Weaning breakfasts for a CMPI baby - pancakes, porridge fingers and frittatas

That's a bit of a mouthful for a post title, but to coin a phrase, it does what it says on the tin. I've been asked a few times lately what I give Harry for breakfasts given his allergies (dairy and soya). These are our go-to baby led weaning breakfasts at the moment, so I thought I'd do a summary post as a kind of touch point for anyone looking for inspiration generally or for CMPI babies specifically.

Harry is still breastfed, but following an appointment with the paediatrician where he commented on how run down and exhausted I looked, it was suggested that I give myself a break and instead of expressing every day, supplement with nutramigen. Anyone who knows me will know that I railed against mixed feeding in hospital - I really wanted to exclusively breastfeed, but after 6 months something had to give and supplementing with one bottle a night, and using formula for Harry's food hasn't been the end of the world. I'm still a bit sad and wish things were different, but he's doing really well and that's what's important. Not what I want, what's best for him.

I am now completely dairy and soya free, and the formula we're using is Nutramigen which we get on prescription. Harry is still sick on the formula, but nothing like he was before I was dairy free and he's rarely sick on breastmilk now.

Anyway, onto meals. Breakfasts are my favourite meal to do for Harry. I tend to stick with porridge and fruit for my breakfast so it's nice to be a bit creative with his. We rotate his options as I try to keep things interesting for him. Yes, I know I'm probably overthinking this.

Easy breakfasts: 

• Toast (read the ingredients) with Pure spread
• Fruit bread (read the ingredients) with Pure spread
• Ready brek made up with Nutramigen and half a small banana mashed in

 Cooked breakfasts:

• Porridge fingers - I've already posted the recipe I use for these. Harry loves them. Loves feeding himself with them and seems to really enjoy the variations. I've done sultanas, blueberries, just banana, and spiced them with cinammon, sweet mixed spice, or a little nutmeg. Again, we're using Nutramigen for these.
• Pancakes - I've posted the recipe I use for these on Instagram but see below for the details
• Frittatas - these are completely dairy free, and I pop in whatever we have in the fridge, so little bits of chopped ham (obviously watch salt intake if you're using ham), or cooked mushrooms are Harry's favourites. If I had some peppers I'd lightly fry those too. Recipe to follow in the next post. I'll add the link here.

 Fruity additions:

•  Half a banana - I think that Harry's not always keen on the taste of banana, but likes holding it and chomping on it.
• Pear slices - with pear I make sure it's nice and ripe, and I leave the skin on so he can hold it as Harry doesn't eat the skin, just sort of sucks the pear away from it
• Apple slices - I tend to eat Granny Smiths, or if I can find them at this time of year, Russets - Harry likes both of these, but likes to suck and chomp on Granny Smiths when his teeth are hurting him.
• Lightly stewed mixes of any of the above, but left lumpy so he can feed himself if I pre-load the spoon.  If I'm stewing the fruit I tend to do so in a little water and add some chopped prunes as apples especially can be quite tart and as I know that Harry has a sensitive tummy I don't want to aggravate it. He loves anything with prunes in!

Baby breakfast pancakes

I make a batch of these (around 11 from this much mix) at a time and freeze them, separated by squares of greaseproof paper so that I can grab one in the morning and pop it in the microwave to defrost while I drink my coffee and Harry and I have a little play.

For this recipe you will need: 

1 mug - any mug will do, but you need to use the same one
Frying pan - I use a non-stick one
Spatula
Whisk/ beaters/ stick blender

1 mug self raising flour
1 mug oat/ almond milk or your babies formula/ breastmilk
1 apple or pear grated
1 egg

In a big bowl, add the flour, milk, grated fruit and egg
Whisk together until bubbly
Put your non stick pan on the heat (I spray with fry light to get it started) and when warm add 2 tablespoons or so of mixture. I can fit three pancakes of this size in my pan
Cook until the top is bubbly, then use your spatula to flip them over, and again cook until bubbly.
I often cook each side again for a minute or so to make sure they're cooked through

Variations - we've added blueberries, slices of banana, and sultanas all with success.

Porridge fingers for big and small people

 

Porridge fingers are a well known Baby Led weaning staple. I think the recipe is from the book I don't have, the Gill Rapley one? Harry loves them - as with the fish cakes, I think he likes the control of feeding himself and porridge fingers enable him to do just that. 

Small person Porridge fingers

3 tablespoons porridge oats

3 tablespoons breast milk/ formula

1/2 banana mashed up 

Pinch of cinnamon/ sweet mixed spice

Mix up the porridge with the milk, mashed banana and spice. Pop in the microwave for 2 minutes and then leave on the worktop/ window ledge to cool. 

Slice into pieces and let your baby feed himself. 

M's been working very long days of late, leaving super early and as such was finding he was hungry well before lunchtime despite eating first thing. I had planned to make some slow-cooker porridge for him so that he could have something hot and substantial before leaving, but he's always in a bit of a rush in the mornings, so I think this suits him more easily as it's a grap and go option. 

There's a bit more to them than there is to Harry's - but as an on-the-go option they're excellent. Portable and adaptable depending on what you want and link in the middle.  

These are obviously dairy free, but you could substitue normal milk where I've used almond and normal butter where I've used peanut butter. Similarly you could switch out the banana for dried fruit, the cinammon for any dried spices. I'm sure if you're being healthy these wouldn't object to chia seeds or similar being added.

Big person porridge fingers

2 and a half cups of porridge oats

1/2 cup of milled flasxeed

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 and a half cups almond milk

1/2 cup golden or maple syrup or runny honey

2 tablespoons peanut butter (the unsweetened type - I use Meridian)

1 banana, sliced

1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a brownie tin with parchment

Blitz half the oats in a food processor until they're really fine

Mix up the dry ingredients in a big bowl - porridge oats, flaxseed, cinnamon, baking powder and salt

Mix up the wet ingredients in a jug - almond milk, syrup, peanut butter, and vanilla. Whisk up

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix thoroughly

Stir in the sliced banana

Pour into the baking tin and cook for around half an hour - you want the bars to bounce back under your fingers when they're cooked through

Leave to cool then slice into squares - this made about 12 for us. Store in an airtight tin.

When you want to eat them, slice in half horizontally and spread honey, jam, chocolate spread, speculoos spread - really your options are endless...

Easy breakfasts with Easiyo and Special K

 I struggle with breakfast, since falling pregnant I've completely gone off eggs, have always been a fussy mare about cereal, and can only face porridge when I'm in the mood. Yet, more than ever it's important to maintain a stable blood sugar and eat well. Over the winter I've toyed with avocado, tomatoes or peanut butter and banana on toast - good if the pb is sugar free. It's safe to say that even good sourdough does not do it for me anymore.

Last week I surprisingly (because I never win anything ever) won an Easiyo starter kit from Lakeland. To say I was excited is an understatement. I said I never win anything, and sooner than you could say 'what are you actually going to do with a litre of yoghurt' I had it measured, shaken and on the worktop, counting eagerly on my fingers to work out when it would be done.  Making yoghurt is so easy, it keeps brilliantly and is a perfect breakfast.

 

However a bowl of yoghurt, whilst ticking the 'good for you' box (and to my midwife's eternal relief getting that baby some calcium) isn't the world's most exciting start to the day. And this is where Special K comes in - they contacted me recently asking if I wanted to try some of their granola. And by jove I'm glad I did. Not too sweet, wonderfully crunchy and when mixed in with that home made yoghurt and some fruit, a breakfast that ticks all my boxes.

Excuse this photo - I was at the end of the packet (it's really that good) - normally the granola is much more clustery (it's a word)

What are your go to breakfasts at the moment?

If you want to see photos of step by step yoghurt making, or shots of breakfasts, be sure to pop on over to Instagram and follow me there. 

With thanks to Special K for the granola samples. All opinions are my own.

Simple summer essentials: How do you solve a problem like overripe fruit?

This is the last post in the Simple Summer Essentials series - it's been fun planning, prepping and cooking my way through the fruit and vegetables that Asda kindly sent me. Such a lovely selection of seasonal produce that has really lifted and inspired me over the past couple of weeks.

One of the things I find with the soft fruits that summer brings is that they ripen too fast. I have an ongoing battle with nectarines and plums, hard as rocks one day and complete and utter smush the next. There is no logic! But being the thrifty cook and blogger that I am I do a couple of things I wanted to share with you how I prolong the life of soft fruit, and then how I use it when it's just tipped over that past it's best peak. 

First off ditch the plastic! get rid of that plastic wrap, and instead I gently lay kitchen towel on top. Now I'm not sure as to the science behind this, but fruit releases gasses as it ripens and by absorbing these the kitchen towel stops the fruit ripening too fast. Now this may be an old wives tale - I wasn't particularly good at paying attention during science classes, but I would swear that it does in fact work.

Note from M, the resident scientist: he thinks it's letting the gasses escape but stopping light get to the fruit and so slowing ripening? Your suggestions on a postcard please...

The second part of ditching the plastic is to also get rid of the box.  I'm old enough to remember when fruit came in cardboard punnets, with no cellophane wrapper. Soft fruits last much longer out of the plastic that supermarkets sell them in.

Now, when fruit has moved into the overripe territory I mush it up, adding a bit of lemon or lime juice and stir it into yoghurt - for me, normally 0% fat greek style. This then makes a fantastic pudding, or breakfast. If I'm having it for pudding I'll add a pinch of vanilla extract. it doesn't need any sweetener, is plenty sweet enough the way it is. 

The other thing to do is to turn it into a fruit fool - I did this with frozen berries regularly a few years back - but it would be just as effective and tasty with some overripe soft fruits. 

Check back tomorrow for a round up of my Simple summer essentials, and your chance to win £50 of Asda vouchers.

Meal Planning Monday: The healing edition

After last week's slightly incoherent, rambly post about the ills of hospital food, I'm still at home and slowly getting back to full strength. I'm hoping to go back to work next week, but have to get checked out by the doctor to say that's OK first. Consequently this week features a lot of comfort food, as demanded both by the weather and by the slowly healing system of this poorly person.

Breakfasts are 0% Total Greek yoghurt with some lightly stewed eating apples that I cooked down this evening with about 100g of sultanas soaked in orange juice and zest. I'm planning on making some granola to add some crunch - apparently crunchy foods increase serotonin and I've been craving them since my release last week.

Lunches for me are another batch of Nigella's split pea and frankfurter soup, with a good spoonful of lazy chilli stirred through.

Dinners, as I say are full on comfort food. It's not so much about calories, but about needing that soothing unctuousness that comfort food provides. M has work and Welsh this week so I'm getting the slow cooker back out for a hearty, warming casserole:

Monday: Toad in the hole, mashed potatoes and vegetables

Tuesday: Chicken and sweet leek pie with vegetables- cauliflower and spring greens I think

Wednesday: Chicken, butternut squash and barley casserole - I'll blog this as it's a long standing recipe I've been using for years that doesn't seem to have made the blog as yet

Thursday: Leftover casserole

Friday: Apparently I said we'd find out when we got there which means my brain was addled after thinking up four dinners. The fact that I just had to ask M this is evidence that I really am not on form yet.

I should be getting beetroot in my veg box tomorrow so M has requested Jenny's Beetroot chocolate cake, and I have a bit of a craving (is it the crunch again?) for Eccles cakes, so will be breaking out my t&t Delia recipe. 

I've promised M a roast on Sunday as he's at archery in the morning, so will either do the slow roast pork from the other week, or go steady on the cauliflower in the week and do roast beef and cauliflower cheese. Oh I think I've just decided! Beef it is, with a mustardy crust. Yum.