Yum For BABY: July 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

Beetroot Rice (For age 12 months+)

As per experts we can introduce beetroot to our babies at around 8 months of age. Kids will love this since it has a velvety color and beautiful texture and of course yummy too. While I introduced beetroot to my son, I started with beetroot puree. Very easy recipe. Wash and peel off beetroot, cut them into medium size pieces and cook/ steam them. Mash or puree them until you get desired consistency.

In this post I am sharing a very simple and easy "Beetroot Rice" recipe with you busy Moms. Hope your little-one will enjoy this!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Beetroot rice

Ingredients (For 2 servings)

Beetroot, grated- 3Tbsp

Cooked rice- 3Tbsp

Salt, to taste

Process

Step 1: Wash and peel off beetroot and grate them (using a grater) into very small pieces.

Step 2: Heat a pan over low heat and add grated beetroot to the pan. Add pinch of salt and cook it until the raw taste of beetroot gone (no need to add water). Stir in between with a spatula. You can add few drops of oil if you find the beetroot pieces are sticking on bottom of pan.

Step 3: When beetroot is fully cooked, add cooked rice into this. Now you can switch off the heat and stir them gently.

Wow beautiful beetroot rice is ready to serve.

Serve with yogurt.

Ingredients: Grated beetroot and cooked rice

Cook grated beetroot in a pan

Mix cooked beetroot with cooked rice and Beetroot rice is ready!

HAPPY COOKING!

Sardine Shallow Fry

Sardines are incredibly nutritious and inexpensive too. This fish contains lots of calcium and vitamin D. Sardines also boost energy by providing plenty of protein, iron, vitamin B12 and good fat (in the form of omega-3 fatty acids). Omega-3 fatty acids are not only help with the development of your baby’s brain, but are also a great immunity booster. Since sardines are low in mercury, these are allowed to include in your little-ones diet.

Sardine fry

My mother used to make me eat sardine when I was a kid and still that is one of the everyday fishes in our family. You can find them fresh everywhere in south

India

, and they are so delicious. Sardines marinated with few spices, salt and fried up in coconut oil and served with a squeeze of lemon juice. Ahaa, so simple and so delicious. Here, fresh sardines are not as common as canned. So I used to buy canned sardines.

Since most of the canned fishes are prepared by steam, cooking these are edible and we don’t have to cook them again. But what I noticed was, without any ingredients these canned fishes are not YUMMY to eat, especially when you buy “Sardine in Water”. So I usually shallow fry them by adding few spices and salt. This is a good way to serve for your kids.

Ingredients

Canned sardine, in water- 2 cans, 4.25 OZ each

Paprika or chilli powder- 1/2 Tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/3 Tsp

Pepper powder, a pinch

Salt, to taste

Coconut oil or any cooking oil- 3 Tbsp

Process

Step 1: Open the can and decant water. I usually wash off the scales from sardine and pat dry them.

Step 2: Make a paste of all spices and salt in water.

Step 3: Marinate sardines with spices paste and keep them aside.

Step 4: Heat a pan over medium heat and add coconut oil. When the oil becomes hot add marinated fish pieces. Shallow fry them (turn them as needed) until the fish turns lightly brown. Do not over fry them since the kids usually like the soft texture of fish.

Step 5: Dry them on a paper towel and sardine fry is ready to serve.

Pull out the soft bone from sardine before you serve them to your kid.

Serve with rice.

Canned sardine in water

Spices needed

Washed and scales off.

Marinated sardines

Shallow fry them in oil

Serve them with rice

HAPPY COOKING!

Homemade Green Gram Sprout

Sprouts are wonder food due to its high nutritional value. These are rich in fibre, protein, minerals, vitamins and enzymes. You can sprout nuts, seeds, grains, and beans. The nutrients get enhanced when they are sprouted and are considered to be one of the best foods for everyone including kids. There are many different varieties of sprouts we can buy from farmers market. I used to buy bean sprouts from farmers market, but nowadays I do it at home. Very easy and we can have fresh sprouts. You can have fresh sprouts, also there are many ways we can cook sprouts. I usually make green gram sprouts at home since green grams will sprout easily.

My two easy sprouts recipes are green gram sprouts salad and stir fry. My son does not like to eat fresh green gram sprout. So I usually steam the sprouts and mix it with yogurt. Also we share stir fry with him. He enjoys that too. In this post, I am sharing the step by step instructions to sprout the green grams / Mung beans.

Process

Step 1: Select good quality whole green grams/ Mung beans to sprout. Wash them thoroughly and soak them overnight (6-8 hours).

Step 2: After 6-8 hours, drain off the soak water, and transfer them to another bowl or jar. Close the bowl with lid and keep them in a dark warm place.

Step 3: If you check after 6-8 hours, you will see the sprouts appearing. Let them sit for another 12 hours for long beautiful sprouts. For longer sprouts, you can keep them for one more day. I gave totally 24 hours to sprout them.

Use the sprouts fresh/ Cook them soon. If you want to use them later, transfer them to a container and close it with lid and keep in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh in refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Choose whole green grams/ Mung beans to sprout

Soak them in water

Sprouts after 6 hours

Sprouts after 18 hours

Sprouts after 24 hours

Happy Cooking!

Fish Fingers (For age 18 months+)

Most experts agree that during early childhood, the benefits of eating fish usually outweigh the risks. Fish is a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for a child's brain and eye development. Fish is also a good source of protein, essential vitamins and minerals. But some kind of fish contains mercury, which should be avoided for kids. In high doses, mercury is harmful to child's brain development and nervous system. So for kids, parents should choose fish that are lower in mercury.

It is good to serve your toddler with a variety of fish two to three times a week. You can offer them any fish you cook at home. But if you have a little picky eater at home, you need to find some special recipes to satisfy your little one. This Fish Fingers (Fish sticks) are so delicious and cannot be avoided by any one. Yes, these fish fingers are perfect for the entire family.

FISH FINGERS or FISH STICKS

Ingredients (2 servings)

Fish, Tilapia- 1 Medium size fillet

Bread crumbs- ¼ cup

Egg-2

Black pepper, a pinch
Parsley flakes/ curry leaves/ coriander leaves

Salt, to taste

Oil, for frying

Process

Step 1: Cut off the edges of fish fillet and cut it into finger size pieces.

Step 2: In a medium size bowl mix together, egg white, parsley flakes, salt and pepper.

Step 3: Dip all fish pieces into egg batter.

Step 4: Roll each fish pieces in bread crumbs until they coated well.

Step 5: Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and fry all the fish pieces until they turn brown (flip them as needed).

Step 6: Pat them in a paper towel and FISH FINGERS/ FISH STICKS are ready to serve.

Serve warm. Serve them with mayonnaise/ tomato ketchup.

Ingredients: Fish, Egg, Bread crumbs, parsley flakes, black pepper, oil and salt

Mix together egg white, parsley flakes, black pepper and salt

Cut fish into finger size pieces

Soak fish pieces into egg mixture

Roll the fish pieces into bread crumbs

Bread crumbs rolled fish fingers

Fry them in oil until they turn brown

Serve FISH FINGERS with mayonnaise/ tomato ketchup

HAPPY COOKING!

4 Easy plantain recipes

Many people are confused between plantains and bananas. Yes, plantains are a member of banana family. But there are few differences between them although they look alike. Plantains are more longer and much firmer than bananas. Both can be eaten raw, but plantains taste more delicious when cooked than eaten raw. Both are highly nutritious like rich in fiber, Vitamins and minerals. But plantains are more starchy than bananas.

Plantains

When babies start to eat solid foods, we usually offer them pureed vegetables and fruits. Like bananas, we can give plantains to babies. But it is better to give steamed plantain than raw, since steamed plantains are easy to digest. I introduced plantain to my son around 6 months of age. At first, I gave him steamed plantain puree. Honestly, he was not a big fan of pureed plantain, but later he started to like mashed steamed plantain. Now his favorite is fresh ripe plantains. So nowadays I offer him fresh ripe plantains.

Ripe plantains are being used in various forms like fresh, boiled, steamed, fried or roasted. These are my easy plantain recipes. Hope this recipes will help you Moms to cheer your little-ones.

HAPPY JULY 4th

Recipe 1 (For age 15 months+)

How to serve fresh ripe plantain?

Step 1: Cut to remove bottom and top edges of plantain, then cut into 2-3 large cylindrical pieces.

Step 2: Peel off each pieces and cut them into half. Remove the seed from the middle of each half and cut them into little-ones bite size.

Sprinkle cinnamon/ sugar on top if you like.

Fresh ripe plantain pieces

Recipe 2 (For age 12 months+)

Steamed plantain

Step 1: Cut to remove bottom and top edges of plantain, then cut again into medium size cylindrical pieces.

Step 2: Keep the plantain pieces inside a steamer and steam it closed for about 15-20 minutes. Cook them until you get sweet aroma of plantains (if you touch the pieces with a spoon, it will become soft when it is cooked). Do not over cook plantains since you will loose all the sweet taste from the plantains.

Step 3: Take them out and remove the skin.

Step 4: Cut through middle of each pieces and remove the black seeds.

Step 5: Mash them with a fork until you get a desired consistency.

Serve them fresh.