Homemade Mixes are the ultimate homemade baby food option.
- You know what you are putting in as you are making the mix yourself. You can buy it yourself, clean it yourself and make it all by yourself.
- You can make unlimited number of mixes while keeping in mind proper food combining and adapting to your baby’s preferences.
- They are very easy and not very time consuming to prepare. You might need to do the job only once or twice in a month.
- When making porridge its ready in minutes and it’s as fresh as it can get.
- So it fresh homemade baby food all the time, every time. No bothering with frozen baby food either.
- They are easy to carry as the mix powder itself to be cooked later or even the cooked porridge can keep good for hours if you pack it hot off the stove.
That being said let’s get started with making a simple cereal mix which is currently my baby’s breakfast favorite.
Why Barley? Variety is the spice of life. Even a baby’s life. Don’t feed them the same old wheat and rice. Tell you what, there are numerous other ‘older’ grains that you and your baby should be enjoying. The nutrition world these days is abuzz with the debate on grains. A few years ago they came in everybody’s bad books. Either people continued to eat the refined grains (most) while a few fanatics got the anti-grain message ingrained in them. Well I took the middle road. Grains couldn’t and shouldn’t be a problem for everybody. For one, it would be very difficult to replace the staples and also because my great-grandparents and grandparents ate them. But not only wheat and rice. They ate a wide variety of other grains too. OK, to cut this short. Let’s carry on the legacy to our kids too. Barley is nutritious, versatile and good for you in all those ways you must have read somewhere. The taste and consistency is very baby-friendly too.
Which barley to choose? Get hulled barley. Not pearl if you have an option otherwise. If you are not sure of hygienic conditions of packing, Wash briefly, drain thoroughly, spread on a cotton cloth and dry under a fan or in the sun for a few hours.
Which dates to choose? You should be thankful I didn’t go into the why dates saga like the barley above. We need dry dates. Any variety you can find of the wrinkled, stone dry dates. You will have to struggle with a sharp paring knife to pry them open and pit them. Also have mercy on your blender and chop it up a bit.
Baby food guidelines:
After you have introduced – plain barley and fresh dates on separate occasions.
Stage 1: Prepare cereal with water only.
Stage 2: Add milk and ghee or butter to the cereal
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 5 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 250 grams barley
- 100 grams dried dates
- 2 tbsp prepared barley and dates powder mix
- 1 tsp ghee or butter
- 1 cup water, milk or mix of both
Ingredients
For the cereal
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- To prepare the powder mix: Grind the barley and dates separately and sieve them into a jar. Seal tightly and store at room temperature for about a month.
- To prepare the cereal: Mix the 1 cup of liquid and 2 tbsp of powder and whisk. Leave it to soak for a few minutes if possible. Keep it on the stove and continue to whisk as it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until its a nice creamy consistency. You can adjust the amount of liquid and powder according to your preferences. Add the butter or ghee and turn off the stove. Cool to room temperature or slightly warm and serve.
I used to make my own baby food, but it was nowhere near this quality #pearlsifwisdomlinky@_karendennis