Meal planning can seem overwhelming for most, but spending a few hours 1 day a week can save you a lot of time crunching stress, or even help when something throws your routine off and you need to improvise. Not to mention, the health benefits will add up!
We have put together a lot of great details for you to prepare baby and toddler meals easily, with incredible ingredients. We also threw in some recipes for baby, toddler, and the family. With all of these, you can customize them to have something different for several meals. Get creative!
Recipe #1 for BABY
Pear and Carrot Purée
DF GF NF VEGAN
A mildly sweet vegetable and a mildly sweet fruit come together here in a delicious, easily digestible, and quite pretty purée. It is a great source of vitamins A and C, which will provide your baby with a healthy and flavorful dose of antioxidants.
Makes 2 2-ounce servings
Ingredients:
½ organic pear, cut, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch dice
3 baby carrots
⅛ tsp dried thyme or ¼ tsp mixed fresh thyme
To make a larger portion to freeze, make several meals, double the recipe. After you make your first batch, you’ll know how much to use to make more/less.
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan with a steamer insert, bring about 1-inch of water to a simmer. Steam the pear and carrots covered, until tender, about 6 minutes.
- Add the pear and carrot purée, and thyme to a sauté pan or small pot. Mix until combined and gently warm the purée on the stove top over low heat before serving.
Tip:
Apple purée can be substituted for the pear purée. You can also try using other root vegetables in place of the carrots. To customize this purée, simply use 3 freezer cubes of any root vegetable purée with 1 freezer tray cube of any fruit purée. It is easier to make a few single fruit/vegetables then combine to warm up.
Recipe #2 Baby and Toddler
Blueberry flaxseed mini muffins
DF GF
Makes 18 muffins
These gluten free mini muffins freeze well, so its easy to make a batch and have a quick snack on the go. If you’d like to make these muffins dirty free, you can replace the butter with olive oil.
Ingredients:
2 cups almond or coconut flour
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
¼ tsp baking soda (optional)
⅛ tsp sea salt (optional)
¼ cup honey or pure maple syrup
2 tbsp olive oil or half of a mashed avocado
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup coconut milk (the real stuff from the can) Ripple or Oat Milk
½ cup blueberries or 1/2 banana
Dash of these herbs: cinnamon, clove, beet powder
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a mini muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond/coconut flour, ground flaxseed, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, oil, eggs, and coconut milk.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, using a spatula to gently fold the mixture in until just combined. Pour in the blueberries.
- Fill each muffin cup three-quarters full.
Bake until the muffins are set, 13-15 minutes. Store the muffins in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Recipe #3 Toddler
Avocado egg salad sandwich
DF GF
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
½ avocado, peeled and pitted
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of sea salt
½ tsp ground mustard powder
1 tbsp almond yogurt or avocado mayo (both in store)
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives or onion
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 slices flax bread or rice cakes (in store)
Sprinkle on your favorite herbs – our Oh Wow! seasoning is perfect for this!
- In a small bowl, mash the avocado, lemon juice, salt, mustard, yogurt, and chives with a fork, mixing well.
- Gently stir in the chopped eggs.
- Spread the eggs mixture on the pieces of bread. Cut in quarters to serve. Store the egg salad in the refrigerator, separate from the bread, for up to 3 days.
This could be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Recipe #4 Family Meal
Black Beans and Rice with Tropical Salad
DF GF
Makes 8 servings
This is a great source of plant-based protein and your entire family will love it.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 red onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves or 1 tsp garlic powder
14 ounce canned black beans drained (Eden Organic in store)
½ cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin or coriander
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups of cooked jasmine rice (we have a delicious option!)
In a large pot keep the olive oil over medium heat until it simmers, add the red onion and garlic until bronzed. Add the beans, vegetable broth, and remaining seasonings, cook for another five minutes. Stir in the rice until the rice is warm.
Salsa:
1/4 red onion finely chopped
1 mango peeled and cut into small pieces
1 lime squeezed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 good size tomato chopped
Make the salsa and mix all the ingredients together!
You can really get creative with this recipe, add lentils and other veggies steamed or sautéed. Anything with salsa is a win too!
To wrap all of this up, the important thing to do when cooking for you family is JUST TRY! You really cannot go wrong if you have hearty ingredients, some really good herbs, and a desire to eat healthy and feed your family the same.
Let us know if you have questions or try any of these! If you like getting recipe ideas, let us know and we will continue to share each week!
#LiveNextToNature #ShopNextToNature
If you haven’t joined the Next to Nature Health Hutch, a free private Facebook community to ask questions, get access to products first, and share your journey with others in an intimate space, click the image below to get access!
Sources:
Information and Recipes from The Big Book of Organic Baby Food