I hate the taste of baby food in a jar. The fruits are lovely and the puddings are okay, but the actual meals are horrid!!! And so I find myself on baby number three and more inclined than ever to make his baby food myself.
You know how it is…with the first baby only the best will do. Everything needs to be made yourself; baby needs this little gadget and that little nonsense thingy; baby won’t have chocolate before he is one and no salt until he is two. Sweets? Over your dead body! And NO BEN 10 until he is at least 6…
And then baby number 2 comes along and out come the chocolates for the toddler! All of a sudden you realize that Annabel Karmel’s baby food was fine when you had only one baby, but who even has the time to prepare toast for dinner when there are two little ones?
And then comes baby number three and on goes Ben 10 for the 4-year old, out come the chocolates AND the sweets for the 2-year old and onto the shopping list go the jars of baby food for the baby.
At least that is how it is with me…except I really cannot stomach the jars of baby food. So I have gone back to making Xandi’s food myself. But no more Annabel Karmel saute-and-fricassee meals! (I love Annabel Karmel’s recipes, by the way. I just don’t have the time to make them!!)
I have come up with a few recipes that take less than 5 minutes of preparation. It doesn’t matter that they then have to cook for however long, because I do not have to do anything bar look every 15 minutes or so.
And you will be quite surprised at how tasty this thrown-together baby food is. When people start asking you for the recipe, you know you’re onto a winner. And luckily I wrote this one down the minute I saw Xandi’s face after the first bite.
Super Good Homemade Baby Food: Luscious Lentils
6-12 months
{Makes 6-8 portions}
Ingredients
- 3 small carrots – cut into haphazard chunks
- Half a sweet pepper cut up in a similarly artistic fashion
- 1/2 cup lentils
- 1/4 cup red split peas/lentils
- 1/4 cup wheat
- 1 litre of unsalted stock (I use baby vegetable stock cubes)
- 2 bay leaves
Method
Chuck everything into a little pot and simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes. Check after 20 minutes and then again after another 15. Add a little bit more water if you feel it needs it.
It is ready when:
- Most of the water is absorbed
- The green lentils are cooked, but not mushy.
When the food is all cooked, remove the bay leaves (thank you for picking up on that, Tess) and blend it to the desired consistency. Serve to your little angel (monster). You can make it as chunky or as smooth as you want.
You will get points for being a super good homemade-food-making mom AND baby will LOVE this concoction.
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Happy Cooking!
