Most babies become familiar with the taste of simple fruit and vegetable purées within a few weeks of starting weaning and then it’s time to move on to:
Puréed meat or chicken
Purées of rice, very soft cooked pasta
Full-fat dairy products such as fromage frais, yoghurt, and small amounts of cheese in meals
Your growing baby will also welcome meals that are more textured and chewy than the smooth purées you prepared at the start of weaning so use your Braun Multiquick hand blender to purée food on slower speeds and for shorter times to provide a thicker, chewier texture. Chewing food helps the muscles of the mouth to develop and this in turn can help your baby’s speech development.
Although breast or formula milk remains an important part of a small baby’s diet, by this stage the quantity of solids will be increasing and three meals a day will be taken. By now most babies like well cooked, soft pasta pieces. Puréed sauces are also particular favourites and go well with so many other vegetables.
By around 8 months, babies are happy holding food and love ‘finger foods’ like sticks of soft fruits and cooked vegetables. Roasted vegetable sticks are especially tasty. Remember children must be supervised at all times when eating in case of choking.
Does it have to be organic?
Some mums prefer to offer only organic meals, others mix and match. It all depends on what you want to eat and what you can afford. Whatever you choose, it is important to make sure you wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly and observe good standards of hygiene in
Spinach potato purée
Makes approx. 400 g / 4-8 portions Cooking time: approx. 20 mins
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
40 g leek 1 potato, peeled
175 ml water
60 g fresh baby spinach, washed and stalks removed
Preparation
Cut the leek into chunks and chop it in the chopper accessory.
Stew the leek in vegetable oil until soft.
Cut the potato into pieces, and then add to softened leek.
Pour on water, then bring to boil, cover and simmer for 6 mins.
Add spinach and cook for 3 mins.
Allow the mixture to cool and place in the beaker, then purée using the MultiQuick 5 Baby hand blender.
Beef potato carrot purée
Makes approx. 400 g / 8-10 portions Cooking time: 60 mins
Ingredients
200 g beef steak, cubed
2 tsp olive oil
1 carrot peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
250 ml water
Preparation
Place the beef in a pot with a small amount of water and cook for 30 mins until almost tender.
Place the oil in the pot and add the carrots, potatoes and water, stir and bring to the boil. Then, reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently until the beef and vegetables are tender.
Purée in the pot using your MultiQuick 5 Baby hand blender until you achieve the required texture for your baby.
Makes approx. 450 g / 3-4 portions Cooking time: 60 mins
Ingredients
200 g cauliflower, washed
20 g butter
2 dessertspoons of plain flour
200 ml milk
40 g grated medium hard cheese such as cheddar, gruyere or gouda
Preparation
Divide cauliflower into small florets and either boil or steam for 10-12 mins.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by melting the butter in a small pot, stirring in flour to make a smooth paste, adding milk and stirring until thickened.
Remove pot from heat and stir in the grated cheese. Add cauliflower and purée in the pot using your MultiQuick 5 Baby hand blender.
Turkey potato purée
Makes approx. 300 g / 4 portions Cooking time: 30 mins
Ingredients
100 g turkey, finely diced
100 g potato, diced
100 g carrots, cut into pieces
1 tsp vegetable oil
water for processing
Preparation
Cook the turkey in a pot in a small amount of water for 20 mins until almost tender.
Place the potatoes and the carrots in the pot and add water as needed for the processing.
Add one teaspoon of vegetable oil.
Once the turkey, potatoes and carrots are tender, blend using your MultiQuick 5 Baby hand blender until a fine purée is obtained.
Cod carrot and potato purée
Makes 1 serving Prep time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 15 mins
Ingredients
100 g carrots, peeled
50 g potatoes, peeled
180 ml water
25 g cod loin, ready to cook
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
Preparation
Cut the carrots and potatoes into small pieces and place in a suitable pot with the water (180 ml) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Check the cod for bones, add to the vegetable mixture, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Allow to cool and add to the beaker along with the rapeseed oil and apple sauce and purée into a consistent mixture using the MultiQuick 5 Baby hand blender.
Tip You could also use other fish such as redfish, pollack or plaice. All of these are rich in iodine. It is important that you carefully check for any bones and remove them.
Apricot purée
Makes 2 servings Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 10 mins
Ingredients
3 apricots
3 tbsp water
Pinch of cinnamon
Preparation
Wash the apricots, cut in half, remove the pit, place into a small pot with the water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 3 minutes.
Transfer everything to the beaker, season with a pinch of cinnamon and purée with the MultiQuick 5 Baby hand blender.
Tip You could also use apples, plums or peaches in place of the apricots. You should mix this purée with porridge until the 10th month.
Banana rusk purée
Makes 1 serving Prep time: 3 minutes
Ingredients
1 rusk (12 g)
75 g peeled banana
2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
½ tsp rapeseed oil
Preparation
Place the rusk and banana in large chunks into the MultiQuick 5 Baby MQ 20 chopper accessory.
Add the orange juice and rapeseed oil and purée into a consistent mixture with the MultiQuick 5 Baby MQ 20 chopper accessory.
Transfer to a bowl with the spatula and feed to your baby.
Oat milk purée with blueberries
Makes 1 serving Prep time: 4 minutes
Ingredients
20 g oats
200 ml whole milk, 3.5% fat
20 g blueberries
Preparation
Use the MultiQuick 5 Baby MQ 20 chopper accessory to finely grind the oats. Bring the oat meal to a boil with the milk, then reduce the heat and allow to absorb for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Rinse the blueberries and finely chop in the MultiQuick 5 Baby MQ 20 chopper accessory. In the beaker, purée the oatmeal and blueberries into a consistent mixture with the MultiQuick 5 Baby hand blender.
Transfer to a bowl with the spatula and feed to your baby.
Tip You can also use infant formula in the place of cow’s milk. To do so, prepare with water and stir the appropriate amount of milk powder into the hot purée.
Pear buckwheat purée
Makes 1-2 servings Prep time: 6 minutes Cooking time: 4 mins
Ingredients
25 g buckwheat
100 ml water
100 g pears, peeled and cored
1 tsp rapeseed oil
Preparation
Use the MultiQuick 5 Baby MQ 20 chopper accessory to finely grind the buckwheat. Bring the buckwheat meal to a boil with the water, then reduce the heat and allow to absorb for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
First cut the pears into chunks and then chop into smaller pieces in the MultiQuick 5 Baby MQ 20 chopper accessory. Then add the cooked buckwheat meal and rapeseed oil and purée into a consistent mixture.
Transfer to a bowl with the spatula and feed to your baby.
Stage 4
Getting more adventurous - From around 9 until 12 months
