You say tomato, I say ba ba ba ma ma ma!!

“Pasta and sauce” is a staple dinner in our household on the many occasions when we are too lazy to think of anything more exotic, or when the cupboards are nearing empty.  I was very excited to be able to introduce Milla to the joys of homemade pasta sauce. This was her first taste of tomato, and lets just say that I hope she enjoys it more next time!  She wasn’t too keen on it. But she did eat it all, and I know that it can take a few tries before babies get to know and like a taste. 

For this recipe, I just used a regular tomato, and I peeled it first (blanching it by dunking it in boiling water for the pasta helps to get the skin off really easily). If you are going to puree the whole thing, you could probably leave the skin on I guess? I also threw in some finely grated zucchini. You could add any vegetable you wanted… I was merely limited by the meagre contents of the fridge, and time itself! Also thought I’d keep it simple to start with.  I love a simple pasta myself – but am more of a garlic/chilli/lemon/anchovy kinda girl.  Wont subject the poor littl’un to that just yet!

Pasta with Tomato and Zucchini Sauce

• Handful of small pasta shapes (ie. alphabet pasta, risoni, soup pasta)
• 1 tomato, peeled and chopped
• 4cm piece of zucchini, finely grated

Boil pasta as per packet instructions.  Saute tomato and zucchini in a small frypan for about 3-4 minutes, adding some of the pasta water if you need more liquid.  Voila. Easy as.  Serve with cheese if desired.  This made two portions – you could easily cook heaps more and freeze it. 

Having perused the baby food section of the supermarket, and having read the ingredient lists on all the “baby yoghurts” and “baby’s first custards” I decided that in order to save my little darlings’ new teeth (since they have given us so much joy!!) I would have to make my own… One mini tub of baby custard has 5g of sugar in it, not to mention all the other additives. So, like my mum before me, Milla will be getting homemade stuff.  One day she will thank me! She happily eats plain yoghurt mixed with mashed banana, so the next dessert to try was custard.

You’ll need to wait until your baby is ready to eat egg yolk for this recipe.  As usual, there is conflicting advice out there, but we chose to start small amounts of egg yolk now, since Milla is nearly 8 months old, and we have no history of allergy in either of our families, with the exception of kiwi fruit!  Separate the yolk from the white of the egg, or use the white if your baby is old enough (generally 10 – 11 months+), it is the white of the egg that is more of an allergy risk.

There is no sugar in this recipe, and I really don’t think it needs it. The sweetness of the pear is more than enough. You could substitute apple, berries, mango… whatever fruit your baby is eating.

Pear Custard

This should be enough for two baby serves, unless you hoe in to it yourself, as I have just done…

I have been a bit busy lately to post, but now that Milla is eating a bigger variety of foods, having reached nearly 8 months, I am inspired again! The world of simple fruit and vegie mush and finger food has expanded to include wheat and oats, chicken, lamb and some dairy.  WOOO HOOO! We are yet to find something that she won’t eat, although her food of choice lately has been the remote controls. They have teeth marks to prove it.

In a futile effort to save the remote, I baked some rusks for her. We had tried two commercially available ones (Heinz and Bellamy’s), and I figured it would be super easy and cheap to make something myself that was just as good. Most of it ends up a pile of soggy little crumbs on the floor anyhow…

These rusks are really easy. Three ingredients: flour, butter, molasses (and water). The molasses is optional, but since its a very high source of iron, and since I had some in the cupboard, I put it in.

Milla has her two bottom teeth, and is about to cut her top two. I can just see them lurking below the gums.  Hopefully these rusks will do the trick…

Rusks

• 2  cups plain wholemeal flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup water or milk
• 1 teaspoon molasses (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 180°C.

Combine flour and butter in a food processor so it forms a crumbly mix.  Add the molasses, and then slowly add enough water so the mixture forms a dough.

Roll the dough into small sausage shapes, and place on a tray lined with baking paper.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning halfway to crisp up both sides.

Allow to cool, then store in airtight container.

I am a fan of a crisp and crunchy flat bikkie myself, not really going for the cakey rock biscuit style. But despite their appearance, these are really good! And very easy to make, which is crucial when you are doing it one-handed.  It’s the oats, flax and yeast which have the milk-making qualities I am told.  There are lots of ingredients, but don’t freak out – it mostly all gets mixed in together, and its super quick.  Brewers yeast is found in the home-brew section of supermarkets, you must use this type, not regular bread-making yeast. Flax seed is in the health food section.  I halved the recipe, and it made about 30 decent sized bikkies.

So, does it work? I think it does.  Certainly beats porridge and stout. I don’t know how many you have to eat, but since I ate three while they were still warm and crunchy, and another two later on, five seems to do the trick just fine. My lovely milkless husband also ate five, and is yet to report back on any mammary leakage….!

Breastfeeding cookies

* 1 cup butter (225g)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 4 tablespoons water
* 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal*
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups plain flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 cups oats
* 1 cup chocolate chips
* 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast* (be generous)

Preheat oven 190 degrees. Mix together flaxseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Stir flaxseed mixture and add with vanilla to the butter mix. Beat until blended. Sift together dry ingredients, except oats and chips. Add to butter mixture. Stir in oats then chips. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet, lined with baking paper.

Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.

*put flaxseeds in a food processor to make your own meal if you can’t see it in the shops.

There is a theory that it’s good for babies to eat food with a range of flavours and textures… and also that its good for them to eat ‘finger food’ right from the start. Maybe this is to prepare them for a life-time of gallery openings and functions. Really it’s based on their development, particularly on tongue action and their instinctive ability to feed. They know how to find a boob and suck as soon as they’re born, and they know how to eat solids, when the time is right… Current guidelines recommended by the World Health Organisation are that your baby should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months (or formula fed, if you have to). By around the 6 month mark a baby will have lost the tongue-thrust reflex that makes them automatically appear to spit out food. We waited til Milla was 5 months – she had well and truly lost the tongue-thrust, and was soooo eager to eat our food. Plus, she was sitting up un-aided, was super active, and was wanting way too many boob feeds in the night.  Anyways – if you have waited til the right time, there is no need to feed your baby exclusively mush, and their swallowing / food processing ability is such that it’s recommended (ie. by the Australian Breastfeeding Association) that you give your baby a go at finger foods. As long as its not a hard chunk of food like an apple, it should be OK.  Doesn’t even matter if they don’t have teeth - they know how to chew with their gums. The theory goes that if your baby puts the food in her mouth by herself, she will instinctively know how to mouth bits off, move it around her mouth, and then swallow it. 

Chewing food themselves is good for their jaw development, which in turn helps with speech. There is also apparently a “window of opportunity” when it comes to getting your kids to eat everything. If you miss this, and keep feeding only puree, you could end up with a 5 year old who won’t eat anything hard.

So. We tried this with Milla, with a piece of steamed broccoli as an hors d’oevres before her main course of mashed pumpkin. She loved it!!  I have to admit I read up on ‘Choking’ in my baby manual, and was poised to do the Heimlich Manoeuvre if I had to.  But Milla handled it like a pro. It was her first taste of broccoli. She started by sucking the flowery bits “look mum, no hands”, and then got in to it… exploring, mashing, eating, rubbing, wiping on feet…. I finished up by shaking her off outside. 

I had been mixing a bit of Farex (rice cereal) in with all her meals, but lately Milla has been a horror child to try and breastfeed, so in an attempt to increase her breastmilk intake, I’ve reduced the amount of food she eats for breakfast and lunch, on the advice of the Health Nurse we see every two months. We have a great system here for healthy baby checks – we get free consultations at the Community Health Centre at 1, 2, 4 and 6 months, plus free sessions on breastfeeding, introducing solids etc.

I don’t think I need to extend this blog to include a recipe for carrot puree: 1. steam carrot, 2. mush up carrot with blender.

I use a pretty fancy stick blender, I think its a Sunbeam 600watt - its a stainless steel super power one. We did have a cheap and nasty little plastic one, but our lovely friend Freckles accidently broke it while making mango daquiries last year (they were worth it!!)  So, we invested in a super dooper one, intending to make lots of soups. Happily, Milla came along and justified our purchase! I use the stick for everything I puree, although it does make things pretty smooth. I use the mini food processor attachment if I want to do more lumpy food for her. 

I’m a new stay at home mum, looking after my lovely little daughter who has just started to explore the wonderful world of food-not-from-a-boob.

I love to cook.

I go to bed reading Delicious. I dream of the next gooey cake I will bake.

One day, quite recently, I realised that my brain was at risk of being reduced to a puree (or should that be reduced to a jus?). So I have decided to join the internet-age, and write a bit. I’ll tell you some recipes. I’ll tell you whats going down in the food department here. And you can tell me your stuff too.  All kids have to eat huh?

I want my kids to eat healthy food, and gain an appreciation for food.  And I want to have fun with it too.  Since we haven’t progressed much past the puree here, its a learning experience.  Does pear taste good with parsnip? Apparently so.

So, while I am not cooking 5 course romantic dinners, I am very excited at the prospect of whipping up yummy mummy food.

I hope you enjoy it too. Or blow raspberries with it. Or smear it all over your feet. Whatever makes your happy.