the oven on to high broil. Watch it, but let it broil for 5-10 minutes or until the top is the color of CRUNCH. Take it out of the oven and lightly salt one more time (I say lightly because this recipe is also for baybeh). Let this bad boy cool down for a sec before serving. 

ABC Muffins

I have to shoutout my church friend for this sugar-free recipe. I brought them to library time once and all the babies loved them so much that every parent wanted the recipe, so here it is. 

• Apple
• Banana - Ripe
• Carrot
• 3/4 Cup Milk
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Cup Wheat flour
• 1/2 Cup Oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• salt

Preheat the oven to 375℉. Butter up a muffin tin. My friend makes these in mini muffin tins, but I only have a regular muffin tin (Cook time is longer for larger muffins). Prep the fruit and veggies by shredding the apple and the carrot. Mash about 2 ripe bananas after thawing and taking the peels off. In a bowl, mix together the apple, banana, carrot, milk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well incorporated. Fill the muffin tins to the tops (there's hardly any rise on these). Bake for about 30 minutes or half that if you are making mini muffins. Check that the centers are cooked. Cool off completely before serving. 

Spinach Pasta

• Spinach
• Elbow Pasta
• Olive oil

I'm kind of laughing looking at the ingredient list, but I'm dead serious. I take a huge handful of spinach leaves, and I steam for 15 minutes in the baby food maker, then blend to make spinach puree. I boil water and add a few handfuls of pasta (easiest for the baby to eat without having to chop is macaroni or elbow noodles). Let the pasta boil until al dente, then run through a strainer, and give it a splash of olive oil. Mix the spinach puree into the pasta or serve on top. Babies love pasta so much and mine didn't mind the taste of spinach but hated purees, so I used it as a "sauce" instead. SHE ATE IT UP. Sucker.