Recipes: First foods and soft lumps

Contains

Fish, cow’s milk

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter
• 1 leek, finely diced
• 150g sweet potato, diced (1cm cubes)
• 100ml milk
• 1 tomato, skin removed and roughly chopped
• 100g boneless white fish fillet, cut into chunks
• 50g cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1. Melt the margarine in saucepan, add the leek and soften for 5-8 minutes.
2. Boil water and add sweet potato for 10 minutes or until soft. Drain potatoes.
3. Add the tomato and milk to the leek, bring to the boil.
4. Add the white fish to the leek mixture and simmer for about 3 minutes.
5. Add the cheese and drained sweet potato.
6. Puree in a blender or with a blending stick.

Contains

Fish, cow’s milk

Ingredients

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 175g boneless white fish fillets
• Juice of one orange
• 60g cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Method

1. Steam or boil the carrots and potatoes  for 15 minutes or until tender.
2. Place white fish fillets into a small microwavable dish. Pour the orange juice over the fish. Spread the fish with butter and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Microwave the fish for 2 – 3 minutes.
4. Add boiled carrots and potatoes to the fish and its juices and puree using a blender (can mash for older babies aged 10-12 months).

Notes

• This recipe would also work well in a steamer.

Contains

Fish, cow’s milk

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• 120g pumpkin, peeled and finely chopped
• 40g corn kernels
• 100g raw salmon fillet, chopped or one small can of boneless salmon
• 1 teaspoon dill, chopped (if fresh), or dried
• 1 tablespoon parmesan or cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 cup water

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan.
2. Fry the spring onions and pumpkin for 2 minutes.
3. Add the corn and water. Cover with a lid and bring up to the boil. Simmer for 8 minutes.
4. Add salmon and continue to simmer for 5 minutes (skip this step if using tinned salmon).
5. Remove from the heat and add the dill and cheese.
6. Blend mixture with 2 teaspoons water.

Notes

• This recipe has been adapted for a finger food version and can be found in the 10 to 12 months, soft chopped and mashed finger food section.

Contains

Egg, cow’s milk

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• ¼ avocado
• ½ small ripe banana
• 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt or milk

Method

1. Boil the egg for 10 minutes. Drain and run under cold water.
2. When cool enough to handle, peel the egg shell off.
3. Mix the avocado, banana, yoghurt and egg together in a blender.

Notes

• You may need to add a bit more milk or yoghurt to ensure the egg blends well.

Contains

Egg

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 leek, sliced
• 150g sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 70g zucchini, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 30g dried red lentils (or use canned brown lentils)
• 150g tomatoes, chopped (fresh or canned)
• 250ml vegetable stock
• 1 egg

Method

1. Heat oil in a saucepan. Fry the garlic for 30 seconds.
2. Fry the leek, potato and zucchini for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the dried lentils, tomatoes and stock. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables and lentils are tender. If using canned lentils, add the lentils in during the last 5 minutes of simmering (e.g. at 15 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, cook the egg in boiling water for 10 minutes so that it is hard boiled. Drain and run under cold water.
5. When cool enough to handle, peel the eggshell off and slice the egg into quarters.
6. Add the egg to the lentil and vegetable mixture and puree using a food processor or blender.

Notes

• You can make a smoother puree by adding in more liquid, in this case, some more vegetable stock or water.
• This recipe could include the nut and seed mix (recipe on page 9) as a flavoursome addition.

Contains

Peanut, tree nuts, sesame

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted almonds (blanched and dry roasted)
• ½ cup unsalted cashews or pistachios (without shells)
• ½ cup unsalted walnuts or pecans
• ¼ cup unsalted peanuts, dry roasted
• ¼ cup sesame seeds

For interesting Indian flavors

• 2 nibs cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon saffron
• Small piece of dry ginger (optional)

Method

1. Put all nuts in a blender. If including spices, add them to the blender also.
2. Pulse for 10 seconds.
3. Sieve the powder and set the sieved fine powder aside. Continue to blend the remaining larger nuts and sieve until you all the nut mix is a fine powder.
4. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• Be careful not to process for too long, as they can become oily (peanut butter texture).
• Feel free to get creative and incorporate any combination of nuts.
• If you’d like to try roasting your own nuts, you can roast them on a tray for around 20 minutes at 180°C or until they look brown and toasted.

Contains

Peanut, tree nuts, sesame

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 ½ teaspoons mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 kg pumpkin, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• Homemade nut mix (see recipe on page 9)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C, fan forced and line a baking tray.
2. Mix garlic and mustard seeds and 1 tbsp of oil in a large bowl. Add the chopped pumpkin and mix to until the pumpkin is coated.
3. Place the pumpkin on a baking tray. Drizzle with remaining oil and sprinkle with cumin.
4. Roast pumpkin for 40 minutes or until tender, turning at 20 minutes for even cooking.
5. Place pumpkin in a bowl and add lemon juice. Use a blender or food processor to puree until smooth.
6. Once blended, add the nut mix and mix through to ensure a smooth consistency

Notes

• For extra flavour you may consider including red onion, turmeric and curry leaves.
• For the parent meal, you can serve this puree with roast chicken and green beans

Contains

Soy, cow’s milk (optional, if needed)

Ingredients

• ¼ cup firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes.
• 2 soft ripe apricots, stone removed (or 4 canned apricot halves).
• ½ small mango, peeled.
• ½ soft ripe pear, peeled and cored.

Method

1. Chop all fruit into cubes or small pieces.
2. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
3. If needed, add a few tablespoons of liquid (e.g. water, milk or infant formula).

Notes

• For alternative fruit options, you may like to try drained, tinned fruit or frozen berries

Contains

Cow’s milk, wheat

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ teaspoons butter
• 1/3 cup semolina flour
• 1 teaspoon white sugar

Method

1. Combine milk, water, butter, and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring gently. Remove from heat.
2. Pour in semolina flour in a steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.
3. Place saucepan back over medium heat; whisk until semolina comes to a boil, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cover; cook until semolina thickens, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove saucepan from heat and let the semolina stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

• You can serve this with poached and pureed pear or apple or mashed banana.

Contains

Cow’s milk, egg

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (250ml) milk
• 300ml cream
• Nutmeg ground (powdered)
• Tinned fruit in natural juice (drained)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
3. Whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and cream.
4. Pour the mixture into a small ovenproof dish. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg.
5. Place the dish in a larger pan (such as a roasting pan) and pour enough boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until the custard is still slightly wobbly but set. Remove the dish from the roasting pan.
7. Put fruit in a blender to puree. Serve the baked custard warm or at room temperature with the pureed fruit.