Making Baby Purees from Leftovers

We had some lasagna for dinner on the weekend and so I decided to make a puree from it with some of the leftovers. I just warmed it up in the microwave and then pureed it in the blender bowl of the Bébédelice. I wanted it to be a bit chunky because I have been reading about the importance of encouraging babies to eat food that is not "super-pureed" - and so I thought this might be a good way to start.

Lasagna makes a great puree because the creamy sauce blends really well with the meat and pasta. Some other left over meals that you could try are spaghetti bolognaise, casseroles, sausages and mashed potato, omelets or frittata, ravioli, noodles, etc.

I also tried using the steaming section of the Bébédelice to make meatballs on the weekend and that worked really well too. I made them by mixing some chicken mince with fresh breadcrumbs, a tiny bit of onion, some grated zucchini, and a pinch of parsley and thyme. I rolled the mixture into small balls and then steamed them in the Bébédelice. Once they had cooled down I let my son feed them to himself and they went down a treat.

I hope that these tips are helpful. We would love to hear from you if you have any other ideas for using leftovers - or some recipes for the Bébédelice

Have a lovely week

Jennifer x

Is your baby a yoghurt monster?

Both mine are! Even when they don’t want to eat anything else, they will always eat yoghurt.

I love how easy it is but - I can’t believe how expensive packs of children’s yoghurt are.

I mean they are super convenient but when my kids are eating at least one a day - it gets pretty pricey.

And when I look at the sugar content of flavored yoghurt (I have read that some have as much as 50% sugar in them) I decided to try using natural yogurt with some pureed fruit instead.

Believe it or not - it worked!! I just bought a big tub of natural yoghurt and then steamed and pureed some apple in my Bébédélice - let it cool and mixed the two together. It was a big hit and it made me feel like a super mum to be feeding them something so healthy. I kept the left over pureed apple in the fridge for the next day.

Next I am going to try apricots, pears, peaches and berries. I think I will also put some fresh banana in and blend it up with the yoghurt in the blender bowl

Let me know if you have any other ideas. I would love to try them!

Maybe I will spend the money I save on something nice for me next time I am at the supermarket...... but probably not......

Good luck. Hope it works for you too!

Jennifer xx

Supermarket Snacks

We have just received stock of a new product called the On-Tray that is a nifty little food container that snaps onto your shopping trolley at the supermarket. There is a video of a father using it at an American Supermarket that you can see on YouTube if you like (the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf8ubvkZ_EE) but expect to be completely horrified by the amount of junk food he feeds to his children.

Which got me thinking about some healthier snack ideas for kids that could be good to use with this product.

But don't worry - this is going to be a complete "Carrot Sticks" free blog - because how come whenever we look for ideas on healthy snacks for toddlers - they always say "Carrot Sticks". I mean - yes of course they are healthy, but give me a break - whilst I occasionally might be able to coerce my toddler into eating some carrot - do you honestly think this is going to be the perfect healthy snack when they are surrounded by tasty treats at the supermarket?? I think not.

So let’s look at some healthy "ish" snacks that are definitely better than the junk in the lolly isle, but that you have a slight chance of getting your toddler to eat! I have just put one recipe and lots of little snack ideas this time.

APPLE ZUCCHINI CAKE (Please don't be put off by the ingredients - it is actually really really yummy).

4 lg. eggs 1 c. vegetable oil 2 c. sugar 2 c. peeled and grated zucchini, drained 3 c. unsifted flour 1 tsp. soda 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. vanilla 1 c. chopped nuts* 2 1/2 c. peeled and chopped apples. Grease and flour tube pan. Beat eggs, add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Mix well. Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add to creamed mixture. Add apples and nuts*. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.

* Note - just be careful about the nuts if your baby is little or if there is a chance of an allergy. They need to be very finely chopped if you do use them

Here are some easy to prepare snack ideas that are good to pack for the supermarket - thanks to the team at http://www.kidspot.com.au/

Rice cakes lightly spread with ricotta or "light" cream cheese and vegemite or fruit spread.
Toasted muffin with a scrape of honey or fruit spread.
Slice of toasted wholegrain bread topped with ricotta cheese and fruit spread.
Microwaved pappadums.
Crispbreads with a low fat topping or plain biscuits.
Homemade muffins or buy a low fat muffin mix (check your supermarket).
Frozen banana (spear peeled banana with icy-pole stick and freeze) or other frozen fruit such as grapes, peeled orange or mandarin segments.
Fruit kebabs (skewer cubes of fruits on to bamboo skewers).
Raisin toast.
Crumpets with a scrape of margarine - try topping with tomato and cheese.
Pikelets with jam or honey.

There are lots of other great snack ideas on the kidspot website. I will add some more later as I am out of space here.......

Jennifer xxx

Ever wonder why you bother?

This week my 17 month old son has been sick. Nothing too serious - just "the runs" on a major scale - but as a result he has no appetite whatsoever.

So as I diligently prepare cooked purees for him - only to have them not so politely refused or promptly spat out, I started thinking about the safety of reheating baby food.

It seems such a waste to throw out perfectly good food day after day, but because babies' immune systems are less developed than adults' and their tummies are particularly susceptible to bugs and infections so you have to be careful.

I found a lot of information on the site babycenter.com so I thought I would share this with you - just in case you are also having the same dilemmas.

* Baby food prepared in advance should be cooled quickly then stored in the fridge.

* Freeze anything that won't be used within 24 hours.

* When reheating baby food, make sure it is piping hot throughout (you should be able to see steam coming out) and then let it cool down before you give it to your baby.

* Don't reheat baby food more than once.

* You can use a microwave to reheat baby food, but be careful for hot spots

* If your baby leaves any food in his bowl after a meal, always throw it away. Food that has been in contact with saliva (from your baby's mouth or a feeding spoon) will contain bacteria that will multiply if kept.

* Check the temperature of your fridge; it should be between 0 degrees C and 5 degrees C (32 - 41 degrees F).

* Change kitchen cloths and tea towels frequently. (Hot tip - Placing your dishwashing sponge in the microwave on high for two minutes kills up to 90% of germs)

* If food is frozen, defrost it thoroughly before you cook it, unless the food label says otherwise.

I hope this helps

I better run..... There is sure to be a lovely nappy waiting for me - and it's not going to change itself :-(



Jennifer xx

Introducing Solids to your baby

Just a really quick blog tonight. The latest issue of My Child Magazine has an article by leading infant nutritionist Leanne Cooper on introducing solids. I have just read it and I think it is a really excellent and concise guide so you may want to check it out. I hope I am not too late to tell you this and it is still on the shelves

Jennifer x

Foods that are good for your babies teeth!

Hi everyone.

If your baby has started to get their first teeth - you might want to think about foods that are rich in calcium and Vitamin D because both these things are very good for keeping your babies teeth healthy. Of course there are all the other rules for caring for babies teeth - and you can find lots of information about that by following the attached link. http://www.babycenter.com.au/toddler/caringfor/teeth/

The Natural Academy of Sciences recommend that a 1 year old should have 5mcg Vitamin D and 500mg calcium a day. Some great natural sources of calcium are yogurt and green leafy vegetables; and of vitamin D is fatty fish such as herring (highest) salmon (middle) and tuna (lowest) according to the websites that I have read. Vitamin D is absorbed through the skin via sunlight - and so it is during the winter months that it is important to make sure it is part of your diet.

Here is my suggested "teeth strengthening" recipe

1 x small fillet of Australian Herring (Tommy Rough) with the skin removed - be careful as it does smell very very fishy and so will stink up your kitchen

1 x good sized piece of broccoli (just flowers as stalks take longer to cook)

1 x good sized piece of cauliflower or squash

Add 200lms water to the Bébédelice

Cook as per instructions

Allow food to cool and then add a nice sized dollop of natural yoghurt just prior to blending.

How healthy does that sound??

I have some other recipes in mind so promise to write again very soon

Jennifer x