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 children and start thinking about nutrition, and how harmful sugar is for us.  Harry is very much anti anything sweet, which is a blessing.  He has never had food sweetened with sugar until quite recently, and even then it is only ever a taste of a piece of cake or a taste of my dessert.  

When I do make something that I know H will be eating, and that requires sweetening, I try to use whole foods such as mashed banana or cooked apples, dates, or otherwise maple syrup and honey.  He has never eaten a lolly or chocolate and it’s not because I’m keeping them from him, he’s just not interested.  He never had sweetened food as a baby or toddler, and has never developed a taste for it…

My mum often has jars of lollies on the table and H will go for them (they are pretty tempting for kids – mostly the bright colours and interesting shapes) but he will only try to feed them to me. He does give the odd one a little lick, but turns his nose up every time.  

I mistakenly bought flavoured yoghurt the other day and H wouldn’t touch it.  He has only ever had sugar-free natural yoghurt, and he could smell something was wrong before he even tasted it – he stuck his little tongue out, just a fraction, and had the teeny tiniest little bit, put the spoon down and pushed his bowl away.  

Basically what I’m trying to get at is, you don’t miss what you haven’t had and haven’t developed a taste for.  I know in years to come it may be a different story but for now I will keep the sugar to a minimum…

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• 500 ml (2 cups) milk
• 1/4 cup of brown rice (you could also use white but brown is more nutritious)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or you could use extract)
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• Honey or maple syrup to drizzle – suitable for babies 12 months plus

• Combine milk, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon stick and rice in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid; lower temperature and simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half. (brown rice will take quite a bit longer than white rice).
• It is ready when most of the liquid has been absorbed, keeping in mind it will thicken up quite a lot once cool. Serve warm or cold on it own, or drizzle with honey and top with fresh fruit

To sweeten naturally try adding a mashed banana once cooked and cooled
For little babies, add to a blender and puree until smooth. Try adding a date when pureeing for another flavour with added natural sweetener

This is such as a simple salad and could be made with any tomatoes, but these gorgeous heirloom tomatoes were just too beautiful to walk past.  As you are all probably aware, I make a lot of dishes with tomatoes!  I know H is going to love it and I get so much joy watching him…

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Ciao friends! I’m super excited to share something I’ve been working on behind the scenes — I made an iOS app for my recipe blog! Its called SAVOUR 🎉 Now you can browse all your favourite recipes right from your phone. It includes a lot of recipes from this blog + more… The app is completely…

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Happy New Year! I have a nice healthy recipe to start the new year.  Apple chips with an optional rosewater toffee just to spice things up a little.  

H prefers his apple chips without toffee so I add toffee to half and leave the other half as is.  I use a food dehydrator to dehydrate the apples but you could also set your oven to very low and achieve a similar results.  

The toffee is make with brown rice syrup which I think is quicker and easier to make than regular toffee, and as a bonus, healthier because it fructose free…

Looking for other food dehydrator recipes?  Try my dehydrated orange dipped in dark chocolate.  My very favourite snack that comes with a warning – Highly addictive.  I can’t stop eating them until they are all gone!

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• 2 – 4 granny smith apples – preferably organic
• juice of one lemon

• 2 heaped tablespoons brown rice syrup
• 1 teaspoon rosewater

• Add a cup of water to a bowl and add the lemon juice
• Wash the apples really well as we are leaving the skin on. Using a mandolin, slice the apples to about a 2mm thickness. Alternatively slice using a sharp knife. Dunk them in the bowl of lemon water and allow excess to drip off and add to your food dehydrator tray.
• Drying time will vary according to your model of dehydrator but roughly 12 hours or so and they will be ready.

• Use above steps but dry with paper towel after dipping in lemon water. Add to a baking paper lined baking tray. Bake at 100 degrees C (225 degrees F) for approximately 2 hours, flipping them about half way through cooking.

• Add the syrup to a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it starts to bubble up and turn a golden colour (watch it very carefully as it doesn’t take long and can burn very easily). Take it off the heat and stir through the rosewater. Once the syrup cools just slightly it will be very sticky and you can drizzle it over the apple chips. Allow to cook and store in an airtight container.

There isn’t a whole lot I like about winter, but juicy blood oranges are one of the few things that I can’t get enough of.  The colours are just gorgeous and I love love love orange salads.   There is another one that I make regularly with rosewater, pistachios and goats cheese – but I’ll leave that for another post!  This citrus salad with fennel and…

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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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With consecutive 42 degree days in Melbourne this week, I was keen for somethings chilled, and this was the result. A silky smooth chilled soup.  I wasn’t sure that Big H would go for the aniseed taste of the fennel but he did! Fennel is also great for breastfeeding mums with supply or letdown reflex…

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Baked apples is a classic dessert. It’s so easy to prepare and this version is also healthy. So healthy in fact that it would make an equally delicious breakfast.   Most nights dessert for the little guy is natural yoghurt with a few berries, but its nice to go to a little more trouble on occasion. Baked…

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H and I have been doing a stack of baking lately – homemade bread, pizzas, cakes and muffins.  I think the winter weather has something to do with it!  I’ve experimented a lot with muffin recipes and I have to say, I think I’ve found a winner.  These healthy zucchini, corn and tomato muffins are easy…

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The classic roast chook, it’s always a favourite at our table.  This recipe is really simple and the result is perfectly cooked chicken with juicy flesh and crispy skin, with hints of sage. Up until fairly recently we always used the rotisserie to cook chicken, but with that no longer an option (apartment living!).  I have…

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Galettes are really simple to make and you can put any veggies you like in them.  I’ve used potato, broccoli and sage which are great together.  I also put some sage leaves on top to crisp up in the oven.   The pastry I have made is also super simple and only takes 2 minutes to…

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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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This Spiced peach quinoa porridge is a lovely warm and comforting breakfast – perfect now that the weather is getting a little cool.

It has quite a savoury taste without the addition of fresh peaches on top and the maple syrup.  If you like things a little sweeter, stir through some sweetener of your choice after cooking.  

If you remember you can soak the quinoa the night before and it will take less time to cook in the morning.  If peaches aren’t in season, apples would make a lovely substitute – but use whatever fruit you have on hand.  I often make this when I have fruit in the fridge that is overripe and no longer good for eating.  

If using very ripe fruit, I suggest adding the fruit in toward the end of cooking the quinoa, rather than at the start. 

Enjoy xx

Here is a little video of H making this spiced peach quinoa porridge – press play to watch it here 🙂

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• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups milk (animal or plant)
• 1/2 cup water + extra as needed
• 2 peaches; chopped
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or essence
• 1 clove
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 peach; sliced
• flaked almond; toasted
• maple syrup or your sweetener of choice

• Rinse the quinoa and add to a saucepan with the milk, water, cinnamon, vanilla, clove and salt. Add the peaches* (see note).
• Bring to the boil and then simmer until tender, stirring occasionally. Add extra water if the mixture is too dry. Once cooked remove the clove and add to two bowls.
• Add a little extra milk the sliced peaches, flaked almonds and sweeten with maple.

If you have very ripe peaches add them in towards the end of cooking the quinoa. If they are firm add them at the beginning.

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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H trying Vegemite for the first time.  He pulled a few funny faces and kept going!  I try to give Little Big H a bit of variety for breakie but I do find myself making a version of the below recipes quite a bit.  Most often he gets: Scrambled Eggs with Avocado, Bircher Muesli with Berries, Fruit Puree with…

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    BRIGHTON BEACH, MELBOURNE

Big H loves this salad and it is super easy and quick to make.  Shelling the broad beans is a little time-consuming but you could use frozen shelled broad bean instead if  you like.  

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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