Baby Food Mania

Now that my vegan son is 7 months old I’m making a lot of homemade baby food. It’s healthy and full of nutrients unlike the store bought stuff sold out there. I feed my son REAL food. In my opinion the store bought jarred stuff isn’t quality food. If its able to sit on a shelf in a store for extended periods of time then its pumped with unpronounceable things I will not let my son ingest.

It’s incredibly easy to make homemade baby food. I just use what I have on hand and make sure I’m offering him a variety of yummy options. I usually bake his veggies like squash and boil or steam things like green beans. Steaming is better than boiling them in order to preserve more nutrients but when I’m in a rush I’ll boil them because its faster. I reserve some of the cooking water in case I need it when I’m blending it all up. When serving my baby his goodies I add some of his milk to his puree because he likes the added creaminess it provides.

So far my little man has tried peas, green beans, pumpkin, acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple, avocado, beets, mango, cherries, carrots, sweet potato, apples and bananas. I’m sure I missed some but you get the picture. He has eaten quite a variety of fruits and veggies along with his brown rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, hemp hearts, chia seeds and coconut yogurt.

His favouite foods are pumpkin and sweet potato. I swear I can feed him pumpkin everyday and he would happily eat it up! I’ll post some of his favourite dishes below which are super easy to make. Even if your busy running around you can still manage to throw these together. The best part is once you make puree the veggies and fruit you can freeze the mixture in ice cube trays and store them in freezer bags for future use with only a few exceptions like avocado. Eat that right away! I love this idea because when I’m on the go I’ll pop a few cubes of different purees into travel containers and they defrost while I’m out doing errands. That way my vegan baby can eat healthy on the go. I just take them out 1st thing in the morning that way they have plenty of time to defrost. I also bring hemp hearts in a container with me to add to his food for extra nutrition and he loves the added taste from them.

What are some of your babies favourite foods? Let me know if you have a special way of preparing it below in the comment section. 🙂

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Banana & Avocado puree

Ingredients & Tools

  1. 1 Banana
  2. 1 Avocado
  3. Blender/Food Processer

How simple can this get right? It’s the simple things they will eat up though every time!

Method

  • Just peel a banana and scoop out the flesh of an avocado and toss them into your blender or food presser.
  • Transfer to a bowl and add breast milk or formula to the mixture for added creaminess if desired.
  • Feed this mixture to your little one right away as the avocado in it will start to go brown.

*Note*

Top the mixture with Hemp Hearts if desired.

jan-2017-072

Baked Acorn Squash Puree

Ingredients & Tools

  1. 1 Acorn Squash
  2. 1 Baking dish
  3. Blender/Food Presser
  4. Optional: Cinnamon or Pumpkin Spice

Method

  • Preheat oven to 350 F
  • Prepare a baking dish with about an inch of water in it. Add more later if needed during the baking process
  • Cut you acorn squash in half
  • Sprinkle with a touch of Pumpkin Spice or Pure Cinnamon if desired
  • Place flesh side down into the baking dish
  • Bake for 35 – 45 minutes depending on the size of your squash
  • Allow to cool and then scoop out the squash flesh into the blender or food processer
  • Transfer mixture to an air tight container. I like placing it into glass containers or mason jars.

* Note*

I also like adding hemp hearts to the squash mixture when serving it to my son. He loves the added flavour and texture it adds to his meal. You can also add dash of breast milk or formula to it in order to make it a little creamier.

jan-2017-021

Chia Pineapple, Mango, Beet & Banana Puree

Ingredients

  1. 2 Bananas
  2. 1/3 Cup Pineapple
  3. 1 small to medium sized cooked Beet
  4. 1/3 cup Mango
  5. 1 tbsp. Chia Seeds

Method

  • Add fruit and the beet to the blender and puree
  • Place in an air tight container or mason jar and add the chia seeds. Combine well.
  • Store in the fridge for up to 5 days

*Note*

My son loves to eat this mixture with a spoonful of unsweetened coconut yogurt with this mixture. Give it a try if your baby enjoys yogurt too.

Hope your baby enjoys this healthy grub! Even my 12 year old will ask me if he’s done with his food. She’s the clean up crew who wants to eat up all his yummy leftovers! Ha Ha!

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Green Breakfast Smoothie with Chia!

Green Chia Smoothie

 

This is one of my favourite smoothies to whip up for breakfast! Fast to make, it has simple ingredients and then it’s topped with some healthy chia!!! I use a super huge mug for this baby when I make it! 🙂

 

  • 1 large handful of spinach
  • 1 1/2 frozen bananas
  • 1 cup frozen mixed berries
  • 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 1-2 tbsp. chia seeds (for topping)
  • a few frozen blueberries (for topping, optional)
  • a few large ice cubes if you want your smoothie to be colder (optional)
  • 1 tsp. Spirulina

 

Toss spinach, almond milk, mixed berries, spirulina and ice cubes if you’re using them into a blender. Once it’s at the consistency your happy with pour into your large glass or huge mug like I do. Top with 1-2 tbsp. of chia seeds and frozen blueberries.

 

Enjoy your energy booster breakfast smoothie! 🙂

Blueberry Chia Muffins

Healthy Blueberry Chia Muffins!

Healthy Blueberry Chia Muffins!

 

 

Mmmmmmm Blueberry Muffins!!!!! Healthy Blueberry muffins of course! 🙂 I make blueberry muffins often but usually use flaxmeal as my “eggs in my recipes. I played around with using Chia seeds as my “eggs” the last couple times I baked blueberry muffins. I love chia seeds and use them often in baking, smoothies and in my breakfasts. Chia seeds are a powerhouse of nutrition such as omega3 , protein, calcium and iron! They make me feel energized and they help me stay full longer so they are a staple in my kitchen. I use organic coconut oil in my muffins because I like the slight coconut taste it gives to the muffin and of course the health advantages but veggie oil can be substituted instead if needed. I usually use brown rice flour when I bake but I have also used spelt flour to make these muffins. Either way they turn out super yummy! As far as sugar goes I either use sucanat or coconut sugar in my baking. My kids prefer when I use the sucanat however. Anyway, as always this recipe is super easy to make!

 

Blueberry Chia Muffins

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups Flour ( I use brown rice flour or spelt flour)
  • 1 TBSP Chia seeds
  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 3/4 cup Almond Milk
  • 1/3 cup Coconut Oil
  • 1 1/4 cup Blueberries
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup Sucanat or Coconut Sugar (I use 1/3 cup)
  • 2 TSP Baking Powder
  • pinch of Himalayan salt

 

Method:

  1. In a medium-sized bowl add 1 TBSP Chia seeds and 1/2 cup water to it. Mix and let it sit to thicken for 20-30 minutes. Give it a mix every now and then in that time period.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 F
  3. In a large bowl add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix well.
  4. Add the coconut oil and milk into the chia mixture. Combine well.
  5. Place the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
  6. Gently fold in the blueberries into the mixture.

 

blueberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

blueberry chia batter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Line the muffin tin with paper liners or grease the baking tin.

8. Fill the muffin tin evenly with the mixture and pop it into the preheated 400 F oven. Bake for about 20 – 25 minutes. I find that mine are done at 25 minutes but every oven varies.

9. Once baked let them cool off in the muffin tin or they can also transferred to a cooling rack to cool off. Place in an airtight container once they have cooled down.

Healthy and so simple to make … Enjoy!

 

Blueberry Chia Muffins

 

*For a glimpse into my foodie life follow me on Instagram ~  VeganMommyDee and Twitter at MommyDeeOf3 🙂

 

 

 

Healthy Chia Seed Pudding!

I’ve falllen in love with this easy to make and healthy pudding! I like to top it with fresh strawberries or blueberries. It looks so pretty and tastes yummy!

Chia Pudding

  • 3/4 cup organic chia seeds
  • 2 cups almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
  • just a pinch of Himalayan salt
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon

 

Combine the above ingredients in a large bowl or glass Tupperware. Mix it up for a couple minutes until it starts to thicken up. Give it a good stir every 10 minutes for about an hour. Pop it into the fridge overnight so it thickens up to the pudding consistency we’re looking for. When your ready to serve it place the desired amount into serving dishes and top with some healthy fruit!

* Makes 4-6 servings *

 

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