H and I made these little baked custards a few months ago.  They are perfect for babies from 12 months old.  So easy to make and sweetened slightly with maple syrup.  For babies under 12 months omit the maple syrup. We moved house over a month ago now and I am yet to have the internet connected –…

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BRIGHTON BEACH, MELBOURNE

    BRIGHTON BEACH, MELBOURNE

I was searching the web looking for a pair of sun glasses for Little Big H and came across Babiators.com.  They have the coolest sunglasses for babies and young children.  I thought they wouldn’t stand a chance but they are flexible enough to withstand being bent out of shape and Little Big H seems to…

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Little Big H wearing: T-shirt: Fred Bare, Pants: Cotton on Kids  

Welcome to Little Big H.  My hope when starting this blog was to share and encourage parents to make their own baby food at home, to be adventurous with their cooking and to help raise adventurous eaters that appreciate a wide variety of good food.  It has since evolved to include healthy food for the…

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G’day everyone, how are you all?  I’m sorry for the lack of recipes lately but I have been concentrating on my little family and haven’t had the motivation.  My beautiful little boy lost his daddy a few months ago and it came as a huge shock to all.  H is still so little and has taken it all very well.  

Today we bring you a new recipe that we love and make.  Homemade natural yoghurt.  

It is so easy to do, it’s smooth and creamy and you will never buy it again.  Nothing beats waking up of a morning and digging into a pot of homemade yoghurt.  It only requires two ingredients and a little time.  You can adjust the taste by allowing it sit for less time for a more subtle taste or leave it longer for a stronger taste – handy if making the switch from the sugary variety.

We always eat natural yoghurt but H loves the little suckable pouches from the supermarket.  I try to avoid them as much as possible because they are full of sugar.  I’m sure he doesn’t particularly love the taste, its more the novelty of the little pouches.  

So you can imagine my joy when I came across Chureb Baby’s reusable food pouches (FYI this is not a sponsored post – I just love them and wanted to share).

Once I have made a new batch of yoghurt, I add my homemade natural yoghurt to a dozen pouches and leave it in the fridge for H to help himself.  To change it up I will mash a handful of berries, add passionfruit, banana etc, and add it to the pouches, seal, and swish it around with my hands to combine. I always add the fruit if he requests it as the acid in the fruit will turn the yoghurt runny if it sits too long.

My cheeky monkey eating straight from the pot.  I use two 500ml mason jars to make my yoghurt.  Use your homemade yoghurt to make the next batch the following week.

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• 1 litre unhomogenized milk
• 3 tablespoons natural yoghurt

• First sterilise the jars you will be storing the yoghurt in (see note on how I do this)
• Add milk to a saucepan and bring up to 92 degrees C – use a thermometer and continue to stir while it reaches this temperature.  Remove from the heat. 
• Place the saucepan over a cold water bath to bring the temperature back down to 40 degrees.  
• Add the natural yoghurt and stir to combine.  Add the milk mixture to your sterilised jars.  I use two 500ml jars but a single 1 litre jar would be fine.  Fill right to the top and seal. 
• Incubation: The milk mixture has to remain at 40 degrees C.  There are a number of ways to do this.  Put the jars into an esky of 40 degree water, adding more water as needed.  I use a sous vide machine and set it to 40 degrees.  If you don’t have either of these put the pot of water in the sink with the lid on and fill it with warm water and also surround it with 40 degree water.  This method will take a bit more work as the water surrounding will cool off quicker.  Check every couple of hours and add hot water to bring back up to 40 degrees.
• Leave in the 40 degree water for 6 hours.  This will a produce a fairly mild tasting yoghurt.  Leave up to 12 hours for a stronger taste.  Refrigerate and use within a week. 

Sterilising jars:  Add the jars to a large pot and cover with water, bring to the boil.  Boil for 15 minutes, add the lids when there is 5 minutes remaining.  Turn off the heat and allow to cool in the water.  Turn out onto a clean tea towel to dry. Fruit flavour ideas:  mash 1/4 avocado, banana and maple, vanilla bean, passionfruit, mixed berries, etc. 

If you make my Natural Yoghurt, be sure to take a picture and upload to Instagram with the hashtag #littlebigh so I can check out your creation. xx

Yellow split pea dhal is the ultimate comfort food and it makes a nourishing meat-free meal that the whole family will love.  This variation is flavoured with mild spices and is incredibly simple to make. You simply cook the lentils in water with garlic and chili and cook away for 45 minutes or until the lentils…

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G’day everyone, how are you all?  I’m sorry for the lack of recipes lately but I have been concentrating on my little family and haven’t had the motivation.  My beautiful little boy lost his daddy a few months ago and it came as a huge shock to all.  H is still so little and has…

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It has been quite some time since I’ve posted a true baby food recipe, so I thought I would post this old favourite.  It is a recipe that I grew up on and still love, although we always had it with sugar, and lots of it.   It is amazing how things change when you have…

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A delicious compote of peach, apples and spices.  It is lovely eaten on its own, or we like it on our porridge of a morning.   Freeze in ice cube trays and take portions out as you need them.  Compotes are a great why to introduce spices to your little one.

Beautiful Berry Coulis – sugar free Chicken with Apples and Thyme –  such as great combination Delicate white fish with fennel and grapes   I’m very excited to be sharing my very first guest post with you all, on a great blog called  Never the Same Spice Twice.  I have 3 new recipes suitable for babies…

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This is a delicate tasting puree and a great introduction to fish for your baby.  Any delicate tasting white fish will be fine in the recipe and combined with the witlof (Belgian endive) it is a lovely combination.

This is my idea of summer – A refreshing puree of lychee, pineapple & apricot.  Perfect for baby and the entire family.   No cooking which is always a bonus and could be served as a snack or with a dollop of natural yoghurt for breakfast. Baby will love it…

Now that Big H is 10 months old it won’t be long before he is eating dinner with the family (no separate kids meals for us!).  So as often as I can I like to give Big H what we are having for dinner – only puréed. It has been a challenge to avoid adding salt/sugar to…

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Making custard at home is a really great option.  You can be guaranteed that it is sugar-free and free of all other nasties – something I am very particular about when feeding my son. This is an easy custard recipe and baby will love it.  Stir though a little pureed fruit for a natural sweeter…

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Summer Fruit Puree with mango, banana, passionfruit and peach.  Simply added to a blender and pulsed til smooth.  No cooking required.  Baby will love it and so will you.   The Stone Fruit Puree with Cinnamon and Star Anise is simmered on the stove top until tender so the spices can infuse the mixture.  It is a…

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Quinoa Granola – It’s a bit of an understatement to say I love this stuff.  I’ve made it so many times now and it never lasts very long.  I eat it as is with yoghurt for breakfast or as pictured here as a topping for chia pudding.  I also love it on top of ice-cream with another drizzle of maple syrup!  The toasted quinoa adds a lovely nutty taste and it is super crunchy.  I have added currants but you could leave the fruit out or add whatever you like – figs, sultanas, raisins, dates, etc.

It also got a big tick from H –  I filmed him making a batch entirely on his own (measurements and all) but my video skills are so bad I decided to photograph it instead! 

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• 1 cup white quinoa
• 1 cup old fashioned oats (not quick oats)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil; melted
• 1/4 pepitas
• 1 – 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1/4 cup currants

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (320 degrees F)
• Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl except for the currants and mix to combine. Add the maple syrup and mix and then the coconut oil and mix straight away to coat the mixture.
• Spread out on a baking try lined with baking paper and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool and add the currant. Keep in an airtight container in the cupboard or fridge (see note)

If using coconut oil and it is cold where you live, it will start to set when it is added to the mixture – so work quickly. Once cooked it will keep in the cupboard but if it is particularly hot where you live, the coconut oil will melt so you may want to keep it in the fridge.  

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• 600 g chicken thigh fillets (skinless, boneless)
• 1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock
• 1 litre (4 cups) water
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 eggs , beaten
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 tbls shredded ginger
• 2 spring onion (scallions), finely sliced on the diagonal
• 1 tbls soy sauce
• white pepper
• fried shallots

• Combine thighs, water, stock and ginger into a large saucepan
• Simmer over low heat for 1 hour
• Remove chicken and finely shred with a two forks. Return to the stock
• Stir in the beaten eggs, add the soy sauce and pepper to taste
• Divide the cooked quinoa into 4 serving bowls and ladle the soup over
• Garnish with coriander, spring onion, fried shallots
• Drizzle with a little extra soy; serve

Serves 4 – full adult size serves Adapted from The Healthy Chef

I have mentioned in previous posts that kids will to eat just about anything if you put it on a stick! These lemony salt and pepper prawn skewers are no exception…  H loved them and I loved that they were easy, effortless and ready in 15 minutes. The prawns are sprinkled with a lemony salt and…

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I was searching the web looking for a pair of sun glasses for Little Big H and came across Babiators.com.  They have the coolest sunglasses for babies and young children.  I thought they wouldn’t stand a chance but they are flexible enough to withstand being bent out of shape and Little Big H seems to love wearing them.

They have 100% UVA and UVB protection from the suns harmful rays – a must for baby.  Register within 30 days from purchase and they come with a lost and found guarantee. If lost or broken, they’ll replace them!

Little Big H wearing…

Sunglasses: Babiators,   Polo t-shirt: Zara Baby,   Pants: Target,   Singlet: Bonds Baby

Salads and toddlers aren’t two words that generally go well together!  But, we love salads, and they are one of H’s favourite things to eat.  The trick is to add ingredients that they love, and then sneak in the rest.   This warm lentil, potato and corn salad has all of H’s favourite things.  I have snuck in…

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And just like that H is at school and I’m preparing school lunch boxes. I’m finding it quite fun at the moment – but it has only been a week. I’ll report back in a months time! So with that in mind, I thought it would be nice to include a little sweet treat on…

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Gozleme is a tradition Turkish pastry filled with savoury ingredients.  I have very much cheated by using store-bought flatbread instead of making my own pastry.  It makes this cheats gozleme recipe super quick and convenient for lunch, a light dinner, or to pack into kids lunch boxes.  Gozleme has always been a favourite of mine….

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Super easy to make and super convenient to have on hand, Lebanese flat bread is the ultimate convenience food.   Use them as a quick pizza base, sprinkle them with my homemade nutty dukkah, slice and dip into homemade hummus and other dips or top with leftovers for a delicious meal – think slow cooked meat,…

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I have been making these delicious bread rolls for years with a range of different fillings.  This kale pesto filling is really delicious as the lemony flavour is balanced beautifully by the sweet bread.  If you want a short cut, store-bought pesto would also work well.   I have rolled the pasty out quite thin,…

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 This is a simple dish that is packed full of flavour.   If you are keen to try the no knead bread recipe you will have to start it the night before.  It may look like a lot of steps, but once you have does it once, it really is very easy.  It also require a heavy oven…

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I started making this dish for Little Big H at around 7 months.  It contains eggs but I had given him eggs previously so I didn’t have to worry about any allergies.  It makes around 6 x 120ml mini flans

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• 3 medium zucchini (approx 450 grams)
• 3 organic free range eggs
• 4 tablespoons of goats cheese
• 3 teaspoons of butter
• pinch of nutmeg

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Dice zucchini and steam for 5 minutes. Add zucchini to a blender and pulse. (You don’t want a paste but rather a fine consistency)
• In a bowl add eggs, melted butter, nutmeg and goats cheese – whisk to combine. Let the zucchini cool a little and add to the egg mixture. Stirring while you add so you don’t cook the eggs
• Fill your ramekin dishes and place in a water bath so the water comes roughly a 1/3 of the way up the ramekin. Place in the oven and cook for approximately 30 to 35 minutes. (This really depends on the size of your ramekins. Test mixture with a knife. If it comes out clean they are ready)

For Mum & Dad – fill babies ramekins firstly and then with remaining mixture add salt & pepper and continue with above steps