July 7, 2011

Baby & Toddler Meals

At its incarnation (some 30 years ago) the Thermomix was purely a baby food maker (the "Bimbi"), and what has made me love my Thermomix even more (if that is even possible) is how much I have enjoyed using it to cook for my baby.

So this post is dedicated to baby recipes (which with a bit of salt and a little less pulverising can actually be converted to yummy nutritious adult comfort food!).

Purees
  • for Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Carrot - place 300g of peeled and roughly chopped veg into TM bowl. Chop on speed 6 for 5 seconds. Cook for 10 minutes at 100C on speed 2. Then, if necessary, puree to desired consistency on speed 7.
  • for Potato - place 300g of peeled and roughly chopped potato into TM bowl with 100g water or milk. Cook for 10-15 minutes at 100C on speed 1. Then, if necessary, mash to desired consistency on speed 3-4 (no higher than this otherwise it will become gluey).
  • for Broccoli, Cauliflower - place 300g of washed florets into TM bowl. Chop for 5 seconds on speed 5. Add 50g water. Cook for 7 minutes at 100C on speed 2. Then, if necessary, puree to desired consistency on speed 8. 
  • for Apple, Pear - place 300g of peeled or unpeeled, seeded and quartered fruit into TM bowl. Chop for 10 seconds on speed 5. Cook for 8 minutes at 90C on speed 4. Puree to desired consistency on speed 8.

Chicken and vegetable pasta
1. Place 1/2 onion and 1 garlic clove in TM bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7.
2. Add 400g vegetables. If they are hard vegetables like carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, celery broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, parsnip put them in first and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7. Then add the soft vegetables (eg zucchini, mushroom, capsicum) and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Caution - only add small amounts of strong tasting vegetables like celery, turnip, parsnip and green capsicum.
4. Add 30g olive oil and saute for 7 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.
5. Add 200g chopped tomatoes, 600g water or chicken stock (see EDC p18), 100g full cream milk, 200g chicken fillet (cut into 4 pieces) and a handful of washed herbs (eg parsley, sage, thyme, basil).
6. Cook for 10 minutes at 100C on reverse speed slow with the MC inclined to prevent spitting.
7. Remove cooked chicken and set aside.
8. Add 200g pasta shells and cook for 15 minutes at 100C on reverse speed soft or until the pasta is sufficiently soft.
9. If you wish, add up to 100g quick cooking vegetables like spinach, corn kernels, peas, sliced beans in the last 7 minutes of cooking.
10. Blend on speed 4 to desired consistency with the aid of the spatula, then set aside into large bowl or Thermoserver.
11. Place cooked chicken pieces back into TM bowl and shred on reverse speed 4 for 5 seconds or until sufficiently well shredded. 
12. Combine shredded chicken with pasta with the aid of the spatula.
13. Serve and watch your baby/toddler gobble it up!
Variation for adults: Only cook pasta (see para 8 above) for 10 minutes and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Beef and vegetable risotto
1. Place 100g rump in TM bowl. Set dial to closed lid position, then press Turbo twice until beef is minced. Set aside
2. Place 1/2 onion and 1 garlic clove in TM bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7.
3. Add 20g olive oil and saute for 2 minutes at Varoma temperature speed 1.
4. Add minced beef and saute for a further 3 minutes at Varoma temperature speed 1.
5. Insert butterfly in TM bowl and add 160g washed long or medium grain rice. Saute for 1 minute on reverse speed soft.
6. Add 650g water or chicken or beef stock (see EDC p18), 400g diced vegetables (eg  carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, mushrooms, zucchini, red capsicum) (the harder the vegetable, the smaller the dice)
7. Cook for 30 minutes at 100C on reverse speed soft or until rice and vegetables are sufficiently soft.
8. Remove butterfly and then blend to desired consistency on speed 4 with the aid of the spatula.
Flavour tip: Using leftover unsalted roast vegetables (eg carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, onion) will greatly enhance the flavour profile of this risotto.
Variation for adults: Only cook rice (see para 7 above) for 15-17 minutes until just tender and add salt, parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Leftover tip: Freeze individual portions for quick and easy feeds. When reheating add a little bit of extra water as the pasta/rice soaks up a lot of moisture when left to sit.

18 comments:

  1. (How) do you reheat frozen purée in the thermomix?

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    1. I tend to reheat in the microwave because it is usually such a small portion. But in the TM, if it is puree (rather than chunky meals), I would chop at speed 8 first - to make it sort of like a sorbet consistency and then heat speed 2 for the time required to get to 80C. Remember to leave to cool a bit before giving to bub.

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    2. Thank you for sharing these recipes. Wonderful.

      On a side note, I urge you to please google 'dangers of microwave' & 'Irradiation Dangers”. Here are 2 articles, if you're interested:
      http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards2.htm
      http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/articles/cook6.php

      You can make up your own mind. I’m a cautious person. We progressively reduced our microwave used over a 2 year period. I wanted to test whether I could live without a microwave. After 2 years, I can say with confident that: "Yes, I CAN live without it". We haven’t touched our microwave for over 1 year now. It’s time to sell it, I think :)

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    3. Thanks for sharing those websites re microwave use.

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  2. Thank you! I've been trying to find basic baby food instructions without having to buy the new book! I know it is easy bit just wanted some instructions to follow to get me started on the right track!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!

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  3. Hi Nic I have a 5 month old bub and have found these recipes so handy. I notice others say to add water/ Breast milk / formula - just wondering when I defrost it should I mix 1-2 tsp of my breastmilk to reach desired consistency as I noticed a few of them were a little thick and not as runny as I expected

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    1. Hi Nicinoo (we share part of the same name! :) ). Thanks for your comments. Yes definitely add your breast milk to make it the consistency that suits your bub. If you have it "on tap" you could add a few squirts once the food is reheated. You may already know how to hand express, but if you don't check out this link : http://www.babycenter.com.au/x552877/how-can-i-express-my-milk-by-hand

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    2. Awesome thanks heaps :) my name is Nic also nicinoo is a nickname. So I don't add water to the fruit ones or the sweet potato ones right? Just defrost it once it's ready, mix with milk then good to go

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  4. I freeze portions in ice block sizes including chunky meals and defrost straight into a frypan on low heat. Works out beautiful everytime :)

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  5. Hi there,
    How much water you add to cook a carrot? I can't see the amount

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  6. Hi there,
    How much water to you add to cook carrot? I can't see the amount there

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    1. Hi Ewelina. Thanks for stopping by. I didn't need any water for the pumpkin, carrot and sweet potato as they contain enough moisture that seeps out when its cooked. After the cooking you can always add water, milk, breastmilk to the desired consistency.

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  7. Microwaves are perfectly safe for cooking with; Mercola is a very misleading and irresponsible source of info.

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