Category: Baby Food

Sweet Potato, Kidney Bean & Roasted Pepper Patties

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As usual, thanks to my lovely friend Deepa at GirlBoyFoodBaby. Her baby led weaning recipes are always so inspiring and easy and use the best ingredients. I love being able to collaborate and join forces with other gentle-parenting and health-focused mummas to make the best food for our babies. Luckily for Deepa her little one (only 10 days younger than Brax), actually eats well, whereas I make all these things for Brax and he just looks at them then throws them on the floor.

I’m trying not to get stressed about his lack of interest in food as I know that it can happen to babies from 12 months. Babies who loved food before then often go off food and it can last for a while. This happened with us, pretty much around 11/12 months and although it’s getting a little better, he’s still not a great eater. It’s not that he’s fussy with flavours, he just isn’t interested in food. Apart from bananas – loves bananas!

Anyway, regardless of the fact that Braxton didn’t eat these, hopefully your babies will. And if they don’t, do what I did and eat them yourself!

They are so nutritious and full of perfect ingredients for babies.

Ingredients

2 peppers (I used red and yellow), very finely chopped
About 4 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
2 tin / carton organic kidney beans
1 cup tomatoes, blended
Juice of half a lime
Handful coriander, chopped
Handful parsley, chopped
Pinch of ground black pepper
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of Himalayan salt (omit for young babies or if you don’t want any salt in there)
Tbsp ground cumin
Tsp turmeric
Tsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup cornmeal

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

Roast the peppers on a baking tray.

Cook and mash the potatoes then add them to a bowl with the kidney beans and mash, leaving some small lumps.

In a small separate bowl, combine the tomatoes with all the spices and nutritional yeast. Mixing the spices in the tomatoes helps liquid spread them evenly in the burger mix.

Add the tomato mixture to the potato mixture then add in the roasted peppers and mix well until everything is combined well and the batter is thick, sticky paste (a good couple of minutes or so). It will seem a bit moist, but thats fine. Add the cornmeal and mix into the batter until well mixed.

Put the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes then shape into patties on a lined baking tray using a spoon and press down and bake for 25 minutes. Then flip them. They’ll still be a bit tender at this point, so flip gently, but will firm up much more by the end. After flipping, cook them 10 more minutes on the other side. Let cool 10 minutes before eating, as they will firm up even more. They should be crispy on outside and slightly moist and chewy on inside.

These freeze really well. Just par bake for 25 minutes then freeze. Then cook for 20 minutes once out of the freezer.

Thanks to Deepa for this one!

Love & health,
Lauren

Easy Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

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Looking for on-the-go snacks for those mornings when you wake up late and don’t want to feel guilty about sending the kids off without a good breakfast ? This is what you need! These muffins are a great way to start the morning as they are gluten free, wheat free, grain free, refined sugar free, dairy free and egg free. They are full of yummy plant-based goodness and slow-releasing energy, and they’re also great for baby-led weaning. Oh, and they’re super easy to make!

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Ingredients: (makes around 7 muffins – if you need more, just double the mixture)

3 small ripe bananas (2 if large)
¼ cup maple syrup
3 tbsp coco palm sugar
2 generous tbsp. peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup almond milk
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch Himalayan salt
Big handful of blueberries

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tin with about 7/8 muffin cases.

Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.

Once mixed, add the blueberries and mix, distributing them evently.

Spoon mixture into the prepared muffin cases, about 2/3 of the way up.

Bake in the oven for around 18 minutes or until the tops are golden and a fork comes out clean.

Love & health,
Lauren

Coconut Superfood Porridge

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coconut-superfood-porridge

My poor bubba isn’t feeling too well today and has gone off his food. We do a superfood smoothie every morning but thought I’d try and give him something warmer to see if he liked it and although porridge is a funny old texture, especially if you’re not feeling well, he really enjoyed it.

I just shoved a load of superfoods in there to help his immune system (and mine), and I also heated the blueberries a bit so they were warm and squidgy, and for someone who isn’t the biggest porridge fan, I was pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients

1/3 cup organic rolled oats
2/3 cup purified water
5-6 tbsp almond milk
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 banana, sliced
1 tbsp almond or hazelnut butter
Desiccated coconut
Hemp powder
Maca powder
Handful blueberries
Pumpkin seeds
Acacia honey or maple (optional)

Method

Add the oats, water, almond milk, coconut oil and half the sliced banana to a saucepan and heat gently, until it goes creamy.

At the same time, put the blueberries in a small saucepan with a tablespoon or two of water and heat gently.

Back to the oats; add the nut butter and stir until it is incorporated.

Once ready, after around 5-7 mins, transfer to a bowl.

Top with the rest of the banana, spoonful of maca, spoonful of hemp, sprinkling of pumpkin seeds, sprinkling of desiccated coconut and the blueberries and if you like it sweet, drizzle some maple or honey over the top.

Love & health,
Lauren

 

Vegan Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

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Crunchy, yet slightly gooey peanut butter cookies. What could be better?

Braxton has decided he’s on hunger strike at the moment so I’m trying to find just anything that he’ll eat and I made these in the hope that he’d like them and he did, he was very happy. Now just to get him to eat broccoli…

We are also going away soon and I wanted to test out new things that I can take as snacks on the plane. Muffins always go down well but I thought that some harder cookies would also make a nice (and less messy) snack. Trying to figure out 24 hours worth of food and snacks for a 14 month old is no easy feat!

Anyway I kind of just threw the ingredients for these together but they turned out so delicious, I’m really happy with them.

Of course, as usual, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined-sugar free and vegan.

Ingredients

125g buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch Himalayan salt
45g coconut palm sugar
60ml maple syrup
5 tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
4 tbsp coconut oil and extra for greasing
5 tbsp peanut butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper and grease with coconut oil.

In a bowl, mix together the buckwheat flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt.

In a saucepan over a gentle heat, add the rest of the ingredients except the peanut butter, and heat gently until melted.

Once melted, add the peanut butter and stir until it’s softer.

Once that mixture is smooth, add it to the dry mixture. You might have to get in there with your hands as it could get a little crumbly. If it is too crumbly and won’t stick, add more coconut oil, maple and almond milk, but not too much.

Take a small amount in your hand and roll into a ball shape, then flatten it on the prepared baking tray. Repeat until you finish the mixture.

Bake for 7 minutes. They should look golden around the edge but still white-ish in the middle as they will continue to harden when they come out the oven.

Leave to cool before removing from the trays and keep in an airtight container in a cool place.

Love & health,
Lauren

Rose, Cardamom & Pecan Breakfast Muffins

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I know the title might suggest that there are a lot of ingredients in these that you may not have and that they are hard to make but they are super easy and also, you don’t even need to use rose and cardamom if you don’t want… you could just have them plain, they would be just as tasty. I just loved the rose and cardamom combination that Raine and I made for our original honey cakes, flavours inspired by my Moroccan upbringing, so thought I’d try them in the muffins.

These are gluten free, dairy free and refined-sugar free so totally perfect as a snack for your little ones. Braxton LOVED these when they came out the oven this morning!

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
2 eggs, free-range organic
5 tbsp coconut oil, melted
150ml water, room temperature
Quarter cup almond milk (or oat, rice, coconut or any other nut milk)
250g maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
130g buckwheat flour
130g brown rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch Himalayan salt
The seeds from 10 cardamom pods
1 tbsp rose water
Pecans to top

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.

Mash the bananas in a large bowl.

Whisk the eggs with a fork in a separate bowl then add this to the bananas.

Add the water, maple, almond milk and vanilla and whisk with a fork until smooth.

Sift both flours, baking powder and bicarb into the big bowl, followed by the cinnamon and salt and mix until totally incorporated.

De-seed the cardamoms and add the seeds to the mixture, followed by the rose water.

Mix well then add the mixture to each individual muffin case, about 3/4 of the way to leave room for rising. Top with a pecan if desired.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden and a fork comes out clean.

Love & health,
Lauren

Blueberry Coconut Oat Bars

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This morning I had a bee in my bonnet about wanting to make a less stodgy version of my blueberry porridge bars (not that stodge is bad, I just wanted something a bit crunchier this time!) and I happened to stumble across a recipe for exactly what I was looking for when I was scrolling through my Instagram (@theorganicspoon) courtesy of Baby Led Feeding.

They have more ingredients than the porridge bars but they are a bit more like flapjacks of some sort and made a nice change. Great to take out as a snack for the kids. Have packaged mine up ready to take out to the park with us this morning.

Ingredients

180g oats
140g buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
40g desiccated coconut
120g coconut oil
2 bananas mashed
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

280g blueberries
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon chia seeds

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180ºC
  2. Heat the coconut oil gently in a saucepan and leave to cool.
  3. Add the oats, flour, baking powder and 3/4 of the desiccated coconut to a bowl. Give it a good stir then make a well in the middle and add in the coconut oil, bananas, maple syrup, egg and vanilla. Make sure the coconut oil is cooled first otherwise it will cook the egg. Stir well until it is fully combined and has formed into a dough.
  4. Line a square silicone baking tin with parchment paper then pour in 3/4’s of the mixture, then press it down with a spoon.
  5. Make the blueberry compote by adding the blueberries and water to a saucepan. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to low and using a wooden spoon or masher, mash until they have broken apart, then add the chia seeds and give it a good stir.
  6. Pour the blueberry compote over the oat mixture, then dollop over the remaining mixture in small clumps until it is gone.
  7. Sprinkle over the remaining desiccated coconut then bake for 15 minutes.
  8. Cool fully before removing from the oven then slice into small baby bites and serve.

Love & health,
Lauren & Braxton

Golden Linseed Oat Cookies – Full of Omega-3 and Great for Baby Led Weaning

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As you all know by now, I usually make sure to make a batch of something sweet but healthy once a week (ish!) so that I don’t have to give Braxton anything processed or filled with sugar. I don’t give him sweet things every day (apart from fruit), but I do like to give him things like this every few days now he’s nearly 1. It keeps him quiet for 5 minutes, that’s for sure! 🙂 But the main point is that I like to make sure I fill any snacks I make with superfoods.

Making cookies like these is a great way to be able to add things like linseeds, which are a great vegetarian source of the Omega 3 essential fatty acid, Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA). Our bodies can’t make ALA, so it is ‘essential’ that we get them from our diet. These essential fatty acids also have anti-inflammatory properties, so aside from making sure he gets essential fatty acids in his diet, I’m also giving him anti-inflammatory properties which, in our situation, is imperative.

Suffice to say these were very well received! Soft on the inside, slightly crisp on the outside and easy for Brax to chew. Sweet but not too sweet and of course, free of gluten, wheat, dairy, refined sugar or eggs.

Ingredients (makes 12 cookies)

1 cup ground almonds
1 ½ cups organic rolled oats
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch Himalayan salt
5 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
4 tbsp almond butter
¼ cup almond milk
1 tbsp golden linseeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c and line 2 baking trays with baking paper and grease with coconut oil.

Mix all the dry ingredients, except for the linseeds, in a bowl.

Add all the wet ingredients to the blender and blend until combined.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the linseeds and mix.

Form into balls with your hands and press down on them on the prepared baking trays and bake for 10 minutes.

Put the baking sheets with the cookies on them on a wire rack or on top of some towels on the work surface (the surface they cool on shouldn’t be cold) to cool away from the heat of the baking trays so they don’t crisp up too much. Once cool put in an airtight container.

Love & health,
Lauren

Vegan Chickpea ‘Omlette’ – Baby Led Weaning

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chickpea-omlette

Thank you to my friend Deepa at GirlBoyFoodBaby for this one. She’s always coming up with awesome vegetarian baby-led weaning ideas and this is one I really loved. Full of all the nutrients Braxton needs and so easy to make. I changed it just a little bit but the idea is all Deepa’s!

Ingredients

¼ cup chickpea flour
¼ cup quinoa flour
Cup purified water
Splash of almond milk
Bit of grated ginger
Handful spinach
Half a red pepper, cut in small pieces
A few mushrooms, cut in small pieces
Handful cherry tomatoes, cut in small pieces
Handful coriander, shopped
Mixed herbs
Coconut oil for frying

Method

Add the flour to a bowl and add the water slowly until a thick batter forms. You may not need to add it all, you may need more. Just assess it depending on the thickness.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.

Heat the oil in a pan and when hot, add a patty sized amount and fry on one side for about 3 minutes then flip and do the other side. Continue until you use up all the batter.

Serve with homemade turmeric hummus and avocado.

Love & health,
Lauren & Braxton

Summer Berry Smoothie

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summer-berry-smoothie

This is basically the same as the summer berry smoothie bowl but this is more of a smoothie than an ice cream. It is our go-to breakfast most mornings, for me and Braxton, I just spoon-feed it to him. When there are no berries we just use banana and the other ingredients and it’s a great way of getting daily superfoods into us.

The Autumn is about to start so trying to get as many berries in while I can!

Ingredients

250ml almond milk (or oat, rice or coconut milk)
1 banana
Handful strawberries
Handful blueberries
1 banana
Handful redcurrants or any other summer berries you have
2 dates
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tsp acai berry powder
1 tsp maca powder
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp flax seeds
1 tsp hemp powder
2 ice cubes

Method

Blend all ingredients in the blender and pour into a cup – literally easier than making toast!

Love & health,
Lauren

Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes

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Buckwheat Maca Pancakes

Sunday mornings should really be all about pancakes, and my baby boy deserves the best! Such a great baby-led weaning food as it’s so easy for them to hold and feed themselves. This recipe uses only healthy, natural ingredients so it’s still full of nutrients, especially as I added a load of maca powder in there.

Braxton absolutely devoured these – and Daniel and I had no problem polishing them off!

I topped it with some almond butter and homemade chocolate sauce but you can use anything you like.

 

Ingredients

2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 2 tbsp water)
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1.5 ripe bananas
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 cup almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
Coconut oil for cooking

Method

Make the flax eggs by mixing the flax seed with water in a small bowl and leaving it to the side.

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and wizz until smooth.

Heat some coconut oil in a pan and when hot, add a small ladle full of the mixture in a pancake shape. It will only need about a minute, then flip it and do another minute, or until you think it’s cooked through.

Continue until the mixture is finished.

 

Top with almond butter, homemade chocolate sauce or maple syrup (or all 3!)

Love & health,
Lauren