Mixed Vegetable and Spinach Soup

Here is another nutritious soup for the kids and even adults with a mix of all vegetables and healthy spinach. Usually kids don’t like the vegetables floating in the soup so pureeing it to a smooth paste becomes easy to feed them. You can omit cheese if your child does not like it. Also, you can add all different types of vegetables to this. Milo is particular about Anaya eating her share of vegetables. To ensure this I made this soup for her and I am going to make it often. At first she did not like the sweet-sour taste of the soup… but once her taste buds got used to the taste she wanted more… To entertain her while she enjoyed the soup I recited the “Soup Story” to her… The story was nothing more than the method to make the soup :-). She seemed to have enjoyed the story and before I could realize she had slurped the entire bowl of soup…  So here is the recipe of Mixed Vegetable and Spinach Soup.

Ingredients-

1 tbsp chopped onion,

1 tbsp chopped tomatoes,

1 tbsp carrot,

1 tbsp chopped French beans,

½ tbsp fresh green peas,

1 tbsp chopped cabbage,

1 tbsp chopped spinach,

1 tsp ghee,

1 small cube of cheese,

A pinch of ground pepper

 Method-

Heat ghee in a pan and lightly toss onion, tomatoes, carrot, French beans, green peas, cabbage and spinach for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add sufficient water and allow the vegetables to cook.

Once cooled, blend it to a smooth paste.

Mix in grated cheese, little salt and pepper and cook till cheese melts. Serve warm.

Mashed Cheesy Potatoes

Here is a very simple mid meal snack I made for Anaya the other day. I started giving her cheese at the age of one. She likes to eat cheese, so I thought of mixing it with potatoes to make it more filling. You can also add shredded vegetables to this to make it healthier.

Above is the picture of Mashed Cheesy Potatoes with Anaya’s favorite , Mr. Sponge.

Ingredients-

1 small boiled peeled and mashed potato,

1 small cheese cube,

1 cup milk,

A pinch of pepper powder,

A pinch of salt

Method-

Blend mashed potato, milk and grated cheese well with a spoon.

Allow it to cook on a slow flame by stirring continuously. (approx 3 to 4 minutes)

Add salt and pepper.

Add more milk if it becomes too thick.

Chicken Veggie Soup

I made this broth for Anaya on last Sunday. She liked it and drank a bowl full of it. This was the first time I introduced chicken in her diet. She is 10.5 months now.

 Ingredients-

1 small piece of boneless chicken,

1 tsp finely chopped onion,

1 tsp finely chopped tomatoes,

1 tsp finely chopped carrot,

1 tsp finely chopped French beans,

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped,

A pinch of turmeric powder,

A pinch of garam masala powder,

A pinch of pepper powder,

½ tsp ghee/butter,

Salt,

2 cups water

Method-

Fry garlic, onion, tomatoes, carrot and French beans in ghee for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add turmeric powder, chicken, garam masala, pepper powder, salt and water.

Cover and cook till the chicken is done.

Mash the chicken entirely in the broth. Strain and serve.

Khichadi

I try to give my daughter a taste of everything. She eats plain dal rice with little ghee for dinner. For a change I prepare this khichadi for her. I add a pinch of garam masala powder to this just for her to develop the taste. You can gradually increase the quantity of garam masala depending on how much your child can handle. Once it is cooked I mash it up well with a spoon and feed her. If your child can chew food well then no need to mash it up and also you can reduce the water and make it little grainy. I started giving this to her when she was 8 months old. You can add all different types of vegetables to it to make it more nutritious.

Ingredients –

3 tsp rice,

1.5 tsp moong dal,

1 tsp finely chopped onion,

1.5 tsp finely chopped tomato,

1 french bean finely chopped,

 1 very small piece of carrot finely chopped,

3 to 4 fresh or frozen green peas,

5 to 6 seeds of cumin,

Small pinch of hing,

Small pinch of turmeric,

Small pinch of garam masala powder,

½ tsp ghee,

Salt to taste,

½ cup water (4 times the quantity of rice).

Method –

Wash and drain rice and dal.

Heat ghee and fry cumin seeds.

Add onion, tomato and all the vegetables, hing, turmeric, garam masala powder.

Stir for a few seconds and mix the washed rice and dal with these vegetables. Add water and salt. Stir well.

Keep this utensil in the cooker and let it cook for 2 whistles.

Fish Broth

I love to cook for my 9 months old daughter. I enjoy watching her eat new food. She likes to eat fish, so we see to it that we give her fish on every Sunday. We introduced fish in her diet when she was 6 months old. Till now we have given her only white fish as it is a little easy to digest. Be very careful about deboning the fish when feeding.

Ingredients –

I piece of any white fish (I have used lady fish in this recipe),

1 small clove garlic,

1 tsp finely chopped onion,

1 tsp finely chopped tomatoes,

1 pinch pepper powder,

½ tsp butter/ghee,

1 pinch turmeric,

1 cup water,

Salt to taste

 Method –

Clean the fish and apply very little salt and turmeric and keep it aside for 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat butter/ghee in a small pan. Fry finely chopped garlic, onion and tomatoes for ½ a minute.

All 1 cup water to this, add the fish, pepper powder and adjust salt. Let it boil till fish gets cooked completely.

Allow it to cool and debone the fish and put the pieces back in the broth. Mash it up lightly and serve warm.