Dried fruit

I've been making dried fruit snacks for Ethan. The dried banana, pineapple, apple, pear and kiwifruit have been the most successful so far. Citrus takes a really, really long time to dehydrate and I don't think it's worth the effort. I use fresh orange juice on the pear, apple and banana to preserve the colour. I like it with lemon juice, but toddlers prefer the orange juice because it isn't so tangy!

Baby food recipe - Congee

This is a basic recipe for Chinese Congee but it has salt in it. You can cook a salt free version for babies. I add carrot, brocolli and peas. Ethan loves to pick out and eat the bright coloured vegetables. Sometimes he can be fussy so I like anything that persuades him that vegies are yummy. You can also add finely chopped chicken or fish meat. I have made this with short grain white rice or basmati rice. You can add a bit of brown rice for an extra nutritious version.

My friend Katherine makes Congee fresh daily, but I cheat and make a big batch and freeze it in little containers.