Cooking for our little ones is one of the most satisfying activities, isn’t it? But here’s a confession, there have been days when I couldn’t provide her with nutritious meals due to my busy schedule and trust me, I used to feel extremely guilty about it. I’m pretty sure there’re many mothers who are going through the same.

There’s a famous quote by Bill Gates where he says, “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”

I’m that lazy person :p

Here are a few baby food recipes for moms of 6-12 month old babies out there! These recipes are very quick and easy, just make sure you you do your pre-preparation and planning right.

If you’re a new mom, I’d urge you to to read my article on introduction to solids (click here) to get your facts correct before you start. Also, to read my take on baby-led weaning, click here.

Before we start, here are some guidelines for you:

1. Make sure that your recipe has at least 2-3 food groups.

2. Avoid processed and packaged foods, no matter now fancy the packaging may be.

3. Your child doesn’t need sweetness or salt in his food. Try to avoid that too.

4. Dal water, rice water or basically anything just boiled in water is not a healthy option!

Let’s delve straight into the recipes now!

Age: 6-7 months (Puréed to soft mashed foods)

1. Ragi apple/mango porridge:

Boil apple and grind it into a paste. For mangoes, you can just peel and grind it.

Take some ghee and lightly roast ragi. Add this purée and gently stir it. Add some water to make a thick paste! And voila, it’s ready

2. Sweet potato and strawberry purée

Boil and grind sweet potato with fresh strawberries until a thick creamy paste is formed. My girl loved this!

3. Beet root, banana and berries smoothie

Take boiled and chopped beet root, add sliced bananas, a few berries of your choice and some homemade curd. Blend all of this together and serve.

4. Chickoo Sheera

This was my girl’s absolute favourite. Sauté some rava in ghee, add puréed Chickoo and water. And it’s ready! You can try this with mangoes too.

Age: 7-10 months (Semi-solids to solids)

By 7.5 months, my girl was eating pretty much all solids that we did. We had a smooth transition because she loved eating on her own and showed interest in what we ate.

1. Mashed Cutlets/kebabs

I remember, this was my go-to food for a long time because she used to love kebabs

Boil potatoes and chicken (or soya nuggets/pulse of your choice). You can add blanched spinach too. Mix it all and add some lemon, finely minced onion and cumin seeds. Mix it all and dip in egg (or rawa) and shallow fry. Mash if needed or give small bite size pieces to your baby.

2. Roti porridge

Take 1-2 chapatis and chop them into small pieces. Take some ghee in a vessel, sauté cumin seeds and finely chopped onions. Add some ginger garlic paste. Then add chapattis and turmeric powder to it. Once soft, add some fresh curd and voila! It’s done.

3. Vegetable Paneer khichadi

Take dal and rice in equal amounts and soak. First, take ghee in a pressure cooker. Sauté cumin seeds and add chopped onions and tomatoes. Chop a mix of veggies and paneer and add to it. Then add rice and dal and allow it to cook in until soft.

4. Oats Upma

Lightly roasted and grind instant oats. In a wok, add ghee/oil and your regular Upma ingredients like onion, tomatoes etc. Then add oats and sauté, until it’s slightly cooked. Once done, add water, cover with a lid and cook until ready.

Age: 10-12 months (Solids)

1. Instant Coconut Idlis

Mix rava and curd in equal amounts. Add desiccated coconut (easily available) or you can use fresh ground coconut too. You can also add finely grated carrots to add some colour to it. Add optimum water until the required consistency is obtained. Place in an Idli maker and steam until done.

2. Spinach Cheela

Blanch and grind spinach. Mix it with besan (chana flour). Add water, cumin seeds powder and turmeric to it. Spread like a dosa and keep flipping until both the sides are well cooked. Grate some cottage cheese (paneer) on it and give small bite size pieces to your baby. (Can be made with moong dal too).

3. Mango, papaya and dates smoothie

Chop and grind mango, papaya and dates with a little curd and water. You’ll get a smoothie which serves as great evening snack for babies.

4. Chickpea and egg yolk patties

Soak, boil and grind chickpea. In a grinder, mix it with a clove, cumin seeds, lemon and boiled egg yolk (optional). You’ll get a smooth textured thick paste after blending them together. Add chopped coriander leaves to it. Make small flat balls and shallow fry them until well cooked.

(P.S. use just egg yolk and not the white until your baby is a year old)

Hope you found these recipes useful! Please subscribe to be notified whenever I post an article! 🙂

Have a great day and happy parenting!

Love,

Elina

(P.S. Images are for representation purposes only)