Breakfast ideas

I try to keep P's breakfasts wide and varied so that she is not the type of kid who eats the same cereal day in and day out.

When P was first weaning, she would always have some sort of fruit puree for breakfast. Being obsessive compulsive, I would ensure that she wouldn't have the same puree more than once a week. Fruit purees are often the easiest to do I've found, as many are soft and don't need steamed/boiled beforehand. A lot of fruits cannot be cut/peeled prior to the meal either, thus neccessitating immediate preparation.

After she was a bit more confident with textures and chewing, we introduced crushed organic Weetabix with mashed banana, which P has a few times a week for breakfast now. I don't always just add banana, but any other fresh fruits I have to hand. I should think that there are quite a few other low-sugar cereals that are similar if you can't get Weetabix, for instance, Shredded Wheat.

We are also lucky enough to have a new product available here called My First Muesli, by Cow and Gate. It's a muesli (go figure) with just enough texture, plus it has no added sugar or salt. I remember looking for low-sugar muesli for myself a couple of years ago, and I was appalled at how much sugar content most of them had! I'm glad that P can gain all the nutrients that muesli provides without all the sugar. For flavour I add fresh fruit to this too. For extra calcium, some plain Greek yoghurt.

Another handy breakfast food, especially as we are entering the winter months, is porridge, or as Americans would say, oatmeal. I buy a really cheap pack of porridge oats, just add milk, heat it up, and then add either fresh fruit, or fruit puree. Depending on the fruit, I sometimes add a little cinnamon as well. P loves it, and it seems like such a lovely, cosy meal to start a cold day.
If the oatmeal is too textured, just whiz it in the food processor/blender to achieve the required consistency.

Are there any specific breakfasts your babies/toddlers adore?

Parsnip and Apple Puree

Phew, long time no see. Between circulating illnesses within the house and just overall life hecticness, I've neglecting poor little Mush. No longer! Well, at least for a little while.

I decided to post this recipe for two reasons - it was one of P's favourites when she started weaning, as well as the fact that the parsnip is an often ignored vegetable, particularly in the US. Here in the UK parsnips are everywhere it seems. When you go grocery shopping you spot parsnips in the trolleys of many shoppers. Not mine however, unless they are for P. As I've mentioned before, I'm no great lover of vegetables, and parsnips aren't an exception.

This recipe is from Baby Healthy Eating Plan, as always, the link is to the left.

Parsnip and Apple Puree

1) Peel the parsnip and cut it into small dice. Cook it in a small pan of boiling water until the pieces are tender. Alternatively, steam.

2) Peel and core the apple and cut it into small pieces. Put it into a small pan with 2 tbsp water and cook until just softened.

3) Blend the parsnip and apple until smooth.

It's that simple. To be honest, I tend to steam everything rather than boil, but that's just me.

Enjoy, toothless, newly-weaned babies!