Baby Foods

7 months +
Mussakas (Μουσακάς)

1/2 aubergine (eggplant) 

1/2 courgette

1 potato or 1 small sweet potato

100g minced meat (beef)

1 large tomato 

1 small onion 

pepper, parsley 

grated carrot for garnish  

2tbsp olive oil 

Peel and boil the potatoes only for 10 minutes. Don't let the potatoes boil all the way through but leave them half boiled. Once ready, drain the water, cover them and let them cool down. 

Wash and grate the tomato. Leave it aside. Wash and slice the aubergine and the courgette in round slices. Place the aubergine pieces on a plate and sprinkle them with salt. Leave it with the salt for an hour (minimum) and once ready wash them well to take all the salt away. The salt must be placed on them to remove the bitterness of the aubergine. You will notice that the salt reacts with the aubergine and a dark brown liquid emerges. 

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Cover an oven tray with parchment paper and place all the aubergine and courgette pieces on it. Lightly brush the veggies with 1 tbsp olive oil. Bake the veggies until they are slightly brown and slightly soft. Take out of the oven and let it cool. 

Grate the onion in a pan and saute with 1tbsp of olive oil. Then place the minced meat and brown well. Add some pepper. Once done, add the grated tomato to the pan and cover with some water. Boil the minced meat till cooked. 

In the meanwhile take the cooled veggies and potatoes and place them in a Pyrex in layers. Place the potato first, then the aubergines and then the courgettes. 

Once you have placed the veggies and potatoes in the Pyrex, add the minced meat on top and then cover it with some grated carrot. 

Add some water in the Pyrex, cover with a foil and place in the oven. Cook at 200 °C for approx. 30 to 40 minutes. You can check with a spoon if the potatoes are cooked all the way through before taking out. 

Let it cool down before serving. 

Your food is ready to be placed in the fridge or freezer. This quantity should make three servings of approx. 200g each. 

8 months +
Pasta Bolognese

100g minced meat (beef)

1/2 yellow bell pepper (or any other color)

1/2 onion 

1 large tomato

1 carrot 

30g pasta (rigatoni or mini fusilli type)

herbs (depending on what your baby has tried already) or just parsley 

2 tbsp olive oil 

black pepper

Clean and slice the yellow bell pepper. Leave aside. Clean and grate the tomato. Leave it aside. 

Clean the onion and grate it so that there are no small pieces left. Add the oil into the pan and heat it a bit. Then add the onion and after you have sauteed it for a few seconds, add the minced meat and brown it well. Once the meat is browned add the bell pepper and the minced carrot and stir well. 

Once all ingredients have been incorporated add the herbs of your selection (At this point my baby has tried many different herbs so I put a selection of them. Otherwise, I would use only parsley or oregano). Then add water and the grated tomato enough to cover all the ingredients.

Bring this to the boil and then reduce the heat to medium. After 5 or 10 minutes add the pasta and continue cooking till it is soft. 

Once the pasta has cooked, take the pan off the heat and let the food cool down. 

You can offer this food as it is with all the pasta pieces intact. However, if your baby is still getting used to eating pieces you can follow the puree process below. 

With a skimmer or draining spoon take two thirds of the ingredients from the pan and placed them in a deep bowl. Puree the mixture well. Add the pureed mixture back to the pan and stir in to the remaining one third of ingredients.

Your food is ready to be placed in the fridge or freezer. This quantity should make four servings of 200g each. 

7 month +
Salmon with leeks and brown rice 

200g salmon fillet

1/2 leek 

1 rosamunda (red) potato

1 carrot 

Brown rice or Carolina white rice

1/2dl chopped spring onion 

Pepper and chopped dill 

2 tbsp Olive oil 

Take the skin off the salmon and cut it in large cubes. Set aside.

In a pan add the oil, leeks and chopped spring onion and saute them for a minute. In the meanwhile grade the carrot in a bowl. Also, peel the potato and chop it in cubes. Add the grated carrot in the pan and stir for a minute. Once soft, add the potato cubes, season with pepper and add water to cover the ingredients.  

Let the mixture come to the boil and once it has boiled reduce the heat to medium. Now place the cubes of the salmon fillet into the pan and let it simmer. After about 5 minutes add to the pan the rice and let it simmer till cooked. Finish off the dish with dill. 

Let it cool down. With a skimmer or draining spoon take two thirds of the ingredients from the pan and placed them in a deep bowl. Puree the mixture well. Add the pureed mixture back to the pan and stir in to the remaining one third of ingredients and water. 

Your food is ready to be placed in the fridge or freezer. This quantity should make four servings of 200g each. 

6 month +
Turkey fillet with Veggies & Basmati 

1 fillet of Turkey breast 

1 sweet potato 

Some corn

1 carrot 

1 medium potato

1/2 dl basmati rice 

Some spring onion 

Pepper and fresh parsley

1 tbsp of olive oil (if you have started giving oil to your baby) 

Wash the turkey fillet, peel the potato, sweet potato and carrot (grated). Wash and slice the spring onion. Place the turkey fillet in a hot pan without any oil. Brown each side and then add the oil with the spring onions. Stir for a minute and then add the corn. In the meanwhile slice the potato and sweet potato in cubes. 

After you stirred in the corn, add the potato and sweet potato cubes. Stir for another minute. Lower the heat of the stove to medium and add to the pan water enough to cover the ingredients and then some one centimeter more. Add some pepper and let it come to the boil. Then add the basmati rice and let it cook till you can cut the meat with a wooden spoon and the veggies are soft. The basmati should be cooked already but it usually takes about 10 minutes. 

Add some fresh parsley and take it off the stove. Let it cool down. With a skimmer or draining spoon take two thirds of the ingredients from the pan and placed them in a deep bowl. Puree the mixture well. Add the pureed mixture back to the pan and stir in to the remaining one third of ingredients and water. 

Your food is ready to be placed in the fridge or freezer. This quantity should make four servings of 200g each. 

5 months + 

Carrot-Potato Puree 

carrots

1 large carrot

1 large potato

left over formula milk or breast milk

Peel and wash the vegetables. Place them in a deep pan. Fill in the pan with water just enough to cover the vegetables. Boil till soft. Do not drain the water. Rather take the pan off the heat and place it aside to cool. once cooled add some formula milk or breast milk and mush with an immersion blender. The puree is ready. 

At first you can make small quantities as you don't know whether the baby will develop any allergies. It is, however, recommended you try one food or combination of foods at least three times in a row (for three days in a row) before you can move on to another. Therefore, the one portion of each veggie might be already a big quantity. Moreover, at first you might not want to keep cooking for just one portion so it is better to make enough for you to just take out of the freezer and use when needed. I suggest you store the food in the freezer after having placed it in ice cubes or ice-cube-type containers for baby foods. 

Other variations of this recipe are possible. Instead of carrot you can combine the potato with other veggies like zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, parsnip, leek or corn.  In addition, instead of potato one could try to combine some veggies with sweet potato. Later on you could start trying out spices like pepper or fresh parsley, dill, oregano etc. 

Another alternative to boiling is steaming, which is recommended for better retention of vitamins. Just add a bit of boiled water and the necessary formula or breast milk and repeat the process.  

Once you have tested one simple combination of foods you can keep on adding to the puree mixture. For instance, I started with sweet potato. I just mushed sweet potato and after three days with no signs of allergies I added the second veggie. Then after three days the next and so on. This way you keep track of what the baby has tested and whether they are allergic to it 

or not.