Baby Food (6-12 months)
A couple of people have been asking me to blog about the meals I prepare for my son; apparently, they sometimes taste better than the food I make for adults. (I'll take that as a compliment?...)
Now that Lil’ Cub is 13 months and has eleven teeth, he has graduated to eating table foods, i.e. most things I eat except in smaller pieces. While I’m relieved that I rarely have to prepare additional infant meals or put everything through the food processor anymore, I did have fun experimenting with food textures and pairing various flavors for the past six months. Here is a list of my top go-to foods for my son when he was between 6-12 months.
1) Avocado + pear or any sweet, soft, slightly tart fruit such as kiwi, apple, or mango
Appropriate for: whenever you decide to start solids (our pediatrician recommended 6mo+)
Avocados are not only packed with vitamins, potassium, healthy fats, and fiber; they’re also easy to feed and carry around because you don’t have to mash them up. They do, however, have a nutty flavor and creamy consistency that babies may not take to immediately, so I like to lighten the palate with something sweet and slightly tart. Pears work great because they are usually very soft when ripe (especially Bartlett ones), which means you can scoop the flesh without having to do any mashing. Same for kiwis and mangoes. Apples are trickier for kids who don’t have a lot of teeth, but there’s always applesauce!
2) Classic Chinese baby food: Congee (i.e. rice porridge) + meat + veggie
Made by cooking rice in a veggie-meat soup
Appropriate for: babies who can already manage a variety of fruits and vegetables and are ready to start on meat. We introduced Lil’ Cub to meat at 8 months.
(This photo features a chicken butternut squash peas congee frozen in ice cubes for future meals).
For the congee, I use white, short/medium-grain rice (usually Japanese, Korean, Chinese, or Thai rice). For the meat, I buy something that includes the bone for better flavor (e.g. chicken thigh, beef/pork ribs, oxtail). For the veggies, I try to include at least two different kinds to get a variety of nutrients.
There’s no rule about what kinds of meat and veggies to put together. My favorite soup combos include:
Beef ribs + tomato + carrot + potato + onion
Oxtail + carrot + daikon radish + scallions + kale
Pork rib + lotus root + dried octopus + green beans + carrot
Chicken thigh + carrot + potato + onion + peas + broccoli + zucchini
Chicken thigh/Pork ribs + butternut squash + peas/kale/broccoli
Here's how I prepare it:
Make the soup by combining the ingredients in a pot and boiling on high then simmering on low until the meat is soft and falling off the bone**. For pork or beef ribs, I simmer for at least two hours. For oxtail, at least three.
In the last 15 minutes of making the soup, add cooked rice and let it simmer until soft. I add it in the last 15 minutes because if the rice cooks for too long, it sticks to the bottom of the pot and burns.
I like my congee thick and not too watery. If using cooked rice, the amount of soup should be just enough to cover the rice. If using uncooked rice, the amount of soup should double the amount of rice, and you’d have to boil it for much longer (at least half an hour) and continuously stir to avoid burning.
Before serving, mash up the meat and veggies or put the whole mixture in the food processor.
Store all the extra food by freezing it in an ice cube tray.
You can also substitute rice with other carbs (e.g. potatoes, noodles), but my son always prefers rice above all.
** Note: Squashes and root vegetables can be stewed, but green vegetables will turn mushy and brown if cooked for too long. I usually don't put the latter into the soup until the last 10-15 minutes of cooking.
3. Oatmeal and fruit (optional: add some kind of dairy)
Appropriate for: Ask a pediatrician. I didn’t start Lil’ Cub on non-rice grains until 8 months, but others introduce cereal much earlier.
Oatmeal is an easy way to pack protein, carbs, and fiber into a breakfast. I usually get instant oats and cook them for at least five minutes to achieve a mushy texture. Some people like baby oatmeal. Regular steel oats are cut too big and take a long time to get really soft.
Before Lil’ Cub turned one, I would add formula or yoghurt to make the oatmeal creamier. Sometimes he also liked it with a bit of peanut butter. After 12 months, I started using whole cow’s milk.
Fruits: anything chunky and not too juicy works (e.g. berries, apples, peaches, bananas)
4. Omelettes/scrambled eggs with various veggies and meats
Appropriate for: whenever your baby is ready to eat eggs. Many parents are wary of eggs because they can cause allergies. Some say don’t introduce egg whites till 12 months. We started doing eggs (both yolks and whites) at 9 months at the recommendation of our pediatrician.
I learned to make these multi-colored, multi-ingredient eggs from my mother-in-law, who once put 12 different things into a scrambled egg! Once again, there’s no rule to what you put in there. The above scrambled eggs include chopped up zucchinis, mushrooms, carrots, onions, anchovies, cheese, and sausage. I sometimes like to add tomatoes and broccoli as well. It’s a great way to provide different nutrients and use up all the ingredients in your fridge!
There are a million ways to prepare baby food; my two cents would be to include a good variety of nutrients and get a food processor. Happy eating!
