Food for babies

Raysa started to take her meals when she was 4 months, as per doctor’s recommendation we start giving her orange and apple juice along with milk cereal. Most babies will completely wean to solids when they reach 6th months old as the mother’s breast milk doesn’t have sufficient iron and nutrients for the developing baby anymore.

At the 6th months, there’s more fruit and vegetables that you can introduce to your baby. For the past 2 weeks I’ve been trying to give more varieties to her food so she will be familiar with all sorts of flavor from the very beginning. But, I’m not confident enough on what I’m doing. I still have many unanswered questions, like:

What kind of food is ok or not ok for her?
How many meals a day should she take and at what quantity?
What kind of elements does she need on her food to help her grow?

Since there are so many questions piling at the back of my mind I decided to browse for a book that has information on baby’s food. So last Saturday I went down to Kinokuniya and after several excellent books I found one that I really like, Superfood for babies and children by Annabel Karmel. What I liked about this book is that it explained the food that your baby need at different stages of her age. The book also provided a meal plan that you can use as a reference along with the recipes. Next to the recipes there’s an explanation why certain fruit/veggie/fruit is good for your baby.

So, last Sunday I was busy making meal plan based on Annabel Karmel’s book. I enjoyed this book very much it’s very useful and informative. I visit her website and join her forum so I can meet up with other mums or at the least read about their problem which can be useful when you’re encountering the same problem.

Baby R meal plan, 6th month, 2nd week

Sun, 11 Mar
Breakfast: Banana milk cereal
Lunch: Creamy apple pureé
Supper: Mixed root vegetables pureé

Mon, 12 Mar
Breakfast: Brown rice cereal
Lunch: First fruit pureé (rock melon)
Supper: First vegetable pureé (carrot)

Tue, 13 Mar
Breakfast: Green bean cereal
Lunch: Apple and pear pureé
Supper: Mixed root vegetables pureé

Wed, 14 Mar
Breakfast: Brown rice cereal
Lunch: Cream of pear pureé
Supper: Sweet vegetable pureé

Thurs, 15 Mar
Breakfast: Banana milk cereal
Lunch: Papaya or rock melon fresh fruit
Supper: First vegetable pureé (sweet potato)

Fri, 16 Mar
Breakfast: Green bean cereal
Lunch: Pear pureé
Supper: Creamy vegetable pureé

Sat, 17 Mar
Breakfast: Brown rice cereal
Lunch: Avocado & banana/rock melon
Supper: Baked sweet potato and carrot pureé

-Recipes-

First vegetable pureé (4 portions, Freezable)

350 g carrots/potatoes/sweet potatoes and swede

Peel and wash the veggies
Chop or slice into even size pieces
Steam or set over boiling water and cook until tender (15-20 min)
Puree in a blender or food processor until very smooth together with some of the cooking liquid or water from the bottom of the steamer

Mixed root vegetable pureé (6 portions, Freezable)

Carrot/potato/sweet potato/pumpkin/swede

Mix and match a selection of three root veggies. Use approximately 175 g of each
Pureé each veggies on your selection and mix them together

Sweet vegetable pureé (4 portions, Freezable)

500g butternut squash (pumpkin) or pumpkin
Peel and de-seed a squash or slice of pumpkin, then pureé the pumpkin into thin consistency

Baked sweet potato and carrot pureé (4 portions, Freezable)

1 medium sweet potato (200g)
100g carrots, peeled and sliced
2 to 3 tbsp milk
Pre heat oven to 190C
Wash and dry the sweet potato and prick all over with a fork
Bake in the oven until tender (45 min)
Steam or boil the carrots until tender (20 min)
Allow the sweet potato to cool down, then cut in half and scoop out the flesh
Pureé together with the cooked carrot and milk

Creamy vegetable pureé (2 portions)

1 tbsp baby rice
3 tbsp milk
4 tbsp vegetable puree
Mix the baby rice and milk together (follow the packet instruction) and stir into the vegetable pureé

First fruit pureé (2 portions, Freezable)

2 medium dessert apples or ripe pears, peeled and cored
2 tbsp milk or pure unsweetened apple juice
Chop the apple/pear into small, even sized pieces
Put the fruit into a heavy-based saucepan with the water, cover and cook over a low heat until tender (6-8 min for apples, 4 min for pears)
Blend the fruit into smooth pureé using some of the cooking liquid