mushroom lentil sauce

1 small mushroom (not so small as a button mushroom)
handful of fresh parsley and coriander
1/2 cup of soaked puy lentils, preferably sprouted
1 T unhulled tahini
1/2 tsp golden kelp
1 T water
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 small avocado

steam mushroom and boil lentils until soft. blend all ingredients adding extra water if needed. spoon feed as is for younger babies or mix through pasta and steamed vegies (steamed chopped kale is especially good with this) and plonk on the high chair.

more pastry parcels

see post on 14/2/11 and follow basic recipe for pastry parcels. however substitute the filling for the following suggestions:

Red kidney beans and tomato based pasta sauce (see post 5/2/11)
place a tablespoon of cooked beans down on each pastry square. top with a tablespoon of the tomato sauce. fold over pastry and bake.
i often have frozen cooked beans and some frozen pasta sauce from previous dinners. defrost both of these to then use as filling.

Kale, spinach and silken tofu
equal amounts of finely chopped or blended kale and/or spinach to silken tofu. mix and spoon onto pastry squares. add some herbs to taste.

coconut almond curry and tempeh (see post 26/2/11)
spoon some brown rice or quinoa and top with some curry. make sure there are some tempeh pieces and different vegies in each parcel.

coconut almond curry

when zac was just starting on solids he loved coconut curry. i would cook some for myself and set aside some vegies, legumes or tempeh, sauce and quinoa and blend together into a puree. i would often add extra nuts and extra golden kelp. it was thick and creamy and he loved it.

blend the following spices:

1 slice of fresh ginger
1/4 clove fresh garlic
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp tumeric
1/8 tsp paprika

1/2 C chopped brocolli, colliflower, pumpkin, peas (or any mix of vegetables)
1/2 C tempeh or tofu cubes or 1/2 C of cooked legumes
1/2 C coconut milk
1/2 C water
1 tsp tomato paste or 1/2 tomato chopped
30g ground almonds

Stir all ingredients except for almonds in a pot and heat, uncovered, simmering until vegies are soft but still retaining their bright colours. sauce should reduce a bit though depending on the brand of coconut milk you use you may need a higher ratio of coconut milk to water. i like Ayam brand coconut milk because it is the only one i have found that is 100% coconut. take off heat and stir through almond meal. serve with quinoa or brown rice. blend all ingredients for younger babies.

the above curry will make an indian style dish however you can add lemongrass and cinnamon and cashews and take out the tumeric, paprika, mustard and almonds for more of a thai style. there is a few curry paste stalls at the local farmers market that i go to that i often use aswell as they are homemade without nasties - and taste better than my spice blends! if you're ever at Epic markets try Siam Siam.

raw blueberry pie

this is a treat the whole family can enjoy, and it's filled with good stuff that will be good for your baby! for younger babies maybe just give them the filling rather than the pie crust.

in food processor blend/grind:
1 cup oat groats
1 cup almonds,
1 cup of dried apricots soaked for 2 hrs (add to blend a little bit of soak water if needed)

Press into cake tin/baking dish lined with cling wrap (so you can lift out easy) and dehydrate for 4 hrs (or you could just bake it in the oven probably for about 1/2 hr on 180deg C lining the tray with baking paper not cling wrap)

then blend the following and pour into base:
2cups of fresh blueberries,
2 cups of cashews,
2 tablespoons of agave nectar (the sweetener is optional and you could use blended dates instead)

i find fresh blueberries blend up into a more gelatinous consistency than frozen blueberries but i suppose you could use frozen blueberries, maybe add some chia seeds to make it more gelatinous if needed.

freeze or refrigerate. can be frozen for up to 2 weeks.

soy and brown rice rissoles

1 cup cooked soy beans
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 T ground chia seeds
2 T water
herbs and spices of your choice (i used ground cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, garlic, ginger)

mix ground chia seeds and water. stir through rice and beans. mashing where possible. blend rice and beans before adding to chia seed mix if you want a smoother burger. shape into rissoles. bake in a preheated oven at 200deg C until crispy on the outside (about 10mins). serve with avocado mixed with ground pumpkin seeds, golden kelp and lemon juice.

bengal spice star cookies

follow cookie recipe posted on 1st February and substitute water for 1/3 cup of bengal spice tea. bengal spice tea doesn't have any sugars but is so sweet! oh and it isn't caffeinated either.

soy beans and vegies with tahini avocado dressing

i highly recommend soaking, cooking then freezing beans so you can break some off and steam up with vegies for a quick meal. with something like soy beans that take 24hr soak time and 2.5hr cook time it's often not worth the effort for a small batch!

1/2 cup cooked soy beans
1/2 cup broccoli, cauliflower, carrots.
1 T tahini
1 T avocado
dash of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1 T water
pinch of golden kelp

steam vegies and if you need to defrost the beans add them to the steamer with the vegies. stir tahini, avocado, lemon juice, water and kelp with a fork until smooth. top vegies with the sauce and serve. blend all together for younger babies.

not milkshakes

here are 2 milkshake blends but any combination of fruit and nuts will do!

blend in the following proportions:

half banana, small handful of blueberries, 150mls soy/nut/oat milk and 10g soaked almonds.

or try

small handful of boysenberries, 10g cashews, 150mls soy/oat/nut milk

when the berries are frozen it makes the milkshake nice and cold and thick.

optional extras: wheat germ, linseeds, green leafy vegetables, avocado, dates and figs.

vegie and legume pastry parcels

obviously you can make more than the following recipe suggests and freeze the extra parcels for another day. i only made a small amount enough for the one meal because i used defrosted cooked legumes and i didn't want to refreeze these for a later meal. so increase the ingredients as desired.

2 10com squares of pastry (you can find vegan puff pastry in the supermarket but it still will have additives so i am in the process of mastering a home made vegan pastry recipe but not ready to post it yet...)
cup of diced steamed vegies (sweet potato, pumpkin, peas)
2 T chickpea paste or hummus
1/2 cup cooked legumes (i used soy beans and red lentils)

preheat oven to 200deg C. on a baking tray lay down some baking paper then the 2 pastry squares. spread the pastry with chickpea paste leaving at least 1-2cm from the edge. into the centre spoon vegies and legumes, not too much that you can't fold over the pastry to meet the other edges easily (keep leftover vegie and legume filling for spoon feeding). fold pastry over to make a triangle and pinch edges together. bake for 15mins. allow to cool before serving - parcels will be very hot inside.

steam vegie and chickpea nori rolls

zac loves nori and i've found it a good option if i'm in the shops and he's hungry. however the vegies sticks inside are often too crunchy for him to eat well with the soft rice - he doesn't really know how to bite them. so the avocado or tofu options are often easier for him to eat. i quickly decided to start making my own for him so i could use brown rice and steamed vegies and make sure there was no sugar or salts as ingredients.

1 sheet of nori seaweed
1/4 cup brown rice
2 chunks of pumpkin
2 florets of broccoli
1/8 avocado
3 T chickpea paste (see previous post)

cook brown rice and leave to cool. steam broccoli and pumpkin. place nori roll on a bamboo sushi roller (can be rolled without one of these but they make it easier and less messy). spread rice down first then place other ingredients in a row on top of the rice - cut vegies into stick like shapes to form a neat row. roll up and then cut into 2 peices - or smaller if your baby likes smaller finger foods)

you could try quinoa instead of rice and a range of different vegies to steam. also try tempeh sticks or mashed lentils on the inside.

chickpea paste

this makes a large round take away container sized batch. i normally then freeze half of it and use the other fresh half throughout the next 2 or 3 days on anything i can think of. zac often just gets into it in the container with both hands! he loves hummus so i thought i'd make something like hummus but a high concentration of chickpeas and no olive oil or salt.

1 cup dry chickpeas
water for soaking and cooking
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp golden kelp
i clove garlic
1 T tahini
juice of one lemon

soak chickpeas over night. cover them with water in a pot and bring slowly to boil. simmer for 1-2 hrs or until soft. drain off cooking water and add chickpeas to the blender with remaining ingredients.

use as a spread or stir through other meals. you can stir through some water with a fork to make it more like a dip consistency.

home made baked beans

this can be made with smaller quantities of the ingredients, or store what you don't use in the freezer, or share as a family meal.

1 C dry cannellini or butter beans
half jar of tomato paste or 4 tomatoes blended
pinch of mustard seeds
4 cloves
1 clove garlic crushed
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tsp golden kelp
water for soaking and cooking

soak the beans over night. put them in a pot with water about an inch higher than the beans. stir through tomatoes or tomato paste. bring slowly to the boil. add mustard seeds, cloves, onion and garlic. simmer for 1-2 hrs or until beans are a soft. add more water if needed so beans are always covered though water level should reduce substantially by the end of cooking. remove from heat and try and locate the cloves and take them out. blend for younger babies (take out what you want to eat first!)

i normally keep half of this mixture for both zac and i to eat at breakfast and freeze the other half. if freesing i like to use long flattish rectangular containers (like take away containers) then i can take out the block of frozen beans and slice off chunks when i need if i don't just defrost the whole lot for me to eat as well!

normally a baked bean recipe would require you to add sugar, black strap molasses and salt to taste but i have avoided this because i don't want zac having added salts and sugars - i might as well by a can of baked beans if i didn't mind those ingredients. however some books say that black strap molasses is a good source of iron for babies so you can do what you wish. i think zac gets enough iron in a range of other foods so i have left this out too.

lentil and pumpkin burger patties

1/2 cup of cooked brown lentils
1 slice of steamed pumpkin
1/4 C quinoa flour or wholemeal wheat flour

mash ingredients together with a fork. shape into patties. grill, bake or lightly fry.

i normally have a stash of cooked lentils and beans in the freezer and break off as much as i need for a small meal. i often steam up the frozen legumes with the vegies i am steaming for the dinner. this makes everything very quick. these patties should not take longer than 15 mins to prepare.

banana cake

i took this to mothers group one day as it was nice to have a cake that wasn't a chocolaty sweet adults only cake. the babies could enjoy this too if they wanted without the sugar and the trans fats found most cakes.

Cake:
1/2 C coconut butter
substitute for 2 eggs (2 T chia seed blended with a bit of water or follow egg substitute package instructions)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
50 mls soy milk
1 1/2 C SR wholemeal flour (if you want you could use quinoa flour with some bicarb soda)
handful of blueberries (optional)
Icing:
macadamia butter - as much as you like (i use whole macadamias blended rather than a pre-made jar from the health food store but that is fine too)
pinch of ground cinnamon

preheat oven to 180deg C. grease and flour a cake tin. mix all cake ingredients with a fork or a blender, add blueberries at the end. pour into cake tin and bake for 20=25 mins. mix macadamia butter and cinnamon and spread on cooled cake.

tomato based pasta sauce

1/4 cup soaked (and sprouted if you can) adzuki beans or other small legumes
1/2 cup chopped zucchini, broccoli, kale, pumpkin and onion
1 T chopped tomatoes
1 T tomato paste
pinch of garlic
herbs to taste (i like basil, marjoram, or oregano)
30g ground cashews (or whole cashews if you plan to blend the whole thing at the end)
1/2 tsp of golden kelp


cook adzuki beans by boiling until soft - about 20mins. strain and put aside. cook vegies and tomato in a covered pot with a bit of water to steam. once vegies are soft, but still brightly coloured, stir in the tomato paste and garlic and herbs. keep on the heat until tomato paste heats through but don't over cook the vegies. take off the heat. mash beans with a fork and stir through. add ground cashew and golden kelp. this sauce can be blended for smaller babies.
serve with the pasta of your choice (or your baby's choice!)

avocado hummus and aloo palak lunch wrap!

avocado coriander and walnut spread (see previous post)
aloo palak (see yesterday's post)
hummus
mountain bread

spread the avocado and the hummus onto the bread, top with aloo palak, roll and serve!

Zac absolutely loved this for lunch yesterday and so did i!

avocado, walnuts and coriander

blend the following ingredients:

1 avocado
100g walnuts
i bunch of coriander

feed with a spoon or use as a spread.

zac loves this mix. i thought about mixing these ingredients after a comment from my Natropath Robyn Chuter on my pesto post talking about the benefits of coriander and the use of avocado in pestos rather than oil. there is a link to Robyn's website on the right column of this blog. she has been really helpful in guiding me as a vegan for preconception health, pregnancy, breastfeeding and providing the best solids for Zac.

aloo palak

1/8 C diced sweet potato
1/8 C red quinoa
1/8 C red lentils
1/4 C kale or spinach finely chopped
pinch of cumin
pinch of tumeric
pinch of mustard seeds
pinch of fresh garlic and ginger
1/2 tsp golden kelp

cook all ingredients with 1 1/3 C water, cover and simmer for 20mins or until potato is soft. turn off heat, leave covered to cool and further soften. blend for younger babies.

if you like stir through a small bit of avocado and almond meal to when serving.

coconut berry not-yoghurt

blend until smooth the following ingredients:

flesh and juice of 1 young coconut
1/3 C mixed berries (frozen or fresh)
100g soaked almonds
1/4 C chia seeds
1 banana

this obviously is a large amount for one baby. it can be shared with the rest of the family or just reduce the ingredients quantities.

i'm sure you could shake some baby probiotics in there if you wanted... i'm going to try that next time. i suppose i'll add water to the probiotics first then stir it through the coconut mix.

birthday biscuits

Zac had his first birthday today and to mark the occasion we had family round for the weekend. my mum has a tradition of making sweet cookies for birthdays and christmas and this year i asked her to change her recipe to suit Zac's diet rather than give him dairy or sugar in his birthday treat. the following recipe is the one i worked out with her and the cookies turned out well. Zac loved them and so did his 2 yr old cousin. however they were not loved by most of the adults who were used to mum's sugary buttery biscuits and didn't care for a healthier alternative! i quite enjoyed them but i'm used to these types of ingredients!

125g coconut butter
1 C medjool dates
egg substitute equivalent to 2 eggs (follow packet instructions or 2 T ground chia)
1 tsp vanilla essence or ground pods
2 1/2 C plain flour (eg quinoa flour, wholmeal wheat flour, barley flour, or a mix of these)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (optional)

deseed and blend dates. use as many dates that can be squashed into the Cup measure. if your blender needs water added to the dates for blending then use the water you would've used for the egg substitute. mix coconut butter and dates. add egg substitute and vanilla. add flour, baking powder and salt. mix well. chill for 1 hour. roll and cut with a number shape cookie cutter. bake on a greased tray for 10 mins at 200deg C.