Frozen Banana Lollies

When Isobel was starting solids, we went through so many banana cubes that I made them every week. They are so delicious we all ate them~ Isobel, Max, Gavin & me!

Max called them his "Banana Lollies" and wanted a bowl of chopped frozen banana cubes every day for dessert, and Gav and I kept popping them into our smoothies. A few of cubes of pureed, frozen bananas instead of a fresh banana makes your smoothie smoother & colder.

Now that Isobel is 11.5 months and has 2 molars coming through, this "grown up" version of our frozen banana lolly is such a treat. Bananas don't freeze solid, like courgettes which, when frozen, resemble green ice cubes. Frozen cubes of pureed bananas can be easily sliced with a knife or chewed. They are perfect for putting into those raw food feeders and for teething, Isobel chews away on the frozen cube to soothe her sore gums.

Recipe for Frozen Banana Lollies:
Mash 2 ripe bananas then mix in a few Tbsp yogurt and a handful of frozen or fresh blueberries. Puree, so there aren't any lumps of blueberry. Spoon into your mumi&bubi freezing tray, pop the lid on and freeze.

To easily distinguish these cubes from plain banana cubes that I have stored in zip-lock bags in the freezer, I put a blueberry at the top of each cube (or is that the bottom???). This was also a helpful tip to prevent Isobel eating these cubes by accident when she was just a wee bub starting solids and hadn't yet been introduced to yogurt or blueberries.

Enjoy!

Recipe for swede baby puree

With their creamy-purple skin and rounded shape, the swede is very similar to turnip and is also called rutabaga. It is a very versatile veggie as it can be boiled, mashed, roasted, baked, stir fried, etc. When we were little, we used to eat raw swede slices as a snack.

Swede baby puree is a lovely pale yellow/orange colour with a very distinctive taste! If the taste is just a bit too distinctive for your baby, mix it with something they really enjoy ~ Isobel likes her swede mixed in with a cube of carrot.

Swedes are surprisingly filling and are a good source of Vitamin C and fibre, folate and potassium. Choose smaller swedes with smooth skin - the larger ones can tend to be woody.

Recipe for swede baby puree:
2 medium sized swedes, cooked and pureed filled a whole tray plus a few more cubes, about 25 x 1 oz (2Tbsp) portions in total! Very economical.
-Scrub and thickly peel swede and remove any roots
-Chop into cubes and boil or steam until tender, about 15-20 minutes
-Add some reserved cooking water to adjust the consistency for a perfect puree
-spoon portions into your mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit' freezing tray, put on the lid and place in the freezer.

Sunview Organic Raisins

I have always been partial to organic raisins. Aside from the obvious reasons that they are not contaminated with any harmful agricultural chemicals or post-harvest preservatives, they look fabulous - all clear, shiny goodness - and they taste great.

These Sunview Organic Raisins are the icing on the raisin cake for me. I have never seen - or eaten - such a perfect raisin in all my life. They are so sweet, yet clean tasting and they have a nice firm bite and don't stick to your teeth like some raisins do.

And they are massive! I just had to show you in the pic, as you can see the biggest one is 2cm long.

This is Max's snack of choice and I keep them on a low shelf in the pantry so he can help himself. He can pour a small portion into a ramekin that live on the same shelf which keeps him busy as only a few of these raisins fits into these tiny ramekins at one time. And this might also explain the munted raisin packaging in the photo!

This makes him feel very independent as he doesn't have to ask me to do it for him. As he just turned the big 03, he prefers to do things "all by himself" these days :) Given the size of these raisins, if he spills some, it is easy for him to put them back in the container.

I am going to test these giant raisins in my favourite oatmeal cookie recipe and let you know how it goes. It's too bloody hot to bake this week so I am hoping for a cool evening to try this recipe soon...