Paneer Bhurji Paratha

Little A loves parathas. He is 9.5 months now and toothless. But you will be amazed at how those hard gums can actually break down food and chew efficiently. I made Paneer Bhurji for dinner last night and since Baby Led Weaning is all about sharing the same meals with your little ones I made Paneer Bhurji Stuffed Paratha for him. Make sure you leave out salt (additional salt is not required for babies under 1 year. Breastmilk contains enough sodium and excess is harmful for your little one's kidneys) and chili. All other spices are ok since they add flavors to your baby's portion. If you are wondering what Baby Led Weaning is please read my previous post HERE. 

This makes a great lunch box recipe for toddlers too.  

You Will Need:

Paneer Bhurji, Recipe HERE

Chapathi Dough (Wheat)

Ghee to smear

The Cooking:

Step 1:

Prepare the paneer bhurji according to the recipe. Instead of salt you can add a dash of lime juice. Remember to leave out chili. 

Step 2:

Roll out two chapathis from the dough and place a generous tablespoon of bhurji on to one chapathi and spread evenly. Place the other rolled chapathi over the bhurji and gently roll the top with the rolling pin sealing off the edges. 

Step 3:

Place the paratha on a hot pan and smear ghee on one side. Cook for few seconds then slip and smear the ghee on the other. Cook till the paratha is done. Cut the paratha into strips and serve on to little one's plate / tray to pick and eat. 

Happy Baby Led Weaning!

Vegetarian

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Baby Led Weaning: Teaching Your Baby to Self Feed!

Couple of month back I came across a group on FaceBook that was randomly mentioned on another forum. Out of curiosity and since Little A was 7 months old then we were already on solids and I wanted to start Little A weaning off Breastmilk. I joined the group, But instead what I found out was this amazing method of Introducing solids to your baby and what impressed me was the ability of a baby to self feed itself. 

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BABY LED WEANING is letting your baby self feed itself finger foods from the very start of weaning or when you introduce solids to the baby apart from Breastmilk. Babies start to show interest on food round 6 months when they start to grab food from your plate or hand. There is absolutely no puree / mashes involved. Its simply letting the baby self feed your everyday meals. The primary goal is to introduce new textures and taste to the baby letting them explore and to move to table foods. Another important aspect to keep in mind is before the baby's 1st birthday, solids SHOULD NOT REPLACE Breastmilk but it should just compliment. So you really don't have to worry about the quantity the baby eats since it gets all the nutrition, fat and calories from your breastmilk. 

To know What, how and when to start Blw, I suggest you visit the follow links before you start to get a better understanding.

• Baby Led Weaning 
• Baby Led Weaning 101- Sassy Mama
• Baby Led Weaning Leaflet (I suggest you download this leaflet)

BOOKS YOU CAN REFER TO:

1. Baby Led Weaning: The Essential guide to introducing solid foods By Gill Rapley 

2. My Child Won't Eat: How to enjoy mealtimes without worry By Carlos Gonzalez 

BLW vs TRADITIONAL WEANING from MY POINT of  VIEW:

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Now the reason I opted for BLW for Little A is that,it just seemed logical to me than Traditional weaning involving purees and mashes. In BLW the baby learns to self feed which helps in development of hand eye co-ordination. The baby learns to bite, chew and then swallow food. Whereas traditional weaning with mashes and purees only teach the baby to swallow first. In BLW the baby can see, smell, feel the texture of food offered. There is more exploration of food involved. In traditional weaning its just spoon after spoon of puree where the baby cannot see / feel what is being fed. This may create a fussy eating in toddlers when they are introduced new food and textures. BLW allows the baby to chew the food more which is broken down by saliva thus helps in digesting the food better (although you may find whole chunks of tomatoes / carrots from previous night's dinner since their gut is not fully closed until 18 months). There is no need to prepare a separate food for baby. Overfeeding a baby is not possible in BLW. The baby eats what it wants and rejects / refuses once done. Whereas in traditional weaning method you can easily overfeed the baby leading to overweight and obesity in future. And I love to watch Little A eat on his own with us during mealtime. 

So we have been BLWing for this past couple of months and I am amazed at the ability to self feed himself and that too being a toothless. He is capable of eating almost everything on his own now. And am able to introduce more variety and texture to him. Make sure you don't give salt / sugar / chili to your baby before 1 year at-least. 

If you are planning on doing BLW for your little one, I also suggest you join the Baby Led Weaning (Introducing Solids) India on FaceBook. There are many Pro BLW mums and they will be able to answer many queries and also lots of success stories and videos for inspiration. If you are a new mum or a breastfeeding mother, I would recommend you join Breastfeeding Support for Indian Moms on FaceBook. Remember to exclusively Breastfeed your baby for 6 months and then introduce solids as a complimentary to Breastmilk and not to replace Breastmilk. No solid can provide your baby with the nutrition provided by breast-milk. 

Happy Baby Led Weaning! 

BLW Recipes

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Paneer Bhurji

This is a mandatory post. As Little A is growing by leaps and bounds its so hectic right now that am trying to squeeze cooking between his so unpredictable naps. And I literally just gave up blogging! But thank god I have a pushy hubby and Big A has been nudging me to keep the foodie and blogger in my alive! So am sorry I have been ignoring my blog for long and the poor photographs that may follow. Because when I shot this pic Little A almost pulled the plate down :D 

So, PANEER BHURJI / scrambled cottage cheese is such a quick fix. Its super tasty and you could also make this as a paratha stuffing, sandwiched between bread slices or simply spread over a dosa....Little A too loved this when I stuffed this in a paratha and smeared it with ghee, of course dont add chilli and salt if you are planning on offering this to your baby. 

Serves 3

You Will Need:

200g of Crumbled / Coarsely Grated (NOT FINELY) Paneer / Cottage Cheese, I used Homemade

1/2 tsp of Cumin Seeds

1 Medium Onion, Finely Chopped

1/2 Red Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped (Totally Optional)

1/2 tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste

1 Large Tomato, Finely Chopped

1 Green Chilli, Finely Chopped

1/4 tsp of Tumeric Powder

1/4 tsp Gram Masala

1/4 tsp Red Chilli Powder

1/4 tsp Coriander Powder

1 tsp of Kasuri Methi, Crushed between your palms

Salt to taste

2 tbsp of Oil

Some Chopped Coriander Leaves  

The Cooking:

Heat oil in a non - stick pan. Once hot crackle cumin seeds and add the chopped green chillies. Then add the onions and saute till pink and translucent followed by ginger garlic paste. Saute on medium for 2 mins and add the tomatoes when the onions are golden brown. Add the red bell pepper and saute for a min. Now add the salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and kasuri methi. Saute for 4 - 5 mins till the raw flavours are gone. 

Now tumble in the grated / crumbled paneer and mix well. Add the chopped coriander leaves and cook on medium heat for 2 mins or till the paneer is well mixed with the gravy and become soft. Take off heat and serve hot with roti / rice!

Happy Cooking! 

Vegetarian

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