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.