Baby Food Recipes : 8-10 Months

Salam

    Here are some of home made food recipes I have prepared for Muhammad starting from he's 8 months old. I'm putting them all here for my future reference, which is for next babies in the waiting list. Haha.

    Since I am not working at the moment, I get to prepare his food on a daily basis and serve him with different food at each meal time. Yup, I treat his tummy just like mine. I want him to taste different flavours of food and at the same time making sure they contain enough nutrients for his age.

   Currently, he eats 5 times a day including 2 snacking times. For breakfast, I like to give him either yogurt or oatmeal. The base is the same and I will blend them with fruits of choice so he will not get bored of the same taste everyday. His main favourite is oatmeal with banana.

   While for lunch and dinner, I usually give him rice or pasta served with meat as a source of protein together with vegetables and dairy products. For sauteing, I use either unsalted butter or olive oil.

    It takes effort to prepare all these but with the support from my husband, who never complains when I ask for his help, things definitely get easier. And you have to be prepared too that sometimes your baby will refuse to eat. You may get frustrated but just do not give up, mommies!

Mango and banana oatmeal

Very berry oatmeal

Oatmeal prep : Cook oats on the stove with water. You can add milk powder for a creamier taste. Blend fruits of your choice and add to the cooked oats. If your baby still could not tolerate lumpy food, you can blend oats together with the fruits. Add water to your desired consistency.

Banana and apple yogurt

Banana and blueberry yogurt

Banana rice pudding

Yogurt prep : Keep your fruits of choice in a freezer overnight. The next day, blend them together with yogurt and serve them cold. Your baby will love it. And you will love it too! In case they do not finish it, don't worry. You can take over their job! Wink*

Rice pudding prep : Add some water and blend all the ingredients together.

Cheesy baby pasta

Pasta prep : Cook pasta in a boiling water until soft. In a separate pan, melt the butter and saute the garlic. Add chicken and carrot. Cook them well. Add cream cheese and pumpkin puree. Blend them together and serve with pasta.

Mashed potato with chicken and cheese gravy

Prep : Cook potato in a boiling water until soft. Mash the potato. In a separate pan, melt the butter and add the chicken. When the chicken is cooked, add cream cheese and water. Blend them altogether. Add extra virgin olive oil when it's ready to be served.

Salmon porridge

Prep : Saute the onion with olive oil. Fry the salmon. Add water and the other ingredients. Cook for 25-30 minutes. You can reduce the cooking time by grinding the brown rice into powder.

Baby bolognese

Prep : Cook pasta until soft. In a separate pan, saute the garlic and onion with olive oil. Add chicken and carrot. Cook them well. Add tomatoes, celery and a bit of water. Blend the mixture to desired consistency. Serve with pasta.

Muhammad Solid Food Journey

Salam

        My baby Muhammad has actually started his solid food way too long before this post is written (he's 9 months old now!) but as lousy as a blogger I am, coming up with past events is permissible. Ha! 

       Before Muhammad was born I did a lot of research on breastfeeding and while he's about 2-3 months close to weaning, I began to study his solid food. You see, motherhood is a never ending journey of knowledge seeking to ensure your little one gets the best.

    Since it's gonna be my first experience at that time, I've been counting days for him to reach six months and only God knows how anticipated I was because I have got so many things planned for him. I have opted nothing other than home made food for my baby.

      What else is more exciting other than preparing home made food for your baby and watching him eat whatever food you offer. Honestly, being able to serve him with nutritious food is another level of satisfaction next to breastfeeding.

First thing first, I listed down all the equipments needed for feeding.

1. High chair. To teach him table manners. When it's time to eat, he must sit down on his chair and          eat.

2. Feeding set (bowl and spoon)

3. Bib

4. Food storage cups to store frozen puree

5. Baby food processor. I actually did not invest on a baby food processor since we already have a          steamer and a non-used blender, so that will be cost saving.

All the necessities for feeding

         So which food is good for a 6 months baby? There are a few amounts of them such as banana, pear, avocado, sweet potato etc. I chose to start with banana, partly because it's easy to prepare. Just mash the fruit with a fork and it's ready to be served.

         Since Muhammad has a mild eczema I need to be careful when offering food to him. I followed four days rule by introducing single food for four consecutive days before switching to another. That way, if he develops allergic reaction I could determine which food is causing it.

Muhammad's timetable

        Most importantly, avoid sugar and salt in their puree. After all, that's the reason why we choose to give him home made food, right? We want it to be healthy and safe for babies. Most baby's food available in the market contain certain amount of sugar which is obviously not good for babies.

       After he has passed with each food then only I started to combine them to give more flavours to the puree. I usually prepared his puree for three days stock to reduce the hassle since I worked 12 hours a day except for the porridge, which I cooked on a daily basis.

The happy face when he gets to eat

And yes, gaining weight together with ayah!

And now...

My dilemma : I'm happy to watch him growing up as a healthy baby but sometimes I did get emotional seeing him being not so small anymore. Hew.