Baby Food- What to feed the baby?

Anybody with a baby can know the feeling which gets you when you see her/him sleeping peacefully in your arms. Its a perfect mix of love and contentment.


 You want to do everything which keeps the smile  on that face from fading. So, mothers do not give food to their babies, they feed love.


Sounds mushy?….well it is …and its true .
:)
In the quest to give my baby the right foods I've given her an array of mushy, gooey, pasty  (but healthy) things. Here I've made a list of those foods and she ate them too…..yes….seriously (Ok, sometimes coaxing is required….but mostly yes).


1. Suji kheer/ semolina pudding
2. Suji upma/ salted semolina (with veggies and without veggies)
3. Ripe banana (mashed)
4. Ripe avocado(mashed)
5. Ripe papaya (mashed)
6. Mango puree/ aamras
7. Banana and strawberry smoothie
8. Apple and banana smoothie
9. Dal-rice khichri/ lentil -rice porridge
10. Sheera
11. Home-made baby food mix (recipe by Anushruti)


 She gets bored with everyday gruel (I can't blame her.) I'm continually in search of new ideas to make her food more interesting. You are welcome to add to these ideas.

Aamrus/ mango pudding

This is one of my favorite summer recipes. The scorching heat of summers had only one welcome respite.. MANGOES!!
 With mangoes arriving in big crates at home and made into "aamrus" in every single meal! I used to to ape my father by dunking 2-3 chunks of ice into it and relishing it to the last spoon (or lick in my case..:) ). Bliss.

The recipe is super simple and easy and basically if you have nice juicy mangoes, you can't go wrong with it. In my mom's version, milk and dry fruits were not a daily happening. Just mangoes, sugar and a little water would go a long way but my mom usually used ripe Alphonso/ Haphous variety which is the most juicy and flavorful variety of mangoes.

As I said, you can't go wrong if you have some ripe good quality mangoes.

Ingredients

1. Mangoes-2 small sized
2. Sugar- 1 tsp for sweet mangoes (you may need more for ones which are a  little sour)
3. Milk- 2 Tbsp
4. Dried fruits (optional)- chopped,for garnishing

Method

1. Peel the mangoes and remove the stone/seed.
2. Take the mango pulp, add milk and pluse it in a blender. (If you want mango chunks to remain then add less milk or just stop blending before its totally smooth)
3. Add sugar and blend again.
4. Pour into a bowl, garnish with nuts and enjoy!

PS: You can omit the milk and replace with water for a vegan version.
You can increase the quantity of milk and add ice to make a mango shake.
Diabetics can enjoy this by omitting sugar because the fruit itself is sweet enough. People with very high sugar will have to avoid it though.