Homemade Baby Cereal - Brown Rice

Packaged cereals.

How does that sound?

Preservatives. Thickeners. Artificial sweeteners, Fortified with vitamins and other stuff which I can't pronounce.

Thank goodness for organic versions these days. Gives all the mamas and papas some peace of mind. Especially when we are travelling and working parents.

My brother reminds me once in awhile,  'if you can't understand the ingredients,  are you sure you would want to put it in your tummy?'
I of course went blah and straight to my koko krunch thank you very much.

Now I have a baby.
And I'm a stay-at-home-mama.

Got me thinking, I should use this opportunity to make homemade food for Bubs whenever I can.

Hence I joined this group on Facebook called Healthy food for babies. Such a great group with friendly advises and nutritious meals for little ones.

I was inspired by Jennifer Lee (a nutritionist who started the fb group) to make my own cereals.

To grain or not to grain?

If you are skeptical about whether or not to introduce grains, here are links to two very different opinions;

First Step Nutrition

The Healthy Economist

Bubs has been on breastmilk, fruit & vegetables pureè the past 2 months. I'm comfortable at the idea of introducing grains now as a another complementary meal, emphasising more on broths, yolks, fruits and vegetables. 

I start by purchasing organic brown rice. Brown rice are unpolished hence it nutrients has not been stripped down. Some of the nutrients it carries are as follows:

• Fiber
• Selenium
• Vitamin B (various)

Took out a cup full and soaked it at room temperature for about 7 hours.

Later, I gave it a rinse, spread it on a tray and popped it in the oven at 180 C  till it turn brown. Other options are to dry pan-fry it or leave it out under sun.

Finally cool it and blend. Store in a air tight tupperware in the fridge for a week or so.

Blend longer if you wish to achieve a powder form. I want it grainy.

Easy!

It's pretty simple, only the soaking takes up time.
Why I soaked? The brown rice cereal will be easier to digest for lil gentle tummies. Soaking applies to any grains introduced e.g. brown rice, millet, quinoa, etc.

To cook, all you gotta do cook it like you normally would do with rice. Add water according to your preference, how runny or thick you want it to be.

Brown rice and broccoli puree

In this era, it's really a challenge purchasing food as natural as possible. Organic fruits, vegetables, oils, cereals, etc., are all pretty expensive in this part of the world. Plus with some unreliable sources from the medical professionals and I-just want-to-make-money marketing & advertising schemes, we really are on our own aren't we?

As parents, we all do our best, and I feel it's okay if we succumb to random purchases once in awhile. I wasn't a breastfed baby, ate all sorts of stuff and I turned out fine...or at least I think so. Tee hee.

I'm sending a virtual pat on your back for always doing what you can for your lil gems. All Mama's and Papa's only want the best.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Kisses and warm hugs from That Skinny Elephant.

Solids - Bubba's 6th Month

Oh my Bubba.

Officially going bananas.

I started Bubba on solids when he was 6 months. If you are following my blog, I mentioned that he
hardly took in any. Just enough to taste.

I practised the 4 day rule for every new food that I introduce to him. I believe it's the best way to test for allergies. Most pediatricians and mommas will recommend the 4 day wait rule. Here's a write up
from Momtastic.

With regards to introducing solids, every mother has the right to feed their babies according to what they feel is best.
It's nice to hear mothers sharing their preferences, but sometimes some go a little overboard stating that their way is the right way.
Now, my point here is to share the choices that I have made. It does not mean it's the best but its what I believe is suitable for my boy.
Plus aren't we all here to learn, relate, and share together? What mothers could use from other mothers is support.

Okay, said my peace now steering back to Bubba's solids introduction. Heh.

The following are his first foods. I chose to start him off with fruits and vegetables pureè. I mixed in a little breastmilk to liquify it.

Pureè line up :

Sweet potato pureè + Breastmilk
I thought it was nice and sweet, he thought what in the world is this!!

Mashed Avocado + Breastmilk
He actually had a teaspoon. My gawd that was victory.

Mashed Banana + Breastmilk
Had quite a bit from finger feeding. Not much from a spoon. I'd say he quite liked it.

Pear pureè
Hooo mama..probably a waste of time. Ended playing with the bowl of pureè rather than eating. 

My observations:

• He wasn't ready to receive food from a spoon. He eats more when fed using my finger tips.
• If he ate, it would be 1-3 teaspoons. Which is fine because I presume he is still learning to understand the idea that there are other food than the usual breastmilk.
• He is much more acceptable to the idea of eating about an hour after breastfeeding and when active. I avoid giving him solids when it's approaching nap time (super cranky + food goes everywhere but in his mouth, lesson learned for momma).
• Accepts the taste and texture of mashed bananas but not quite ready to eat yet.

In between I stopped on and off (1 or 2 days) and reintroduce solids again. I don't want to force him if he's not ready.

To my surprise, in his 7th month, he ate half a bowl of mashed bananas!!!(added a little breastmilk).

I realised all I had to do was be patient and he will show me when he is ready and comfortable with the new idea of solids.

Fascinating isn't it how babies are all created to just 'know' what to do and when.

Instincts.  Powerful tool.

That pretty much sums up the solids experiment for Bubba at his 6th month.

I plan to do some mixing of pureès for his 7th month. Will definitely share it on my next solids post.

Baby Led Weaning on the other hand, has its advantages, but the method is too traumatising for my sanity. Haha.

Happy experimenting to all the mommas who have just started your lil ones on solids!!

My only advice, patience :)

Kisses of sweet potatoes from That Skinny Elephant.

Chicken Pumpkin Curry



Pumpkin.
Never held one. Never cooked one.

Yup, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this orange looking thing.

One of the first foods Bubba ate was pumpkin (actually I wouldn't say ate because the furniture had most it, so more like played with the puree). Since baby food requires only a handful of tiny cubes at a time, I was left with half a pumpkin. Sitting in the fridge. Just staring at me.

I swear I dont know what to do with that squash.

For some reason, I thought pumpkin was soft. Boy was I wrong!

Chopping it up was a challenge, removing its skin required some sort of skill, which I obviously don't have.

I was thinking to myself, there's got to be a technique on pumpkin skin removal. So ladies and gents, willing to share yours please?

All that effort was worth it though, considering its nutritional value. Pumpkin is a good source of:
Fiber (smooth sailing digestion),
Vitamin A (vision mission & fights free radicals)

Iron (blood's buddy)

Pumpkins will probably be a regular in my kitchen now.

So I went through a couple of recipes from baking pumpkin cookies, pies to soups.

Somehow I ended up cooking curry. Must be the punjabi in me.

Well honestly with Bubba seeking attention every 5 seconds and me being alone, I needed to whip up something easy and fast. So, no baking at this point thank you very much.

Enough of me blabbering, here's the-use-whatever-I-have-in-the-kitchen-and-whip-it-up-fast- Chicken

Pumpkin Curry.



Ingredients:

That Skinny Elephant

Half a chicken, cut into pieces
Half a pumpkin, cubed
One whole onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp of ginger, cut to thin stripes
2 whole red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
A twig of curry leaves, strip the leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup of yoghurt

Warm water (if you like your curry a little thick you can skip this, otherwise add in to your liking)

Chicken Marinade
Turmeric
Salt
Pepper

1. Marinate chicken for about an hour. The longer the better.

2. Heat up oil. Fry cumin,mustard seeds and curry leaves till fragrant. Gradually add in ginger, garlic, onions and chillies (stir fry for a few minutes everytime you add in an ingredient).

3. Add in and cook the chicken pieces. Stir in pumpkin cubes.

4. Once pumpkin turns slightly soft, pour the yoghurt in and mix well. Salt to taste. Cover and let it cook on low heat till pumpkin is soft or gravy like. ( Here is where you pour in some warm water to the consistency of your taste)

Walla, pumpkin curry! Serve hot with basmathi rice.

Perhaps a little coriander for garnish. I didn't have any, hence the pic looks a little meh.

Another note, as you may have noticed I used yoghurt, its just because I like the light taste and its nutrition value. You may substitute it with good old coconut milk too.

If any of you lovelies out there tried out this recipe, I'd appreciate your feedback. I somehow think something is missing, maybe chilly powder.. hmm I don't know. Do advice :)

Enjoy. Happy Monday.

Kisses of rainbows from That Skinny Elephant.