Recipe: Crustless Pea and Feta Quiche

These are essentially scrambled eggs baked in muffin tins, but I've made it all fancy calling it a crustless quiche for the adults.  You can put any cooked fillings you want in them really.  For the adults I sautéed some courgette in garlic and chilli flakes until super soft, and for MiniMe I just used some frozen peas. 

Pea and Feta Crustless Quiche (makes 3) 

Preheat your oven to 180C.  Place 3 silicone muffin cups on a baking tray. Sprinkle in about 5 or 6 peas and a bit of feta cheese (remember feta is salty so you don't want to use too much)into each muffin cup.  In a small measuring jug whisk 1 large egg with about 1 Tbsp of milk until the egg yolk is completely broken up. Pour the egg mixture into each muffin cup (about 1/2 way up the side).  Bake for 15-20 mins until the edges are slightly golden and the top no longer wobbles.  Let them cool completely before serving.  

Store in an air tight container in the fridge no longer than 2 days.  

** If you want to make a large crustless quiche, like I did for the adults...grease an 8 inch regular pie plate (not deep) and then lay your cooked veg, chicken, ham whatever inside.  Whisk 5 large eggs and 1/4 cup of milk in a measuring jug, season with salt and pepper if you want.  Pour over filling and top with grated cheese or crumbled feta.  bake for 25-30 mins until puffed up, golden and no longer wobbly.  

Recipe: Sweet Potato Cake

I am feeling super lazy today. We have had a couple of rough nights of sleep.  I think MiniMe is going to take her first steps very soon...part of me can't wait so that she starts sleeping better...the other part of me isn't ready to be running around after a Toddler.  Anyway, I posted this recipe on my other blog and am just being super lazy and posting the link to my write up here. 

This is a great way to get some extra vitamins and nutrients into your little one's diet.  If you are ok with a bit of sugar than this recipe will be fine.  I ended up halving the amount of sugar, 1/4 cup white and 1/4 cup brown but you could probably do all brown if you wanted to avoided more refined sugars.  The brown sugar helps to give this cake a toffee flavour so I wouldn't go with all white sugar.  It is also flavoured and sweetened with Maple Syrup so, again, it is probably sweet enough without the extra sugar...it is your call.  The cake is pretty dense so it does take a while to bake, but it is also super moist so keeps well in an air tight container.  I portioned out 5 slices and then cut them in half to make 10 servings for MiniMe, which I froze.  The rest we have been enjoying over the last couple of days.  

Here is the Original Recipe. 

Introducing a plate...and a fork!

Around 9.5 months we started offering MiniMe's food to her on a plate.  Before then I would prepare her food and put it on a plate and then the plate on the table in front of her high chair and place pieces of food on her tray a bit at a time.  Around 9 months she started reaching for the plate (and almost getting it on some occasions) so we decided that she was ready to have it herself.  

We were given some suction bowls and a mat that also acts as a suction but...wouldn't you know it...she managed to figure that all out and bowls were quickly lifted high up off the tray.  There really was no sense in trying to keep putting them back on, so we just prepared ourselves for a few flying plates and went with the flow.  For the first week or so either Dad or I ate sneakily holding the plate while she ate off of it, but she soon wised up to that and STARTED REMOVING OUR HANDS!!! 

She's been successfully using a plate and bowl now for the last few months.  When she is finished eating she starts picking it up to put it on the table.  There have been a couple of plates that went flying onto the floor but that's only because Dad and I were too wrapped up in our own conversation to catch the plate before it was lifted too high.  

Now that she is 1 and happily eating off a plate we decided that we would give eating with a fork a try.  Just like the pre-loaded spoon way back at 6 months we have been pre-loading her fork for her at some meals.  We spear something onto her fork and put the fork down on her plate for her to pick up and self feed.  She then hands us the fork back.  Sometimes while she is chewing she will use the fork to try to spear food herself, and has actually managed to get quite a bit herself (her little face is so cute when she does....so proud of herself).  

spearing macaroni 

Trying to get some egg (she actually did at one point) 

Pre-loaded Fork 

Going for the red peppers with such concentration 

Recipe: Porridge Bars (snack time!)

These porridge bars are sort of like a soft cereal or granola bar. They mix up really quickly and freeze well.   These bars are adapted from the porridge bites I posted here and also inspired by my pal Fiona, who has her own version of them. I think they are better for slightly older babies (we first gave them to MiniMe at 9 months) who are confident chewing because the bar is much denser than the bites.  

Ingredients:

Makes 8-10 bars

1 cup oats
1 mashed banana mixed with enough milk to make 1 cup of liquid
handful of blueberries

PRE HEAT Oven to 180F
Line a 2 lb loaf tin with parchment paper or foil

In a bowl mix all ingredients together and let rest for about 10 mins, until it starts to look like porridge.
Spread evenly into the loaf tin.

Bake for about 25-30 mins until the top is golden and the mixture feels firm.

Allow to cool completely before removing from tin and slicing.

I would suggest freezing most of these in a ziploc bag once they are cooled and storing the remainder in an airtight container in the fridge.  They don't keep fresh long so it is best to freeze them.  The up side is that they defrost really quickly (like within an hour).

Up-cycled Breast Milk Container Yogurt Pots

For a while we were giving MiniMe a fromage frais every night for her "dessert".  She would use a little spoon and dip it into the little yogurt pot and attempt to feed herself.  She really surprised us with how quickly she figured out how to dip the spoon (after watching us) and bring it to her mouth.  Sure, she was already used to self feeding from a pre-loaded spoon but the process of dipping and feeding presented a real challenge. 

We started when she was about 8 months, and now at 12 months I can say that on most nights the mess (if there is any) is confined to her cheeks and is no longer all down her front, on the floor and all over the high chair tray.  

After a few weeks though we realised that the amount of sugar in those little pots is just ridiculous! Sure, most of it probably occurs naturally through the fruit but it was still really high.  So we started giving MiniMe plain full fat greek yogurt, but the problem was that there had to be a pretty large portion of yogurt in her bowl for her to be able to successfully dip and feed herself.  UGH. 

We tried using an egg cup...not enough yogurt, we tried a ramekin...not great (plus being ceramic someone had to hold onto it so it didn't meet its death crashing to the floor).  THEN I came up with the ingenious idea to Up-Cycle a Tommee Tippee breast milk storage pot as a yogurt container.  

Breast Milk Container being used as a yogurt pot 

So now we just plop in some plain greek yogurt and MiniMe can hold the pot and spoon feed herself! Sometimes I'll add in some fruit smoothy if we have some leftover, but it really isn't necessary. 

Recipe: Courgette Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are an adaptation of my go-to muffin recipe.  I have adapted it for MiniMe by cutting down the sugar and adding some oats for extra goodness.  They freeze really well, and defrost very quickly.  I usually take one out of the freezer in the morning and she will have it for her snack after her morning nap with some cheese and raisins.

oatmeal courgette mini muffins

Dad isn't a fan of these muffins because they aren't sweet, but MiniMe and I are loving them.  It is another way to get some vegetables into her diet, and the oats have the additional benefit of adding some fibre and iron in too.

Recipe:

Makes 24 mini muffins, or a combination of Regular and mini muffins.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup shredded courgette (or substitute 1 cup of berries, shredded apple, shredded carrot to change them up)
2 eggs
1 cup milk (whatever you use)
1/4 unflavoured oil (veg, sunflower, canola, rapeseed)

PRE HEAT oven to 200C

Grease or line you muffin tins.

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl.
In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients BUT NOT the courgette/fruit.
Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix together gently, it is ok to have some lumps.
Mix through courgette/fruit.

Fill muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full.  I find that it is about 1 TBSP of batter for a mini muffin and 2 TBSP for a regular sized muffin.

Bake 15-20 mins for mini muffins, 20-25 mins for regular muffins or until tester comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy!

Can be frozen in a ziploc freezer bag.

AND WE'RE BACK! A Catch up and some meal ideas

I've been struggling with a Babe who all of a sudden decided that the fantastic nap routine she FINALLY got on was NO GOOD and that she much rather nap on the go, which has meant that between that and 2 trips to Canada in the last couple of months I haven't had much time to sit down and post anything here. 

Over the past couple of months (from 10-12 months) I can't say that I have noticed any big changes in  MiniMe's approach to eating, her likes and dislikes, or her appetite.  She is still excited by food more often than not and even on the days when she isn't feeling well she will still eat most of what we are offering her.  

At 10.5 months her bottom 2 teeth FINALLY came through and we have noticed that she is trying to rip stuff like bread into smaller bites using them, but without the top guys it is still pretty difficult.  She definitely prefers her food in smaller bite-sized pieces. Every day I will offer her something in a bigger piece but she leaves it until I cut it up smaller (strips of chicken, toast, banana...anything).  The bite sized pieces I offer her are still large enough that she needs to gum them though. 

While we were away visiting family in Canada we ate out a lot and most places were very accommodating making us veggies without salt, sweet potato fries without salt, bringing a side of toast and peanut butter, or an extra scrambled egg.  She helped things, of course, with her big smiles and goo goo eyes.  I often ordered something that we could share and then a side of something else to share because the KIDS menus just weren't appealing. 

We are back home now, trying to get over the 2nd lot of jet lag and resume normal service.  Here are a few things we have had over the past couple of weeks to offer some inspiration. 

Breakfast: Corn Flakes softened in milk, banana and peanut butter and jam bread roll ups

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg with cheese, blueberry porridge bar and yogurt

Brunch: French Toast, scrambled egg, beans and yogurt

Snack: Peanut Butter with mashed banana (slices of banana and a coffee for mum) 

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese and broccoli 

I cut the spaghetti strands in thirds so they were easier to schlurp up 

Dinner: Beans, avocado and cheese

Dinner:  Pizza with cheese,ham and mushrooms (I make my own dough so there is no salt) 

Lunch: Minestrone Soup with Alphabet pasta and hummus bread roll ups 

10 month meal ideas

At 10 months MiniMe is still toothless! While this hasn't really stopped her from happily gumming most foods there are still some things that I am just too nervous to offer her.  One example is larger pieces of meat.  I shred pork and chicken for her, and crumble up mince and sausages but I just am not ready to give her larger pieces, yet.  I have also noticed that she isn't very good with gumming toast anymore. I don't know if it is because she is so used to chewing and swallowing that she gets impatient with things that take more work to break down.

Here are a selection of meals we have shared over the last few weeks.  We continue to combination feed so at breakfast I often offer her some sort of cereal and then fruit she can pick up and feed herself.  

Spring veg soup with giant couscous and cheese. Courgette, asparagus, peas, spinach  and green onions cooked in veg broth with giant couscous.

Weetabix with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.  MiniMe loves berries, we tend to have them every morning.

Toasted bagel with almon butter, banana, kiwi and blueberries (and Cheerios). Surprisingly, she finds toasted bagels much easier to eat than regular toast.  Maybe because bagels are softer? 

Baked Potatoes with baked beans and grated cheese.  She ate the cheese waiting for the beans and potato to cool off. Grated cheese, and beans for that matter, is great for practicing the pincer grip.  

Cream of Wheat cereal (like Ready Brek in the uk but wheat instead of oats) with blueberries and banana. 

Chicken curry with sweet potatoes and peas, rice and naan.  I shredded the chicken up to make it easier for MiniMe to gum and she devoured the lot. 

Pasta...thoughts

At 10 Months MiniMe is still sporting a toothless grin, which makes some foods tough to mash up and swallow.  Something she has had a lot of trouble with is pasta.  If it is baked or in soup there is no problem and she is fine with fresh pasta and stuffed pastas like ravioli from the chilled section in the grocery store, it the dried stuff that she just can't manage.  It isn't like I am cooking it al dente, I am cooking it until soft...too soft for me and Dad, but it just isn't working for her.  

I swear Heinz used to make children's pasta shapes. Sure they were overpriced but I am pretyy sure the pasta was thinner so the noodles were softer.  I know the shapes were just a way to entice picky eaters, but I do believe they would be easier for MiniMe to mash up.  

When visiting my parents in Canada I found some bug shaped vegetable pasta at The Bulk Barn and decided to give it a try.  It takes less time than penne to cook until soft enough for MiniMe and she gobbled it all up before I could even start my own meal so I decided to bring some home with us. 

Earlier this week I made MiniMe some Bug Pasta tossed with butter, Parmesan cheese and flakes of baked salmon for dinner.  During her morning nap I baked a salmon fillet and left it to cool, when it was time for dinner I just cooked up a handful of pasta, mixed it with butter and cheese and added in some salmon.  Dad and I had the rest of the salmon mixed with penne, creme fraiche, sauteed courgette and chilli flakes.  I cooked MiniMe's pasta first and then used the same water to cook our penne so no extra pots to wash! 

Mile High Picnic

I have been working on a longer post about my recent adventure traveling across thr Atlantic with MiniMe, but I thought that it might be helpful to post about the feeding bit of our trip separtely and share my irrationaly worry about how difficult it was going to be to feed MiniMe during our long haul flight.  Totally irrational, I might add.... I needn't have worried.  

I was worried that she would make a mess, that she would be fussy, that she would starve, that it woukd be awful.  In the end it was so much better than I imagined.  

We have a pretty flexible approach to feeding and eating and It doesn't bother me if I end up spoon feeding MiniMe 3 meals in 1 day. I really don't believe it will harm her in anyway and, besides, if she doesn't want to eat she won't. Plus, she often skips a meal and nurses instead.  All this worked in our favour on the flight.  Of course, if she were older and used to 3 meals every day and only feeding herself it might have been different.  Then again, if I wasn't travelling alone with her I wouldn't have been worried at all.  

I did contact the airline to ask about baby food and allowances and the advice I was given was that while sterilised jarred baby food was available on board I was allowed to bring food from home.  Solids were fine (a reasonable amount for the duration of the flight only...so no carting bags and bags of stuff on board) and liquids would be subject to the security limit except for formula or breast milk which was treated separately.  

Our flights also worked in our favour, and once I really thought about our routine and how our normal meal times might fit with the flights it occured to me that we would only be in the air for one meal and she would hopefully sleep the rest of the time.  

To minimise mess I only took foods that were easy for MiniMe to handle, or for me to hold while she gummed. I packed her a pretty generous picnic before we left for the airport of Broccoli bites, cottage cheese pancakes, almond butter sandwiches, bread sticks and a little pot of hummus,a banana, a small yogurt (subject to liquid control) and some rice cakes.  I never intended for her to eat it all and thought some of it might just be good as a distration.  

MiniMe was able to have a large breakfast at home and then we shared "lunch" at the airport before boarding our short flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam.  At the airport we shared an egg mayonaise sandwich and she also ate her yogurt and some banana.  Once landed and settled and waiting for our longer flight she had a bit of pancake and some sandwich.  By the time we boarded the plane and were up in the air and ready to eat she wasn't interested.  She was far too busy watching everyone.  The stewardess offered to bring me some baby food but I said no and thought that maybe later on I would get some.  Later on never came.  

MiniMe nursed on take off and landing and about every 2 hours in between. She didn't need solids.  

I am so glad I took too much food, even though I was sorry to have to throw a lot of it out.  There was every opportunity for her to become fussy and miserable but she managed to sleep, nurse and people watch.  

Recipe: Soft Cinnamon Apples

These apples are a great way to introduce apple pieces to little ones who don't have any teeth, they are soft and naturally sweet and a great treat for adults too!

A month or so ago I gave MiniMe some raw apple to gum...I had figured it would be like her gnawing on raw carrot or celery and if nothing else a nice feeling on her gums...it wasn't received very well.  Since then I've just avoided apples.  She happily eats all soft fruit and tinned pears but I haven't even thought about giving her apples...until I was scrolling through some Pinterest Pins and rembered some friends singing the praises of the sauteed cinnamon apples from the babyledweaningblog.com

Peeled apples sliced and sauteed in unsalted butter and cinnamon until soft and starting to get golden brown...how easy does that sound? 

I've read that cinnamon is a common allergin so be careful if your little one hasn't had cinnamon yet.  You could miss it out and just soften the apples in some butter, they are lovely and sweet as they are.  MiniMe has cinnamon on her porridge sometimes, so I knew she wasn't likely to have a reaction to it.  

Today I used a medium sized Braeburn Apple, about 1 Tbsp of unsalted butter and a good sprikle of cinnamon.  In a small frying pan I just melted the butter, tossed in the peeled apple slices, sprinkled them with cinnamon and then kept turning them until they were soft and beginning to brown...about 7ish minutes.  

MiniMe had some with her lunch...2 slices to be exact, I ate the rest. 

Recipe: Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake

A while ago my pal posted the cutest picture of her little dude completely covered in spinach.  She had given him pasta with spinach and he had pretty much devoured the pasta while spreading the spinach all over his face. It was so sweet.  I was reminded of her gorgeous picture when MiniMe had some Tuna Pasta Bake over the weekend and quickly planned to make her a ricotta spinach casserole during the week.

Until now MiniMe hasn't manged gumming pasta very well. She does well with ravioli and other fresh pastas, since it is so much thinner, but the dried stuff has always been too tough for her...until now.  Cooked in a casserole the pasta is very soft, and we can easily cut it into manageable sized pieces for her. 

To feed 2 greedy adults and 1 little munchkin with some leftover for an adult snack or little one's meal the next day...

Wash and wilt 200g of baby spinach (don't need oil, the spinach will wilt with the water on the leaves from being washed).  Once cooled chop finely, this way you don't need to spend time breaking off the stems from the spinach leaves.  Put the spinach in a bowl large enough to hold the cooked pasta and sauce.  Cook 500g pasta or your choice, we used shells because they are easier for MiniMe to gum.  While the pasta is cooking mix a 250g tub of ricotta into the spinach and add a good pinch of black pepper and a handful of grated parmsean cheese.  When the pasta is almost done cooking scoop out about a cup of the cooking water. Add this a couple of Tbsp at a time to the spinach mixture to loosen the sauce, to your liking. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to spinach mix. Combine and pour pasta into an appropriately sized oven proof dish. At this point top with grated cheddar and put under a hot grill until cheese is bubbly and melted, or let pasta cool in your dish and refridgerate until dinner time (you know, if you have time to make it in the morning while your little one naps). When you are ready to heat it up, top with grated cheese and cover with foil, pop into the oven at about 180c until the casserole is warmed through, about 30 mins. Take foil off and continue to cook until the cheese is bubbling and golden.  

It seems like a lot of steps, but I was able to throw this together AND clean up in the time MiniMe napped yesterday, so it is really is a quick dish.  

Recipe: Broccoli Cheese Bites

We think MiniMe is a pretty good eater, she happily chows down on most of what we offer her and when we look back over the past 10ish weeks it is amazing to think how well she has progressed.  Those first few weeks feel like ages ago, and at that point it felt like she was never going to actually swallow anything...but now she is picking up bite sized pieces, confidently gumming them down and swallowing.  Sure there is still a good amount if gagging, but we put that down to her being the product of two very greedy parents...it was inevitable that she would want to shove whole pieces if fruit, bread, chicken in her mouth.  Since we've been cutting her food into bite sized pieces she's been gagging less.

Broccoli still gets the stink eye...even after all this time...it is not received well.  I don't get it, broccoli seems to a firm favourite of so many babes just starting weaning...so why is MiniMe avoiding it like the plague? Who knows.  I am not that concerned, really, but I can't help thinking about all those good vitamens and nutrients she's missing out on by avoiding broccoli.  Silly, I know, since she eats loads of other great veg but I just can't help myself.  

So I searched Pinterest for some broccoli inspiration and came across a huge selection of recipes for cheesy broccoli patties...problem solved. 

250g Broccoli cooked and finely chopped, 100g cheddar cheese grated, 1/2cup breadcrumbs,1 or 2 eggs ( depending on size, start with 1 and see how moist it makes the mixture) and a pinch of paprika....mix it all together, form into patties and bake on a lined baking sheet at 180C for about 25 mins or until golden.  MiniMe happily munched away on bite sized pieces of these patties at room temperature and also straight from the fridge...she didn't have ketchup...I did though! 

Bite Sized Pieces

Over the last month MiniMe has become more and more confident in feeding herself and ripping, tearing, gumming and chewing.  I'm sure she is still trying to swallow pieces of food that are too big and I think that she has been gagging more now than she did at the beginning.  She is obviously more comfortable and confident and is actually shoving as much as possible into her mouth as she can (like a whole  half of a crumpet) and then whinging and whining that it is too much...without figuring out that she could just open that little mouth and spit it out.

She has also been getting better at picking up smaller pieces and bits of food and getting them into her mouth.  No sign of the pincer grip yet though, she has just figured out how to open her fist in front of her mouth and shove her food into it.  

I've started cutting her food into smaller, bitesized pieces for her.  I am trying to contiue to offer some longer pieces of fruit and veg along side the cut up pieces to give her the option.  It is early days but there has been less gagging over the past few days. 

We are now 2 months into eating solids and MiniMe is certainly doing well.  There are some foods that she still aviods...broccoli and carrots, and some things she just can't cope with...pasta, but in general she is keen to try anything we put in front of her.  

This week we are going to try some cheesy brocolli bites to see if she can be fooled into eating it, as well as some tuna cakes.  We continue to combination feed foods spoonfed along with a selection of finger foods.  It is working well for us, and her.  

Recipe: Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I bought a huge container of cottage cheese last week to share with MiniMe.  She seems to really like it and I am convinced that the combination of the smooth cream with the curds is a good thing for her.  We usually spoonfeed some with lunch or dinner (also good mixed with scrambled egg or through pasta) along with finger foods but while trawling Pinterest a while back I came across some great looking pancake recipes using Cottage Cheese.  

While we were visiting The Grandparents last month I made some but they were too eggy...and weren't even given a second glance.  I enjoyed them, but when I think about it MiniMe obviously wasn't ready for something like a pancake.  A month later, however, her chewing, ripping, and tearing skills are much better, and she can grab smaller pieces and manage to get them into her mouth.  

I love this recipe for cottage cheese pancakes from babybabkas.com, it is simple and I easily adapted it for MiniMe.  

I have a really good quality non-stick frying pan so I don't bother using butter in the pan to cook pancakes.  For me, they just end up greasy.  This recipe makes about 8-10 pancakes that are the perfect size for little hands.  Once cooled layer inbetween greaseproof paper and then wrap in clingfilm to freeze.  They defrost quickly or you can always warm them in the toaster.  

In a bowl combine 1/2 cup plain flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and a pinch if cinnamon. In a measuring jug combine 1/2cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup whole milk, 1 tbsp oil, and 1 egg.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix until just combined.  Heat up your frying pan (use some butter to grease it if you want) and dollop a Tbsp of the mixture onto the pan at a time.  Flip when little bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom is nicely browned.  Cook for a couple of minutes on the other side and then remove from the pan to a clean tea towel to cool.  Continue until all of the batter has been used.  

I usually cut MiniMe's pancake in quarters for her. She is able to get smaller bite sized pieces into her mouth now.  If I handed it to her whole she would most likely shove the whole thing in her mouth.  Apparently that is common so I just try to avoid it if I can remeber.  

Recipe: Quiona Bites

Now that MiniMe has started getting the hang of chewing, ripping, and tearing her food (even with no teeth) I have gotten way more confident and comfortable in the foods that I am offering her.  The past couple of weeks I've been able to offer her more and more of the foods that we are eating without having to really think about it but there have still been times when I've had to make her something different, like when have homemade pizza.  Even though I did offer her a piece of pizza I felt that she needed more options...cucumber, yogurt, plum, sweet potato...it is ok for me and Dad to dine only on pizza but not for MiniMe (yet).  This week I decided to make up a batch of something savoury that I could pop into the freezer and havevas a stand-by for those days when I've just not got it together.  

Over the past few months I've been compiling a selection of possible recipes over on Pinterest...mini muffin tin recipes, freezable snacks, stuff like that.  I've been waiting to make MiniMe a version of these Quinoa bites for a while.  Quinoa is cramed full of goodness and binds really well...making it perfect for little savoury muffins.  

I halved the original recipe and then tweaked it abit (I really can't help myself) and managed to get 12 mini muffins and 4 mini loaves out of the mixture.  MiniMe tried a muffin bute at dinner and gobbled the whole thing up.  They are soft enough to gum, easy to hold, and obvuiosly pretty tasty! 

Here's what I did...

In a large bowl grate 1 medium carrot, 1 small courgette and about 100g of cheddar cheese. Add in 1 cup cooked Quinoa, 2 medium eggs and 2 Tbsp of flour.  Mix really well.  Grease your mini muffin tin/baking dish/loaf tins and press in mixture.  Really pack it in. Bake in a 180 C oven for about 20-30 mins until edges are crisping and you can just prise it away from edge of tin.  Allow to cool completely before removing from tins.  Serve at room temperature.  

If you don't have mini muffin tins or mini loaf pans try baking it in a lined square cake tin and then slicing into squares.  

Once cooled I put the bites in a bag in the freezer to use as needed, hope they continue to be enjoyed! 

Breakfast with MiniMe

We have hit week 6 of our adventure with solids, and for the most part MiniMe is really enjoying this new experience.  Sure, she still hasn't given broccoli a second glance (even mashed and mixed with sweet potatoes she shunned it) but she is now picking up and devouring chunks of banana and will give almost everything we put down in front her a try.  She makes exaggerated chewing motions, and is getting better at finishing huge mouthfuls before ramming some more in.  Also, in the past 2 days, or so, she is able to open her fist up a bit to get at the ends of whatever is in her hand.

When we started out I was trying to offer her something at every meal. I wasn't that worried if it was touched or played with or if it made its way to her mouth, I just wanted her to get used to the ritual of sitting up at the table, eating and talking, together.  In the beginning she wasn't too interested in breakfast...I don't know if it was because we were trying to eat too close to her waking up and nursing, or if she was still a little dopey from being asleep...but she wasn't even interested in picking things up.  

Over the last three weeks I've tried to be more aware of when we are having breakfast in relation to her last milk feed.  It is difficult.  Some days MiniMe nurses between 6 and 6:30 and then dozes for an hour or so. On these days we have breakfast about 30 mins after waking up and she will happily eat everything I offer her. On other days she will sleep through the 6:30ish feed and wake around 7:30 starving, nurse and then won't touch her breakfast an hour later, by which time I am starving! 

Regardless of her nursing time I still like to offer her a full breakfast on the off chance that she might all of a sudden be starving.  Sadly, I am just not able to read her signs yet.  

Anyway, here are a selection of breakfasts we gave had over the past couple of weeks.  Since we are combination feeding I always offer MiniMe something that I can spoonfeed her and some finger foods so she can also self feed.  The biggest change is her sudden u-turn with banana.  She is happily picking it up and shoving it in her face, so no need to mash it up any longer! 

Porridge made with water and stewed cherries and blueberries.  This was a big hit.  I wasn't confident with giving MiniMe the fruit yet, even cut up,so I mashed it and she had porridge with all the juices. 

Oatibix with banana (mashed for MiniMe) with buttered crumpet and coffee for Mum.  I read somewhere, I can't remember where, that crumpets are a better finger food to offer than toast at this stage because they don't compress the way toast does in the mouth and are easier to gum.  MiniMe loves them and they are also easier for her to hold.  

We slept in very late one day after a particularily horrible night so MiniMe and I had a lovely brunch of tomato and cheese omelette, cottage cheese (to spoonfeed), cucumber and toast.  Sometimes I hold the piece of omelette for her to bite a bit off of, sometimes she happily picks it up herself, every day is different.  

Porridge made with water, mashed banana and milk for MiniMe and brown sugar and cinnamon for Mum, toast and crumpets, and the manditory coffee.  The mashed banana was the only bit of fruit in the house that morning and while MiniMe was happily picking banana up by this point I didn't want it ending up on the floor.  

Blueberry yogurt, banana, and peanut butter on crumpet.  We started out giving MiniMe plain full fat greek yogurt, and she seemed happy with it, but after a few weeks I did a little bit of research and decided that the organic full fat fruit yogurt Dad and I liked didn't have much added sugar (especially for the amount MiniMe was eating) so we have been giving her the same stuff we eat for a few weeks now.  She tried peanut butter on her crumpet that day.  We have no history of allergies and I made sure not to offer any other new foods on the same day...and all was fine...phew.  

Now that MiniMe is eating more and is much more capeable chewing and holding different foods we are finding it much easier sharing what we are eating with her.  

What are some of your favorite breakfast foods? 

A Progress Report, A Confession and A Revelation

7 weeks into our weaning adventure and we are continually amazed at MiniMe's eating.  Sure, some days I feel like we are doing something wrong and I am going to end up giving her some sort of food complex but for the most part those days are few and far between.  It is hard not to second guess our choices and to compare MiniMe to other babies her age, or all those just starting out and stuffing whole sweet potatoes in their mouths on day 1.  I have to stop myself from constantly saying " why is she still not doing that?" And remind myself that in 7 weeks she has made so much progress.

We (read I) have come to accept that combination feeding is the best route for us and that MiniMe is more than happy to self feed chunks of fruit and toast and some veggies.  Sure she is still avoiding broccoli like the plague, but actually picked up and devoured most of half of a banana the other afternoon as a "snack".  She happily accepts spoons of yogurt, soup, porridge and mashed sweet potatoes and clearly shows us when she has had enough by turning her face away and keeping that little mouth clamped tighter than Fort Knox.  This morning she ate a good portion of scrambled eggs with a little help from dad holding chunks for her to gum bits off of, that is huge progress.  

Little events like this morning's scrambled egg adventure restores my faith in us as parents, it makes me proud of all of us, it helps me remember that MiniMe is her own little person, she is new to all this and is really coming along at her own pace.  Watching her gum down a frightenly huge chunk of melon reminds me of how incredible this journey we are on really is.  

Sure I still dream of the day she'll eat her way through a slice of lasagne, but I am happy with where we are.  This learning process is an experiement and we are doing just fine.  

On the Road Weaning: Week 5

I haven't bothered writing anything separate for our 4th week of weaning.  MiniMe had a horrible cold, and then a fever and then a rash.  She wasn't interested in eating or nursing or much of anything, really.  I did continue to offer her things like toast and yogurt over the week, but only once a day if she was in good spirits.  Poor thing, it really knocked her for six...and totally screwed up all the progress we had made with weaning.  And to top it all off, we had a visit from the health visitor where we found out the MiniMe had dropped down another percentile on the weight chart...ugh.

She's never been a great feeder, and although she is very active she doesn't seem to want to eat for any longer than is entirely necessary...so she already had that against her, and then when I mentioned that we had only started weaning at 6 months and were trying mostly Baby Led Weaning, the Health Visitor told us that because MiniMe's weight gain wasn't steady and because she isn't a great feeder it was important to be more aware of how much solid food she was actually ingesting.  She said that she liked Baby Led Weaning and she didn't want to discourage me, but that if I was already trying some combination feeding that I really should try to spoon feed MiniMe yogurt or soup once a day...that way we could guarantee she was taking on at least those calories. And to offer her 3 meals, instead of the 2 I was already doing. All fine with me, really.

Week 5

The day following that visit we flew down to Norfolk to spend some time with the Grandparents.  They were really onboard with the whole finger food thing and totally prepared for the mess, which was really nice for me...made meal times less stressful.  Sticking with the advice we had been given I spent some time making a batch of carrot soup to freeze in an ice cube tray so that we were prepared for MiniMe's meals, and stocked up on some yogurt, cottage cheese and some fruits.  

When we visit The Grandparents we tend to go on lots of day trips so most of the meals at home consist of nibbles for the adults.  It wasn't ideal really in terms of wanting MiniMe to eat what we were eating, but she did manage some good salad plates of veggies, hummus and cheese.  Eating out was another experience, and despite having problems with most high chairs, she managed to nibble on little bits of my meals.  I only found it difficult once to find something appropriate to share on the menu, and when I mentioned to the waitress that I had found it hard she offered to bring MiniMe some toast...which was really nice of her.  In the end, though, MiniMe ended up sucking and gnawing on the pickled cucumber that sat atop my burger! 

This week plums and kiwi fruit were a big hit.  Totally messy, but a big hit. She can easily hold a quarter of a plum or kiwi and use her gums to scrape out the flesh from the inside.  Apples and cucumber were great to gnaw on and massage her gums, and she loved sucking hummus off the ends of bread sticks. 

We introduced meat this week as well, roasted chicken thigh shredded and some lovely lemon chicken breasts shredded too.  MiniMe couldn't get the meat into her mouth so I popped pieces in for her.  I know that I have read about not putting food in a baby's mouth for fear of chocking, but she was very good at gumming the bits I helped her get into her mouth.  She also loved the bolognaise sauce in her piece of lasagne.  

I fed her yogurt or soup everyday, sometimes both in one day...MiniMe is very happy for me to spoon feed her now, and has actually become less interested in picking up the finger foods we offer her.  She is very happy to pick up plums, kiwi, bread sticks, and toast but is less interested in anything that is too wet, or gooey or sticky.  She certainly isn't interested in licking anything off her hands if they get mucky.  

I think it is safe to say we are combination feeding, and happy about that.  

Eating Out During the Early Days

MiniMe and I have been visiting The Grandparents over the past few days.  I was slightly apprehensive about coping with her meals while we were visiting, mostly because we had quite a few restaurant meals on the itinerary.  I wasn't that worried about feeding her while we were in the house, I was a little bit worried about Grandad's kitchen floor and his reaction to the food being tossed overboard all over it, but I needn't of worried about that.  We put a large towel down under the highchair and just let MiniMe do her thing.  Grandad was surprisingly cool with the mess.  I was worried about feeding her while we were out.

Two weeks ago I would have just let MiniMe play with some toys while the adults ate, but after a visit from our Health Visitor I have been advised to make sure she is getting 3 meals a day.  While I'm sure skipping lunch on the odd day wouldn't really make a difference (she's still only experimenting with food) I have noticed that she is starting to EXPECT food if everyone else is eating. 

The things that worried me about offering MiniMe good while we were out were firstly, the mess and secondly having to choose my meal based on what I could share with her. Ok, maybe the second one is a little bit selfish of me, but it is actually really difficult some times, for example one meal I ordered a roast lunch thinking she would be able to have some of huge veg only for it all to be cut super small and cooked very al dente.  She did, however, manage to eat her way through a very soft roast potato on that occasion.  On anotther visit she gnawed away on some courgette rounds, basically sucking the juice out of hone, and when we stopped at a coffee shop for a break she had some of my teacake with  butter. 

The mess, actually, wasn't too much of an issue.  I did pick up all the bits off the floor when she was done, to help the poor servers.  I only offered her one bit of food at a time and handed it to her so that it wasn't sitting on the tray.  And I made sure to wipe the tray before and after eating with some wet wipes. Don't know if any of that really made a difference to anyone else, but it did to me.  

What was most difficult, and what I didn't expect, was how awful some of the highchairs are in some restaurants.  I know they can't all have the highchair we are used to, but some of them are just awful and I've had to bring a tea towel with me in our diaper bag to help prop MiniMe up!!!! 

Recipe: Porridge Bites

I have been scouring Pinterest for links to recipes for MiniMe.  I've looked at Baby Led Weaning Boards, Toddler Food Boards, and boards for Kids' Food. One of the nice things about going down the Baby Led Weaning path is that I can make things for MiniMe that older babies and children might eat. 

I found a lovely food blog called What's On The Menu and have been drooling over all the baby led weaning-friendly recipes, especially this recipe for porridge cakes. 

Banana Porridge Bites

When I tried to offer MiniMe some porridge in Week 2 she was extremely underwhelmed by it.  I don't know if it was the texture, or the taste, or the squishy sound it made...but there was something about it that she just wasn't interested in.  I think it was the feeling of oats she didn't like...remember she avoids most slimy, squishy foods (bananas, avocados, weetabix).  So when I saw the recipe for porridge cakes I was really keen to try them out. 

They are super simple. 

To make 6 mini porridge bites you need 3 TBSP OATS and 3 TBSP of milk (whole milk, breast milk, formula).  Mix those together and let them sit for a bit, and then add in some chopped fruits, squished berries, mashed banana, maybe some grated apple, carrot or courgette and then spoon into your mini muffin tin and bake at 180C for about 15-20 mins.  

The outside bakes together to form a crust, while the inside stays soft, making it easy for little hands to pick up and gum.  Even though they are MINI I've been ripping the bites in half for MiniMe so that she can "bite" into them more easily.  

These are super easy to make and keep well stored in an air tight container for a couple of days.  I've just been making 6 at a time since we are still in the early days of weaning but I'll double the recipe to make a larger batch once MiniMe gets the hang of the swallowing thing.  

1 step forward, 2 steps back: Week 3

Weaning is such an experiment, isn't it? We are experimenting, as parents, trying to figure out what would foods are "right" for MiniMe and she is experimenting with tastes, textures, and that thing called gravity.  All this trail and error has left us continuing to bumble through week 3. 

At the end of last week I thought that we had really made a break through.  MiniMe was happily putting everything in her mouth (or near her mouth) at least once before discarding it on the floor and I'm pretty sure a little bit of toast, peach and pizza crust was actually swallowed.  The pre-loaded spoon was also getting into her mouth before being banged around...PROGRESS!! 

And then MiniMe was floored by a horrible snotty nose and teething as well! Week 3 really has been a week of "Look Look, she's actually chomping on it" and complete avoidance of anything put on her tray. Ups and Downs.  

week 3

We had a lot of soup and yogurt this week.  Surprisingly, one of the big steps forward was on the spoon front.  MiniMe is now letting us feed her a couple of spoonfuls of soup or yogurt.  We show her how we use the spoon to scoop out some soup, then we offer it to her and this week she has been putting her hand on the spoon and helping us guide it into her mouth.  We usually get 3 or 4 spoonfuls in before she starts keeping that little mouth clamped shut.  

I introduced a few new foods this week and stuck with toast, pita, peaches, pizza crust, peppers and broccoli.  Scrambled egg was one of the new ones.  We had tried some omelette before so I wasn't too concerned about any allergic reaction, but I made sure not to offer any new foods that day...just incase.  In the end I don't think any egg actually made it into MiniMe's mouth...it was too bitty for her.  But she had a good time squishing it around her tray.  

Mango was another new food, but it wasn't very well received.  I kept the skin on (washed) to help her hold onto the pieces, but they were quickly tossed overboard.  Dad and I enjoyed eating what was left though, so that's a plus.  

Because MiniMe has been happy to have yogurt already I decided to buy fruit yogurt this week to see if she liked any of the flavours.  I bought tubs of Yeo Valley Organic Blueberry and Peach & Apricot. I love Yeo Valley yogurt anyway, it is thick and not sweet at all.  MiniMe wasn't too keen on the Peach & Apricot, which I thought was surprising since she has been happily sucking on peach slices, but she couldn't get enough of the Blueberry one! 

Finally, we eat a lot of pasta in this house.  It is a really easy, quick weekday meal for me to make and I tend to make sauces with loads of veggies.  We tried MiniMe with some plain penne pasta (easy for her to pick up) and she happily munched away on it.  Next week I am going to try some with sauce on it, but I suspect it will be too slippery for her to pick up.  

I noticed this week that at breakfast time MiniMe is still pretty dopey. She's not quite with it until after her morning nap so I stopped offering her breakfast from Tuesday and gave her what we think of as breakfast foods at lunch time instead...yogurt, toast, fruit and porridge bites.  Since she's still just exploring (and I think she will be for a while) it is ok for her to only be offered food 1 or 2 times a day, anyway.  

The snotty nose turned into a full blown cold by Thursday...putting a temporary halt to the weaning. 

Slowly Slowly: Week 2

Week 2 saw MiniMe showing much more interest in the food we offered her.  Almost everything made its way into her mouth...very little was gnawed on, but it was all given a try.  

The big hits this week were grilled pepper strips (we were having fajitas).  Dad thinks it is because I rubbed a little bit of olive oil on them before I grilled them so when placed before MiniMe they were nice and shiny...like plastic.

Tinned peach slices have also been a big hit. They are the perfect size for hands and oh so juicy! I figure, even if she isn't CHOMPING on them she's getting loads of the juice.  I have no problems with tinned fruit, especially at this time of the year. I'd love to have fresh peaches for MiniMe to try NOW but they are so expensive and...rock hard.  We've tried tinned pears, apricots and peaches and the peaches have been the firm favourite so far (as in she's actually picked it up and put it in her mouth).  It is a bit tricky finding fruit in JUICE rather than SYRUP but there is enough choice out there.  PLUS for £1 I can offer MiniMe peaches for a week.  Oh...yes, the peaches are a little bit slimy, but I just pat them dry with kitchen roll.

Finally, I didn't bother taking a photo of our FrIday night dinner...PIZZA.  Every Friday we have homemade pizza in front of the TV in our pyjamas.  Since we started weaning, however, we've been a bit more civilized and have been eating up at the table in our regular clothes but I can't wait until we can get back to our Friday Night Pizza Party.  This week when I made the dough I omitted the salt and then once baked cut off one of my crusts for MiniMe.  She LOVED it.  She happily sat there gumming away at her dough stick.

I am amazed on a daily basis when MiniMe puts the food from her tray into her mouth.  She has definitely become more curious about it.  She is in love with her spoon, but after 2 or 3 accidental tastings it becomes something to bang on the tray rather than put in her mouth.  She is trying MOST things and her shocked face is more and more precious.

Slowly slowly is our motto.  We are still reminding each other that it is OK if nothing reaches her mouth, that she is happy and chatty and enjoying sitting up at the table.  She IS making progress and this is all new and weird to her.  

The Pre-Loaded SPOON

We weren't sure how we were going to tackle food that needs to be eaten with a spoon.  I had been keen to try to spoon feed SOME things to MiniMe in the hopes that when we are out and about (or on a 13 hour plane journey) she will happily let me feed her.  Most of my friends who have  gone down the Baby Led Weaning route have combined it with spoon feeding, in fact it seems to be pretty common in parents who aren't hard core BLW-ers. 

How do those BLW babies eat soup you ask? off toast...and yogurt? off apple slices...or off a pre-loaded spoon.  A SPOON THAT YOU "LOAD" with whatever the spoonable food is and hand over to your baby.  

Combination feeding was the route I was sure we were going to go down. I wasn't too keen on the idea of handing MiniMe a spoon "pre-loaded" with anything...it sounded like I was handing her some automatic weapon.  A messy soup flinging weapon. 

MiniMe had other ideas.  During our first week weaning we offered her some soup with toast fingers, but tried spoon feeding her the soup first.  That little mouth stayed clamped shut...no amount of silly faces pulled by Dad could make it open.  So we dipped her toasts and those made their way to her mouth...like immediately. 

Week 2 we introduced yogurt and tried spoon feeding her again...again that little mouth was cemented closed.  I couldn't stomach the idea of dipping her toast in the yogurt (gag gag gag) so I decided to give the pre-loaded spoon a try.  

All I did was smear a bit of yoghurt on the back and front of the spoon and hand it to her.  She started banging it around on the tray and then tried to get it into her mouth.  She was holding it far too far down the handle, so the yogurt ended up all over her face...her expression was priceless WHO PUT THIS MUCK ON MY PLASTIC TOY??? But, after loading it again and helping her to hold it closer up the handle the yogurt made its way into her mouth.

We tried a few spoonfuls and she obligingly tasted it every time.  It was messy, more was smeared across the tray and up and down her arms...but it worked. And the best bit, she was happily trying it, unlike when we tried to do it for her.

I'd still like her to let me feed her, just so that I know I can if I feel the need to, and maybe that will come in time when she begins to understand what the MUCK on the end of the spoon is.  For now, though, I'm a convert to the pre-loaded spoon.

On your marks....Get set...GO! Solid Food: Week 1

And so it begins.  

We've well and truly begun this weaning adventure.  Last week I finished reading Gill Rapley's Baby Led Weaning book and a couple of others that I borrowed from the library.  Dad and I had a chat one night in hushed tones to try to decide what we actually wanted to do; how we wanted to approach weaning MiniMe.  

We were excited...super excited...

MiniMe was not. 

I was, in the back of my mind, prepared for her to be completely underwhelmed by a chunk of banana sitting on her tray where her TOYS used to be.  She wasn't even curious.  Nope, no siree...she gave it the stink eye and then proceeded to avoid making eye contact with us and that blasted banana.  

At this stage, in the VERY EARLY days, MiniMe will just explore what we put on her tray (apparently).  She doesn't NEED to eat it, she doesn't KNOW that this stuff is good, and yummy and will make her tummy feel full.  She's supposed to see it as something new to pick up and put in her mouth LIKE ALL HER TOYS AND CLOTHES AND EVERYTHING ELSE WITHIN REACH.  Except for the first 3 days she didn't even do that. 

Week 1 

Maybe she's not ready yet.  She's not one of these babies that grabs food off their parents plates, she just isn't that interested.  She watches us, that's for sure...but she's just not getting into everything...yet.  

So, anyway, Week 1...

We decided to be very relaxed about what we offered MiniMe, and to really try to offer her things that were suitable for her stage of weaning (i.e. NOT WEANING) but that linked in with what we were eating.  Sometimes I decided what to feed her and then planned my dish around that.  

I guess that main thing is that we offered her food whenever we were sitting down to eat, instead of what our health visitor suggested...one type of food, once a day for a couple of days. I don't know if what we are doing is right for MiniMe...maybe we are over stimulating her offering so many different things.

I should say here that neither Dad nor I have any history of allergies in our families so we have decided that MiniMe should be ok with more than one new food a day.   We are sticking to just breakfast and lunch at the moment anyway since Dad works late so if she were to have a reaction we would be able to deal with it and watch it before bedtime rolled around.  On the nights that Dad is home early enough we are sticking with foods she's already tried.  And I'm keeping a food diary, just incase. Once we work up to more regular meals I'll have to make a real effort to remember to offer new things at lunch time.  

On Days 1 and 2 (when Dad was home) MiniMe employed a true avoidance tactic.  She wasn't interested at all. But by Day 3 she was definitely more curious and was at least TOUCHING her food.  Somethings were picked up, somethings were mashed in her hands, somethings were smeared through her hair.  She for sure got a taste of toast, omelette, avocado and some soup....like it actually went into her mouth.  Her gag reflex is impressive.  Just touching the softened oatibix set that off, so did the steamed carrot stick that grazed her lip.  

It is hard not to be a bit impatient and try to help her pick things up or lift bits towards her mouth, because we want to SEE her try her food.  But even by writing this blog post I can see the difference 1 week has made.  So she isn't so keen right now, she doesn't need to be.