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. 

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).

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.

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! 

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.