Carl Recipes

Basic Baby Porridge


Serving: 2 bowls | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes


Ingredients:
1/4 cup rice
3 cups water
3-4 oz sweet potato, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk, optional


Method:
Put the rice into a small pot and rinse with cold water a few times. Discard the cloudy water and add 3 cups of filtered water into the rice. Add the sweet potatoes and bring it to on medium heat. Lower the heat to simmer, cover the pot, and let cook for 45 minutes or until the rice breaks down completely. If using egg yolk, lightly beat the egg yolk and add to the porridge. Stir a few times, and let cook for about 1-2 minutes. Before serving, use a blender or stick blender to puree the porridge. Serve it cool to avoid burning your baby.


Deluxe Baby Porridge


Serving: 2 servings of 8 oz | Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 45 mins


Ingredients: 1/4 cup rice
3 cups water
3 oz protein (chicken, fish, pork, or beef)
1 oz sweet potato (orange-color), cut into small pieces
1 oz pumpkin or kabocha, cut into small pieces
1 or 2 dried scallops (removed after cooked)
1 tablespoon dried silver fish, rinsed
1 ring onion, cut into small pieces
3-4 broccoli florets or 3 wedges tomato
1 egg yolk


Method:
Put the rice into a small pot and rinse with cold water a few times. Discard the cloudy water and add 3 cups of filtered water into the rice. Add all the ingredients into the pot and bring it to bowl on medium heat. Lower the heat to simmer, cover the pot, and let cook for 45 minutes or until the rice breaks down completely. If using egg yolk, lightly beat the egg yolk and add to the porridge. Stir a few times, and let cook for about 1-2 minutes. Before serving, remove the dried scallops (you can eat them) before using a blender to puree the porridge. Serve it cool to avoid burning your baby.


Sweet Potato Puree Recipe


Ingredients:
4 oz sweet potato, finely diced
1 cup water


Method:
In a pot, bring the diced sweet potato and water to boil, for about 15 minutes or until it reaches the desired consistency that you like. If it’s too watery, boil longer. If it’s too thick, add some water.
The sweet potato should break down quite a bit after the boiling. If not, you can use the back of the spoon to mash the sweet potato to the desired texture. To make a silky smooth sweet potato puree, you can blend it with a blender. Let cool and serve.


Cook’s Notes:


If you have leftover sweet potato puree, transfer it to a container and freeze it. Thaw and reheat using the microwave when ready to feed.
In the United States, sweet potato is also labeled and marketed as yam. But this is not the yam (or taro) that is pale purple in color.




Avocado

When it comes to feeding Carl, nutrition is the most important factor that I consider. Babies need a lot of brain food, or so-called “super food” for their ever-developing brain. One super baby food is avocado, which is recommended by a renowned pediatrician Dr. William Sears. Avocado ranks #1 on his top ten list of fruits for babies because the nutritional value of avocado nutrition is excellent for a baby’s growing development…


Avocado has a lot of nutrients, considering its unattractive bumpy exterior: protein, fiber, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, zinc, Omega 3 fatty acids, monounsaturated fat (aka “good” fat), and the list goes on. Avocado is also a fatty fruit and high in calories, hence a great fruit if your baby is under weight. It’s good for babies 6 months and above. For easy feeding, I always use a baby spoon to scrape the flesh of the avocado. It’s so convenient and most importantly, my baby loves it.

To choose avocado, always look for the ones with dark green skin, which indicates the ripeness of the avocado. Many people don’t know how to open an avocado (don’t peel the skin!), so I have provided the easy step-by-step below:


How to Open an Avocado (click the gallery above for the step-by-step):

1. Cut the avocado in half, lengthwise around the seed. Cut deep until the knife touches the seed.
2. Twist and pull the two halves apart.
3. To remove the seed, stick the lower end of the knife into the seed. Twist the knife and the seed will pop out.